Introduction 5

and His first manifestation of energy. Krishna Chaitanya appears in all together:
God, Guru, devotee, expansion. As His associate Nityananda, He is a mani-
festation; as Adwaita, He is an incarnation; as Gadadhar, He is the internal
potency; and as Srivas, He is the marginal living entity. Krishna is not thought
of alone, but is conceived all at once, as is described by Ramanujacharya: In
Suddha Adwaita philosophy energy, expansion, and incarnation are Oneness
in diversity. Everything together is God.

Chaitanya Charitamrita is thus the post-graduate study of spiritual knowl-
edge. One advances from the Bhagavad Gita, through Srimad Bhagwatam,
to Chaitanya Charitamrita. Although all are on the same Absolute level, yet
by comparative study, Chaitanya Charitamrita is on this higher platform, and
every verse is perfectly composed. The process of offering obeisances is to
directly offer respects to Chaitanya and Nityananda—these two Personalities
are compared to the Sun and the Moon, who dissipate darkness. Both the
Sun and the Moon have risen together in this case: Chaitanya is so kind that
to dissipate the darkness They both appear together.

Who is Krishna Chaitanya? In the Upanishads, the Supreme Absolute
Truth is described in an impersonal way, but the Personal view is also given
in the Isha Upanishad, at the end, after a description of the All-pervading:
“My dear Lord, You are hidden by the Cover of Brahmajyoti. Let me penetrate
that Brahmajyoti to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Those
who have no such power stop at the effulgence; but.at the end of the
Upanishad there is a hymn to the Personality of Godhead. The impersonal
Brahman is described there. That Brahman is the glaring effulgence of the body
of Chaitanya. The Paramatma is the partial representation of Chaitanya. He is
that Supreme Personality of Godhead, full with six opulences: wealth, fame,
strength, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation. You should know that He is
Krishna, and nothing is equal to, or greater than, Him. There is no superior
conception. He is the Supreme Person.

There is a nice verse by Rupa Goswami, who, as a confidential devotee,
was taught for more than ten days continuously by Lord Chaitanya. He has
written about Lord Chaitanya: “There were many incarnations of Krishna,
but He excels all others. He is giving something that was never given by an
incarnation before, not even by Krishna Himself.”

Chaitanya begins from the surrendering point, and He is completely
spiritual. He begins at the end of material existence, when one gives up all
material attachment. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna began by distinguishing
the soul from matter, and ended at the point of the soul surrendered in devo-
