168 Teachings of Lord Chaitanya

Prakasananada Saraswati inquired from Lord Chaitanya: “Well sir, You
belong to our Sankara sect, and You are living at Benares. Why don’t
You mix with us? What is the reason? Another thing—You are a Sannyasi.
You are supposed to engage Your time simply in Vedanta study. But we see
that instead of doing that You are always engaged in chanting, dancing, and
playing on musical instruments. What are the reasons? These things are done
by emotional and sentimental people. But You are a qualified Sannyasi. Why
should You not engage Yourself in the study of Vedanta? By Your effulgence
it appears to us that You are just like the Supreme Narayana, the Personality
of Godhead, but Your behavior appears to be otherwise. So we are inquisitive
to know, what are the reasons?”

Lord Chaitanya replied: “My dear sir, I may inform you that My Spiritual
Master saw Me as a great fool, and therefore he more or less punished Me
and said that, because I am such a fool, I have no jurisdiction in the study of
Vedanta. So he kindly gave Me the chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
My Spiritual Master told Me: “You go on Chanting this Krishna Mantra, and
it will make You all-perfect.””

Actually, Lord Chaitanya was neither a fool nor ignorant of the principles
of Vedanta, but His purpose was to demonstrate to modern society that for
fools who have no penance and austerity behind them, and simply for some
recreational purpose want to study Vedanta—that is not recommended. In
His Sikshastak, Lord Chaitanya said that one should be in a humble state of
mind, should think of himself as lower than the grass on the street, more tolerant
than the tree, devoid of all false sense of prestige, and ready to offer all kinds
of respects to others. In such a state of mind, one can chant Vedanta philosophy
or the Holy Name of God constantly. He also wanted to teach that a serious
student of transcendental science should follow exactly the words of the Spir-
itual Master. According to the calculation of the Spiritual Master, Lord Chait-
anya appeared to be a fool, so he said that He should not indulge in the study
of Vedanta but should go on chanting the Krishna Mantra. Therefore, He
strictly obeyed. In other words Lord Chaitanya impressed on the Mayavadis
that the words of a bona fide Spiritual Master must be strictly followed. That
would make one perfect in all respects.

Vedanta means that the last word of the Vedic knowledge is to understand
Krishna: Vedaischa sarvai aham eva vedyam: Actual understanding of the Vedanta
is to know Krishna, and our relationship with Krishna. And one who under-
stands Krishna understands everything. The knower of Krishna is always
