TEXT 19
"These three Deities of Vrndavana [Madana-mohana, Govinda and Gopinatha] have absorbed the heart and soul of the Gaudiya Vaisnava [followers of Lord Caitanya]. I worship Their lotus feet, for They are the Lords of my heart."
PURPORT
The author of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta offers his respectful obeisances unto the three Deities of Vrndavana named Sri Radha-Madana-mohana, Sri Radha-Govindadeva and Sri Radha-Gopinathaji. These three Deities are the life and soul of the Bengali Vaisnavas, or Gaudiya Vaisnavas, who have a natural aptitude for residing in Vrndavana.
The Guadiya Vaisnava who follow strictly in the line of Sri Caintaya Mahaprabhu worship the Divinity by chanting transcendental sounds meant to develop a sense of one's transcendental relationship with the Supreme Lord, a reciprocation of mellows (rasa) of mutual affection, and, ultimately, the achievement of the desired success in loving service.
These three Deities are worshiped in three different stages of one's development. The followers of Sri Caintanya Mahaprabhu acrupulously follow these principles of approach.
Gauidya Vaisnavas perceive the ultimate objective in Vedic hymns composed of eighteen transcendental letters that adore Krsna as Madana-mohana, Govinda and Gopijana-vallabha.
Madana-mohana is He who charms Cupid, the god of love, Govinda is He who pleases the senses and the cows, and Gopijana-vallabha is the transcendental lover of the gopis.
Krsna Himself is called Madana-mohana, Govinda, and Gopijana-vallabha and countless other names as He plays in His different pastimes with His devotees.
The three Deities-Madana-mohana, Govinda and Gopijana-vallabha-have very specific qualities. Worship of Madana-mohana is on the platform of reestablishing our fogotten relatioship with the Personality of Godhead.
In the material world we are presently in utter ignorance of our eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord. Pangoh refers to one who cannot move independently by his own strength, and manda-mateh is one who is less intelligent because he is too absorbed in materialistic activites.
It is best for such persons not to aspire for success to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The perfection of life is simply to surrender to the Supreme. In the beginning of our spiritual life we muct therefore worship Madana-mohana so that He may attract us and nullify our attachment for material sense gratification.
This relationship with Madana-mohana is necessary for neophyte devotees. When one wishes to render service to the Lord with strong attachment, one then worships Govinda on the platform of trancendental service. Govinda is the reservoir of all pleasures. When by the grace of Krsna and the devotees one reaches perfection in devotional service, he can appreciate Krsna as Gopijana-vallbha, the pleasure Deity of the damsels of Vraja.
Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained this mode of devotional service in three stages, and therefore these worshipable Deities were installed in Vrndavana by different Gosvamis. They are very dear to the Gaudiya Vaisnava there, who visit the temples at aleast once a day.
Besides the temples of these three Deities, many other temples have been established in Vrndavana, such as the temple of Radha-Damodara of Jiva Gosvami, the temple of Syamasundara of Syamananda Gosvami, the temple of Gokulananda of Lokanatha Gosvami, and the temple of Radharamana of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami.
There are seven principal temples over four hundred years old that are the most important of the 5,000 temples now existing in Vrndavana.
"Gaudiya" indicates the part of India between the southern side of the Himalayan Mountains and the northern part of the Vindhya Hills, which is called Aryavarta, or the Land of the Aryans.
This portion of India is divided into five parts or provinces (panca-gaudadesa): Sarasvata (Kashmir and Punjab), Kanyakubja (Uttar Pradesh), Maithila (Bihar and part of Bengal) and utkala (part of Bengal and the whole of Orissa).
Bengal is sometimes called Gaudadesa, partly because it forms a portion of Maithila and partly because the capital of the Hindu King Raja Laksmana Sena was known as Gauda. This old capital later came to be known as Gaudapura and gradually Mayapur.
The devotees of Orissa are called Udiyas, the devotees of Bengal are called Gaudiyas, and the devotees of southern India are known as Dravidi devotees. As there are five provinces in Aryavarta, so Daksinatya, southern India, is also divided into five provinces, which are called Panca-dravida.
The four Vaisnava acaryas who are the great authorities of the four Vaisanava disciplic succession, as well as Sripada Sankaracarya of the Mayavada School, appeared in the Panca-dravida provinces.
Among the four Vaisnava acaryas, who are all accpeted by the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, Sri Ramanuja Acarya appeared in the southern part of Andhra-Pradesh ar Mahabhuta-puri, Sri Madhva Acarya appeared at Pajakam (near vimangiri) in the district of Myangalore, Sri Visnusvami appeared at Pandya, and Sri Nimbarka appeared at Mungera-patana in the extreme south.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accpeted the chain of disciplic succession from Madhva Acarya, but the Vaisnavas in His line do not accpet the tattva-vadis, who also claim to belong to Madhva-sampradaya.
To distinguish themselves clearly from the tattva-vadi branch of Madhva's desendants the Vaisnavas of Bengal perfer to call themselves Gaudiya Vaisnavas.
Sri Madhva Acarya is also known as Sri Gaudapurnanada, and therefore the name Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya is quite suitable for the disciplic succession of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas.
Our spiritual master, Om Visnupada Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, accpeted initiation in the Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya.
TEXT - 20
"In the beginning of this narration, simply by remembering the spiritual master, the devotees of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead, I have invoked their benedictions."
TEXT - 21
"Such remembrance destroys all difficulties and very easily enables one to fulfill his own desires."
TEXT - 22
"The invocation involves three processes: defining the objective, offering benedictions and offering obeisances."
TEXT -23
"The first two verses offer respectful obeisances, generally and specifically, to the Lord, who is the object of worship."
TEXT - 24
"In the third verse, I indicate the Absolute Truth, who is the ultimate substance. With such a description, one can visualize the Supreme Truth."
TEXT - 25
"In the fourth verse I have invoked the benediction of the Lord upon all the world, praying to Lord Caitanya for His mercy upon all."
TEXT - 26
"In that verse I have also explained the external reason for Lord Caitanya's incarnation. But in the fifth and sixth verses I have explained the prime reason for His advent."
TEXT - 27
"In these six verses I have described the truth about Lord Caitanya, whereas in the next five I have described the glory of Lord Nityananda."
TEXT - 28
"The next two verses describe the truth of Advaita Prabhu, and the following verse describes the Panca-tattva [the Lord, His plenary portion, His incarnation, His energies and His devotees]."
TEXT - 29
"These fourteen verses, therefore, offer auspicious invocations and describe the Supreme Truth."
TEXT - 30
"I offer my obeisances unto all my Vaisnava readers as I begin to explain the intricacies of all these verses."
TEXT - 31
"I request all my Vaisnava readers to read and hear with rapt attention this narration of Sri Krsna Caitanya as inculcated in the revealed scriptures."
PURPORT
Lord Caitanya is the Absolute Truth, Krsna Himself. This is substantiated by evidence from the authentic spiritual scriptures. Sometimes people accept a man as God on the basis of their whimsical sentiments and without reference to the revealed scriptures, but the author of Caitanya-caritamrta proves all his statements by citing the sastras. Thus he establishes that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT - 32
"Lord Krsna enjoys by manifesting Himself as the spiritual masters, the devotees, the diverse energies, the incarnations, and the plenary portions. They are all six in one."
TEXT - 33
"I therefore whorship the lotus feet of these six diversities of the one truth by invoking their benedictions."