Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhar deva Goswami
To bring Sri Gauranga nearer to our soul is to get, even unconsciously, a guarantee of our achievement in krsna-lila. For the fallen souls it is more useful to cultivate devotion for Sri Gauranga. That will give us the complete fulfillment of life with the least trouble. Devotion to Gauranga will not lead us to any haphazard or misconceived Krsna consciousness, but real Krsna consciousness. We can have full Krsna consciousness by the help of Gaura consciousness. By developing devotion to Sri Gauranga, we will be able to feel that Sri Gauranga consciousness also includes Krsna consciousness—plus something more. What is that? The distribution of Krsna consciousness.
Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, the giver of SriCaitanya-caritamrta, the most valuable theological literature that has ever seen the light of day, has written:
krsna-lila amrta-sara, tara sata sata dhara,
dasa-dike vahe yaha haite
se caitanya-lila haya sarovara aksaya,
mano-hamsa caraha’ tahate
“What is krsna-lila? It is the real essence of nectar. It is the gist of sweetness, happiness, and ecstasy. The sweetness of the sweetest thing that can ever be conceived is represented in krsna-lila. Then what is caitanya-lila? In caitanya-lila, that sweet nectar of krsna-lila is flowing in all ten directions in hundreds of streams as if from a fountain. That fountain is caitanya-lila.” Although caitanya-lila appears later than krsna-lila, caitanya-lila is the source, the foundation. We see that Krsna appeared in Dvapara-yuga, in the previous age, and then Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared later, in Kali-yuga. Still, Their lila is eternal. First there is the giver, then the gift. And the gift of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is that in all the ten directions, He is distributing unlimited streams of sweet krsna-lila to the world.
Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami concludes, “0 devotees, come! Like so many swans, you must swim in the lake of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes. From that lake krsna-lila is flowing to the world in different streams. Devotees, like clouds, take nectar from that lake, and distribute that nectar freely to the fortunate souls. Come and live in that lake. Ask the swan of your mind to take shelter in that lake. May that swan swim in the nectarine lake of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s life and precepts, from where so many hundreds of streams of nectar are flowing in all directions. O devotees, I offer this humble prayer to you.”
