Chaitanya Bhagavata

by Bhumipati Dāsa | 2008 | 1,349,850 words

The Chaitanya Bhagavata 1.2.72, English translation, including a commentary (Gaudiya-bhasya). This text is similair to the Caitanya-caritamrita and narrates the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, proclaimed to be the direct incarnation of Krishna (as Bhagavan) This is verse 72 of Adi-khanda chapter 2—“The Lord’s Appearance”.

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.2.72:

গীতা ভাগবত যে-যে-জনেতে পডায ভক্তির ব্যাখ্যান নাহি তাহার জিহ্বায ॥ ৭২ ॥

गीता भागवत ये-ये-जनेते पडाय भक्तिर व्याख्यान नाहि ताहार जिह्वाय ॥ ७२ ॥

gītā bhāgavata ye-ye-janete paḍāya bhaktira vyākhyāna nāhi tāhāra jihvāya || 72 ||

gita bhagavata ye-ye-janete padaya bhaktira vyakhyana nahi tahara jihvaya (72)

English translation:

(72) Even when someone explained the Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, they would not mention anything about devotional service to the Lord.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

In his commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrī Madhvācārya quotes the following verse from the Mahā-kūrma Purāṇa:

bhārataṃ sarva-śāstreṣu bhārate gītikā varā viṣṇoḥ sahasra-nāmāpi geyaṃ pāṭhyaṃ ca tad dvayam

Mahābhārata is the best of all scriptures, and Bhagavad-gītā and Viṣṇu- sahasra-nāma are the best parts of the Mahābhārata. They should always be studied and recited.”

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the speaker of the Bhagavad-gītā, and Arjuna is the listener. Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā consists of 700 ślokas in eighteen chapters and is found in the Bhīṣma-parva of the Mahābhārata. It is the first book to be read by persons on the spiritual path.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam consists of 18,000 verses and is one of the eighteen Purāṇas composed by Śrī Vyāsa. It is the crest jewel of the Sātvata- purāṇas. This spotless Purāṇa is also called Sātvata-saṃhitā or Paramahaṃsi, that which is meant for swanlike persons. It is stated in the Garuḍa Purāṇa:

artho ‘yaṃ brahma-sūtrāṇāṃ bhāratārtha vinirṇayaḥ gāyatrī-bhāṣya-rūpo ‘sau vedārtha-paribṛṃhitaḥ

“The meaning of the Vedānta-sūtras, the full purport of the

Mahābhārata, the commentary on Brahma-gāyatrī, and the fully expanded knowledge of the Vedas are all present in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.” From this statement it is understood that this emperor of all literatures, or spotless pramāṇa, is also a śruti like the Upaniṣads (see Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.4.7 spoken by Śaunaka Ṛṣi to his spiritual master, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī); it is also nyāya like the Brahma-sūtras (see Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.13.15); and it is also smṛti like the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas. Regarding the glories of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, one may refer to the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Twenty-one, and Antya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Three; Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter One, Madhya-līlā, Chapters Twenty, Twenty-four, and Twenty-five, Antya-līlā, Chapters Five, Seven, and Thirteen; and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu’s considerations in the Tattva-sandarbha (18-28). This literature is always discussed among liberated swanlike Vaiṣṇavas.

At that time those who studied pure devotional literatures like Bhagavad- gītā and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam never explained that worshiping the Supreme Lord is the only duty of the living entities. Their recitation and teaching of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam was meant for achieving immediate sense gratification, and they thus twisted the meanings of these two books to make them appear like the ordinary book Saptaśatī-caṇḍī, which is meant for satisfying one’s senses. And the nondevotee communities presently recite Gītā and Bhāgavata in this way. Such recitation of Gītā and Bhāgavata by conditioned souls who are simply interested in sensual happiness is an obstacle for one’s advancement and simply leads one to hell, because that is never recitation of Gītā and Bhāgavata. Rather, such recitation is a collection of ordinary mundane words for gratifying the senses. Śrī Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam are the crest jewels of all scriptures, they are as great and as worthy of taking shelter of as Kṛṣṇa, and they are the transcendental manifestations of śrī-kṛṣṇa-kīrtana. They are neither mundane philosophical books nor ordinary poetry that are accessible to the mundane ears and tongues of materialistic people. This class of speakers

and listeners who are interested in sensual happiness are ever bereft of the merciful glance of magnanimous Mahāprabhu.

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