Question: Although it is clear that Gauranga Mahaprabhu is the all-munificent avatar of Kali age, it is often found in ISKCON that there is less concentration in description of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes? Why is this so? Even after long association in some congregations, very few pastimes of Lord Caitanya are described. How is that we could get attracted to Gauranga in this scenario?
Answer by Romapada Swami: Hearing Caitanya-lila or Krishna-lila is certainly not less important, and is very purifying. Prabhupada has given us the Krishna book, Srimad Bhagavatam and also the Caitanya Caritamrta, which describe in detail various lilas. But, hearing about the soul or for that matter, the defects of modern science, is also Krishna katha! Hearing these basic topics will certainly bring us gradually to the platform of real attachment to Lord Caitanya and hearing His transcendental pastimes.
The first lesson in spiritual life is to understand that we are not the body but we are spirit souls, parts and parcels of Krishna. Technically this is called sambandha jnana. Without a solid foundation in sambandha jnana, it is very difficult to properly understand the pastimes of the Lord, which are beyond all mundane perception. What we require to properly understand Caitanya-lila is not just a theoretical understanding, but we need to actually become fixed in the spiritual conception. This takes repeated hearing due to our strong material conditioning.
Srila Prabhupada made this emphasis in his own preaching as well and was very effective in quickly uplifting the consciousness of his disciples. If we hear the hundreds of lecture tapes of Srila Prabhupada, we will find that he repeatedly spoke on the most fundamental topics such as ‘you are not this body’. We are trying to closely follow his footsteps.
Based on your encouragement, as well as that of others, I intend to speak more often on the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however.
