Śrī Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.117
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: [To Madhuvrata dāsa] Do you remember something?
Madhuvrata dāsa: A śloka?
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Not a śloka (the Sanskrit word for a Sanskrit verse); a payara (Bengali verse).
Madhuvrata dāsa:
kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha
ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha
Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 20.117)[Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy māyā gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence.*]
“The conditioned soul, who is averse to Kṛṣṇa, has become enamored by material energy since time immemorial, and therefore māyā gives him unlimited suffering in the form of three-fold miseries.”
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: How does māyā give suffering to the jīvas?
Madhuvrata dāsa: I don’t know the śloka.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: You will have to remember so many payaras.
kabhu svarge, kabhu martye, narake vā kabhu
kabhu deva, kabhu daitya, kabhu dāsa, prabhu
Prema-vivarta (6.6)[Sometimes he goes to heaven. Then, he has to come down to Earth again, or maybe he has to go to hell. Sometimes he is born as a deva (demigod), sometimes as a demon, sometimes as the master, and at other times as the servant.*]
āmi siddha kṛṣṇa dāsa, ei kathā bhule
māyāra naphara haṣā cira-dina bule
Prema-vivarta (6.4)[The jīva soul, having forgotten his constitutional position as the eternal perfect and pure servant of Kṛṣṇa, remains māyā’s slave while going from one body to the next.*]
So many important truths are explained here. [To Vṛndā-devī dāsī] Do you remember something?
[Vṛndā-devī dāsī: recites and explains the same verse.]
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: And others?
Vṛndā-devī dāsī: I am trying to learn the next one, but I’ll mix them up if I try to say more than one.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: You can tell Brajanāth prabhu to speak.
Vṛndā-devī dāsī: He knows the verses.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Do you know them?
Brajanāth dāsa: Kṛṣṇa bhuliye…jīva…
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Brajanāth buli [meaning ‘Brajanāth has forgotten’].
tāte kṛṣṇa bhaje, kare gurura sevana
māyā-jāla chuṭe, pāya kṛṣṇera caraṇa
Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.25)[In the Kṛṣṇa conscious state, the living entity engages in devotional service under the direction of the spiritual master. In this way he gets out of the clutches of māyā and takes shelter under the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa.*]
Without this, māyā will not leave us. We should remember this principle and try to be far away from māyā.
What is māyā?
Madhuvrata dāsa: What is māyā? It is the external energy of the Lord.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: What is the word-meaning of māyā?
Madhuvrata dāsa: Māyā means ‘not this.’ Mā-yā.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: And what does that mean?
Madhuvrata dāsa: What appears to be real is actually illusory and temporary.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Mmm. [Pointing towards Vṛndāvana dāsa, who is standing close by] Who is he?
Madhuvrata dāsa: Vṛndāvana dāsa.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Whose building is this?
Madhuvrata dāsa: It belongs to Vṛndāvana dāsa, Gurudeva.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Who are you?
Madhuvrata dāsa: Madhuvrata dāsa.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Madhuvrata?
Madhuvrata dāsa: I don’t know who I am, Gurudeva.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Whose coat is this?
Madhuvrata dāsa: It is your coat.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: It is all māyā – the illusory māyā.
Madhuvrata dāsa: ‘I’ and ‘mine.’
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Mā means ‘not’ and yā means ‘this.’ What is not, we think to be real. He thinks, “This is my wife.” This is māyā. He is the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.
Madhuvrata dāsa: I have no realization of this, Gurudeva.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. If you know everything about bhakti-śāstras but you are not realizing or following, then internally you are in māyā.
Moreover, externally you will later on accept māyā. For example, Prema-prayojana knew so many things, so many things, but what became of him? What will happen if a person is not following and at the same time speaks hari-kathā to others? This is the influence of the illusory māyā. Then, where will you be as the hearer?
Thus, māyā is not so easy to give up. When we surrender completely to guru and Kṛṣṇa, then we can give her up. Those who have partly surrendered – who are surrendered by words but not by activities, mind, and soul – are in māyā. Though we are giving a chance to all, those who follow will be saved and those who do not follow will remain in this world of birth and death. We followed our gurudeva with śaraṇāgati (the six limbs of surrender), and that is why we are saved.
Thank you.
[To Acyutānanda dāsa] Can you give me some work [regarding my Hindi manuscripts] today?
Acyutānanda dāsa: Yeah, maybe later.
Brajanāth dāsa: Your dictation from yesterday.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: You have made this ready?
Acyutānanda dāsa: Not yet. I have yet to do it.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: All right, so do it. Have they sent something? 19
Acyutānanda dāsa: I don’t think so.
Vṛndāvana dāsa: Gurudeva, you said that if we are not surrendering our mind and soul to guru, then after some time we won’t be able to maintain the facade of being a devotee?
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Yes, this is quite true. I can give guidance and tell them what to do, but they will have to follow. I cannot walk for them. They will have to walk. Hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare / hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare.
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