[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on January 17th, 1998, Australia, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 23]
Srila Gurudeva: First we should try to follow the principles of saranagati.
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah
-Srimad Bhagavad-Gita 18.66
[Completely abandoning all bodily and mental dharma, such as varna and asrama, fully surrender to Me alone. I shall liberate you from all reactions to your sins. Do not grieve.]
This is actually not bhakti, but it is the doorway of bhakti. If you will follow these things, then we can really enter into bhakti. And after that, so many things are there to follow, so many things. In a day or two, we cannot explain it. Caitanya Mahaprabhu told all these things in so many years, so many years. About eighteen years in Puri, here and there. For about forty-eight years, He was continuously giving all these things. Then He disappeared. So we should try to follow all these things. Do not to waste your time in anything other than krsna-bhakti. Yesterday, I explained about the verses of Caitanya-caritamrta, about preaching nama-sankirtana and establishing yuga-dharma. This yuga-dharma is preaching and establishing nama-sankirtana in Kali-yuga. But it is not the primary cause or reason for the descent of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It was secondary. Advaita Acarya could have easily done this. It was really the work and duty of Maha-Visnu to establish the yuga-dharma. The duty of Krsna is not to establish yuga-dharma, to fight wars and to kill demons and all these things. When Krsna appeared in this world, Maha-Visnu, Narayana, Rama, Nrsimha, Kalki, Vamana, all were in Krsna and they were doing their separate separate duties. It was seen by general persons that Krsna is doing all these things, but what Krsna Himself doing? He was tasting the prema-rasa-niryasa of Vraja, of the gopis, of His friends, of His father, mother and all other things. This was His duty. To kill demons like Putana and Aghasura and to give liberation to them, fighting in the Mahabharata war, killing so many demons, also helping Arjuna and Bhima in killing all demons, who was doing this? Maha-Visnu.
Krsna was not really doing all these things. But those who have no eyes, no tattva-jna, they cannot realize this. They think that Krsna has done all these things. There is some difference in rasika Krsna, that is Nanda-nandana, Yasoda-nandana, and Devaki-nandana. Though by tattva they are one, but by rasa, by the angle of vision of rasa, Krsna is supreme. He is not Devaki-nandana, but still he is Devaki-nandana. So, here he is telling that nama-sankirtana, the preaching of nama-sankirtana, was the yuga-dharma and actually it was the duty of Maha-Visnu. Once, at the time of the sannyasa of Svamiji, Visvarupa mahotsava, I explained in Mathura that those who are doing the duty of only preaching nama, it is the duty of only Maha-Visnu. I explained that all of our acaryas, like Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, all the Gosvamis, Krsnadasa Gosvami, Narottama Thakura, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Baladeva Vidyabhusana, Srila Prabhupada, Srila Svamiji, they have not come to this world, descended to this world only to preach nama-sankirtana. Really it is the duty of Maha-Visnu, Advaita Acarya.