Gaura Purnima Meditation, 13.3.2025

When will the day come when we, as active devotees and those who are pious at heart, will truly be able to appreciate what Lord Caitanya has given us? Never before—not even in every Kali-yuga—have the gates to Goloka Dhāma been opened in this way, through the unlimited mercy of the Lord.

Alas, the conditioned soul thinks that when something is given for free, it must be cheap. No wonder the chanting of the Holy Name was, for so long, considered a secret—a privilege reserved for the brāhmaṇical class. As we see today, the Holy Name, as well as the saintly position bestowed upon those who strictly follow the śāstric codes, can be so easily misused by mleccha-śūdra types of pseudo-spiritual leaders. They take advantage of what was given to them, often claiming it as their own. As self-proclaimed sages, they collect what Lord Caitanya has given and claim a position to which they do not belong. As soon as Lord Caitanya left this planet, hordes of sahajiyās imitated Him but did not follow the path of devotion He had shown.

“First serve, then deserve”—this was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s policy as he delivered the message of Lord Caitanya to us, the Western mlecchas.
Lord Caitanya can be freely seen but not cheaply imitated. His most intimate pastimes remain a privilege for those who have truly qualified themselves; the imitators receive only a shadow—an imaginary form of the Lord. Such are the laws of material nature, which exercises strict censorship at the gates of Vaikuṇṭha and Goloka Dhāma.

Who will truly reap the fruits of love of Godhead and earn the mercy of Lord Caitanya? That will be revealed by the absence of material desires, by sense control, and by moral conduct exhibited in our dealings with the world around us.

The process Lord Caitanya has given us is so wonderful—the more we give, the more we receive. Such is the mood of His preaching mission. No preaching means merely maintaining a mental practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Our spiritual master never advocated a “retreat bhajan” or a secluded practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Public preaching serves both purposes: purification for the preacher and benefit for those who, even unconsciously, receive the mercy of Mahāprabhu. Whether they listen or not, we do not care. Just as Śrīla Prabhupāda came uninvited, his preachers have also inherited this invasive mentality, implementing the maximum amount of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the minimum amount of time, according to time, place, and circumstance. Only in this way can Lord Caitanya be truly understood. Those who imitate Him cheaply will be caught in the net of their material desires and compromised along the way. Śrīla Prabhupāda offered us the path of unconditional surrender, and those fortunate souls—like myself—who joined a movement purely based on the selfless spirit of preaching found themselves in ecstasy, dancing madly in kīrtana.

The gloomy atmosphere that kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs later spread—by putting themselves at the centre and claiming to have created what was so freely given to them—dampened the bliss and weakened the preaching spirit. The scriptures predict that when a pure devotee departs, such a mentality may prevail for a time before being removed and replaced by a rejuvenated preaching spirit, carried by those who have been empowered by Lord Caitanya. The ups and downs in the spread of Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be historically traced, as material energy punishes deviations in a pendulum-like motion. But those who join Lord Caitanya and preach vigorously, using whatever means are at their disposal, will always be revitalised. In fact, the movements of the rising and setting sun do not affect them. Their mission and their connection with the leading ācāryas of this movement are eternal, untouched by time.

This is the greatest gift Lord Caitanya has bestowed upon us—an eternal, timeless way of becoming part of His mission. Without Śrīla Prabhupāda, we would know nothing about Lord Caitanya, and even today, we continue to wonder at and marvel over the ślokas written down by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī in his Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

When will the day come when we may truly get a glimpse of this unique book, which describes—in the most condensed form—the ultimate manifestation of the Lord and His pastimes? There is no religious or spiritual literature of this calibre available to human society. And so, on the Appearance Day of Lord Caitanya, all we can do is bow down before this amazing book, which was given so freely to the most unqualified among us.

Some became followers.
Some became imitators.
They may sound the same, but they reach completely opposite destinations.

We can only pray to Lord Caitanya to bless us with the intelligence to properly discern the various paths before us—and to choose the path of a follower, not an imitator. Lord Caitanya made things so easy. He is so liberal.

But He is not cheap. Let us remember that.