


Sharanagati
Collected words from talks of Swami Tirtha
Question of Damodar: Before God appears on the Earth there are years of preparation. Could you please tell us some of the signs for the appearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? And not only signs but personalities.
Tirtha Maharaj: There are good omens and bad omens. In the Kali Yuga the bad omens are in majority. The good signs are few. But still there are some good signs. For example, in the morning if you walk out of your door and you see a banana tree – this is a very positive sign. Little difficult in Sofia. Or if you see cows for example – that is also a good sign. That is easier, especially in a village. And many other signs, omens are there which are favourable and unfavourable. Time has this tendency of degradation. And as the ages go down, the level of mercy is raised. So when you see most fallen situation, most fallen condition, this is the best omen, best sign, so to say, to invite God.
And it is said that before the appearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu people had a very degraded life – wasting their money on animal fights, breaking the principles of moral codes, and having religious or pseudo religious practices of lower types, like Kali worship, naga worship, etc. So the general condition of people was very fallen and some of the predecessors, so to say, of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, saw the very degraded mood and the frightening future of humanity. Especially Advaita Achariya, He was a senior member of the vaishnava group in Bengal; and Haridasa Thakura – they were, so to say, the forerunners. So Advaita Achariya started to pray to God Supreme: “Please, come and save humanity.” And besides the prayers, He started worship. Started worship with Ganges water, tulasi leaves, offerings, prayers. And His prayer was so powerful, that finally that was an invitation. We can say that that was the practical reason why Mahaprabhu came. Otherwise He is considered divine energy, manifestation of divine energy – this Advaita.
But this is the immediate reason why Mahaprabhu came. The original reason was that Krishna wanted to taste how it feels to be a devotee. He wanted to understand His attractive power and He wanted to understand the depth of Radharani’s love for Him. So these are the three reasons why God came as Mahaprabhu. This is the internal reason; and the external reason is the degraded position of the Earth, humanity.
Five hundred years ago it was a degraded position. In the beginning of the 20th century Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote: “Ah, the conditions on the Earth are so degraded that only an incarnation of God can help the situation.” So he was expecting another incarnation to come. Well, maybe it is not Narasimha who appeared. Maybe it is not Kalki who appeared. But somebody came. And this is actually, we can say in brackets, a grandson of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Because Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s son is Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, and his spiritual son, his disciple – Shrila Prabhupada. And Shrila Shridhara Maharaj, who is before Prabhupada, called his god-brother, Bhaktivedanta Swami, shaktyavesha-avatar. So the prophesy of Bhaktivinoda came true, we can say. Divine power came to planet Earth to help humanity. The prophecies of the great ones always come true.
Then what to do? Shall we ask our seniors these questions, like prophecies? Shall we ask our masters about our private future? Beware! Their words will come true. So if our masters tell: “Ah, you will become a great preacher,” it will come true. Or if he says: “You will become a humble devotee,” irrespective of your great ego. Or etc.
So, God never leaves the humans. There is always a chance for purification and connection. And with Mahaprabhu some others also came – like His brother, so to say, although coming from a different family – this is Nityananda, who is guru-tattva. Jaya Shri Krishna Chaitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Shri Advaita, Gadadhara and Shrivasa – these are the five personalities who appeared and played a major role in this chapter of divinity. They represent divine aspects and divine energies and divine servants of the Supreme. And in this way the picture is complete. So God, His main energy, His teacher – shakti, His divine power, and His bhakta-shakti. His divine, internal energy – like Gadadhara. And when Mahaprabhu left, slowly-slowly all these other personalities also withdraw. The sons of Advaita Prabhu started their own, so to say, sampradayas. And the Nityananda line is still alive. So we can see that this Chaitanya tree has branched off into many, many lines, schools, traditions. Gaudiya Math is one such organization, ISKCON is another one and I hope we are another small little sprig on Mahaprabhu’s tree.
Yashoda: Which is the line of Nityananda Prabhu?
Tirtha Maharaj: This is the gopa-line. We are the gopi-line. Their main ideal is the gopa association with God, with Krishna.
2 Responses to “Immediate and original reasons of Mahaprabhu’s coming”
Leave a Reply

December 26th, 2019 at 7:26 pm
Nice .. Hare Krishna ..
December 26th, 2019 at 8:21 pm
Hare Krishna!