Today marks the completion of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta by Srila Krishnadasa Gosvami, four hundred and five years ago, at Radha-kunda.
At the end of the Madhya-lila (25.277–279), Srila Krishnadasa Gosvami writes:
“The devotees who have taken shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu take the responsibility for distributing nectarean devotional service all over the world. They are like clouds pouring water on the ground that nourishes the fruit of love of Godhead in this world. The devotees eat that fruit to their hearts’ content, and whatever remnants they leave are eaten by the general populace. Thus they live happily.
“The pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are full of nectar, and the pastimes of Lord Krsna are like camphor. When one mixes these, they taste very sweet. By the mercy of the pure devotees, whoever tastes them can understand the depths of that sweetness.
“Men become strong and stout by eating sufficient grains, but the devotee who simply eats ordinary grains but does not taste the transcendental pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Krsna gradually becomes weak and falls down from the transcendental position. However, if one drinks but a drop of the nectar of Krsna’s pastimes, his body and mind begin to bloom, and he begins to laugh, sing and dance.”
In his purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupada advises, “All the devotees connected with the Krsna consciousness movement must read all the books that have been translated (the Caitanya-caritamrta, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita and others); otherwise, after some time, they will simply eat, sleep and fall down from their position. Thus they will miss the opportunity to attain an eternal, blissful life of transcendental pleasure.”
The last verses of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 20.144–157) follow:
“The Vrndavana Deities of Madana-mohana with Srimati Radharani, Govinda with Srimati Radharani, and Gopinatha with Srimati Radharani are the life and soul of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas.
“So that my desires may be fulfilled, I place the lotus feet of these personalities on my head: Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, with Lord Nityananda, Advaita Acarya and Their devotees, as well as Sri Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, who is my spiritual master, and Srila Jiva Gosvami.
“The mercy of their lotus feet is my spiritual master, and my words are my disciples, whom I have made dance in various ways.
“Seeing the fatigue of the disciples, the spiritual master has stopped making them dance, and because that mercy no longer makes them dance, my words now sit silently.
“My inexperienced words do not know how to dance by themselves. The mercy of the guru made them dance as much as possible, and now, after dancing, they have taken rest.
“I now worship the lotus feet of all my readers, for by the mercy of their lotus feet there is all good fortune.
“If one hears the pastimes of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as described in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, I wash his lotus feet and drink the water.
“I decorate my head with the dust of the lotus feet of my audience. Now you have all drunk this nectar, and therefore my labor is successful.
“Praying at the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Sri Raghunatha, always desiring their mercy, I, Krsnadasa, narrate Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, following in their footsteps.
“Sri Caitanya-caritamrta is filled with the activities of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. It invokes all good fortune and destroys everything inauspicious. If one tastes the nectar of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta with faith and love, I become like a bumblebee tasting the honey of transcendental love from his lotus feet.
“Since this book, Caitanya-caritamrta, is now complete, having been written for the satisfaction of the most opulent Deities Madana-mohanaji and Govindaji, let it be offered at the lotus feet of Sri Krsna Caitanyadeva.
“Realized devotees are like bumblebees maddened by their own mellows at Krsna’s lotus feet. The scent of those lotus feet perfumes the entire world. Who is the realized soul that could give them up?
“In Vrndavana in the year 1537 Sakabda Era [A.D. 1615], in the month of Jyaistha [May-June], on Sunday, the fifth day of the waning moon, this Caitanya-caritamrta has been completed.”
Attached is a photograph of Srila Krishnadasa Gosvami’s bhajana-kutira at Radha-kunda, where he wrote Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. The painting of him was a copy done by Mother Arca-vigraha, one of her last services before she left this world.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami