Everyone depends upon dharma (religiosity), artha (economic development), kama (sense gratification) and ultimately moksa (salvation), but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, due to His magnanimous character, can give more than salvation. Therefore in this verse the words hinarthadhika-sadhakam indicate that although by material estimation salvation is of a quality superior to the inferior interests of religiosity, economic development and sense gratification, above salvation there is the position of devotional service and transcendental love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the bestower of this great benediction. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, prema pum-artho mahan: "Love of Godhead is the ultimate benediction for all human beings." Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, the author of Caitanya-caritamrta, therefore first offers his respectful obeisances unto Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu before describing His magnanimity in bestowing love of Godhead.

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah

Taking advantage of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, many unscrupulous devotees manufacture a maha-mantra of their own. Sometimes they sing, bhaja nitai gaura radhe syama hare krsna hare rama or sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda hare krsna hare rama sri-radhe govinda. Actually, however, one should chant the names of the full Panca-tattva (sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda) and then the sixteen words Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, but these unscrupulous, less intelligent men confuse the entire process. Of course, since they are also devotees they can express their feelings in that way, but the method prescribed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's pure devotees is to chant first the full Panca-tattva mantra and then chant the maha-mantra--Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

The Mayavadi philosophers, however, try to equate the minute living entities with the supreme living entity. Because they recognize no distinctions between them, their philosophy is called Advaita-vada, or monism. Factually, however, there is a distinction. This verse is especially meant to impart to the Mayavadi philosopher the understanding that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme controller. The supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead, is Krsna Himself, but as a transcendental pastime He has accepted the form of a devotee, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna comes to this planet exactly like a human being, some rascals consider Him to be one of the ordinary humans. One who thinks in that mistaken way is described as mudha, or foolish. Therefore one should not foolishly consider Caitanya Mahaprabhu to be an ordinary human being. He has accepted the ecstasy of a devotee, but He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since Caitanya Mahaprabhu, there have been many imitation incarnations of Krsna who cannot understand that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna Himself and not an ordinary human being. Less intelligent men create their own "Gods" by advertising a human being as God. This is their mistake. Therefore here the words tanra suddha kalevara warn that Caitanya Mahaprabhu's body is not material but purely spiritual. One should not, therefore, accept Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an ordinary devotee, although He has assumed the form of a devotee. Yet one must certainly know that although Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because He accepted the ecstasy of a devotee one should not misunderstand His pastimes and place Him in exactly the same position as Krsna. It is for this reason only that when Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu was addressed as Krsna or Visnu He blocked His ears, not wanting to hear Himself addressed as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is a class of devotees called Gauranga-nagari, who stage plays of Krsna's pastimes using a vigraha, or form, of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is a mistake that is technically called rasabhasa. While Caitanya Mahaprabhu is trying to enjoy as a devotee, one should not disturb Him by addressing Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

gauranga balite habe pulaka sarira
hari hari balite nayane ba'be nira

ara kabe nitaicanda karuna karibe
samsara-vasana mora kabe tuccha habe

visaya chadiya kabe suddha habe mana
kabe hama heraba sri-vrndavana

rupa-raghunatha-pade ha-ibe akuti
kabe hama bujhaba sri-yugala-piriti

By attachment to the devotional service of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu one immediately comes to the ecstatic position. When he develops his love for Nityananda Prabhu he is freed from all attachment to the material world, and at that time he becomes eligible to understand the Lord's pastimes in Vrndavana. In that condition, when one develops his love for the six Gosvamis, he can understand the conjugal love between Radha and Krsna. These are the different stages of a pure devotee's promotion to conjugal love in the service of Radha and Krsna in an intimate relationship with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura comments in his Anubhasya that among the five tattvas, two are energies (sakti-tattva) and the three others are energetic (saktiman tattva). Unalloyed and internal devotees are both engaged in the favorable culture of Krsna consciousness untinged by philosophical speculation or fruitive activities. They are all understood to be pure devotees, and those among them who simply engage in conjugal love are called madhurya-bhaktas, or internal devotees. The loving services in parental love, fraternity and servitude are included in conjugal love of God. In conclusion, therefore, every confidential devotee is a pure devotee of the Lord.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu enjoys His pastimes with His immediate expansion Nityananda Prabhu. His pure devotees and His three purusa incarnations, namely, Karanodakasayi Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu and Ksirodakasayi Visnu, always accompany the Supreme Lord to propound the sankirtana movement.

Instead of being envious that Krsna consciousness is spreading all over the world by the grace of Lord Caitanya, those who are jealous should be happy, as indicated here by the words parama ullasa. But because they are kanistha-adhikaris or prakrta-bhaktas (materialistic devotees who are not advanced in spiritual knowledge), they are envious instead of happy, and they try to find faults in the Krsna consciousness movement. Yet Srimat Prabodhananda Sarasvati writes in his Caitanya-candramrta that when influenced by Lord Caitanya's Krsna consciousness movement, materialists become averse to talking about their wives and children, supposedly learned scholars give up their tedious studies of Vedic literature, yogis give up their impractical practices of mystic yoga, ascetics give up their austere activities of penance and austerity, and sannyasis give up their study of Sankhya philosophy. Thus they are all attracted by the bhakti-yoga practices of Lord Caitanya and cannot relish a mellow taste superior to that of Krsna consciousness.

avajananti mam mudha
manusim tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-mahesvaram

There are also other unscrupulous persons who exploit the Lord's appearance by posing as incarnations to cheat the innocent public. An incarnation of God should pass the tests of the statements of the sastras and also perform uncommon activities. One should not accept a rascal as an incarnation of God but should test his ability to act as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For example, Krsna taught Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita, and Arjuna also accepted Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but for our understanding Arjuna requested the Lord to manifest His universal form, thus testing whether He was actually the Supreme Lord. Similarly, one must test a so-called incarnation of Godhead according to the standard criteria. To avoid being misled by an exhibition of mystic powers, it is best to examine a so-called incarnation of God in the light of the statements of the sastras. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is described in the sastras as an incarnation of Krsna; therefore if one wants to imitate Lord Caitanya and claim to be an incarnation, he must show evidence from the sastras about his appearance to substantiate his claim.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has explained the term "Mayavadi" as follows: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to the material conception of life. A Mayavadi is one who considers the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna to be made of maya and who also considers the abode of the Lord and the process of approaching Him, devotional service, to be maya. The Mayavadi considers all the paraphernalia of devotional service to be maya." Maya refers to material existence, which is characterized by the reactions of fruitive activities. Mayavadis consider devotional service to be among such fruitive activities. According to them, when bhagavatas (devotees) are purified by philosophical speculation, they will come to the real point of liberation. Those who speculate in this way regarding devotional service are called kutarkikas (false logicians), and those who consider devotional service to be fruitive activity are also called karma-nisthas. Those who criticize devotional service are called nindakas (blasphemers). Similarly, nondevotees who consider devotional activities to be material are also called pasandis, and scholars with a similar viewpoint are called adhama paduyas.

The kutarkikas, nindakas, pasandis and adhama paduyas all avoided the benefit of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's movement of developing love of Godhead. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu felt compassion for them, and it is for this reason that He decided to accept the sannyasa order, for by seeing Him as a sannyasi they would offer Him respects. The sannyasa order is still respected in India. Indeed, the very dress of a sannyasi still commands respect from the Indian public. Therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted sannyasa to facilitate preaching His devotional cult, although otherwise He had no need to accept the fourth order of spiritual life.

tasmat kenapy upayena
manah krsne nivesayet
sarve vidhi-nisedha syur
etayor eva kinkarah

In describing the Kasira Mayavadis, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has explained that persons who are bewildered by empiric knowledge or direct sensual perception, and who thus consider that even this limited material world can be gauged by their material estimations, conclude that anything that one can discern by direct sense perception is but maya, or illusion. They maintain that although the Absolute Truth is beyond the range of sense perception, it includes no spiritual variety or enjoyment. According to the Kasira Mayavadis, the spiritual world is simply void. They do not believe in the Personality of the Absolute Truth or in His varieties of activities in the spiritual world. Although they have their own arguments, which are not very strong, they have no conception of the variegated activities of the Absolute Truth. These impersonalists, who are followers of Sankaracarya, are generally known as Kasira Mayavadis.

Near Varanasi there is another group of impersonalists, who are known as Saranatha Mayavadis. Outside the city of Varanasi is a place known as Saranatha, where there is a big Buddhist stupa. Many followers of Buddhist philosophy live there, and they are known as Saranatha Mayavadis. The impersonalists of Saranatha differ from those of Varanasi, for the Varanasi impersonalists propagate the idea that the impersonal Brahman is truth whereas material varieties are false, but the Saranatha impersonalists do not even believe that the Absolute Truth or Brahman can be understood as the opposite of maya, or illusion. According to their vision, materialism is the only manifestation of the Absolute Truth.

Factually both the Kasira and Saranatha Mayavadis, as well as any other philosophers who have no knowledge of the spirit soul, are advocates of utter materialism. None of them have clear knowledge regarding the Absolute or the spiritual world. Philosophers like the Saranatha Mayavadis who do not believe in the spiritual existence of the Absolute Truth but consider material varieties to be everything do not believe that there are two kinds of nature, inferior (material) and superior (spiritual), as described in the Bhagavad-gita. Actually, neither the Varanasi nor Saranatha Mayavadis accept the principles of the Bhagavad-gita, due to a poor fund of knowledge.

Since these impersonalists who do not have perfect spiritual knowledge cannot understand the principles of bhakti-yoga, they must be classified among the nondevotees who are against the Krsna consciousness movement. We sometimes feel inconvenienced by the hindrances offered by these impersonalists, but we do not care about their so-called philosophy, for we are propagating our own philosophy as presented in Bhagavad-gita As It Is and getting successful results. Theorizing as if devotional service were subject to their mental speculation, both kinds of Mayavadi impersonalists conclude that the subject matter of bhakti-yoga is a creation of maya and that Krsna, devotional service and the devotee are also maya. Therefore, as stated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, mayavadi krsne aparadhi. "All the Mayavadis are offenders to Lord Krsna." (Cc. Madhya 17.129) It is not possible for them to understand the Krsna consciousness movement; therefore we do not value their philosophical conclusions. However expert such quarrelsome impersonalists are in putting forward their so-called logic, we defeat them in every respect and go forward with our Krsna consciousness movement. Their imaginative mental speculation cannot deter the progress of the Krsna consciousness movement, which is completely spiritual and is never under the control of such Mayavadis.

Mayavadi sannyasis neither chant nor dance. Their technical objection is that this method of chanting and dancing is called tauryatrika, which indicates that a sannyasi should completely avoid such activities and engage his time in the study of Vedanta. Actually, such men do not understand what is meant by Vedanta. In the Bhagavad-gita (15.15) Krsna says, vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham: "By all the Vedas I am to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas." Lord Krsna is the actual compiler of Vedanta, and whatever He speaks is Vedanta philosophy. Although they are lacking the knowledge of Vedanta presented by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental form of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Mayavadis are very proud of their study. Foreseeing the bad effects of their presenting Vedanta philosophy in a perverted way, Srila Vyasadeva compiled Srimad-Bhagavatam as a commentary on the Vedanta-sutra. Srimad-Bhagavatam is bhasyo 'yam brahma-sutranam; in other words, all the Vedanta philosophy in the aphorisms of the Brahma-sutra is thoroughly described in the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Thus the factual propounder of Vedanta philosophy is a Krsna conscious person who always engages in reading and understanding the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam and teaching the purport of these books to the entire world. The Mayavadis are very proud of having monopolized the Vedanta philosophy, but devotees have their own commentaries on Vedanta such as Srimad-Bhagavatam and others written by the acaryas. The commentary of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas is the Govinda-bhasya.

The Mayavadis' accusation that devotees do not study Vedanta is false. They do not know that chanting, dancing and preaching the principles of Srimad-Bhagavatam, called bhagavata-dharma, are the same as studying Vedanta. Since they think that reading Vedanta philosophy is the only function of a sannyasi and they did not find Caitanya Mahaprabhu engaged in such direct study, they criticized the Lord. Sripada Sankaracarya has given special stress to the study of Vedanta philosophy: vedanta-vakyesu sada ramantah kaupinavantah khalu bhagyavantah. "A sannyasi, accepting the renounced order very strictly and wearing nothing more than a loincloth, should always enjoy the philosophical statements in the Vedanta-sutra. Such a person in the renounced order is to be considered very fortunate." The Mayavadis in Varanasi blasphemed Lord Caitanya because His behavior did not follow these principles. Lord Caitanya, however, bestowed His mercy upon these Mayavadi sannyasis and delivered them by means of His Vedanta discourses with Prakasananda Sarasvati and Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya.

Before the time of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the suvarna-vanik class was condemned by Ballal Sen, who was then the King of Bengal, due to a personal grudge. In Bengal the suvarna-vanik class are always very rich, for they are bankers and dealers in gold and silver. Therefore, Ballal Sen used to borrow money from a suvarna-vanik banker. Ballal Sen's bankruptcy later obliged the suvarna-vanik banker to stop advancing money to him, and thus he became angry and condemned the entire suvarna-vanik society as belonging to the sudra community. Ballal Sen tried to induce the brahmanas not to accept the suvarna-vaniks as followers of the instructions of the Vedas under the brahminical directions, but although some brahmanas approved of Ballal Sen's actions, others did not. Thus the brahmanas also became divided amongst themselves, and those who supported the suvarna-vanik class were rejected from the brahmana community. At the present day the same biases are still being followed.

There are many Vaisnava families in Bengal whose members, although not actually born brahmanas, act as acaryas by initiating disciples and offering the sacred thread as enjoined in the Vaisnava tantras. For example, in the families of Thakura Raghunandana Acarya, Thakura Krsnadasa, Navani Hoda and Rasikananda-deva (a disciple of Syamananda Prabhu), the sacred thread ceremony is performed, as it is for the caste Gosvamis, and this system has continued for the past three to four hundred years. Accepting disciples born in brahmana families, they are bona fide spiritual masters who have the facility to worship the salagrama-sila, which is worshiped with the Deity. As of this writing, salagrama-sila worship has not yet been introduced in our Krsna consciousness movement, but soon it will be introduced in all our temples as an essential function of arcana-marga (Deity worship).

yatha kancanatam yati kamsyam rasa-vidhanatah
tatha diksa-vidhanena dvijatvam jayate nrnam

Sometimes those born in brahmana families protest this, but they have no strong arguments against this principle. By the grace of Krsna and His devotee, one's life can change. This is confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam by the words jahati bandham and sudhyanti. Jahati bandham indicates that a living entity is conditioned by a particular type of body. The body is certainly an impediment, but one who associates with a pure devotee and follows his instructions can avoid this impediment and become a regular brahmana by initiation under his strict guidance. Srila Jiva Gosvami states how a non-brahmana can be turned into a brahmana by the association of a pure devotee. Prabhavisnave namah: Lord Visnu is so powerful that He can do anything He likes. Therefore it is not difficult for Visnu to change the body of a devotee who is under the guidance of a pure devotee of the Lord.

One who is not taught by a bona fide spiritual master cannot understand the Vedic literature. To emphasize this point, Lord Krsna, while instructing Arjuna, clearly said that it was because Arjuna was His devotee and confidential friend that he could understand the mystery of the Bhagavad-gita. It is to be concluded, therefore, that one who wants to understand the mystery of revealed scriptures must approach a bona fide spiritual master, hear from him very submissively and render service to him. Then the import of the scriptures will be revealed. It is stated in the Vedas (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23):

yasya deve para bhaktir
yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah
prakasante mahatmanah

Srila Narottama dasa Thakura advises, sadhu-sastra-guru-vakya, hrdaye kariya aikya. The meaning of this instruction is that one must consider the instructions of the sadhu, the revealed scriptures and the spiritual master in order to understand the real purpose of spiritual life. Neither a sadhu (saintly person or Vaisnava) nor a bona fide spiritual master says anything that is beyond the scope of the sanction of the revealed scriptures. Thus the statements of the revealed scriptures correspond to those of the bona fide spiritual master and saintly persons. One must therefore act with reference to these three important sources of understanding.

trnad api sunicena
taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih

Nevertheless, the author of these instructions, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, did not tolerate the misbehavior of Jagai and Madhai. When they harmed Lord Nityananda Prabhu, He immediately became angry and wanted to kill them, and it was only by the mercy of Lord Nityananda Prabhu that they were saved. One should be very meek and humble in his personal transactions, and if insulted a Vaisnava should be tolerant and not angry. But if there is blasphemy against one's guru or another Vaisnava, one should be as angry as fire. This was exhibited by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One should not tolerate blasphemy against a Vaisnava but should immediately take one of three actions. If someone blasphemes a Vaisnava, one should stop him with arguments and higher reason. If one is not expert enough to do this he should give up his life on the spot, and if he cannot do this, he must go away. While Caitanya Mahaprabhu was in Benares or Kasi, the Mayavadi sannyasis blasphemed Him in many ways because although He was a sannyasi He was indulging in chanting and dancing. Tapana Misra and Candrasekhara heard this criticism, and it was intolerable for them because they were great devotees of Lord Caitanya. They could not stop it, however, and therefore they appealed to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu because this blasphemy was so intolerable that they had decided to give up their lives.

Mayavadi sannyasis are very puffed up if they hold the elevated sannyasa title Tirtha, Asrama or Sarasvati. Even among Mayavadis, those who belong to other sampradayas and hold other titles, such as Vana, Aranya or Bharati, are considered to be lower-grade sannyasis. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted sannyasa from the Bharati-sampradaya, and thus He considered Himself a lower sannyasi than Prakasananda Sarasvati. To remain distinct from Vaisnava sannyasis, the sannyasis of the Mayavadi-sampradaya always think themselves to be situated in a very elevated spiritual order, but Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in order to teach them how to become humble and meek, accepted Himself as belonging to a lower sampradaya of sannyasis. Thus He wanted to point out clearly that a sannyasi is one who is advanced in spiritual knowledge. One who is advanced in spiritual knowledge should be accepted as occupying a better position than those who lack such knowledge.

The Mayavadi-sampradaya sannyasis are generally known as Vedantis, as if Vedanta were their monopoly. Actually, however, Vedanti refers to a person who perfectly knows Krsna. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah: "By all the Vedas it is Krsna who is to be known." (Bg. 15.15) The so-called Mayavadi Vedantis do not know who Krsna is; therefore their title of Vedanti, or "knower of Vedanta philosophy," is simply a pretension. Mayavadi sannyasis always think of themselves as real sannyasis and consider sannyasis of the Vaisnava order to be brahmacaris. A brahmacari is supposed to engage in the service of a sannyasi and accept him as his guru. Mayavadi sannyasis therefore declare themselves to be not only gurus but jagad-gurus, or the spiritual masters of the entire world, although, of course, they cannot see the entire world. Sometimes they dress gorgeously and travel on the backs of elephants in processions, and thus they are always puffed up, accepting themselves as jagad-gurus. Srila Rupa Gosvami, however, has explained that jagad-guru properly refers to one who is the controller of his tongue, mind, words, belly, genitals and anger. Prthivim sa sisyat: such a jagad-guru is completely fit to make disciples all over the world. Due to false prestige, Mayavadi sannyasis who do not have these qualifications sometimes harass and blaspheme a Vaisnava sannyasi who humbly engages in the service of the Lord.

According to Mayavadi sannyasis, only one who takes sannyasa in the disciplic succession from Sankaracarya is a Vedic sannyasi. Sometimes it is challenged that the sannyasis who are preaching in the Krsna consciousness movement are not genuine because they do not belong to brahmana families, for Mayavadis do not offer sannyasa to one who does not belong to a brahmana family by birth. Unfortunately, however, they do not know that at present everyone is born a sudra (kalau sudra-sambhavah). It is to be understood that there are no brahmanas in this age because those who claim to be brahmanas