Wednesday 25 July 2018

Daily Reading: Caitanya Caritamrita page-102


idānīṁ dvāpare tiṅho hailā kṛṣṇa-varṇa
ei saba śāstrāgama-purāṇera marma
Now, in the Dvāpara-yuga, the Lord had descended in a blackish hue. This is the essence of the statements in the Purāṇas and other Vedic literatures with reference to the context.
dvāpare bhagavān śyāmaḥ
pīta-vāsā nijāyudhaḥ
śrī-vatsādibhir aṅkaiś ca
lakṣaṇair upalakṣitaḥ
"In the Dvāpara-yuga the Personality of Godhead appears in a blackish hue. He is dressed in yellow, He holds His own weapons, and He is decorated with the Kaustubha jewel and marks of Śrīvatsa. This is how His symptoms are described."
This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.27), spoken by Saint Karabhājana, one of the nine royal mystics who explained to King Nimi the different features of the Lord in different ages.

CC Ādi 3.40

kali-yuge yuga-dharma — nāmera pracāra
tathi lāgi' pīta-varṇa caitanyāvatāra

The religious practice for the Age of Kali is to broadcast the glories of the holy name. Only for this purpose has the Lord, in a yellow color, descended as Lord Caitanya.
In this Age of Kali the practical system of religion for everyone is the chanting of the name of Godhead. This was introduced in this age by Lord Caitanya. Bhakti-yoga actually begins with the chanting of the holy name, as confirmed by Madhvācārya in his commentary on the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad. He quotes this verse from the Nārāyaṇa-saṁhitā:
dvāparīyair janair viṣṇuḥ 
pañcarātrais tu kevalaiḥ
kalau tu nāma-mātreṇa
pūjyate bhagavānhariḥ
"In the Dvāpara-yuga people should worship Lord Viṣṇu only by the regulative principles of the Nārada-pañcarātra and other such authorized books. In the Age of Kali, however, people should simply chant the holy names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." The Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is specifically mentioned in many Upaniṣads, such as the Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad, where it is said:
hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma
rāma rāma harehare

iti ṣoḍaśakaṁnāmnāṁ
kali-kalmaṣanāśanaṁ
nātaḥ parataropāyaḥ
sarva-vedeṣu dṛśyate
"After searching through all the Vedic literature, one cannot find a method of religion more sublime for this age than the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa."

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