Holi, the festival of colors, is deeply connected to Lord Krishna in Braj, a region that includes Vrindavan, Mathura, Barsana, and Nandgaon. This association is rooted in mythological stories and traditions that highlight Krishna's playful nature and his love for Radha and the gopis. Tish Malhotra dwells into the teachings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is seen as the same as Lord Krishna
Tish Malhotra
We are going to celebrate the Holi festival on 14 March. The festival is closely associated with Lord Krishna and Sri Radharani. The very mention of these names also brings to mind the memories of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He is worshipped as the unified form of Sri Radha Krishna. He appeared on the day of Holi.
Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a great teacher of love for God and the founder of group chanting of God's holy name, was born in Sridhama Mayapura, a part of Navadvipa city in Bengal, on the full moon day of Phalgunievening in Sakabda 1407 (corresponding to February 1486 AD). He is one of the top Acharyas of the bhakti schools of Vedanta that preached pure devotion. His entire life, preaching and teachings are full of divine love towards Lord Krishna. Any description of his life will follow the path of divine love. After all, as they say, Udhava, this is the game of love, isn’t this?
Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is considered the same as Lord Sri Krishna. The followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism believe that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared as a devoted follower of Krishna to teach everyone, including ordinary people, religious leaders, and philosophers, about Krishna's divine role as the original Lord and source of everything. The highest form of transcendental worship of the Lord was exhibited by the damsels of Vrajabhumi in the form of pure affection for the Lord and Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu recommends this process as the most excellent mode of worship. He accepts the Srimad-Bhagavata Purana as the spotless literature for understanding the Lord, and he preaches that the ultimate goal of life for human beings is to attain the stage of 'Prema', or love of God.
The teachings of Lord Chaitanya are practical demonstrations of Lord Krishna’s teachings as presented in the Bhagavad-gita. Lord Krishna’s ultimate instruction in Bhagavad-gita is that everyone should surrender unto Him. Krishna promises to take immediate charge of such a surrendered soul.
Lord Chaitanya instructed the mass of people in the Sankhya philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattava, which means that the Supreme Lord is simultaneously one with and different from His creation. Lord Chaitanya taught this philosophy through the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. He taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of the Lord and that since the Lord is the absolute whole, there is no difference between His holy name and His transcendental form. Thus, by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can directly associate with the Supreme Lord by sound vibration. As one practices this sound vibration, he passes through three stages of development: the offensive stage, the clearing stage, and the transcendental stage. In the offensive stage, one may desire all kinds of material happiness, but in the second stage, one becomes clear of all material contamination. When one is situated on the transcendental stage, he attains the most coveted position – the stage of loving God. Lord Chaitanya taught that this is the highest stage of perfection for human beings.
According to Lord Chaitanya: “In this age of Kali there is no other religion but the glorification of the Lord by utterance of His holy name, and that is the injunction of all the revealed scriptures. And My spiritual master has taught Me one sloka (from the Brhan-naradiya Purana): Harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam Kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
“So on the order of my spiritual Master, I chant the holy name of Hari, and I am now mad after this holy name. Whenever I utter the holy name, I forget myself completely, and sometimes I laugh, cry, and dance like a madman. I thought that I had actually gone mad by this process of chanting, and therefore I asked my spiritual master about it. He informed me that this was the real effect of chanting the holy name, which produces a transcendental emotion that is a rare manifestation. It is the sign of love of God, which is the ultimate end of life. Love of God is transcendental to liberation (mukti), and thus is called the fifth stage of spiritual realization, above the stage of liberation. By chanting the holy name of Krishna one attains the stage of love of God, and it was good that I fortunately was favoured with the blessing.”
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Lord Chaitanya left only eight slokas of His instructions in writing, and they are known as the Siksastaka. These eight slokas completed by the Lord are:
1. Glory to Sri Krishna sankirtana (congregational chanting), which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we always anxious.
2. O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benedictions to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krishna and Govinda. In these transcendental names, You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness, You enable us to easily approach You by chanting Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.
3. One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind, one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.
4. O, Almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.
5. O son of Maharaja Nanda (Krishna), I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other, I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean and place me as one of the atoms of Your lout feet.
6. O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?
7. O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.
8. I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly in His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.
Throughout the ages, many avatars – divinely inspired teachers and incarnations of God – have appeared in the world, but none has ever distributed spiritual love as freely as the Golden Avatara, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Radha and Krishna are one, and when Krishna desired to enjoy pleasure, He manifests Himself as Radharani. The spiritual exchange of love between Radha and Krishna is the actual display of internal pleasure potency of Krishna. When Krishna desired to enjoy His pleasure potency, He manifested Himself in the separate form of Radharani, and when He wanted to understand Himself through the agency of Radha, He united with Radharani. Gaudiya Vaishnaivetes believe that the unification of Radha Rani and Lord Krishna is called Lord Chaitanya. This belief is supported by various scriptures and spiritual masters within this tradition, such as the Srimad Bhagavatam and the writings of Jiva Gosvami. They assert that just as the moon was produced by the churning of the sea, by the churning of spiritual love affairs, the moon of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. Indeed, Lord Chaitanya’s complexion was golden, just like the moon. So, rising above the narrowly defined organizational affiliations and restrictions, while celebrating the Holi we must also contemplate on how to go forward on the path of devotion as taught by Lord Chaitanya.
Acknowledgement: The article is based on the book, 'Lord Chaitanya - His Life & Teachings' by Srila Prabhupada, Founder Acharya of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness.
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*Author is the Delhi-based freelancer.
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