Chapter 9: Faith in the Land of Sacrifice

Srī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is putting the questions and Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya is answering: in this posing, the entirety of theological development was expressed there on the banks of the Godāvarī River. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is magnanimity and sweetness combined. And that meeting on the banks of the Godāvarī was the only time Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu revealed His real identity. He revealed it to Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya in that place only, and we never find it anywhere else. Rasa-rāja, mahābhāva — dui eku rūpa: Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is both Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa combined. The most secret portion of the Truth was shown there, only once; and we never find that it was expressed in any other place.

The whole cause of existence is twofold: the Predominated Part of Beauty and the Predominating Part of Beauty. This has been taught by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Not power or force, but beauty and love is the Prime Cause. This is a new grant to the world, which was never given to the world before: the Prime Cause of the whole infinity is beauty and love. And this is the speciality of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.

So we need not be afraid. Apprehension is a superficial thing — it is māyā, illusion. In the depth of our life’s achievement, there is no apprehension; all is love and beauty. Our future is guaranteed in a most optimistic way. In his Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛtam, Śrīla Sanātana Goswāmī tries his best to take us through the path of gradual development in devotion. Prahlāda Mahārāja has been accepted as the basis, the beginning of pure devotion, śuddha-bhakti, in peacefulness or śānta-rasa. Hanumān is above that, in servitorship, or dāsya-rasa. Above that are the Pāṇḍavas in friendship or sakhyarasa. And Uddhava is somewhat in friendship, connecting with parenthood, vātsalya-rasa, and consorthood, madhura-rasa. In this way, adherence in devotion for Kṛṣṇa automatically flows towards Vṛndāvana. The acme is in Vṛndāvana. This is also found in Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu’s conversation with Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya.

Tebhyas tāḥ paśu-pāla-paṅkaja-dṛśas-tābhyo ’pi sā rādhikā (Śrī Upadeśāmṛta, 10): and the high devotion of Śrīmātī Radhārāṇī is categorically different from that of all the Gopīs. The type of service found in Her is practically unaccountable, inconceivable. Śrutibhir vimṛgyām (Bhā: 10.47.61): the Ṛṣis, the Seers, saw that the Vedic mantras were eternal. They are not creators of the mantras in the Vedas, they are only seers and feelers of spiritual current; they are only observers. The knowledge that is contained in the Śruti (Vedas) is not created by anyone or anything. It is eternal and flowing. The Ṛṣis are onlookers and recorders. And that Śruti has come to reveal the Fundamental Truth underlying the whole creation; still, they are only inquisitive of something, they are enquiring about something. What that thing is, they do not know. They are only searching for the highest revelation that ever came down in the world. They are only searching for that reality, but they have not yet come into its connection. And this is Kṛṣṇa-bhakti and Vraja-bhakti — loving devotion for Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana. And Mahāprabhu and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam came with the quality of that type of adherence to the Truth: unconditional surrender, adherence, searching, and serving attitude, seeking such fortune of serving the Truth. That higher type of truth and existence is such that if we can be only a seeker after it, we may consider ourselves to be possessors of the highest fortune. VVe can really post ourselves in the path leading to that Highest Truth.

That quality is the very basis and the degree of self-surrender (ātma-nivedanam). Whatever beautiful and valuable things we come across, we cannot but surrender ourselves to them. That is the criterion. If we come across anything higher within our vicinity, our appreciation means surrendering ourselves unto that. So according to the degree of our surrender, we have to measure what degree of quality of truth we have come across. That can be measured only according to the degree and intensity of surrender, or how much we could surrender to what we came into connection with, to the point of no return. And the true devotees know no satisfaction or fulfillment of feeling that «I have it.» They feel no trace of such satisfaction that «I have acheived.» Never. The inner sweetness of the truth and its infinite characteristic is such. It attracts. It can attract to the highest degree and magnitude. When some of the Brāhmaṇas performing sacrifices wanted their wives to attend the yajña, some of the ladies were on their way to see Kṛṣṇa at the time. One Brāhmaṇa came and forcibly opposed this. He stopped his wife, «No! I will not allow you to see Kṛṣṇa.» He stopped her body, but the life expired. The dead body remained there. She felt so much attraction to have a darśana, a divine glimpse, of Kṛṣṇa. Immediately a lifeless body stood there, the life vanished.

Kṛṣṇa is Beauty — Reality the Beautiful. Beauty absorbs us. The māyāvādīs, the impersonalists, say that the Brahman absorbs the individual soul so much that no trace of it remains. But this is an artificial conception of absorption. In the real conception of absorption, the existence of the seer of the truth is not done away with. He remains, but he is absorbed with life. He is so absorbed and attracted that he becomes one. Even maintaining his separate existence, he is always one, full of Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the highest degree, and this is visible to the world outside. The oneness’ of the māyāvādīs is of course crossed in the beginning. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śochati na kāṇkṣati, samaḥ sarveṣu, bhūteṣu: «I am one with Brahman» — that stage is surpassed, and then — mad bhaktiṁ labhate parām, devotion is attained. There is oneness in divine attraction, union, and separation, in different līlā or pastimes. To maintain the setting of līlā, the līlā is maintained. Here, complete absorption and oneness does not mean that everything is annihilated. Līlā is also eternal; the Lord’s nāma (name), rūpa (form, beauty), guṇa (qualities), parikara (entourage), līlā (pastimes) — all are eternal. His relationship is a dynamic thing, not a static one. There is even union in separation. There is unity in every stage. The dynamic character of His pastimes requires unity, otherwise His Self-giving and the devotees’ God-attainment would have been impossible.

When I entered Śrī Gaudīya Maṭh, I received Srīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s small Bengali book, Śaraṇāgati, for the very first time. It was so sweet to me that I purchased several copies and distributed them amongst my friends. Its price was only four paise. It is so sweet, it touched my heart. I thought, «Here is Kṛṣṇa — Kṛṣṇakathā (talks of Kṛṣṇa) is Kṛṣṇa Himself. Here is talk about Kṛṣṇa, the adhokṣaja, the transcendental.» I later composed a short commentary when I was in Nandagrām, and it is published along with Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s commentary in Bengali.

I wrote an introductory poem to the commentary of Śaraṇāgati:

svairāchārābdhi-saṁmagnān, jivan gaurāṅghri-paṅkaje
uddhṛtya śaraṇāpatter, māhātmyaṁ samabodhayat

«All the conditioned souls are saṁmagnan — they are diving or struggling in the ocean of svairāchāra or pleasure-seeking — anyābhilāsa — immoral or whimsical activities, energising there. Gaurāṅghri-pañkaje uddhrtya: taking them out of that ocean, you put them in the lotus  — you took them to the lotus feet of Śri Gaurāṅga. You collected them from the wide, troubled ocean, and gave them to the lotus feet of Gaurāṅga. Uddhṛtya śaranāpatter māhātmyam samabodhayat: and so, having placed them there, you began to instruct them about the great nobility of and high value of śaraṇāgati, exclusive surrender. Samabodhayat: you tried to make them understand and realise the efficacy of śaraṇāgati proper. You, my Gurudeva, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda did so, so I bow down unto you first.» Then I also wrote a verse offering obeisances unto the writer of Śaraṇāgati, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.

Admission of śaraṇāgati. When our appreciation for śaranāgati comes, we will realise that we have come into the relativity of a great substance. Otherwise, one cannot find the necessity of śaraṇāgati at all. «Why śaraṇāgati? We want mastery over everything!» Modern science, the exploitationists, the karmīs — they want everything under their control. But this is just the opposite, and opposite to the highest degree. In this, we shall find such a great and noble aspect of nature that we will voluntarily offer ourselves to be the eternal servant of it. «I am in the relativity of such a magnanimous, noble thing!» Śaraṇāgati, herself, is reality. She contains Kṛṣṇa within her boundary. Come to śaraṇāgati, and you wall find Kṛṣṇa. The halo of Kṛṣṇa is śaraṇāgati. Through śaraṇāgati you can approach the Kṛṣṇa conception, but not by enquiry. Not by barren enquiry, but sincere and substantial enquiry  — and that requires śaraṇāgati. Praṇipāta, paripraśna, and sevā. Praṇipāta: first you must give exclusive respect to Him. If you want to approach Him at all, the first qualification is praṇipāta: you must surrender. We are approaching a great thing, great in the infinite. And then, there is paripraśna, enquiry, to a certain extent. And then service — to be utilised by Him. To serve means to taste the juice. Only by serving can we connect, feel, and have any experience. This is just the opposite of enjoyment and indifference. Enjoyment, indifference — and service. And there is service as duty, and service as love — loving service. Thus, service is generally of two kinds. Service from the standpoint of duty is found in Vaikuṇṭha. Of course, that also fetches something. But service in love, service actuated through love only, is most amply giving. That gives us amply. And there is also a gradation therein — śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya, madhura. This is reality. In this material world, in the world of ‘enjoyment,’ we also find the most intense enjoyment in lady-love, but this is the perverted reflection of reality. But there in the divine plane, in devotional service, divine consorthood is found in madhura-rasa. There also, in that section of devotees, there are gradations of servitors.

The Rāmānuja Sampradāya (Divine Succession founded by Śrī Rāmānujāchārya) divided into two, the Teṅkalai and Vaḍakalai sections. Vaḍakalai refers to those who give more importance to the Vedic scriptures, and Teṅkalai are those who give stress to the Tamil scriptures. They are known as Ālwārs, beginning from Śaṭhakopar or Nammālwāra. In the process of surrender, the Tamilian school lay stress on mārjāra-nyāya, or the maxim of the cat. Mārjāra means ‘cat.’ In the cat’s dealing with her kitten, the kitten does not do anything, whereas the mother catches the kitten’s neck in her teeth and moves it here and there, wherever she likes. The kitten is passive — no attempt can be seen on its part. He simply accepts whatever the mother does. She feeds him, moves him, etc. This is mārjāra-nyāya. The Vedic school, which was headed by Deśikāchārya, favour the markaṭa-nyāya, the maxim of the monkey. The cub catches hold of the mother’s body, and then the mother wanders and moves the cub here and there. But the beauty of the cub is to clasp the mother’s body. So the Vedic school says, «You have free will, O jīva soul — you have something to do. In śaraṇāgati, you have your part to play. It may be very small, but still you have some part to play. You are endowed with free will, so you must properly utilise your free will.» And in the Teṅkalai system they say, «No, we have nothing to do. We only need to think that we are His, and He will do whatever is necessary on our behalf.» This is the difference between the two schools. The Vedic school holds that some action for free will is necessary. Your pure acceptance and consent is necessary, and the rest will be done by the Lord. But your consent or free will of acceptance, however meagre it may be, must be present. This is pure consent. And the Teṅkalai section hold that we have nothing to do.

Our consideration is nearer to this Vaḍakalai school, the Vedic school. The jīva has something to do in the way of cooperation or consent. Otherwise, how can the jīva be a part of the Absolute? If the jīva has nothing to do, then everything is God’s līlā, spontaneous pastimes, and the jīvas are all dolls of play in the hand of the Lord. No doubt, this may be so in the highest stage of realisation. But that stage is yet to be attained. In the beginning, one has to acquire such a position. Because the jīva is part of the subjective world, he is naturally endowed with freedom. There can be no consciousness without freedom. Because he is an infinitesimal particle, his freedom is also very small, still, because he is spirit, he cannot but possess free will. In divine service that freedom is maintained, otherwise vilāsa, freedom of movement in pastimes, cannot be maintained. In Goloka, everyone is mostly actuated by feeling, by Yogamāyā (internal divine potency); they are actuated by love, but still they have their meagre personal consideration, and that is influenced by the all-good and favourable environment of the divine plane. Otherwise, how would they maintain their particular name, pastime, and service? So individuality in the atomic energy is maintained all through. We do not deny the influence of the environment, but the environment cannot devour the personal character of existence of anything and everything.

Of exploitation and renunciation (bhukti and mukti), renunciation is more dangerous, because it holds a greater position than exploitation. It can exploit more, just as half-truth is more dangerous than falsehood. It can misguide the devotees more. It has its own special glamour, over and above exploitation. It can capture the scholars. One who wants relief can think, «Oh, this is the conception of relief; there is no further.» Renunciation captures those who may have been making real progress towards their good, and tells them, «Yes, you have come here, you have succeeded.» It captures them in the name of the higher plane. Renunciation holds some prestige over exploitation; people think, «Oh, that must be the highest goal.» So, in this way, half-truth is more dangerous than falsehood.

se du ’era madhye viṣayī tabu bhāla
māyāvādi-saṅga nāhi māgi koma kāla

«The association of a materialist is preferable to that of a māyāvādi.» If the māyāvādī can make you enter into the cell of sāyujya-mukti, the liberation of merging with the Absolute, you are finished. There is no calculable time when you will be able to emerge from it. But if you are in materialism, viṣaya, the recruiters may come to you.

You may get the chance of meeting a preacher in this material world. But in sāyujya-mukti you are nowhere.

It is very difficult and rare to awaken you from the deepest possible sleep. So that is more dangerous, as half-truth is more dangerous than falsehood.

The māyāvādī may even try to bring others into his impersonal conception, because he is suffering from that disease. He thinks that impersonal liberation is the highest, so he recruits for his own purpose. Ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayi astabhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (Bhā: 10.2.42). They do not perceive the mistake in their calculation, but they think they have attained the highest type of liberation, and so they try to recruit others for their purpose. But there is a mistake in their calculation. They are not aware of the fact. They are misguided and they also help to misguide others. How can one who is not established in the truth guide others towards the truth? If it had been possible for him to know the truth, he would have gone toward the land of truth himself; but he has no knowledge of it. He has miscalculated.

Yam evaiṣa vṛnute tena labhyaḥ: but there is a conscious land, and whoever is accepted by that land can enter it. Otherwise, by dint of one’s own power, no one can enter that land. This point has been missed by the māyāvādīs. That is an independent element; the soil is independent. Matter is not independent, and the soul is ‘independent’ here in the material world. But the conscious world is made of supersoul — the very soil is independent. If the minutely independent soul accepts that land, he can enter that land, otherwise not. There is such a land. So the question of becoming a slave must arise.

The highest qualification within us is our acceptance of the slave mentality for the Absolute. This is the only way to be earnest for the association of the highest existence. We must be ready to accept slavery to its perfection, and then we will be allowed to enter into that domain. Otherwise, we have no hope. It is not very easy to embrace slave mentality — eternal slavery. Slavery is also our future prospect. Are you ready to think like this? You have to be so broadminded and hopeful that such a higher entity exists. Your hope and faith will have to be of such a magnanimous type to enter that land. You will sign the bond, the contract: «I am going to accept eternal slavery! I want to enter that land!» You have to search your fortune, and sign the bond of slavery: the association there is so high that even as a slave I want that association. I earnestly hanker for that sweet land where my meagre personality can become a slave. Such intense faith is necessary, where all other experience, even knowledge, fails. Only faith can carry us there.

Śraddhā — faith in devotion to Kṛṣṇa is the unit with which the whole structure has been constructed there. All is faith. The land of faith. There, faith holds autonomy. Everything moves through faith — no calculation, no robbing, no stealing, no cheating. This is automatic there in the land of faith. None of this nasty life. «I shall always be alert that I may not be cheated in the land of so many cheats; Here, I always have to be alert — I will be cheated, I will be cheated.» That is a nasty life. So we must enter into a life where there is automatically no cheating, no calculation, and no reasoning. All are good — all are busy to give you something. Here, we are suffering from the opposite. But there, everyone is promoting you in your progress, pushing you towards your highest fortune. Such a land is there. To become a slave there is really to become a master. Whoever tends most toward slavery will be held by all as the head! Just as in love of country.

If a leader is most sacrificing, he naturally becomes the head of the party. Sacrificing is his qualification. Generally, men have faith in one who has sacrificed much for the country, and they take him as their leader. But here in the mundane world, love of country is only extended selfishness. They will fight with another country. Or, for humanitarianism, they will fight with other minerals or the vegetable or the animal kingdom. They are constructing a great civilisation at the cost of the vegetable and mineral substances. The civilised section are busy only to exploit nature, and that will have to be paid to the farthing to clear the debt.

All their comfort is more than a loan. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu wants his followers to be agents to preach Kṛṣṇa’s devotion to the public (yāre dekho, tāre kaho, ‘kṛṣṇa’ upadeśa) — speak about the special prospect of the land of Kṛṣṇa, Vṛndāvana.

śravaṇa-kīrttanādīnāṁ, bhakty-aṅgānāṁ hi yājane
akṣamasyāpi sarvāptiḥ, prapattyaiva harāv iti

If one is not able, or does not have the opportunity to execute the different forms of services to Kṛṣṇa, if he has only śaraṇāgati, he will accomplish everything in the future. Śaraṇāgati will give everything. Śaraṇāgati is the most fundamental and basic substance in the devotional world. The whole structure of the devotional world is based on śaraṇāgati. Without śaraṇāgati there can be no real entrance into the domain of service. Śaraṇāgati is the very life and essence of devotion, so it must be present in all forms of services. Without śaraṇāgati, service will be mere imitation, mere lifeless activity, and not devotion proper. Śaraṇāgati is the first condition. Prahlāda Mahārāja has said, manye tad etad akhilaṁ nigamasya satyaṁ, svātmārpaṇaṁ svasuhṛdaḥ paramasya puṁsaḥ: the whole gist of Vedic teachings is svātmārpaṇam — to give and fully dedicate oneself to the Lord. To give oneself is the substance of all devotional activity. This is also stated by Śrī Śrīdhara Swāmīpāda in his commentary of the nine basic devotional practices (śravaṇaṁ kīrttanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ, etc.). If devotional hearing, chanting, etc., is already dedicated to Him, only then will it get recognition as devotion, bhakti. Otherwise, everything is bogus. If I hear to fulfill my mundane purpose, then it is no longer bhakti. If I perform kīrttana or speak Hari-kathā to make some money, then it will not be bhakti. «Whatever I shall do, it is for Him.» That sort of bond must first be signed’ and then whatever will be done on that basis will be recognised as bhakti. This is the foundation of bhakti. Without śaraṇāgati, all attempts will be exploitation, renunciation, meditation (karma, jñāna, yoga), anything but bhakti. «The result must always go to my Lord; I am His slave — nitya-dāsa.»

«I am wholly His servant, without any independence to keep my independent property. Whatever I shall acquire, or whatever I shall do, the owner is He.» Jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa: nitya dāsa means eternal servant, that is, slave. He has the right to make or marr, to do anything with me as He likes, according to His sweet will. So whenever we perform devotional hearing, chanting, remembering, with this feeling, that will be devotional activity. But if that is withdrawn, everything will go to hell. If the plank of the dancing stage is withdrawn, the whole show is gone. Therefore with śaraṇāgati, self-dedication, devotion is possible. Only the activity of the man of dedicated self can be reckoned as bhakti. He does everything on behalf of Kṛṣṇa. He always takes Kṛṣṇa’s side, abandoning all separate interest for the fruit of his work.

Consciousness of separate interest (dvitīyābhini-veśataḥ) has made us separate from Kṛṣṇa. The common interest is solely in Him. Then only our service will be bhakti. Without that, everything is lost. Śaranāgati must be present in order to have living devotion, otherwise hearing and chanting are only forms, not life. Therefore śaranāgati means exclusive connection and identification with the interest of Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa is not directly seen by us, so we serve the Guru and the Vaiṣṇava who are dear to Him. According to the degree of our selfabnegation in self-surrender we will be benefitted, and the specific characteristics of śānta-, dāsya-, sakhya-, vātsalya-, or madhura-rasa will develop, and there are also subdivisions within these rasas. In this way, the devotee will be properly located. But without śaraṇāgati, all the formal practices will lose their life and will become something other than bhakti, either in the plane of exploitation or the plane of renunciation; but the plane of dedication is the land of devotion.

By His sweet will, sometimes the attention of the Lord is drawn towards the most needy, and sometimes a more qualified person may be ignored. We cannot interfere with His independence: ‘Why have You shown mercy in this case, and not in mine?» We cannot take Him under law. That is not śaraṇāgati or surrender. When we put such a question to Him, we deviate from the position of śaraṇāgati; we cannot expect to be enlisted, even in the primary class.

So what is the spirit of śaraṇāgati? «If You come to consider my case, calculate my position, I have no hope. I am such a mean fellow; if You come to calculate right and wrong about me, I have no hope. So I have come to that school of Yours where only mercy will be my hope. I want only Your mercy, but if You come to examine me, I have no hope.» This is the primary necessity in our śaraṇāgati, in our surrendering. Surrender means this. Surrender does not allow us to think, «Why have you shown grace to him, and not to me?» This is anti-surrendering temperament. No calculation. «If You come to calculate, I have no hope; so if You can show me some grace — some causeless mercy — then I have that hope. I have come to this department of the Lord, by surrendering. Anyone may have His voluntary mercy, but I may not. If I hesitate and think about justice, then I am already cancelled from the list. My name will be struck from the register.»

This is one of the finest points in śaraṇāgati. What is surrender, and what should be the quality of surrender? Mārabi rākhabi yo ichchā tohārā (Śaraṇāgati, 11): «According to Your sweet will, You can make or marr me.» With such understanding we can go to surrender. Calculation is not allowed in that department of causeless mercy. Mercy may be extended to everyone except me, but I have nothing to complain about. What more can one give than this? This is the thunderbolt from the blue! To become śaraṇāgata, to surrender, means to leave all prospects — to be so emptied — «I have no prospect»; to be fully emptied, and then to surrender. There cannot be the least application in the petition: surrender means a clean slate. Complete dependence upon Him means He can make or marr. I must admit my Master’s right to make or marr. I am a slave. Mahāprabhu says, jīvera svarūpa hay a kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa.

That is Your constitutional position. Have you enough boldness to admit it? Can you admit that your Master has full rights over you? «Yes! My Master has fullest rights over me. I am ready to go to eternal hell to supply His slightest pleasure.» Such narrations — as for example, we have heard the story about when the Gopīs were ready to supply their foot-dust as ‘medicine’ to alleviate Kṛṣṇa’s ‘headache’ — such narrations we may hear as very sweet to our ears, but to accept is horrible. Jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa; no risk: no gain. Whole risk: whole gain. Such confidence is necessary. A free, clear, and bold choice. Are you ready for that? Kṛṣṇa is not like a sweetmeat, that His price may be so cheap or so expensive. He is everywhere — He is nowhere. He may say, «You all belong to Me,» or, «I don’t care for any of you.» We are inhabitants of that land now, and really, by constitution we have every right to serve Him. It is the truth, and we must be bold enough to ‘call a spade a spade.’

Can you accept that you are the eternal servant  — you are a slave of Kṛṣṇa? And Kṛṣṇa is so dignified that even His slave holds the highest position: Kṛṣṇa’s nature is such that He does not hesitate to serve even His slaves. He is so great and magnanimous. Ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno, hy asvatantra iva dvija (Bhā: 9.4.63): «I feel My tendency to serve My devotee in such a way that I am not independent; I feel Myself to be under their direction.»

This is the nature of devotion — bhakti. Bhakti is infinitely more wonderful than jñāna, knowledge. To ‘know everything’ is a very charming temptation. That makes one think that he has become the master of almost everything. But sevā, service, is tar above this kind of consciousness. Real knowledge practically becomes your servant, if you follow the path of surrender, śaraṇāgati. The Infinite comes within the fist of the finite. Can you imagine it? Is it imaginable? Sometimes we hear about a great general falling into the clutches of a loving girl — a great dictator who commands a whole country’s forces may be in the clutches of a girl. Śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī cha sā: and Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Autocrat, is controlled by love, and nothing else. Divine love, prema, is such, that it can control the Absolute Autocrat. Even He can be controlled, and this is the clue. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu came to distribute this; the Master of masters came with this offer: «This path will lead you to a plane where you will be able to control the Master of masters.»

brahmādi ye prema-bhakti-yoga vāñchā kare
tāhā vilāimu sarva prati ghare ghare

Mahāprabhu came as the most gracious Descent. He brought such nectar, even a drop of which is aspired after by the masters of the creation and dissolution of this visible world, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva.