Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-lila Chapter 17 Verse 304

Ādi-līlā | Chapter 17: The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Youth

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 17.304

sei kṛṣṇa, sei gopī, — parama virodha

acintya caritra prabhura ati sudurbodha

SYNONYMS

sei kṛṣṇa — that Kṛṣṇa; sei gopī — that gopī; parama virodha — very contradictory; acintya — inconceivable; caritra — character; prabhura — of the Lord; ati — very; sudurbodha — difficult to understand.

TRANSLATION

He is Kṛṣṇa, yet He has accepted the mood of the gopīs. How is it so? It is the inconceivable character of the Lord, which is very difficult to understand.

PURPORT

Kṛṣṇa's accepting the part of the gopīs is certainly contradictory according to any mundane calculations, but the Lord, by His inconceivable character, may act like the gopīs and feel separation from Kṛṣṇa, although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. Such a contradiction can be reconciled only in the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He has energy that is inconceivable (acintya), which can make possible that which is impossible to do (aghaṭa-ghaṭana-patīyasī). Such contradictions are very difficult to understand unless a devotee strictly follows the Vaiṣṇava philosophy under the direction of the Gosvāmīs. Therefore Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī ends every chapter with this verse:

śrī-rūpa-raghunātha-pade yāra āśa

caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇadāsa

"Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps."

In a song by Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura it is stated:

rūpa-raghunātha-pade ha-ibe ākuti

kabe hāma bujhaba se yugala-pīriti

The conjugal love between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, which is called yugala-pīriti, is not understandable by mundane scholars, artists or poets. It is simply to be understood by devotees who strictly follow in the footsteps of the six Gosvāmīs. Sometimes so-called artists and poets try to understand the love affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and they publish cheap books of poetry and pictures on the subject. Unfortunately, however, they do not understand the transcendental affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa even to the smallest degree. They are simply meddling in a matter in which they are not fit even to enter.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness