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Cannot understand (CC Adi-lila)

Expressions researched:
"can not be understood" |"can not understand" |"can't understand" |"cannot be understood" |"cannot understand"

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Preface and Introduction

CC Introduction:

To avoid such errors, we should understand what Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa actually is. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa display Their pastimes through Kṛṣṇa's internal energy. The pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa's internal energy is a most difficult subject matter, and unless one understands what Kṛṣṇa is, one cannot understand it. Kṛṣṇa does not take any pleasure in this material world, but He has a pleasure potency. Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, the pleasure potency is within us also, but we are trying to exhibit that pleasure potency in matter. Kṛṣṇa, however, does not make such a vain attempt. The object of Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency is Rādhārāṇī; Kṛṣṇa exhibits His potency as Rādhārāṇī and then engages in loving affairs with Her. In other words, Kṛṣṇa does not take pleasure in this external energy but exhibits His internal energy, His pleasure potency, as Rādhārāṇī and then enjoys with Her. Thus Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself as Rādhārāṇī in order to enjoy His internal pleasure potency. Of the many extensions, expansions and incarnations of the Lord, this pleasure potency is the foremost and chief.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 1.53, Purport:

Similarly, the effulgent bodily luster of the Supreme Lord is the cause of the creation of infinite universes. The Brahman effulgence is impersonal, but the cause of that energy is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. From Him, in His abode, the Vaikuṇṭhas, this brahma-jyotir emanates. He is never impersonal. Since impersonalists cannot understand the source of the Brahman energy, they mistakenly choose to think this impersonal Brahman the ultimate or absolute goal. But as stated in the Upaniṣads, one has to penetrate the impersonal effulgence to see the face of the Supreme Lord. If one desires to reach the source of the sunshine, he has to travel through the sunshine to reach the sun and then meet the predominating deity there. The Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person, Bhagavān, as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains.

CC Adi 2.13, Translation:

As with the naked eye one cannot know the sun except as a glowing substance, merely by philosophical speculation one cannot understand Lord Kṛṣṇa's transcendental varieties.

CC Adi 2.47, Translation:

Kṛṣṇa said, "Brahmā, I cannot understand what you are saying. Lord Nārāyaṇa is He who sits in the hearts of all living beings and lies down in the waters of the Kāraṇa Ocean."

CC Adi 3.16, Purport:

One may understand the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from the Vedic literatures and thus become a devotee of the Lord and worship Him within the regulative principles described in the scriptures, but one will not know in this way how Kṛṣṇa is served by the residents of Vrajabhūmi. One cannot understand the dealings of the Lord in Vṛndāvana simply by executing the ritualistic regulative principles mentioned in the scriptures. By following scriptural injunctions one may enhance his appreciation for the glories of the Lord, but there is no chance for one to enter into personal dealings with Him. Giving too much attention to understanding the exalted glories of the Lord reduces the chance of one's entering into personal loving affairs with the Lord. To teach the principles of such loving dealings, the Lord decided to appear as Lord Caitanya.

CC Adi 3.73, Purport:

One who is intelligent and who studies the characteristics of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with reference to the Vedic context cannot be bewildered by the pāṣaṇḍas.

Pāṣaṇḍas, or atheists, cannot understand the pastimes of the Supreme Lord or transcendental loving service to the Lord. They think that devotional service is no better than ordinary fruitive activities (karma). As the Bhagavad-gītā (4.8) confirms, however, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His devotees, saving the righteous and chastising the miscreants (paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām), always curb these nonsensical atheists. Miscreants always want to deny the Supreme Personality of Godhead and put stumbling blocks in the path of devotional service. The Lord sends His bona fide representatives and appears Himself to curb this nonsense.

CC Adi 3.89, Purport:

"This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." To surpass the influence of the illusory energy is very difficult, but those who are determined to catch hold of the lotus feet of the Lord are freed from the clutches of māyā. Therefore, pure devotees can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but demons, because of their miscreant behavior, cannot understand the Lord, in spite of seeing the many revealed scriptures and the uncommon activities of the Lord.

CC Adi 4.29, Purport:

One should know for certain that nothing can exist in this cosmic manifestation that has no real counterpart in the spiritual field. All material manifestations are emanations of the Transcendence. The erotic principles of amorous love reflected in mixed material values are perverted reflections of the reality of spirit, but one cannot understand the reality unless one is sufficiently educated in the spiritual science.

CC Adi 4.34, Purport:

"When I shall be eager to understand the literature given by the Gosvāmīs, then I shall be able to understand the transcendental love affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa." In other words, unless one is trained under the disciplic succession of the Gosvāmīs, one cannot understand Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. The conditioned souls are naturally averse to understanding the spiritual existence of the Lord, and if they try to know the transcendental nature of the Lord's pastimes while they remain absorbed in materialism, they are sure to blunder like the sahajiyās.

CC Adi 4.56, Purport:

In fact, Rādhārāṇī is the internal potency of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and She eternally intensifies the pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Impersonalists cannot understand this without the help of a mahā-bhāgavata devotee. The very name "Rādhā" suggests that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is eternally the topmost mistress of the comforts of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. As such, She is the medium transmitting the living entities' service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Devotees in Vṛndāvana therefore seek the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in order to be recognized as loving servitors of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 4.60, Purport:

The potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that always enriches Him with transcendental bliss is not material, but the Śaṅkarites have accepted it as such because they are ignorant of the identity of the Supreme Lord and His pleasure potency. Those ignorant persons cannot understand the distinction between impersonal spiritual bliss and the variegatedness of the spiritual pleasure potency. The hlādinī potency gives the Lord all transcendental pleasure, and the Lord bestows such a potency upon His pure devotee.

CC Adi 4.107, Purport:

Lord Śrī Caitanya exhibited the highest stage of the feelings of a devotee in separation from the Lord. This exhibition was sublime because He was completely perfect in the feelings of separation. Materialists, however, cannot understand this. Sometimes materialistic scholars think He was diseased or crazy. Their problem is that they always engage in material sense gratification and can never understand the feelings of the devotees and the Lord. Materialists are most abominable in their ideas. They think that they can enjoy directly perceivable gross objects by their senses and that they can similarly deal with the transcendental features of Lord Caitanya. But the Lord is understood only in pursuance of the principles laid down by the Gosvāmīs, headed by Svarūpa Dāmodara.

CC Adi 5.14, Purport:

The disease of the modern civilized man is his disbelief of everything in the revealed scriptures. Faithless nonbelievers cannot make progress in spiritual realization, for they cannot understand the spiritual potency. The small fruit of a banyan contains hundreds of seeds, and in each seed is the potency to produce another banyan tree with the potency to produce millions more of such fruits. This law of nature is visible before us, although how it works is beyond our understanding. This is but an insignificant example of the potency of Godhead; there are many similar phenomena that no scientist can explain.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

Actually, the explanation of the quadruple forms in the Vedic literature cannot be understood by the speculation of a conditioned soul. The quadruple forms should therefore be accepted just as They are described. The authority of the Vedas is such that even if one does not understand something by his limited perception, he should accept the Vedic injunction and not create interpretations to suit his imperfect understanding. In his Śārīraka-bhāṣya, however, Śaṅkarācārya has increased the misunderstanding of the monists.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

Thinking the absolute Personality of Godhead to be poverty-stricken or to have no potency—or, in other words, to be impotent—is simply rascaldom. This rascaldom is the profession of the conditioned soul, and it increases his bewilderment. One who cannot understand the distinctions between the spiritual world and the material world has no qualification to examine or know the situation of the transcendental quadruple forms. In his commentary on Vedānta-sūtra 2.2.42–45, His Holiness Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has made a futile attempt to nullify the existence of these quadruple forms in the spiritual world.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

"The Lord is personal although impersonal, He is atomic although great, and He is blackish and has red eyes although He is colorless." By material calculation all this may appear contradictory, but if we understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has inconceivable potencies, we can accept these facts as eternally possible in Him. In our present condition we cannot understand the spiritual activities and how they occur, but although they are inconceivable in the material context, we should not disregard such contradictory conceptions.

Although it is apparently inconceivable, it is quite possible for the Absolute to reconcile all opposing elements. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam establishes this in the Sixth Canto (6.9.34–37):

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

Because there is no logic to explain how things happen in the realm of spirit, the Lord is sometimes described as being beyond the range of experience. But if we simply accept the Lord's inconceivability, we can then adjust all things in Him. Nondevotees cannot understand the Lord's inconceivable energy, and consequently for them it is said that He is beyond the range of conceivable expression. The author of the Brahma-sūtras accepts this fact and says, śrutes tu śabda-mūlatvāt: the Supreme Personality of Godhead, being inconceivable to an ordinary man, can be understood only through the evidence of the Vedic injunctions. The Skanda Purāṇa confirms, acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet: "Matters inconceivable to a common man should not be a subject for argument." We find very wonderful qualities even in such material things as jewels and drugs.

CC Adi 5.204, Purport:

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, who is famous for his poetic composition known as Prārthanā, has lamented in one of his prayers, "When will Lord Nityānanda be merciful upon me so that I will forget all material desires?" Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura confirms that unless one is freed from material desires to satisfy the needs of the body and senses, one cannot understand the transcendental abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Vṛndāvana. He also confirms that one cannot understand the loving affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa without going through the direction of the Six Gosvāmīs. In another verse Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has stated that without the causeless mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu, one cannot enter into the affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 6 Summary:

The truth of Advaita Ācārya has been described in two verses. It is said that material nature has two features, namely the material cause and the efficient cause. The efficient causal activities are caused by Mahā-Viṣṇu, and the material causal activities are caused by another form of Mahā-Viṣṇu, known as Advaita. That Advaita, the superintendent of the cosmic manifestation, has descended in the form of Advaita Ācārya to associate with Lord Caitanya. When He is addressed as the servitor of Lord Caitanya, His glories are magnified because unless one is invigorated by this mentality of servitorship one cannot understand the mellows derived from devotional service to the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 6.97, Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in different incarnations, but His appearance in the role of a devotee is more beneficial to the conditioned souls than the other incarnations, with all their opulences. Sometimes a conditioned soul is bewildered when he tries to understand the incarnation of Godhead with full opulence. Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared and performed many uncommon activities, and some materialists misunderstood Him, but in His appearance as Lord Caitanya He did not show much of His opulences, and therefore fewer conditioned souls were bewildered. Misunderstanding the Lord, many fools consider themselves incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the result is that after leaving the material body they enter the species of jackals. Persons who cannot understand the real significance of an incarnation must attain such lower species of life as punishment. Conditioned souls who are puffed up by false egoism and who try to become one with the Supreme Lord become Māyāvādīs.

CC Adi 6.104, Translation:

This conclusion of the revealed scriptures is also the realization of experienced devotees. Fools and rascals, however, cannot understand the opulences of devotional emotions.

CC Adi 7.5, Purport:

Although the spiritual and marginal energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are nondifferent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu, they are predominated subjects, whereas Lord Viṣṇu is the predominator. As such, although they are on the same platform, they have appeared differently in order to facilitate tasting of transcendental mellows. Actually, however, there is no possibility of one being different from the other, for the worshiper and the worshipable cannot be separated at any stage. On the absolute platform, one cannot be understood without the other.

CC Adi 7.10, Purport:

Therefore one should not foolishly consider Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be an ordinary human being. He has accepted the ecstasy of a devotee, but He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since the time of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there have been many imitation incarnations of Kṛṣṇa who cannot understand that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa 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 tāṅra śuddha kalevara warn that Caitanya Mahāprabhu's body is not material but purely spiritual. One should not, therefore, accept Caitanya Mahāprabhu as an ordinary devotee, although He has assumed the form of a devotee. Yet one must certainly know that although Caitanya Mahāprabhu 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 Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 7.22, Purport:

People generally cannot understand the actual meaning of chanting and dancing. Describing the Gosvāmīs, Śrī Śrīnivāsa Ācārya stated, kṛṣṇotkīrtana-gāna-nartana-parau: not only did Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates demonstrate this chanting and dancing, but the Six Gosvāmīs also followed in the next generation. The present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement follows the same principle, and therefore simply by chanting and dancing we have received good responses all over the world. It is to be understood, however, that this chanting and dancing do not belong to this material world. They are actually transcendental activities, for the more one engages in chanting and dancing, the more he can taste the nectar of transcendental love of Godhead.

CC Adi 7.29-30, Purport:

Like Māyāvādī philosophers in the past such as Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī of Benares, modern impersonalists are not interested in Lord Caitanya's Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. They do not know the value of this material world; they consider it false and cannot understand how the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can utilize it. They are so absorbed in impersonal thought that they take it for granted that all spiritual variety is material. Because they do not know anything beyond their misconception of the brahma-jyotir, they cannot understand that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is spiritual and therefore beyond the conception of material illusion. Whenever Kṛṣṇa incarnates personally or as a devotee, these Māyāvādī philosophers accept Hi

CC Adi 7.39, Purport:

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 Kṛṣṇa 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-gītā As It Is and getting successful results. Theorizing as if devotional service were subject to their mental speculation, both kinds of Māyāvādī impersonalists conclude that the subject matter of bhakti-yoga is a creation of māyā and that Kṛṣṇa, devotional service and the devotee are also māyā. Therefore, as stated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, māyāvādī kṛṣṇe aparādhī: "All the Māyāvādīs are offenders to Lord Kṛṣṇa." (CC Madhya 17.129) It is not possible for them to understand the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement; therefore we do not value their philosophical conclusions.

CC Adi 7.48, Purport:

One who is not taught by a bona fide spiritual master cannot understand the Vedic literature. To emphasize this point, Lord Kṛṣṇa, 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-gītā. 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 (Śvetāśvatara Up. 6.23):

CC Adi 7.72, Purport:

Unless one surpasses the field of activities in service to the limited, one cannot reach the unlimited. Knowledge of the unlimited is actual brahma-jñāna, or knowledge of the Supreme. Those who are addicted to fruitive activities and speculative knowledge cannot understand the value of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which is always completely pure, eternally liberated and full of spiritual bliss. One who has taken shelter of the holy name of the Lord, which is identical with the Lord, does not have to study Vedānta philosophy, for he has already completed all such study.

CC Adi 7.74, Purport:

The spiritual world is called Vaikuṇṭha, which means "without anxiety." In the material world everything is full of anxiety (kuṇṭha), whereas in the spiritual world (Vaikuṇṭha) everything is free from anxiety. Therefore those who are afflicted by a combination of anxieties cannot understand the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, which is free from all anxiety. In the present age the vibration of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is the only process that is in a transcendental position, beyond material contamination. Since the holy name can deliver a conditioned soul, it is explained here to be sarva-mantra-sāra, the essence of all Vedic hymns.

CC Adi 7.104, Purport:

“With one's materially contaminated senses one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His name, form, qualities or paraphernalia, but if one renders service unto Him, the Lord reveals Himself.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234) Here one can see the effect of the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs' service toward Nārāyaṇa. Because the Māyāvādīs offered a little respect to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and because they were pious and actually followed the austere rules and regulations of sannyāsa, they had some understanding of Vedānta philosophy, and by the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu they could appreciate that He was none other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is endowed with all six opulences. One of these opulences is His beauty. By His extraordinarily beautiful bodily features, the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs recognized Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as Nārāyaṇa Himself. He was not a farcical Nārāyaṇa like the daridra-nārāyaṇas invented by so-called sannyāsīs.

CC Adi 7.113, Purport:

In the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Personality of Godhead has classified His energies in two distinct divisions—namely, prākṛta and aprākṛta, or parā-prakṛti and aparā-prakṛti. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa the same distinction is made. The Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand these two prakṛtis, or natures—material and spiritual—but one who is actually intelligent can understand them. Considering the many varieties and activities in material nature, why should the Māyāvādī philosophers deny the spiritual varieties of the spiritual world? The Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) says:

CC Adi 7.113, Purport:

The intelligence of those who think themselves liberated but have no information of the spiritual world is not yet clear. In this verse the term aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ refers to unclean intelligence. Due to unclean intelligence or a poor fund of knowledge, the Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand the distinction between material and spiritual varieties; therefore they cannot even think of spiritual varieties because they take it for granted that all variety is material.

CC Adi 7.115, Purport:

In the beginning of the Vedānta-sūtra it is said, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), indicating that the material energy is also an emanation of the Supreme Brahman. How then could He be covered by the material energy? If that were possible, material energy would be greater than the Supreme Brahman. Even these simple arguments, however, cannot be understood by the Māyāvādī philosophers, and therefore the term māyayāpahṛta-jñāna, which is applied to them in the Bhagavad-gītā, is extremely appropriate. Anyone who thinks that Lord Viṣṇu is a product of the material energy, as explained by Sadānanda Yogīndra, should immediately be understood to be insane, for his knowledge has been stolen by the illusory energy.

CC Adi 7.128, Purport:

Oṁkāra is the basic principle of all Vedic mantras, for it is a representation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, understanding of whom is the ultimate goal of the Vedas, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15)). Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand these simple facts explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, and yet they are very proud of being Vedāntīs. Sometimes, therefore, we refer to the Vedāntī philosophers as Vidantīs, those who have no teeth (vi means "without," and dantī means "possessing teeth"). The statements of the Śaṅkara philosophy, which are the teeth of the Māyāvādī philosopher, are always broken by the strong arguments of Vaiṣṇava philosophers such as the great ācāryas, especially Rāmānujācārya. Śrīpāda Rāmānujācārya and Madhvācārya break the teeth of the Māyāvādī philosophers, who can therefore be called Vidantīs, "toothless."

CC Adi 7.140, Translation:

“When we speak of the Supreme as impersonal, we deny His spiritual potencies. Logically, if you accept half of the truth, you cannot understand the whole.

CC Adi 8.20, Purport:

According to the doctrine of communism, the state should be the proprietor of everything. But the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, expanding this same idea, accepts God as the proprietor of everything. People cannot understand this because they have no sense of God, but the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can help them to understand God and to understand that everything belongs to God. Since everything is the property of God, and all living entities—not only human beings but even animals, birds, plants and so on—are children of God, everyone has the right to live at the cost of God with God consciousness. This is the sum and substance of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

CC Adi 12.44, Translation:

Śrī Advaita Ācārya told Lord Caitanya, “I cannot understand Your transcendental pastimes. You have shown more favor to Kamalākānta than You generally show to Me.

CC Adi 14.1, Purport:

The Hari-bhakti-vilāsa confirms that difficult things become easy to understand if one remembers Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and easy things become very difficult to understand if one forgets Him. We actually see that even those who are very great scientists in the eyes of the general public cannot understand the very simple idea that life comes from life, because they do not have the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They defend the false understanding that life comes from matter, although they cannot prove that this is a fact. Modern civilization, therefore, progressing on the basis of this false scientific theory, is simply creating problems to be solved by the so-called scientists.

CC Adi 14.29, Purport:

This is an explanation of the Māyāvāda philosophy, which takes everything to be one. The necessities of the body, namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending, are all unnecessary in spiritual life. When one is elevated to the spiritual platform, there are no more bodily necessities, and in activities pertaining to the bodily necessities there are no spiritual considerations. In other words, the more we eat, sleep, have sex and try to defend ourselves, the more we engage in material activities. Unfortunately, Māyāvādī philosophers consider devotional activities to be bodily activities. They cannot understand the simple explanation in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):

CC Adi 14.29, Purport:

In devotional service the activities are variegated and full of enjoyment. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.2), all devotional activities are easy to perform (su-sukhaṁ kartum) and are eternal and spiritual (avyayam). Since Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand this, they take it for granted that a devotee's activities (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam, etc. (SB 7.5.23)) are all material and are therefore māyā. They also consider Kṛṣṇa's advent in this universe and His activities to be māyā. Therefore, because they consider everything māyā, they are known as Māyāvādīs.

CC Adi 15.22, Translation and Purport:

In this way Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed various pastimes, but why He did so I cannot understand.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead and His devotees who come to this world are executing a mission, and therefore sometimes they act in a way that is very difficult to understand. It is said, therefore, vaiṣṇavera kriyā-mudrā vijñeha nā bujhaya: (CC Madhya 23.39) even if one is a very learned and intelligent scholar, he cannot understand the activities of a Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava accepts anything favorable for executing his mission. But foolish persons, not knowing the purpose of such exalted Vaiṣṇavas, indulge in criticizing them. That is forbidden. Since no one can understand what a Vaiṣṇava does for the purpose of executing his mission, to criticize such a Vaiṣṇava is the offense called sādhu-nindā.

CC Adi 16.18, Translation:

I cannot understand the inconceivable pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, for although Tapana Miśra wanted to live with Him in Navadvīpa, the Lord advised him to go to Vārāṇasī.

CC Adi 17.1, Purport:

Although less intelligent men cannot understand it, this is the special power of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Actually, the body of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person changes in many ways. Even in the United States, when our devotees chant on the street, American ladies and gentlemen inquire from them whether they are actually Americans because no one could expect Americans to become such nice devotees all of a sudden. Even Christian priests are greatly surprised that all these boys from Jewish and Christian families have joined this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement; before joining, they never regarded any principles of religion seriously, but now they have become sincere devotees of the Lord. Everywhere people express this astonishment, and we take great pride in the transcendental behavior of our students. Such wonders are possible, however, only by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They are not ordinary or mundane.

CC Adi 17.76, Purport:

Elsewhere in the Bhagavad-gītā (12.5) the Lord confirms, kleśo ’dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām: "For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome." People who are attached to the impersonal feature of the Lord are obliged to take great trouble, yet nevertheless they cannot understand the Absolute Truth. As explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.11), brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. Unless one understands the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original source of both Brahman and Paramātmā, one is still in darkness about the Absolute Truth.

CC Adi 17.174, Translation:

"As a Muslim magistrate, you have the right to oppose the performance of Hindu ceremonies, but now you do not forbid them. I cannot understand the reason why."

CC Adi 17.250, Purport:

It is mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that when Uddhava came from Lord Kṛṣṇa with a message for the gopīs, all the gopīs, especially Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, denounced Kṛṣṇa in various ways. Such denunciations, however, reflect an exuberant loving attitude that an ordinary man cannot understand. When the foolish student questioned Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Lord Caitanya similarly rebuked Lord Kṛṣṇa in loving exuberance. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in the mood of the gopīs and the student advocated the cause of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya was greatly angry. Seeing His anger, the foolish student, who was an ordinary atheistic smārta-brāhmaṇa, foolishly misjudged Him. Thus he and a party of students were ready to strike the Lord in retaliation.

CC Adi 17.257, Purport:

Even with no academic career, if one has full faith in the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he develops in spiritual life and real knowledge of the Vedas. The example of Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga confirms this. One who surrenders is understood to have learned the subject matter of the Vedas very nicely. One who adopts this Vedic process of surrender learns devotional service and is certainly successful. One who is very proud, however, is unable to surrender either to the spiritual master or to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he cannot understand the essence of any Vedic literature. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 11.11.18) declares:

CC Adi 17.281, Translation:

“Once Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa playfully manifested Himself as Nārāyaṇa, with four victorious hands and a very beautiful form. When the gopīs saw this exalted form, however, their ecstatic feelings were crippled. Even a learned scholar, therefore, cannot understand the gopīs' ecstatic feelings, which are firmly fixed upon the original form of Lord Kṛṣṇa as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. The wonderful feelings of the gopīs in ecstatic parama-rasa with Kṛṣṇa constitute the greatest mystery in spiritual life.”

CC Adi 17.305, Translation:

One cannot understand the contradictions in Lord Caitanya's character by putting forward mundane logic and arguments. Consequently one should not maintain doubts in this connection. One should simply try to understand the inconceivable energy of Kṛṣṇa; otherwise one cannot understand how such contradictions are possible.

Page Title:Cannot understand (CC Adi-lila)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:29 of Nov, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=49, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:49