So Lord Caitanya says that ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). This misconception of life will be the first installment of our profit by chanting, by regularly chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, by performing this yajña, the first installment. That first installment will be: I become liberated from the material conception of life at once. The many great sages, they are going to Himalaya. They are going to the forest for meditation just to realize "what I am." Now Lord Caitanya says that this, what you are, your self-realization, your spiritual realization, will be the first installment. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. This is simply... Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12) means this is misconception, that what I am not, I am thinking I am. It is simply to understand that I am not. Actually I am not this. We can understand it very shortly, within a moment.
That Bhagavad-gītā... I have already told you that avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam. That portion which is spread all over your body, that you are. That is avināśi, that is immortal. Now what is that? My consciousness. And what is that consciousness? That is the symptom of my presence. I am a soul present in this body, and the consciousness is the symptom. Means as soon as this consciousness is removed, the body has no value. That we are experiencing every day. As soon as from the body the consciousness is out, oh, it is dead body. We are crying, "Oh, my son is gone," "My husband is gone," "My brother..." Why your son is gone? It is lying there in the floor. Why you are crying? "No, no." That gone means that consciousness gone. Gone means that... Therefore the consciousness is the real thing.
So we misunderstand. We misunderstand. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says the misunderstanding of this body identification is at once removed by performing this yajña,
- Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
- Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Then the next installment? Simply, simply understanding that "I am not this body; I am consciousness" will do it? No. That is the first step. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam (CC Antya 20.12). If you are actually conscious of being not this body, actually when, then your all material miseries are at once removed. As soon as you come to the real point of understanding that "I am not this body," then the whole misunderstanding of material existence, bhava-mahā-dāvāgni... Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni means... Each and every word is very carefully selected in Sanskrit, and they have got immense meaning, full of meaning. Now, this, why this bhava-mahā-dāvāgni, this very word, I will try to explain. Bhava. Bhava means the situation in which we have to take repeated birth and we accept repeated death. That is called bhava. And that is a kind of mahā-dāvāgni. Mahā means great, and dāvāgni means forest fire. Forest fire. Forest fire, have you seen, any of you? Here you have got many forests, but I don't think you have seen any forest fire. I have seen. Forest fire takes automatically. Nobody goes to set fire in the forest, but by, I mean to say, cohesion of different dry bamboos or woods, fire takes, by electricity fire takes place, and the whole forest is ablaze. That is called dāvāgni. So this material world, nobody wants. Everyone wants peaceful life. But the nature of the material world is that automatically there is fire. Automatically there is.
Just like in New York your fire brigade is always traveling, always afraid of if there is any fire, because we are expecting every moment fire, every moment fire. Nobody is setting fire in his house, but automatically there is fire. So however we may want, however we may try in the United Nations organization that there will be no war, oh, it will take. It will take place. And already taking place. The war is going on. You cannot stop it. Therefore it is called bhava-mahā-dāvāgni. Just like in the forest nobody goes to set fire—it automatically takes place—similarly, in spite of our good wish that we want to live peacefully in this world, there cannot be any peace. There will be fire, set of fire, fire set off. Yes. So as soon as one be confidently convinced that "I am not this body," then he is protected from this fire of this material world, fire, material world. Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. Then his actual life begins. Then also... Then he is actually blissful life.
Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇam. Just like the moon rises from the new moon. Gradually the moon rises into the full moon. Therefore the candrikā, candrikā, this very word, is used. It is compared with the moon. Just like on the pratipadā, after the new moon, you see the moon just like a line. Then, next day, it becomes little more, next, little more. Just like pratipadā, on the eleventh day it is practically full. On the eleventh day we observe ekādaśī, and then, after four days, the full moon—the whole world is full of light. So śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā... As soon as this bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam, as soon as we get rid of this misconception of identifying this body, then our real blissful life begins, gradually develops just like the moon develops. Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam.
Vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam means full knowledge, full knowledge. We are hankering after knowledge; then we come to the point of full knowledge. Vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. Ānanda. We cannot increase ānanda here. In the material sense gratification, ānanda does not increase. If you want some ānanda from sense, for the time being it may give you some pleasure, but at once it decreases. You have no more capacity to enjoy. You see? At once decreases. So it is not ānanda. It is not real ānanda. Ānanda means that will increase, increase. You enjoy and increases. Increases. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. The example is very nice. Ambudhi. Ambudhi means sea. Sea... You don't find sea has increased. You go to the, what is called, seaside. Ten years before you had been to the seaside. You see the same level is there. It does not increase. If it increases, the whole New York City will be overflooded. It does not increase. But here Lord Caitanya says that ambudhi, the ocean of bliss, it increases. It increases. That is a new experience. When you are actually in spiritual happiness, your bliss will be increased.
Material happiness means your bliss will be decreased. Suppose if you want a good cake or good foodstuff, you want to eat. Now, suppose you take two cakes or three cakes. Now, the fourth cake you will refuse, "No, no more I want. No more. I don't want," because that, I mean to say, pleasure now has decreased. Decreased. But here He says, Lord Caitanya says, that your ānanda, bliss, will be increased. Increased. That is spiritual. That is the test of spiritual life. When you engage yourself in spiritual function, the test will be that you will not feel tired. You will not feel tired. Suppose if you are engaged in some spiritual function, you will find more activity, more activity. More you do, more you find activity. That is spiritual. That is spiritual. So these things are there.
So we are not to be afraid of, that we cannot perform this yajña as prescribed in the Bhagavad-gītā. By the grace of Lord Caitanya and by the grace of Vedic literature we have got this information that yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ (SB 11.5.32). Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana. This yajña, saṅkīrtana-yajña, chanting yajña, one can perform, and one can please the Supreme Lord. That is prescribed. So this is very easy, and anyone can adopt, only to remember the sixteen names, and at any time.
Lord Caitanya also says that nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā. The name, name Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa person, there is no difference. There is no difference. You don't think that "Arjuna was fortunate to receive instruction of Kṛṣṇa directly, but we are unfortunate. We are not in the presence of Kṛṣṇa." No, no, no, no. That is a, our mistake. Kṛṣṇa is present by the sound representation. Because God is Absolute, therefore there is no difference. Just like here we have got difference; nothing is Absolute.