CC daily 166 – 6.243-44 – Association grants us entry into the symbiosis of endeavor and mercy

Chaitanya Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Madhila chapter 6 entitles the liberation of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya text 243 this shloka refers to the shloka that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu quoted in the previous text its Harer nama Harer nama Harer namaeva kevalam nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva gatiranyatha so here after hearing the recitation of this verse after quoting this verse Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained its import Kariyavista elaborately Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained how important the chanting of the holy names is and on hearing the import of the verse Kaila Chamatkar Sarvabhauma felt enlumened my god such is the glory of the holy name such is the vital necessity the chanting of the holy name so Chamatkar here refers not so much to a miracle but to the sense of wonder he was wonder struck with appreciation for the glory of the holy name and he felt inspired to take shelter of the holy name Gopinath Acharya bale amipurve ye kahila Shunabhattacharya tomara se itahaila so as Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya felt wonder struck felt enluminated felt enlightened by the mercy and explanation given by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Gopinath Acharya was jubilant Gopinath Acharya said that oh things all this I had told you earlier amipurve ye kahila what I had told you earlier Shunabhattacharya tomara se itahaila so my prophecy has come true what I had foretold it has happened se itahaila what exactly is Gopinath Acharya talking about here what prophecy is he referring to at one level Gopinath Acharya actually had a debate a conflict with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and that conflict centered on recognizing on understanding the position of Lord Chaitanya and further the nature of the absolute truth but more specifically it was about the position of Lord Chaitanya and now Sarvabhauma has accepted the divinity of Lord Chaitanya and is becoming increasingly inspired by illumined by enlivened by Lord Chaitanya and is becoming increasingly devoted to him so in every interaction with Lord Chaitanya now he has come here even before going to the temple of Lord Jagannath to Lord Chaitanya's feet and he is Chaitanya's abode and he is hearing about the glory of the holy name and he's feeling wonder struck so Gopinath Acharya is saying that the divinity of Lord Chaitanya the glory of Lord Chaitanya what they had debated now he has accepted but more importantly at the conclusion of their debate earlier Gopinath Acharya had made the point that it is only by the mercy of the Lord that one can understand the glory of the Lord that only when we get the mercy of the Lord can we understand his illustrious position and without that mercy no matter what we do we will not be able to achieve much in our life so much means here we are of course talking about spiritual advancement devotional growth we cannot achieve it unless we learn to develop we learn to recognize how decisive mercy is in our spiritual growth the standard metaphor that is given is for the interplay of mercy and endeavor in devotional growth is the metaphor of a person being pulled out of a well so when a person is being pulled out at that time that person has to definitely hold on to the rope but holding on to the rope alone is not enough it is only when that person recognizes that there is somebody outside that person outside has to pull me only the person outside pulls me do I have any hope of getting pulled out otherwise I don't have much hope so just as the person pulling out is the primary agent of the rescue of the person falling in the well similarly we have all fallen in the existence and it is the person it is Krishna manifesting his mercy to the spiritual master to the Vaishnavas who can free us from material existence it is Krishna who can liberate us and it is Krishna who is our greatest well-wisher so that role of mercy in in our gaining comprehension of devotional truths that is what that is what Gopinath Acharya is referring to over here when he's saying that what I had prophesied it has taken place that now that you've got the mercy of Lord Chaitanya you are understanding devotional truths so wonderfully now we may wonder where will this begin is it something like a circle in which we have no entrance if we don't understand the glory of Krishna we won't start practicing the process of bhakti which is the way to access Krishna's mercy so and which enables us to understand Krishna's glories so there is understanding Krishna's glory practicing bhakti receiving mercy and receiving mercy needs to understanding of Krishna's glories further so now where do we begin in this without understanding Krishna's glories why would we want to practice bhakti and without that how will we get mercy and without getting mercy we can't understand Krishna's glories so it seems to be a it seems to be a like a circle with no way to enter into it actually the entrance comes by the association of devotees if we somehow are fortunate enough to associate with devotees then wherever we may be in our present spiritual orientation we can by the practice of bhakti move onwards we can actually just by being associated with devotees we are practicing bhakti to some extent further by practicing if we develop some appreciation for devotees then that itself contributes further and to our spiritual momentum that also gives some spiritual push for us and if we in the association of devotees start actually practicing any of the limbs of bhakti that takes us even further in this way we can move onwards by the mercy of devotees so Krishna's mercy way which is vital for our devotional comprehension for our spiritual comprehension comes through the association and mercy of his devotees so of course in the case of Sarvabhauma he got both the mercy of Lord Krishna manifesting as Lord Chaitanya and also the mercy of his associates thank you.