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Setting the Scene

The Renaissance
Fifteenth century Europe, the
renaissance was turning people's
vision from God to man, from
religion to humanism, from a
search for the self to a search for
unexplored continents.

Setting the Scene

Setting The Scene

Spiritual Reinassance
But in India, Sri Caitanya and His

associates were to shift people's

vision back to God, and make love's
God accessible to everyone. Their
lives would exemplify the immortal
teachings of holy scriptures. Theirs
was a renaissance of Bhakti, devotion
to God in action.

His Universal Mission

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born

in Mayapura, India, in 1486. The

holy scriptures of India predicted His
advent and activities, declaring Him
an avatar, an incarnation of the
Supreme Lord Krishna. As foretold,
Sri Chaitanya began a spiritual
movement based on chanting the
names of God, which later spread
throughout the world.

His Universal Mission

Mohammed counseled, "Glorify the name of your Lord, the most

high." (Koran); Saint Paul said, "Everyone who calls upon the name of the
Lord will be saved." (Romans 10.13); Buddha declared, "All who
sincerely call upon my name will come to me after death, and I will take
them to paradise," (Vows of Amida Buddha 18); and the Vedic scripture
repeatedly asserts: "Chant the holy name, chant the holy name, chant the
holy name of the Lord. In this age of quarrel there is no other way, no
other way, no other way to attain spiritual enlightenment." (Brihannaradiya Purana 3.8.126).

His mission was to teach the

importance of chanting the holy

names of the Lord in this age of Kali
(quarrel). In this present age quarrels
take place even over trifles, and
therefore the main scriptures of the
world have recommended for this age
a common platform for realization,
namely chanting the holy names of
the Lord.

His Universal Mission

Spiritual Satisfaction
People can hold meetings to

glorify the Lord in their respective

languages and with melodious
songs, and if such performances
are executed with happiness,
respect and humility, it is certain
that the participants will gradually
attain spiritual satisfaction.

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His Universal Mission

His Universal Mission

Maha Mantra Hare Krishna

Vedic texts asserts that the Hare

Krsna maha-mantra, or the great

chant for deliverance, is the
most powerful of incantations, for
it includes the potency of all other
mantras. Thus, for the current age
the Vedic literature recommends
the chanting of Hare Krishna.

As the Lord passed through towns and

villages many people came to see Him.

He blessed them and asked them all to
chant Hare Krishna. These people, now
empowered devotees, returned to their
homes and inspired others to chant.

A Social Reformer

A Social Reformer

His role in society

Lord Caitanya was known as a young
revolutionary who organized India's first
civil disobedience movement, a social
reformer who transcended the rigid
Hindu caste system, and a great saint to
whom common people, religious leaders,
and even kings offered respect.

Martin Luther King was very inspired by the

civil disobedience movement of Mahatma

Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi was very inspired by
the teachings of Sri Krishna in Bhagavad-gita,
and Sri Caitanya was a great teacher of
Bhagavad-gita and the one who started the first
civil disobedience movement in India for a right
cause and under the principles of non-violence.

A Social Reformer

A Social Reformer

Civil Disobedience Movement

Agaisnt Caste System

Gandhi is known for having started the movement of

Sri Caitanyas movement did not

nonviolent civil disobedience in India, but about five

hundred years before him, Sri Chaitanya started His
movement of nonviolent civil disobedience against the
repression of the Muslim government. Caitanya
response was bold and fearless, He quickly movilized a
hundreth thousandth people and led them to India's first
civil disobedience movement. After an extensive
philosophical discussion, the Governor was so moved
by the truth and beauty of Chaitnya teachings that he
pledged: "Neither I nor any of my descendants will
never again hinder this chanting of the holy names, the
sankirtan movement" Chaitanyas followers multiply.

recognize the privileges of caste, social,

or religious status. One of His associates,
Haridas Thakura, imbibed with love of
God, was rejected by caste conscious
Hindus because he was not a Hindu by
birth. Sri Caitanya, however, recognized
Hari das as an exalted devotional
personality and gave him a leading
position in His movement.

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His Philosophy

His Philosophy
His world view is called acintya-bheda-abheda, or oneness and
difference joined by the inconceivable (acintya) power of God. By
accepting difference we can believe in our own individual existence,
with the right to act and choose. By accepting oneness we can
acknowledge the perfection that lies behind all the imperfection we
perceive

His Philosophy

Sri Mayapura, Land of the Golden Avatara.

Only with difference can there be a relationship between two objectsthe

soul and God. Only with difference can we relish the form, qualities, and
activities of God. Difference, however, can put a great distance between
God and the souls. But through oneness the distance becomes
meaningless: the relationship of God to the soul becomes very close.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhus movement therefore presents a complete
picture of intimate loving relationships with God, a philosophy consistent
with direct statements of scripture to support those relationships, and a
simple, practical process to realize them.

Sri Mayapura, Land of the Golden Avatara.

It is here, in the fourteen century,

that Lord Krishna appeared as Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu to
inaugurate the new movement
based on the chanting of the holy
name of God.

Sri Mayapura, Land of the Golden Avatara.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta

Swami Prabhupada who in 1966 founded

the International Society for Krishna
Consiciousness, exported the teachings of
Lord Caitanya outside India. Prabhupada
brought together people from many
culture backgrounds. Today, pilgrims
from different parts of the globe journey
to Mayapura annually to celebrate the
anniversary of Lord Caitanya's
appearance.

This magnificent memorial, or

samadhi, was build in Sri
Mayapura by Srila Prabhupada
followers to honor and glorify his
exceptional achievements.

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Sri Mayapura, Land of the Golden Avatara.

Community
Since the early 1970s, a vibrant

Sri Mayapura, Land of the Golden Avatara.

From Village to Village
A regular party of enthusias8c

singers congregate with their own

sound system on wheels. They
walked around ISKCON campus. They
also take the same install of
congrega8on singing from village to
village just as it used to be do done
by Lord Caitanya and His associates.

and cosmopolitan community has

grown very steadily with hundreds
of families from all parts of the
world setting here to raise their
children on this rural and sacred
land.

Sri Mayapura, Land of the Golden Avatara.

A LANDMARK SPIRITUAL PROJECT OF

UNIVERSAL SIGNIFICANCE

Food For Life

Srila Prabhupada made his famous

statement that no one should go hungry

within 10 miles of Mayapura. This
community has been dedicated to free
distribu8on of prasadam, sanc8ed food
that has been oered to the Lord. The
villagers happily partake of this free
prasadam, food for the body and for the
soul.

A LANDMARK SPIRITUAL PROJECT OF

UNIVERSAL SIGNIFICANCE

Sacred Biography
Sri Caitanya Caritamrita
Sri Chaitanya-charitamritais the main work on the

life and teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,

the incarnation of Krishna who appeared in India
five hundred years ago. Lord Chaitanya introduced
the chanting of the holy names of God as the
prescribed method of God-realization for our
time. He began what is today called the Hare
Krishna movement, since the movements
founder, Srila Prabhupada, comes in the Chaitanya
line of spiritual masters.

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Sacred Biography

Sacred Biography

Sri Caitanya Caritamrita

Sri Chaitanya-charitamritais the main work on the

Sri Caitanya Caritamrita

Chaitanyas biography narrates how Chaitanya
transformed the face of India in four respects:
philosophically, by encountering, defeating and
converting the greatest philosophers and thinkers of
His day; religiously, by organizing the largest, most
widespread theistic movement in Indias history;
socially, by His strong challenges to the religious
inequities of the caste system; politically, by His
organization of a massive civil disobedience
movement in Bengal, more than four centuries before
Gandhi.

life and teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,

the incarnation of Krishna who appeared in India
five hundred years ago. Lord Chaitanya introduced
the chanting of the holy names of God as the
prescribed method of God-realization for our
time. He began what is today called the Hare
Krishna movement, since the movements
founder, Srila Prabhupada, comes in the Chaitanya
line of spiritual masters.

Sacred Biography

Sacred Biography

Sri Caitanya Caritamrita

This English translation with

commentary, by His Divine Grace A.C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
reveals his consummate Bengali and
Sanskrit scholarship, his intimate
familiarity with the precepts of Sri
Chaitanya, and his pure devotion to
God.

Caitanya Caritamritam explains that Lord

Chaitanya is the Supreme Person,

Krishna, appearing as His own worshiper.
He is the combined form of Krishna and
Krishnas most dear devotee, Radha. He
came to experience the love She feels for
Him, and to show by example how to fully
surrender to Krishna.

Sacred Biography
Male-Female aspect of God

When His followers envisioned

Him as a model of emulationthat is, as Radha- He served
as the subject of devotion; at
other times, He was
approached as the object of
such devotion- Krishna.