TLC Mission
Lord Caitanya's Mission
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the
Science of Krsna, a task which those who follow Him have continued to
carry out down to the present day.
The elaborations and expositions on the philosophy taught by Lord Caitanya are in
fact most voluminous, exacting and consistent due to the system of disciplic
succession.
Although Lord Caitanya was widely renowned as a scholar
in His youth, He left only eight verses, called Siksastaka.
These eight verses clearly reveal His mission and precepts.
These supremely valuable prayers are translated herein.
1.
Glory to the Sri Krsna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust
accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of
repeated birth and death.
This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because
it spreads the rays of the benediction moon.
It is the life of all transcendental knowledge.
It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss,
and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.
2.
O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living
beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krsna and
Govinda.
In these transcendental names You have invested all Your
transcendental energies.
There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names.
O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily
approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no
attraction for them.
3.
One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind,
thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more
tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be
ready to offer all respect to others.
In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.
4.
O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire
beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers.
I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.
5.
O son of Maharaja Nanda [Krsna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or
other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death.
Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one
of the atoms at Your lotus feet.
6.
O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing
constantly when I chant Your holy name?
When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end
at the recitation of Your name?
7.
O Govinda!
Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like
twelve years or more.
Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of
rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.
8.
I know no one but Krsna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He
handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being
present before me.
He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.