Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna Him-self, who appeared 500 years ago in Bengal, India, as the Kali Yuga Avatar, specifically for the purpose of preaching Krishna-bhakti, love of Krishna, through congregational chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. In other words He is Lord Krishna Himself teaching the living entities the proper way to approach Krishna. He is like a teacher who, seeing a student doing poorly, takes up a pencil and writes, saying, “Do it like this: A, B, C.” By this, one must not foolishly think that the teacher is learning his A, B, C. Although He appears in the guise of a devotee, we should always remember that Lord Caitanya is Krishna (God) Himself teaching us how to become Krishna conscious.
Although Lord Caitanya Himself never declared that He was Krishna, the Vedic literature reveals that He is. The Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32), for instance, not only identifies Lord Caitanya but also describes His mission:

"krishna-varnam tvishakrishnam
sangopangastra-parshadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi surnedhasah"

In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the name of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish He is Krishna Himself. He is accom-panied by His associates, servants and confidential companions”.

Still, even if we grant that Lord Caitanya is Krishna, we may ask, “Why did Lord Krishna appear in this form?” The answer is: Lord Krishna in His form of Lord Caitanya most generously distributes love of God to the fallen people of the age of Kali. When Lord Krishna appeared on earth five thousands years ago, He blessed the world with His loving pastimes in Vrindavana and with His teachings in the Bhagavad -gita. But with the passage of time, it became more and more difficult for people to fully appreciate and take advantage of that blessing. The present age, the age of Kali, is characterised by the deterioration of spiritual values and understanding. In the course of time, therefore people became confused about Lord Krishna’s teachings in the Gita. Also, the unfortunate people of this age are unable to practice austerities for self purification in spiritual life. To rescue these fallen souls, therefore, Lord Krishna has again appeared, but this time as His own pure devotee, Lord Caitanya.

The chanting of the holy names of God as delivered by Lord Caitanya is not only an easy practice, but it is also the topmost method for achieving spiritual perfection. No one but the Supreme Lord Himself could distribute the highest form of devotional service, and thus Lord Krishna Himself appeared as a devotee. That is Lord Caitanya.

Lord Caitanya is Lord Krishna in His most merciful feature. Therefore, even if one doesn’t understand Lord Caitanya’s identity as the Supreme Lord, but accepts Him as a saintly person or as a social reformer and philosopher, one can still derive the highest benefit by chanting the names of God. Without knowing anything at all about Lord Caitanya, people throughout the world have enthusiastically participated in Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement of chanting, dancing and partaking of spiritual food (prasadam). Through the growing Hare Krishna movement, Lord Caitanya’s prediction that His name would be chanted in every town and village of the world is quickly coming to pass, and people all over the world are coming to know the holy name of Krishna.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the science of Krishna, a task, which His followers 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.

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These supremely valuable prayers are translated below:

1. Glory to the Sri Krishna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditioned life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads 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 benedictions to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krishna and Govinda. In these transcendental names, You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules.

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“O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and you are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto you.” (Srila Rupa Goswami)
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in the district of Nadia in Bengal, India, in the late 15th century. He inaugurated a revolution in spiritual consciousness that has affected the lives of millions in the most profound way. He was renowned as a great saint even in His youth (Mahaprabhu means ‘Great Master’) and at the age of twenty-four years He left family and friends to teach the forgotten essence of the ancient Vedic wisdom throughout India. Although He Himself was a fully renounced mystic, He taught how one can act in spiritual consciousness even within one’s home, occupation and social affairs. Thus His teachings, although timeless, bear special relevance for today’s world. He taught a practical process that anyone can perform to directly feel the ecstasy of pure love of God.

UNIVERSAL APPEAL

During the course of His life, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu changed the face of India in four ways : philosophically, by defeating the greatest scholars of His day with the highest personal understanding of the Absolute Truth; politically, by mounting a massive non-violent civil disobedience movement in defiance of the oppressive Muslim rulers; sociologically, by sweeping aside the stifling restrictions of the hereditary Hindu caste system; and culturally, by inaugurating a revolutionary religious movement that was rapidly accepted throughout India. Due to its universal appeal, this movement is now spreading all over the world.

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EYE WITNESS ACCOUNTS

Although He is recognized by scholars and historians as a great mystic, social reformer, philosopher and saint, Lord Caitanya’s true identity is only revealed if we examine the eye-witness accounts of His life, characteristics and activities. The conclusion of His contemporaries of His divinity is further supported by the oldest writings in the world, the 5,000 year old Vedic scriptures of ancient India, which actually prophecied His coming 45 centuries before His appearance in 1486 AD. The Vedas emphatically state that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is none other than Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His golden incarnation, who descends by His own desire to save the conditioned souls entrapped in the darkness of material existence.

5,000 YEAR OLD PROPHECIES

Lord Krishna Himself states in the Bhagavad -gita (4.7): “Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice and a predominant rise of irreligion - at that time I descend myself.”
And from the Brahma-yamala: “Sometimes I personally appear on the surface of the world in the garb of a devotee. Specifically, I appear as the son of Saci in the Kali-yuga (the present age of quarrel, materialism and hypocrisy) to start the sankirtana movement (the congregational chanting of the holy name of God).”

From the Krishna-yamala: “l shall appear in the holy land of Navadvipa (in Bengal, India) as the son of Sacidevi.”

And from the Mundaka Upanishad (3.13): “One who sees that golden Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Actor, Who is the source of the Supreme Brahman, is liberated.”
A more detailed prediction of Lord Caitanya’s life is given in the Dhana-dharma-parva of the Mahabharata : “In his early pastimes He appears as a householder with a golden complexion. His limbs are beautiful and His body, smeared with the pulp of sandalwood, seems like molten gold. In His later pastimes He accepts the sannyasa (renounced) order, and He is equipoised and peaceful. He is the highest abode of peace and devotion, for He silences (by philosophical argument) the impersonalist non-devotees.”

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INCARNATION OF GODHEAD

The mission of Lord Caitanya is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam (11.5.32 & 37): “In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the name of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krishna Himself..... There is no higher possible gain for embodied souls, forced to wander throughout the material world, than the Supreme Lord’s sankirtana movement (the congregational chanting of the holy name of God), by which one can attain the supreme peace and free oneself from the cycle of repeated birth and death.”

Futhermore we find in the Caitanya Upani-shad, of the Atharva Veda : “The one Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Master of all transcendental potencies, and who may be known only by devotional service, appears in innumerable transcendental forms.... He shall also appear in the golden form of Lord Chaitanya. He shall assume the role of a perfect devotee and He will teach the conditioned souls the path of pure devotional service.... The all powerful Supreme Lord will fill the entire universe with transcendental bliss by the chanting of His own holy name.... Those who seriously desire to make progress in spiritual life continually chant the name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and in this way they cross beyond the bondage of continued material existence.”

These verses, written five thousand years ago, indicate that Lord Chaitanya is the Yuga-avatara, the incarnation of God who descends to deliver the Yuga-dharma, the prescribed religious process for the present age. There are many references in the Vedas about the chanting of the Lord’s name, but it is most emphatically stated in the Brihan-naradiya Purana: “For spiritual progress in the age of Kali, there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of the Lord.”

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Following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya, anyone can make advancement on the spiritual path and attain the transcendental consciousness, or Krishna consciousness, by chanting the maha-mantra, the great chanting for deliverance:

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA
KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

This maha mantra is the transcendental process for reviving our original, pure, consciousness. By chanting this transcendental vibration, we can cleanse away all misgivings within our hearts. The basic principle of all such misgivings is the false consciousness that I am the lord of all that I survey.

Krishna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind, but the original, natural energy of the living entity. When we hear the transcendental vibration of the Hare Krishna mantra, this original consciousness is revived and one can at once feel a transcendental ecstacy coming through from the spiritual stratum. Due to the chanting descending from the spiritual platform, this sound vibration surpasses all lower strata of consciousness, namely - sensual, mental and intellectual. There is no need, therefore, to understand the language of the mantra. It is automatic, coming from the spiritual level, and as such anyone can take part in the chanting without any previous qualification. This is explained in the Skanda- Purana: “The name of the Lord need not be chanted with regard to place, time, circumstantial conditions, preliminary self purification or any other factors. Rather, it is completely independent of all other processes and rewards all desires of those who eagerly chant it.”