Gaudiya Kanthahara Krishna tattva: The Truth about Shri Krishna

শ্রী গৌड़िয-কন্ঠহার

Gaudiya Kanṭhahāra:

The Jeweled Necklace of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas

Being a compendium of quotations from revealed scriptures

concerning the truths about the cult of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu

Compiled under the authority and direction of

His Divine Grace

Bhaktisiddhānta Sāraswāti Goswāmī

Prabhupada

The 7th Jewel:

KṚṢṆA-TATTVA

७.३८

यच्-छौच-निःसृत-सरित्-प्रवरोदकेन तीर्थेन मूर्ध्न्य् अधिकृतेन शिवः

 शिवो ऽभूत् ध्यातुर् मनः-शमल-शैल-निसृष्ट-वज्रं ध्यायेच् चिरं भगवतश् चरणारविन्दम्

7.38

yac-chauca-niḥsṛta-sarit-pravarodakena 

tīrthena mūrdhny adhikṛtena śivaḥ śivo '

bhūt dhyātur manaḥ-śamala-śaila-nisṛṣṭa-vajraṁ 

dhyāyec ciraṁ bhagavataś caraṇāravindam

The blessed Lord Śiva is all the more blessed by bearing on his head the holy waters of the Ganges, which has its source in the water that washed the Lord's lotus feet. The Lord's lotus feet act like thunderbolts hurled to shatter the mountain of sin stored in the mind of the meditating devotee. One should therefore meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for a long time. 

(Bhāg. 3.28.22)

७.३९

सूत उवाच

यं ब्रह्मा वरुणेन्द्र-रुद्र-मरुतः स्तुन्वन्ति दिव्यैः स्तवैर्

वेदैः साङ्ग-पद-क्रमोपनिषदैर् गायन्ति यं साम-गाः

ध्यानावस्थित-तद्-गतेन मनसा पश्यन्ति यं योगिनो

यस्यान्तं न विदुः सुरासुर-गणा देवाय तस्मै नमः

7.39

sūta uvāca

yaṁ brahmā varuṇendra-rudra-marutaḥ stunvanti divyaiḥ stavairvedaiḥ sāṅga-pada-kramopaniṣadair gāyanti yaṁ sāma-gāḥ 

dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino yasyāntaṁ na viduḥ surāsura-gaṇā devāya tasmai namaḥ

I offer my obeisances unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Brahmā, Rudra, Indra, Varuṇa and all the other demigods glorify Him by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas and Upaniṣads. He is

the Supreme Person of whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing. The perfected yogis see Him within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and absorbing themselves within him. His limit can never be found by any demigod

or demon. 

(Bhāg. 12.13.1)

৭.৪০

অসঙ্খ্য ব্রহ্মার গণ আইল তত-ক্ষণে দশ-বিশ-শত-সহস্র-অযুত-লক্ষ-ৱদন কোট্য্-অর্বুদ মুখ কারো,

 না যায গণন রুদ্র-গণ আইলা লক্ষ কোটি-ৱদন

ইন্দ্র-গণ আইলা লক্ষ কোটি-নযন

দেখিঽ চতুর্মুখ ব্রহ্মা ফাঙ্পর হ-ইলা হস্তি-গণ-মধ্যে যেন শশক রহিলা

আসিঽ সব ব্রহ্মা কৃষ্ণ-পাদ-পীঠ-আগে দণ্ডৱৎ করিতে মুকুট পাদ-পীঠে লাগে 

কৃষ্ণের অচিন্ত্য-শক্তি লখিতে কেহ নারে যত ব্রহ্মা, তত মূর্তি এক-ই শরিরে

পাদ-পীট-মুকুটাগ্র-সঙ্ঘট্টে উঠে ধ্ৱনি পাদ-পীঠে স্তুতি করে মুকুট হেন জানিঽ

যোড-হাতে ব্রহ্মা-রুদ্রাদি করযে স্তৱন

7.40

asaṅkhya brahmāra gaṇa āila tata-kṣaṇe daśa-biśa-śata-sahasra-ayuta-lakṣa-vadana koṭy-arbuda mukha kāro, 

nā yāya gaṇana rudra-gaṇa āilā lakṣa koṭi-vadana indra-gaṇa āilā lakṣa koṭi-nayana

dekhi' caturmukha brahmā phāṅpara ha-ilā hasti-gaṇa-madhye yena śaśaka rahilā

āsi' saba brahmā kṛṣṇa-pāda-pīṭha-āge daṇḍavat karite mukuṭa pāda-pīṭhe lāge 

kṛṣṇera acintya-śakti lakhite keha nāre yata brahmā, tata mūrti eka-i śarire

pāda-pīṭa-mukuṭāgra-saṅghaṭṭe uṭhe dhvani pāda-pīṭhe stuti kare mukuṭa hena jāni'

yoḍa-hāte brahmā-rudrādi karaye stavana

"baḍa kṛpā karilā prabhu, dekhāilā caraṇa

bhāgya, more bolāilā 'dāsa' aṅgīkari' kon ājñā haya, 

tāhā kari śire dhari' "

The countless Brahmās had different numbers of heads. Some had ten, some twenty, some one hundred, some one thousand, some ten thousand, some one hundred thousand, some ten million, others one hundred million. No one could

count the number of heads they had. Many Śivas with many heads also arrived there. Some of them had heads numbering one hundred thousand and ten million. Many Indras also arrived with millions of eyes all over their bodies.

When the four-headed Brahmā of this universe saw all these opulences of Kṛṣṇa, he became very bewildered and considered himself a rabbit among many elephants. All the Brahmās who came to see Kṛṣṇa offered their respects at His lotus feet, and when they did this, their helmets touched His lotus feet. No one can estimate the inconceivable potency of Kṛṣṇa.

All the Brahmās who were there were resting in the one body of Kṛṣṇa. When all their helmets struck together at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, there was a tumultuous sound. It appeared

that the helmets themselves were offeringprayers unto Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. With folded hands the Brahmās and Śivas began offering prayers unto Lord Kṛṣṇa saying, "O Lord, You have shown me great favor. I have been able to see Your

lotus feet "All of them said, "It is my great fortune, Lord, that You have called me, thinking of me as Your servant. Now let me know what is Your order, so

that I may carry it on my heads."

 (Cc. Madhya 21.66-74)

This World is Maintained by an Expansion of an Expansion of an Expansion of Kṛṣṇa

७.४१

यस्यांशांशांश-भागेन विश्वोत्पत्ति-लयोदयाः 

भवन्ति किल विश्वात्मंस् तं त्वाद्याहं गतिं गता

7.41

yasyāṁśāṁśāṁśa-bhāgena viśvotpatti-layodayāḥ 

bhavanti kila viśvātmaṁs taṁ tvādyāhaṁ gatiṁ gatā

O Kṛṣṇa, You are the soul of the universe. You bring about the creation, sustenance, and dissolution of the universe by Your minutest part. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You and surrender myself before You. 

(Bhāg. 10.85.31)

The Form of Kṛṣṇa is as Lord of Vṛndāvana, With two Hands Holding the Flute

७.४२

कृष्णो ऽन्यो यदु सम्भूतो यः पूर्णः सो ऽस्त्यतः परः

वृन्दावनं परित्यज्य स क्वचित् नैव गच्छति

7.42

kṛṣṇo 'nyo yadu sambhūto yaḥ pūrṇaḥ so 'styataḥ paraḥ

vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya sa kvacit naiva gacchati 

The Kṛṣṇa known as Yadu-kumāra is Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa; He is different from the Kṛṣṇa who is the son of Nanda Mahārāja. Yadu- kumāra manifests His pastimes in the cities of Dvārakā and Mathurā, but Kṛṣṇa never leaves Vṛndāvana.

(Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta, Pūrva-khaṇḍa 165)

७.४३

द्विभुजः सर्वदा सो ऽत्र न कादचित् चतुर्भूजः

गोप्यैकया युतस् तत्र परिक्रीडति नित्यदा

7.43

dvibhujaḥ sarvadā so 'tra na kādacit caturbhūjaḥ

gopyaikayā yutas tatra parikrīḍati nityadā 

That original Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, always manifests two arms. He never manifests four arms; He is always at the right hand side of the foremost

gopī, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. 

(Laghu- Bhāgavatāmṛta, Pūrva-khaṇḍa 165)