About the Author
His divine grace A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda was a rasika ācārya, an expert in relishing the mellows of pure devotion as taught by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Such capacity to relish hearing and chanting about Godhead’s transcendental name, form, attributes, and pastimes is uncommon. The great Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.14.5) informs us:
muktānām api siddhānāṁ
nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ
sudurlabaḥ praśāntātmā
koṭiṣv api mahā-mune
“Out of thousands of perfected souls, it is very rare to find one that is a pure devotee of God.”
Perfection, or self-realization, is indeed a noteworthy accomplishment, yet it pales in comparison to unalloyed devotion. One need not fully surrender to God to achieve liberation from the flawed existence of material life. Any number of techniques may be employed in this attempt, but absolute humility of heart is not a requirement. Pure devotion, on the other hand, acknowledges no technique, while humility and absolute surrender are the stage on which the drama of divine love is eternally performed. His Divine Grace had such humility, such surrender, although he was at the same time often very demanding, insisting on a high standard from his disciples. Yet his assertiveness was all on behalf of Godhead and therefore justified. His assertiveness was an example of the dynamic face of humility, not an abstract, sterile humility, but the concrete and productive humility of doing God’s bidding.
Śrīla Prabhupāda came to America in 1965 as “an aggressor.” Aggression against illusion is the highest service to humanity. The cost of this war is absolute humility, for souls in this world are often less than thankful, unaware as they are of their own self-in- terest. The reward, however, is great. It is the dignity of the soul. This was the work of His Divine Grace: to bring dignity to all souls, and he did so with all of the humility at his command. It has been said that what Mohammed did with the sword, what Christianity did with wealth, he did with a humble heart—inundating the entire planet with love of God. The day will come when all men, women, and children from all races, countries, and creeds sing his praise.
For twelve years, beginning in 1965 until he disappeared from mortal vision in 1977, His Divine Grace circled the globe trans- planting what was thought by many to be an Indian religion onto foreign soil. He demonstrated practically that Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism is not a product of a particular culture, but the dharma of the soul. He took the living conception of what he called Kṛṣṇa conscious- ness and extended its life beyond what the greatest Gauḍīya think - ers and practitioners of the time imagined was even remotely pos- sible. Deep realization lies within the ability to adapt the spiritual reality to diverse material circumstances, making it accessible to one and all. This is the work of an ācārya, who teaches both by precept and example. The ācārya is not frozen in time. He is melted in love of Godhead, and flows without restriction to anyone and everyone who shows even the slightest interest in pure devotion. This was the work of His Divine Grace. He left a legacy of love, not law, for any and all of his immediate followers to embrace and con- tinue. He gave to all, and looked for one—one who could actually understand his message.
Who was His Divine Grace? Founder ācārya of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, father, friend, and śaktyaveśa avatāra (empowered incarnation of a particular potency of God). Nityānandaveśa, the empowerment of Śrīpād Nityānanda Prabhu, the Lord Himself in His most merciful disposition, can only describe what we could see of Him with the outer eye attuned to the spiritual mind. The inner truth of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s eternal form and personality will forever remain concealed to those who fail to embrace not merely the form, but the substance of all that he taught and all that he exemplified. The darśana (spiritual revelation) of his inner identity is his prerogative. May His Divine Grace mercifully bestow that most precious vision upon all who read this book.
Swāmī B.V. Tripurāri
Introduction
In search of the ultimate goal of life was written by our Divine Guide and Master, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakācārya Aṣṭottara-śata Śrī Śrīmad A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda just after his entering the renounced order of life in the autumn of 1959. At that time, Śrīla Prabhupāda was living in Śrī Vṛndāvana-dhāma and would sometimes practice mādhukarī. Mādhukarī means to collect a little food door to door for one’s maintenance just as the bee collects a little pollen flower to flower. Śrīla Prabhupāda, however, often requested the householders whom he called upon to give pen and paper for his writing rather than the rice, dahl, and chapatis traditionally sought by holy men practicing mādhukarī.
On those papers that he received as alms, Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote page after page, preparing his messages of Godhead for the world. Some of the manuscripts he published in his Back to God-head magazine, and others, like Easy Journey to Other Planets, he printed as small booklets. Although unable to publish everything he wrote, Śrīla Prabhupāda nevertheless continued to write and stockpile his manuscripts. Unfortunately, some of the early writings of His Divine Grace were lost after Śrīla Prabhupāda left Śrī Vṛndāvana-dhāma to conduct his worldwide campaign of spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
In 1977, just on the eve of our Divine Master’s departure for the eternal abode of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, I found a handwritten manuscript at the bottom of an old metal trunk in the Rādhā-Dāmodara temple. The handwriting was easily recognizable as Śrīla Prabhupāda’s. After the disappearance of His Divine Grace, I carried the manuscript with me wherever I went, showing it to interested devotees. On several occasions, my godbrothers suggested that I publish the manuscript for wide-scale distribution.
The original manuscript of more than two hundred pages was entitled Lord Caitanya: His Sannyāsa and Saṅkīrtana Movement. Unfortunately, 40 pages were missing from the middle section. For several years, we searched for those missing pages but were unable to find them. The manuscript was therefore divided into two parts. The first part describes Lord Caitanya’s traveling from Navadvīpa-dhāma to Jagannātha Purī immediately after His accepting the sannyāsa order, the Lord’s visiting the temple of Kṣiracorā Gopīnātha, the pastime of the Gopīnātha Deity stealing the offering of condensed milk to satisfy His pure devotee Śrīpād Mādhavendra Purī, and the pastime of the Śakṣi Gopāla Deity ap- pearing as a witness to defeat the atheists. The second part of the manuscript describes the talks between Lord Caitanya and Rāmānanda Rāya when the two met on the banks of the river Godāvarī in South India.
In the second part of the manuscript, Śrīla Prabhupāda preaches very enthusiastically—discussing the varṇāśrama system, chastising the materialists, condemning the impersonalist conception, exposing the imitationists, praising the virtues and characteristics of pure devotion, and entering into confidential descriptions of the nature of rāsā-tattva, the transcendental mellowness of spontaneous love of Godhead.
Because the talks between Lord Caitanya and Rāmānanda Rāya had already been published by His Divine Grace in The Teachings of Lord Caitanya and his Caitanya-caritāmṛta purports, we hesi- tated to publish the manuscript, thinking that Śrīla Prabhupāda had already published what he wanted to say on the subject. How- ever, by the grace of Śrīla Prabhupāda, I was inspired to read the manuscript again and again until finally I realized that my beloved gurudeva had expanded on some very confidential points in his original manuscript, which he did not fully reveal in either The Teachings of Lord Caitanya or the Caitanya-caritāmṛta purports.
The style of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s writing in the manuscript is revealing. His Divine Grace makes his reader feel the urgency of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, a remarkable ability, which so much characterized his eminent position as a world ācārya. Taking his readers to the realm of divine love, Śrīla Prabhupāda extensively and freely reveals mādhurya-premā—the amorous love affairs of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Her cowherd girlfriends with Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the absolute King of Love, in the groves of Vṛndāvana—as the topmost platform of spontaneous love of Godhead. Thus the manuscript not only illuminates Śrīla Prabhupāda’s position as a world ācārya, but reveals his position as an intimate associate of both Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, although I am a most fallen soul, I still felt strongly that it would greatly please Śrīla Prabhupāda if I were to publish the second part of the manuscript under a separate title, which he himself uses in the manuscript: In Search of the Ultimate Goal of Life.
The talks between Lord Caitanya and Rāmānanda Rāya constitute the acme of all theistic conceptions, and thus are held in the highest regard by all Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācāryas. The conversation between Lord Caitanya and Rāmānanda Rāya reveals the most esoteric truth about Vaiṣṇava philosophy, allowing the reader to enter into the inner identity of the Lord and the purpose of His appearance. These talks are an important topic of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava siddhānta for all aspiring devotees. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s writing on this topic just after his accepting sannyāsa is evidence of the special importance of these discussions for people in the renounced order of life. That he did not venture to publish it immediately is further evidence of the highly confidential and esoteric nature of this essay.
Because the topic is a highly confidential subject matter, one may ask, “What is the need to publish it, thus making it available to even neophyte devotees?” The answer is that although Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu requested that Rāmānanda Rāya not disclose this topic but keep it a secret, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Goswāmī in his Caitanya-caritāmṛta openly reveals the details of the Lord’s talks with Rāmānanda and encourages all the devotees to enter deeply into their inner meaning.
Śrīla Prabhupāda calls the discussions between Lord Caitanya and Rāmānanda Rāya “In Search of the Ultimate Goal of Life” and requests his readers to enter into the essence of transcendental romance and pure love of Godhead by sincerely hearing his humble narration. Therefore, we felt that if we did not publish this manuscript, the worldwide community of devotees would be deprived of a most valuable gift.
As far as possible, we have tried to present the words of His Divine Grace in such a way as to preserve the original, charming mood of the author, but the readers must take into account that at the time of writing his manuscript Śrīla Prabhupāda had very little formal training in English or extensive contact with English-speaking people. Actually, His Divine Grace has simply allowed the editors of this book to render some menial service to his lotus feet out of his unlimited mercy, so we earnestly request that the readers try to grasp the spirit of this book and kindly forgive any defects there may be in our attempt to present it.
The devotees who have surrendered at the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and desire only to become the servants of the maidservants of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa will surely become enlivened by this publication. Others, who are not in the line of pure devotion, rūpānuga-bhajana, will not be able to understand the contents or the importance of this book. We humbly pray for the mercy of our Divine Master and for the blessings of all the Vaiṣṇavas that we may always be engaged in the heartfelt service of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His confidential associates as our life and soul.
Swāmī B.G. Narasingha
Pranams by the Author
First of all, I beg to submit
to the lotus feet of my spiritual master,
Oṁ Viṣṇu-pāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Goswāmī Mahārāja,
who has opened my spiritual vision
and eradicated the darkness of ignorance
by his forceful message of the transcendental world.
It is only by the mercy of His Divine Grace
that I have been able to remove
the impersonal calamity.
I offer my most sincere obeisances
unto the lotus feet of the Lord of Lords,
who is the protector of all surrendered souls.
The Supreme Lord is always anxious to bestow
upon us the fortune of unalloyed love of God,
untouched by such deviating processes
as dry speculative empiric knowledge
or the unsatiated desire for fruitive activities
meant only to acquire temporary material gains.
He is the supreme leader of the chain of disciplic succession
in the line of Śrīla Ānanda Tīrtha.
He is worshiped by Śrī Śrīman Adwaita Prabhu
and Śrī Śrīman Haridāsa Ṭhākura,
who are incarnations of Mahā-Viṣṇu
and Brahmā respectively.
He delivers His devotees, such as
the brāhmaṇa leper Vāsudeva,
from all ailments.
He is the deliverer
of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya
and King Pratāparudra,
who were suffering from the pangs
of material renunciation
and enjoyment respectively.
I offer my most sincere obeisances
unto the lotus feet of the Lord of Lords
who superficially accepted
the renounced life of a sannyāsī
to make the brāhmaṇa's curse effective.
In the garb of a sannyāsī, He initiated
the transcendental ecstasy of spontaneous love of God
as was felt by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī
in Her amorous desire to meet Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
In the quest of such spontaneous love of God,
the Lord relinquished the association
of His eternal consort Śrī Lakṣmī Viṣṇupriyā Devī,
who was dearest to Him and whose mercy is most ardently
sought after by all true devotees of God
and even by the denizens of heaven.
The Lord accepted the renounced order of life
in accordance with the foretelling inculcated
in the Mahābhārata, the Vedas, and the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
in order to bestow His causeless mercy upon us,
who are addicted to the false enjoyment of
fame, glory, the opposite sex, and wealth
in this material world.
In Search of the Ultimate Goal of Life
While on tour of South India, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu arrived on the banks of the river Godāvarī, where He met Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya, a great devotee of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya expressed a deep desire to hear about Śrī Kṛṣṇa from the lips of Rāmānanda Rāya and requested that Rāmānanda recite a verse from the revealed scriptures concerning the ultimate goal of life. Rāmānanda then replied:
sva-dharmācaraṇe viṣṇu-bhakti haya
“If a person performs the prescribed duties of his social position, he awakens his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”
Supporting his statement, Rāmānanda then cited a verse from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (3.8.9):
varṇāśramācāravatā
puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān
viṣṇur ārādhyate panthā
nānyat tat-doṣa-kāraṇam
“The Personality of Godhead Lord Viṣṇu is worshiped by the proper performance of prescribed duties in the system of varṇa and āśrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varṇas and āśramas.”