Śrī Śrīla Shyam Das Baba Maharaj
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is mahā–vadānyāya avatāra, the most munificent incarnation, because He gives kṛṣṇa–prema. No other incarnation gives kṛṣṇa–prema. He never discriminates whether one is very elevated or very degraded and He never considers whether one deserves it or not. Usually we are interested to get that particular thing for which we have some demand and desire and the rest we like to ignore whatever valuable it may be. But Śrīmān Mahāprabhu irrespective of our demand and desire or the situation in which we are put into, going to give the scope to accept the unique treasure – prema, which is just rare in this fourteen world. It is true that at the time of Mahāprabhu He was distributing prema without any consideration.
patrāpatra–vicāraṇaṁ na kurute na svam paraṁ vīkṣyate
deyādeya–vimarśako na hi na vā kāla–pratīkṣaḥ prabhuḥ
sadyo yaḥ śravaṇekṣaṇa–praṇamana–dhyānādina durlabham
datte bhakti–rasaṁ sa eva bhagavān gauraḥ param me gatiḥ
(Śrī Caitanya–candrāmṛtam Verse 77)
The fully independent Supreme Personality, when bequeathing loving devotion (bhakti–rasaṁ), does not judge the eligibility of the receiver or the extent of his inclination, neither does He wait for an auspicious moment, or differentiate about the quality of incentive from person to person. This most rare gift, rarely obtained through the practices of hearing topics about Śrī Kṛṣṇa, seeing the Lord’s Deity form, offering obeisance to Him, meditating on Him, and the like, He alone can offer, without hesitation. Thus, Śrī Gaura–Sundara is my only momentum and destination.
Still who all going to get this golden opportunity?
If someone going to give same rasa to me in that case I need same proper container (pātra) to accept this rasa, but Śrīmān Mahāprabhu are not going to consider whether I have a good pot or not, or at all pot is there or not, anyway Śrīmān Mahāprabhu going to give both pot and rasa, which is just inconceivable. But if any hole is there in my container – which is just unable to protect the rasa already given, in that case who is responsible for that? Whom to blame? With what type of container shall we approach Mahāprabhu to receive the prema–rasa that He is giving? You can put the milk of a cow in an earthen pot, but can you put the milk of a lioness in an earthen pot? If you go to receive the milk of a lioness in an earthen pot, you cannot get it because the milk of a lioness is very strong. An earthen pot has many pores in it, so it will crack and everything will pour out. To get the milk of a lioness a golden pot is required. Only with that container can you get the prema–rasa given by Mahāprabhu. But you should examine your heart to see if there are no holes in it. Is it a pure heart? If there are holes or nasty things in it, how can you get prema–rasa? kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada and mātsarya: lust, anger, greed, pride, arrogance and enviousness. These are the nasty things. These are the holes in the container. Although Mahāprabhu gives indiscriminately to one and all, why is it that one and all are not getting? How will our hearts be free from all these things? How can we take care of the container of the heart so that we may receive Mahāprabhu’s mercy and make a success of our human birth? Mahāprabhu gives prema through chanting, but He gives a condition “tṛṇād api sunīcena”, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupāda is telling – “The transcendental conception of thinking, ‘I am dust at the lotus feet of my spiritual master; I am the servant of guru and Kṛṣṇa’ is what is meant by tṛṇād api sunīcena (becoming lower than grass). jīve–dayā (compassion toward all living entities), nāma–ruci (taste for the holy names), and Vaiṣṇava–sevā — these are Mahāprabhu’s three teachings. The meaning of tṛṇād api sunīcena is not disingenuousness, merely flaunting a show of humility; it means actual eligibility for kīrtana by nāma–ruci and considering oneself a servant of the holy name. Service is the gateway to nāma–ruci; service to guru and Vaiṣṇavas is tṛṇād api sunīcatā. We should not become subordinate to nondevotees, but to devotees, from whom we should beg mercy and show respect. The mahājanas instructed us not to display humility before everyone. To show humility toward envious atheists like Rāvaṇa and the pretentious brāhmaṇas is not Vaiṣṇava–sevā or tṛṇād api sunīcena. If we transgress this instruction we will never become qualified to chant the holy name or attain nāma–ruci; rather, our actions will result in becoming envious of others.”