Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 18.111
A Living Being Cannot Become Kṛṣṇa
“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately exclaimed, “Viṣṇu! Viṣṇu! Do not call Me the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A jīva cannot become Kṛṣṇa at any time. Do not even say such a thing!”
What the purport teaches
- Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately exclaims, “Viṣṇu! Viṣṇu!” and tells the people not to call Him the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- A living being, however exalted, should never be compared to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A jīva cannot become Kṛṣṇa at any time.
- Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s preaching protests the monistic philosophy of the Māyāvāda school. A central point of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is that the living entity can never be accepted as Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu.
Try this today
Write down this distinction today: “A living being, however exalted, cannot become Kṛṣṇa.”
Ask yourself
How can I honor an exalted living being without equating that being with Kṛṣṇa?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.