Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 2.84
Receive the Pastimes Through Disciplic Succession
“The pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are the topmost of jewels. They have been kept in the storehouse of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, who has explained them to Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, who has repeated them to me. Whatever little I have heard from Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī I have described in this book, which is presented to all devotees.”
What the purport teaches
- Svarūpa Dāmodara, the personal secretary of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, recorded His activities. He repeated them to Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, who memorized them.
- Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī recorded what he heard from Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
- This transmission is the paramparā system, or disciplic succession. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta contains the essence of instruction received through this succession from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Try this today
Write the chain of transmission given here, from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī.
Ask yourself
How does knowing the source of these accounts affect the way I receive them?
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.