The Sannyāsa of Mahāprabhu
By Swāmī Śrī Bhaktivedānta Tripurāri, excepted from Śikṣāṣṭakam of Śrī Caitanya.
The jñāna-mārga is not easy to tread. It emphasizes renunciation of the world (sannyāsa), the study of Vedānta, and introspection, all of which are difficult in comparison to nāma-saṅkīrtana. Although Mahāprabhu accepted sannyāsa, he did not tread the jñāna-mārga, and thus he was not preoccupied with the study of Vedānta and a life of introspection. Indeed, Śrī Īśvara Purī, Mahāprabhu’s dīkṣā guru, advised him not to occupy himself with the typical duties of the sannyāsa order, such as the study of Vedānta. By calling Gaura a fool and telling him that he was not qualified to study Vedānta, Śrī Īśvara Purī revealed that in Kali-yuga people are not eligible for such practices. The study of Vedānta is a long and tedious undertaking, and in Kali-yuga time is short and memory poor. Instead of study, the simple practice of nāma-saṅkīrtana is mandated.
The ease and simplicity with which nāma-saṅkīrtana is performed does not diminish its value. On the strength of his experience of nāma-saṅkīrtana, Mahāprabhu converted many sannyāsis in Benares from the study of Vedānta (jñāna-mārga) to bhakti-mārga. At first these sannyāsis thought that Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya was merely a sentimentalist and that singing and dancing were inappropriate for a sannyāsi, who is to be ruled by reason and scripture rather than mind and emotion. However, Mahāprabhu demonstrated that spiritual love, unlike material love, is grounded in knowledge, Vedānta. Indeed, Mahāprabhu made it clear that the simple expression of love that is at the heart of nāma-saṅkīrtana is the essence of Vedānta.
Thus when Mahāprabhu tells us in this verse two of Śikṣāṣṭakam that nāma-saṅkīrtana is easy to perform and not encumbered by the rule of Vedic law, we should not think that it has no connection with Vedānta, that it is merely sentiment with no foundation in knowledge. Indeed, Kṛṣṇa nāma is both Brahman and the means to realize Brahman. Because Brahman is the exclusive subject of Vedānta-sūtra, the Śikṣāṣṭakam, being a commentary on the significance of Kṛṣṇa nāma, is also a commentary on the significance of Brahman and in this sense Mahāprabhu’s commentary on Vedānta.
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