Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 15.237

tvayopayukta-srag-gandha-

vāso 'lańkāra-carcitāḥ

ucchiṣṭa-bhojino dāsās

tava māyāḿ jayema hi

SYNONYMS

tvayā — by You; upayukta — used; srak — flower garlands; gandha — scented substances like sandalwood pulp; vāsaḥ — garments; alańkāra — ornaments; carcitāḥ — being decorated with; ucchiṣṭa — remnants of food; bhojinaḥ — eating; dāsāḥ — servants; tava — Your; māyām — illusory energy; jayema — can conquer over; hi — certainly.

TRANSLATION

"'My dear Lord, the garlands, scented substances, garments, ornaments and other such things that have been offered to You may later be used by Your servants. By partaking of these things and eating the remnants of food You have left, we will be able to conquer the illusory energy.'"

PURPORT

This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.6.46). In the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, the dancing in ecstasy and the eating of the remnants of food offered to the Lord are very, very important. One may be illiterate or incapable of understanding the philosophy, but if he partakes of these three items, he will certainly be liberated without delay.

This verse was spoken by Uddhava to Lord Kṛṣṇa. This was during the time when the Uddhava-gītā was spoken. At that time there was some disturbance in Dvārakā, and Lord Kṛṣṇa decided to leave the material world and enter the spiritual world. Uddhava could understand the situation, and he talked with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The verse quoted above is an excerpt from their conversation. Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes in this material world are called prakaṭa-līlā (manifested pastimes), and His pastimes in the spiritual world are called aprakaṭa-līlā (unmanifested pastimes). By "unmanifested" we mean that they are not present before our eyes. It is not that Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are nonexistent. They are going on exactly as the sun is shining perpetually, but when the sun is present before our eyes, we call it daytime (manifest), and when it is not present, we call it night (unmanifest). Those who are above the jurisdiction of night are always in the spiritual world, where the Lord's pastimes are constantly manifest to them. As the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.37-38) confirms:

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis

tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ

goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti

yaḿ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaḿ

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who resides in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, who resembles His own spiritual figure and who embodies the ecstatic potency [hlādinī]. Their companions are Her confidantes, who embody extensions of Her bodily form and who are imbued and permeated with ever-blissful spiritual rasa. I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself, with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love."

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness