Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 19.102

śyāma-rūpera vāsa-sthāna śreṣṭha māna' kāya?

'purī madhu-purī varā' — kahe upādhyāya

SYNONYMS

śyāma-rūpera — of the supreme form, Śyāmasundara; vāsa-sthāna — residence; śreṣṭha — the supreme; māna' — you accept; kāya — which; purī — the city; madhu-purī — Mathurā; varā — best; kahe — said; upādhyāya — Raghupati Upādhyāya.

TRANSLATION

"Of all Kṛṣṇa's abodes, which do you think is the best?"

Raghupati Upādhyāya said, "Madhu-purī, or Mathurā-dhāma, is certainly the best."

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa has many forms, as stated in the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.33): advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked Raghupati Upādhyāya which form was the best of Lord Kṛṣṇa's millions of forms, and he immediately replied that the supreme form was the Śyāmasundara form. In that form, Kṛṣṇa stands curved in three places and holds His flute. The Śyāmasundara form is also described in the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.38):

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti

yaḿ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaḿ

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

"I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of Śyāmasundara, situated within the heart of the devotee."

Those who are filled with ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa always see the form of Śyāmasundara within their hearts. Raghupati Upādhyāya confirms that the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has many incarnations — Nārāyaṇa, Nṛsiḿha, Varāha and others — but Kṛṣṇa is distinguished as the supermost. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.28), kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam: "Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead." Kṛṣṇa means Śyāmasundara, who plays His flute in Vṛndāvana. Of all forms, this form is the best of all. Kṛṣṇa lives sometimes in Mathurā and sometimes in Dvārakā, but Mathurā is considered the better place. This is also confirmed by Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Upadeśāmṛta (9): vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī. "Madhu-purī, or Mathurā, is far superior to the Vaikuṇṭhalokas in the spiritual world."

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