sri krsna caitanya prabhu nityananda
sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda
"I offer my obeisances to Sri Krishna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda,
Sri Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivasa and all others in the line of devotion."
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"Lord Caitanya is described as follows: He is the only shelter for the forlorn, for the most fallen, and He is the only hope for those who are completely devoid of spiritual knowledge. Let us try to discuss His great contribution of devotional service.
"The supremely powerful Lord Krishna is manifest in five different potencies. Although He is one without a second, in order to service five specific spiritual purposes, He is manifest in five ways. Such diversity is eternal and blissful, in contrast to the conception of monotonous oneness. From Vedic literatures we can understand that the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, eternally exists with full diverse energies, and they are five in number; therefore Lord Caitanya is said to be Krishna with diverse energies.
"There is no difference between the energy and the energetic in regard to the Lord's appearance as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His four associates -- Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu, Gadadhara, and Srivasa. Amongst these five diverse manifestations of the Supreme Lord (as the Lord Himself and His incarnation, expansion and energies) there is no spiritual difference. They are five in one Absolute Truth. For the sake of relishing transcendental flavors in the Absolute Truth, there are five diverse manifestations. These are called the form of a devotee, the identity of a devotee, the incarnation of a devotee, the pure devotee and devotional energy.
"Out of the five diversities in the Absolute Truth, the form of Lord Caitanya is that of the original Personality of Godhead, Krishna. Lord Nityananda is the manifestation of the first expansion of the Supreme Lord. Similarly, Advaita Prabhu is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord. These three -- Caitanya, Nityananda and Advaita -- belong to the category of Vishnu-tattva, or the Supreme Absolute Truth. Srivasa represents the pure devotee, and Gadadhara represents the internal energy of the Lord for the advancement of pure devotion. Therefore Gadadhara and Srivasa, although included in Vishnu-tattva, are dependent, diverse energies of the Supreme Lord. In other words, they are not different from the energetic, but they are manifest diversely for the sake of relishing transcendental relationships. The whole process of devotional service involves a transcendental reciprocation in the relationship between the worshiper and the worshiped."
(Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 17)
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*Special thanks to Gary Paterson for his beautiful photograph of Sri Pancha-Tattva, Lord Caitanya in five features.
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