CC Adi 8.78 (1975)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Below is the 1996 edition text, ready to be substituted with the 1975 one using the compile form.
TEXT 78
- ei grantha lekhāya more ‘madana-mohana’
- āmāra likhana yena śukera paṭhana
SYNONYMS
ei—this; grantha—great literature; lekhāya—causes me to write; more—unto me; madana-mohana—the Deity; āmāra—my; likhana—writing; yena—like; śukera—of the parrot; paṭhana—responding.
TRANSLATION
Actually Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is not my writing but the dictation of Śrī Madana-mohana. My writing is like the repetition of a parrot.
PURPORT
This should be the attitude of all devotees. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead recognizes a devotee, He gives him intelligence and dictates how he may go back home, back to Godhead. This is confirmed in Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā (BG 10.10):
- teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
- dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te
“To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” The opportunity to engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord is open to everyone because every living entity is constitutionally a servant of the Lord. To engage in the service of the Lord is the natural function of the living entity, but because he is covered by the influence of mayā, the material energy, he thinks it to be a very difficult task. But if he places himself under the guidance of a spiritual master and does everything sincerely, immediately the Lord, who is situated within everyone’s heart, dictates how to serve Him (dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam). The Lord gives this direction, and thus the devotee’s life becomes perfect. Whatever a pure devotee does is done by the dictation of the Supreme Lord. Thus it is confirmed by the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta that whatever he wrote was written under the direction of the Śrī Madana-mohana Deity.