Enlightening the Heart
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
After talking for a few minutes, Ramananda fell at the feet of Lord Caitanya and submitted his heartfelt realization:
- eta tattva mora citte kaile prakasana
- brahmake veda yena padaila narayana
- antaryami isvarera ei riti haye
- bahire na kahe, vastu prakase hrdaye
"My Lord, You have enlightened my heart with various truths and made me able to express them as the fundamental knowledge of Radha and Krsna, the essence of divine love. Previously, you similarly enlightened the heart of Brahma with Vedic knowledge. The Lord who is the constant companion of the living being as the Supersoul does all this out of His unbounded causeless mercy. He does not appear face-to-face outwardly, but He enlightens one from within." (CC Madhya 8.264-265)
In the Bhagavad-gita, this is confirmed. The Personality of Godhead says that in order to show special favor to His devotee, He enlightens the heart of the devotee and drives away the darkness of ignorance by the illumination of transcendental knowledge.
And in the very beginning of the beautiful Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.1), the following important statement is made:
- anmady asya yato 'nvayad itaratas cartesv abhijnah svarat
- tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye muhyanti yat surayah
- tejo-vari-mrdam yatha vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mrsa
- dhamna svena sada nirasta-kuhakam satyam param dhimahi
"The Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is the only independent self-sufficient King of all living entities. It is He only who enlightened the heart of Brahma, who is the original poet and singer of the Vedic hymns. It is He only about whom all kinds of empiric scholars become bewildered at every moment. In Him only is the combination of the five elements earth, fire, water, air, and ether possible. And it is He alone who is recognized as the true source of the internal energy, the external energy, and the marginal energy.
"Let us therefore pray for shelter under the lotus feet of Sri Krsna, who is free from all illusions by dint of His own energy and who is the Absolute Truth. This Absolute Truth is ascertained as the fountainhead of pure knowledge in all the affairs of creation, maintenance, and annihilation. This is the only logical conclusion to be drawn after carefully understanding the subject either directly or indirectly."