43. Why did Lord Caitanya appear?

43. Why did Lord Caitanya appear?:

May the Supreme Lord, who is known as the son of Sacidevi, be transcendentally situated in the innermost core of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has descended in the age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no other incarnation has ever offered before - the most elevated mellow of transcendental service, ujjvala-rasa, the mellow of conjugal love - Vraja-prema in the mood of the gopis. (Vidagdha Madhava)

The main reason Śrī Kṛṣṇa appeared as Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu was to taste 3 things He didn't experience in Vrndāvana-līlā. Therefore, Krsna took the inner bhāva of Srimati Rādhikā, and in Her form came to Navadvīpa as Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Because it fulfills the Lord's desires, Navadvīpa-līlā is known as parisishta (the conclusion or fulfilment) līlā. 

Śrī Krsna descended as Śrī Kṛṣņa Caitanya to fulfil 3 inner longings: 

1.What is the greatness of the divine love of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, who is the personification of hladinī sakti? 

2.What is the incredible sweetness of Krsna that She tastes through Her love?

3.What is the indescribable happiness Rādhā feels when She tastes Krsna's sweet love?

Some ācāryas say there are 4 reasons for the advent of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, 2 primary and 2 secondary. Tasting the prema of Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the most primary. Giving the wealth of ujjvala-rasa, the most sublime form of Krsna-prema, to the conditioned souls is the 4th purpose of Mahaprabhu's appearance. This ujjvalarasa or parakiya bhāva of the Vraja-gopis is the highest and most wonderful form of transcendental love of God.

Madhurya-rasa is very gloriously manifested only in Krsna-lila, and Krsna Himself cannot imagine how beautiful He is. When Krsna sees His face in a mirror, He wants to embrace and kiss Himself. He becomes very disturbed and cannot tolerate. He needs Himself, but how can He attain Himself? Madhurya-rasa is within Him, but He becomes mad trying to grasp that. At the same time, Krsna sees that Rädhä is getting all the ecstasy of His transcendental form by Her selfless service.

Knowing Him fully, Rädhä immediately presents Krsna whatever He wants. By the service of Krsna, Rädhä obtains everything, but Krsna cannot get His own service, even though He sincerely desires it most. "The only possible way to get My own service,' thinks Krsna, 'is if I Myself assume the position of Śrīmati Radhika. Then I can taste the ecstasy which She is feeling.' So, in this way, Lord Śrī Krşņa adopted Śrīmati Rādhikā's mood and colour and became Gauränga Mahaprabhu. (Philosophy and Religion of Sri Caitanya)

Because they are very difficult to understand, Śrila Šukadeva Gosvāmī had only briefly hinted at the sweet amorous pastimes of Sri-Śrī Rādhikā-Krşņacandra in his description of the rasa dance in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Now Lord Hari has descended to this world in a golden form to reveal the truth of these pastimes. (Sri Caitanya Candramrta)

Once upon a time, Śrīmatī Rādhikā asked Śrī Krsna: 'I have a desire to be one in form with You. My dear Lord! Please manifest a form which has these attributes: it must be endowed with My ecstatic mood; it must give joy to the heart; it must be seated reciprocally in both our hearts; it must bestow all-auspiciousness by exhibiting playful prankishness; and it must be infused with My most exalted mood of topmost ecstasy (mahābhāva). Please manifest Us in such a unified form.'

Hearing such a supremely loving request from His beloved Radha, the Universal Teacher, Śri Krşņa enthusiastically manifested Himself in that form. Śri Krsna exhibited a most beautiful form, endowed with the lustre of Śrīmatī Rādhikā's ecstatic moods, due to Their unified loving embrace, as well as by Their union of inconceivable energy. Šri Krşņa displayed this wonderful form of Himself to Rädhä in a dream.

The self-created Śrī Kṛṣņa thereby split His own original form into two separate moods (antah krishnam bahir gauram) - inside He is dark (Śrī Kṛṣṇa), and outside He is fair (Śrī Rādhā). Both are very fond of devotional service and are complete in the moods of ecstatic love and transcendental to any external designations. This is how the Supreme Lord Hari had turned Himself into the form of Sri Gauranga." (Kapila Tantra 9th patala)

One morning, Srimati Rādhikā said to Sri Krsna in Their flower bed: 'Oh Beloved! I had a most unusual dream last night. There was a wide sandy bank along a river resembling the Yamuna. Many people were playing musical instruments and dancing there, looking much like Our own rasa dance. But amidst those dancers, I saw a most astonishing figure in My dream. A beautiful brahmana youth with a dazzling golden complexion was performing a divine dance, which was inundating the entire universe with Prema.

'This golden youth of My dream would sometimes lose all patience and cry, "Rādhā! Rādhā! Where are You?" Then at other times, He would shed tears of ecstasy while chanting, "Oh Krsna!" I cannot understand whether this golden brahmana youth is another form of You or is it Me?'

After hearing Śrī Rādha's dream, Lord Śrī Kṛṣņa revealed to Rādhārānī that He Himself is that self-same Gauranga, the golden brahmana youth of Her dream. Seeing this, Śrīmatī Rādhikā exclaimed, “I am experiencing the revelation that I am also He. And by perceiving how both of Us identify with that form, it seems that both of Us have indeed united in order to manifest in that way.” (Svapna-vilāsa-āmṛtam)

Dark-complexioned Lord Śyāmasundara, whose form is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge, formerly danced with the golden-complexioned gopīs in Śrī Vrndāvana. By intensely embracing them, Śrī Kṛṣņa attained a golden complexion like theirs. In this golden form Lord Gauränga has now appeared in the town of Navadvipa. (Gaura Ganoddesa Dipika)

The sāstras and ācāryas present slightly different descriptions of the appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, which simply enhance the inconceivably wonderful pastimes of the Lord.

Śrīmatī Rādhārāņī and Lord Krsna entered one transcendental form which presently appears as my dear most Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When I say "presently" do not mistakenly judge this according to the mundane time factor, because transcendental truth is beyond the influence of time. The most wonderful thing about the absolute reality is that it exists eternally in the present. Thus, to say that Śrīmatī Rādhārānī and Lord Krsna appear before Lord Caitanya, who made His appearance recently (1486 a.d.), would be an attempt to impose material inebrieties like time and chronological order on Them.

This misconception will totally alienate us from the eternal truth. Do not waste valuable time uselessly debating who came first; Śrīmatī Rādhārāņi and Lord Krşņa or Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the son of Šacidevi. Everything is perfectly adjusted on the transcendental plane. (Prema Vivarta)

Śrī Kṛşņa and Śrī Caitanya are always manifest. Some say that Lord Caitanya was first, and that He was followed by Rādhā and Krsna. Then later Rādhā and Krsna became Lord Caitanya. Both Lord Caitanya and Rādhā and Krsna exist eternally. Neither one precedes nor follows the other. (Jaiva Dharma)

Lord Krşņa said to Uddhava, 'What is the condition of Śrī Radha, the dear most friend of Viśākhā, now that I have left Vrndāvana? Please tell me so that I may understand." To fulfil His own desire, Vrajendrānandana Krşņa descended as Lord Caitanya to taste the mellows of His own devotional service. (Sri Sacinandana Vijayastaka)