Mangalacarana
vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams ca
sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devam
sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lotus Feet of my Spiritual Master and unto the feet of all Vaishnavas. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lotus Feet of Srila Rupa Gosvami along with his elder brother Sanatana Gosvami, as well as Raghunatha Dasa and Raghunatha Bhatta, Gopala Bhatta, and Srila Jiva Gosvami. I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Krishna Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda along with Advaita Acharya, Gadadhara, Srivasa, and other associates. I offer my respectful obeisances to Srimati Radharani and Sri Krishna along with Their associates Sri Lalita and Vishakha."
Vaishnavism Defined
"Vaishnavism" is the concept of Krishna (also known as Vishnu) as God. More than that, it is the eternal relationship between the jivatmas (individual living entities) and the Eternally Self-Existing, Self-Luminous and All-Pervading Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. "Gaudiya" (pronounced Gauriya) Vaishnavas trace the origin of their tradition back through time to Krishna Himself who declares boldly in Srimad Bhagavad-gita (10.8):
aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah
"I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts."
Lotus-eyed Sri Krishna revealed His Divine Nature to His disciple, Brahma, the first embodied being and co-creator of the material universe. Brahma, in turn, instructed his disciple Narada who then taught it to Vedavyasa, the compiler of the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of ancient India. This divine knowledge was eventually explained by the great Vaishnava saint, Madhavacharya (approximately 1238-1317). In the year 1486, All-Merciful Sri Krishna appeared as Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to deliver the fallen souls in the present age of Kali (explained below). This same spiritual truth is now being disseminated to the four corners of the earth by the contemporary Vaishnava acaryas (those who teach spiritual knowledge by means of personal example).
evam parampara praptam
imam rajarsayo viduh
"This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession and the saintly kings understood it in that way" (Bhagavad-gita, 4.2).
Gaudiya Vaishnavism takes its title from the word "Gauda" (pronounced "Gaura"), the former name of the state of Bengal, India. Gaudiya Vaishnavas are those who follow the teachings of Sri Krishna-Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Who chose the state of Gauda to be the place of His appearance on Bharata-varsa (the earth planet). The advent of Sri Krishna in the form of Lord Gauranga (Lord Chaitanya) is established by the Bhagavata Purana (11.5.32), wherein it is said:
krsna varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah
"In the age of Kali, intelligent persons peform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions."
One of the greatest Vaishnava scholars, Srila Jiva Goswami, has elucidated the meaning of this Sanskrit sloka (verse) in his work, Krama-Sandharbha. In this literature, he states that Lord Krishna also appears with a golden complexion. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), Garga Muni says that although the child Krishna was blackish, He also appears in three other colors, red, white, and yellow. The colors of these different avataras (the assuming of different forms by Lord Krishna when He descends into the innumerable material universes) correspond to the different divisions of material time known as the four yugas: Satya-yuga (white), Treta-yuga (red), Dvapara-yuga (black), and lastly, the present era, or Kali-yuga (yellow), which began approximately five thousand years ago, and is scheduled to last a total of 432,000 years. These divisions are similar to the golden, silver, bronze and iron ages of Western culture. Lord Chaitanya is known as "Gauranga" which means "possessing a golden (or yellow) colored body." "Krsna-varnam" means repeating or uttering the syllables "Krs-na". This implies that Gaudiya Vaishnavas can immediately be recognized by group or congregational chanting of the Lord's Holy Names. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Lord Sri Krishna Himself, personally divulged this sublime process of sankirtana, or chanting the Divine Names of God by means of the "Mahamantra" ("the greatest of all mantras"):
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
