Ceto Darpana Marjanam
Antya Lila Chapter 20 Verses 12, 16, 21, 29, 32, 36, 39, 47, and 65; Sri Siksastakam
ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ
bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ
vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ
pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate
śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam
Glory to the sri-krsna-sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.
nāmnām
akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ
O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.
tṛṇād
api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.
na
dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi
O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth.
ayi
nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja- sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya
O son of Maharaja Nanda (Krsna), I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.
nayanaṁ
galad-aśru-dhārayā vadanaṁ gadgada-ruddhayā girā pulakair nicitaṁ vapuḥ kadā tava nāma-grahaṇe bhaviṣyati
O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?
yugāyitaṁ
nimeṣeṇa cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me
O Govinda! Feeling Your separations I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.
āśliṣya
vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ
I know no one but Krsna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally
prabhura
'śikṣāṣṭaka'-śloka yei paḍe, śune kṛṣṇe
prema-bhakti tāra bāḍe dine-dine
If anyone recites or hears these eight verses of instruction by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, his ecstatic love and devotion for Krsna increase day by day.
Translation
Glory to the sri-krsna-sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.
O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.
One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.
O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth.
O son of Maharaja Nanda (Krsna), I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.
O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?
Word for word
cetaḥ - darpaṇa — the mirror of
the heart; mārjanam — cleansing; bhava — of material
existence; mahā-dāva-agni — the greatly blazing forest fire; nirvāpaṇam — extinguishing; śreyaḥ - kairava — the white lotus of
good fortune; candrikā - vitaraṇam — spreading the
moonbeams; vidyā - vadhū — the wife of all education; jīvanam — the life; ānanda-ambudhi — the ocean of bliss; vardhanam —
increasing; prati-padam — at every step; pūrṇa amṛta — the full nectar; āsvādanam — giving a relishable taste; sarva-ātmasnapanam — bathing all souls; param — transcendental; vijayate — let there
be victory; śrī-kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtanam — for the congregational chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.
nāmnām — of the holy names
of the Lord; akāri — manifested; bahudhā — various
kinds; nija - sarva - śaktiḥ — all types of
personal potency; tatra — in that; arpitā — bestowed; niyamitaḥ — restricted; smaraṇe — in remembering; na — not; kālaḥ — consideration of time; etādṛśī — so much; tava kṛpā — Your mercy; bhagavan — O Lord!; mama — my; api — although; durdaivam — misfortune; īdṛśam — such; iha — in this (the holy name); ajani — was born; na anurāgaḥ — no attachment.
tṛṇāt api — than
even downtrodden grass; su - nīcena — by feeling oneself much
lower; taroḥ — than a tree; iva — like; sahiṣṇunā — by being tolerant; amāninā — by not accepting respect; mānadena — by giving respect to all others; kīrtanīyaḥ — should
be chanted; sadā — always; hariḥ — the holy name of
Hari.
na dhanam — not wealth; na janam — not
followers; na sundarīm — not beautiful women; kavitām —
fruitive activities described in flowery language; vā — or; jagat-īśa — O Lord of the universe!; kāmaye — I desire; mama — my; janmani
janmani — in birth after birth; īśvare — unto the Supreme
Personality of Godhead; bhavatāt — let there be; bhaktiḥ — devotional service; ahaitukī — unmotivated; tvayi — unto
You.
ayi nanda-tanuja — O son of Nanda
Mahārāja!; kińkaram — Your servant; patitam — fallen; mām — me; viṣame — horrible; bhava - ambudhau — in the ocean of nescience; kṛpayā — by causeless mercy; tava — Your; pādapańkaja — lotus feet; sthita — situated
Notes
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the science of Krsna, a task which His followers have continued to carry out down to the present day. The elaborations and expositions on the philosophy taught by Lord Caitanya are, in fact, the most voluminous, exacting, and consistent, due to the system of disciplic succession. Although Lord Caitanya was widely renowned as a scholar in His youth, one of His famous doctrines he left behind was the Siksastaka. These eight verses clearly reveal His mission and precepts. These supremely valuable prayers are translated herein. The Caitanya Caritmarta had these prayers in here in Chapter 20 in the Antya Lila. The verses are shown in the official name field of this page. The gaps between verses are the purports by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Verses 1 through 8 are the actual Siksatakam verses (in Sanskrit). The final verse is in Bengali. PURPORT: By A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Purport 1) By A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Purport 2)
Prabhupada commentary
2ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṅaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṅāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṅa-saṅkīrtanam
[Glory to the śrī-kṛṣṅa-saṅkīrtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This saṅkīrtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.]
Lord Caitanya gave us eight stanzas of His mission, what He wanted to do. They are explained in eight stanzas, and they are known as Śikṣāṣṭaka. Śikṣā means instruction, and āṣṭaka means eight. So in eight stanzas He has finished His instruction, and His next disciples, the Six Gosvāmīs, have explained them in volumes of books. So Lord Caitanya says the subject is paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṅa-saṅkīrtanam: all glories to the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra or Kṛṣṅa saṅkīrtan movement. All glories. All victory. How it is victory, all victory?
That He explains, that ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam. If you chant this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, then the dirty things which have accumulated in your heart due to material contamination will be cleared off. He gives the example that the heart is just like a mirror. If on the mirror there are heaps of dust accumulated, then one cannot see the real face by the reflection of the mirror. Therefore, it should be cleansed. So in our present conditional life, our heart is overloaded with so much dust accumulated due to our material association from time immemorial. So if we chant this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, then the dust will be removed. Even not immediately, it will begin to be removed. And as soon as the mirror of the heart is cleansed of all dust, immediately one can see the face what he is. That face means real identification. By chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, one will understand that he is not this body. This is our misconception. The dust means this misconception, accepting this body or the mind as self. Actually, we are not this body or the mind. We are spirit soul. So as soon as we can understand that we are not these bodies, immediately bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam. The blazing fire of material conditions, or the blazing fire of material miseries, immediately becomes dissipated. No more misery. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi.