The Appearance of the Undercover Incarnation

Lord Caitanya is the hidden incarnation of Godhead described by the term channah, which means covered, in the Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.38 as follows:

itthaṁ nṛ-tiryag-ṛṣi-deva-jhaṣāvatārair
lokān vibhāvayasi haṁsi jagat pratīpān
dharmaṁ mahā-puruṣa pāsi yugānuvṛttaṁ
channaḥ kalau yad abhavas tri-yugo 'tha sa tvam

"In this way, my Lord, You appear in various incarnations as a human being, an animal, a great saint, a demigod, a fish or a tortoise, thus maintaining the entire creation in different planetary systems and killing the demoniac principles. According to the age, O my Lord, You protect the principles of religion. In the age of Kali, however, You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore You are known as Triyuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas."

Srila Prabhupada wonderfully explains the appearance of Lord Caitanya in his purport to this verse as follows:

"As the Lord appeared just to maintain Lord Brahma from the attack of Madhu and Kaitabha, He also appeared to protect the great devotee Prahlada Maharaja. Similarly, Lord Caitanya appeared in order to protect the fallen souls of Kali-yuga. There are four yugas, or millenniums--Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. In all the yugas but Kali-yuga, the Lord appears in various incarnations and asserts Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but although Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who appears in Kali-yuga, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He never asserted Himself as such. On the contrary, whenever Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was addressed as being as good as Krishna, He blocked His ears with His hands, denying His identity with Krishna, because He was playing the part of a devotee. Lord Caitanya knew that in Kali-yuga there would be many bogus incarnations pretending to be God, and therefore He avoided asserting Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, in many Vedic literatures, especially in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32):

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ

In Kali-yuga, intelligent men worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is always accompanied by His associates such as Nityananda, Advaita, Gadadhara and Srivasa. The entire Krishna consciousness movement is based on the principles of the sankirtana movement inaugurated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore one who tries to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the medium of the sankirtana movement knows everything perfectly. He is sumedhas, a person with substantial intelligence."

So if we are intelligent, we will take advantage of the most sublime process of self-realization given in this age by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the congregational chanting of the holy names of God.

Lord Caitanya Leads Congregational Chanting

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: An Atheist Who Chants Hare Krishna Once

My dear Gurudeva,

In BG 2.40 it is said that there is no loss in this endeavor. My questions are:

1) I've learned many slokas of Bhagavad-gita. So, if unfortunately I am not able to go back to Godhead, then in my next life will I be able to remember the slokas which I have learnt in this life without any endeavor to learn them again?

2) Does this verse mean that if atheist chants the name Krishna only once in his entire lifetime he will be delivered? Please explain.

Your servant,
Vrutant

Answer: He is Eternally Blessed

No loss in this endeavor means that whatever spiritual advancement you make in this lifetime will be your eternal asset. In other words if you make 1% spiritual advancement in this life, in your next life you will pick up where you left off at 1%. You will not have to go back to 0%. Regarding remembering verses, even in this life it is possible to forget verses that we have previously learned. So there is no guarantee that you will remember every verse in your next life. 

Any person, atheist or otherwise, who even once utters the name of Krishna for any reason knowingly or unknowingly is eternally blessed. However, to be delivered back to Godhead requires being fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness at the moment of death. The devotees strive every day to absorb themselves as fully as possible in Krishna consciousness as a matter of habit so that they will naturally absorb their minds in Krishna at the time of death and become liberated from the cycle of birth and death. 

Sankarshan Das Adhikari