Caitanya's Role as a Teacher

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is revered not only as the Supreme Personality of Godhead but as the supreme teacher, or ācārya. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the primary qualification of an ācārya is that he practices what he preaches. Lord Caitanya's life was a continuous lesson in how to execute devotional service, offering humanity a practical blueprint for attaining love of God.

The Principle of Ācārya

The word ācārya means one who teaches by example. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that Lord Caitanya strictly followed the Vedic injunctions in His own life to instruct others. He notes that unless one is perfectly behaved, one cannot teach others. This principle was evident in His strict adherence to the sannyāsa order and His humble dealings with all living beings.

• Caitanya Mahaprabhu is an ideal teacher by His personal behavior, and so also are all His disciples. Thus this brahmana, being purified in association with Caitanya Mahaprabhu, followed these principles in submitting his request to the higher authority.
• Lord Caitanya personally used to practice Himself the injunctions and then He used to teach others. That is our principle: Unless one is perfectly behaved person, he cannot teach others.
• Although Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was Sri Krsna Himself, the Supreme Lord, and was therefore not at all fearful, He still acted like a human being to teach neophytes how to act.

The Curriculum of Love

Lord Caitanya's teaching was not dry philosophy; it was the science of love. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that He taught people how to dovetail their propensities into the service of Kṛṣṇa. He instructed His disciples in the various stages of devotion, from the beginning neophyte stage to the highest platform of mahā-bhāva, often empowering them to speak while He listened to verify their realization.

• Caitanya's mission is to teach people how to dovetail themselves into engagements of transcendental loving service. He is Krsna teaching His own service from the position of a devotee.
• Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as an ideal teacher, or acarya, explained Srimad-Bhagavatam very elaborately Himself. He sometimes also empowered His devotees to speak while He listened. This is the way an acarya should train his disciples.
• Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught the distinctions between different types of Vaisnavas - the Vaisnava, Vaisnavatara and Vaisnavatama. He thus successively explained all the symptoms of a Vaisnava to the inhabitants of Kulina-grama.

Strictness and Purity

As a sannyāsī, Lord Caitanya was uncompromising in His renunciation to teach the importance of purity. Śrīla Prabhupāda cites the example of Junior Haridāsa, whom the Lord rejected for a minor deviation, to establish the standard that a renunciant must avoid intimate association with women. This severity was not out of cruelty but to set an ideal standard for the world.

• Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the teacher of the entire world, and therefore He enforced this exemplary punishment (of Junior Haridasa) to establish that illicit sexual connections are never allowed by Vaisnava philosophy.
• As taught by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a woman's singing is dangerous because it can make a sannyasi fall a victim to the woman.
• After accepting the sannyasa order of life, He (Lord Caitanya) was very, very strict about avoiding association with women, but still He taught that there is no better method of worshiping Krsna than that conceived by the gopis.

From Grammar to God

Even in His early life as Nimāi Paṇḍita, the grammar teacher, He infused His teaching with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śrīla Prabhupāda recounts how He would explain grammatical roots by relating them to Kṛṣṇa. When His students finally understood that their teacher was absorbed in God, He closed the school and inaugurated the saṅkīrtana movement, showing that the ultimate purpose of all education is to know Kṛṣṇa.

• Caitanya Mahaprabhu was explaining Dahtu as Krishna and He would continue to explain Krishna in every step. When the students felt that the teacher was crazy the Transcendental Teacher closed his class.
• Kesava Kasmiri indirectly taunted Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu by implying that although He was a great teacher of grammar, such grammatical jugglery of root meanings did not require great expertise. This was a challenge to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
• As soon as the Lord became a teacher, many, many students came to Him, every one of them astonished to hear His mode of explanation.

Conclusion

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the jagat-guru, the teacher of the universe. He taught that the highest perfection of life is to become a servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa. By studying His life and precepts, as presented by Śrīla Prabhupāda, one can learn the art of tolerance, humility, and pure devotional service, ultimately graduating from the school of material existence to the spiritual world.

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