SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA

In the Madhya-Lila, ninth chapter of Sri Chaitanya-Charitamrta, we find:

"That day, the Lord went to the bank of the Payasvini river. After bathing He went to the Adi-Kesava Temple where He met with the great devotees there, and it was there that He obtained the ancient manuscript of the fifth chapter of Sri Brahma-samhita. This gave the Lord unlimited joy, and Divine Ecstatic Symptoms appeared in His Body—trembling, weeping, perspiring; He was stunned, thrilled with Ecstasy.

“As a Scripture embodying Perfect Truths (siddhanta), Sri Brahma-samhita has no equal; it is the best of all Holy Books proclaiming the Glories of the Supreme Lord Govinda. Endless Perfect Truths are expressed in few words. It is the essence of all Vaisnava Scriptures.

“The Lord had that manuscript copied very carefully. Then He joyfully went to visit the Temple of Ananta-Padmanabha.”

What more can I say than this? At least I may say that if this Scripture is reckoned as one of the most ancient Scriptures, then it is an unprecedented and truly authoritative source of the Teachings of Krishna-Bhakti, Devotion for the Supreme Lord, Krishna. Again, if it is suggested that this Scripture was not originally found in this province (Bengal), so it was actually authored by Sri Sri Mahaprabhu, what could be more happy for us? By obtaining any work of siddhanta written by Sri Mahaprabhu, no trace of doubt can ever remain in the world of Vaisnava thought. However one may consider it, this Holy Book, Sri Brahma-samhita, is worshippable to every devotee.

—Sri Bhaktivinoda

• For Reader's Appreciation
• Feelings of Appreciation
• Prologue
• Translator's Note
• Illumination
• Sri Sri Brahma-samhita
• Verse Contents