Srila Prabhupada
Jagat means moving. And Jagat-nātha, nātha means the proprietor—master, proprietor. So Jagannātha means the proprietor or the master of all these movements, He is Jagannātha. And Balabhadra, Balarāma, bala means strength, and rāma means enjoyment. So Balarāma means who gives you spiritual strength for enjoying eternal blissful life. He is Balarāma. And Subhadrā, su means auspicious, and bhadra means well-being. Subhadrā, Jagannātha and Balarāma combined together are present before you to reclaim you all from your miserable condition of life. That is the purport of this Ratha-yātrā Festival. If anyone sees on the cart Jagannātha, Subhadrā and Baladeva, then he does not take birth again in this material world. Ratheja vamanaṁ dṛṣṭa.
(700705 - Lecture Festival Ratha-yatra - San Francisco)
If you want actual happiness, then you have to undergo austerity, tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet yasmād brahma-saukhyam anantam. You are hankering after happiness. That happiness, brahma-sukha, eternal happiness, you will get by practicing tapasya. So don't believe, don't make friendship with your restless mind. This is the instruction. Don't make friendship. Simply beat the mind with shoes and broomstick, otherwise cannot bring in control. And other alternative is kevalayā bhaktyā. So if you can engage your mind at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then it is possible. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ ((SB 9.4.18). Then Kṛṣṇa will control. Kṛṣṇa means light. Darkness . . . you are suffering in the darkness. So somehow or other if you bring a light, there is no darkness.
kṛṣṇa-sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra
yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra
(CC Madhya 22.31)
If you keep always within your mind Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet . . . you can see Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, Deity, Baladeva, Balarāma, how He is nicely standing. You can see the nice lotus feet. Don't try to see the face all of a sudden. Try, practice to see the lotus feet constantly. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāra . . . this is a chance. This temple means to practice how to think of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, Balarāma's lotus feet, always. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ (BG 18.65). Immediately you become bhakta. And as soon as you become a bhakta, kecit kevalayā bhaktyā vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ, dhunvanti aghaṁ kṛtsnam (SB 6.1.15): all kinds of disturbances will be subsided, dhunvanti.
(761125 - Lecture SB 05.06.03 - Vrndavana)
You will be surprised to know that Lord Caitanya had a very poor friend. In His childhood He had a poor friend. His name was Śrīdhara. His income was daily, in those days, five hundred years before, his income was, say, about five cent daily. And not even that. Suppose five cent. So out of that five cent, he would spend two-half cent for gaṅgā-pūjā, for worshiping mother Ganges.
And with the balance two-half cent, he will maintain his family. So similarly, there are many instances. So it doesn't matter what is your income—five cent or five hundred dollars. You must try to satisfy according to your capacity the Supreme Lord. That should be.
(670326 - Lecture SB 01.02.12-14 and Installation of Jagannatha Deities - San Francisco)
Prabhupāda: Actually devotee’s never in distress. People may see that he is in distress. Just like there is a very good example—you are going to Māyāpur, you’ll find—his name was Śrīdhara, Kolaveca Śrīdhara. His income was very poor. At night he would chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra very loudly: “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa . . .” His neighboring friends would say, “This man has no income, and because he is hungry now he is chanting ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.’ He’s hungry.” So one day Caitanya Mahāprabhu . . . Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to take away his possession, flowers. He was selling, making business, making some donā, donā. What is called, donā?
Devotee: Cups.
Prabhupāda: Cup, yes, that was his business. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu take away some of his fruits and donā, as a friend. So one day Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that, “Śrīdhara, you take benediction from Me.” So he said, “What benediction, Sir?” “Well, you are so poor that your house is not even properly repaired. There are so many holes in the roof.” He, “Still, I have got a nice house, because it is better than the bird’s nest. They have no roof. (laughter) They have no roof, and they live on the tree. I have got a shelter. What is the difficulty? There is no difficulty.” In this way Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to offer him so many thing, and he said that, “No, I have no trouble for this. If You want to benedict me, please give me pure devotion on Your lotus feet.“
Guest: Bhakti.
Prabhupāda: Bhakti. So that is pure devotion. That we should hanker after, how to fix up our mind always in the service of the Lord. That we are trying to teach, that’s all.
(720223 – Lecture SB 01.02.06 – Calcutta)
Even when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was preaching this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra . . . He was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra very loudly. Some brāhmins from Navadvīpa, they lodged complaint to the magistrate, Kazi that, "This Nimāi Paṇḍita has discovered a new type of religion, chanting loudly Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is the period of . . . sleeping period of Nārāyaṇa, and He's chanting so loudly. So Nārāyaṇa will be disturbed and there will be so much catastrophe. So kindly stop this chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa loudly." And Kazi, he took steps. He first of all warned the disciples of Caitanya Mahāprabhu to stop chanting. But when Caitanya Mahāprabhu disregarded the order, then the . . . some constables came and broke the mṛdaṅga. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu started the civil disobedience movement. About one lakh of people, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, reached the house of Kazi, and there was some compromise.
(721114 - Lecture NOD - Vrndavana)
So Caitanya Mahāprabhu also accepted sannyāsa in very young age, when He was only twenty-four years. So why? Tyaktvā tūrṇam, rājya-lakṣmīṁ dharmiṣṭha ārya-vacasā yad agād araṇyam (SB 11.5.34). Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very, very well situated. He was born in a very respectable high brāhmaṇa family, Jagannātha Miśra, and mother's side, the Nīlāmbara Cakravartī, he was very respectable brāhmaṇa. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu's learning, nobody could excel Him, He was so learned scholar. And when He was sixteen years old, He defeated one of the most learned scholar of India, Keśava Bhāratī. So learning, family . . . And wife? Personally goddess of fortune, Lakṣmīpriyā and Viṣṇupriyā, most beautiful and young. Viṣṇupriyā was His second wife; so faithful, so beautiful, personally goddess of fortune, such wife. And mother, most affectionate. There is no comparison with Śacī-mātā. So this was . . . And influence? When He was twenty years old, He could, by His command, gather 100,000 people to protest against Kazi, He was so popular. So popularity, born in high family, having good wife and good mother, everything complete—still, He took sannyāsa. Therefore it is said, pūrvatamair mahadbhiḥ. Why? Now, just to show mercy to the fallen souls. Māyā-mṛgaṁ dayitayā (SB 11.5.34). Just to show mercy to the fallen souls. This is the meaning of sannyāsa. One must be very merciful. Vaiṣṇavas, they are merciful. All devotees of God, Vaiṣṇava, they are merciful.
(750721 - Lecture Initiation Sannyasa - San Francisco)
Although there is no difference between Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, some devotees are attracted with rāma-mūrti and some devotees are attracted with kṛṣṇa-mūrti. But factually there is no difference.
But in the śāstras it is said that if you chant the name of Viṣṇu, viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma, by chanting one thousand times Lord Viṣṇu's name is equal to one name of Rāma. And by chanting three times the name of Lord Rāma it is equal to one name of Kṛṣṇa. This is the verdict of the śāstra. So when we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Rāma is there already, three times. It is not that because we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa we are neglecting Rāma. No. With each Kṛṣṇa name there are three times Rāma name. That is the verdict of the śāstra.
Besides that, we are chanting also Hare Rāma. Hare Rāma and Sītā-Rāma the same thing. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa or Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, there is no difference. This is also rāma-dhun, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. In the śāstras it is recommended, Agni Purāṇa, Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad the:
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Besides that, when we chant Kṛṣṇa's name, we chant also Lord Rāma's name. Just like in the prayer offered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu:
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa he
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa he
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa rakṣa mām
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa pāhi mām
rāma rāghava rāma rāghava
rāma rāghava rakṣa mām
kṛṣṇa keśava kṛṣṇa keśava
kṛṣṇa keśava pāhi mām
So devotees, they always chant together Kṛṣṇa's name and Rāma's name.
(740401 - Lecture BG 04.12 Appearance Day, Lord Ramacandra - Bombay)
Nityānanda means prakāśa, svayaṁ-prakāśa, Balarāma. Balarāma is, I mean to say, presenting Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Balarāma is guru-tattva. Guru is representative of Balarāma, of Nityānanda, Guru Nityānanda, because He is exhibiting Kṛṣṇa. He is presenting Kṛṣṇa, prakāśa. Just like when there is sunshine you can see everything very correctly. That is called prakāśa. In the darkness everything is covered. At night we cannot see, but during daytime, when there is prakāśa, illumination, then we can see everything. So Nityānanda Prabhu is Balarāma. Balarāma is prakāśa-tattva. He's manifesting Kṛṣṇa. Balarāma hoila nitāi. So vande śrī . . . Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is the Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead, and next, Nityānanda, or, yes, Nityānanda, is exhibiting Him. When Nityānanda was preaching in Bengal, He first of all delivered the Jagāi and Mādhāi. That was his first business.
(750326 - Lecture CC Adi 01.02 - Mayapur)