“…So if you want to understand Bhagavad-gītā, then we must understand in the same way as the person who directly heard from him. This is called paramparā system. Suppose I have heard something from my spiritual master, so I speak to you the same thing. So this is paramparā system. You cannot imagine what my spiritual master said. Or even if you read some books, you cannot understand unless you understand it from me. This is called paramparā system. You cannot jump over to the superior guru, I mean to say, neglecting the next ācārya, immediate next ācārya.

Just like our this Gau…, Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s cult; we cannot understand Caitanya Mahāprabhu directly. This is not possible. We have to understand through the Gosvāmīs. Therefore you’ll find in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, in…, at the end of every chapter, the writer says, rūpa-

raghunātha-pade… What is that?

Yaśomatīnandana: Caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe.

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa-dāsa.

rūpa-raghunātha-pade yāra āśa
caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇa-dāsa
[Cc. Ādi 1.110]

This is the process. He does not say that “I have understood Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu directly.” No. That is not understanding. That is foolishness. You cannot understand what is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore repeatedly he says,

rūpa-raghunātha-pade yāra āśa
caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇa-dāsa”
[Cc. Ādi 1.110]

Audio link for this lecture given by his divine grace on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.15.30 in Los Angeles, Dec. 8, 1973: https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/731208sbla/

Compiled by,

Balarama dasa