Teaching of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to his disciple Sanatane Gosvami.

Krishna, God, the Supreme Person says: Before the creation of the cosmos, I alone exist to the exclusion of all gross, subtle or causal phenomena. After creation, I alone live in everything, and the time of annihilation has come, I alone remain forever.

As Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu revealed the absolute truth and taught the science of God to his disciple, Sanatane Gosvami, the latter asked him the following questions:

By accepting me as your servant, You have delivered me from the chains of material existence. Now tell me what is my liberated soul duty?

Who am I, why am I constantly in the grip of the three forms of suffering, finally tell me how to escape this material stagnation?

Why do I have to undergo the three forms of suffering, (Those from the body and the mind, those caused by other living entities and those from nature such as cold or extreme heat, lightning, earthquakes, hurricanes, drought, etc.?

I don't know how to inquire about spiritual empowerment, but I implore you to have the kindness and grace to teach me everything I need to know.

Lord Chaitanya replied: Krishna has blessed you, so that you already know everything, besides being free from all the sufferings associated with material existence. As a humble devotee, you nevertheless ask me to confirm what you already know. And this is very well so. You are able to protect the devotional service of the Lord, so it is my duty to teach you the science of God, which I will do step by step.

The three forms of suffering in question are called adhyatmika, adhibhautika, and adhidaivika.

The term adhyatmika designates the sufferings arising from the body and the mind. The living being sometimes suffers from physical ailments, sometimes from mental afflictions. We have experienced these two varieties of adhyatmika from the very time of our stay in our mother's womb. Several forms of suffering thus seem to take advantage of the fragility of the human body to torment us.

Suffering caused by other living entities is called adhibhautika. Many animals from larvae, including some insects, can disturb our sleep. Cockroaches and other unwanted species can also inflict pain on us, as can various beings born on planets other than ours.

The word adhidaivika corresponds to the sufferings which originate in the celestial beings of the higher planets. For example, cites extreme cold or heat, lightning, earthquakes, hurricanes, drought, etc. Either way, we are constantly exposed to one or other of these three forms of suffering.