Panca-tattva

sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri-adwaita gadadhara shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Nityananda, Sri Advaita, Gadadhara Pandit, Srivas Thakur, and all the devotees of Lord Caitanya.

These are called panca-tattvas (5 elements). Five because, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (in yellow), Lord Nityananda (blue), Sri Advaita (white, on leftmost), Gadadhara Pandit (pink), Srivas Thakur (green on rightmost)

Who are they?

How we should pray to them?

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the source of energy for all his devotees. He is maha-vadany avatara, the most magnanimous incarnation of the Lord, for he does not consider the offenses of the fallen souls. In order to take full benefit of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, we must first take shelter of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his associates so we need to recite the panca-tattva mahamantra.

When we see, how we should pray-

Sri Caitanya: Love for him

Sri Nityananda: Disentanglement from the material world, material-energy

Sri Advaita Acarya: To remove the ahankara, the knot in the heart of false ego

Sri Gadadhara: For bhava, or feeling/emotion for the Lord

Sri Srivas Prabhu: To rise to the platform of suddha sattva/ or pure devotional service.