Sri Caitanya-caritamrta: Antya-lila
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 5
Antya5.111
TEXT 111
saba lana svarupa gosani sunite vasila
tabe sei kavi nandi-sloka padila
SYNONYMS
saba lana—in the company of other devotees; svarupa gosani—Svarupa Damodara Gosvami; sunite vasila—sat down to hear; tabe—thereafter; sei kavi—that poet; nandi-sloka—the introductory verse; padila—read.
TRANSLATION
Svarupa Damodara Gosvami sat down with other devotees to hear the poetry, and then the poet began to read the introductory verse.
Antya5.112
TEXT 112
vikaca-kamala-netre sri-jagannatha-samjne
kanaka-rucir ihatmany atmatam yah prapannah
prakrti-jadam asesam cetayann avirasit
sa disatu tava bhavyam krsna-caitanya-devah
SYNONYMS
vikaca—expanded; kamala-netre—whose lotus eyes; sri-jagannatha-samjne—named Sri Jagannatha; kanaka-rucih—possessing a golden hue; iha—here in Jagannatha Puri; atmani—in the body; atmatam—the state of being the self; yah—who; prapannah—has obtained; prakrti—matter; jadam—inert; asesam—unlimitedly; cetayan—enlivening; avirasit—has appeared; sah—He; disatu—may bestow; tava—unto you; bhavyam—auspiciousness; krsna-caitanya-devah—Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, known as Krsna Caitanya.
TRANSLATION
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead has assumed a golden complexion and has become the soul of the body named Lord Jagannatha, whose blooming lotus eyes are widely expanded. Thus He has appeared in Jagannatha Puri and brought dull matter to life. May that Lord, Sri Krsna Caitanyadeva, bestow upon you all good fortune.”
Antya5.113
TEXT 113
sloka suni’ sarva-loka tahare vakhane
svarupa kahe,--’ei sloka karaha vyakhyane’
SYNONYMS
sloka suni’-hearing the verse; sarva-loka—everyone; tahare—him; vakhane—praised; svarupa kahe—Svarupa Damodara Gosvami said; ei sloka—this verse; karaha vyakhyane—kindly explain.
TRANSLATION
When everyone present heard the verse, they all commended the poet, but Svarupa Damodara Gosvami requested him, “Kindly explain this verse.”
Antya5.114
TEXT 114
kavi kahe,--’jagannatha--sundara-sarira
caitanya-gosani--sariri maha-dhira
SYNONYMS
kavi kahe—the poet said; jagannatha—Lord Jagannatha; sundara-sarira—very beautiful body; caitanya-gosani—Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; sariri—possessor of the body; maha-dhira—very grave.
TRANSLATION
The poet said, "Lord Jagannatha is a most beautiful body, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is exceptionally grave, is the owner of that body.
PURPORT
Sariri refers to a person who owns the sarira, or body. As stated in Bhagavad-gita:
dehino ’smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati
“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Bg. 2.13) For the ordinary living being in material existence there is a division or distinction between the body and the owner of the body. In spiritual existence, however, there is no such distinction, for the body is the owner himself and the owner is the body itself. In spiritual existence, everything must be spiritual. Therefore there is no distinction between the body and its owner.
Antya5.115
TEXT 115
sahaje jada-jagatera cetana karaite
nilacale mahaprabhu haila avirbhute
SYNONYMS
sahaje—naturally; jada-jagatera—the dull material world; cetana karaite—to inspire to spiritual consciousness; nilacale—at Jagannatha Puri; mahaprabhu—Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; haila avirbhute—has appeared.
TRANSLATION
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has appeared here in Nilacala [Jagannatha Puri] to spiritualize the entire dull material world.”
Antya5.116
TEXT 116
suniya sabara haila anandita-mana
duhkha pana svarupa kahe sakrodha vacana
SYNONYMS
suniya—hearing; sabara—of all of them; haila—there was; anandita-mana—great happiness in the mind; duhkha pana—becoming unhappy; svarupa kahe—Svarupa Damodara Gosvami began to speak; sa-krodha vacana—angry words.
TRANSLATION
Hearing this, everyone present was greatly happy. But Svarupa Damodara, who alone was very unhappy, began to speak in great anger.
Antya5.117
TEXT 117
"are murkha, apanara kaili sarva-nasa!
dui ta’ isvare tora nahika visvasa
SYNONYMS
are murkha—O fool; apanara—of yourself; kaili—you have done; sarva-nasa—loss of all auspiciousness; dui ta’ isvare—in the two controllers; tora—your; nahika visvasa—there is no faith.
TRANSLATION
“You are a fool,” he said."You have brought ill fortune upon yourself, for you have no knowledge of the existence of the two Lords, Jagannathadeva and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, nor have you faith in Them.
Antya5.118
TEXT 118
purnananda-cit-svarupa jagannatha-raya
tanre kaili jada-nasvara-prakrta-kaya!!
SYNONYMS
purna-ananda—complete transcendental bliss; cit-svarupa—the spiritual identity; jagannatha-raya—Lord Jagannatha; tanre—Him; kaili—you have made; jada—inert; nasvara—perishable; prakrta—material; kaya—possessing a body.
TRANSLATION
"Lord Jagannatha is completely spiritual and full of transcendental bliss, but you have compared Him to a dull, destructible body composed of the inert, external energy of the Lord.
PURPORT
If one thinks that the form of Lord Jagannatha is an idol made of wood, he immediately brings ill fortune into his life. According to the direction of the Padma Purana: arcye visnau sila-dhih. ..yasya va naraki sah. Thus one who thinks that the body of Lord Jagannatha is made of matter and who distinguishes between Lord Jagannatha’s body and soul is condemned, for he is an offender. A pure devotee who knows the science of Krsna consciousness makes no distinction between Lord Jagannatha and His body. He knows that they are identical, just as Lord Krsna and His soul are one and the same. When one’s eyes are purified by devotional service performed on the spiritual platform, one can actually envision Lord Jagannatha and His body as being completely spiritual. The advanced devotee, therefore, does not see the worshipable Deity to have a soul within a body like an ordinary human being. There is no distinction between the body and soul of Lord Jagannatha, for Lord Jagannatha is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, just as the body of Krsna is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. There is actually no difference between Lord Jagannatha and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but the ignorant poet from Bengal applied a material distinction to the body of Lord Sri Jagannatha.
Antya5.119
TEXT 119
purna-sad-aisvarya caitanya--svayam bhagavan
tanre kaili ksudra jiva sphulinga-samana!!
SYNONYMS
purna—complete; sat-aisvarya—possessing six opulences; caitanya—Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; svayam—Himself; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; tanre—Him; kaili—you have made; ksudra jiva—an ordinary living entity; sphulinga-samana—exactly equal to the spark.
TRANSLATION
“You have calculated Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full in six opulences, to be on the level of an ordinary living being. Instead of knowing Him as the supreme fire, you have accepted Him as a spark.”
PURPORT
In the Upanisads it is said, yathagner visphulinga vyuccaranti: the living entities are like sparks of fire, and His Lordship the Supreme Personality of Godhead is considered the original great fire. When we hear this sruti-vakya, or message from the Vedas, we should understand the distinction between the Supreme Lord Krsna and the living entities. A person under the control of the external energy, however, cannot understand that distinction. Such a person cannot understand that the Supreme Person is the original great fire, whereas the living entities are simply small fragmental parts of that Supreme Personality of Godhead. As Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (15.7):
mamaivamso jiva-loke
jiva-bhutah sanatanah
manah sasthanindriyani
prakrti-sthani karsati
“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.”
There is a distinction between the body and soul of the materially existing living being, but because Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Jagannatha do not possess material bodies, there is no distinction between Their bodies and souls. On the spiritual platform, body and soul are identical; there is no distinction between them. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam:
etad isanam isasya
prakrti-stho ’pi tad-gunaih
na yujyate sadatma-sthair
yatha buddhis tad-asraya
“This is the divinity of the Personality of Godhead. He is not affected by the qualities of material nature, even though He is in contact with them. Similarly, the devotees who have taken shelter of the Lord cannot be influenced by the material qualities.” (Bhag. 1.11.38) His Lordship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is unaffected by the influence of the three modes of material nature. Indeed, His devotees are also unpolluted by the influence of the external energy because they engage in the service of His Lordship. Even the very body of a devotee becomes spiritualized, just as an iron rod put into fire becomes as qualified as fire because it becomes red hot and will immediately burn anything it touches. Therefore the poet from Bengal committed a great offense by treating Lord Jagannatha’s body and Lord Jagannatha, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as two different entities, material and spiritual, as if the Lord were an ordinary living being. The Lord is always the master of the material energy; therefore He is not doomed to be covered by the material energy like an ordinary living entity.
Antya5.120
TEXT 120
dui-thani aparadhe paibi durgati!
atattva-jna ’tattva’ varne, tara ei riti!
SYNONYMS
dui-thani—unto both; aparadhe—by offense; paibi—you will get; durgati—hellish destination; a-tattva-jna—one who has no knowledge of the Absolute Truth; tattva varne—describes the Absolute Truth; tara—his; ei—this; riti—course.
TRANSLATION
Svarupa Damodara continued, "Because you have committed an offense to Lord Jagannatha and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, you will attain a hellish destination. You do not know how to describe the Absolute Truth, but nevertheless you have tried to do so. Therefore you must be condemned.
PURPORT
The brahmana poet from Bengal was an offender in the estimation of Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, for although the poet had no knowledge of the Absolute Truth, he had nevertheless tried to describe it. The Bengali poet was an offender to both Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Jagannatha. Because he had made a distinction between Lord Jagannatha’s body and soul and because he had indicated that Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was different from Lord Jagannatha, he had committed offenses to Them both. A-tattva-jna refers to one who has no knowledge of the Absolute Truth or who worships his own body as the Supreme personality of Godhead. If an ahangrahopasaka-mayavadi, a person engaged in fruitive activities or a person interested only in sense gratification, describes the Absolute Truth, he immediately becomes an offender.
Antya5.121
TEXT 121
ara eka kariyacha parama ’pramada’!
deha-dehi-bheda isvare kaile ’aparadha’!
SYNONYMS
ara eka—another one; kariyacha—you have done; parama—the supreme; pramada—illusion; deha-dehi-bheda—the distinction between the body and soul; isvare—in His Lordship; kaile—you have done; aparadha—an offense.
TRANSLATION
"You are in complete illusion, for you have distinguished between the body and soul of His Lordship [Lord Jagannatha or Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu]. That is a great offense.
PURPORT
When one differentiates between the body and soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he immediately becomes an offender. Because the living entities in the material world are generally covered by material bodies, the body and soul of an ordinary human being cannot be identical. The Supreme Lord bestows the fruits of one’s activities, for He is the Lord of the results of fruitive action. He is also the cause of all causes, and He is the master of the material energy. Therefore He is supreme. An ordinary living being, however, in his material condition, enjoys the results of his own fruitive activities and therefore falls under their influence. Even in the liberated stage of brahma-bhuta identification, he engages in rendering service to His Lordship. Thus there are distinctions between an ordinary human being and the Supreme Lord. Karmis and jnanis who ignore these distinctions are offenders against the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
An ordinary human being is prone to be subjugated by the material energy, whereas His Lordship the Supreme Personality of Godhead-Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Krsna or Lord Jagannatha-is always the master of the material energy and is therefore never subject to its influence. His Lordship the Supreme Personality of Godhead has an unlimited spiritual identity, never to be broken, whereas the consciousness of the living entity is limited and fragmented. The living entities are fragmental portions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead eternally (mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah). It is not that they are covered by the material energy in conditioned life but become one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead when freed from the influence of material energy. Such an idea is offensive.
According to the considerations of Mayavadi fools, the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts a material body when He appears in the material world. A Vaisnava, however, knows perfectly well that for Krsna, Lord Jagannatha or Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu-unlike ordinary human beings-there is no distinction between the body and the soul. Even in the material world His Lordship retains His spiritual identity; therefore Lord Krsna exhibited all opulences even in His childhood body. There is no distinction between the body and soul of Krsna; whether He is in His childhood body or His youthful body, He is always identical with His body. Even though Krsna appears like an ordinary human being, He is never subjected to the rules and regulations of the material world. He is svarat, or fully independent. He can appear in the material world, but contrary to the offensive conclusion of the Mayavada school, He has no material body. In this connection one may again refer to the above-mentioned verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.11.38):
etad isanam isasya
prakrti-stho ’pi tad-gunaih
na yujyate sadatma-sthair
yatha buddhis tad-asraya
The Supreme Person has an eternal spiritual body. If one tries to distinguish between the body and soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he commits a great offense.
Antya5.122
TEXT 122
isvarera nahi kabhu deha-dehi-bheda
svarupa, deha,--cid-ananda, nahika vibheda
SYNONYMS
isvarera—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nahi—there is not; kabhu—at any time; deha-dehi-bheda—distinction between the body and soul; svarupa—personal identity; deha—body; cit-ananda—all made of blissful spiritual energy; nahika vibheda—there is no distinction.
TRANSLATION
"At no time is there a distinction between the body and soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His personal identity and His body are made of blissful spiritual energy. There is no distinction between them.
PURPORT
Lord Krsna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, is advaya-jnana; in other words, there is no distinction between His body and soul, for His existence is completely spiritual. According to the verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam beginning with the words vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam (1.2.11), the Absolute Truth is always to be understood from three angles of vision as Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. Unlike the objects of the material world, however, the Absolute Truth is always one and always the same. Thus there is no distinction between His body and soul. His form, name, attributes and pastimes, therefore, are completely distinct from those of the material world. One should know perfectly well that there is no difference between the body and soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one conceives of a distinction between His body and soul, one is immediately conditioned by material nature. Because a person in the material world makes such distinctions, he is called baddha-jiva, a conditioned soul.
Antya5.123
TEXT 123
"deha-dehi-vibhago ’yam
nesvare vidyate kvacit"
SYNONYMS
deha—of the body; dehi—of the embodied; vibhagah—distinction; ayam—this; na—not; isvare—in the Supreme Personality of Godhead; vidyate—exists; kvacit—at any time.
TRANSLATION
"There is no distinction between the body and soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at any time.’
PURPORT
This quotation, which is included in the Laghu-bhagavatamrta (1.5.342), is from the Kurma Purana.
Antya5.124-125
TEXTS 124-125
natah param parama yad bhavatah svarupam
ananda-matram avikalpam aviddha-varcah
pasyami visva-srjam ekam avisvam atman
bhutendriyatmaka-madas ta upasrito ’smi
tad va idam bhuvana-mangala mangalaya
dhyane sma no darasitam ta upasakanam
tasmai namo bhagavate ’nuvidhema tubhyam
yo ’nadrto naraka-bhagbhir asat-prasangaih
SYNONYMS
na—do not; atah param—here after; parama—O Supreme; yat—that which; bhavatah—of Your Lordship; svarupam—eternal form; ananda-matram—impersonal Brahman effulgence; avikalpam—without changes; aviddha-varcah—without deterioration of potency; pasyami—do I see; visva-srjam—creator of the cosmic manifestation; ekam—one without a second; avisvam—and yet not of matter; atman—O supreme cause; bhuta—body; indriya—senses; atmaka—on such identification; madah—pride; te—unto You; upasritah—surrendered; asmi—I am; tat—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; va—or; idam—this present form; bhuvana-mangala—they are all-auspicious for all the universes; mangalaya—for the sake of all prosperity; dhyane—in meditation; sma—as it were; nah—unto us; darasitam—manifested; te—Your; upasakanam—of the devotees; tasmai—unto Him; namah—my respectful obeisances; bhagavate—unto the Personality of Godhead; anuvidhema—I perform; tubhyam—unto You; yah—which; anadrtah—is neglected; naraka-bhagbhih—by persons destined for hell; asat-prasangaih—by material topics.
TRANSLATION
“O my Lord, I do not see a form superior to Your present form of eternal bliss and knowledge. In Your impersonal Brahman effulgence in the spiritual sky, there is no occasional change and no deterioration of internal potency. I surrender unto You because, whereas I am proud of my material body and senses, Your Lordship is the cause of the cosmic manifestation. Yet You are untouched by matter.
” ’This present form, or any transcendental form expanded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, is equally auspicious for all the universes. Since You have manifested this eternal personal form upon whom Your devotees meditate, I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Those who are destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect Your personal form because of speculating on material topics.’
PURPORT
These verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.9.3-4) were spoken by Lord Brahma.
Antya5.126
TEXT 126
kahan ’purnanandaisvarya’ krsna ’mayesvara’!
kahan’ksudra’ jiva ’duhkhi’, ’mayara kinkara’!
SYNONYMS
kahan—whereas; purna—full; ananda—bliss; aisvarya—opulences; krsna—Lord Krsna; maya-isvara—the master of the material energy; kahan—whereas; ksudra jiva—the little conditioned soul; duhkhi—unhappy; mayara kinkara—the servant of the material energy.
TRANSLATION
"Whereas Krsna, the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is full of transcendental bliss, possesses all six spiritual opulences in full, and is the master of the material energy, the small conditioned soul, who is always unhappy, is the servant of the material energy.
PURPORT
The living entity is an ever-conditioned servant of the material energy, whereas Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is master of the material energy. How, then, could they be on an equal level? There can be no comparison between them. His Lordship is always in a happy condition of transcendental bliss, whereas the conditioned soul is always unhappy because of his contact with the material energy. The Supreme Lord controls the material energy, and the material energy controls the conditioned souls. There is therefore no comparison between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the ordinary living entities.
Antya5.127
TEXT 127
"hladinya samvidaslistah
sac-cid-ananda-isvarah
svavidya samvrto jivah
sanklesa-nikarakara"
SYNONYMS
hladinya—by the hladini potency; samvida—by the samvit potency; aslistah—surrounded; sat-cit-ananda—always transcendentally blissful; isvarah—the Supreme Controller; sva—own; avidya—by ignorance; samvrtah—surrounded; jivah—the living entity; sanklesa—of the three fold miseries; nikara—of the multitude; akara—the mine.
TRANSLATION
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Controller, is always full of transcendental bliss and is accompanied by the potencies known as hladini and samvit. The conditioned soul, however, is always covered by ignorance and embarassed by the threefold miseries of life. Thus he is a treasure house of all kinds of tribulations.”
PURPORT
This verse is found in Sridhara Svami’s Bhavartha-dipika (1.7.6), wherein he quotes Sri Visnusvami.
Antya5.128
TEXT 128
suni’ sabha-sadera citte haila camatkara
’satya kahe gosani, dunhara kariyache tiraskara’
SYNONYMS
suni’-hearing; sabha-sadera—of all the members of the assembly; citte—in the minds; haila—there was; camatkara—wonder; satya—the truth; kahe—said; gosani—Svarupa Damodara Gosvami; dunhara—of both; kariyache—has done; tiraskara—offense.
TRANSLATION
Hearing this explanation, all the members of the assembly were struck with wonder. “Svarupa Damodara Gosvami has spoken the real truth,” they admitted. “The brahmana from Bengal has committed an offense by wrongly describing Lord Jagannatha and Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
Antya5.129
TEXT 129
suniya kavira haila lajja, bhaya, vismaya
hamsa-madhye baka yaiche kichu nahi kaya
SYNONYMS
suniya—hearing; kavira—of the poet; haila—there was; lajja—shame; bhaya—fear; vismaya—astonishment; hamsa-madhye—in a society of white swans; baka—a duck; yaiche—just as; kichu—anything; nahi—not; kaya—utters.
TRANSLATION
When the Bengali poet heard this chastisement from Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, he was ashamed, fearfuI and astonished. Indeed, being like a duck in a society of white swans, he could not say anything.
Antya5.130
TEXT 130
tara duhkha dekhi, svarupa sadaya-hrdaya
upadesa kaila tare yaiche ’hita’ haya
SYNONYMS
tara—his; duhkha dekhi—observing the unhappiness; svarupa—Svarupa Damodara Gosvami; sadaya-hrdaya—very kindhearted; upadesa kaila—gave instruction; tare—unto him; yaiche—so that; hita—benefit; haya—there can be.
TRANSLATION
Seeing the poet’s unhappiness, Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, who was naturally very kindhearted, advised him so that he could derive some benefit.
Antya5.131
TEXT 131
"yaha, bhagavata pada vaisnavera sthane
ekanta asraya kara caitanya-carane
SYNONYMS
yaha—just go; bhagavata pada—read Srimad-Bhagavatam; vaisnavera sthane—from a self-realized Vaisnava; ekanta asraya kara—fully surrender; caitanya-carane—at the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
TRANSLATION
“If you want to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam,” he said, “you must approach a self-realized Vaisnava and hear from him. You can do this when you have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
PURPORT
Herein Svarupa Damodara Gosvami instructs the poet from Bengal to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam from a pure Vaisnava and learn from him. In India especially, there is now a class of professional Bhagavatam readers whose means of livelihood is to go from village to village, town to town, reading Bhagavatam and collecting daksina, or rewards, in the form of money or goods, like umbrellas, cloth and fruit. Thus there is now a system of Bhagavata business, with recitations called Bhagavata-saptaha that continue for one week, although this is not mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Nowhere does Srimad-Bhagavatam say that the Bhagavatam should be heard for one week from professionals. Rather, Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17) says: srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah punya-sravana-kirtanah. One should regularly hear Srimad-Bhagavatam from a self-realized Vaisnava. By such hearing, one becomes pious. Hrdy antahstho hy abhadrani vidhunoti suhrt-satam. As one thus hears the Bhagavatam regularly and sincerely, his heart is purified of all material contamination.
nasta-prayesv abhadresu
nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki
“As one regularly hears the Bhagavatam or renders service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.” (Bhag. 1.2.18)
This is the proper process, but people are accustomed to being misled by professional Bhagavatam reciters. Therefore Svarupa Damodara Gosvami herein advises that one should not hear Srimad-Bhagavatam from professional reciters. Instead, one must hear and learn the Bhagavatam from a self-realized Vaisnava. Sometimes it is seen that when a Mayavadi sannyasi reads the Bhagavatam, flocks of men go to hear jugglery of words that cannot awaken their dormant love for Krsna. Sometimes people go to see professional dramas and offer food and money to the players, who are expert at collecting these offerings very nicely. The result is that the members of the audience remain in the same position of grham andha-kupam, family affection, and do not awaken their love for Krsna.
In the Bhagavatam (7.5.30), it is said, matir na krsne paratah svato va mitho ’bhipadyeta grha-vratanam: the grhavratas, those who are determined to continue following the materialistic way of life, will never awaken their dormant love of Krsna, fur they hear the Bhagavatam only to solidify their position in household life and to be happy in family affairs and sex. Condemning this process of hearing the Bhagavatam from professionals, Svarupa Damodara Gosvami says, yaha, bhagavata pada vaisnavera sthane: “To understand the Srimad-Bhagavatam, you must approach a self-realized Vaisnava.” One should rigidly avoid hearing the Bhagavatam from a Mayavadi or other nondevotee who simply performs a grammatical jugglery of words to twist some meaning from the text, collect money from the innocent public, and thus keep people in darkness.
Svarupa Damodara Gosvami strictly prohibits the behavior of the materialistic so-called hearers of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Instead of awakening real love for Krsna, such hearers of the Bhagavatam become more and more attached to household affairs and sex life (yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham). One should hear Srimad-Bhagavatam from a person who has no connection with material activities, or, in other words, from a paramahamsa Vaisnava, one who has achieved the highest stage of sannyasa. This, of course, is not possible unless one takes shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Srimad-Bhagavatam is understandable only for one who can follow in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Antya5.132
TEXT 132
caitanyera bhakta-ganera nitya kara ’sanga’
tabeta janiba siddhanta-samudra-taranga
SYNONYMS
caitanyera—of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; bhakta-ganera—of the devotees; nitya—regularly; kara—do; sanga—association; tabeta—then only; janiba—you will understand; siddhanta-samudra-taranga—the waves of the ocean of devotional service.
TRANSLATION
Svarupa Damodara continued, "Associate regularly with the devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, for then only will you understand the waves of the ocean of devotional service.
PURPORT
It is clearly to be understood in this connection that the followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s way of devotional service are eternally associates of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and perfect knowers of the Absolute Truth. If one immediately follows the principles of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by associating with His devotees, lusty desires for material enjoyment will vanish from one’s heart. Then one will be able to understand the meaning of Srimad-Bhagavatam and the purpose of listening to it. Otherwise such understanding is impossible.