Chapter 9
Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's Travels to the Holy Places
TEXT 52
prabhuke vaiṣṇava jāni' bauddha ghare gela
sakala bauddha mili' tabe kumantraṇā kaila
SYNONYMS
prabhuke—Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; vaiṣṇava jāni'-knowing to be a Vaiṣṇava; bauddha—the Buddhists; ghare gela—returned home; sakala bauddha—all the Buddhists; mili'-coming together; tabe—thereafter; ku-mantraṇā—plot; kaila—made.
TRANSLATION
The Buddhists could understand that Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a Vaiṣṇava, and they returned home very unhappy. Later, however, they began to plot against the Lord.
TEXT 53
apavitra anna eka thālite bhariyā
prabhu-āge nila 'mahā-prasāda' baliyā
SYNONYMS
apavitra—polluted; anna—food; eka—one; thālite—plate; bhariyā—filling; prabhu-āge—in front of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; nila—brought; mahā-prasāda baliyā—calling it mahā-prasāda.
TRANSLATION
Having made their plot, the Buddhists brought a plate of untouchable food before Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and called it mahā-prasāda.
PURPORT
The word apavitra anna refers to food that is unacceptable for a Vaiṣṇava. In other words, a Vaiṣṇava cannot accept any food offered by an avaiṣṇava in the name of mahā-prasāda. This should be a principle for all Vaiṣṇavas. When asked, "What is the behavior of a Vaiṣṇava?" Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, "A Vaiṣṇava must avoid the company of an avaiṣṇava [asat]." The word asat refers to an avaiṣṇava, that is, one who is not a Vaiṣṇava. Asat-saṅga-tyāga,-ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra (Cc. Madhya 22.87). A Vaiṣṇava must be very strict in this respect and should not at all cooperate with an avaiṣṇava. If an avaiṣṇava offers food in the name of mahā-prasāda, it should not be accepted. Such food cannot be prasāda because an avaiṣṇava cannot offer anything to the Lord. Sometimes preachers in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement have to accept food in a home where the householder is an avaiṣṇava; however, if this food is offered to the Deity, it can be taken. Ordinary food cooked by an avaiṣṇava should not be accepted by a Vaiṣṇava. Even if an avaiṣṇava cooks food without fault, he cannot offer it to Lord Viṣṇu, and it cannot be accepted as mahā-prasāda. According to Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.26):
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it."
Kṛṣṇa can accept anything offered by His devotee with devotion. An avaiṣṇava may be a vegetarian and a very clean cook, but because he cannot offer the food he cooks to Viṣṇu, it cannot be accepted as mahā-prasāda. It is better that a Vaiṣṇava abandon such food as untouchable.
TEXT 54
hena-kāle mahā-kāya eka pakṣī āila
ṭhoṅṭe kari' anna-saha thāli lañā gela
SYNONYMS
hena-kāle—at this time; mahā-kāya—having a large body; eka—one; pakṣī—bird; āila—appeared there; ṭhoṅṭe kari'-by the beak; anna-saha—with food; thāli—the plate; lañā—taking; gela—went away.
TRANSLATION
When the contaminated food was offered to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, a very large bird appeared on the spot, picked up the plate in its beak and flew away.
TEXT 55
bauddha-gaṇera upare anna paḍe amedhya haiyā
bauddhācāryera māthāya thāli paḍila bājiyā
SYNONYMS
bauddha-gaṇera—all the Buddhists; upare—upon; anna—the food; paḍe—began to fall down; amedhya—untouchable; haiyā—being; bauddha-ācāryera—of the teacher of the Buddhists; māthāya—on the head; thāli—the plate; paḍila—fell down; bājiyā—making a great sound.
TRANSLATION
Indeed, the untouchable food fell upon the Buddhists, and the large bird dropped the plate on the head of the chief Buddhist teacher. When it fell on his head, it made a big sound.
TEXT 56
terache paḍila thāli,--māthā kāṭi' gela
mūrcchita hañā ācārya bhūmite paḍila
SYNONYMS
terache—at an angle; paḍila—fell down; thāli—the plate; māthā—the head; kāṭi'-cutting; gela—went; mūrcchita—unconscious; hañā—becoming; ācārya—the teacher; bhūmite—on the ground; paḍila—fell down.
TRANSLATION
The plate was made of metal, and when its edge hit the head of the teacher, it cut him, and the teacher immediately fell to the ground unconscious.
TEXT 57
hāhākāra kari' kānde saba śiṣya-gaṇa
sabe āsi' prabhu-pade la-ila śaraṇa
SYNONYMS
hāhā-kāra—a roaring sound; kari'-making; kānde—cry; saba—all; śiṣya-gaṇa—disciples; sabe—all of them; āsi'-coming; prabhu-pade—to the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu; la-ila—took; śaraṇa—shelter.
TRANSLATION
When the teacher fell unconscious, his Buddhist disciples cried aloud and ran to the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu for shelter.
TEXT 58
tumi ta' īśvara sākṣāt, kṣama aparādha
jīyāo āmāra guru, karaha prasāda
SYNONYMS
tumi—You; ta'-indeed; īśvara—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sākṣāt—directly; kṣama—please excuse; aparādha—offense; jīyāo—bring back to consciousness; āmāra—our; guru—spiritual master; karaha—do; prasāda—this mercy.
TRANSLATION
They all prayed to Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, addressing Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself and saying, "Sir, please excuse our offense. Please have mercy upon us and bring our spiritual master back to life."
TEXT 59
prabhu kahe,--sabe kaha 'kṛṣṇa' 'kṛṣṇa' 'hari'
guru-karṇe kaha kṛṣṇa-nāma ucca kari'
SYNONYMS
prabhu kahe—Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said; sabe—all of you; kaha—chant; kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hari—the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Hari; guru-karṇe—near the ear of your spiritual master; kaha—chant; kṛṣṇa-nāma—the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa; ucca kari'-very loudly.
TRANSLATION
The Lord then replied to the Buddhist disciples, "You should all chant the names of Kṛṣṇa and Hari very loudly near the ear of your spiritual master.
TEXT 60
tomā-sabāra 'guru' tabe pāibe cetana
saba bauddha mili' kare kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana
SYNONYMS
tomā-sabāra—all of you; guru—the spiritual master; tabe—then; pāibe—will get; cetana—consciousness; saba bauddha—all the Buddhist disciples; mili'-coming together; kare—do; kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana—chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
TRANSLATION
"By this method your spiritual master will regain his consciousness." Following Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's advice, all the Buddhist disciples began to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa congregationally.
TEXT 61
guru-karṇe kahe sabe 'kṛṣṇa' 'rāma' 'hari'
cetana pāñā ācārya bale 'hari' 'hari'
SYNONYMS
guru-karṇe—into the ear of the spiritual master; kahe—they said; sabe—all together; kṛṣṇa rāma hari—the holy names of the Lord, namely Kṛṣṇa, Rāma and Hari; cetana—consciousness; pāñā—getting; ācārya—the teacher; bale—chanted; hari hari—the name of Lord Hari.
TRANSLATION
When all the disciples chanted the holy names Kṛṣṇa, Rāma and Hari, the Buddhist teacher regained consciousness and immediately began to chant the holy name of Lord Hari.
PURPORT
Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments that all the Buddhist disciples were actually initiated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu into the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, and when they chanted, they actually became different persons. At that time they were not Buddhists or atheists but Vaiṣṇavas. Consequently they immediately accepted Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order. Their original Kṛṣṇa consciousness was revived, and they were immediately able to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and begin worshiping the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu.
It is the spiritual master who delivers the disciple from the clutches of māyā by initiating him into the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. In this way a sleeping human being can revive his consciousness by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. In other words, the spiritual master awakens the sleeping living entity to his original consciousness so that he can worship Lord Viṣṇu. This is the purpose of dīkṣā, or initiation. Initiation means receiving the pure knowledge of spiritual consciousness.
One point to note in this regard is that the spiritual master of the Buddhists did not initiate his disciples. Rather, his disciples were initiated by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and they in turn were able to initiate their so-called spiritual master. This is the paramparā system. The so-called spiritual master of the Buddhists was actually in the position of a disciple, and after his disciples were initiated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they acted as his spiritual masters. This was possible only because the disciples of the Buddhist ācārya received the mercy of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Unless one is favored by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the disciplic succession, one cannot act as a spiritual master. We should take the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the spiritual master of the whole universe, to understand how one becomes a spiritual master and a disciple.
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