Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Ādi 7.45

kāśīte lekhaka śūdra-śrīcandraśekhara

tāńra ghare rahilā prabhu svatantra īśvara

SYNONYMS

kāśīte — in Vārānasī; lekhaka — writer; śūdra — born of a śūdra family; śrī-candraśekhara — Candraśekhara; tāńra ghare — in his house; rahilā — remained; prabhu — the Lord; svatantra — independent; īśvara — the supreme controller.

TRANSLATION

This time Lord Caitanya stayed at the house of Candraśekhara, although he was regarded as a śūdra or kāyastha, for the Lord, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is completely independent.

PURPORT

Lord Caitanya stayed at the house of Candraśekhara, a clerk, although a sannyāsī is not supposed to reside in a śūdra's house. Five hundred years ago, especially in Bengal, it was the system that persons who were born in the families of brāhmanas were accepted as brāhmanas, and all those who took birth in other families — even the higher castes, namely, the kshatriyas and vaiśyas — were considered śūdras non-brāhmanas. Therefore although Śrī Candraśekhara was a clerk from a kāyastha family in upper India, he was considered a śūdra. Similarly, vaiśyas, especially those of the suvarna-vanik community, were accepted as śūdras in Bengal, and even the vaidyas, who were generally physicians, were also considered śūdras. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, however, did not accept this artificial principle, which was introduced in society by self-interested men, and later the kāyasthas, vaidyas and vaniks all began to accept the sacred thread, despite objections from the so-called brāhmanas.

Before the time of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the suvarna-vanik class was condemned by Ballāl Sen, who was then the King of Bengal, due to a personal grudge. In Bengal the suvarna-vanik class are always very rich, for they are bankers and dealers in gold and silver. Therefore, Ballāl Sen used to borrow money from a suvarna-vanik banker. Ballāl Sen's bankruptcy later obliged the suvarna-vanik banker to stop advancing money to him, and thus Ballāl Sen became angry and condemned the entire suvarna-vanik society as belonging to the śūdra community. He tried to induce the brāhmanas not to accept the suvarna-vaniks as followers of the instructions of the Vedas under the brahminical directions, but although some brāhmanas approved of Ballāl Sen's actions, others did not. Thus the brāhmanas also became divided amongst themselves, and those who supported the suvarna-vanik class were rejected from the brāhmana community. At the present day the same biases are still being followed.

There are many Vaishnava families in Bengal whose members, although not actually born brāhmanas, act as ācāryas by initiating disciples and offering the sacred thread as enjoined in the Vaishnava tantras. For example, in the families of Thākura Raghunandana Ācārya, Thākura Krishnadāsa, Navanī Hoda and Rasikānanda-deva (a disciple of Śyāmānanda Prabhu), the sacred thread ceremony is performed, as it is for the caste Gosvāmīs, and this system has continued for the past three to four hundred years. Accepting disciples born in brāhmana families, they are bona fide spiritual masters who have the facility to worship the śālagrāma-śilā, which is worshiped with the Deity. As of this writing, śālagrāma-śilā worship has not yet been introduced in our Krishna consciousness movement, but soon it will be introduced in all our temples as an essential function of arcana-mārga (Deity worship).

<<< >>>

Copyright ©r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness