Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 17.244

caraṇera dhūli sei laya vāra vāra

dekhiyā prabhura duḥkha ha-ila apāra

SYNONYMS

caraṇera — of His lotus feet; dhūli — the dust; sei — that woman; laya — takes; vāra vāra — again and again; dekhiyā — seeing this; prabhura — of the Lord; duḥkha — unhappiness; ha-ila — there was; apāra — unlimited.

TRANSLATION

As she took the dust of His lotus feet again and again, the Lord became unlimitedly unhappy.

PURPORT

This holding of a great personality's lotus feet is certainly very good for the person who takes the dust, but this example of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's unhappiness indicates that a Vaiṣṇava should not allow anyone to take dust from his feet.

One who takes the dust of a great personality's lotus feet transfers his sinful activities to that great personality. Unless the person whose dust is taken is very strong, he must suffer the sinful activities of the person who takes the dust. Therefore ordinarily it should not be allowed. Sometimes in big meetings people come to take the same advantage by touching our feet. On account of this, sometimes we have to suffer from some disease. As far as possible, no outsider should be allowed to touch one's feet to take dust from them. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally showed this by His example, as explained in the next verse.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness