Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 17.249

kṛṣṇa-nāma nā lao kene, kṛṣṇa-nāma — dhanya

'gopī' 'gopī' balile vā kibā haya puṇya

SYNONYMS

kṛṣṇa-nāma — the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa; nā — not; lao — You take; kene — why; kṛṣṇa-nāma — the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa; dhanya — glorious; gopī gopī — the names gopī gopī; balile — on saying; vā — or; kibā — what; haya — there is; puṇya — piety.

TRANSLATION

"Why are You chanting the names 'gopī gopī' instead of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which is so glorious? What pious result will You achieve by such chanting?"

PURPORT

It is said, vaiṣṇavera kriyā-mudrā vijñeha nā bujhaya: no one can understand the activities of a pure devotee. A student or neophyte devotee could not possibly understand why Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was chanting the name of the gopīs, nor should the student have asked the Lord about the potency of chanting gopī gopī. The neophyte student was certainly convinced of the piety in the chanting of Kṛṣṇa's holy name, but this sort of attitude is also offensive. Dharma-vrata-tyāga-hutādi-sarva-śubha-kriyā-sāmyam api pramādaḥ: to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa in exchange for the achievement of piety is an offense. This, of course, was unknown to the student. Thus he innocently asked, "What piety is there in the chanting of the name gopī?" He did not know that there is no question of piety or impiety. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa or the holy name gopī is on the transcendental platform of loving affairs. Since he was not expert in understanding such transcendental activities, his question was merely impudent. Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, apparently greatly angry at him, reacted as follows.

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