Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya 3.11

anyopadeśe paṇḍita — kahe gosāñira ṭhāñi

'gosāñi' 'gosāñi' ebe jānimu 'gosāñi'

SYNONYMS

anya-upadeśe — by instructing others; paṇḍita — learned teacher; kahe — says; gosāñira ṭhāñi — in front of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; gosāñi gosāñi — Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the supreme teacher; ebe — now; jānimu — we shall know; gosāñi — what kind of teacher.

TRANSLATION

Dāmodara Paṇḍita impudently said to the Lord, "Everyone says that You are a great teacher because of Your instructions to others, but now we shall find out what kind of teacher You are.

PURPORT

Dāmodara Paṇḍita was a great devotee of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Sometimes, however, a person in such a position becomes impudent, being influenced by the external energy and material considerations. Thus a devotee mistakenly dares to criticize the activities of the spiritual master or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Despite the logic that "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion," a devotee should not be disturbed by the activities of his spiritual master and should not try to criticize him. A devotee should be fixed in the conclusion that the spiritual master cannot be subject to criticism and should never be considered equal to a common man. Even if there appears to be some discrepancy according to an imperfect devotee's estimation, the devotee should be fixed in the conviction that even if his spiritual master goes to a liquor shop, he is not a drunkard; rather, he must have some purpose in going there. It is said in a Bengali poem:

yadyapi nityānanda surā-bāḍi yāya

tathāpio haya nityānanda-rāya

"Even if I see that Lord Nityānanda has entered a liquor shop, I shall not be diverted from my conclusion that Nityānanda Rāya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

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