Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 11.58

rāmānanda rāya, āji tomāra prema-guṇa

prabhu-āge kahite prabhura phiri' gela mana

SYNONYMS

rāmānanda rāya — Rāmānanda Rāya; āji — today; tomāra — your; prema-guṇa — quality of love; prabhu-āge — in front of the Lord; kahite — when he described; prabhura — of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; phiri' gela — became changed; mana — the mind.

TRANSLATION

"The Lord has already changed His mind due to Rāmānanda Rāya's description of your pure love for Him."

PURPORT

At first the Lord did not want to see the King, but due to the Bhaṭṭācārya's and Rāmānanda Rāya's earnest endeavors, the Lord's mind was changed. The Lord already declared that Kṛṣṇa would be merciful upon the King due to the King's service to the devotees. This is the process by which one can advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. First there must be the devotee's mercy; then Kṛṣṇa's mercy will descend. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo/ yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi **. Our first duty, therefore, is to satisfy the spiritual master, who can arrange for the Lord's mercy. A common man must first begin to serve the spiritual master, or the devotee. Then, through the mercy of the devotee, the Lord will be satisfied. Unless one receives the dust of a devotee's lotus feet on one's head, there is no possibility of advancement. This is also confirmed by a statement of Prahlāda Mahārāja's in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.5.32):

naiṣāḿ matis tāvad urukramāńghriḿ

spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ

mahīyasāḿ pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekaḿ

niṣkiñcanānāḿ na vṛṇīta yāvat

Unless one approaches a pure devotee, he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mahārāja Pratāparudra worshiped both Rāmānanda Rāya and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. Thus he touched the lotus feet of pure devotees and was able thereby to approach Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

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