Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 5.158

daṇḍa-bhańga-līlā ei — parama gambhīra

sei bujhe, duńhāra pade yāńra bhakti dhīra

SYNONYMS

daṇḍa-bhańga-līlā — the pastime of breaking the staff; ei — this; parama — very; gambhīra — grave; sei bujhe — one can understand; duńhāra — of both of Them; pade — to the lotus feet; yāńra — whose; bhakti — devotional service; dhīra — fixed.

TRANSLATION

The pastime of the breaking of the staff is very deep. Only one whose devotion is fixed upon the lotus feet of the two Lords can understand it.

PURPORT

One who understands Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu in reality can understand Their identity as well as the breaking of the staff. All the previous ācāryas, being induced to engage themselves fully in the service of the Lord, gave up attachment for material life and thus accepted the staff, which signifies full engagement of the mind, speech and body in the service of the Lord. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the regulative principles of the renounced order of life. That is completely clear. However, in the paramahaḿsa stage there is no need to accept a daṇḍa (staff), and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was certainly in the paramahaḿsa stage. Nonetheless, to indicate that everyone should take sannyāsa at the end of life in order to engage fully in the service of the Lord, even paramahaḿsas like Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His confidential devotees follow the regulative principles unfailingly. Indeed, that was His purpose. Nityānanda Prabhu, who was His eternal servitor, believed that there was no need for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to carry the staff, and to declare to the world that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was above all regulations, He broke it into three pieces. The pastime known as daṇḍa-bhańga-līlā is thus explained by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.

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