Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 8.56

namaskāra kaila rāya, prabhu kaila ālińgane

dui jane kṛṣṇa-kathā kaya rahaḥ-sthāne

SYNONYMS

namaskāra — obeisances; kaila — offered; rāya — Rāmānanda Rāya; prabhu — Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; kaila — did; ālińgane — embracing; dui — two; jane — the persons; kṛṣṇa-kathā — talks about Kṛṣṇa; kaya — discussed; rahaḥ-sthāne — in a secluded place.

TRANSLATION

Rāmānanda Rāya approached Lord Śrī Caitanya and offered his respectful obeisances, and the Lord embraced him. Then they began to discuss Kṛṣṇa in a secluded place.

PURPORT

The word rahaḥ-sthāne, "in a secluded place," is very significant. Talks about Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes — especially His pastimes in Vṛndāvana and His dealings with the gopīs — are all very confidential. They are not subject matter for public discussion because those who have no understanding of the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes always commit great offenses, thinking Kṛṣṇa to be an ordinary human being and the gopīs ordinary girls. Following the principle of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who never discussed the dealings between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs publicly, devotees in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are enjoined not to discuss the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana in public. For the general public, sańkīrtana is the most effective method to awaken Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If possible, one should discuss the principles enunciated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu followed this principle very strictly and discussed the philosophy of the Bhagavad-gītā with learned scholars like Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī. However, He taught the principles of the bhakti cult to students like Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī, and He discussed with Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya the topmost devotional dealings between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. For the general populace, He performed sańkīrtana very vigorously. We must also follow these principles in preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world.

<<< >>>

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness