Verse 3.6.17

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 3.6.17:

সন্ন্যাস-আশ্রম তান বলে সর্ব-জন কর্পূর-তাম্বূল সে ভোজন সর্ব-ক্ষণ ॥ ১৭ ॥

सन्न्यास-आश्रम तान बले सर्व-जन कर्पूर-ताम्बूल से भोजन सर्व-क्षण ॥ १७ ॥

sannyāsa-āśrama tāna bale sarva-jana karpūra-tāmbūla se bhojana sarva-kṣaṇa || 17 ||

sannyasa-asrama tana bale sarva-jana karpura-tambula se bhojana sarva-ksana (17)

English translation:

(17) “Everyone says He is a sannyāsī, but He always chews betel nuts mixed with camphor.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Since Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu taught the people of this world to accept scented oils, sandalwood paste, fine dress, and ornaments as the remnants of Kṛṣṇa, foolish people branded Him as “fond of enjoyment.” As a result, many people had no faith in Him. Then again, the intelligent persons who considered that giving up objects related to Hari was phalgu- vairāgya, or false renunciation, took pleasure in Nityānanda Prabhu’s preaching.

According to the injunctions of the scriptures, a sannyāsī is prohibited from accepting objects of enjoyment like scented oil, sandalwood paste, and betel nuts, but the precocious, proud, prākṛta-sahajiyās freely enjoy an abundance of betel nuts on the pretext of honoring prasāda. Since the imitation of paramahaṃsa behavior by such unqualified people is always condemnable, ordinary foolish people fell into illusion by considering even Śrī Nityānanda, the original shelter of paramahaṃsa principles, as a vivikta (dry renunciant) or a dhīra-sannyāsī (neophyte sannyāsī).