Verse 1.8.7

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.8.7:

এই-মত গৌরচন্দ্র বাল্য-রসে ভোলা যজ্ঞোপবীতের কাল আসিযা মিলিলা ॥ ৭ ॥

एइ-मत गौरचन्द्र बाल्य-रसे भोला यज्ञोपवीतेर काल आसिया मिलिला ॥ ७ ॥

ei-mata gauracandra bālya-rase bholā yajñopavītera kāla āsiyā mililā || 7 ||

ei-mata gauracandra balya-rase bhola yajnopavitera kala asiya milila (7)

English translation:

(7) As Śrī Gaurasundara remained fully absorbed in His childhood pastimes, the time came for His accepting a brāhmaṇa thread.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Some say that the word bholā is a corruption of the word vihvala, which means “maddened” or “forgetting oneself.”

Regarding the words yajñopavītera kāla, it is stated in the Vedas: aṣṭa- varṣaṃ brāhmaṇam upanayīta—“When the son of a brāhmaṇa becomes eight years old, he should be awarded the sacred thread.” In this statement the word brāhmaṇa refers to those who will become brāhmaṇas in the future. The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.17.39) statement: gṛhārthī sadṛśīṃ bhāryām udvahet—“One who desires to establish family life should marry a wife of his own caste,” refers to those who will accept wives in the future, and in the same way a non-brāhmaṇa who will become a brāhmaṇa in the future is called a brāhmaṇa. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (7.11.13) it is stated: saṃskārā yatrāvicchinnāḥ sa dvijo ‘jo jagāda yam—“Those who have been reformed by the garbhādhāna ceremony and other prescribed reformatory methods, performed with Vedic mantras and without interruption, and who have been approved by Lord Brahmā, are dvijas, or twice-born.” In the Viṣṇu Yāmala it is stated:

aśuddhāḥ śūdra-kalpā hi brāhmaṇaḥ kali-sambhavāḥ teṣām āgama-mārgeṇa śuddhir na śrota-vartmanā

“The brāhmaṇas born in the age of Kali are merely śūdras. Their so- called Vedic path of karma is polluted and cannot purify them. They can only be purified by following the path of the āgamas or pāñcarātrika- viddhi.” From this statement it is understood that due to the lack of purity in family lines in the age of Kali, or quarrel, one should become purified through the process of pāñcarātrika initiation. Therefore the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (7.11.35) states:

yasya yal lakṣaṇaṃ proktaṃ puṃso varṇābhivyañjakam yad anyatrāpi dṛśyeta tat tenaiva vinirdiśet

“If one shows the symptoms of being a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.” And Śrīdhara Svāmī in his commentary on this verse states: yad yadi anyatra varṇāntare ‘pi dṛśyeta, tad-varṇāntaraṃ tenaiva lakṣaṇa-nimittenaiva varṇena vinirdiśet, na tu jāti-nimittenety arthaḥ.—“If the proper symptoms are seen in persons other than those born as brāhmaṇas, then such persons should be considered brāhmaṇas. They should not be considered according to their caste by birth.” The Mahābhārata (Anuśāsana 143.46 and 50) states:

śūdro ‘py āgama sampanno dvijo bhavati saṃskṛtaḥ

“Persons born in lower, degraded castes can become qualified well- versed brāhmaṇas.”

na yonir nāpi saṃskāro na śrutaṃ na ca santatiḥ kāraṇāni dvijatvasya vṛttam eva tu kāraṇam

“Therefore, neither the source of one’s birth, nor his reformation, nor his education is the criterion of a brāhmaṇa. The vṛtta, or occupation, is the real standard by which one is known as a brāhmaṇa.” In the Bhāradvāja- saṃhitā of the Nārada Pañcarātra (2.34) it is stated:

svayaṃ brahmaṇi nikṣiptān jātān eva hi mantrataḥ vinītān-artha putrādīn saṃskṛtya prati-bodhayet

“An ācārya should purify his sons and disciples by engaging them in the service of the Absolute Truth after initiating them with proper mantras so that they will be purified and knowledgable.” The Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (Part 2) quotes the Tattva-sāgara as follows:

yathā kāñcanatāṃ yāti kāṃsyaṃ rasa-vidhānataḥ tathā dīkṣā-vidhānena dvijatvaṃ jāyate nṛṇām

“As bell metal, when mixed with mercury, is transformed to gold, a person, even though not golden pure, can be transformed into a brāhmaṇa, or dvija, simply by the initiation process.” (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 2.12) In his commentary on this verse, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī has written: nṛṇāṃ sarveṣām eva, dvijatvaṃ vipratā—“All human beings are eligible to become twice-born brāhmaṇas.” In his Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad- bhāgavatāmṛta (2.4.37), he has explained the word, dikṣā-lakṣaṇa- dhāriṇaḥ—“accepting the signs of initiation,” as follows: “Some of them [the residents of Vaikuṇṭha] accepted the signs of initiation, and some of them accepted mantras for worshiping the Lord. They had sacred threads, waterpots, āsanas of kuśa grass, tulasī beads, and various other signs.” In his commentary on the Brahma-saṃhitā (5.27), Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu has written: “After being initiated in the chanting of the eighteen syllable mantra, Lord Brahmā became a dvija. There was no impediment with this because Lord Brahmā was born from Śrī Govindadeva, who is the predominating Deity of the eighteen syllable mantra. We can also cite the evidence of Dhruva Mahārāja, for he also became a brāhmaṇa after initiation.” These and innumerable other statements of the scriptures and mahājanas confirm that everyone must be initiated through the pāñcarātrika process and accept the sacred thread. This has been the process since time immemorial. Therefore Śrī Jayatīrthapāda refers to the vṛścika-tāṇḍuli-nyāya in his Tattva-prakāśikā commentary on the Brahma-sūtras (1.3.29) to demonstrate that brahminical qualities acquired by birth or by occupation are accepted. The sacred thread ceremony is meant to give one the qualification for studying the Vedas, because the Brahma-sūtras state that śūdras, or those without sacred thread, are not eligible to hear Vedānta. After accepting pāñcarātrika mantras and being properly initiated according to the Śrī Nārada Pañcarātra a person must observe the ten saṃskāras, or purificatory rites, and thereafter hear the meanings of the mantras.