Verse 1.12.19

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.12.19:

এ-মত সুবুদ্ধি কৃষ্ণ-ভক্ত হয যবে তিলেকো ইহান সঙ্গ না ছাডিযে তবে” ॥ ১৯ ॥

ए-मत सुबुद्धि कृष्ण-भक्त हय यबे तिलेको इहान सङ्ग ना छाडिये तबे” ॥ १९ ॥

e-mata subuddhi kṛṣṇa-bhakta haya yabe tileko ihāna saṅga nā chāḍiye tabe” || 19 ||

e-mata subuddhi krsna-bhakta haya yabe tileko ihana sanga na chadiye tabe” (19)

English translation:

(19) “If such an intelligent person was a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, then I would not leave His association for even a moment.”

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Mukunda began to think about the Lord as follows: “If such an extraordinary knowledgeable and intelligent person engaged His mind in worshiping Kṛṣṇa, then I would not leave His association and go elsewhere for even a moment.” Knowledge elevates a person to the highest position in this world or makes one extraordinarily respectable, but if along with such knowledge, devotion to the Lord manifests in a

great personality, then it is like gold mixed with borax 11. Less- intelligent devotees should always hear the scriptures from learned devotees. By hearing scriptures in this way, one’s devotional service will be refined. If a living entity considers devotional scriptures or spiritual knowledge as equal to ordinary mundane knowledge, which aims at material enjoyment, then his devotional service is not enhanced. Hearing topics of the Lord from pure devotees is the only support in the less- intelligent devotees’ worship of the Supreme Lord. Otherwise their propensity for worshiping the Lord diminishes day by day, and, being attacked by the mundane beliefs of the sahajiyās, they fall from the worship of the Lord. Generally, prākṛta-sahajiyās are very foolish.

Proudly considering themselves expert in bhajana, they become confused by opposing the scriptures and stray far away from the mahājanas’ all- auspicious statements like sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, hṛdaye kariyā aikya—“One must consider the instructions of the sadhu, the revealed scriptures, and the spiritual master in order to understand the real purpose of spiritual life.”