Chaitanya Bhagavata

by Bhumipati Dāsa | 2008 | 1,349,850 words

The Chaitanya Bhagavata 1.16.166, English translation, including a commentary (Gaudiya-bhasya). This text is similair to the Caitanya-caritamrita and narrates the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, proclaimed to be the direct incarnation of Krishna (as Bhagavan) This is verse 166 of Adi-khanda chapter 16—“The Glories of Shri Haridasa Thakura”.

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.16.166:

প্রভু-নিন্দা আমি যে শুনিলুঙ্ অপার তা’র শাস্তি করিলেন ঈশ্বর আমার ॥ ১৬৬ ॥

प्रभु-निन्दा आमि ये शुनिलुङ् अपार ता’र शास्ति करिलेन ईश्वर आमार ॥ १६६ ॥

prabhu-nindā āmi ye śuniluṅ apāra tā’ra śāsti karilena īśvara āmāra || 166 ||

prabhu-ninda ami ye sunilun apara ta’ra sasti karilena isvara amara (166)

English translation:

(166) “I’ve heard so much blasphemy of the Lord. That is why He has punished me.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

While considering himself an ordinary conditioned soul, forced to enjoy the fruits of karma, Haridāsa humbly said, “I had to hear topics that were averse to the Lord as punishment for my previous misdeeds and aversion to the Lord. Due to my tolerance I did not adequately protest the harsh statements of persons who were averse to the Lord. That is why the Lord has awarded this punishment to me.” The Lord awards severe punishment to those who even after hearing blasphemy against the Lord and His devotees do not protest in order to make a show of tolerance. Even after hearing blasphemous words against Hari, Guru, and Vaiṣṇava, the prākṛta-sahajiyās’ attempt to justify their abominable, mean, duplicitous nature as ‘Vaiṣṇava etiquette,’ guarantees their frightful degradation.

Ṭhākura Haridāsa was truly the highest ideal of tolerance, and because

the deceitful prākṛta-sahajiyā sampradāya tries to artificially imitate the quality of his tolerance, they ultimately achieve various miseries in life. Since the mahā-bhāgavata paramahaṃsa Vaiṣṇava is personally free from the blasphemy of others, he does not possess the external mundane urges to blaspheme or praise, talk unnecessarily or gossip. But since the prākṛta-sahajiyās are not situated on such an exalted platform, their endeavors to imitate result in abominable duplicity. Therefore they inevitably suffer miseries. In order to preach this topic to the deceitful prākṛta-sahajiyā sampradāyas, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, like an ordinary human being, invoked the philosophy of enjoying fruitive results. The prākṛta- sahajiyās are forced to enjoy the fruits of their activities, but Haridāsa Ṭhākura, the crest-jewel among liberated souls and a chanter of the holy names of Hari, is certainly not forced to enjoy the fruits of his activities.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda has described this topic in his Śrī Nāmāṣṭaka (4) as follows:

yad-brahma-sākṣāt-kṛti-niṣṭhayāpi vināśam āyāti vinā na bhogaiḥ apaiti nāma sphuraṇena tat te prārabdha-karmeti virauti vedaḥ

“The seeds of sinful activities that cause rebirth for their fruition are not totally destroyed despite realization of oneness with Brahman through constant meditation. But, O Lord, as soon as Your holy names manifest on the tongue (even in the form of nāmābhāsa) all seeds of sinful activities are totally uprooted. This is elaborately glorified in the Vedas.”

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