Verse 1.16.268

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.16.268:

“অযে হরিদাস! এ কি ব্যভার তোমার ডাকিযা যে নাম লহ, কি হেতু ইহার? ॥ ২৬৮ ॥

“अये हरिदास! ए कि व्यभार तोमार डाकिया ये नाम लह, कि हेतु इहार? ॥ २६८ ॥

“aye haridāsa! e ki vyabhāra tomāra ḍākiyā ye nāma laha, ki hetu ihāra? || 268 ||

“aye haridasa! e ki vyabhara tomara dakiya ye nama laha, ki hetu ihara? (268)

English translation:

(268) “O Haridāsa, what is this behavior? Why are you are loudly chanting the names of the Lord?

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

That foolish, ignorant, atheistic, fallen brāhmaṇa said, “There is no injunction for loudly chanting the names of Hari in any scripture; rather, it is recommended that one chant within his mind. Therefore the loud chanting of Hari’s names by Haridāsa is prohibited by the scriptures.

Therefore his engagement in such activities is most improper.” Being controlled by such blind faith, that brāhmaṇa arrogantly asked Haridāsa the reason for his loud chanting. His conception was that since Haridāsa Ṭhākura was not born in a seminal brāhmaṇa family, he was completely unqualified to act as a spiritual master, the giver of the holy names. He feared that if Haridāsa loudly chanted the names of Hari he would have to automatically hear the holy names from the mouth of a pure devotee and thus naturally become his disciple, so he wanted Haridāsa to refrain from loudly chanting hari-nāma, which is the function of a jagad-guru. This proves the brāhmaṇa’s foolishness, ignorance, and mistaken ideas regarding the scriptural conclusions.