Verse 2.28.139

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.28.139:

তবে মহাপ্রভু সর্ব জগতের প্রাণ বসিলা করিতে শ্রী-শিখার অন্তর্ধান ॥ ১৩৯ ॥

तबे महाप्रभु सर्व जगतेर प्राण वसिला करिते श्री-शिखार अन्तर्धान ॥ १३९ ॥

tabe mahāprabhu sarva jagatera prāṇa vasilā karite śrī-śikhāra antardhāna || 139 ||

tabe mahaprabhu sarva jagatera prana vasila karite sri-sikhara antardhana (139)

English translation:

(139) Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the life of all, sat down to have His head shaved, including the śikhā.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

To gain knowledge, one requires to undergo the caura-saṃskāra, or the purificatory process of shaving the head, before a fire sacrifice. Unless one keeps the śikhā, one is not awarded the qualification to study kalpa, vyākaraṇa, nirukta, chanda, Vedic literatures like astrology, or literatures

in pursuance of the Vedas. When the desire to gain knowledge for the purpose of material enjoyment is destroyed, there is an arrangement for giving up the śikhā. According to worldly consideration, giving up the śikhā is the symptom of renouncing formal obligations. But for the service of the Supreme Lord, the tridaṇḍi devotees of the Lord do not give up the śikhā and brāhmaṇa thread under the influence of material conceptions. Rather, they can remain situated in the principles of paramahaṃsas in spite of keeping the śikhā and brāhmaṇa thread by considering them as related to Hari. Since the performance of fruitive activities was prominent in North India during the time of Śrī Gaurasundara, Śrī Gaurasundara gave up His śikhā and brāhmaṇa thread according to the prescriptions of ekadaṇḍa-sannyāsa. But His servants accepted the dress of paramahaṃsas and followed the principles of tridaṇḍa-sannyāsa by keeping the śikhā and brāhmaṇa thread.