CC Madhya 1.63 (1975)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 63
- haridāsa ṭhākura āra rūpa-sanātana
- jagannātha-mandire nā yā'na tina jana
SYNONYMS
haridāsa ṭhākura—Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura; āra—and; rūpa-sanātana—Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī; jagannātha-mandire—in the temple of Lord Jagannātha; nā—not; yā'na—go; tina jana—three persons.
TRANSLATION
To avoid turmoil, three great personalities-Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī-did not enter the temple of Jagannātha.
PURPORT
It is still the practice at the Jagannātha temple not to allow those to enter who do not strictly follow the Vedic culture known as Hinduism. Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī had had previous intimate connections with Muslims. Haridāsa Ṭhākura had been born in a Muslim family, and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, having given up their social status in Hindu society, had been appointed ministers in the Muslim government. They had even changed their names to Sākara Mallika and Dabira Khāsa. Thus they had supposedly been expelled from brāhmaṇa society. Consequently, out of humility they did not enter the temple of Jagannātha, although the personality of Godhead, Jagannātha, in His form of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, personally came to see them every day. Similarly, the members of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness society are sometimes refused entrance into some of the temples in India. We should not feel sorry about this as long as we engage in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Kṛṣṇa Himself associates with devotees who are chanting His holy name, and there is no need to be unhappy over not being able to enter a certain temple. Such dogmatic prohibitions were not approved by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Those who were thought unfit to enter the Jagannātha temple were daily visited by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and this indicates that Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not approve of the prohibitions. To avoid unnecessary turmoil, however, these great personalities would not enter the Jagannātha temple.