CC Madhya 10.102 (1975)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 102
- āra dine āilā svarūpa dāmodara
- prabhura atyanta marmī, rasera sāgara
SYNONYMS
āra dine—next day; āilā—came; svarūpa dāmodara—Svarūpa Dāmodara; prabhura—of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; atyanta—very; marmī—intimate friend; rasera—of transcendental mellows; sāgara—ocean.
TRANSLATION
Svarūpa Dāmodara also arrived the next day. He was a very intimate friend of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and he was an ocean of transcendental mellows.
PURPORT
"Svarūpa" is one of the names of a brahmacārī in Śaṅkarācārya's disciplic succession. In the Vedic discipline there are ten names for sannyāsīs, and it is customary for a brahmacārī assisting a sannyāsī of the designation Tīrtha or Āśrama to receive the title Svarūpa. Dāmodara Svarūpa was formerly a resident of Navadvīpa, and his name was Puruṣottama Ācārya. When he went to Vārāṇasī, he took sannyāsa from a sannyāsī designated Tīrtha. Although he received the title Svarūpa in his brahmacārī stage, he did not change his name when he took sannyāsa. Actually as a sannyāsī he should have been called Tīrtha, but he chose to retain his original brahmacārī title as Svarūpa.