CC Madhya 10.116 (1975)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 116
- saṅgīte-gandharva-sama, śāstre bṛhaspati
- dāmodara-sama āra nāhi mahā-mati
SYNONYMS
saṅgīte—in music; gandharva-sama—just like the Gandharvas; śāstre—in discussions of the revealed scriptures; bṛhaspati—like Bṛhaspati, the priest of the heavenly demigods; dāmodara-sama—equal to Svarūpa Dāmodara; āra—anyone else; nāhi—there is not; mahā-mati—great personality.
TRANSLATION
Svarūpa Dāmodara was as expert a musician as the Gandharvas, and in scriptural discussion he was just like Bṛhaspati, the priest of the heavenly gods. Therefore it is to be concluded that there was no great personality quite like Svarūpa Dāmodara.
PURPORT
Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī was very expert in music as well as the Vedic scriptures. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to call him Dāmodara because of his expert singing and musical skills. The name Dāmodara was given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and added to the name given by his sannyāsa-guru. He was therefore known as Svarūpa Dāmodara, or Dāmodara Svarūpa. He compiled a book of music named Saṅgīta-dāmodara.