CC Madhya 12.180
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 180
- kāhāṅ bhaṭṭācāryera pūrva jaḍa-vyavahāra
- kāhāṅ ei paramānanda,-karaha vicāra
SYNONYMS
kāhāṅ — where; bhaṭṭācāryera — of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya; pūrva — previous; jaḍa-vyavahāra — material behavior; kāhāṅ — where; ei — this; parama-ānanda — transcendental bliss; karaha vicāra — just try to consider.
TRANSLATION
After serving the Bhaṭṭācārya with first-class prasādam, Gopīnātha Ācārya said, “Just consider what the Bhaṭṭācārya’s previous mundane behavior was! Just consider how at present he is enjoying transcendental bliss!”
PURPORT
Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was previously a smārta-brāhmaṇa—that is, one who strictly follows the Vedic principles on the mundane platform. On the mundane platform one cannot believe that prasādam is transcendental, that Govinda is the original form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or that a Vaiṣṇava is a liberated person. These transcendental considerations are out of the ordinary Vedic scholar’s jurisdiction. Most Vedic scholars are called Vedāntists. These so-called followers of Vedānta philosophy consider the Absolute Truth to be impersonal. They also believe that a person born in a particular caste cannot change his caste until he dies and takes rebirth. The smārta-brāhmaṇas also reject the fact that mahā-prasādam (food offered to the Deity) is transcendental and materially uncontaminated. Originally, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was subjected to all the rules and regulations of the Vedic principles on the mundane platform. Now Gopīnātha Ācārya pointed out how Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya had been converted by the causeless mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Being converted, Sārvabhauma partook of prasādam with the Vaiṣṇavas. Indeed, he sat by the side of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.