“Please come here. Please come here, Your Holiness. Why do You sit
in that unclean place? What has caused Your lamentation?”
The Lord replied:
“I belong to a lower order of sannyāsīs. Therefore I
do not deserve to sit with you. “
Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, however, caught Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
personally by the hand and seated Him with great respect in the midst of the assembly. Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī then said, “I understand that Your name is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. You are a disciple of Śrī Keśava Bhāratī, and therefore You are glorious.
“You belong to our Śańkara-sampradāya and live in our village, Vārāṇasī. Why then do You not associate with us? Why is it that You avoid even
seeing us?You are a sannyāsī. Why then do You indulge in chanting and
dancing, engaging in Your sańkīrtana movement in the company of fanatics?Meditation and the study of Vedānta are the sole duties of a sannyāsī. Why do You abandon these to dance with fanatics?
You look as brilliant as if You were Nārāyaṇa Himself. Will You
kindly explain the reason that You have adopted the behavior of lower-class people?”
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī,
“My dear sir, kindly hear the reason. My spiritual master considered Me a fool, and therefore he chastised Me. “‘You are a fool,’ he said. ‘You are not qualified to study Vedānta philosophy, and therefore You must always chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. This is the essence of all mantras, or Vedichymns.
Simply by chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa one can obtain freedom
from material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra one will be able to see the lotus feet of the Lord.‘In this Age of Kali there is no religious principle other than the
chanting of the holy name, which is the essence of all Vedic hymns. This is the purport of all scriptures.”
“After describing the potency of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, My spiritual master taught Me another verse, advising Me to always keep it within My throat.
“For spiritual progress in this Age of Kali, there is no alternative,
there is no alternative, there is no alternative to the holy name, the holy
name, the holy name of the Lord.”
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Prakasananda Sarasvatipada
(cc adi 7)
