Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, in the mood of Srimati Radharani, the greatest devotee of Lord Krsna, shows us how His perfect actions, acting as a pure devotee, can inspire all aspiring Vaisnavas to handle any Vedic Sastra correctly.
The following event is from Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter 6: The Liberation of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya.
TEXT 261
TRANSLATION
“‘One who seeks Your compassion and thus tolerates all kinds of adverse conditions due to the karma of his past deeds, who engages always in Your devotional service with his mind, words and body, and who always offers obeisances unto You is certainly a bona fide candidate for becoming Your unalloyed devotee.’”
PURPORT
When reciting this verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 10.14.8), Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya changed the original reading from mukti-pade to bhakti-pade. Mukti means liberation and merging into the impersonal Brahman effulgence. Bhakti means rendering transcendental service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because of having developed pure devotional service, the Bhaṭṭācārya did not like the word mukti-pade, which refers to the impersonal Brahman feature of the Lord. However, he was not authorized to change a word in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu will explain. Although the Bhaṭṭācārya changed the word in his devotional ecstasy, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not approve of it.
TEXT 262
“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately pointed out, “In that verse the word is ‘mukti-pade,’ but you have changed it to ‘bhakti-pade.’ What is your intention?”
TEXT 263
TRANSLATION
“Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya replied, “The awakening of pure love of Godhead, which is the result of devotional service, far surpasses liberation from material bondage. For those averse to devotional service, merging into the Brahman effulgence is a kind of punishment.”
PURPORT
In the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa it is said:
- siddha-lokas tu tamasaḥ pāre yatra vasanti hi
- siddhā brahma-sukhe magnā daityāś ca hariṇā hatāḥ
“In Siddhaloka [Brahmaloka] there live two kinds of living entities—those who are killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead due to their having been demons in their previous lives and those who are very fond of enjoying the impersonal effulgence of the Lord.” The word tamasaḥ means “the coverings of the universe.” Layers of material elements cover the universe, and outside these coverings is the impersonal Brahman effulgence. If one is destined to remain in the Lord’s impersonal effulgence, he misses the opportunity to render service to the Personality of Godhead. Therefore devotees consider remaining in the impersonal Brahman effulgence a kind of punishment. Sometimes devotees think of merging into the Brahman effulgence, and consequently they are promoted to Siddhaloka. Because of their impersonal understanding, they are actually punished. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya continues to explain the distinction between mukti-pada and bhakti-pada in the following verses.
TEXTS 264-265
TRANSLATION
“The Bhaṭṭācārya continued, “The impersonalists, who do not accept the transcendental form of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the demons, who are always engaged in blaspheming and fighting with Him, are punished by being merged into the Brahman effulgence. But that does not happen to the person engaged in the devotional service of the Lord.”
TEXT 271
TRANSLATION
“Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “The word ‘mukti-pade’ has another meaning. ‘Mukti-pada’ directly refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
TEXT 273
TRANSLATION
“Since I can understand Kṛṣṇa according to these two meanings,” Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “what point is there in changing the verse?” Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya replied, “I was not able to give that reading to the verse.”
TEXT 274
TRANSLATION
“Although Your explanation is correct, it should not be used, because there is ambiguity in the word ‘mukti-pada.’”
TEXTS 284-285
TRANSLATION
“If one hears with faith and love these pastimes concerning Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s meeting with Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, he very soon is freed from the net of speculation and fruitive activity and attains the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet.”
Hmmmm…. So, by hearing of this pastime of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, with faith and love, we can understand that Lord Caitanya did not allow Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya to change even one word of Srimad Bhagavatam, (the word “mukti”), because he (Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya) was not authorized to do so. Yes, this “he was not authorized to change a word” cannot in any logical way be misinterpreted.
Even though, and despite the fact, his personal philosophy changed from one of a Mayavada to that of a Vaisnava, that ecstatic change didn’t qualify him to reinterpret the Sastra of Vyasadeva. Although Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu honored him as the incarnation of Bṛhaspati, the chief priest of the heavenly kingdom and a great logician,* ( * derived from Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 4.22.62.) he still wasn’t allowed to change Sastra, not one single word. This is the proof of evidence, from history, no changes. And, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, being a pure devotee of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, understood his folly and accepted this no change policy in totality.
So where does that leave souls like me, the conditioned soul, who are nowhere near pure devotee status like Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya ? Well, if we do not emulate a Mahatma like Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, and the example he left of being meek and humble when confronted by Authority, then we do not appreciate this interaction with faith and love, and we cannot take shelter of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, fact. Yes, if this rogue path is taken, then, the opposite occurs of what is intended, that is, instead of being freed from the net of speculation and fruitive activities, we are further entangled by them.
Therefore, we may conclude if the reader/studier of transcendental subject matters cannot understand any divine topic because of their lack of knowledge due to being trapped in conditioned life, and/or poor fund of surrender to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga, then read/study the Sastra (Original) again, and again, and again, and then again.
Why ? Because the original answer is already right there, as is the case in this pastime being examined. The Authority, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu concluded that He could understand Lord Krsna from the verse. Yes, the absence of divine qualities such as humility, meekness and surrender is not the ubiquitous qualification to alter Sastra. In actuality and reality, it is the automatic and potent disqualification to relay Sastra onward and forward to any moving or non-moving living entity because the deliverer and receiver are both being deceived. Only one who is completely captivated by a false egotistical aroma of arrogance cannot hear/see/smell/touch/taste all this in it’s profound eternal clarity.
Therefore in “today’s” terms, the presence of not so sought after qualities, like lust and false pride, will never lead one to follow/respect/agree with the bonafide agents of Lord Sri Krsna like His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada. But, it will permit one to blindly follow “leaders” who appear to be legit, who bereft of faith and love, introduce their own conditioned view of “i like” and “i dislike”, as if this divine matter is a flakebook (a.k.a. facebook) forum for exhibiting opinion and self promotion, changing Sastra to fit their agenda or repeating changed Sastra, thus misleading and confusing the innocent/ignorant folks like myself, searching for the Supreme Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead.
Ultimately, All Glory and All Victory to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, teaching us how to move towards the goal of our constitutional position as a pure devotee, by eternally disapproving and rejecting of this stepping over Guru and changing Sastra, regardless of devotional ecstasy, merits attained, opinion or anything else contrived in one’s fertile mind. Eternal Dandavats at Srila Prabhupadas’ Lotus Feet, for consistently rebuking this new ideology of deviating from Parampara. All obedience to Him for understanding this pastime with faith and love, exactly as the saintly kings did, and not changing one word of any Sastra while passing it to us. Yes, that is why He is Founder-Acarya 
So, therefore, we lowly menial workers, (my mood), should take heed to these instructions and actions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, and His most recently sent Acarya, Srila Prabhupada, and stop fighting with and blaspheming Them, as we know that result, and follow, follow, follow Lord Krsnas’ Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada wholeheartedly. Yes conditioned soul, if you can hear this, please choose to be freed from the net of speculation and fruitive activity of engaging with changed Sastra and attain the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Lotus Feet, for Siddhaloka is not our desired destination.
Long Live Lord Caitanya ! Long Live Lord Nityananda ! Long Live Srila Prabhupada !All-ways inspired by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupda,
a nobody named jason walter
Infinite Glory, Victory and Allegiance to Srila Prabhupada !!!
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