Cc Antya 13.113

Text

vṛddha mātā-pitāra yāi' karaha sevana
vaiṣṇava-pāśa bhāgavata kara adhyayana

Synonyms

vṛddha-old; mātā-pitāra-of the mother and father; yāi'-going back; karaha sevana-engage in service; vaiṣṇava-pāśa-from a pure Vaiṣṇava; bhāgavata-Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; kara adhyayana-study.

Translation

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said to Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, "When you return home, serve your aged father and mother, who are devotees, and try to study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a pure Vaiṣṇava who has realized God."

Purport

"No one should hear or take lessons from a person who is not a Vaiṣṇava. Even if he speaks about Kṛṣṇa, such a lesson should not be accepted, for it is like milk touched by the lips of a serpent." Nowadays it is fashionable to observe Bhāgavata-saptāha and hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from persons who are anything but advanced devotees or self-realized souls. There are even many Māyāvādīs who read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to throngs of people. Many Māyāvādīs have recently begun reciting Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in Vṛndāvana, and because they can present the Bhāgavatam with word jugglery, twisting the meaning by grammatical tricks, materialistic persons who go to Vṛndāvana as a matter of spiritual fashion like to hear them. All this is clearly forbidden by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We should note carefully that since these Māyāvādīs cannot personally know the meaning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they can never deliver others by reciting it. On the other hand, an advanced devotee of the Lord is free from material bondage. He personifies the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in life and action. Therefore we advise that anyone who wants to learn the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam must approach such a realized soul.