15.16
eka-dina naivedya-tambula khaiya
bhumite padila prabhu acetana hana
SYNONYMS
eka-dina—one day; naivedya—food offered to the Deity; tambula—betel nut; khaiya—after eating; bhumite—on the ground; padila—fell; prabhu—the Lord; acetana—unconscious; hana—becoming.
One day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ate betel nuts offered to the Deity, but they acted as an intoxicant, and He fell down on the ground unconscious.
PURPORT
Betel nuts are an intoxicant, and therefore the regulative principles prohibit eating them.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastime of fainting after eating betel nuts is a solid instruction to all of us that one should not touch betel nuts, even those offered to Visnu, just as one should not touch grains on the Ekadasi day.
Of course, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s fainting had a particular purpose.
As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He can do whatever He likes and eat whatever He wants, but we should not imitate His pastimes.