17.1
vande svairadbhuteham tam
caitanyam yat-prasadatah
yavanah sumanayante
krsna-nama-prajalpakah
SYNONYMS
vande—let me offer my obeisances; svaira—completely independent; adbhuta—and uncommon; iham—whose activities; tam—unto Him; caitanyam—Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; yat—of whom; prasadatah—by the mercy; yavanah—even the unclean; sumanayante—are transformed into gentlemen; krsna-nama—of the holy name of Lord Krsna; prajalpakah—taking to the chanting.
Let me offer my respectful obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by whose mercy even unclean yavanas become perfectly well-bred gentlemen by chanting the holy name of the Lord.
Such is the power of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
PURPORT
There is a persistent misunderstanding between caste brahmanas and advanced Vaisnavas, or gosvamis, because caste brahmanas, or smartas, are of the opinion that one cannot become a brahmana unless he changes his body.
As we have discussed several times, it is to be understood that by the supremely powerful potency of the Lord, as described by Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, everything is possible.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu is as fully independent as Krsna.
Therefore no one can interfere with His activities.
If He wants, by His mercy He can convert even a yavana, an unclean follower of non-Vedic principles, into a perfectly well-behaved gentleman.
This is actually happening in our propagation of the Krsna consciousness movement.
The members of the present Krsna consciousness movement were not born in India, nor do they belong to the Vedic culture, but within the short time of four or five years they have become such wonderful devotees, simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, that even in India they are well received as perfectly well-behaved Vaisnavas wherever they go.
Although less intelligent men cannot understand it, this is the special power of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Actually, the body of a Krsna conscious person changes in many ways.
Even in the United States, when our devotees chant on the street, American ladies and gentlemen inquire from them whether they are actually Americans because no one could expect Americans to become such nice devotees all of a sudden.
Even Christian priests are greatly surprised that all these boys from Jewish and Christian families have joined this Krsna consciousness movement; before joining, they never regarded any principles of religion seriously, but now they have become sincere devotees of the Lord.
Everywhere people express this astonishment, and we take great pride in the transcendental behavior of our students.
Such wonders are possible, however, only by the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
They are not ordinary or mundane.