7.99
prabhura mista-vakya suni’ sannyasira gana
citta phiri’ gela, kahe madhura vacana
SYNONYMS
prabhura—of the Lord; mista-vakya—sweet words; suni’-after hearing; sannyasira gana—all the groups of sannyasis; citta—consciousness; phiri’-moved; gela—went; kahe—said; madhura—pleasing; vacana—words.
After hearing Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all the Mayavadi sannyasis were moved.
Their minds changed, and thus they spoke with pleasing words.
PURPORT
The Mayavadi sannyasis met Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Varanasi to criticize the Lord regarding His participation in the sankirtana movement, which they did not like.
This demonic nature of opposition to the sankirtana movement perpetually exists.
As it existed in the time of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, similarly it existed long before that, even in the time of Prahlada Maharaja.
He used to chant in sankirtana although his father did not like it, and that was the reason for the misunderstanding between the father and son.
In the Bhagavad-gita (7.15) the Lord says:
na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah “Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me.” The Mayavadi sannyasis are asuram bhavam asritah, which means that they have taken the path of the asuras (demons), who do not believe in the existence of the form of the Lord.
The Mayavadis say that the ultimate source of everything is impersonal, and in this way they deny the existence of God.
Saying that there is no God is direct denial of God, and saying that God exists but has no head, legs or hands and cannot speak, hear or eat is a negative way of denying His existence.
A person who cannot see is called blind, one who cannot walk can be called lame, one who has no hands can be called helpless, one who cannot speak can be called dumb, and one who cannot hear can be called deaf.
The Mayavadis’ proposition that God has no legs, no eyes, no ears and no hands is an indirect way of insulting Him by defining Him as blind, deaf, dumb, lame, helpless, etc.
Therefore although they present themselves as great Vedantists, they are factually mayayapahrta-jnana; in other words, they seem to be very learned scholars, but the essence of their knowledge has been taken away.
Impersonalist Mayavadis always try to defy Vaisnavas because Vaisnavas accept the Supreme Personality as the supreme cause and want to serve Him, talk with Him and see Him, just as the Lord is also eager to see His devotees and talk, eat and dance with them.
These personal exchanges of love do not appeal to the Mayavadi sannyasis.
Therefore the original purpose of the Mayavadi sannyasis of Benares in meeting Caitanya Mahaprabhu was to defeat His personal conception of God.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, as a preacher, turned the minds of the Mayavadi sannyasis.
They were melted by the sweet words of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and thus became friendly and spoke to Him also in sweet words.
Similarly, all preachers will have to meet opponents, but they should not make them more inimical.
They are already enemies, and if we talk with them harshly or impolitely their enmity will merely increase.
We should therefore follow in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu as far as possible and try to convince the opposition by quoting from the sastras and presenting the conclusion of the acaryas.
It is in this way that we should try to defeat all the enemies of the Lord.