8.291
ami--eka batula, tumi--dvitiya batula
ataeva tomaya amaya ha-i sama-tula
SYNONYMS
ami—I; eka—one; batula—madman; tumi—you; dvitiya—second; batula—madman; ataeva—therefore; tomaya—you; amaya—Me; ha-i—are; sama-tula—on an equal level.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu then said, “Indeed, I am a madman, and you are also a madman.
Therefore both of us are on the same platform.”
PURPORT
All these conversations between Ramananda Raya and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appear ludicrous to a common man who is not a devotee.
The entire world is filled with material conceptions, and people are unable to understand these conversations due to the conditioning of mundane philosophy.
Those who are overly attached to mundane activities cannot understand the ecstatic conversations between Ramananda Raya and Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Consequently the Lord requested that Ramananda Raya keep all these conversations secret and not expose them to the general populace.
If one is actually advanced in Krsna consciousness, he can understand these confidential talks; otherwise they appear crazy.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore informed Ramananda Raya that they both appeared like madmen and were therefore on the same platform.
It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (2.69):
ya nisa sarva-bhutanam
tasyam jagarti samyami
yasyam jagrati bhutani
sa nisa pasyato muneh “What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.” Sometimes Krsna consciousness appears like a type of madness to mundane people, just as the activities of mundaners are considered a form of madness by Krsna conscious men.