CC Antya 6.223 (1975)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Below is the 1996 edition text, ready to be substituted with the 1975 one using the compile form.
TEXT 223
- vairāgī karibe sadā nāma-saṅkīrtana
- māgiyā khāñā kare jīvana rakṣaṇa
SYNONYMS
vairāgī—a person in the renounced order; karibe—will do; sadā—always; nāma-saṅkīrtana—chanting of the holy name of the Lord; māgiyā—by begging; khāñā—eating; kare jīvana rakṣaṇa—he sustains his life.
TRANSLATION
“A person in the renounced order should always chant the holy name of the Lord. He should beg some alms to eat, and he should sustain his life in this way.
PURPORT
As stated in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa at the end of the Twentieth Vilāsa (20.366, 379, 382):
- kṛtyāny etāni tu prāyo gṛhiṇāṁ dhanināṁ satām
- likhitāni na tu tyakta-parigraha-mahātmanām
- prabhāte cārdha-rātre ca madhyāhne divasa-kṣaye
- kīrtayanti hariṁ ye vai te taranti bhavārṇavam
- evam ekāntināṁ prāyaḥ kīrtanaṁ smaraṇaṁ prabhoḥ
- kurvatāṁ parama-prītyā kṛtyam anyan na rocate
A well-to-do householder Vaiṣṇava cannot live like a person in the renounced order who completely takes shelter of the holy name. Such a householder should chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa in the morning, at midday and in the evening. Then he will be able to cross beyond nescience. Pure devotees in the renounced order, however, who fully surrender to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, should chant the holy name of the Lord with great love and faith, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. They should have no occupation other than chanting the holy name of the Lord. In the Bhakti-sandarbha (283), Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says:
yady api śrī-bhāgavata-mate pañca-rātrādi-vad-arcana-mārgasyāvaśyakatvaṁ nāsti, tad vināpi śaraṇāpatty-ādīnām ekatareṇāpi puruṣārtha-siddher abhihitatvāt.
“It is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam’s opinion that the process of Deity worship is not actually necessary, just as the specific prescriptions of the Pañcarātra and other scriptures do not have to be followed. The Bhāgavatam enjoins that even without practicing Deity worship one can achieve the complete success of human life by any of the other devotional processes, such as simply offering oneself at the Lord’s feet for His protection.”