CC Madhya 8.250
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 250
- ‘gāna-madhye kona gāna—jīvera nija dharma?’
- ‘rādhā-kṛṣṇera prema-keli’—yei gītera marma
SYNONYMS
gāna-madhye — among songs; kona gāna — which song; jīvera — of the living entity; nija — his own; dharma — religion; rādhā-kṛṣṇera prema-keli — the loving affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa; yei — which; gītera — of the song; marma — purport.
TRANSLATION
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu next asked Rāmānanda Rāya, “Among many songs, which song is to be considered the actual religion of the living entity?” Rāmānanda Rāya replied, “That song describing the loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa is superior to all other songs.”
PURPORT
As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 10.33.36):
- anugrahāya bhaktānāṁ mānuṣaṁ deham āsthitaḥ
- bhajate tādṛśīḥ krīḍā yāḥ śrutvā tat-paro bhavet
“Lord Kṛṣṇa descends apparently as a human being, and He exhibits His transcendental pastimes in Vṛndāvana so that the conditioned soul may be attracted to hearing His transcendental activities.” Nondevotees are strictly prohibited from participating in songs celebrating the loving affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Unless one is a devotee, it is very dangerous to hear the songs about the pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa that were written by Jayadeva Gosvāmī, Caṇḍīdāsa and other exalted devotees. Lord Śiva drank an ocean of poison, but one should not imitate this. One must first become a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Only then can one enjoy hearing the songs of Jayadeva and relish transcendental bliss. If one simply imitates the activities of Lord Śiva and drinks poison, one will certainly meet with death.
The talks between Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya are meant for advanced devotees only. Those who are on the mundane platform and who study these talks in order to put forward some thesis for a Ph.D. will not be able to understand them. Instead, these conversations will have a poisonous effect.