280
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
[Antya-lilā, Ch. 3]
word. The proper word is  gṛha-vitta , which means “all the possessions she had in her home.” All the girl’s possessions had been earned by professional prostitution and were therefore products of her sinful life. When such possessions are given to  brāhmaṇas  and  Vaiṣṇavas  who can engage them in the service of the Lord because of their advancement in spiritual life, this indirectly helps the person who gives the charity, for he is thus relieved of sinful reactions. As  Kṛṣṇa  promises,  aharṅ tvārṅ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi : “I shall save you from all sinful reactions.” When our  Kṛṣṇa  conscious devotees go out to beg charity or collect contributions in the form of membership fees, the money thus coming to the  Kṛṣṇa  consciousness movement is strictly employed to advance  Kṛṣṇa  consciousness all over the world. The  Kṛṣṇa  conscious devotees collect the money of others for the service of  Kṛṣṇa , and they are satisfied with  Kṛṣṇa’s prasāda  and whatever He gives them for their maintenance. They do not desire material comforts. However, they go to great pains to engage the possessions of prostitutes, or persons who are more or less like prostitutes, in the service of the Lord and thus free them from sinful reactions. A  Vaiṣṇava guru  accepts money or other contributions, but he does not employ such contributions for sense gratification. A pure  Vaiṣṇava  thinks himself unfit to help free even one person from the reactions of sinful life, but he engages one’s hard-earned money in the service of the Lord and thus frees one from sinful reactions. A  Vaiṣṇava guru  is never dependent on the contributions of his disciples. Following the instructions of  Haridāsa Ṭhākura , a pure  Vaiṣṇava  does not personally take even a single paisa from anyone, but he induces his followers to spend for the service of the Lord whatever possessions they have.
TEXT 140
মাখা মুড়ি’ একবন্তে রহিল সেই ঘরে।  
 রাত্রি-দিনে তিন-লক্ষ নাম গ্রহণ করে ॥ ১৪০ ॥
māthā muḍi’ eka-vastre rahila sei ghare  
 rātri-dine tina-lakṣa nāma grahaṇa kare
SYNONYMS
māthā muḍi’ —shaving her head;  eka-vastre —wearing one cloth;  rahila —remained;  sei ghare —in that room;  rātri-dine —throughout the entire day and night;  tina-lakṣa —300,000;  nāma —holy names;  grahaṇa kare —chants.
TRANSLATION
The prostitute shaved her head clean in accordance with  Vaiṣṇava principles  and stayed in that room wearing only one cloth. Following in the footsteps of her spiritual master, she began chanting the  Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra 300,000 times a day . She chanted throughout the entire day and night.