Text 73]
Instructions for Civilized Human Beings
285
viṣṇoḥ : one should chant about and glorify Lord Viṣṇu, not any demigod. Unfortunately, there are foolish persons who invent some process of  kīrtana  on the basis of a demigod's name. This is an offense.  Kīrtana  means glorifying the Supreme Lord, not any demigod. Sometimes people invent  Kālī-kīrtana  or  Śiva-kīrtana , and even big  sannyāsīs  in the Māyāvāda school say that one may chant any name and still get the same result. But here we find that millions and millions of years ago, when Nārada Muni was a Gandharva, he neglected the order to glorify the Lord, and being mad in the association of women, he began to chant otherwise. Thus he was cursed to become a  śūdra . His first offense was that he went to join the  saṅkīrtana  party in the company of lusty women, and another offense was that he considered ordinary songs, like cinema songs and other such songs, to be equal to  saṅkīrtana . For this offense he was punished with becoming a  śūdra .
TEXT 73
तावदास्यामहं जज्ञे तत्रापि ब्रह्मवादिनाम् । 
    शुश्रूषयानुषङ्गेण प्राप्तोऽहं ब्रह्मपुत्रताम् ॥७३॥
tāvad dāsyām aham jajñe 
    tatrāpi brahma-vādinām 
    śuśrūṣayānuṣaṅgeṇa 
    prāpto 'ham brahma-putratām
tāvat —since being cursed;  dāsyām —in the womb of a maidservant;  aham —I;  jajñe —took birth;  tatrāpi —although (being a  śūdra );  brahma-vādinām —unto persons well conversant with the Vedic knowledge;  śuśrūṣayā —by rendering service;  anuṣaṅgeṇa —simultaneously;  prāptaḥ —obtained;  aham —I;  brahma-putratām —a birth as the son of Lord Brahmā (in this life).
TRANSLATION
Although I took birth as a  śūdra  from the womb of a maidservant, I engaged in the service of Vaiṣṇavas who were well-versed in Vedic knowledge. Consequently, in this life I got the opportunity to take birth as the son of Lord Brahmā.