62 The Nectar of Instruction

because his actual identity is that of one engaged in the lov-
ing service of the Lord. In other words, he is not to be con-
sidered an ordinary human being.

Even though a pure devotee may not be born in a
braéhmana or gosvami family, if he is engaged in the service
of the Lord he should not be neglected. In actuality there
cannot be a family of gosvamis based on material considera-
tions, caste or heredity. The gosvdmi title is actually the
monopoly of the pure devotees; thus we speak of the six
Gosvamis, headed by Ripa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami.
Ripa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami had practically become
Mohammedans and had therefore changed their names to
Dabira Khasa and Sakara Mallika, but Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu Himself made them gosvdmis. Therefore the
gosvami title is not hereditary. The word gosvdami refers to
one who can control his senses, who is master of the senses.
A devotee is not controlled by the senses, but is the con-
troller of the senses. Consequently he should be called svémi
or gosvami, even though he may not be born in a gosvami
family,

According to this formula, the gosvdmis who are descen-
dants of Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Advaita Prabhu are
certainly devotees, but devotees coming from other families
should not be discriminated against; indeed, whether the
devotees come from a family of previous dcdryas or from an
ordinary family, they should be treated equally. One should
not think, “Oh, here is an American gosvami,” and dis-
criminate against him. Nor should one think, “Here is a
nityananda-vamsa-gosvami.” There is an undercurrent of
protest against our awarding the title gosvdmi to the
