Adi-lila, Chapter 7 29
tabe nija bhakta kaila yata mleccha adi
sabe edaila matra kasira mayavadi
SYNONYMS

tabe—thereafter; niia—own; bhakta—devotee; kaila—converted; yata—all; mleccha—
one who does not follow the Vedic principles; adi—heading the list; sabe—all those;
edaila—escaped ; matra—only ; kasira—of Varanasi; mayavadi—impersonalists.

TRANSLATION

All were converted into devotees of Lord Caitanya, even the mlecchas and

yavanas. Only the impersonalist followers of Sankaracarya evaded Him.
PURPORT

In this verse it is clearly indicated that although Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu con-
verted Mohammedans and other m/ecchas into devotees, the impersonalist followers
of Sankaracarya could not be converted. After accepting the renounced order of
life, Caitanya Mahaprabhu converted many karma-nisthas who were addicted to
fruitive activities, many great logicians like Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, nindakas
(blasphemers) like Prakasananda Sarasvati, pasandis (nondevotees) like Jagai and
Madhai, and adhama paduyas (degraded students) like Mukunda and his friends. All
of them gradually became devotees of the Lord, even the Pathans or Muslims, but
the worst offenders, the impersonalists, were extremely difficult to convert, for they
very tactfully escaped the devices of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

In describing the Kasira Mayavadis, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has
explained that persons who are bewildered by empiric knowledge or direct sensual
perception, and who thus consider that even this limited material world can be
gauged by their material estimations, conclude that anything that one can discern
by direct sense perception is but maya or illusion. They maintain that although the
Absolute Truth is beyond the range of sense perception, it includes no spiritual
variety or enjoyment. According to the Kasira Mayavadis, the spiritual world is sim-
ply void. They do not believe in the Personality of the Absolute Truth nor in His
varieties of activities in the spiritual world. Although they have their own arguments
which are not very strong, they have no conception of the variegated activities of
the Absolute Truth. These impersonalists, who are followers of Sankaracarya, are
generally known as Kasira Mayavadis.

Near Varanasi there is another group of impersonalists, who are known as
Saranatha Mayavadis. Outside the city of Varanasi is a place known as Saranatha
where there is a big Buddhist stupa. Many followers of Buddhist philosophy live
there, and they are known as Saranatha Mayavadis. The impersonalists of Saranatha
differ from those of Varanasi, for the Varanast impersonalists propagate the idea
that the impersonal Brahman is truth whereas material varieties are false, but the
Saranatha impersonalists do not even believe that the Absolute Truth or Brahman
can be understood as the opposite of maya or illusion. According to their vision,
materialism is the only manifestation of the Absolute Truth.
