Adi-lila, Chapter 7 35

Mahaprabhu, however, did not accept this artificial principle, which was introduced
in society by self-interested men, and later the kayasthas, vaidyas and vaniks all
began to accept the sacred thread, despite objections from the so-called brahmanas.

Before the time of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the suvarna-vanik class was condemned
by Ballal Sen, who was then the King of Bengal, due to a personal grudge. In Bengal
the suvarna-vanik class are always very rich, for they are bankers and dealers in
gold and silver. Therefore, Ballal Sen used to borrow money from a suvarna-vanik
banker. Ballal Sen’s bankruptcy later obliged the suvarna-vanik banker to stop ad-
vancing money to him, and thus he became angry and condemned the entire
suvarna-vanik society as belonging to the sudra community. Ballal Sen tried to in-
duce the brahmanas not to accept the suvarna-vaniks as followers of the instructions
of the Vedas under the brahminical directions, but although some brahmanas ap-
proved of Ballal Sen’s actions, others did not. Thus the brahmanas also became
divided amongst themselves, and those who supported the suvarna-vanik class were
rejected from the brahmana community. At the present day the same biases are
still being followed.

There are many Vaisnava families in Bengal whose members, although not actually
born brahmanas, act as acaryas by initiating disciples and offering the sacred thread
as enjoined in the Vaisnava tantras. For example, in the families of Thakura
Raghunanda, Acarya Thakura Krsnadasa, Navani Hoda and Rasikananda-deva (a
disciple of Syamananda Prabhu), the sacred thread ceremony is performed, as it is
for the caste Gosvamis, and this system has continued for the past three to four
hundred years. Accepting disciples born in brahmana families, they are bona fide
spiritual masters who have the facility to worship the Salagrama-sila which is wor-
shiped with the Deity. As of this writing, Salagrama-sila worship has not yet been
introduced in our Krsna consciousness movement, but soon it will be introduced
in all our temples as an essential function of arcana-marga (Deity worship).

TEXT 46

Sra-facala aca fom-fadieq |
WARS Ace ale Tica faarAe By 1

tapana-misrera ghare bhiksa-nirvahana
sannyasira sange nahi mane nimantrana

SYNONYMS

tapana-misrera—of Tapana Misra; ghare—in the house; bhiksa—accepting food;
nirvahana—regularly executed; sannyasira—with other Mayavadi sannyasis; sange—
in company with them; nahi—never; mane—accepted; nimantrana— invitation.

TRANSLATION

As a matter of principle, Lord Caitanya regularly accepted His food at the house
of Tapana Misra. He never mixed with other sannyasis, nor did He accept invitations
from them.
