276 Sri-Caitanya-carita mrta’

haridasa-thakura sakhara adbhuta carita
tina laksa nama tenho layena apatita

SYNONYMS

haridasa-thakura—of the name Haridasa Thakura; sakhara—of the branch; adbhu-
ta—wonderful; carita—characteristics; ting—three; /Jaksa—hundred thousand; nama—
names; teho—he; layena—chanted; apatita—without fail.

TRANSLATION

The twentieth branch of the Caitanya tree was Haridasa Thakura. His character
was wonderful. He used to chant the holy name of Krsna 300,000 times a day
without fail.

PURPORT

Certainly the chanting of 300,000 holy names of the Lord is wonderful. No
ordinary person can chant so many names, nor should one artificially imitate
Haridasa Thakura’s behavior. It is essential, however, that everyone fulfill a specific
vow to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Therefore we have prescribed in our society
that all our students must chant at least sixteen rounds daily. Such chanting must
be offenseless in order to be of high quality. Mechanical chanting is not as powerful
as chanting of the holy name without offenses. It is stated in the Caitanya-bhagavata,
Adi-lila, Chapter Two, that Haridasa Thakura was born in a village known as
Budhana but after some time came to live on the bank of the Ganges at Fulia near
Santipura. From the description of his chastisement by a Muslim magistrate, which
is found in the Eleventh Chapter of the Adi-lila of Caitanya-bhagavata, we can under-
stand how humble and meek Haridasa Thakura was and how he achieved the cause-
less mercy of the Lord. In the dramas performed by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
Haridasa Thakura played the part of a police chief. While chanting the Hare Krsna
maha-mantra in Benapola, he was personally tested by Mayadevi herself. Haridasa
Thakura’s passing away is described in the Antya-lila of Caitanya-caritamrta,
Eleventh Chapter. It is not definitely certain whether Sri Haridasa Thakura appeared
in the village named Budhana that is in the district of Khulana. Formerly this
village was within a district of twenty-four parganas within the Sataksira division.

TEXT 44

Siata SAB Vd, SS fea

Bois coatios Tica Sern SVTriiH 8s
tanhara ananta guna—kahi dirimatra
acarya gosani yanre bhunjaya sraddha-patra

SYNONYMS

tanhara—Haridasa Thakura’s; ananta—unlimited; guma—qualities; kahi-| speak;
dinmatra—only a small part; acarya gosafi—Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu; yanre—to
