298 Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta
SYNONYMS
bhagavati devananda—Devananda, who used to recite Srimad-Bhagavatam; vakre-
Svara-krpate—by the mercy of Vakresvara; bhdgavatera—of Srimad-Bhagavatam,
bhakti-artha—the bhakti interpretation; pdi/a—got; prabhu haite—from the Lord.
TRANSLATION
Devananda Pandita was a professional reciter of Srimad-Bhagavatam, but by the
mercy of Vakresvara Pandita and the grace of the Lord he understood the devotional
interpretation of the Bhagavatam.
PURPORT
In the Caitanya-bhdgavata, Madhya-lila, Chapter Twenty-one, it is stated that
Devananda Pandita was an inhabitant of the same village in which the father of
Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Visdrada, lived. He was a professional reciter of Srimaa-
Bhdgavatam, but Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not like his interpretation of it.
In the present town of Navadvipa, which was formerly known as Kuliya, Lord
Caitanya showed such mercy to him that he gave up the Mayavadi interpretation of
Srimad-Bhagavatam and learned how to explain Srimad-Bhdgavatam in terms of
bhakti. Formerly, when Devananda was expounding the Mayavadi interpretation,
Srivasa Thakura was once present in his meeting, and when he began to cry,
Devananda’s students drove him away. Some days later, Caitanya Mahaprabhu
passed that way, and when He met Devananda He chastised him severely because of
his Mayavada interpretation of Srimad-Bhdgavatam. At that time Devananda had
little faith in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an incarnation of Lord Krsna, but one
night some time later Vakresvara Pandita was a guest in his house, and when he ex-
plained the science of Krsna, Devananda was convinced about the identity of Lord
Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Thus he was induced to explain Srimad-Bhagavatam accord-
ing to the Vaisnava understanding. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika it is described that
he was formerly Bhaguri Muni, who was the sabha-pandita who recited Vedic litera-
tures in the house of Nanda Maharaja.
TEXTS 78-79
soa qzenin, Gaga |
aaafarta, aera, BCetea Hae II
ES AS Hele — CoS SHAT |
CUA-BH-BH BEA BS GA 1A 9 ti
khandavasi mukunda-dasa, sri-raghunandana
narahari-dasa, ciranjiva, sulocana
