300 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [ Adi-lila, Ch. 17
goddess of fortune, it is simply wonderful, my dear Lord Krspa, that You have
embraced me with Your arms.”

PURPORT

This is a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.81.16} spoken by Sudama Vipra in
the presence of Lord Sri Krsna. This and the previous verse quoted from Srimad-
Bhdgovetam clearly indicate that although Krsna is so great that it is not possible
for anyone to satisfy Him, He exhibits His greatness by being personally satisfied
even with one who is disqualified from so many angles of vision. Sudama Vipra was
born in a family of dréhmanas, and he was a learned scholar and a class friend of
Krsna’s, yet he considered himself unfit to be strictly called a brahmana. He called
himself a brahma-bandhu, meaning “one born in a brdhmana family but not
brahminically qualified.’’ Because of His great respect for brahmanas, however,
Krsna embraced Sudama Vipra, although he was not a regular brdhmana but a
brahma-bandhu, or friend of a bradhmana family. Murari Gupta could not be called
even a brahma-bandhu because he was born of a vaidya family and according to the
social structure was therefore considered a s@dra. But Krsna bestowed special mercy
upon Murari Gupta because he was a beloved devotee of the Lord, as stated by Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The purport of Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s
elaborate discussion of this subject is that no qualification in this material world
can satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, yet everything becomes
successful simply through development of devotional service to the Lord.

The members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness cannot
even call themselves brahma-bandhus. Therefore our only means for satisfying Krsna
is to pursue the injunctions of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who says:

yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa
amatra Gjfidya guru hafid tara’ ef desa
‘‘Whomever you meet, instruct him on the teachings of Krsna. In this way, on My
order, become a spiritual master and deliver the people of this country.” (Cc. Madhya
7.128) Simply trying to follow the orders of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we speak to
the people of the world about Bhagavad-gita As /t /s. This will make us qualified to
satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.
TEXT 79
OBA LE AA SHA FoI |
MASA SiH CAA SATS Tayi adh
eko-dina prabhu saba bhakta-gana laid
saftkirtana kari’ vaise srama-yukta hafia
