326 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Adi-lila, Ch. 17
TRANSLATION
“No one should perform sankirtana on the streets of the city. Today | am ex-
cusing the offense and returning home.
PURPORT
Such orders stopping sankirtana in the streets of the world’s great cities have
been imposed upon members of the Hare Krsna movement. We have hundreds of
centers all over the world, and we have been specifically persecuted in Australia.
In most cities of the western world we have been arrested many times by the police,
but we are nevertheless executing the order of Srt Caitanya Mahaprabhu by chanting
on the streets of all the important cities, like New York, London, Chicago, Sydney,
Melbourne, Paris and Hamburg. We must remember that such incidents took place
in the past, five hundred years ago, and the fact that they are still going on indicates
that our sankirtana movement is really authorized, for if sankirtana were an insig-
nificant material affair, demons would not object to it. The demons of the time
tried to obstruct the sankirtana movement started by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Similar demons are trying to obstruct the sankirtana movement we are executing all
over the world, and this proves that our safkirtana movement is still pure and
genuine, following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
TEXT 128
aia aft Awa Sars Tt Weg
We efter! Siz OS ca MSH sav tt
ara yadi kirtana karite faga padimu
sarvasva dandiyd tara jati ye fa-imu
SYNONYMS
dra—again; yadi—if; kirtana—chanting of the Hare Krsna mahd-mantra; karite—
to do; faga—contact; pdimu—| shall take; sarva-sva—all possessions; damdiva—
chastising; t@ra—his; jati—caste; ye—that; /a-imu—| shall take.
TRANSLATION
“The next time | see someone performing such sankirtana, certainly 0 shall
chastise him by not only confiscating all his property but also converting him into
a Mohammedan.”
PURPORT
To convert a Hindu into a Mohammedan was an easy affair in those days. If a
Mohammedan simply sprinkled water on the body of a Hindu, it was supposed that
the Hindu had already become a Mohammedan. During the transition of the British
in Bangladesh during the last Hindu-Muslim riots, many Hindus were converted into
