342 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta {Adi-lila, Ch. 17

for all time; it is not, as some rascals say, that in the Vedic age she was a mother but
she is not in this age. If sdstra is an authority, the cow is a mother always; she was a
mother in the Vedic age, and she is a mother in this age also.

If one acts according to the injunctions of sdstra, he is freed from the reactions
of sinful activity. For example, the propensities for eating flesh, drinking wine and
enjoying sex life are all natural to the conditioned soul. The path of such enjoyment
is called pravrtti-marga. The $astra says, pravsttir esarn bhutanam nivrttis tu maha-
phaldm: one should not be carried away by the propensities of defective conditioned
life; one should be guided by the principles of the $dstras. A child's propensity is to
play all day long, but it is the injunction of the Sastras that the parents should take
care to educate him. The Sdstros are there just to guide the activities of human
society. But because people do not refer to the instructions of sdstras, which are free
from defects and imperfections, they are therefore misguided by so-called educated
teachers and leaders who are full of the deficiencies of conditioned life.

TEXT 158

CBTATA CACHES Bite catiecea TVA |
BHA CUA FCA AG FG AiR i sev

tomara vedete ache go-vadhere vant
ataeva go-vadha kare bada baga muni

SYNONYMS

tomara vedete--in Your Vedic literatures; dche—there is; go-vadhera—for cow kill-
ing; vdsi—injunction; ataeva—therefore; go-vadha—cow killing; kare—does; baga
bada—very, very great; muni—sages.

TRANSLATION

As a learned scholar, the Kazi challenged Caitanya Mahaprabhu, “In Your Vedic
scriptures there is an injunction for killing a cow. On the strength of this injunction,
great sages performed sacrifices involving cow killing.”

TEXT 159

AG FCS, —CAH FCS CNY FATTY |
BSGa feasts Al SCA CANA N Seo

prabhu kahe,—vede kahe go-vadha nisedha
ataeva hindu-mdétra n@ kare go-vadha

SYNONYMS

prabhu kahe—the Lord replied; vede—in the Vedas; kahe—is enjoined; go-vedha—
cow killing; nisedha—prohibition; ataeva—therefore; hindu—Hindu; métra—any;
né—does not; kare—execute; go-vadha—cow killing.
