Text 212] Pastimes of the Lord in His Youth 367
demigods an auspicious activity. Great so-called svdmis have written books saying
that one may chant any name—Durga, Kali, Siva, Krsna, Rama, and so on—because
any name is all right to invoke an auspicious atmosphere in society. Thus they are
called pdsand7s—unbelievers or faithless demons.

Such pdsandis do not know the actual value of the chanting of the holy name of
Lord Krsna. Foolishly proud of their material birth as brdhmanas and their conse-
quently higher position in the social order, they think of the other classes—namely,
the ksatriyas, the vaiSyas and sidras—as lower classes. According to them, no one
but the bréhmanas can chant the holy name of Krsna, for if others chanted the
holy name,its potency would be reduced. They are unaware of the potency of Lord
Krstia’s name. The 8rhan-ndradiya Puraéna recommends:

harer ndéma harer naéma harer naémaiva kevalam
kalau ndsty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
“For spiritual progress in this age of Kali, there is no alternative, no alternative,
no alternative to the holy name, the holy name, the holy name of the L.ord."’ The
pdsandis do not accept that the potency of the holy name of Krsria is so great that
one can be delivered simply by chanting the holy name, although this is confirmed
in Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.3.51). Kirtanad eva krsnasya mukta-sahgah pararh vrojet:
any man from any past of the world who practices chanting of the holy name of
Krsna can be liberated and after death go back home, back to Godhead. The rascal
pdsandis think that if anyone but a brahmana chants the holy name, the potency of
the holy name is vanquished. According to their judgment, instead of delivering the
fallen souls, the potency of the holy name is reduced. Believing in the existence of
many gods and considering the chanting of the holy name of Krsna no better than
other hymns, these pasandis do not believe in the words of the Sdstra (harer nama
harer néma harer namaiva kevalam). But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu confirms in His
Siksastaka, kirtaniyafi sadé harifi: one must chant the holy name of the Lord always,
twenty-four hours a day. The pdsangis, however, are so fallen and falsely proud of
having taken birth in brdhmana families that they think that instead of delivering
all the fallen souls, the holy name becomes impotent when constantly chanted by
lower-class men,

Significant in verse 211 are the words nica bada béda because anyone can join in
the sankirtana movement, as mentioned in Srimad-Bhdagavatam (2.4.18): Rirata-
handandhra-pulinda-pulkasa@ abhira-sumbhdé yavanah khasa@dayah. This is a list of the
names of canda/as. The pdsandis say that when these lower-class men are allowed to
chant, their influence is enhanced. They do not like the idea that others should also
develop spiritual qualities because this would curb their false pride in having taken
birth in families of theelevated bra@hmana caste, with a monopoly on spiritual activi-
ties. But despite all protests from so-called Hindus and members of the brahmana
caste, we are propagating the Krsna consciousness movement all over the world,
according to the injunctions of the Sdstras and the order of SriCaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Thus we are sure that we are delivering many fallen souls, making them bona fide
candidates for going back home, back to Godhead.
