Text 265] Pastimes of the Lord in His Youth 395
PURPORT

Among the members of the varndsrama institution's socia! orders (brahmana,
ksatriya, veisya and Sidra), the brahmana is considered the foremost, for he is the
teacher and spiritual master of all the other vornas, Similarty, among the spiritual
orders (brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannydsa}, the sannydsa order is the
most elevated. Therefore a sannydsf is the spiritual master of all the varmas and
asramas, and a brahmana is also expected to offer obeisances to a sannyds?. Unfor-
tunately, however, caste brahmanas do not offer obeisances to a Vaisnava sannyasi,
They are so proud that they do not offer obeisances even to Indian sannydsis, not to
speak of European and American sannydsis. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, ex-
pected that even the caste bra@hmanas would offer respectful obeisances to a sannydsi
because five hundred years ago the social custom was to offer obeisances im-
mediately to any sannyas7, known or unknown.

The sannydsis of the Krsna consciousness movement are bona fide. All the
students of the Krsna consciousness movement have undergone the regular pro-
cess of initiation. As enjoined in the Hari-bhakti-vildsa by Sanatana Gosvami, tatha
diksé-vidhdnena dvijatvarn jdyate nraam: by the regular process of initiation, any
man can become a drdhmana. Thus in the beginning the students of our Krsna con-
sciousness movement agree to live with devotees, and gradually, having given up
four prohibited activities—illicit sex, gambling, meat-eating and intoxication—they
become advanced in the activities of spiritual fife. When one is found to be regularly
following these principles, he is given the first initiation (hari-ndma),and he regular-
ly chants at least sixteen rounds a day. Then, after six months or a year, he is
initiated for the second time and given the sacred thread with the regular sacrifice
and rituals. After some time, when he advances still further and is willing to give
up this material world, he is given the sannyasa order. At that time he receives the
title sv@m7 or gosvar7, both of which mean “master of the senses.’ Unfortunately,
debauched so-called brdhmanas in india neither offer them respect nor accept them
as bona fide sannydsis. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu expected the so-called brahmanas
to offer respect to such Vaisnava sannyasis. Nevertheless, it does not matter whether
they offer respect, nor whether they accept these sannydsis as bona fide, for the
$astra describes punishment for such disobedient so-called bradhmanas. The sastric
injuction declares:

devatd-pratimarh drstva
yatim caive tridandinam
namaska@ram na kuryad yah
prayascittiyate narah
“One who does not offer respect to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to His
Deity in the temple or to a tridandi sannydsi must undergo prayascitta {atonement]."
If one does not offer obeisances to such a sannyds7, the prescribed prayascitta is to
fast for one day.
