170 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Antya-lila, Ch. 13
TRANSLATION
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said to Raghunatha Bhatta, ‘(When you return
home, serve your aged father and mother, who are devotees, and try to study
Srimad-Bhagavatam from a pure Vaisnava who has realized God.”
PURPORT
One should note how $ri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, advised Raghunatha Bhattacarya to learn Srimad-Bhagavatam. He ad-
vised him to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam not from professional men but from
a real bhagavata, devotee. He also advised Raghunatha Bhatta to serve his mother
and father because they were both His devotees. Anyone who wishes to advance
in Krsna consciousness must try to serve the devotees of Krsma. As Narottama
dasa Thakura says, chadiyd vaisnava-sevd nistara payeche kebd: “Without serving
a self-realized Vaisnava, no one has ever been released from the materialistic way
of life.” Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would have never advised Raghunatha Bhatta to
serve ordinary parents, but since his parents were Vaisnavas, the Lord advised him
to serve them.
One might ask ‘Why shouldn't ordinary parents be served?” As stated in
Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.5.18):
gurur na Sa syat Svajano na $a syat
pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat
daivarn na tat syat na patis ca sa syan
na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum
“One who cannot deliver his dependent from the path of birth and death should
never become a spiritual master, a relative, a father or mother, or a worshipable
demigod, nor should such a person become a husband." Everyone naturally gets a
father and mother at the time of birth, but the real father and mother are they
who can release their offspring from the clutches of imminent death. This is pos-
sible only for parents advanced in Krsna consciousness. Therefore any parents
who cannot enlighten their offspring in Krsna consciousness cannot be accepted
as a real father and mother. The following verse from the Bhakti-rasémrta-sindhu
(1.2.200) confirms the uselessness of serving ordinary parents:
laukiki vaidiki vapi
ya kriyd kriyate mune
hari-sevanukdlaiva
sa karyaé bhaktim icchata
