64 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 4

gramera stinya-hate vasi’ karena kirtana
etha pdjari kardila thakure sayana

SYNONYMS

gramera—of the village; sGnya-hate—in the vacant marketplace; vasi’—sitting
down; karena—performs; kirtana—chanting; etha—in the temple; pujari—the
priest; kardila—made; thakure—the Deities; sayana—lying down.

TRANSLATION

Madhavendra Puri left the temple and sat down in the village marketplace,
which was vacant. Sitting there, he began to chant. In the meantime, the
temple priest laid the Deity down to rest.

PURPORT

Although Madhavendra Puri was not interested in eating and sleeping, his in-
terest in chanting the mahd-mantra was as acute as if he were an aspiring tran-
scendentalist rather than a paramahamsa. This means that even in the
paramaharsa stage, one cannot give up chanting. Haridasa Thakura and the
Gosvamis were all engaged in chanting a fixed number of rounds; therefore
chanting on beads is very important for everyone, even though one may become
a paramahariisa. This chanting can be executed anywhere, either inside or outside
the temple. Madhavendra Puri even sat down in a vacant marketplace to perform
his chanting. As stated by Srinivasa Acdrya in his prayers to the Gosvamis: nama-
gana-natibhih. A paramahamsa devotee is always engaged in chanting and ren-
dering loving service to the Lord. Chanting the Lord’s holy names and engaging in
His service are identical. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.23), there are nine
kinds of devotional service: hearing (sravanam), chanting (kirtanam), remember-
ing (visnoh smaranam), serving (pada-sevanam), worship of the Deity (arcanam),
praying (vandanam), carrying out orders (dasyam), serving Him as a friend
(sakhyam), and sacrificing everything for the Lord (atma-nivedanam). Although
each process appears distinct, when one is situated on the absolute platform he
can see that they are identical. For instance, hearing is as good as chanting, and
remembering is as good as chanting or hearing. Similarly, engaging in Deity wor-
ship is as good as chanting, hearing or remembering. The devotee is expected to
accept all nine processes of devotional service, but even if only one process is
properly executed, he can still attain the highest position (paramaharnsa) and go
back home, back to Godhead.

TEXT 126

fas Soy aia’ Aortn Shae ATA |
AACA SST CifH’ afer aoa ti sQwv I
