Text 263] The Liberation of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya 347

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu immediately pointed out: “In that verse the word
is ‘mukti-pade,’ but you have changed it to ‘bhakti-pade.’ What is your inten-
tion?”

TEXT 263

Shore a3, ofar-ng acy gfe-weT |
StSUofaqcdy BFS CFT | ve Il

bhattacarya kahe, — ‘bhakti’-sama nahe mukti-phala
bhagavad-bhakti-vimukhera haya danda kevala

SYNONYMS

bhattacdrya—Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya; kahe—said; bhakti—devotional ser-
vice; sama—equal to; nahe—not; mukti—of liberation; phala—the result;
bhagavat-bhakti—to the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of God-
head; vimukhera—of one who is averse to; haya—it is; danda—the punishment;
kevala—only.

TRANSLATION

Sarvabhauma Bhattacadrya replied: “The awakening of pure love of God-
head, which is the result of devotional service, far surpasses liberation from
material bondage. For those averse to devotional service, merging into the
Brahman effulgence is a kind of punishment.’

PURPORT
In the Brahmanda Purana it is said:

siddha-lokas tu tamasah
pare yatra vasanti hi

siddha brahma-sukhe magna
daityas ca harina hatah

“tn Siddhaloka [Brahmaloka] there live two kinds of living entities —those who are
killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead due to their having been demons in
their previous lives and those who are very fond of enjoying the impersonal
effulgence of the Lord.” The word tamasah means “the coverings of the universe.”
Layers of material elements cover the universe, and outside these coverings is the
impersonal Brahman effulgence. If one is destined to remain in the Lord’s imper-
sonal effulgence, he misses the opportunity to render service to the Personality of
