30 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 7

vacane—on the request; tdéfre—him; avasya—certainly; milibe—You should
meet.

TRANSLATION

“Please do not neglect him, thinking he belongs to a Sidra family engaged
in material activities. It is my request that You meet him without fail.’

PURPORT

In the varnasrama-dharma, the sddra is the fourth division in the social status.
Paricaryatmakarh karma sddrasyapi svabhava-jam (Bg. 18.44). Sdidras are meant to
engage in the service of the three higher classes—brdhmanas, ksatriyas and
vaisyas. Sri Rimananda Raya belonged to the karana class, which is the equivalent
of the kdyastha class in Bengal. This class is regarded all over India as stidra. It is
said that the Bengali kayasthas were originally engaged as servants of brahmanas
who came from North India to Bengal. Later, the clerical class became the
kayasthas in Bengal. Now there are many mixed classes known as kayastha. Some-
times it is said in Bengal that those who cannot claim any particular class belong to
the kdyastha class. Although these kdyasthas or karanas are considered stidras,
they are very intelligent and highly educated. Most of them are professionals such
as lawyers or politicians. Thus in Bengal the kdyasthas are sometimes considered
ksatriyas. In Orissa, however, the kdyastha class, which includes the karanas, is
considered in the sadra category. Srila Ramananda Raya belonged to this karana
class; therefore he was considered a stidra. He was also the governor of South
India under the regime of Maharaja Prataparudra of Orissa. In other words, Sar-
vabhauma Bhattacarya informed Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu that Ramananda
Raya, although belonging to the sddra class, was a highly responsible government
officer. As far as spiritual advancement is concerned, materialists, politicians and
stdras are generally disqualified. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya therefore requested
that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu not neglect Ramananda Raya, who was highly ad-
vanced spiritually although he was born a sidra and a materialist.

A visayi is one who is attached to family life and is interested only in wife,
children and worldly sense gratification. The senses can be engaged either in
worldly enjoyment or in the service of the Lord. Those who are not engaged in
the service of the Lord and are interested only in material sense gratification are
called visayi. Srila Ramananda Raya was engaged in government service, and he
belonged to the karana class. He was certainly not a sannydsi in saffron cloth, yet
he was in the transcendental position of a paramahamsa householder. Before be-
coming Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s disciple, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya considered
Ramananda Raya an ordinary visayi because he was a householder engaged in
government service. However, when the Bhattacarya was actually enlightened in
Vaisnava philosophy, he could understand the exalted transcendental position of
Sri Ramananda Raya; therefore he referred to him as adhikari. An adhikdri is one
