Text 200] Talks Between the Lord and Ramananda Raya 213
PURPORT
Srila Sanatana Gosvami has advised us to hear about Krsna from a Vaisnava. He
has explicitly forbidden us to hear from an avaisnava.
avaisnava-mukhodgirnam
putarh hari-kathamrtam
sravanamn naiva kartavyarn
sarpocchistam yatha payah
Thus quoting from Padma Purana, Srila Sanatana Gosvami warns that one should
not hear anything about Krsna from an avaisnava, however great a mundane
scholar he may be. Milk touched by the lips of a serpent has poisonous effects;
similarly, talks about Krsna given by an avaisnava are also poisonous. However, be-
cause a Vaisnava is surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his talks
are spiritually potent. In Bhagavad-gita the Supreme Lord says,
tesdm satata-yuktanam
bhajatamm priti-parvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, | give the
understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Bg. 10.10) When a pure
Vaisnava speaks, he speaks perfectly. How is this? His speech is managed by Krsna
Himself from within the heart. Srila Ram&nanda Raya accepts this benediction
from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; therefore he admits that whatever he was speak-
ing was not derived from his own intelligence. Rather, everything was coming
from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. According to Bhagavad-gita:
sarvasya Caham hrdi sannivisto
mattah smrtir jidnam apohanam ca
vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham
“lam seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge
and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas | am to be known; indeed | am the compiler of
Vedanta, and | am the knower of the Vedas.” (Bg. 15.15)

All intelligence emanates from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Super-
soul within the heart of everyone. Nondevotees want to ask the Supreme Lord for
sense gratification; therefore nondevotees come under the influence of maya, the
illusory energy. A devotee, however, is directed by the Supreme Personality of
