Text 58] The Beda-kirtana Pastimes 241

TEXT 58

aay Ta, SiH cSlalaA CAA-Gel |
AG-Arct Shares aga fia’ caer Ta |i ev i

ramananda raya, aji tomara prema-guna
prabhu-dge kahite prabhura phiri’ gela mana

SYNONYMS
ramananda raya—Ramananda Raya; aji—today; tomara—your; prema-guna—
quality of love; prabhu-age—in front of the Lord; kahite—when he described;
prabhura—of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; phiri’ gela—became changed;
mana—the mind.

TRANSLATION

“The Lord has already changed His mind due to Ramananda Raya’s descrip-
tion of your pure love for Him.”

PURPORT

At first the Lord did not want to see the King, but due to Bhattacarya’s and
Ramananda Raya’'s earnest endeavors, the Lord’s mind was changed. The Lord
already declared that Krsna would be merciful upon the King due to the King's ser-
vice to the devotees. This is the process by which one can advance in Krsna con-
sciousness. First there must be the devotee’s mercy; then Krsna’s mercy will de-
scend. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado/ yas yaprasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi. Our
first duty, therefore, is to satisfy the spiritual master, who can arrange for the
Lord's mercy. A common man must first begin to serve the spiritual master or the
devotee. Then, through the mercy of the devotee, the Lord will be satisfied. Un-
less one receives the dust of a devotee’s lotus feet on one’s head, there is no
possibility of advancement. This is also confirmed by a statement of Prahlada
Maharaja in Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.32):

naisam matis tavad urukramarighrim

sprsaty anarthapagamo yad-arthah
mahiyasam pada-rajo ‘bhisekam
niskificananam na vrnita yavat

Unless one approaches a pure devotee, he cannot understand the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead. Maharaja Prataparudra worshiped both Ramdananda Raya
and Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. Thus he touched the lotus feet of pure devotees
and was able thereby to approach Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
