Text 353] The Lord Instructs Sanatana Gosvami 199

SYNONYMS

prabhu kahe—Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said; anya-avatéra—the incarna-
tions in other yugas; sastra-dvdre jani—one has to accept by reference to the
sastras; kalite—in this age of Kali; avatéra—incarnation; taiche—similarly; sastra-
vakye mani—one has to accept according to the description of revealed scrip-
tures.

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, ‘As in other ages an incarnation is ac-
cepted according to the directions of the sastras, in this age of Kali an incarna-
tion of God should be accepted in that way.

PURPORT

According to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, this is the way an incarnation should be
accepted. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura says, sddhu-sastra-guru-vakya, cittete
kariya aikya. One should accept a thing as genuine by studying the words of
saintly people, the spiritual master and sdstra. The actual center is sdstra, the
revealed scripture. If a spiritual master does not speak according to revealed scrip-
ture, he is not to be accepted. Similarly, if a saintly person does not speak ac-
cording to the sastra, he is not a saintly person. Sdstra is the center for all. Unfor-
tunately, at the present moment, people do not refer to the sdstras; therefore
they accept rascals as incarnations, and consequently they have made incarna-
tions into a very cheap thing. Intelligent people who follow Sri Caitanya
Mahdaprabhu’s instructions and the instructions of the dcdrya, the bona fide
spiritual master, will not accept a pretender as an incarnation of God. In Kali-yuga,
the only incarnation is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Imitation incarnations take ad-
vantage of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lord appeared within the past five
hundred years, played as the son of a brahmana from Nadia and introduced the
sankirtana movement. Imitating Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and ignoring the sastra,
rascals present themselves as incarnations and introduce their rascaldom as a
religious process. As we have repeatedly said, religion can be given only by the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. From the discussions in Caitanya-caritamrta, we
can understand that in different ages the Supreme Lord introduces different
systems and different religious duties. In this age of Kali, the only incarnation of
Krsna is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and He introduced the religious duty of Kali-
yuga, the chanting of the Hare Krsna mahd-mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna
Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

TEXT 353

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