Text 206] The Residents of Varanasi Become Vaisnavas 411
PURPORT
In those days there was no banking system like the one now found in Western
countries. If one had excess money, he would deposit it with some merchant,
usually a grocer. That was the banking system. Subuddhi Raya would deposit his
extra money with a mercantile man and spend it when necessary. When one is in
the renounced order, saving money is not recommended. However, if one saves
money for the service of the Lord or a Vaisnava, that is accepted. These are the
dealings of Subuddhi Raya, who is one of the confidential devotees of Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Ripa Gosvami also followed this principle by
spending fifty percent of his money in order to serve Krsna through brahmanas
and Vaisnavas. He gave twenty-five percent of his money to relatives, and
twenty-five percent he deposited in the custody of a merchant. These are the ap-
proved methods recommended in Caitanya-caritamrta. Whether in the
renounced order or in the grhastha order, a Vaisnava should follow these
principles set forth by the previous acaryas.
TEXT 206
eat Caw cafe Sica sala Cote |
AGIA MAA afe, Sts, CEMA Now |
duhkhi vaisnava dekhi’ tanre karana bhojana
gaudiya dile dadhi, bhata, taila-mardana
SYNONYMS
duhkhi vaisnava—a poverty-stricken Vaisnava; dekhi’—seeing; tanre—to him;
karana bhojana—gives food for eating; gaudiya aile—when a Bengali Vaisnava
came to Mathura; dadhi—yogurt; bhata—cooked rice; taila-mardana—
massaging mustard oil on the body.
TRANSLATION
Subuddhi Raya used to spend his savings to supply yogurt to Bengali
Vaisnavas who came to Mathura. He also gave them cooked rice and oil
massages. When he saw a poverty-stricken Vaisnava, he would use his money
to feed him.
PURPORT
There is a special reference for the maintenance of Bengali Vaisnavas. A
Gaudiya Vaisnava is a Bengali Vaisnava. Most of the devotees of Lord Caitanya at
that time were Gaudiyas and Oriyas, inhabitants of Bengal and Orissa. There are
still many hundreds and thousands of disciples in Bengal and Orissa. Bengalis are
habituated to eating cooked rice as their staple food. When they went to
