28 Teachings of Lord Chaitanya

The third offense is to consider the bona fide Spiritual Master as one of the
common men. The fourth offense is to blaspheme Vedic literature and the
corollaries of Vedic literature, the Puranas. The fifth offense is to consider the
Glories of the Holy Name as an exaggeration. The sixth offense is to imagine
a perverted meaning of the Holy Name. The seventh offense is to commit
sinful activities on the strength of chanting the Holy Name. It is understood
that by chanting the Holy Name one gets freed from sinful reactions, but that
does not mean that one should perversely act sinfully on the strength of his
chanting the Holy Name of the Lord. That is the greatest offense. The eighth
offense is to consider that religious ritualistic performances, austerity or
renunciation or the performance of sacrifices are on an equal level with chanting
the Holy Name. Chanting of the Holy Name is as good as the Supreme Person-
ality of Godhead, and other pious activities may be a means to approach the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, but when they are employed for some
material achievement they are called offensive. The ninth offense is that the
Glories of the Holy Name of God may not be preached to a faithless person,
and to speak about the Glories of the Holy Name unto such persons is also
another offense. The tenth and last offense is to maintain material attachment
even after hearing and chanting the Holy Name of God. The idea is that by
chanting the Holy Name without any offense, one may be elevated to the
liberated condition. And the liberated condition means that one gets freedom
from all kinds of material attachment: so if it is found that a chanter of the
Holy Name still has material attachment, then that is called an offense.

When the plant of devotional service is growing, there is still another
chance of disturbance. Along with the growth of the plant of devotional
service there are other plants also growing. They are material desires. When
one is advanced in devotional service, it is natural that many persons will come
to the devotee for becoming his disciples, and will offer him some material
gains. So if a person becomes attracted by the increased number of disciples
and the material conveniences offered by the disciples, and forgets his duty as
a bona fide Spiritual Master, that is another disturbance in the growth of the
plant of devotional service. It may be that, by taking advantage of material
convenience, one becomes addicted to enjoy the material comforts of life.

Another disadvantage is to desire liberation. Another disadvantage is to be
neglectful of the restrictions or prohibitions. The prohibitions are mentioned
in the authorized Scriptures: one should not indulge in the association of
woman ot illicit sex life, one should not indulge in intoxication, one should
not eat anything other than Krishna prasadam (food offered to Krishna), and
