Chant Hare Krishna Blog

Jai Srila Prabhupada!

 

It is the general practice of all saintly people to deliver the fallen. Therefore they go to people’s houses, although they have no personal business there. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta 8.39 Madhya-lila 8.39)
For full text and purport
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta 1975 Edition
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Madhya-lila 8.39
Talks Between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Ramananda Raya
mahānta-svabhāva ei tārite pāmara
nija kārya nāhi tabu yāna tāra ghara
mahānta-svabhāva—the nature of saintly persons; ei—this; tārite—to deliver; pāmara—fallen souls; nija—own; kārya—business; nāhi—there is not; tabu—still; yāna—goes; tāra—his; ghara—house.
“It is the general practice of all saintly people to deliver the fallen. Therefore they go to people’s houses, although they have no personal business there.
PURPORT
A sannyāsī is supposed to beg from door to door. He does not beg simply because he is hungry. His real purpose is to enlighten the occupant of every house by preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A sannyāsī does not abandon his superior position and become a beggar just for the sake of begging. Similarly, a person in householder life may be very important, but he may also voluntarily take to the mendicant way of life. Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī were ministers, but they voluntarily accepted the mendicant’s life in order to humbly preach Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s message. It is said about them: tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. Although the Gosvāmīs were very aristocratic, they became mendicants just to deliver the fallen souls according to the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One should also consider that those who engage in the missionary activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness are under the guidance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They are not actually beggars; their real business is to deliver fallen souls. Therefore they may go from door to door just to introduce a book about Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that people can become enlightened by reading. Formerly brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs used to beg from door to door. At the present moment, especially in the Western countries, a person may be handed over to the police if he begs from door to door. In Western countries, begging is considered criminal. Members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement have no business begging. Instead, they work very hard to introduce some books about Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that people can read them and be benefited. But if one gives some contribution to a Kṛṣṇa conscious man, he never refuses it.