Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-lila Chapter 16 Verse 32

Ādi-līlā | Chapter 16: The Pastimes of the Lord in His Childhood and Youth

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 16.32

vyākaraṇa-madhye, jāni, paḍāha kalāpa

śuniluń phāńkite tomāra śiṣyera saḿlāpa

SYNONYMS

vyākaraṇa-madhye — among grammars; jāni — I understand; paḍāha — You teach; kalāpa — the Kalāpa-vyākaraṇa; śuniluń — I have heard; phāńkite — in deceitful word jugglery; tomāra — Your; śiṣyera — of the disciples; saḿlāpa — the specific knowledge.

TRANSLATION

"I understand that You teach Kalāpa-vyākaraṇa. I have heard that Your students are very expert in the word jugglery of this grammar."

PURPORT

There are many schools of grammar in the Sanskrit language, the most famous of which are the systems of Pāṇini and the Kalāpa and Kaumudī grammars. There were different branches of grammatical knowledge, and a student of grammar was supposed to study them all in twelve years. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who was famous as Nimāi Paṇḍita, taught grammar to His students, who became expert in dealing with the word jugglery of complicated grammar. Almost anyone expert in studying grammar interprets the śāstras in many ways by changing the root meanings of their words. A student of grammar can sometimes completely change the meaning of a sentence by juggling grammatical rules. Keśava Kāśmīrī indirectly taunted Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu by implying that although He was a great teacher of grammar, such grammatical jugglery of root meanings did not require great expertise. This was a challenge to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Because it was prearranged that Keśava Kāśmīrī would have to discuss the śāstras with Nimāi Paṇḍita, from the very beginning he wanted to bluff the Lord. Thus the Lord replied as follows.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness