Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya-lila Chapter 4 Verse 123

Madhya-līlā | Chapter 4: Śrī Mādhavendra Puri's Devotional Service

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 4.123

ayācita-vṛtti purī — virakta, udāsa

ayācita pāile khā'na, nahe upavāsa

SYNONYMS

ayācita-vṛtti — accustomed to avoid begging; purī — Mādhavendra Purī; virakta — unattached; udāsa — indifferent; ayācita — without begging; pāile — if getting; khā'na — he eats; nahe — if not; upavāsa — fasting.

TRANSLATION

Mādhavendra Purī avoided begging. He was completely unattached and indifferent to material things. If, without his begging, someone offered him some food, he would eat; otherwise he would fast.

PURPORT

This is the paramahaḿsa stage, the highest stage for a sannyāsī. A sannyāsī can beg from door to door just to collect food, but a paramahaḿsa who has taken ayācita-vṛtti, or ājagara-vṛtti, does not ask anyone for food. If someone offers him food voluntarily, he eats. Ayācita-vṛtti means being accustomed to refrain from begging, and ājagara-vṛtti indicates one who is compared to a python, the big snake that makes no effort to acquire food but rather allows food to come automatically within its mouth. In other words, a paramahaḿsa simply engages exclusively in the service of the Lord without caring even for eating or sleeping. It was stated about the six Gosvāmīs: nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. In the paramahaḿsa stage one conquers the desire for sleep, food and sense gratification. One remains a humble, meek mendicant engaged in the service of the Lord day and night. Mādhavendra Purī had attained this paramahaḿsa stage.

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