Guest guest Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 Haridasa Thakura to Advaita: "My dear sir, Your behavior is uncommon. Indeed, sometimes I am afraid to speak to You. But please favor me by protecting me from the behavior of society." Advaita: "My dear Haridasa, do not be afraid. I shall behave strictly according to the principles of the revealed scriptures. Feeding you is equal to feeding ten million brahmanas. Therefore, accept this sraddha-patra." Thus Advaita made him eat. >From purport: "The sraddha-patra, or plate offered to the forefathers, is then offered to the best of the brahmanas in society. Instead of offering the sraddha-patra to any other brahmana, Adavaita Acarya offered it to Haridasa Thakura, considering him greater than any of the foremost brahmanas. Referring to the Bhakti-sandarbha, verse 177, Srila Bhatisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura quotes the following statements from the Garuda Purana in this connection: (See CC Antya 3, text 222 for Sanskrit) "A brahmana qualified to offer sacrifices is better than an ordinary brahmana, and better than such a brahmana is one who has studied all the Vedic scriptures. Among many such brahamanas, one who is a devotee of Lord Visnu is the best; and among many such Vaisnavas, one who is fully engaged in the service of the Lord is the best. There are many different kinds of devotees, but even a Vaisnava coming from a family of mlecchas or yavanas is understood to be a learned scholar, complete in knowledge, if he knows the Vaisnava philosophy. He should therefore be given charity, for such a Vaisnava is as worshipable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead." (CC Antya 3.220--222) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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