Volume 3 - Prabhupada Books

104 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 8
One may be a man, an animal or even a tree, but the Lord is kind to everyone.
That is God's qualification. He also says in Bhagavad-gita (9.29), samo 'ham sarva­
bhate?u: the Lord is equally kind to everyone. And He advises sarva-dharman
parityajya mam ekarh saraf)arh vraja. This instruction is meant not only for Arjuna
but for all living entities. Whoever takes advantage of this offer is immediately im­
mune to all sinful activity and returns home, back to Godhead. While present on
this planet, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu made the same offer.
TEXT 44
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prabhu kahe,- tumi maha-bhagavatottama
tamara darsane sabara drava haifa mana
SYNONYMS
prabhu kahe-the Lord replied; tumi-you; maha-bhagavata-uttama-the best
of the topmost devotees; tamara darsane-by seeing you; sabara-of everyone;
drava-melted; haifa-became; mana-the heart.
TRANSLATION
The Lord replied to Ramananda Raya: "Sir, you are the best of the topmost
devotees; therefore upon seeing you everyone's heart has melted.
PURPORT
Unless one is a first-class devotee, he cannot be a preacher. A preacher is
generally a topmost devotee, but in order to meet the general populace, he has to
come to distinguish between devotees and nondevotees. Otherwise, an ad­
vanced devotee makes no such distinctions. Indeed, he always sees everyone
engaged in the service of the Lord. When one engages in preaching work, he must
distinguish between people and understand that some people are not engaged in
the devotional service of the Lord. The preacher then has to take compassion
upon such innocent people who do not know how to worship the Lord. In
Srimad -Bhagavatam (11.2.45), the symptoms of a topmost devotee are described
as follows:
sarva-bhiite?U yah pasyed
bhagavad-bhavam atmana/:1
bhatani bhagavaty atmany
e?a bhagavatottama/:1