nÄme stuti-vÄda Å›uni' prabhura haila duḥkha
sabÄre niá¹£edhila, — ihÄra nÄ dekhiha mukha

 nÄme - in the holy name of the Lord; stuti-vÄda - exaggeration; Å›uni' - hearing; prabhura - of the Lord; haila - became; duḥkha - aggrieved; sabÄre - unto everyone; niá¹£edhila - warned; ihÄra - of him;  - do not; dekhiha - see; mukha - face.


Text

When a student interpreted the glories of the holy name as a prayer of exaggeration, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, greatly unhappy, immediately warned everyone not to see the student’s face henceforward.

Purport

Once when ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu explained the glories of the transcendental potency of the Lord’s holy name, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra, one unfortunate student said that such glorification of the holy name was an exaggeration in the Å›Ästras to induce people to take to it. In this way the student interpreted the glories of the holy name. This is called artha-vÄda, and it is one of the ten offenses at the lotus feet of the holy name of the Lord. There are many kinds of offenses, but the offense known as nÄma-aparÄdha, an offense at the lotus feet of the holy name, is extremely dangerous. The Lord therefore warned everyone not to see the face of the offender. The Lord immediately took a bath in the Ganges with all His clothes on to teach everyone to avoid such a nÄma-aparÄdha. The holy name is identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no difference between the person God and His holy name. This is the absolute position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore one who distinguishes between the Lord and His name is called a pÄá¹£aṇá¸Ä«, or nonbeliever, an atheistic demon. Glorification of the holy name is glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should never attempt to distinguish between the Lord and His name or interpret the glories of the holy name as mere exaggerations.