"Å›uniyÄchi gauá¸a-deÅ›era sannyÄsÄ« — 'bhÄvuka'
keÅ›ava-bhÄratÄ«-Å›iá¹£ya, loka-pratÄraka

 Å›uniyÄchi - I have heard; gauá¸a-deÅ›era sannyÄsÄ« - the sannyÄsÄ« from Bengal; bhÄvuka - sentimental; keÅ›ava-bhÄratÄ«-Å›iá¹£ya - disciple of KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ«; loka-pratÄraka - a first-class pretender.


Text

PrakÄÅ›Änanda SarasvatÄ« said, “Yes, I have heard about Him. He is a sannyÄsÄ« from Bengal, and He is very sentimental. I have also heard that He belongs to the BhÄratÄ«-sampradÄya, for He is a disciple of KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ«. However, He is only a pretender.â€

Purport

ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was considered bhÄvuka (sentimental) because He was always seen in the bhÄva stage. That is, He always exhibited ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. However, foolish people considered Him sentimental. In the material world, so-called devotees sometimes exhibit emotional symptoms. Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s ecstatic love cannot be compared to the imitative emotional exhibitions of pretenders. Such exhibitions do not continue for very long. They are temporary. We actually see that some emotional imitators exhibit certain symptoms, but immediately after their exhibition, they are attracted to smoking and other things. In the beginning, when PrakÄÅ›Änanda SarasvatÄ« heard of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s activities, he considered them to be those of a pretender. Consequently he called Him a loka-pratÄraka, a pretender. MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s cannot understand the transcendental symptoms exhibited by a devotee; therefore when such symptoms are manifest, the MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s equate them with temporary emotional feelings. However, PrakÄÅ›Änanda Sarasvatī’s statement is offensive, and consequently he should be considered an atheist (pÄá¹£aṇá¸Ä«). According to ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«, since PrakÄÅ›Änanda SarasvatÄ« was not engaged in the Lord’s devotional service, his sannyÄsa is to be considered phalgu-vairÄgya. This means that since he did not know how to use things for the Lord’s service, his renunciation of the world was artificial.