svarÅ«pa kahe, — ei balabhadra-bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya
tomÄte su-snigdha baá¸a, paṇá¸ita, sÄdhu, Ärya

 svarÅ«pa kahe - SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara GosvÄmÄ« said; ei - this; balabhadra-bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya - Balabhadra Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya; tomÄte - unto You; su-snigdha - affectionate; baá¸a - very; paṇá¸ita - educated; sÄdhu - honest; Ärya - advanced in spiritual consciousness.


Text

SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara then said, “Here is Balabhadra Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, who has great love for You. He is an honest, learned scholar, and he is advanced in spiritual consciousness.

Purport

ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu wanted a new man, not a person like KÄlÄ KṛṣṇadÄsa who would fall for women. SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara therefore immediately pointed out a new brÄhmaṇa named Balabhadra Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya. ÅšrÄ« SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara GosvÄmÄ« had studied this person very thoroughly and had seen that he had great love for ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. Not only did he love the Lord, but he was also learned and honest. He was not duplicitous, and he was advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. According to a Bengali proverb, ati bhakti corera laká¹£aṇa: “Too much devotion is a symptom of a thief.†A person who assumes himself to be a great devotee but mentally is thinking of something else is duplicitous. One who is not duplicitous is called sÄdhu. SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara immediately pointed out that Balabhadra Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya was quite fit to accompany the Lord because he was a learned scholar and was simple and had great love for ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa Caitanya MahÄprabhu. He was also advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; therefore he was considered appropriate for accompanying the Lord as a personal servant.

The words snigdha (“very peacefulâ€) and su-snigdha (“affectionateâ€) are used in verses fourteen and fifteen respectively, and they are also found in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.1.8): brÅ«yuḥ snigdhasya Å›iá¹£yasya guravo guhyam apy uta. “A disciple who has actual love for his spiritual master is endowed, by the blessings of the spiritual master, with all confidential knowledge.†ŚrÄ«la ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« has commented that the word snigdhasya means prema-vataḥ. The word prema-vataḥ indicates that one has great love for his spiritual master.