Å›rÄ«-rÅ«pa kahena, — "Ämi kichui nÄ jÄni
yei mahÄprabhu kahÄna, sei kahi vÄṇī"
Å›rÄ«-rÅ«pa kahena - ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« replies; Ämi - I; kichui - anything; nÄ jÄni - do not know; yei - whatever; mahÄprabhu kahÄna - ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu makes me say or write; sei - that; kahi - I speak; vÄṇī - transcendental words.
ÅšrÄ« RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« said, “I do not know anything. The only transcendental words I can utter are those which ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu makes me speak.
The poet or writer dealing with transcendental subject matters is not an ordinary writer or translator. Because he is empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whatever he writes becomes very effective. The principle of being empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead is essential. A materialistic poet who describes in his poetry the material activities of men and women cannot describe the transcendental pastimes of the Lord or the transcendental conclusions of devotional service. ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« has therefore warned all neophyte devotees that one should not hear from the mouth of a non-Vaiṣṇava:
avaiṣṇava-mukhodgÄ«rṇaá¹ pÅ«taá¹ hari-kathÄmá¹›tam
Å›ravaṇaá¹ naiva kartavyaá¹ sarpocchiá¹£á¹aá¹ yathÄ payaḥ
(Padma PurÄṇa)
“One should not hear anything about Kṛṣṇa from a non-Vaiṣṇava. Milk touched by the lips of a serpent has poisonous effects; similarly, talks about Kṛṣṇa given by a non-Vaiṣṇava are also poisonous.â€
Unless one is a fully unalloyed devotee of the Lord, one should not try to describe the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in poetry, for it will be only mundane. There are many descriptions of Kṛṣṇa’s Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ written by persons whose consciousness is mundane and who are not qualified by pure devotion. Although they attempted to write transcendental literature, they could not fully engage even a single devotee in Kṛṣṇa’s service. Such literature is mundane, and therefore, as warned by ÅšrÄ« SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ«, one should not touch it.
