bhaá¹­á¹­era há¹›daye dá¹›á¸ha abhimÄna jÄni'
bhaá¹…gÄ« kari' mahÄprabhu kahe eta vÄṇī

 bhaá¹­á¹­era há¹›daye - in the heart of Vallabha Bhaá¹­á¹­a; dá¹›á¸ha - fixed; abhimÄna - pride; jÄni' - understanding; bhaá¹…gÄ« kari' - making a hint; mahÄprabhu - ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu; kahe - spoke; eta vÄṇī - these words.


Text

Knowing that Vallabha Bhaá¹­á¹­a’s heart was full of pride, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu spoke these words, hinting at how one can learn about devotional service.

Purport

Vallabha Bhaá¹­á¹­a was greatly proud of his knowledge in devotional service, and therefore he wanted to speak about Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu without understanding the Lord’s position. The Lord therefore hinted in many ways that if Vallabha Bhaá¹­á¹­a wanted to know what devotional service actually is, he would have to learn from all the devotees He mentioned, beginning with Advaita Ä€cÄrya, Lord NityÄnanda, SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya and RÄmÄnanda RÄya. As SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara has said, if one wants to learn the meaning of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, one must take lessons from a realized soul. One should not proudly think that one can understand the transcendental loving service of the Lord simply by reading books. One must become a servant of a Vaiṣṇava. As Narottama dÄsa ṬhÄkura has confirmed, chÄá¸iyÄ vaiṣṇava-sevÄ nistÄra peyeche kebÄ: one cannot be in a transcendental position unless one very faithfully serves a pure Vaiṣṇava. One must accept a Vaiṣṇava guru (Ädau gurv-ÄÅ›rayam), and then by questions and answers one should gradually learn what pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is. That is called the paramparÄ system.