Verse 2.23.97

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.23.97:

কোন পাপী বলে,—“হের-দেখ ভাই সব! খোলা-বেচা মিন্সা ও হৈল বৈষ্ণব! ॥ ৯৭ ॥

कोन पापी बले,—“हेर-देख भाइ सब! खोला-वेचा मिन्सा ओ हैल वैष्णव! ॥ ९७ ॥

kona pāpī bale,—“hera-dekha bhāi saba! kholā-vecā minsā o haila vaiṣṇava! || 97 ||

kona papi bale,—“hera-dekha bhai saba! khola-veca minsa o haila vaisnava! (97)

English translation:

(97) One of those sinners said, “O brothers, just look at him! Even that Kholāvecā fellow has become a Vaiṣṇava!

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The word minsāor minse refers to a man. It is a corruption of the word manuṣya and is used in villages to insult someone. Businessmen and small merchants are situated in the lower rungs of society. The Vaiṣṇavas are the topmost. Everyone from the topmost platform to the lowest is eligible to attain devotional service to Viṣṇu, but persons from higher rungs or those who are educated do not allow persons from the lower rungs or those who are uneducated to become Vaiṣṇavas. Sage Atri said:

vedair vihīnāś ca paṭhanti śāstraṃ

śāstreṇa hīnāś ca purāṇa-pāṭhāḥ

purāṇa-hīnāḥ kṛṣiṇo bhavanti bhraṣṭās tato bhāgavatā bhavanti

“Those who are unable to understand the Vedas go on to study the dharma-śāstras. Failing to understand the dharma-śāstras, they turn to the Purāṇas. Unable to grasp the real purport of the Purāṇas, they become farmers. Those who can not do anything else become professional Bhāgavatam reciters, although they have no real understanding of the Bhāgavatam.” It is also said [a Bengali proverb]: yata chila nāḍābune, sabāi ha’lo kīrtane, kāste bheṅge, gaḍā’ya karatāla—“When farmers are unable to grow anything, they take to kīrtana. They then break their sickles and make karatālas.” In every age so-called educated people often put obstacles in the path of low-class people’s endeavors to achieve the platform and respect of a Vaiṣṇava, but the śāstras state: śāstrataḥśruyate bhaktau nṛ- mātrasyādhikāritā—“Every man has the birthright to accept devotional service and become Kṛṣṇa conscious. This is proved with evidence from many scriptures.” Elsewhere in the śāstras it is stated:

antyajā api tad rāṣṭre śaṅkha-cakrāṅka-dhāriṇaḥ vaiṣṇavī-dīkṣāṃ saṃprāpya dīkṣitā iva saṃbabhuḥ

“In that kingdom even the outcastes decorate their bodies with the marks of the conchshell and disc. They accept Vaiṣṇava initiation and adopt the behavior of Vaiṣṇavas.”