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CC Madhya 2.93

Bengali

ছোট বড় ভক্তগণ,     বন্দোঁ সবার শ্রীচরণ,
সবে মোরে করহ সন্তোষ ।
স্বরূপ-গোসাঞির মত,     রূপ-রঘুনাথ জানে যত,
তাই লিখি’ নাহি মোর দোষ ॥ ৯৩ ॥

Text

choṭa baḍa bhakta-gaṇa,vandoṅ sabāra śrī-caraṇa,
sabe more karaha santoṣa
svarūpa-gosāñira mata,
rūpa-raghunātha jāne yata,
tāi likhi’ nāhi mora doṣa

Synonyms

choṭa — small; baḍa — great; bhakta-gaṇa — devotees; vandoṅ — I worship; sabāra — all of them; śrī-caraṇa — the lotus feet; sabe — all of you; more — unto me; karaha — please do; santoṣa — satisfaction; svarūpa-gosāñira mata — the view of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī; rūpa-raghunātha — Rūpa and Raghunātha; jāne — know; yata — all; tāi — that; likhi’ — writing; nāhi — there is not; mora — my; doṣa — fault.

Translation

I worship herewith the lotus feet of all kinds of devotees, both advanced and neophyte. I request all of them to be satisfied with me. I am faultless because I have written herein whatever I have understood from Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Rūpa and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmīs. I have neither added to nor subtracted from their version.

Purport

According to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, there are three kinds of devotees, known as bhajana-vijña (experts in devotional service), bhajana-śīla (devotees engaged in devotional service) and kṛṣṇa-nāme dīkṣita kṛṣṇa-nāma-kārī (initiated devotees engaged in chanting). The author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta begs the mercy of all these devotees and asks them to be pleased with him. He says, “Let the neophyte devotees — the devotees who are very expert in arguing though they have no sense of advanced devotional service, who think themselves very advanced because they imitate some smārta-brāhmaṇa — let such devotees not be displeased with me, thinking that I have committed errors in this regard. I beg their pardon with great humility, but I am submitting that I personally have no desire to add or subtract anything. I have only written what I have heard in the disciplic succession because I am dedicated to the lotus feet of previous ācāryas like Svarūpa Dāmodara, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī. I have only written what I have learned from them.”