Text 53
ye ye pūrve nindā kaila, bali’ mātoyāla
seho phala khāya, nāce, bale — bhāla bhāla
ye ye — persons who; pūrve — before; nindā — blasphemy; kaila — made; bali’ — saying; mātoyāla — drunkard; seho — such persons; phala — fruit; khāya — takes; nāce — dance; bale — say; bhāla bhāla — very good, very good.
Persons who had formerly criticized Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, calling Him a drunkard, also ate the fruit and began to dance, saying, “Very good! Very good!”
When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu started the saṅkīrtana movement, even He was unnecessarily criticized by Māyāvādīs, atheists and fools. Naturally we are also criticized by such men. They will always remain and will always criticize anything that is actually good for human society. But the preachers of the saṅkīrtana movement should not be deterred by such criticism. Our method should be to convert such fools gradually by asking them to come and take prasādam and chant and dance with us. This should be our policy. Anyone who comes to join us, of course, must be sincere and serious regarding spiritual advancement in life; then such a person, simply by joining us, chanting with us, dancing with us and taking prasādam with us, will gradually also come to say that this movement is very good. But one who joins with an ulterior purpose, to get material benefit or personal gratification, will never be able to grasp the philosophy of this movement.