Text 72
ahaṁ ca gāyaṁs tad-vidvān
strībhiḥ parivṛto gataḥ
jñātvā viśva-sṛjas tan me
helanaṁ śepur ojasā
yāhi tvaṁ śūdratām āśu
naṣṭa-śrīḥ kṛta-helanaḥ
aham — I myself; ca — and; gāyan — singing the glories of other demigods rather than those of the Lord; tat-vidvān — knowing very well the art of singing; strībhiḥ — by women; parivṛtaḥ — being surrounded; gataḥ — went there; jñātvā — knowing well; viśva-sṛjaḥ — the prajāpatis, to whom the management of universal affairs was entrusted; tat — the attitude of my singing; me — my; helanam — negligence; śepuḥ — cursed; ojasā — with great force; yāhi — become; tvam — you; śūdratām — a śūdra; āśu — immediately; naṣṭa — devoid of; śrīḥ — beauty; kṛta-helanaḥ — because of transgressing the etiquette.
Nārada Muni continued: Being invited to that festival, I also joined, and, surrounded by women, I began musically singing the glories of the demigods. Because of this, the prajāpatis, the great demigods in charge of the affairs of the universe, forcefully cursed me with these words: “Because you have committed an offense, may you immediately become a śūdra, devoid of beauty.”
As far as kīrtana is concerned, the śāstras say, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ: one should chant the glories of the Supreme Lord and the holy name of the Supreme Lord. This is clearly stated. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ: one should chant about and glorify Lord Viṣṇu, not any demigod. Unfortunately, there are foolish persons who invent some process of kīrtana on the basis of a demigod’s name. This is an offense. Kīrtana means glorifying the Supreme Lord, not any demigod. Sometimes people invent Kālī-kīrtana or Śiva-kīrtana, and even big sannyāsīs in the Māyāvāda school say that one may chant any name and still get the same result. But here we find that millions and millions of years ago, when Nārada Muni was a Gandharva, he neglected the order to glorify the Lord, and being mad in the association of women, he began to chant otherwise. Thus he was cursed to become a śūdra. His first offense was that he went to join the saṅkīrtana party in the company of lusty women, and another offense was that he considered ordinary songs, like cinema songs and other such songs, to be equal to saṅkīrtana. For this offense he was punished with becoming a śūdra.