TEXT 23
visese kayastha-buddhye antare kare dara
mukhe tarje garje, marite sabhaya antara
SYNONYMS
visesespecifically; kayastha-buddhyeconsidering a kayastha; antarewithin his heart; kare darais afraid; mukhewith his mouth; tarje garjethreatens; mariteto beat; sa-bhayaafraid; antaraat heart.
TRANSLATION
Indeed, the caudhuri was afraid of Raghunatha dasa because Raghunatha dasa belong to the kayastha community. Although the caudhuri would chastise him with oral vibrations, he was afraid to beat him.
PURPORT
Raghunatha dasa belonged to a very aristocratic family of the kayastha community. He had substantial influence with the local people, and therefore the caudhuri, or minister, was afraid to beat him. Superficially he would chastise Raghunatha dasa with threatening vibrations, but he did not beat him. The members of the kayastha community in India are generally very intelligent and expert in business management. Formerly they were mostly government officers. They were mentioned even by Yajnavalkya, as quoted by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya:
cata-taskara-durvrttair
maha-sahasikadibhih
pidyamana praja rakset
kayasthais ca visestah
From this verse it appears that the governmental officials of the kayastha community would sometimes chastise the citizens, and thus it was the duty of the king to protect the people in general from the atrocities of the kayasthas. In Bengal the kayastha community is honored almost as much as the brahmana community, but in the up-country of India the kayasthas are considered sudras because they generally eat meat and drink wine. In any case, from history the kayasthas appear very intelligent. Thus the Mohammedan caudhuri was afraid of Raghunatha dasa because he belonged to the kayastha community.

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