agitated hindu/muslim strife
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Imported quote 19611 Krsna and His devotees are independent. They are not under the rules and regulations of this material world. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu set an example by staying at a place which was considered abominable by other sannyasis. Candrasekhara was a clerk. The clerical occupation was offered to the sūdras, the laborer class. Recently in Calcutta, at a European firm, there was a strike of the clerks. Their chief man met with the manager and asked, "Do you want to compromise with us?" But the manager said, "No, I don't want to compromise with you. I don't care about you because you are educated laborers." He gave that title to the clerks-educated laborers. Actually in Hindu society the clerks were called educated laborers-lekhak sūdras. But spiritually there is no such distinction. We should always remember that materially, in every society and every country, there are always higher and lower classes, but spiritually there is no such consideration. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's propaganda. He made Haridasa Thakur, a Mohammadan, the spiritual master for sahkirtana, and He picked up Sanatana Gosvami and Rūpa Gosvami, who were rejected by Hindu society, and made them gosvamis. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's distinctive feature. Here we see that He honored a laborer, a sūdra clerk who was inferior in society, by staying at his home. Ramananda Raya was also a sūdra, and he was a householder and a politician, a governor, but Caitanya Mahaprabhu took instruction from him. Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave him the preference of being His teacher. Ramananda Raya was hesitating: "Sir, You are a sannyasi in the highest stage of elevation, and in Your former life You belonged to the brahmana sect, so You belong to the highest class. And I am a sūdra, a householder and a politician. How low I am in comparison to You, yet You are taking instruction from me. So I am feeling hesitation." Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "No, don't feel hesitation. It doesn't matter whether a man is a laborer, a brahmana, a sannyasi, or a householder. Anyone who knows the science of Krsna is a spiritual master." Anyone-that is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's highest recommendation, especially for the Hindus who have so much caste consciousness. Caitanya Mahaprabhu broke all the barriers. His simple teaching was that anyone who is Krsna conscious is the greatest personality in the world. He did not care what people would say because He was staying at a sūdra's house. He stayed with a sūdra and took meals with another brahmana who was not sannyasi, and in this way He resided in Benares.
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