Madhya 10.116

TEXT 116

TEXT

সঙ্গীতে - গন্ধর্ব-সম, শাস্ত্রে বৃহস্পতি ।
দামোদর-সম আর নাহি মহামতি ॥ ১১৬ ॥

saṅgite-gandharva-sama, sastre brhaspati

damodara-sama ara nahi maha-mati

SYNONYMS

saṅgite-in music; gandharva-sama-just like the Gandharvas; sastre-in discussions of revealed scriptures; brhaspati-like Brhaspati, the priest of the heavenly demigods; damodara-sama-equal to Svarupa Damodara; ara-anyone else; nahi-there is not; maha-mati-great personality.

TRANSLATION

Svarupa Damodara was as expert a musician as the Gandharvas, and in scriptural discussion he was just like Brhaspati, the priest of the heavenly gods. Therefore it is to be concluded that there was no great personality quite like Svarupa Damodara.

PURPORT

Svarupa Damodara Gosvami was very expert in music as well as Vedic scriptures. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to call him Damodara because of his expert singing and musical skills. The name Damodara was given by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and added to the name given by his sannyasa-guru. He was therefore known as Svarupa Damodara, or Damodara Svarupa. He compiled a book of music named Saṅgita-damodara.