CDV 2-1

"Who is a Real Vaisnava?"

(1)

dusta mana! tumi kiser vaisnava?
pratisthar tare, nirjaner ghare,
tava 'hari-nama' kevala 'kaitava'

[O wicked mind! What kind of Vaisnava do you think you are? Your pretentious show of chanting Lord Hari's holy name in a solitary place is only for the sake of attaining the false prestige of a worldly reputation-it is nothing but pure hypocrisy.]

(2)

jader pratistha, sukarer vistha,
jano na ki taha 'mayar vaibhava'
kanaka kamini, divasa-yamini,
bhaviya ki kaja, anitya se saba

[Such materialistic prestige is as disgusting as the stool of a hog. Do you not know that it is only a mere illusion cast by the potency of Maya? What is the value of contemplating day and night your plans for enjoying wealth and women? All these things are only temporary.]

(3)

tomar kanaka, bhoger janaka,
kanaker dvare sevaho 'madhava'
kaminir kama, nahe tava dhama,
tahar-malika kevala 'yadava'

[When you claim wealth as your own, it creates in you ever-increasing desires for material enjoyment. Your riches should be used for serving Madhava, the Lord of all wealth. Neither is it your proper place to indulge in lust for women, whose only true proprietor is Lord Yadava.]

(4)

pratisthasa-taru, jada-maya-maru,
na pela 'ravana' yujhiya 'raghava'
vaisnavi pratistha, tate koro nistha,
taha na bhajile labhibe raurava

[The demon Ravana (lust-incarnate) fought with Lord Ramachandra (love-incarnate) in order to gain the tree of worldly reputation-but that oasis turned out to be but a mirage cast in the desert wasteland of the Lord's illusory material potency. Please cultivate fixed determination to attain only the steady and solid platform whereupon a Vaisnava ever stands. If you neglect worshiping the Lord from this position, then you will ultimately attain a hellish existence.]

(5)

harijana-dvesa, pratisthasa-klesa,
koro keno tabe tahar gaurava
vaisnaver pache, pratisthasa ache,
ta'te kabhu nahe 'anitya-vaibhava'

[Why do you needlessly suffer the torment of blaspheming the devotees of Lord Hari, attempting to achieve their eminence, thereby only proving your own fruitless foolishness? The desire for spiritual eminence is easily fulfilled when one becomes a devotee of the Lord, for eternal fame automatically follows the heels of a Vaisnava. And that fame is never to be considered a temporary worldly opulence.]