—json {

  "name":"Cc. Antya 3.201",
  "h1":"Cc. Antya 3.201",
  "label":"Text 201",
  "title":"Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 3.201",
  "description":"The priest named Balarāma Ācārya chastised Gopāla Cakravartī. \"You are a foolish logician,\" he said, \"What do you know about the devotional service of the Lord?"

} —

Cc. Antya 3.201

Text

balāi-purohita tāre karilā bhartsana
“ghaṭa-paṭiyā mūrkha tuñi bhakti kāṅhā jāna?

Synonyms

balāi-purohita—the priest named Balarāma Ācārya; tāre—unto Gopāla Cakravartī; karilā—did; bhartsana—chastisement; ghaṭa-paṭiyā—interested in the pot and the earth; mūrkha—fool; tuñi—you; bhakti—devotional service; kāṅhā—what; jāna—do know.

Translation

The priest named Balarāma Ācārya chastised Gopāla Cakravartī. “You are a foolish logician,” he said, “What do you know about the devotional service of the Lord?

Purport

The philosophy enunciated by the Māyāvādīs is called ghaṭa-paṭiyā philosophy. According to this philosophy, everything is one, everything is earth, and therefore anything made of earth, such as different pots, is also the same earth. Such philosophers see no distinction between a pot made of earth and the earth itself. Since Gopāla Cakravartī was a ghaṭa-paṭiyā logician, a gross materialist, what could he understand about the transcendental devotional service of the Lord?