Learned scholar (CC)

Expressions researched:
"learned scholar" |"learned scholar's" |"learned scholars"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 3.58, Translation:

"By performing the sacrifice of congregational chanting of the holy name, learned scholars in the Age of Kali worship Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is now nonblackish because of the great upsurge of the feelings of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. He is the only worshipable Deity for the paramahaṁsas, who have attained the highest stage of the fourth order (sannyāsa). May that Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Caitanya, show us His great causeless mercy."

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

The scriptures known as the Pañcarātra-śāstras are recognized Vedic scriptures that have been accepted by the great ācāryas. These scriptures are not products of the modes of passion and ignorance. Learned scholars and brāhmaṇas therefore always refer to them as sātvata-saṁhitās.

CC Adi 6.14-15, Purport:

It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that even those who are advocates of knowledge alone, without any religious ritualistic processes, advance in knowledge after many, many lifetimes of speculation and thus come to the conclusion that Vāsudeva is the supreme cause of everything that be. As a result of this achievement of the goal of life, such an advanced learned scholar or philosopher surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

CC Adi 6.49-50, Translation:

Śrīvāsa, Haridāsa, Rāmadāsa, Gadādhara, Murāri, Mukunda, Candraśekhara and Vakreśvara are all glorious and are all learned scholars, but the sentiment of servitude to Lord Caitanya makes them mad in ecstasy.

CC Adi 7.18-19, Purport:

Out of many thousands of karmīs, one is better when he is situated in perfect Vedic knowledge. Out of many such learned scholars and philosophers, one who is actually liberated from material bondage is better, and out of many such persons who are actually liberated, one who is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is considered to be the best. Among the many such transcendental lovers of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the gopīs are the best, and among the gopīs Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the best.

CC Adi 7.27, Purport:

Instead of being envious that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is spreading all over the world by the grace of Lord Caitanya, those who are jealous should be happy, as indicated here by the words parama ullāsa. But because they are kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs or prākṛta-bhaktas (materialistic devotees who are not advanced in spiritual knowledge), they are envious instead of happy, and they try to find faults in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Yet Śrīmat Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī writes in his Caitanya-candrāmṛta that when influenced by Lord Caitanya's Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, materialists become averse to talking about their wives and children, supposedly learned scholars give up their tedious studies of Vedic literature, yogīs give up their impractical practices of mystic yoga, ascetics give up their austere activities of penance and austerity, and sannyāsīs give up their study of Sāṅkhya philosophy. Thus they are all attracted by the bhakti-yoga practices of Lord Caitanya and cannot relish a mellow superior to that of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

CC Adi 7.47, Purport:

Lord Caitanya taught Sanātana Gosvāmī in the line of disciplic succession. Sanātana Gosvāmī was a very learned scholar in Sanskrit and other languages, but until instructed by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu he did not write anything about Vaiṣṇava behavior.

CC Adi 7.99, Purport:

The Māyāvādīs' proposition that God has no legs, no eyes, no ears and no hands is an indirect way of insulting Him by defining Him as blind, deaf, dumb, lame, helpless, etc. Therefore although they present themselves as great Vedāntists, they are factually māyayāpahṛta-jñāna; in other words, they seem to be very learned scholars, but the essence of their knowledge has been taken away.

CC Adi 7.102, Purport:

The Vaiṣṇavas are by far the greatest philosophers in the world, and the greatest among them was Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu, whose philosophy was again presented less than four hundred years later by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Mahārāja. Therefore one must know very well that Vaiṣṇava philosophers are not sentimentalists or cheap devotees like the sahajiyās. All the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas were vastly learned scholars who understood Vedānta philosophy fully, for unless one knows Vedānta philosophy he cannot be an ācārya. To be accepted as an ācārya among Indian transcendentalists who follow the Vedic principles, one must become a vastly learned scholar in Vedānta philosophy, either by studying it or hearing it.

CC Adi 7.102, Purport:

There are different grades of Vaiṣṇavas (kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, madhyama-adhikārī and uttama-adhikārī), but to be a madhyama-adhikārī preacher one must be a learned scholar in the Vedānta-sūtra and other Vedic literatures because when bhakti-yoga develops on the basis of Vedānta philosophy it is factual and steady.

CC Adi 7.106, Purport:

According to learned scholars, there are three different sources of knowledge, which are called prasthāna-traya. According to these scholars, Vedānta is one of such sources, for it presents Vedic knowledge on the basis of logic and sound arguments.

CC Adi 7.114, Purport:

The Māyāvādī philosophers' unrealizable ambition to become one with the Supreme through denying the existence of the Personality of Godhead results in a most calamitous misrepresentation of spiritual knowledge, and one who follows this philosophy is doomed to remain perpetually in this material world. Therefore the Māyāvādīs are called aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, or unclean in knowledge. Because they are unclean in knowledge, all their austerities and penances end in frustration. Thus although they may be honored at first as very learned scholars, ultimately they descend to physical activities of politics, social work, etc. Instead of becoming one with the Supreme Lord, they again become one with these material activities.

CC Adi 7.115, Purport:

Māyā’s influence is so strong that even learned scholars and spiritualists are also covered by māyā and think themselves to be as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Actually, however, to free oneself from the influence of māyā one must surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as Kṛṣṇa also states in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.14): mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te.

CC Adi 7.146, Purport:

In the Brahma-sūtra, or Vedānta-sūtra, these subjects are very carefully explained. Therefore one who does not understand the Vedānta-sūtra in terms of these principles is simply wasting his time. This is the version of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.8):

dharmaḥ sv-anuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ

notpādayed yadi ratiṁ śrama eva hi kevalam

One may be a very learned scholar and execute his prescribed duty very nicely, but if he does not ultimately become inquisitive about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is indifferent to śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam (hearing and chanting) (SB 7.5.23), all that he has done is but a waste of time.

CC Adi 8.3, Translation:

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Advaita Ācārya, who is very merciful, and also to that great personality Gadādhara Paṇḍita, the learned scholar.

CC Adi 8.6, Translation:

The education cultivated by so-called learned scholars who do not believe these statements of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is like the tumultuous croaking of frogs.

CC Adi 10.113, Purport:

When Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited Varāhanagara, now a suburb of Calcutta, He stayed in the house of a most fortunate brāhmaṇa who was a very learned scholar in Bhāgavata literature. As soon as this brāhmaṇa saw Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he began to read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When Mahāprabhu heard his explanation, which expounded bhakti-yoga, He immediately became unconscious in ecstasy.

CC Adi 10.130, Purport:

The meeting of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya with Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is vividly described in Madhya-līlā, Chapter Six. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya wrote a book of one hundred verses named Caitanya-śataka or Suśloka-śataka. Two other verses he wrote, beginning with the words vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga (CC Madhya 6.254) and kālān naṣṭaṁ bhakti-yogaṁ nijaṁ yaḥ, are very famous among Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. The Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (119) states that Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was an incarnation of Bṛhaspati, the learned scholar from the celestial planets.

CC Adi 10.135-136, Purport:

Bhagavān Ācārya, a very learned scholar, was formerly an inhabitant of Hālisahara, but he left everything to live with Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Jagannātha Purī. His relationship with Caitanya Mahāprabhu was friendly, like that of a cowherd boy. He was always friendly to Svarūpa Gosāñi, but he was staunchly devoted to the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He sometimes invited Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his house.

CC Adi 12.72, Translation:

Be he a learned scholar, a great ascetic, a successful householder or a famous sannyāsī, one who is against the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is destined to suffer the punishment meted out by Yamarāja.

CC Adi 12.73, Purport:

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as a gardener, poured water on the root of the bhakti tree and thus nourished all its trunks and branches. But nevertheless, under the spell of māyā, the most unfortunate condition of a living entity, some of the branches, not accepting the gardener who poured water on them, considered the trunk the only cause of the great bhakti-kalpataru. In other words, the branches or descendants of Advaita Ācārya who considered Advaita Ācārya the original cause of the devotional creeper, and who thus neglected or disobeyed the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, deprived themselves of the effect of being watered and thus dried up and died. It is further to be understood that not only the misguided descendants of Advaita Ācārya but anyone who has no connection with Caitanya Mahāprabhu—even if he is independently a great sannyāsī, learned scholar or ascetic—is like a dead branch of a tree.”

CC Adi 13 Summary:

After hearing of the birth of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, learned scholars and brāhmaṇas, bringing many gifts, came to see the newborn baby. Nīlāmbara Cakravartī, who was a great astrologer, immediately prepared a horoscope, and by astrological calculation he saw that the child was a great personality. This chapter describes the symptoms of this great personality.

CC Adi 13.56, Translation:

There was also Śrī Upendra Miśra, a resident of the district of Śrīhaṭṭa. He was a great devotee of Lord Viṣṇu, a learned scholar, a rich man and a reservoir of all good qualities.

CC Adi 13.123, Translation and Purport:

Anyone who attains a human body but does not take to the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is baffled in his opportunity. Amṛtadhunī is a flowing river of the nectar of devotional service. If after getting a human body one drinks the water in a poison pit of material happiness instead of the water of such a river, it would be better for him not to have lived, but to have died long ago.

In this connection Śrīmat Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī has composed the following verses in his Caitanya-candrāmṛta (37, 36, 34):

acaitanyam idaṁ viśvaṁ yadi caitanyam īśvaram

na viduḥ sarva-śāstra-jñā hy api bhrāmyanti te janāḥ

"This material world is without Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa consciousness personified. Therefore if a very learned scholar or scientist does not understand Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, certainly he is wandering uselessly in this world."

CC Adi 14.18, Purport:

It was not ordinary men who accepted Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the beginning His identity was ascertained by learned scholars like Nīlāmbara Cakravartī, and later all His activities were confirmed by the six Gosvāmīs, especially Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, and many other learned scholars, with evidence from the śāstra.

CC Adi 16 Summary:

This chapter fully describes Lord Caitanya's kaiśora-līlā, or the activities He performed just before attaining youth. During this time He studied deeply and was victorious over greatly learned scholars.

CC Adi 16.8, Purport:

Although Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His devotees in disciplic succession can defeat all kinds of learned scholars, scientists and philosophers in arguments, thus establishing the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead, their main business as preachers is to introduce saṅkīrtana everywhere. Simply to defeat scholars and philosophers is not the occupation of a preacher. Preachers must simultaneously introduce the saṅkīrtana movement, for that is the mission of the Caitanya cult.

CC Adi 16.11, Purport:

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.13.8) it is said, granthān naivābhyased bahūn na vyākhyām upayuñjīta: "One should not read many books, nor should one try to make a profession of reciting many books, especially if one is a devotee." One must give up the ambition to be a learned scholar and in this way earn a worldly reputation and financial facilities. If one diverts his attention to studying many books, he cannot fix his mind in devotional service, nor can he understand many scriptures, for they are full of grave statements and meanings.

CC Adi 16.11, Purport:

Man has a general tendency toward fruitive activities, religious ritualistic ceremonies and philosophical speculation. A living entity thus bewildered since time immemorial does not understand the real goal of life, and thus his activities in life are wasted. Innocent persons misled in this way are deprived of unalloyed kṛṣṇa-bhakti, devotional service to the Lord. Tapana Miśra is a vivid example of such a person. He was a learned scholar, but he could not ascertain what the goal of life is. Therefore he was given a chance to hear Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructing Sanātana Gosvāmī.

CC Adi 16.19, Translation:

In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu contributed the greatest benefit to the people of East Bengal by initiating them into hari-nāma, the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, and making them learned scholars by educating them.

CC Adi 16.25, Purport:

As in the modern day there are many champions in sports, so in bygone days there were many learned scholars in India who were champions in learning. One such person was Keśava Kāśmīrī, who came from the state of Kashmir. He traveled all over India and at last came to Navadvīpa to challenge the learned scholars there. Unfortunately he could not conquer the learned scholars in Navadvīpa, for he was defeated by the boy scholar Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Later he understood that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is none other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

CC Adi 16.34, Translation:

"My dear sir, whereas you are a very learned scholar in all sorts of scriptures and are very much experienced in composing poetry, I am only a boy—a new student and nothing more."

CC Adi 16.89, Purport:

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly said that all intelligence comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in everyone's heart as the Paramātmā. The Paramātmā gave the paṇḍita the intelligence to understand that because he was proud of his learning and wanted to defeat even the Supreme Lord, by the will of the Lord and through the agency of mother Sarasvatī he had been defeated. One should not, therefore, be too proud of one's position. Even if one is a greatly learned scholar, if he commits an offense to the lotus feet of the Lord he will not be able to speak properly, in spite of his learning. In every respect, we are controlled. Our only duty, therefore, is to surrender always to the lotus feet of the Lord and not be falsely proud.

CC Adi 16.99, Translation:

"You are the most learned scholar and the topmost of all great poets, for otherwise how could such fine poetry come from your mouth?"

CC Adi 16.108, Purport:

Almost everyone is a fallen meat-eater, drunkard, woman-hunter or gambler. Such persons are never considered learned scholars, even if they pose as such. Because these so-called scholars superficially see that Caitanya Mahāprabhu associates with the fallen souls, they think that He is meant for a lower class of men but that they do not need Him. Thus such scholars do not take to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. To be puffed up with false learning, therefore, is a disqualification for accepting the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. But here is a special example, for although the poetic champion was a greatly learned scholar, the Lord also favored him because of his humble submission.

CC Adi 17.6, Translation:

By dint of pride in His education, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, not caring for anyone else, defeated all kinds of learned scholars while executing His studies.

CC Adi 17.78, Purport:

Sudāmā Vipra was born in a family of brāhmaṇas, and he was a learned scholar and a class friend of Kṛṣṇa's, yet he considered himself unfit to be strictly called a brāhmaṇa. He called himself a brahma-bandhu, meaning "one born in a brāhmaṇa family but not brahminically qualified."

CC Adi 17.158, Translation:

As a learned scholar, the Kazi challenged Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "In Your Vedic scriptures there is an injunction for killing a cow. On the strength of this injunction, great sages performed sacrifices involving cow-killing."

CC Adi 17.257, Translation and Purport:

When all the students thus resolved, criticizing Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, their intelligence was spoiled. Thus although they were learned scholars, because of this offense the essence of knowledge was not manifested in them.

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ: when one becomes inimical to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, adopting an atheistic attitude (āsuraṁ bhāvam), even if one is a learned scholar the essence of knowledge does not become manifested in him; in other words, the essence of his knowledge is stolen by the illusory energy of the Lord.

CC Adi 17.281, Translation:

"Once Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa playfully manifested Himself as Nārāyaṇa, with four victorious hands and a very beautiful form. When the gopīs saw this exalted form, however, their ecstatic feelings were crippled. Even a learned scholar, therefore, cannot understand the gopīs' ecstatic feelings, which are firmly fixed upon the original form of Lord Kṛṣṇa as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. The wonderful feelings of the gopīs in ecstatic parama-rasa with Kṛṣṇa constitute the greatest mystery in spiritual life."

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.109, Translation:

Śrī Trimalla Bhaṭṭa was both a member of the Śrī Vaiṣṇava community and a learned scholar; therefore when he saw Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who was both a great scholar and a great devotee of the Lord, he was very much astonished.

CC Madhya 2.83, Purport:

An ordinary person cannot understand the transcendental ecstasies in the mode of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Unfit persons who try to understand them are perverted into the sahajiyā, bāula and other sampradāyas. Thus the teachings are perverted. Even learned scholars in the academic field cannot understand the transcendental bliss and ecstasy exhibited by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His pure devotees. One must be fit to understand the purport of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's activities.

CC Madhya 5.67, Translation:

"'Whereas you are a learned scholar, a rich man belonging to an aristocratic family, I am a poor man, uneducated and with no claim to aristocracy.'"

CC Madhya 5.76, Purport:

According to Prahlāda Mahārāja, another authority on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, such a staunch and faithful devotee of the Lord must be understood to be a most learned scholar: tan manye ’dhītam uttamam (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.24). A pure devotee who has firm faith in the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is to be considered a most learned scholar, the topmost aristocrat and the richest man in the whole world. All godly qualities automatically exist in such a devotee.

CC Madhya 6 Summary:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised Sārvabhauma not to change the reading of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, because mukti-pada indicated the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Having become a pure devotee, the Bhaṭṭācārya said, "Because the meaning is hazy, I still prefer bhakti-pada." At this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the other inhabitants of Jagannātha Purī became very pleased. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya thus became a pure Vaiṣṇava, and the other learned scholars there followed him.

CC Madhya 6.80, Purport:

Since the appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there have been many pseudo incarnations in India who do not present authorized evidence. Five hundred years ago the disciples of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, being very learned scholars, were certainly right in asking Gopīnātha Ācārya for evidence. If a person proposes that he himself is God or that someone else is an incarnation of God or God Himself, he must cite evidence from śāstra to prove his claim. Thus the request of the Bhaṭṭācārya's disciples is quite bona fide.

CC Madhya 6.197, Purport:

Spiritual activities other than bhakti-yoga are divided into three categories—speculative activity conducted by the jñāna-sampradāya (learned scholars), fruitive activity conducted by the general populace according to Vedic regulations, and the activities of transcendentalists not engaged in devotional service. There are many different branches of these categories, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His inconceivable potencies and transcendental qualities, attracts the mind of the student engaged in the activities of karma, jñāna, yoga and so forth. The Supreme Lord is full of inconceivable potencies, which are related to His person, His energies and His transcendental qualities. All of these are very attractive to the serious student. Consequently the Lord is known as Kṛṣṇa, the all-attractive one.

CC Madhya 7.65, Translation:

"He is a most learned scholar as well as an expert in devotional mellows. Actually he is most exalted, and if You talk with him, You will see how glorious he is."

CC Madhya 7.109, Purport:

Followers of the smṛti-śāstra are called smārtas. Most of them are nondevotees, and their main business is following the brahminical principles strictly. However, they are not enlightened in devotional service. In Navadvīpa all the learned scholars are followers of the smṛti-śāstra, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not attempt to convert them. Therefore the author has remarked that the spiritual potency Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not manifest at Navadvīpa was by His grace manifested in South India. Thus everyone there became a Vaiṣṇava.

CC Madhya 8.56, Purport:

For the general public, saṅkīrtana is the most effective method to awaken Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If possible, one should discuss the principles enunciated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu followed this principle very strictly and discussed the philosophy of the Bhagavad-gītā with learned scholars like Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī. However, He taught the principles of the bhakti cult to students like Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī, and He discussed with Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya the topmost devotional dealings between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. For the general populace, He performed saṅkīrtana very vigorously. We must also follow these principles in preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world.

CC Madhya 9.47, Translation:

One of them was a leader of the Buddhist cult and was a very learned scholar. To establish the nine philosophical conclusions of Buddhism, he came before the Lord and began to speak.

CC Madhya 9.51, Translation:

All mental speculators and learned scholars were defeated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and when the people began to laugh, the Buddhist philosophers felt both shame and fear.

CC Madhya 9.150, Translation:

"'Once Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa playfully manifested Himself as Nārāyaṇa, with four victorious hands and a very beautiful form. When the gopīs saw this exalted form, however, their ecstatic feelings were crippled. A learned scholar, therefore, cannot understand the gopīs" ecstatic feelings, which are firmly fixed upon the original form of Lord Kṛṣṇa as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. The wonderful feelings of the gopīs in ecstatic parama-rasa with Kṛṣṇa constitute the greatest mystery in spiritual life.'"

CC Madhya 9.244, Purport:

Among his many disciples, his four chief disciples are Padmapāda, Sureśvara, Hastāmalaka and Troṭaka. After departing from Vārāṇasī, Śaṅkarācārya went to Prayāga, where he met a great learned scholar called Kumārila Bhaṭṭa.

CC Madhya 9.245, Purport:

When Madhvācārya returned from Badarikāśrama, he went to Gañjāma, which is on the bank of the river Godāvarī. There he met with two learned scholars named Śobhana Bhaṭṭa and Svāmī Śāstrī. Later these scholars became known in the disciplic succession of Madhvācārya as Padmanābha Tīrtha and Narahari Tīrtha.

CC Madhya 10.106, Translation:

Svarūpa Dāmodara was a great renunciant as well as a great learned scholar. With heart and soul he took shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 11.101, Translation:

The King said, "According to evidence given in the revealed scriptures, it is concluded that Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Why, then, are learned scholars sometimes indifferent to Him?"

CC Madhya 14.84, Translation:

"Tell the Bhaṭṭācārya and Rāmānanda Rāya to stop their childish play because they are both learned scholars and very grave and great personalities."

CC Madhya 14.197, Translation:

"'When the border of Her sari and the cloth veiling Her face are caught, She externally appears offended and angry, but within Her heart She is very happy. Learned scholars call this attitude kuṭṭamita.'"

CC Madhya 15.120, Purport:

Unless Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu discloses the fact, no one can understand who is actually a great devotee of the Lord engaged in His service. It is therefore said in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (CC Madhya 23.39), tāṅra vākya, kriyā, mudrā vijñeha nā bujhaya: even the most perfect and learned scholar cannot understand a Vaiṣṇava's activities. A Vaiṣṇava may be engaged in governmental service or in a professional business so that externally one cannot understand his position. Internally, however, he may be a nitya-siddha Vaiṣṇava—that is, an eternally liberated Vaiṣṇava.

CC Madhya 15.264, Purport:

Quoting from the smṛti, Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī comments on this quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

ātatāyinam āyāntam api vedānta-pāragam

jighāṁ santaṁ jighāṁsīyān na tena brahma-hā bhavet

""An aggressor intent on killing may be a very learned scholar of Vedānta, yet he should be killed because of his envy in killing others. In such a case, it is not sinful to kill a brāhmaṇa.""

CC Madhya 15.277, Purport:

A brāhmaṇa may be a very learned scholar, but this does not mean that he is free from material contamination. A brāhmaṇa's contamination, however, is in the mode of goodness.

CC Madhya 17.15, Translation:

Svarūpa Dāmodara then said, “Here is Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya, who has great love for You. He is an honest, learned scholar, and he is advanced in spiritual consciousness.

CC Madhya 17.15, Purport:

One who is not duplicitous is called sādhu. Svarūpa Dāmodara immediately pointed out that Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya was quite fit to accompany the Lord because he was a learned scholar and was simple and had great love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was also advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; therefore he was considered appropriate for accompanying the Lord as a personal servant.

CC Madhya 17.31, Purport:

On that platform he sees everyone as a servant of Kṛṣṇa. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (5.18):

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini

śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

"The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater (outcaste)."

A mahā-bhāgavata, being learned and advanced in spiritual consciousness, sees no difference between a tiger, an elephant or a learned scholar.

CC Madhya 17.119, Translation:

"Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was a very learned scholar, but I have heard that he also has become a madman due to his association with this Caitanya."

CC Madhya 17.184, Purport:

Unless one comes to the Absolute Truth, there is no possibility of agreement. Nāsāv ṛṣir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam: it is said that a great learned scholar or sage cannot be exalted unless he disagrees with other scholars and sages. On the material platform, there is no possibility of agreement; therefore there are different kinds of religious systems. But the Absolute Truth is one, and when one is situated in the Absolute Truth, there is no disagreement. On that absolute platform the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshipable.

CC Madhya 18.100, Translation:

When Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya asked to see Kṛṣṇa at Kālīya-daha, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu mercifully slapped him, saying, “You are a learned scholar, but you have become a fool, being influenced by the statements of other fools.

CC Madhya 18.203, Translation:

"Now that I have seen You, my tongue is chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. The false prestige I felt from being a learned scholar is now gone."

CC Madhya 18.217, Translation:

"This country is mainly occupied by Muslims. At any place someone can create a disturbance, and although Your companion Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya is a learned scholar, he does not know how to speak the local language."

CC Madhya 19.17, Purport:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is Śrīla Vyāsadeva's last, mature contribution, and one should read and hear it in an assembly of realized souls while engaging in devotional service. At such a time one can be liberated from all material bondage. This was the course taken by Sanātana Gosvāmī, who retired from government service to study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with learned scholars.

CC Madhya 19.19, Purport:

Although Nawab Hussain Shah was a mleccha-yavana, he was nonetheless the governor of the country, and the learned scholars and Sanātana Gosvāmī offered him all the respect due a king or a governor. When a person occupies an exalted executive post, one should consider that he has acquired the grace of the Lord.

CC Madhya 19.50, Translation:

“(Lord Kṛṣṇa said:) ‘Even though a person is a very learned scholar of the Sanskrit Vedic literatures, he is not accepted as My devotee unless he is pure in devotional service. Even though a person is born in a family of dog-eaters, he is very dear to Me if he is a pure devotee who has no motive to enjoy fruitive activities or mental speculation. Indeed, all respects should be given to him, and whatever he offers should be accepted. Such devotees are as worshipable as I am.”’

CC Madhya 19.61, Purport:

Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was a great learned scholar of Vaiṣṇavism. In the beginning he was very much devoted to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but since he thought that he could not receive proper respect from Him, he later joined the Viṣṇu Svāmī sect and became the ācārya of that sect. His sect is celebrated as the Vallabhācārya-sampradāya.

CC Madhya 19.69, Purport:

The present head of the Vallabha Bhaṭṭācārya sampradāya of Bombay is named Dīkṣita Mahārāja. He is very friendly to our movement, and whenever we meet him, this learned brāhmaṇa scholar highly praises the activities of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. He is a life member of our Society, and although he is a learned scholar in the brahminical caste tradition, he accepts our Society and considers its members bona fide devotees of Lord Viṣṇu.

CC Madhya 19.71, Purport:

Vallabha Bhaṭṭācārya's admission of the brothers' exalted position should serve as a lesson to one who is falsely proud of his position as a brāhmaṇa. Sometimes so-called brāhmaṇas do not recognize our European and American disciples as devotees or brāhmaṇas, and some brāhmaṇas are so proud that they do not allow them to enter temples. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu herein gives a great lesson. Although Vallabha Bhaṭṭācārya was a great authority on brahmanism and a learned scholar, he admitted that those who chant the Lord's holy name are bona fide brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas and are therefore exalted

CC Madhya 19.74, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “‘A person who has the pure characteristics of a brāhmaṇa due to devotional service, which is like a blazing fire burning to ashes all the sinful reactions of past lives, is certainly saved from the consequences of sinful acts, such as taking birth in a lower family. Even though he may be born in a family of dog-eaters, he is recognized by learned scholars. But although a person may be a learned scholar in Vedic knowledge, he is not recognized if he is an atheist.

CC Madhya 19.92, Translation:

At that time Raghupati Upādhyāya of the Tiruhitā district arrived. He was a very learned scholar, a great devotee and a respectable gentleman.

CC Madhya 19.155, Purport:

Although seen within this material world, the pure devotee always engages in the confidential service of the Lord. An ordinary neophyte devotee cannot realize this; therefore it is said, vaiṣṇavera kriyā-mudrā vijñeha nā bujhaya (CC Madhya 23.39). The activities of a pure Vaiṣṇava cannot be understood even by a learned scholar in the material world.

CC Madhya 19.183-184, Purport:

According to the opinion of advanced devotees and learned scholars, a devotee in sakhya-rati feels equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is a relationship in friendship. Due to having a friendly relationship with the Lord, not only is one free from material attachment, but one believes in equal dealings with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called sakhya-rati.

CC Madhya 19.187, Purport:

The hāsya-bhakti-rasa, laughing devotion, is explained as follows:

vakṣyamāṇair vibhāvādyaiḥ puṣṭiṁ hāsa-ratir gatā

hāsya-bhakti-raso nāma budhair eṣa nigadyate

"When through devotional service a laughing attachment to Kṛṣṇa is developed, it is called hāsya-bhakti-rasa by learned scholars."

CC Madhya 19.229, Translation:

"The exchange of spiritual happiness between Kṛṣṇa and His devotee in which Kṛṣṇa is controlled by His devotee is compared to an ocean of nectar into which the devotee and Kṛṣṇa plunge. This is the verdict of learned scholars who appreciate Kṛṣṇa's opulence."

CC Madhya 20.6, Purport:

It appears from this statement that Sanātana Gosvāmī, who was formerly a minister of the Nawab, was trying to cheat the Muslim superintendent. A jail superintendent had only an ordinary education, or practically no education, and he was certainly not supposed to be very advanced in spiritual knowledge. But just to satisfy him, Sanātana Gosvāmī praised him as a very learned scholar of the scriptures. The jailkeeper could not deny that he was a learned scholar, because when one is elevated to an exalted position, one thinks oneself fit for that position. Sanātana Gosvāmī was correctly explaining the effects of spiritual activity, and the jailkeeper connected his statement with his release from jail.

CC Madhya 20.58, Translation:

"(Lord Kṛṣṇa said:) 'Even though a person is a very learned scholar of the Sanskrit Vedic literatures, he is not accepted as My devotee unless he is pure in devotional service. However, even though a person is born in a family of dog-eaters, he is very dear to Me if he is a pure devotee who has no motive to enjoy fruitive activity or mental speculation. Indeed, all respects should be given to him, and whatever he offers should be accepted. Such devotees are as worshipable as I am.'"

CC Madhya 20.100, Translation:

"I do not know what is beneficial for me or what is detrimental. Nonetheless, in ordinary dealings people consider me a learned scholar, and I am also thinking of myself as such."

CC Madhya 20.400, Translation:

"'When the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not manifest all His transcendental qualities, He is called complete. When all the qualities are manifested, but not fully, He is called more complete. When He manifests all His qualities in fullness, He is called most complete. This is the version of all learned scholars in the devotional science.'"

CC Madhya 21.15, Purport:

"After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare." Even after searching for the Absolute Truth throughout the universe, learned scholars and Vedic experts cannot reach the ultimate goal. In this way they come to Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 22.53, Translation and Purport:

"'Unless human society accepts the dust of the lotus feet of great mahātmās—devotees who have nothing to do with material possessions—mankind cannot turn its attention to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Those lotus feet vanquish all the unwanted, miserable conditions of material life.'"

This verse appears in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.5.32). When the great sage Nārada was giving instructions to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, he narrated the activities of Prahlāda Mahārāja. This verse was spoken by Prahlāda Mahārāja to his father, Hiraṇyakaśipu, the king of demons. Prahlāda Mahārāja had informed his father of the nine basic processes of bhakti-yoga, explaining that whoever takes to these processes is to be considered a highly learned scholar. Hiraṇyakaśipu, however, did not like his son to talk about devotional service; therefore he immediately called Prahlāda's teacher, Ṣaṇḍa. The teacher explained that he had not taught devotional service to Prahlāda but that the boy was naturally inclined that way.

CC Madhya 22.109, Purport:

A child is sent to school by force to receive an education, but when he gets a little taste of education at an advanced age, he automatically participates and becomes a learned scholar. One cannot force a person to become a scholar, but sometimes force is used in the beginning. A child is forced to go to school and read and write according to the instructions of his teachers. Such is the difference between vaidhī bhakti and spontaneous bhakti.

CC Madhya 23.7, Translation:

"'When that bhāva softens the heart completely, becomes endowed with a great feeling of possessiveness in relation to the Lord and becomes very much condensed and intensified, it is called prema (love of Godhead) by learned scholars.'"

CC Madhya 23.40, Translation:

"'Even a most learned scholar cannot understand the activities and symptoms of an exalted personality in whose heart love of Godhead has awakened.'"

CC Madhya 23.51, Purport:

In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (2.1.16), the following is stated about ālambana:

kṛṣṇaś ca kṛṣṇa-bhaktāś ca budhair ālambanā matāḥ

raty-āder viṣayatvena tathādhāratayāpi ca

"The object of love is Kṛṣṇa, and the container of that love is the devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Learned scholars call them ālambana—the foundations."

CC Madhya 23.51, Purport:

In his Anubhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura quotes the following verse from the Vedic literature describing udbhāsvara:

udbhāsante sva-dhāmnīti proktā udbhāsvarā budhaiḥ

nīvy-uttarīya-dhammilla-sraṁsanaṁ gātra-moṭanam

jṛmbhā ghrāṇasya phullatvaṁ niśvāsādyāś ca te matāḥ

"The ecstatic symptoms manifest in the external body of a person in ecstatic love are called udbhāsvara by learned scholars. Some of these are a slackening of the belt and a dropping of clothes and hair. Others are bodily contortions, yawning, a trembling of the front portion of the nostrils, heavy breathing, hiccupping and falling down and rolling on the ground. These are the external manifestations of emotional love."

CC Madhya 23.56, Purport:

Ayoga (viyoga) is described in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (3.2.94) as follows:

saṅgābhāvo harer dhīrair ayoga iti kathyate

ayoge tvan-manaskatvaṁ tad-guṇādy-anusandhayaḥ

tat-prāpty-upāya-cintādyāḥ sarveṣāṁ kathitāḥ kriyāḥ

"Learned scholars in the science of bhakti-yoga say that when there is an absence of association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, separation takes place. In the stage of ayoga (separation), the mind is filled with Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is fully absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa. In that stage, the devotee searches out the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is said that in that stage of separation, all the devotees in the different mellows are always active in thinking of ways to attain Kṛṣṇa's association."

CC Madhya 23.71, Translation:

"'Kṛṣṇa is the linguist of all wonderful languages. He is a truthful and very pleasing speaker. He is expert in speaking, and He is a very wise, learned scholar and a genius.'"

CC Madhya 24.187, Translation:

"Everyone has some kind of intelligence, and one who utilizes his intelligence is called an ātmārāma. There are two types of ātmārāmas. One is a learned scholar and philosopher, and the other is an uneducated, illiterate, foolish person."

CC Madhya 24.210, Purport:

The six further meanings of the verse are based on the following meanings of the word ātmārāma: (1) mental speculators (vide verse 165), (2) those engaged in different types of endeavor (vide verse 168), (3) those who are patient and sober (vide verse 174), (4) those who are intelligent and learned scholars (vide verse 187), (5) those who are intelligent but illiterate and foolish (vide verse 187), and (6) those who are conscious of their eternal servitorship to Kṛṣṇa (vide verse 201).

CC Madhya 24.252, Purport:

A pure Vaiṣṇava is one who has no ulterior motive. He has totally dedicated himself to the service of the Lord. He does not have material desires, and he is not interested in so-called learning and philanthropic work. The so-called learned scholars and philanthropists are actually karmīs and jñānīs, and some are actually misers engaged in sinful activity. All are condemned because they are not devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 25.25, Translation:

"Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains the direct meaning of the Upaniṣads. When all learned scholars hear this, their minds and ears are satisfied."

CC Madhya 25.27, Translation:

"All the interpretations of Śaṅkarācārya are imaginary. Such imaginary interpretations are verbally accepted by learned scholars, but they do not appeal to the heart."

CC Madhya 25.166, Translation:

After this, all the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs and learned scholars at Vārāṇasī began discussing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu delivered them.

CC Madhya 25.167, Purport:

Both Navadvīpa and Vārāṇasī were celebrated for their highly educational activities. At the present time these cities are still inhabited by great, learned scholars, but Vārāṇasī is especially a center for Māyāvādī sannyāsīs who are learned scholars. However, unlike Navadvīpa, there are hardly any devotees in Vārāṇasī. Consequently a discussion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was very rare in Vārāṇasī.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.185, Purport:

Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya used highly technical terms when he discussed this subject with Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Rūpa Gosvāmī stated that Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya was a greatly learned scholar of bona fide dramatic composition. Thus although Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was quite fit to answer Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya's questions, due to his Vaiṣṇava humility he said that his words were impudent. Actually both Rūpa Gosvāmī and Rāmānanda Rāya were scholarly experts in composing poetry and presenting it strictly according to the Sāhitya-darpaṇa and other Vedic literatures.

CC Antya 1.200, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s elder brother, whose name is Sanātana Gosvāmī, is such a wise and learned scholar that no one is equal to him.”

CC Antya 2.84, Translation:

At Jagannātha Purī, in the association of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, lived Bhagavān Ācārya, who was certainly a gentleman, a learned scholar and a great devotee.

CC Antya 3.174, Translation:

In that assembly were many learned scholars, brāhmaṇas and respectable gentlemen. The two brothers Hiraṇya and Govardhana were also greatly learned.

CC Antya 3.176, Translation:

It was mentioned in the assembly that Haridāsa Ṭhākura chanted the holy names of Kṛṣṇa 300,000 times a day. Thus all the learned scholars began to discuss the glories of the holy name.

CC Antya 3.182, Translation:

After reciting this verse, Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, "O learned scholars, please explain the meaning of this verse."

But the audience requested Haridāsa Ṭhākura, "It is better for you to explain the meaning of this important verse."

CC Antya 3.193, Translation:

This young man, Gopāla Cakravartī, became very angry upon hearing the statements of Haridāsa Ṭhākura. He immediately criticized him. "O assembly of learned scholars," he said, “just hear the conclusion of the emotional devotee.

CC Antya 3.222, Purport:

"There are many different kinds of devotees, but even a Vaiṣṇava coming from a family of mlecchas or yavanas is understood to be a learned scholar, complete in knowledge, if he knows the Vaiṣṇava philosophy. He should therefore be given charity, for such a Vaiṣṇava is as worshipable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

CC Antya 4.68, Translation:

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is always favorable to the humble and meek, but aristocrats, learned scholars and the wealthy are always proud of their positions."

CC Antya 4.227, Translation:

The son of Śrī Vallabha, or Anupama, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s younger brother, was the great learned scholar named Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī.

CC Antya 5.84, Translation:

To vanquish the false pride of so-called renunciants and learned scholars, He spreads real religious principles, even through a śūdra, or lowborn, fourth-class man.

CC Antya 5.84, Purport:

When a man is greatly learned in the Vedānta-sūtras, he is known as a paṇḍita, or learned scholar. Generally this qualification is attributed to brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs. Sannyāsa, the renounced order of life, is the topmost position for a brāhmaṇa, a member of the highest of the four varṇas (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra). According to public opinion, a person born in a brāhmaṇa family, duly reformed by the purificatory processes and properly initiated by a spiritual master, is an authority on Vedic literature. When such a person is offered the sannyāsa order, he comes to occupy the topmost position. The brāhmaṇa is supposed to be the spiritual master of the other three varṇas, namely kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra, and the sannyāsī is supposed to be the spiritual master even of the exalted brāhmaṇas.

CC Antya 5.142, Translation:

"The word 'paṇḍita-mānī' can be used to indicate that Kṛṣṇa is honored even by learned scholars. Nevertheless, because of affection for His devotees, Kṛṣṇa appears like an ordinary human being and may therefore be called 'martya.'"

CC Antya 6.64, Translation:

Hearing about the festival, all kinds of learned scholars, brāhmaṇas and priests went there. Lord Nityānanda Prabhu honored them and made them sit on the raised platform with Him.

CC Antya 7.4, Translation:

Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed His pastimes with His devotees. Then a learned scholar named Vallabha Bhaṭṭa went to Jagannātha Purī to meet the Lord.

CC Antya 7.16, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “My dear Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, you are a learned scholar. Kindly listen to Me. I am a sannyāsī of the Māyāvāda school. Therefore I have no chance of knowing what kṛṣṇa-bhakti is.

CC Antya 7.123, Translation:

"I am falsely proud, advertising myself as a learned scholar. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu insults me just to favor me by cutting down this false pride."

CC Antya 7.131, Translation:

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “You are both a greatly learned scholar and a great devotee. Wherever there are two such attributes, there cannot be a mountain of false pride.

CC Antya 7.170, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments that Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu acted as a very merciful well-wisher toward Vallabha Bhaṭṭa by externally neglecting him in many ways to purify him of his false pride in being a learned scholar. The Lord neglected Gadādhara Paṇḍita for a few days because of his associating with Vallabha Bhaṭṭa. Actually He was not at all displeased with Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Indeed, because Gadādhara Paṇḍita is the personal potency of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there is no chance of the Lord's being dissatisfied with him. However, a person who is too much attracted to externals cannot understand the deep meaning of these dealings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If one therefore becomes disrespectful to Gadādhara Paṇḍita, he will surely be vanquished.

CC Antya 11.105, Translation:

Haridāsa Ṭhākura was not only the topmost devotee of the Lord but also a great and learned scholar. It was his great fortune that he passed away before Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Antya 11.105, Purport:

Haridāsa Ṭhākura is mentioned here as the most learned scholar, parama-vidvān. Actually, the most important science to know is the science of getting out of the clutches of material existence. Anyone who knows this science must be considered the greatest learned person. Anyone who knows the temporary situation of this material world and is expert in achieving a permanent situation in the spiritual world, who knows that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is beyond the jurisdiction of our experimental knowledge, is understood to be the most learned scholar.

CC Antya 13.96, Translation:

"You are a respectable gentleman, a learned scholar and a great devotee," Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa said. "Please do not try to serve me. Just come with me in a happy mood."

CC Antya 16.25, Translation:

"'Even though one is a very learned scholar in Sanskrit literature, if he is not engaged in pure devotional service, he is not accepted as My devotee. But if someone born in a family of dog-eaters is a pure devotee with no motives for enjoyment through fruitive activity or mental speculation, he is very dear to Me. All respect should be given to him, and whatever he offers should be accepted, for such devotees are indeed as worshipable as I am.'"

CC Antya 16.29, Purport:

A brāhmaṇa must be a Vaiṣṇava and a learned scholar. Therefore in India it is customary to address a brāhmaṇa as paṇḍita. Without knowledge of Brahman, one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava is already a brāhmaṇa, whereas a brāhmaṇa may become a Vaiṣṇava.

CC Antya 19.104, Translation:

When transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa awakens in someone's heart, even a learned scholar cannot comprehend his activities.

CC Antya 19.105, Translation:

"The activities and symptoms of that exalted personality in whose heart love of Godhead has awakened cannot be understood even by the most learned scholar."

CC Antya 19.108, Translation:

The songs of the queens at Dvārakā, which are mentioned at the end of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, have a very special meaning. They are not understood even by the most learned scholars.

CC Antya 20.28, Purport:

The prākṛta-sahajiyās sometimes criticize pure devotees by calling them philosophers, learned scholars, knowers of the truth, or minute observers, but not devotees. On the other hand, they depict themselves as the most advanced, transcendentally blissful devotees, deeply absorbed in devotional service and mad to taste transcendental mellows. They also describe themselves as the most advanced devotees in spontaneous love, as knowers of transcendental mellows, as the topmost devotees in conjugal love of Kṛṣṇa, and so on. Not actually knowing the transcendental nature of love of God, they accept their material emotions to be indicative of advancement. In this way they pollute the process of devotional service.

CC Antya Concluding Words:

It is to be admitted that whatever translation work I have done is through the inspiration of my spiritual master, because personally I am most insignificant and incompetent to do this materially impossible work. I do not think myself a very learned scholar, but I have full faith in the service of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. If there is any credit to my activities of translating, it is all due to His Divine Grace.