eta parihāre o ye pāpī nindā kare
tabe lāthi māroń tā’ra śirera upare (CB Adi-khanda 9.226)
Therefore I kick the head of any sinful person who disregards the glories of Lord Nityānanda and dares to criticize Him.
Commentary By Śrīla Bhaktisiddhant Saraswati Ṭhākura Prabhūpāda, Gauḍiya Bhashya
The word parihāra means “to rectify the faults,” “to drop the charges,” “to pray,” “to offer,” “to abandon,” and “to neglect.”
In order to permanently stop the continual irreverence towards the Supreme Lord by those hellish people who enviously criticize Śrī Nityananda Prabhu and to render them eternal benefit and good sense, the author is ready to kick them in the head. By this statement of the most merciful Śrī Thākura Mahāśaya to the staunch atheists, the transcendental goddess of learning, Śuddhā Sarasvatī, displays the firm attachment of a servant towards his master, Śrī Nityananda Prabhu, thus teaching everyone through illuminating words that although Thakura Mahāśaya and other pure devotees who act and preach in his footsteps are detached from those who are extremely uninterested in their own welfare, who are determined to run towards hell, and who are ignorant of the truth regarding Śrī Nityananda, they are nevertheless selflessly and causelessly merciful towards the fallen souls. While Śrīla Thakura Vṛndāvana, who is a Vaishnava ācārya, the direct incarnation of Vyāsa, and servant of Śrī Nityananda, enacts his pastime of transcendentally kicking, if even one particle of dust falls on the head of some fortunate persons, they will certainly achieve auspiciousness, in other words, their anartha-nivṛtti, or freedom from unwanted things, is guaranteed. The exhibition of such great compassion by Śrī Vishnu or the Vaiṣṇavas is beyond the imagination or intelligence of the foolish nondevotees, who can not discriminate between what is favorable and what is unfavorable for their own welfare. The all-auspicious endeavors and behavior of the preachers and practitioners of pure devotional service to Gaura-Krṣṇa who follow in the footsteps of Thākura Śrī Vṛndāvana, who is the direct incarnation of Śrī Vyāsa, display on one hand gross punishment on the fallen averse living entities and on the other hand subtle unlimited compassion on them.
keha bale,-“prabhu-nityānanda balarāma”
keha bale,-“caitanyera mahā-priya-dhāma”
keha bale,-“mahā-tejīyān adhikārī”
keha bale,-“kona-rūpa bujhite nā pāri”
kibā yati nityānanda, kibā bhakta, jñānī
yāra yena-mata icchā nā bolaye keni
ye-se kene caitanyera nityānanda nahe
se caraņa-dhana mora rahuka hrdaye
eta parihāre o ye pāpī nindā kare
tabe lāthi māroń tāra śirera upare
CB Adi-khanda 17.154-158
Someone says, “Nityānanda Prabhu is Balarāma,” and another says, “He is the most beloved devotee of Lord Caitanya.” Someone else says, “He is a powerful personality,” and another says, “We don’t understand who He is.” Someone may consider Nityānanda a sannyāsī, someone may consider Him a devotee, and someone may consider Him a jñānī. They may say whatever they like. Even if Nityānanda is a most insignificant servant of Lord Caitanya, I would still keep His lotus feet in my heart. I therefore kick the head of any sinful person who disregards the glories of Lord Nityananda and dares to criticize Him.
Commentary by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhūpāda
“In some people’s opinion, Nityānanda Prabhu is Balarama, the direct manifestation of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other’s opinion, He is the servitor Personality of Godhead, the dearmost servant of Caitanyadeva. There are others still who consider Him a mahā-bhāgavata, avadhūta, paramahamsa. And there are some people who cannot understand who He is. Nityānanda Svarūpa may be the paramahamsa avadhūta spiritual master of the sannyāsīs, or He may be a devotee learned in the science of God; people may address Him in any way they want, or He may have any kind of relationship with Caitanyadeva, yet I will always hold Nityānanda’s invaluable lotus feet within my heart. If an atheist considers that suffering miseries in the hell known as Andha-tāmisra or Mahā-raurava is most palatable, and in order to achieve that he blasphemes my spiritual master, then without considering his mundane prestigious position or exalted post I will kick his head, which is the reservoir of all sinful propensities. Seeing the Kauravas’ mischief and hearing their blasphemous words, Śrī Baladeva spoke the following words in the Śrīmad Bhagavatam (10.68.31): ‘Clearly the many passions of these scoundrels have made them so proud that they do not want peace. Then let them be pacified by physical punishment, as animals are with a stick.”
If a genuine disciple lacks this quality of genuine, pure, topmost devotion at the lotus feet of his bona fide spiritual master, then he cannot be called an actual “disciple.” Without understanding this fact, sinful hellish people invite inauspiciousness by blaspheming the spiritual master rather than serving him. As a result of the greatly beneficial topics that Thakura Vrndāvana manifested in this world in order to record in brightly effulgent golden words the proper etiquette of a genuine disciple, the entire world of pure Vaiṣṇavas have accepted Thākura Vịndāvana as the Gurudeva of the entire Vaiṣṇava community. For those who have the slightest doubt born of abominable cheating propensities or sinful motives in this Vedic conclusion, there is no possibility life after life in achieving devotion to Gaura-Krṣṇa. Receiving the mercy and inheriting the duties of Nityananda Prabhu, Thākura Vịndāvana has acted as ācārya-guru in this world. The ignorant, asslike, pseudo devotees who consider the prākṛta-sahajiyās, who are hellish living incarnations of cheating humility, as ideal spiritual masters simply commit offenses at the lotus feet of Thakura Vṛndāvana. No pure devotee under the shelter of Caitanya and Nityananda will ever associate in any way with the sinful apa-sampradayas who are opposed to Thākura Vṛndāvana. Yet if due to past misdeeds or misfortune one happens to face such bad association, then Gaudīya Vaiṣṇavas have no qualification to associate with that dishonest person whose ill-motivated mind has deviated from the lotus feet of Vrindavan dāsa Thakura. The community of arrogant persons will take millions and millions of births to understand Vṛndāvana dāsa Thākura’s causeless mercy, so until their offenses are exhausted, they will never have the opportunity to receive a kick on the head from the sanctified all-auspicious feet of a pure Vaiṣṇava. Even the genuine desire for receiving the nonduplicitous mercy of a pure Vaiṣṇava is a rare commodity for ignorant mundane sinful people, pious fruitive workers, or mental speculators. Living entities who are averse to Hari, Guru, and Vaiṣṇava have not accumulated sufficient piety in their previous lifetimes, nor have thousands of their forefathers accumulated sufficient piety, that they are qualified to receive the all-auspicious kick from the lotus feet of the pure, transcendental, ultimate-benefit-awarding lotus feet of Thakura Vrindavana. The moment that dust from the lotus feet of a pure Vaiṣṇava will fall on the heads of sinful persons, that very moment they will become free from all material contamination and deceit and thus become proprietors of the wealth of devotional service.