Cc. Antya 3.142

Text

prasiddhā vaiṣṇavī haila parama-mahāntī
baḍa baḍa vaiṣṇava tāṅra darśanete yānti

Synonyms

prasiddha—celebrated; vaiṣṇavī—devotee of the Lord; haila—became; parama-mahanti—very advanced; bada bada vaiṣṇava—many recognized, highly situated devotees; tanra—her; darśanete—to see; yānti—used to go. ¶

Translation

Thus the prostitute became a celebrated devotee. She became very advanced in spiritual life, and many stalwart Vaiṣṇavas would come to see her. ¶

Purport

Stalwart, highly advanced Vaiṣṇava devotees are not interested in seeing prostitutes, but when a prostitute or any other fallen soul becomes a Vaiṣṇava, stalwart Vaiṣṇavas are interested in seeing them. Anyone can be turned into a Vaiṣṇava if he or she follows the Vaiṣṇava principles. A devotee who follows these principles is no longer on the material platform. Therefore, it is one’s strict adherence to the principles that should be considered, not the country of one’s birth. Many devotees join our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement from Europe and America, but one should not therefore consider them European Vaiṣṇavas or American Vaiṣṇavas. A Vaiṣṇava is a Vaiṣṇava and should therefore be given all the respect due a Vaiṣṇava. ¶