Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Antya 6.279
Consider the Quality of an Invitation
“When one accepts an invitation from a person contaminated by the material mode of passion, the person who offers the food and the person who accepts it are both mentally contaminated.
What the purport teaches
- When an invitation comes from someone contaminated by the mode of passion, both the giver and the receiver become mentally contaminated.
- An invitation from a pure devotee is in the mode of goodness. One from a pious but materially attached person is in the mode of passion.
- An invitation from a materially very sinful person is in the mode of ignorance. The purport thus distinguishes three varieties of invitations.
Try this today
Before accepting a food invitation today, pause to consider the attachment and purpose behind it.
Ask yourself
Do I distinguish outward piety from freedom from material attachment?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.