The Kazi had thus ordered: "No-one should perform sankirtana on the streets of the city. Today I am excusing the offence and returning home. But next time I see someone performing such sankirtana, certainly I shall chastise him by not only confiscating all his property but also converting him into a Mohammedan."
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, had not heeded the warning, and had instead organised a massive civil disobedience movement, rallying thousands of men with hundreds of drums and hand cymbals. Predictably, the sankirtana went on unimpeded.
Prabhupada commented in his purports to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.
"Such orders stopping sankirtana in the streets of the world's great cities have been imposed upon members of the Hare Krsna movement. We have hundreds of centres all over the world, and we have been specifically persecuted in Australia. In most cities of the Western world we have been arrested many times by the police, but we are nevertheless executing the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by chanting on the streets of all the important cities, like New York, London, Chicago, Sydney, Melbourne, Paris and Hamburg.
"We must remember that such incidents took place in the past, five hundred years ago, and the fact that they are still going on indicates that our sankirtana movement is really authorised, for if sankirtana were an insignificant material affair, demons would not object to it. The demons of the time tried to obstruct the sankirtana movement started by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Similar demons are trying to obstruct the sankirtana movement we are executing all over the world, and this proves that our sankirtana movement is still pure and genuine, following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu."
- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu
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