Q. I was told that after Srila Prabhupada became ill he established in his temples the chanting of the Narasingha pranati (prayer to Lord Narasingha) because it is a very powerful mantra for the protection of the spiritual master. On the other hand certain devotees have told me that one should not chant this mantra because in their words, “It sends Radha and Krishna far away.” What then is the implication of Srila Prabhupada establishing such worship in his temples?

A. During my membership in Iskcon, Narasingha prayers were chanted after every arati ceremony, which in major temples were held six times daily. According to the book Prabhupada Lilamrta, our Srila Prabhupada established the chanting of the Narasingha pranati in May 1967, after he had what appeared to be a heart attack. Therein it is written:

“Devotees entered the front room of the apartment, and Prabhupada told them to chant Hare Krsna. Then he told them to pray to Krsna in his form of Narasinghadeva. [Satsvarupa said:] Swamiji said we should pray to Lord Narasingha and the prayer should be ‘My master has not finished his work.’ [Jadurani said:] He taught us the prayers to Lord Narasinghadeva. He said the words one by one, and I wrote them down. I called up the temples in San Francisco and Montreal and told them the prayer. Swamiji said, ‘You should pray to Krsna that, my spiritual master has not yet completed his work, so please let him finish.’”

The mantra Srila Prabhupada instituted in his society at that time is the Narasingha pranati that Mahaprabhu himself uttered in Puri Dhama along with a verse from Sri Jayadeva’s Dasa Avatara Stotram, which is found at the beginning of his book Gita Govinda, a very high rasa sastra. Apparently, Jayadeva was not worried about disturbing the divine couple when he prefaced his book with this stotram, a poem that under scrutiny speaks of “krsnas tu bhagavan svayam” while glorifying ten of Krishna’s avataras.

Neither was Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu disturbed by the worship of Sri Narasinghadeva. In Caitanya-caritamrta it is written, “After seeing the Deity of Lord Narasingha in the temple, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu offered his respectful obeisances by falling flat. Then, in ecstatic love, he performed various dances, chanted, and offered prayers.” All glories to Narasinghadeva, who is the Lord of Prahlada Maharaja and, like a honeybee, is always engaged in beholding the lotus-like face of the goddess of fortune.”

In the Vrindavana lila, the inhabitants worship Narasingha, as well as Narayana and his other avataras, for the protection of Krishna. Sri Narahari is also prominent in Gaura lila, which is our approach to raga bhakti. There he is worshiped for the protection of Sri Krishna nama-sankirtana. As was done in Gaura lila, Srila Prabhupada worshiped him for the protection of his movement. With regard to the raga-marga, Thakura Bhaktivinoda offers the following prayers to Sri Narasinghadeva in his Navadvipa-bhava Taranga:

e dusta hrdaye kama adi ripu chaya
kutinati pratisthasa sathya sada raya
hrdaya-sodhana ara krsnera vasana
nrsimha-carane mora ei to’ kamana

Within my sinful heart the six enemies headed by lust perpetually reside, as well as duplicity, the desire for fame, plus sheer cunning. Residing at the lotus feet of Lord Narasingha, I pray that he will mercifully purify my heart and give me the desire to serve Lord Krishna.

kandiya nrsimha-pade magibo kakhana
nirapade navadvipe jugala-bhajana
bhaya bhaya paya yan’ra darsane se hari
prasanna hoibo kabe more daya kari

Weeping, I will beg at the lotus feet of Lord Narasingha for the benediction of worshipping Radha and Krishna in Navadvipa, perfectly safe and free from all difficulties. When will this Lord Hari, whose terrible form strikes fear into fear itself, ever become pleased and show me his mercy?

yadyapi bhisana murti dusta-jiva-prati
prahladadi krsna-bhakta-jane bhadra ati
kabe va prasanna ho’ye sa krpa-vacane
nirbhaya karibe ei mudha akincane

Even though Lord Narasingha is terrifying toward the sinful souls, he offers great auspiciousness unto the devotees of Lord Krishna headed by Prahlada Maharaja. When will he be pleased to speak words of compassion unto me, a worthless fool, and thereby make me fearless?

svacchande baiso he vatsa sri-gauranga-dhame
jugala-bhajana hau rati hau name
mama bhakta-krpa-bale vighna jabe dura
suddha citte bhajo radha-krsna-rasa-pura

He will say, “Dear child! Sit down freely and live happily here in Sri Gauranga dhama. May you nicely worship the divine couple, and may you develop loving attachment for their holy names. By the mercy of my devotees, all obstacles are cast far away. With a purified heart, just perform the worship of Radha and Krishna, for such worship overflows with sweet nectar.”

ei boli’ kabe mora mastaka-upara
sviya sri-carana harse dharibe isvara
amani jugala-preme sattvika vikare
dharaya lutibo ami sri-nrsimha-dvare

Saying this, will that Lord delightedly place his own divine lotus feet upon my head? I will experience sublime love for the divine couple, Radha-Krsna, and undergo the ecstatic transformations called sattvika. Falling on the ground, I will roll about at the door of Sri Narasingha’s temple.

Here at Audarya we worship a Narasingha sila with these prayers of Thakura Bhaktivinoda and we sing Jayadeva’s stotram on the appearance days of the various avataras mentioned therein. In his prayer, Bhaktivinoda Thakura shows us how to pray to attain eligibility for raganuga-bhakti. Having attained such eligibility—or better stated, jata-ruci raganuga-bhakti—the worship of Narahari Bhagavan will certainly diminish in the life of the raganuga-sadhaka as he or she focuses exclusively on his or her ista-devata. However, in perfection the worship of Sri Narasinghadeva may again surface in an effort to achieve something for one’s dearmost, Sri Krishna. In this case one would be praying to God to accomplish something for Krishna while unaware, due to the influence of yogamaya, that Krishna is svayam bhagavan. I also personally worship Narasinghadeva with a prayer to understand the meaning of Srimad-Bhagavatam, as he revealed its meaning to Sridhara Swami, whose commentary Mahaprabhu so praised. I first offered this prayer in Jaipura, where Sri Jiva Goswami’s Radha-Damodara are served along with a Deity of Narasinghadeva.

All considered, I do think it is important for devotees to cultivate a conceptual orientation to the worship of Narasinghadeva that is appropriate for serving Krishna in the mood of Vraja bhakti. Unfortunately, a good number of so-called devotees of Narasinghadeva are attracted to thoughts of personally “fighting with demons” and thus they worship him for wrong reasons. For Gaudiya Vaishnavas, the right reason to worship him is as Bhaktivinoda prays, “to beg at the lotus feet of Lord Narasingha for the benediction of worshipping Radha and Krishna in Navadvipa, perfectly safe and free from all difficulties.” The best example of worship of Narasinghadeva is Prahlada, who was so gentle. Those who actually understand this sad-aisvarya form of Bhagavan become gentle as well.

As for the idea that the worship of Narasingha chases Radha-Krsna far away, let me give you an example of the opposite occurring. It is well documented that on the occasion of Narasingha Caturdasi Gopala Bhatta Goswami was deeply and prayerfully contemplating the intensity of Prahlada’s bhakti and how it caused Sri Narasinghadeva to appear from a stone pillar. He contemplated this great wonder while wishing he had his own Deity of Krishna to offer seva-puja to and hoping that Mahaprabhu would soon fulfill his promise to visit him in Vrindavana. When he awoke, the deity of Radha-Ramana, who is considered to be nondifferent from Mahaprabhu, appeared from one of his saligrama stones. So in other words, when Gopala Bhatta Goswami contemplated Prahlad and Narasinghadeva, the result was not the disappearance of Radha and Krishna but rather their appearance.

Worth noting here is that Srimad-Bhagavatam makes it very clear that Prahlada’s ista-devata was Krishna. In a Sanga entitled “Eagerness for Vraja Bhakti,” I cited references for this in reply to a question about his devotion. The point is that Narasinghadeva is a special manifestation of Krishna—Krishna appearing in a form suitable to the circumstances, the protection of Prahlada. Of course, Prahlada is a vaidhi-bhakta, so he worshiped Krishna in vaidhi-bhakti, not raganuga-bhakti.

It is also interesting to note that Srila Prabhupada told us to pray in one way in the beginning of his preaching and a different way as he neared the end of his preaching lila. In the beginning he asked us to petition Bhagavan Narasingha to protect his preaching—the message of Gaura, the order of Sri Radha’s handmaiden, Nayanamani (Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura). In the end he told us when we asked if we could pray for him to pray to Krishna thus: “My dear Lord Krishna, if you so desire, please save Srila Prabhupada.” Similarly, we find the worship of Narasingha Bhagavan in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s adi and madhya lilas, but it is for the most part absent in his antya-lila. His antya-lila is filled with the exclusive worship of Govinda in the bhava of Radha.

The following is another installment of our classroom series: Sri Upadesamrta, with Illuminations by Srila B. R. Sridhara Deva Goswami, published by Gosai Publishers, 2009. View past installments, here.

Text Four

dadati pratigrhnati
guhyam akhyati prcchati
bhunkte bhojayate caiva
sad-vidham priti-laksanam

Offering gifts and accepting gifts, revealing one’s mind in confidence and inquiring confidentially, accepting prasada and offering prasada – these are the six symptoms of love shared by devotees.

Illumination by B. R. Sridhara Deva Goswami

These are the six kinds of association with a sadhu. Higher association is only possible with a serving attitude, otherwise there is no sanga. Lower association means exploitation and enjoyment, but higher association can only be achieved through service. By proper association the quality of your service will increase. Sadhu-sanga and sadhu-seva is of the utmost importance. The Gaudiya Matha stresses the importance of sadhu-seva—serving the sadhu. Whatever you do by the command of the higher devotee will, through him, surely connect you with a higher conception of the Absolute. Whatever you do, do it with that connection from above and carry out his order.

Offering Gifts and Accepting Gifts

Dadati pratigrhnati—we shall come to present new things to the sadhus and try to live by the old remnants left by them. Giving something for the service of a sadhu and taking his prasadam—whatever he gives, we accept that. We can increase our attraction and love for a person in such a way by giving him raw items and by accepting his prasadam. To give items to be utilized by him, and whatever is necessary for ourselves. I won’t try to take anything new, but only that which has been rejected by the Vaishnava or guru, whether it is a garland, clothes, different decorations, or whatever. We shall try to live by the remnants of the Vaishnavas. We shall present new things to the sadhus, and we shall try to live by their remnants—tena tyaktena bhunjitha. Give and take. Give and take eternally, internally and externally, whatever my position. In taking we get a higher thing from him. Raw materials we supply, and we get remnants from him. In this way I can improve my position. If we accept the energy of worldly men then generally our minds will become polluted and impure. And if the mind is impure, then the remembrance of Krishna will not be very clear.

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile nahe krsnera smarana

If one eats the food of a materialist, one’s mind becomes polluted. When the mind becomes polluted one cannot remember Krishna.¹

When I accept the elaborate energy of a materialist, then the poison of his mind comes with his energy, with his money and all these things. The energy comes carrying the mentality of the owner. To accept that means to digest that. But one who is able to digest it can utilize it. Visasya visam-ausadham: poison is medicine to poison. Poison can also be utilized as medicine. The divine agent can utilize poison as nectar, otherwise it will kill the person who is taking the energy of the materialist.

Only madhukari-bhiksa, collecting from a particular person, will take away his sin or virtue. Anything that comes with his energy is transmitted. We are feeding on him, exploiting him and that exploitation must have a reaction. Madhukara—just as bees collect every particle of honey from here and there. They do not care so much, they do not look to get any return for that—a small particle perhaps, it does not matter. If we collect our food in that way then there is no possibility of some reaction coming. Madhukari-bhiksa has been recommended for the tyagis. But we Gaudiya Matha people collect their energy as much as we can utilize. Our aim is a little different—we want to help them and we do not collect it for our personal purpose. It is for the general service of the Lord and his devotees. In an organic way we help them. We will use the energy from impure sources and, by hook or by crook, utilize that in the fire sacrifice that is lit in a grand way for the satisfaction of Krishna and his activity. What is that activity? The chanting of his name on a big scale. Sankirtana-yajna, a great sacrificial organic attempt has been accepted and we are to collect things for that. And because I am also rendering some service, as remuneration I may take something. For the purpose of service I am to maintain my health and I shall take only what is necessary. This is yukta-vairagya. We are not taking anything for our personal utilization so we do not feel any contamination. One will suffer if he collects another’s energy for his own selfish purpose, but if he can utilize the energy of someone for the service of Krishna in the congregational chanting of his name to purify the whole world, then there is no apprehension of being contaminated by that energy.

Whatever we receive we should think it is from our guru. I am eating the remnants of my Gurudeva. I am doing some service and as a servant I am entitled to take some remains. Tena tyaktena bhuñjitha ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam—we have no greed for others property, but it is all being utilized for their benefit in the sankirtana-yajna. And as a servant I have some duty to discharge, therefore I am to keep my body fit and for that purpose I am taking the avasesa (remnants).

tvayopabhukta-srag-gandha
vaso-’lankara-carcitah
ucchista-bhojino dasas
tava mayam jayema hi

By decorating ourselves with the garlands, scents, clothes and ornaments that you have already enjoyed, and by eating the remnants of your food, we, your servants, will certainly conquer your illusory potency.²

Uddhava says that there are ways of getting out of this mayika entanglement. “Only by honoring your remains can we conquer maya. I am grateful to you and none else in this world. I am your servant and must live on the remains after you have taken. Thereby, by this single attempt, we can conquer the whole world. There is no glamour for anything in this world for us.” That is the nature of the attempt of this organized preaching of the Gaudiya Matha. You can even accept a kingdom, but not for yourself but for God. And from whomever they take, he is benefited. With this angle of vision we will be individually responsible for our transaction with the outside parties.

When something is dedicated for the service of Krishna it is a conscious unit. Will a man allow his wife to serve another gentleman? Will she allow? Everything is meant for Krishna consciousness, and not for any other consciousness. Only for him. Everything here is exclusively meant for Krishna and no other god. We are not materialists. Everything is conscious and fresh. And no other spirit is allowed except to fully dedicate oneself to the Lord. Every flower born here is only to satisfy Krishna. Radharani will curse us if we try to utilize it for the service of others. They are all meant for this. They will curse us. Here in the temple also – trespassers may pluck flowers, for medicinal purposes they will take some things, but it pains my heart. They are all meant for the service of Krishna. For medical purposes some people may take a root or something. I ask them, “Go to Mahaprabhu, take his permission, then take it.” If it is necessary and it cannot be avoided then I tell them, “Go, you get his permission first.”

Once I heard at the Yogapitha, the appearance place of Mahaprabhu, there was one kadamba tree. At that time Prabhupada was coming out to go to Calcutta and one devotee said, “A new flower has come on the kadamba tree, it has not been given to Prabhupada.” He took a flower and ran towards the car of Prabhupada.
Prabhupada asked, “What is this?”
“A new flower from the Yogapitha temple tree.”
“A new flower?”
“We have come to show you, Prabhupada, and we shall give to Mahaprabhu.”
“Then go and show it to Mahaprabhu. Take his permission and then bring to me. I am going away now. If I was staying, you could put it in my hand and I could show him. But I am going away, now go and show him and then bring it to me. You have got to take his permission.”

That is prasada. Anugraha—dedicated. To show to him is to dedicate. Then we can take the prasada. He is our shelter. This is the key to our life—tena tyaktena. After offering to him, then you use it.

yajna-sistasinah santo
mucyante sarva-kilbisaih
bhunjate te tv agham papa
ye pacanty atma-karanat

Saintly persons are liberated from all types of sins by accepting the remnants of foodstuffs offered in sacrifice. However, those who cook for themselves eat only sin.³

Whenever you dedicate anything to your own self, you create sin. You create disharmony in the environment. But if you offer it to the center, Yajna—to Visnu, and then you use, harmony is maintained. Everything is created to serve Krishna—everything. You must dedicate anything and everything to him and then you can take the prasada remaining. Isavasyam idam sarvam: everywhere, everything is in the possession of the Supreme Entity, everything belongs to him. There should be no disturbance to the law and order. The law and order of the whole should be kept intact. You live here as a loyal subject. You all live as loyal subjects, not illegal—physically or even mentally. Thought, word and deed—you must be a loyal subject in this kingdom of the Lord. That is what is required from us. Then there is peace and harmony and no reaction. Otherwise there will be reaction and you will have to suffer for that.

Revealing One’s Mind and Inquiring Confidentially

Guhyam akhyati—I should reveal my innermost feelings to the sadhu, “From my innermost heart I feel these many particular things within myself. Are these feelings good or bad? And if bad, what is the remedy?” We shall place our inner heart before him so that he may examine us and proceed accordingly. Whatever the innermost feeling is, that should be divulged to a sadhu. I must reveal everything of my entire heart to him and also hear what is conceived within his heart. The private things within my heart must be disclosed, and I must acquire the private things within his heart. I shall inquire about the inner wealth within his heart. Prcchati means inquiry. We will ask his advice and put questions which are necessary for me at this stage. “What is the secret of your holy life? Please tell me and I shall try to follow that example in order to get out of my present circumstances. In your case how did you gain relief?” We shall try to collect the secrets for success in life from a sadhu.

tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsinah

Such knowledge should be achieved through submission, inquiry and service to those who are wise and have seen the Supreme Truth.⁴

Pariprasna. Honest, sincere inquiry is always allowed, but not with the tendency towards tarka, argument. Not with argument—all our efforts should be concentrated to understand in a positive line without leaving a state of doubt or suspicion. With all attention you shall try to understand, because it is coming from a higher source where I am not known.

Pariprasna will be the outcome of surrender. “I am hopeless, I can’t ascertain the truth, it is a dire necessity for me but I can’t help myself.” With this hankering and with no hope of any remedy, I shall most humbly try and start to inquire modestly. I shall try to know, “What is this? What is that? What is the meaning?” The mood should not be that, “I shall finish knowing about this matter.” That sort of attitude will not allow us to enter into the real domain. Nor should we inquire simly out of curiosity or a desire for philosophical mastership or anything of that kind. Its only necessity is for the satisfaction of the Lord. Reality is by itself and for itself. It must be for himself. For His interest this prasna (inquiry) is necessary. Inquiry should be made only to satisfy Krishna and the devotees of Krishna—for his cause, not for my cause if it is independent of his satisfaction.

Another most important thing is that it is also necessary for service. Service is the only important thing. “What is necessary? What will be necessary to render proper service?” – that sort of pariprasna is required. A dire necessity for service, for discharging my duty. I want to serve the cause, not to lord it over. If the spirit within is to lord it over, everything will be spoiled. It is not a plane of us being masters. It is not something that we can use according to our whim. We are putting ourselves into the fire—what I am, that will vanish and from within my higher, divine self will come out. What I am presently is a nasty thing, but what is within me, that is divine and noble. With this hope we shall go.

1. Cc. Antya 6.278
2. Bhag. 11.6.46
3. Gita 3.13
4. Gita 4.34

The following is an installment of our classroom series:

Following Spiritual Practices Ordained by Scripture

There are innumerable practices of devotion. In Bhaktirasamrta-sindhu, Rupa Goswami has given sixty-four. Then again in Bhagavatam we find nine:

sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam

Hearing about the Lord, chanting the Lord’s glories, remembering him, serving his lotus feet, worshipping his transcendental form, offering prayers to him, becoming his servant, considering him as one’s best friend, and surrendering everything to him. These nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service.¹

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has again given five practices of devotion:

sadhu-sanga nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

The quintessential practices of devotion are association with the pure devotee, chanting the Holy Name, hearing the Srimad Bhagavatam, residing in Mathura-dhama, and faithfully worshiping the Deity.²

Of these five, Mahaprabhu has given nama-sankirtana (chanting the holy name) the highest position. Nama-sankirtana is considered best of all—designated as such by the acaryas. Our Guru Maharaja especially promoted kirtana, as indicated by sastra. But if other acaryas have shown preference for smarana in any instance, it is in the sense that kirtana may be performed within the material environment, whereas smarana is independent of any material consideration. From this point of view, smarana may be deemed ‘higher,’ but that is not accepted in a general way. It is a special opinion. But the serving attitude, sevonmukhata—that must be present in all types of bhakti. Otherwise it is all imitation and for millions of lives we may imitate without any success.

asadhu-sangete bhai nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate nama kabhu naya

O brother! You cannot chant the holy name in the association of non-devotees. The sounds of the holy name may come out of your mouth, but this will not really be the name.³

Yadi karibe krsna-nama sadhu-sanga kara—only with the help of the devotees, may we invite that ‘electric connection’—that may connect us with the higher place and if he is pleased to come down and connect with this body then this body can show bhakti. Otherwise it is all imitation! Imitation won’t take us to that plane. Sadhu-sanga—the dynamo is necessary to move the fan, to light the light bulb. Without sadhu-sanga we cannot connect with the higher level.

atah sri krsna-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuratyadah

The holy name, form, qualities, and pastimes of Sri Krishna are divine and transcendental. They cannot be experienced by material senses. The Lord manifests himself spontaneously on the tongue of a devotee who is eager to serve him.⁴

The universal necessity is to learn and acquire a serving attitude, and if that is applied to our bhajana, that will be of great help to us. Jihva means the tongue, and namadi means the nama, rupa, guna, and lila. On the tongue the Lord’s name will appear; within the eye, his form; within the mind, his qualities; and in the heart, his pastimes. All these will come down to you, and everything about you will connect with that Vaikuntha tattva. It is not just a question of increasing the quantity, but the quality must be present. To be real bhakti, sevonmukha and seva presuppose surrender, and all this presupposes sadhu-sanga. It all originates from the association of a sadhu. From the positive direction it can come to us, so we must be thankful to that positive source. The Lord is there, but his grace is coming through his agents. His agents should be welcomed and dealt with properly. Whatever we can collect with our energy we should devote towards sadhu and sastra. Sadhu and sastra are our two friends everywhere.

Renouncing Material Association

If the practice of a student of the Vaisnava school is to be limited to only one, then that is asat-sanga tyaga—to renounce bad association. That does not mean that the sadhu is also eliminated if he is found.

asat sanga tyaga – ei vaisnava acara
‘stri-sangi’ – eka asadhu krsnabhakta’ara

It is the policy of a Vaishnava to reject mundane association such as those who are overly attached to women and people averse to Krishna bhakti. ((Cc. Madhya 22.87))

There are two types of acara (practice). One is stri-sangi or yositasangi—those who are attached to sensual pleasure. Another is krsnabhakta, one who has no attraction for Krishna but is engaged in some other errand. We should be careful and follow the caution against these two—sense enjoyers and those that have no relation to Krishna. This is our only practice. They may be scholars or yogis, they may be so many things, but if they are not devotees of Krishna, their association should be eliminated. It is said that a man is known by his company. The test that is the criterion is whether he is hankering for the association of the good or for the material environment. Whichever way his taste progresses should be looked upon. What does he like? Does he have more and more affinity towards the sadhus and the sastra? Is the environment progressively increasing his taste for that particular thing? That will prove whether we are making progress or deteriorating. It can be known by the measurement of our external environment. Am I standing still? Am I going back? Internal satisfaction will also stand as a guarantee. I shall be my own witness from within, whether I am gaining or losing. My own understanding will stand as a guarantee.

bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir
anyatra caisa trika eka-kalah
prapadyamanasya yathasnatah syus
tustih pustih ksud-apayo ‘nu-ghasam

Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things—these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Lord in the same way that pleasure, nourishment, and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.⁵

In Bhagavatam it is mentioned how we should measure our progress. A mundane example has been given—when we are hungry we take food and when we take food three things occur simultaneously, what are they? Tustih pustih ksud-apayo—when we are hungry we feel uneasiness, and with every morsel we take the uneasiness is removed. When we are hungry we feel weakness. With every morsel of food gradually the weakness is removed and ksud-apayo—when we are hungry we feel the pain and that also disappears step by step with every morsel. Similarly, when are we are progressing in our spiritual life towards the divine, we shall experience three things and we are to measure them carefully. What are they? Bhakti, paresanubhava, and virakti. Bhakti means a serving tendency and our attraction increases with acceleration. Paresanubhava means some sort of accurate conception of the subjective world, superseding my subject on the other side—at first our conception may be hazy but gradually it will become clearer. Virakti—we will withdraw from the environment and feel disgust with the stale experience of this world. The negative side loses its charm as the positive side gives us a peep into the world of the super-subjective. Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir—these three things must be there when we are making our journey.

Following in the Footsteps of Sadhus

The footsteps of the mahajanas (sadhus) are our only hope—mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. We have to depend on that only for our relief. Their footsteps are like so many lighthouses to guide us across the infinite ocean. A hope in the infinite. Vaikuntha means infinite, but sraddha contains within it good faith and good hope. Sraddha means surcharged with some good hope in the infinite. Vaikuntha is infinite, and sraddha is our only means to draw the attention of the infinite to us. The only way is sraddha, for by sraddha we can attract the infinite. There is nothing else. And when it gets a definite form through bhava, it becomes prema, divine love. Columbus floated his ships in the ocean and gradually he went to the Americas. He found land. Similarly, after crossing this universe we may find the spiritual cosmos, Vaikuntha, and sraddha is the light in the darkness. Only sraddha can guide us there. We are travelers in the infinite ocean. In the Bhagavatam are the footsteps of those great personages that have traveled on the way—the broad line chalked out by the footsteps of those that are going to the divine world. Only that should be our surest guide. All else may be eliminated because calculation is fallible and all justification comes from the absolute infinite. Any form of justification can come from anywhere, at anytime. We are floating in a boat in the infinite ocean. Anything may come to help or to hinder. Only our optimistic good faith can be our guide.

nr-deham adyam sulabham sudurlabham
plavam sukalpam guru-karna-dharam
mayanukulena nabhasvateritam
puman bhavabdhim na taret sa atma-ha

The human body can award all benefit in life, and is automatically obtained by the laws of nature, although it is a very rare achievement. This human body can be compared to a perfectly constructed boat having the guru as the captain and the instructions of the Lord as favorable winds impelling it on its course. Considering all these advantages, a human being who does not utilize his human life to cross the ocean of material existence should be considered the killer of his own soul.⁶

Guru-karna-dharam—the guru is the guide. In the infinite ocean I have boarded my small boat and the destination is uncertain and inconceivable to me. But it is conceivable to my gurudeva and I am moving with that sincere faith within.

Svayam samuttirya sudustaram dyuman
bhavarnavam bhimam adabhra-sauhrdah
bhavat-padambhoruha-navam atra te
nidhaya yatah sad-anugraho bhavan

O effulgent One! Your mercy towards Your devotees is unlimited! By your grace they take shelter of the boat of Your lotus feet and cross over the ocean of material existence, which is difficult to cross. These devotees in their turn are so kind towards the conditioned souls that they keep this boat of Your lotus feet in this material world for their redemption.⁷

It is a horrible ocean with so many waves and so many sharks, timingila, whales, and other things—full of danger. Bhavatpadambhoruha-navam atra te—their footsteps are our only hope. We are to depend on that. It is only for our relief that so many lighthouses, the footprints of the saints, are in the infinite ocean to guide us to that place.

The instructions of the mahajanas are always true, but their conduct may not always be useful to the beginner. Their instructions are always useful, but not always their practices. A mahajana may do something that may not be helpful for my stage. He has such great spiritual power that a little defect may not harm him in any way in his practice. An intelligent person will accept those practices that are backed by his words.

isvaranam vacah satyam
tathaivacaritam kvacit
tesam yat sva-vaco yuktam
buddhimams tat samacaret

The statements of great persons are always true, and the acts they perform are exemplary when consistent with those statements. Therefore one who is intelligent should carry out their instructions.⁸

Isvaranam vacah satyam—the leaders of the higher order, what they say, that is true—vacah satyam. But sometimes their conduct is not always the same—tathaivacaritam kvacit. Always try to follow their advice, but don’t try to imitate their conduct—caritam kvacit. An intelligent man will accept that conduct which is one and the same with their advice—buddhimams tat samacaret. When he has realized a higher state he may not be very ardent to follow the conduct of the lower stage. But when he comes to advise me, he will tell me what is necessary for my position. But he himself may not accept the same thing as his own conduct. He is above that. He has finished that class and he is reading in a higher class and when a student of that class comes he gives the lessons of his level, isvaranam vacah satyam. Because he knows that he is giving advice to a particular section he will always give advice in a proper line—tathaivacaritam kvacit. But their own practice is not always the same as their advice. They themselves may go to a higher position. There is no necessity of that sort of practice. And an intelligent man will accept that conduct which is always corroborated by his advice. We should not imitate but rather we should follow. Not anukarana (imitation) but anusarana. Anusarana means to follow in the footsteps. We must understand the difference. Anusarana means sincerity and anukarana is only for pratistha—without inner purity, only to imitate things outwardly, to get the glory of being a sadhu. Anusarana means sincere progress from the heart. Anukarana is artificial.

Once the renowned dramatist, Girish Chandra Ghosh made one drama about Caitanyadeva and wanted Bhaktivinoda Thakura to open the drama because Bhaktivinoda Thakura had a good name in the devotion to Caitanyadeva. But Bhaktivinoda Thakura hatefully dismissed him, “I am not going to give connection with this false thing.” Bhaktivinoda Thakura dismissed this awkward imitation, “I don’t want to come in touch with that.” Instead of trying to follow in Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s footsteps, he was making a show of his connection. It was imitation, so Bhaktivinoda Thakura avoided it. One prostitute, Vinodini, was selected to play the part of Caitanyadeva. Then Ramakrishna was chosen instead of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and he went to see the drama. That Vinodini began to cry, shedding tears while taking the name of Krishna and Ramakrishna was very much impressed with that, so much so that the next morning he went to see that Vinodini. He told that prostitute, “You are very fortunate, you are taking the name of Krishna and shedding tears. You have created such an impression in me, I feel very fortunate, so I have come to see you again.” And she was very ashamed, “No, no, no!” And Ramakrishna told her, “One that can rouse devotion in the hearts of so many by shedding tears and all these things when playing Caitanyadeva—she is not an ordinary person.” In this way Ramakrishna eulogized her. But we are not a party to that. We don’t recognize that. The Gaudiya Matha, the devotees of Prabhupada, they cannot accept such appreciation and such a false representation. It is all imitation, a sham, not real. It won’t help our real progress.

In a drama a man may take the role of Narada Goswami and chant, “Haribol! Haribol!” and tears may appear from his eyes, but it is simply artificial! It may be articulated cent percent to show these symptoms in the body and in the mind. One can learn the art without any touch of divinity. It is possible. Some people are naturally of that temperament; very easily they can shed tears, their temperament is such. And there are others who can learn the art of doing so. There are two classes of people who, without a slight touch of divinity, can show the public so many high sentiments. Without the least touch of suddha-sattva they can freely exhibit all these things to deceive people. Devotion does not mean only to shed tears and to shiver and to wear tilaka and tulasi and dance and chant – these are all external feats. We must not be misguided seeing these imitating aspects, these feats of devotion. We must try to save the ordinary people from the false exhibition of the higher Vaishnava’s character.

1. Bhag. 7.5.23
2. Cc. Madhya 22.128
3. Prema-vivarta 7.1-3
4. BRS 1.2.234
5. Bhag.11.2.42
6. Bhag. 11.20.17
7. Bhag. 10.2.31
8. Bhag. 10.33.31

The following is another installment of our classroom series:

Text Three

utsahan-niscayad dhairyat tat-tat-karma-pravartanat sanga-tyagat sato-vrtteh sadbhir bhakti˙ prasidhyati

Eagerness, confidence, forbearance, following the spiritual practices ordained by the scriptures, giving up the company of materialists and following in the footsteps of the pure sadhus – these six practices enhance devotion.

Illumination by B. R. Sridhara Deva Goswami

Eagerness should always be to serve the wishes of the highest plane of Krishna bhakti. That is very, very rarely to be found in this mundane world. We shall be eager to catch the telegraphic language of the highest plane. We must try to catch that and be subservient to that. That should be the nature of our quest and the utilization of our energy. How to develop that? With the contact of the sadhu and with the help of the scriptures we can try to increase that inner feeling, that inner demand. That inner demand can only be satisfied by Krishna consciousness. The source of eagerness is only from a real sadhu. We will find some interest to hear about the Lord from him. The proper beginning is there. The bhakti school is independent of varnasrama or jnana etc. One may not be a wise man, one may not be a very energetic man, one may not be master of opulence and other powers. Only the minimum is demanded from him – that he has very earnest hunger. He must have the smallest taste for the Lord. He must find some sweetness, some taste in his words, in his affairs when it is coming from a proper source through a genuine sadhu, a proper agent. That taste will take him farther and gradually into the highest domain. Laulyam api mulyam ekalam – the only passage-money is our sincere inclination. The hearts natural flow – that is the passage-money, nothing else. Our sincere earnestness to get that is the only price we have to pay in advance. No other price but earnest desire. It is not to be purchased by any money or anything else which is acquired by so many formal practices in millions of births. Substance is necessary and not form. Form may be adopted only as much as it may connect me with that higher thing. Sarva dharman parityaja – “Give up all phases of duty that you perceive as perfect. At once try to jump into the ocean of nectar. I am the ocean of nectar. Try to jump.” That is the direct teaching. Our addiction to this or that, to vanaprastha-dharma, sannyasa-dharma, or grhastha-dharma has a very negligent value. But earnest desire – that is to be acquired by any means. That is bhakti proper.

tatra laulyam api mulyam ekalam janma-koti-sukrtair na labhyate

The only price to pay is intense eagerness for that is not obtained even after millions of births.¹

Not by your good deeds that you have acquired in your previous innumerable paths – that is not taken in to account, only the recognition of the sincere earnestness within you. The very gist of your ego they want. That is their demand and that plane is built up with that material. The most sincere part of the heart – that is the material by which that domain has been created. It is eternal but it is with that substance. Back to home, back to the home of your eternal inner self. Externally, by so many of our demands for the senses, we are being carried forcibly in this direction and that direction, dragging us here and there. We have to find out our innermost existence. That is to be a member of Vrindavana. Confidence Confidence means raksisyati-visvaso (expecting the Lord’s protection). That is a particular stage of saranagati. I will have so much confidence that he will protect me from any danger. One may run to protect oneself knowing there is danger, but still he is thinking, “My guardian will save me. Whom do I care for? I don’t care for anyone. He is my master and he is there on my head; he will protect me.” There is no necessity of any apprehension from any quarter at all. Saranagati reaches to such a zenith, to such a height that not only will he save me if I go on in a right way, I shall risk everything for the Lord, and if necessary, he may come to my relief. Such audacious aggression is there. This may be found in all stages. That particular mentality is there in the ordinary soldier – he has got confidence in his general. They may take the risk of entering the camp of the enemy thinking, “The general will come and devastate them.” It may be found in many places, in many stages of life. But here, that confidence is found not in this world, but in the highest quarter. That sort of confidence, that “For whom do we care?” So much indulgence they enjoy, so much confidence they enjoy, so much faith they have in their protector that they do not care about anyone or anything. They will even go to catch a snake or a tiger. Jiva Goswami Prabhu has discussed that goptrtve-varana (praying for the Lord’s shelter) is the main thing in the whole of saranagati. That is the whole gist, the substance – to pray to him for his shelter. “You are my protector.” That is the main thing in the whole of saranagati and all others are subsidiary. To maintain the faith that he will save us – he cannot but do this. The question will remain whether I have surrendered totally or not. My ego – has it allowed me to surrender to his holy feet fully or is it self-deception? The question is there. There is no doubt that if anyone surrenders to him totally, he will protect him – that is unquestionable. But the question remains here whether I have successfully surrendered myself to him or not. Self-analysis. That is the truth. It is his intrinsic nature that at all times his eternal habit is that he will protect whoever comes under the shelter of his protection. That is one of his intrinsic characteristics. It cannot be otherwise. However, the question is only whether I can surrender to him or not. To offer one’s own self. To cast one’s own self to his custody, and at the same time to go on with the idea that he will surely protect me. The example is given by Bhaktivinoda Thakura – the cow boys are welcoming so many risks in their life backed by the confidence that, “My friend is there and he will surely protect me.”

raksa karabi tuhun niscaya jani pana korobun hama yamuna-pani kaliya-dokha karabi vinasa sodhobi nadi-jala, badaobi asa

I am confident that You will protect me, so I will drink the waters of the Yamuna. Kaliya’s venom will be vanquished. You will purify the waters of the Yamuna, and such heroic acts will increase our faith.²

In a part of the Yamuna a serpent was living and his poison contaminated the whole area. But the cowherd friends of Krishna did not care for that. At the bottom of their heart, they were so confident of Krishna’s continuous assistance at their back, they were going and rushing towards that poisonous thing and swallowing poison. “Oh, Krishna is at our back, whom do I fear? We don’t fear anyone.” They are going into the Kaliya ghata, that poisonous place on the Yamuna, and they are drinking that water and fainting, but without any fear. “My friend is there. We do not care for any poison or anything. He will save us. He will protect us.” They went ahead to invite danger with that confidence. “We don’t care for any danger because our support, our friend is there who has got some supernatural power.” Then Krishna had to go and again revive them from the poisonous effect. Generally they are always in a position that they do not want that, “You protect me!” Very rarely – as in the case of Govardhana where the whole locality prayed for protection from Indra the king of heaven, when his annual worship was closed. Indra was very much enraged and he wanted to punish the general section of that gostha (group) by heavy rain, hail, storm, and thunder. Then the whole gostha came and took refuge of Krishna, “You protect us from this great destruction.” And Krishna managed. Otherwise they are always fostering this idea that, “He is there, our protector. We do not care for anything else. We are not afraid of any danger. He is there. He cannot but protect us.” That is the idea they maintain. In sakhya-rasa that raksisyati-visvaso is very, very clear, and at the same time there is some challenging at the time of play. “You could not do this. I gained over you. You failed.” Such homely play – God and his servant appear to be in equal positions on the surface. Sometimes the Lord even holds a lower position. Family life, sweet family life – and the devotees of the higher type see devotion only when the Absolute is defeated. That peculiar thing is devotion. That is yogamaya. Devotion means leaving everything, and saying that, “We want devotion only. If we get devotion, the Absolute will come to our door.” Devotion is such – devotion is all in all. Where is it found that the servant has defeated the master? That is devotion. There you can trace what is devotion. Aham bhaktaparadhino hy asvatantra iva dvija – “My absolutism is forgotten at that time. I forget that. I go as one of them sometimes. I approach them to serve.” That peculiar thing is devotion. It is so high. How will this worldly energy and knowledge cope with it? Devotion means mystique, miracle. Goptrtve-varana is to invite him as our protector and raksisyati-visvaso is to believe that he will surely protect me. The first part is to invite him, to pray to him, ”Please protect me. I am under your protection, accept me.” And then to maintain the idea that, “He will surely protect me, in all possible danger he will come.” Two parts. Saranagati is one and the same, but if analyzed then these parts are found there. Forbearance We should not think that our path will be very smooth. So many troubles may come from outside. In India, when you go out in the streets with the kirtana party, so many may come and say, “You monkeys! Lal-bandara – you red-faced monkeys!” These things must come to you from so many directions, in so many forms of hindrances and opposition. They will come and try to affect you, to dissuade you from this path. But, taror api sahisnuna – the example of a tree is given and that is analyzed. If somebody does not pour any water, the tree does not say, “Oh, give some water to me!” If anyone is coming and disturbing, snatching the leaves, cutting the branches – even cutting the whole thing, the tree is silent. No opposition. We should rather try to see that insults, poverty, punishment, and unfavorable dealings are all coming to purify me. These things are necessary and with the least punishment I am going to be released. I have become connected with the highest object of life, but what price am I going to pay for that? What price? I am confident that I am going to attain the highest fulfillment of life, but what price is sufficient for that? It is inconceivable. Whatever little demand comes to be exacted from you, with a smiling face you have to accept that in consideration of your highest goal. If you are really confident and you have faith in your brightest future, then whatever small price nature wants through these miscreants – that must be accepted. Submissiveness and modesty – that is the law of Mahaprabhu. Trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena – these things must be repeatedly preached. Trnad api sunicena means I must not be so rigid that I may not accommodate others. Taror api sahisnuna – if still someone is aggressive towards to me, I shall try to tolerate. And amani –I must never insist on any fame from the environment, still I will always be ready to give honor to all. With this attitude we should march on our way. This maxim should be given a very broad circulation. To become a Vaishnava we must be deceit-free and have discipline of this type and this comes from none other than Mahaprabhu himself. Once we were told that our Gaura-kisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja was doing madhukari-bhiksa and was returning to his quarters. The people did not spare him either. The boys were pelting him with some small stones and he remarked, “Krishna, you are cruelly dealing with me! I shall complain to Mother Yasoda about you.” That was his outlook. Harmonized! When anything came and he would say, “Oh Krishna, by philosophical calculation, without you nothing can happen. You are with these children and you are disturbing me and I shall teach you a lesson. I know how to deal with You.” In that way, he took everything like that. That is our beacon light to adjust with things that are apparently unfavorable. A sweet adjustment is there. Don’t give any opposition – still opposition will come to disturb you and you must forbear. You will accept them in such a way. We should not create resistance for the environment. If there is some attack, some undesirable things come towards me, I am to forbear that to my utmost patience. I am to silently tolerate. I won’t harm. Our attitude should be this – whatever comes, this is earned by my previous karma. My previous karma has earned such an environment and it is a necessity to teach me. And whenever my teaching will finish, the environment will change. Whatever the circumstance, the environment may be undesirable but if we are sincere we must take it with a good motive because the Lord has sent it. Without his sanction nothing can happen. Not even a straw can move. I am put in such an unfavorable environment – he is seeing this thing and as soon as this necessity ends it will be removed and I shall be placed in another environment. There is no error in his decision. In the divine decision there cannot be any error. We have to face all circumstances with such an attitude.

tat te’nukampam su-samiksamano bhuñjana evatma-krtam vipakam hrd-vag-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak

One who lives his life while joyfully seeing everything as your mercy even as he experiences the adverse conditions arising from his past deeds, and constantly pays respects to you with his mind, body and words, is certain to attain your lotus feet, the object of all devotion.³

It is our environment, our own past deeds. I must not quarrel with what my own deeds have produced, but I must finish this effect. It is necessary for me. And as soon as the necessity will be finished, it will be withdrawn and I will be put in another separate environment. We have to wait for the decision, the divine dispensation. That will be the highest policy. The most sacred, desirable and helpful policy is everywhere. It will increase our faith in the Supreme. The supreme command of all environments may come now or in the future. This policy of a devotee will be most suitable and helpful. Tat te’nukampam susamiksamano – the undesirable things have not come suddenly to punish me, but it is necessarily self-acquired and it will get its fulfillment and then vanish, and then I shall get another chance. But if I avoid this, it may be finished for now but again it will come to clear my debt. With this attitude we should face all circumstances, and that will be the best attitude of any progressive devotee.

1. Cc. Madhya 8.70
2. Saranagati 3.6
3. SB. 10.14.8

Q. I recently read your publication, O My Friend! O My Friend!, which implies that Srila Prabhupada’s rasa, or eternal spiritual identity, is that of a cowherd boy in Krishna lila (sakhya rasa). To my knowledge Srila Prabhupada did not specify which rasa he was in, so isn’t it speculative and therefore mundane to say he is in sakhya rasa?

A. There is a difference between mental speculation and sastra-yukti. My conviction as to Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual affinity is not simply speculation as I have supported it with Srila Prabhupada’s own words, the realization of sadhus, and Krishna conscious philosophy. This support constitutes sastra-yukti. Indeed, my position seeks to end speculation by directing attention to Srila Prabhupada’s own words on the matter, which incidentally refute the idea that he did not specify his rasa.

What is “mundane” about collecting everything that Srila Prabhupada said about his sentiment? As it turns out he said quite a lot, so is it not meaningful to make this evidence available to the community? We should be interested in all that Srila Prabhupada said about his sentiment and in thinking about the implications of his statements in light of sastra. This is exactly how the sentiments of other Gaudiya acaryas were determined. They said things and their followers have scripturally reasoned about them to reach a conclusion. This is exactly how Gaura-ganodesa-dipika was written. Kavi-karnapura collected the available evidence and testimony and reached his conclusions. This process is not speculative and mundane but rather the bona fide process of sastra-yukti.

Furthermore, I don’t think talking about what Srila Prabhupada has said about himself or the idea that he is in sakhya rasa or any other rasa is any more inappropriate than talking about Rupa Goswami’s spiritual affinity or Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura’s affinity. My siksa guru, Pujyapada B. R. Sridhara Maharaja, talked about it, and Srila Prabhupada considered him his own siksa guru.

So let us judge by the fruits. Srila Prabhupada said on a number of occasions that he identified with sakhya rasa. He also wrote a poem to Krishna in his intimate moments expressing the desire for sakhya rasa. We find no equivalent stated aspiration on his part for any other rasa. So, to keep it simple, if some devotees feel enthused to see Srila Prabhupada in sakhya rasa and pursue that ideal in relation to him, and we find that in doing so they remain enthusiastic about their spiritual practice, do we really need to condemn them for mental speculation?

Q. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that one’s rasa could never be grasped by a person who is not completely purified of material contamination. Therefore it should not be divulged to the general public in any medium. Could you explain your justification for making knowledge of Srila Prabhupada’s rasa available on the Internet by publishing O My Friend?

A. Actually Bhaktivinoda Thakura published a book called Navadiwip-bhava-taranga in which he speaks openly about his rasa, spiritual form, eternal seva, and so on. It is widely available in English, even on the Internet. So you misrepresent Bhaktivinoda here and misunderstand what he writes concerning confidentiality in bhajana.

In contrast, O My Friend! contains general information that speaks only about Srila Prabhupada’s affinity for sakhya rasa. It does not discuss details of his particular svarupa (form, dress, seva, and so on) but rather encourages devotees so interested to pursue intense spiritual practice by which such details can be known in the privacy of one’s own heart. Furthermore, far more intimate truths are available in Sri Caitanya-caritamrita and other standard Gaudiya scriptures.

Q. Nonetheless, in Sri Caitanya-siksamrita, Bhaktivinoda Thakura states, “Rasa is not a part of sadhana. Therefore if somebody says, ’Come, I will teach you rasa.’ Then it will be his wickedness or foolishness.” Doesn’t this quote give sufficient reason to avoid publishing O My Friend! or similar books?

A. O My Friend! does not “teach rasa,” it is citing and reasoning about what Srila Prabhupada said concerning his spiritual affinity. The book does not encourage anyone to do anything other than engage in hearing and chanting the name of Krishna. Yes, rasa is not part of sadhana. It is the perfection of bhava bhakti—prema. Ultimately, one cannot teach love, as it is experiential; nonetheless, we do teach the theory of bhakti rasa in books like Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.

Q. In my view, whatever we say on behalf of Srila Prabhupada must be something we could say in front of him. I find it hard to believe he would be happy with our raising this subject matter for general discussion–confidential means confidential. Without a definitive comment from Srila Prabhupada or a mutually accepted arbiter there can be no conclusion to this discussion.

A. While telling me that I should not entertain the subject, you summarily dismiss the fact that Srila Prabhupada himself entertained the subject and then say that what Srila Prabhupada did say about himself in this regard was not definitive. It would seem safer to just go with Srila Prabhupada on this one. O My Friend! sets the record straight as to what Srila Prabhupada actually said on the matter.

Furthermore, there will be issues that arise that were not dealt with when Srila Prabhupada was here. Some of them could very well be spiritually progressive insights into the spiritual reality of our divine master. I certainly hope so, and it is reasonable that they would eventually be made public, as have such insights concerning our previous acaryas.

As for a final arbiter on this issue, I for one accept Pujyapada Sridhara Maharaja’s words on the matter. Others may disagree, but let them present convincing insight and evidence to the contrary. In any case, I have no problem if devotees want to think of Srila Prabhupada as being in madhurya rasa as long as they don’t try to suppress evidence to the contrary. In regard to coming to a conclusion to this discussion, realization resulting from spiritual practice is the means of definitive knowing and O My Friend! encourages its readers to take up such practice.

See Also Sanga: The Dearmost Friend of Krishna

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Sanga back issue archive

The following excerpt is from Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s Madhurya Kadambini. The translations used are from Gaudiya Kutir’s edition with the commentary of Pandit Sri Ananta Das Babaji Maharaja. Ordering information is available, here.

The second nama-aparadha is to consider Mahadeva and Vishnu to be fundamentally different, or to think of them as separate deities defined by distinct powers. Since many people have difficulty understanding these distinctions, Visvantha Cakravarti Thakura goes into some detail and discusses the issue over the next few sections:

Conscious beings (caitanya), are of two types: independent and dependent. The first of these is the all-pervading Lord, or isvara caitanya. The second is the dependent jiva, or jiva caitanya, a particular energy of the Lord that is controlled by him and pervades only its own body.

Isvara caitanya is again of two types: untouched by maya and accepting the touch of maya by his own will. When free from the touch of maya, he is known by such names as Narayana. The Bhagavatam says, “Sri Hari exists beyond the three modes of material nature and is completely transcendental. Therefore, he alone is the supreme transcendental personality.”¹

The second isvara caitanya accepts the touch of maya by his own will and is known as Shiva. The Bhagavatam also says, “Shiva is always associated with maya; he is the predominating deity of three types of ego: vaikarika (in the sattva-guna), taijasa (in rajoguna) and tamasa (in tamo-guna). He is thus covered by the three qualities of material nature, sattva, rajas and tamas.”²

Even though he is covered by three gunas, one should not think Shiva as a jiva, for Brahma-samhita says, “As milk is transformed into yogurt, yet yogurt is not different from milk, its cause, I worship the Primeval Lord, Govinda, who similarly accepts the form of Siva by his own will for the specific purpose of destruction.”³

In the Puranas and many other scriptures Siva is identified as God. One verse in the Bhagavatam says, “The Lord accepts the forms of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva for the creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe.” Due to being mentioned together with Vishnu and Shiva, it is generally thought that Brahma is also isvara tattva, but this is true only in the sense that he is empowered by the Lord’s specific energy for creation. This is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita, which says, “As the sun manifests some portion of its own light in the sun crystal, similarly Brahma creates this universe being empowered by the Lord’s energy.”

Srimad Bhagavatam says: “Smoke is superior to wood, a transformation of the earth. Fire, the base of sacrifices prescribed in the Vedas, is superior to smoke. In the same way, rajoguna is superior to tamo-guna, and sattva-guna is superior to rajo-guna. One can only realize Brahman through sattva-guna.”⁴

This verse establishes the superiority of rajo-guna over tamo-guna. Even so, the realization of the Lord, representing pure light, is not possible in rajo-guna, which is here compared to smoke, the way it is in sattva-guna, which is being compared to the burning fire. Of course, one can perceive the Lord even in the tamo-guna, which is here compared to wood, as he is present within it also. That perception is found in deep sleep, which gives a happiness comparable to consciousness of the undifferentiated state of oneness. One should understand the relative positions of Shiva and Brahma in this way.

Dependent consciousness or the individual soul is of two types: one covered by ignorance, the other not. Covered souls or jivas include the demigods, human beings, and other living creatures. Non-covered jivas are of two types: either imbued with God’s power or not. Those not imbued with God’s power are also of two types: those who have merged into God by the practice of jnana, and others who remain separate from God by practicing bhakti. The first of these are in a lamentable state while the second are not, for they are in a position to relish the sweetness of the Lord. The empowered jivas are again of two types: those imbued with spiritual knowledge and others empowered for the purpose of universal creation. To the former group belong great teachers such as the four Kumaras, to the latter, Lord Brahma and others.

Due to having the same type of caitanya, Vishnu and Shiva are non-different. Devotees desiring nothing other than the Lord must discriminate between Vishnu and Shiva as worshipable or non-worshipable on the basis of their nirguna and saguna character. Due to the non-similarity of caitanya, Vishnu and Brahma are different. Sometimes the Puranas speak of the nondifference of Vishnu and Brahma. This nondifference may be considered like that of the sun and the sun-crystal when it channels the power of the sunlight. In some maha-kalpas, even Shiva, just like Brahma, may be a jiva who is empowered by the Lord. Sastras say, “Sometimes a jiva is also empowered as Siva or Brahma.” Sastra also says, “One who considers Lord Narayan, who is supreme among the gods, as equal to Brahma, Rudra, and other demigods is certainly an atheist.” This scriptural evidence will be considered proper when Shiva and Brahma are both in the category of eminent jivas.

Those who have not discussed these truths say, “Vishnu is the only Lord, not Shiva. We are exclusive devotees of Vishnu and will not even look at Shiva.” Or, “Shiva is the only Lord, not Vishnu. We exclusive devotees of Shiva will not even look at Vishnu.” Their minds thus absorbed in petty bickering, they commit an offense. If in time such offenders get the association of sadhus expert in discussing all these truths and are enlightened by them, they can also realize how there is no difference between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. Then by doing nama kirtana, their aparadha is nullified.

1. 10.88.5
2. 10.88.3
3. 5.45
4. 1.2.24

The following is another installment of our classroom series:

Useless Talks

To abuse the reign of our self-control and allow ourselves to enter into discussions of anything and everything – that is prajalpa. Prajalpa generally becomes para-dosanusandhana – finding fault with others. That is generally the subject matter of idle talks. When the guardian analyzes this fault within his affectionate disciple to point out and correct him with a sympathetic and graceful eye, he himself will not become contaminated if he is pure enough. When a doctor is treating an infected patient, the infection may naturally come to him. But if the doctor is well guarded it will not infect him as he is conscious of the poisonous nature of the disease and is very careful when he tries to remove it from the body of the patient. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed Raghunatha Dasa Goswami:

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada haña krsna-nama sada la’be
vraje radha-krsna-seva manase karibe

Do not hear mundane talks and do not engage in them either. Do not eat very luxurious foods, nor should you dress finely. Do not expect prestige, but offer all respect unto others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krishna, and within your mind render service to Radha and Krishna in Vrindavana. ((Cc. Antya 6.236-7))

We must not attend to worldly talk, neither should we engage in that – bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe. Don’t seek after the satisfaction of our tongue and belly, and don’t try to wear any good dress to be admired by the people. Amani manada haña krsna-nama sada la’be – give honor to all, but don’t seek honor from anyone. In this way we will take the Holy Name of Krishna continuously.

We are requested to talk about the Supreme Lord, and by that process, all undesirability within us may vanish. Speak always, and only about Krishna. Speaking means reproducing. When we speak something we cannot but be fully attentive. We cannot speak nonsense. When we speak, we must be fully attentive. It is difficult to have concentration within, so preaching or speaking forcibly makes us concentrate on a particular call. It cannot be nonsense to the public. I must be alert in what I am speaking. In that way, it has been selected as the highest form of means to the highest end, in this Kali-yuga especially. But speaking must be done in a proper way:

na yad vacas citra-padam harer yaso
jagat-pavitram pragrnita karhicit
tad vayasam tirtham usanti manasa
na yatra hamsa niramanty usiksayah

Those poetic words that do not glorify Hari, who alone can purify the entire universe, are considered by saints to be like a pilgrimage place for crows where perfected souls find no satisfaction.¹

The style, the language, etc. is very beautiful, but if you dive deep you will find no mention of the glories of the Lord. It is lifeless. The outward dress may be very fine and attractive. The decoration may be very nice, but if there is something wrong with the inner substance, then what is the necessity of that? Rather, such words work as poison to us. But on the other hand the outer grandeur may not be so charming, but the very subject, the substance within, if it is nectar-like, then it is a very desirable thing. We must try to accept that. Ignore the ornamental, but accept the substance within – that should be the aim of our life.

tad vag visargo janatagha viplavo
yasminn pratislokam abadavaty api
namani anantasya yaso ‘nkitani yac
srnvanti gayanti grnanti sadhavah

Those works where every verse is written to stir the hearts of impious people are accepted, sung and heard by sadhus, even if they have some defect, because they glorify the Holy Names of the unlimited Supreme Lord.²

Nisedha – prohibition. For example, one should not steal, but the ananya-bhak devotee may steal a flower, take it away and offer to his Deity, but he is stealing. Then how should he be dealt with? Stealing is a crime. The society has set the laws that we will accuse him that, “Why you have stolen?” And he may say that, “I have not stolen. It all belongs to Krishna and for the service of Krishna I am taking it.” If that is his sincere vision then he is not to be punished. If one is stealing for the purpose of Krishna, then that is not stealing, because his vision is so deep he sees that everything belongs to Krishna. It may be forbidden by the laws of society, and even by the sruti-sastra, but if he is really a sincere exclusive devotee of the Lord, none should interfere with his apparent misdeeds.

The Lord is seeing from the absolute standpoint and the relative standpoint cannot come and clash with that. His movements are nirguna (transcendental). But on this saguna (mundane) plane there is a gradual development from tamo-guna (ignorance) to rajo-guna (passion), then sattva-guna (goodness). If they encroach upon the rights of the nirguna, on those who are Krishna’s direct servants, then their relative vision is wrong. He is on the absolute plane. Whatever he is doing, if he considers Krishna to be the unchallenged master of everything, then he is right and they are wrong. That thing belongs to him, this belongs to them, this woman belongs to that gentleman – this is simply a contract amongst you. But from the absolute sense, it does not have any position. Everything belongs to Krishna, and one who works backed by Krishna consciousness is right.

Mundane Association

Jana-sanga means to be very approachable to the ordinary public, for politics, sociality, feeding the poor etc. So many conceptions and ideals are there all around, and to chase them or to be captivated by them is jana-sanga.

Sadhu-sanga means that association which promotes us towards a higher cause, and that which takes us away from that cause is jana-sanga or asat-sanga – just the opposite, a perverted reflection. It must not be maladjusted. Each person should be properly adjusted. We must have eagerness to mix with the sadhus of a higher type. Instead of that, if we allow ourselves to mix with the ordinary public, in the name of preaching or collection or any other thing, that will be detrimental to our cause.

We are finite beings that are lost here. We have a long journey ahead with much trouble, but the disappointment and dejection is minimized if we have good association on that long journey. By talking with them about the Lord, we can go on. We forget the weariness of the journey.

krsna-bhakti-janma-mula haya ‘sadhu-sanga’
krsna-prema janme, tenho punar mukhya anga

The root cause of devotion to Krishna is association with advanced devotees. Even when one’s dormant love for Krishna awakens, the association with devotees is still most essential.³

The very origin of devotion to Krsna comes from the association of the sadhu – krsna-prema janme, tenho punar mukhya anga. And when we acquire a drop of divine love within our heart then also our hope, solace, consolation, health, everything comes from the association of the devotees. The devotees are all in all, from the beginning up to the end. Our favorable companions can help us in our journey towards the Infinite. They are something solid, something concrete – similar in nature to us. Only with the interchange of our thought, good, bad, hope, despair – everything they can appreciate and in a group we can go on.

Otherwise if we are alone we will think, “Oh, what am I doing? I am wild goose chasing.” A reaction may come and we may leave our bhajana and go away. Our Guru Maharaja gave much stress on the association of the devotees.

dusta mana! tumi kisera vaisnava?
pratisthara tare, nirjanera ghare,
tava hari-nama kevala kaitava

O mind, what kind of Vaisnava are you? To gain false prestige you sit in a solitary place, but your chanting of the Holy Name is only cheating. ((Vaisnava ke? 1))

Do you want to take the Holy Name of Krishna in a solitary place? This is a hoax of Maya – she will come and take you by your ear. You won’t be able to fight for a long time if you are alone. Always try to be with others. When you are with so many other devotees you will get strength from one another and a long march will be a very pleasant thing for you. A sincere devotee will always hanker after good association with those who will be able to help him, giving encouragement at every stage. “No, it is very near. Let us go – a little more and then we shall get some clue.” In this way there will be mutual help.

I was once told that Napoleon reached somewhere with his soldiers in a harsh land and they were standing there for a long time. They were very tired and they wanted to take a seat. They could not go on standing any longer. Then Napoleon put them in a circle and asked them to take their seat. Everyone was giving a seat to another by sitting on another’s lap. In this way, in a circle, everyone got a seat. That was the ‘Napoleonic Chair.’ Sadhu-sanga is like that. When my mind is a little depressed, the sadhu will come to encourage me. In this way the journey forwards is very comfortable.

Mental Restlessness

Laulya means weakness of the heart, or weakness of our promise, towards the object of our life. Whatever I find, I engage myself in that. Everything is attracting my attention. We are busy with small petty things that are drawing our attention, and we avoid the real problems of life. We are busy with irrelevant things:

mandasya manda-prajnasya
vayo mandayusas ca vai
nidraya hriyate naktam
diva ca vyartha-karmabhih

Lazy people with little intelligence and a short lifespan pass their nights sleeping and their day performing useless activities.⁴

We find hundreds of things and if anything and everything comes to capture my attention – that is laulya. We must save ourselves from that nature.

There is no end to engaging our senses. All the senses are busily engaged. There are a thousand engagements and mostly those engagements are those that do not know the real necessity of the self. One who does not know his home, travels in a foreign land satisfying his curiosity by working endlessly. That is to be found in the world. Apasyatam atma-tattvam – this is important. One who has a normal understanding accepts this, not the majority of abnormal thinkers. It is srota-pantha, the revealed truth. That must come from the perfect realm, from God himself. Here is established the indispensable necessity of srota-pantha, the method of revelation. It must come from the perfect realm, from sarvajna, the quarter of omniscience. In those that are unconscious of their own real interest we find thousands of engagements. They are very busy, but very busy about nothing.

srotavyadini rajendra
nrnam santi sahasrasah
apasyatam atma-tattvam
grhesu grha-medhinam

O emperor, those materialistic householders who are bound to their mundane possessions are blind to the knowledge of the self. They are busily engaged in hearing hundreds of thousands of topics within human society. (Bhag. 2.1.2)

nidraya hriyate naktam
vyavayena ca va vayah
diva carthehaya rajan
kutumba-bharanena va

Such people spend their nights engaged in sleep or in sex, while their days are spent collecting money or maintaining their families.⁵

What do we see if we look around? Two things – nidraya, sleep, or vyavayena, playing with women. Night passes in these two ways. In the daytime, they are in search of money or serving their near relatives. We tend to associate with those that we can exploit, those that supply our sense pleasure. We are surrounded by them.

dehapatya-kalatradisv
atma-sainyesu asatsv api
tessam pramatto nidhanam
pasyann api na pasyati

The material body, wife, children and everything in relation to them are like fallible soldiers and those that are overly attached to them, despite their experience, do not see their own imminent destruction.⁶

We are fully engrossed in the interests of family life for our own sense pleasure. We are so engaged in that sort of false duty that we do not have the leisure to see that our own death is drawing nearer to us. Seeing, but also not seeing. It is a plain thing. I see that everyone is going into the jaws of death, but still I cannot see. I don’t care to see. This is the peculiar position we hold now. The final danger is approaching and I am sleeping through that. I don’t care to take notice of that. What can be stranger than this? Only our particular attention is necessary for the solution. Only a moment is enough. So many trees and mountains and hills are living for years and years, age after age – no benefit. It is not a question of longevity or a question of time. What is necessary is that I turn my attention towards my own self – What am I? Our attention should be drawn to our own real interest.

1. SB.1.5.10
2. SB.1.5.11)

   The subject matter of our speech should be the Absolute. It may not be ornamented, it may not be grammatically correct, it may have some defect – it does not matter. Grammatical mistakes and other such ornamental mistakes are overlooked by the Lord. He reads the heart – the language of the heart is all in all. The theme must be about the Absolute, and we should always try to pronounce those words. It has been advised in Bhagavatam, in those ten selected stanzas that were given by Narada to Veda Vyasa. That is the basis of Srimad Bhagavatam as we find it now. Speech should always concern the higher. It is dedicated upwards. Vak means words, but words engaged in the service of the highest are known as urdhva-vak. Here is tatastha, below is matter, and on the upper-side is the svarupa-sakti, the internal higher potency of the Lord. Urdhva-vak means connection with the internal potency of the Lord.

   Accepting or Rejecting the Law

   Niyamagraha means to give abnormal attention to any particular ruling. Rulings are always meant for some particular stage, and after passing that stage that ruling is no longer applicable and another ruling we shall have to mark. Just as on Ekadasi – we may be very firm to such a ruling that we must fast wholesale, without taking even a drop of water. But the general rule is that I must keep my body fit for the service of the Lord, so I may take some water. I must not be overly strict to a particular rule, so that the general law will be hampered.

   Niyamagraha has a twofold meaning. Niyama-agraha means too much affinity to abide by the law. Another meaning is niyama-agraha when one does not accept any law at all and is not willing to abide by any law. Both these aspects are bad. We should follow the middle path, the easy path, not the extreme.

   yuktahara-viharasya
   yukta-cestasya karmasu
   yukta-svapnavabodhasya
   yogo bhavati duhkha-ha

   Yoga destroys the suffering of one who is moderate in his eating and relaxation, performs all his activities in a regulated manner and is well balanced in his sleeping and waking. ((BG. 6.16-17

3. Cc. Madhya 22.83
4. SB. 1.16.9
5. SB. 2.1.3
6. SB. 2.1.4

The following is another installment of our classroom series:

Text two

atyahara prayasaas ca prajalpo niyamagraha jana-sangas ca laulyam ca sadbhir bhaktir vinaasyati

Eating too much or collecting more than necessary, performing extraneous endeavors that are against devotional service, speaking about mundane subject matters, neglecting the injunctions of the scriptures or blindly following scriptural injunctions, associating with mundane people and mental restlessness – these six things destroy devotional service.

Illumination by B. R. Sridhara Deva Goswami

Atyahara refers to whatever we collect, and also to feed oneself more than necessary. Whatever I collect, I want a portion of that thing. We are all busily engaged in collecting things for our sense satisfaction. Whatever we shall require, we can transform that into sense pleasure. Generally we fix things in such a way that we can collect the maximum money and with that money we earn some sense pleasure.

Our relationship with this mundane world should not be for sense pleasure, but we should work as much as required to keep this body fit. Money should be utilized not for sense pleasure but to satisfy our duty and the aim of our duty should not be to go downwards again but it will be for the apavarga—crossing these three necessities of life to seek for a higher purpose. Money should help us to discharge our duty and duty should be arranged in such a way that we shall inquire about our self and the environment – “Who am I? Where am I? What is my aim in life? What is real satisfaction?”

jivasya tattva-jijnasa nartho yaas ceha karmabhi

A human being is meant to inquire about the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one’s activities.¹

That is the only requirement for us and that should be our only aim. That should be the object of our life. By amassing money, the real principle is lost. If we are not genuine, then we will be carried away by money towards the exploiting world. Money may be collected, but that must be distributed for the service of the sampradaya, for the service of the Vaishnavas. Amassing money is a sign of deviation.

Generally the devotees should engage themselves in the subjects of the Lord, but in the Gaudiya Matha we find they are handling money, motorcars etc, but for what purpose?

matala hari-jana visaya-range pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

It is to show what is the raga-patha. Generally it is thought that one must give up everything and only through internal love worship the Lord—not by external sources. Majesty and reverence are not necessary. But here we are extensively handling the wealth of the outer world. What is the meaning? The meaning is to show that the raga-patha is above all. The position of those that are followers of the raga-patha is very high. They have left everything and are taking the path of worshiping him in their heart. All this grandeur, all reverence, everything should go to serve them. Pujala raga-patha—everything has its fulfillment if it can be connected to worshiping the feet of those that are living in that plane. Majesty, awe, reverence, wealth—everything is only meant to serve those niskincanas who have made the Lord of love and beauty the all in all in their lives. The whole world must learn this for its own welfare, and to teach this to the world, the Gaudiya Matha is handling all these things.

While in Bombay one Bengali gentleman who was an officer in the mint asked me, “You have come to collect money but you are a very rich man.” I told him, “Yes, we say we are rich and we also say that we are beggars. Now we must come to some understanding. You say that we are very rich. Why, because we spend money like water? A man who has got so much money can spend his money like that. An ordinary man would agree that this must be superfluous money; otherwise a beggar would not spend money for such purposes. One who has got millions can throw away thousands for luxurious activities. You think we have got much money. But we say we are beggars with no money. Still we spend money in such a way. Now the question will come whether what we spend will be for a good purpose or a bad one. A doctor may not be wealthy, but he has got a motorcar because he can attend many patients thereby—this is not a luxury. Generally men will think that one who has got a car or a plane must be a moneyman of high order, then only can he keep such things. But for business purposes he may keep such things. A doctor may have many patients he can visit by motorcar. We also use things in that way. You may think that it is superfluous to decorate the Deity, but we think that this is the fulfillment of life. All good things must be used to serve Narayana. That is our creed. Beggars we are, but still we spend money like water—for decoration, for festivals, for distribution of prasadam. We beg money and we spend lavishly, but not for ourselves. We feel the necessity of our particular nature. The real question is how we spend the money, not how much money we have got. We are poor beggars; still we spend money like a rich man. A rich man would be afraid to spend money like that.” Wealth only has its fulfillment in the service of those that are above this monetary world. The greatest goal possible is to worship the Lord and connect Him with this world.

Useless Endeavors

It is mentioned in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu that it is prohibited to endeavor to build temples and all these things on a grand scale.

sanga-tyago vidurena bhagavad-vimukhaira janai asisyady ananuvandhitvam maharambhady anudyamauh

One should keep a distance from those who are averse to the Lord, avoid accepting too many disciples and not be overly enthusiastic about initiating great projects.²

When our Guru Maharaja was delivering lectures on the sixty- four kinds of devotion I marked that this is prohibited in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu but he was doing the same thing. On a big scale he was making propaganda. He was spending money in great quantities to construct temples and other things. That which has been prohibited by Rupa Gosvami, our Guru Maharaja had undertaken all those things. What would he say when this point comes up? He told, “Cut your coat according to your cloth.” This is a point of personal capacity. One man can manage an empire and he may find time for much leisure, and another man cannot even manage his own family of two or five members—the whole time he is engrossed there and becomes mad to manage that family. It is all a question of personal capacity.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written that there are two types of people. One reads and collects many things in the form of advice and understanding but cannot find the gist, the very substance of the thing. The other is the saragrahi who collects the very gist of everything and eliminates the burden. The saragrahi is the highest class of devotee. Externally he may be managing the government and society, but internally perhaps he is a gopi of Vrindavana. There he is another. He is doing his duty. In that way externally he is a king or he is a general. He is fighting. Such a double function one may have sometimes. In Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Bengali translation of this verse from Upadeasamrta he says, visaya-prayasa, which means a false errand, an enthusiastic attempt for something undesirable. To prefer a life of devouring each other and disturbing each other, that is undesirable. That is maya.

dvau bhuta-sargau loke’smin daiva asura eva ca visnu-bhakta smrto daiva asuras tad-viparyaya

There are two kinds of created beings in this world, godly and demoniac. Those dedicated to the devotional service of Lord Vishnu are godly, and those opposed to such service are demoniac.³

This is in Vishnu Purana. And in Gita:

dvau bhuta-sargau loke’smin daiva asura eva ca daivo vistaraasa prokta asuram partha me asrnu

O Partha, there are two types of people born into this world – the divine and the diabolical. I have described the divine in detail. Now listen to Me as I describe the diabolical.⁴

Asura means struggling for closer bondage, and deva means struggling towards the right direction. There are two sections struggling here – one towards the positive, the other towards the negative. To make oneself big at the cost of others is a concocted illusory line. Everyone is struggling to become big but that is an illusion – that ‘big’ is not really big. Real bigness is on the other side. To become big is easy. “I am a big man, I have something to be proud of.” But to accept that we are nothing in the face of the Absolute, to accept this creed in its true color, is very difficult.

The Vaisnava is also struggling, but to be reinstated into a harmonious life. That should be known here – all should struggle to be reinstated into the real harmony of the whole. Sincerely we should pray to the Lord, and we will find his help in no time. Then, in our innermost hearts, we shall find our connection with the fundamental plane of loving service to the Sweet Absolute. Then we shall find that the Lord of love is Krishna, the beautiful reality.

When a beginner is trying to conquer his senses, at that time he cannot avoid struggle. Progress means struggle of different types. Generally the time of trouble begins at the stage of the madhyama-adhikari. At the lower stage of the kanistha-adhikari, one does not measure how much devotion he is getting or not. With a peaceful mind he is engaged in arcana etc. But at the madhyama-adhikari stage, a real struggle begins in ones life. How to adjust—not only as advised by the scriptures, but also our social position, our relationship with the world, with the society, with education etc. The tendency to preach for propaganda comes at this stage. The madhyama-adhikari wants to extend himself and remove the difficulties in his environment and tries to convert the environment for that purpose. The madhyama-adhikari is a life of struggle and when he reaches the stage of uttama- adhikari, then he becomes peaceful in life. He sees everywhere that things are going well according to the will of Krishna. Very easily he can see the will of Krishna everywhere, so he has not much to struggle for. But when living in this ignorant plane of misconception, he acquires harmony by seeing both things – maya, and Isvara. He wants to install God consciousness, and he tries his hardest to remove the misconceptions. That is a period of struggle. Sadhana-dasa—this stage is full of struggle. Then when he comes to the stage of apana-dasa, he feels peaceful in bhava-bhakti and then prema-bhakti.

But there is again another struggle when he is already in lila. That is in another plane. In Vrindavana there is also competition, there is also struggle. Yasoda will think how to control this naughty child, “I failed. I can’t manage him.” In this way there is some sort of a struggle, but that is produced by yogamaya. Prema-bhakti is also dynamic in character, not static. Where there is something dynamic, there is some struggle. The competition is there. There is a play in the sakhya-rasa, two parties—one party wants to conquer another party. One says Krishna, another says Balarama. That is also a struggle. But that is purely of another type; that is transcendental play. And in madhurya-rasa also there are several parties – Radharani’s party, Candravali’s party, so many parties there are. And the servitors of every party are to manage for their own interest, the interest of their mistress.

That type of dynamic character means some sort of struggle, a sweet struggle. And here in this plane it is bitter. Here we have to struggle to remove the nescience and to invite pure knowledge. This struggle is a little bitter – not only that, it is tasteless and painful sometimes. But when we enter that higher arena, the struggle becomes more sweet. Lila means a sort of struggle.

1. Bhag. 1.2.10
2. BRS. 1.2.78
3. Vishnu Purana
4. Gita. 16.6

Q. I have heard that Krishna’s sister Subhadra is a form of Laxmi Devi, the goddess of fortune and consort of Narayana. Is this correct and can you tell me more about her?

A. Regarding Krishna’s sister, she is named Subhadra and thus her name indicates that she is active in two realms. Bhadra (auspicious) refers to her presiding over the material energy, as demonstrated when she exhibited this form to Kamsa (Bhadra Kali). Su (very) refers to her higher side as a form of Yogamaya, in which she presides over Krishna lila by making very auspicious arrangements to facilitate the will of Sri Krishna.

In the lila she married Arjuna. In terms of her representing the goddess of the material energy, she is Siva’s consort. As Yogamaya behind the scenes in Krishna lila, she is unmarried. Purnamasi and Vrinda-devi are her overt manifestations in the Vraja lila and neither of them are really married (as portrayed by Sri Jiva Goswami). To identify her with Laxmi is a bit of a stretch, but she is a goddess and she does bring good fortune.

Q. What is the connection between Krishna’s consort Srimati Radharani and Vrinda devi (Tulasi)?

A. Sri Jiva Goswami describes Vrinda devi as a forest nymph named Vrindarika, known by the nickname “Vrinda.” Purnamasi introduced her and Madhumangala to Krishna one after the other. As she placed Madhumangala’s hand in Krishna’s hand, Purnamasi told Krishna to keep the company of Madhumangala and thus make his life auspicious. Understanding that Madhumangala would bring the essence of joy to his lila, Krishna looked carefully at him and then embraced him sealing their eternal friendship. Vrinda was introduced and ordered by Purnamasi from that day forward to move about in service to Krishna at all times with great attention. Krishna then garlanded Vrinda and felt greatly encouraged by the prospect of her participation in his life.

Vrinda is possessed of affection and love for both Radha and Krishna, but Sri Rupa Goswami describes her as one of Krishna’s gopi messengers. She is well acquainted with the sacred geography of Vraja and overall her service is similar and related to that of Yogamaya. She is sometimes referred to as Krishna’s “lila shakti.”

Q. The Srimad-Bhagavatam describes Krishna’s pastimes with the cowherd girls (gopis) and in one place says that Krishna’s brother Balarama was romantic with the gopis as well. The text reads as though Krishna and Balarama were involved with the same gopis but the commentary to verse 10.65.17, which cites Sridhara Swami, Jiva Goswami, and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, states that this was not the case.

The question I have is why couldn’t Balarama, being an expansion of Krishna and thus the same divine person (God), also enjoy pastimes with Krishna’s gopis? Krishna and Balarama are one, so what could be wrong with this? Couldn’t the acaryas have commented as they did simply because an uninitiated reader of the Bhagavatam might consider it improper for Krishna and Balarama to be romantic with the same gopis?

A. Balarama is an expansion of Krishna, so in this sense they are one, but this does not override the fact that the two are emotionally different. Their emotional difference is vital, as Krishna’s play (lila), fueled as it is by divine love/bhava, thrives on difference. The bheda, or difference, in Sri Caitanya’s metanarrative of acintya bhedabheda (inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference) gives rise to lila. Thus Balarama is not one with Krishna in the sense that in his absence Balarama can substitute for him as Radha’s lover. Indeed, Balarama is respected by Radha as Krishna’s elder brother so she is not even romantic with Krishna in Balarama’s presence out of deference to him.  Thus knowing the truths that govern rasananda—rasa-tattva—the Goswamis have pointed out how the Bhagavatam does not say what it may appear to say on its surface. The Goswamis are revealing the feeling of the text as they understand its implications even better than its author Vyasa did—vyaso vetti na vetti va.

However, the text of the Bhagavatam itself depicts the relationship between Balarama and Krishna’s gopis as mutually reverential, rama-sandarsanadrtah. This is quite different from the spirit of their relationship with Krishna, and it prohibits the possibility of an intimate relationship between Balarama and Krishna’s gopis, who by love’s law were already married to Krishna. As for the paramour nature of their relationship with Krishna, there is no question of complicating it further by putting Balarama in the mix!

Earlier Krishna sent Uddhava to represent him and deliver a message to the gopis, but Uddhava had no experience of Vraja bhakti. Thus he could not convey Krishna’s heart to the Vraja sundaris. He explained philosophy to them and became bewildered by their bhava, srutibhir vimrigyam. As they unpacked the actual significance of Krishna message that Uddhava delivered, he himself became unglued by its implications. Thus after seeing what happened to Uddhava, Krishna sent Balarama to speak to the gopis to make sure that his heart message was conveyed. Balarama is most faithful to Krishna, and Balarama knows Krishna’s heart much better than Uddhava does. Balarama is a Vrajavasi, and therefore he knows what Vraja bhava is.

Thus Balarama expressed Krishna’s heart to the gopis and pacified them with the assurance that Krishna would return in a week’s time. His relationship with Krishna’s gopis is one of representing his brother faithfully, as Lakshman represented Ramachandra and never imagined enjoying Sita himself. After delivering Krishna’s message and pacifying the gopis to an extent, Balarama, following Krishna’s order to him before he left Dvaraka, pursued the marriage of another group of younger gopis who did not participate in rasa lila with Krishna. After getting the permission of the elders, Balarama married them without an overt celebration due to Krishna not being present to participate, his greatest joy being the pleasure of his younger brother, in separation from whom Balarama is not entirely himself. Balarama’s gopis are the gopis Krishna refers to in his eulogy of Balarama in the Bhagavatam‘s tenth canto, kurvanti gopya iva te priyam iksanena. Balarama danced with these gopis earlier in the springtime during Holi celebrations when Krishna killed Sankhachuda.

Balarama’s relationship with his gopis is one of maryada, not raga. The raga of Balarama is his sakhya reality, his friendly love for Krishna. He is Krishna’s best friend, and it is this higher aspect of Balarama that the Goswamis have focused on and opened a window to for all of us to view. This view shows Balarama in the best possible light. If we are to pursue love of Balarama, we shall pursue love of Krishna-Balarama, sambandhanuga raganuga bhakti.

There is no kamanuga with Balarama as there is with Krishna. He does not directly participate in parakiya-bhava. The secrets of his marriage to other gopis related above aside, his principal wives known to all are Revati and Vasudha in Dvaraka. He is well known for his marriage to these two. And again, this is not parakiya or kamanuga. It is ruled by maryada.

While it is true that Balarama manfests his sakti as Ananga-manjari, the younger sister of Radha, Ananga-manjari is not Balarama’s consort in Vraja. He is one with her in tattva in as much as sakti and its source saktiman are one, but the two are very different in bhava. Radha and Krishna are also one in this sense, but they are more importantly different. If they were not different but rather one in all respects–if Krishna as Radha (his sakti) fully tasted the mahabhava of parakiya–there would be no need for Sri Caitanya. Therefore, in Nityananda Rama’s lineage it is only Jahnava, a representation of Ananga-manjari in Gaura lila, who distributes parakiya-bhava, while Nityananda Rama himself distributes sakhya rasa. That said, it is of course also a fact that no one can taste parakiya-bhava without the blessing of Nityananda Rama—ara kabe nitaicand karuna karibe samsara vasana mora kabe tuccha ha’be.

The following is another installment of our classroom series:

The Impulse of the Tongue

Jihva-vegam – this means the urge for that which is very tasteful. I am a servant to that, a slave to tastefulness. Jihva-vegam means our attraction to a particular taste. One may have attraction for pungent, bitter, sweet or sour. That is jihva-vegam. The tongue always wants to taste that sort of thing. Whatever is tasteful may be detrimental to my health, yet I cannot control my tongue. Out of greed I may take something that may not be the proper diet for me. I take something, and then I take more but it is not necessary for my health. I should try not to fall prey to my tongue and become its slave. How to avoid jihva-vegam? The process is that whatever I am taking, I should think, “How has the sadhu, the guru, or God tasted it?” The material thing should be subservient and our attention should be directed towards the subjective feeling of the higher personalities, how they have tasted it. That is the key to escape from material taste.

Mahaprabhu tried to avoid sweet things, “I am a sannyasi so I must keep a standard. If I take sweet things, then everyone will do like that. It is not proper.” Then Svarupa-damodara said, “That is the negative side, but You will take prasada. That is the positive side. Jagannatha kaichi karyachena bhojana. You must

have direct experience of how Jagannatha tasted it.” From the objective world, to take it to the subjective, all feelings should be collected and applied towards the higher plane, and it must be drawn from the lower plane.

The Impulses of the Belly and Genitals

Jihva-vegam means the urge for that which is palatable to the tongue, and udara-vegam means the urge to fill one’s belly. We think, “No, I have not eaten. I have not taken much food. The belly seems to be very vacant to me. I shall take more.” That is udara-vegam. More and more – then it will swell. We should only take that amount of food that is necessary to keep up the health.

Upastha-vegam is the urge to get a pleasing sensation from the ladies and the desire for the company of women – for the men, the women and for the women, the men. We should try to check that tendency within us. That is mental; it is not even in the soul. That is only in the mind and that is the worst cause of our wandering in this world. Even from the tree to the demigods this sort of tendency is flowing and we must be very cautious not to fall prey to such a flow. It is a universal and very powerful flow and we must try our best to keep aloof from the flow of that plane as much as possible.

tomara kanaka bhogera janaka
kanakera dvare sevaha madhava
kaminira kama nahe tava dhama
tahara malika kevala yadava

Your wealth is simply used for mundane pleasure but you should use it in the service of Madhava. The desire for women is not your business because Krishna is their only true master.¹

The enjoying aspect of women is not for you, it is only reserved for Krishna – tahara malika kevala yadava. Krishna is the only enjoyer of the beauty of anything to be enjoyed from the women section. It is mentioned there, literally in this verse.

One gentleman came to our Guru Maharaja in Calcutta and said, “What do you mean by this? Then who are we? Have you written this in the literal sense? That all the women are meant only for the enjoyment of Krishna, only and none else?” Prabhupada answered, “Yes, yes! That is the true naked meaning of this. Such a type of enjoyment is meant only for Krishna, and all others are trespassers.” Kanaka – money. The master of money is Narayana, Laksmipati, and we are all his servants more or less in different ways. And Baladeva, the guru, is the master of name and fame. Kanaka, kamini, pratistha. Kamini is to be adjusted for the Krishna conception, otherwise we are lost. It must be adjusted with him. Any lady consciousness must have connection with Krishna.

Intelligent Adjustment

We are told that this jihva-vegam, udara-vegam, and upasthavegam are in a line. They all help each other. We must be very careful to be rid of them. They cause so much disaster in one’s life and have spoiled so many lives. We should be careful in our dealings with them. We must be very cautious about all these animal tendencies within us. Rather we are slaves to them. These different types of mentalities are masters and I am their slave. We must be independent of all these ‘masters’.

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesas
tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih
utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate sampratam labdha-buddhis
tvam ayatah saranam abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye

For so long I have obeyed the wicked dictates of lust, anger, greed, madness, delusion, and hatred, yet they never took pity on me, and I have felt neither shame nor the desire to give them up. O Lord of the Yadu Dynasty, now that my intelligence has been awakened, I am leaving them behind. I surrender myself unto You who grants fearlessness. Please now engage me in Your service.²

These desires are my lords and they are using me as their slave, and such a helpless life I am leading here. In the name of a human being I have got so many shameful tendencies within me that even an animal cannot come to such a low standard. This is our self-analysis; our real nature will be like this – a shameful nature within. Our real enemies are within, not without. And within, the Lord is there in the heart and the kingdom of the Lord is much higher. We have that consolation, hope and prospect. We must give a bond and try to keep that promise, then help will come from that higher plane and it will drive away all these superficial enemies that are dancing like demons on the surface of our mind. They must be driven away. And help will come from within, if we seek it and if we cooperate.

The agents of the Lord are more powerful. If we really invite them, then the sadhus, the agents of the Supreme Lord, will come and drive away all these things. These demonic demonstrations on the surface of the mind will be driven away forever and we will have happy engagement in the service of the Lord. We will be free from all these demonic masters. That is not a cheap achievement. Gradually it will be controlled. If you want to hunt an animal, it takes some time to kill it. These anarthas are there and to dispense with them, some time is necessary. But the energy to kill them, to remove them, should be gathered by us from higher sources. Then with less energy we can do away with them.

kiba se karite para, kama krodha sadhakare
yadi haya sadhu-janara sanga

What can lust and anger do to the practitioner who takes shelter of saintly association?³

What harm can lust, greed and anger do to a seeker of the truth who is on the path of divine realization, if he can have the intimate association of a sadhu? In other words, they cannot do anything because something is being spent but it is a sideincome. If help is coming from the higher then that supersedes the expenditure to the lower and the lower thing cannot do any harm – kama krodha sadhakare. And there is also kausala. Kausala means intelligent adjustment – we can get relief. In this regard Narottama Thakura says,

kama krsna karmarpane, krodha bhakta-dvesi jane
lobha sadhu-sanga hari katha
moha ista-labdha-bine, mada krsna-guna-gane
niyukta kariba yatha tatha

I will use lust in the service of Krishna, anger against those who are inimical towards the devotees and greed for associating with sadhus and hearing krsna-katha. I will become bewildered only when I cannot attain my worshipable Lord. Madness will manifest when I intensely glorify the divine qualities of Krishna. In this way I will utilize all of these.⁴

Kama krsna karmarpane – some impulse we feel within. Try to utilize that force and regulate it in the service of Krishna. Krodha bhakta-dvesi jane – try to use anger towards those who are antagonistic to the sadhus, the krsna-bhaktas. Lobha sadhu-sanga– you may try to engage greed by hearing from the lips of the sadhu. Moha ista-labha bine – sometimes depression comes. Try to utilize it when you are separated from the sadhu. Mada krsna guna-gane – sometimes overflowing energy appears within us. Engage that overflowing energy in dancing and chanting the name of Krishna. Niryukta kariba yatha tatha – try to regulate all these things in the service of Krishna. If you do this you will be free from them in no time.

asankalpaj jayet kamam
krodham kama-vivarjanat
arthanartheksaya lobham
bhayam tattvavamarsanat

With strong determination, one should give up lusty desires and anger by rejecting the objective for sense gratification. On should give up greed by evaluation of the obstacles of accumulating wealth and by analyzing reality one should abandon fear.⁵

In the Bhagavatam it is mentioned by Devarsi Narada, asankalpaj jayet kamam – you have so many designs and plans to carry out. Asankalpa – don’t enter! Don’t allow yourself to enter such ambitious speculations. Don’t allow yourself to be busy with such big ambitious engagements in life. Krodham kama-vivarjanat – bad temper sometimes comes within you, so withdraw from the beginning. Don’t identify yourself fully with a particular plan – if any hindrance comes to you, you will be fully entangled. If you are not addicted to a particular plan then there is no chance of being excited. Arthanartheksaya lobham – you have so much greed for money. You have to discriminate, “What is the charm of money?” Whatever you can construct, that automatically vanishes in course of time, so what is the charm of money? Bhayam tattvavamarsanat – and if you have any fear or apprehension then you have to discriminate – tattvavamarsanat. So many things are combined – matter, water, ether, which come and stay for sometime and then disappears. Birth and death, in the course of nature, is coming and going everywhere. Every second something is born and every second something is dying. Calculating in this way you should leave your fear. A long list is given there in Bhagavatam and in the conclusion it is said:

rajas tamas ca sattvena
sattvam copasamena ca
etat sarvam gurau bhaktya
puruso hy anjasa jayet

Through devotion to the spiritual master one can easily conquer the modes of passion and ignorance by cultivation of the mode of goodness and giving up attachment to those modes.⁶

Master of the World

Etat sarvam gurau bhaktya puruso hy anjasa jayet – all these undesirable things can be checked only by concentrating one’s attention to the service of guru. “My guru has ordered? Then no fear, because my absolute guide has ordered it.” We may take this advantage and everything will disappear in no time. Very easily you will be able to cross over all these difficulties if you concentrate only on the divine feet of your guru. “He is my guide, I am not my own. I belong to him. Whatever he will instruct I must do without caring for my individual loss and gain.” In this way, whatever we have got, we may try to utilize that as much as possible in the service of the Lord and in that way He may be able to purge these anarthas from our heart very soon and very easily.

Etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat – one who can control all these animal tendencies, who is master of his own self and his own mind, can be master of the world. He is a Goswami proper. He is eligible to give instruction and make disciples all over the world and the number of disciples cannot make him deviate from his standpoint. These are the sadhus who come under the flag of Sri Caitanyadeva. All these things are recorded for our benefit and caution in the Upadesamrta which was given by Mahaprabhu through Rupa Goswami to us in detail.

1. Vaisnava ke? – 3
2. Cc.Madhya 22.16
3. Premabhakti- candrika 2.11
4. Prema-bhakti-candrika 2.10
5. Bhag. 7.15.22
6. Bhag. 7.15.25