Sunday, October 28, 2007

 

# posted by Arunava Mukerji @ 3:29 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

 

Quest for the Absolute

In order to know about God or the Absolute Truth , we have to go thru three steps. These are

1. Samvandha ( Our relationship with God)

2. Abhidheya ( What is our duty to achieve our goal of reaching the abode of God )

3. Prayojana ( What is necessary to get to the abode of God )


An example will enlighten it further.

Suppose King has come to town , but a little boy does not know who the king is or how the boy is connected with the king. The boy's father may tell him that king is the proprietor of everything and if anybody can meet the king all his problems will be solved. This knowledge when applied to God is called Samvandha Jnan.

Then the question arises how to go to him . The boy may be told that he will have to stand in a queue or do various austerities to be able to go to the king. To achieve God these austerities are reading Shastra observing some regulative principles or performing duties as instructed by Spiritual Master. These activities aimed at achieving God are known as Abhidheya.

The boy may then ask what shall I get if I stand in queue and do all the austerities for seeing the king ? The answer is Gate pass. This is the only thing he needs to see the king. For seeing God this gate pass is Prema or Love for God. This is called Prayojana. Now what is this prema like ? This Prema is without any reason (Ahaituki) and ceaseless ( Apratihata)

This is the purport of all religion . Why then one has to undergo so much effort for so long time to achieve God ? The answer is : one writes only a few pages in the examination hall, to pass the exam. But to be able to do so he has to read so many voluminous books and notes throughout the year, day in and day out.
This process of achieving God is called Sanatana Dharma or Nitya Dharma. This is the religion of the soul or eternal religion and is not dependent on time place or circumstances. All other religion which is based on material well being or connected to the body
are called Naimittik Dharma ( Religion performed for some purpose) and are not eternal.


Let us discuss more about Samvanda , Abhideya and Prayojana one by one

Samvanda Jnan:

This is really knowledge about God and our relationship with Him.

Scripture says : Ishwara Parama Krsna Saccidananda Vigraha
Anadir Adir Govinda Sarva Karana Karanam

Here it is clearly stated that Parama Ishwara or Supreme controller is Krsna who has transcendental body , who is the primeval Lord and cause of all causes.
There may be other smaller controllers or Ishwara but Supreme Controller or Parama Ishwara is Krsna. Some people say God does not have a form , this is not correct. Though God does not have any material form but He definitely has a spiritual form which is Eternal ,All cognizant and full of Bliss (Sat-Cit-Ananda Vigraha) God is the cause of all causes . Scientists may find some cause for some particular event but the chain does not end there ;if we go to the beginning of the cause and effect chain we will find Krsna at the beginning .Absolute truth is not formless but he has the form of a two handed young man having the blue color of fresh cloud as his bodily hue playing flute and bedecked with beautiful jewellery . He is more charming than the cupid and his body is very soft. He is Govinda the primeval Lord who is worshippable by everybody. Of, course this form is spiritual and not material . So anything that refers to God is Samvandha.


Abhidheya:

This is the process necessry to be performed to achieve Lord. In short this is the purifying process to cleanse our heart so that it becomes worthy place for the Lord to appear there . To begin the process one has to begin chanting of Hare Krsna Mahamantra which is as under:

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

One has to take a counting device with 108 beads and chant this mahamantra on each of these beads so that completing one round means chanting 108 times .Simultaneously one has to search for a bonafide Guru who is in disciplic succession in line of say Mahaprabhu Sri Krsna Caitanya and who has been empowered by his Guru to initiate others. It is said that by grace of The Lord one gets a bonafide Guru and by grace of the Guru one gets the Lord.When one begins chanting on beads God will definitely help him find a bonafide Guru. Initially one may start with chanting of 4 rounds and gradually it can be increased to 16 rounds per day. Guru wil instruct him to observe following regulative principles:

1. No eating of meat, fish, eggs etc
2. No intoxication including tea . coffee alcochol, tobacco, marijuana or anything of the sort
3. No Gambling
4. No illicit relations

If one leads such regulated life and chants regularly he is sure to get results within 6 months if not earlier.Of, course chanting has to be without offences which can be found on any book on Offences of Holy name. However , sincere desire is the main thing and if that is there everything will fall in place automatically. This is called Sadhana which also includes observing some other austerities like observing Ekadashi, fasting on some days etc. So Bhakti or Devotion is Abhidheya.

Prayojana :

Now the question is what is the outcome of such Sadhana or austerities ?

The reply is , these austerities purify our heart and as soon as purification starts
our heart develops love for Krsna which has remained dormant in our heart since time immemorial.No body can give this love from outside rather it is already there in everybody's heart but has remained covered with dust due to contamination with material world . It is the duty of the Guru to remove this dust which consists of Lust, Greed ,Anger, Illusion and Envy and re kindle the love for Krsna which is already there in everybody's heart. This love for God is called Krsna Prema and when it becomes concentrated and pure one has nothing more to achieve. This is the gate pass to the abode of God and even demigods like Brahma Shiva or Durga are eager to get this Krsna Prema.This Prema was distributed freely to all and sundry without consideration of his worthiness by Caitanya Mahaprabhu ( God himself ) when he appeared in Bengal 519 years ago.
So Prema or Pure Love of God is Prayojana.








The Cult of Bhakti ( Devotion)
There are 4 classes of transcendentalists viz. Karma Yogi(Fruitive workers) , Jnan Yogi(Seekers of knowledge), Siddha yogi(Seekers of mystic powers by severe austerities and bodily gymnastics) and Bhaktas ( Devotees of Lord Krsna)
Karmayoga:
The word Yoga means connection. So Yogis try to connect to God by various activities. Karma Yogis or Fruitive workers work very hard for material gain but when the results come they offer it to Krsna without using it themselves. This process is recommended in Gita in the following verse:
Yat karosi Yad Asnasi Yad Juhosi Dadasi Yat
Yat Tapaswasi Kaunteya Tad Kurushya Mad arpanam
Krsna says to Arjuna whatever you do , whatever you eat, whatever you sacrifice(in Jajna),whatever you give in charity or whatever you meditate upon give it unto me.
By following this process one becomes free from the effects of karma -good or bad -and can thus achieve Krsna who is beyond material dualities . This material world is full of dualities like good and bad , male and female, poor and rich ,Left and right High and low etc. This duality exists even in highest of material planes like heaven or even Brahmaloka and therefore devotees dont want to go to those places (although there are far more opportunities of sense enjoyment in those places) but want to go back to the kingdom of God which is completely spiritual and beyond all dualities. This abode of God is also beyond the effect of time (Kala) ,which also means destruction , and everything there is Nitya( Present Tense) and there is no question of past tense or future tense. This is not quite comprehensible for us how time can be absent , but then square root of minus 1 is equally baffling and imaginary for us althogh we are using its effects in everyday practical life. To progress in Karma Yoga one has to finally come to the loving devotional service to the Lord which is the ultimate purpose of our human life.
Jnan Yoga :
Jnanis or seekers of knowledge can understand by their intelligence that this world is a place of suffering and temporary. (Dukkhalayam , Asaswatam) . One has to undergo various sufferings in the repeated cycle of birth, disease, old age and death. They therefore want to get rid of this cycle by controlling their mind in the absolute which according to their conception is forlmless impersonal. This impersonal state is actually bodily effulgence of the Supreme Lord and since they concentrate their mind there they get salvation from the cycle of birth , death old age and disease. This is called Mukti or becoming free from the suffering of this material world. But since no service can be offered to the Lord in His impersonal form the Jnana Yogi cannot find any taste and are apt to fall down being attracted again by material world, which they overcame by great effort. To progress further from this state one has to worship Govinda in His personal form with love and devotion
Siddha Yoga or Astanga Yoga:
In this process one performs severe bodily austerities as prescribed in the Astanga Yoga with an aim to gain some mystical power. There are asta siddhis or eight fold mystical powers which are:
Being lighter than air
Being heavier than the Earth
Being immensely big
Being microscopically small
To be able to go to any desired place
To control others
To get any desirable thing
To be able to die at any desired place or time or to be able to take re birth in a desired family
Hiranyakashipu or Ravana were great yogis and they accumulated huge power and fortune but because of their lack of devotion to the Lord ( rather hostility to the Lord ) they were destroyed
pathetically.
However if a Yogi wants to concentrate on the spiritual form of the Lord he is the best.
Bhakti Yoga or Devotional Service:
Devotees only try to be associated with the Lord loving devotional service and does not want anything in return. Srimad Bhagavatam says this is real religion , and all other things which ask for some return from the Lord in in lieu of some service is fake religion. Devotees are not even concerned about their own safety or well being, because Krsna has promised that whoever becomes Krsna 's devotee he will never be destroyed. Devotees can serve the Lord in 5 ways each way gives a different Rasa ( Taste or mellow) to the practitioner. Because of this Rasa devotee is not likely to fall down because taste of these Rasas are spiritual . These Rasas are:
Santa ( Mind is set in a state of tranquility by concentrating on lotus feet of the Lord)
Dasya: (Master and servant relation with the Lord )
Sakhya ( Relation of friendship with the Lord )
Batsalya( Relation of Parent Child relation with the Lord, treating the Lord as one's son )
Madhurya ( Conjugal relation with the Lord)
Every Rasa has all the qualities of the previous Rasas and something more, highest being the Madhurya Rasa . In Santa Rasa there is not much scope of service to the Lord but in all other Rasas one can offer loving devotional service to the Lord . However Santa Rasa is no mean achievement and only after lots of sadhana or endeavour can one reach that state.
In Dasya Rasa one has a master servant relation with the Lord and in fact this is the most convenient form of serving the Lord by neophyte devotees. One should do book distribution , preaching work . cleaning temple or any other work favourable to Krsna's service with a mood of serving the Lord. The best example is Hanumana and his devotion and service to Lord Ramachandra is the epitome of Dasya Rasa.
The other three higher Rasas are called Vrindavan Rasas as these Rasas cannot be enjoyed without some environment. Friendship can be made only among equals, so how can any one establish friendship with the Lord ? Similarly how can one be Lord's parents and chastise Him ? or have conjugal relationship with the Lord? To enjoy these rasas one has to forget Krsna is God and also Krsna has to forget that He is God. This is necessary for enrichment of these pastimes. Krsna's internal energy viz. Atmamaya or Yogamaya performs this trick. It is not that Krsna's identity as God is not known to the practitioners of these rasas but they (devotees) are more interested in interaction with Krsna in different rasas than Krsna's identity as God. For example mother of the Prime Minister knows that her son is the Prime minister but she wants to deal with him as her son.
Arjuna and all the cowherd boys who were associates of Krsna are the best examples of devotees in Sakhya Rasa ( Pastime in Friendly relationship with God)
Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yashoda are the perfect example of devotees serving the Lord in Vatsalya Rasa (Pastime in the mode of Parental Love)
Similarly all the gopis (cowherd girls) of Vrindavana specially Sri Radha are the topmost devotees in Madhurya Rasa. This is the best perfection in devotional service and nothing can be better than this. This rasa is known as Parakiya Rasa whereas Krsna's pastimes with His own queens in Dwarka is called Swakiya Rasa.
This Rasa is not to be misunderstood as commonplace love between a boy and a girl, which is absolutely abominable and not love at all but simply lust. Love to Krsna is not mundane but highest form of spiritual service to the Lord. As this material world is the mirror image of the spiritual world , the highest thing of the spiritual world is reflected as the most abominable thing in this material world. Example is a Banyan tree , which when reflected in the water of a pond has its root upwards and the branches downwards. For this reason all great philosophers enjoying conjugal pastimes of Lord are strict celebates and avoid company of women and womanisers.
Some frequently asked questions and answers.

Q What are the seperated energies of the Lord ?

A. This is like Cow and the milk. Milk is obtained from the cow and without cow there will be no milk, yet milk is not the cow. So milk is the seperated energy of the cow. Similarly everything in this material world down to the atoms and molecules are created by the Lord and are His seperated energy , yet God maintains His seperate identity independent of these. These created things are called seperated energies of the Lord. These created things are at the same time the Lord and not the Lord , like Sun's rays which are inseperable from the Sun .Sun's rays are at the same time the Sun and not the Sun .

Q. What are the different energies of the Lord ?

A. Energies of the Lord are three fold : Internal (Yogamaya or Atmamaya ), External (Mahamaya) and Marginal (Tatastha)

By internal energy, Lord expands Himself as Vishnu or Narayana or different incarnations like Rama, Balarama,Nrisimha etc. and performs His pastimes.

By external energy Lord creates this material universe by entering into every atom . God is not directly connected with this material universe but everything happens by His vision only.

By marginal energy Lord creates all the living beings . Living beings are called marginal because they have minute independence by which they can either be associated with the spiritual nature of the Lord and thus become transcendental or can be associated with the material nature and be bound by the stringent laws of material nature and suffer. An iron rod is an example, when it is associated with fire it acquires the qualities of fire and emits heat and light like fire. Again when the same iron rod is buried in the earth for some time it becomes like dust and becomes indistinguishable from the earth. This is an example of importance of good association . Even if one gets association of a truely saintly person for a moment it can save him from repeated cycles of birth death old age and disease. One should understand there is nothing to enjoy in this material world and whatever seems to be enjoyable at the beginning ultimately leads to immense distress. This is because we try to enjoy everything independent of Krsna who is the real owner and therefore Krsna's police- maya- deludes us and binds us and puts us into immense distress just like a thief. If however we change our ways and offer everything to Krsna then we can safely use everything without any adverse reaction just as a good son enjoys his father's property .

Q. Can you try to differentiate between Spiritual world and material world on the basis of modern scientific knowledge ?

A. First of all I must confess that my endeavour to do this is purely based on my personal understanding and therefore I must beg to be excused if I am found wrong. This endeavour is made to build a bridge between religion and science.

Matter needs space for its existence . Again matter is always changing or evolving . In other words matter is not only being but also becoming . The process of becoming gives rise to the concept of time . Now this becoming or changing can be of two kinds - reversible and irreversible. In material world all changes are irreversible because with every change an entity called entropy always increases and it cannot be decreased by any means . In other words it says that with passage of time everything is going towards destruction and the process cannot be reversed. This is the reason why time is called the Kala or great destroyer. Theoretically we can assume that negative entropy state can be possible for spirit or non matter. Thus reversible changes will be possible for spirit. In other words spirit can exist for ever as it need not head towards destruction owing to constant increase of entropy. Also spirit does not occupy any space and therefore concept of space and time should be absent in the spiritual world , which is confirmed by scriptures. It is also mentioned in the scriptures that spirit is all cognizant and everything done in the spiritual world is done out of sheer joy and not out of any compulsion . Thus spiritual world has three qualities

Sat ( The sense of Being )

Chit ( All cognizant )

Ananda (Pleasure Potency )

It is mentioned in the scripture that Lord's internal energy which predominates in the spiritual world acts in three ways : these are Hladini (Responsible for the Pleasure potency) ,Sandhini ( Responsible for the sense of Being ) and Sambit ( Responsible for knowledge) . Our body is the product of the material nature or the external energy of the Lord but our true self or soul belongs to Spiritual world controlled by the internal energy of the Lord. The three components of internal energy are also referred to as follows.

Bala (Strength, indicating sense of being ) -- Sat

Jnana( Indicating knowledge)---Cit

Kriya(Indicating pleasure as everything done is a pastime)--Ananda

We can quote one relevant verse from the scripture in this connection which is :

Na tasya karyam karanan ca vidyate

Na tat samasca vi adhikascha drisyate

Parasya saktir bibidhaiva sruyate

Swabhabiki Jnana Bala Kriya ca

This describes the supreme Lord as : There exists neither any duty for HIM nor any reason for His action, There exists none who is equal to or greater than Him , His internal energy is divided into three parts which are Jnan( Knowledge), Bala (Strength) and Kriya (action )
Q. According to Vedic scriptures what are the elements this universe is made of ?
A. This universe consists of :
5 Gross elements(Earth, Water, Fire , Air and Ether)
5 sense organs (Eye,Ear, Nostril,Tongue and skin)
5 sense objects ( Form, Sound,Smell,Taste and Touch)
5 working organs( Mouth, Hand,Leg, Anus and Genital)
3 Subtle sense organs( Mind, Intelligence and False ego)
Pradhan ( Unmanifest form which gives rise to the entire universe)
We thus find 24 elements above which there is individual soul which is the 25th element and above all there is the Super Soul .
Our ego is termed as false ego as we consider ourselves as masters and enjoyers in this material world. This crisis of identity of ours is caused by Lord's external potency Mahamaya, and is the cause of our bondage in this material world. Our true ego is to become Krsna's servant and serve Him and when we are so situated we go back to Kingdom of God from where we have all come. Because of our mistaken identity we fall prey to the following five negative aspects of our nature . These are :
Lust
Anger
Greed
Illusion
Pride
Envy
As one progresses in one's spiritual life these negative qualities go away one by one. The last one viz. envy is very difficult to get rid of and when one does overcome it he becomes situated in transcendental stage .
Q. What is the aim of life ?
A. This question has been answered in Bhagavad Gita in the eighteenth chapter first verse. It says the aim of life is renunciation and being situated in transcendental stage. Renunciation mentioned here does not mean giving up everything and becoming stale. Krsna explains, the real renunciation means giving up that which is not connected or against Krsna but leaving one’s prescribed occupational duties which are directed towards serving Krsna, are surely not recommended. However, these duties are to be performed in un attached way but with enthusiasm and effort to do the work perfectly Only a person situated in the mode of pure goodness or in Suddha satta stage can understand the real meaning of renunciation..This stage is called Brahmabhuta stage or transcendental stage
Brahmabhuta Prasannatma na socati na kankhati
Sama sarvesu bhutesu madbhakti labhate param
A man in the transcendental stage neither hankers nor laments for anything and he is equipoised towards everyone and thus he gets pure love of god.

Q. What are different types of charity according to the three modes of material nature ?
A. Just as there are three modes of material nature --Sattwa(goodness), Raja(passion) and Tama ( Ignorance) --similarly charity can also be three types which are described below :
Charity in the mode of goodness : This is proper charity. This is done at a proper place and time to a proper person viz. a qualified brahmana or a devotee of the Lord with due respect . One gets transcendental benefit because of such charity.
Charity inthe mode of passion: This is done out of some expectation and not with proper respect. Many people donate money for the purpose of name or fame or for getting some political milage or the like. These charities are all in the mood of passion . No transcendental benefit can be had out of such charities. One may at best get some material benefit.
Charity in the mode of Ignorance: This is the form of charity which is given to some intoxicated person or a person in deluded condition. There is no question of respect in such charities and one can derive only misery out of such charities.
Q. Now that so much scientific advancement has been achieved why should one bother about religion ?
A. Religion gives one the direction in life. To know how important it is to have a direction in life read the following story:
The pilot of an aircraft addresses the passengers and says : Ladies and gentlemen I have both good news and bad news for you . The good news is that our aircraft is very modern and of state of the art design. It has got all the facilities to provide maximum comfort to the passengers and it is cruising at a very high speed . The bad news is that we donot know in which direction we are flying and what is our destination.
Will you board such an aircraft ?
Second point is that science is not that advanced as it is made out to be. At least it is unable to solve the 4 basic problems of life : Birth death old age and disease. Scientists make tall claims about producing life in the laboratory but it will never happen. They always say we will produce life in the near future . These are like post dated cheques which can never be encashed . They are even unable to produce a blade of grass or a drop of milk or a drop of blood in the laboratory without the help of life force, so their claim about producing life in the laboratory without the help of another living being is nothing but hoax.
Q. If God does not have a material form why do we worship Him in images made of clay or stone or wood ?
A. It is certainly true that God does not have a material form , but He has a spiritual form made of Sat(Eternal), Cit (All cognizant) and Ananda (Bliss) . But God has also recommended that if any body offers his prayers to a deity of Him in prescribed form He will accept it to be offered to Him although the deity may be made of material objects. It is to be understood that if worship is done in a way as prescribed in scriptures the deity form becomes spiritualised. One example in this regard is a road side letter box authorised by the post office. If one drops a letter in such a box the letter will go to its destination. But the same is not true for any other box which are not authorised. If one drops a letter in such an unauthorised box it will not go anywhere. Similarly we cannot worship God in any form we fancy and think God is accepting it. We have to carefully follow the instructions of the scriptures and act accordingly to be able to progress in our spiritual life.

Q. Is there any conflict between science and religion ?

A. Actually there should not be any conflict between the two as true religion is the greatest science ; but if so called scientists cross their territory and comment on something which they don't know then they clearly violate religious principles and make themselves laughing stock. One example is Big Bang theory. According to the scientists Universe started with an explosion after all the ingredients were kept in the condensed form and thereafter everything fell into place to form this extremely complex system. It is easier to believe that a monkey with a typewriter will one day compile an Oxford Dictionary just by pressing the keys randomly. On the other hand Srimad Bhagavatam contains complete information about creation of this universe .This information is Nitya or true for all time to come and not like modern day scientists who change their theories every ten years.

If Big Bang theory is true why don't the scientists make a small bang experiment in which they put all the building materials together and then make an explosion as a result of which a building should appear complete in all respects.Since it is a pre condition for all scientific experiments that it should be repeatable it is only pertinent to ask for such an experiment. If this cannot be done and yet people are asked to keep faith on such scientists then it is nothing but blind faith or dogma which they are reducing the science to.

Q. What are the qualifications to practice Krsna consciousness ?

A. One needs to have only one qualification ie surrender to The Lord without reservations with a mood of loving devotion. Besides that Krsna does not want anything from us. Even the most degraded person is eligible to follow the path of Krsna consciousness if he is sincere in his mind. No one is past the hour of judgement . However sooner or later one needs to have a bonafide spiritual master to continue further .

Q. How can a thief or a murderer or a prostitute be eligible for Krsna Consciousness being situated in a degraded state of life ?

A. It is not always easy to judge a man by his external actions . Somebody may be forced to kill a person to save his own life . That does not make him a murderer . Similarly due to harsh material conditions one may have to take to deception or stealing just to earn a living ; that does not degrade him if he is able to keep his Krsna consciousness awake within him . I am not pleading in favor of breaking social laws , but one must consider that it is the function of the government or the king to arrange proper opportunity for its citizens and ensure a proper living condition . If the government is unable to do that and becomes insensitive to the plight of the people then it is the failure of the government and not of its citizens . Every person has the right to live properly and he may have to break social laws in extreme cases if the ruler of the land is incapable. Similarly a woman may have to take to prostitution due to adverse circumstances but if she can still remain Krsna conscious she is not degraded according to God's law. The bench mark is whether one always carries the Lord in his heart all the time or not and whether he/she does things favourable to Krsna consciousness . If the answer is in the affirmative then the person is much superior than many so called respectable persons who have no God consciousness. It is easy to preach from a high pedestal about virtues to be observed but to judge a person one has to come down to his level . God is not bound by social laws but He has His own laws and He always sees the heart of a person to judge in what consciousness some act was done and bestows results accordingly.

We can remember a story in this connection.

Bilwamangala Thakur was a great acharya in the Vishnuswamy sect (authorised Vaisnava parampara) . He was, in his youth ,very much attached to a prostitute called cintamani. In a tempestuous night he came to Cintamani overcoming the stormy weather and swimming a river.Cintamani then told him , if you can have this much eagerness to achieve the Supreme Lord you will get Him. Why waste your energy for an insignificant person like me ? This opened the eyes of Bilwamangala Thakur and eventually he became a pure devotee of The Lord. Thakur thereafter acknowledged that prostitute Cintamani as his spiritual master because it was she who opened his eyes.

Q. Can Krsna Consciousness help in reducing tension in modern life ?

A. Surely, but we must first know why tension is caused. It is mentioned in the 11th & 12th verse of 16th Chapter of Bhagavat Gita.
Since everything belongs to Krsna we must not use anything without Krsna's approval. If we violate Krsna's laws we will be regarded as thieves and Krsna's police will immediately bind us . Krsna's police is Maya and under its spell we will be under
illusion and will be unable to see things as they are. We will think ourselves to be the doer and achiever whereas Krsna is actually the bestower of results and nothing can take place without His approval. Sitting in one's heart as Paramatma He performs the function of a Witness and Approver of one's desire. If He does not approve nothing can happen. A materialistic man who has no knowledge about how a thing is performed thinks mistakenly that by proper planning he can achieve success. But this is an illusion , however meticulously he may have planned , everything in his possesion can go away in a moment by some calamity or disaster. Maya binds him with hundreds of ropes called hope by which he makes one plan after another without success till the end of his life . This is like a man running after mirage thinking he will be able to drink water if he goes there, but water is ever elusive and he will only run and run till he drops dead. Such is the condition of a material man in this world. Everybody is running after pleasure but real pleasure is not to be achieved in this material world. It is simply not there , and whatever we get in the name of pleasure in this world only increases our distress.It is therefore no wonder that a material man will always be full of anxiety because of failed attempts and uncertainty about success of his future plans.No medicine Psychiatrist or doctor can help him because it is beyond their realm. Only a Krsna Conscious person can help him by giving him the real knowledge about one's own self or his relation with the Lord, his duties as servant of The Lord and the ultimate goal of life ( Love of God or Krsna Prema). Only this knowledge is able to save him other wise his symptoms will only go from bad to worse and ultimately after death he may have to accept the body of an animal.Only man has the ability to search for the absolute truth and all other forms of life are guided by their animal propensities. If a man also behaves like an animal nature will give him a body which suits him best , after his death,and this can be the body of a cat or a dog. It is of course difficult to be advanced in Krsna consciousness but God has assured in Bhagavad Gita that whoever even tries a little to advance in this path, is saved from great dangers. God will prevent his going backwards and He will help him from inside ( by giving him the intelligence and knowledge) and outside ( by bringing him in contact with a real Krsna consciuos person or a Guru) so that he may gradually advance in the correct path . It is therefore said that by God's mercy one gets a proper Guru and by Guru's mercy one gets the Lord.

Q. How can Krsna Consciusness change the life of a man?

A. To practice Krsna consciousness we have to follow three steps.

These are

Knowledge

Skills

Attitude

Knowledge can be likened to Sambandha , Skills to Abhidheya and Attitude to Prayojana. These points have already been discussed in detail above. However when the attitude of a man changes due to the process , that is the most remarkable achievement. Due to our various Karma (Deed or action ) we acquire different attitudes which guide us or bind us and force us to suffer or enjoy depending upon our karma. Krsna consciousness causes to change our attitude properly so as to enable us to be prepared to get Krsna Prema ( Pure Love of God ) or highest perfection of life . At this stage we go beyond the duality of suffering or enjoyment ( both of which are suffering in the ultimate analysis) and be situated in the eternal state of mind depicted by Sat Chit and Ananda . In other words man can change his destiny by a change of attitude and Krsna Consciousness is a tool to do it perfectly.

Q. What is renunciation ?

A. Renunciation literally means forsaking everything material in order to achieve Spiritual Pleasure ( Brahma Nirvana ) . Many people also thinks it to be synonimus with refraining from all types of work or activities . But in Bhagavad Gita Lord says that if some one refrains from outward sense enjoyment without clensing one's heart from desires of such sense enjoyment , then he is a cheater . He is not only cheating others , but he is also cheating himself . Unless one is not absolutely desireless in his heart one should not leave one's duties as prescribed in the scriptures , because such actions cleanses one's heart . This is God's advice in Bhagavad Gita. God also says such form of renunciation is not suitable for this degraded age of Kali . Instead God says there is another form of renunciation by which one gets all the results of above mentioned form of renunciation , and much more .This new form of renunciation does not require one to leave anything , but it advises one to use everything for Krsna's service . Whatever you do whatever you eat , whatever you donate, whatever you sacrifice , or whatever austerity you undertake do for Krsna's service . You eat Krsna Prasadam ( eating food first offered to Krsna) , your earning , your knowledge, your family -everything is to be dovetailed to Krsna's service . Forsaking all material things is equal to accepting all material things for Krsna's service.While the former is of negative type , the latter is positive in nature and more satisfying . In this way one can serve Krsna according to his own propensity . A computer engineer can use his device for propagating Krsna consciousness by various ingenious ways .That's why Bhagavad Gita says doing one's prescribed duty in a Krsna conscious way is much better than doing no work .One's mood will be to satisfy Krsna only and he will have no other attachment to do the work. This was the path folowed by Maharaja Ambarish or King Janaka by which they went back to Godhead ( which is much better than achieving salvation ) even being involved in various material activities related to running their kingdoms. They did everything , but were detached in their heart because they were situated in proper consciousness and knew that only objective of human life is to satisfy Krsna . All other activities are not only useless but the cause of our bondage and suffering in this material world .

Some Important Discourses on Vaisnava Philosophy(From Sajjana Toshini)
Shri Chaitanya's Teachings
Shrimad Bhagavatam and Vaisnava Cult
by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur
These are answers to the questions put to the author by Pandit Shyamasundar Chakravarty, a famous leader of the Independence movement in India and also the then Chief Editor of Servant and Vasumati (eng).

Shyamasundar Chakravarty's Interview
Q: -- Which is the genuine commentary of the Brahma-Sutra?
A: -- It is the Shrimad Bhagavatam, which was explained by Shri Suta Goswami before sixty-thousand sages at Naimisharanya, the famous holy place in Uttara Pradesha. There is a good deal of difference between the Vedantic Schools of Kashi and Naimisharanya. The followers of the Naimisharanya School are genuine Vedantins since they accept only the genuine commentary of the Brahma-Sutra, and not the other spurious ones.

Q: -- Do not the Pandits of the Kashi School accept the Shrimad Bhagavatam?

A: -- They look upon the Bhagavatam as only one particular book among others, a particular Purana among other Puranas. They do not adopt it solely. We think there is no need for any other book than the Bhagavatam. Only those other books are acceptable that say something in its favour; the deliberations that go against it, are not worth being called spiritual.

Q: -- Is there any deliberation going against the Bhagavatam?

A: -- There is no deliberation in the world which is not against the Bhagavatam. All the different currents of thoughts of jivas averse to God from time immemorial are against it.

Q: -- But has there been any man who has openly stood against the Bhagavata deliberations?

A: -- Examples of the antagonist against the Bhagavata ideology have been seen since Satya-yuga (golden age). Hiranyakashipu was one among them. Such antagonists are of two types, disguised and unconcealed. The disguised antagonists are greater enemies than the open ones. Swami Dayananda, founder of the Arya Samaj, and Kaviraj Gangadhar Sen were open antagonists of the Bhagavatam. But the manner in which the Kashi School is conducted indicates covert views against the Bhagavatam. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu convinced Swami Prakasananda Saraswati, the then head of the Kashi School, with his followers numbering several thousands, about the indisputable superiority of the doctrine of the Naimisharanya School, so that understanding the evil sectarianism of the Kashi School, he entered to the Naimisharanya School with his followers.

Q: -- Is there no truth in other schools than that of Naimisharanya?

A: -- In other schools, truth is covered under delusion, but in the very beginning of the Vedanta Commentary (Shrimad Bhgavatam) of the Naimisharanya School it has been said: [1] "We always contemplate on the Truth freed from delusions." The plural number 'we' denotes the followers of the Naimisharanya School of Shri Vyasadeva's sect. Here have been indicated the plurality of the contemplators, the non-duality (or singularity) of the Prime Truth and the perpetuality of the connecting link or act, viz., contemplation. This contemplation does not cover the different modes of the thoughts of men. That Prime Truth is incomprehensible and transcendental (i.e., non-empiric).

Q: -- How can the thing be incomprehensible which is capable of being contemplated on?

A: -- Our previous Guru, in the preceptorial line, Shri Rupa Goswami Prabhu, has said in his Shri Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu: [2] "What, transcending all courses of thought, appears in the heart brightened up with shuddha-sattva and assumes the highest excellence of tasty sweetness, is called Rasa." It is through the function of vishudha-sattva (the purest or transcendental sattva) or the highest Guru, that Vasudeva, (the Highest Truth) can be contemplated on. Sattva which is one of the three gunas with rajas and tamas is not 'vishuddha sattva'. Vishuddha-sattva is not something of this world. "The name of Vishuddha-sattva is Vasudeva. The Transcendental Purusa who manifests Himself in it is God Vasudeva. I contemplate on that Adhokshaja (Supra-empiric Entity) with my mind." [3] Shiva says this to Sati. The term "Adhokshaja' means what is beyond the scope of material senses. Godhead is He, Who has reserved the absolute right of not being exposed to present human senses.

Q: -- If God is such an Entity, why, then is the phrase 'with my mind' used in the Bhagavata quotation?

A: -- Bhagavatam says, "The mind, purified with Bhakti-yoga having been thoroughly concentrated, Shri Vyasadeva had a view of the Plenary God with Svarupa-Shakti or Self-Potency also with maya sheltered in a covered manner." [4] The worldly man's mind is the heart, which is the store-house of decisions and doubts, and the mind which is incessantly engaged in the services of Krishna, giving up the material determination of enjoyments and renunciations, is the pure mind, the sporting ground of the Primary Entity. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has said: "Others' hearts are minds, but My mind is Vrindavana, I know the mana (mind) and the vana (Vrindavana, place for Krishna's sports) as the same." Our previous Guru, Srila Narothama Thakura, also has said: "When will my mind be purified, having given up vishaya (sensual objects) and when, then, shall I be able to see Vrindavana?" 'Plenary Entity' indicates Omnipotent God. We cannot see Him with karma or jnana. With karma can be had what is available in the field of karma and not what is beyond it. What nirbheda (absolutely non-distinct) jnana, too, we cannot see Him, for in it the distinction of the seer, the see-able and the seeing is extinguished. God has said [5] "It is with Bhakti that one may know Me in the aspect of truth as regards My Entireness and Entity." He has also said to Shri Uddhava "I am available with ananya-bhakti (exclusive devotion) to Me alone." [6]

Q: -- What is Maya?

A: -- The derivative meaning of maya is what is measurable. Bhagavan is the Lord of maya; He cannot be measured. Where there is attempt to measure God, there is maya and not God. 'ma ' means 'not' and 'ya ' means 'what', i.e., 'what is not God', is maya. The 'maya' as said in the Shrimad Bhagavatam is not like the Satin in the Christian theology, a separate entity from God, altogether another entity. According to the Bhagavata school, maya is in Bhagavan (God) in the condemned state [7] in order to award condign punishment on the atomic sentience (i.e. jivas) controlled by maya. In the Gita God has said [8]: "Earth, water, fire, air, sky, the mind, intelligence and egoism - these constitute My separate inferior potency, whereas other than this is My superior potency constituting the jivas by which is supported the universe." This inferior potency is the maya potency. This inferior potency has been stupefying the jivas that are apathetic towards God since before the beginning of time and causing misunderstanding in them, sometimes assuming the form of 'twenty-four items of entity' of Kapila, (the originator of the Sankhya System), sometimes as the 'atom' of Kanada (of the Vaiseshika System), sometimes also as Jaimini's principle of 'elevation' (in the Purva Mimamsa System), sometimes again as the 'sixteen objects' of Gautama (in the Nyaya System), sometimes as 'superhuman power and absolute oneness with God' of Patanjali (of the Yoga System), and sometimes as the pretence of search after Brahman (of the Shankar School).

Q: -- Why does such an event happen?

A: -- Because the jivas have free will of their own.

Q: -- Then how can this be reconciled with the teaching of the Gita which says: "God stays in the heart of all the creatures and makes them whirl round, in a machine, as it were, by the agency of maya"? [9]

A: -- This instruction in the Gita rather supports the above statement. It is Shri Vishnu Who is God, the Controller of all beings. God gives the jivas the fruit according as they perform karma. Their nature acts under the direction of God according to their previous karma. Jiva is the doer and God is the Giver. God's authority is seen in the giving of the fruits and governance of the cause and effect. So God is the Giver of the fruit and the jivas, the enjoyers thereof.

Q: -- Why is there the independence of the jivas?

A: -- Jivas are the atomic parts of God, the vibhu-chit (Plenary Sentience). The property of the sea, viz., water, is present in an atomic degree in a drop, too. Vibhu (or Over Lord) God is totally independent; there is independence in anu-chit-jiva (i.e., atomic sentience), too, proportionally.

Q: -- Is the proper use or abuse of the independence of jivas instigated by God?

A: -- If it had been God-instigated, then that would have amounted to the service of God and not caused the Jiva's forgetfulness about Him.

Q: -- Then how can the conclusion be arrived at, viz., 'everything depends upon God's Will'? I am putting these questions not for the sake of discussion, I am asking them, because you are a great scholar and a great devotee at the same time. In the Hindi Gita of Shri Tilaka I read an abhanga (panegyric to God) by Tuka-Rama, the sense of which runs thus: "O God, if my karma brings me liberation, then what should I have to do with You?"

A: -- The Shrimad Bhagavatam has given a reply to this:[10] "He is an heir to liberation, O God, who, feeling Your Grace in every thing and enduring the troubles caused by his own karma, bows down to You with mind, speech and body i.e., whole-heartedly". He who has acquired fitness for being freed from the world, understands that if the blame is laid at the door of God, then, on account of the want of the tendency towards doing service to God, liberation is never available, but only that person can easily become the possessor of the position of liberation, who is fortunate in having the tendency for the chit -service aroused in him, and he can be more attracted towards God, considering all the troubles and difficulties as His Grace.

Q: -- Then, are the sins, that we commit, due to God's Grace?

A: -- No, they are not. The predilection for sins has been given to test us, in the same manner as money, paddy, a copy of the Shrimad Bhagavatam, etc., are placed before an infant at the time of the first-rice ceremony to see what it takes according to its innate tendency. Before the thread ceremony, too, the Acharya tests the tendency of the boy to be initiated. God's cruelty is what the human intellect apprehends when it is apathetic towards God. If one takes it to be a punishment, it is to be understood that such a one is wanting in a serving temper and in attraction for God. God is the shelter for all. He sends many obstacles and inconveniences to those who wish for shelter under Him, in order to test their ardour and steadiness. For example, when the Vaidya prescribes bitter and astringent medicines and distasteful diets, or the doctor opens the abscess with his lancet, if the patient, is displeased with them, on the ground that they are cruel and not his well-wishers, his decision is wrong, as he has taken his real friends to be enemies. The divine potency, maya, has kept tempting objects as exhibits for alluring me, just as the fishing hook or the net, or the rat-trap or the chain, is set to delude fish, rats, elephants, etc. The object is that I may thereby get more and more entangled in the worldly meshes. Misled by these deluding traps, sometimes I become a wanton performer of misdeeds, sometimes a philanthropist doing good deeds, sometimes again consider oneness with non-distinct Brahman as the good for me, feeling a high regard for the doctrines of Buddha, Shankaracharya or Kapila. Maya Devi has placed in order alluring things according to the diverse temperments of the persons who are deluded by the tenets of karma or jnana due to their having desires to things other than the Truth. Jiva will attain his true well-being, when he engages himself in the accounts relating to God; there is no other way thereto. God does not set up obstructions against anyone, and He is not the destroyer of chetana-dharma or sentience in him. It would have been an act of cruelty on His part, if He had placed obstacles against this sentience; He is only informing the sentient entities of what is the proper use of their sentience and what are its abuses.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has asked us not to act upon the instructions of the sage Jaimini about worldly elevations, nor upon those of Shri Dattatreya, Shankara, etc., about the culture of non-distinct Brahman; for that is not the proper use of our sentience or independence. Just work for doing service to God and never do a thing which is not meant for it. He has said all this for the true well-being of jivas who have got material perceptions for generating, rather uncovering, their sentience. No one is engaged in a piece of work being propelled by a desire for distress. The bereaved mother is hitting her chest hard with her hands and hurting her head against a piece of stone only to destroy her grief. A patient is belching out by disturbing his throat with his fingers, only to obtain a speedy relief. The Karmis being desirous of the fruit of their karma are making different performances only to get such speedy remedies. Their inner motive is to secure instantaneous relief. Being duped by matters pleasant for the time being they are running towards the mirage of maya. According to them, the method for the speedy end of worldly troubles is: 'I shall be the overlord of the world, become Indra of the heaven, or enjoy and distribute the various worldly enjoyments.' This is only apathy towards God. The culture of non-distinct Brahman is only another phase in our attempts to secure a speedy remedy. The fact is that we want some fees (i.e., the return of some good for our exertions) in some shape or another. We run for enjoyments when we think ourselves dissociated from God. Then we think that it is necessary to make the proper use of our canine teeth, to revel in the functions peculiar to youth, to bring round other people to civic order or social civilization, and so forth. Those attempts are only the results of our forgetfulness about God. These predilections are only meant for enjoyment, as God has said: "All acts are performed by the gunas of nature or maya, and being misled by egotism I thing [sic] myself as the doer. [11]

The jivatma is an entity beyond the gunas; he is above the Mayashakti, for he serves God. But the power of maya is far above. The aptitude or inclination of a jiva apathetic towards God is to be bound down by maya, to swallow the bait, and bathed in sweat from head to foot due to hard labour and wasting the invaluable life, to gather fuel for the enjoyment of the wives, sons, daughters, grandsons, great-grandsons, many of whom we shall not have any chance even to see, and leave it behind for their sake. I plant a palm-tree, the fruit of which will be enjoyed by others whom I shall never meet with and who will one day squander away all my hoarded wealth and property. All my efforts are to this end! There is a Shloka to the effect: "O Krishna, I have obeyed the wrong commands of karma (desires), etc., numberless and of any type, but yet they are nor [sic] kind to me, nor feel ashamed, and there is no cessation of these. Now I have got true intelligence, and having thrown them up have taken shelter with You with the prayer that I may be employed in Your service."

Those who are given to karma admit God indirectly; those of the jnana-marga wish for being one with God; but we do not cherish any such wrong desire. Our hope is to become the carriers of foot-wear for servants of Hari unlike those who adopt jnana. We do not claim to possess learning, nor intelligence; we mind only the truth received from the lotus-feet of Shri Gurudeva in the capacity of his servants; we do not lay down any new proposition. We say only what we have got to say in favour of the realisation of that one Truth.

What we hear from a true Guru for the first time seems to be revolting. We feel the rise of an inclination in us to make good what appears to be the inadequacy of the Guru's intelligence by means of our empiricism. But the current of thought prevalent in the external or material world cannot assail Shri Gurudeva, who is too heavy for them. He has been able to keep them at a distance of innumerable crores of miles. He is 'Guru' or the heaviest object, because his position is not shifting. At the outset we think that he sticks to his narrow conceptions on account of his ignorance of the external objects; so we want to widen the scope of his conceptions and ideals by telling him everything about the empiric world. Such an idea is due to the dullness of understanding of the school of empiricism. Our Gurudeva is free from such an idea. My Gurudeva is the servant of the Absolute Truth, not of partial truth.

Q: -- What is the meaning of the word 'anartha'?

A: -- What blockades 'artha' (chief necessity of beings), at the very pith of it, is 'anartha' (mischief). This 'anartha' has been converting us into a group of its servitors.

Q: -- When will this 'anartha' come to its end?

A: -- The things that we can measure with our akshas or senses, those which appear to the senses as good and are, according to the judgment of our senses, preyah or our wished-for objects in the form of duties, are akshaja or empiric. The service done to plants, to animals, to some people, and to the country, as also the desire for being regarded as intelligent and for acquiring the material fame as a Sadhu, these are services to the akshaja or sense matters. All the endeavours of the karmis, jnanis, yogis and men of other desires are all services to akshaja; and all this is apathy towards God Krishna.

Q: -- How can it be known that all this is apathy towards God Krishna?

A: -- Shri Vyasadeva has compiled the Satvata Samhita or Shrimad Bhagavatam for men not knowing it (viz., what is apathy to God). No one had any intention and effort for this knowledge. The non-devotee sects are ever ready to serve the things that are not 'Krishna'. Shri Vyasadeva, who was grace-incarnate, published the Satvata Samhita for those people who did not know all these matters. In this Satvata Samhita, (Shrimad Bhagavatam) the motiveless service of only Adhokshaja (i.e., Entity beyond the scope of empiric knowledge) has been dwelt on as the highest virtue, leaving off the service of all akshaja or empiric things.

Q: -- What is the thing known as 'Bhakti'?

A: -- 'Bhakti' is the eternal natural function of the soul; and it is this alone which is the eternal virtue of jivas in their svarupa or essential nature (i.e., when not covered by avidya or maya). There is no other virtue in jivas in their svarupa. The other functions are not the virtues of the jiva-svarupa; they are virtues of contrary natures. These are changeable and ephemeral. This Bhakti destroys grief, infatuation and fear' [12] It is from dvitiyabhinivesa or an ardent intentness for the second thing i.e., what is different from the One Entity viz. God that fear, grief, distraction, etc. grow. It is the conception of other entities than Krishna and His objects viz. devotees, which constitute the intentness for the second thing. "So long as people do not accept as the only shelter the safe and fearless lotus-like Feet of God, they labour under the fear lest their wealth, bodies, relations connected therewith, and friends should be lost, under the grief when they are lost, under desire to get them back, under a hankering thirst after them, etc. [13] Again when these reappear, the material attachment for anatma things (that are not related to the soul with the conception of 'I'-ness and 'mine'-ness) become prominent." This is the root-cause of Samsara.

The desire for authority arising out of the measuring tendency is an anti-devotional thing. Just as one attacked by intestinal worms cannot get nutrition of the body from any quantity of vitamin food consumed, so when the tendencies for karma and jnana prevail, the function of the soul is obstructed.

Q: -- With Vaishnavism some may be personally benefited; but what benefit does the world derive from it?

A: -- That is not the true position; it may be applicable for archana or ritual worship, and not to those who perform kirtana or recite the glories of God. The ritual worshipper does his rituals for his own personal good; but a reciter does service to the world, nay to all the creatures of the universe, to all beasts and birds, to men and gods, even to trees, creepers and rocks, too; that service is of the highest type.

Q: -- I do not find any liking of men for this.

A: -- It is meaningless if we expect many persons to come for it. The number of post-graduates is very limited. Lord Krishna has said, [14] "Among thousands of men, only one or a few endeavour for accomplishment in self-realisation and of these, too, even though accomplished, only one or so may have an insight into My nature." Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has dilated on it citing a Bhagavata Shloka: [15] "Even among crores of the accomplished and liberated even a single devotee of Lord Narayana is rare." Craftiness is the main thing in the world.

Q: -- What benefit has Vaishnavism done to the world?

A: -- Politics will not be able to do even one part of a crore parts, in thousands of eras, of the benefit that the Vaishnavas have done to the world. We are not advising others to be such narrow sectarians as the politicians are.

Q: -- How many people are there who know of Vaishnavism?

A: -- How many post-graduates are being turned out? How many Newtons have been born? Is it a wise principle to give up the culture of science because many Prof. J.C. Boses are not being produced?

Q: -- By what means can devotion to Krishna grow?

A: -- Devotion to the Supreme Lord Krishna is generated when one listens to the accounts of His Glories, etc., attentively with a serving mood from such guileless devotees of God as have nothing to do except incessantly chanting these accounts. [16] He is Vishnu Who is sustaining the entire universe with the function in which the sattva is the chief element. As He has been making the world chetana or alive to the concerns of Krishna He is known as Krishna Chaitanya. It is for generating chaitanya (alive-ness) in jivas that were without it that He adopted Sannyasa. But yet we have got chaitanya (i.e., been brought to sense). It is not the virtue of pure chaitanya to make other attempts than that of motiveless service. In the function of shuddha (pure) chetana there is no service to to [sic] be done to anartha (which is not the true artha or necessary, i.e. God); there is only the service to Artha. The Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Shudras, etc., are busy in thinking about the external things in nature; the knowers of Brahman (i.e. the true Brahmanas) have no such engagement; only service to Hari is their duty. And the Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, etc., should also make all endeavours in favour of that service of those Brahmajnas. It is the only duty of jivas to be engaged in the service of God.

Q: -- Is the Vaishnava Dharma acceptable to all?

A: -- It is only the Vaishnava Dharma that is the sole Dharma of all chit entities, it is the only Dharma of the jiva in his own essential nature. There is no need to call oneself a Christian, Moslem or even a Hindu; all should become Vaishnavas. All should accept the eternal dharma of jivas in their own true nature, all even birds and beasts, plants and stones; deities, demons and men, who need not have their present forms of existence, should be Vaishnavas. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu performed this deed; He converted all to Vaishnavism, whomsoever his Lordship met during His South Indian tour, even grass shrubs, creepers, birds, beasts, trees, stones, along the Jharikhanda route through Orissa and Bihar; He did not allow them to stay with their conceits as such against their true nature; all became Vaishnavas including Shaivas, Shaktas, heretic Hindus, Pathans, Bouddhas, Mayavadis, emancipationists, elevationists, yogis, tapasvis, literates, illiterates, those in good or bad health. His Lordship's only weapon was Krishna-kirtana. Besides, those who were becoming Vaishnavas, at the command of the Lord, were performing the function of Gurus with Kirtana and were converting as Vaishnavas those who came into contact with them. Shriman Mahaprabhu told them that every man in Bharata (India) should be doing others good and there is nothing so good as loud Sankirtana which helps all creatures attain the highest good possible, just as one who sustains a thousand people, is much better than one who sustains only oneself. There has not been, there will not be, such benefactors of the highest merit as Mahaprabhu and His devotees have been. The offer of other benefits is only a deception; it is rather a great harm, whereas the benefit done by Him and His followers is the truest and greatest eternal benefit. That is not a benefit lasting only for a few days, being only a timely benefit. His Lordship or His followers did not delude people by speaking of such benefits as would, after a short time, produce harm, by which some other party would be harmed, just as the benefit of one country connotes mischief to another, just as when I am benefited by driving in a coach the horses are harmed, had when I give another an advantage for the time being, I suffer a proportionate disadvantage. They have spoken of such a benefit, they have given such a thing, as is the highest benefit for all, for all times, for all conditions. This benefit is not for a particular country causing mischief to another; but it benefits the whole universe. Mahaprabhu's benefit does not produce any evil. For this, from His Grace no evil arises, and for this again His is the highest benevolence, and so are His devotees' too. These statements are the greatest truth, not mere gossip, nor imaginative poetry and literature.

Q: -- What is, then, Vishnu-seva?

A: -- Vishnu is the Adhokshaja Entity Whom I cannot measure with my senses or enjoy. But I am enjoyable by Him. The name of Shreya (real Truth) is beloved to Vishnu. To gratify His Senses is seva (service). The pretence of Vishnu-seva for maintaining the body is no true Vishnu-seva. In modern times endeavours are rampant to enjoy Vishnu in the name of Vishnu-seva; Vishnu is being treated as a servant, supplying our needs. Endeavour is made to enjoy Vishnu, when we think ourselves the enjoyers of the river water, the fruits of trees, the beauty of nature, the health-giving open air. I think that He will sleep on the same side (left or right as I wish,) as if He were a tenant choosing me for His dwelling place. I treat Him as my gardener who will supply me with nose-gays of flowers, so that I may enjoy their agreeable fragrance. Who is it then that do not want Bhakti? It is they who say, "I shall rule over the country, or I shall remain as a subject, tilling the ground, or I shall be a politician or warrior." It is they who say, "It is I who am the doer of everything."

Q: -- Shall we, then, give up all avocations and the daily round of our duties?

A: -- We shall do everything as Vaishnavas and not take up the path of karma. Our former Gurudeva Shri Rupa Goswami Prabhu has said: [17] "He, whose endeavours are all for doing service to Hari, with body, mind and speech, is called 'jivan-mukta' or 'liberated while living,' in whatever stage of life he may be." He has also said: [18] "When one is detached from worldly enjoyments, and with the acceptance of the objects favourable to Krishna's service is ardently attached to Him, one is said to have the proper abnegation."

Q: -- What is the duty of a Vaishnava?

A: -- It is said in the Pancharatra, [19] that those who want to have Bhakti should perform only such secular and Vedic deeds as are favourable to the service of Hari. It is also said in the Pancharatra, [20] that such acts as are ordained in the Shastras for the service of Hari are called by saintly persons as Bhakti with the performance of which is gradually generated the superior type of Bhakti. The doctrine of naishkarmya (cessation of karma) is this. Whatever we do should be done as favourable to the service of Hari. The desire of the salvationists is to get rid of all actions, to get rid of Hari's service.

Q: -- How can one do Hari-seva?

A: -- Hari-seva can be done in three ways by acts, by speech, and with the mind.

Q: -- What type of service is done by acts, the mind and the speech?

A: -- When asked by the father about what good study he had done, Shri Prahlada said [21] "The performance of the nine kinds of Bhakti directly offered to God Vishnu, hearing, chanting, remembering, serving, the Feet, worshipping, saluting with hymns, serving as a servitor, dealing with friendliness and surrendering the self, -- is to be regarded as the best form of study." Hiranyakashipu, astonished to bear [sic] about the idea of seva from his boy, said, "You are giving a new type of idea, which we of the school of empiricists do not know."

Q: -- Will not those who serve Hari serve jivas?

A: -- Hari is the Entire Entity; it is the servants of Hari who really serve jivas. Those who being fascinated with the external appearance of jivas think the service of the external body of Hari as the service of Hari or that of jivas are vivarta-vadins or advocates of the theory that the whole creation is a mere illusion; they do not serve the jivas; they serve only maya, the external Body of Hari. By serving maya thus, one benefits neither oneself nor another. If you impute poverty to Narayana, You serve only maya, neither Narayana, nor His servants, the jivas. The service of vivarta (illusion) is that of the mirage of maya, not of the real substance. The true substance is only Krishna; the jivas are the associated counterparts of His Entity. We shall serve Hari; we shall serve the Harijanas (i.e., devotees of Hari) and also those who cannot understand the true Harijanas, so that they may have a true understanding of the Harijans; we shall help them mentally and physically, too. We shall serve even those who are against the Harijanas, but that with indifference. Our best friends are the servants of God with whom we ally. I shall speak about the service of Hari to such friends of mine as are possessed of lesser power of understanding and have taken up the duties of Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Shudras, if they are not antagonistic. But we shall declare non-co-operation with them that have become antagonistic, such as the casteless, the Agnostics, the Epicureans and followers of Charvaka who regard their physical pleasures as the summum bonum of life, and such others.

Q: -- What do you mean by the term 'jiva-daya' or kindness to creatures? Is it not the offering of help with the supply of food, clothes, etc?

A: -- We shall offer such help to him who has got faith in God even after several births and has begun service of God. We should feed and clothe the needy and do them other benefits in order to make them serve Hari; otherwise, what is the need of nourishing a snake with milk and banana? That is no kindness, rather it would entrap men with maya or tempt them towards nihilism. The kindness that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has shown to jivas, absolves them eternally from all wants, from all inconveniences and from all the distresses known as tritapa. That kindness does not produce any evil and the jivas who have got it will not be victims of the evils of the world; they will rather be swimming in the nectarous sea of Love, eternally enjoying its sweetness.

Q: -- How is Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's grace different from other forms of kindness?

A: -- Unlike other forms of kindness, His Lordship's Grace is unproductive of evils. His Grace has been described by Shri Svarupa Damodara Goswami, His closest associate, as easily scattering away all evils, as clear and unmixed, as extending pure delight like a full-blown flower, as setting at rest all scriptural conflicts, as distributing true tasty sweetness of devotion, as causing of ecstatic mood of the mind like madness (in love of God), as giving the eternal bliss of devotion, as introducing a spirit of equality among the high and the low and as revealing the extreme limit of spiritual sweetness.' Shri Rupa Goswami considers His Lordship as Krishna Himself, bearing the Name Shri Krishna Chaitanya and a fair complexion, as the greatest benevolent Entity, distributing love of Krishna. Shri Krishna Dasa Kaviraja Goswami, (author of Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita), too, has said: "Deliberate with discrimation [sic] on the Grace of Shri Chaitanya Chandra and you will be amazed with the highest excellence."

Q: -- How can there be a discriminate deliberation thereof?

A: -- Kaviraja Goswami Prabhu has asked us to make a comparative study between Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Grace and all the so-called kindnesses that are incomplete and imperfect. Where there is not the gift of an eternal nature, there must be inadequacy, defect and deception. If somebody makes a comparative study with impartially, [sic] he will find that Shri Chaitanya Chandra's Grace is plenary kindness, whereas all the other kindnesses are limited and deceptive. The Incarnations of God, like the Matsya, Kurma, and Varaha Devas, not only They, but even God Krishna Himself, have distributed Grace among the devotees only; but they have killed the antagonists; whereas Mahaprabhu, instead of killing them, has shown them kindness; for example, He has not refrained from distributing His Grace, unproductive of any evil even among the Quazis and the Bouddhas. He has converted, as pure devotees, also the Ramayets who, though they profess to worship Shri Ramachandra, are really emancipationists.

Q: --- Are not the Ramayets true Vaishnavas?

A: -- The Ramayets belong to the Ramanandi Sects; they do not belong to the correct Ramanuja Sect. As most of them cherish a desire for emancipation, the Shuddha (pure) Vaishnavas count them among the Viddha (adulterated) Vaishnava class. Once Shrila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami took with him to Shri Mahaprabhu, at Puri, one Ramadasa, teacher of Kavya-prakasa (a famous work on rhetoric in Sanskrit). Though Ramadasa had a crouching humility and a spirit of doing service to Vaishnavas and Brahmanas, yet Mahaprabhu dealt with him with indifference and apathy, having noticed the desire for emancipation lurking in his heart.

Q: -- What do you think about the Bouddhas?

A: -- 'Bouddha' is another name for 'Vaishnava'; but the present-day men going by the name of 'Bouddhas' are wanting in the true knowledge about the soul. As the worshippers of Shri Rama are the Ramayets, so the worshippers of Buddha, an Incarnation of Vishnu, are Bouddhas. But as the Auls, Bauls, Gauranganagaris, Smartas, Caste-Goswami's etc., though professing to be the followers of Shri Gauranga, have fallen off from His teachings, so have the Bouddhas deviated from the path shown by Buddha Deva, though they called themselves Vaishnavas. When however, they follow the Shuddha Vaishnavas, their true intrinsic nature will be manifested, as it did in the case of the Bouddhas, on their obtaining the Grace of Shri Mahaprabhu. So when the men of the misled sects, like the Auls, Bauls, etc., give up their wrong beliefs and customs and worship Gaur-Krishna under the direction of the Shuddha Vaishnavas, then we shall recognise them as the devotees of Shri Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

Q: -- Do not the Smartas worship Vishnu?

A: -- The worship of Vishnu by the Smartas is another form of their worship of Ganesa, Surya, Shiva and Shakti. Vishnu is not worshipped thereby. The worship of Vishnu as one of the five deities, makes His highest Dignity, which is without any equal, similar to that of the other deities and His Lordship is counted as one of several deities which is a great spiritual offence. According to Shri Chaitanya Deva, one who looks on Shri Narayana as equal to the different gods like Brahma, Rudra, etc., surely becomes the lowest heretic (pashandi). He regards also him as a pashandi who counts one Krishna-nama and a crore of asvamedhas (horse-sacrifices). There is much deliberation of these matters in the Brahma Samhita, the most valuable treatise on the Vaishnava doctrine, found by His Lordship in South India. The worship of Vishnu as found in Panchopasana (worship of five deities) do not please Vishnu, and being only the worship of a deity and also heterodox it is highly improper.

Q: -- Why do you call it improper?

A: -- God Himself has said this in the Gita: "Those who worship other deities worship Me improperly." [22]

Q: -- Though improper, all the same, it is Krishna's worship.

A: -- It is Krishna Who is the only Super-Lord over the entire universe and beyond it of Vaikuntha (i.e., Transcendental Region). As such, no one can raise any obstacle against His Enjoyment. Everyone is offering Him worship, but it is given in an improper manner, and the worshipper gains nothing. Even they, too, who are worshipping Surya, Ganesa, Shakti, etc., are worshipping the reflectional potency of Krishna; because nothing has a separate existence from Him. But the reflection being worshipped, they do not get the true knowledge of intrinsic nature of their soul and the sambandha-jnana (essential knowledge about the relation between God and the jivas). When that sambandha-jnana is acquired, they will know that Krishna is the Sole Master, that every jiva is Krishna's eternal servitor and that Krishna-seva is the eternal function of jivas.

Q: -- What deliberation is there in the Brahma Samhita?

A: -- The Brahma Samhita has refuted Pancho-pasana. It is the eternal duty of all jivas to serve Krishna, the Lord of all Lords. All the other deities are His servitors. Their function is only to carry out Govinda's commands. They will never acquire liberation, who conceive of the deities as the different names and bodies of Vishnu instead of knowing them as His servitors. In five Shlokas of the Brahma Samhita have been described the natures of the five deities, named above: (1) "I (i.e., Brahma) adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, in pursuance of whose order the Sun-God, the King of the planets and the eye of this world, performs his journey mounting the wheel of Time." [23] (2) "I adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, Whose Lotus-like Feet are always held by Ganesa on the head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all the obstacles of the three worlds." [24] (3) "I adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, in accordance with whose will Durga, His external potency, conducts her function as the creating, preserving and destroying agent of the world" [25] (4) "I adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, Who transforms Himself as Sambhu for performing the work of destruction, just as milk is transformed into curd which is neither the same as, nor different from, milk" [26] (5) "I adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, Who manifests Himself as Vishnu in the same manner as one burning candle communicates its light to another candle which, though existing separately, is of the same quality as the first. [27]

Q: -- What is the distinction between a Brahmana and a Vaishnava? A: -- The worshipper of Shri Vishnu with distinctive attributes and sentient playfulness is a Vaishnava, whereas the culturist of Attributeless Brahman is a Brahmana. The name of the knower of Brahman is Brahmana, and when he worships Bhagavan his name is Vaishnava. The fully manifested Truth is Bhagavan and the insufficiently manifested Truth is Brahman. Consequently it is a Brahmana with the knowledge of relativities who can be a Vaishnava by means of worship. The contrivance of the worship of Brahman by the professors of non-distinction in five forms with an attribution of attributes to Him on the basis of the theory of illusion does not refer to the Truth of the knowledge of singularity. These illusionists with the self-conceit as Brahmanas think Brahmanism confined to the religion for the attainment of worldly desires, whereas the virtue of the knower of Brahman is eternally innate in the essential condition of jivas. When a Brahmana is fortunate to get rid of the clutches of maya through Vishnu's Grace, he is able to become a pure Brahmana i.e., a Vaishnava. In his Bhakti-Sandarbha Shri Jiva Goswami has cited the following from the Garuda Purana: "A performer of sacrifices is better than a thousand Brahmanas; a scholar of Vedanta is better than a thousand performers of sacrifices; a devotee of Vishnu is superior to a crore of Vedanta scholars; whereas one, solely devoted to Vishnu is superior to a thousand Vaishnavas."

Q: -- Are the Vaishnavas, too, Brahmanas?

A: -- That the Vaishnavas, too are Brahmanas you have learnt in answer to the above question. Brahmanism is the lowest rang [sic] of the ladder of Vaishnavism which is far higher than the other. A Brahmana is the attendant to a Vaishnava. Just as the owner of a lakh of rupees possesses also a thousand rupees, so one who is a Vaishnava is certainly a Brahmana.

Q: -- Now-a-days very few think along this line. Whenever the term 'Vaishnava' is used, people generally interpret it in quite a different manner.

A: -- It is on account of the people's forgetfulness about these deliberations and of the fact that the highest seat of Vaishnavism has been looked down upon with a degree of contumely due to the want of necessary culture and sufficient propagation by means of proper custom and conduct, that, as willed by God, the institution of the Gaudiya Maths has come into existence. This intitution [sic] has undertaken the task of re-establishing the system of daiva-varnashrama (deistic form of castes and stages of life) for re-instating such persons in the proper functioning of true Brahmanas as have forgotten the principle of the dharma of jivas as servitors to Vaishnavas and have been consequently running after the function of Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, etc. Mahaprabhu Shri Chaitanya Deva has said: "He alone can function as a Guru (spiritual instructor) who is conversant with the knowledge of Krishna, whether he is born as a Brahmana or a Shudra, or is a Sannyasi or otherwise." An a-Brahmana (one who is not a true Brahmana) cannot be a Guru, the word 'Guru' implies a Brahmana. He who knows the truth about Krishna i.e., who is an adept in the full perception of the true knowledge of singularity is certainly not an a-Brahmana, as in him there is the knowledge about Brahman by implication. Shri Narada says: "If the symptoms indicating the varnas (castes) appear in persons born elsewhere, they should be regarded as belonging to the castes as shown by the symptoms." Shridhara Swamipada has said: "The ascertainment of castes as Brahmanas, etc., should be made from the presence or absence of the attributes like self-control, tranquility, etc., and not only from births." If these virtues are seen in a person not born in a Brahmana family, his varna is to be determined as Brahmana. Shri Advaita Acharya honoured his ancestors by offering Shradha-patra to Thakur Haridasa who had been born of a moslem family, telling him: "Crores of Brahmanas are fed by feeding you."

Q: -- But why is not such a custom now-a-days observed in your Vaishnava community?

A: -- Everything is going to be obsolete in course of time. How distorted have become the teachings that were given by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! Now-a-days, trade, lechery, hypocrisy, deceitfulness, etc., have been rampant in society in the name of Vaishnavism. Though Thakur Haridasa had come out of a moslem family, the devotees of God regarded him as the Guru of Brahmanas. As such, Yadunandan Acharya, Ramananda Basu and other persons born in very respectable families did not in the least feel diffident to become his disciples.

Q: -- By what you are propagating, many people will be rid of their prejudices and the Vaishnava world may be much benefited thereby.

A: -- It is from the teaching of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that the world can derive true benefit, for they are not tinged with the colour of narrow sectarianism.

Q: -- I am fully convinced and much delighted at your scholarship and genius.

A: -- Nothing of all this is mine. I only reproduce what I have learnt from Shri Gurudeva. I have only recapitulated the eternal Truth that has come down through the media of Shri Brahma-Narada-Vyasa-Shuka, etc.


FOOTNOTES
[1] Bh 1.1.1
[2] Vide II 5-79
[3] Bh. IV. 3.23
[4] Vide I. 7.4
[5] Gita XVIII-55
[6] Bh. XI. 14-21
[7] Bh. 1.7.4-5
[8] Vide VII. 4-5
[9] Vide X. 14.8
[10] X. 14.18
[11] Gita 111-27
[12] Bh. 1.7.7
[13] Bh. 111.9.6
[14] Gita VII, 3
[15] Bh. VI. 14.5
[16] Bh. 1.7-7
[17] Bh. R.S. 1.2.185
[18] Vide I.2.255
[19] Cited in Bh. R.S. I.2.198
[20] B.R.S. 1.2.13
[21] Bh. VII. 5.29-31
[22] Vide IX.23
[23] Vide V. 52
[24] Vide V. 50
[25] Vide 44
[26] Vide V. 45
[27] Vide V. 46

Published in The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)



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