His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
First group of 1981 transcripts
81.01.11. B / 81.02.22.A / 81.02.22.B /
81.02.25.B / 81.02.26.A /
81.02.26.B / 81.02.28.B /
81.02.28.C / 81.02.28.D / 81.02.28 / 81.03.01.A /
81.03.01.B / 81.03.02.A / 81.03.02.B /
81.03.02.C_81.03.03.A / 81.03.03.B /
81.03.03.C_81.03.04.A / 81.03.04.B /
81.03.04.C_81.03.05.A / 81.03.05.B / 81.03.05.C / 81.03.05.D
/ 81.03.06.A / 81.03.06.B /
81.03.07.A / 81.03.07.B / 81.03.07.C_81.03.08.A /
81.03.08.B / 81.03.10.A / 81.03.10.B /
81.03.10.C / 81.03.10.D / 81.03.12.A / 81.03.12.B /
81.03.12.C / 81.03.12.D / 81.03.13.A /
81.03.13.B / 81.08.09.A / 81.08.09.B / 81.08.10.A /
81.08.10.B / 81.08.10.C / 81.08.12.B /
81.08.12.C / 81.08.12.D_81.08 13 / 81.08.13.A /
81.08.13.B.1 / 81.08.13.B / 81.08.14.A /
81.08.14.B / 81.08.14.C / 81.08.17.A_81.08.18.A /
81.08.18.B / 81.08.18.C_81.08.19.A /
81.08.19.B / 81.08.20.A / 81.08.20.B / 81.08.20.C /
81.08.21.A / 81.08.21.B_81.08.22.A /
81.08.22.A / 81.08.22.B / 81.08.22.C / 81.08.25.A /
81.08.25.B / 81.08.26.A / 81.08.27.A /
81.08.27.B / 81.08.27.C / 81.08.27.D / 81.08.27- /
81.08.27.E / 81.08.28.A / 81.08.28.B /
81.08.28.C / 81.08.30.A / 81.08.30.B /
81.08.30.C_81.08.31.A / 81.08.31.B / 81.08.31.C /
81.09.01.B / 81.09.01.C_81.09.02.A / 81.09.05.A /
81.09.05.B / 81.09.05.C / 81.09.06.A /
81.09.06.B / 81.09.10.A / 81.09.10.B /
81.09.10.C_81.09.11.A / 81.09.11.C_81.09.12.A /
81.09.12.B / 81.09.15_81.09.19.A / 81.09.19.B /
81.09.20.A / 81.09.20.B / 81.09.21.A /
81.09.21.B_81.09.22.A / 81.09.22.B / 81.09.23.A /
81.09.25.A /
Start of 81.01.11. B
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...to suffer from death, or life in death, death and
life, only when we come in Kṛṣṇa consciousness we are living
a proper life. Other lives, or life after life in death, or death proper. We
should consider that is vidhipor [?] to be in vidhipor [?] that
is a disfigured state; that is death. And to be in our own intrinsic function,
that is life. And that only in Kṛṣṇa conception we have that
normal life.
Samuveda pradityum [?]
Gaura Haribol.
Devotee:
________________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Necessarily ______ exceptional case _______ Kṛṣṇadāsa
Bābājī.
Devotee: ______________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha. That may be exceptional cases. The
general case is, tenor is that, but exceptional cases. Just as in the case of Kṛṣṇadāsa
Bābājī. He feels that his tendency is towards sākhya-rasa. He, when he
sings the song of sākhya-rasa, he feels much pleasure there. As
much as I can understand, “That my most heart touching feeling from within
comes to mix with the sākhya-rasa.” But still he’s going on with
that. A special digression in the path may be. Rare case, but generally the
way, the Guru paramparā, the mantram, it is all meant,
couched in such a way as to facilitate our progress in the mādhurya-rasa.
The Guru paramparā, all the Gurus, they’re of mādhurya-rasa,
and the rūpānugasampradāyathat means mādhurya-rasa. Even, I have not
seen, but I can’t remember where, but I am told that in the commentary of Bhāgavatam anywhere Sanātana
Goswāmī himself, he is expressing his desire to
be rūpānuga. Outwardly Sanātana Goswāmī is Guru
of Rūpa Goswāmī, but that very
Sanātana who is outwardly Guru of Rūpa, he expressed his desire to
become rūpānuga. It is mentioned somewhere in his commentary.
Devotee: In his own
commentary?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Own commentary. It may be in Bhāgavatam,
or somewhere. I have not found that myself, or I can’t remember, but I heard
that he expressed that rūpānuga, “I wish to be in this way.”
It is mentioned. Rūpa Goswāmī was first disciple of
Mahāprabhu.
Devotee: Yes, and then
Sanātana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And then Sanātana, so Rūpa Sanātana.
And Rūpa Goswāmī was given the charge of rāga-bhakti, and
Sanātana especially of viddhi-bhakti. And with the help of Gopāla
Bhaṭṭa; they took the name of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa,
both of them in different places, because for his social status. And also some
touch and connection with Rāmānuja Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa and other places. And because he was a brāhmaṇa
so for some social requirement they took the advantage
of the name of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa. And even Jīva Goswāmī he also says that, “What I give to
you in a systematic form, I found these in note papers of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa.
Collected hither and thither, scattered. These points that I found scattered
and unadjusted in Gopāla Bhaṭṭa’s notebook, I have collected
them.”
_________________________________________ [?]
“And I am
collecting them in a systematic form and I am representing it to you; taking
his name.” Because the brāhmaṇasmay not accept
that it’s coming from those that are intimately connected with the yavanas etc,
maybe, for that, he has got Gopāla Bhaṭṭa’s connection. And
another, that he came from a bona fide Vaiṣṇava School,
Rāmānuja, established his tol. But the original distribution
is from them only, and we understand that predominance. Rūpa
Sanātana. A combination of Rūpa for the rāga-mārga,
and Sanātana in the viddhi-mārga; they’re masters.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Once you told that in our sampradāya that
usually not only in the mādhurya-rasa but they’re strictly the
followers of Rādhārāṇī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: That not even the other groups also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Strictly from Rādhārāṇī’s
group in mādhurya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, Rādhārāṇī, not only mādhurya-rasa,
but in mādhurya-rasa different camps among that may be divided into
three. One is Rādhārāṇī’s party, main, and the
opposite main party, that of Chandravālī, and then another few small
parties in the middle. But we want Her...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Exclusively.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Exclusively, Rādhārāṇī’s
party and especially the extreme followers of Rādhārāṇī,
that is Lalitā’s group. And again, in the Lalitā’s group Rūpa
Mañjarī and that is the principal leader amongst the youngsters.
Devotee: Young maids.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Young girls. And their facility is; one gentleman
asked me, “Why not, why Rūpa and not Rādhārāṇī
or Lalitā?” Then I told; our extreme possibility of gain, the highest
centre of our gain, is only to be achieved from that point, because Rūpa
Mañjarī’s position is unique and in one sense it is the highest position.
Why? Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa, when
They’re engaged in intimate līlā, the grown up sakhīsthey have some difference _________________ [?]
Devotees: Some shame; some
restriction; reluctance.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, not reluctance, some sort of...
Devotee: Reserved,
reservations, they don’t like to go there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Some sort of shyness may be there, but for the young
girls not so much shyness. So when They’re intimately engaged then these small
girls they can approach, but when they’re grown up they feel shy to approach.
They’re in that position so thereby they can have the chance, the young girls,
they can have the chance, in one sense the best facility and privilege they
enjoy. So that should be the highest centre of the beginners, at least, not
only but for, that should be desirable by all, that even in the most
confidential stage of the union, only they can approach. So this is the highest
centre, should be considered to be the highest centre of our achievement,
ideal. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari.
I have thought like that, in that way, rūpānuga.
Devotee: This is how you
explained to him?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In my self enquiry that, ‘Why it should be like
that?’ Then I have come to this conclusion that this is the unique position
which is not possible in any other place in the mādhurya-rasa, in
Rādhārāṇī’s camp, and when They’re very closely
connected, Both of Them, only these get admission, their admission is possible
and not others. So this should be the highest point of our aspiration, the rūpānuga
sampradāya. And when Rūpa she sends her youngest sakhīs they
can go easily for that purpose, in this way.
Gaura
Haribol. High talks but we’re not fit for that; high talks. Anyhow, one day we
may go to that level. That is our aspiration, highest aspiration, the point of
our highest realisation, highest aim, to be there, to be pointed out, to be
pinned down there. Our fortune may be tied with that aim, anyhow.
Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura-Nityānanda.
Nitāi bine bhāi rādhā kṛṣṇa
pāite nāi [Manaḥ-śikṣā, 1] Everything on the foundation on the grace of
Nityānanda and Gaurāṅga, otherwise if the plank is taken out,
taken away from our feet, then we shall go down, not knowing where.
Devotee: So our prayer
is, Śrīdhara Mahārāja bine bhāi, nitāi
pāite nāi.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The Guru and Gaurāṅga. Then if that main
support, that energy that is holding us above, if that goes away from our foot
we shall go we know not where. So, Nitāi bine bhāi rādhā
kṛṣṇa pāite nāi, that is the finest structure
but the foundation is Nityānanda and then Śrī Gaurāṅga.
When we get Gaurāṅga, the whole thing is within our clutches, it’s
so, both combined, both principles, both authorities combined, and sanctioned
from there we may not care for anyone. But Nityānanda Prabhu at the
bottom; we must always be thankful to Him. The energy, Baladeva, Nityānanda,
the energy, awe in energy, master in Them, and Their grace that will be
beautiful. But the plane, the foundation, is also not less important. We must
have our gratitude to the foundation first, then the structure is possible.
Otherwise everything will fall down, break down. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura Haribol. This is as we have got conception from
our Guru paramparā, Gurudeva, ________ followers of Mahāprabhu
Gaurāṅga.
Yadi gaura
nā hoita, tabe ki hoita, kemone dharitām de [Vasudeva Datta / Ghosh] We have come in touch with
such higher conception of our own prospect that if, now we shudder that if
Gaurāṅga did not come with all these things of so sweet nature then
our life would have been useless. How we could live at all? Now we can have
such conception. Otherwise we would have been in darkness, no feeling of any
necessity, no conception of our prospect, or our own self, all in darkness that
is; that piece of, a sort of māyāvādā, and all the atheists.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Nitāi Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
We are
talking mostly of mādhurya-rasa to you. I don’t know whether it is
the consequence inevitable that Prabhupāda during just before twenty four
hours of his nitya-līlā he wanted to hear Śrī
Rūpa-Mañjarī from me, then, is this the cause? That generally I
come to place this sort of talk mostly on the head. My tendency is to draw
towards this rasa. I don’t know whether it is the effect of his last
wish to hear from me rūpa-mañjarī-pada. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari.
The day when I was given dīkṣā
initiation by Prabhupāda, Vasudeva Prabhu he asked me, “What sort of
Hari kathā you heard from Prabhupāda today, in the day of your
beginning this life.”
I told that Prabhupāda told all
these things.
“You are very fortunate,” he told, he
remarked.
Prabhupāda talked about
Rādhārāṇī matters and I reproduced it to Vasudeva
Prabhu.
He asked me, “What type of Hari kathā
Prabhupāda told to you?”
I reproduced, “Prabhupāda told in
this way.”
“You are fortunate enough.”
And my name was Rāmendracandra.
Prabhupāda kept it, a little modified, Rāmendrasundara. I asked what
is the meaning of Rāmendra I should think, Rāmendrasundara?
“Generally Rāma is Dāsarāthi
Rāma” he told “Rāma, Rādhā, Her Master that is Kṛṣṇa.” He
told, “Rāma Rādhā.”
That is still ringing in my ear. And
when we were sent to discover the Rāmānanda
and Mahāprabhu’s Milansthali at Godāvarī, he transformed my name again into Rāmānanda
Dāsa. And I feel that I have got most
sentimental liking for that place; charm, Godāvarī. And that talk, I
find there everything in that discourse, that divine discourse between Rāmānanda
and Mahāprabhu, everything, that covers everything of Gaudiya Vaiṣṇava’s
Theology. Then, you are to go? What do you think?
Devotees: [Laughter.]
We’ll leave this train.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Leave this train, ha, ha, ha. You go ... after.
...
Devotee:
_________________ Prabhupāda _____________ with some exceptions
______________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________ They want admission. Their fortune is
drawn unconsciously towards that direction. Gradually they will find their self
cleansed and grow towards that more clear and clear. They will emerge from
inside and take the way towards that. Mahāprabhu mainly came for that. The
combination of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa, Their general campaign
will be to draw Their common servitors. That will be Their interest. And anusangit
[?]
Devotee:
Circumstantially?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Circumstantially?
Devotee: Or
supplementary?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Auxiliary aim will be to draw other camps around.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Hari.
Devotee:
__________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _____________________________________________ [?]
“You can
will, but to be effected, that is My jurisdiction.”
[karmaṇy evādhikāras te,]
mā phaleṣu kadācana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr, mā te saṅgo
'stv akarmaṇi
[“I shall now describe niṣkāma
karma-yoga, the path of selfless action. You have a right to perform your
natural prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to any fruits of that
action. You should neither act with desire to enjoy the fruits of your work,
nor, as a result, should you be attached to neglecting your duties.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.47]
This is the type of abnegation to the
highest. The highest conception of renunciation is here. The māyāvādī’s conception of
renunciation, that is not perfect, that is static. But dynamic self abnegation,
renunciation when it takes its dynamic character, dedication comes up, comes
in. And renunciation makes progress through dedication and it becomes a perfect
order when it comes to Rādhārāṇī’s camp. Mahābhāva, rasa-rāja
mahābhāva. “I shall, I want
to devour the whole.” “But how much you can devour I challenge you to see. I am
giving wholesale, in its quality, highest, and your appetite must be quenched.”
In this way the challenge, rasa-rāja
mahābhāva dui eka rūpa[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 8.282], consuming and
dedicating. And when in its highest degree, both the parties, the negative and
positive, when They’re separated how tension is created there. In līlā,
in Yogamāyā, who are to serve Them Both, as if unconsciously that
forcibly separates Them then what sort of heat is produced there, the viraha;
fire, sweet fire that is inconceivable, the fire that is sweet, viraha.
“Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest things.”
[“Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest
thought.”]
(The English Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley,
1792-1822)
“Our
sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest things.” So saddest things also
tasteful, how, and that is in its original, causal position, what is that. The
sun’s ray is so hot here we may feel, but in the sun’s original position what
degree of heat is there, inconceivable for us. So, order to be placed in
Rūpa Mañjarī, that is coming down and that is the most suitable
position of our emancipation, our liberated svarūpa. There we can
get most benefit, we can draw our most desirable things from such distance in
such position. All comprehensive, mādhurya-rasa is all
comprehensive containing in it all the different types of rasa, the most
comprehensive, accommodating; adjusting and in quality and quantity. That has
been told by Mahāprabhu and our Guru paramparā. We want to
connect our fate, our fortune there. The tuft of hair should be tied to the toe
of the foot of our Guru Mahārāja; may drag on. We are to walk on our
head, not by foot, because that is a place where the head we should touch, in śṛngāsana, in the pūjā, what is venerable, we connect our head there. The
subjective, super-subjective, super-super-subjective, only with head we can
tread over, and not by our foot. Something like that.
Devotees: Heads first,
leading head wards.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Only by giving our heads, our respects, we can
make progress, only giving our head we can enter, we can make progress in that
land, that wonderful land.
vaikuṇṭhera pṛthivy ādi sakala
cinmaya / māyika bhūtera tathi janma nāhi haya
[“The earth, water, fire, air and ether
of Vaikuṇṭha are all spiritual. Material elements are not found
there.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 5.53]
The
wholesale, the soil is made up of stuff higher than we are. And we venture to
enter. And who can get, give us that permission? Only His agents, only through
His agents; without their help we are only a mass of clay. Only the grace
coming and the lump of clay may be taken there as a living thing, who are so
much dependent on Guru Vaiṣṇava. Our existence will be at stake,
what to speak of progress.
Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee:
Mahārāja, ____________________ [?]
...
Devotee: Balaji, He’s
actually Kṛṣṇa, because He’s Balaji, Balagopāl...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. But four-handed, ha, ha.
Devotee: Actually His
original form was two-handed but due to Rāmānuja’s request He
manifested two more hands.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tried to push two more handed and take Him in Vaikuṇṭha.
But He says that, “I am Balaji, and you can’t find in Vaikuṇṭha any
young things, they’re all...”
Devotee:
___________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________________________ [?]
Devotee:
___________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sarva-dharmān parityajya [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.66]. Ājñajaiva guṇān doṣān, mayādiṣṭān
api svakān, dharmmān saṁtyajya [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.11.32], to break the law, that should be the main characteristic of a rūpānuga
Vaiṣṇava. Another thing, important, what I conceived to be,
that this parakīya principle. I have thought it out in a particular
way, that all our previous obligations, pati, pati means the husband, he
is supposed to have the whole control over the wife, lord ship, and to disobey
him, rather to take out our gratitude from him and to go and to seek comfort or
pleasure from other sides, that is to get out from our obligation to all
commanding force beyond Kṛṣṇa. That is, all our past
activity, they have right to exact their demand from us, our karma, jñāna, wandering in the world we have incurred so many
obligations in so many places. And when that is considered in one side who
wants to master on us to exact our loan, our debt, so they’re one to get out,
to take out their debt from us; and that should be placed as pati. They
have got their demand to realise from us. So, disobedient to him, to go to Kṛṣṇa’s
side, to take our free will to that, that is like parakīya bhajan.
Their total demand on us by the environment, that is one side, and they take
free will towards God, to Kṛṣṇa, without any obligation.
Pati vancana [?] Money lender ______________________ When we have
borrowed money, so when obliged to him, so to deal with him, to de-throw him,
to overthrow him, to disobey him; it is not publicly possible to get out of the
obligation. So from the innermost of our heart we must take it clear for our
own innermost free will to take it to Kṛṣṇa. Because by our
previous life we have acquired so many anti Kṛṣṇa tendencies
that have captured, that has made us captive; anyhow to take the free will out
of that unconsciously of them and to dedicate it to Kṛṣṇa.
From our present position, if we can do so, it is only possible. Wherever we
are, and however in debt we are burdened, with free will we can take out of
that obligatory circle and put it to Kṛṣṇa’s side, for the
inner, our sympathy, our prejudice, our selection, our prayer for that. I’m in
the midst of unfavourable environment. The pati, the mother-in-law, and
the sister-in-law, and the society, even the scripture – all against, all
against, I’m deceiving them to take my free will, stealthily and with the help
of a particular group I can approach Kṛṣṇa. Always, always.
Devotee: It’s so
wonderful.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I think that all the prejudices they represent that,
mainly, arjapatam, dhuta, sajanam, the society and the
scriptures, mainly, and they include almost everything. They’re all on one
side, and I must take my free will deceiving them, stealthily. My heart should
be dedicated to Kṛṣṇa, my Lord, with Your own agent, take me
out. Take me out, and to be bold enough, a little courageously to disobey the
past obligations and to approach with our inner most prayer and interest to
dedicate as naividyan, to the feet of the Braja party, Kṛṣṇa
and His own.
Devotee:
Mahārāja, now, for a woman it is easy to develop this mood?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. It is rather the opposite.
Devotees: (Laugh)
Devotee: I was thinking
that as long...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The mental path is perverted, so it is very
difficult, it will be difficult for them because that same perverted thing will
come to occupy the position of the genuine; a more dangerous position.
Apparently it may seem that it will be easy, of course to some extent, because
Mahāprabhu’s strī śūdra, those that had no privilege in the ordinary, they
have been given more, attached more grace for them. But never the less we
should be cautious that this womanly nature of this mundane world, that should
not be, that should not have no comparison, that may be mistaken for the
womanhood of that plane.
Devotee:
Mahārāja, what I actually meant is as long as we have the false pride
that we are the males, then we cannot develop this mood.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Devotee: So we have to
give up that tendency, that feeling, that we are the puruṣa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That means that we are not enjoyer, but we are to be
enjoyed. That is negative conception. We are to be handled and we are not to
handle, this posing, our passive preference, not active; and active in the
sense that to convert all this into active but towards Kṛṣṇa’s
side - their grace. Viracaya mayi daṇḍaṁ dīnabandho
dayāṁ vā [Rūpa Goswāmī’s cātaka bird
example]. That is open, no claim, as if, but underground the claim is being
established there through non claimant attitude claim is being established. As
much as non claimant attitude we can develop, automatically our claim is
established there so much. The degree of non claimant attitude; that really
establishes claim there in that wonderful land, dedication means such. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
There we
thrive, and here we die. Die to live. Ha, ha, ha. The Hegelian theory, that’s a
very good thing, Hegel’s side. “For Itself, Reality is For Itself,” and “Die to
live.” These two things have impressed me very much, a very general remark, for
Kṛṣṇa. All consumer - for Him, everything for Him, a general
thing. And Die to Live. If you want to live, you will have to die. Learn to die
if you want to live. And to dissolve your ego; to die means to dissolve your
ego, and then the covers, one by one; that will be thrown out and the inner
jewel that will come with its pristine glory today, finest availability, it
will be arranged.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Devotee:
Mahārāja, what about the people like Hegel; is it that they have sukṛtifrom their previous birth?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, might have been, because he could conceive that
the ultimate cause, the nature of it is such. It is ontological but it may take
shape of a living thing. Satyam śivam sundaram, it will take
this connection, the sundaram. And what is sundaram? One day that
will come with its full glory. This is sundara, nothing else. To become sundara
becomes beautiful, this must be so. Some hazy expression has come there,
hither and there. All His own domain and He is free and autocrat. He can throw
a drop of nectar hither thither in many places.
When
Acyutānanda went with us to my birthplace, then some educated people there
said, “We are so near yet we do not understand Mahāprabhu. How is it that
from far away you have come to appreciate? How can you understand it clearly
and can see?”
brahmāṇḍa brhamite kona
bhāgyavān jīva [guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde
pāya bhakti-latā-bīja]
[“Wandering throughout the material
universe, the very fortunate living entity who receives the grace of Guru and Kṛṣṇa
receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 19.151]
That was his
answer. The brahmāṇḍa, we are within creation, the
limit of His creation, and it is said wherever anyone gets such fortune he may
come. A few miles of distance, what is that? Even I am repeating, adding, and
different casts in the creation. A tree may have sukṛtiwhen flowers are dedicated by a devotee to Kṛṣṇa
the tree is getting, acquiring sukṛti. The milk is given to Kṛṣṇa by a
devotees and the cow is getting sukṛti. And the dog, he’s watching the temple area, working,
and it may get some sukṛti. Sukṛtimay be distributed in this way to any and every
direction. So many sak is dedicated to Kṛṣṇa, the
vegetables getting sukṛtithereby. In connection with the devotee so many things
are acquiring sukṛti. The door is open there, but only through the...
naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ,
sprśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekaṁ,
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat
[Prahlāda Mahārāja states: “Unless they smear upon their
bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava completely freed
from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic
life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, Who is glorified for His
uncommon activities. Only by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious and
taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from
material contamination.”] [Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, 7.5.32]
The medium
of His devotee, that is indispensable, we must have that connection with His
devotee. To go to Him the indispensable necessity is His medium, the devotee,
the door to enter; it is indispensable.
Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari.
Nitāi Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Yata gatim yatim gatum sahate [?]
“So I can’t
tolerate any blame against My devotees because their very business, their very
tendency, their very existence is to give Me out to the all, and if you blame
him you are committing suicide. You are going to kill your own Guru, the source
of your own fortune. So Vaiṣṇava nindā, Vaiṣṇava aparādha, I can’t tolerate. Especially I want to serve them
but I can’t. They won’t allow Me to serve them. I want, My inner tendency is to
give something. They’re giving something, the whole thing. I want to give
something in return but I am not eligible for that. But if anyone comes to do
that I give Myself wholly to him.”
[ye me bhakta-janāḥ partha, ne me
bhaktaś ca te janāḥ]
mad bhaktānāṁ ca ye bhaktās, te
me bhaktatamā mataḥ
[“Those who
worship Me directly are not real devotees; real devotees are those who are
devoted to My devotees.”] [ĀdiPurāṇa]
That is the
theory underlying, that, “I want, I’m always intending to give something to
them but they won’t accept. And through love I can’t do anything. I can’t go
against them. But if anyhow I find somebody is doing My work, serving him, I
cannot but be inclined towards them with much intensity. Mad bhaktānāṁ ca ye
bhaktās, te me bhaktatamā mataḥ.”
Gaura Haribol. No pardoned souls in the
servants, serventing Braja. Na pāraye 'haṁ niravadya-saṁyujāṁ.
“I declare that I fail. I fail to give you something in return. So I am in debt
to you all. The quality of service that you are rendering to Me, it is not in
My store to be found that I can give in return, so I remain indebted to you
all. Your quality of service is so noble, magnanimous, and great, and of such
purest degree, I have nothing in store to give something in response. So I’m
indebted to you.”
na pāraye 'haṁ niravadya-saṁyujāṁ,
sva-sādhu-kṛtyaṁ vibudhāyuṣāpi vaḥ
yā mābhajan durjaya-geha-śṛṅkhalāḥ,
saṁvṛścya tad vaḥ pratiyātu sādhunā
[“O gopīs, I am not able to
repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā.
Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshipped Me, cutting off
all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own
glorious deeds be your compensation.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.32.22]
End of 81.01.11.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.22.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________ exhausted ______________________
[?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja is telling that he won’t be able
to speak much, as it is today he won’t be able to speak or give a lecture.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I feel exhausted. Yesterday I used Disprin, so
exhausted, used Disprin tablet, and then also felt giddiness after noon.
Anyhow, now a little better but very weak I feel. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: The first thing was that I wanted you to, you quote
this verse, and this is the mood of your trying to approach Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_____________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________
[?]
“I want you, I have come here to get you as my
assistant in my propaganda, preaching life, your help,” but it is suppressed.
And externally He’s approaching through the channel of the affection which
Sārvabhauma naturally had for Him. Sārvabhauma saw Him like a child
because Sārvabhauma’s father and Jagannātha Mīsra of same time
and same rank, and Sārvabhauma’s father, and Nilambar Cakravartī, the maternal grandfather,
___________________________ they were classmates.
Sārvabhauma told that, “That in that relationship I look at him
with much affection and I want his welfare.” He told to Gopīnātha,
“But you, some people, a particular section are making much of him and in that
way you are going to spoil his future. But he’s a gentle, good, and promising
child. I shall look after him, just if he can keep up his sannyāsa,
though it is taken in a very younger age, I shall have to look after his
welfare.”
In this way
Sārvabhauma; and Mahāprabhu also entered in through that channel to
conquer his heart. And patiently gave hearing, silent hearing to
Sārvabhauma’s explanation according to Śaṅkara
School, without any opposition.
But when he
was asked by Sārvabhauma, “What is this? He’s a very bright student and he
does not say anything, only silently with much patience he is giving listening,
hearing. This is somewhat wonderful, strange.” So when he asked, “Whether you
understand or not what I say?”
Then
Mahāprabhu came out, “Yes. I understand the original sūtra,
but your explanation I can’t follow. This seems rather to be, to cover the real
meaning of the sūtra.”
Then
Sārvabhauma was astounded, “What does he say? What I have explained is all
wrong, bogus? Then can you explain yourself the sūtra?”
“Yes, if you
command I can do so.”
“Do it.”
Then He
began to explain and Sārvabhauma was astounded.
“What is
this?”
Then anyhow,
when the first stage was minimised then Sārvabhauma told, “I have made
some explanation about ātmārāma śloka
of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [1.7.10].
Do you like to hear that?” To maintain his lost prestige Sārvabhauma told
like that.
“Yes. You go
on. I shall hear.”
Then
Sārvabhauma explained in nine different ways, nine meanings
Sārvabhauma gave to ātmārāma śloka, and
thought, “What I have done I have regained my prestige.” With this sort of
posing; then, still for some courtesy sake asked, “Can you explain in any more
line?”
“Then if you
order I can try.” Then Mahāprabhu there explained in eighteen different
meanings that ātmārāma śloka. And this perplexed
Sārvabhauma.
“Gopīnātha told that he is not a human being, and what I now
hear it is not possible for any human being to do in this way, śloka background,”
and perplexed.
Then
Mahāprabhu showed him His Godly nature, position.
Śaṅkha cakra gadā padma _____________ [?] And then ___ Sita kunja
____________ [?]
[pradyumna — cakra-śaṅkha-gadā-padma-dhara
/ aniruddha — cakra-gadā-śaṅkha-padma-kara] [??]
[“Pradyumna
holds the disc, conch, club and lotus. Aniruddha holds the disc, club, conch
and lotus.] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.225] [??]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Then
Sārvabhauma was converted. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja __________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_____________________________________________________ [?]
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
I offer my
respectful obeisances to the auspicious lotus feet of Tridaṇḍī Jati Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja. In the stormy
night that has fallen after the disappearance of the transcendental sun of his
divine grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda, he has
risen like the new moon to calm the waves of dissension and give guidance.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sanskrit ________ ke?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī & Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: 12:34 - Bhaktivedānta
namake ___15:12
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja is telling that it’s very nice
and it’s correct also, but whether it will be beneficial or whether it will be
good for the movement, for the society...
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: But that’s not
the idea. I just wanted...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The publicity may disturb the mentality of some, a
portion.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: ________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _____________________ But part of the ISKCON may be
so. But still, to give it publicity may not be very judicious.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: Yes. I
understand that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So back to the
_______________ So today is the appearance day of Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura, and, you can mention how, maybe you can, I think
this will be the best thing, if you can just translate this… Prabhupāda once…
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Prabhupāda ________________________________________ [?] Even
among our God-brothers we have misunderstanding, but none of us is astray from
the service of Kṛṣṇa. Guru Mahārāja ordered us…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can’t follow. The sound is there.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Prabhupāda bolchen. Even amongst our God-brothers we have
misunderstanding, but none of us is astray from the service of Kṛṣṇa.
My Guru Mahārāja ordered us to execute his Mission combined. Unfortunately
we are now separated but none of us have stopped preaching Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. Even if there was misunderstanding amongst the God-brothers of
my Guru Mahārāja, none of them deviated from the transcendental
loving service of Kṛṣṇa. The idea is that provocation and
misunderstanding may remain between one man and another, but our staunch faith
in Kṛṣṇa consciousness may not allow any material disruption.
Please therefore try to be sympathetic with any person even if they differ. The
only qualification we have to scrutinise is if one is acting in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness as far as one is able to do it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Good.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So, and then
Śrīla Prabhupāda said that among Vaiṣṇavas there may
be some difference of opinion due to everyone’s personal identity
______________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Among Vaiṣṇavas there may be some
difference of opinion due to everyone’s personal identity, but despite all
personal differences the cult of Kṛṣṇa consciousness must go
on.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That’s very good. But there may be gradation. All
may not preach from the same rank, same plane. Some from a little superior,
some from a little inferior plane, but they’re working to spread Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, so it is justified. But all are not of equal level. It should be
conceived in this way. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So then read
this, and just read up to here. He wrote this in ex purporting the Advaita Ācārya
in Ādi-līlā, Advaita Ācārya and his sons.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: There are many disciples of Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura, but to judge who
is actually his disciple, to divide the useful from the useless, one must
measure the activities of such disciples in executing the will of the spiritual
master.
[21:10 - 22:33, Bhakti Caru Swāmī and
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja speak in Bengali]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura wanted to print
as many books as possible and distribute them all over the world.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. It’s good.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: __________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________
[?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja is telling that, “Yes, that’s
true. And the sign of a disciple is in how much he’s been able to grasp the
teachings of his spiritual master and act upon those given instructions.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To understand and to practice.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: Yes. So now the
point is that, so first Śrīla Prabhupāda is saying there are
differences of opinion, but he’s distilled as an essential instruction the
publishing and distribution of books.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: _______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bṛhat-mṛdaṅga, no objection.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So now in our
society the God-brothers, initiating or non initiating, they may have some
different ideas about how to execute Prabhupāda’s orders.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [24:52 - 25:33, Bengali ?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: [25:33 - 25:45, Bengali ?]
Caitanya-caritāmṛtapraṇāma mantra ___________saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś
ca.
______________________ [?]
vande 'haṁ śrī-guroḥ
śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś
ca
[śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ
saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam
sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ
parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ
śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān
saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś
ca]
[“I offer my respectful obeisances unto
the lotus feet of my spiritual master and to all the other preceptors on the
path of devotional service. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇavas
and unto the six Gosvāmīs, including Śrīla Rūpa
Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī,
Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrī
Jīva Gosvāmī, and their associates. I offer my respectful
obeisances unto Śrī Advaita Ācārya Prabhu, Śrī
Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and all His
devotees, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. I then offer my
respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa,
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and all the gopīs,
headed by Lalitā and Viśākhā.”] [Maṅgalācaraṇa]
[26:15 -26:42, Bengali ?] vaiṣṇavāṁś
ca, śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa.
[26:45 - 26:54, Bengali ?] sādvaitaṁ
sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ.
______________
lalitā-śrī-viśākhā. [27:05 - 27:42, Bengali ?]
That is the goal, the destination. [27:45 - 30:52,
Bengali ?]
Came through
the books, that is of permanent character, it is in black and white, in śāstra,
the kaladini [?] that personal attempt that is local and temporary, but
the preaching through śāstra, śāstra means
through books, writing method, the preaching is more permanent and definite. satam
badi madika [?]
In our
speaking we may be a little slack, but when writing something we must be more
accurate. The accurate representation and permanent representation of a thing,
that is found in the writing things of the scriptures. So to extend, try to
extend the scope of the scripture. That is laudable service no doubt.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: I should
continue? So in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In the first stage when there was no script it came
from mouth to ear, śruti, in the first stage. From heart to heart, tene
brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.1.1], the first vibration came from heart to heart. Then from Brahmä’s mouth to the
ear of the disciples, then came the writing, to make it permanent, and to
spread through the agent also. The book one can carry, who may not be a Vaiṣṇava,
may not know anything, but he may carry the advice from one country to another
country, it may be extended for preaching purposes, it is more suitable and
helpful. Hare Kṛṣṇa. But still, that will be one thing; it is
according to the Supreme Will, the division of labour, the choice of the
Supreme. He may choose some for śāstric purpose and some for
oral purpose. So the superiority may not be decided in this respect, in this
matter. The one who is dealing with the śāstra, he must be
superior to the man who is not preaching through śāstra.
According to His will He wanted one to do in a particular way and wanted some
other to do in a particular way. This sort of thinking we must have. Do you
follow?
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: Yes. Is that
like...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: His choice, the choice of the Absolute.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: Like Haridāsa
Ṭhākura? He’s chanting...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Haridāsa Ṭhākura did not write any book, but his oral preaching, that
is also not of less value.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So, in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nityānanda
Prabhu, He did not write much, but oral, but His attempt may not be
depreciated, the advent of Nityānanda
Prabhu, the direct preacher of Mahāprabhu. bhaja gaurāṅga,
kaha gaurāṅga [Worship Gaurāṅga, speak of
Gaurāṅga], the first rank by oral attempt, and the next, Rūpa
Sanātana,
through scripture, next stage. Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So, in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, Rūpa Goswāmī mentions this general principle of accepting
Ācārya, but he doesn’t choose to mention the details because they may
vary...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who?
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: ...from one
Ācārya to another.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What does he say?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Rūpa Goswāmī, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu ____________________ [?] Repeat that.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: That he says
that one should accept the Ācārya, and Prabhupāda mentions that
he doesn’t go into the details because there may be differences between one
Ācārya and the other so he doesn’t choose to mention the details but
the general principle that one must accept an Ācārya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What does he say?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: ____________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Vital points _______________ Details non
important __________ practised sambandha
a little difference there may be, but in the main points they will be one
and the same, common. What is the śloka of Rūpa
Goswāmī in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu? What is that śloka?
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: I don’t know the
Sanskrit.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Because already there’s so many groups, śanta,
dāsya,vātsalya,
mādhurya, and there also any mistake? You say,
Caru Swāmī. Vātsalya rasa and mādhurya rasa, they’re
antagonistic, so they’re all pure, and genuine, and natural, and they have got
real necessity and position. So even antagonistic preaching has got its room
there, ha, ha.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: Ha, ha, ha. Yes,
but in one place Prabhupāda mentions...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And there are so many branches, in vātsalya rasa also different
kinds of branches, not only stale or one thing; in mādhurya rasa so many branches
and variegatedness, all serving towards, to Kṛṣṇa, but
variegatedness. Just as in the cooked food, the pungent, the salt, the
combination of different types.
Devotee: __________________________________________________
[?]
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So
Prabhupāda mentions that a disciple, he must execute the order of the
spiritual master but not offend other Vaiṣṇavas.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: ____________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: As much as possible. Sometimes he may also, just as
the elder brother may punish the younger. But the good sense must be there,
sincerity. He wants the good of the junior and he may chastise the younger
brother. “Don’t do in that way. Do it in this way.” That sort of position,
there should be room for that sort of...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: __________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, if well-meaning, then no harm if he punishes
some younger, junior. Na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid durgatiṁ
tāta gacchati [Bhagavad-gītā, 6.40] That is rather a form of affection; punishment
is also a form of affection. In vātsalya rasa it is used
usually, even Kṛṣṇa is not exempted. Ha, ha, ha.
Devotees: Ha, ha, ha.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: But sometimes in
our society we have the younger brothers who want to chastise the older
brothers. Ha, ha, ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Devotee:
________________________________ [?]
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So, then, see, knowing
that there is variety and there will be difference in preaching we have to
accept that. But in our society, in the practical sense of how to remain
unified with the difference, that has become a problem. To allow for difference
and at the same time remain unified.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_____________________________________________________ [?]
In spite of these differences, how to remain united?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tṛṇād api...
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: English.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: _________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The spirit of toleration; that should be spread
amongst us. If we want to work in a group, in saṅkīrtana, then this sort of qualification is...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Essential.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Essential and inevitable.
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api
sahiṣṇunā / amāninā mānadena, [kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ]
[“One who is humbler than a blade of
grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others without
desiring it for himself is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Śikṣāṣṭakam, 3]
This sort of characteristic should be
maintained and given more attention if we want to work in a group. The
toleration and humility, humility and toleration, otherwise combined we cannot
take up any work, big work, and amāninā mānadena, these
four qualifications are necessary if we want to go on with saṅkīrtana. Bahubhir militvā yat kīrtanam tad eva
saṅkīrtanam, Jīva Goswāmī’s explanation of saṅkīrtana. What is saṅkīrtana? Bahubhir militvā yat kīrtanam tad eva
saṅkīrtanam; that if you want to go on in that process then
these qualifications should be encouraged within the organisation. The spirit
of toleration, humility, and the tendency to give honour to others and not to
seek honour for himself; especially pratiṣṭhā, the hitch is there in pratiṣṭhā, in fame, and to maintain one’s own position. By
attempting to maintain our own position we cannot give position. These sort of
things should be educated among the organisation. By seeking position we may
not attain position. Sometimes by not seeking but by giving position to others
we can get position. So amāninā mānadena; the hitch, the
main hitch is there, and with toleration and also humility, first humility,
then toleration, then giving position to others, and not want for himself. Then
we can go together and that has been given more stress...
End of 81.02.22.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.22.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _____________ mānasa tohār, parama jatane tāhi labho adhikār. If you really
want to go on with saṅkīrtana then these four qualifications are indispensably
necessary for you.
1) śrī-kṛṣṇa-kīrtane jadi mānasa tohār, parama jatane tāhi labho adhikār
2) tṛṇādhika hīna, dīna, akiñcana chār, āpane mānobi sadā chāri’ ahaṅkār
3) bṛka-sama khamā-guṇa korobi sādhan, pratihiṁsā tyaji’ anye korobi pālan
4) jīban-nirbāhe āne udbega nā dibe, para-upakāre nija-sukha pāsaribe
5) hoile-o sarba-guṇe guṇī mahāśoy, pratiṣṭhāśā chāri koro amānī hṛdoy
6) kṛṣṇa-adhiṣṭhān sarba-jībe jāni’ sadā, korobi sammān sabe ādare sarbadā
7) dainya, doyā, anye māna, pratiṣṭhā-barjan, cāri guṇe guṇī hoi’, koroha kīrtan
8) bhakativinoda kadi’, bale prabhu-pāy, heno adhikār kabe dibe he āmāy
[Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’sŚikṣāṣṭakam, 3]
[1) If your mind is always absorbed with great care in
chanting the glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then, in that process of Kṛṣṇa kīrtana you will gain
mastery over the mind.
2) You
should give up all false pride and always consider yourself as worthless,
destitute, lower and more humble than a blade of grass.
3) You
should practice forgiveness like that of a tree, and giving up violence toward
other living beings, you should protect and maintain them.
4) In
the course of your life, you should never give anxiety to others, but rather do
good to them and forget about your own happiness.
5) When
one has thus become a great and pious soul, because of possessing all good
qualities, one should abandon all desires for fame and honour and make one’s
heart humble.
6) Always
knowing that Lord Kṛṣṇa resides within all living creatures, one should,
with great respect, show honour to all living beings at all times.
7) Humility,
mercifulness, respect toward others, and the renunciation of desires for fame
and honour - one becomes virtuous by possessing these four qualities. In such a
state you should sing the glories of the Supreme Lord.
8) Weeping,
Bhaktivinoda submits his prayer
at the lotus feet of the Lord: “O Lord, when will You give me possessions of
such qualities as these?”]
This attitude should be; we should
preach and create such favourable atmosphere so we can go on with saṅkīrtana, that is bahubhir militvā [yat
kīrtanam tad eva saṅkīrtanam], the many combined in one
campaign we can move.
Hare Kṛṣṇa
______________________________________ Gaura Haribol.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. So the next question
is that according to Jīva Goswāmī...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, Prabhupāda bolchen, according to Śrīla Jīva
Goswāmī, a preacher has to accept many
disciples to expand the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This is
risky. __________________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I want to know the original, śloka.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: __________________________________________ [?]
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: It’s from the Madhya-līlā, Chapter twenty-two.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: According to Śrīla Jīva
Goswāmī, a preacher has to accept many disciples to expand the cult
of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: It’s in the purport.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Prabhupāda Madhya-līlā
________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mahāprabhu ________________ [?]
yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa,
[āmāra ājñāya guru hañā
tāra ei deśa
kabhu nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga,
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga]
[“Instruct whoever you meet in the
science of Kṛṣṇa. Teach them the instructions of Kṛṣṇa
in Bhagavad-gītā, and the teachings about Kṛṣṇa
in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way, on My order, become a
Guru and liberate everyone in the land. If you follow this instruction, the
waves of materialism within this world will not affect you. Indeed, if you
follow My order, you will soon attain My association.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 7.128-9]
[03:17 - 04:25, Bengali?]
Sincerity,
the dealing must be sincere. As much as I know I must help the others with that
knowledge _______________________ The posterity and ___________________ previous
Ācāryas, they have left their knowledge for us. I have studied. I
have got that advantage; facility. But in my turn I am not extending that to
others. The flow is obstructed by me. I have no right to do so. I must also
transmit what I got from the predecessors; to the posterity I must extend that.
That is a natural, good feeling, requires this, that what I have got from the
ancestors; previous, I must let, allow to pass through me that knowledge to the
posterity. This is quite natural. And if I create obstacle in me I shall commit
offence. Do you follow?
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Create what; a struggle?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The knowledge, the flow of knowledge...
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Obstruction in me? Yes, then that’s offence.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The knowledge from previous to me to the posterity
_______ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Predecessors?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ah, predecessors. What flow is coming from the
predecessors and it must pass through me to the posterity. That is natural, the
flow of knowledge. But if I create an obstacle in me then it will be an
offence. So, especially the spiritual flow, we must not stop when we get from
the Ācārya I must transmit to the disciple. That is quite natural.
But the difficulty is that we seek our own position. Difficulty is the self
seeking mood, self seeking. We must be medium; there’s no harm. But self
seeking temperament, that is to be blamed and that is harmful.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: That should be avoided.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Avoided. Otherwise, we all may be Guru. Only if I
allow my Guru’s flow to pass through me, no harm; he’s bona fide, he’s fitted
to be Guru. Only he’s passing his Guru’s thing through him, it is Guru’s
property passing through me. As long as I am connected with my Guru, these
things I must allow to pass through me. No harm. But when the self centred, ego
centred abolished and self centred nature, then the Guru becomes opaque and
that Guru is a nuisance to the world. He’s no longer a Guru, who is not a
disciple. Who is not conscious of his own Guru, he cannot work on behalf of
Guru. His Guru only can do the work of Guru. He must consider him the agent,
the medium, then there’s no difficulty, no wrong. Otherwise, when he forgets
his own Guru, and he gives something which is not come, not received from Guru,
then he’ll create disturbance.
[yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa,]
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa
kabhu nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga,
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 7.128-9]
That disciple means to do the service.
Everything means that should be taken up with the spirit of service, otherwise
then everything is bad. Even beating is service. Hanumān and so many
others they created havoc in the world, but they did service. Arjuna, when he
fought, he did service, nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savya-sācin.
[tasmāt tvam uttiṣṭha yaśo
labhasva, jitvā śatrūn bhuṅkṣva rājyaṁ
samṛddham
mayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvam eva,
nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savya-sācin]
[“Therefore
take your stand for battle, take the glory, conquer all the enemies, and enjoy
a flourishing kingdom. Actually, all these warriors have long before been
killed by Me. O Savyasācin, you
simply take all the credit.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
11.33]
Be nimitta, agent; be conscious
of your agency, that you’re agent of a particular person, of your own Guru.
Then you go on with the work of Guru; you are quite fit, not any selfish
motive; pratiṣṭhāta, “I want fame, I want women, I want
money.” Exploitation, the exploitation, the nature of exploitation as well as
the nature of renunciation should be eliminated and everything should be done
with the spirit of service. Then we are all well, all healthy. The spirit of
exploitation and renunciation; both should be avoided, and the spirit of service,
and even crossing the śāstric rule, the heart’s purity, that
is above. And śāstras are meant for general persons, but there
may be higher souls that are above the consideration of the śāstra.
Śāstra is generally meant for the mass. Of course, there are
different rulings for different stages, but still, on the whole, śāstra
means, ‘Whose come to control.’ The purpose is to control. That is not used
for the free who are above control, who are naturally posted in that good
nature. Śāstra is not for them. Śāstra is for
the general mass, to control them, to train them. And who are above training,
cent per cent in the service of Kṛṣṇa, śāstra is
not necessary there.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Viddhi nahi ya [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Viddhi nahi ya - Sarvakam balite viddhi nahi ya
[?]
Above rules of conduct; they can create śāstra,
their very practises are śāstra.
[dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ
guhāyāṁ] mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ
[Yudhiṣṭhira
Mahārāja said: “The real secret, the solid truth of religious
principles is hidden and concealed in the hearts of unadulterated self-realised
persons, saints, just as treasure is hidden in a mysterious cave. Consequently,
as the śāstras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive
path the mahā-janas advocate.”] [Mahābhārata, Vana-parva]
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So previously he had mentioned that if this
Ācārya-ship were to be extended, the spiritual characteristic should
be maintained.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The Ācārya’s qualification must be there,
if it is extended. A non Ācārya cannot do the work of an
Ācārya. Ācārya has got special qualification. What is that?
The first consideration is that the Ācārya must be submissive to his
own Ācārya, he must be faithful to his own Ācārya. That will
be the first qualification. He’s the servant, and it will depend on the
percentage of the submission; how much he is subservient to his own
Ācārya. The degree, it will depend upon the degree. There’s the
difficulty.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja ___________________ [?]
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So the question is that now, this year, the GBC they
may extend the Ācārya-ship. So how will this come that they will
recognise a Vaiṣṇava, or that he is under certain standards, and
he’s making submission to the previous Ācārya? And how will that
individual know that he is ready to give dīkṣā?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja:
____________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________
[?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_____________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________ śāstra and sādhu;
it should be considered from mainly two standpoints, one is śāstra,
and another is present, reliable, living sādhus. And also,
considering the line of Swāmī
Mahārāja as he has expressed his will during his preaching time; and
consideration and attention should be given to that; his preaching, his nature,
his aspirations. This sort of consideration, and śāstra, as
well as living sādhus, śāstra is there and living sādhus,
who are they? Who can be relied, who is not very diplomatic. Diplomacy may be
very subservient but diplomacy may not have the primary position. Such sādhu’s
consideration, and also amongst the present Ācāryas and committee
their opinion should be given more value who can be relied to have the success
of the movement of the whole institution, broad minded, wide viewed. Whose
heart is only to extend the genuine activities of the ISKCON with selfless
heart, who wants the extension of the genuine flow of the ISKCON, his opinion
should be led more importance. With these considerations the Ācārya
should be...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Nominated.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...selected, nominated. The nomination will come
from the body, not from the mass, perhaps. But the body should look to the mass
mind also, those that are within ISKCON, they should consider their feeling in
this function. Sincerity, śāstric knowledge, and adherence to
Guru, and earnestness to take this divine upadeśa, the council to
the mass; all these qualifications should be given more importance, in an
Ācārya. His inner hankering to give to the people, and his submission
to his Guru, and śāstra, and also a friendly temperament with
the members of the ISKCON; these considerations should be given importance. And
commanding temperament, and who is able to capture the educated minds, as well
as the masses, all these qualifications should be reckoned.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Now, in the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[3.4.26, purport], in relation to Uddhava, Vidura, and Maitreya,
Śrīla Prabhupāda says, “We should be careful not to transgress
the law of maryādā-vyatikrama.”[impertinently
surpassing a greater personality]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hmm?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [20:50 -
21:26, Bengali?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That will be a good conduct, or courtesy, to take
his permission, consent; that will be a good thing. But a general look is given
in Gītā, Bhāgavatam, Upaniṣad; that is samit paniḥ śrotriyaṁ
brahma niṣṭham.
[tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum
evābhigacchet, samit paniḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma niṣṭham]
[“One who
wants scientific knowledge about the Supreme Truth must approach a bona fide
Guru and offer him everything required for sacrifice. The Guru must be fixed in
the truth, having heard it from a genuine source.”] [Muṇḍaka
Upaniṣad, 1.2.12]
Well versed
in the knowledge of scriptures, and who has unconditioned adherence towards a
spiritual entity, that should be the real sign of an Ācārya; śāstra
and the purpose of the śāstra; adherence to both of them, sādhu
and śāstra, and sādhu śāstra rupaistra
tattva. In Gītā also, jñāninas tattva darśinaḥ.
[tad viddhi praṇipātena, paripraśnena
sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ, jñāninas
tattva darśinaḥ]
[“You will be able to attain all this
knowledge by satisfying the enlightened spiritual master with prostrate
obeisances, relevant enquiry, and sincere service. Great souls who are most
expert in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the
Supreme Absolute Truth will teach you that divine knowledge.”[ [Bhagavad-gītā,
4.34]
Some sort of knowledge, who is
established in the divinity, and who can express the characteristic of the
divinity to others, that is jñānina, who have got direct perception
about divinity and who can also give vent to that perception to the public.
That should be the – who knows and who can make others to know; the real
characteristic of divinity. That should be the real sign of Ācārya.
And other things; who can mix with the people, with the educated society, who
knows different languages of the people, who can write, these are also
superficial qualifications. The main qualification is, who is in divinity, and
who can spread divinity outside. That will be the intrinsic characteristic of
Ācārya. And the external qualification will be…
...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja
_____________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja is saying that it’s not actually uttama-adhikārī. Guru’s position is madhyama-adhikārī______________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He has come down in madhyama-adhikārī, because uttama- adhikārīdoes not see anything but in connection of Kṛṣṇa.
And madhyama-adhikārīsees both Kṛṣṇa and non Kṛṣṇa.
So Guru must see non Kṛṣṇa and then he will transform non Kṛṣṇa
into Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So madhyama-adhikārī, this is the work of madhyama-adhikārī, whose conscious of both Kṛṣṇa and māyā, and he’s clever to take from māyā,
snatch from māyā’s clutches and send them to Kṛṣṇa’s
domain. That is madhyama-adhikārī. But it is unquestionable that he may not be tempted
to be again caught under the snare of māyā. That should be
guaranteed.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: How is that guaranteed?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: By his movements we are to see, movements,
practices, we are to guess...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: The same thing with a sannyāsī also?
How he acts, like that has to be...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is their plan? The members of the Governing
Body should be given that facility or outside Governing Body also
Ācārya may be appointed?
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: It may be outside also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Outside.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: These are proposals they’re discussing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They who are considered qualified should be given
recognition, independent of the Governing Body and outside Governing Body. Hare
Kṛṣṇa.
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...that is in Bhāgavatam, and the Paramātmā, yes, wherever there is jīva, his
guardian aspect, the Lord, the Bhagavān is also present there without interfering with his
freedom. He’s watching, He’s in the company of jīvātmā. His neighbour’s shunned him, abandoned him, but
indifferent, indifferently watching; jīva, that is
Paramātmā’s attitude. Paramātmā is always jīvātmā, but He does not interfere with his activity.
Devotee: How is it
determined?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: How?
Devotee: Yes. What, how
is it determined what form a conditioned soul first receives when he contacts māyā,
when he enters material existence, who’s to say...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What does he say?
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He says, “When the jīva first comes into
mahat-tattva, what will determine the rūpa, his form? The
form the jīva receives...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Form? What form the jīva takes...
Devotee: What material
species of life?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Material? When jīva is within Brahma
conception he has got no individual consciousness; only like some national
consciousness, something, hazy. But when there is a push from the side of MahāViṣṇu, or Sadāśiva, then from prakṛti, mahat-tattva. Just in the first stage of life
it is bruna [?] In the womb, the non-differentiated body of the child,
non-differentiated body, no body conception; no eye, no head, no hand, no leg,
in the womb the first conception of the child, first stage of the child, what
is known as embryo; so mahat-tattva is a big embryo and from there the
child’s nose, eye, brain, hair, everything gradually springing up.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Mahat-tattva’s a big embryo or big womb?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. Prakṛtiis the womb and the first stage of the embryo is mahat-tattva.
And then from mahat-tattva bifurcation begins gradually and so many jīva
conceptions are coming out. A general ego, mahat-tattva, and
individual ego is emanating from mahat-tattva, in many numbers, in huge
numbers. The common conception of all the jīvas of all the egos of
the jīvas is mahat-tattva. But individual ego is emanating
from mahat-tattva. Between the prakṛtiand... prakṛtiis like a watery substance, and teja, that is
consciousness, is mingling, coming in prakṛti, in the water, the rays coming into water and there
is a commotion and then something is coming, and that is mahat-tattva.
And then mahat-tattva again comes to divide itself in innumerable units,
and that is so many ahaṅkāra of jīva. Then,
Se citra prakṛtermahān ahaṅkara
pancatran mahatrāni. The fivefold
gist of the creation, and then that fivefold common basic acquaintances and
that is again divided, each divided into three, sattya, raja, and tama.
These five into three, it becomes fifteen bifurcated material conceptions. In tama-guṇa, lastly the
earth, water, fire, air, and ether, this is the grossest outcome, product from prakṛti.
And the eye, ear, this is the middle, and then the sun, the sound, in this way
there’s three divisions from panca tanmatra. From ahaṅkāra
the five branches, and every branch has three, then so
many, _______________ Twenty-four categories we find ultimately. This is sāṅkhyaphilosophy which explains the nature.
Devotee: Does the living
entity begin in - all living entities in the - when they come into the mahat-tattva,
do they all begin from the same species of life, or different species of life?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What does he say?
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: When the jīvas first come to mahat-tattva
connection, is it the same...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hazy common individual conception, and from mahat-tattva
then...
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Specified.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Specific individuality springs up.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So then it may be different species, not the same
species? He wants to know is it the same species or different?
Devotee: He becomes a
Brahmā, he becomes an ant, he becomes a hog, he becomes a bird?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. That is the basis first, and there we can have,
all possibilities in germinal form there.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: All possibilities in a germinal form there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In germinal form, in non-differentiated form one
cannot detect.
Devotee: That’s coming
from...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The possibility of the product which we see, it was
there, but in such a meagre conception it cannot be detected. Because, even
again, when mahā-pralaya, the withdrawal of the creation, complete withdrawal
of the creation, and it enters into the stage of prakṛti or
something like watery substance, the whole thing in a very nutshell is
preserved there.
I am told that Japan, they’re
manufacturing a library, and in a small library they can keep many books.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Many, many books. And the script is such that
without microscope it cannot be read.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: It’s called microfilm.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Microfilm.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And in a small place a big book is represented.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Or something like that. There everything is but
undetectable way, in prakṛti it
is there. But the Supreme Lord He can detect anything and everything everywhere
and His dedicated agent. But to ordinary understanding it is beyond any
knowledge, any experience. It is in such a germinal form.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: We can say, “The possibility,” something like that.
It is very meagre; cannot be detected. Again when bifurcated, it is generally
becoming bigger, bigger, and branching, just as a tree is in a seed. A big tree
is preserved in a seed. Every day we see, in our everyday experience we see
that non-differentiated and differentiated is springing up.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is there, in the tree, in the seed, the tree is
there, the possibility of the tree, of course the environment is helping,
taking the help of the environment, the seed is producing a big tree. Something
like that. It is beyond our knowledge. But so much enquiry about the
unessential, non essential, it is a bar to devotion. So Brahmā says:
jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva,
jīvanti san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām
[sthāne sthitāḥ
śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir, ye prāyaśo
'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyām]
[“Oh Lord,
Oh Unconquerable One, those devotees who, completely giving up all attempts on
the path of jñāna of attaining the non differentiated platform
known as Brahma by hearing the transcendental narratives of Your pastimes (kathā),
which emanates from the lotus mouths of the mahā-bhāgavat
sādhus and pass their lives by engaging their body, mind and words in
pure devotion, easily conquer You (they easily get Your transcendental association),
although You are the most difficult to attain in the three worlds.”] [Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam, 10.14.3]
So Bhāgavata
discourages this sort of scrutinising knowledge. There’s no end. If you
take up this path of knowing the jñāna mārga, it won’t help you to take you to the real place.
Faith, faith will help you. It may help you partly, to consolidate your faith,
in the beginning of madhyama-adhikārī. But you, your real help
will come from the plane of faith. Brahmā himself says, jānanta
eva jānantu [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.14.38].
“Those that are very proud of their intellect they may know many things, let
them boast, those fools. But it is my conclusion, Oh Lord. I do not know
anything. You are infinite. Your ways, Your every movement is infinite. So it is
rather insanity to go to enquire after Your ways and nature. Submit, submit,
submission, and to have Your Grace, to pray for Your Grace, that is the right
way to come to our desired end.”
Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya
namanta eva, and jānanta eva jānantu;
let them be proud of their knowledge of analysing this thing that thing, no
end; there is one particle of sand, if you study for lives together, no end. So
don’t go that side. That is wild goose chasing. Come direct through the
favourite disciple of the Lord, and begin service as much as permission you are
given, take up that, and gradually go towards ānanda-mārga.
Sat-cit-ānanda, cit direct to ānanda, don’t waste
your energy in cit and sat, sat-cit-ānandam. You are
all desirous of getting ānanda, fulfilment, ecstasy, so try to
start your journey direct towards ānanda, eliminating sat and
cit. But in the way, to certain extent sat and cit their
help should be taken in; only take that much and avoid the rest. No ambition
should be fulfilled in their company. But what is your intrinsic demand of you
nature, that is for ānanda, rasam, sukham, happiness,
so begin your journey direct towards the ānandam, Kṛṣṇa.
And that is possible through devotion, dedication, through faith. Śraddhāmeans faith, optimistic faith…
End of 81.02.22.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.25.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ
kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ
śacī-nandanaḥ
[“May that
Lord, who is known as the son of Śrīmatī
Śacīdevī, be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers
of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in
this age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation ever
offered before: the most sublime and radiant spiritual knowledge of the mellow
taste of His service.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 1.4]
jayatāṁ suratau paṅgor mama manda-mater gatī
mat-sarvasva-padāmbhojau rādhā-madana-mohanau
[Glory to
the all-merciful Rādhāand Madana-mohana! I am lame and ill advised, yet They
are my directors, and Their lotus feet are everything to me.] [Sambandhādhideva Praṇāma]
dīvyad-vṛndāraṇya-kalpa-drumādhaḥ, śrīmad-ratnāgāra-siṁhāsana-sthau
śrīmad-rādhā-śrīla-govinda-devau, preṣṭhālībhiḥ sevyamānau smarāmi
[In a temple of jewels in Vṛndāvana, underneath a desire tree, Śrī
Śrī Rādhā-Govinda, served by Their most confidential
associates, sit upon an effulgent throne. I offer my humble obeisances unto
Them.] [Abhidheyādhideva Praṇāma]
Adharana tinamdante rdhay janati puna puna srimad rupa
padam bhoja dumi syama [?]
śrī caitanya mano'bhīṣṭaṁ,
stāpithaṁ yena bhūtale
svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ, dadāti
sva-pandāntikaṁ
[Narottama
dāsa Ṭhākura said: “O when will Śrīla Rūpa
Goswāmī, who has firmly established in this world, the pure
devotional teachings and principles of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
and thus fulfilled His cherished desires, ever bless me with eternal shelter of
his lotus feet?”] [Prema-bhakti-candrika]
mukam karoti vācālaṁ panghum
langhāyate girīm
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī
gurun dīna-tāranam
[“I offer my
respectful obeisances unto Mādhava, Who is the Personification of
transcendental bliss. By His mercy, a blind man can see the stars in the sky, a
lame man can cross mountains, and a dumb man can speak eloquent words of
poetry.”] [Śrīdhara Svāmī’s Bhavārtha Dipikā,
maṅgala stotram, 1]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _____________ [Bengali ?] ______________ 25.12
minutes] Gaura Haribol.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: So
I’m offering my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual
master, Oṁ Viṣṇu-Pāda Paramahaṁsa ParivrājakācāryaŚrīŚrī Aṣṭottara-śataŚrīmad
A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda. And I am also offering my respectful obeisances
unto His Divine Grace Śrīla ŚrīdharaSwāmī Mahārāja, who I accept just like my
spiritual master. Because as it is stated in the Śrī
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, that the brother of ones Guru should also be
worshipped just like ones own Guru.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [25:55 - 26:30, Bengali?]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
And I’m offering my respectful obeisances unto Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī
Prabhupāda whose appearance day we are
celebrating today; because as my grandfather, it is said that the grandfather
is even more kindly disposed upon his grandson than the father is upon his own
son.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [26:55 - 27:43]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Although I have never personally associated with Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī
Ṭhākura, I can appreciate his glorious
qualities because of the glorious sons that he has produced.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [28:04 - 28:18]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: It
is said that a tree can be judged by the fruit that it produces. So the fruit
of this tree of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura
is the most sweet fruit of all.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [28:34 - 28:55]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Because actually this is the tree of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [29:00 - 29:04]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came as a gardener to distribute the
fruits of this wonderful tree.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [29:14 - 29:28]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: He
was feeling great anxiety; how to distribute this fruit of love of God.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [29:35 - 29:45]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
The whole world is very much thirsty, but they do not know how to relieve their
thirst.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [29:52 - 30:00]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Like a man in the desert they are seeing only mirages in the form of family,
friendship, and society, and they are thinking that these little drops in the
desert will quench their thirst.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [30:15 - 30:35]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
But as explained in the Bhāgavat, these family members and friends
are all fallible soldiers who shall one day perish.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [30:45 - 31:00]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Our life in this material world is like a great war with māyā.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [31:08 - 31:14]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: On
account of our attraction for these temporary manifestations of māyā,
we are lingering here in this material world birth after birth.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [31:25 - 31:34]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
And we are suffering hardly from the pangs of birth, death, disease, and old
age.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:[31:40 - 31:52]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: So
in such suffering condition, we are grasping for some happiness to relieve the
suffering.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [32:02 - 32:13]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
But māyā only presents false hopes and does not actually give
us any real relief.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [32:20 - 32:27]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: In
this dark world of material existence there is actually some relief, and that
light is presented in the form of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [32:38 - 32:50]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
And in the form of the association of the Lord’s pure devotees.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [32:54 - 32:58]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
naṣṭa-prāyeṣu abhadreṣu,
nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā
bhagavaty uttama-śloke, bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī
[“By regular attendance in classes on
the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all
that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving
service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental
songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.2.18]
Only by
service to the Bhāgavata _______________ can we hope to get some
relief from the suffering of material existence.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [33:16 - 33:44]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
These great personalities who have come on behalf of Kṛṣṇa
are offering us the ripened fruit of love for Kṛṣṇa, love of
God.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [33:56 - 34:23]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ,
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena-kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ
bhaktir uttamā
[“Pure devotional service is free from
all impurities, beginning with karma and jñāna. In other words, it is devoid of all attempts to
attain fulfilment through power and knowledge. Śuddha bhakti is the favourable
cultivation of service to Kṛṣṇa. In śuddha bhakti, pure devotional
service, a devotee constantly serves Kṛṣṇa as Kṛṣṇa
desires.] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, 1.1.11] & [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 19-167]
This bhakti
is free from any thought of fruitive reactions and mental speculations and
the desire for mystic perfections through yoga.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [34:45 - 35:10]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
These results of jñāna, karma, and yoga, are all to be enjoyed
here in this material world, and therefore they are temporary and end in
suffering.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [35:23 - 35:40]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
But bhāgavat bhakti is enacted on the
transcendental platform.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [35:45 - 35:50]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: It
is the activity of the spirit soul.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [35:56 - 36:00]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
And as such it can never be checked, ahaituky apratihatā,
yayātmā suprasīdati.
[sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo, yato
bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā, yayātmā
suprasīdati]
[“The
supreme occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that by which men can
attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional
service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.2.6]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [36:08 - 36:26]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: It
is expressed when one renders service without any thought of return.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [36:33 - 36:42]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
The mood of the spiritual world is where everyone is rendering service.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [36:52 - 37:05]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
And that service itself is the full repayment, the pleasure of that service is
the full repayment for the service rendered.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [37:15 - 37:21]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: Just
as Kṛṣṇa gave this message to the gopīs after
leaving Vṛndāvana, that, “My dear gopīs,
there’s no way that I can repay the service that you have rendered. So you must
be satisfied with the service itself.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [37:40 - 37:58]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
But we are very fearful of coming on this platform because we think that when
we become the servant of someone else then we shall lose something, we shall be
taken advantage of.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [38:11 - 38:29]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
But Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His representatives in this
disciplic succession are coming to show us the example of how becoming the
servant of the servant of the servant of the servant, actually we shall achieve
all happiness and success in life.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [38:48 - 39:10]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
This is not a temporary message meant for a particular class of people.
Mahāprabhu’s message is meant for the whole world’s society.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [39:21 - 39:31]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Some people may think that this message is a particular property of a certain
class of men.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [39:39 - 39:46]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
But Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura has
shown that one cannot designate who is a Vaiṣṇava
or who is a brāhmaṇa
merely by birth.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [39:59 - 40:11]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
And is this not actually the same which Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
and His associates demonstrated?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [40:19 - 40:24]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Just as Haridās Ṭhākura was born in a family of Mohammedans but
yet he was raised to the highest position of Nāmācārya.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [40:34 - 40:50]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī,
śūdra kene naya, / yei kṛṣṇa-tattva vettā sei
guru haya.
[“Whether a
person is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī, or a śūdra,
if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa, he is to be accepted as
Guru.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 8.127]
It does not
matter what ones background may be, but if he knows the subject matter of Kṛṣṇa,
he becomes qualified as Guru.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [41:05 - 41:31]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
This is the day and age when all people want to become equal, but the problem
is they do not know the real message of equality, the real method of equality.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [41:44 - 42:05]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: In
the name of communism or nationalism or so many other isms they are trying to
raise up those who are lower to the position of higher.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [42:17 - 42:28]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
But their attempts are all failures because they do not know what is high and
what is low.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [42:35 - 42:41]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
The highest platform of existence is when the soul is unfettered by the
encumberment of this material body.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [42:53 - 43:00]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Only that movement which aims at liberating the soul from its material covering
is actually meant to elevate all souls to an equal position.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [43:12 - 43:26]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His representatives come with a most
important message...
[Three or four voices are heard together here for
about thirty seconds]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
harer nāma harer nāma, harer nāmaiva
kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva, nāsty eva
gatir anyathā
[“In this
Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for
self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting
the holy name of Lord Hari.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 17.21, from Bṛhan-Nāradīya Purāṇa]
Only by this
Holy Name, of chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, can we
actually free ourselves from the suffering of this world, and help others to do
the same.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [44:34 - 45:02]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: We
were most fallen, most impoverished, with no value at all to our possession,
but now I feel that on account of receiving this Holy Name, that we have become
the most wealthy persons in the world.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [45:21 - 45:44]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Our only prayer is to keep the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa wrapped
around our neck and the dust of the Lord’s devotees upon our head.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [45:54 - 46:15]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________________ Giri
Mahārāja____________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja is asking you to speak something.
Giri Mahārāja:
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmilitaṁ yena, tasmai
śrī-gurave namaḥ
[“I was blind in the darkness of
ignorance but my Spiritual Master applied the ointment of proper spiritual
knowledge and thus opened my eyes. Unto him I offer my respectful obeisances.”]
So, there is
a statement in the Vedic literature that one cannot estimate the glories of the
Guru.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [47:02 - 47:15]
Giri Mahārāja: The original Guru is Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Ādi
Guru...
End of 81.02.25.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.26.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
...of your pure heart.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Defeated. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Ha, ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Govinda
Mahārāja_____________________________ Nitāi.
Yesterday I received one postal parcel from HaṁsadūtaMahārāja,
who sent a big oil painting or something like that, or photo. Myself, another
two, and HaṁsadūtaMahārāja
himself, big photo, by airmail, from California or something like that.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Jai. This is a picture of yourself with HaṁsadūtaMahārāja.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Taken here. Very big size.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Big
size.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
What you will do with it? You’ll have to frame; are you going to frame it? Very
good picture.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
HaṁsadūtaMahārāja
has great love for you. He keeps your picture on his altar.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Don’t
know. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
We had some questions to ask you.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes?
Giri Mahārāja[?]: If, so, the first question is that, what
happens to the spiritual master after he leaves this world?
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: This is
like theosophical question. I think he has given the hint in his own
autobiography or something like that, when he was going to America on the
journey he expressed his feelings to play with Kṛṣṇa
in sākhyarasa. _______________________
[?] When he was passing through the Atlantic he gave vent to his
feelings. That may be the salient points in his Vraja līlā.
He’d spoken like that; in Vṛndāvana, sākhya rasa.
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: He once said in Bhāgavat, in
hisŚrīmad-Bhāgavatamcommentary in the fourth canto, he
said, he mentioned something called vipralambha sākhya.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Vipralambha
sākhya, of
course when he’s here, awake in this surface; that is vipralambha. And
when he departed from this consciousness of worldly preaching propaganda then
he’s already there. It is clearly expressed in his sayings there in the
Atlantic. Have you got a copy of that? Nimāi.
________________________________ [?]
It
is my understanding about his present position he has expressed there himself
his eternal position and the acme of his aspiration has been expressed there.
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: It’s mentioned that the associates of
Nityānanda Prabhu in Gaura līlā are in sākhya rasa.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes. In
Vṛndāvana also,
Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa,
and Nitāi Gaur,
and his saying is like that. It is almost clear that he comes from that group.
And now he’s again there. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: You once said that in the later days of ŚrīlaBhaktisiddhānta,
he had asked for one cottage in Govardhana. And some pāṇḍā had
seen Guru MahārājaŚrīlaBhaktisiddhānta...
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja:
Cottage; yes.
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: ...saying, “Balarāma, I have come.”
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes. Balarāmaamargiyaha[?] And
Balarāma with, after that dream he
wrote a letter, “I saw Guru Mahārāja
in a dream in such a clear way. How is his health now?” And by the time he
expired, departed; Guru Mahārāja.
And also during his last days he used to tell,Jani kati varsana dehi govardhana
tam[?]
“O Govardhana, give me shelter adjacent to
you.” And also he told, I heard in Rādhā-kuṇḍa, “That our
superior Gurus, they
will live inRādhā-kuṇḍa, the highest position. And we are
not of such high position, but we shall have to go to Rādhā-kuṇḍa
only to serve our Gurus, and
then we shall come back to Govardhana nearby and there we shall stay, giving
honour to the highest position of our Guru.
Always this difference should be maintained between the disciple and the
master. The master holds the highest position in the highest place of līlāhe will
be there, performing the highest form of service. But we, a little lower, we
shall be far away we shall, near but away we shall stay and we shall come and
serve them, and again go back. So Govardhana is our position.” Our Guru Mahārāja told.
“From Govardhana we shall go to Rādhā-kuṇḍa and we serve
our Guru Mahārājas,
and then we shall come back and stay in Govardhana.
pūjāla
rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge [mattala hari-jana viṣaya range]
[“The path of divine love is worshippable to
us
and
should be held overhead as our highest aspiration.”]
Always giving respect to the higher
position of the Guru and the
RādhāGovinda, I am a little lower, he’s big. This should be the
position.
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: Our GuruMahārāja
also he asked in his last days to go to Govardhana on parikramā, SwāmīMahārāja asked.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes.
That’s good, Govardhana parikramā.
Śrīla
Govinda Mahārāja: _________________________________________
[?]
[refrain] kṛṣṇa taba puṇya habe bhāi
e-puṇya koribe jabe rādhārāṇī khusī habe
dhruva ati boli tomā tāi
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: _______________________ [?]
Śrīla
Govinda Mahārāja:
[7] tumi mor cira sāthi bhuliyā māyār lāthi
khāiyāchi janma-janmāntare
āji punaḥ e sujoga jadi hoy jogājoga
tabe pāri tuhe milibāre
[8] tomāra milane bhāi ābār se sukha pāi
gocārane ghuri din bhor
kata bane chuṭāchuṭi bane khāi luṭāpuṭi
sei din kabe habe mor
[9] āji se subidhāne tomāra smaraṇa bhelo
boro āśāḍākilām tāi
āmi tomāra nitya-dāsa tāi kori eta āśa
tumi binā anya gati nāi
[refrain: I emphatically say to you, O
brothers, you will obtain your good fortune from the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇaonly
when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī becomes pleased with you.]
[7: O Lord Kṛṣṇa, You
are my eternal companion. Forgetting You, I have suffered the kicks of māyā
birth after birth. If today the chance to meet You occurs again, then I
will surely be able to rejoin You.]
[8: O dear friend, in Your company I
will experience great joy once again. In the early morning I will wander about
the cowherd pastures and fields. Running and frolicking in the many forests of
Vraja, I will roll on the ground in spiritual ecstasy. Oh, when will that day
be mine?]
[9: Today that remembrance of You came
to me in a very nice way. Because I have great longing I called to You. I am
Your eternal servant and therefore I desire Your association so much. O Lord Kṛṣṇa,
except for You there is no other means of success.]
[From Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Kṛṣṇa written
by Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī
Prabhupāda on board the ship Jaladuta,
Sept. 13, 1965][ISKCON’s Songs of the VaiṣṇavaĀcāryas, pages 26-28]
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: He
expressed his own position in the eternal līlāthere.
I conjecture like that. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla
Govinda Mahārāja: _________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: And
that Sahajal [?] came to his help. He was so earnest in
his prayer to Kṛṣṇa
so that he may discharge the duty that has been given by his GuruMahārāja to him
that Kṛṣṇa had to
come down to help him, His friend, for this propaganda. So śaktyāveśa
avatāra I take him, I cannot but take him to be so. ______________________ [?]
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī:Tava
kathāmṛtaṁ.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja:
tava
kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ, kavibhir īḍitaṁ
kalmaṣāpaham
śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ
śrīmad-ātataṁ, bhuvi gṛṇanti ye
bhūridā janāḥ
[“O
Kṛṣṇa, the
nectar of Your words and the narrations of Your pastimes give life to us, who
are always suffering in this material world. This nectar is broadcast all over
the world by great souls, and it removes all sinful reactions. It is
all-auspicious and filled with spiritual power. Those who spread this message
of Godhead are certainly doing the greatest relief work for human society and
are the most magnanimous welfare workers.”]
[Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam,
10.31.9]
This
is what is necessary and this is universal. Everyone can be only satisfied to
the highest degree in his heart by tava kathāmṛtaṁ. Raso
vai saḥ [Kṛṣṇa
is the reservoir of all pleasure], and akhila-rasāmṛta-murtiḥ
[Kṛṣṇa is
ecstasy Himself]. His very nature is so sweet.Mādhuryam
eva nu mano-nayanāmṛtaṁ nu.
[māraḥ svayaṁ nu
madhura-dyuti-maṇḍalaṁ nu, mādhuryam eva nu
mano-nayanāmṛtaṁ nu
venī-mṛjo
nu mama jīvita-vallabho nu, kṛṣṇo
'yam abhyudayate mama locanāya]
[“My dear
friends, where is Kṛṣṇa, who is Cupid personified, brilliant
as a kadamba flower? Where is Kṛṣṇa, sweetness
Himself, the sweetest nectar for my eyes and mind? Where is Kṛṣṇa,
who loosens the hair of the gopīs? He is the supreme source of
divine bliss. He is my life and soul. Has He come before my eyes again?”] [Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam, 68]
madhuraṁ
madhuraṁ vapur asya vibhor, madhuraṁ
madhuraṁ vadanaṁ madhuraṁ
madhu
gandhi mṛdu smitam etad aho, madhuraṁ
madhuraṁ madhuraṁ madhuraṁ
[“O Lord Kṛṣṇa!
The beauty of Your transcendental form is sweet, but Your beautiful face is
even sweeter. The sweet smile on Your face, which is like the sweet aroma of
honey, is sweeter still.”] [Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam, 92]
Bilvamaṅgala’sKarṇāmṛta,
sweet, sweet, sweet, sweetness personified. Madhura,
māraḥ svayaṁ. “My first sight I thought Kṛṣṇa was the
Lord Cupid, māraḥ svayaṁ, the Master, the Cupid Who can
capture everything.” Madhura-dyuti-maṇḍalaṁ
nu, “No, no, this is not like lust personified which is to be
experienced here only, but dyuti. This is cinmaya, consciousness,
cinmaya, spiritual substance. This sweetness is spiritual in
characteristic I see, I feel, dyuti-maṇḍalaṁ. Mādhuryam eva,
“It is the very gist of all sweetness.” Mādhuryam
eva nu mano-nayanāmṛtaṁ, “What
is this? My eyesight is being nectarised. Experiencing nectar pouring on my
eyes, eyeballs.” Venī-mṛjo
nu mama jīvita-vallabho, “Oh, He has already
conquered my heart. I’m captured, I’m captivated by the sweetness personified.”
Venī-mṛjo nu,
“Oh, not only captured my heart but the relation is eternal, a permanent
relation. He’s venī-mṛjo
nu, I am converted into lady love, and He’s adoring me. He is
rubbing softly my venī,
that is my hair, tuft, or something
like that. So I’m kept permanently friendly in divine love, mādhurya
rasa. I’m already admitted into the divine harem, as if.”This is Bilvamaṅgala
Ṭhākura’s
statement.
Sotava kathāmṛtaṁ
tapta-jīvanaṁ. Whatever
type it may be; of sorrows or affliction, tapta, loka tapta,
painful, different layers of painfulness; that will be removed by tava
kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ. It will give life to
us, hope, that we can... We are not created only to suffer in this mortal
world, but the life which can, so rough, can send this painful life of mortality.
Tapta-jīvanaṁ,
that sort of life vitality we have got in our own intrinsic form. Kavibhir īḍitaṁ
kalmaṣāpaham, the speculationists they say that Kṛṣṇa
consciousness only does away with kalmaṣāpaham, the
sinfulness. But that is only their external acquaintance of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. A sin is nothing in consideration to His purifying capacity. Kavibhir īḍitaṁ
kalmaṣāpaham, śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ
śrīmad-ātataṁ,śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ. As soon as we come in contact, even in the
form of sound only through our ear, our realśreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ[Śikṣāṣṭakam, 1], our real welfare begins to awake. Śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁśrīmad-ātataṁ,
with all the resources, śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁśrīmad-ātataṁ,
resources of all welfare, it is surcharged full of them, infinitely, śrīmad-ātataṁ.
Bhuvi gṛṇanti ye
bhūridā janāḥ, and those that can deal
with these things, they who can distribute these things to the world, they are
really the givers, they’re the benevolent, they’re the kind-hearted; none else.
Bhuvi gṛṇanti ye
bhūridā janāḥ, they give enough who gives
Kṛṣṇa to us.
Others are hopeless and disappointed. Only this sort of transaction should be
continued in the world to save the souls from the suffering from the disease of
mortal connection. This is like nectar, the nectar
divine, Bhāgavatkathā.So
go on with this transaction, always giving and if you give you will have supply
from the higher position. If you are sincere to give it, you will have no want
in your capital. The capital will be supplied as much as you can give, rather. You
will have connection with the infinite source; go on.
yāre
dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa / [āmāra
ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa
kabhu
nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga / punarapi ei ṭhāñi
pābe mora saṅga]
[“Instruct
whoever you meet in the science of Kṛṣṇa. Teach them the
instructions of Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā, and
the teachings about Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In this way, on My order, become a Guru
and liberate everyone in the land. If you follow this instruction, the waves of
materialism within this world will not affect you. Indeed, if you follow My
order, you will soon attain My association.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 7.128-9]
“Whomever you find you only talk with them
about Kṛṣṇa only.” Mahāprabhu says, yāre
dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa, no other
engagement. “Whoever you find, any soul, try to save him from this desert of
mortality.” 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa / āmāra
ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa,
“I command you. Don’t be afraid. Take the position of Guru, the giver, and give it to all, everyone.
Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa, Kabhu nā vādhibe
tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga, “And I
say that the influence of māyā won’t be able to capture you as
a reaction. I say.” Kabhu
nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga,
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga, “And you’ll
find in this transaction Myself in you, backing, ei ṭhāñi
pābe mora, if you obey My command for distribution to one and all then
here you will find Me, that I am there backing you, in this work, punarapi
ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. KṛṣṇaKṛṣṇa.
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
So your great master has engaged you;
called you all like so many dedicated soldiers.“Do relief work in this world of
mortality and death, relief work, relief work.”
Devotee:
Gaura Haribol.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi
Caitanya.
Giri Mahārāja[?]: Now, it is said that if some disciples
do not go back to Godhead in this life, then the spiritual master will come
again and again, until they’re all delivered.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes, he
may come again and again...
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: The same...
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: But
with a little different form, but ultimately he is Kṛṣṇaśakti,
as Guru, he will come. You will see him the same
in different a colour maybe. When, you see, a teacher imparting primary
education, he’s in a particular shape. When the child’s grown up, when he’s in
higher education, that same teacher who’s imparting, the student will see him
in another figure. Not that in the figure of the primary teacher, not encouched
with that sort of teaching mentality, but a different mentality in different
play he’s imparting higher education. A little change you will find; in this
way.
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: But the same teacher?
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: The
same, because God’s Will is backing there; everywhere.
ācāryaṁ
māṁ vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta [karhicit
/ na
martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ]
[Kṛṣṇa
told Uddhava: “Know the Ācārya
as Myself. I am the Ācārya. Never
envy the Ācārya; never
blaspheme him or consider him to be an ordinary man. Because the Ācārya channels
the infinite, he is greater than the sum total of all the finite. Thus, he is
more important than all the demigods.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.17.27]&[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.46]
From different; just as the government from
different magistrates continue the government, a little modification, but the
higher government is one, and anyhow that same thing is coming from different
persons. Something like that. The policy is one and the same.
Giri Mahārāja[?]: Now once, Śrīla
Prabhupāda
Bhaktivedānta Swāmī, told a
story that ŚrīlaBhaktisiddhānta
SarasvatīṬhākura,
he told his disciples that the spiritual master of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, who wrote Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam, that his spiritual master came again in
the form of Cintāmaṇi,
to give him, to remind him of Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes. Cintāmaṇi, then Somagiri, and
then Kṛṣṇa Himself,
He came and delivered from Somagiri, a māyāvādīguru.
First Cintāmaṇi; through Cintāmaṇi, not Cintāmaṇi,
but through Cintāmaṇithe
guru advised him, excited him; and through
Somagiri a little digression; and then Kṛṣṇa
Himself.
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: Cintāmaṇiwas
vartma-pradarśaka?
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Cintāmaṇivartma-pradarśaka?
That was nimitta-mātraṁbhava savyasācin [Bhagavad-gītā,
11.33]; only an agent. Through her, GuruKṛṣṇa,
He tackled Bilvamaṅgala. Cintāmaṇi
- in form she was Cintāmaṇi,
an ordinary prostitute, but through her Guru
approached Bilvamaṅgala; and then Somagiri – through Somagiri Guru approached, and then when He delivered
from the clutches of Somagiri, from māyāvādātowards
śuddha bhakti, then in that case He Himself appeared before him.Siksa-gurus
ca bhagavan sikhi-pischa-maulih – so, cintamanir jayati somagirir gurur
me, siksa-gurus ca.
[cintamanir
jayati somagirir gurur me, siksa-gurus ca bhagavan sikhi-pischa-maulih
yat-pada-kalpataru-pallava-sekharesu,
lila-svayamvara-rasam labhate jayasrih]
[All glories to Cintāmaṇi and my
initiating spiritual master, Somagiri. All glories to my instructing spiritual
master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who wears peacock feathers in His
crown. Under the shade of His lotus feet, which are like desire trees, Jayasri
(Rādhārāṇī) enjoys the transcendental mellow of an
eternal consort.][Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam,
1]
There they’re also victorious, bhagavan
sikhi-pischa-maulih, they’re all vaibhava,
that is spiritual extensions of that Divine Master; in that way.
Giri Mahārāja[?]: Now, in the previous life, the same
Bilvamaṅgala he had a spiritual master.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes.
Giri Mahārāja[?]: Now did that spiritual master, that
individual...
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: You
see, one thing we should not miss; that is that Kṛṣṇa
Himself can give Him, not anyone else. Kṛṣṇa,
Kṛṣṇa śakti,
so the first starting must come from Him, He’s within. In different forms He’s
coming. But without Him none can give Him. The devotees can give Him but
they’re also fully – devotees are fully taken in His potency. So Kṛṣṇa can give
Himself.Krsna śakti
denaham tyaga prabaktam [?] Only the very potency of Kṛṣṇa, the
very will of Kṛṣṇa,
can give Kṛṣṇa
to others. So that internal, fine thread, we must not miss, overlook. He is there. When the real
transaction is there then He must be there at the bottom. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Giri Mahārāja[?]: So, in this story that SwāmīMahārāja
told us, he said that ŚrīlaBhaktisiddhānta
had concluded by saying to his disciples, “You should all finish your business
in this life. Do not make me come again to this world.” Or he said, “Do not
make me become a prostitute. As Bilvamaṅgala’s Guru had to come as a prostitute, so you
should all go back to Godhead. Don’t make me have to become a prostitute to
bring you back again.”
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. A
temporary remark; but still, if the Guru
comes to the level of prostitute to recruit his previous connected disciples,
he’s not in the position of a real prostitute; he’s aprākṛta,
only that is a form merely.
Giri Mahārāja[?]: Yes.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: But
he’s ha, ha, this is only to encourage our bhajan, this is a remark only
to encourage our bhajan in this life. That does not mean that when he
comes in the shape of a prostitute he’s in the level of a prostitute. He’s aprākṛtaalways.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Now, as you have explained, that your
conclusion is that from hearing our Guru Mahārāja’s
poem on the Atlantic, that he is in sākhya rasa.
He has gone back to Kṛṣṇa
as a cowherd boy.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Now, if one of his disciples does not
complete, if we do not complete our Kṛṣṇa
consciousness in this lifetime, and if we have to come back again...
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Ha, ha,
ha.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: ...in the next life, will our Guru Mahārāja leave
again Kṛṣṇa’s abode?
Or does Kṛṣṇa
act through someone else to finish the job?
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Ha, ha.
You see, suppose some report has gone to him that some of his disciples are
still there neglected, and to take them up it is necessary, some news is going,
some wave sent to him. Then he will ask his friend,
Kṛṣṇa, “That
this sort of news is coming to me. They want me to go there again to take them
up. What to do?” Kṛṣṇa’s
pleasure, He may say, “Oh. You may ask that friend to do this work.” “No, no.
They want me.” “Then what to do? You go again.”
Devotees:
[Laughter]
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: It is
also possible by the will of Kṛṣṇa
that in one form he’s there in the service of Kṛṣṇa,
and that often that is the fact, and in another mūrti, another, as if in a body, his double, he went to do the work. It is
not impossible. If it is possible for a yogīto extend his body in
different places, for bhāgavat-bhakta, for a devotee it is nothing.
It’s possible that he’s there and he’s here, it is also possible. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
And it also allowed we see Narottama Ṭhākura
said, “When will Lokanātha Goswāmī
take me by the hand and guide me toward Rūpa Goswāmī,
Rūpa Mañjarī?” For further developed education or service.Lokanatha
mora hastay ___________________________ [?]
It is also possible. His Guru Lokanātha is taking him, Narottama, to Rūpa Goswāmī. “Do the
remainder, train him.” Give it to him and to Kṛṣṇa
and Rādhārāṇī. It is also possible. And when it is
done the disciple will see that they’re all one and the same. No jealousy,
“That my Guru of this
figure and Guru of that
figure, they are different.” It may not be so much complaint in the heart of
the disciple. They’re all one and the same. “He gives him to him, yes.” If I
have got faith in my Guru he
consults me to there for my best benefit. He will go and see one and the same.
The same interest, common interest, he will feel in his heart that, “The
affection I got from that figure of my Guru,
they’re also of the same, not less. My Guru
is present here.”
Isva
tattva bheda mani haya aparadha[?] It is written about Mahāprabhu in Caitanya-caritāmṛta
about Vyenkatta Bhatta, in the South when Mahāprabhu was
travelling at that time.Laxshi gopi [?]
One and the same, what one is doing here
another is doing there, that is the same śakti.
So there is also oneness and also difference, but still in svarūpa śakti that
cohesion, that harmony is always present there. The flow is not treacherous,
not jealous; but if there is jealousy then that is of another type to enhance
the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa.
That sort of system, and not like jealousy and other differences in this plane.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Not envy.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Not
envy. Chandravālī, Rādhārāṇī, different
group, but because They promote the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa to the
highest it is planned only for that. That is a separate thing, the competition
of love, of dedication competition, not of exploitation, pratiṣṭhā.
Exploitation is bad and dedication is good; as much dedication that will help
others to encourage in the dedication.Gapara guru sri guli neti dekhatai [?]
Our Guru Mahārāja
used to give this example. When the cowshed is burning, the cow is afraid of
the red colour of the fire, then if the same cow she sees the red cloud in the
sky, she will be afraid, that cow. “Oh. The burning of the hut we stay in, the
cowshed.” So, we may afraid of the fire here but not of the reddish cloud
there, though it reddish, the colour of the fire, but not to be afraid by that
colour of the cloud. That is of another type.
So Māyāvādīs are always afraid of some labour. Labour
means dissipation of energy. So cid-vilāsa they cannot accept. The
movement, the dynamic character of the transcendental world they cannot
tolerate. “Oh. Whenever there will be dynamic characteristic there must be some
dissipation of energy and reaction.” They’re afraid of this. The dynamic always
means, energising means a reaction of labour, dissipation of energy. But in the
eternal world the dynamic characteristic can never have any reaction _________ does not bring any
depression in its retinue, in the eternal world in the dynamic character. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Giri Mahārāja:
Now, when the spiritual master comes from the spiritual world to reclaim
certain fallen souls, is it possible that if he feels his job is very big, that
he will bring some other associates from the spiritual sky to assist him in
subordinate positions?
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Please
again repeat it. What do you say?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Sometimes it is said that the spiritual
master has eternal associates...
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: ...who come with him. Just as Kṛṣṇa comes
with His entourage, so sometimes it is said that the Guru also has some eternal associates.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Maybe.
Maybe. Not always. Then, what’s the trouble? He may come with his associates.
It is not impossible. Hmm?
Giri Mahārāja:
No trouble.
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja:
Sometimes he may come with associates also, who are to help them from there.
There also he lives in a group and sometimes it may be possible that in a group
also he may come.
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: In Antya-līlā of Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Mahāprabhu says to
His associates, “That repeatedly you’ll take your birth, again and again, you
will be born throughout the universe to spread the saṅkīrtana movement.”
And He said, “If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa
then you will never forget Me, or be overwhelmed by anything material.”
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Last
portion; what does He say?
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: He says that His associates they will repeatedly
take their birth...
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja:
Associates?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He’s saying that in Antya-līlā it is
stated by Mahāprabhu...
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: ...that,
to His associates, “That you will come again and again to spread this saṅkīrtana
movement.”
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So what is your question?
Bhakti Sudhīra
Goswāmī: So my question is that sometimes isn’t
the spiritual master’s position that he’s remaining within this universe to
preach the saṅkīrtana movement. He may, you were saying, he
may go back to Kṛṣṇa,
he may also remain.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He may take birth again you’re saying?
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: He may
come again. One may be ordered to come again and again. That is not impossible.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa’s
will.
Devotee:
________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla
ŚrīdharaMahārāja: Whether
Gurus here or there he has got some connection
with Kṛṣṇa always.
End of 81.02.26.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.26.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Sometimes it is said, that the spiritual master,
when we speak of the spiritual master, we say our eternal Lord and master.
Sometimes we address the Guru as our eternal Lord and master. So eternal means
without beginning and without end. Now just like in my own case, I am a very
conditioned person and yet now on account of my Guru Mahārāja’s order
I am accepting disciples. But I cannot say that eternally I was a liberated
soul. I feel myself to be very conditioned. How are they to understand that
this person is my eternal Guru if at one point he is seen to have been engaged
in very ordinary activities?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________ [?]
Devotee:
_____________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ______________________ [?] That is your point?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Well I don’t know what his translation was, my point
is, I’ll repeat it again. That taking myself as an example, Tamal Kṛṣṇa,
I was a very ordinary person, very sinful, but by the grace of my Guru
Mahārāja I have come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness a
little bit. And by his order I am giving dīkṣā
to others. Now it is said that the Guru is eternally
the Guru of some disciple, so how is it that I could be eternally someone’s
Guru, when I was only twenty years ago a sinful person? I can see our
Prabhupāda is always in a liberated condition, so exalted, but I am very
ordinary. No problem for me, but what about my disciples?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see, whether you know this story or not. When Kṛṣṇa
in Dvārakā once told that He’s attacked with a severe headache and
only the feet dust of the devotees can cure it: to Nārada.
Nārada
went to so many devotees in Dvārakā , none came up to give feet dust.
“Oh! It is impossible! It is impossible. We can’t do, we can’t go to hell.”
So frustrated Nārada came to Kṛṣṇa,
“Oh! I am very severely suffering now , severe pain. Have you got any feet
dust?”
“No sir. None are prepared to give feet
dust.”
“Then what I can do?” Nārada was
benumbed. “You may try in Vṛndāvana.”
At once Nārada intimated to the gopīs.
Gopīs came with feet dust. “Is it He’s suffering? He needs feet
dust? Oh! I don’t know who is a devotee. Take feet dust. Give your feet dust.
Here take all these things and go.”
Nārada was astounded, “What is the
matter? No devotees came to offer feet dust and these people they are doing. Do
you know what is the consequence, the consequence of this?”
“Yes, it may be eternal hell. And we
don’t care for that. If a slight relief is there that is our [only concern].”
So āmāra ājñāya
guru hañā tāra ei deśa [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 7.128] Mahāprabhu says, “I am fallible, but I
am confident that what my Gurudeva has given to me, it is an uncommon and
vital, nectarine thing ; and he has asked me to give it to others. It does not
matter. I shall take the risk. He has ordered me. I am his servant. He will
look after me. That you will take risk.”
With this spirit he will approach. “I
may go to hell, I may die, but I must carry out the order of my commander.”
With this spirit he’s to approach, and there will be no danger. If this
consciousness is maintained. But if he deviates from that connection and goes
for self-seeking, this mundane purpose, then he’ll be doomed, otherwise no
destruction can touch him. This internal spirit should be maintained and that
is the qualification, real qualification. “Yes, I am ready to die to carry out
the order of my Gurudeva. I feel that this is the nectar and I must distribute
to others to save them.”
That Rāmānuja’s case. There was another, Āḷvār, Purna-prajna kanti or some gentleman [Gosthipurna?]
________ the mantram of ________ , the highest type of mantram of
the Rāmānuja sampradāya.
Rāmānuja wanted that mantram from him.
He told, “If you don’t disclose it to
anyone then I shall give you.”
“Yes.” With this pledge
Rāmānuja went to him and he gave the mantram.
This was already announced and so many
people standing outside. “Rāmānuja has accepted this condition and
went to his Guru and Guru gave the mantram.” No sooner
Rāmānuja came out the mob was waiting there, impatiently. “What kind
of mantram? What is this mantram of the highest order that will
deliver us all?”
“Yes, this is the mantram.” He gave
it out and his Guru called him.
“What do you say? What did you do?”
“I did sir.”
“Don’t you know what is the result?”
“Yes I know, eternal hell. But your mantram
________ itcannot but be fruitful. So let them be saved. I shall go myself
to hell.”
With this sort of risk then Guru will
bless you.You cannot be doomed in anything. So this sort of risk should be
taken by the disciple and only on the force, on the basis of that spiritual
feeling and he can never be doomed. The eye is there. His God is there. The
Guru is there. Then he cannot but be saved. They cannot leave them in danger
and relish that that person to carry out our order he’s going to hell. Can they
tolerate? Are they living or are they dead, our guardians? Gaura Haribol! Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: Also I read in
the Bhāgavata of Prabhupāda explaining that in śravaṇaṁ
kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ,
this nava bhakti, that the first seven processes, that is vidhi-mārga, and sakhyam,ātma-nivedanam, that is rāga-mārga.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hmm? What is the…
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: Śravaṇaṁkīrtanaṁ
viṣṇoḥ, smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ
vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ, sakhyam ātma-nivedanam.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sakhyam ātma-nivedanam.They are interconnected. Without ātma-nivedanam no devotion is possible. Then in the highest sense
the ātma-nivedanamin mādhurya-rasa only, not even in
sākhya. But on the whole
ātma-nivedanammust be there,
without that no bhakti is possible. Devotion is impossible without ātma-nivedanam. But there is degree. And the highest degree in mādhurya-rasa, everything. All
sorts of bhakti in the highest degree it is to be found in mādhurya-rasa. In vātsalya-rasa
a little less, in sākhya-rasa a little less, in this way it is
distributed. Pūrṇa rasa is mādhurya-rasa. Taṭa-stha
hañā vicārile,
yei rasa, sei sarvottama.
[kintu yāṅra yei rasa, sei sarvottama /
taṭa-stha hañā
vicārile, āche tara-tama]
[“It is true that whatever relationship
a particular devotee has with the Lord is the best for him; still, when we
study all the different methods from a neutral position, we can understand that
there are higher and lower degrees of love.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya- līlā, 8.83]
In his own
department they think that they are holding the highest position. But in the
absolute consideration if the comparison is drawn, then we see that śantasuperior, dāsyathen superior, sākhyathen superior, vātsalya, and the supreme
most mādhurya; and svakīyaand parakīya. Then there is Rādhārāṇī, gradually. The very origin is Rādhārāṇī. And She is distributing in gradation, all Her
extensions, extended self. Serving, She is serving Kṛṣṇa in
fullest rasa. And whether antagonistic Chandravālī and others, all other rasa also springing
direct or indirect from Her. Vātsalya-rasa is antagonistic to mādhurya-rasa to a certain
extent. But still it is the outcome. Of course for the understanding to make it
clear, the source of other rasa is said to be Baladeva. These spring
from Baladeva: vātsalya, sākhya, dāsya;
they are springing from Baladeva. And the mādhurya-rasaRādhārāṇī. First divided in this way. Then Baladeva is in
another form as Anaṅga Mañjarī, she is in the camp of Rādhārāṇī; to attain the taste of the highest quality of rasa
in mādhurya parakīya. He is
intermingled. Gradually we have to try and understand.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: One question I
had was in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, first canto,
Nārada, he says that, “When I chant the glories of Kṛṣṇa
He appears on the mirror of my heart, as if called for.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hmm, as?
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: “As if I called
for Him. When I chant His glories then He’s appearing in my heart as if I
called for Him.” So Prabhupāda explains in the purport that this is like
spiritual television. That Kṛṣṇa is appearing in his
description. So that is tantamount, that is like seeing Kṛṣṇa
face to face. But associating with Kṛṣṇa personally and
directly, that is still different. So when we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa,
we’re hearing about Kṛṣṇa’s form in Śrīmad
Bhāgavatam, some conception of Kṛṣṇa is coming to
the devotee. So on the subject of seeing Kṛṣṇa it appears
that this subject is very, very broad, beginning with following, seeing Kṛṣṇa
in the order of the Guru, and then seeing Kṛṣṇa in the
descriptions in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and then later seeing
Kṛṣṇa also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You’ll have to repeat this, Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Prabhu.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: It’s more than a question, he is explaining…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nārada says that when I chant His name I see
Him. Then?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: See Him. And he says in the beginning, in the
neophyte stage when we have kīrtanaand when we hear Bhāgavat, we are also
beginning to sense Kṛṣṇa and in a completely...when one goes
back to the spiritual world, one is with Kṛṣṇa and he’s also
seeing Kṛṣṇa. So there are different degrees of…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of degrees, different plane, of different types,
degrees, different degree, depth, intensity. And according to capacity a
partial visit, partial sight may also be in līlā. Some may see ordinary Kṛṣṇa of Kurukṣetra battle, some may see the Dvārakā Kṛṣṇa, some may see the Mathurā Kṛṣṇa, then Vraja Kṛṣṇa,
and they’re also different.
mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ
naravaraḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrttimān
[gopānāṁ svajano 'satāṁ
kṣitibhujāṁ śāstā svapitro śiśuḥ
mṛtyur bhojapater virāḍ aviduṣāṁ
tattvaṁ paraṁ yogināṁ
vṛṣṇīnāṁ
paradevateti vidito raṅgaṁ gataḥ sāgrajaḥ]
[“O King, Śrī Kṛṣṇa
then appeared as a thunderbolt to the wrestlers, as the supreme male to the
men, as Cupid incarnate to the ladies, as a friend to the cowherds men; as an
emperor to the wicked kings, as a child to His father and mother, as death to
Kaṁsa, as the universal form of the world to the ignorant; as the Supreme
Truth to the yogīs, as the Supreme Worshipful Lord to the Vṛṣṇis
- and along with Baladeva He entered the arena.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.43.17]
When Kṛṣṇa is entering
the meeting of Kaṁsa, different persons are getting different views about
Him. The same Kṛṣṇa entering but different classes they are
looking at Him, by seeing Him in different ways but they are one and the same Kṛṣṇa.
It is also possible. According to their adhikāra they are seeing
differently. Some seeing foe, some friend, some son, some politician, some
kingly. In this way differently. The yogīs, they saw the Absolute
in this way. There are persons of different categories and according to their
own position, they are seeing Him differently. It is also possible. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Our Guru
Mahārāja was kind upon us, so you are kind upon us. I find no
difference at all in how you are blessing us.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. When we were very
near, when living together, and we were discussing things, almost from the same
platform we were talking with one another. And Govinda Mahārāja was
also the witness there, for long time. He had very intimate connection and
affection from him.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: When I used to come every year to Māyāpur,
my whole purpose in coming was fulfilled when I would be in his association. So
similarly, now I am feeling that as I have come here, that my purpose is being
fulfilled, whenever I am in your association.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa! Hare Kṛṣṇa!
Hare Kṛṣṇa!
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: If one goes to a holy place and doesn’t take
advantage of the association… [of the saintly persons dwelling there, he is to
be considered no better than a cow or ass.] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.10:84:13]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This shows the elevation of your heart.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: __________ Swāmī
Mahārāja_____________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: …and had much hope in you. He asked me when so many
delivered lectures, he asked me, specially, “How do you note Tamal Kṛṣṇa
about the siddhānta, what he
delivered, spoke in his lecture?” Especially asked me for you. I conjecture that
he had much hope in you. About siddhānta, he had confidence,
superior confidence in you, about siddhānta, understanding. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
And also I was satisfied in that meeting
with your beginning, vande 'haṁ śrī-guroḥ
śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ, you began with this. I was very much
satisfied, the comprehensive. He has taken up first this śloka where
everything is there. From the beginning, śikṣāGuru, dīkṣā Guru, then Mahāprabhu, then
Rādhā-Govinda, all, śāstra Guru Rūpa
Goswāmī, all are present here and he had the knack to come to this śloka
in the beginning.
________________________________________ [?] This śloka
is the most comprehensive.
vande 'haṁ śrī-guroḥ
śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś
ca
śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ
saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam
sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ
parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ
śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān
saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś
ca
[“I offer my respectful obeisances unto
the lotus feet of my spiritual master and to all the other preceptors on the
path of devotional service. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇavas
and unto the six Gosvāmīs, including Śrīla Rūpa
Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī,
Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrī
Jīva Gosvāmī, and their associates. I offer my respectful
obeisances unto Śrī Advaita Ācārya Prabhu, Śrī
Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and all His
devotees, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. I then offer my
respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa,
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and all the gopīs,
headed by Lalitā and Viśākhā.”]
You began with this śloka and
that satisfied me very much. The whole thing has been accepted here to help.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol.
And he told there, “I’d like to...I
think of sending Tamal Kṛṣṇa to China, the most difficult
task; to confirm on him. _____________________ means desperate. Who does not
care for any adverse circumstances, he can go forward, without caring for any
type of adverse circumstances.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi.
Gaura Hari.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: __________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________________ [?]
He
[Mahāprabhu] told to Rūpa Goswāmī, and Rūpa
Goswāmī after meeting and teaching he wanted to accompany
Mahāprabhu Himself to Nilācala, Purī.
Mahāprabhu told, “No, what I say to
you, do this. Go to Vṛndāvana on My behalf to work there.” [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 19:240-41] So sada sangeāsiyācha tumi, “You are always with Me.”
Only physical company is not real
association, but anugatya, wherever this body or mental body may be, but
if I am faithful serving mood to any person, I am there with him, in cetan.
In the world of consciousness only our subjugation, our faithful adherence to
one soul, that is to be with him. Do you follow? Am I clear?
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I am at his beck and call, this attitude gives us
nearness of a soul, and not this body or any other things. Only submissiveness,
only adherence, only faithful submission to any person, that brings us near to
him. So sada sange āsiyācha
tumi He
told Rūpa Goswāmī, “You are always with Me. You are always with
Me. But now, just you go to Vṛndāvana. And again you may come to Me
in Purī, but now go. You are always with Me. That I am in recollection of
you and you are also in recollection of Me, so there we always meet. And I am
in you, you are in Me.”
That is in
faith, in śraddhā,in our inner conception of prospect. Oneness is
there, nearness is there. And the world is of that type. That world, the
infinite, in the world of the infinite, only this sort of consciousness, that
is nearness or distance there. Not this physical thing. And physically, two
bodies, the bug ______ that sometimes lives in the hair ____ the bug in the bed
and some insect, one in the hair, what is that?
Devotees: Lice.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Lice, they are also very near physically. But in consideration
of soul, how far they are. So nearness of soul only by adherence and faith. In
the infinite, our nearness is that type. Just as from far off through phone we
can connect. America and India, through phone connecting, nearness. So nearness
may be understood in different ways. Just as the sun is near to the earth, in
the case of influence, then the next is moon, or in the case of influence of
moon to the earth. In this way they are near or far. So the distance may be
measured in different ways. So in the spiritual world the nearness and the
distance is measured like that. And physically by another medium. In this way.
Near and far.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Govinda Mahārāja, _____________________________ [?]
…
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: [Our Guru Mahārāja compared his] job to
being like a cow. He said that just like a cow is led anywhere and everywhere
but their business is to give milk. So I think that we are all like little
babies and we require so much milk. So kindly do not mind if our thirst is very
great. We are sorry if we tire you, but we are very thirsty, because we are
growing children, very young children. So we require to be nourished very much.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes of course, and that is the sign of life. When
the baby wants to take food, the vitality, the life is there. And when baby
lying and not showing any sign of taking food. “Oh!” Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jai.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
…
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī [?]: …biological
signs. That also implies life comes from life. _________ biology will have some
kind of scientific implications in the mind of the students in colleges and
universities.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________________ [?]
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī [?]: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________ Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: So DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja is here, and ____ Guru
Mahārāja is here ____________ Vṛndāvana. And we have some students from San Francisco,
_______, he’s a scientist. And also we have ________, he’s one of our members
of Bhaktivedānta Institute, science students. And a few others, they would
like to have your darśana Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right. All welcome.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: So, we were
discussing about the theory of biology. So I was wondering whether you could
kindly give us some hints about, we want to make a very strong philosophical
and scientific presentation of the idea that the original source is a Supreme
Person. In other words, the original source has supreme consciousness and
supreme intelligence, and everything is coming from Him, and everything is
derivative out of that supreme consciousness.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And that is absolute good and that is autocrat. Law
emanating from Him, and He’s above law. Hmm? Then it will come to Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, autocracy, but absolute beauty. Beauty
and love almost of same category, and autocracy there should be there. Law when
plurality begins, and when advaya in its highest position, there is
autocracy. Law emanating from Him. Eko ham baho syama. When there is
many, necessity of law. Even when unity through love, it is no law is necessary
there. In other words, that law is not like the law of this world. That is
another law, another law. There is also competition, but law looses its sting,
because dedication, the competition of dedication, so law is useless.
Sacrifice, not aggrandisement, self aggrandisement, so law is useless there.
Hmm? The competition of sacrifice, competition of dedication, dedication.
When Gandhi began his movement here, his
ahiṁsā movement, British
Government was in a very awkward position, because the implication of the law
where the force will be applied then law will come. But the passive resistance,
no question of force. “I am not opposing the road. I am lying down. You go over
me. I’m not giving any opposition. So no application of force, so law does not
come, inaction.”
So, where there is competition of
sacrifice and dedication, law in its own sense can have no application. Beauty
is autocrat, is all capturing. Love is also autocrat, all capturing. Eh?
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: One of the
points that I’ve been thinking regarding this book is that, somehow this living
entity is forced to be within this material body.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hmm? Some?
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: Somehow the jīva,
the living entity…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: The jīvātmā…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: …is forced to
stay within this temporary physical body.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s not forced. The first starting point is that of
free will. We are to accept that. And we are to find out that. Otherwise God
will be responsible for his misery.
na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi, lokasya
sṛjati prabhuḥ
na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ svabhāvas tu
pravartate
[“Due to their tendency towards
ignorance since immeasurable time, the living beings act, considering
themselves the doers or inaugurators of action. The Supreme Lord does not
generate their misconception of considering themselves doers, nor does He
generate their actions or their attachment to the fruits of those actions.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
5.14]
“I am not responsible for the suffering
of the jīva. I am aloof. I am left with freedom. And freedom is
their intrinsic qualification. Whatever is conscious, that is free. It depends
on the magnitude. Anu caitanya, freedom is also anu. So
vulnerability. And by exercise of their imperfect freedom they come to the
world, and not anything forces. And then when he comes in cooperation with māyā
thenthe force ofmāyā comes in application first. First
starting is free will, then the māyā grasps, takes him.”
When I give some writing, ________
anyhow, he got something in writing from Hyderabad, and then the police work
when they wanted to go away then this ________ Chodary was sent to take police
action only some writing because the British told that Indian chiefs they’re
free, they should accept either India or Pakistan. But they are free to choose,
to take their choice. But representative of Nirjan [?] came to Delhi and a sort
of writing, a special consideration you will get about other chiefs. Then
anyhow entangled and then the police action went on.
So, first consent of jīva
with free will and then the māyā is there. In this way this
world transaction begins, and not interference of the Supreme there. The anu
caitanya, the defective consciousness and the small free will. There are
many. Some coming this side, some coming that side, from the marginal plane.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: So at what point
the jīvātmābegins to
recognise he’s using a free will in a negative sense?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. The possibility as there is in the taṭasthā, in the germ, possibility of the positive
participation, so possibility of the negative participation, endowed with the
two functions in germinal form when he’s in the marginal position, plane.
Possibility of negative and positive. Then by free choice, one side one
possibility is taken, is given recognition, and it got a start and the journey
began. And then by handling of the sādhus, of the divine
agents, that can be modified when wandering in the world. Then the positive is
tackled and when positive aspect awakens then that gives the chance to go out
towards the divine realm.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: That also is
dependent on the free will, to…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. First, free will is there. Consciousness means
free will, endowed with free will. Any atom of consciousness, all atoms of
consciousness means they’re all endowed with free will. Without free will
consciousness may not be conceived, and then it is matter, material existence.
Conscious spirit means endowed with free will.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: So then it is
like to, conclude that when we like to be free from this bondage of this
material existence, I must exercise my free will in the right direction, but
how?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But generally when he’s here, independent of his
free will, the agent, the divine agents help them beyond his consciousness, sukṛti. First stage ajñātasukṛti, unknowing acquisition of the favour of the Lord
through the sādhus.
Just as when the patient is unconscious
the doctor is helping by injection perhaps or something like that. Then he
comes to consciousness, then the cooperation begins, and the treatment goes on.
But when he’s unconscious, at that point also treatment is possible.
So when he’s engrossed with material
consciousness the divine agents they come and utilise his energy in any way for
the Lord, and the ajñātasukṛti, beyond his consciousness. Then jñātasukṛti, then śraddhā, he comes on the surface, and then cooperation. When śraddhā, sukṛti when develops into a stage of śraddhā, faith, then the cooperation of the sādhus and development
of the spiritual life proper. Before that underground works and that is sukṛti,and that is done by the sādhus, the divine
agents. Unconscious he is, the patient is unconscious, the doctor is helping,
something like that. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: Thank you very
much Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So you have engagement, important engagement there,
you are to go. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So wherever
there is Paramātmā there is jīvātmā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So, in Brahma-saṁhitā [35] it says, aṇḍāntara-stha paramāṇucayāntara-sthaṁ, so in every molecule, or every atom, there’s Paramātmā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Both jīvātmā and Paramātmā, hmm?
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: So in that
condition jīvātmā is unconscious.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: Isn’t it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Unconscious or mal- conscious.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: Mal conscious.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, maybe. Inattentive towards Paramātmā, engrossed in the exploiting, buried in the
exploiting tendency. Jīvātmāunconscious of Paramātmā, but Paramātmā is conscious of jīvātmā. When jīvātmāis going on his own way Paramātmā is watching and willing good for jīvātmā but He’s not interfering with his activities in a
direct way. In Gītāyou will find:
upadraṣṭānumantā ca, bhartā
bhoktā maheśvaraḥ
paramātmeti cāpy ukto, dehe ’smin puruṣaḥ
paraḥ
[“Within this same body (distinct from
the soul) the Supreme Person or Parama Puruṣa is present as the soul’s
intimate witness, sanctioner, supporter, guardian, and Lord. He is known as the
Supersoul.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 13:23]
In Gītāwe get the so many signs of Paramātmā near jīvātmā in the body. Upadraṣṭā, He’s
overlooking, He’s looking stealthily what jīvātmā is doing. Jīvātmāis unconscious but He’s consciously seeing, noting
what jīvātmā is doing, upadraṣṭā. Anumantā,
anyhow He can oppose, Paramātmā can oppose the actions of jīvātmā but He does not, He’s indifferent there, indifferent,
only looker on. Upadraṣṭānumantā ca, what he’s
doing, He’s with His negative attitude He’s approving. He’s not interfering, upadraṣṭā.
Anumantā ca, bhartā, and He’s also tolerating him and
not withdrawing all help to jīvātmā, supplying facilities for the work, bhartā.
Bhoktā, and also a sort of sorrow we may find in Paramātmā for jīvātmā, that he’s going astray, as if a shadow for the
misery of jīvātmā is on Paramātmā. He’s not satisfied, bhoktā. Maheśvaraḥ,
but if He likes He can interfere and He can stop but He does not. This attitude
of God, in respect of jīvā, is known as Paramātmā.
Devotee: This attitude of
God?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This function of the Supreme Entity in relation to jīvāis known as Paramātmā. He’s always with him with friendly attitude but does
not interfere with his freedom. That is the attitude of Paramātmā. That function is known as Paramātmā.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: In one place, in
Prabhupāda’s Bhagavad-gītāhe describes, he quotes some verse from the Vedas saying
that the Paramātmā…
End of 81.02.26.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.28.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sweet and magnanimous. That is the characteristic of
Navadvīpa, sweet
magnanimity, or magnanimous sweetness. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Like the other day you’ll take some prasādam?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Yes. But first we want to be with you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I’m not doing very well, but still I must try to
attend you. It is my duty to do so as much as I can; I think imperative duty.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Sometimes, just like Purnacandra, he got Hari Nāma
dīkṣā from our Prabhupāda, and I think he never;
sometimes there are others like him, and then when Prabhupāda disappeared
they took their Gāyatrī mantra initiation from one of
Prabhupāda’s disciples. So sometimes they want to know how they should
regard their Gāyatrī mantra Guru, and they ask the question,
“My relationship with my Hari Nāma Guru is eternal. Is my relation
with my Gāyatrī mantra Guru also eternal?”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, the first importance to Nāma Guru,
and the second to the initiation. But the dīkṣā Guru
must have respect, then all other disciples of Prabhupāda. First honour to
Prabhupāda, Nāma Guru, Guru of Guru, and the second honour to
the dīkṣā Guru; and the rest accommodating, according to
their status, should be accommodated.
Jīva Goswāmī has written that the Name is the principal thing. In
the mantram also, so many other words, but the Name is the most
important. Suppose the Name is taken away and another name is put there, then
the whole thing is rotten. In this way he has judged, has given his decision.
The Name is all-in-all. In a Gāyatrī mantram the Name is there,
Kṛṣṇa Nāma is there, and so many other words
couched, but if Kṛṣṇa is taken away and Śiva is put there, the whole thing will come to Śiva. So the Name is the all important factor, so Nāma
Guru; even Gāyatrī mantra may not be necessary.
jayati jayati nāmānanda rūpam murarer
[viramita nija dharma dhyāna pujyadhi yatna
katham api sakṛdāttam muktidaṁ
prānināṁ yat
paramāmṛtam ekaṁ jīvanaṁ
bhuṣanaṁ me]
[Sanātana Goswāmī says:
“Let ecstasy in the service of the Divine Name be victorious. If somehow we can
come in contact with that sound, nāma rupaṁ murāreḥ,
then all our other activities will be paralysed; we will have no necessity of
performing any other activity. Our many variegated duties will have no
importance to us at all if we can achieve the service of the Divine Name of Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta, 1.1.9]
_______________________________________________
[?]
na ca sat kriya, na dikṣe na ca
purāścarya manadilate
mantrayam rasana spri hanato śrī kṛṣṇa
nāmātmaka
[“One need not undergo all the purificatory
processes, or follow the six ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas for
pious life; one need not even take initiation into the Gāyatrī
mantra. If one simply chants the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa
without offence, everything will be successful.”] [Jīva Goswāmī]
Anyhow, the
Name is the most important, even the Gāyatrī mantram may not
be necessary, but Gāyatrī mantram we accept only to help the Nāma
bhajan, otherwise it may not be necessary at all. It has been judged in
such way. Only the Name can do everything for a person, the full thing. But to
help the Nāma bhajan, to do away with the aparādha
and ābhāsa, the Gāyatrī mantra comes to help
us, only this much.
I showed
once, in the bigger circle, the Name goes from the lowest to the highest, and
the Gāyatrī mantram circle is in the middle. From the lowest
the Gāyatrī mantram cannot go but the Name can go from the
lowest portion. And the Gāyatrī mantram only goes and finishes
up to salvation, emancipation, and then the Name goes with no Gāyatrī
mantram. This is the Gāyatrī mantra and the Names
connection. The Name goes from the lowest position where caṇḍālas, yavanas,
everyone can receive the Name, but not all are eligible for the Gāyatrī
mantram. After the Nāma is in a little developed stage then the
Gāyatrī mantram can be conferred, and the Gāyatrī
mantram’s jurisdiction will be finished when emancipation is attained.
kṛṣṇa-mantra haite habe saṁsāra
mocana / kṛṣṇa-nāma haite pābe kṛṣṇera
caraṇa
[“Simply by chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa
one can obtain freedom from material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the
Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra one will be able to see the lotus
feet of the Lord.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 7.73] [Within the Purport: “In the Anubhāṣya,
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswatī Goswāmī says that the
actual effect that will be visible as soon as one achieves transcendental
knowledge is that he will immediately become free from the clutches of māyā
and fully engage in the service of the Lord.”]
In Caitanya-caritāmṛta
it is found, kṛṣṇa-mantra haite habe saṁsāra
mocana, to help our emancipation the Gāyatrī mantram is
necessary, and then mantram is finished, its function gone after giving
us emancipation. But the Name will continue all along, from the lowest to the
highest, the Name is, only Name ____________ no mention of any application – I
want this, that, only the Name automatic, spontaneous. That will encourage
every good will in us, Name, uddīpana, but the Gāyatrī
mantra’s function is limited. So the Name is all important. Nāma Guru
will have the first honour, and next the Gāyatrī mantra Guru,
then other Vaiṣṇavas.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: How should the devotee who has taken second
initiation, should he regard his Gāyatrī mantra Guru as a
God-brother or as a Guru?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. Acintya
bhedābheda. Generally Guru, according to his
present stage, but if he transcends, he goes to his previous history, then he
will see something like God-brother. But generally in his present stage he will
see as Guru, and in the background God-brother; the direct connection Guru and
in background is God-brother. And that may be the general estimation.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: And sometimes they ask, “Will my relationship,” just
as you said, “The Hari Nāma continues after the liberated
condition.” “So does the Gāyatrī mantra Guru continue any
activity with the devotee beyond the point of liberation?” In other words, is
the relationship with the Gāyatrī mantra Guru also to be
considered eternal or only the Hari Nāma relationship?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can’t follow. Nimāi?
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________
[?]
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Because they may give less importance in
consideration.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then there, the Name will be in the background, and
the other functions of services will come in the front. When you will enter
that domain they will give some function there in the service of Kṛṣṇa,
and that will be very conspicuous, prominent, and Name will be in the
background there, in that position. When you go to a particular group in a
particular rasa, sākhya rasa you say, then he will come
under a specific duty, under Subala, or Baladeva, or anyone, and he will be
given duties to be discharged. That will have the first importance, and the
Name will be in the background. It will help to energise, and there the Guru
will be this Nāma Guru, and Guru will be in all Gurus, but still
there is hierarchy. At the immediate, it is a family life, the Guru’s Guru is
there, but he’ll be under his own boss, and he has got his boss; in this way.
But he will receive direction from his immediate higher position; in this way
the hierarchy is there and he’ll be transformed into that sort of function. The
Gurus, their all Gurus, their hierarchy, even I am under some as a servitor,
and my immediate duty will be to attend to his orders; in this way. It will be
transformed there. Am I clear?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Oh yes, loud and clear. Another question is that
when the jīva falls down into this material world from the
spiritual world, does he first, sometimes we have heard that his first birth is
as Brahmā, and then he takes different types of birth. Then other times we
have heard other things. In what type of birth does the soul first take its
birth when it falls from the spiritual world?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is a broad question.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Gaura Haribol.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nitāi Caitanya. You will see it will be of two
classes. Generally, jīva does not fall down from Vaikuṇṭha,
or Goloka. Generally the jīva, the source of the fallen jīva
is brahma-loka, the taṭasthā-loka.
Bhakti
Sudhīra Goswāmī: Brahmajyoti.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The product of taṭasthā-śakti; that can fill up this brahmāṇḍa
jīva. From there, from śivatta it may come to brahmatta,
Brahmā, gradually it may come down, general question. And in higher
visions that is also seen that Goloka servitors and Vaikuṇṭha
servitors, they’re also seen to be within the jurisdiction of brahmāṇḍa,
but that is only a play, līlā. When they come from that plane,
that is to be considered as līlā. For some time the vipralambha,
for separation, it is necessary for them, anyhow they come and they go. This is
one class. And another class, that ordinary class, comes from that taṭasthā-loka,
brahma-loka, not from Vaikuṇṭha, not from that area. And there,
under māyā, the first position will be like that of
Brahmā, and then of course according to karma they will be mingled
and the karma will decide their up and down life.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: First will be like the position of Brahmā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Deviation, first deviation...
svadharmma-niṣṭhaḥ
śata-janmabhiḥ pumān, viriñcatām eti
tataḥ paraṁ hi mām
avyākṛtaṁ bhāgavato 'tha vaiṣṇavaṁ,
padaṁ yathāhaṁ vibudhāḥ kalātyaye
[“A person who executes his occupational
duty properly for one hundred births becomes qualified to occupy the post of
Brahmā, and if he becomes more qualified, he can approach Lord Śiva.
A person who is directly surrendered to Lord Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu
in unalloyed devotional service is immediately promoted to the spiritual
planets. Lord Śiva and other demigods attain these planets after the
destruction of this material world.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 4.24.29]
In Bhāgavatam, Mahādeva
says, Śiva, Mahādeva
says, svadharmma-niṣṭhaḥ śata- janmabhiḥ
pumān, viriñcatām eti. If
one discharges his duty of varṇāśrama dharmaperfectly for one hundred lives, then he attains the
post of a Brahmā. Svadharmma-niṣṭhaḥ
śata-janmabhiḥ pumān, viriñcatām eti, he comes to the position of
Brahmā. Tataḥ paraṁ hi mām, then progressing next
he comes to my position. What is that? Mām avyākṛtaṁ,
not very differentiated character, Mahādeva. Brahmā is this side and that side. In the māyic
side some differentiated character; that is Rudra, and the other side of
the brahma-loka differentiated character, that is bhakta Śiva,
MahāViṣṇu. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: We want to clarify some details on your description
which you have just given. When you say brahma-loka, what exactly is
that brahma-loka?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Brahma-loka and Brahmā, these two things
are separate. Brahmā is already a person in the connection with māyā.
And Brahma, the non-differentiated marginal plane, where you cannot
differentiate, but that is the source of many, many; jīva soul is a
particle, and this plane consists of many particles, and we cannot
differentiate them, they’re in one and the same plane of non-differentiated
character.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Brahmajyoti?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Brahmajyoti, jyoti, and jyoti___________________________
[?]
jīva soul means an atom
in the jyoti __________________ and pencil of ray. So the jyoti,
the brahma-loka is a product of so many atoms, of jyoti atomic.
Many atoms of jyoti makes the seat of brahma-loka. So generally
from brahma-loka, and that is a living thing, a growing thing, and from
there the supply of the jīva soul, yayedaṁ dhāryate
jagat, inBhagavad-gītā, [7.5]. Apareyam, para and apara
śakti, the world is
made of, and para śaktithat is brahma-loka; jīva soul. And yayedaṁ
dhāryate jagat, and these two mixed, they’re just as the gas and the
iron machine continuing, the railway engine, and other things, either
electricity or gas, and the body of iron and steel, working. So jīva soul,
that is the conscious atom that is within, and the apara śakti________________ that is out, and the machine is
working, with the help of these two, yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat
The para śaktiis jīva, that is taṭasthā,
and antaraṅga śaktiis
not mentioned here. That is included in Bhagavān Himself.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: So generally the jīvas who are here in
this world have come from that brahma-loka?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Brahma-loka.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: They have no experience as yet of Goloka or Vaikuṇṭha?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Because, yad gatvā na nivartante, tad
dhāma paramaṁ mama.
[na tad bhāsayate sūryo, na
śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā
na nivartante, tad dhāma paramaṁ mama]
[“My supreme
holy abode is that place which the surrendered souls reach, never to return
again to this deathly plane. Upon going there, one never returns to this
material world. Neither sun, nor moon, nor fire - nothing can illuminate that
all-illuminating supreme abode.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 15.6]
If jīva
catches the current, that in-carrying current, then he’s not to come back.
But they also come back, as in Brahma-vaivarta-Purāṇa, etc, the Rādhārāṇī, the Subala, they’re playing and they’re cursing each
other and they had to come here in the martya-loka. This is all play,
this is līlā. They sometimes come here but they’re not
overpowered by māyā. They’re senior, but they have come in a
form of play here. That is another thing, and this is another thing. Even, it
is mentioned in Bhāgavatam, Jīva Goswāmīhas discussed and decided that in the womb of the
mother, in the seven months in the womb, the child can see the Lord. And his
one hundred previous births come to his memory at that time, and he promises
that in this present birth I won’t mix with māyā but I shall
try to go to You with devotion etc. But, Janama haila puli maya jali nahai
gana lobha [?]
As soon as
he gets out of the womb he forgets everything. There Jīva Goswāmīsays that it is not the case with all the jīva
souls that they must see Bhagavān in the seven months in the womb. Once one can have darśana
of Bhagavān, he never comes down in this world.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: So they all see or they don’t see?
Bhakti Sudhīra Goswāmī: No. Not all of them.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: It is a rare thing. It is very rare to see
Bhagavān within the womb of the mother?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Only particular jīvas have got such
experience and those that have got such experience they never come down; they
will have to go up. Because if that is true that he has got a real darśana
then māyā cannot clutch him, catch
him. That is given by Jīva Goswāmī. How is it possible that once you have got darśana
of Bhagavān; how can you come down? But janama
haila puli maya jali nahaigana lobha [?] In some cases when the darśana
is very vague and meagre it may take place. But
generally...
Bhakti Sudhīra Goswāmī: He’ll come out, he’ll take birth.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: In which case?
Bhakti Sudhīra Goswāmī: When it’s vague and meagre.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In that case it may again be covered, and then
getting any least chance of help then he’ll go up.
Bhakti Sudhīra Goswāmī: But if they go up and they were in the womb of mother,
what of...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I’m talking of the soul; not the body. The body is
there. Gradually they will go up and then when emancipated then only they can
live without a body.
Bhakti Sudhīra Goswāmī: So they will take birth, but in divine
consciousness?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Divine consciousness will have superior
position, and they won’t interfere with the māyic world, like Jaḍa
Bharata and others. They’ll be here but they’ll not mix much with the māyic
affairs. They’ll go up gradually with the help of the sādhu
and śāstra, and their internal connections, revealed advice,
they’ll go up.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: When the jīva, when the body dies, not
the jīva, when someone dies, they are taken to the court of Yāmarāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, not all; there are exceptions.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: And what are those exceptions?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Exceptions are those that have the chance of
entering into ananya bhakti, śuddha bhakti. There the
jurisdiction changes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Supposing a devotee who has executed some devotional
service but not...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: One who has come in connection with a Guru of śuddha bhakti, he won’t be
produced to Yāmarāja. His jurisdiction already changed. Whatever should be
dealt with about him; that will come from Vaikuṇṭha, and not from
the judge of this mundane world, Yāmarāja.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: And if someone is under the jurisdiction of Yāmarāja, how long does it take until the jīva takes
its next birth in the womb?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is variegated in different cases. Different
cases differently. Generally we may take that within twenty four hours the ātmā, the soul, is taken to Yāmarāja. Then with some sort of bail he’s released, and then
after one year’s time his case is taken up. And then he’s judged and amount of
sin and amount of good action is judged and he’s asked, “What will you take
first, the nāraka or sargara? Do you like to enjoy the
fruits of your good action first?” Of course, if the amount is great, of any
good action or bad action, then he takes up in his own hand, he will go to
suffer the results of the bad actions first, and then good actions.
Devotee: In time and
space theory______________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Time and space theory? A general case, what I say,
but there are particular cases which are urgently adjusted in a court; the
urgent case may be dealt urgently. Some may take a birth immediately after his
death and he enters into a womb. There are also particular cases are many. That
Vasudeva says, we find in Bhāgavatam, that when Devakīis married and Vasudeva is taking away Devakīto his own house; Kaṁsais taking the rein of the horses who are conducting
the chariot, and on the way there was _________________ a sudden sound came
from the sky.
“That Kaṁsa, you are relishing so much this occasional joy,
taking with such tearfulness your sister to her husband’s house. But her eighth
child will kill you.” Twice or thrice, when this sound came from the sky, then Kaṁsawas enraged and he took his sister by the hair and was
about to cut her throat, then Vasudeva came to protect her.
“What is
this? You are a hero. Are you afraid of your death? You are not a coward.” In
this way he began discussion. “Then you have no cause of fear from her, but her
child. But I assure you that these children will be given to your hand, you may
do away with them, but leave her. She is not going to kill you.”
Anyhow, at
that time, Vasudeva comes to talk about some philosophical line and says that,
“Before one is dead, his next life begins. Before one is dead, his next life
begins. How? When he’s going to die his previous actions in subtle form, all
come in a rush to gather and everyone demands, “The next birth I want.”
According to the intensity for their priority they come to propose that, “The
next chance I must get.” So before the actual death it is determined. And the
idea catches him there, “I have got possession.” Suppose anger or jealousy or
some greed, so many propensities are within. And who gets the first chance, he
takes possession of the ātmā, and then he dies and he takes him. The idea, he’s
taking possession of the idea, he goes to some society, his own society, and
from there it comes to the physical plane. Suppose there is much anger, his
possession, the buffalo mentality takes possession. Very ferocious, the tiger
mentality takes possession, and takes him up in the tiger society, and then he
comes with a tiger body.
In this way,
in the case of Bharata, he went to help the deer, but he left everything in his
youthful life, left everything in his kingdom and adopted a life of a sādhu, but when he was
dying he thought, “If I die, this small deer will also die by, without getting
food.” Only when he was thinking about that, his soul passed, and he had to
become a deer. In that society he had to go. That thinking took him there, and
with a deer’s body he came out.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: What is that one year bail period? You used the; I
don’t know the Bengali word...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Because in the karma-kāṇḍa we find under one year in suspension, and during that
time the ṛṣisin the Vedas,
karma-kāṇḍa,
they say, “Try to make some help. He leaves the property and the successor of
the holder of the property, he makes some arrangement to help the departed
soul, with piṇḍa dāna, one year, goloka piṇḍa.
After one year is completed he’s under suspense and help may be arranged
for him and then they talk and the final decision. He’s taken in that way.
Generally in the karma-kāṇḍaṛṣi
we find that process. But this is a general case,
surmised, they do. But there are particular instances according to the gravity
of the situation, and the judge does many things.
Bhakti Sudhīra Goswāmī: When do the hellish sufferings that are described in
the Bhāgavat, in the fifth canto, when does that, what period does
that take place?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When the sufferings also of different types
according to the heinousness of the evil deed, they’re classified and
sufferings without a physical body. Just as in a dream, we may have a good
dream, we may also have a bad dream. In dreams also we may suffer, and in
dreams also we may feel pleasure. So without this body, our subtle body, when
he feels eternal and intense pain, that is nāraka. Not physical
body but in mental body.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Subtle body.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mental body with continuous and intense suffering of
different type, the different hell, without body.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: How long?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: According to the intensity and magnitude of the
action, the judge, the Yāmarāja, the controller, the administrator, he dispenses and
he’s forced to suffer like that. And in a pleasing dream, as we feel, there is
a government; you see, in the mental world also there is a government, just as
here there is a government in the physical world, so the body which we find within
us in a dream, such a strong body. There is a plane with so many astral bodies
and there is a government, and the administration is there, and they’re dealt
with in that way. That is generally known as Pitṛ-loka, or Preta-loka,
Preta-loka, for departed souls.
Giri Mahārāja [?]: Now, sometimes after a person dies, the family
members will invite us to do kīrtan, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Now, will that help the departed soul?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, that will help him. In his connection the
benefit he may get in that way we perform some ________ and that vibration will
go to help him, higher help than in ordinary śrāddha, bhāgavat-prasādam if we confer. But
kīrtan – good wishes also can help the departed souls.
Giri Mahārāja: Now, when the soul falls from the brahma-loka
and takes birth in the material world, now is that soul’s eternal rasa with
Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual world...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That soul’s?
Giri Mahārāja: Is that soul’s particular relationship with Kṛṣṇa
in Goloka, is that already fixed when that soul falls down?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see, that is, everything has got some
probability or prospect within him. So if it is the dissection, analysis, then
the prospect; just as svarūpa, after emancipation one may go to Vaikuṇṭha,
and no further. And one may go to Goloka, and there also different rasa.
Some going to vātsalya rasa, some going sākhya, or mādhurya, some into śantarasa; that is internal
position, svarūpa, according to that they’re classified after
emancipation. So also here in the māyic world also
according to that intrinsic probability they may come down, and where, what, in
this way, that way. So first from Brahmā rank he may come down, and he may
go down to any extent, and the differentiation will also be there. But still
he’s got some innate, permanent thing of prospect in him. That will come to
decide. Follow?
Giri Mahārāja: Yes. Now, suppose a soul...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What was your question?
Giri Mahārāja: You answered it. Now, suppose the soul has the
desire to become the mother of Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual
world...
Swami B.R. Sridhara Maharaja: In rank, motherly rank, not exactly mother. Mother
is Yaśodā, fixed, but in
that rank.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Can you elaborate about that rank? In other words, Yaśodāis Kṛṣṇa’s mother, so what do the
others who are in...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They are helping in that camp in different ways,
helping her in vātsalya rasa.
Devotee:
_______________________________________ [?]
Giri Mahārāja: Now, just as when Kṛṣṇa comes
here, there’s so many different households and families in Vṛndāvana. Now, in Goloka are there also many households with
parents and children?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course. The whole thing comes here. And also, it
is still maintained there, and also as reflection, or rather not reflection,
but substantially one and the same, vaibhava.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Expansion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Extension comes here.
Giri Mahārāja: Now, when Kṛṣṇa was here, after
Brahmā stole the cowherd boys and calves, He expanded into a duplicate
set. For one year, some of those elderly, they had the chance of having
directly Kṛṣṇa as their son. So does that sometimes happen in
Goloka?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is kāya-vyūha. One can extend one’s self in different places at the
same time. If even a yogī, he’s here and he can show himself in
some other places also, the same, the double. So in the case of Kṛṣṇa
it is not impossible that He may extend Himself in many places in many forms
and variegated nature. It is also mentioned in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, that in DvārakāHe had sixteen thousand wives; or something like that,
and He presented Himself everywhere. And Nārada is astonished to see that. And it is mentioned
there, kāya-vyūha haile nāradera vismaya nā haya.
[saubhary-ādi-prāya sei
kāya-vyūha naya / kāya-vyūha haile nāradera vismaya
nā haya]
[“The prābhava-prakāśa
expansions of Lord Kṛṣṇa are not like the expansions of the
sage Saubhari. Had they been so, Nārada would not have been astonished to
see them.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.169]
The kāya-vyūha of yogī, the extension of a yogī,
siddha yogī, is of a limited character. For example, if he’s
standing here, his facsimile in another place he will also stand. If he lies
down it will also lie. But in the case of Kṛṣṇa, every form
can do independently. So in different ways, in different manner, different
types, He can extend His līlā in any way.
After all, we must think that we are limited,
and we are trying to talk of the infinite, unlimited, so with this much modesty
we must try to approach the thing. Adhokṣaja. Everything may
not come within my clutches, but as much as possible, we can guess, we can have
a peep, into the approximate characteristic of the Infinite.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Now, when Kṛṣṇa came here…
End of 81.02.28.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.28.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
...like this.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
And Mother Yaśodā she could
experience baby Kṛṣṇa, young Kṛṣṇa, all different ages.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: So
in Goloka, does she also experience these different ages of Kṛṣṇa,
or does Kṛṣṇa remain fixed in one age? And if so then...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. So, sometimes it has been mentioned that Gokula
Kṛṣṇa, that is the original, and it is most peculiar. And
Goloka is an extension of Gokula. It is very peculiar. In prapañca of prākṛta,
this is very similar; prākṛta– transcendental, and aprākṛta.
Aprākṛta – the very term has been used to this effect, that very
similar to prākṛta, very near to prākṛta.
So to make us, to give us warning – it is not prākṛta it is aprākṛta.
There is every possibility of taking as prākṛta this ordinary
fallible, mortal thing, so similar. So for the similarity the warning is given
– aprākṛta not prākṛta, but very near to prākṛta.
So there also the wave from child, to the grown-up, this wave is always moving
in a circular way.
In Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta you’ll find in Sanātana
Goswāmī’s writing. He says that Kṛṣṇa
līlā suppose begins from the birth of Kṛṣṇa
in Vṛndāvana. Then He grows up, then the play with the cow boys,
then so many things, then Akrura comes to take up there to Mathurā. And after prabāsa, then Nanda and
Yaśodā there in a very mournful stage they’re passing their days. The
Kṛṣṇa in Mathurā, they are suffering from separation. In this way
some… Then suddenly the will changed, by Yogamāyā.
Then the atmosphere came, “Oh. Nanda Yaśodā is there, from a long
time they’re suffering, they have got no child.” This stage previous to the
birth of Kṛṣṇa, that suddenly comes again within the will.
Then again, Kṛṣṇa and there no child of Yaśodā,
then gradually some hope and some offering to the Deities etc, that they may
have a child. Then gradually Kṛṣṇa came and Kṛṣṇa
goes. Then again Kṛṣṇa goes to Mathurā. All these rasas, the prabāsa, then suddenly
change came, just as in a circular way, winter, summer, rainy season, and this
autumn, in this way the līlā is moving, bujhite nā
pāre līlā kemane 'nitya' haya.
['nitya-līlā' kṛṣṇera
sarva-śāstre kaya, bujhite nā pāre līlā kemane
'nitya' haya]
[“Descriptions of Kṛṣṇa’s eternal pastimes are in all
revealed scriptures. But one cannot understand how they are continuing
eternally.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 20.385]
In this way;
and also, Kavirāja Goswāmī has given us to think in another way.
The sun is rising here, balya līlā, and it is continuing. Everywhere
the sun is rising in one place. Here rising, then next second a little far off
it is rising. And setting, rising, and noon, is always to be found in any
portion of the world. Is it not?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So also, Kṛṣṇa līlā from
this brahmāṇḍa, it
is extended like the sun, the balya līlā passed here, and in
another brahmāṇḍait
is continued, like the sun. Bujhite nā pāre līlā kemane
'nitya' haya. Jyotiścakra-pramāṇe.
[dṛṣṭānta diyā kahi
tabe loka yadi jāne / kṛṣṇa-līlā — nitya,
jyotiścakra-pramāṇe]
[“Let me
give an example by which people may understand Lord Kṛṣṇa’s
eternal pastimes. An example can be found in the zodiac.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 20.386]
In Caitanya-caritāmṛta we have found, jyotiścakra-pramāṇe,
it is continued. The morning is everywhere, the noon is everywhere. It is
revolving, and in different brahmāṇḍas. Now Kṛṣṇa
is taking birth, next moment in another brahmāṇḍa, next moment another brahmāṇḍas. It is always
continuing.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
And in Goloka?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In Goloka also that; it is also dynamic, and must
move in a circular way, it is nitya. Generally we have got this idea. To
be nitya-līlā; and not only that, we are to also have a
conception of this, that here you can think of the balya-līlā
of Kṛṣṇa, he can think of the kaiśora-līlā of
Kṛṣṇa, he can think that Akrura is taking Him away to
Mathurā. Here we can simultaneously think we have a touch. So all līlā
is crossing space and time, and every point of līlā is nitya
and continues. We can think of that and that is something; even sādhus,
they can’t think it. Kṛṣṇa is there _____________ is of such
characteristic. Everything there I say. And also it is not to be eliminated
that there is a continuance; the balya, the paugaṇḍa,
the kaiśora, the acintya bhedābhedaof Mahāprabhu.
Paśya me yogam aiśvaram.
mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ, jagad
avyakta-mūrtinā
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni, na cāhaṁ
teṣv avasthitaḥ.
na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni, paśya me
yogam aiśvaram
[bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho,
mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ]
[“In an
unmanifest manner, I pervade this entire universe, and everything conceivable
is situated within Me - and yet, I am not situated within that total entity.”]
[“And again, that is also not situated in Me. Just behold My inconceivable
simultaneous one and different (acintya-bhedābheda) nature as the
perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and Lord of the universe! Although
My very Self is the mainstay and guardian of all beings, I am not implicated by
them.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 9.4-5]
“I am
everywhere. Everything is in Me. I am nowhere. Nothing is in Me. I’m not a mad
man. Try to have an estimation of My Self, Arjuna. What am I?” Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Such a bold statement has ever come into the
world of philosophy? Ha, ha, ha. “I am everywhere and nowhere. Everything in
Me, nothing in Me. Try to ascertain what I am. This sort of straight, simple
and most perplexing, and impossible and possible together; I am that.” Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. So,
jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva,
jīvanti san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām
[sthāne sthitāḥ
śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir, ye prāyaśo
'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyām]
[Lord Brahmā said to the Supreme
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa: “Oh Lord, Oh Unconquerable One,
those devotees who, completely giving up all attempts on the path of jñāna
of attaining the non-differentiated platform known as Brahma by hearing the
transcendental narratives of Your pastimes (kathā), which emanates
from the lotus mouths of the mahā-bhāgavat sādhus and pass
their lives by engaging their body, mind and words in pure devotion, easily
conquer You (they easily get Your transcendental association), although You are
the most difficult to attain in the three worlds.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.14.3]
Give up your attempt of measuring Him,
but through faith try to approach. You are finite, so about infinite, how much
faith may you have? A very little, so don’t think that you will be deceived,
your faith will deceive you. How is the length and breadth of your faith? You
are a tiny person. In the infinite anything is possible. So don’t be afraid of
your blind faith when you come to search for Kṛṣṇa -
Infinite. Only faith can take you there and no knowledge. It is clearly stated
in Bhāgavatam; never approach with the weapon, with the instrument
of knowledge. That will deceive you. But faith, adhokṣaja, He can come down, and if you doubt, He may not care
to come down to you. Open; spread wide your heart to receive Him, and whatever
sort of wonders He may come to show you, prepare yourself to be so much, so
broad, and wait. What are the waves of the Infinite? What sort of waves come to
touch you from the Infinite, the centre of Infinite, of love, beauty, etc? Wait
and see. Be clear and open and unbiased. Don’t go to measure with your tiny
examples of this finite world of nasty nature. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Tatra
laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ.
[kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā
matiḥ, kriyatāṁ yadi kuto 'pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ, janma-koṭi-sukṛtair
na labhyate]
[“Pure
devotional service to Kṛṣṇa cannot be obtained by performing
pious activities even for millions of births. It can be purchased only by
paying one price: intense eagerness. Wherever it is available, one must
purchase it immediately.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya- līlā, 8.70]
Your hankering only can help you to have
touch of that magnanimous divine thing. If you go challenging, He'll not care
to come. What is the loss to Him? You are deceived. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Go with your heart willing, but go forward. Jñāne
prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva, jīvanti san-mukharitāṁ
bhavadīya-vārtām, sthāne sthitāḥ
śruti-gatāṁ. Brahmā says, jānanta eva
jānantu.
[jānanta eva jānantu, kiṁ
bahūktyā na me prabho
manaso vapuṣo vāco, vaibhavaṁ tava
go-caraḥ]
[“There are
people who say, ‘“I know everything about Kṛṣṇa.”’ Let them
think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much
about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much: As far as Your opulences
are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my mind, body and words.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.14.38]
“Those that say that they know something, let
them enjoy self deception thereby. But I am reserving, that manaso vapuṣo
vāco, vaibhavaṁ tava go-caraḥ. I could not enter into the
very negligent, slight point of Your acquaintance. This is my finding.”
Brahmā says like that. “These puffed up fools, they may talk about
anything. They can know this, they can know that, everything can be known.
Those fools, let them dance with their foolish tendencies. But I am sure that
no weapon, no instrument, can have any, catch any slight touch of Him. He’s
always new, always of new characteristic. He’s infinite. But finite and
Infinite are of opposite characteristics, so how is it possible to let you
loose within the infinite?”
I told in Karachi to one President of
the Ārya Samāj, when I went
there to preach, the Ārya Samāj thought, “We have got a prey. The Vaiṣṇavas
are idolaters.” They came to attack, and he told me, “If finite can know
Infinite, then He’s not Infinite.” He told like that. And it also came to my
mind immediately, “If Infinite cannot make Himself known to finite, then He’s
not Infinite.” Just the opposite; then I gave him a handshake, and said namas
te and departed. So that is our only solace, that Infinite can make Himself
known to finite, and finite cannot know Infinite, so that sort of
characteristic of Infinite, His grace, we always foster. That should be our,
the money which is necessary for a journey, what is that?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Fare.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Fare. That should be our fare, our attitude. We have
not come to deal with a limited thing. My aspiration is not so base and mean. I
have come in the relativity of the Infinite. So my behaviour must be according
to that, bhakti.
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api
sahiṣṇunā / amāninā mānadena, [kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ]
[“One who is humbler than a blade of
grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others without
desiring it for himself is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Śikṣāṣṭakam, 3]
The negative tendency should be
increased to attract the positive, chaida [?] “I cannot but want You. I
can’t stay without the least of Your connection.” And thus we are to invite
Him. “I am poor, I am mean, I am so and so. There is no meaner fellow than
myself.” That is the way. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Our
Prabhupada used to give one example. In some fair it is seen that a stand with
some bamboo or some post is there and it is smeared with oil, and this ripe
plantain fruit...
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Banana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...with that banana, so very slippery. And a post is
there, and there is a man at the side and he says, “If anyone can climb up,
he’ll be given such reward.” And everyone wherever he catches it he comes down;
cannot go up. So it is like that, we cannot go up, we can’t go up, āroha-panthā, slippery, slippery, slippery; we can come down but
we cannot go up. Ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
So, we are
brave enough to deal such things, with such audacity? Ha, ha, ha. But still,
the position is there. It is by His grace, the line of His grace. He wants to
distribute Himself in a line, so śrauta-panthāGuru param pūjā. It is exclusively, the necessity is there, the śrauta-panthā, Guru paramparā. The knowledge and the bhajan, everything
comes down from Infinite to finite and never from finite to Infinite through āroha-panthā. That should be the backbone of our movement always.
So whatever we shall go to do, we shall look up to Gurudeva. “If you do it may be
done. I am nothing. I am nowhere sir.”
Once, I found in the Rāmānuja character, that he had a sitting with a māyāvādī paṇḍitafor fourteen days, and he came away frustrated, he
could not defeat him. And he came to Varadaraja, “What am I? I can’t defeat in
discussion, for so many days I’m trying to argue. I’m nothing, nowhere, I
should not go up with my head erect as an Ācārya
of the samprādaya.” He prayed to
Varadaraja temple. And the next day, no sooner had he gone and begun a slight
talk, that gentleman expressed his defeat, he clearly saw, “Yes, what you have
said I have understood. I am wrong. What you say is right.” By His will, that
man was defeated.
So devotees
are always expectant, upward; by Guru’s will. I have got nothing. He may do
through me. If I go to assert myself, I’ll not only be defeated, but I shall
also be lost. But when I shall go to show a proud attitude also in the name of
my Guru, sincerely, then it will be bhajan. It will help me and others
also. As much as I have the tendency of taking power from up, my attempt of the
Ācārya will always be to
bring things from up, from his Guru and sādhu – “By your grace.”
Always dependant, he can never say I am in possession of the potency, power;
no.
jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha,
purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha
mora nāma śune yei tāra puṇya kṣaya,
mora nāma laya yei tāra pāpa haya
[I am more
sinful than Jagāi and Mādhāi and even lower than the worms in
stool. Anyone who hears my name loses the results of his pious activities.] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā,
5.205-6]
This is
negativity, the conception of the ego of the negativity is so intense that, “I
am such. But Nityānanda Prabhu is great, He’s Patita-Pāvana. So
I have got.”
ye yatha patita haya, tava dayā tata tāya,
tāte āmi supātra dayāra
“I can
claim, because I am the most fallen. I think I realise that I am the most
fallen. I have got the greatest claim for Your grace, mercy.” [Gītamālā,
Yāmuna-bhāvāvali, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura]
That should
be the attitude of a real devotee. As mean as one can conceive one’s conception
of himself, so great he is in the eyes of the devotees, dainya. Hare Kṛṣṇa,
hankering, laulyam, hankering, that is their wealth. The wealth of the
devotee is there. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Hare Rāma.
Rāma Rāma, Gaura Haribol.
I am proud of the power of my Gurudeva and never of myself. That should
be the attitude. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya. Anything else? Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
No. These were our questions today.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Today? All right; any side questions?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
The babies are full of milk now. We are well fed. We have been fully fed today.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. No end. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: In
Goloka, the cows are called surabhi, they give unlimited milk at any
time. So we think you are like a surabhi cow.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. If you think it may be
for some time according to your requirement. If the requirement is stopped then
perhaps I may be a dead thing; the river will dry. Ha, ha. The dry bed in the
river, no water passing; the source is there, water. It is His will, His will.
Mahāprabhu says to Sanātana
Goswāmī, “Sanatana, Kṛṣṇa is very gracious to you.
He is sending so many things for you, through Me. I don’t understand them, but
for you, so many things passing through Me I feel.” This is in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Mahāprabhu says to Sanātana, “The grace of
Kṛṣṇa is flowing through Me to you I feel. I do not know all
these things. It’s not Mine.”
It is also
mentioned, vyāso vetti na vetti vā.
[aham vedmi śuko vetti, vyāso vetti na
vetti vā
bhaktyā bhāgavataṁ grāhyaṁ na
buddhyā na ca ṭīkayā]
[Lord
Śiva says: “I know the true purpose of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam;
Śukadeva, the son and disciple of Vyāsadeva, knows it thoroughly, and
the author of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrīla
Vyāsadeva may or may not know the meaning. The real purpose of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is very difficult to conceive and can only be known through bhakti.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 24.313]
The Vyāsa who has written Bhāgavatam,
he may or may not know. It is coming for the others through him. It is also
possible sometimes; sometimes, not always. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Kṛṣṇa is so independent, jayuktaho, all
glories to His independence. We are His servants. What responsibility is with
us? His things; we are instruments. He may do in His own way. He’s willing and
things are going on in such a way, and He’s willing otherwise and things go on
in another way. Everything is a part of His līlā; the Absolute
is līlā-moya, līlā, continuous and irresistible flow
of ānandam. Only our narrow ego deceives us, the feel of egoism
deceives us partake in that universal wave, the flow.
Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari.
Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: So
we will visit you again soon.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Nimāi _____________ prasādam
__________________ [?]
Hari kathāflow, Hari kathā,
Mahāprabhu kathā, Prabhupāda kathā,
Swāmī Mahārāja – your Prabhupāda, our Prabhupāda,
perhaps we’re all under their eye. Their very satisfied to see their things are
going on in this way. Gaura Haribol.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Jaya
Oṁ Viṣṇupāda
Paramahaṁsa-Parivrājakācārya Aṣṭottara-Śata-Śrī
Śrīmad Bhakti
Rakṣak Śrīdhar
Dev-Goswāmī
Mahārāja kī jaya!
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The other day Tamal Kṛṣṇa Prabhu,
today...
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Giridhari Swāmī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Giridhari Swāmī. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
Giridhari Swāmī: Now we are tied together, this cord and garland has
tied us together.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. It was already tied but only now seen.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: We
have vision. We are the blind men.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Never. Then how can you see the utility, or
tastefulness of these things. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Mahārāja. They had one other question,
which was that, you described that the mantra Guru – if you have one
Hari Nāma Guru and then his disappearance comes, and you take mantra
from another, you are to regard the mantra Guru as vaibhāva,
extension. So, one question also, is the sannyāsa Guru vaibhāva?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. The Guru is one and the same, but there is
gradation, importance. And especially when the Nāma Guru is Guru of
sannyāsa Guru, and Nāma Guru is the Guru of mantra Guru
– but the principal is Nāma Guru, and then mantra Guru, GāyatrīGuru, and then sannyāsa Guru. Sannyāsa
Guru is not given so much importance as we find – of course in particular
cases everything will be different, but general. Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa
from a māyāvādīGuru. That was necessary only for a preaching purpose.
For preaching convenience, sannyāsa Guru was accepted by Him, and
red cloth. But that was not very formally important. Of course for
Mahāprabhu nothing is of importance because He’s superior to everything,
but still His practice left us things for learning. So Nāma Guru is
of first importance, then mantra Guru, then sannyāsa Guru.
But we shall try to see in the same line, in the same respective way they are,
respectful way.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Our Guru Mahārāja was telling that Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura was appearing to him, again and again in a dream,
telling him to take sannyāsa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: So when he was describing this to his disciples, he
said that Keśava
Mahārāja came to give him sannyāsa, but he was seeing it
that his Guru Mahārāja is come to give the sannyāsa,
through his God-brother.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. It is really so, through his inspiration,
otherwise he did not come to take sannyāsa at all. “The direction
of Guru Mahārāja in subtle form; that made me to accept sannyāsa,
and it is he that gave sannyāsa in the subtle sense, that I took sannyāsa
from Guru.” Our Gurudeva took sannyāsa keeping the photo of his
Guru in front of him.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Gaura Kiśora.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Kiśora. But he was bābājī, and he took sannyāsa for preaching
purposes. Fit person to see, in the position of Guru, was not available; he was
not satisfied so he had to do like that. Rāmānujācārya also did so; he himself keeping the photo of his – in
the place of his Guru he took sannyāsa himself, because he could
not find such a person to whom he can surrender.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Now, there’s one case – there’s a man who’s a very
popular sportsman in the West, and he knew our Prabhupāda for many years. He never took Hari Nāma dīkṣā, but for, say, seven years he is accepting Prabhupāda like his Guru. So now, after Prabhupāda’s...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s an American?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who is he?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: His name is Peter Burwash, he’s a tennis player –
but devotee. So he accepted Prabhupāda for so many years like a Guru, but he did not get
the Hari Nāma dīkṣā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hari Nāma dīkṣā, or garment, nothing of the kind?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Nothing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But mentally he has accepted him as Guru?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Yes. He has Mūrti of Prabhupāda ...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Worshipping in his own way.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Worshipping in his own way, but our way, the same
way.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Same way? But without mantram, only giving
flower to...
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Doing everything, but no formal dīkṣā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But mantram, where did he get mantram?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: He chants Hari Nāma, sixteen rounds.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But he did not get it from any person, personal
instrument?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: So now that Prabhupāda has left, it is very difficult for him to accept
one of Prabhupāda’s
disciple Ācāryasas Guru. So what
is his... We think of him as a disciple of Prabhupāda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Materially, not formally. But what is the difficulty
in him that made him not accept Hari Nāma or diksa,
anything of the kind from Prabhupāda? What opposed him?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: That I don’t know.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What sort of mentality came in opposition? Any
environment was unfavourable for him?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Yes. That’s one part of it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And when Prabhupāda departed then perhaps he was very, his earnestness
was increased, and he felt that what mistake he has committed? Is it?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: After the departure of your Prabhupāda, one lady ran from England to here. She told that
her father was for a long time in the Police Department of India, and she
stayed with her father in Allahabad for a long time. And after retirement they
went home, and she heard that Swāmī Mahārāja is doing this and that,
miraculously he’s capturing many to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And
she had a dream that Swāmī
Mahārāja has come and she went to see him, but she could not see him,
there in London. Then she was told that he has gone to India. Then she came to
India, and coming here, she heard that he had departed. And with a frustrated
heart she came to search him, she came here also. And her ways and her picture
was that of very much indifference, vairāgya, almost like a widow. “I am frustrated. I am so
unfortunate. I got a dream. I wanted to see him there but heard that he had
left London. I came to India and when I reached here I heard he has gone away.
How disappointed and unfortunate lady I am.” With much eagerness; then she went
to Māyāpur, and what is her
fate I don’t know. But I saw too much earnestness in her, she’s disappointed,
the signs of disappointment were very intense.
And this
gentleman, now he’s mourning, that what have I done? Such is the case. But that
does not matter. In future that will be compensated. What we wish sincerely we
have it. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So infinite alternatives – alternatives are also of
infinite character. Ha, ha. Kṛṣṇa can manage all these
opposites, can harmonise all the opposites.
Virudhya samanam tasmin na cit tvam [?] In Vedānta-sutra, virudya samanyam,
opposites can be harmonised by Him, He’s such, tasmin na cittvam, it is
not wonderful that He can harmonise both the opposite parties. All forms of
opposition is harmonised there. He’s such. So what question will you take about
Him? Ha, ha, ha.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Ha, ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Virudya samanyam tasmin na cit tvam [?] It is
not much...
Devotee: Where is that
verse from?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Vedānta-sutra. Virudya samanyam
tasmin na cit tvam, virudya samanyam, that to harmonise the opposites, is
not any wonder in Him, cit tvam means wonder, tasmin means in
Him, virudya samanyam, na cit tvam, it is nothing. Ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Vasudeva Prabhu says that in Fiji, one lady she had
two Gurus who turned out to be bogus Gurus. So now she’s chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa
mantra on the malika, but she’s telling that she has accepted Śiva as her Guru. So he wants to know how to deal with
this. What is her position?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He wants to know?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Vasudeva wants to know.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is his position?
Vasudeva [?]: She won’t
accept any of our Gurus. She’s had bad experience with the Gurus.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But that is not a laudable position. That is in some
imaginary, good imagination; not a practical position. Imaginary plane, satya-guṇa, not connection
of nirguṇa, but satya-guṇa.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: There is also one verse that Prabhupāda quoted, sampradāya vihīnā ye
mantrās te niṣiphalā matāḥ.
[sampradāya vihīnā ye mantrās
te niṣiphalā matāḥ,
ataḥ kalau bhaviṣyanti catvāraḥ
sampradāyinaḥ
śrī-brahma-rudra-sanakā vaiṣṇavāḥ
kṣiti-pāvanāḥ,
catvāras
te kalau bhāvyā hy utkale puruṣottamāt]
[“If someone
receives a mantra from a Guru who doesn’t come in a bona fide sampradāya
that mantra will have no potency and will be fruitless. Hence in the
age of Kali there will arise four founders of sampradāyas, namely
Śrī, Brahmā, Rudra and Sanaka. These four Vaiṣṇavas
are the sanctifiers of the earth. Their four respective sampradāyas will
arise from the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Utkal (Orissa).”] [Padma
Purāṇa]
So even if
you’re chanting, if that sampradāya connection isn’t there, it’s
minimised?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In a bona fide way if I approach then I must have
the chance of such connection.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: You were telling us yesterday that you may be
chanting but if you do not have that connection, it’s just on your tongue, or
in your ear, it’s not...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. That is that it may be something like
imitation, generally, general case.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Hare Kṛṣṇa. There’s one other
request from RāmeśvaraSwāmī.
He is in charge of the artists who paint the illustrations for all of Prabhupāda’s books. And he would like to bring them here to
speak with you. Because the artists, they used to ask Prabhupāda some of the details so that the paintings are
correct. So is that all right?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ______________ [?]
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If they say to me clearly then I can help according
to my capacity.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Especially this book Brahma-saṁhitā, they will be painting for that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh. I told previously, that I do not know that Brahma-saṁhitā was translated by Prabhupāda, but I forgot. It was published in Madras and I was
present there. I forgot the whole thing due to loss of memory. And I have got a
copy also here.
Devotees: [Laughter. Jaya]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And I was present also at that time when Brahma-saṁhitā was translated and published _________ Hare Kṛṣṇa.
I forgot. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. You like to go now, go
away, yes?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: I wouldn’t say that I like to go, but we’re going.
Ha, ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Only considering my health?
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Yes.
Devotee: We don’t want to
tire you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, do again, tomorrow...
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Yes. We’re coming again.
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī: Tridaṇḍī Bhakti Rakṣak
Śrīdhara Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāja kī jaya!
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Prabhu kī
jaya!
Śrīpāda
Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja kī jaya!
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sevā Vṛnda
Ki Jaya. Gaura Haribol.
End of 81.02.28.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.28.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: __________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. I want to hear something from our Dayādhara
Prabhu, and what he says. You are already acquainted
but he’s not acquainted. I can’t see; only through ear I can see. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. The sun on the face, that is disturbing.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Well, if you want we can move forward.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, come this side. But still the sun is there. Let
Caru SwāmīMahārāja come this side. It is disturbing my
eyesight also, the sun. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi
Caitanya.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: I was feeling
fortunate to come only by your mercy, because it seemed so difficult to get
here. It seemed like so many impediments were being put in my way. But on the
way here I was trying to look at the impediments from a higher perspective. And
I was looking through the Gītā in the fourth chapter, and I
think it’s the thirty-third verse,
śreyān dravyamayād yajñāj,
jñāna-yajñaḥ parantapa
sarvaṁ karmākhilaṁ pārtha,
jñāne parisamāpyate
[“O Arjuna, subduer of the enemy, of
those various sacrifices, the sacrifice of knowledge as mentioned, brahmāgnāv
apare (gītā, 4.25), is far superior to the sacrifice of
various articles, indicated by brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma haviḥ
(gītā, 4.24), because all action ultimately culminates in
knowledge.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.33]
And I was
just wondering – Prabhupāda gives in the purport some indication, but I
was still feeling that there was something I wasn’t understanding; and of
course that’s the verse just before, “One should try to approach the spiritual
master.” And I was wondering about the significance of that. Why is it that Kṛṣṇa’s
making that statement before He gives the statement – why that śloka rather than any
other?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ____________ Caru Swāmī. What does he say?
You are to say again to me.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_____________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śreyān dravyamayād yajñāj,
jñāna-yajñaḥ parantapa / sarvaṁ karmākhilaṁ
pārtha, jñāne parisamāpyate. Then?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_____________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The jñāna or guidance; to get the
standpoint that is the most important thing. The standpoint from anywhere and
everywhere that may misguide, mislead us. So we must be very much particular to
have the direction and the direction is given here.
tad viddhi praṇipātena, paripraśnena
sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ, jñāninas
tattva darśinaḥ
[“You will
be able to attain all this knowledge by satisfying the enlightened spiritual
master with prostrate obeisances, relevant enquiry, and sincere service. Great
souls who are most expert in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct
realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will teach you that divine
knowledge.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.34]
The general
guidance He has given. Where should we try to get the standpoint, the measure
through which we are to understand? From a real sound, a bona fide source, we
must get the standard. The standard to measure truth, or untruth, or anything,
the most important thing is the standard. And that must come from a real plane,
not a vitiated plane, ordinary plane, vulnerable plane. Tad viddhi praṇipātena,
paripraśnena sevayā / upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ,
jñāninas tattva darśinaḥ. It must come from such a plane
where these two qualifications must be – and that is jñānīand tattva-darśi. A conception of
the thing and also the practical benefit, both these two qualifications must be
there where from I shall get this standard to measure what is right and what is
wrong. And my attitude should also be of such type, praṇipāt,
paripraśna, sevā.
Praṇipāt means
to surrender to such knowledge. Such type of knowledge is not an ordinary class
of knowledge which as a subject we can make it object. But it is a
super-subjective thing. So praṇipāt, I must surrender, that I
want something which is superior to me. I want Him, not an objective thing
which I can make the object as a subject, so praṇipāt. And
also praṇipāt means that I have finished the experience of
the world outside. I have no other charm for anything in the plane where I have
travelled already. Praṇipāt, exclusively I am I offering to
Your altar, and I want to have Your grace. In this mood we approach the higher
knowledge.
Praṇipāt, paripraśna
– honest enquiry is always allowed, sincere enquiry. Not with the tendency
of discussion in the sign of tarka, argument, not with argument, but all
the force should be concentrated to understand in a positive line. Without
giving away the spirit of doubt, suspicion, and all attentively we shall try to
understand because it is coming from higher where I am not ever known.
Praṇipāt, paripraśna
and sevā, and this is the most important thing. That I am going
to have the knowledge, not because that I can get the help of that plane and I
shall utilise that experience for the persons living here. That plane won’t
come to serve this lower plane. But I must give a pledge to serve that plane.
With this attitude I approach that plane and that sort of knowledge. I shall
serve Him, that higher knowledge, I shall serve Him. And I won’t try to make it
serve myself or my lower plane. That idea I won’t allow to enter me, in that
domain. The knowledge won’t come – He won’t come to serve this lower plane. It
is rather, I shall have the fullest tendency, that if I get that knowledge, I
must serve, I must offer myself to be utilised by Him; and not that I shall try
to utilise it in satisfying my lower purpose.
Praṇipātena, paripraśnena, sevayā, with
the sevā-vrati, that I shall dedicate myself to Him; not
that He will dedicate Himself to satisfy my lower animal purpose. So with this
attitude I shall seek the plane of real knowledge and to have standard from
there, to understand what is what, to have a proper estimation of the
environment where we are. Praṇipātena, paripraśnena,
sevayā. This is the, the Vedic culture is always only being
imparted in this process, and never by intellectual approach.
Our
Prabhupāda used to give some analogy. The honey is in a bottle and the
cork is there. And the bee has taken a seat on the glass, and it is trying to
lick the bottle and foolish people may say that it is eating the honey.
So the
intellect cannot approach ātmā, spirit. It may think that I
have got that, but it is not possible. The barrier is there, like a glass
barrier. So intellectual achievement is not real achievement of the higher
knowledge, or higher plane. Only through faith, through sincerity, through our
dedication, we can approach to be a member of that higher plane if they admit
us to enter, if they give the visa. Then I can enter that plane of higher
living, of divine living.
So praṇipāt,
paripraśna and sevā, these three qualifications the
candidate must have before he can approach the truth which is on the higher
plane, on the real plane. The plane of truth should be approached with this
sort of attitude; humility, sincerity and dedication – we shall approach. It is
always, in Gītā it is so, in Bhāgavatam also a
parallel passage; śabde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ, brahmaṇy
upaśamāśrayam.
[tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta, jijñāsuḥ
śreyaḥ uttamam
śabde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ,
brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam]
[“Therefore
any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual
master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona
fide Guru is that he has realised the conclusions of the scriptures by
deliberation and is able to convince others of those conclusions. Such great
personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all
material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual
masters.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.3.21]
Gurum evābhigacchet, samit:
[tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum
evābhigacchet / samit paniḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma niṣṭham]
[“One who
wants scientific knowledge about the Supreme Truth must approach a bona fide
Guru and offer him everything required for sacrifice. The Guru must be fixed in
the truth, having heard it from a genuine source.] [Muṇḍaka
Upaniṣad, 1.2.12]
In Veda,
in Upaniṣadalso, sa gurum
evābhigacchet, samit paniḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma niṣṭham.
Gurum evābhigacchet, gurum eva, he’ll approach the spiritual
master, evābhigacchet means samit, not hesitatingly or
haphazardly, he’ll go with a clear heart, earnest hankering.
Devotee:
_____________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________
[?]
With full heart he’s approaching. Not, as in our
Prabhupāda’s language, ‘Not cutting any return ticket.’ He used to say
always, “You have come here cutting a return ticket.” We’re not for that; come
for all. So evābhigacchet, sa gurumevābhigacchet, I
have seen and have got full experience of this mortal world. I have nothing to
aspire after here. With this clear consciousness you go; the only way to live.
This is all mortal. None can live here. To live, that is an innate tendency
everywhere. No means to live here, no possibility, so only to live, only to
save myself, my life, I’m running to the real shelter with this earnestness, evābhigacchet,
samit paniḥ. The necessary materials the disciple will take, and
also he won’t go to trouble the Guru, but with his own necessities, with his
own bed and baggage and everything he will go with his own necessities. And not
to show some kindness to the spiritual master, ‘that I have come to you to give
you some fame and name etc.’
Evābhigacchet, samit paniḥ
śrotriyaṁ brahma niṣṭham - What will be his position? Śrotriya, he
will be well versed in the śruti-śāstra, not ordinary, but revealed truth. Revelation in many
shades have been spread in the world from the upper realm. So he must have some
knowledge, some spacious, graphic knowledge, extensive knowledge about the
revealed truth, revelation. Śrotriyaṁ brahma niṣṭham,
and who is already practising the real life in relativity with Brahma, not with
the mundane world. The Brahma means the plane which can accommodate everything,
the fundamental, the homa [?], the basis of everything, Brahma, which
accommodates everything within Him. Brahma-niṣṭham,
and he’s always living in relativity with that; not with any mortal or mundane
reference is he living his life. He’s always living in that plane. He’s doing
anything and everything always keeping him in connection with that plane, his
whole life, whatever he does, only with that consciousness he’ll do. Brahma-niṣṭham,
in the Upaniṣad, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta, jijñāsuḥ
śreyaḥ uttamam
śabde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ,
brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam
__________________________________________________________________
[?]
Whenever he
comes to such conclusions, all around there is mortal thing. Everything will
vanish. All are shows of deception, so māyā means
misconception. In the midst of misconception we are living. Whatever conception
we have got about the environment are all misconceived ideas and thoughts, not
proper conceptions or anything else. From the absolute sense all relative. And
the provincial selfishness has been imposed on the environment, and we are
living under that, within that.
So, tasmād
guruṁ prapadyeta, jijñāsuḥ śreyaḥ uttamam, then
he will feel the necessity of approaching the Guru, the guide, the preceptor. Jijñāsuḥ
śreyaḥ uttamam, with the purpose of enquiry what is, jijñāsuḥ
śreyaḥ uttamam, what is best in the world, śreyaḥ
uttamam, mangal______ Good, the highest good, what is the highest
good for me? With this enquiry, inquisitiveness, he will approach the guide,
the spiritual master. Jijñāsuḥ śreyaḥ uttamam,
highest good, śreyaḥ uttamam.
Śabde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ, to whom he will approach? Śabde pare, śruti-śāstre, śabda-śāstre, śruti-śāstre, that is he’s
well versed in revealed truth, pare ca, and not only on the precepts of
the revealed scriptures, but also he has come in contact with the drsya-vastu,
the pare ca, śabde pare ca, who is
conversant with the very object of the scripture, of the precepts. Who’s
conversant with the practical experience, who’s established in that
consciousness, in that plane. Such a man one should approach for his own relief
and to understand what is the highest benefit in the world, and how that is. So
this is necessary, this is there, it is real, it is not imaginary, at the same
time it is difficult and it must be sought in a real process. Otherwise we
shall go in the wrong way and we shall say, “Oh, there is nothing.” Ha, ha.
That may not be. If you go in a real process then you must come to have an
experience of the divinity. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: ______________________ will you ask something about
your Vedic paradigms?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then he’s a Doctor of Science?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: He’s a Doctor of Neurophysiology. [Dr. Daniel
Murphey, Dayādhara Gaurāṅga]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Neurophysiology means? Physiology means vitality?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Vitality.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Neuro?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: About the brain and mind.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Brain and mind?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Yes.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: It’s like
biology, the study of the body, yes, but the brain specifically, the function
of the brain.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But the subtle aspect of the matter?
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: The subtle
aspect __________ but of course in the mundane field they think that the subtle
aspect is coming from the gross. So the subtle aspect...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, mundane. But just a Swāmī
Mahārāja asked Svarūpa
Dāmodara, “Just set up, or set down, not fossil
fatherism, but soul or God fatherism, fossil fatherism, the fossil is the
father of everything. It is moving upward, not, it is coming down. In Bhagavad-gītā
you must have found,
ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham,
aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyāyam
chandāṁsi yasya parṇāni, yas taṁ
veda sa veda-vit
[“The holy
scriptures proclaim that this material world is like an unchangeable Banyan
tree with its roots facing upwards and its branches down, known as an
Aśvattha (transitory) tree. Its nutriments are the Vedic aphorisms, which
are represented by its leaves. Whoever knows this tree in this way is a genuine
knower of the Vedas.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 15.1]
Who knows
the real purport of the Veda? Who can understand Veda in such a
way, has got such sort of estimation about Veda, he has got some
conception of the Vedic knowledge, who says that it’s coming from up to down
and not from down to up. Matter does not produce soul; it is rather that soul
contains in its one negligent portion the conception of matter. Like an eczema
is like a disease, the material world exists like an eczema in a wholesome
body. This is Vaidantic literature. It is a miracle that a stone has
produced soul. This is also very wonderful. But they think it is rather easier
and more reasonable that soul has produced the conception of stone. In the soul
there are many conceptions and one conception is that of stone, that of this,
that of that, it is all in the plane of soul, consciousness. It is easy, it is
natural. But that stone can produce soul, consciousness, intelligence, all
these things, it is rather very difficult and ludicrous and inconceivable,
unreasonable. The [George] Berkeley’s theory, that the world is in the mind,
and not that the mind is in the world, but that the world is in the mind;
something like that.
ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham,
aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyāyam
chandāṁsi yasya parṇāni, yas taṁ
veda sa veda-vit
Only
deviation from the truth brings us into this mundane world, deviation from the
truth cent per cent. How and where that deviation begins, that is to be
thought. But deviation from the truth has taken us into this false area. And
another thing I wanted to say to Mr. Svarūpa Dāmodara Prabhu, is that science only goes on increasing the
circumference of the mortal world, the world of exploitation. And according to
[Isaac] Newton, for every action there is equal and opposite reaction. We must
be conscious of the fact. Then all acquisition that is nothing. Like boomerang
it will come to zero again. So scientific progress is no progress, it is a
progress in the wrong line. It is something like only borrowing money, but it
is not money at all. It is only making a loan from the nature, and that will be
exacted from us to the paise. So it is no gain, no profit; the
exploitation to increase the circumference of the exploiting world. Everything
is an object and we have vested power from the nature, taking loan, and the
loan must be cleared, rest assured. No progress, wrong progress. But the first
principle of any living body is to live, to save himself. That is the first
principle. That should be the starting point. As in Upaniṣad we
find:
asato mā sad gamayo tāmaso mā / jyoti
gamayo mṛtyor mā amṛta gamayo
[“I am
mortal, make me eternal. I am ignorant, filled with nescience, take me to
science, knowledge. And I am threatened with misery, guide me towards bliss.”]
[Bṛhad
Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 1st Adhyaya, 3rd Brāhmaṇa,
23rd mantra]
This should
be the primary tendency of our quest. What are these three phases? Asato
mā sad gamayo, I am transient, I am mortal. Make me eternal. And tāmaso,
I am ignorant, in nesience. Take me to science, knowledge, from ignorance to
knowledge. Jyoti gamayo, from darkness to light. And mṛtyor
mā amṛtagamayo, that is ānandam, enjoyment. From
sorrow, misery, guide me to sweet life there. These should be the real
principles of life, and any research must be begun here only, in these three
phases; to save one’s own self and to save the world, and to remove the
darkness and to get the light, and to remove the misery and to get the nectar,
the sweet, sweet life, these three, sat-cit-ānanda, satyam-śivam-sundaram. That should be
the matter of our search, line of our search; all other false scents, we are
wild goose chasing. This scientific research means slaughter, suicidal, this is
suicidal, this atomic research is going to prove very soon that science devours
himself, itself, it sucks its own blood. This sort of civilisation sucks its
own blood and it will live by feeding on the flesh of his own self or own friends
or himself. Material scientific knowledge means this, but this is no knowledge.
The vital acquaintance of pure, real knowledge must absolve yourself and
others, remove darkness bring light, and remove misery and bring eternal peace.
That should be the line of our attempt. Any attempt must be approved by these
three principles of life. What do you think?
Devotees: [Laughter]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Am I wrong?
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: No. You’re
right, you’re absolute, but...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is Guru’s
property.
Devotees: [Laughter]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Your Swāmī Mahārāja went to say
all this to the West. Our Guru Mahārāja came here to spread this sort of knowledge.
And we came hankering, hungry; we felt ourselves and came for such things, for
our drink. And still I am engaged in that sort of quest; that this is real
life. That should be real life to one and all who are in this mundane world.
There cannot be any other quest or engagement, nothing of the kind, always. And
through Nāma, through divine sound, it is easy to begin the
spiritual quest, through sound. The most subtle thing met here; the sound. It
is very, very easy and very cheap; sound, Name, sound, that is very cheap. Then
others, dabhya yajña,
etc, so many things to be gathered; but sound one can feel and any without any
expense one can go on researching through the sound. But that sound must be
that of divine character; it must show. Just as homeopathic globule, the outer
figure cannot show what medicine is there. So sound, the Name Kṛṣṇa,
the one who’s delivering, He’s will is there within. So Kṛṣṇa
from the mouth of a sādhu, and Kṛṣṇa from the
mouth of an ordinary person is not one and the same. Like homeopathic potency.
What’s the idea behind the sound? From where its origin is, in Vaikuṇṭha, in Goloka, in what rasa the origin of the
sound is? That will assert. Gradually the sound will take you there, to that
plane, so sound, vaikuṇṭha-nāma-grahaṇam.
[sāṅketyaṁ pārihāsyaṁ
vā, stobhaṁ helanam eva vā
vaikuṇṭha-nāma-grahaṇam
aśeṣāgha-haraṁ viduḥ]
[“One who chants the Holy Name of the
Lord is immediately freed from the reactions of unlimited sins, even if he
chants indirectly - sānketyaṁ (to indicating something else
as in the case of Ajāmila who called for his son by the Name of
Nārāyaṇa), jokingly - parihāsya, for musical
entertainment - stobha (to use the Name with some other intention;
Jīva Goswāmī has taken advantage of this in his book of Sanskrit
grammar, the Harināmāmṛta-vyākarana; when one is
playing the mṛdanga drum, using the Names Gaura Nitāi, Gaura
Nitāi to represent different drumbeats), or even neglectfully - hela (when
we are rising from bed in the morning sometimes, we may neglectfully say Hare Kṛṣṇa;
in this way we may cast off our indolence). This is accepted by all the learned
scholars of the scriptures.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 6.2.14]
The Name,
the sound, must be Vaikuṇṭha, come from the Infinite world, and not of any mundane
origin. That is to be discerned and detected. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Devotees: Jaya. Ha, ha,
ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. To certain extent I’m able to give some
idea.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: There’s a text
in the fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā also. I’m not sure of
the Sanskrit, but it’s, “Those performers who know the meaning of sacrifice…”
Do you recall that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Know the meaning of yajña? Sacrifice means yajña.
yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra, loko 'yaṁ
karma-bandhanaḥ
[tad-artham karma kaunteya, mukta-saṅgaḥ
samācara]
[“Selfless duty performed as an offering to
the Supreme Lord is called yajña, or sacrifice. O Arjuna, all action
performed for any other purpose is the cause of bondage in this world of
repeated birth and death. Therefore, remaining unattached to the fruits of
action, perform all your duties in the spirit of such sacrifice. Such action is
the means of entering the path of devotion, and with the awakening of true
perception of the Lord, it will enable you to attain to pure, unalloyed
devotion, free from all material qualities (nirguṇa-bhakti).”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
3.9]
Only work,
or sacrifice, that is to be reckoned; other works gone; mere energising faults.
And:
ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ,
bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca
[na tu mām abhijānanti,
tattvenātaś cyavanti te]
[“-Because I
alone am the enjoyer and rewarder of all sacrifices. But since they cannot know
Me in this way, they again undergo birth, disease, infirmity, and death.”] [Bhagavad-
gītā, 9.24]
The guardian
says, “It must direct towards Me to My satisfaction, otherwise it’s not yajña.”
Sacrifice means the sacrifice must be for the Absolute Centre, and not for any
provincial purpose or any sectarianism or anything else; it must go to the
Absolute. That is real yajña. Other yajnas, so many, devata upāsanā, that will go and come down, come down. So devata upāsanāand the māyā upāsanā, that is nirguṇa, and this is all saguṇa;
this is under the influence of māyā, good and bad here. And nirguṇa
means that of absolute characteristic, whose value is everywhere. Just as
like gold – not dollar, not money, not yen, not rouble – but gold is the common
standard. So according to rasa the standard must be absolute for which
no provincial ideas or sectarianism or anything like that. “So that will be the
devata upāsanāand not that of Myself.” And:
antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ, tad
bhavaty alpa-medhasām
[devān deva-yajo yānti, mad-bhaktā
yānti mām api]
[“But the
fruit obtained by those provincially interested worshippers of the various
demigods is temporary. They reach their respective gods, but My devotees obtain
Me.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 7.23]
Those
little-brained persons, their attempt will be futile that goes up and comes
down.
ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ, punar āvartino
‘rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya, punar janma na vidyate
[“O Arjuna, from the planet of Lord
Brahmā downwards, the residents of all planets are naturally subjected to
repeated birth and death. But, O Kaunteya, upon reaching Me, there is no
rebirth.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 8.16]
ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ,
bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca
[na tu mām abhijānanti,
tattvenātaś cyavanti te]
[“-Because I
alone am the enjoyer and rewarder of all sacrifices. But since they cannot know
Me in this way, they again undergo birth, disease, infirmity, and death.”] [Bhagavad-
gītā, 9.24]
[na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti, na
me karma-phale spṛhā]
iti māṁ yo ’bhijānāti, karmabhir
na sa badhyate
[“I am never
implicated by the law of karma which I have created to fulfil the destinies
of the living beings, nor do I ever aspire for the results of action. (Since I
am the Supreme Lord replete with all six opulences in full, the paltry fruits
of worldly actions are totally insignificant to Me.) One who appreciates this
conception of My singular independence from the actions of the beings of this
world, and who can thus understand My unchangeable existence - such a person is
never bound by any action. By practising pure devotional service, he surely
comes to Me.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.14]
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ,
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarvva-bhūtānāṁ,
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
[“I am the enjoyer of the results of
sacrifice performed by the fruit-hunter, as well as the results of austerity
performed by the liberation-seeker - I am their only worshippable object; I am
Nārāyaṇa, the indwelling monitor of all planes of life, and the
Supreme Worshippable Personality who awards liberation. And I am the
well-wisher of all - I am Kṛṣṇa, the devotee's most adorable
friend. The soul who thus knows My true identity attains the ecstasy of knowing
his own original divine identity.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 5.29]
“Only I am the enjoyer of everything.
And I am friendly to all. When you can realise that; that I am all-in-all but a
friend to all at the same time, so all the misgivings will disappear in you.”
My guardian,
who is the Absolute Power, is my guardian. My interest is represented in Him. I
may not know of my real interest, but He knows it better, so I do not have to
be afraid because the management is with Him. Absolute Good is Autocrat. That
is the best arrangement. In the Absolute Good, the Autocracy, the freedom must
be there, concentrated, then everyone will be benefited because the centre of
all absolute power is all absolute good. So no misgivings, no room for
apprehension, and then his heart will be full of peace only. Yajña.
śreyān dravyamayād yajñāj,
jñāna-yajñaḥ parantapa
[sarvaṁ karmākhilaṁ pārtha,
jñāne parisamāpyate]
[“O Arjuna, subduer of the enemy, of
those various sacrifices, the sacrifice of knowledge as mentioned, brahmāgnāv
apare (Gītā, 4.25), is far superior to the sacrifice of
various articles, indicated by brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma haviḥ
(Gītā, 4.24), because all action ultimately culminates in
knowledge.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.33]
All yajña,
all sacrifice; yoga also:
apāne juhvati prāṇaṁ, prāṇe
’pānaṁ tathāpare
[prāṇāpāna-gatī
ruddhvā, prāṇāyāma-parāyaṇāḥ
apare niyatāhārāḥ, prāṇān
prāṇeṣu juhvati]
[“Others
practice breath-control. Stopping the right nostril and inhaling through the
left, they bring the ascending air into union with the descending; closing the
left nostril and exhaling through the right, they similarly offer the
descending air into the ascending; and lastly, stopping both nostrils, they
check both ascending and descending airs. Yet other aspirants of sense-control
offer all the senses into the life-air by reducing their food intake.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
4.29]
Sacrifice that is promoting welfare,
dedication; by dedication we live, we grow, and by exploitation we die, we go
down. And by renunciation we come to become a zero, stand still like in deep
slumber - renunciation. So both exploitation and renunciation must be given up,
and dedication to the centre and to all in the connection with the centre. Everything
is friendly to us. I shall not exploit anything and at the same time I must not
dismiss anything. Everything is friendly to me. I am to see that.
yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra, sarvaṁ
ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi, sa
ca me na praṇaśyati
[“For one
who sees Me in everything and everything in Me, I do not remain unseen and he
also is not unnoticed by Me: he never sways in his thought of Me.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
6.30]
“I’m
everywhere. Only finding that connection, with that angle of vision, try to
find that everything is in Me, so you are out of danger.” Otherwise, what is
non-God; that will take you down; the sense of non-God will take you otherwise.
And if you can see the connection of God everywhere then you are saved. None
will be your enemy, no foe. You are in the midst of friends. He’s everywhere
and everything. Yo māṁ paśyatisarvatra, sarvaṁ
ca mayi paśyatitasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi, not
lost. And sa ca me napraṇaśyati, he’s not lost in My sight
and I am also not lost in his sight.”
In Bhāgavatamalso:
sarva bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed,
bhagavad bhāvam [ātmanaḥ
bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany, eṣa
bhāgavatottamaḥ]
[“A person advanced in devotional
service sees within everything the soul of souls, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Consequently they always see Kṛṣṇa
everywhere and in everything. One who is situated on the topmost platform of
devotional service is known as an uttama-bhāgavata.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.2.45]
“One who can see always My connection,
and accordingly his connection with that thing; My connection and following
that, his connection, calculating ‘who is he to Me, and accordingly My such
connection what will be his connection. In this way he’s adjusted. He can
adjust with everything. Sarva bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed, bhagavad
bhāvam ātmanaḥ, bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany,
and everything in Me and accordingly in him, how it is adjusted. Then he’s
saved completely, perfectly.”
Otherwise we
cannot avoid _______________________ the Yāmarāja, the punishing judge is there, he won’t allow us to
take French leave. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. So we may meet
several times. In the meantime if you arrange to put some questions to ask then
I shall try to clear out...
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: I was
wondering...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: One question?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: No, he was wondering.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: Yes. It seems
that this yajña in one sense it bestows on the performer the benefit
regardless. But in another sense the Bhagavad-gītā is saying
that only those performers of sacrifice who know the meaning of sacrifice...
Can you phrase it better?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Yes. Anything that is offered to Kṛṣṇa
is yajña.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But it is also the custom in the Vedas to
perform yajña and before different types of gods, demigods. But the yajña
that’s performed towards Kṛṣṇa, that is the right type,
real type of yajña.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: And that is a yajña with knowledge.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is truth, but may not be an intellectual
scholar, but intuitively if one performs yajña towards Kṛṣṇa,
guided by his previously acquired tendency of devotion, he’ll bring the right
thing.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: It is not a scholarly knowledge, but it’s knowing
the truth.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: _______________
to know the meaning.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja is saying that yajñas can
be performed even for demigods...
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: But in that yajña
one doesn’t know the purport.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Right, one doesn’t know the purport. But only when
it’s done for Kṛṣṇa then that yajñas performed in
truth.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And the conception of Kṛṣṇa should
also be proper. The Māyāvādīs and others, they also recognise Kṛṣṇa,
but Kṛṣṇa in māyā, but nirguṇa Kṛṣṇa,
that we must have in view, and it is the question of faith which is acquired by
previous sukṛti.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, I just remembered one discussion
I had with Dayādhara Prabhu a long time
back when we were in America. One day we were discussing about the material
nature, like earth, water, fire, air, ether, and then mind, intelligence, and
false ego. Now, by means of material science we can somehow perceive these
gross material elements, like earth, water, fire, air, ether, bhūmir
āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ [Bhagavad-gītā,
7.4] and then we can even understand the existence of mind and intelligence.
But how to establish the concept of false ego by means of modern science?
End of 81.02.28.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.28.D
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That analogy may not be very clear. The false ego
means the ego who’s receiving and transmitting false information perhaps.
Gathering false knowledge, receiving and transmitting what is falsehood. Then
that sort of yantra, a false machine; receiving false news and
transmitting false news. That machine; is it false or is it real? So it is like
that, gathering false news and also transmitting false news; what is not wholesome,
what is opposite to our real interest. We want to live – a little while ago I
told, our innate tendency to live, but it is engaged in false information. What
hampers me, it is not correcting that, and not transmitting that. It is
deceiving my inner nature, inner necessity, it is working against my inner
interest. So this is false. The computer is false; recording false things and
transmitting false news. So it is like a computer, the ego. Because it is
dealing with falsehood, so it is a false ego.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: Duality.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Dwaita,
duality. That false information is a duality of the material nature.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Duality, that is not very comprehensive. Ha, ha.
Duality also may be real duality. Bhagavān and His potency, that is also duality. But this is
all false, so not duality it will be acquainted with. It is unreal, one or two
or many, the wholesale is false, forgery.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: Then what is the
process...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...to get out of falsehood, false knowledge.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: ...the process
is for one to approach a bona fide spiritual master.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: The process is
to approach a bona fide spiritual master.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is, the sukṛtiwill guide us, faith that comes developed from sukrti.
The first stage ajñāta-sukṛti, then jñāta-sukṛti, then śraddhā. In śraddhā we are on the surface, then we can be found with
tendency to search after truth from a true agent. And below that, under the
foundation, underground, both ajñāta-sukṛti and jñāta-sukṛti, that is to be taken up some other day. Some other
time I shall take up that thing.
...
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: ...one point and
another point, but that he never comes to the conclusion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tarkā-pratiṣṭhānāt [Brahma-sūtra, 2.1.11] Only
argument cannot reach any conclusion. So śraddhā can give us,
and no discussion can give birth to any fulfilment in conclusion, no
conclusion. Śraddhā only can surely take us to a particular
plane, and nothing else. The very conclusion, it is so high, only śraddhā
can reach. Just as only ether can reach the sun, moon, and other stars, and
not air and other mediums. So to approach the infinite world only śraddhā
comes to our relief and nothing else. No knowledge of experience of this
world, however bold, it is like _____________ there around the globe, the
intellect or knowledge, something like that. The atmosphere around the earth,
that is limitation, with limited knowledge, because that is drawn from the
experience of the earth. It cannot pierce through the domain. But only ether
connects everything. So śraddhā, faith can connect from the
farthest quarter to take us up. That is also in the case of infinite that is
also a deeper faith, deeper faith, faith also of different types.
...
Dhīra KṛṣṇaMahārāja:
Mahārāja, I wanted to ask you one question about śaktyāveśa
Avatāra. Is
it that the individual jīva who’s acting in the position of a śaktyāveśa
Avatāra, he
descends, or that the śakti, this āveśa, empowerment, that that is descending?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can’t follow.
Dhīra KṛṣṇaMahārāja:
I’m saying that a jīva, he gets the śaktyāveśa, empowerment...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A qualified jīva, not ordinary jīva,
but a qualified jīva; of course as it is required for the purpose,
such qualification. Then the particular potency of the Lord, He enters or
inspires him. Just as, tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye:
[janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itararaś
cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye
muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā
vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ
satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi]
[“O my Lord,
Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all pervading
Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate
upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute
Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and
destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly
conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no
other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge
unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even
the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by
the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only
because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the
reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are
unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
Who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free
from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him,
for He is the Absolute Truth.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.1.1]
A current, a flow, comes to him, a flow
of supply comes to him and inspires him and makes him dance in a particular
way.
Acyutānanda told once, sometimes when he began the work there, then
he was compelled to stay with Dāmodara Mahārāja for some time.
Dāmodara Mahārāja kept him in a room and went to collect some
funds, and one day he had to fast, nothing in the room even to cook. So then he
came here. “The Dāmodara Mahārāja has gone. The two or three
days of rice etc he gave to me, he’s not returning, and nothing, I’m fasting.”
After one day’s fasting he came to me. Then I consoled him, he was very much
troubled. “No, no, Kṛṣṇa is dancing.” He answered, “Kṛṣṇa
is dancing; in His own way He’s dancing, and so many jīvas they’re
cast this side, that side, He does not care for us. In this way. He’s dancing
in His own way and we are pushed this side that side, by the pressure of the
pushing of His līlā. It does not matter.”
Devotee:
Mahārāja...
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...Fossil fatherism, and Vedānta means
subjective evolution.
Devotee:
__________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Objective evolution is the Darwin theory. The stone
evolving the consciousness. Matter evolves consciousness. That is objective.
What is object, that is existing first, and then by its development, the life
coming, the consciousness coming, the intelligence coming from the stone. That
is objective. But object is a relative term. Without subject object cannot
stand. Subject is the primary substance and then whatever is to be felt, that
is only an idea in the subjective ocean. So subject is first. Consciousness is
first. And then it develops in the lower line. Guṇa-pravṛddhā
viṣaya-pravālāḥ[Bhagavad-gītā, 15.2]
Prakṛtermahān ahaṅkara pancatran
mahatrāni. The object, the gross coming from the
subtle, not that subtle coming from the gross.
mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ,
sūyate sa-carācaram / [hetunānena
kaunteya, jagad viparivartate]
[“O
Kaunteya, My deluding potency, under My direction gives birth to this universe
of moving and stationary beings. And for this reason, that is, since only a
created object is subject to destruction, the universe is created again and
again.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 9.10]
A particular
potency, when that is interfered with, or handled by Kṛṣṇa in
a particular form as Mahā Viṣṇu, then prakṛti begins to move and to produce something. The first
product is mahat tattva from prakṛti, and that is a general
individual ego. And then gradually so many plural individual egos are being
created, emanating from the general ego. In this way it is coming. From ego
comes the experience of this world. Some goes in tama guṇa to rūpa, and raja guṇa
eye, and sattva guṇa sun, light. In this way; ether, ear, and
sound, in this way raja, tama guṇa, this is being
bifurcated and so many complex things. But from subtle gross is coming; that is
vaidantic. And from gross subtle is being produced; that is something
like Darwin’s theory. But at the present, vaijñānī, they’re fond of Darwin’s theory; the gross producing
subtle, and ultimately stone can produce consciousness. But it is difficult to
make them understand that intelligence is more valuable. Intelligence can
produce. It is easy for intelligence, consciousness to produce stone; but it is
difficult for the stone to produce consciousness, that is more valuable, and
the stone is less valuable. So more valuable things can produce less valuable
things, but that less valuable things can produce more valuable things; it is
difficult to explain. Something like that.
So vaidantic
vicāra, that consciousness producing everything, consciousness is
eternal, and this is not eternal. This is a temporary production. And stone
cannot produce consciousness. Consciousness is the eternal subject, pure
consciousness, ātmā, sanātana, nitya; that
is consciousness. That is not a product but productive, that can produce
everything, consciousness. Ether can produce the air, fire, earth; but the
stone, earth, cannot produce ether. Something like that.
The sukṣma, the subtle, that is more efficient than the gross, stula,
the gross. This is of secondary importance. The principal importance that is
soul, ātmā, consciousness; that is of primary importance. That
is the real party, party is consciousness. The gross cannot be a party. The
starting point must begin from the party, the interested thing. The soul is
endowed with interest, but stone has got no interest, no plan, no purpose, no
project; nothing of the kind. Plan and purpose is pervading everywhere and that
is the important thing. And according to that the original characteristic of
the Absolute should be, the original substance should be calculated. And things
of limited attributes and capacity, that cannot be the ultimate cause. Things
of unlimited quality and capacity, that should be taken as the cause of the
whole. That is reasonable, more reasonable.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: Science is
beginning to realise that, slowly.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Slowly. Science meets philosophy – there are some
who think that science is gradually trying to meet philosophy. But in
philosophy also there are different kinds of thinkers. There’s also Mill, Hume,
Locke, etc, and Kant and Hegel, and Berkeley, ideologists. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: There was a big
international science conference in Toronto, in January [3-8]. So I went to
participate. There were five thousand scientist from all over the world; so all
the scientists were discussing about moral and ethical issues in today’s
science and engineering studies. So there was very much like a religious tone
that the whole scientists were discussing, because they find that this material
education, it doesn’t lead to something of higher significance.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The tendency of exploitation cannot help us. That is
only borrowing from nature. Science is only borrowing from nature. But there is
reaction, the Newton is there, to every action there is equal and extorting power
from the nature. And that is you are borrowing and you will have to pay that.
So the whole civilisation is like a civilisation of loan, and when we are to
repay the loan we’ll be bankrupt. And also, this is wild goose chasing, it is
unnecessary. The real necessity – you are to begin with this.
asato mā sad gamayo tāmaso mā, jyoti
gamayo mṛtyor mā amṛta gamayo
[“I am
mortal, make me eternal. I am ignorant, filled with nescience, take me to
science, knowledge. And I am threatened with misery, guide me towards bliss.”]
[Bṛhad
Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 1st Adhyaya, 3rd Brāhmaṇa,
23rd mantra]
The
beginning will be how to save myself and to save others. We are all threatened
with mortality. Every second we are attacked by death, every second we are dying;
so many atoms in our body dying. So we are always under the threatening by
death. So first principal, first starting must be the point how to save myself
and at the same time how to save others. That should be the first problem, the
starting point. Not, “How can I increase the circumference of my exploitation
and I can lord it over my environment?” That is the wrong starting. The
starting should be to save oneself in the fight with the environment. How can I
save myself? Asato mā sad gamayo, “I am threatened by asat,
mortality, death. Please guide me towards eternal existence.” And the second, tāmaso
mā, jyoti gamayo, “I am ignorant. From ignorance guide me
towards light.” And mṛtyor mā amṛta gamayo, “I am
threatened with misery, guide me towards bliss.” These three should be the
guiding principal of every life, and it should be normal. And by extending the
space of exploitation, that is the wrong way. You will be exploited, surely.
Nature won’t forgive you. It is all blank cheque. Whatever the scientist are
giving to us we are to pay back with interest. That is the very basis of Indian
philosophy. And you are to start in that way.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: So this
mentality of exploitation...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To analyse what is the mind, understanding the
reason faculty, what really is our need, and we must work up to that to the
point, not anomaly, to the point. Our energy should be invested rightly, not
wrongly. And what for, what is the immediate need? That is self saving – the
first principal of life will be to save ones own self, asato ma sad gamayo,
and the next, to save others. And then not only saving, but from ignorance to
light, tamaso ma, jyoti gamayo, light from ignorance – nescience to
science, I want to go. But what is science? Science means not just to extend
the jurisdiction of exploitation, knowing fully well that there’ll be reaction.
That is jñānapapi. If knowingly one commits an offence, then he’s
charged with more punishment. So what is it that they’re doing? They’re
suicidal. And it is also clearly proved they’re threatening each other with
atom bombs, as the highest product of the scientists.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: That’s the
perfect job of exploitation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Exploitation - and renunciation is not the remedy.
That is the next question. Then the question of renunciation, the way of
renunciation will be our remedy? The first answer may come like that. The
Buddhist and the Śaṅkarites, they say, “Yes, renunciation is the remedy.
Leave everything.” But the Vaiṣṇavas come with a third proposal. “No. It is temporary. If
you back the land of exploitation, but one cannot exist without engagement.
Only complete renunciation, withdrawal means to resolve to zero, that is not
desirable.” So the Vaiṣṇavas they say that there is a land of dedication, and
that is the normal. Every unit is dedicating. The land is constructed by the
unit of dedication and that is our inner ātmā. Not mind, not
this mundane intelligence, but transcending all these things our real – that is
the soul – has got some relationship with the upper and subtler realm, the land
of dedication, which begins from Vaikuṇṭhaand ends in Goloka. Vaikuṇṭhais the calculative dedication, and bound by
constitution and law, and looking at some interest of dedication and
calculation. But in Goloka, in that layer it is spontaneous, it is desperate
and careless of its own self, so intense, and that is the highest. And by the
work and dedication of all, that makes it a very heavenly area. All dedicating,
none exhorting so that is the happiness at its highest degree is to be found
there, everyone enjoying. All the idle men they meet together then that will be
like hell. And all the working men meet together there will be immense
opulence. So everyone is dedicating to the highest point. So opulence, or bliss
is flowing everywhere. No want. So that dedication is divinity life, and all Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, that is beauty not power, but beauty and love that reigns there.
The king is that of beauty and love, not forcing, not labour by force but
labour of love and beauty. Satyam, śivam, sundaram –
beauty is controlling, love is controlling, not power. That is Goloka. This is Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇavism, Mahāprabhu, and your Prabhupāda he carried the banner of such creed. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: That is why
desperation is the quality in Gokula, versus calculation, the quality in Vaikuṇṭha?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Vaikuṇṭhais calculating and Gokula is not calculating, it is
spontaneous and irresistible. There the dedication is spontaneous and
irresistible; cannot be hindered or opposed, such a natural flow, in its
intense form. And concerning that Kṛṣṇa as being in the
centre – Rādhārāṇī, Yaśodā, in different rasa, there are so many leaders.
___________________________ Then what were you talking?
Dhīra KṛṣṇaMahārāja:
Well, so you said about śaktyāveśa Avatāra,
how Kṛṣṇa’s empowering him, this jīva. So you
mentioned about dancing like a puppet.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa’s dancing, and waves are
passing this way that way, and so many things. Dancing means His līlā.
From the centre the waves emanating, and influencing dancing, others in that līlā.
And that is especially in Goloka, and here it is very hard and those fortunate
they may feel the wave of that dancing. They’re mostly māyā
dancing, Mahādeva dancing, Śiva’s dancing is something like __________ an epic, where
the Cāṇakya and Candragupta’s
characters have been given to us. The Śiva is dancing, he wants to dance, but he can’t. If he
throws his hands upwards then so many planets and stars are being displaced. If
he pushes his heat a little towards the earth then the earth is shivering. So
the poor Śiva could not dance with his full heart.
The Cāṇakya was such a great politician
that he didn’t find any opponent, so he had much sorrow in his heart. “I don’t
find a fighter for a proper duel.” That was the hint in the beginning of Śiva’s dancing, and everything is being topsy-turvy.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
So śaktyāveśa
Avatāra, śakti āveśa, the potency of a particular agent may be transmitted
in another. So Baladeva śaktyāveśa – sometimes Mahāprabhu showed in His līlā in Nadia – mordanu
mordanu [?] Caitanyadeva, Nimāi Paṇḍita at that time, He says, “Give some wine, give some
wine.” Baladeva was fond of wine. So the devotees thought, “Why Nimāi
Paṇḍita says ‘give Me wine, give Me wine? I
want wine.’” Then they gradually came to understand that Baladeva is within Him
with His potency and it is Baladeva’s nature that is displaying mordanu [?].
So sometimes some divine potency comes down and tries to keep the jīva under
his control. And making him an instrument he does in his way, as śaktyāveśa. And when he leaves he’s there as an ordinary man.
That is śaktyāveśa.
Paraśurāma, he’s a case of śaktyāveśa, but after he met Rāmacandra the śakti was drawn away by
Rāmacandra, Dāsarāthi
Rāma. And then after that, Paraśurāmawas no longer śaktyāveśa
Avatāra,
and he was defeated by his own disciple (Viśva, Bhīṣma) [?], Paraśurāma. But before that Paraśurāmawas undefeatable, when śaktyāveśa, the higher potency was there.
So śaktyāveśa, śakti and āveśa, if śakti is withdrawn, śakti may come, potency
may come and potency may go; and the potency coming in his heart occupies him,
and through him he works in his own way, in that body. That is śaktyāveśa
Avatāra. Avatārameans Avatāram, from the higher sphere He’s coming down, Avatāram, coming from up to down, that is Avatāra- who are coming from up to down, Avatāram Avatāra.
Then the higher power came down in the lower position and He did His works and
then He retired and the previous man is there. Sometimes with the passing of
the instrument the power disappears, and sometimes living, just as in the case
of Paraśurāma, the living
person he retired. It may be.
Dhīra KṛṣṇaMahārāja:
So, in the Atlantic, our Guru Mahārāja he wrote two poems. In the one
poem [Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Kṛṣṇa] you discussed
the other day about relationship with Kṛṣṇa. But in the other
poem [Mārkine Bhāgavata-dharma] he said this śakti nāhi, that, “I don’t
have this śakti or this potency.”
And he was praying to Kṛṣṇa, “That by Your potency You can
make my words suitable.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He felt that his Gurudeva had given some
responsibility to discharge some duty. And he found within him that that task
is a very great one, and he could not think himself fit to discharge the duty,
that great task. So fervently he prayed to Kṛṣṇa, “Come to my
relief, my dear friend, come to my relief. My Gurudeva has given his acquaintance
also, and he has given a burden on me to do this. But I am helpless, I can’t
do. I crave Your mercy, Your kindness, so that I may keep the order of my
Gurudeva.” This fervent prayer drew Kṛṣṇa, “Yes. I’m at your
back. Don’t be afraid.”
Kṛṣṇa,
maybe Baladeva – Baladeva in this sense is the leader of the sākhyagroup, one thing, and Baladeva is Nityānanda. And
Nityānanda has got special favour on the clan. The suvarna vāṇī
- Nityānanda was very fond of them. Almost all of
them accepted Nityānanda Prabhu. And Nityānanda’s grace does not know
any law or rule.
preme matta nityānanda kṛpā-avatāra,
uttama adhama kichu nā kare vicāra
[ye āge paḍaye tāre karaye
nistāra, ataeva nistārilā mo-hena durācāra]
[ataeva mo adhame korilena para]
[Kṛṣṇadāsa
Kavirāja Goswāmī says: “Lord Nityānanda, who is always
intoxicated by divine love, is the great saviour of destitute jīvas and
the magnanimous incarnation of divine mercy. His benevolent nature does not
discriminate between high and low, or qualified and unqualified. He simply
delivers, from material existence, anyone who comes before Him and falls at His
lotus feet surrendering themselves to Him with all sincerity. Therefore He also
mercifully delivered me who am so fallen and disqualified.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 5.208-9]
No
consideration for qualification. Nityānanda’s nature is such. Baladeva and
Nityānanda have infinite power, masters of infinite resources. He does no
care for any law, or whether he’s needy or not needy, He may not care for that.
He’s master of infinite store and He’s pushing to this that without caring much
whether he’s a fit or unfit beggar. That is the general nature of
Nityānanda. If there’s a slight demand then there’ll be no question.
This is my
conception. That his earnestness, his helplessness, for the duty, the magnitude
of duty was so much, and at the same time his selflessness and earnest prayer,
“That I must do, discharge the duty. What hint I got from my Guru
Mahārāja to do the duty, I cannot but do it, but I am unfit.” These
two things made the higher power move and from there power came, and that power
worked within him. And such a tremendous work was possible in his old age and
in a short time, heroes work. The magnitude of work is unfathomable because it
is not an ordinary thing, not primary things of the religious conception, but
of the highest, according to us. The highest thing is so extensively spread, it
is almost impossible, and that has been possible by him.
pṛthivīte āche yata
nagarādi-grama, sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
[Caitanya
Mahāprabhu said, “I have come to inaugurate the chanting of the Holy Name
of Kṛṣṇa, and that Name will reach every nook and corner of
the universe.”] [Caitanya- Bhāgavat]
Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura’s divine vision
could see, “Through reason, through spiritual reason, that what Mahaprābhu
gave, it is very easy and very reasonable and very taking. Why would the
intelligentsia bar itself by not accepting such easy and available and such
higher things? It is impossible for the intelligentsia to deny this what
Mahāprabhu has given. In the world of religion, this prema dharma,
this cannot but be unique and it must be widely accepted, cannot but be, it is
intrinsic nature. And it is meant for Kali-yuga.” This was the foresight of
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
And Prabhupāda [Bhaktisiddhānta SaraswatīṬhākura] took up that thread, to work, and Swāmī Mahārāja, just as you told that
Buddhadeva preached Buddhism and Asoka made it widely preached, felt. So
Prabhupāda began and Swāmī Mahārāja very extensively and
wonderfully he has extended that thing door to door in the world. And through
literature also he has spread it like anything. And the people they will come
to see, “What is this?” Gradually. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī:
Mahārāja, I want to introduce devotees. This is Atreya Ṛṣi, he’s from Iran, and he’s the GBC for...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That Arabic Gītā gentleman? Atreya Ṛṣi. I have got a copy of Gītā in Arabic
script. Is it made by him?
Atreya Ṛṣi: No. I have done the Farsi.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh. That may be Farsi. I don’t know. But the script
is Farsi script?
Atreya Ṛṣi: Yes. It’s an Arabic script. Upaniṣad...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I got the copy of Bhagavad-gītā.
Atreya Ṛṣi: That is Arabic and that is done by Harikeśa Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, that is Harikeśa Mahārāja. And you did in Farsi language, Upaniṣad. And now...
Svarūpa
Dāmodara Goswāmī: Prabhupāda
inspired him to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness specifically in
Moslem countries. And also he’s a, we are co-directors for this Bhaktivedanta
Institute, so we’re beginning to work together in San Francisco. So some
students and members have come from San Francisco just to have your darśana. There are ten of us, and some Vaiṣṇavas from Manipur. So I think we’ll be leaving. And I
think Bhakti Caru is coming tomorrow. We’ll come again with Bhakti Caru. I
think we have some duties for other things.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
End of 81.02.28.D
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.02.28
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sweet
and magnanimous, that is the characteristic of Navadvīpa, sweet
magnanimity; magnanimous sweetness. Hare Kṛṣṇa.Like the other
day you'll take some prasādam?
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Yes, but
first you have, first we want to be with you.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I don't
do very well, but still I must try to attend you. That is my duty, to do so as
much as I can. I take it up out of duty.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Sometimes, just like Purnacandra, he got HariNāma dīkṣā
from Prabhupāda, our Prabhupāda. And I think he never, sometimes
there are others like him, and they got, Prabhupāda disappeared, so they
took their Gāyatrī
mantra initiation from one of Prabhupāda’s disciples. So
sometimes they want to know how they should regard, how they should regard
their Gāyatrī
mantra Guru, and they ask the question, "My relationship with my
HariNāma Guru is eternal. Is my relationship with my Gāyatrī mantra Guru
also eternal?"
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes,
the first importance to Nāma Guru, second the initiation. But the dīkṣā
Guru must have respect, then all the other disciples of Prabhupāda.
First honour to Prabhupāda, param Guru: Guru of Guru. And the
second honour to the dīkṣā Guru. And to the rest accommodating,
according to their status will be accommodated.
Jīva Goswāmī has written,
“The Name is the principle thing in the mantram also so many other
words. The Name is the most important. Suppose the Name is taken away, another
name is put, the whole thing is rotten.” In this way he has judged a great
decision. The Name is all we know. In a mantram the Name is there, Kṛṣṇa
Nāma is there, so many other words couched. But if the Kṛṣṇa
Nāma is taken away and the Śiva is put there, the whole thing
will come to Śiva. So Name is all important factor, so Nāma Guru,
even mantram may not be necessary, Nāmātmāka, mantra.
Śrīla
Govinda Mahārāja. _____________________________
[?]Śloka by Lakṣmī Devī?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anyhow,
Name is the most important, even mantram may not be necessary. But mantram,
mantram we accept only to help the Nāma bhajana. Otherwise it
is, it may not be necessary at all. It has been judged in such a way. So the
Name can do everything for a person, the full thing. But to help the Nāma
bhajana to do away with the aparādha in the bhajana, the
mantram comes to help us, only this much.
I showed once the bigger from the lowest to
the highest and the mantram circle is in the middle. From the lowest mantram
cannot go. Nāma, Name can go to the lowest portion. And the
Name mantra always gives up to salvation, emancipation, and then Name
goes, no mantram. This is mantra and Name's connection. Name from
the lowest position, caṇḍāla, yavana, everyone
you can receive Nāma, but all not eligible for mantram.
After Nāma a little developed stage mantram may be called
for. And the mantra’s jurisdiction will be finished when emancipation is
attained, Kṛṣṇa mantra. To help our emancipation mantra
is necessary, and then mantra finished. It comes and is gone after
giving us emancipation. But the Name will continue all along. From the lowest
to the highest, Name is, only Name. No mention of any application. I want this,
that, only Name on _____________ [?]
That will encourage all the good in us, Name,uddīpana.
But mantra is limited, function limited, mantram. So the Name is
all important. Nāma Guru will have the first, and the next, mantra
Guru, and then other Vaiṣṇava.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: How
should the devotee who has taken initiation, second initiation, should he
regard his Gāyatrī
mantra Guru as a God-brother,
or as a Guru?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Acintya
bhedābheda. Generally Guru, according to his present stage, but if he
transcends, he goes to his previous history, then he will see something like
God-brothers. But generally in his present
stage he will see as Guru, and in the background, God-brother. Direct connection Guru, on his
background is God-brother.
And that may be estimation.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: And
sometimes they ask, "Why my relationship, just as you said, the HariNāma
continues after the liberated condition. So does the Gāyatrī mantra
Guru continue any activity with the devotee beyond the point of liberation? In
other words, is the relationship with Gāyatrī
mantra Guru also to be considered eternal, or only the HariNāma
Guru relationship?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can't
follow.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Do you
understand that? ________________________________ [?]
Because
they may give less importance in consideration...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then
there the Name will be on the background and their other function of services
will come in the front. When they'll enter the domain, they will give him some
function there in the service of Kṛṣṇa and that will be very
conspicuous, prominent, and the Name will be in the background at that
position. When you enter a particular group in a particular rasa, like sākhyarasa
you say, then he will come and [then have a?] specific duty. Under Subala,
under Subala, Bāladeva, or anyone and he will be given some sort of duties
to be discharged. That will be the first important. But the Name will be in the
background. It will help. It will have________ And there the Guru will be this Nāma
Guru other Guru will be, all Gurus, but still there is hierarchy. At the
immediate, it is a family life. The Guru's Guru is there, but he'll work under
his own boss, as if he has got his boss, in this way. But he will receive
direction from his immediate higher position, in this way the highline key is
there and he will be able to transform into that sort of function. The Guru,
all Gurus, their hierarchy, I am under some servitor, the servitor and my
immediate duty will be to attend him, his orders. In this way it will be
transformed there. Am I clear?
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Oh yes,
that is clear. Another question, that when the jīva falls down into
this material world from the spiritual world, does he first, sometimes we have
heard that his first birth is as Brahmā, and then he takes different types
of births. Then other times we have heard other things. In what type of birth
does the soul first take its birth when it falls from the spiritual world?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is a
broad question. You see ______________________
[?] It will be of two classes. Generally a jīva does not
fall down from Vaikuṇṭha, Goloka. Generally the jīva,
the source of the fallen jīva is brahma-loka,
the taṭasthā-loka, the...
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Brahmajyoti.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...of taṭasthā
śakti that can fill up this jīva. From there, from
Śivata it may come to Brahmāta, Brahmā, and gradually it may
come down: general question. And in higher vision that is also seen that Goloka
servitors and Vaikuṇṭha servitors they are also seen to be within
the jurisdiction of brahmāṇḍa, but that is only a play,
līlā. When they come from that plane, it is to be considered
as līlā for some time the vipralambha, separation, it
is necessary for them anyhow. They come and they go. This is one class. And
another class comes from the ordinary class comes from taṭasthā-loka,
brahma-loka,
not from Vaikuṇṭha, not from that area. They are under māyā,
first position will be like that of Brahmā, then of course according to karma
they will be mingled, and the karma will decide their up and down
life.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: First
will be like the position of Brahmā?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A
deviation, first deviation is svadharmma-niṣṭhaḥ.
[svadharmma-niṣṭhaḥ
śata-janmabhiḥ pumān, viriñcatām eti
tataḥ paraṁ hi mām
avyākṛtaṁ
bhāgavato 'tha vaiṣṇavaṁ, padaṁ yathāhaṁ
vibudhāḥ kalātyaye]
[“A
person who executes his occupational duty properly for one hundred births
becomes qualified to occupy the post of Brahmā, and if he becomes more
qualified, he can approach Lord Śiva. A person who is directly surrendered
to Lord Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu in unalloyed devotional
service is immediately promoted to the spiritual planets. Lord Śiva and
other demigods attain these planets after the destruction of this material
world.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
4.24.29]
In Bhāgavatam Mahādeva
says, Śiva, Mahādeva, says, “If one discharges duty of varṇāśrama-dharma
perfectly for one hundred lives then he attains the post of a Brahmā,
he comes to the position of Brahmā. Then progressing next he comes to my
position, what is that? ________ Not very differentiated character,
Mahādeva. Brahmā this side and that side, and my side some variegated
character. That is Rudra, jīva and the other side of the
Brahmaloka, differentiated character that is bhakta
Śiva Mahā-Viṣṇu. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: We want
to clarify some details on your description which you have just given. When you
say Brahmaloka, what exactly is that Brahmaloka?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Brahmaloka and the Brahmā, it is two things separate. Brahmā is
already a person in the connection with māyā. Brahman, the
nondifferentiated marginal plane where you cannot ________ but that is the
source of many. Many jīva souls is a particle. And the plane
consists of many particles, we cannot differentiate them, they are in one and
the same plane, nondifferentiated character.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Brahmajyoti.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Brahmajyoti. Jyoti, and a ray of jyoti is jīva. Jīva
soul means an atom in the jyoti. So the jyoti, the Brahmaloka is
a product of so many atoms, jyoti atomic, jyoti atom. Many, many
atoms of jyoti make the feet of Brahmaloka. So, generally from
Brahmaloka and that is a living thing, growing thing, and from there the supply
of the jīva soul. Yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat, in Bhagavad-gītā.
[apareyam
itas tv anyāṁ, prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtāṁ
mahā-bāho, yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat]
[“O
mighty hero, Arjuna, this worldly nature known as external, is inferior. But
distinct from this nature, you should know My marginal potency, comprised of
the individual souls, to be superior. This world is accepted by this superior
conscious potency as an object of exploitation for sense enjoyment, by the
agency of each individual's fruithunting actions and reactions. The divine
world emanates from My internal potency and the mundane world from My external
potency. The potency of the living beings is known as marginal, on account of
their medial adaptability - they may choose to reside either in the mundane
plane or the divine."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 7.5]
Apareyam,
para, apara-śakti. Apara-śakti, the
world made of, and the para-śakti there are two; that is
Brahmaloka, jīva soul, the collective jīva soul, and yayedaṁ
dhāryate jagat.And these two mixed, they are just as the gas and the
iron machine continue, going in-, other things, either electricity or gas and
the body of iron and steel and working. So jīva soul, and that is
the atom conscious atom, that is within and the apara-śakti, earth,
water, fire, air, water ________ out. And the machine is working with the help
of these two,dhāryate
jagat. That para is jīva, that is taṭasthā;
and antaraṅga-śakti is not mentioned here. That is included
in the, in Bhagavān Himself.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
So, generally the jīvas who are here in this world, have come from
that Brahmaloka. They have no experience as yet of Goloka.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But
because yaṁ prāpya na nivartante, tad dhāma paramaṁ
mama:
[avyakto
'kṣara ity uktas, tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim
yaṁ
prāpya na nivartante, tad dhāma paramaṁ mama]
[“That
which is described as the 'unmanifest invincible' is proclaimed the supreme
goal (by the scriptures known as Vedānta), and having reached that,
one does not return again to this material world. You should know that supreme
destination to be My holy abode.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
8.21]
...catches the current; that in-coming
current, then he is not to come back. But they also come back. In Brahma-vaivarta-Purāṇa,
etc. there Rādhārāṇī, Subala, they are playing and
-they are cursing each other, and they had to come here, in the Martyaloka.
This is all play. This is līlā. They sometimes come here, but
they are not overpowered by māyā. They are sent here, but they
have come to, form of play, they have come here. That is another thing. And
this is another thing. It is mentioned in Bhāgavatam, Jīva
Goswāmī has recited, discussed and decided that in the womb of the
mother, it is seven months in the womb, he, the child can see the Lord. See the
Lord, and its previous births come to his memory at that time. And he promises,
“I won't in this present birth, I won't mix with māyā, but I
shall try to...
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Elevate.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...to
go to You with devotion, etc.” But as soon as he gets out of the womb, he
forgets everything. Jīva Goswāmī says not all jīva souls;
it is not the case with all the jīva souls that they must see in
the seventh month in the womb Bhagavān. Once one can have darśana of
Bhagavān, he never comes down in this world.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: So they
all see, or they don't see?
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, not
all of them.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: It is a
rare thing; it is very rare to see Bhagavān within the womb of the mother,
rare thing?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Only
particular jīva has got such experience, and those that have got
such experience, they never come down. They'll have to go up. Because if that
is true that he has got a real darśana, then he can, māyā
cannot clutch him, catch him. That is given by Jīva Goswāmī.
So how it is possible, they at birth see a darśana of
Bhagavān, how they can come down? But in some cases when the darśana
is very vague and meagre it will not take place, but generally...
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And
he'll come out, he'll take birth, then forget. If when it's vague and meagre.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In that
case, he may again come back. And then, any, getting any least chance of help,
then they will go up.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But if
they go up, and they were in the womb of mother, what, I don't understand,
what...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When
the soul, I am talking of the soul, not the body, body is there. Gradually
they'll go up and then when emancipated, then one day they can leave without
body.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Oh, so
they will take birth, but in divine consciousness.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
And when that divine consciousness will be held in superior position and they
won't interfere with the māyic world like Jada Bharata and others,
they will be here, but they will not mix much with the māyic affairs.
They will go up, gradually. With the help of the sādhu and śāstra,
and their eternal connection will be revealed, go up.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: When
the jīva, when the body dies, not the jīva, when
someone dies, they are taken to the court of Yāmarāja?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Most
all, there are exceptions.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: What
are those exceptions?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Exceptions that you have the chance of entering into ānanda-bhakti,
śuddha-bhakti. There the jurisdiction changes.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Supposing a devotee, who has executed some devotional service, but not
completely?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: One who
has come in connection with the Guru of śuddha-bhakti, he won't be
produced to Yāmarāja. His jurisdiction already changed. Whatever
should be dealt with about him that will come from Vaikuṇṭha, and
not from the judge of this mundane world, Yāmarāja.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: And if,
if someone is under the jurisdiction of Yāmarāja, how long does it
take until the jīva takes its next birth in the womb?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is
various in variegated cases, different cases, different. Generally, we may take
it that within twenty-four hours the ātmā, the soul is taken
to Yāmarāja. Then with __________
it is a sort of bell, it is ________ and then after one year, one year’s time,
his case is taken up. And then he is judged and amount of sin and amount good
action is judged and he is asked, “What you will take first, the ________ Do
you like to enjoy the fruits of your good action first?” If of course the
amount is great, offering Guru dakṣiṇā or ________ then
he takes up in his own hand, he will go to suffer the results of bad actions
first, and then good actions. ____________________
[?]
Devotee:
Time and space theory.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Time
and space theory? ______________________________ [?]
What they will say is about general cases,
but there are particular cases, the urgent case, just as in a court, the urgent
case, that may be dealt urgently. Some may take birth after, immediate after
his death he enters into a womb, particular cases are many.
That Vasudeva says, we find in Bhāgavatam
that when Devakī is married and Vasudeva is taking Devakī away to
his own house, Kaṁsa, he is taking the reign of the horses, he is conducting
the chariot. And the way there was a sudden sound came from the sky that Kaṁsa
he was relishing so much this occasional joy, taking with so carefulness for
sister to her husband's house, “But her eighth child will kill you.” ________
twice. When this sound came from the sky then Kaṁsa was enraged; and he
took his sister by the hair and was about to cut her throat.
Then Vasudeva came and protected her.
“What is this? You are a hero? Are you afraid of your death? What is this, are
you are not a coward?” And in this way he began discussion and then, “You have
no cause of fear from her, but her child. But you may, I assure you that the
children will be given to your hand. You may do away with them, but leave her.
She is not going to kill you.”
Anyhow, at that time Vasudeva comes to
talk about some philosophical line and says here, that before one is dead, his
next life begins. Before the man is dead, his next life begins. How? When he is
going to die, his previous actions in subtle form comes to, come all, and -
gathered, and everyone demands the next birth, I want. According to the
intensity or their priority they come to propose that the next chance I must
get. So before the actual death it is determined. And the idea catches him
there. Here I have got position. Suppose anger or jealousy or some greed, so
many propensities are within and the one, who gets the first chance will take
possession of the ātmā. And then he dies, and he takes him,
the idea is taking position of the idea, he goes to the, to some society. His
own society, and from there it comes to the physical plane. Suppose ________
position, the buffalo. The buffalo mentality takes position. The ferocious
tiger mentality takes position and takes him up in the tiger society and then
he comes with a tiger body.
In this way, in the case of Bharata, he
went to help the deer, but he left everything in his youthful life, left
everything in his kingdom and adopted the life of a sādhu, but when
he was dying he thought, “If I die this small deer will also die by without
getting food.” Only when he's thinking about that his soul passed and he had to
become a deer. In that society he had to go, that thinking took him there. And
with a deer's body he came out.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: What is
that one year piṇḍa period? You used the Bengali word.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Because
in the karma-kāṇḍa we find when you are in suspension
and during that time the ṛṣis, the Vedas, karma-kāṇḍa,
they say, try to make some help. He leaves the property and the successor or
the holder of the property he makes some arrangement to help the departed soul.
With piṇḍa dhama, piṇḍa dhama, one year, one
year piṇḍa. After one year is completed, he is under
suspense, help may be arranged for him, and then these talks and the final
decision is taken. In that way, generally in the karma-kāṇḍiya
we find that process.This is general case, summarised what they do. But there are particular
instances according to the gravity of the situation and they judge that main
thing.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: When do
the hellish sufferings that are described in the Bhāgavata in the
Fifth Canto, when does that, what period does that take place?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When
the suffering, also different types according to the heinousness of what he
did. They are classified, and sufferings without physical body, just as in a
dream, we may have a dream, we may also bad dream. In dream also we may suffer,
in dream also we may ________ So without this body, our subtle body, when he
feels eternal and the intense pain, that is naraka. Not physical body,
but in mental body.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Subtle
body.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mental
body continuous and the intense suffering of different type, the different
hell, without body.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: How
long...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
According to the intensity, magnitude of the action, they judge, the
Yāmarāja, the controller, the administrator, he dispenses, and he is
forced to suffer like that. And in a pleasing dream, as we feel there is a
government. You see in the mental world also there is a government, just as
here there is government in the physical world, so in the body will feel fine,
within us in a dream, such astral body that is the plane of so many astral
bodies and there is a government. And they have not yet taken the
administration is there, and they are dead waiting that way. That is generally
known as Pitṛloka ________ the departed souls, but...
GS:
Sometimes after a person dies, the family members will invite us to do kīrtana,
chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Now, will that help the departed soul?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of
course. Of course that will help him. His connection, the benefits he may get
in that way we perform some holy, and that vibration will go to help him,
higher help than an ordinary śraddhā. Bhāgavata
prasādam, if we confer. But kīrtana also can help departed
souls.
GS:
Now when the soul falls from the Brahmaloka and takes birth in the material
world, now, is that soul's eternal rasa with Kṛṣṇa in
the spiritual world.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Soul?
GS:
Is that soul's particular relationship with Kṛṣṇa in Goloka,
is that already fixed when that soul falls down?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see
that is, everything has got some possibility of prospect within him. So, if it
is the dissection, analysis, then the prospect, just as svarūpa,
after emancipation one may go to Vaikuṇṭha, and no further. And one
may go to Goloka, and there also the different rasa, some going to vātsalya,
some going to sākhya, mādhurya, some into śanta rasa.
That is internal position, svarūpa. According to that, they are
classified after emancipation. So also here in the māyic world
also, according to their intrinsic ________ they may come down this, that way.
So, from - first Brahmā rank he may come down, and he may go down to any
extent, any extent. And the differentiation will also be there, but still he
has got some innate permanent thing or prospect in him. That will come to
decide.
GS:
Now suppose a soul...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What
was your question?
GS:
Well you answered it. Now suppose the soul has the desire to become the mother
of Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual world.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rank,
motherly rank. Not exactly mother. Mother is Yaśodā fixed, but in
that rank.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Now can
you elaborate about that rank? In other words, Yaśodā is Kṛṣṇa’s
mother, so what do the others who are in that rank...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Helping
in that camp in different ways, helping her in vātsalyarasa. Cows
also, when they see Kṛṣṇa milk starts to ooze out of their
udders in affection.
GS:
Now just as when Kṛṣṇa comes here, there are so many
different households and families in Vṛndāvana. Now in Goloka, are
there also many households with parents and children?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of
course, the whole thing comes here. And also it is still maintained there, and
also a reflection, or not reflection but substantially one and same, some
extension, vaibhava.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Expansion.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Extension comes here.
GS:
Now when Kṛṣṇa was here, after Brahmā stole the cowherd
boys and calves, He expanded into a duplicate set for one year. Some of those
elderly, they had the chance of having directly Kṛṣṇa as
their son. So does that sometimes happen in Goloka?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is
kāyavyūha – one can extend oneself in different places at the
same time. Even a yogī he is here and he can show himself in some
other places also, they send a double. So in the case of Kṛṣṇa,
it is not impossible that He may extend Himself in many places in many forms, a
variegated nature. It is also mentioned in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta
in Dvārakā He had 16,000 wives, or something like that, and He
presented Himself everywhere. And Nārada is astonished to see that. And it
is mentioned that,kāya-vyūha haile nāradera vismaya nā
haya.
saubhary-ādi-prāya
sei kāya-vyūha naya / kāya-vyūha
haile nāradera vismaya nā haya
[“The prābhava-prakāśa
expansions of Lord Kṛṣṇa are not like the expansions of the
sage Saubhari. Had they been so, Nārada would not have been astonished to
see them.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.169]
The kāyavyūha of yogī,
the extension of a yogī, siddha yogī, is of a limited
character. For example, if he is standing here, his facsimile in another place
he will also stand. If he lies down, it will also lie.But in the case of Kṛṣṇa,
every form can do independently. So in different ways, in different manner,
different types, He can extend His līlā in any way. After all,
we must think that we are limited and we are trying to talk of infinite,
unlimited. So if this can molest you, we must try to approach the thing. Adhokṣaja.
Everything may not come within my clutches, but as must as possible we can get,
we can have a peek into the approximate characteristic of the infinite.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Now
when Kṛṣṇa came here...
End of
81.02.28
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.01.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: DhīraKṛṣṇa Mahārāja ___________________________________
[?]
The living entities, those who come to this material
platform, generally they’re from the brahmajyoti.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Then at the same time we heard that every living
entity actually has a relationship with Kṛṣṇa in one of the
five rasas, one of the five mellows.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. That is the plurality, by analysing svarūpa. Just as from taṭasthā-loka it is possible to
come down here, so also the possibility is there to enter into that domain. The
innate identity is within. Yesterday I dealt with this, perhaps with Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Prabhu’s group. This was dealt with yesterday, that generally from brahma-loka.
In brahma-loka that is non-differentiated unit of consciousness, and
with the possibility of bright and dark. Dark possibility takes him this side,
and bright possibility… when analysed then it is found that their svarūpa
is suitable for such and such service in the Vaikuṇṭhaor Goloka. So they have go their fixed svarūpa,
some in Vaikuṇṭha, some in Goloka. In Goloka also there are five rasas.
So it is within. If one can see into that deep nature, then it may be detected
that in svarūpa in germinal form there is that, though the origin
is in brahma-loka. This is the general case. Then there is special
capacity of Kṛṣṇa of transformation; very rarely. From one
group can be led to another group. From sākhyarasaŚyāmānanda Prabhu was transformed into mādhurya rasa. Ostentatiously
it was seen; very rare.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: But once you told me Mahārāja that Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura said that Śyāmānanda
Prabhu’s actual rasa was mādhurya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mādhurya; it was not detected perfectly
by his previous Guru. Of course he has written like that, but also Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura has written in perhaps Tattva-sūtra, that Kṛṣṇa
can do anything.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Yes. His inconceivable potency.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So even the experts fail to detect the svarūpa,
but it was there. And still, Kṛṣṇa’s will is supreme. He can
even do away with the existence of the jīva, though it is nitya.
It has also been told like that. But it is not very palatable to us. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: ___________________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja is asking, “What’s the difference between the svarūpa-siddhi
and vastu-siddhi?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Svarūpa-siddhi is the completion of
internal realisation, and vastu-siddhi is both internal and external – vastu-siddhi.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: In svarūpa-siddhi one doesn’t have
anything to do on the material platform? I’m sorry. In svarūpa-siddhi he
still has some link to the material platform?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He may exist on the material platform, but his
complete cent per cent engagement will be otherwise. In vastu-siddhi
he’s taken away from here and posted there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So in the svarūpa-siddhi, because of the
material connection, are material urges or desires entering the consciousness?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see, it may be in the background, the material
conception of the world in the background, in svarūpa-siddhi. In vastu-siddhi
there’s no consciousness of materialism. Even the material consciousness, that
part is also converted into spiritualism – no vision of materialism, even in
the background.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So Kṛṣṇa says,
māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa,
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān, [brahma-bhūyāya kalpate]
[“One who
renders service exclusively unto Me (in My form of Śyāmasundara,
Rāma, Nārāyaṇa, etc.) by the path of pure devotion
(unadulterated by all spurious attempts based on exploitation or renunciation),
and who does not fall down in any circumstances, absolutely transcends these
three modes of material nature. One thus come to the level of Brahman and
becomes qualified for the cognisance of their internal divine identity.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
14.26]
So if we
engage in śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ
viṣṇoḥ – isn’t that
liberating?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Just being engaged in śravaṇaṁ
and kīrtana, isn’t it liberating? Isn’t that process going to
liberate us?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, of course.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So then the devotee...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not only liberation – liberation unconsciously takes
place, but he enters into the real serving spiritual domain proper. Śravaṇa
kīrtana helps us enter into the reality, and
emancipation or liberation is automatically done unconsciously. When you are
making progress in the positive side, the negative side is necessarily going
back. Liberation, on the way, it will become ____________ Liberation does not
mean to get out of a particular thing, particular idea, but the ideal
exploitation and renunciation. That means that everything will come within Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, nothing will remain outside.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Svarūpena vyavaṣthiḥ. To be
situated in one’s svarūpa is mukti.
[muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ
svarūpena vyavaṣthiḥ]
[“Liberation
is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up
the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.10.6]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In svarūpa mukti the positive conception
of mukti is there.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: And that means relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, with Kṛṣṇa, kāṛṣṇa, both, Kṛṣṇa and kāṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa sambandhiya,
everything connected with Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Now Mahārāja, say the spiritual master he
is personally situated in one particular rasa with Kṛṣṇa.
Now the disciples that he takes, are they necessarily going to belonging to the
same rasa or can the disciples be of various, different rasas also?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: May be of different rasa, to certain extent
under his care. Then we’ll say, “That master he has come in this rasa.”
In this way he will find - oneness and difference, bhedābheda.
____________
[?] When will you have to go? Ten or...? ______________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, if say the spiritual master is
in mādhurya rasa and his disciple is in sākhya rasa, so
how the sorting out will take place?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If the Guru is in mādhurya rasa, then it
is no difficulty. But if Guru is in sākhyarasa, less, then of
course a little difficulty arises. But he will see in two ways it may be
completed. As we find Narottama Ṭhākura says, “When will
Lokanātha take me and he will connect me with Rūpa
Goswāmī?” Kavi hati te diya rupa stane amara
ke daran [?]
The Guru
from this rasa, my help so far, and next you will get help from this
person, or this gentleman. In this way he may take to. In Jaiva Dharma,
that Vijay, first Brajranatha and Vijay they had some talk with Raghunātha
DāsaBābājī, and there Brajranatha was completed. And Vijay went
to Purī and there he again got that śikṣāof mādhurya rasa in some other...from
there. So it may be that also.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Jaya Śrīpad Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja Ki Jay. Sevā Vṛnda Ki Jaya. Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Prabhu Ki Jaya. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi Caitanya. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Once Mahārāja, you told me regarding that,
that how it takes place, and you gave an example. That say somebody is actually
in mādhurya rasa and he’s accepted by someone who’s in actually sākhya
rasa, so then the leader of the group from which group he actually belongs,
the leader comes and tells the leader of the sākhya rasa, like Lalitā
Devī comes and tells Subala that, “Subala,
I’m taking this person from your group into my group.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. It is written in a book, Śyāmānanda
Vilāsa, or something
like that, that Rādhārāṇī proposed to Subala, “I want
to take one of your followers into My group.”
“Yes, yes.
I’m very pleased to sanction. It is very good. It is well and good. He will get
the better chance. You do that.” In the case of Śyāmānanda
Prabhu it has been written like that. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: So if the living entity actually came from the
Brahman platform, the brahmajyoti, that means that he has an unlimited
scope when he goes back to the spiritual sky he is open to be situated in any
of the rasas; as he progresses?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He may have possibility of entering into any of the rasas.
But with the development it will be detected properly, where he goes, and where
the final settlement is. By the process of development that will be detected
where he’s finally to be posted in service, his fitness, according to the inner
fitness where he’s to be posted finally. In the gradual internal evolution it
can be ascertained; the fitness. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga:
Mahārāja, in the development of the body in the embryo, in the first
stages of life...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can’t follow.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: In the development of the embryo in the womb.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: We are to
understand that the subtle body pervades the gross body.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Do you understand that?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: The subtle body pervades the gross body.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: And during
embryologic development we see that the gross body takes a form which is first
not so definitive. Such as...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: The gross body develops in such a way that in the
beginning it is not definitive.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The subtle body is there. Suppose when a man is
sleeping, then where is the subtle body? Subtle body is there, and it is not
growing when in sleep. So the subtle body may remain in its own way. It may
also sleep, it may work. But it is told that within seven months or so the
subtle body awakens, as it may be said. The awakening of the subtle body in a
particular stage otherwise it is in sleeping condition, it may be.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: In the
development we understand that we get the next form due to the mentality at the
time of death in the former form. In the human form at the time of death,
depending on your mentality, your desires, you get the next body.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. There may be so many desires, but a particular
desire which is more intense and urgent, that takes the next chance, gets the
next chance of birth. There are so many.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: So in the
development of the next body, is the subtle body supervening that development,
or is it coming directly from Paramātmā, or
how the gross...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The subtle body is not with Paramātmā.
That is in the subtle world. That is a member of the subtle world. And the
gross body, as much developed and fit of its activity, the subtle body is
expressed thereby so much. ______________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja says that say something has to be done through a machine, as
long as the machine is not complete the performance will not be there. But as
soon as the machine is complete, then only will the performance be done.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The battery is there but if there’s a defect in the
machine, the machine is not working fully. The machine is defective but the
battery is there.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: So how is the
machine to work?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: The body is the machine and the spirit soul is the
doer. As long as the body is not complete the spirit soul will not be able to
act through it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It cannot express itself fully. In that way we may
surmise.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: So the body is
developed and given to the ātmā...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Now the question he’s asking is how the body
develops...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This analogy you may continue to ātmā and
sukṣmabody, subtle body.
Ātmā’s position is higher than subtle body. The ātmā
may be there, and it depends on the subtle body as well as the gross body
to express its activity into this mundane world.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: But Mahārāja, the ātmā is
not acting in the body, in the womb the ātmā is dormant. So
how is the body developing, and who is developing the body? Material nature, prakṛti?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Prakṛti without the connection of ātmā
it cannot develop. The soul must have at least some passive connection.
Otherwise it is all darkness. Ātmā is only light. Any
expression presupposes ātmā. Any assertion presupposes ātmā.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: The detail is
that in the development, like I said, it’s not distinct at first, you may
develop a hand embryologically, in the embryo, but it’s like a plate. And then
with further development the cells die in between and the fingers develop.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: _____________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When in different types of species it may go on in a
different process, and that does not matter. But in general without ātmā
nothing can be asserted.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Dayādhara Prabhu is asking Mahārāja, how that takes
place?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: We are to think in this way, that everything is a
concept. Beyond that we can’t know anything. It is not possible. The
conception, the ātmā is presupposed to assert any sort of
existence, even darkness. If ātmā is not there nothing is
there. The very root of conception, how can you assert the existence of
anything? So ātmā is self evident truth; that ātmā
should be accepted first in the existence, in the least of existence. Then
the other different sorts of existence you can bring in. Otherwise it is not
possible. The consciousness you are to admit first. Whatever you’ll say that is
a sort of consciousness, a sort of concept, even darkness, even ignorance, a
particular concept. But it presupposes a consciousness, the assertion. The
doubter must be there, according to Descartes. “I doubt.” But the doubter is to
be accepted? The first principal is self evident that we are to accept ātmā.
Otherwise nothing can be explained. If I am not there then how can I assert
this thing, that thing, so many things? So the first party must be ātmā,
and then you can speculate many things on this.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: So the ātmā
is supplying the energy for the...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ātmā means consciousness in the
general sense; ātmā means consciousness in this case. Not jīvātmā
or Paramātmā. You are to go on in deep thinking, then Paramātmāor
God exists first, then anything. But higher type of consciousness, that must
exist first, self evidently, then other things may be attributed within Him.
Devotee: But I want to
put one question at your lotus feet. Without the help of soul, proper
development of body is not at all possible, is it? Because the development of a
dead body is not possible; the soul helps the material body develop, gradually.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Without soul no development, no function, no
activity, nothing is possible.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: But
consciousness pervades many forms from one celled animals, bacteria, all the
way to man…
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_____________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In different places, even in tree, even in stone, ātmā
is there. Everywhere it may be there.
Devotee: And even in a
dead body also? Because a dead body is also a collection of atoms.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not that ātmā, but in different
types, there are so many germs etc.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: In the
development we see that there’s in the cell, the DNA, the chromosomes, they
give the cell growth, some direction, a function. But before that determination
there’s another determination that the scientist finds that is inexplicable.
And that determination occurs due to the position of the cell in the embryo. So
in order to try to explain to the scientist, to the material scientist, what
that controlling factor is for the growth of the form of the embryo – that is
my question.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: _________________ I’ll speak in English so if I’m
mistaken you can correct me. In the cells it’s noticed that the growth of the
cells are directed or controlled by the DNA, the chromosomes. The chromosome is
controlling the growth of the particular cell.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: Not the growth,
the differentiation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is delegated power.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That may be delegated power from the higher quarter.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: Yes. So the ātmā,
or consciousness...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The question is that we see that subtle matter is
helping to grow the gross matter. You see when we want to capture a dacoit,
we, with the help of another dacoit _______________
so something like that. The subtle matter has the
power delegated to it and helping there. The immediate centre of development is
there, but that is not the ultimate thing.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: But that is
determining the detail of the development, no, the subtle body?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You’ll see in the computer also there is a guide,
though to an ordinary man a computer is independent. But still one guide is
necessary to handle the computer. So there may be so many things in our
perception, not only that this is the perfect centre, but that may not be the
higher centre behind. In this way we are to consider. In the process there are
so many stations, so many centres, so many stations. But we are to deal with
the ultimate.
Devotee: Subjective
evolution _________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Subjective evolution, not objective evolution but
subjective evolution. This vaicitra, this variegatedness, is the result
of subjective evolution, in different...
ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham,
aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyāyam
chandāṁsi yasya parṇāni, yas taṁ
veda sa veda-vit
[“The holy
scriptures proclaim that this material world is like an unchangeable Banyan
tree with its roots facing upwards and its branches down, known as an
Aśvattha (transitory) tree. Its nutriments are the Vedic aphorisms, which
are represented by its leaves. Whoever knows this tree in this way is a genuine
knower of the Vedas.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 15.1]
Guṇa-pravṛddhā viṣaya-pravālāḥ.
[adhaś cordhvaṁ prasṛtās
tasya śākhā, guṇa-pravṛddhā viṣaya-pravālāḥ
adhaś ca mūlāny anusantatāni,
karmānubandhīni manuṣya-loke]
[“Some of
its branches extend upwards (in the planets of the demigods and celestial
beings), some of the branches extend downwards (in the planets of the humans,
animals, and lower species), and its mature (three modes of) nature and aim and
object (of sound, smell, touch, taste, and form) are its fresh, young shoots.
Some aerial roots also extend downwards, to take root in the land of
exploitation, within the human plane.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 15.2]
From subtle
the gross is springing up. Guṇa, pravālāḥ means
branch, guṇa-pravṛddhā viṣaya-pravālāḥ.
Visaya, the colour is coming from the eye; rather, from one thing three
branches – the sun, the eye, and the colour. So the ether, the ear, and sound;
from common different branches this is springing up from one common thing. From
the subjective, from the subtle, it is coming into gross.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: So the subtle
body is active in a different way in the embryo than after birth?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It may develop in a different way. But we are
concerned with the general thing, not any particular details. That is with the
scientists.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Can we look at it this way then Mahārāja,
that everything is being directed by the spirit soul, like some matter is being
controlled by the spirit soul and that matter and the spirit soul is controller
of the body. And due to the different consciousness of the...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A delegated power, the prakṛti-sthāni
karṣati.
[mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke,
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi,
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati]
[“The soul
is a part of Me, as My separate fragmental particle or potency. Although he is
eternal, he acquires the mind and five perceptual senses, which are parts of
material nature as creations of māyā, My deluding potency.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
15.7]
Lord says in
Gītā,
na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāni, lokasya sṛjati
prabhuḥ
na karma-phala-saṁyogam, svabhāvas tu
pravartate
[“Due to
their tendency towards ignorance since immeasurable time, the living beings
act, considering themselves the doers or inaugurators of action. The Supreme
Lord does not generate their misconception of considering themselves doers, nor
does He generate their actions or their attachment to the fruits of those
actions.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 5.14]
Some power
delegated in the nature, nature is doing automatically, but His sanction is
there always. Otherwise not even a straw can move, but delegated power in
different places, not direct connection. He says, suppose a criminal is going
to be hanged – who is the cause? Is God the cause? He’s the cause of
everything, but still not the direct cause. The government is not the cause
fully. Real cause is the man who committed the offence, murder, and he’s going
to be hanged. His action is the real cause. But if there is no government then
by killing a person he may not be hanged. So he’s the cause of his own hanging
because he committed murder. That is the main cause. The other cause is that
the government is there, the law is there; so, so many causes, the direct and
indirect causes. There are so many things in the natural law. His own karma here
in this jurisdiction his own karma is the real predominating cause. And
there are others. On the background of a particular event there are five
things, in Gītā.
pañcaitāni mahā-bāho, kāraṇāni
nibodha me
sāṅkhye kṛtānte proktāni,
siddhaye sarvva-karmmaṇām
[“O mighty hero, in the scripture known
as Sāṅkhya, or Vedānta, these five causes of the
accomplishment of all actions have been described, and you may now learn of
these from Me.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 18.13]
…
adhiṣṭhānaṁ tathā kart,
karaṇaṁ ca pṛthag-vidham
vividhāś ca pṛthak ceṣṭā,
daivaṁ caivātra pañcamam
[“With the
help of these five factors, all actions are effected: The body, ego (in the
form of the knot of spirit and matter), the separate senses, the different
endeavours, and destiny, or the intervention of the Supreme Universal
Controller.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 18.14]
These five things are considered to cause an event
_______________________________ [?]
Direct and indirect cause
___________________________________________________ [?]
Our negligence of the allegiance to the Supreme
Authority has taken me here. That is the root cause of all these events. Do you
follow? No?
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Negligence and disobedience to the Automatic Supreme
Authority; that is the first cause. And then it takes me to the distance and
I’m captured by environmental influences and different causes are arising, in
this way. I’m coming far from the centre and so many things are surrounding me,
and their contribution is to be detected. So many causes we are seeing at
present. This is the cause of this event. This is the cause of this assumption.
No. This is the cause. But the real cause is to be traced in the beginning.
From there I’m degraded to here and now I’m under the – I was first
Brahmā, first fall, and then I’m now – my karma has taken me to a
beast. Suppose a tiger, then I’m engaged with and surrounded by tiger
mentality. I’m going to be a tree or creeper, and such impressions are
surrounding me. So many things are coming and I am within action and reaction.
In this way the case is complex. But it’s not that there’s no end of this
variegated nature I’m to analyse. We are concerned with the main thing. Then by
a degradation we may go anywhere and there are so many laws and they’re imposed
on us. But there’s not any benefit by going into details of a particular nature
of a particular atom. But we’re concerned with the general thing.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: Would it be
proper to say, due to the abnegation of one’s service to the Supreme, one falls
to the material plane, _________________ and due to his association in the
world, he is in a dream like state and the subtle body is then developing the
gross body in dream like state.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ____________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Due to the abnegation of the service, the living
entity gets into a kind of a dream.
______________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ______________________________________________ [?]
How the transformation of the material conception is
springing from the pure consciousness? Is it your question?
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It depends upon; first,
_______________________________ [?]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
The matter is not an independent thing of spirit. But
when we – in brahma-loka we are equipoised in a marginal potency. Then
there are so many points of ray in the brahma-loka, jyoti, so many
electrons, atoms or whatever you say, the unit of consciousness. Consciousness
means endowed with free will. Without free will no consciousness can be
conceived. So consciousness means free will. A point of consciousness means
very meagre free will. By the exercise of its free will it is asserting itself.
It may go that side or this side. Some going that side, some coming this side,
marginal plane. The free choice is to be traced as the first action of coming
into this side; a free choice.
Na kartṛtvaṁ
na karmāni, lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ - svabhāvas [Bhagavad-gītā, 5.14]
It is already given in Him, the very
nature. But as a result, in consequence we see that some have taken their
chance this side. They’ve not accepted submission but want to dominate. And
with the germinal idea of domination he’s entering in the world of
exploitation. And the consequence of exploitation added to his free will then
that is the basis of all these developments in variegated nature. And the first
starting point is like that. A conscious unit, and what is material, material
unit means the result of reaction of exploitation; exploiting tendency. That is
coming, that descent. That is capturing him gradually. And in the process so
much variegated development in the world. When it started it was very subtle,
very meagre, but the result is such. Am I clear? What do you think?
End of 81.03.01.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.01.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Free
will.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: Free will.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Free
will. The starting point is free will, because free will is endowed with
consciousness. But free will is vulnerable; it is anu. Only free will is
absolute with the Absolute. And because this free will is very small, everything is very small, so vulnerability
is there. The possibility of committing mistakes is there. So with his first
choice he wanted to dominate and gradually he entered the world of domination,
and all other things in future are the result of his first action, developed in
this way. So the devata, the gāndharvā,
kinnara, in different rank, classes divided, and going to the tree, to
the stone, everything. In watery bodies, or gaseous bodies, anything that we
find is in that way.
The unit is there in that way, we see in that way the world.
Dayādhara
Gaurāṅga: So that embryological development is
taken under the jurisdiction of...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But the
starting; the party is soul, and from there all these things happen. It will
evolve in his mind, or something like that, individually or in a group. It may
subside when his work – suppose a donator looked truly at a culprit _________________ [?]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Everything
is based upon and depends on experience, knowledge, experienced life. Just as
in a dream. Subjective evolution, just as we experience in a dream. In a dream
also from the subtle body many things are being seen, many experiences we
gather in a dream. It is coming out from the subtle body. So it is – ultimately
if we can trace, we will have to see that everything is coming from the centre,
and is around Him, surrounding around Him. But the origin, the cause, is in the
subject. If you can remove the cause, the subject, nothing remains.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: I
wanted to ask that, we see that Kṛṣṇa comes in many
incarnations. So just like Nṛsiṁhadeva, and Rāmacandra,
Varāha – do each one of these incarnations have Their own planet in the
spiritual world? Just like if somebody is a devotee of Lord Rāma here, is there a loka, a planet of
Śrī Rāmacandradeva in Vaikuṇṭha?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They
have got Their own Dhāma, own place in Vaikuṇṭha.
They’re nitya; with Their selected group They’re reigning there in a
part of Vaikuṇṭha.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Sītā, Lakṣmaṇa, They’re all there?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes,
yes. Always, eternally They’re there, and also we may find in some of the brahmāṇḍas They’re also reigning now. And the
original group is there in Vaikuṇṭha,
and that is also extending in different parts of different brahmāṇḍas. It is nitya, eternal - eternally
existent in the infinite world. It never dies,
never vanishes,
all eternal, līlā, nitya. Because such ideas, such type
of devotion, such type of devotee, and such type of master, is always to be,
always stays existing, such stages of devotion; all nitya, eternal. The
Prahlāda is also
eternal. That līlā which once demonstrated here, that is going
on in some quarter of brahmāṇḍa.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Is it
also going on in Vaikuṇṭha?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And
originally it is in Vaikuṇṭha.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Nṛsiṁhadeva, with
that same form?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nṛsiṁhadeva, yes,
same form. And rolling, every līlā in
a rolling system. Just as depicted, Nṛsiṁhadeva
came, He tore up, and then the brahmadi
dev made stop, and then He gave some boon in Prahlāda– this is a flow, and that flow is in a
circular way it is continuing.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: But
that Hiraṇyakaśipu, he was here in this brahmāṇḍa,
but do we find Hiraṇyakaśipu in Vaikuṇṭha?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Vaikuṇṭha is also,
Hiraṇya, no not Hiraṇya, but Jaya and Vijay.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: But Nṛsiṁhadeva’s līlā here, we
see Him destroying the demon. So is such a demon there in Vaikuṇṭha to be
destroyed?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is
said that just as here we see the Lord, in a portrait, in a picture, in arca,
so the mundane aspect is shown in Vaikuṇṭha
like picture, depicted in a passive way; it is there.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Can you
elaborate.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The
mundane aspect of līlā,
that is there, just as in prapañca we find Kṛṣṇa in
Vigraha, in pot, in this way. So the opposite, in cetana, the jaw is
represented just like some picture or something, not original is possible. Only
in a passive way, not active, only to create the background of that līlā. As
witness of that līlā it
is only a passive representation is possible there, of the matter. Material
things are represented in the conscious world as if in a passive way, as if in
a picture. Just as spiritual things also are brought here in a picture, the chaya,
the shadow. Just as you may present the blackness in the case of darkness;
black colour represents the darkness. And white represents the light. In this
way the māyā is represented
there in a passive way, in a pictured way. Māyā
is not active, māyā is
there but she’s not active in Vaikuṇṭha,
but like a chaya, like a shadow.
Giri Mahārāja:
Now, in the case of demons, in Goloka, actually there are no demons coming to
attack Kṛṣṇa
_______________________ [?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But
demon, that is also like a shadow, because it is related with Kṛṣṇa līlā,
the demons are related. But they’re not actually to be found there. That’s all
in a picture to show that these things happen there. In this way, like they’re
in a shadow represented
in Goloka.
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja is asking, “That Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva,
He has His half-lion half-man form, and also Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva has His
four armed form, catur-bhuja
Nṛsiṁha, so are
They on the same planet?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Lord Nṛsiṁha with four
arms and half-lion half...yes.
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: Yes, but Viṣṇu form, Lord Nṛsiṁha as Viṣṇu...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And the
same case, Muchaku[?] Varāha same case. They have got Their Vaikuṇṭha. Such
stages what was shown to this world, those things to be occurred repeatedly,
and occurs. It is also in the process of the gradation, it is also a general
thing that these circumstances will come. Just as disease and the medicine;
disease is there, the
medicine is there, so if disease is eternal the medicine is also eternal. So in this way when
in the combination of the different activity of the jīva, such
things occur many times. And Viṣṇu Mūrti comes to relieve. And this is eternal, and this has got
some permanent position in Vaikuṇṭha,
flowing.
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: _____________________________________________________
[?]
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Where
is the difficulty? If Nṛsiṁhadeva
is eternal then where is the difficulty?
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja actually wanted to know whether the Nṛsiṁha that ___________ twenty four expansions of
Nārāyaṇa, that Nṛsiṁha,
whether – what is the relationship between the half-man half-lion Nṛsiṁha, and
with that Nṛsiṁhadeva?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That
original Nṛsiṁhadeva;
that is separate figure? This Nṛsiṁhadeva
is there, and that Nṛsiṁhadeva
came here. It is not mentioned in the śāstra that that Nṛsiṁha was of
another type, like Nārāyaṇaor so, that is not mentioned. So
these Nṛsiṁhas are one
and the same.
______________________________________________ [?]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Vaikuṇṭha free of
mundane relationship, but how the mundane reference is dragged into Vaikuṇṭha, how is
it possible? In the lower part of the Vaikuṇṭha,
the possibility of these things are connected with the mundane world, and for
the relief arrangement is made there. And suppose an officer from England came
here to India, and he did some glorious action and he takes the photo of the
reception he got here, and there in London in his home those pictures are
shown. So this is partially true because this is not original and the first
place of occurrence is here and that is mentioned there. But these things are
continued, so it is nitya there.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Like a
picture there; not the actual act of killing.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Like a
picture. This mundane portion only by picture.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Not the
actual act of killing.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not
active, this side is not active there. Anyhow, relativity is maintained between
good and bad, consciousness and unconsciousness. The relativity we cannot deny.
In any way it is to be maintained. So that is powerless; when that comes here
all powerful, and when this goes there, it is powerless. [Raghunātha] Dāsa Goswāmī Prabhu ______________________________________ [?] Like
a wooden doll represented there, not living. Mundane things cannot be
represented there in a living way, but only a reference is drawn there; in this
way a relationship.
Giri Mahārāja:
Now, in the Kṛṣṇa līlā
here, the gopīs
who loved Kṛṣṇa,
they had husbands. But in Goloka they may not have husbands? But the same mood
of...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In
Goloka also _________________________ [?] In
Goloka only a pictorial representation of the husbands, otherwise parakīyais
not possible.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: But
there are no actual husbands?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, not
actual, but a shadowy representation, to create some panic into the mind of the
gopīs so that
the intensity in the love, in the milana. In mādhurya rasa
we can have the complete connection and then if it is necessary to enhance that
it should be pushed in such a way that it will be very rare and very intense.
So such form is necessary to help. So in a pictorial way a shadow of fear
appears in the heart of the gopīs,
“Oh. I have got my husband. How can I go?” All these things should be created
in the mind to make it more tasteful, the milana.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: It is
like a remembrance.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Remembrance or some excitement in that way. That sort of consciousness is
necessary to give it a parakīya character. And parakīya characteristic is necessary to make it very rare and
also risky, so it becomes very much intense. And that is appreciable in the
love of Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: I have
another question. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
there are many pastimes involving Indra. There are many different līlās,
narrations regarding Indra. And many times he gets the good fortune of
associating even with Viṣṇu
Himself. Even we find in Kṛṣṇa
līlā Indra’s also there. And yet he goes on
making so many mistakes. Sometimes he disrespects his Guru, sometimes he...why doesn’t he learn.
Why is it that he goes on making these mistakes? And yet he’s such an exalted person,
he’s the king of the demigods.
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: Brahmā also.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: How is
it possible? He should be a pure devotee. He has so much association with Kṛṣṇa and
great souls. How is it he makes these mistakes again and again?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: From
two standpoints that may be judged. One from intellectually; we may think,
finite, however perfect, in comparison with infinite it is nothing. One thing. Another, the supremacy of Kṛṣṇa to do
anything and everything. These two things, He can, to suite His līlā He can
handle the environment in any way He likes, so His supreme power can do
anything and everything. That is one thing. And
another thing from this side, intellectual
side, that when we come to deal with the infinite, then a finite thing however
greater it is, it has got no position. No
position in the saguṇa līlā,
it is not in nirguṇa. Indra, Brahmā, they’re conceived in
this saguṇa, in this māyic knowledge, in the area of
misunderstanding. The background, the foundation is that of misunderstanding,
so futile, however great it is, it is misunderstanding. A small mistake and a
great mistake, so all is mistake, mistaken conception, so not much difference
from small to great, all is mistake. So even Brahmāis tempted sometimes,
even Mahādeva is being tempted. Only in the nirguṇa plane Haridāsa Ṭhākura
is being saved, but Brahmāis being tempted, he becomes prey to temptation,
but Haridāsa Ṭhākura
he cannot be tempted. It is nirguṇa and saguṇa. In saguṇa, that is in the plane of misconception,
however big a thing is, it is not reliable. From any position any mistake can
be committed because on the whole it is an area of mistake.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: But how
is it that Haridāsa Ṭhākura
cannot be tempted?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s in
nirguṇa.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: What
does that mean, “That he’s in nirguṇa?”
I don’t understand...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nirguṇa means
exclusively given to Kṛṣṇa,
ananya bhakti. And this is saguṇa,
this is going up, and the Brahmā will have to come down again in this
vicious circle, going up and down, going up and down.
ābrahma-bhuvanāl
lokāḥ, punar āvartino ‘rjuna
[mām upetya tu kaunteya, punar janma
na vidyate]
[“O
Arjuna, from the planet of Lord Brahmā downwards, the residents of all planets
are naturally subjected to repeated birth and death. But, O Kaunteya, upon
reaching Me, there is no rebirth.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
8.16]
It is in the zenith, and the next moment it
will come here, and the next moment in the last point, in this way evolving.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: But
Brahmā, in the Kṛṣṇa līlā
when Brahmā sees his foolishness and he offers prayers to Kṛṣṇa, at that
point...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. In
Kṛṣṇa līlā it
is shown that Brahmā commits mistakes. And again in Dvārakā he’s
committing mistakes. How is it possible? One thing is that to show the
greatness of Kṛṣṇa,
the Infinite, the finite is handled in such a way. For the finite is a play
doll in the hands of the Infinite. That’s one thing. And here, however great,
it is not reliable in this māyic
world, going up and going down, that is possible here. One
mistake one can commit a thousand times in the māyic world.
But in the nirguṇa such
things are not to be seen, but only if it is seen anywhere, that is by the
direct interference of Kṛṣṇa,
that is sometimes seen there.
Giri Mahārāja:
Now, we understand that the same Lord Brahmā, he may have come in the form
of Haridāsa Ṭhākura...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Giri Mahārāja:
...so that he could attain this position of pure bhakti without any
defect. Now how can we transfer ourselves from the platform of making mistakes
and being influenced by māyā,
to the other platform...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There
are many examples like this. The Kṛṣṇa
and Balarāma are
Keśāvatāra, the gopīs are
prostitutes of the heaven, so many from the Purāṇas, they all come and form a part of Haridāsa Ṭhākura,
Brahmā came. Brahmā came to mix with Haridāsa,
mingled with Haridāsa as a
part of Haridāsa. The
Keśāvatāra came and joined Kṛṣṇa
and Balarāma, and Kṛṣṇa Balarāma, Svayaṁ-Bhagavān
and Svayaṁ-Prakāśa. In this way it has been shown to us from
the mahājanas and śāstra that this occurs in this
way. The one is...the lower...the function when magistrate comes, the function
of the deputy magistrate enters in him. It’s something like that.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Inconceivable.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When a
king comes then the viceroy enters into king; his function. It is something
like that. Kṛṣṇa.
Devotees:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Very
subtle things are being discussed. Ha, ha, ha. Gaura Haribol.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: I have
another question, regarding the devatas, the demigods. The demigods are
said to be devotees of Viṣṇu.
They’re devotees, they’re devas, not demons.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Devotee
means notpukha devotee, only a little submission.
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: Karma
miśrābhakta___________________________
[?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maybe?
Only subjugation to Viṣṇu,
and āsuras they
regard more the moral laws, and the deva generally they have some sort
of faith in Viṣṇu,
the highest authority. But that does not matter that they’re all devotees.
Tamal
Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: They’re
not very seriously cultivating Kṛṣṇa
bhakti.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And the
Kṛṣṇa bhakta,
ananya bhakta, they’re a completely separate thing. The very important
thing is this. That to understand, to differentiate saguṇa and nirguṇa; the
highest attainment in saguṇa equates
to zero, and a bit of participation into nirguṇa
that is eternal. Saguṇa and
nirguṇa are just
opposite. So we are within saguṇa and
the big in the saguṇa attracts
us, but that is nothing. That is only moving in a cyclic order; today Brahmā and the next day a worm.
tasyaiva
hetoḥ prayateta kovido, na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ
tal
labhyate duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukhaṁ, kālena sarvatra
gabhīra-raṁhasā
[“Persons who are actually intelligent and
philosophically inclined should endeavour only for that purposeful end which is
not obtainable even by wandering from the topmost planet [Brahmaloka] down to
the lowest planet [Pātāla]. As far as happiness derived from sense
enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in course of time,
just as in course of time we obtain miseries even though we do not desire
them.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.5.18]
One cannot want misery but misery comes of
its own accord. So pleasure also comes of its own accord. We won’t aspire after
it, it is not necessary to aspire after pleasure,
it will come just like misery. Kālena
sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā. The
flow of our karma, our activity, is planned in such a way that, Cakravat
parivartante duhkani [?]
Misery and pleasure, it is couched
alternately it will come, so no development in the illusory world is to be
considered to have any value, even a penny, no value, in the saguṇa world.
The high position in the saguṇa world
has no value, just as in our dream. And the real progress may be a little bit,
in the nirguṇa,
in the plane of Kṛṣṇa līlā,
the autocrat absolute flow which is comprehending everything within it, and
which in no time and no power can contest it or disturb it. That inevitable
flow is underground or overground – that is to mix with that. That is of
eternal value, that nirguṇa.
And a man in the nirguṇa plane
he may be considered to be a culprit in
consideration with the saguṇalīlā,
but that may not affect.
api
cet sudurācāro, bhajate mām ananya-bhāk
sādhur
eva sa mantavyaḥ, [samyag
vyavasito hi saḥ]
[“If even a
person of extremely abominable practices, abandoning all nondevotional pursuits
of exploitation and renunciation engages in My exclusive and uninterrupted
devotional service, he is venerable as a true saint because he has embraced the
revolutionary plane of life.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
9.30]
The progress in the saguṇa misconceived
world is no progress. So one who is participating in the nirguṇa līlā,
that can never be condemned. That is reality itself. That is the general,
original, and absolute flow of līlā,
and that can never be disturbed or challenged. That līlā is going
on and anyhow we are to enter into that to have participation in that current. That connection we must discover, that
flow, that current, and connect with that. And that is invincible and that is
nourishing to the extreme helpful. That is Kṛṣṇa
līlā. Anyhow we are to, through scripture and sādhu:
sādhu-śastra-kṛpāya
yadi kṛṣṇonmukha haya / [sei jīva nistare, māyā
tāhāre chāḍaya]
[“If the
conditioned soul becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious by the mercy of
saintly persons who voluntarily preach scriptural injunctions and help him to
become Kṛṣṇa conscious, the conditioned soul is liberated
from the clutches of māyā, who gives him up.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.120]
The sukṛti of different
lives, that is the main cause, śraddhā, then sādhu-saṅga,
then only can we connect with that undercurrent plane, invincible, absolute
plane, flow. And that is the sweetest of the sweet, madhuraṁ madhuraṁ.
Apratihatā,
we are anyhow to come in connection with that; and good or bad:
'dvaite
bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba-'manodharma' / 'ei bhāla, ei
manda',-ei saba 'bhrama'
[“In
the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental concoctions.
Therefore, saying, ‘This is good, this is bad,’ is a mistake.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā,
4.176]
It is all erroneous – good or bad in this
world. So when we draw comparison between nirguṇa
and saguṇa that
is ludicrous almost. Still, we are in the midst of the saguṇa, we
can’t avoid it at all exhaustively. But the law of that world and the law of this
world is completely different.
Devotee:
Mahārāja, there are many, many Brahmās. In this universe, there may be one
Brahmāwho is purest devotee, is it?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When
he’s a devotee that question is separate.
Devotee:
Just like we can see in Bhāgavatam, Brahmāis making his
obeisance at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All
Brahmās are not
of equal status. The rank is but the guinea stamp; man is the goal for that. So
Brahmā is a rank and man is a devotee. A devotee may have a rank of Brahmā, his case is separate.
But generally Brahmā is a rank, a functional god. And a devotee also by
chance may be appointed if there’s no candidate of Brahmā.
bhakti-miśra-kṛta
puṇye kona jīvottama, rajo-guṇe
vibhāvita kari’ tāṅra mana
garbhodakaśāyi-dvārā
śakti sañcāri’, vyaṣṭi
sṛṣṭi kare kṛṣṇa brahmā-rūpa
dhari’
[“Because
of his past pious deeds mixed with devotional service, a first-class living
being is influenced by the mode of passion within his mind and empowered by
Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu becomes Brahmā. Such a
living entity becomes the qualitative incarnation of the Lord in the mode of
passion for the purpose of engineering the total creation of the universe.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā,
20.302-3]
When not available, then He Himself
deputes a person of His own to do the function. That
is separate. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee:
When Brahmāis our Gurudeva, master...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That
Brahmā is not to be seen like a – who is committing – so
Madhvācārya has eliminated those two _________
from Bhāgavatam. “That how our Gurudeva can commit mistakes to
understand Kṛṣṇa?”
But Mahāprabhu did not do so. The supremacy of Kṛṣṇa is
unchallengeable. If He likes He can do His līlā
in such a way to show the importance, “That be careful. Even in
the position of Brahmā the error is possible, so be careful.”
Śrīla
Govinda Mahārāja:
_________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
For
the time being they’re making me fit. Afterwards I shall ___________________ [?]
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: What did he say?
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja was saying – I was
wondering whether he was tired, and he said, “Well I’m a little bit tired but
these questions are exciting me, and later on I’ll reap the result of this
excitement.”
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha,
ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa.He
sees his own with such great affection, and he has got such faith in his own Guru. “I have got his blessing, very great,
and I must take it everywhere. Even I shall go to Mahāprabhu to serve Him
in a novel way, as inspired by my Gurudeva.” That is appreciable from one
standpoint. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. That is not pride, but sincerely if we take it, it is the real
qualification of the disciple.
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: Ācārya abhimāna.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Ācārya abhimāna.
Tatastha
vicarite jagad samaya bulajen pracare janme meha hone kone ke puja ke valipai
sambanda kalite ____________________________________________________________________
[?]
Akiñcana
Mahārāja was there when a gentleman put a question to Swāmī
Mahārāja: “That you are preaching in such a grand way. What are the
other God-brothers doing?”
“They’re all only handling their particular
kasi [?]
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: Ha, ha, ha. Ringing the bells.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Akiñcana Mahārāja was there and he was offended. And when this news
came to me then I told that in a great way, in
a grand way, he’s beating the drum. And if in that association he accepts you
as a kasi man [bell ringer], then you are promoted to the highest
position.
Devotees:
[Group laughter]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotees:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Nitāi Caitanya.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
So we will take your leave now, till next time.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, as
you like. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti
Caru Swāmī: Jaya Om Viṣṇupada
paramahaṁsa parivrājakācārya aṣṭottara-śata-śrī
śrīmad bhakti rakṣak śrīdhar dev-goswāmī
mahārāja kī jaya!
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Sevā Vṛnda Ki
Jaya.
End of 81.03.01.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.02.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Dhīra KṛṣṇaMahārāja: When I came to see you previously, in September, you
described that we can conceive of madhyama adhikārī
in three ways. You gave some examples, about one foot
in the spiritual world extending here, etc.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, in Prabhupāda’s books, when he talks of uttama
adhikārī he sometimes speaks in a very broad and general way...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: How it is.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Like he will say, “One who chants the prescribed
number of rounds, of mālā, and who is always absorbed in
thinking how to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is an uttama adhikārī.”
And then in other places he gives a very high definition of uttama
adhikārī. So as you said we could conceive of madhyama in
three different ways, are there different ways to conceive of uttama?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Now, the
three kinds, three types of Gurudeva what I told to you, that is not three
stages of Vaiṣṇava but three types
of Gurudeva. Uttama adhikārī when he plays the role of Guru, Ācārya, madhyama adhikārī, uttama
adhikārī has one leg there and by the order of Kṛṣṇa
another leg here and he does the duty of an Ācārya. And one leg here
and another leg put there, madhyama adhikārī he also discharges
the duty of the Ācārya. And the lowest class of Ācārya two
legs here but eyes are there and he’s doing the duty of Ācārya. This
is the gradation of Ācārya. And the stages according to Vaiṣṇavism, that is another. That is in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
arcāyām eva haraye pūjāṁ yaḥ
śraddhayehate
na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu sa bhaktaḥ
prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ
[“A devotee
who faithfully worships the Deity, but does not properly respect the Vaiṣṇavas
or the people in general is called a prākṛta-bhakta, kaniṣṭha-adhikārī,
or materialistic devotee, and is considered to be in the lowest position of
devotional service.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.2.47]
A lowest
class of devotee is this, Vaiṣṇava; and the second class:
īśvare tad-adhīneṣu,
bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca
prema-maitri-kṛpopekṣa, yaḥ karoti
sa madhyamaḥ
[“The devotee in the intermediate stage
of devotional service is called a madhyama-adhikārī. Īśvare
is one who loves Īśvara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; tad-adhīneṣu
means one is a sincere friend to all the devotees of the Lord; bāliśeṣu
shows mercy towards bāliśa,
the innocent and ignorant; dviṣatsu ca, and disregards the
envious.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.2.46]
sarva bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed,
bhagavad bhāvam ātmanaḥ
bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany, eṣa
bhāgavatottamaḥ
[“A person
advanced in devotional service sees within everything the soul of souls, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Consequently they always see Kṛṣṇa everywhere and in
everything. One who is situated on the topmost platform of devotional service
is known as an uttama-bhāgavata.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.2.45]
...the
highest stage in Vaiṣṇavism, according to Bhāgavata.
And Mahāprabhu gives us three stages of, nama bhajan akariya vaiṣṇava
[?]
...of another quality; ordinary Vaiṣṇava
into three classes, and the nama bhajan akariya Vaiṣṇava
they’ve also got recognition in three stages. Even pure Name even once one can
utter, he’s kaniṣṭha adhikārī Vaiṣṇava.
And who always utters the Name he’s madhyama adhikārī. And uttama
adhikārī, whoever casts a glance to him he feels tendency to take
the Name. That is,
yāṅhāra darśane mukhe āise kṛṣṇa-nāma
/ tāṅhāre jāniha tumi ‘vaiṣṇava-pradhāna’
[Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “A first-class Vaiṣṇava
is he whose very presence makes others chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 16.74]
In Caitanya-caritamrta,
uttama adhikārī, the Nāma bhajana aspect, the
highest Vaiṣṇava is he whoever will come across and casts a glance
he will feel to take Name in him. That is the highest type. And who is always
taking Name he’s madhyama. And at least once who has got pure Name on
his tongue he’s kaniṣṭha adhikārī.
Eko krsna nama mukhe
____________________________________________________ [?]
Yāṅhāra darśane mukhe āise kṛṣṇa-nāma
/ tāṅhāre jāniha tumi ‘vaiṣṇava-pradhāna’
This is Nāma bhajana characterised in
three stages, and ordinary Vaiṣṇavas in three stages, their another
standpoint by which the adhikāra of the Vaiṣṇava is
being expressed to us, arcāyām eva haraye.
surarṣe vihitā śāstre
harimuddiśa yā kriyā
saiva bhaktiriti proktā tayā bhaktiḥ
parā bhaved
[“O sage amongst the demigods -
Nārada! Those activities prescribed in the revealed scriptures for
satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Hari, are
called the regulative principles of bhakti (sādhana-bhakti),
by which practising one may attain the highest bhakti (prema bhakti).”]
[Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Pūrva-vibhāga, 2.13]
Whose
reliance, śraddhā, regard, is in śāstra, vihitā
śāstre harimuddiśa yā kriyā, and those rules and
regulations that are found in the śāstra, in the scripture, he
attentively observes all those practices; this is kaniṣṭha adhikāra.
laukikī vaidikī vāpi, yā
kriyā kriyate mune
hari-sevānukūlaiva, sa kāryā
bhaktim icchatā
[O great
sage! One who aspires for devotional service should perform all activities,
whether Vedic or mundane, in a way that is favourable for the service of Lord
Hari.]
[Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
Pūrva-vibhāga, 2.200, from Nārada-Pañcarātra]
Whether it
is śāstric, scriptural practice, or social, or anything like
that, every movement is coloured by the faith in God. That is madhyama
adhikāra. And the last:
Eha yasya hare dasye karmana manasa adhikar nikhila
supavastasu [?]
Whatever
circumstances there may be, his standpoint is to do according to the... the
faith is always guiding him. The faith in Kṛṣṇa is the main
guidance in whatever circumstances. Eha yasya hare dasye. By body, by
mind, by thought, word and deed. In every way he does everything, under
whatever circumstances he may be in, from the standpoint of the service to Kṛṣṇa.
That is uttama adhikārī. So from different standpoints it has
been expressed to us what the characteristics are of the stages of a Vaiṣṇava,
a servant of Kṛṣṇa, a servitor.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But the śiṣya, he will conceive of the Gurudeva as uttama
adhikārī.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Not only uttama
adhikārī, but he will even see as a special delegation of the
Lord, or His Supreme Potency, Lord Himself or His Supreme Potency rather. In mādhurya
rasa it may be Rādhārāṇī, or Rādhārāṇī’s delegation Rūpa
Mañjarī. In this way variegated darśana
is there; in Gurudeva. It varies, according to the
progress it may vary, the darśana will vary. But generally in the primary stage it is
given to śiṣya, “See the potency of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa
Himself, then potency of Kṛṣṇa, then that kind of potency of
Kṛṣṇa.” In this way it will develop. Do you follow? In the
first stage a śiṣya, a disciple is requested to see Guru as Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then a little
higher, then he will be requested to see His potency. Then a little higher he
will be able to see what sort of potency according to His demand; sākhya
rasa or mādhurya
rasa or vātsalya. This differentiation will gradually develop there.
In the first stage Kṛṣṇa Himself, Bhagavān Himself. Why? Svarūpa-śakti and Bhagavān one and the same there. No differentiation between svarūpa-śakti and Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa
and svarūpa-śakti total together.
“You should see Kṛṣṇa Himself, with svarūpa-śakti within Kṛṣṇa.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In Bhagavad-gītā it says, bhakto
‘si me sakhā ceti...
[sa evāyaṁ mayā te ‘dya, yogaḥ
proktaḥ purātanaḥ
bhakto ‘si me sakhā ceti, rahasyaṁ hy etad
uttamam]
[“Now, I shall deliver that eternal
teaching to you. Because you are My devotee and friend, this supreme, hidden
path is today revealed by Me to you.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.3]
…that it is
best understood by one who is sakhā, Kṛṣṇa’s
friend, who’s friendly towards Kṛṣṇa. So Arjuna is, we have
read in the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, that he is Lalitā
or Viśākhā from the spiritual world; Arjuna. So in the spiritual
world Viśākhā is in mādhurya rasa, but here with Kṛṣṇa,
in Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna is Kṛṣṇa’s friend.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Arjuna in Dvārakā
līlā,
but in Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā if it is mentioned I
don’t know, then it will be some reflection, a classification of type it may
be. Otherwise Lalitā, Viśākhā, in Dvārakā in mādhurya
rasa, they’ll be with Satyabhāmā, with Rukmiṇī, etc, Lalitā, Viśākhā. They’ll be
there in mādhurya rasa, in narrowed down mādhurya rasa
in Dvārakā. The Lalitā, Viśākhā of Vṛndāvana,
they will be represented in Dvārakā in mādhurya rasa to
help their Mistress, the Rukmiṇī, the Satyabhāmā, etc. And Arjuna may be a sort of similarity may be
drawn, not actually Arjuna is such. Something like a classification of that
type, the nature, and according to analysing the nature we may classify Arjuna
like that. Some sentiment, there are some intelligence predominating, some
sentiment predominating, some variegated qualification; in this way there are
classifications. So in that way that type may be considered there.
Devotee:
______________________________ [?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The colour and
the posing, but they’re higher, in mādhurya rasa they’re already,
in sākhya rasa, just as in the case of Subala. He’s very adjacent to
mādhurya rasa, and Madhu Mangala a little less, and Sridhama a little
indifferent to mādhurya rasa. In this way there may be
classification. So in Dvārakā līlā to represent
Lalitā and Viśākhā, there in the mādhurya rasa
camp there should be their delegation. And if it is written in any scripture
that Arjuna is that type, it is a question of type, according to the
variegatedness of the attributes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Now, one question I had was that in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Mahāprabhu says to Sanātana that every
letter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is Kṛṣṇa.
But some of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the statements of Hiraṇyākṣa, Hiraṇyakaśipu, some statements are Śukrācārya, Śiśupāla, so how is it that we become, by hearing that
sound...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
mukhya-gauṇa-vṛtti, kiṁvā
anvaya-vyatireke / vedera pratijñā kevala kahaye kṛṣṇake
[“When one
accepts Vedic literature by interpretation or even by dictionary meaning,
directly or indirectly the ultimate declaration of Vedic knowledge points to
Lord Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.146]
Are you
acquainted with this passage of Caitanya-caritāmṛta?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I don’t know the Bengali.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa,
the aim of every letter, the aim and object of every letter is to show Kṛṣṇa.
Some direct, some indirect. Direct and indirect, anvaya-vyatireke, some
showing Kṛṣṇa indirectly and some directly, anvaya-vyatireke,
so all not in a positive line but in the negative line also showing Kṛṣṇa.
Do you find? The character of Hiraṇyakaśipu that is also playing a part to establish Prahlāda
and Hari. It is necessary for the background. So in
indirect way that also promises to show Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa
līlā, the contribution, has got something to contribute in Kṛṣṇa
līlā in different ways. So indirectly they’re showing Kṛṣṇa,
anvaya. gauṇa-mukhya-vṛtti, gauṇa-vṛtti
and mukhya-vṛtti, the principle meaning or the gauṇa,
ordinary meaning, and the special meaning: mukhya-gauṇa-vṛtti,
kiṁvā anvaya-vyatireke, direct or indirect. Anyhow he’s
always showing a finger towards Kṛṣṇa. Why was the character
of Hiraṇyakaśipu necessary? To
establish the greatness of devotion in Prahlāda
to Kṛṣṇa so it is necessary. For a
structure of a building, bricks and many things are necessary. So in that way
it has been told there that everything is Kṛṣṇa in Bhāgavatam, they’re all
helping. Every brick is helping the building. Even what is seen to be false,
concoction, that is also true because that is necessary to show Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What is an example?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Suppose if you
go to teach a child, you create a story to give an impression. Then that story,
though you concoct, you imagine, still that has got some real value to teach
the child; in that way. Even the story may have some value. As in Aesop’s
fables so many imaginary stories are there, but they contribute some lesson. In
that way it has got some value to contribute towards the truth, though
imagination. Is it not? Eh?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then it has got
value though imaginary. Aesop’s fables, Panca-tanmatra in Sanskrit, Hitopadesa,
concerning so many beasts, it has been designed. But the moral is there that
helps you and has got true contribution to the cause. So in Bhāgavatam, everywhere, the
imagination has got real validity, value, because it helps us. Just as, vishesa
visha moshavam [?] Poison is medicine to poison, vishesa visham oshavam [?]
One poison can drive away another poison. So we are within concoction, within māyā, misunderstanding, and another misunderstanding may
come to help me a little bit towards Kṛṣṇa. It is also
possible. So whatever will help me, to guide me towards Kṛṣṇa;
that is real. So, by raja guṇa we subdue tama
guṇa, and by sattva we subdue raja. And then
by nirguṇa we subdue sattya
and go up. That is also a policy. Is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. So then that nirguṇa platform we want
to be fixed, we want to be constant, like, māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa,
without coming down again.
[māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa,
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān,
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate]
[“One who renders service exclusively
unto Me (in My form of Śyāmasundara, Rāma, Nārāyaṇa,
etc.) by the path of pure devotion (unadulterated by all spurious attempts
based on exploitation or renunciation), and who does not fall down in any
circumstances, absolutely transcends these three modes of material nature. One
thus come to the level of Brahman and becomes qualified for the cognisance of
their internal divine identity.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 14.26]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Vyabhicāreṇa,
yes, continued. Continued flow is there and we should try to catch, to come in
touch of that flow; nitya līlā. We should try to connect to
and live in that plane of the continued flow underground, surpassing
everything. That ethereal flow it is everywhere. The flow of the wind may not
be present everywhere, the flow of the wind cannot pierce through the wall. But
ether, the x-ray, it can pierce through the wall. So Kṛṣṇa
consciousness is all-pervading, and we shall, through our ātmā,
only our soul aspect can connect with that fine flow and enter there and
identify himself within that flow, to work; Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the finest flow,
all-pervading, and eternal substance, the līlā, and that is a
dynamic characteristic there, so many things there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So the difficulty arises on the relative platform,
in the relative world. Some difficulty comes in dealing with the relative
world.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Relativity of
the world?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. That sometimes makes for a strong tendency to
come down to the material platform and become offensive to...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, so the māyā
is also existent; māyā is not nothing, it is also
existent. The wall is also existent but still x-ray passes through it. If it’s
not x-ray ordinary ray won’t be able to pierce through the wall. So sādhu
and śāstra, scripture and sādhu, only the agents of
that plane, they can come to us and they may help us to go there.
sādhu-śastra-kṛpāya yadi kṛṣṇonmukha
haya / [sei jīva nistare,
māyā tāhāre chāḍaya]
[“If the conditioned soul becomes Kṛṣṇa
conscious by the mercy of saintly persons who voluntarily preach scriptural
injunctions and help him to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, the
conditioned soul is liberated from the clutches of māyā, who
gives him up.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.120]
We are
within māyā.
[daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī, mama
māyā duratyayā]
mām eva ye prapadyante, māyām etāṁ
taranti te
[“This
‘trimodal,’ supernatural, (alluring) deluding energy of Mine is practically
insurmountable. However, those who fully surrender exclusively unto Me can
certainly surpass this formidable fantasy.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
7.14]
The sādhu, His agent, comes
to our relief, to take from the rigid conviction. Our conception in the
materialistic world is very strong, may be, but that also can be broken by the sādhus.
Went to Calcutta, Caru Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Bhakti Caru, yes, he’s gone to Calcutta.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who else have
come here, new persons?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In three days many will be coming.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara : Within three
days?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Rāmeśvara Mahārāja is coming and many other GBC’s.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Because there
will be a meeting?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Important
meeting?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. This is a very crucial point for our society in
general.
Devotee: They’ll come
here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. This is a very crucial time for us, how we can
learn...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes; whether
this way or that way.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, or together, how we can proceed.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes; whether
rigid or flexible?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, but you may have two rigids.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Two rigid camps?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Some are thinking to...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Modification is
necessary; and some think, ‘No.’
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, because you said...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Changer or no
changer; two camps.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You said, in October, that Guru’s position is a free
one. And some are afraid, so many want to extend Ācārya-ship, but
there is a fear of anarchy with so many free persons – then anarchy. So that is
one fear.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. So some
sort of restriction should be, but life cannot be ruled only by law. Both must
be accommodated. The scope to merit must be allowed and there should also be
sort of rulings there. Law and vitality; law is there but merit of vitality
cannot be checked. They must have proper field; merit must have proper field.
In such way we shall, we should accommodate fair field, there should be fair
field. By law, should not check the proper person and only encourage improper
one. Both sides; regulation, law is also necessary to be subservient to the
natural growth. Suppose a boy requires more food, he will grow, he’ll be more
strong. If you restrict his food then it will be injustice. According to his
capacity he should be given food, he’ll gain more strength and do more work. So
this sort of provision must be in the law. Is it not? To make a movement quite
living.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, but...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is my
opinion.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: ...you have this sensitivity, and Prabhupāda he
also had such sensitivity; to know when the person needs growth. But in our
Governing Body and this sensitivity…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But must not be
too rigid to government. This facility that is to create a fair field. It must
be a living Governing Body and not a mechanical Governing Body but a living
Governing Body. That is, just as I told, ‘He will grow more, he needs more
food.’ In this way, something like that, fair field. Facility must be given to
the merit.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: As much as
possible, our aim should be towards that. That work is necessary. And who will
be the general? Only seniority may be reckoned, but always seniority may not do
the work. Even the younger man may be promoted to be the general. Just as
Rommel was given a position and he cut a very good figure. From the ordinary
class he came. He was appreciated generally by the enemy and his own country.
Is it not? Have you heard the name of Rommel?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Rommel, yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He had got
appreciation from even the enemy quarter.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. That’s true.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He was given
facility and he showed his capacity. So the body should be formed in such a way
that the fair field is created and then the qualified persons they may have
better chance. Otherwise we’ll be jealous of one another and the work will be
lost. The merit must be given freedom and help. I think it should be like that,
a fair field. So they are to take decision on that point in this important
meeting.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: They will – Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja, he has proposed on this question of
the extension of Ācārya-ship that the GBC come to take your advice.
So for certain they will come to hear from you.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, they may
come. I shall talk to them whatever I feel. I am a third person. I can give
some advice according to my experience to them. Hare Kṛṣṇa. RāmeśvaraMahārāja, and there is Bhagavān Dāsa,
this Kīrtanānanda, Satsvarūpa, they’re more influential, is it not? Kīrtanānanda,
Satsvarūpa and Bhagavān Dāsa,
they are more influential.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Kīrtanānanda, he’s very aloof from any political dealings.
And Satsvarūpa Mahārāja
he’s also aloof from any such... but Rāmeśvara Mahārāja, Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja, Bhagavān
Mahārāja, Jayapataka Swāmī...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They’re very
particular about the administration, and constitution, all these. There are
different types of persons. They’re more brahminical; Satsvarūpa
and Kīrtanānanda.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And they’re more
kṣatriya, administrative
nature, sober and indifferent.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: See, Rāmeśvara Mahārāja, once our Guru Mahārāja
he told, he said, “All you GBC, you are like so many children. Therefore I must
stick my nose into everything.” He said, “But Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja he’s a little intelligent.” So his
concern, he wants to extend also this Ācārya-ship. But one problem
that the temple presidents are concerned with is they may invite one
Ācārya to initiate in their temple and so he will make so many
disciples. But then later he may call all the disciples to be with him in some
local project. So then the president is worried that, “I will invite some
Ācārya to initiate these new men, and then he may take them away
later.” So this has perplexed them. So Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja he has suggested one proposal that
there can be extension of Ācārya-ship, but the śiṣya, he should remain in that local temple. Unless his
Guru, there’s some blasphemy, aparādha, or if he is going to leave Kṛṣṇa
consciousness altogether. Under those circumstances he could go to be with the
Guru. But the Guru should voluntarily allow the disciple to remain in the local
temple so that it is strong.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In general the
local interest should be attended to, but in particular case even if a Guru
likes he may take his śiṣya, in a very rare case. But ordinarily, wherever he’s
recruited he may be deputed there for the service to keep the oneness of the
whole ISKCON.
Devotee: This year, who
is being elected as President?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: The Chairman; on the fifth they elect the Chairman,
the Officers of the GBC. So on the fifth they will elect for the following
year.
Devotee: Who can be
elected?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Different GBC.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Now the
President is Kīrtanānanda?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No. Bhagavān Dāsa
Goswāmī, he’s the
Chairman.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: One year or two
years?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: One year. Vice Chairman is Jagadisa Prabhu.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where is he?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He’s the Gurukula Minister.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s not an
Ācārya?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No. He’s gṛhastha. The Secretary is Jayapataka Swāmī.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Chairman, Vice
Chairman, and Secretary.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Those are the officers.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And this year
again it will be again new election will take place?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, three new officers.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And one may be
continued if the committee wishes?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I don’t think you can continue in this same post two
years in a row. You can be another officer but not the same.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But if the
committee likes he cannot keep one, extension is not possible under any case?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, currently I don’t believe it’s possible, but
they could do so if they like.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And that is
good.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But this is what I was speaking that we have for
Mahāprabhu’s service, we have to engage in so many affairs in the material
world, so it is difficult with so many dealings to keep our consciousness pure,
and keep ourselves free from personal motives.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Na hi
kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ tāta gacchati.
[pārtha naiveha nāmutra,
vināśas tasya vidyate
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid,
durgatiṁ tāta gacchati]
[“O Arjuna, son of Kuntī, the
unsuccessful yogī does not suffer ruination either in this life or
the next. He is not deprived of the pleasures of the heavenly planetary systems
in this universe, nor is he denied the chance to personally see the Supersoul
in the divine realm. This is so, O dear one, because a person who performs
virtuous actions never becomes ill-fated.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
6.40]
Sincerity is
the best qualification; sincerity. Sincerity is purity. Inner purity is
sincerity, śraddhā.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: How do you define sincerity?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha.
Sincerity. Sara daivay gaura siksa _________daivay [?]
Whoever comes to embrace the teachings of
Mahāprabhu with appreciation; sincerity is inner appreciation. And one who
has got sincerity he can recognise sincerity in others. One who has got
intelligent reason he can appreciate reason in another person. Is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When he has got
that talent he will see the talent in another person. Sincerity can detect and
know sincerity. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You quoted this verse once: mādhavendra-purīra
‘sambandha’ dhara — jāni; that you can recognise also the qualities of
your Guru Mahārāja.
[kintu tomāra prema dekhi’ mane anumāni
mādhavendra-purīra ‘sambandha’ dhara —
jāni]
[“Upon
seeing Your ecstatic love, I can just imagine that You must have some
relationship with Mādhavendra Purī. This is my understanding.”] [Caitanya-caritamrta,
Madhya-līlā, 17.172]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s an unknown
person but by his dealings Mahāprabhu detected he must have got some
association with Mādhavendra Purī. Otherwise such conduct is impossible. The inner eye
conjectured that here is...
I generally
quote this Norton, there was one Barrister in Calcutta High Court. Arovinda
absconded. Did you hear of the name of Arovinda?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Śrī Arovinda.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: First he was a
revolutionary, then he absconded, and Norton, Barrister of the Government
Party, he used to read the newspapers, and wherever he found forceful writing,
“Here is Mr. Ghosh. So this article must have come from him so try to tackle
the editor of this journal, and there we must get the clue of Aurovinda. Here
is Mr. Ghosh, in his writing.” Sincerity. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Śrīpāda dharamādhavendra-purīra
‘sambandha.’ Without that such touch, without his
touch, such thinking is impossible, thinking of this layer, of this plane,
cannot be had anywhere. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: One other question I had was, how can we know after
the disappearance of our Gurudeva that we are pleasing him; that we will not go
astray? Because māyā can trick us.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Your duty is
finished when you try to be true to your Guru. You have got a conception of
your Guru Mahārāja. You may ask him and stand before his imaginary
picture in you and ask, “What way am I to go? Please direct me.” And whatever
we feel within we will go without being prejudiced by the present
circumstances. That will be the highest. Because the conscience that took you
to your Guru, that may not betray you. Is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: After all your
spiritual conscience of the spiritual characteristic took you ultimately to the
holy feet of your Guru Mahārāja. He won’t betray you. Sincerely stand
before him, “What am I to do?” And that will be the final decision. And also
you must have the love of the institution what he has created. “I see you in
one way and the institution you created in another way, a great difficulty in
me. Please guide me what I am to do. Follow blindly the resultant conclusions
of the committee, or my inner consciousness as I imbibed from your direct
advice?” In rare cases, generally we shall try to work combined, but in rare
cases when such occasions will come we are to take decision. According to me I
must believe my inner sincere conscience.
Atma te prati vidhate [?]
There is a saying of Chanakya Rsi _________the great
ancient politician of India; Chanakya.
Tajat ekam kula sartay [?]
This is niti, niti means advice. For the clan
you should abandon one.
Tajat ekam [?]
One you may sacrifice for many.
Tajat ekam kula sartay [?]
Grahma sartay kulam sarjet [?]
You may renounce for family, to save the family you
may give up one of the family, one member, kula sartay. Grahma sartay kulam
tarjet. And in the case when the whole village and your family differ, you
give up the family and stand on the side of the village. Then...
Desa sartay tadid grahmam [?]
When the whole country is one side and your village is
on another, then give up the village and stand on the side of the country.
Atma te prasidite brajet [?]
But when the quarrel is between yourself and all
others on one side, for your own interest you must give up the whole of the
world.
[Give up a
member to save a family, a family to save a village, a village to save a
country, and the country to save yourself.]
[From Sri
Chanakya Niti-śāstra, The Political Ethics of Chanakya Pandit,
3.10]
End of 81.03.02.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.02.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...in
the first stages, magnitude; but in the highest consideration, quality. For
self interest, to save your own self, your soul, you may sacrifice the whole of
the world, universe. There’s the question of quality.
Devotee:
Quality, not quantity________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...and
so long quantity, but the last decision...atma te pratibima tad hay [?] Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. ________________________ Your
inner conscience took you, did not betray you, took you to your
Ācārya, Guru Mahārāja.
You can’t eliminate or neglect that spiritual conscience, your inner voice.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
And how to ensure that it is not some manodharma, some concoction?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of
course as long as you do not come into conclusion you must follow the general –
but if there is a pricking that you can’t tolerate you will try to adjust with
the opinions of so many. But if such circumstance arises that you can’t
accommodate the... you can’t accept them; in that case it will always be
biting, the conscience will be biting you. If such case occurs then we cannot
but do the same thing, atma te
pratibima tajit [?]
I
must follow my own religious guide, inner guide. I may not continue to be a
hypocrite’s life.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
But on the spiritual path we place in the highest value sādhu-saṅga.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Of
course we will be always
open. If I find that he’s in many events it’s proved then I must not have over
confidence in me; not over confidence. I shall try, “No, to give proper
consideration, proper way, their opinion and advice.” But in the last resort I
am talking like that. We shall try to accommodate them as much as possible and
won’t believe my own self
so much, that, “They’re all false, all wrong, and I am right.” That sort of
pride should not be encouraged. But still, the highest faculty of decision is
that I cannot go on as if in a hypocrite’s life, an artificial life. The last
position will be that. That does not mean that I shall indulge all my
sentiments to be Godly and all others are bogus. I don’t talk like that. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee:
What he wants to say is that first conscience has guided you towards the lotus
feet of your spiritual master and that can never be wrong.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Who did that come from, that conscience, from Kṛṣṇa,
from jīvātmā, from kṛpa-siddha?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha.
That is generally Śrī Guru,
generally, caitya Guru,
the Guru internally, and mahanta Guru outside. In the beginning mahanta Guru is necessarily indispensable but in
higher stages caitya Guru
comes to our help. In the absence of mahanta Guru we can go on with our life accepting the
guidance under the direction of caitya Guru.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
When the Guru appears
to us in our consciousness through his instructions, is that caitya Guru or our...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Caitya Guru. In the absence of our Guru, whether mahanta Guru is living or not; suppose mahanta Guru is living and I’m somewhere in a distant
place and I have to take a decision immediately. What am I to do? No
possibility is there that I get order from him and then do. Immediate action is
to be taken. Then I shall ask myself what my Guru
in such position wants me to do. I
shall do that. So after the departure of our mahanta Guru I shall ask myself what my Guru should want me to do in such
circumstances. I shall do that. As much as I can conjecture, his advice to me, I shall do that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
And that is caitya Guru?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, caitya
Guru, then I am sincere, if more cannot be
expected from me; he will see, he will look after.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
I was thinking, Gadādhara Paṇḍita, he did not want to hear the
explanations of Vallabha Ācārya on
Kṛṣṇa Nāma,
because Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “I know only
Yaśodānandana and another Name of Kṛṣṇa.
I cannot know anymore Names.” But Vallabha went to Gadādhara Paṇḍita
and said, “Won’t you hear my explanations of Kṛṣṇa
Nāma?” And he was perplexed. He knew this
would not please Mahāprabhu. But he
didn’t want to disturb Vallabha. So he thought, “Caitanya Mahāprabhu is in my
heart, and He knows.”
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Other
followers of Caitanya Deva were enraged with Gadādhara
Paṇḍita. “Why do you give indulgence to this
Vallabha who is not faithful to our Master? You are giving indulgence.” But Gadādhara Paṇḍita
with some tolerant spirit it did not disturb him. He came and talked something
though not very pleased, Gadādhara Paṇḍita,
but still he was going and tolerating. This is justified when by such tolerance
Gadādhara Paṇḍita
attracted Vallabha Ācārya, and Vallabha
Ācārya became
his disciple. So then the meaning of tolerance came out.
Devotee:
Vallabha Ācārya became
disciple of Gadādhara Paṇḍita.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. He
appreciated mādhurya
rasa, he entered, got admission into mādhurya rasa
and took mantram from Gadādhara Paṇḍita.
So Gadādhara Paṇḍita’s
toleration came with meaning in flying colours.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Because sometimes because in our
society we’re all very new to this, that we may make some mistakes in terms of
etiquette or may not speak properly...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha,
ha, ha.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
...so I’ve taken help from this verse from Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You
see, Kṛṣṇa līlā
accommodates everything, even mistakes. A mistake sometimes goes
upper than right event or deed; it may be.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
How is that?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Whatever pleases Kṛṣṇa
that is good. You see Kṛṣṇa
wanted Yudhiṣṭhira to just say a falsehood. Yudhiṣṭhira hesitated, and at
last when he uttered, asvatthama hatta iti gaja [?] Are
you aware of the incident?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Yes. He asked him to lie.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To tell
lie. But Yudhiṣṭhira
hesitated. But submission to Kṛṣṇa
requires whatever He wants. Whatever satisfies Him that is truth. The
satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa
– that is the final test, and not any event measured by the standard of this
world of good or bad. Only the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa,
the highest criteria of līlā is
there. In Rāmacandra we don’t find all these things, neti is
getting the upper hand. But with Kṛṣṇa
līlā we find the inner importance eliminating
the external rigidity of morality.
You see, Arjuna comes in the day of Karna vadha [?] perhaps. Yudhiṣṭhira was
insulted by Karna in the battlefield. Yudhiṣṭhira
came out and then Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa
also came for the rest in the midst of war came for some refreshment. And then Yudhiṣṭhira rebuked
Arjuna. “You have taken me and entangled me in this war. I was not very in
favour of war. I depended on you and you do not care in fighting sincerely for
me. You were there and Karna
insulted me. Fie to your Gāṇḍīva.”
Then there was a promise of Arjuna that
whoever will blame his Gāṇḍīva he will behead him or he’ll die himself. When Yudhiṣṭhira blamed
the Gāṇḍīva, Arjuna is about to take out his sword, and Kṛṣṇa saw.
“What
are you doing fool? Are you going to behead your elder brother to fulfil your
promise? What is the value of that promise? Did you not promise a thousand
times that you’ll make Yudhiṣṭhira
your elder brother a king, emperor? Where are those promises? You are only
going to carry out one bogus promise and to behead
your elder brother? And so many promises are there in the war field, the battle
is continuing in full rage, and you are going to a particular part of your
promise you are going to behead your reverent elder brother? Do you think that
this is the purport of the moral laws? For such bogus things the moral laws
have been created – do you think like that? Eliminating the substance and only
taking a part of the form; making much of a mole hill. “I promised like that, I
promised like that.” Yes, there are eight kinds of death. To praise ones own
self that is also a kind of death, so you praise yourself, “You are so big, so
big, so big.” And that is a kind of death.”Then Arjuna…
The
purpose, the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa,
of the centre, the absolute good and all consciousness, all knowing,
omniscient; His satisfaction that is
the highest criteria of every action. And other laws are all subsidiary to that
law. Do you follow?There are so many laws, in so many grades, but the highest
is that all are leading to the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa.
That should be the highest criteria of everything. Kṛṣṇa sukha____________ [?] And He’s autocrat absolute, but He’s
absolute good. That is the justification; absolute good is autocrat. And we all
like military camp, all towards the general. No other; all laws concentrated in
the order of the general. He knows better than we soldiers.
Devotee:
Who can be autocrat? Only the absolute good can be autocrat.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
And yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo [ŚrīGurv-aṣṭakam, 8]. Kṛṣṇa and Guru, but how will we know what is pleasing to
Kṛṣṇa, without
Guru?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. So
I feel so far that it may not be possible to detect what is the nature of His
satisfaction. So His agent sent by Him to me, if I carry out his order, his
temperament I look out and I read and do, then Kṛṣṇa
will say, “I have deputed him. And because I am far away from him so many
hindrances, so My deputation is there and his satisfaction is My satisfaction.
It is already ordered by Me.” That is the general case. By satisfying Guru we can satisfy Kṛṣṇa, because
he’s in that position by order of Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee:
Jñāna-sunya-bhakti,
jñāna miśrā-tahi bara [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
So, then I was thinking, to be sincere can also make mistakes. Like this Arjuna
Ācārya who was
in Bhagavad-gītā [9.22] he was ananyāś cintayanto
māṁ, ye janāḥ paryupāsate.
[“I
personally assume the whole responsibility of acquiring and protecting the
necessities of My fully dependent devotees who are always absorbed in thought
of Me alone, and who worship Me exclusively in all respects.”]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is
possible, rarely, but sometimes by the influence of Kṛṣṇa he’s
benumbed only to show to the ordinary public a particular picture. The moha pardon. By the special will of Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna
was covered by misunderstanding. And by doing so, by taking Arjuna as a
misguided disciple He delivered the Gītā
Upadeśa,
nimitta-mātraṁ [Bhagavad-gītā, 11.33]
Do you follow? Am I not clear?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Yes, nimitta-mātraṁ, an agent, an instrument.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Arjuna
was not of that type, but temporarily he was overpowered by the will of Kṛṣṇa to be in
such a position. So many things came out from Arjuna and He’s going to answer
all those questions. Temporarily Arjuna was put in such conditions by the
special power of Kṛṣṇa
to teach the people at large. Arjuna was transformed into such, taken and
forced into being in that position by Kṛṣṇa’s
will. To make it – Arjuna was forced to take the position of an unlearned man
and thereby the public was given the advices of Gītā.
Arjuna was a nimitta.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
What of in the case of this Arjun Ācārya
who was writing? In this verse Kṛṣṇa
says, “Teṣāṁ
nityābhiyuktānāṁ, yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham,
that I come personally. [Bhagavad-gītā, 9.22]” And he was
thinking that Kṛṣṇa
must not come personally; He must send someone else. So he changed the writing.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is
not this Arjuna; that is Arjun Mīsra, another person, a paṇḍita,
a scholar.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Right. Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A
scholar in devotion named Arjun Mīsrain Orissa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
What of his case? He was changing the message.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. He
could not tolerate the idea that my affectionate Lord He will carry on His
shoulder or on His head what are the needs of His devotee. He could not
tolerate. As Jayadeva could not tolerate the idea though it rushed in his mind
that Kṛṣṇa is going
to touch the feet of Rādhikā. In these two cases Kṛṣṇa says
that, “What I am pushing in your heart, I am there. Yes, I am.”
maha-mohan,
not karan-mohan, varan-mohan, bahan-mohan [?]
He
showed it practically. And in Jayadeva’s case also He came and wrote, dehi
pada-pallavam udāram [Gītā-Govinda,
10.7]. They’re high things. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Hari.
You will accept some anukalpa here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Well, today’s Ekādaśī.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Ekādaśī; no anukalpa?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
I’ve been trying to fast.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The
whole day, fast?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You don’t
take any anukalpa? All right.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Because I was thinking, I’m a sannyāsī, I should try to be a
little renounced, a little renunciation.
Devotee:
He tries to do little renunciation.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, sannyāsī.
Ha, ha.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Because you are always saying that beware of renunciation; so do you think this
is good or this is...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Between
Scylla and Charybdis, do you know the expression ‘Between Scylla and
Charybdis?’ I am between Scylla and Charybdis. Near Italy in the Mediterranean,
Charybdis is a hidden rock, and another there is a whirlpool, Scylla. So when a
ship goes through them between Scylla and Charybdis, if it’s near Charybdis it
will strike against it and will be ruined. And if it comes near the Scylla it
will come under the course of the whirlpool and will go down. So it is very
difficult to pass through Scylla and Charybdis.
[Charybdis:
Greek mythology. A dangerous whirlpool in a narrow channel of the sea, opposite
the cave of the sea monster Scylla] [Scylla: Greek mythology. A female sea monster who devoured
sailors when they tried to navigate the narrow channel between her cave and the
whirlpool Charybdis. In later legend Scylla was a dangerous rock, located on the Italian side of
the Strait of Messina] [Scylla and Charybdis, used to refer to a situation involving two dangers
in which an attempt to avoid one increases the risk from the other.]
[Oxford English Dictionary]
So this side is bhoga and tyāga,
exploitation, selfish enjoyment, and another side renunciation. Renunciation
and exploitation – both are dangerous. Renunciation is more dangerous than
exploitation. It is a more powerful enemy. The tendency of renunciation that is more powerful enemy of devotion of Kṛṣṇa than
this weak though cheap enemy is that of
exploitation. Exploitation is a weak enemy and renunciation is a strong enemy.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
So, but, now, so, in the Gauḍīya sampradāya we have to
take sannyāsa for propaganda purposes. But how much renunciation...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is
sham sannyāsa, to capture those that are in the rank of sannyāsī.
Only for that purpose Mahāprabhu did and
even took māyāvādā
sannyāsa to capture the māyāvādīs because they had the power in their hand.
At that time the society was under the control of māyāvādīs, mostly. So He took the garb of māyāvādī
sannyāsa, the Ācārya,
and entering within their camp He preached that, “What you are doing is all
anti devotion and that is bad. The Buddhistic principles you are trying to enter into the Vedic doctrine, doing great
disservice to the society. Vedāśraya
nāstikya-vāda bauddhake adhika.”
[veda nā māniyā bauddha
haya' ta nāstika / vedāśraya
nāstikya-vāda bauddhake adhika]
[“The Buddhists do not recognise the
authority of the Vedas; therefore they are considered agnostics.
However, those who have taken shelter of the Vedic scriptures yet preach
agnosticism in accordance with the māyāvādā
philosophy are certainly more dangerous than the Buddhists.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 6.168]
“Really you are delivering the goods
of the Buddhistic School under the garb of Vedic fashion. That is more
dangerous. You’re doing great harm to the society. The varṇāśrama,
the Veda, always leads towards Kṛṣṇa,
Kṛṣṇa bhakti,
positive thing; not negative Brahman.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
So how should I know how strict to be with myself?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What
sort of strictness I should observe as a sannyāsī? I should devote
my maximum energy to Kṛṣṇa
and whatever will be favourable to that I’ll
accept that; if fasting is more favourable. The service of Kṛṣṇa that is
more important and what will help me for that I shall do.
Śrīla
Govinda Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
When our Guru Mahārāja,
at the time of dīkṣā, he would request that we follow
four principals. No illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat, fish, or egg eating,
no gambling. And then he would tell us to chant sixteen rounds, sixteen times.
So at the time of initiation of Gauḍīya time of Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta, what
would he request of the disciple, of the śiṣya?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: His
main object was to chant Kṛṣṇa,
to preach Kṛṣṇa,
under the guidance of a superior sādhu, Vaiṣṇava. Under
the guidance of Vaiṣṇava,
go on preaching Kṛṣṇa.
That is the first thing, most important, others only helping that life. Of
course the mālā may not fast, that is the mālā should
not fast, that is some sort of food should be given to mālā.
That is according to the necessity of the service, if it is necessary to
decrease the number you may do. You’re doing the kīrtana and this
is japa;
kīrtana is superior to japa,
but don’t neglect it but that is the superior – kīrtana, Hari kīrtana.
And do it with utmost power. But to make it valid, pure, guaranteed, you must
do it under the direction of a Vaiṣṇava
whom you regard. Kīrtana
is that. And all other duties that are forms of devotion are
subsidiary to kīrtana, preaching.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Bṛhat-mṛdaṅga.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bṛhat-mṛdaṅga
in writing, and in writing or orally, go on pushing Kṛṣṇa kīrtana.
Fight with māyā. Try to establish Kṛṣṇa
consciousness driving away the misunderstanding that “I am God, I am enjoyer,
he’s enjoyer, country’s enjoyer.” Demolish all these things. Kṛṣṇa is the
only enjoyer and He’s such and such. Spread this Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.
Once in Janmāṣṭamī
day, MādhavaMahārāja,
he was Hayagrīva Brahmacārī at that time. Prabhupāda had to
go to Mathurā, perhaps to observe the Puruṣottama Mas or something;
anyhow, he had to go to Mathurā. And Hayagrīva Brahmacārī
he selected to go one day earlier and to
hire a suitable house. And when Hayagrīva Brahmacārī was to go
that day was Janmāṣṭamī. Prabhupāda
asked his own cook, “Feed him with rice.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
On Janmāṣṭamī?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: On
Janmāṣṭamī day. “He will have to take a tedious journey
and his energy will be wasted but he has got that important duty to fix a house
there so give him rice.” That was his order. But Hayagrīva hesitated and
his cook also hesitated, Sajjana Mahārāja.
Anyhow the sago and plantain and curd, all these things together he took in
Janmāṣṭamī day.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
And rice also?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not
rice.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
No, he didn’t take, he wouldn’t take.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And if
Professor Sanyal were in his position he must have taken rice. He was so much
adherent to the – extremely submissive to Prabhupāda’s
order. He would have said, “Oh Prabhupāda
has asked me to take rice. I must take rice.” That was his contention, his line
of thought. But Hayagrīva hesitated. “No, no. None is necessary. I’m
strong enough. I shall do the duty. When Prabhupāda
wanted me to eat something in this fasting day, let me have something, anukalpa.”
Then he went on.
So
for kīrtanapurpose; when the first party went to England – Bon Mahārāja,
Tīrtha Mahārāja,
and Sambit, they could not make any special arrangement in cooking their prasādam,
the ordinary prasādam.
Some took pāraṇ ate etc, and some vegetable arrangement was
there but all touched and not separate arrangement of vegetable or non
vegetable, but all connected and mixed together. Some took that touched
vegetable, and Prabhupāda approved
that.
And
once, Prabhupāda was
telling in his discussion about western preaching in Bombay. He told that, “There should be a Hindu home established
and there will be a Hindu hostel. And there all the Indians should be invited
to stay there. And those that are vegetarian the prasādamwill
be distributed to them. And non vegetarians we shall arrange with the hostel
and they will serve meat there for them.”
Then I protested; that if for the non
vegetarians we arrange with the hostel to serve meat into our compound, then
there will be a bad name of the mission.
“Oh. What do you say? We must have vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti.”
This expression was uttered by him, vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti.
“I shall do this, I shall not do this. That won’t go. Anything - I am vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti.”
That was like a lightening shock within me.
Vaikuṇṭha, what is the meaning
of Vaikuṇṭha? Unlimited,
unconditioned; so for Kṛṣṇa
I am to do anything and everything. Such mentality I must have. For the purpose
of the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa
I must be up to anything. Whatever, for His service is necessary, I must do
that without considering any consideration of anything else in this world.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Jai.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So you
are of such nature. Preaching, I’m going to preach. Kabhu nā vādhibe
tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga.
yāre
dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa, āmāra
ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa
kabhu
nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga, [punarapi ei ṭhāñi
pābe mora saṅga]
[Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu told His
followers: “Instruct
whoever you meet in the science of Kṛṣṇa.
Teach them the instructions of Kṛṣṇa
in Bhagavad-gītā, and the teachings about Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In this way, on My order, become a Guru
and liberate everyone in the land. If you follow this instruction, the waves of
materialism within this world will not affect you. Indeed, if you follow My
order, you will soon attain My association.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
7.128-129]
“This
worldly wave will never be able to touch you if you are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
You must mind that.Kabhu
nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga, punarapi ei ṭhāñi
pābe mora saṅga.
I am giving order and again in the process of discharging this duty you will
see Me, that I am backing you.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Jai.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura
Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Thank
you.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Suicidal squad; in the army there is a department of suicidal squad, is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
The kamikazes, in Japan the kamikazes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In
Japan, with some bombs in their armpits they jumped into the chimney. And
thereby, two main navies of the British were destroyed by Japan. Hitler told,
“If I have to learn anything in the military science, the military
administration, I have to learn from Japan and none else,” after these two
incidences of the suicidal. So from that time a suicidal squad was formed by
every army. They’re always ready by committing suicide they’re always ready to
perform the service. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
So for us, what is that suicidal work?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If we
do,
Premi
bhakta viraha chai moritay premi krsna milay sei na pai moritay [?]
So,
for the earnestness to render the service, a devotee may risk his life. But
He’s there, He comes
to save him. So at the risk of life one should go forward to serve Kṛṣṇa. Your Prabhupāda wanted
to send you to China, to Russia, but they’re so demonic they may try to kill.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
I went to Russia.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You
went to Russia?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And
that Gopāl Kṛṣṇa was
sent; that Punjabi, he was sent by your Prabhupāda
to Russia.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: India
is friendly to Russia, and with that advantage he sent him. Gopāl Kṛṣṇa
came here the other day.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Oh, he did? He was here.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. He
came and he seems to be one of the candidates of the Ācārya post.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In this
meeting perhaps he will put his application, “I am a candidate for the post of Ācārya.” Gopāl Kṛṣṇa
perhaps: that Punjabi gentleman.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
But Mahārāja, there
cannot be a vote, can there? A vote, say you’re going to vote for Ācārya. The
majority, you will tell your disciples the majority has...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In the
present case of course the vote has some consideration. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
mukhya-gauṇa-vṛtti,
kiṁvā anvaya-vyatireke / vedera
pratijñā kevala kahaye kṛṣṇake
[“When
one accepts Vedic literature by interpretation or even by dictionary meaning,
directly or indirectly the ultimate declaration of Vedic knowledge points to
Lord Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.146]
Every letter in Bhāgavatamis Kṛṣṇa. This
spacious idea we must foster. The dialectic method is thesis, antithesis, and
synthesis. Have you read the German philosopher Hegel?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Little, I’ve heard a little.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: His
method is dialectic logic. Thesis, then antithesis, and harmonising both of
them, the greater synthesis. Again one sees that is again thesis, and again
antithesis, and harmonising both the greater synthesis. In this way the world
is making progress. That is his theory, the dialectic method. The world is
progressing in a dialectic method. Whatever there will be there will be some
opposite conception, and then the third will come to harmonise both.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
That we must do for preaching. For preaching we must do like that.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Sometimes by God’s will it comes to effect like that. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee:
Anukalpa?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
No. I think I should fast for Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________________________________ Venkatta _____ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Venkatta, Vrndavana.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He was
in charge of Gurukula
there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Yes. That’s right.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That Canadian
gentleman.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Oh. Yaśodānandan.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Yaśodānandan. He came here by Toofar mail [a train service] in the
day of Ekādaśī, and when he reached here during the evening and
went to take bath in the Ganges and then kīrtana, dancing, and all these things,
circumambulation; then I asked him whether he’ll take any anukalpa. “But
generally I don’t do, but if you like then of course I must take anukalpa.
Your will is greater than fasting.” Ha, ha, ha. That was his decision, and he
did so.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
That’s also my decision, because I always want your mercy.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
So if you desire that I take some prasāda I’ll do that.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: My Guru Mahārāja– “That maximum energy,
you take good food and do good service.” That was his maxim. “Kṛṣṇa is not a
liquidated party; take prasādam full
and do full service, maximum service, and whatever is necessary you take it and
for the cause of Kṛṣṇa
you are to take, not for your own cause. You are Kṛṣṇa’s,
so if you grow weak, and if you are weak, then the hampering in the service
then you’ll be loser. I’ll also be loser. My soldiers should be well fed and
well working.” That was his principle.
Half fed soldiers Napoleon told, “One full
fed soldier is equal to ten half fed soldiers.” Something like that Napoleon
told.
End of 81.03.02.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.02.C_81.03.03.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: ...say that they’re not qualified to be Guru. And
they will say that you are saying “Oh. You can be Guru, have two feet here...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Two feet here and...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So they’re saying...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And the eyes fixed on Vaikuṇṭha.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They’re of that opinion but they have no eyes to Vaikuṇṭha
at all.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And they say that you must be the uttama whose
acting on the madhyama platform. That is the Guru that one must seek
out. The madhyama Guru he may be some kind of Guru, but who is
interested in such a Guru?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I also had such ideas first, but through
transformation I did not venture to make disciples in the beginning, after the
departure of Prabhupāda. But I had some transformation through three
events. Then I came to take up this work humbly, modestly, in a...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What was that, can I ask?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The other day it was taken in, such question. Tamal Kṛṣṇa
asked, “That I do not consider myself quite fit to do
this work. Then should I go on?” And what did I answer?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You said, “āmāra ājñāya guru hañā.” That by the
command of Mahāprabhu
and my Guru Mahārāja it is his order.
[yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
/ āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa]
[“Instruct
everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as
they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this
land.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 7.128]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That we must be so much careless if it is possible,
that I may go to hell, but I must carry out my Guru’s order. So through me the
work will go on, may go on. That is one, and another instance, one of gopīs, and another
instance...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa’s headache.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And another instance I also quoted. What is that? Rāmānuja. I may go to hell. But this sort of
conviction......into the process into mantram, that gives us position to
carry out. This is helping, this medicine is – I’m in the curing process, this
medicine is helping me. In a similar case the medicine I may hand over to him.
And Jīva Goswāmī says jñāna
śāthya vittha śāthya. “I have got some money. Another
person is suffering, can’t pay. If I keep tight that money and he dies fasting
without food, then I will be responsible for that, vittha śāthya.
So jñāna śāthya is there. I have got some knowledge. I
can help my neighbour but I don’t do that, then I’ll be responsible, I shall
commit some offence against the society and against the cause.”
You see, in
this world this also came to me. I asked one doctor, “What do you know? Do you
know about the disease perfectly? How do you venture to cure, to treat a
patient? You have got meagre knowledge. You don’t know his body fully. You
venture, you are wrong.”
The doctor
submitted to me, but the reaction came in my mind. Then the whole method of
treatment will vanish? All half-knowing, not anyone to be found with full,
perfect knowledge, then this curing process should be abolished? It is not
possible.
So in the
case of all culture one should help others in good faith. In good faith
whatever knowledge he has got he must help others with that knowledge and
guidance, sincerely. So in that spirit we may take it. Otherwise we’ll be
blamed.
So with that
good sincere spirit we can go on. Wherever, but we must be careful. Whenever a
Guru of superior quality is there, I must take to him. Better seed is
available. The kṣetra, the land, is
there, but when better seed is available for the cultivation, no bad seed
should occupy. So when the better Guru is available we must help a person to
take to him. I must not go to be a trespasser.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But the Vaiṣṇava he’s always thinking himself, jagāi
mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 5.205] he’s thinking himself, so he will always want
to take someone to the other Vaiṣṇava.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So Vaiṣṇava, the degree of Vaiṣṇavism
will take us to almost akiñcana, that I am nothing, I am the lowest of the low. But
when Ācārya abhimāna will flow it will come through the order of Kṛṣṇa,
you will have to do it. In that case he wants to do. It is His flow.
Mahāprabhu says, “Sanātana, Kṛṣṇa’s grace is
flowing, passing through Me to you. I can’t understand. Kṛṣṇa
is going to grace you, and it is passing through Me, all these words. I don’t
understand them but it is going, passing through Me, I feel, something like
that. My Ācārya’s order I am carrying out. Being so low but still I
am accepted, ordered by Ācārya to do.”
With this
necessity, that is not always externally but internally also. The Ācārya asked me, “Go on with preaching, do. You
are qualified. If you don’t do then why did I give it to you? I spread it so
you also spread.” If such sincere urge one feels in his heart he must do. If I
do not serve the society, whatever I have got with that, then if I think that
no, I’ll be responsible to my Guru. “That you got so much energy from me and if
you keep it within you, four walls within your heart, let them lose to help
others.” If one comes in this sort of thought he should try. But the difficulty
is there that to become a Guru, to capture the position of a Guru, the respect of
the Guru, that is one thing, and to discharge the duty that is another stage.
Sincerity is necessary in the conception. The conception of course is difficult
no doubt. No doubt it is a difficult thing. He will be lost and others will
also be lost. So in the name of helping others he will deceive others if he
himself is a deceit. So we must be careful. Whether I am eligible to discharge
the duty what I have received from my Guru, whether I’m eligible to do good to
others.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But you can do that, you can give śikṣā
also, yes? You can give what you’ve heard from your
spiritual master, your Guru, you can give to others.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So what is the necessity of dīkṣā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is also a trap to catch the Guru. You give the śikṣā
and those that have got your śikṣā
will say, “I cannot go to any other. Whatever I heard
from you I cannot accept anyone to be Guru than yourself.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But you can say, “If you accept me, then I tell you
to accept him.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And if he’s sincere, if you accept him, I show you
have faith in me, real faith, then I show you to go to that gentleman. He may
say if he sincerely believes that he’s superior to him, he may say. And if of
equal status with the Ācārya then also he’s already in the
constitution. “You go to see. I don’t want to disturb the constitutional work.”
In that case also to a certain extent it may be adjusted like that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But if one says he’s going down, how can I recommend
this sincere gentleman to connect with him.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There at that time he will have to come down himself
to take the responsibility of continuing the work of his Guru. It all depends
on sincere realisation.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Because some people they came to you and you were
telling that you thought yourself unfit and you sent them away, in the
beginning.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. I sent some away. Mādhava’s mother,
Swāmī Mahārāja’s sister came to me.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Pishima. [aka Bhāvinī Didi]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: She had Hari Nāma from Prabhupāda
and for initiation she came to me. But at that time my mind was hesitating. I
sent her to Goswāmī Mahārāja. If I am not going to take up
the duty, and he has taken, if you have faith in me, I recommend you to go
there. I did, and many I did, in the beginning.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: This is another thing. Some people say that in the Ādi-līlā
of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it says there is one initiating
spiritual master and there may be many instructing or śikṣā
Guru, but one dīkṣāGuru.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: For the particular person śikṣā
Guru may be many, but dīkṣāGuru one and the same, in general case. But if he’s a
bogus one, then he should be left and, avaiṣṇava.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But some devotees, they are bewildered. They’re
thinking that if you can only have one dīkṣāGuru then how is it that after the disappearance of
Prabhupāda, disciples who have dīkṣāfrom him, Hari Nāma, they can take mantra
from someone else? Isn’t mantra also dīkṣā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In considering that he’s His vaibhāva, extension, he
has asked them, His extended delegated power, delegated His will to perform the
residue, the duty that is taken up by him. So by submitting to them I am
submitting to Him, His order. In this way you may adjust. But if he finds that
he’s satisfied that he’s in the line of former Guru. Otherwise it is also
possible that he may not have the second dīkṣā at all.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But what if he takes second dīkṣā
and he sees some conflict between the mantra Guru and Hari Nāma
Guru?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In that case he should not, after dīkṣā
or before dīkṣā, if he finds any difference then he
may not venture very easily.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But what about after? He has taken mantra from
someone and then he sees some difficulty?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: After taking mantram he’s in difficulty?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, between Hari Nāma Guru and mantra
Guru.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If there’s some difference at present in his mind,
new ideas of difference have sprung up in his heart?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That he’s not in the line.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then of course he cannot but be indifferent to his
present Guru, in the beginning. That I see difference, he’s not in the line,
but I have done. Wait and see. That should be his behaviour, wait and see. I do
not find encouragement in him to engage in the service with earnestness, it may
be. That is of course a disaster, calamity.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: It may also be due to immature understanding.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But those defects should be realised whether they’re
exterior or interior. The difference what is being detected, that is external,
superficial, un substantial. If it is superficial, he should be encouraged that
this may be neglected. But if internal, then of course it is a difficult case,
and cannot but be indifferent for some time, and then gradually the thing will
– time will decide and show what’s the matter, and then he’s to take such steps
accordingly.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Jai. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Finished?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Thank you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. Thank you.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I hope I don’t bother you by coming so often.
...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: ...written about you in his book, this Autobiography
of a Jewish Yogī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. How has he represented me?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He compares you to a great general, when he met you.
And there he tells of the instructions how Śrīla Prabhupāda told
him that he regarded you as his śikṣā Guru, and that
Acyutānanda Swāmī should come here for your instructions. He was
in some spiritual difficulty. So he describes the nine months that he was
living here and his hearing from you, the many different subjects you would
speak about.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And ultimately, the conclusion?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: The conclusion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The result of that association has taken him far
away from the ISKCON?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, no. Ha, ha, ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The consequence shows this and my association is
responsible for that. Ha, ha, ha.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha. No. We were, for all these years we have
wondered how Acyutānanda Swāmī knows so many things. Everyone
has always wondered. And then now we can understand, by you association, where
he learned so many things.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maybe.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But his conclusion was that your instructions were
non different than our Prabhupāda’s instructions.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not different?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Non different. But at the same time different. This
is my understanding. This is the spiritual sweetness of variety. It’s non
different but at the same time it’s different. And I didn’t know that it could
be like this. Because as you said in your poem to Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta, about this world is filled with the cheaters and the
cheated. So Prabhupāda was the only person that I ever met who did not
cheat me, until I met Your Divine Grace also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It’s corroborated.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And everything that you tell me.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But in Acyutānanda’s writing there is
appreciation for me?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is your opinion? You have read, you have gone
through that book?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, I’ve gone through it, and he presents you very
nicely.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _______________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Swāmī Mahārāja wrote a letter in
his address, in his good name.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “Ask Mahārāja,” that is myself, “to keep
Acyutānanda in his Maṭh and
to give some advice to him.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Acyutānanda wanted that letter. At that time it
was not found.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. He has asked me if I can bring it back to him
in America. Acyutānanda Swāmī wants me to bring it to America.
Now Bhakti Caru Swāmī has it, so I can take it from him and I’m going
to New York, I will give it to Acyutānanda, if you like.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That letter?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. And we can leave a copy here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Caru Swāmī will have a copy?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. I’m also keeping a copy.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Copy means?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Zerox, photo copy.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Block? And then that will be given. Copy should be
distributed. The original will be with him and the copies should be
distributed.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. With who, the original?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: With Caru Swāmī.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, with Bhakti Caru. Yes. All right, then I can
give Acyutānanda a copy, because he is putting that letter in his book,
he’s putting it there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Acyutānanda does not plan to come to India
again? He has no such plan?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not immediately, no.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is he doing? Is he delivering lectures in
different universities?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. At universities, and also he’s trying to get
his book published. Because if you have a book then you can travel around and
you can be on television and you can get so many preaching opportunities if you
have a book.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. A better position of a preacher, he has it in
black and white. All right. But why Jewish Yogī?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: That is his humour.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jewish Yogī is converted into a Kṛṣṇa
bhakta.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha. There is one very famous book by Paramahaṁsa Yogānanda. Do you know Paramahaṁsa Yogānanda? He is a māyāvādā, and he has one famous book.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is known as yogada.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yogada, I do not know. But he’s very popular;
this book is very popular in the western countries. And his book is called...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Rabindranatha wrote against him, that this hot yogī
had a closer association with the ladies, to teach them yoga, that
is a blasphemy in the name of Indian culture. There I saw in the writing of
Rabindranatha Tagore, yogadar. He had a centre in Ranchi [?] perhaps.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, I think so, it sounds like the man. He has one
book called Autobiography of a Yogī, and everyone reads it. So
Acyutānanda Swāmī has called Autobiography of a Jewish
Yogī to take from that popularity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: From that position he will show that Kṛṣṇa
is the highest.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not the charm of yoga and the charm of Jewish
method of worshipping of many gods. We have left those two planes and I am
going, fixing my aim, to the highest, as Kṛṣṇa conception.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, he’s showing that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anyhow, he has chosen that to be the platform where
from he’s to speak. Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jai. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. You are to stay here
sometime more?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In Māyāpur?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You are to take anukalpa?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: As you like.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, as you like.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes,
[tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam
mahāntas te sama-cittāḥ
praśāntā, vimanyavaḥ suhṛdaḥ sādhavo ye]
[“One can attain the path of liberation
from material bondage by service to the great devotees. One who wishes to
advance in spiritual life must render service to the mahātmās.
For those who are not interested in advancing in spiritual life, who associate
with those fond of women and sex, the path to hell is wide open. The great
devotees are equipoised. They do not see any difference between one living
entity and another. They are very peaceful, and are fully engaged in devotional
service. They are devoid of anger and they work for the benefit of everyone.
They do not behave in any abominable way. Such persons are known as mahātmās.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 5.5.2]
I am here
just to try and serve you, then the door to Vaikuṇṭha is open.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see, service is better than sitting idle. So prasāda
sevā, if it is service, in a serving mood of course, but at the same
time the individual position of a devotee should be considered, should be taken
into consideration. The sahajiyās, they do not observe Ekādaśī fasting at all. “Oh. We are in Vṛndāvana. No fasting there.” But Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura, Prabhupāda, did not like in the
Name; that is sahajiyā, in the name of Kṛṣṇa bhakti
to go on with feeding, feeding the senses. But when necessary for the
service of Kṛṣṇa to keep up the body for the nourishment what
is necessary in the service of Kṛṣṇa, we don’t like by taking
to fasting that the loss of energy may not be affected, in this way we are
to... Ekādaśī we honour.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _______________________________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If fasting does not hamper your service you may go
on fasting. Your Gurudeva perhaps wanted.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, see, he did not do this. Our Gurudeva, he
would eat something. So I was thinking that I can fast and I do not become
weak, but I was thinking that maybe I will start to think that I am greater
than my Gurudeva, because he was eating and I was, so...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________________________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: That danger may be there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A greater danger, that I am more greater devotee
than my Guru. Ha, ha, ha, ha, by observing fast. When you are aware of that
danger that won’t attack you. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Now I’m completely
confused.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Confused? ____________________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So you have to tell me, śiṣyas te ’haṁ
śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam.
[kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ,
pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ
yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ
brūhi tan me, śiṣyas te ’haṁ śādhi māṁ
tvāṁ prapannam]
[“Now I am
bewildered. What is my real duty? Overwhelmed by apprehension for the fall of
our dynasty, I am begging You to please tell me clearly which course of action
is most beneficial for me. I am Your surrendered disciple. Kindly instruct
me.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.7]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A small, only a little honour, to show your respect
on the both sides.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But at your Maṭha there is no conception of
little. They have lost this conception. They’re only conceiving the infinite,
the unlimited. They have no conception of the finite. So I’ll take a little, or
try. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When the Guru is there, the disciples are more free,
but when he’s departed they should be more careful. The guardian’s vigilant eye
is not over my head I should be careful. But when the guardian’s vigilant eye
is there, the son is more free to do this thing that thing because he’s there,
he’s to check.
Devotee:
_______________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mādhava Mahārāja, he showed a strict
ideal; very eager to show an ideal of Guru without any defect strongly to his
disciples. But when he used to come to visit me he used like a child, like a
friend. No restriction of the order. Even the disciples, the followers with
him, but here he had no independence. He took his bed just on the floor
sometimes, and used to take the fired rice, this pakula etc. He was
quite free in his dealings. But when he’s separate he’s a very strict
Ācārya, observing so many practices so that his disciples may not mistake
him to be in an enjoying mood. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Also I’m conscious of
that, because this is a question of śraddhā. And that is not something artificial. Śraddhācomes naturally.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Natural, spontaneous.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But in the beginning, one may want to tell someone
else, “Oh, look what I have found,” but they may not appreciate the value. So
we have to be very careful. But I think...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Careful, and as the well-wisher of ISKCON I am also
a little careful.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I feel. But still what I feel to be sincerely to be
the truth, I cannot deviate from that. That is my difficulty.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha. Jai.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who are to put question first? Ha, ha.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: We’re very glad to see you again.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Very? We’ll be more glad, but my age and health is
not allowing. I should be rather more bright and more cheerful to do this
service. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: We find you very bright and effulgent.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha. Then there’s special
eyesight. Ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
[varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ,]
kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa
ātmavit-sammataḥ puṁsāṁ,
śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ
[“My dear
King, your question is glorious because it is very beneficial for all kinds of
people. The answer to this question is the prime subject matter for hearing,
and it is approved by all transcendentalists.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
2.1.1]
Śukadeva first invited and welcomed the question put by
Parīkṣit Mahārāja,
and the second canto of Bhāgavatam begins like that. “Varīyān
eṣa te praśnaḥ, this sort of question should only be made,
ātmavit-sammataḥ, because from two standpoints the question
is judged for its validity, atmavit-sammatah and loka-hitaṁ.
One aspect of the question is atmavit-sammatah. Those that know their
real intrinsic need by self analysis, it is asked by them, ātmavit-sammataḥ.
And loka-hitaṁ, really, this question will help the good of the
people. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja,
your question is a bona fide one and I am just going to answer that.” In this
way Bhāgavata began. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Ātmavit-sammataḥ
and loka-hitaṁ. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Giri Mahārāja: So, we did have one question to begin, and that is,
the disciple comes to the spiritual master in any position and then gradually
by the mercy of the Guru he’s elevated through the modes, the different guṇas, rising higher
and higher up to the mode of goodness and then finally pure goodness. Now in
our various duties sometimes we have to act more like a kṣatriyaor a manager which is more associated with the mode of
passion. But on the other hand we’re trying to come more to the stage of
goodness and then pure goodness beyond any of the material modes. But sometimes
in discharging our management duties it seems that we become affected by the mode
of passion and that weakens us.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You please reproduce it.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Yes. He’s saying that in doing daily activities,
especially our leaders, we have to act in such a way that it is like raja guṇa. Yet when
cultivating Kṛṣṇa bhakti we want to come to the point
of śuddha sattvic position. So sometimes our daily functions...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, yes. What is nirguṇa, that includes rajas, tamo, and, seems to be,
apparently, seems to include raja, tama, and sattva, but it may
be nirguṇa. Even killing may
be nirguṇa, and at the same
time, killing and worshipping may be saguṇa, formal worship.
The very angle of vision, the standpoint, the inner purpose, that is what is
the all important factor. You see, if a cent per cent, by the direction, and
directed by the Guru’s good will, one is going to control, to handle all these
things, that may be nirguṇa. This chastisement, stricture, all may be nirguṇa. It depends on the plane from where he’s dealing and
for what purpose. The external form is not everything to be judged. Of course I
don’t say that all the chastisement and all the rough dealings will be nirguṇa, may not be, generally it may not be, but it can be nirguṇa. The purity of the purpose, the sincerity of the purpose,
it depends on that. How he’s handling and what for, how much sincere goodness
he has got in his heart for the person whom he’s chastising. Just as mother’s
chastising and ordinary enemies chastising is not one and the same; the good
will at the back. So only external behaviour is not everything which will guide
us to judge the action.
Giri Mahārāja: Yes. Now suppose I go, suppose some sincere lady
comes and with all sincerity I want to preach to her, but due to that contact,
although I begin will all sincere desire from the nirguṇaplatform, but after that association...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. There are crucial points that should be judged
from various standpoints. The sincere I shall try to attend, at the same time I
shall have to reckon the good of others they may not mistake me, and the
position of the person who is going to help, all these things may be taken into
consideration. Sometimes a sincere man may be sacrificed for the good of so
many. Sometimes it is necessary. And sometimes one’s sincere hankering so much
that the Ācārya may take the risk to help him. And the
Ācārya’s position must be substantial; he may not be weak, so that he
may not be entrapped. All these things should be considered. But generally ānukūl
and prātikūl, ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ,
prātikūlya- vivarjjanam.
[ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ,
prātikūlya-vivarjjanam
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso, goptṛtve
varaṇaṁ tathā.
ātma-nikṣepa kārpaṇye, ṣaḍ-vidhā
śaraṇāgatiḥ
evaṁ paryyāyataś cāsminn,
ekaikādhyāya-saṅgrahaḥ]
[The six divisions of surrender are to
accept those things favourable for devotional service, to reject unfavourable
things, the conviction that Kṛṣṇa will give protection, to
accept the Lord as one’s guardian or master, full self-surrender, and
humility.] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
22.100]
According to
our own reason and the wish of our friends, we shall take the decision. And
there will be victory and defeat at times and we are to take the responsibility
of that in our practical life. We may be taught even by defeat, but sincerity,
sincere attempt; that is always laudable and victorious.
Giri Mahārāja: Our Prabhupāda has written in his purport to
the verse api cet sudurācāro [Bhagavad-gītā,
9.30] this similar point. I shall read, that, “When a living entity is conditioned,
he has two kinds of activities: one is conditional, and the other is
constitutional. As for protecting the body or abiding by the rules of society
and state, certainly there are different activities, even for devotees, in
connection with the conditional life, and such activities are called
conditional. Besides these, the living entity who is fully conscious of his
spiritual nature and is engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or
the devotional service of the Lord, has activities which are called transcendental.
Such activities are performed in his constitutional position, and they are
technically called devotional service. Now, in the conditioned state, sometimes
devotional service and the conditional service in relation to the body will
parallel one another. But then again, sometimes these activities become opposed
to one another. As far as possible, a devotee is very cautious so that he does
not do anything that could disrupt his wholesome condition.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Finished?
Giri Mahārāja: “He knows that perfection in his activities depends
on his progressive realisation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Sometimes, however, it may be seen that a person in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness commits some act which may be taken as most abominable socially
or politically. But such a temporary fall down does not disqualify him.”
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Have you finished?
Giri Mahārāja: I think so.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Now what’s the point?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, it is all right.
Giri Mahārāja: So the question is in terms of our lives, what is
the meaning of conditional activity?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Provincial and eternal; eternal function of the
innate eternal function of the soul is in the plane of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. And our country consciousness, our social consciousness, they
also attach to us some sort of duty. And when they’re one and not antagonistic
it is all right. And when there’s a clash the weak devotee he will follow the
provincial and social and political; he’ll be prey to that. But a strong devotee
he will repulse this political and social and some such obligation and he’ll go
on with his program of eternal devotion towards Kṛṣṇa, and
he’ll be ready to suffer.
Just as,
take the case of Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was warned by the Muslims, by the Kazi, “Why, what is
this? You are born Mohammedan, in a pure society of Mohammedan School, and you
are going to the kafir and you are taking the name of their God. I’m
warning you, don’t do that.”
But Haridas
Thakura did not care. Then he was punished, whipped...
End of 81.03.02.C_81.03.03.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.03.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
...whipped, but he did not leave his campaign of Kṛṣṇa Nāma.
The social, and even the ordinary religious demand came against him. He did not care. But weak-minded fellow, he will submit, “Oh. I
must give.” So there may be clash and sometimes may not be clash, friendly
relation. Now, in a particular case,api cet sudurācāro, bhajate
mām ananya-bhāk.
[api cet sudurācāro, bhajate
mām ananya-bhāk
sādhur
eva sa mantavyaḥ, samyag vyavasito hi saḥ]
[“If
even a person of extremely abominable practices, abandoning all non-devotional
pursuits of exploitation and renunciation engages in My exclusive and
uninterrupted devotional service, he is venerable as a true saint because he
has embraced the revolutionary plane of life.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
9.30]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Giri Mahārāja:
Now, for promoting, sometimes we have to go to the bank, we go to the market,
we go to the printer, we have to do so many things. Are those considered
constitutional activities or conditional?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Yes. Yes. Yes. That is, that it
depends upon the strength of the creed of the person whose doing it. It’s a
personal question, individual case. Sometimes you may take to any false
statement, externally. But internally you are right. You are doing for the
service of Kṛṣṇayou are speaking a lie, or perhaps to a dacoit, to a thief.
In this way,
ānukūlyasya
saṅkalpaḥ, prātikūlya-vivarjjanam
[rakṣiṣyatīti
viśvāso, goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā.
ātma-nikṣepa
kārpaṇye, ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ
evaṁ
paryyāyataś cāsminn, ekaikādhyāya-saṅgrahaḥ]
[The six
divisions of surrender are to accept those things favourable for devotional
service, to reject unfavourable things, the conviction that Kṛṣṇa will give protection, to accept the Lord as one’s
guardian or master, full self-surrender, and humility.]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.100, from Vaiṣṇava Tantra]
Whatever
will help you to discharge your duty you will accept that. And whatever opposes
your main progress you must renounce that, ānukūlyasya
saṅkalpaḥ, prātikūlya-vivarjjanam.
This sort of policy we shall accept. Not strictly to the truthfulness in the
ordinary worldly sense, neither we shall
speak always lie, and we shall think that Kṛṣṇabhakti means
lying and thieving, and all these
things. We must not indulge in that. And when necessity, suppose some dacoits
come to attack the temple, if it is possible I may tell a lie and guide them to some other direction, I
shall do that, to save the institution and the devotees. Even if that lie takes
me to hell, still I may speak the lie. “Oh. Let them be saved, and I may have
to reap any result. I take the risk.” That lie will also be nirguṇa.
But if I oppose the sincere good will, that
will means service of Kṛṣṇa, according to that we are to
adjust in the factor of time.
Good or bad in the conditional world; that
may be neglected. Your Swāmī Mahārāja has explained clearly. When the
conditional duty comes in clash with the constitutional duty, the conditional
duty should be given up, be shunned, abandoned, and we must stick to
constitutional duty. That should be our ideal. But a weak minded devotee, a
beginner, he may not be so strong, he may yield to the conditional duty. But
that is not the ideal, that should not be the ideal. Do you follow?
Giri Mahārāja:
Yes. Now, at the end of his translation of Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
our Prabhupāda made some concluding statements in which he gave all of the
credit for whatever he did to his Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Giri Mahārāja:
Now I will read a few sentences from there. He says, “I think that His Divine
Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura,
is always seeing my activities, and guiding me within my heart by his words. As
it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [1.1.1], tene brahma hṛdā
ya ādi-kavaye, spiritual inspiration
comes from within the heart, wherein the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His
Paramātmā feature is always sitting with all His devotees and
associates. It is to be admitted that whatever translation work I have done is
through the inspiration of my spiritual master, because personally I am most
insignificant and incompetent to do this materially impossible work.”
So the point we want to clarify is that our
Prabhupāda says that the Supreme Lord with all of His devotees and
associates are situated within the heart. So that seems to indicate that the
spiritual master is also one of the associates of the Lord who is seated in the
heart along with Paramātmā. So does that mean that the individual
spiritual masters, say in our case Śrīla Prabhupāda, he may...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Paramātmā is, the
plane of Paramātmā, that is superseding jīvātmā, Paramātmā, but
Paramātmā conception is only like a pita, like āsana.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Pita?
Devotee:
Position?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Paramātmā, the realm of Paramātmā, the conception of
Paramātmāis lower to that of the position of Gurudeva and his
paraphernalia and his worshippable
Lord. So beyond the jīvātmā and Paramātmā, and we are to, he says that my Gurudeva is the source of
all my inspiration, as if he’s sitting with his paraphernalia above the
Paramātmā sphere. With all his knowledge and love divine is there.
And from that source I find the stream of inspiration coming to me and whatever
I am writing it is just as a fountain pen,
the ink is supplied, so it is passing through me and writings are being
produced.This also is in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. [Kṛṣṇadāsa] Kavirāja Goswāmī has said:
ei
grantha lekhāya more ‘madana-mohana’ / [āmāra
likhana yena śukera paṭhana]
[“Actually Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta
is not my writing but the dictation of Śrī Madana-mohana. My writing
is like the repetition of a parrot.”] [Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 8.78]
“I am an old man. When I’m writing, I’m too
old, my hand is shivering. It is impossible for me at this stage of old age to
write, but still Imyself am
wondering how can I write? But still I am writing. So it is not my writing but
someone is writing through me.”
Sanātana
Goswāmī says in Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta, “What is this that I’m a tiny fellow,
mean human being, and I’m writing about the harem of Kṛṣṇa? The
Rukmiṇī is such and such, Satyabhāmā is such and such, Kṛṣṇa is such
and such, Their relation is in this way – what audacity I have got. What am I?
A mean fellow of the dustbin, and I venture to write, to describe that. But
believe me, this is not my writing. Someone is forcing my hand to write all
these things. The externally internal, it is not my writing, not my product. I
cannot venture to enter into that sphere, and I am writing authoritatively giving
opinion, this servant is such, this servitor is such, this Queen, this here there. Where are they and where is
myself? But someone is forcing me to write down all these things.”
And
even Mahāprabhu says to Sanātana Goswāmī: “Kṛṣṇa is
helping you as He’s sending so many words to teach you, and they’re passing
through Me, I feel. But I do not understand them, what is going through Me to
grace you.”
So it is possible, that is coming down, the
inspiration, like inspiration it is coming down and I’m going on. And without
that the written thing cannot be pure. That is revelation, that writing is of
the type of revelation. It is coming down from some other quarter to this plane
to help people like us. So that
is all right. Otherwise in such a short time it
cannot be possible for that man of old age to produce so many written books on
the high thoughts. So inspiration there was. His heart or his mind was empty,
and it was only an instrument for the divine agent to use him as their
instrument. In this way he produced all these things. It came through him.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: In the field of
writing transcendental literatures - in regard
to writing transcendental literature, is it permissible to write proper siddhānta,
bringing out proper conclusions of śāstra, in a context of
fiction? In the context of
fictitious stories, in other words, creating some fictitious characters etc,
but these personalities are interacting to produce a devotional teaching. Is
that permissible?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is
not fictitious. The gross world may be fictitious, but whatever is coming from
there, that has got some position in more real plane than this gross earth. It
is existing in a particular plane and that plane is more true than the concrete
world what we feel and live in. So he can do
that. And another antagonistic thing I found in you. What do you say? Repeat
it.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: I said that...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Inconsistent, some conflicting.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: I was asking whether...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When a
person is writing, then?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: He may create some fictitious...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh,
fictitious. Then whatever when the transcendental contract then he’s not writing but he’s forced
to write; that should be the perspective. He’s forced to write. He’s absent,
when the revealed truth is rushing in, then he’s mere instrument cent per cent,
not his writing. When he’s writing and something is coming then there will be a
mixture of both the things.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: Could you repeat that? When he is
writing...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s
writing, his own abhimāna,
his ego, and also transcendental inspiration, both combined, then that will be
a mixed thing and not purely cent per cent pure.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: So is that acceptable or not?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Partly
acceptable.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: So then it seems that what you have just
said is different than what you had said at first.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You
see, when Kṛṣṇa
inspired Brahmā, tene
brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.1.1]he referred, and when from
Brahmāthe different disciples came, modification began. And then there is
a jungle in the religious world of different conceptions. Prakṛti-vaicitryāt
and pāramparyeṇa, the modification, and limitation, and the
original thing gone, and the sham things are reigning inspired.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
But in paramparā
there should be no material modification.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Paramparā,
the opaque Guru, the paramparā,
the mediums must be pure, otherwise it is sometimes, often it is not pure so
difference is there.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: So just
like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, all of the narrations are
factual, they have occurred.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Kṛṣṇa says:
imaṁ
vivasvate yogaṁ, proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān
manave prāha, manur ikṣvākave' bravīt
evaṁ
paramparā-prāptam, imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa
kāleneha mahatā, yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa
[The
Supreme Lord said: “Previously I instructed the sun-god Sūrya
(Vivasvān) in this imperishable scientific knowledge, which is achieved by
selfless action. Sūrya, the presiding deity of the sun, delivered it to
his son Vaivasvata Manu, exactly as he had heard it from Me. Thereafter, Manu
instructed the same knowledge to his son Ikṣvāku.”] [“O conqueror of the enemy, in this way, the
saintly kings such as Nimi, Janaka, and others, learned this path of knowledge
through divine succession. From the beginning of time, I am giving My tidings
to others, transmitting the truth that I am the goal through this system of
disciplic succession, generation after generation. Presently, due to the
influence of this material world and the passage of time, the current is
damaged, and this teaching appears to be almost completely lost.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
4.1-2]
“Again
I am rejuvenating that karma yoga.” Kṛṣṇa
says in Gītāto
Arjuna, “First I told these things to Sūrya, and from Manu, all this. Then
in kala-dharma it is mutilated and almost vanished. Then again I am
speaking it to you.” It is in Gītā,
imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ, proktavān aham avyayam.Arjuna
says,
aparaṁ
bhavato janma, paraṁ janma vivasvataḥ
katham
etad vijānīyāṁ, tvam ādau proktavān iti
[Arjuna said: “Vivasvān, the Sun-god, was born in
ancient times, and You were born only recently. Therefore, how is it to be
believed, that You previously instructed these teachings to him?”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.4]
bahūni
me vyatītāni, janmāni tava cārjuna
tāny
ahaṁ veda sarvāṇi, na tvaṁ vettha parantapa
[The Supreme Lord said: “O Arjuna, chastiser of the enemy, both you
and I have passed through many births previously. Due to My position as the
supreme controller, I am able to remember all those births, whereas you, a
living being of finite consciousness, cannot.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 4.5]
“I have got many births, and you also the
same, but you don’t remember but I remember that I descended here many times.
And first I told it to Vivasvān, and then from Vivasvānit came to
Manu, and then from Manu to others, and in the course of time it is finished.
Again I am telling.”
yadā
yadā hi dharmasya, glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam
adharmasya, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham
[“O
Bhārata, whenever there is a decline of religion and an uprising of
irreligion, I personally appear, like a being born in this world.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.7]
Giri
Mahārāja: The fallen souls generally are coming
from the brahmaloka, or brahmajyoti.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
That is from the marginal land.
Giri
Mahārāja: Yes. Now
is there any difference between that soul and the souls that are eternally with
Kṛṣṇa in
Goloka?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. It
is prohibited to think like that, that once liberated, once entered into Kṛṣṇa
consciousness – of course there is gradation. But one who has got the grace of Kṛṣṇa and are
of the same rank, no distinction should be continued; that he was in previous
life in a conditioned world. To foster that sort of memory, thinking, has been
discouraged, then don’t do so.
Giri
Mahārāja: Now when a soul is eligible to enter the
spiritual world, say...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: From
conditioned function to constitutional function.
Giri
Mahārāja: Yes. Now say that person is going to
take the form of a cowherd boy. Now how does he enter the spirit...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All may
not. Some may have their end of
their journey in Vaikuṇṭha, some in Dvārakā, some in
Mathurā. All may not come to Vṛndāvana to cowherd conception.
Even Lakṣmī Devī could not have admission in the cowherd clan –
what to speak of others. That is a special...
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: The question we want to know is that in
Goloka there are cowherd boys, cowherd girls, there are mothers, fathers,
everything. So suddenly if one re-enters, if one goes to Goloka in his constitutional
position, how does he suddenly appear there? He has father, mother, friends,
how suddenly...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is –
that going cannot be a chance coincidence, but he’s to follow a constitutional
method to go there. So gradually it will awaken in him. He will have gradual
conception of his paraphernalia, or his
environment, and he will make progress; not suddenly.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: What about that environment? In other
words, when, how, if he
goes back to Godhead...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: His ruci,
his inclination, will, according to his progress, gradually make acquaintances
with the paraphernalia. And it will be that he’s to be pushed towards that
domain.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: If he becomes a cowherd boy, then he has
father and mother there, so how…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: So that father and mother, how did they
get him? Has he become... He’s not being born there...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. He
will think that, ‘I was
here’ because it is svarūpa,
‘I was here but my mind was scattered.’ Just like a mad man, he forgets his
previous acquaintances and as soon as he comes back to his old memory, it’s something like that.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: And the father and mother, what do they
think?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They
will think that, ‘after a
long time my son has come into senses and he’s recognising me,’ and in this way
they will take him and he’ll see them.
In Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta
we find when a new recruit came to Kṛṣṇa,
when he’s coming on the way, ________ coming back, just at that
time one fortunate soul met Him. And Kṛṣṇa
welcomed him and firmly embraced him and lost consciousness with him. Baladeva
and other cowboys they are more
or less puzzled. ‘What’s the matter?’ But Baladeva knew the matter and saved
the situation, consoled the fellow. After some time, Kṛṣṇa woke and
began to talk with that new friend. “My friend, so long, how could you stand,
how could you move without Me?” Ha, ha. And that was His first address to that
newcomer. “So long, how could you live without Me, My friend?” So something
like that, that milan, that meeting, comes into the jurisdiction of
eternity. From conditioned it comes into constitutional eternity. As if the
point where finite and infinite meets, the position is something like this. The
conditioned meets the eternal function. He gets it back. “It was my innate
wealth. I lost it.” This sort of consciousness arises and compromises the two. Two opposite things compromise in
friendly plane in such
a way we are told.
Giri
Mahārāja: Now, if a disciple leaves the body
thinking of the spiritual master, so he will go to where the spiritual master
is.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, of course. If that is of sufficient growth
and attraction then he will go. It depends upon the degree of attachment.
Giri
Mahārāja: Now, one disciple of our
Prabhupādacommented that he only wants Prabhupāda. He doesn’t want to
be led to any other party or group. Now, if that is...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Ultimately that depends upon the will of Kṛṣṇa;
wherever He will like to send him. There are so many qualified. The king
recognises one, “As a General, go to the battle field.” Then another one he may
send. It may be like that. But still, just as in Vaikuṇṭha, there
are sub Vaikuṇṭhas of
different Nṛsiṁhadevas,
Varāhadevas, so this Gurudeva with his paraphernalia that is also nitya.
That has got its position in the constitutional; that is not a chance
coincidence. That will move. Even here a sound is not lost, it is moving
somewhere or anywhere or other. Is it not? A sound when produced it is moving
in the atmosphere. The colour, that is also moving even here, but in Vaikuṇṭha nothing
is lost. It is there, it is there; in the heart, in the feeling. That is not
outside the Vaikuṇṭha. He has got the memory of his Gurudeva, how
he came, and it is not abolished or effaced from the infinite. That is there,
that picture; that picture is there so it is eternal. But again a new paraphernalia may be created also. The
General may be recalled from a particular army. He
may be posted in another army.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: But the memory of the first army remains
also.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes,
the first army that was there.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: That he’ll remember.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The
remembrance, he will be, the photo will be there, it will be in the mind of so
many that he’s our General. So, in Vaikuṇṭha everything is eternal,
everything is eternal, coexistent. Coexistent, it can accommodate, there
everything is coexistent. Any difficulty?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
You once said that a mahā-bhāgavata Guru is in constant association with his Guru.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
And sometimes our Prabhupādawas criticised for not going to the samādhi of
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta. And he said that, “He’s sitting beside me at every moment.”
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then,
what of that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Well, that seems to indicate that it’s just like we’re personally sitting with
you right now, that kind of association. And generally we think in terms of the
instructions; your associating with your Guru
by his instructions.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. In
prapañcathat is – experience through the senses and mental experience
may differ. By recollection I may come in association of something and bodily
also I can go. But here, what he said, “That I am always with – I see the samādhi of
my Gurudeva,” that is
more than mental,
transcendental sphere. He’s there, and sometimes samādhi,
sometimes birthplace, sometimes his only dīkṣā place; it
may vary.
Mahāprabhu
says to Rūpa Goswāmī: sada sangeāsiyācha tumi, [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 19:240] When after the training is
completed of Rūpa Goswāmī, Mahāprabhu wanted to come to
Nilācala, Jagannātha, to return, then Rūpa Goswāmī
proposed, “Please order me to follow You. I can’t stand Your separation.”
Then Mahāprabhu told: “You are always
with Me. Now you just go to Vṛndāvana.”
So by our, we can keep company in the
spiritual world by – the other day I also told this – by anugatyam, by
our submission. Soul is near to soul only through submission, in that
relationship, and not so much by close physical relation. The other day I told
that there are bugs and lice also very close, but they’re not very near.
Physical nearness is not real nearness. Mental more and nearness of soul, that
is more and more real. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Then? On what point it came?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
You said yesterday that first we see the Guru
as Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa as Guru. Then intermediate stage...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Comprehensively, first we see Brahma, then Param Vasudeva, then Lakṣmī
Nārāyaṇa; gradual progress, so first we see Guru as Kṛṣṇa
when we do not see the differentiated character there. For the beginners it is
told that Guru is Kṛṣṇa. Then
deeper vision will gradually disclose that Guru
is a particular function of Kṛṣṇa.
Then more closely the particular function in what channel? The elaborate
conception of the function discloses the hierarchy there, in this way. But in
the first sight all included in Kṛṣṇa,
all Kṛṣṇa, and
then Kṛṣṇa’s
potency, particular function. He has got many other functions. This is one
partial aspect, then details in the partial aspect, that takes us, leads us to
the differentiated character into Guru.
And according to rasa when classified, different groups, so much
variegation in details goes to a particular group of servitors in the
particular clan. And in the service also there are so many variegations, the
food department, then the bed department, then the ornamental department. There
are many departments. According to the inner taste one is accepted in a
particular place, position. What is hazy and nondifferentiated in the first
sight, in the near and clear sight, it expresses so many differentiated and
specified characteristics, clearly, in a particular way.
Giri
Mahārāja: Now, some of the same personalities from
Kṛṣṇa līlā
came in another form for the Gaura līlā. Now,
we have understood that Rāmānanda Rāya, he is
Viśākhā.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: We may
not say that he came from there to here. That was emptied. It is not. Their
two-fold presence rather, you may think like that.
Giri
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is
also eternal and this is also eternal.
Giri
Mahārāja: Right.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So
two-fold, the double function, a little modified.
Giri
Mahārāja: Now, sometimes we hear that
Rāmānanda Rāya is the same personality as
Viśākhā.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A
corresponding.
Giri
Mahārāja: And at the same time we hear that he’s
also Arjuna.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Arjuna.
That Arjuna’s function may be traced there partially. According to the interest
and necessity of the person who sees, it is like that. Some may think
Rāmānanda is a Governor, some may see his nearness to
Viśākhā in temperament; sober and Kṛṣṇa-Rādhikā,
not partial to anyone. All these signs may help others to think that he’s of the Viśākhā
temperament. And Arjuna, that he’s endowed with various qualifications among
the five – Arjuna. That is given to the ordinary public, a reflection, that
he’s the most qualified amongst the children of Bhāvānanda, who are
of different character. In this way they like to see him, and in that with some
sober decision and exceptional qualification and capacity the picture of
Arjuna. And that is to be thought.
Giri Mahārāja:
But earlier you said that if someone is equally addicted to Kṛṣṇa līlā
and equally addicted to Gaura līlā, that same
person may simultaneously take part in both. Now, is it that the same
Viśākhā, individual person, who is there in the Kṛṣṇa līlā,
the same person is also present in the Gaura līlā as
Rāmānanda Rāya?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Rāmānanda has got such impartial temperament towards Kṛṣṇa and
Rādhā. Of course, a little more towards Rādhikā, otherwise
he cannot be grouped as sakhī. He’s not sakhā to Kṛṣṇa but in
the mādhurya rasa, still has got some impartial attachment, almost
equal attachment towards both the parties. And also the other qualification is
Viśākhā, in dancing and singing, etc. They’re also there, in
partial tendency as well as so many variegated qualifications.
Giri
Mahārāja: Now, Svarūpa Dāmodara,
Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s secretary, he is described as Lalitā. So is he
the actually the same person Lalitā, or he has the same qualities and
gives the same impression?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Lalitā’s double in Gaura līlā; both co-existent. We are
to think like that, co-existent.
Giri
Mahārāja: I’m very satisfied with this answer.
We’re all satisfied with your answers.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa
Swāmī: When I hear you speak about these
subject matters, it reminds me that Lord Brahmā he stole away the calves
from Kṛṣṇa,
thinking that he could understand what is God. But after he saw Kṛṣṇa manifest
Himself as the four-handed Nārāyaṇas, so many times and duplicating Himself in
all the cowherd boys, then he said,
“Some people may think that they can understand You.
But myself I know that I have no understanding what-so-ever of Your unlimited
qualities.” So when we hear you describe the spiritual world we begin to
realise that there’s no way that we can possibly grasp the full magnitude of
the spiritual world. It’s so unlimited.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: On
spiritual common sense I take my stand, known and unknown. You see, there is a
story here, that a student, asking his preceptor, “When shall I be a paṇḍita,
I shall have recognition of a paṇḍita?”
Then the preceptor answered, “When what you have read and what you have not
read, both equal to you, at that time you will
be a paṇḍita,
a scholar.” Do you follow?
Devotees:
Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The
preceptor told: “When you have read the portion, and unread portion, both equal
to you, you equally understand,
at that time you will be reckoned as a paṇḍita.”
Then he went away home for some time and forgot what he read. Then came to the
preceptor and told: “You now give me the title of a paṇḍita.”
“Why?” “What I read I forgot and I can’t understand, and what I did not know of
course I can’t understand that so both equal to me.”
[Group
Laughter]
End of 81.03.03.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.03.C_81.03.04.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...I
try to connect with Guru Mahārāja. I look after him. And then I have
a survey, I consider the past, and also the present, and I utilise my common
sense, and then I say, whatever it may be. The background is there within me
from the beginning and that background will produce what I say; the background.
A general conception I have got about Prabhupāda’s līlā,
his sayings, all recorded to some extent within me, in some way or other. And I
moved the whole plane, or background, and whatever comes it must be harmonised.
What will come that must have harmony with the whole thing that I have got the
photo of from different times. The common thing which will be approved by all
the planes I received, in that way I talk. That whatever I shall see, that must
have harmony with all I have gathered from the scriptures, from Guru
Mahārāja, from his important servitors; a common thing produced like a computer. Ha, ha. In
that way, what other can I do? The sum total of the whole spiritual experience
of my life; when that is tackled then some reaction comes and that I produce to
you. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee:
One of our present Ācāryas
has had a dream. And in that dream our Śrīla Prabhupāda is
coming to him and telling him that at a specific time in the future he will
again appear here to direct our movement. So how should we take this? How
should we understand this?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You may
not attach much importance; it may be an individual case, and also you may not
ignore. Yes, in the Infinite if it is possible, such, God willing it may be so.
We don’t deny, nor are
we very credulous. We are to wait for that time. We won’t wait for that time,
“So then we shall sit idle, and when he’ll come again then I shall begin.” That
sort of tendency may not come within us. And at the same time I don’t think
that nothing is impossible in the Infinite. He may come. God willing, Kṛṣṇa
willing, that may be, that may occur. It is not impossible. And at the same
time, what I told, we may not be, or that I may not be impart anything to you,
to make us loser. We should not be indulged in that way. Yes, all well and good
if he comes, and he comes and puts the question,
“So long, what progress have you made?”
Devotees: [Group laughter]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “Yes, I
have discharged this duty. I offer you.” With a bold stand you may show the
record of your service to him. It is good, no harm, it is laudable.
Giri
Mahārāja: Now, Hiraṇyakaśipu, the
father of Prahlāda, he took over the planet of Indra.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Indra’s
position, he snatched the position of Indra, and he himself became Indra. Then,
what about that? Indra means his adhikāra, his power.
Giri
Mahārāja: Yes. That’s right. So now, when Nṛsiṁhadeva
killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, did that take place on Indraloka or some place
on the Earth planet?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Earth.
Giri
Mahārāja: Because in South India there is some
place which is supposed to mark where Nṛsiṁhadeva killed Hiraṇyakaśipu.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You
see, Hiraṇyakaśipu may have his seat on the Earth, and from there he
may control even the heaven. He defeated Indra, but that that does not mean he
always lived there, but that is a partial statement.
Real
statement is this; when Mahāprabhu departed, some saw He entered into Tota
Gopīnātha, some saw He entered into Jagannātha, some saw, we
find it is described, He went over the sea. In this way the subjective control,
not a... the subject can force the object to see in any way He likes. So in
variegated way He may show Himself. Līlā,
Bhāgavat līlāis like that. One man is seeing Him and
another in the side
cannot see Him. It is something like hypnotism. The whole līlā,
the whole creation, is something like hypnotism, in the line of hypnotism. All
this creation rather is in the line more similar to hypnotism than any
objective fossil – everything coming from a fossil in a rigid way that cannot
be moved – that cannot be described, not
like that. The whole thing in the subject, in the universal subject; the
background is this. Then we can explain everything, when you take in the
character of hypnotism. He’s evolving. “And one man seeing Me, another may not
see, but are seeing another way.” The whole thing is regulated from the centre
of the subject, higher subject. So many antagonistic things may also occur.
It
is explained by Jīva Goswāmī as kalpa-veda. Some say
Varāhadeva came in white colour, some say in śyāma, black
colour. But in different kalpa it may be, and at the same time as
Varāhadeva liked to show Him to a particular person He can do that. The
subjective characteristic and power is such, position is such.
And the other day I forgot to mention to
speak to you about one thing. That whether the Hiraṇyakaśipu līlāwas
in Vaikuṇṭha. What is the characteristic of Vaikuṇṭha,
or Goloka? Anything and everything may be harmonised, embraced. The heinousness
which is here in the mundane sphere; when that is in Vaikuṇṭhathat
is all right, that is palatable. Nothing. Just as
in a drama, dramatic play, when the drama is showing the discord of the
different parties, and molestation and killing, hurting, all these things which
is very bad in our consideration, when it is shown in a drama, then it is not
so harmful. Is it?
Giri
Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Practically, no harm is done by the drama, but only a picture of the mundane
world.
Giri
Mahārāja: Play acting.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So
also, just as Govinda Mahārāja said the other day that, singha
prasena bhavadit [?] Singha devoured Prasena, killed Prasena, but Prasena
also enjoyed and Singha also enjoyed, because no dissipation there exists. So
in drama also, one who is aggressing and who is being aggressed, both may be
satisfied.
So
in Vaikuṇṭha, in Goloka, any type, this is in līlā,
everything is a pleasing sensation only different plan. But really, nothing, no
sorrow can exist there. It is nitya, ānanda moya, the plane of
ecstasy. Different variegatedness may exist without their sting; especially in
Goloka. Everything is good, bad, everything harmonised, good, bad, in our
consideration; everything harmonised there and everything is pleasing and ānandam.
Even the idea of prostitution, that is also adored in Vṛndāvana.
What is very nasty in this plane, parakīya, the stealing. Because
it belongs to Kṛṣṇa and it occurs to satisfy Him. Whatever
will satisfy Kṛṣṇa, that is līlā, and that
is admirable, and that is pure, and that is all perfect. We are to conceive
like that, that undesirable things are also harmonised. Such peculiar nature
and position is that of Kṛṣṇa, so perfect. And nothing bad
can enter in His connection. Good or bad exists between the clash of the
different parties. No party, only one party.
As sometimes we heard after the second
great war, America wanted one state world, only one controller, to eliminate
the quarrel – there will be one power. We are told like that in a paper, they
wanted that the whole world will be controlled by one state, from one centre.
Then there will be peace. Something like that, that one centred controller.
And whether it is good or bad, it is
measured by His satisfaction, and everything in a dedicated mood. And according
to the degree of dedication it will be purer and purer. The competition of
dedication – dedication loses its meaning as a loss, dedication is not loss.
Dedication in nature it is such it is invulnerable, it is immortal and it is
blissful. So the land is of that type.
Whatever
filthy example is dramatised there, that is all good; filthy in consideration
with the many enjoyers and in such plane of – where the clashes of different
interest. But one interest, and dedication to one interest, that makes
everything pure; and all else comes accordingly, and not independent. And
independence also, there is sometimes quarrel between Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa,
Rādhārāṇī, Kṛṣṇa, but that is convened by Yogamāyā to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.
So, the whipping of Yaśodā, because that pleases Kṛṣṇa
that loses its cruel characteristic, so also all things like that; they’ve got
no sting. That is Kṛṣṇa līlā. You may put an
example how that thing may be harmonious, how that thing may not be filthy,
everything may be, because that is to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, the only
one criterion. And whatever is His līlā, He’s satisfied that
everything is done, yasmin tuṣṭe[jagat tuṣṭam priṇite priṇito
jagat],
everything is done. And everything cannot but be satisfied because He’s
satisfied.Do you follow?
Devotee:
Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So,
that sort of thing we shall try to bring within our plane. That plane we must
be acquainted with; have some acquaintance with such a plane, the plane of
perfection, plane of all harmonising nature. The Kṛṣṇa līlā,
how it is. Then all other questions may be solved there in the middle. This
background we must have, the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa sukata praja[?] Dedication;
all carrying towards Kṛṣṇa, His satisfaction, if He’s satisfied then everything is all right. The chastising, the māna,
abhimāna, all these things may be there, it doesn’t matter. The only criterion will be, if you can understand and have a real
picture of that, then you’ll be able to answer all questions. Adjustment with
that point what is necessary, yasmin
tuṣṭe jagat tuṣṭam. Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: So, I
think we will be going now, and we will return again, within a day or two to
come and visit with more questions.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes,
you come, you are welcome.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: More
persons will come with us each day.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maybe.
Let them come. I am here to help you through whatever service I can do to you
my new friends, who have come to Mahāprabhu’s
feet to serve. And Swāmī Mahārāja has taken you all here,
and my meagre service if it is possible can help you, I’m ready for that. This
is my nature. I can’t shun, I can’t avoid this. My fate, my very existence
requires this. You are taking from here and you are spreading to the world at
large for their relief and for their good. How laudable and how desirable your deeds
are. I should have a peep into that, the plane of your activity.Jagat kalyan
jagat daya [?], loka-hitaṁ, loka-hitaṁ
nṛpa [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.1.1] Śukadeva only accepted the question; a man who did not care to have
a cover on his body, ulanga[?]
he says that, “Yes, this question is a real question, for two reasons; ātmavit-sammataḥ
and loka-hitaṁ.
So loka-hitaṁ,
you are engaged in loka-hitaṁ.
Order supplier, only so many spiritual canvassers of Mahāprabhu, and
Prabhupāda, and Swāmī Mahārāja; you have dedicated
your life for this holy duty. You are adorable to me, all your attempts. By
you, we want to live. Ha. Ha. We can live, our Guru Mahārāja can
live, your Guru Mahārāja, Mahāprabhu, we can live here through
you all. You’re life giving, your attempt to all our clans. It is very
laudable. And I can’t shirk about this book. Ke?
Devotees:
Microphone.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Happy
style you have written the book; the style is simple, and accurate, and
profound, in a good style the book is being published. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
This volume, number one, it is describing Prabhupāda Swāmī
Mahārāja before going to America. It is his life in India before
leaving for America.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. I
heard. There I had to say something,
and that, aprākṛtaand
adhokṣaja, two stages of spiritual existence; aprākṛtais
a very difficult thing, it is
like prākṛta, it bears the similarity with the mundane, but
not mundane. Aprākṛta bhaumika, that plane is so
comprehensive characteristic it has got that it can accommodate everything what
we cannot hope to have sanction from the standpoint of morality even. That also
can be harmonised there. So it is a very difficult thing to make general public
of generous and religious heart, to understand aprākṛta.
Not prākṛta but seems to be prākṛta. The
harmonising capacity and duty is of such magnitude that it can harmonise
anything imaginable, even immoral things.
But
the only criterion is seeking and searching the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa,
none else. Only the centre, and all, and everything, by the spirit of
dedication, everything eliminated. Only one aim; satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa,
the whole concentration there, and it is adjusted. And little deviation from
the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, that will make everything topsy
turvy.
So the mundane life of a Vaiṣṇava,
not mundane, but similar to mundane, life of a Vaiṣṇava should be
dealt very carefully and with some caution. Wherever there is any room for
criticism we shall be over cautious to guard that portion, special note, that
this is not mundane. Otherwise people will misunderstand in general. There is
the possibility. This much I had to say about the Autobiography. Even in the
case of the Supreme Authority,
Kṛṣṇa,
what to speak of the Vaiṣṇava; there’s every possibility that the
people will undermine, and some caution must be given there and stress should
be there, put upon that point, that this is not mundane, though similar.That
whip in the Biography, now and then, and here and there, that should be
repeated, that sort of whip,
“Don’t take it otherwise, don’t misunderstand.” This sort of warning should be
mentioned here and there when dealing with the life of a person divine. That
should be used.
Devotee:
Caution.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Caution,
here and there, caution, don’t take it otherwise. Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Otherwise there will be room for
misunderstanding. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. They’re dying, they’re suffering from disease, they’re eating,
they’re going to latrine. Nāvamanyeta
karhicit, ācāryaṁ
māṁ vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta. Never undermine, nāvamanyeta,
never belittle him, though there are so many mundane signs there.
[ācāryaṁ māṁ
vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta karhicit
na
martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ]
[“One should know the
Ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not
envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the
demigods.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.17.27] & [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.46]
It
is written in Bhāgavatam, ācāryaṁ māṁ
vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta, avamanyeta, avamanana,
don’t go to insult him by misunderstanding. Nāvamanyeta
karhicit na martya-buddhyāsūyeta, your
mental conclusion, don’t use there, in the mental plane. The experience of
mental plane won’t cover it, screen it, nāvamanyeta
karhicit, never allow the mental experience to
screen it. Na
martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ. All the good signs are embodied there, good
tendencies, all the high substances of variegated nature of divinity, are
present there. We are to show that, sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
That should be kept up, maintained, all through. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol.
The world of experience should be kept
underfoot, should be crushed underfoot. The experience, always the hammer must
be stricken on the head of the worldly experience. Every now and then the
hammer must go on the head of the worldly experience. If you want to enter into
the domain of the divine, then experience should be left here. It won’t help
you in any way; rather it will draw you from behind. Your knowledge of
experience will draw you from behind. Be clear. Liberate yourself from the
disease of worldly experience and try to enter the domain of the divinity. Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
And
adhokṣaja, that is not under any law. Not only made by you but
made by any agent. It is already independent. Everything, the soil, the ways,
everything is independent, adhokṣaja.
Adhaḥkṛtaṁ
indriyajaṁ jñānaṁ yena. Adhokṣajais
the term which is very favourite
to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Here and there, Bhāgavatahas
always used the word adhokṣaja, the expression, always to remind
that akṣajamjñāna, that is the knowledge of experience, keep
it always down. Adhaḥkṛtaṁ
indriyajaṁ jñānaṁ yena, indriyajaṁ,
that is the knowledge of experience that’s drawn through the senses, always
keep it below.
The
warning, adhokṣaja;
unintelligible, unknown and unknowable,
only through faith, and regulated faith, not only that faith means blind faith
or something like that, but faith has got its real characteristic. So faith
proper, that only can enter there - śraddhā: śraddhāmayo
'yaṁ loka, in Upaniṣad,
there is a domain which can only be tackled by śraddhā. And
what is that śraddhā?Kṛṣṇe
bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.62] If
I discharge my duty towards Him, everything is done. That should be the very
gist, the life of that attempt, that expression named faith, śraddhā.
So if we do that, then it will be aprākṛtaotherwise it will
be reckoned as the so many epics here.
Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Your illustrious Gurudeva had this infallible aim.
Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
In Caṇḍīdāsawe found,
which meaning is mutilated and turned into the opposite direction by the so
called scholarly fellows of the time.
Suna
he manase bhai sabhar upe manase satya tara upara nai [?]
The
Bengali passage; the general meaning is, “Oh my brother, human beings. You
listen to me. Human species is above all, and there is nothing above.”
In Caitanya-caritāmṛta, [Madhya-līlā,
21.101]the parallel, but more clear.
kṛṣṇera
yateka khelā, sarvottama
nara-līlā, nara-vapu
tāhāra svarūpa
[gope-veśa, veṇu-kara nava
kiśora, nata-vara, nara
līlāra haya anurūpa]
[“Lord Sri Kṛṣṇahas many
pastimes, of which His pastimes as a human being are the best. His form as a
human being is the Supreme Transcendental Form. In this form, He is a cowherd
boy. He carries a flute in His hand, and His youth is new. He is also an expert
dancer. All this is just suitable for His pastimes as a human being.”]
Amongst all the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa,
His human pastimes is at the
zenith, forms the acme, nara-vapu tāhāra svarūpa. It is
very akin, very near to human fashion, but not human. We are to strive hard to
show it, to maintain this characteristic; humanly but not human. This sort of
attempt always be retained, to caution the human mind, they’re not human. Our
diligence.
Devotee:
If an ordinary man appreciates a great soul as human, but does not understand
that he’s actually beyond human, doesn’t he gain benefit, or is that offensive?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can’t
follow. What does he say?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
If a common man, he savours a great Vaiṣṇava, he thinks of him
favourably, but he doesn’t understand him as a great Vaiṣṇava...
Devotee:
He thinks of him as a great man, but still something as the human kind.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So
really, the necessity of the inner eye to recognise the Vaiṣṇavism. A Vaiṣṇavacan understand Vaiṣṇava.
An intelligent man can understand the intelligence of others; but an ignorant
man cannot detect who is intelligent or who is nonintelligent. Intelligence can
understand intelligence; so ordinary people will think:
“Oh, it is an ordinary man.” But the true Vaiṣṇava, he will
understand that he’s a Vaiṣṇava. Not by external endeavour, gesture
and posture, but by the standpoint, the angle of vision, by that the Vaiṣṇavacan
understand Vaiṣṇava. An intelligent man can understand an
intelligent man.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
[kintu tomāra prema dekhi' mane
anumāni]
mādhavendra-purīra
'sambandha' [dhara -
jāni]
[“Upon
seeing your
ecstatic love, I can just imagine that you
must have some relationship with Mādhavendra Purī. This is My understanding.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 17.172]
When Mahāprabhu was travelling in Vṛndāvana,
He found a person, Sanoḍiyābrāhmaṇa, and He
recognised, “Oh, you must have connection with Mādhavendra Purī.
Whatever I see in you, it cannot come otherwise. You please express how you
have come in connection with Mādhavendra Purī.”
Then he came to explain, “Mādhavendra Purī, he came here,
he did this, this,
and I got his grace.”
“Yes. Otherwise this thing cannot be
detected anywhere.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol.
Satsvarūpa
Mahārāja: Should we avoid writing the
disappearance of our Śrīla Prabhupāda, or can that be told?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
His tirobhute, his
disappearance, should Satsvarūpa Mahārājaavoid that, not write
so much about that?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You can
do that, but with sufficient caution. About Mahāprabhu, so many tales are
going on. “He passed in this way.” Some say, “In that way.” Everything may be
true. Like a hypnotist He showed some people, “I am going.” Another section
saw, “Oh. He is passing there.” In this way it is His sweet will to show there
passing in different ways to different sections, it is possible.So everything
is deception of the sense experience. Whatever is done by them, it is
super-experience, so it deceives the experience. The knowledge of experience
cannot catch, cannot reach up to mark. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Suffering,
taking medicine, passing.
Sītā Devī was stolen. And
one devotee in the South, he’s fasting, even very indifferent to attend
Mahāprabhu, his ________ guest.
Mahāprabhu detected,
“Why you show so much repenting temperament?”
“I don’t like to live any longer here. I am
to hear that Lakṣmī Devī was snatched away by a demon. I want
to die rather.”
Then Mahāprabhu solaced him. “Don’t
think that way.”
aprākṛta
vastu nahe prākṛta-gocara, [veda-purāṇete ei kahe nirantara]
[“Spiritual
substance is never within the jurisdiction of the material conception. This is
always the verdict of the Vedas and Purāṇas.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 9.194]
Sītā Devī, everything is all
consciousness, spiritual body, and the demon with fleshy hand cannot touch Her.
The knowledge can be touched by the flesh, the pure above knowledge. Her body
is that of conscious substance, not of this fleshy substance. So flesh cannot
touch the consciousness, the soul. So why will it be possible the demon to
catch? It is all māyā. To teach the māyic people
in a māyic form it is delivered. It is served in that way.
End of 81.03.03.C_81.03.04.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.04.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
...he cannot see, so what is the possibility of touching, even he cannot see,
the demon with fleshy eye cannot see Sītā Devī. Not to speak of
touching and catching. This is all a show to teach the mundane mind, to take
them gradually upwards.
Then Arjuna coming with the Queens of
Dvārakā, the dacoits looted them. All mahā-māyā.
Keśavatāra , Brahmā told two, one white one
black hair, giving to Pṛthivi. “Oh. I give it to you. They will incarnate
and will relieve you from all your burden of sin –
Keśavatāra.
And that was Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, white and black. This
is mentioned in Purāṇa. It is mahāmoy, or what
came that merged into Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Ke _____________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He’s taking some pictures.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. The style of your writing is very taking, touching. I’m
impressed to see the style of writing. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So, Mahārāja, there was one
question concerning one writing of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
The Bhāgavata. That he made some statement – do you know the exact
words? That the statements in the fifth canto of Bhāgavatam, may be
imaginary, some of the statements given there about hellish planets to frighten
people.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha,
ha, ha. You see, Darwin’s objective evolution has devoured us, swallowed us.
Though externally we reject it, but we hate it, but still the ghost of Darwin’s
theory has devoured us.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The
opposite is true; subjective evolution. Subject controls and orders, “See this,”
we are to see that. In Viśvarūpa, what do we see? Paśya me yogam
aiśvaram.
[na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni,
paśya me yogam aiśvaram
bhūta-bhṛn
na ca bhūta-stho, mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ]
[“And again, that is also not situated in
Me. Just behold My inconceivable simultaneous one and different (acintya-bhedābheda)
nature as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and Lord of the
universe! Although My very Self is the mainstay and guardian of all beings, I
am not implicated by them.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
9.5]
“You see Arjuna.” And
Arjuna saw that; in the line of hypnotism.
In Kuru sabhā, when Duḥśāsanacame
to bind Him with a rope and put into prison house, then Kṛṣṇasaid,
“Oh. You will bind Me?” So He showed Himself in such a way that that man was
perplexed. And there was Nārada, Vyāsa, Bhīṣma, Droṇa,
they began to chant songs in praise of Him.
Then
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the blind man there, he told, “Oh. They’re chanting so many praises,
seeing You in a particular grand way. I am blind. I can’t see. Please for the
time being remove my blindness and allow me to see.”
Kṛṣṇatold, “It will not be necessary to remove your
blindness. I say you see Me.”
And he saw; the blind man saw. What is
this?
Vyāsadeva saw the whole – all the
events of the battlefield, who is saying what words to his opponents, in that
whole battlefield, everything is described there. And Sañjaya also could see
through the inspiration of Vyāsadeva, and he’s relating everything to Dhṛtarāṣṭra.
This we do not see only as literature, only an epic, but truth. It is possible.
“See
Me in this way.” And I must see. “If I ask
you to see Me in this
way, you will see.” But the
next man won’t be able to see in that way. So subjective control, the
experience, any knowledge of this world - that comes from subjective control,
subjective evolution, not objective evolution. Not that the object is fixed and
subject is compelled to have the estimation. If we have also got experience
here of such kind, that is also, it is fixed for a particular group to see in a
particular way they’re seeing that. Another group tuned in another way and they
will see it like that. It is like that ultimate flow is coming from up to down,
not from down to up.
We are to take, Śukadeva, when he was
describing Bhāgavatam, the Lord showed him the world situation in
such a way, geographical position. On the basis of that he delivered. It is
fixed to a particular stage of consciousness, but it has got no real
background, as a fallible creature having experience, not any background, any
stable background. The vision is controlled, the experience, the knowledge, is
controlled from up to down, not down to up.
ūrdhva-mūlam
adhaḥ-śākham, aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyāyam
chandāṁsi
yasya parṇāni, yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit
[“The holy scriptures proclaim that this
material world is like an unchangeable Banyan tree with its roots facing
upwards and its branches down, known as an Aśvattha (transitory) tree. Its
nutriments are the Vedic aphorisms, which are represented by its leaves.
Whoever knows this tree in this way is a genuine knower of the Vedas.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
15.1]
Vedic
knowledge, revealed truth, is true. Truth drawn from experience is false. What
does it mean? So no stable objective characteristic of anything; like that of
hypnotism, paśya me yogam aiśvaram, and Arjuna had no other
alternative but to see that. And he had to pray,
“Please withdraw this sort of sight and confer on me such temperament that I
can see as I already saw You.” He had to pray for that.
And then, just as the yantra, the
music yantra, in this way by making it round we can differ its tune.
Tune can be differed by handling; the yantra is there, the music
machine. So as the switch of the eye is handled in a different way we see
different things.
Dhīra
KṛṣṇaMahārāja: It also
seems that sometimes in reading the śāstras, in studying śāstra,
some people in their study they become confused and bewildered and they begin
to doubt. And others, the bhakta, the devotee, he may see something that
is confusing, he doesn’t understand, but he remains firm and he continues.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: His śraddhā,
his faith, helps him to stand in and wait; and this man, he’s a prey to the
knowledge of experience - he easily dismisses.
“It is impossible.” And when one is disgusted with the ways, and has got not
charm of material aspiration, he will stand and wait for something new form of
happiness that may come or not. Praṅipāta,
paripraśna, and sevā:
[tad viddhi praṇipātena,
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti
te jñānaṁ, jñāninas tattva darśinaḥ]
[“You will be able to attain all this
knowledge by satisfying the enlightened spiritual master with prostrate
obeisances, relevant enquiry, and sincere service. Great souls who are most
expert in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the
Supreme Absolute Truth will teach you that divine knowledge.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
4.34]
Praṅipātameans
I have – I heard from our Guru Mahārāja– praṅipātameans
to bid adieu to all the experience of the material world. That is the meaning
of praṅipāta, that I have finished this. No charm for any
material aspiration – then it makes praṅipāta. All my hopes
may be granted from up; here, finished. I have taken leave from any sort of
prospect from this mundane. I don’t want them. If anything else I have come
with expectant attitude. I am to receive that. This is finished. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam [Bhagavad-gītā, 13.9]The whole kingdom, the whole
imperialism may be offered; I hate it, bad association, mortal association.
That association with mortality, disease, all these things, I despise it. So
with full attention I have to come to have an opening of my hope, whether it is
possible for me to have or not; with this attitude, praṅipāta.
Then paripraśna, honest enquiry
allowed; not that blind faith will take you there, but enquiry must be sincere.
And the all important factor is sevā.
You want that thing for His satisfaction, not your satisfaction. Sevā,
dedication, the land of dedication, you want to enter into the land of
dedication, and the land of exploitation taken leave of. None can thrive in the
land of exploitation. That is loan; exploiting means incurring loan, and we are
to repay it, we’re bound. For every action there’s equal and opposite reaction;
it will devour itself, suicidal. The exploiting civilisation is suicidal. It must devour itself.
It is all loan from nature. How strongly they show their head raised high, but
it is all loan from nature, exertion from nature. And to every paisait should cleared, the debt should be
cleared. So all pride and boast are all of negative. No positive contribution comes
from this civilisation of
exploitation. Exploitation must stop. Exploitation means to exhort things from
others, and that must be paid. It is a natural law. So this is nothing. We must
enter into the land of dedication and everything will be preserved in the bank.
Whatever point I shall dedicate, that will be kept in a savings bank. That will
be kept to be utilised by me,
though I won’t draw any cheque. Only I shall deposit. The land of dedication; a
new land, a land of wonder I want to enter, to have admission there.
Exploitation is hateful in itself, and dedication is the purest of the pure. I
want to be a member of that land, where I shall live. I won’t take. So purity,
and there, in the land, there is gradation, and that purity has got intensity.
Gradation according to the intensity, quality, quantity, in this way it is vaicitra,
of variegated nature. And on the top, that spontaneous love and beauty, the
flow in the kingdom of Kṛṣṇaand the gopīs, who,
only to remove a little pain, fictitious pain in the headache, they want to
contact eternal hell. This type of dedication...
Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya.
Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: In the Śikṣāṣṭaka
of Mahāprabhu, He
says:
āśliṣya
vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām,
adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā
[yathā tathā vā
vidadhātu lampaṭo, mat-prāna-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ]
[“Kṛṣṇa may embrace me in
love or trample me under His feet. He may break my heart by hiding Himself from
me. Let that debauchee do whatever He likes, but He will always be the only
Lord of my life.”] [Śikṣāṣṭakam,
8]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha,
ha. That is, that type of love, that never can make us separate from the – that
sort of attitude can never make us separate from Kṛṣṇa. The
acme of dedication; what does it mean by dedication? Dedication in its highest
stage - that is union in separation. Ostentatiously I may be driven away from
that, but in heart my faithfulness is increasing in degree. If I am punished,
still I adhere to that. That means the connection, the link, has become very
invulnerable. Even by separation I cannot be – by dealing any sort of
punishment – I cannot be detached. The higher form of unity in the deepest
plane, that none can snatch away things from me, if I have connection of such
quality. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Āśliṣyavā
pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām, adarśanān
marma-hatāṁ karotu vā. Stage
by stage it is going deeper and higher. Adarśanān
marma-hatāṁ karotu vā, yathā
tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo.Even my
claim, what is my right, my claim, that is given to others, in my very sight. That also cannot be taken
away from that, from my high
ideal; the purest object of my
ideal.Then when we can acquire such nature then we are relieved to that extent.
We come within the jurisdiction of His confidence. When, by dealing in this way
also we cannot be separated, then we come in the highest confidence area of the
Absolute, of anyone. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. I am clear? I
am not clear?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: It’s clear but profound.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Profound of course, cannot but be. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So you said that we want to; we hate the
world of exploitation.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of
course.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: But in
Bhagavad-gītā, in the fourteenth chapter [22-25], Arjuna and Kṛṣṇaare
speaking about what are the qualities of a liberated soul. And Kṛṣṇasays, “He
doesn’t hate illumination or attachment when they come.” He doesn’t hate; at
the same time. So how are we to despise these things on the one hand...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Exploitation is hate, and when we are free from exploitation, and posted in the
plane of service, dedication, then hate is eliminated and we embrace
everything. Only the spirit of dedication can make it possible to embrace
everything. And exploitation, where there’s no possibility of exploitation, we
hate that. And exploitation, the hatred comes from exploitation. And dedication
makes everything a friend. I don’t want anything in its turn, so everything
will come to me. I don’t want to exhort my selfish ideas from anything from the
environment. Viśvam
purna sukhāyate.
The
māyāvādīs hate, hateful are the renunciationists.
They indulge in hatred, but the devotee is opposite. Karmī exploits
and the jñānīhates and the devotee embraces everything, but
with reference to the centre that is Kṛṣṇa, in Kṛṣṇaconnection,
Kṛṣṇasambandha, everything is embraced. “Oh. he’s my
friend. I can utilise him in the service of Kṛṣṇa.” And
sometimes the flower will remind me, “Oh. Take me to Kṛṣṇa.”
That is when I’m fully established in the plane of dedication; everything will
help me and remind me, “Oh. Go
to go to Kṛṣṇa.” All friendly atmosphere - that only can be
acquired, that is in devotional spirit, in the spirit of dedication. Hatred can
have no room there of hatred. Hatred is in the temperament of the
renunciationist, tyāgī, mukti kāmi; not bhakta.
Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe,
yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate.
[anāsaktasya viṣayān,
yathārham upayuñjataḥ
nirbandhaḥ
kṛṣṇa-sambandhe, yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate]
[“That
renunciation in which there is no attachment for the objects of the senses, but
in which everything is seen in relationship to Kṛṣṇaand all
things are engaged in His service is called yukta-vairāgya, or
practical renunciation.”][Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
Pūrva-vibhāga,
2.125]
Everything is in connection of Kṛṣṇa.
How can I hate it? Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Sometimes, people, they criticise us;
that we condemn everything material.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: They say,
“Too much...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That
material means objects of exploitation; that is material. Objects of
exploitation; that is
matter. And what can be dedicated in the service of Kṛṣṇa; that is not matter. We want to utilise
everything for the service of Kṛṣṇa. Not for my diseased
temperament, to
satisfy my diseased temperament. We don’t hate matter, we hate exploitation. We
want to help everything in the service of Kṛṣṇa. We don’t
shun anything, we don’t want to leave anything, but we’re afraid of exploitation
and renunciation, bhukti mukti.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: But the madhyama bhāgavata,
he must make some distinction, he can’t embrace all.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes,
some distinction. That may be captured by the spirit of exploitation. In renunciation
he accepts so much that he may not be food of the exploiting agent, so he keeps
aloof from exploitation, in lower madhyama bhāgavata. And for the kaniṣṭhabhāgavataafraid
of the environment, they will encourage the exploiting tendency in him. So, keep
away from exploiting agents. That is necessary there. But it is not in the
ideal. It is a temporary ailment in our practices, temporary. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So, Mahārāja, there’s a
question about how the spiritual master is taking the karma of the
disciple, because, at first,
HariNāma initiation,
he’s taking some karma, and then in mantra dīkṣā...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is
the criteria of karma? Energising, the movement, all movement is not to
be reckoned as karma; given the stamp of karma. What is karma?
The spirit of enjoyment must be there; then it is karma. And if it is
offered to the Deity, to the Guru, Vaiṣṇava, it is bhakti. Karma
is not external movement only. The aim, it should be named according to its
aim, its object. The dagger may not always be meant to stab; even stabbing when
one is going to murder once, even stabbing may be adjusted, may be allowed, to
save him.
When I was delivering lecture in Dacca
University, one Mohammedan student from the post graduate college, he – I told
in every lecture that don’t disturb when I deliver lecture, but after the
lecture is finished, you are allowed to make any question. So when the lecture
was finished one Mohammedan student he rose and put a question.
“Rāmacandra,
according to you, is an ideal king. But what is His explanation when He
beheaded one śūdraka,
who was by birth a śūdraand he was engaged in penance; what is
the justification? Why did He behead śūdraka? He was innocent; he was only engaging
himself in penance. And because by birth he was śūdra, and so
he was beheaded by the advice of Vasiṣṭha. How can you justify?”
I told that who is śūdra? Sutadhatu
– it comes from the derivative meaning that one who mourns, he’s śūdra.
Mourning qualification, who mourns, whose absorbed in the mortal world, he has
to mourn, lament. Mortal relativity only helps us to mourn. So he was engrossed
in mortal achievement, like Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa, who
were his predecessors, who were engaged in mortal achievement that has got a
reaction. And tapasya, what is the meaning of tapasya? To acquire
power, more potency; he engaged himself to acquire more power to do a disaster,
to make supremacy, to spread his supremacy over the world. So killing, and in a
vicious way, and as a reaction the havoc will be created as a result of that
potency. The capturing the potency in subtle form, and the reaction will come
to him also and he’ll have to come down. So it is not wholesome from any
standpoint, because the object is very mean, to acquire material supremacy. The
reaction is inevitable, so it is a disastrous thing, a curse to the country. So
that was nipped in the bud. To save both the parties, he was silenced. So, what
is devotion and what is karma, we are to detect it.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Mahārāja, Hṛdayānanda
Mahārāja, he has a question, that what is the explanation that
Rāmacandra has killed Vali, Sugriva’s brother?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, I
know. __________________________ [?]
Rāmacandragave
explanation. It is related by Valmiki there. But we make much of the mundane
law and go to judge the Absolute. Anyhow, Rāmacandragave this
explanation.When Vali is going to die, he called for explanation. “I am
innocent, sakha meda. I
did not make any harm to You, Your interest. Even I could do, what You will
have to do during a year, during a day I could finish Your object, I could
bring Sītā to You. But what wrong You have committed You don’t know.
I am an innocent, half jungle animal. And You, without any cause, You kill me.”
So Rāmacandrasays that the
administration, responsibility of this world has been given by Brahmā to suja
vaṁśa.
There may be so many mushrooms to take the reign of the government, but that is
no sanction from above. But it is Brahmā who placed the responsibility of
administration of the whole world to our family. And now,
MahārājaBharat is in the throne. It is his lookout to see what is
happening where. And any person born in the suja vaṁśa he has
got automatic power of the police; he can take in his own hand the police
administrative responsibility and can discharge it. Even without apparent order
from the centre. It is there.
So, you have accepted Sugriva’s wife.
According to your social rule it is punishable by capital punishment according
to the rule of your society. The younger can take the wife of the elder; that
is allowed in your social rule. But the elder can never take the wife of the
younger. And if that is done he should be punished by discharging capital
punishment. So I have done it because you have taken Sugriva’s wife.”
That is one – and another; I had no other
alternative to save Brahmā, to kill you stealthily, otherwise Brahmā
will be nowhere. According to the provision of the boon of Brahmā, whoever
will come to fight with you, face to face, he will be ten times more efficient.
And so, I can do, but Brahmā’s
word will be, his promise will be crushed. So I had to do it in a stealthy
way.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Then
ultimately, Vali came to his senses, and he told: “I feel it is my fortune that
I die, as I am killed by You. You are Nārāyaṇa. And it is a
great fortune to be killed by Your hand. Your hand is always pure. Your only
aim, the object, everything, is the purest. So whatever anomaly could possibly
have been in me, that is removed when I get punishment from You my Lord. I’m
sure that my next chance must have a greater thing beyond my aspiration.” Vali
himself realised in that way. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee:
Śrīdhara Mahārāja, but Dhīra KṛṣṇaMahārājawas
asking about the spiritual master taking karma of the disciple. When the
spiritual master accepts the disciple and initiates him, then the disciple’s karma
is taken away at that time. Is that right?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Karma?
Devotee:
Sinful reaction.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: The karma of the śiṣya
at the time of dīkṣā, the Guru is taking away his karma.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of
course in some subtle form that sort of responsibility is there.
Devotee:
But the Guru is a jīva.
Is it actually taken by Kṛṣṇa, or does the spiritual
master...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Guru is
not a jīva, but the Guru
____ comes to enter into jīva, it
maybe. But when that inspiration, that revelation, that order, that
inspiration, comes down in the heart of, Kṛṣṇato the
disciple, he’s no longer a jīva.
“He will
rather aim to the inspiration that is working on behalf of Me; that agent who
has come and taken quarter there to deliver him, to take him the Goloka.”
The śiṣya must look out
in that way. I’m not that body, not that mental system, but Kṛṣṇais
working for me, taking His
quarter, His
position, in that gentleman. Something like that, ācāryaṁ
māṁ vijānīyān.
[ācāryaṁ māṁ
vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta,
sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ]
[Kṛṣṇatold
Uddhava: “One
should know the Ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way.
One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the
representative of all the demigods.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.17.27] & [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.46]
It is His delegation; His delegated power
is there, and I am concerned with that. And that will be the way of the meeting
of the two, establishing a relation between the two. The connection will be ____________________ both the
gentlemen will be awake in that current, that feeling, that sentiment, the
Vaikuṇṭhacurrent, the soul current, current of pure transaction of
giving and taking. In this way, Guru
does not take any service from the man for himself, but he sends it to his Guru, and in that way it goes to Kṛṣṇa.
So whatever little physical service he accepts, that also he sends to Guru, because in that way he may be
encouraged. He’s not the recipient. Externally he’s the recipient, but mentally
or spiritually, he’s sending it upwards. And it is the service I take and it
makes me fit physically and I can render more help to them. So it is not
objectionable, it is fruitful. It is not detrimental, it produces something and
of pure character. And that helps everyone. In this way he’s to receive. Even
at the same time blaming himself that I cannot go on with my worldly life
without the help of this or that. He blames himself, but the underlying spirit
is that otherwise I shall be unfit and I can’t do my bit of service of the
Lord, my Gurudeva. And by taking up renunciation I’ll be loser and incur loss,
not for myself, for the world, and my Guru’s
service will be hampered. In that spirit he’s to take, whatever, everything,
for the cause of Kṛṣṇa, for the cause of Guru.
Suppose if there is a manager who’s very
miserly, and he cannot spend money from the cash, and thereby he may not attend
a particular state difficulty and the state is lost. Then he will be
responsible to the proprietor. “But why did you not spend? Why are you afraid
of spending money from my store? Your
miserly habit has resulted in the state being lost. Why should you not spend my
money for my interest?”
So, we shall, to render service to Kṛṣṇa,
Guru, and Vaiṣṇava, to all the world, I must keep up this mundane
body, and I shall, I’m entitled to take something; otherwise miserliness, that is māyāvādā,
that is renunciation spirit. That will mar my interest. Do you follow?
Devotee:
Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So that
is yukta vairāgya. I shall take from the store of Kṛṣṇato
keep me fit and do service. That is Kṛṣṇa’s account. If I do not do that, I should be
a separationist, I should be māyāvādī,
a renunciationist. Maximum service I shall try to render to Kṛṣṇa,
and whatever is necessary to make me fit for service, I must take it without
any hesitation. Otherwise I shall be punishable.
End of of 81.03.04.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.04.C_81.03.05.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
[Some of this MP3 is unclear,but clearer on
the cassette tape recording 4/5-3-81]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee:
Śrīdhara Mahārāja,
what about, we have heard that if the spiritual master becomes ill, that is due
to the sins of his disciples.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It may
be in some cases, not always, not always. To a certain extent it is there,
according to the position of the Guru.
Jiva guru asisya hoile para
sri visisya karma phala niya harijan [?]
It
is encouraging to know for the disciple, it is encouraging for them. But from
the absolute standpoint it depends upon the position of the Guru. And totally
it is not wrong. Have to try to underline it.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.Gaura Haribol!
...
What is the meaning of the word ’thanks’?
I always, whenever you depart, at the time of departure this word is always
used. But I have not got a very good idea about such word, thanks.
Devotee:
Expressing gratefulness.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gratefulness.
Devotee:
We feel grateful we are given.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Thanking is an expression of gratefulness. Then it shows, just like gifts, dhanam.
Dhan presupposes that one is owner, proprietor of a thing. So thanking
presupposes the existence of a second party. Is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: We’re a separate party, we get something, and
in return express our gratefulness, a separate party. We are all one party of
Mahāprabhu. Ha, ha, ha, ha. It does not send good impression in me, my
heart, thanking, gratitude.
Devotee:
What should be the real sentiment?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Something like we are highlybenefited, or something like that, some expression
__________________________________________________________ [?]
________________________________________________________________________
[?]
What
expression should be accurate and nice? Ha, ha.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: One in the position of a disciple, he
should try to make some repayment to the spiritual master.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Repayment to his master?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I say
otherwise. I shall say one must not think that his possession of property or
person, but they’re all
properties of my Guru, servants of my Guru. That should be the vision. Even we
heard our Guru Mahārāja
to say that, “The whole
work I should have done. It is my duty to do everything for my master, but I
can’t do, I am unfit. So Kṛṣṇa
has sent so many to help me. They’re
also my Guru come to help me in my work.” So
our Prabhupāda used to see his disciples as Guru in the right plane. And
he told that, “When I
chastise a disciple, that is my artificial temperament.” Pralāpita vakra.
Mahāprabhu also told to
Sanātana, “Whatever
I am talking to you it is all My pralāpa. Pralāpa means
a madman’s speech.
I don’t know really the meaning of all these
expressions but I feel so much that Kṛṣṇa, to grace you, He’s passing, sending these flows through Me.
What I say that I know everything and I can teach you, this is My pralāpa.
That I am superior to you, this is My pralāpa. That I am outside
Myself, beside Myself.”
“But in the real life you are all my Guru,
you have come to help me in my futile attempt of service to my Guru or Kṛṣṇa.”Amnayiki [?] and vekhivekiki
[?]And by vekhivek darśana at least we shall consider these are
all servants of my Guru or Kṛṣṇa. I may be a leader, leader
of the clan, leader of the group, maybe. My Guru Mahārāja has appointed me to lead this group, but
they’re not directly under me to serve me. They’re the servitors of my Gurudeva or Kṛṣṇa; in that way we
are to see. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Am I clear?
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That
will be more real thinking, on the way. Hare Kṛṣṇa. It is
awkward to think that they’re
my servants, or something like my property, īśāvāsyam.
[īśāvāsyam
idaṁ sarvaṁ, yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat
tena
tyaktena bhuñjīthā, mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam]
[“Everything
animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the
Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself,
which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things,
knowing well to whom they belong.”][Śrī
Īśopaniṣad, 1]
Kṛṣṇa is everywhere.
Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa and His own. I am not still
claiming to be, to become one of His own, at the bottom of our heart, but
still, what I can do, whatever little capacity I have got I must utilise in the
service of Kṛṣṇa as I am ordered or expected by my Guru. That
will be the solace and consolation from my activity.
Hare Kṛṣṇa,
Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa,
Hare Hare.
Hare
Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
...
____________________________________________________________________[?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where
is that Rāmānuja now?
Devotee:
I don’t know.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He
became a hippy?
Devotees: Ha, ha,
ha, ha. I think so.I don’t
know him.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:He was not known by most of the devotees
because that was many years ago.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. He
came and within a year he left perhaps. He was not very intelligent but anyhow
came, chance coincidence. But Acyutānanda was intelligent.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. The
Tamal Kṛṣṇa and others they’re
engaged in the meeting?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes, beginning.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Caru
Swāmī, has he come?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Bhakti Caru Swāmī, no he has
not returned yet from Calcutta. Today maybe he’s
coming.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And
Bhāvānanda and, no, Sarvabhāvan, he was sick I heard. You don’t know about him?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: I don’t
know if he’s
recovered from his sickness.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Then
new friend from Mexico.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So, Mahārāja, could we ask you a question?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: I hope it is lokā hita.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: But even if our questions may not be lokā
hita, your answers are always lokā hita. Ha, ha, ha.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Lokānāṁ
hita-kārano.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Lokānāṁ
hita-kāmyayā.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He said, “I feel like a fool. My Guru
Mahārāja told Me,
‘Tomāra mūrkha,
You’re foolish.’
So I don’t even
know what is the proper question to ask.”
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
[prabhu kahe — śuna,
śrīpāda, ihāra kāraṇa] / guru more
mūrkha dekhi’ karila śāsana
[Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī,
“My dear sir, kindly hear the reason. My spiritual master considered Me a fool,
and therefore he chastised Me.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 7.71]
mūrkha
tumi, tomāra nāhika vedāntādhikāra / ‘kṛṣṇa-mantra’
japa sadā, — ei mantra-sāra
[“ ‘You
are a fool,’ he said. ‘You are not qualified to study Vedānta philosophy,
and therefore You must always chant the Holy
Name of Kṛṣṇa. This is
the essence of all mantras, or Vedic hymns.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 7.72]
In Benares in the assembly of the
Māyāvādīns, Mahāprabhu gave His confession like this
when they accused, “You
belong to our clan. You are disciple of Keśava Bharati. He’s one of the members of the Śaṅkara
sampradāya. You took sannyāsa from him. We are here all
stalwarts of the sampradāya but You don’t come to us, You don’t meet us. Not only that we hear that You
sing and dance and do so many things. And
You do not engage Yourself in the serious discussion and meditation of Vedānta.
What is this? But seeing Your figure, Your appearance, I can’t think that You are a hypocrite or a
designing man. Your figure expresses as clear as transparent fires, a lustre
coming from You. Now we want to know why You do these things, dancing,
chanting, and don’t do
meditation and discussions about Vedāntic ontology.”
Then Mahāprabhu told that, “My Gurudeva wanted Me to go on chanting
the Name of Kṛṣṇa. And he told, in Kali-yuga, general people
they’re of less merit, they’re not fit for the discussion of Vedānta,
such a profound thing. So go on chanting the Name of the Lord.”
“All right, it is not bad to take the Name
of Kṛṣṇa. But why do You dance and sing and do all these
things?”
Then Mahāprabhu told, “When such sentiments and feelings came in
Me I put it to My Gurudeva, ‘What
is this? When I take the Name of the Lord such feelings and sentiments come in
Me.’ Then Gurudeva told Me, ‘Yes, You are very fortunate that You have
got all these signs in Your mind and body.’
And with this he quoted passages from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam[11.2.40].”
evaṁ-vrataḥ
svapriya-nāma kīrtyā, jātānurāgo druta-citta
uccaiḥ
hasatyatho
roditi rauti gāyaty, unmāda-van nṛtyati lokavāhyaḥ
[When a person is actually advanced and
takes pleasure in chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, who is very dear to him,
he is agitated and loudly chants the Holy Name. He also laughs, cries, becomes
agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for outsiders.]
“When real devotion descends in the heart
of a devotee then these signs must come in him, he will do these things. So You
are fortunate enough that You have got that prema, Kṛṣṇaprema, the
fifth end of life, You have got. And I am going on, in this way.”
Then the talk of Vedānta also
came there. And Mahāprabhu told that the real purport of Vedānta is
not impersonal, it is personal. And He established there that sort, that, “Why do you say that Brahma is the ultimate
conception of the Absolute, impersonal. The signs in the Vedānta, athāto
brahma-jijñāsā,
janmādy asya yato:
[janmādy
asya yato ’nvayād
itararaś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene
brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ
yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā
dhāmnā
svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi]
[“O
my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all
pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I
meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the
Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance
and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly
conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no
other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge
unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even
the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by
the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only
because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the
reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are
unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
Who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free
from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him,
for He is the Absolute Truth.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.1.1]
“Everything coming from Him, everything is
allowed by Him; that is preserved by Him, and everything enters into Him. So,
these are the signs of sarviśeṣa, not nirviśeṣa.
So many specific and differentiated characters are to be found there. It cannot
be impersonal.”
In this way there was some talk. And a
particular section they were converted.
And then the other day when Mahāprabhu
after taking bath in the Ganges, went to see Bindhu-Mādhava, at Viṣṇu
Mandir, and there He began to sing and dance nearby the āśrama of
the Prakāśānanda. Then some students of his intimated that, “Caitanyadeva is dancing there and singing
the Name of Kṛṣṇa. If you like to see that, come.” Then with all the disciples
Prakāśānanda came to the adjacent devastana and there he
found all these things. And he pressed, and it is told that he left the
Māyāvādā School and became a disciple. He entered into Vaiṣṇava
theory, that is sarviśeṣaKṛṣṇa is above
all. Kṛṣṇa conception of Godhead is the highest.
And some say, we do not admit, that
Prabodhānanda who wrote many things about Navadwīpa, Mahāprabhu,
and Rādhā-rāsa-suddha-niddhi and all, and Vṛndāvana-sataka.
Śiśir Kumār Ghosh, the Founder of Āmṛta-Bāzār
Patrikā [a newspaper about Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu] he was of
that opinion that this converted Prakāśānanda was
Prabodhānanda. And he was so much impressed and he got so much grace of
Mahāprabhu that he produced all these literatures. But we are not of that
opinion.
Prabodhānanda, in Bhakti-Ratnākara
we find that Prabodhānanda was the uncle of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa,
as a Tamilian brāhmaṇa and he was Prabodhānanda. And in Kṛṣṇalīlā he’s Tuṅgavidyā. So he cannot be māyāvādī.
One who in Kṛṣṇalīlā
was so important a figure he cannot be māyāvādī,
Prakāśānanda, in any time.
But anyhow, the
Prakāśānanda lost his position in the
Māyāvādā School and entered into the Devotional School of
Śrī Caitanyadeva and lived in Vṛndāvana the last days of
his life past there taking HariNāma. He was the leader of the then māyāvādā
sampradāya of Benares.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So, the other day you were saying about
the potential state of the jīva in the brahmajyoti, Brahmaloka. And then also you told about
someone being in the spiritual world and reawakening their identity. You said
their consciousness may have been scattered. They may have been a little mad
and forgetful of their spiritual identity.
Devotee:
Like crazy man, like someone whose crazy, delirious, you said.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: In the spiritual world, Vaikuṇṭha,
you were saying, someone may be looked upon he became forgetful of his position
and had scattered consciousness, or was like a madman, temporarily, for a short
time. So how can we understand that the jīvas they’re coming to the mahāt-tattva
from the Brahmaloka, are they coming from sāyujya or sārūpya,
or can it be…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I told
that two kinds of jīva come to this world. One type they’re already from Vaikuṇṭha.
That is, by the necessity of the nitya-līlā of Kṛṣṇa
they had to come here, as a part of līlā. And another by
necessity, constitutional necessity, from Brahmaloka their balance, their stage
of equilibrium is disturbed anyhow and movement begins in the Brahmaloka.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So movement begins in the brahmajyoti.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ah, brahmajyoti,
and then, by that influence of the movement, then the free will is started,
began to move. But the general movement, the individual, it is ākṣara,
ākṣara becomes kṣaraḥ.
[dvāv
imau puruṣau loke, kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca
kṣaraḥ
sarvāṇi bhūtāni, kūṭa-stho ’kṣara ucyate
uttamaḥ
puruṣas tv anyaḥ, paramātmety udāhṛtaḥ
yo
loka-trayam āviśya, bibharty avyaya īśvaraḥ]
[“In
this world, there are two kinds of souls: the fallible and the infallible. All
beings from Lord Brahmā down to the lowest stationary life forms are known
a fallible (as they have deviated from their intrinsic nature). But the
personalities who are eternally situated in their divine nature are known as
infallible (personal associates of the Lord).”]
[“But totally distinct from both these types
of souls, there is a Supreme Person who is known as Paramātmā, the
Supersoul. He is the Supreme Lord. Entering into the three worlds in His
eternal form, He maintains all beings in the universe.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 15.16-17]
It was non-differentiated, differentiation
begins. And then the, because it was really a conscious place, jyoti means
consciousness, unit of consciousness, so differentiation and movement, that
starts individual consciousness there. From unconscious, a plain sheet, when
the specification begins, movement begins, then individual conscious units
grow. And because it is consciousness it is endowed with free will. And by free
choice from the buffer position, from the marginal position, they had to take one
side, side of exploitation and side of dedication. By the choice of their free
will they start, and in the result we see that some comes towards exploitation
and some goes towards dedication. If we are to analyse to the extreme then we
are to follow such trend of thought. Anādi, anādi-bahirmukha.
[kṛṣṇa
bhuli sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha, ataeva māyā tāre deya
saṁsāra dukḥa]
[“The
jīva souls are the marginal potency of the Lord. Though in reality
they are servants of Kṛṣṇa, from time immemorial, they have
been engaged in misconception, as exploiting agents.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.117]
Anādi
means what has no beginning. Then why, after they enter the land
of exploitation they begin to come within the form of thought, space and time?
Before time, before the conception of this material time, the movement, so, anādi.
Anādi-bahirmukha, first, bahirmukhata, bahirmukha means
tendency towards exploitation. In the beginning the first tendency towards
exploitation. And when it enters the exploitation area then it comes within the
factor of time and space, of the mundane world, so anādi-bahirmukha.
In this way some enters this side and some may go towards Vaikuṇṭha.
In this way the equilibrium is disturbed and the movement, the dynamic
character begins, of this world, in the negative side, that is the side of
exploitation, the wrong side, the negative side, that of exploitation. And when
they come to exploitation, enters the domain of exploitation, then the giving
and taking in the negative land of loan, they really become losers. Apparently
they think that by exploitation they will thrive, but really they become losers
under the subjugation of the material consideration. Do you follow? Am I clear?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes. But there’s one thing that’s confusing to me…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
What is that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: …was the other day about saying, you
told about someone, Tamal Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī asked about
someone entering Goloka or Vaikuṇṭha, some spiritual position. And
you said that the others who are already there, they may be seeing that
temporarily he was mad. So how is that possible?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is
another side. When a baddha-jīva, a fallen soul…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Baddha, conditioned.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:…conditioned
soul, enters the unconditional area, then they do not make any distinction.
That there the method of thinking is all of eternal. So they think that this
friendship, the connection which at present we find within one another, that is
eternal, that cannot be, but for some time it was not present, so, ’My friend, you are known to me, then why
you were absent for so many days. My heart hankers for your company.’ In this way they welcome them.
Devotee:
That means that he was there before.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The
eternal aspect, when they meet, they think that we are eternally connected, but
why for some time there was a bar between us?
Devotee:
So that means before, the living entity was with Kṛṣṇa in the
spiritual world, and then some separation…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Only
consider, when the eternal aspect is towards eternity, then that sort of
conception comes. “That you
were absent, and why? We can’t
ascertain. For a long time you left Me. How can you go on with your life, leaving
Me, your bosom friend?” Kṛṣṇa
also tells when a new friend comes after a long time, He says, “You, My friend, why, how you can, and
where you can be moving, leaving Me here? I am feeling much pain for your
separation. Now you have come it is very good.”
In this way he’s
received in that plane because for the eternal, and they think it is temporary.
It seems like it was temporary in the eternal time. In the factor of eternal
counting it is like that.
Devotee:
Our Śrīla Prabhupāda, he explained that originally we were all Kṛṣṇa
conscious entities in the spiritual world. But because we were forgetful of
that consciousness we came under the jurisdiction of matter.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Brahmaloka means forgetfulness of a number, a big number forgetfulness, and
they’re as if reserved in Brahmaloka, the
forgetfulness.
Devotee:
So originally we were with Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual world.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The two
sections, and in līlā, sometimes they manage in such a way
that some of them come here, they are not posted in Brahmaloka, not detained in
Brahmaloka, but come here also, and then goes up again. That is the part of līlā.
And another class that comes, that is posted in Brahmaloka for a long time and
from there it is coming this side, that side. So in two ways we find that jīva
goes to Kṛṣṇa, Goloka, and mundane world.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: And in the, our Prabhupāda he had
one book…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Just as
suppose, the imperial officers they come in the provincial, with some business
they come in the provincial area, and goes back. This is one thing. And
provincial officers may be promoted to imperial service. Something like that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes. Prabhupāda, he had one book
called the Kṛṣṇa Book. It is the tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
in summary form. And in this one pastime, līlā, of Varuna
stealing away Nanda Mahārāja, later in that pastime, Kṛṣṇa,
He revealed, manifest to the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana the spiritual
realm Goloka. And Prabhupāda says there that some of the associates of Kṛṣṇa
were His eternal associates who descended with Him. Others, they were new men
and He was giving them their first glimpse of the spiritual world.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see
the svarūpa-siddhi and vastu-siddhi in our attainment of the
highest order we are first to pass through the stage of svarūpa-siddhi
and then vastu-siddhi. But svarūpa-siddhi is that we attain
the fitness of a particular post fully. And vastu-siddhi, then we are
engaged in that post. Suppose I have passed an examination of a district
magistrate, IAS, ICS, that is one thing, that is an eligibility I have
acquired. And vastu-siddhi means that I am posted in that practically.
Then, after svarūpa-siddhi, to attain vastu-siddhi, for some
recruitment, the eligible, the past hands, they get a chance to enter that Vṛndāvana.
And there, in the prapañca līlā they first participates and
after participating first in some prapañca līlā, then they are
given passports to enter into the eternal līlā forever. Am I
clear? No.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: For svarūpa-siddhi
and vastu-siddhi and before attaining vastu-siddhi, that is
eternal service there, these eligible persons they are to participate in the prapañca
līlā where Kṛṣṇa has come down. In that
particular brahmāṇḍa he gets the birth, and then after
first participation in a prapañca līlā of Kṛṣṇa
they comes in touch with the eternal līlā and then forever
they’re admitted into His eternal līlā,
vastu-siddhi. So it will be like that. So it is said in that way.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: There’s
one śloka, it is in Ādi-līlā,
Caitanya-caritāmṛta [5.36], and Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu
[1.2.278], and Laghu-Bhāgavatāmṛta [1.5.41] of Rūpa
Goswāmī.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
What is that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
yad
arīṇāṁ priyāṇāṁ ca, prāpyam
ekam ivoditam
tad
brahma-kṛṣṇayor aikyāt, kiraṇārkopamā-juṣoḥ
[“Where
it has been stated that the Lord’s
enemies and devotees attain the same destination, this refers to the ultimate
oneness of Brahman and Lord Kṛṣṇa. This may be understood by
the example of the sun and the sunshine, in which Brahman is like the sunshine
and Kṛṣṇa Himself is like the sun.”]
So
there…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kiraṇārkopamā-juṣoḥ
- Yes. That is a very important śloka and that harmonises many
things, many opposite things harmonised there. It is said in the śāstra
that whoever is, that anyone,kama krodha vaya desa hi chadya dayo nipa
bhavo stad gatim gata [?]
It is mentioned in different places that
who is killed by Kṛṣṇa he attains His loka. And also,
by dint of bhakti, they also attain Him. Then the both is one and the
same? If by that Kaṁsa, Śiśupāla, Rāvaṇa,
Kumbhakarṇa, that was killed by Viṣṇu, they also attained Viṣṇuloka.
And those that through the processes of the devotees, they by the process of
devotion, they also attain Viṣṇuloka. Is this one and the same?
Rūpa Goswāmī says no. Then, how is it said like that in the śāstra?
Yad
arīṇāṁ priyāṇāṁ ca, prāpyam
ekam ivoditam - in the scriptures we find as if the
enemies killed by Kṛṣṇa and His friends, they both attain the
same place. But it is not actually the same. It is just as sun’s ray and the sun is one and the same, so
also, Brahmaloka and Vaikuṇṭha one and the same. Kiraṇārkopamā-juṣoḥ,
ārka and kiraṇ, there is difference. So ārka is
original body, and jyoti is, kiraṇ means jyoti emanating
from the sun. Both have been taken in the broader sense one and the same. So
the enemies killed by Viṣṇu they enter
into jyoti, and the devotees they enter the real zone,
home. It is in a general way this statement is like that. Kiraṇārkopamā- juṣoḥ, kiraṇ
and ārka. So brahmajyoti and Vaikuṇṭha is taken
as one and the same, in this way it has been mentioned like that. But really
there’s a great difference.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So there in his bhāsya,
Prabhupāda, he said, he quoted Parāśara Muni speaking to
Maitreya and he was saying that, “Do
not think that Jaya and Vijaya in every millennium, yuga, that they are
falling from Vaikuṇṭha to become āśuras, demons.
We should not think that way.”
So my question is this, are some Vaikuṇṭha vāsīsor
the inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha, is it possible for them to fall into
this material contaminated world? This is unusual.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There
may be two things to be considered here. Jaya and Vijaya are Vaikuṇṭha
dhari, dhari
means gatekeeper, and Vaikuṇṭha’s
gate, outside the gate there is nonVaikuṇṭha…
Devotees: [Group laughter]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: …that
is merely Brahmaloka, or Śivaloka. So deviation from that place is not
impossible. That is one thing. And another, those that have got some
engagement, but the; I told that there are two forms of falling by līlā.
For līlā, like play, just as like Hiranyakas, everything is in
Vaikuṇṭha or everything is in Goloka in the broadest sense. But
Goloka means all accommodating, that Kṛṣṇa līlāaccommodates
everything but that loses its poisonous habit. Just as a heinous murder is one
thing, and when in a play, in a drama it is being shown, it has not got such
heinousness. Playfully it is relished by persons, but actually when it happens
people will shudder. Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In a
play, when it is found in a play, it loses its sting. So in the līlāof
Kṛṣṇa everything may be accommodated but no sting will be
there. Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So
everything, to maintain its dynamic character – just as Rūpa
Goswāmī says, ato hetor ahetoś ca, yūnor māna
udañcati, aher iva gatiḥ premṇaḥ, svabhāva-kuṭilā
bhavet.
[aher iva gatiḥ premṇaḥ, svabhāva-kuṭilā
bhavet
ato hetor
ahetoś ca, yūnor
māna udañcati]
[“ ‘The
progress of loving affairs between a young boy and a young girl is by nature
crooked, like the movement of a snake. Because of this, two types of anger arise
between a young boy and girl — anger with a cause and anger without a
cause.’ ”] [Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi]
&[Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-līlā,
14.163]
Just as a serpent when he goes, his natural
movement is curved, not straight. A serpent never goes straight but in a curved
way. So the natural flow of prema, of love, is in a curved way. Ato
hetor ahetoś ca, with cause or without cause, yūnor, the
lover and the beloved their māna udañcati, there sometimes without
any cause, so many feelings, sentiments, the anger and earnestness they spring,
ahaitukī, it is...
End of 81.03.04.C_81.03.05.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.05.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: For the
necessity to maintain the dynamic character of the Goloka many things are to be
played there. And even killing has got no value of killing. In a portrait you
are taking a picture of a murderer but the actual murder is not there.
Similarly, in Goloka, whatever is being shown or whatever occurs there, that is
not filthy. That is tasteful, that is wholesome. Because the very basis is not
of exploitation, it is all of dedication. The competition is there but the
competition in dedication that is better, that is better, that is the best
competition. So, similarly, everything is present there, the basis is such that
everything is well and good and wholesome, because the fundamental plane is
that of dedication, not of exploitation, not of selfish play. Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You are
to understand that, the difference between exploitation and dedication,
exploiting land and dedicating land.
Harjid Mohamed Marsin we are told, he
stealthily threw out money to the poor. There was one in Hoogly there was a
Mohammedan chief and he was very benevolent and he helped many poor men. And
there were also persons who were poor but do not; they feel hesitation to come
to beg. And Harjid Mohamed he arranged, I read in my child book, in infant book that Harjid Mohamed Marsin,
he, at night he was out with some money and those that feel shame to beg, he
threw some money into his house, ha, ha, ha, stealthily.
So,
that is also, stealing, thieving, but that thieving is not, that is admissible,
so stealing also admissible. So in the land of dedication everything is
admissible, everything is good. And the land of exploitation, everything is
bad; the good things are also bad.
The German philosopher Kant says, “No deed can be perfectly good, only,” according to him, “good will. Only without good will in this
world nothing is to be found as good, only good will.”
But we also, we say even good will is also
bad in this plane of exploitation. Good will, what standard of goodness we
shall acquire? The standard is vitiated so we will also create some bad wave in
the world, the land of exploitation. Whatever I shall do that will bring some
bad thing in its retinue, cannot but be. I shall attend the bed of a patient,
the medicine coming from so many creatures, creepers, or so many animals they
are killed in this way. And some diet I am administering, the diet means that
is killing so many jīva, either in the form of crops, or a creeper,
or anything like. So no action can be absolutely good in this plane, in this
land of exploitation.Karma
dosa bada iti ke. Every
action is considered to be wrong, or nonbeneficial, bad, fetching bad effect,
every movement here,karma
dosa bada iti ke [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Now, there’s
one śloka in the Bhāgavat…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But is
it clear?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: [and others]:
Yes. Yes. Yes…there it says:
mahat-tattvād
vikurvāṇād, bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt
kriyā-śaktir
ahaṅkāras, tri-vidhaḥ samapadyata
[vaikārikas
taijasaś ca, tāmasaś ca yato bhavaḥ
manasaś
cendriyāṇāṁ ca, bhūtānāṁ
mahatām api]
[The
material ego springs up from the mahat-tattva, which evolved from the
Lord’s own energy. The material ego is endowed
predominantly with active power of three kinds - good, passionate and ignorant.
It is from these three types of material ego that the mind, the senses of
perception, the organs of action, and the gross elements evolve.][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
3.26.23-24]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I don’t
follow.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: This is Kapiladeva, Kapila Muni.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In what
canto?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Third canto. So, Prabhupāda was
explaining that in the beginning there is clear consciousness, pure Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, and then the first contamination sprang up, is coming from false
ego, ahaṅkāras. And he says that we see also in actuality, in
actual life that someone is acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and
then suddenly their behaviour changes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Again,
repeat it.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
mahat-tattvād
vikurvāṇād, bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt
kriyā-śaktir
ahaṅkāras, tri-vidhaḥ samapadyata
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What
does Swāmī Mahārāja say?
Śrīla
Govinda Mahārāja: What’s Swāmī
Mahārāja’s translation?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: It’s not the translation, it’s his
explanation. He said that in the beginning there is clear consciousness.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Clear
consciousness.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Pure Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Pure Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. How Kṛṣṇa consciousness deviates into māyā
consciousness?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mahat-tattvād,
what is the first word?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Mahat-tattvād vikurvāṇād.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
The
first development of prakṛti in the negative side is known as mahat-tattva. Prakṛti
developed in the negative side first, that means its name is mahat-tattva.
Then mahat-tattvād vikurvāṇād, when there is
movement, first negative possession, extension towards negative world, and then
vikurvāṇād means there is movement, clear, mahat-tattvād
vikurvāṇād. Then?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Bhagavad-vīrya.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt.
Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ, sūyate
sa-carācaram, and aham bīja-pradaḥ pitā, in Bhagavad-gītā.
[mayādhyakṣeṇa
prakṛtiḥ, sūyate sa-carācaram
hetunānena
kaunteya, jagad viparivartate]
[“O
Kaunteya, My deluding potency, under My direction gives birth to this universe
of moving and stationary beings. And for this reason, that is, since only a
created object is subject to destruction, the universe is created again and
again.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 9.10]
[sarva-yoniṣu
kaunteya, mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ
tāsāṁ
brahma mahad yonir, aham bīja-pradaḥ pitā]
[“O
Kaunteya, Brahman personified as mother nature is the progenitress of all the
various bodies born within all species of life, headed by demigods and humans -
and I (as the causal consciousness) am the seed-giving father.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 14.4]
“Prakṛti, I throw
My semen, as if, in prakṛti, and then the movements and then mahat-tattva
and then all these developments in the side, in the prakṛti.”
So mahat-tattvād vikurvāṇād,
this negative movement, bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt, and the
cause there is bhagavad-vīrya, His potency, the potency of the
Lord, sambhavāt. Then what is the…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Kriyā-śaktir ahaṅkāras.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kriyā-śaktir
ahaṅkāras, then this material subjective characteristic is born
of that. Material individual tendency to work in this land of exploitation is
gradually born from such condition, passing through it. Bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt,
prakṛtiḥ, negative first stage maha-tattva
and from maha-tattva
then this negative activity, that ahaṅkāra, and then it takes
the characteristic of this material ego; that is selfish ego, individual ego.
And they want to work here in different stages of Bhūr, Bhuvar, Svar,
Mahar, Janar, Tapar, Satya-loka. The ahaṅkāra of jīva
soul is created, the ahaṅkāra of jīva soul,
of the baddha jīva, created in this way. That is described, how the
origin of this ego of exploitation, that process is described there. He is
there, bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt. Mayādhyakṣeṇa
prakṛtiḥ, sūyate sa-carācaram, and aham
bīja-pradaḥ pitā, in Bhagavad-gītā, aham
bīja-pradaḥ pitā. So from there the insinuation comes, then prakṛti is disturbed,
the balance disturbed, equilibrium disturbed. And
then in gradual process it takes up the shape of this material ego, material
subjective existence that,’I
want to be master of the nature. I want to possess these things, those things.
I want to enjoy.’ The ego,
the master, ahaṅkāra, that is born gradually from that.
Equilibrium stage it comes to take in different individual shape of ahaṅkāra.
That is meant here.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: In the Vedas there is a
statement, eko baho syam.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes,eko ham baho syam aham.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So, it is saying eko, Kṛṣṇa
is one and He expands Himself into many. So materially speaking that would seem
to indicate some point of generation.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In
Goloka, Vaikuṇṭha, His oneness means, just as raja, raja means
that there is praja, there are so many officers, all these things. So
Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa means He has got eternal, there is a
system of service there, there are many already within one, an organic whole.
And in the case of the material world, eko ham baho syama, aham means,“My jyoti,” there the meaning of aham is,“the jyoti is also Myself, the
Brahma is Myself.” Baho syama, and there was a movement and they began
to take from the equilibrium stage began to take many individual workings of
subject, eko ham baho syama. In the prakṛta, in the
material world it is in this way it can be explained, and in Goloka, in the
eternal world it is already within the system, baho, baho and eko.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Now I understand. Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Neho
nanasti kinchana, nana is there and it is not nana because it
is harmonised by one thing. Neho nanasti kinchana, here there is no many
things, there is one thing, because the underlying unifying potency is there so
it is not plural, plurality in unity. Though apparently it is many but really
it is one, the many is the part of one. So neho nanastikinchana. Sarvam
kalpitam brahma, “All that
we see it is Brahma.”It means Sarva is there and Brahma is there. Śaṅkarācārya
left the Sarva and accepted only Brahma, Śaṅkarācārya left
nana and accepted only one. But Mahāprabhu told that everything what is told in Veda, that is to be
adjusted. So eko ham baho syama, in Goloka the unit is there and it is of variegated nature, an organic whole. And
in the material world, neho nanasti, eko ham bahosyama, that is the
Brahmaloka, the balance, the equilibrium is disturbed and in this way the ahaṅkāra,
many individual material ahaṅkāra is created, as it is said
here, mentioned in Kapiladevauvāca.
One as Brahma, that is in equilibrium almost, then a push, bhagavad-vīrya,
a push is there and the prakṛti began to move and so many
individuals came out of Brahmaloka.Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ,
sūyate sa-carācaram, and aham bīja-pradaḥ pitā,
in Bhagavad-gītā we find.How from one many is coming? From one
many is coming. How? One in equilibrium and when it is disturbed the many is
seen, it is differentiated character progressing, and different individual ahaṅkāra,
ego, is created, infinite number, and then they filled up this, jaye dam
barjati jagat, and that is entering into the material conception, it is
current, making it current.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: What happened, you know Vasudeva Datta
he prayed to Mahāprabhu to, “Let
all of them go free and I will take their karma.”
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There
also, maybe here, the Hegelian theory of panentheism, and this Aurovinda Gosh,
his system is also like that, that Absolute conditioned nonconditioned and
Absolute is realising through this process to a final goal; always moving.
Finite is a necessary part of infinite, and infinite’s attempt is always to make the finite
perfect. This process is going on eternally, Panentheism.
But Vasudeva Gosh what he says that, “All the souls can be released from here and
all their sins put on my head, I go to eternal hell. So I can’t tolerate the suffering, I can’t stand to see the suffering of the jīva
in this world. So my prayer to You, release all of them and all the sins
may be put on my head and allow me to go to suffer on their behalf.” Vasudeva Datta.
Then Mahāprabhu answered, “Kṛṣṇa is not a bankrupt
party. What you His devotee desires He can fulfil your purpose but He’s not bankrupt. Your security is not
necessary here, and you are not required to work on their behalf. Without
sacrificing you He can liberate them. He has got such capacity.”
koṭi-kāmadhenu-patira
chāgi yaiche mare / ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pati
kṛṣṇera māyā kibā kare?
[“If
a person possessing millions of wish-fulfilling cows loses one shegoat, he does
not consider the loss. Kṛṣṇa owns all six opulences in full.
If the entire material energy is destroyed, what does He lose?”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 15.179]
Even if the whole māyic system
is abolished: no harm of Kṛṣṇa in His līlā in
Goloka. The whole negative side may be eliminated but with only positive, just
as if one time the whole prison houses are abolished, a good country may not
suffer. Then again by this statement of Vyāsadeva Mahāprabhu says
that:punah sukha jiva mudya kori ved.
Then again there will come many culprits
and the prison houses will be built again. If all the patients be cured, no
hospital is necessary. Hospital necessary only because there is patient, but if
all is wholesome and healthy no necessity of hospital. So hospitals can be
closed if all patients cured. But gradually in time again a patient may come
and the hospital may be required. And I like this.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: When Kṛṣṇa was here
personally, it is said everyone was liberated. Is that true?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Rāmcandra took everyone from Ayodhyā with Him, and that was also
mentioned in the statement of Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Haridāsa Ṭhākura
told: “Oh,”
in the case of Sanātana _______ “You
already promised Vasudeva and both the material and the soul kingdom have all
been released because they have heard saṅkīrtana, KṛṣṇaNāma
from Your
mouth.”
But again Mahāprabhu told that, “How this brahmāṇḍa will
go on? New egos should be invited here to fill up. Material egos from
Brahmaloka should again be invited here to take their position. So some will
pass away and some will again come to fill up.”
Devotee:
Newcomers.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Newcomers.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: But what about in the Western countries?
Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu He was here in India, and then in Europe they
had, people were living, were they liberated also?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: We may
think yes, maybe. If elephants and deer and tigers, they can have, they can
catch the influence of the chanting of Mahāprabhu, then what to speak of
the question of distance. The vibration is so fine, the vibration, that wave
may touch every soul everywhere. Not only one brahmāṇḍa but
many brahmāṇḍas may be purified through the ethereal,
that most subtle plane of existence. The vibration may go to help anybody and
everybody. Brahmāṇḍa not only human sect but so many
insects, trees, everything, the finest vibration may reach everywhere like
ether. It is not impossible.
Devotee:
We were having some discussions in our Temple, in the Mandir. One camp is
saying that the living entities he’s coming from brahmajyoti. And others
are saying that the living entity was originally with Kṛṣṇa,
Kṛṣṇa conscious, engaged in his relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Both
simultaneously true, both simultaneously true. That līlā, it
is necessary in the līlā, in the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa
that just as we have a play here, someone hides himself, hide and seek. There
is a play of hide and seek. Do you know that?
Devotees:
Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So in
the līlā of Kṛṣṇa it may be of that type,
hide and seek. When hiding is necessary he comes here and again he goes there
like a play, not earned by karma. That is one thing.
Devotee:
That’s a special case.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A
special case.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: That’s a liberated soul.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Liberated souls can hide and seek, hide and seek. Like some līlā of
hide and seek of that nature in Goloka one may come here, for hiding. And that
is another thing, and another out of necessity, that is from Brahmaloka.
Devotee:
They’re saying also out of necessity that they’re coming from a relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Innate
relation with Kṛṣṇa, that is inevitable and that cannot be
denied, that is innate. Innate relationship with Kṛṣṇa of
everything can never be denied in any time.
Devotee:
But how can it be innate in the spiritual world?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: How?
Devotee:
Because I was thinking that in the material world our relationship with Kṛṣṇa
is innate, like a seed. This is manifest, but when we were in the spiritual
world this was manifest relationship.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of
different stages, the relationship with Kṛṣṇa is maintained,
is established everywhere because it is absolute one, but in different stages;
in Brahmaloka stages, in prakṛti stages, in Vaikuṇṭha
stages, different stages.
Devotee:
Because we are thinking in terms of beginning and end sometimes it is not
clear.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A stone
is also matter, water is also matter, and air is also matter, but in different
stages.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So in Brahmaloka the stage is dormant potential.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Taṭasthā,
the middle stage, you may take it.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: And that rasa…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Prakṛti and Vaikuṇṭha,
a pure conscious and material, in the middle, the buffer state is Brahmaloka,
or Virajā.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So the relationship with Kṛṣṇa
rasa in brahmajyoti it is in the potential or dormant stage?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Yes, dormant stage, and undifferentiated
character also. Because it is not plain, not clear that who is in which rasa,
that is all dormant there. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Like seeds, Bhakti Caru Swāmī
told me that you once said that, gave the example of seeds, like seed of a
mango, seed of an apple, they are all looking like seeds, but until they sprout
you cannot tell the fruit.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: May be
similar, cannot be differentiated, but when it sprouts then we can differentiate
them.
Devotee:
But in the spiritual world this differentiation is there.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, in
the real spiritual plane the differentiation is already completed. Living in
different rasa, śanta, dāsya, sākhya,
vātsalya, mādhurya, their final stage they have
attained and from that position they’re
rendering their service. And here, non-differentiated, unknown who is to be
recruited in which group, that is unknown here in the suppressed section.
…
Your zone is?
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: I’m trying to preach in America.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
America; and in which zone?
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Western part, California, and Colorado.
Denver: and Hawaii islands.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hawaii
islands. Japan first attacked America in Hawaii.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Yes. And also, Japan, we’re just
starting to print our Bhagavad-gīta and Śrī
Íśopaniṣad in Japanese; first time.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Japan
is in whose jurisdiction?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Rāmeśvara Swāmī.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Japan
also?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not
only Hawaii-dwīpa, Hawaii Island, but Japan also included?
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: My main service to Śrīla
Prabhupāda is to print his books.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Printing books.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: I have been assisting him for many
years. He gave that as my life’s
work.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And in
that work you done wonderful.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Very simple work. The wonder is that
Prabhupāda wrote so many books.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of
course. And to publish them, it was shown in the ITV television or something
like that how they are being printed, packed, and put on the truck, and they’re running. That was shown. Of course I
could not see but I heard. My eye sight is very short but they say that these
things are being shown there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes, this is under the direction of
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He was
the director there. And it was done very successfully. The book preaching of
ISKCON that is a big thing. Our Guru Mahārāja also he liked and he
gave the name bṛhat-mṛdaṅga. That is mṛdaṅga
when it sounds it invites the people around, “Come
to chant, come to hear, to listen to the chanting of the Divine Name.” And books are also going from man to man,
house to house, informing them, “These
things are occurring, come and join.”
The sound of the mṛdaṅga and the sound of the books - the
books are more efficient than that of mṛdaṅga, so bṛhat-mṛdaṅga.
The invitation is more intense and more perfect than that of mṛdaṅga,
by the books. It will only ask the people:
_______________________________________________________________
[?]
One gentleman wrote an article in praise of
our Guru Mahārāja that you sent, Prabhupāda, even a daily paper he founded, Nadiyā
Prakāśa, a daily newspaper. Madan Mohan Madhava, the moderate leader of India told, “What is this, a daily religious paper?”
“But in this mundane world there are so
many daily papers. We are told in America that not only a morning paper and
evening paper, every hour there is being published news. And Vaikuṇṭha
news is thousand times more than the news in this mundane world. And one daily
paper you wonder, that daily paper, thousands of daily papers may be continued.
So much news may come from Vaikuṇṭha. It may be over flooded this
mundane world by Vaikuṇṭha news. That is infinite and this is
finite. The ray from the infinite when comes to the finite world: what can it
do?”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. So a spiritual weekly paper, that was the leading
paper he had - Gauḍīya by name, and that gentleman wrote:
________________________________________ [?]
Generally,
souls are sleeping, they’re
under the influence of slumber of moha means ajñāna,
ignorance, and to rouse them you send your weekly paper Gauḍīya from
door to door.
___________________________ [?] And
that is the messenger of Vaikuṇṭha, of the infinite world. The Gauḍīya
comes and pushes the door to be opened and to hear.
_______________________________ [?] In
no time, awake, arise, no time. Come forward to go to the Absolute realm. Here
you are sleeping in ignorance. What is this? Such a great prospect waiting for
you!
_______________________________________________________________
[?]
Loudly
it announces that, “Come and take the service of Kṛṣṇa, begin
the service of Kṛṣṇa. That is its news - the Gauḍīya.”
Madan Mohan Madhava, the moderate leader, and Hindu Mahasava
also in the beginning, he also told that, “Every
village should have a centre for your activities.”
“But what do you say? I want to establish
temple in every heart, in every man’s
heart I want to establish a temple for the service of the Lord.” That was the answer of our Guru
Mahārāja.“I want to
build temple of the Lord in every heart.”
Who else are here, members of Governing
Body, in Māyāpur?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Now in Māyāpur?
Kīrtanānanda’s coming
here in five days. Jayatīrtha Mahārāja will come shortly, he’s here now.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He
comes from London.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Bhagavān Dāsa
Goswāmī, he is here now.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Bhagavān Dāsa, the South Europe preacher: and that Arabian gentleman?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Atreya Ṛṣi, tonight. He’s here now. We just heard that he’s here. He has arrived.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. And what about HaṁsadūtaMahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He may come later. He’s thinking maybe he doesn’t want to come.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: May not
come? Then who else? Svarūpa Dāmodara, has he come?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He has come. Then there’s Harikeśa, he has not come yet,
tonight.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Expected tonight.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: The meeting is just the morning until
two; then in the afternoons
we have general discussions.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhakti
Caru Swāmī Mahārāja, has he come there?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Not yet.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That
gentleman who came the other day, that Dayādhara, is he here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: No. He’s
with Bhakti Caru Swāmī.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, in
Calcutta.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That
Venkatta Raman or so, one gentleman?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Venkatta, that Sanskrit teacher? He’s coming in about one week.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And
Yaśodānandan not to be traced?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He’s
in America, in New York.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not
Canada?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And
that Pradyumna?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He’s
in London.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And his
son Anirudha and wife Arundhati? For a long time they’re here.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: In England.
End of 81.03.05.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.05.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: We were thinking of, I have proposed
this year, that we would like to print the books written by Śrīla
Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī and Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
special edition to give to the universities all over the world. We have facility
to distribute to practically every…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So you are to
translate from Bengali into English.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: They have written…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: No, there are some English books. Brahma-saṁhitā…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Brahma-saṁhitā?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: English. The Bhāgavata.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Brahma-saṁhitā
translated by whom?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: That Gauḍīya Maṭh
publication.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: By whom it was
translated?
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: It says, “Commentary by Jīva
Goswāmī, translated by…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s
original English work is Life and Precepts of Mahāprabhu, and
another, The Bhāgavata Speech. [Its Philosophy, Its Ethics and
Its Theology]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: These two
booklets of his own writing. Prabhupāda has got, The Vedānta, Its
Morphology and Ontology, then Relative Worlds, then…
Śrīla
Govinda Mahārāja: Harmonist,
chila [?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Harmonist,
Pratika chila [?], Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya,
published, written by Professor Sanyal during Prabhupāda’s time. And Rāya
Rāmānanda, or something like that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Rāya Rāmānanda.
But the Brahma-saṁhitā, who translated that?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who translated,
I don’t know, maybe by Tīrtha Mahārāja or Professor Sanyal. I
don’t remember.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Not Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: That is not an original English work?
That is not original?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not original.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: It says he is the translator.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Bhakti Siddhānta.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Prabhupāda
did not translate Brahma-saṁhitā. Brahma-saṁhitā
translated not by Swāmī Mahārāja?
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: We should bring the Gauḍīya
Maṭh edition because it says that Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta
translated it.
Devotee: _________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________ We
do not know it. But if I see I can say, the style.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Prabhupāda [Śrīla A.C.
Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja] said to us that he did
also.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He said that he translated it or that
you should publish it?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If I get it I
can say whether it is Prabhupāda’s [Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura]
English or not.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: We should get it because…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It may be by
Professor Sanyal, it might have been.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: He said we can’t change one comment
because it’s his Guru Mahārāja.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Right, I know, but that’s still not
saying whether it’s done by a disciple and approved by him. So we have to bring
the book.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nitāi.
Gaura Haribol.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: We want to distribute these books to
all the universities…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Good idea.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: …in all foreign countries.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Good idea, very
good idea.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: The Professors, they’re not so
familiar with the writings of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta and
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda, so they’re missing a treasure.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course. That
should be the right statement of the disciple of Bhaktivedānta
Swāmī Mahārāja.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Śrīla Prabhupāda told
us that, “If people simply take the books written by the great
Ācāryas then at the very least they will get a next human birth.”
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Due to their
ignorance people do not know, can’t understand, so it is not possible for them
to give any recognition to those books of so high level. It comes only, the
movement is downwards. Only the devotees, by the dint of their devotion, they
can take it outside. And of course there is a sanction, grand sanction of
Mahāprabhu. “Whomever you meet, you talk of Kṛṣṇa.”
yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa,
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā [tāra ei deśa
kabhu nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga,
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga]
[“Instruct
whoever you meet in the science of Kṛṣṇa. Teach them the
instructions of Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā, and
the teachings about Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In this way, on My order, become a Guru and liberate everyone in the land. If
you follow this instruction, the waves of materialism within this world will
not affect you. Indeed, if you follow My order, you will soon attain My
association."] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
7.128-9]
“I’m
delegating power, I’m empowering you. Whomever you meet, talk of Kṛṣṇa.”
The best friend of all the souls, the best
friend. God is friendly, God is guardian, God is friendly, God is everything.
The facsimile, supplementary; what is wanting in us, that is to be found in
Him. Only by obtaining Him we can be complete. Otherwise we are incomplete. So
help all. Only when he will get a little real touch they will come forward,
like a hungry man, come forward.
na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ,
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ
[andhā yathāndhair
upanīyamānās, te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni
baddhāḥ]
[Prahlāda Mahārāja says: “Persons who are strongly
entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have
therefore accepted as their leader or Guru a similar blind man attached to external
sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back
to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṇu. As blind men
guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch,
materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the
ropes of fruitive labour, which are made of very strong cords, and they
continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold
miseries.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 7.5.31]
Prahlāda Mahārāja says, na te viduḥ svārtha,
those only are making much of the cover, who does not know that his inner
satisfaction it depends on the very inner substance of things, not the outer
coating. Outer coating cannot satisfy him. But he’s captured by the glamour of
the external side, and does not desire to enter within the things. The valuable
thing is covered by māyic layer, illusory layer. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ,
durāśayā ye bahir-artha- māninaḥ, making much of
the external glamour, and don’t try to dive deep into the internal portion of what
is seen on the surface. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: You should ask the question…
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: This year, you may know that we
experienced some disturbance about the position of our new initiating Gurus. So
I had some questions, about the position of our Gurus, because Prabhupāda
named me also as one of the devotees who would begin initiating. So I’ve felt a
little disturbed that the position of the Gurus was raised above all of our
God-brothers, because of too much worship. This is very disturbing to me, that
every day our Gurus they’re receiving very opulent worship. We all have seats
which are in every temple. And it seems to me that many of my God-brothers they
are equal or even greater. They can give Prabhupāda’s teachings just as
well as anyone, but they’re not named as Gurus, so there seems too much
difference between them and the Gurus. So this has been a big disturbance to
me.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is a very
serious question.
[About thirty seconds of Bengali (?) spoken]
Making much of their position of the
Ācārya: that are misusing the position; according to him. But that is
a very serious question, and on that point I have discussed, I have given my
opinion many times. A system, in brief, a system should be created, or
arranged, for the proper adjustment, proper adjustment. Of course it is
necessary that Guru will be given a special position to the disciple. For the
disciple it is necessary. Mad guru sri jagat guru. He’s the
supreme-most, at least in a particular way. In a particular way he’s the best. Yei
rasa, sei sarvottama.
[kintu yāṅra yei rasa, sei sarvottama,
taṭa-stha hañā
vicārile, āche tara-tama]
[“It is true
that whatever relationship a particular devotee has with the Lord is the best
for him; still, when we study all the different methods from a neutral
position, we can understand that there are higher and lower degrees of love.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya- līlā, 8.83]
A relative
position, from the relative standpoint the disciple will see his Guru to be the
best. And there he will think that the Lord has delegated him to come to me and
to deliver me from the clutches of māyā. Have some particular
affinity there. And there are many Ācāryas, and what should be the
behaviour, the conduct of the disciples of different Ācāryas? How?
And what should be the behaviour of conduct towards the non Ācārya,
God-brothers of the Ācārya? That should be evolved. If the direction
is not given by Swāmī Mahārāja, there might be some sign,
some hints, but if it is not found there, then we shall have to evolve some
rules and regulations for proper adjustment, so that the Mission may not
suffer, suffer from the indifference, or negligence, or abhorrence of the non
Ācārya disciples of Swāmī Mahārāja.
As you say,
there are many qualified disciples outside the Ācārya Board or GBC.
It is not impossible, not impossible. So we should seek together and try to
evolve that valuable persons that came to serve Swāmī
Mahārāja with all their energy and sincerity, that they will go away,
it is very regrettable. We should try to save the Mission from that great
disaster.
I hear that
so many stalwarts, they’re going away, being indifferent and going underground,
to the unknown quarter; or depressed because they do not see fair field. So
these things should not be set aside, but it must be taken in and they should
be discussed. Some salient points you should prepare it, a table: that these
are the disadvantages, inconveniences, rather the disease entered into ISKCON,
and how to treat them?
This is our
common cause. We are all interested in ISKCON. We are members. We have given
our life, dedicated our life for this Mission. We’re interested and we don’t
like that our God-brothers will go astray, dissatisfied with the management. So
try our best how we can evolve some rulings or some sort of laws, rules, which
should guide us all, accommodate us all. At the same time it will push the
cause of the Mission, of ISKCON. A dynamic as well as accommodating;
comprehensive and dynamic Mission we want to have. We have a great field ahead.
We must go to the length and breadth of this world with the banner of our Guru
Mahārāja Prabhupāda, Swāmī Mahārāja, and
combined effort is necessary for that. Nothing we like to loose. We collect all
our energy, money, men, and we must go on with the banner of our
Prabhupāda. For that unity and fairness in the field that is necessary
which will strengthen the heart of all the members of ISKCON.
In this way
you may put into the GBC’s meeting that such an accommodating and dynamic
programme we want to have, we like to have. And without doing that we won’t
allow you to dissolve your meeting. You come to such conclusion and give us
such a programme otherwise we won’t allow you to go away from this. But do it,
care, provide, to feed all the members, how all can have food, proper food,
everyone must have proper food to work on. Evolve such a programme and give us.
If you are efficient enough, if you consider yourself to be efficient then give
us this thing; that we can march on with the flag with our head erect.
We shall go to capture new and the old
already going back. They’re driven, they’re being driven and we are going. The
old, those important members that got grace of our Guru Mahārāja,
they’re being discouraged indifferent, and we’re going to recruit new persons.
Is it not a fact? _______________________________________________________ [?]
But as a
friend of your Guru Mahārāja I feel in my heart so I say this. And
worldwide, grand common mission, that will thrive like anything. It will touch
the heaven and cover the world from; and other planets also. And what is this
that old persons they’re going back? There may be one or few exceptions, but
generally people came with a good and sincere heart and they’re feeling
discouragement. Some encouraging programme we want to have, so let us evolve.
Not a formal meeting for two days, three days. Meeting to satisfy the real
necessity of the day; that is a living committee we want, living meeting we
want, and not a formal meeting. After one year a formal meeting and some
resolution passed and everyone is gone to his own field and doing as he likes.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. _________________________ [?] I am
caught. I am caught in… What I say, but I say, my feeling, I love him, I love
Mahāprabhu, I love my Guru Mahārāja, I love Mahāprabhu. And
I want to see that the whole:
pṛthivīte āche yata
nagarādi-grama, sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
[Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the pioneer of Śrī
Kṛṣṇa saṅkīrtana. He said: “I have come to
inaugurate the chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, and that
Name will reach every nook and corner of the universe.”] [Caitanya-Bhāgavata]
And that is
going to be fulfilled. And wonderful progress, the step taken by
Swāmī Mahārāja, that is wonderful. Rather astounding to me.
So we are all ____________ we are optimistic, so…
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Preaching is going on bigger than when
Prabhupāda was here.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: More books are being sold now than
ever before. We have more temples, more devotees.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But we hear from
some quarters that some, to make money, some awkward things are being sold
also.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Sometimes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sometimes. Here
or there. Is it true? I don’t know.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Yes, sometimes to get money to print
books.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Print books and
print books to tempt the people with some naked or such awkward pictures are
being sold, only to make money.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: No, not such an awkward thing.
Sometimes they sell cinema songs.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I heard from
somebody that is also being done. Swāmī Mahārāja, he only
by speaking to the people he captured them. But now these fellows they have
taken to this sort of occupation.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They’re selling
awkward things, making money, and doing whatever they like.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: I don’t think that is accurate.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
I wish that that may be false. I’ll be happy if it is false.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: But there is some truth. They have
sometimes sold record albums with cinema songs, radio songs, which are not Kṛṣṇa
conscious, just like some business to get money. And the money is then used to
print books.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And money comes
from what door?
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Sometimes selling recording albums,
phonographic albums.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Some cinema songs.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Radio music. Just like a business.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So through some
other business you get money and you, by the money you try to serve your
publication department. But if that sort of business draws the credit of the
Mission down, just as we are told that one Yogadar from India…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yogānanda.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: …about forty
years back, or more, he went to America, and he began to teach yoga system,
especially to the ladies. And there were many scandalous stories about that.
And America lost its faith in that man. It was; this hint was given by
Rabindranath. In the paper I saw, forty or fifty years back. The Yogadar, one yogī,
so many mudras he wanted to teach the ladies and the scandals came from
there. And bad name for the Indian sādhus, he acquired, and came
back. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Sometimes they sell candles, and
sometimes they sell oil paintings.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It may not be
scandalous, because it is very difficult, that we are going to preach the
pastimes Kṛṣṇa, which is very similar to the lust, which is
called lust in this area. Very similar, but the opposite, very similar to the
licentious society, that Kṛṣṇa’s līlā in Vṛndāvana,
very similar to the licentious and debauch, but it is just the opposite. We are
to prove that with all our strength, all the strength of our nath, that
it is not same, it is just the opposite. How it is opposite, Sumeru and Kumeru,
north pole and south pole, these two opposite poles, kāma anda tamah.
It is the deepest darkness here, sensual pleasure. And to please the senses of
Kṛṣṇa, that is the highest attainment of the jīva soul.
A very difficult task. It is not so easy a thing to impress the people who are
of impartial judgement, a very difficult task. So we must be cautious about
that.
Devotee: He wants to put some question to the lotus feet of
you.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So you have got
more questions.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: I have another question. When
Prabhupāda was here we had a certain standard, that we were his disciples
and every day we would offer Guru pūjā to him and we would
chant his name in the kīrtana. So he allowed us to do that. So now
the suggestion has been made that this should also be adopted by the new Gurus.
So my feeling is that the new Gurus they are not so great as Prabhupāda,
so they do not have to adopt the same standard of daily Guru pūjā.
That is my feeling. So this is a problem. What should we understand?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course if you
are sincere such feeling is laudable, but at the same time the śāstra
does not say what you say, strictly. Because those that will come, as new
recruitment, their faith should be encouraged, their faith we must encourage to
increase their faith. And if you limit there, the faith is already wanting, we
cannot put faith in anything in the world, and again if you discourage them, we
will try to collect maximum faith of the disciples towards Guru. And at the same
time you are to look out that the Guru, he, the Ācārya, he also
behaves well. It is of course a difficult task, not a mere business. But there
should be life, but a living thing, a sincere living attempt there should be.
That transaction requires: to draw maximum faith from the disciple, that Guru
is almost perfect.
ācāryaṁ māṁ
vijānīyān, [nāvamanyeta
karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo
guru]
[“One should
know the Ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One
should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative
of all the demigods.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.17.27] &
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 1.46]
Not a small mantra
for small Guru; lower type of mantra to worship lower Guru. There is
not provision like this in the śāstra. The same mantram,
the same outlook, according to śāstra we must try to have, and
especially we say those young, new recruits, their faith should not be bruised,
and beg. As much a possible they should be drawn out from the cave of their
heart maximum respect towards Guru, and Vaiṣṇava as well, not only
Guru. When they will come to know the real acquaintance of the plane of vaiṣṇavata
they will not only revere Gurudeva, his own Ācārya, at the same
time he will have reverence for other God-brothers, other Vaiṣṇavas
also. And they will also, must have regard for them, their God-brothers.
“We are of a
special cadre, not ordinary human beings that are, that have already taken this
matter be all and end all of life. But we have got such an ambitious programme
_______________ we are going to the infinite blissfulness. We are proud of our
status and of our life. And we shall see like so many gods that are moving
within the ISKCON, they have got a special life. They’re not men of this
ordinary world. Though they’re walking on the Earth but still they’re walking
on some atmosphere. Really their soul is walking in another atmosphere, pure
atmosphere, a divine atmosphere.” This sort of outlook the newcomers, the new
members, must have within their heart; then it will be a living one.
One of our
God-brothers he told, he was gṛhastha. At that time a good
disciple he got, then he took sannyāsa, and told that, “This
disciple has given me sannyāsa. I was gṛhastha and
this young man he left his wife and has come to serve me whole time, and I am a
gṛhastha. This impression this impressed me. This knowledge
impressed me to take sannyāsa, to become sannyāsī.
My disciple has given the daṇḍa to me, the sannyāsa-vesa.
He’s always, being a young man he has come to serve Guru whole time, and still
I am gṛhastha.” Though he was a good condition of Vaiṣṇavism,
still he said like that.
So disciples
will help the Guru to keep up his dignity. “That they regard me so much, how
can I go down. How I can do this thing that thing, what in their consideration
I’ll be in a degraded position.” So they help to keep up the Ācārya
in his own temper. And other Vaiṣṇavas, his God-brothers, they will
also help them to keep their high temper. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, so just so you
know what are the details, so this means in ISKCON temples that every day the
disciples they must offer āratī to the Guru.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I heard that but
this seems too much to me. In our time I did not have any conception of such.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: You should repeat that.
Prabhupāda allowed us to do that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: See, this is a point.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Whenever the
Guru comes from outside in the Maṭh all the disciples will come and flock
there and have āratī and pūjā. This sort of
fashion we did know previously.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: We did with Prabhupāda every day.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Only formal āratī
and all these things will that encourage everything, the devotion from the
heart?
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: We wanted to do that for
Prabhupāda. We wanted to give that āratī to
Prabhupāda. He let us.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If your
Prabhupāda established that sort that whenever he comes in a new place in
whatever day, suppose after a week he comes to a particular place. And then the
āratī arrangement and the puṣpa-añjali, all these functions took place?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Every day.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Your
Prabhupāda?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: See, in all the temples…
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Disciples were very enthusiastic.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, no. What did
your Prabhupāda do?
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: He let us do it.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He did it?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Mahārāja, the point is, I
want to say it like this; that Prabhupāda he showed one thing, we did
something else, and he accepted what we did. For example, when he led kīrtana,
when he would sing kīrtana he would sing śrī kṛṣṇa
caitanya prabhu nityānanda, Pañca Tattva mahā-mantra, then he would sing Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
He would not chant jaya prabhupāda. He would not chant jaya anything
but śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya and Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Now, in
nineteen seventy four, when we came to your Maṭh, our men came here,
Bābājī Mahārāja was singing praṇamāmi
sadā prabhupāda-padam [from Śrī
Śrī Prabhupāda-padma-stavakaḥ], this song of yours, and at the end he started
singing jaya prabhupāda, jaya prabhupāda, jaya
prabhupāda. So our men they liked that. So we started doing that at
all of our temples in every kīrtana, every single kīrtana.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Every day.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Every day. So then when
Prabhupāda would come to the temple we would also sing that for him. Now,
until nineteen seventy four, things were not established this way. So that was
in nineteen seventy four. And our Prabhupāda he sang many times Śrī
Gurv-aṣṭakam. He always taught us this song Gurv-aṣṭakam.
Every day we sing at maṅgala-āratī and he sang it many
times. Now, in nineteen seventy four, our men…
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The question is,
when you did show your best honour to your Prabhupāda, you all enjoyed…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja:…and no setback
in your heart.
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: No, we liked it.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But when you say
another group of disciples he’s showing so much honour to his own Guru, then
you’re jealous of that. Eh? Is it impartial judgement? Rather, you should think
that he’s giving his heartfelt honour to his Guru. He sees there the descent of
the master in the heart of his Guru and he’s trying to give his best honour to
him. That will encourage you to give your best honour to your Guru.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Right.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That standard.
In this way it will be taught in the Mission.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Here’s a point.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This sort of
toleration; at the same time encouragement. He’s loving his Guru, he’s
honouring his Guru, that will excite me to honour my Guru. The Mission’s laws
and rules will be set in this way; then it will be helpful to all. And not only
that, at the same time he will honour his God-brother, God-brother of Guru.
They also deserve a sort of honour, and that should also be maintained if we
stay within an association. All these things should be promoted. At the same
time another, the spirit of toleration, that we are worshipper of Kṛṣṇa.
He is the son of Yaśodā, and Yaśodā is whipping Him. Still,
Kṛṣṇa is the highest entity. This sort of toleration spirit
also should be maintained there. It will regularly be taught to the disciples;
the question of sincere heart to heart behaviour, conduct.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Now, Mahārāja, one point. In
Los Angeles, as an example, we have disciples of five or six Gurus. Now, every
disciple will want that his Guru’s name, if we’re going to chant one name then
every disciple will want that his Guru’s name be chanted.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see, in
Madras, the Guru paramparā, here we begin from Guru, and then param
Guru, pradapata Guru, in this way up to Kṛṣṇa;
beginning from Guru go to the highest Lord, Kṛṣṇa. And in
Madras they come down. First Kṛṣṇa and then gradually other
Gurus and in the last they give the jaya of their own Guru. In this way
they…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: In which Maṭh of Madras?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In Madras side,
Rāmānuja sampradāya. They have accepted this sort of
fashion, come from up to down, and when they last go, everyone gives jaya to
his own Guru, so many disciples of so many different Gurus. In the beginning
they’re coming all chorus jaya, and then lastly when they give to their
own Guru then they utter the name of their own Guru, and jaya, and
finishes. The fashion is there, that.
And here
also if in a body we are to do we start jaya, then perhaps not very
loudly we shall begin from our Gurudeva, and then when come to Prabhupāda
then it is a concerted, joined jaya. In this way that may go up.
Otherwise
one should begin with his own Guru. It is in śāstra, he begins
with his own Guru. He has got the spiritual birth from there. All his
obligation concentrated there so he must take his name. But there are so many
disciples of sections, they will speak little, not loudly, moderate way, and
then from the next time he will join together to give the jaya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: I understand. I’m talking now of kīrtana.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And those that
are not disciples of the present Gurus, they may keep silence, and when the,
your Prabhupāda’s jaya begins, he will join. It may be minimised in
that way, harmonised, something.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: But I am also talking, I understand
that, that’s jaya prema dhani, jaya oṁ viṣṇupāda.
But in kīrtana everyone will want that his Guru’s praṇāma mantra is sung, his
Guru’s name is sung. So the whole kīrtana becomes praṇāmas and names, and
where is the śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya and Hare Kṛṣṇa?
So I was suggesting that, just like if you chant Gurv-aṣṭakam
everyone is thinking his Guru, vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam,
so in the end of the song, whoever, whatever name you chant may not accommodate
all. But if you chant jaya Gurudeva then everyone is thinking Gurudeva.
And after that, because Prabhupāda you have told us he’s śaktyāveśa
avatāra, his special position, then after jaya Gurudeva we can
chant jaya Prabhupāda. Then everyone’s satisfied.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. I shall go
that side.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He wants to go to his other chair.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: These things
will be taken in, I shall go…
Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja: Tired?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Until I’m tired,
tired or exhausted.
End of 81.03.05.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.05.D
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:…the
sole area of the Ācāryas
to guide their disciples. They should order their disciples, “You show honour
in such a way to my God-brother.” Then the disciple is bound to do that and
there will be no harm for him. It is, the responsibility with the
Ācārya, more than the disciples. They should be cautious and they
should be moderate in their temperament of taking honour, accepting honour.
They’ll rather guide and regulate them, “That he’s my God-brother, he should
also be honoured. Otherwise only honour shown to me that is not real honour. My
honour is not my honour. My honour goes to my Guru. And he’s also favourite of
my Guru. So with me you’ll honour them also.” That should come from the lips of
the Ācāryadirect to the disciple. Then the disciple can show such
honour to them without affecting his own special honour to his Gurudeva.I’m
clear?
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: I wanted to reduce, because I have
disciples in Los Angeles, and I…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
By honouring me you do not honour me. But if you love me, love my dog. So if
you want to honour me you must honour my sentiment. My God-brothers are sitting
here. If they’re not honoured then I feel insulted. This sort of teaching
should be given to the disciples at large, to all the disciples. Then they will
come to some common level. Otherwise they’ll fight with one another. “My Guru
is big. I shall show first honour, or the highest honour, and I shall show
highest honour to them.” In this way the fraction will come.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: I wanted to stop my disciples; they were
giving me Gurupūjā every day. I told
them to stop. Then the other GBC they ordered me to start again. They said my
disciples will be discouraged and they should be allowed to do it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Of course, there is truth to a certain extent there, that they should not be
cruel to them. They should be allowed to give the flow of their honour, natural
and repeated, a flow must come; spontaneous flow must come. That should be
helped.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: So even I feel it is too much honour for
me I should allow it for their sake?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
If you, yes, if you, as you are sober, so other Ācāryas are also of such temperament that there will be least hitch in
the Mission.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Be what?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
The crack will be minimised. Otherwise the crack will come; least hitch.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: I have one more question. Sometimes the
boys that we…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
And my answers satisfy you?
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: I’m accepting it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
At least to certain extent. Then I’m satisfied. To accept in toto it is not
possible. To certain extent if I’m able to serve you then I’m happy.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: I take it that Prabhupāda is
speaking to us through you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Of course, that is your goodness.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes
the boys that we give initiation to they sometimes have difficulty and they go
away. And if they go away sometimes they commit many sinful activities. So the
question is; is the Guru obliged to that fallen disciple? If he remains fallen
for the remaining part of his life then he must take another birth. So where’s
the obligation?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Of course, this should be done, that freedom should be used partially, looking
at others also. It is, of course, my affection will guide me to take up the
fallen soul. But at the same time others may get indulgence to go astray. So we
must be aware of the fact that indulgence in one case that may create
difficulty in another case. A serious disease may be taken up in the hospital
but it may affect the health of the others, more affected disease, so both
sides should be considered and the conclusion should be taken.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Now, another aspect is, the śāstra
says that the spiritual master will return to save his fallen disciple.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Of course, if not in this life in other lives.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Sometimes the disciple…the devotee may
lose his faith in Kṛṣṇa and in the Guru, so then the
spiritual master is still obliged in the next life to save him?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Of course.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: That is always?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Kṛṣṇa, there is a continuance, the duty ultimately is in Kṛṣṇa,
and, na me bhaktaḥ pranaśyati.
[kṣipram bhavati dharmātmā,
śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati
kaunteya pratijānīhi, na me bhaktaḥ
pranaśyati]
["He soon becomes righteous (dharmātmā)
and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My
devotee never perishes."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 9.31]
nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti, pratyavāyo na
vidyate
[svalpam apy asya dharmasya, trāyate mahato bhayāt]
["Even a small beginning in this
devotional service cannot go in vain, nor can any loss be suffered. The most
insignificant practice of such devotional service saves one from the
all-devouring fear of repeated birth and death in this world."][Bhagavad-gītā,
2.40]
Whatever little is done in this plane that
is never lost. So Kṛṣṇa will take care of that. He may send
some other Guru to him, or that very Guru. It is His will. But it is sure that
once he has got admission he will not be neglected, na me bhaktaḥ
pranaśyati.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Does that mean that the disciple is
guaranteed another human birth, even if he has done sinful activities?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Even may not in the next birth, but after few births he will get the chance.
Anyhow he won’t be dismissed, he will get chance.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: If some ordinary person he gets some Kṛṣṇa
prasādam, does that mean he will take human birth?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
It may not always be, after four or five births also he may have a human birth.
Anyhow, wherever he may go, the connection will be there, in the universal
mind. In that plane it is recorded and that won’t be lost.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: If someone gives some lakṣmī
donation for Deity sevā or for book printing…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That is sukṛti. Ajñāta-sukṛti, then jñāta-sukṛti,
then śraddhā, then sādhu-saṅga, then guru-karan,
then bhajan, anartha-nivṛtti, ruci, āsakti,
bhāva-bhakti, prema-bhakti, sneha, māna,
praṇaya, rāga, anurāga, bhāva,
mahābhāva, in this way, by gradation.First ajñāta-sukṛti,
unknown, the energy spent for the Kṛṣṇa consciousness
unknowingly. That will be the first foundation. Next, somewhat knowingly
contribution may come for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then that will
raise me to the plane of śraddhā when on the surface I shall
search for the Kṛṣṇa conscious people and mix with them and
help them and have association of them. And then next I shall find a Guru in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. And then I shall continue my bhajan under his guidance.
And then the anartha will disappear and I shall get proper attraction,
real, pure attraction for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And gradually
I shall go up. These are the lowest stages to be traced in the śāstra,
in this way.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Our movement sells all over the world
millions of books. Now sometimes people don’t know what these books are.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
And those that are purchasing they get some sukṛti.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: That is ajñāta-sukṛti.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. That money goes to help Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: And they take the book into their house.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. They may not read, their predecessors, their posteriors also may read and
be benefited. Anyhow, the energy, if it’s spent for the books that will help
him. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: In Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
it is written that if you keep the śāstra in your house it is
like having the Deity of Nārāyaṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Of course.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: So even if they don’t know the value of
the book it is some special benefit to have it in their house.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. It will have its influence. Divine ray, the divine ray it will emit, if we
have eye to see. The mind may feel that there must be something holy here,
otherwise why my heart feels some holy ideas. It may be like that, in a certain
stage of consciousness.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Maybe not in this life but in some
future life.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That depends upon the case of individuality.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: But it’s never in vain.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Never in vain.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Our preaching goal is that every man,
every human being, he will eat prasādam and take a book. Even if he
doesn’t know what he’s eating, and he doesn’t know what, we want to give prasādam
and a book to every human being.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
All good. Stealthily you are entering his heart, to establish a temple of Kṛṣṇa
there.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: We have now started businesses in
America for selling prasādam. And every year millions of people are
eating the prasādam in America.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Oh, some sukṛti.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: They don’t know it’s from the Hare Kṛṣṇa
Movement.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
As much as the living pipe will be pure, so much purity will be transmitted
into those that will take prasādam. Prasādam from mahā-bhāgavat,
prasādam from madhyama-bhāgavat, prasādam from kaniṣṭha-bhāgavat,
but it must do some good to them. But there’s the question of degree. Question
of degree will be there.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Even if it’s offered to the Deity it
could be kaniṣṭha-bhāgavat offering.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
We can imagine the varieties___________________________ [?]
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Is it all right
to ask one more question?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Earlier today I was told that you were
speaking about the original position of the jīva within the brahmajyoti.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. That is a very intricate question, very troublesome, and very intricate
and puzzling, because this is marginal. What is margin? Neither water nor land,
a fictitious demarcation, line of demarcation is so subtle. So jīva soul,
the brahmaloka, the jyoti māyāloka is very subtle, and
to discriminate, to pass discriminating comments, that judgement there, that is
also very difficult and also very difficult to understand also, and to speak
verifying it is a thing.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: In the brahmajyoti can the jīva
go directly to higher position or must he first come to the mahat-tattva?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
This is a complicated question. Not simply it could be answered. Backgrounds
there must be prepared and then it can be understood and spoken. It will take
some time to discuss on this point.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Some other morning we can come.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes, yes. Yes. As long as I am here you are all free to come me; at liberty to
come to me. And what small help I can do for you before my death I won’t
refuse.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā
that even a small amount of devotional service can save one from the greatest
danger.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya, trāyate mahato bhayāt.
[nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti, pratyavāyo na
vidyate
svalpam apy asya dharmasya, trāyate mahato bhayāt]
[“Even a small beginning in this devotional service cannot go in vain,
nor can any loss be suffered. The most insignificant practice of such
devotional service saves one from the all-devouring fear of repeated birth and
death in this world.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 2.40]
That is the poem.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: So this ajñāta-sukṛti,
can this counteract all sinful activity? Some little donation or taking book…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes, yes. That will just begin; help me to begin my life.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: But is that sufficient?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
However small but it should be taken as the admission.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
But does that qualify for trāyate mahato bhayāt?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
It will take time to save you from mahato bhayāt, it will take
time.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
First the beginning.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: But my question is this; that suppose
there was no ajñāta, then for the sinful activities that jīva
will have to take so many births in degraded species of life it will be a
very long time before he gets another human body, very long time.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. In some cases a very, very long time.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Most cases now, because in the West
everything is so degraded. So will the ajñāta speed up the coming
of the next human body?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
You see; there are opposing tendencies also, towards divinity that is aparādha,
that is very troublesome, otherwise that Vaiṣṇava aparādha.
Otherwise other crimes may very easily be removed. Other kinds of offences may
be very easily removed. But something like Vaiṣṇava aparādha,
Dhāma aparādha, these things which have direct concern with
the divinity, that is a little difficult thing. Jagāi Mādhāi
they were great sinners but within a moment everything vanished. But there the
remark is that they never committed Vaiṣṇava aparādha,
so it was very easy to deliver them.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: They struck Nityānanda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Ah yes, Nityānanda.Will you take some prasādam?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes, we’ll
take.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: ____________________________ [?]
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Our faith is that if we sell someone a book,
then very, this is our faith, that if we can give some jīva a book
then very soon he will get another human birth. Because Kṛṣṇa
says, “Whatever service you have done it’s permanent.” So he got the book in
this life, so he should be able to also get a book in his next life.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
It may be. Because he has got a little touch of the tendency, “That I have got
a book I must read and I must see what is contained in that.” That sort of
tendency may take him in human birth again.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: We are selling books with that faith
that this will save people from their karma.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Another standpoint, another way of looking, outlook, that our master he’s
preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness and we are helping him in one way
or other. I may not sell the book but I may cook. I may brush the floor. But my
contribution goes to help my master who is doing the preaching of spreading Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. I shall get a bit of that. Just as in a big mill, a big factory,
one man, the jaridar he also gets benefit. When the factory is gainer in
that year the jaridar will also be benefited. Whatever duty it comes
from one, adjusted from one point, from the head to the bottom. So whatever you
do, if you are of that consciousness, that I am doing the service of my
Gurudeva, then under him whatever will be necessary, I’m supplying water, I’m
cooking, I’m doing this, that, gardening, everything will combine and produce
some result and we’ll get the remuneration adjusted according to our sincerity
and capacity.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: But my concern is how to help the jīva
become free from all his karma, sinful reactions? So I have been
preaching…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Kṛṣṇa karmārpanam.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja:…that we sell books, and that will help
free the jīva from his sinful reactions.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
It will depend; your progress will depend as much you are doing the duty
consciously to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, Guru or Kṛṣṇa,
Vaiṣṇava, the degree, the intensity of your earnestness to satisfy
them; that will calculate your progress, or improvement; the degree of
hankering, the earnestness, the thirst.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: But for the non-devotees, who have so
much sinful reaction, so if we sell them books…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Anyhow, the criterion is the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa or kāṛṣṇa.
According to that the benefit should be distributed. The distribution will be
according to the satisfaction in any way. Sometimes supplying a glass of water
we can achieve a great gain in time of need. So it depends upon the intensity
of the earnestness with which we are going to satisfy our Lord. And
accordingly, according to the degree of His satisfaction I will get the
benefit.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So our Prabhupāda, he told us that this, when he would hear that there was
a massive distribution of literatures, that that was the most pleasing, that
that would give him life, and that that would please very much his Guru
Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
With this idea if you do the thing there you’ll have great justification and
you may take it in your heart that Guru Mahārāja is being satisfied
by my, this discharge of such duty.
You are to see me again, if not within the meeting time, then
afterwards.If you find no resolve within the meeting week then after that you
may see.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Jaya. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.Bhaktivedānta Swāmī
Mahārāja ki jaya.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja ki jaya.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: _______________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
He wants to give you Bhaktisiddhānta’s
garland.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
A garland, he’s come here for the first time, he should be given a garland, to
honour Swāmī Mahārāja.Already I had some information about
you that you do not like to get more honour from the disciples, to exalt honour
from the disciples. You are against that system.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: I like to distribute books. To me that
is the real service. If my disciples…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
But if you want to recruit so many new lives then you are to work in this way
also.
Devotee: Mahārāja, Prabhupāda’s māla_____________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
I can’t see. Please accept Rāmeśvara Mahārāja.
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Gaura Haribol. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja ki jaya.
Rameśvara Mahārāja ki jaya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja ki jaya. Kavicandra
Prabhu ki jaya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja ki jaya.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
So take some prasādam. I shall go to bed now.
…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Nitāi. Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Gaura Gadādhara.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, the other day you were explaining to me about this verse eko
bahu syama, that you said first understand what is the eko, like raja_____ so many associates.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. The potency is eternal. Nitya dhāma is eternal. The question
of bahu syama, that is only in the case of this mundane world.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Brahmaloka.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Brahmaloka. And there bahu, the system, Kṛṣṇa
means the raja, a system, Kṛṣṇa has so many paraphernalia,
without, take out the sakhās, the gopīs, and no Kṛṣṇa.
So Kṛṣṇa means with His group, eternally in pastimes, niyanta kriyata carita [?]
A dynamic, not static, the static, the equilibrium, one, that is only in
Brahmaloka, so that is to be applied only for this world, not for the
eternal Vaikuṇṭha world. Eko ham bahu syama. There already
He’s bahu.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes, so that is my point that…
So in your Guru Mahārāja’s, Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda,
his Brahma-saṁhitā, he says that, “There are innumerable jīvas,
as spiritual particles emanating from the oversoul in the form of pencils of
rays of effulgence.” And he says, “They have no relation with the mundane world
when they come to know themselves to be the eternal servants of the Supreme
Lord. Then they are incorporated into the realm of Vaikuṇṭha.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That is the innate acquaintance of the equilibrium. What he says that they’re
in such stage, by microscopic sight it may be seen their innate paricar is
like this. When they come to know that they’re servant of Kṛṣṇa
then try to go that side.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
How can they come to know that in the brahmajyoti?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
In the brahmajyoti, that is by two ways it is possible. Very meagre sukṛti
and more tendency of mukti takes them there, and that meagre sukṛti
may assert in course of time. And another, that sukṛti gathered
from lower world, by sādhu-saṅga, that may assert. And
another things by the special grant by the powerful devotees.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Kṛpa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Kṛpa. They can also enter into that domain and do some help. By
these two ways they may come from that equilibrium stage into the cosmos.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Were you saying that the powerful
devotees can enter the domain of the brahmajyoti or the mahat-tattva?
To bring them out, they can go in brahmajyoti and bring them out?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That depends upon their capacity, it depends on.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Well then that means that some of them can.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Sarvajña, some of them can, from non-differentiated area they can also
find differentiation by microscopic vision. _______________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: We’re way upstairs, with you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. I know. But I thought that I heard his voice. So I need him for a moment.
But it does not matter. I want a medicine for my heart…
…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So, now, you said in understanding the eka that…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
You see, another example I shall insert. When the demon is killed by Hari, he
attains brahmaloka, with complete withdrawal and perfect rest in equilibrium
stage. But ordinary power cannot detect him there and to take out. Special
power, by some ordinance he may be taken out, in the case of Jagāi
Mādhāi. In all the cases that is conditional. When Hiraṇyakaśipu
was killed by Nṛsiṁhadeva he at once went to that brahmajyoti;
general law, the one who is killed by Hari, he’ll at once come to brahmajyoti.
But, some by-law was there, he had to come down again as Rāvaṇa and
Kumbhakarṇa, those Jaya Vijaya, went there, and after some time, from
that equilibrium stage he had to come. So in no-man’s-land, buffer state, there
also some powerful agency can interfere, in the buffer state, no-man’s-land;
marginal.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So to go either way…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
So again they retire to that, again Śiśupāla and Dantavakra,
because there was conditions, three births, so they’re going, entering there
for some time, they’re again coming. So ostentatiously it is equilibrium but to
final vision there is, everything is differentiative character there maybe.
Only we can harmonise different statements in this way. What is hazy to me,
that is clear to another, higher sight. So something like that. Again,
Jagāi Mādhāi we are told, that the same, Śiśupāla
Dantavakra, Rāvaṇa Kumbhakarṇa, they again came to help
Mahāprabhu’s līlā, from the same brahmaloka.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Jagāi Mādhāi.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Jagāi Mādhāi. So in this way, in ordinarily what is
unapproachable is approachable by the experts.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So then, now jīva śakti is coming from brahmajyoti. As
conditioned souls, nitya-baddha…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Brahmajyoti is not independent in itself, an independent entity. It is
the marginal position of the two potencies, in-carrying and out-carrying. That
is said, the consciousness and unconsciousness, the meeting point. Just like
dawn, just like evening, it is something, the meeting position of day and
night, something like that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Twilight.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Twilight; yes. So brahmajyoti means that, it is not an independent
state, it depends on sun, depends on Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes. So Kṛṣṇa, what I wanted to know was, considering the eko,
Kṛṣṇa; that He has His associates, are there some jīvas
who were never in the brahmaloka position?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
You see; the nature of too much discussion that may oppose the faith.
Ultimately everything is adhokṣaja. Kṛṣṇa,
Nārāyaṇa; that is adhokṣaja. We must have some
respectable, to the, and it is approachable only through faith, śraddhā,
not by intellectual reason or argument. Argument is necessary to help the
intellectual people to certain extent. But if we want that everything must come
within my fist it is a drawback for the devotee. So as much as possible we
shall try to understand and to explain to others. But at the same time we
maintain on the subconscious region that everything is backed by Kṛṣṇa’s
sweet will, and none can be measured.
mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ, [jagad
avyakta-mūrtinā
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni, na cāhaṁ teṣv
avasthitaḥ]
[“In an unmanifest manner, I pervade this entire universe, and
everything conceivable is situated within Me - and yet, I am not situated
within that total entity.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 9.4]
“I am everywhere. I am nowhere. Everything within Me. Nothing is in Me.
Find what is My position if you can through your intellect Arjuna.”
So that warning we must always keep on our brain. Then we shall go to
analyse, analyse, analyse. Ultimately we must think unknown and unknowable, and
everythings in His hand. He’s everywhere, He’s nowhere. Everything in Him and
nothing is in Him. That means it is acintya. Mahāprabhu says bhedābheda
acintya, it is not within the fist of anyone else. It is the sweet will of
Kṛṣṇa. That has been, we are warned, our brain has been
warned in such way. We shall try to discuss but we may not too much, too much
of intellectualism, that will hamper our faith, may disturb our faith. It may
be basis; in the madhyama adhikāra it is necessary. And so
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says madhyama adhikāra is a
dangerous one, and by intellectualism, God forbids, we may come to atheism
also, from madhyama adhikāra. A kaniṣṭha
adhikārī if he comes in contact with an uttama
adhikārī he can clearly pass away the space of madhyama
adhikāra. But madhyama adhikāra is a dangerous zone. It is
necessary also to consolidate our position.
siddhānta baliyā citte nā kara alasa, ihā
haite kṛṣṇa lāge sudṛḍha mānasa
[“A sincere
student should not neglect the discussion of such conclusions (regarding the
Absolute Truth in the revealed scriptures), considering them controversial, for
such discussions strengthen the mind. Thus one’s mind becomes attached to
Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 2.117]
Consolidate our faith to certain extent. But at the same time we must
know that it should pass to the faith, it should help the faith, it should
strengthen the faith, śraddhā. Śraddhā can go and
can approach infinite. Intellect can never approach infinite, only śraddhā.
And how much śraddhā we can hope to have? A bit: a bit of śraddhā.
Nothing is impossible in the infinite area. Our basis of experience; how much śraddhā
we can send to fetch our object? So when we’re discussing things, only to
understand the śrauta siddhānta. The positive things that are
given to us, we may try our best to use our experience to know the wholesome
character of it. But too much of this thing, that will disturb our faith. The
possibility is there. Always we must keep it in the background of our
discussion that His ways are unknown and unknowable. I cannot bring Him within
our fist. It has got such characteristic. So intellect may not use that
characteristic of Kṛṣṇa which śraddhā may
have, the everything. Kṛṣṇa’s jurisdiction is not encroached,
should not be encroached. His sweet will is there. That may not be pushed, that
may not be cornered, the Kṛṣṇa’s sweet will. His independence
may not be cornered, pushed to be in a corner. Not that way the intellect
should be given indulgence. He’s all in all. He can make and mar. He can – this
will help bhakti, śraddhā, faith. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
So honest inquiry, praśna.
[tad viddhi praṇipātena, paripraśnena
sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ, jñāninas tattva darśinaḥ]
[“You will be able to attain all this knowledge by satisfying the
enlightened spiritual master with prostrate obeisances, relevant enquiry, and
sincere service. Great souls who are most expert in scriptural knowledge and
endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will teach you
that divine knowledge.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 4.34]
Tad viddhi praṇipātena,
paripraśna is
allowed, paripraśna. Praśna in some limited circle, only to
help the faith. It means the conclusion must come to help the faith, that sort
of, only to help corroborate the faith, the questions should be put. With that
caution we shall try to know anything and everything, but we should know that
we are limited. We are limited and we are going to tackle unlimited. This idea
we must not forget in any stage of our discussion.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Nitāi.
Nitāi. Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So, Mahārāja, Bhagavān Goswāmī, he wanted me to ask
you a question on behalf of the GBC.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Bhagavān means the Ācāryaof the southern Europe?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes. So on behalf of the GBC, what they would like to know, “Sometimes men are
coming to this movement, to the mission, and they’re taking HariNāma
dīkṣā, mantra dīkṣā, and sannyāsa
initiation also; sometimes they leave.” So when a brāhmaṇa initiated
disciple he may come back, they want to know, “Should there be some time where
he should be without the sacred thread and again take the mantra dīkṣā?
Because we saw that in a case of one sannyāsī who left…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Who goes away and then again comes back.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Right. What should be the status when coming back?
Devotee: Should they again be given the sacred thread and daṇḍa
immediately or…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
There’s brāhmaṇas and there’s sannyāsīs.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That depends upon the sincerity and the length of time etc, considered in different cases may be different. Suppose for a
day or two in a particular position he suddenly did it, but at once he came to
know and has come. And for the sake of the credit of the propaganda it may be
hidden. But when a long time and more apathetic practices, then of course he
should be detained for some time. Do you follow?
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
What is favourable and unfavourable for the pracār, the propaganda
work, it should be considered in the light of that. If very meagre that may be
forgiven. May not be out in the public, may not be. Because there will be
discredit in the institution, those that are coming and going, so that may be
neglected, very meagre things. And who are with a long time and serious case,
some sort of penances should be imposed there, and then they may be again
purified and taken in.
End of 81.03.05.D
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.06.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: _________________________________ [?]
Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So, since your explanation about the jīva śakti in brahmaloka
I have studied this and it has become I think clear to me, the explanation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Very good.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
And I found everything that you say I find also in my Guru Mahārāja’s
books. So I think you know his books better than I do.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That is?
Devotee: He thinks that you know Prabhupāda’s books better than he
does.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So, that you cannot see, I think that is a deception, because certainly you’re
seeing very much.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So he said…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That is a healthy sign. In that case you will be able to attend his voice
through me, his advices through me, if you have that attitude. It will help you
meet him through me. That sort of tendency is laudable.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So I found this one sentence in his translation and commentary on the Īśopaniṣad,
in the verse [16] that ends yo ‘sāv asau puruṣaḥ so ‘ham
asmi. So here he says that, “The all-pervading feature of the Lord - which
exists in all circumstances…
[pūṣann
ekarṣe yama sūrya prājāpatya, vyūha raśmīn samūha
tejo yat te rūpaṁ kalyāṇa-tamaṁ, tat te paśyāmi] yo 'sāv
asau puruṣaḥ so 'ham asmi
[“O my Lord, O
primeval philosopher, maintainer of the universe, O regulating principle,
destination of the pure devotees, well-wisher of the progenitors of mankind,
please remove the effulgence of Your transcendental rays so that I can see Your
form of bliss. You are the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead, like unto
the sun, as am I.”] [Śrī Īśopaniṣad,
16]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
__________________
[?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Bhakti Caru; this sentence.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
“This all-pervading feature of the Lord– which exists in all circumstances of
waking and sleeping, and also in potential states and from which the jīva
śakti (living force) is generated as both the conditioned and the
liberated souls – is known as Brahman. _____________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
________________ source, jīva śakti
source.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes. And he says of the baddha jīvas, the conditioned jīvas,
and the liberated jīvas. So you explained that the jīva in
the brahmajyoti he can choose to go into the world of dedication or the
world of exploitation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So then you explained how he’s coming into the world of exploitation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So we have two questions. One question is that you said he is – there is no
individual consciousness in Brahmaloka, but then the individual consciousness
begins to manifest.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
After mahat-tattva. In general, consciousness, general ahaṅkāra,
begins from brahmajyoti when it is transformed into mahat-tattva.
And then after mahat-tattva the individual ahaṅkāra gradually
springs up.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Now, in Bhagavad-gītā [7.27] Kṛṣṇa says, icchā-dvesa
samutthena, dvandva-mohena bhārata. So this duality of desire and
hatred, how can we hate Kṛṣṇa if we have no experience of Kṛṣṇa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Not about Kṛṣṇa – everything, to anything, the hatred, the
inviting and the dismissing temperament, that brings us to this world, to the world
of exploitation.
icchā-dvesa samutthena, dvandva-mohena bhārata
sarva-bhūtāni saṁmohaṁ, sarge yānti
parantapa
[“O Arjuna, chastiser of the enemy, from the very beginning of the
universal creation, all forms of life are overwhelmed by ignorance born of
duality based on happiness and unhappiness, which has its origin in desire and
abhorrence of sensual predilection.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
7.27]
That is the two principles in crude form awaken in the jīva.
The hatred, the sympathy and apathy, sympathy and apathy, two sprouts in the
beginning and then gradually they come down to mingle with the mundane world .
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes; in a crude form.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
In a crude form sympathy and apathy, just as when a sprout springs up with two
leaves, first two leaves. Is it not? Sympathy and apathy, and that gradually
helps us to dive deep into this mundane world. And then when retiring again
from the world of exploitation…
brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā, na śocati
na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, mad-bhaktiṁ
labhate parām
[“The spotlessly
pure-hearted and self-satisfied soul who has attained to his conscious divine
nature neither grieves nor craves for anything. Seeing all beings equally (in
the conception of My supreme energy), he gradually achieves supreme devotion (prema-bhakti)
unto Me.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 18.54]
…pierce through Brahmaloka and goes towards Vaikuṇṭha. Brahma-bhūtaḥ,
again they come to their former position of Brahman, and he already gathered
some sort of tendency, sukṛti of the Vaikuṇṭha, so
this time he does not stop there, but passes through that stage towards Vaikuṇṭha.Hare
Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Now, you said that the jīva śakti is coming, is being
generated from brahmajyoti. Some are coming into the world of
exploitation, some to the world of dedication. How does that begin?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Because, that should be attributed to his innate tendency, or innate nature,
which is endowed with free will, free choice. So,
na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāni, lokasya sṛjati
prabhuḥ
na karma-phala-saṁyogam, svabhāvas tu pravartate
[“Due to their tendency towards ignorance since immeasurable time, the
living beings act, considering themselves the doers or inaugurators of action. The Supreme Lord does not generate their
misconception of considering themselves doers, nor does He generate their
actions or their attachment to the fruits of those actions.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
5.14]
To substantiate that line in Bhagavad-gītā, he’s
responsible for his entering into the land of exploitation; the responsibility
is with the jīva. How? Whenever the first awakening of freedom,
free will, from the non-specified position, all jīvas jumbled
together, when the differentiative character is growing, only coming with free
choice. And by free choice they’re going this side or
that side. Jīva otherwise the Lord will be responsible for their
distressed condition. But, lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ.
na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāni, lokasya sṛjati
prabhuḥ (the Lord)
na karma-phala-saṁyogam, svabhāvas tu pravartate
His innate nature is responsible for that. So the first awakening, the
awakening of the free will and the free choice, by chance or something like
that. Free means they can go this side or that side, and as the result we see
some came this side and some went that side. So free, because consciousness
means endowed with freedom. Small, so vulnerable consciousness, freedom, anu,
anu prita yukta, because it is very tiny, his free will also not perfect,
imperfect. So some, their free choice, then some we see the result of their
free choice when we reckon that some came this side, some going that side. It
is unintelligible. And it should be, the responsibility with the free, and
freedom is given to him.
One of the political leaders, Śyāmasundara Cakravartī, he
asked Prabhupāda: “Why such freedom was granted by the Lordto the jīva,
when he’s vulnerable?”
Prabhupāda told: “You are fighting for freedom. You are freedom
fighters; you know the value of freedom. So if devoid of freedom, then that is
matter, so that is nothing.”
Just as Gandhi told to the British authorities, “We want freedom to do
right or wrong.”
“You are not fit to have self-government. When you’ll be fit, we shall
give it to you.”
But lastly he told that, “We want to do wrong, to commit wrong,
freedom.”
So freedom is not guaranteed with only right way. Freedom, the
alternative is there, right and wrong. So freedom has got its intrinsic nature
and valuation in that position, freedom.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
…
…question of all questions. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Śiva tattva,
this Brahmaloka, several questions which is very difficult to understand, bhedābheda.
…
Nitāi.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So Rāmeśvara Mahārāja had a question that, then can the jīva
go towards Goloka or only Vaikuṇṭha, when he chooses the land
of dedication? Because in Bṛhat…
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That will depend upon his innate nature. Some are fated to Vaikuṇṭha,
and some to Goloka, and also in different rasa. There is constitutional
position. They will have their goal there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
And what about Guru?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Guru, it is told so, that Guru is not a fixed thing. It may take any shape. In
the sākhya rasa, mādhurya rasa, vātsalya rasa, gradually
with the awakening of the mentality of the disciple, his conception of Guru he
will see that it is changing. Apparently, he roughly in his first sight the
rough estimation about Guru, and when he develops, his internal position
develops; accordingly he sees a change in his Guru. So Guru is,
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān,
[nāvamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guru]
[“One should know the Ācārya as Myself and never disrespect
him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he
is the representative of all the demigods.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.17.27] & [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.46]
A very extensive idea is given there, and also gradually the awakening
of the soul’s inner function will see that Kṛṣṇa is
everywhere but He’s taking a particular shape of the particular potency to help
him gradually and He’ll fix him somewhere else.
A star fixed, with John, when Christ was born the star moving, and then
just over the sky where Christ was born the star does not move. Before that the
star is moving.
So something like that, Guru will be fixed there, at that position. And
so many conceptions of Guru, Guru, Guru’s Guru, in this way there will be
hierarchy, mañjarī, sakhī, in mādhurya rasa,
in vātsalya rasa also.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
In śanta rasa also?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes, śanta rasa group, there are groups, sands, then the creepers,
then shrubs, then Yamunā, then Govardhana, of different types there. And
they’re all under the administration of Vṛnda Devī. The nature, even
the birds, insects,
Yat kinca tina guna api kota kama [?]
The lowest one, that is in the Kṛṣṇaloka.
yat kinca tina guna ki kota mokama [?]
gosthe samasthe hita sadvanam mayam[?]
mukundam daitam lila nikulam phalam [?]
They have got all their contributions,
special contributions to the pastimes of the Lord, respective contribution they
have got, each, to support the pastimes, the līlā.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So then, in Bhagavad-gītā when Kṛṣṇa says,
“That having once gone to My abode you never return here,” even though the jīva
has his marginal position always, that independence, they never choose to
exercise that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
If he can catch that in-carrying current then he’ll have no apprehension of
coming back. The current helps him, the Yogamāyā current, all inner
current, centre-carrying current is passing around him and helping him,
in-carrying current; so no possibility of coming back.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So like you said there’s the right to do wrong, there’s the freedom to do
wrong, but then no-one is doing wrong.
Devotee: The internal potency, in the spiritual sky, everyone has the
freedom also to do wrong but they do not do anything wrong. They do not
misutilise their freedom.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
And the possibility, perhaps that is so meagre that in actual position that
does not matter. The possibility of the wrongness is there, but it is like
shadow, or it is everything of this is represented but like a fixed material
substance without any freedom. _________________________________ [?] What is
undesirable that is also to be found from there, but it is like a shadow,
lifeless thing. So the māyā is also represented there, but in
a shadowy position without active function, passively. It is present there in
passive nature, not active. Just as a spiritual potency is passive here in this
māyā, so this is represented there in a passive way.
Devotee: Māyā means mahā-māyā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Mahā-māyā?
Devotee: Also presented spiritually.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
As possibility, alternative background, in this way, and not any active part.
The nature of līlā requires this.
Devotee: Mahārāja, Adridan Prabhu had a question.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Adridan Prabhu, for the first time he comes here?
Devotee: No, this is the second time.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Second time.
...
Devotee: Mahārāja, you were saying that the living entity who
does tapasya and attains the brahmajyoti and after attaining the brahmajyoti
he’s already realised the pains of the material world, so why does he make
the choice to come back rather than go straight to Vaikuṇṭha from
there?
Devotee: _______________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
It’s a verse, āruhya kṛcchreṇa.
Devotee: Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ
tataḥ.
[ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas, tvayi
asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ,
patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ]
[“O lotus-eyed
Lord, although non-devotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve
the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is
impure. Although they may rise to the level of impersonal Brahman realisation,
they fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they neglect
to worship Your lotus feet.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.2.32]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Paraṁ pada means, up to Brahmaloka.
Devotee: _______________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
_____________ Tvayi asta-bhāvād, because his fate is doomed that he
cannot accept the possibility of the existence of the land of dedication, so no
other alternative. And that is not only a negative phase, that is a positive
phase; that is crime. As soon as he thinks, I’m told by a Vaiṣṇava,
wherever he attains that, ‘I am the absolute, I hold the absolute position,’
then he’s a criminal and hurled down for that, from there. That occupies the
position of the supreme, though it is not very clear. But the throne of the
king, to be disloyal, that is a great crime. Approaches,
in the egoism, in his egoism, ‘I am the supreme most,’ thereby immediately a
criminal summons comes to him; “You have such audacity so you are not eligible
for Brahmaloka
______________ the
indifference, this is the land for indifference. Go down.”It is corroborated
from Mahāprabhu’s talk with Rāmānanda, ‘sthāvara-deha, deva-deha yaiche avasthiti.’
‘mukti, bhukti vāñche yei, kāhāṅ duṅhāra
gati?’
‘sthāvara-deha, deva-deha yaiche avasthiti’
[“And what is the destination of those who desire liberation and those
who desire sense gratification?” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
asked.Rāmānanda Rāya replied, “Those who attempt to merge into
the existence of the Supreme Lord will have to accept a body like that of a
tree. And those who are overly inclined toward sense gratification will attain
the bodies of demigods.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 8.257]
It means, who wants enjoyment and works accordingly, they get deva-deha,
the body of enjoyment in the subtle world. And mukti, who aspires after mukti,
which means emancipation, given identification sāyujya-mukti, he
has to go to the sthāvara, the body of Himalayas or something like
that, sthāvara-deha. He wants susukti, oneness. But
from the Vaikuṇṭha law, according to Vaikuṇṭha law this
is a very great, conspiracy, and very bad tendency to occupy the throne of the
Absolute. So the nature does not tolerate this idea, this despair, idea, so he’s thrown down. Though samādhi, minimum
consciousness he may have. He may be a hill, mountain, or a big tree, or
something like that. He may not like to participate into any specified
differentiated world. So go and sleep for long time.
When the serious crime is committed then we are put in a cell,
disconnected by any persons, solitary cell, so punishment, solitary cell, go
and sleep, disconnected with the living, moving world. That is the punishment
for those that seek mukti and of that type that “I am so ham, I
am He.” That is a crime, so ham. You are so little this is a camouflage,
blaspheme. You see that you are so limited, so conditioned, and you say, so
ham. Disloyalty: and a sort of punishment.
‘mukti, bhukti vāñche yei, kāhāṅ duṅhāra
gati?’
‘sthāvara-deha, deva-deha yaiche avasthiti’
That was the conclusion Rāmānanda answered to
Mahāprabhu.The tendency for liberation; that is also of different kinds,
so a particular kind is punished in such a way. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa
vimukta-māninas, tvayi asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ.[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.2.32]In this calculation there is error, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ,
his calculation is wrong. So he calculates that in this way I capture that
country, my enemy, but somewhere some defect in the calculation, programme, so
formally a crashing defeat he has to undergo. Something like that.Nitāi
Caitanya. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So then is it true that at this moment souls may be coming from the brahmajyoti
into this world?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
It is true. It is true. Always this may, it is always happening, continuing.
Some passing away and some again entering here, like a river, water passing and
water coming: current.
Devotee: So Mahārāja, at the kalpantu[?] when all the
living entities are withdrawn, then where are they situated? Then they’re in susukti...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
General slumber.
Devotee: General slumber. Now mahā-pralaya, after the mahā-pralaya,
all the living entities are withdrawn from mahat-tattva, and they’re in susukti...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Only prakṛti and Brahman, and no differentiated character in prakṛti.
All in germinal form and in prakṛti; it is resolved in prakṛti.
Devotee: Now those living entities, or jīvātmās,
do they go back to brahmajyoti or…
Devotee: Mahā Viṣṇu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
No. Within the area that is Virajā. The representative character of prakṛti
is like water, it is Virajā, it is called Virajā – prakṛti.
They’re in Virajā. And just as the Buddhists, their nirvana is in
Virajā. They do not recognise Brahman. The eternity of Brahman, eternity
of consciousness they do not recognise, within their programme. So their last
reach is in Virajā, last stage, the primitive stage of prakṛti,
Virajā, and then Brahmaloka, the jyoti. Prakṛti represented
by water and consciousness represented by light, jyoti.
Devotee: Now, Mahārāja, māyā’s coverings,
the seven layers of covering of māyā, now what is the
relationship between those coverings of māyā and Virajā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Virajā, they’re all included in Virajā, but sub-division you may take
it.
Devotee: Now, what are the seven coverings Mahārāja?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That I do not recall. You will convene that, but we find in Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta,
you are passing through prakṛti, there are also seven seats,
layers. We are to pass through Virajā. And Bhumi, these are all products
of prakṛti.
Devotee: Now, Bhu Devī, the layer of Bhu Devī, the first
layer, the deciding...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That may be kept there in subtle form.
Devotee: And she’s worshipping Lord Viṣṇu as Varāhadeva. In next layer she’s worshipping Kūrmadeva.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Who?
Devotee: ________________________________________________________ [?]
Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa,
Pradyumna and Aniruddha ______________________________[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Vāsudeva; maybe in
that way.
Devotee: These layers of māyā is also a part of
Virajā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Part of the?
Devotee: The coverings of māyā; the seven coverings of
māyā is a part of Virajā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Ah, part of Virajā.
Devotee: Now, Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja was
asking that, “Do not the living entities merge in the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu
at the end of mahā-pralay?”
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
It is not merging, also merging, because they have got their anga-jyoti,
and some may form according to that anga-jyoti the lustre of a
particular stage of Viṣṇu. It is possible. Mahā-Viṣṇu
and Sadāśiva, almost one and same; they are fated to stay there.
Devotee: So now we have to understand that Virajā is also a part
of Mahā-Viṣṇu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Virajā, not part of Mahā-Viṣṇu.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Mahā-Viṣṇu is lying in Virajā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. Kāraṇārṇava, He’s there, Kāraṇārṇava,
Mahā-Viṣṇu. And what do you say?
Devotee: Virajā is also a part of Mahā-Viṣṇu,
that’s what I said, but actually what I meant is that Virajā is coming out
of Mahā-Viṣṇu, the sweat of Mahā-Viṣṇu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Mahā-Viṣṇu. Of course if we push on to analyse more, then we
may see like that. The Virajā prakṛti is inseparable, of jyoti,
Viṣṇu, Mahā-Viṣṇu, of Sadāśiva, a part.
A part of Him means inseparable connected, the śakti-śaktimān,
the owner and the potency, Puruṣa prakṛti. We can think like
that.
Devotee: Now this reminds me of another thing that you told us before
Mahārāja, that once you were explaining the different living entity’s
relationship with Kṛṣṇa is due to his origin being some
associate of Kṛṣṇa. Like some living entities, those who are
in sākhya-rasa, they’re the effulgence; they’re coming from the
bodily effulgence of Subal.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. And they will go there. That is also stated.Jyotika, Anga-jyotika, they are, it is
mentioned, within the halo, within the group, within the halo. Some groups are
personal, and some satellites, different satellites. Upagraha, graha
upagraha; some centre and so many graha, and one graha may
have upagraha. In this way they’re serving their group, and also in
their anga-jyoti there are also so many. It is also.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, Bhagavān Dāsa Goswāmī, the Chairman of
the GBC, he wanted that we ask you one question, on behalf of the GBC members.
That Kīrtanānanda
Mahārāja, he has established one temple in his New Vṛndāvana.
He has many temples there. He has one temple there; it is called
Prabhupāda’s Palace. Some people call it the Taj Mahal of the west. So in
that temple there is a Prabhupāda Mūrti, only, no other Deity but
there’s the Prabhupāda Mūrti on the altar, a replica, duplicate,
identical. Now recently they have begun to worship Prabhupāda in the
aspect of a king, raja, like a king. So they’re putting crowns on his
head and some mukut, crowns, and some jewellery, jewels, mālās
of jewels around his neck, and there’s plans for him to be holding a
sceptre, raja daṇḍa.So some devotees they like this, to
worship Prabhupāda in that way. Other devotees are feeling some –
differences.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Anything written there?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I don’t understand, written?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Any writing to guide, to understand this sort of raja daṇḍa,
what does it mean?
Devotee: Any explanation?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
I don’t know.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
______________________________
[?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
I don’t know.
Devotee: Outside it says, “This is the Palace of His Divine Grace...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Oh, of the palace; yes. I thought he meant of Prabhupāda why he’s wearing
a crown or why he’s holding a sceptre.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
[About sixty five seconds of Bengali (?) spoken]
No picture set in the walls there?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
There are pictures on the ceilings. Not on the altar.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: _____________________________ single statue?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Single statue.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: _______________________ standing or...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Sitting; like on vyāsāsana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Vyāsāsana, with raja daṇḍa.Some sort of
explanatory passages should be; that sort of script should be kept there to
guide the people, “That he came to rule the religious world and established the
kingdom of love in the religious world above all.” This sort of guiding script
should be there. Otherwise I don’t see any harm. That he’s a king, in what
plane, which plane?
Devotee: _______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
_________________________________________
[?]
“To attract people in this royal form, style he presented. He came and
ruled, established a centre here, and from here he ruled the world of religion,
and established that divine love that is the highest. He’s the king of the
Ācārya who established so spaciously, broadly, widely, established an
empire of the divine love.” So from that vision, “As an emperor he came to
conquer, veni vidi vici, ["I came, I saw, I conquered" - Julius
Caesar] he came to conquer America and established here the first centre, and
from there the whole world was conquered.” This idea, like a king; “Like a king
he conquered the world, and his first seat it began from America, and he gave a
dignified position to the world of love divine.”
Devotee: That place is known as Nava-Vṛndāvana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Nava-Vṛndāvana. Nava-Vṛndāvana: from Nava-Vṛndāvana.
Nava-Vṛndāvana. Hare Kṛṣṇa. His activity; that
figure and activity, some steps of explanation should be given to help the
public to understand his situation.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Now, what about in general, because, I’ll explain this, in every one of our
temples we also have a vyāsāsana and a similar Mūrti of
Prabhupāda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
I don’t think that it is complete, but the idea it started here, and it will be
perhaps modified. The king does not exist by himself. He has his general he has
got his Guru, his following. They also may be in
the paraphernalia may be, established there to help that. But a singular
figure, solitary figure has daṇḍa, raja means his company.
We are always worshippers of the Lord with company. That is the fashion, the
etiquette of the Gauḍīya sampradāya, but not ekala
vasudeva. First ekala vasudeva in the
beginning of theism, then comes Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa,
then gradually developing in rasa, Rāma, Sītā,
Dvārakeśa, then Svayaṁ-Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa.
But ekala vasudeva in the first conception, primitive conception, the
paraphernalia...
End of 81.03.06.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.06.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...that also should be added to that; in my opinion.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In some picture form.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
In picture, anyhow. People at large should be guided in such a way that, “He
came and he conquered. He conquered the jīva souls and converted
them into the general Goloka life, that, with the help of this and that.” Some
guiding writings should be there and also some helping agents. And also it is
desirable that there should be the pictures, at least pictures of his Guru,
Gurudeva, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Prabhupāda, etc. He’s not one,
not single; in a group. But he’s holding the main figure. And the Guru’s must
also be in some respectable position there. That is my opinion.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Pictures are there. In the Nath Mandir,
there are big pictures of Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura,
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Gaura Kiśora Dāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh! At least some sort of account should be put in black and
white. “He’s so and so and so, and he was a king, his attitude like a king to
conquer this world of – this gorgeous America, to take it towards the loving
domain of Kṛṣṇa.” Some such guidance should be there to guide
the people. “He’s so and so.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja is asking, “Now, in all of our temples we have
Prabhupāda’s deity, Prabhupāda’s life size mūrti. And
now, what should be the general mood of worshipping Prabhupāda?”
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: The others they may also want to begin to put the crowns and
the jewellery also. Or should this be exclusive?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This is, as regards my opinion, I don’t like it in all the āśramas.
In a particular case in America it may be shown like that. But there are other
Ācāryas, and deviation from that line that will be crossing the
lineage given by our revered predecessors. We should not cross that line. But
in a particular case the account of his activity, that was depicted there, that
may be allowed; but in every temple to represent him as a kingly person; that I
don’t like. It should be in order of the Ācārya paramparā.
That will be respectable. This is my opinion.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. So that means that this special case becomes like a
memorial. It’s not the temple in the standard sense.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Just like a memorial.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: With activities and explanations.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “And he came and conquered and transformed them into devotees
from the military and vaiśya, from the business, the trading and
military America, he established a religious kingdom here.” Something like
that.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: One of the GBC’s question is that our Prabhupāda used to
caution us not to change anything, and not to introduce anything.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Not to introduce anything new.
Prabhupāda always wanted that we continue with the traditional path.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is there and he came to express them here. That will be the
general idea of every, in the process of our worship, our temple, in the form
of worship. But in a particular place, Nava-Vṛndāvana established by
him, he’s represented as a king, Vṛndāvana founded by a king, with
some explanation it may be retained, that form. Why in such a kingly form,
royal form, he’s represented here? With some explanation of that it may be.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Once, some of his disciples, Prabhupāda’s disciples said
to him when he was dressing, they were observing him dressing himself, his
clothes; and one of his disciples said, “Śrīla Prabhupāda you
look like a king.”
And he looked up and he said, “I’m much more than that.”
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who?
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Prabhupāda.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, Prabhupāda, when he was dressing him that...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: No. Prabhupāda was putting on his
clothes, putting on his dhoti and kurta, Prabhupāda himself
was putting on his clothes, but he was very majestic in his way, so some of his
disciples commented...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gorgeously wanted to dress him gorgeously?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: No. The way Prabhupāda was dressing
himself...
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: His manner.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: [About twenty seconds spoken in Bengali
[?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: [About fifteen seconds spoken in Bengali [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja is saying that to
dress him up like a king is like lowering his position.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To come in a lower position.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja Yes. That is what some disciples will feel by this.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _____________________________ [?]
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________________ [?] In a Sanskrit epic, drama
perhaps, we find that Candragupta has gone to visit Cāṇakya, his
Guru. And there the Cāṇakya is sitting on an ordinary public mat.
And just on his head there is ____________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Umbrella?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not umbrella ______________________ [?] Where so many cow dung
made fuels deposited there, on the head of Cāṇakya. And Candragupta
with his crown and that diamond dress he fell flat on the feet of Cāṇakya.
And the same time the ____________says,Aho pasya rajadi raja mantena
vaibharam [?]
“Oh, you see what is the majesty, opulence of the minister of the
emperor of India, he does not care for a farthing.” And he addresses
Candragupta, ‘O vishala,’ not king. Vishala means Candragupta’s
birth came from a maidservant, so he used to, that is in Sanskrit they’re known
as vishala, so he used to address as vishala Candragupta. So
spirited man was Cāṇakya and indifferent, without caring for a
farthing from the empire, but he had such intelligence and political brain that
Candragupta had to go his feet. But the man is so poorly, living such a life of
the poorest of the poor, but he was such dignity, mental dignity.
So Swāmī Mahārāja told, “I am more than that. That
is, I’m the Guru of the king.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: And Prabhupāda used to give the
example of Cāṇakya as the ideal brāhmaṇa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Without caring for the kṣatriya, independent of kṣatriya
valour.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Although he was the Prime Minister of
Candragupta but he used to live in a hut. And he used to survive, he never used
to take any money...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And everything dependent on his intelligence, the whole thing.
And Candragupta continued war against Alexander, and repulsed Alexander
_________ [?] Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.And also it is a little
different, no charm, no word of the devotion. What touch of devotion is there?
And there will be another anomaly here, that in Vṛndāvana who is the
king? The king in Vṛndāvana, kingly style is in Mathurā, aiśvarya
pālaka, but Vṛndāvana is this _____________________ this
ordinary plain living, a place of plain living, simple living. There the
gorgeous thing will be little improper from the standpoint of rasa.Hare
Kṛṣṇa.
In the talk of Svarūpa Dāmodara and Śrīvāsa in
Purī you’ll find Herā-pañcamī; the Svarūpa
Dāmodara when giving impression to Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita.
Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita he praised about the opulent
majesty of Lakṣmī Devī. “And what your gopīs,
they’re only this creepers and flowers from the jungle, what is their property,
their majesty? And my Lakṣmī Devī she has got so much dignity.
And your gopī has got no dignified acquaintances.”
Then Svarūpa Dāmodara went on to speak. “The kalpa-taru,
kāmadhenu, who are in possession of such, easily can produce any
moment, but they hate.”
And Swāmī Mahārāja told that, “I’m superior to that
kingly garment. I’m more than that.”So Vṛndāvana...
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And you told us that he gave a hint in his poem on the
Atlantic about the sākhya rasa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sākhya rasa; yes.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So whether this is some kind of ābhāsa?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Rasābhāsa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rasābhāsa.
I’m trying to find out means how I can support. My tendency is towards
that. One thing is done there with so much earnestness, and how it can be
defended. With that spirit I’m thinking. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Vṛndāvana.
Nava-Vṛndāvana. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
[About one minute conversation with Śrīla Govinda
Mahārāja in Bengali [?]
Nava-Vṛndāvana was founded in Dvārakā, but there
also the majestic colour was eliminated.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: We also have, the temple where I’m residing in Los Angeles is
called New-Dvārakā.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Swāmī Mahārāja told me, “New Delhi,
Newcastle, if that can be, why not New-Vṛndāvana? I have started
New-Vṛndāvana.”
Anyhow they have to come across such expressions and search after the
meaning. What are they? Why they are here? So some clue.
[About two minutes fifteen seconds in Bengali [?]
...and that sweet recollection we do not want to part with totally. That
was the cause. And the queens also felt that in their heart that, “Kṛṣṇa
is always absent in Dvārakā.” Real Kṛṣṇa, they
could not meet. They felt like that. “He’s somewhere else, indifferent.”
Dealing in every possible way with them, but they felt that, “This is all a
mechanical thing.” Real Kṛṣṇa was in Vṛndāvana, He
could not be accommodated in Dvārakā. That was the complaint, who
wanted to mix with Kṛṣṇa most intimately, their remark is
like this, “That we could not find real Kṛṣṇa, real man
within Him, always an artificial person.” That was the Kṛṣṇa
in Dvārakā.
So whether Swāmī Mahārāja will be in that royal
dress in royal Swāmī Mahārāja, if he’s so, “These ignorant
children, these innocent children, they’re dressing me like that. What can I
do?” He will allow him. With something like that spirit he’ll accept.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, I think so.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course it will help in one way that he came and conquered
America. This insinuation, this sort of encouraging and useful impression will
be spread. A king, he worked here as a ruler, as if, converted, established his
kingdom here in America. Not in the political sense but in the highest
spiritual sense he established his kingdom here in America, and from here
throughout the world. A partial representation of his conquering character,
wonderful conquering character.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja
_____________________________________________ [?]
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: The mission is for preaching in the western countries, the
mission, Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura, the mission’s
for the English speaking countries.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. What about that?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Yesterday when we were coming here in
the car, Harikeśa Mahārāja he was trying to remember, once
Prabhupāda told him about Tulasī Mahārāṇī, how
Tulasī Devī and the pastimes between Tulasī Devī and
Śālagrāma-śilā. So I told him the story as far as I
knew, that Jalandarāsura, in order to kill Jalandarāsura,
Nārāyaṇa took his form, and then Tulasī Devī cursed
Nārāyaṇa, “That You will become stone.” And Nārāyaṇa
told then, “Ok. You will become a tree, and without your leaf My worship will
not be complete.” Now where is this found Mahārāja, this is mentioned
in which Purāṇa?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I don’t know. Tulasī. You will try to find it in Viśva-Kośa
or Sarva-kalpadruma, the place you may find in there, reference of
Tulasī. I think it should be put there.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Now is it that Vṛndā
Devī became Tulasī Mahārāṇī? Vṛndā
and Tulasī?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Similar.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Similar. Who was the wife of
Jalandarāsura? Tulasī or...
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tulasī.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Tulasī. Not Vṛndā. Vṛndā
Devī to Vṛndāvana. Now this pastime, where did it take place?
Did it take place in the spiritual sky or in this Bhumandala ?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That was in Bhauma, in the subtle Bhauma world.
Devotee: As in higher planetary system.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Deva and danava, where deva and āsura,
both is accommodated. Bhauma and also they’ve got astral body and they
live and move in that way ___________[?]Hare Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes
in gross body, sometimes in subtle body they can live _________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, What’s the
difference between Tulasī Devī and Vṛndā Devī? You
said they’re similar, but that means they’re not same.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tulasī, Vṛndā Devī is comprehensive,
Tulasī a partial representation. Vṛndā Devī she leads, to
help the līlā, she leads the whole Vṛndāvana; that
is the trees, the season, the birds, the monkeys, all under her control. From
the background she helps all these things to help the līlā of
Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: And who’s Bhakti Devī?
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhakti Devī, the personality in devotion at large, Bhakti
Devī. Bhakti Devī may be Yogamāyā in one sense, one aspect,
covering the whole Goloka and Vaikuṇṭha. Yogamāyā, the
in-carrying current towards the centre: that is Bhakti Devī. Dedication, bhakti
means dedication, Bhakti Devī, Yogamāyā. And if we want to
have, to conceive His highest personality then we shall have to go to
Rādhārāṇī, combines all rasa and the highest
degree of bhakti sevā, prema sevā, as emanating from Her,
everything. Bhakti Devī.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: It is said Mahārāja that
Bhakti Devī has two sons, they’re karma and jñāna.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is in the lower conception, the lower conception of Purāṇic
stories, karma and jñāna.Bhaktim karmani karma yoga
jñāna [?]
That is we find in Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
in that case Bhakti Devī, the dedication is the first principle which
covers and sustains the whole portion of creation; not only creation,
existence. And karma, yoga, jñāna, these are in the outskirts in
the opposite party. These, unconditioned and conditioned, and within
conditioned there is karma, jñāna and yoga; they’re within
that area. And from śuddha bhakti the land of bhakti proper,
and in the shadow, in the vyatireka, indirect, background, there is karma,
yoga, jñāna. So they’re dependent. They’re son of Bhakti Devī. In
the broadest sense it may be thought they’re dependent on, they may not have
any absolute existence, only dependent but reckoned in the indirect, vyatireka,
not in the substance proper, karma, yoga, jñāna.Bhaktim karmani karma
yoga jñāna [?]
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānañ ca yad
ahaitukam
[“If somehow with the help of the scriptures and His agents, the
devotees or saints, we can develop our devotion, bhakti, then, the
proper knowledge and proper apathy towards worldly substances will follow us.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.2.7]
That is in Vaikuṇṭha proper. But karma, yoga, jñāna,
jñāna generally guides to mukti, yoga also like so, and karma
the good sense to work for Kṛṣṇa, karma yoga. But
that is not pure bhakti; that is in the opposite side; that is indirect
conception in the conditioned area. Sarvaṁ karmākhilaṁ
pārtha, jñāne parisamāpyate.
[śreyān dravyamayād yajñāj, jñāna-yajñaḥ
parantapa
sarvaṁ karmākhilaṁ pārtha, jñāne
parisamāpyate]
[“O Arjuna,
subduer of the enemy, of those various sacrifices, the sacrifice of knowledge
as mentioned, brahmāgnāv apare [B-g, 4.25] is far superior to
the sacrifice of various articles, indicated by brahmārpaṇaṁ
brahma haviḥ [B-g, 4.24], because all action ultimately culminates in
knowledge.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 4.33]
Then,
tapasvibhyo ‘dhiko yogī, jñānibhyo ‘pi mato ‘dhikaḥ
karmibhyaś cādhiko yogī, tasmād yogī
bhavārjuna
[“The yogī
who is a worshipper of the Supersoul is superior to persons engrossed in
severe austerities such as the cāndrāyaṇa, superior to
the worshippers of Brahman, and superior to the fruitive workers. Know this
certainly to be My conclusion. Therefore, O Arjuna, be a yogī.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
6.46]
yoginām api sarveṣāṁ,
mad-gatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ, sa me
yuktatamo mataḥ
[“Among all
types of yogīs, the most elevated of all is the devotee who has
full faith in the authoritative pure devotional scriptures, and who adores Me
with all their heart by hearing and singing My divine glories, rendering all
services unto Me. Certainly this is My opinion.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
6.47]
So crosses the area and then, bhajate, śraddhāvān
bhajate.
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’
tha bhajana-kriyā
[tato’ nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā
rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ
premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ
prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ]
[“In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in
associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual
master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is
freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service.
Thereafter, one develops taste and then attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti,
the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles.
Gradually spiritual emotions manifest and intensify; then finally there is an
awakening of divine love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead
for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”][Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
1.4.15-16]
So this is outside the area of bhakti but they’re dependent on bhakti
otherwise if the positive side nonexistent then negative we cannot think
of. In that way it is dependent on bhakti we may say so. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, Mahārāja, two times you have chastised me in a very
sweet way, that too much intellect and too much analysis; that is a bar to śraddhā,
and that is our access for understanding Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Of course, of course it is.
jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva, jīvanti
san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām
sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ
tanu-vāṅ-manobhir, ye prāyaśo 'jita jito 'py asi tais
tri-lokyām
[Lord Brahmā said to the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa]:
[“Oh Lord, Oh Unconquerable One, those devotees who, completely giving up all
attempts on the path of jñāna of attaining the non-differentiated
platform known as Brahma by hearing the transcendental narratives of Your
pastimes (kathā), which emanates from the lotus mouths of the mahā-bhāgavat
sādhus and pass their lives by engaging their body, mind and words in
pure devotion, easily conquer You (they easily get Your transcendental
association), although You are the most difficult to attain in the three
worlds.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.14.3]
So giving up our attempt to know Him, very hatefully, and our
submission, our submissive faith in Him, that will give us the real help.
Because, when we exercise our intellect to analyse Him, to know Him, His ways,
this and that, we hinder the spontaneous flow. We engage ourselves to
investigate as a subject into the transcendental and thereby our attention is
to scrutinise, to know about Him, and by that time it cannot be ready to
welcome the spontaneous flow that may come to me. Diverted in a wild goose
chase, which is impossible. Which is unknowable, I go to know Him.
Immeasurable, I go to measure Him. And through faith only He comes to make
myself known, I’m absent there. I am with my subjective tendency, and associate
myself with my subjective characteristic, which is only applicable, or meant
for places below me, phenomenal, not transcendental. And phenomenal capacity
I’m dragging towards transcendental.
And the way of having intimacy with the transcendental, only through
submission to allow Him to come, His flow within me, and that flow will arouse me,
awake me, and say, “Oh. I’m such and such.” His katita, His subjectivity
may not be covered by my subjectivity. The subjective character of the object
may not be a bar of the real subjective character to disclose Himself, to come
down and disclose Himself. That is the śrauta-jñāna, “I am so
and so, I am such and such.”
My attention is drawn towards scrutinising the character uselessly to
try to know Him.
So Brahmā says, jānanta eva jānantu, “Those giant
intellect, they may be, they may think that they can know anything. And I have
known many things about the transcendental reality. They may make boast of
that, those foolish persons. Let them boast, ‘I know, I know Him.’ But how can
you know Him? His ways may always differ. Not a fixed thing like any object of
this world. His has got no fixed characteristic, generally. He can show Him in
any way as He likes. He’s always free. Infinite characteristic He has got.”
So to apply my
tiny subjectivity, subjective character, to apply and to try to know, that will
be futile, and that will be a hindrance to His coming down in my heart and
reveal that, “I am such and such.”
jānanta eva jānantu, kiṁ
bahūktyā na me prabho
manaso vapuṣo vāco, vaibhavaṁ tava go-caraḥ
[“There
are people who say, “I know everything about Kṛṣṇa.” Let them
think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much
about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much: As far as Your opulences
are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my mind, body and words.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.14.38]
“In my empirical
attempt I have seen that I could not know anything of You.”
Empirical means inductive process. Only deductive process, we await for
the deductive process; that He will come to me. Deductive not ascending method.
The knowledge may go from the lower part to the higher, and you won’t be
fulfilled. Only negative, you are negative power, you’ll invite. All your
energy should be engaged in concentrating you to invite. The faith in the
character of invitation, hankering, earnestness, all negative characteristics a
jīva should have and that will be fruitful, effective, and the
attempt will be crowned with success. Manaso vapuṣo vāco vaibhavaṁ.
Complete surrender. The conclusion is that can never be known; transcendental
truth can never be known by any subjective attempt. That negative side is
necessary, the quality of the negative side, that is invitation, earnestness.
“Cannot do without You. I am in want. I have no qualification. You are
Patita-Pāvana, You are deliverer of the fallen. I am fallen.” So to
develop the negative side; “I am the most fallen, fallen of the fallen, fallen
I am.” So the appeal must go to Him, dainyam, that, “I am needy, I am
needy, I am needy.”
“I have got intellect. I can understand You.” All these attempts will be
futile when we shall go to apply erroneously on Him. It may be applied on the
ordinary natural existence. So,
śreyaḥ sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho,
kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye
teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate,
nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām
[“My dear Lord,
devotional service unto You is the only auspicious path. If one gives it up
simply for speculative knowledge or the understanding that these living beings
are spirit souls and the material world is false, he undergoes a great deal of
trouble. He only gains troublesome and inauspicious activities. His endeavours
are like beating a husk that is already devoid of rice. One’s labour becomes
fruitless.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.14.4]
&[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.22]
The real path of our good is devotion, dedication, and leaving that way
if anyone follows the path of knowing, kevala-bodha-labdhaye, they want
some knowledge about the Absolute, kleśala eva śiṣyate,
the result will be only labour. In the comparison, sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām,
where there is in the paddy, if there is husking but no rice is there, only the
paddy husking, that tuṣā husking, the cover of the paddy if
we husk then no substance comes from within. Sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām.
If we press the paddy which is not with its substance within then the labour
will be its reward and no rice will come out. Sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām.
Our consequence, our fate will be just like that, if we want to have any
definite knowledge about Him.
naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ, na
śobhate jñānam alaṁ nirañjanam
kutaḥ punaḥ śaśvad abhadram
īśvare, na cārpitaṁ karma yad apy akāraṇam
[“Knowledge of self-realisation, even though free from all material
affinity, does not look well if devoid of a conception of the Infallible (God).
What, then, is the use of fruitive activities, which are naturally painful from
the very beginning and transient by nature, if they are not utilised for the
devotional service of the Lord?”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.5.12]
That is another; that is in relation to karma they work. By dint
of your karma do you think that you can control the Absolute mind?
Never, even nirañjana niskalanka, the faultless knowledge cannot have
any reach into the domain, what to speak of your karma, these material
works in any form if you do it, it won’t reach there. Naiṣkarmyam apy
acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ. If it is not connected with acyuta-bhāva,
the service of Acyuta, then the jñāna, na hi jñāna sarasi
pavitra na vidyate [?]
That pure in its existence, the knowledge, that is unfit to get the
intimacy of the Lord. What to speak of the karma. In this way in many
places it has been told to us. “Don’t try to make Him the object of your
experience. That is impossible. Only crave for Him, crave. And showing, and
realising fully that you are very mean and you are very meagre, small and
insignificant, and the Lord should have pity on you due to your
insignificance.” So in this way, the way of approach to Him, this is the way,
and not to make master over Him, “I can know. I can understand His ways.” But
that will be the main...
End of 81.03.06.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.07.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...in
ancient times when ___________ used to
go to trade with Fiji and they’re constructed some Hindu temples. And they
proposed him to take the charge of that concern, I heard from him.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
They proposed our Guru Mahārāja?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
When was that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Your Guru Mahārāja he told me about Fiji.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Oh, he told you. Prabhupāda told him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
The Fiji people they wanted to hand over something there to him. What that is I
forgot. Fiji is where, near America, West Indies?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
No, near Australia.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Then it is not so. Then is there any centre in West Indies?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
There is. But I think Prabhupāda was talking to you about Fiji. He was talking about Fiji.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Fiji. Maybe.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
We have the Deity there of Kṛṣṇa Kaliya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Oh yes. Fiji, the Kṛṣṇa Kaliya. Not Kaliya Damana, Kṛṣṇa.
Yes, Fiji. I remember.
Devotee:
_____________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
_________________________ [?] Any Indian?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Yes, Indian.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
What part you belong to?
Devotee:
Gujarat.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Gujarat people are Kṛṣṇa bhakta by the grace of
Vallavacari. Vallavacari’s preaching was very wide in Gujarat. That
Goswāmīns; I met in Bombay one Goswāmī. He had many
disciples. There was the case of Nathadwara. Are you acquainted with that, the
Nathadwara Mahanta, Nathadwara, near Chitor [?] or something like that? There
was a case against the Goswāmī. He married one Muslim byjee [?] that
Goswāmī, and there was a case. And I was at that time in charge of
Bombay Maṭh. I met one gentleman who was his solicitor, the
Goswāmī’s solicitor. Er, what was his name? A man of position, he
told all these things. His wife supported, that Bakhills [?], or barrister
maybe, his wife supported the Guru. “The Guru is Bhagavān, he may take a
Muslim lady, married. What harm is there?” And her husband was very much
against. We took the part of the husband and the wife went away. She tried her
best to support the Guru, Nathadwara.
__________________________________________________ [?]
And
that was Śrīnathji,
the Deity of Mādhavendra Purī. That was in Govardhana and then
gradually went there. When for fear of Mohammedan invasion, they, Govindaji,
Madan Mohan, they went to Jaipur state, and this Śrīnathji went
Chitor [?], Nathadwara, when Aurangzeb wanted to demolish the tīrtha in
Vṛndāvana.
____________________________________________________________________
[?]
Devotee: ______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:The people there they’re very earnest to
hand over the charge of the temple to him, and he expressed his desire to
establish a centre there. This much I heard.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
This Deity of Śrīnathji, is there a Rādhārāṇī
also? Is Rādhā also there?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
I can’t remember. Govinda Mahārāja
___________________ [?]
Because
the Vallabhi sampradāya they do not care much for
Rādhārāṇī. According to them, what that Gokul
Goswāmī wanted to impress on me, that Virajā, Yamunā,
principal servitors according to their opinion, not Rādhārāṇī.
Śrīla Govinda
Mahārāja:__________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
They,
of course generally they adore vātsalya rasam. They’re upāsaka,
worshipper in vātsalya rasam. But we are told that Vallabacari he
took mantram from Gadādhara Paṇḍita in Purī, in mādhurya
rasa, dīkṣā he got from Gadādhara Paṇḍita.
But his followers do not admit that. And they maintain that Virajā rather
belongs to the group of Chandravālī, the anti-group of
Rādhārāṇī, Virajā. Virajā and Yamunā.
The Gokul Goswāmī, one of the mahants of that sampradāya
in Bombay, he stressed on this, “That by the grace of Yamunā gopīs
are only getting the grace of Kṛṣṇa. Whenever after the rasa
is broken, and only when they went to Yamunā, by the grace of
Yamunā, then again they could come near Kṛṣṇa. That was
his point, line of argument at that time. So I conjectured that they were
followers of Yamunā or Virajā and nearing to Chandravālī
group. But that should not be because there is a difference of opinion amongst
them. Some accept that Vallabacari took initiation from Gadādhara Paṇḍita
in Purī, but the majority do not recognise that. “No. We have got our own
from Vallabacari.”
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
We have a number of questions to ask. Satsvarūpa Mahārāja has a
number of very nice questions to ask you. He’s over here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Satsvarūpa Mahārāja, he’s an important man in your group.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Very, very important.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Yes. He’s giving the biography. Your Gurudeva has accepted him to express him
to the world through the biography.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Yes. Prabhupāda said only he should write that biography.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
And his style of writing is also very nice. I have gone through a portion, of
course beforehand. The other day I got a copy. That Paramahaṁsa’s father,
he told me that, “The biography is out and I found there your name,” he told
me.
And
in what connection?
“That
you announced that, “I believe he’s śaktyāveśa avatāra.”
Yes
I did.
“In
that connection your name is mentioned in that biography.”
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
In many other connections also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Maybe. But that gentleman told. Nitāi.
Satsvarūpa
Mahārāja: I have one question about chanting, japa-mālā.
Our Śrīla Prabhupāda has given us many duties to preach in the
world. So sometimes when trying to concentrate on japa-mālā,
instead of hearing the Holy Name I think of all these different duties I have
to do.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Our Prabhupāda was also of that type. Kīrtana, chanting,
preaching, kīrtana means preaching, not only loudly pronouncing, bahubhir militvā yat kīrtanam
tad eva saṅkīrtanam.
And
Mahāprabhu came with saṅkīrtanam. Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtanam
praye. Saṅkīrtana will form the principal part.
Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair, yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam[11.5.32] we get about
Mahāprabhu. Mahāprabhu came with saṅkīrtana. Saṅkīrtana
means bahubhir militvā yat kīrtanam, sango śakti kalau
yuge. This age of Kali, and the combined efforts will be fruitful; so saṅkīrtanam.
And Prabhupāda came to preach, and so
there was the difference between those socalled bhajana-siddha sahajiyā,
they’re only – once, about Kṛṣṇadāsa
Bābājī, Prabhupāda’s remark, “Kṛṣṇadāsa
Bābājī is a good man, man of character, but his tendency
generally towards Nāma-bhajana.”
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Your God-brother?
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: BābājīMahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
God-brother, Kṛṣṇadāsa Bābājī
Mahārāja, yes. He was in Balihati.
He did not like to do any other service but he’s always very inclined to take
Name in the mālikā.
________________________ [?] I
was in charge of Delhi Maṭh at that time. I had intimacy with Kṛṣṇadāsa
Bābājī. I wrote to Prabhupāda, “If you permit I like to
take Kṛṣṇadāsa Bābājī here in Delhi Maṭh.”
Prabhupāda wrote; that letter is here,
“If you can bring him there and make him help you in the work of preaching,
then you’ll be doing the friendly service, real friendly service to him. I
don’t recognise that in the jungle of Balihati only to count the beads of the
Tulasī mālā that is kṛṣṇānusilan.”Balihata
jangali bati avasiya tulasi malika arkarsan kṛṣṇānusilan
nahe [?]
That
was his expression. “The sitting in the jungle of Balihati, only to draw the
Tulasī mālikā; that is not kṛṣṇānusilanam,
the cultivation about Kṛṣṇa, I don’t recognise that.”
There are so many things. So kīrtana
means preaching, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ, that
kīrtana is not uchay, ucharanam[?],
but that is preaching regularly, and when it is preaching that must have to
fight with the opposition party, wholly, opposition, it is a fight. Kīrtana
means a fight. Divine vibration will be created and that will fight with
the ordinary vibrations that are floating in this world, in the subtle, and
also in the gross waves.
Satsvarūpa
Mahārāja: So because preaching is so important our
Prabhupāda...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
So, I’m coming there, so Prabhupāda told that, “Tulasī, it may not
fast.” The minimum advice was, “You must at least once do some service in the mālikā,
upabāsa, the mālikā should not fast, that is. And
as much as you will be able you preach.”
And once: one of the big mahant of
Urupi Maṭh, Utaradi Maṭh, in Madras we had a talk with him. He also
told that, “Sometimes I preach about Madhvācārya and this bhakti cult,
and I do not get any time for sandhya, gayātrī, japa,
all these things, book reading.”
We supported him. Our Guru
Mahārāja is of such type. The Hari kathā is not of less
importance than the sandhya mantra japam. It is rather a more living
thing, more living.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Preaching is more living.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Preaching is more living. When we are preaching, we are talking, preaching,
automatically the maximum control we must have from all our nerves. But
otherwise, we may be going on counting, I may be absent minded. But when I’m
talking about Kṛṣṇa to a person, to a body, or something like
that, then I must be all-attentive, otherwise I may talk irrelevantly.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
So true.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
So automatically the whole attention will be concentrated when I shall talk
about Kṛṣṇa. So preaching, and writing, that is, more
accuracy is necessary than speaking, so writing also kīrtana, the
cultivation more intensely thereby, so Kṛṣṇa kīrtana.
Kīrtana means, I told the other day, in the Bar Library once that,
“Gauḍīya Maṭha
has declared totalitarian war against māyā, and all other
existing conceptions of religion, and authority is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
and Mahāprabhu.” The divine love is the supreme-most summum bonum of life
of every jīva. That is the summum bonum, the highest attainment.
Beauty and love: that is controlling the whole thing, and not power. Not power
but beauty and love, and that is Kṛṣṇa, that is Vṛndāvana
at the highest position. The absolute conception, the conception of the
absolute is that of Reality the Beautiful and love divine. And that should not
bemisconceived that lust is love. It is at the same time this difference should
be clearly realised.
[ataeva kāma-preme bahuta antara]kāma — andha-tamaḥ, prema —
nirmala bhāskara
[Therefore
lust and love are quite different. Lust is like dense darkness, but love is
like the bright sun.] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 4.171]
The
long space of dedication is there, the acme of dedication only there is love,
the Braja Vṛndāvana love. And preaching is saṅkīrtana and
preaching is the real service of Kṛṣṇa, and not counting
beads. But because we have taken and it is ordered by Mahāprabhu and
Gurudeva to chant the Name, counting the beads, I must do my duty to that mālikā.
“That
mālikā may not fast.” That was the word of Prabhupāda, mālikā
upabāsa nā________________________________
[?]
But
if I engage myself in preaching, that is I am feeding, Kṛṣṇa
feeding everybody, still particularly because that job other things will be
done. But there is no doubt, should not be any doubt that if I engage myself in
the preaching work in the sevā kaga then I am not really obeying
the orders of Mahāprabhu, “Take lākha Nāma.”
That is provincial sayings, lākha Nāma,
as we’re always engaged in the service of Vaiṣṇava.
tāte
kṛṣṇa bhaje, kare gurura sevana / māyā-jāla chuṭe,
pāya kṛṣṇera caraṇa
[By
worshipping Kṛṣṇa and rendering service to the spiritual
master, one is liberated from the illusory world of māyā, and
attains the lotus feet of the Lord.]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.25]
Sevā,
that is, the spirit of service is the allimportant factor; allimportant
factor.We’re not told that the gopīs they always count the Nāma,
the Tulasī bead, but how they possess the highest position in the
jurisdiction of the service of Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa
Nāma, Kṛṣṇa, He will help us greatly and most
cheaply towards Vṛndāvana, Nāma. Its importance is
there, that like a special train it carries us to the goal without stopping in
any other station. We’re only taking the Name without any formal petition,
‘give me this, that, that.’ No kāmana.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Express train.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Express train, or special train, only it will go to Vṛndāvana,
nonstop, the Name. This anyābhilāṣa, karma, jñāna,
all these aspirations are not there. “I want Kṛṣṇa. I do not
know what is good, what is bad. I want Kṛṣṇa.” Something like
that.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
How many mālās did your Guru Mahārāja ask his
initiated disciples to chant each day? Set number?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
General, at least four times, if in proper health, at least four times. Then
generally, the general recommendation was at least twenty five thousand; that
is sixteen beads.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Sixteen
rounds.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
At least four times, minimum. And then when you have got no work you may do one
lākh.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
So would he give dīkṣā for four times? If someone could
only do four times, would he give someone Hari Nāma dīkṣā,
your Guru Mahārāja? If someone was only doing four mālās
a day, would your Guru Mahārāja give him Hari Nāma dīkṣā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Hari Nāma
dīkṣā?
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: At the
time of dīkṣā, he would ask sixteen, or how many?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
No consideration, no consideration. Formally he must do something, counting; no
rigid limitation. But what he wanted from us that intense engagement in the
service, under the guidance of Vaiṣṇava. Hari sevā, vaiṣṇava
anugatye hari sevā: because the all important factor, what I was just
going to say, the, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ.
[ataḥ
śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam
indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe
hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ]
[Therefore, (because
the name of Krsna is identical with Krsna Himself, and is beyond the realm of
sense experience) the
name, form, qualities, associates, and pastimes of Krsna are beyond the realm
of sense experience. When, however, a devotee engages the senses, beginning
with the tongue, in the service of the Lord, Krsna reveals Himself to the
purified senses of that devotee.][Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Purva-vibhaga, 2.234]
Only
by increasing the number we cannot achieve the goal. Sevonmukhe hi, by
increasing the quality, not quantity. But what is the quality? Sevonmukhata.
Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. There are so
many sayings in the śāstra to encourage Hari Nāma
in different ways, but Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī is giving a
central thought there. He says, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. Our indriya, physical or
mental, they’re not eligible to come in touch with the aprākṛta.
The Name is aprākṛta, Vaikuṇṭha, another plane.
So ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi, nāma,
rūpa, guṇa, līlā, nothing about Kṛṣṇa
can be even touched by our indriyas, the senses, physical senses or
mental senses. But, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau, but when we are sevonmukhe,
we are in serving attitude, proper serving attitude, svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ,
He comes down of His own accord. Then this tongue can pronounce Kṛṣṇa.
Otherwise only the akha,
that is the letter, the physical sound, mundane sound. The tongue, this hand,
all these, our mundane things cannot come in touch, but intervening something
is necessary to connect this body with the aprākṛta and that
is sevon mukhata, our earnest desire to serve Him, to satisfy Him. That
must come in connection.
The
bulb won’t light if the connection of the electricity is not there. So, and if
electric connection is ready then if you push the switch then the bulb will be
lit.
So the Name may come in the tongue, and in
the ear, in the mind, in the writing, but the sevon mukhata, the
connection we must have from Vaikuṇṭha to this mundane world. What
is that? That is sevā, bhakti; a function of serving
attitude. That can only connect this physical world with Vaikuṇṭha,
Vṛndāvana.
ataḥ
śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam
indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe
hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ
He’ll
come out of His own accord. He’ll come down, to your tongue. Then your tongue
will be able to take the Name of Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise this is __________________ bogus
firing.
_________________________ [?] The
Name, nāmākṣara bahiraya batu nāma kabu naya.
[Merely the
sound of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa should never be thought of as
the actual Name. This is explained in the Prema-vivarta of
Jagadānanda Paṇḍita, a book which is full of the philosophical
conclusions of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It was published and
edited by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.]
Devotees:
Misfire.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Misfire is when it loses its aim, is it not that?Without bullet, firing; firing
without bullet – that is misfire, without bullet?
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Oh, blank?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Blank, yes, blank sound.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Makes
the sound but no bullet.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
The sound but no bullet. Just like that, the Kṛṣṇa, only the
tongue depth Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Chanting without service is like firing a gun without any bullets. Just the
sound, that’s all.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Hearing also, so Kṛṣṇa; that must be surcharged with serving
temperament, that is, the tendency to satisfy Kṛṣṇa,
otherwise that sound is bogus, only imitation. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. It is not to be taken by indriya.
Atindriya, transcendental, supra-mental, transcendental; so ordinary sound
in the mundane world cannot be the Name of Kṛṣṇa. Or even the
ear cannot hear the Name. If that mediator, that is the serving attitude is not
there, then ear cannot, but earnestness to satisfy the Kṛṣṇa’s
will, in that temperament, that is mediate between Kṛṣṇa and
the ear, through the mind. Then only Kṛṣṇa Nāma will
enter this ear. So, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi,
so Kṛṣṇa nāma, rūpa, guṇa,
līlā, everything is not physical, it is aprākṛta,
only through sevonmukhata it can come down to this mundane world;
everything.
Our Guru Mahārāja laid highest
stress on this, the sevon mukhe. Without sevon mukhata everything
will be bogus, all imitation. And people will say, “Oh, there is no Kṛṣṇa.
These are hypocrites. They’re only dancing and making noise. Not surcharged
with that spirit of sevon mukhata.”
Then coming in direct contact with Kṛṣṇa
everything will be all right. So
sevonmukhata, the sevon mukhata to practice how to attain sevon
mukhata, the Vaiṣṇava sevā, Vaiṣṇava is
doing service, and imbibe from him, do, practice how to attain the way, how to
attain the serving attitude, serving attitude, sevon mukhata, bhakti,
śraddhā, śraddhā, bhakti. And sādhu
will come to the great help in such stage. Under the control, under the
order of sādhu, you practice yourself to give yourself. Self
abnegation is necessary. Self dedication is necessary. And the positive thing
you will get from the sādhu. And try to, with self abnegation, try
to dedicate yourself.
In the beginning, you see if we get pen and
paper it will not be fruitful. But in the beginning some stone is given and on
the earth we are to practice writing. So, in the beginning we must try to
practice, how I can be put in the way of serving, how can I earn serving
attitude, dedicating habit. Of course that is innate in me, that is my hope, it
is my innate function, but this is covered, anyābhilāṣa,
karma, jñāna, these layers have covered it. It is my innate
wealth. This is solace, consolation. And if I try, and the sādhu’s,
the Vaiṣṇavas will help me, and I must; just as, here is an
expression, chidiya
hadasa [?]
At least give some trash to anybody, and
practice giving. One who is miserly, one says to him, “Give some ash to others
and practice your hand to give, in the beginning.”
So anyhow, that is high thing; we must
practice sevon mukhata, to give ones own self to the connection of Kṛṣṇa.
Don’t be afraid that I’m not attaining the highest form of service, the Nāma
bhajana. I’m asked to brush the mandira, and all these rough things
what an ordinary man can do. Don’t be afraid of that thing, that formal, but
serving attitude is necessary to acquire.
In any way, self-giving, selflessness, and
self-forgetfulness, as it is told, I am told by, the
Socrates in the Christian theology, the Socrates was, his case was
self-sacrifice, that of self-sacrifice. And Christ, His case was
self-forgetfulness. The self-forgetfulness, self-sacrifice: self-forgetfulness,
and to what purpose? The positive connection will be that under Vaiṣṇava.
Under the order of Vaiṣṇava you go. He’ll connect with the, he’ll
have connection that and under his direction you begin the – then through him
you can get the connection of that plane. And your energy may go to that plane
by his grace, his mediation; so sevon mukhehi jihvādau. So our Guru
Mahārāja he practically, as we saw, he laid ninety per cent stress in
serving attitude, in preaching, whatever it may be.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Can we ask another question?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Yes.
...
Devotee:
Women, they’re good preachers as their brothers...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Yes.
Devotee:
...therefore sometimes even a sannyāsī in ISKCON he will give
council to women, sometimes even about problems such as their marriage. But
while doing this service sometimes there remains in the devotee an impression
of contact with the women. This is not desirable yet we cannot completely
renounce their association.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
These are all practical questions. Theory and practice, these must combine. And
carefully and well meaning characteristic will get the victorious glory.
[pārtha
naiveha nāmutra, vināśas tasya vidyate]
na hi
kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ tāta gacchati
[“O
Arjuna, son of Kuntī, the unsuccessful yogī does not suffer
ruination either in this life or the next. He is not deprived of the pleasures
of the heavenly planetary systems in this universe, nor is he denied the chance
to personally see the Supersoul in the divine realm. This is so, O dear one,
because a person who performs virtuous actions never becomes ill-fated.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
6.40]
The general will be; the general
recommendation may come in this way. We cannot avoid the association of women
completely. In somehow or other if we come out, if we do not come out then also
in our mind it is there. And how successfully to take out the thorn from
within, that is the big problem. Not only outside but the enemy is within. And
that is more dangerous. Then not only formally but materially, if actually, we
can get rid of the women consciousness when I can realise that everything is
meant for Kṛṣṇa. Nirbandha kṛṣṇa sambandhe. So renunciation is no solution. Still we
do not dismiss this point of renunciation totally, especially for the
beginners. But at heart we must think that renunciation is no solution.
yo
māṁ paśyati sarvatra, sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ
na praṇaśyāmi, sa ca me na praṇaśyati
[“For one who sees Me in everything and
everything in Me, I do not remain unseen and he also is not unnoticed by Me: he
never sways in his thought of Me.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 6.30]
Otherwise the women conception will draw me
always towards that conception of enjoyment. The enjoyment; that is bhoga:
that is exploitation. Our Guru Mahārāja has written,
tṛṇād
api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā / amāninā
mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
[“One who is humbler than a blade of grass,
more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it
for himself is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Śikṣāṣṭakam, 3]
Tṛṇād
api sunīcena he explains,bhokta dharme sunicata mine
[?]In the function of an enjoyer there cannot be found any sunīcatā,
humility. That aggressing mood, before exploitation is aggressing. Sunīcatā,
the humility is absent there. When one is aggressor he’s not humble, not
modest.So the danger is within. We must be conscious of that. Not formally to
show to the people that we are all sādhus, that won’t do, that
won’t help us really. The solution we must face. And still, especially for the
beginners, we shall be alert that no objectionable mixing. But we must try to
change the relationship of exploitation. The trouble is there. The danger lies
there.
So, you see, that is the case of Saubhari Ṛṣi
in Bhāgavatam [9.6], he, in Yamunā, in some places, by his yoga
power he dived deep and there he was going on with his yoga. Then
he, the first, the fish, Garuḍa, he wanted to hunt that place and took
fish, Garuḍa eating, Garuḍa ate fish from that place.
And the fish in a body approached Saubhari Ṛṣi,
“That you are here and Garuḍa comes and eats us.”
Then Saubhari he cursed, he threw a curse
that, “If Garuḍa comes this side again he’ll be killed, or he’ll be
doomed.”
Then
when Garuḍa came to know this he avoided. He showed sympathy against,
Garuḍa was devotee, showed sympathy against the devotee, to the fish.
Then a reaction came. He did good to the fish, and those fish they were more
familiar and thankful to the Ṛṣi and they’re coming and playing
here and there. And perhaps the fish touching his penis created some
excitement. Then whole yoga was lost. He came out of the water and went to the
king, “Give me fifty princesses or a hundred princesses,” as a reaction.
So by avoidance is no solution. This is Vaiṣṇavism.
Everything, I must relate everything to the environment in the interest of Kṛṣṇa.
That is real selflessness. So however dangerous the victory may be we must have
to attain that. That should be our outlook, should be our aim. And to attain
that aim that yukta-vairāgya we shall; not too much of anything.
Not free mixing, neither non-mixing. Neither hate nor welcome. A middle path we
are to accept in this point. Because when we must work in the society, then we
can’t divorce society completely; mix. If I cannot learn to see a girl as my
sister, or daughter, or mother, in such way, only whatever I shall see a
womanly character only I want to enjoy, that is really not progress. Whenever I
shall come, at least when I shall see the combination of the beasts or birds
that will also disturb me. So the solution is to see that everything is meant
for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, and I am also a servitor, and
I am not an enjoyer. And it is difficult; it is very, very difficult. But we
are out to attain that result, to drive the enemy finally, to become the cent
per cent servitor of Kṛṣṇa. Īśāvāsyam.
[īśāvāsyam
idaṁ sarvaṁ, yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat
tena
tyaktena bhuñjīthā, mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam]
[“Everything
animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the
Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself,
which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things,
knowing well to whom they belong.”][Śrī Īśopaniṣad,
1]
Everything is meant to obey His order, to
satisfy Him. And then another reaction, wave of satisfaction will come in me,
and that will be divine joy and ecstasy.
End of 81.03.07.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.07.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
...we cannot conquer, we must solve the attack. The disease we can, by setting
aside the memory of disease we cannot drive the disease. The disease should get
recognition, and real treatment of the disease must be faced.
So Kṛṣṇa kīrtana,
Kṛṣṇa must be between the two. Kṛṣṇa must
be between the two; whenever I shall mix with anybody, only about the talk of Kṛṣṇa.
Even it is said in the Ṛg Veda, the first mantra,
oṁ
tad viṣṇo paramaṁ padaṁ sadā, paśyanti suraya
divīva cakṣur ātatam
[tad
viprāso vipanyavo jāgṛvāṁśāḥ,
samindhate viṣṇor yat paramaṁ padam]
[“As the sun and sunlight is continuous
over the skies as light-giver to us (for that sunlight is the universal form of
the Lord) similarly, the Divine Lotus Feet of the Lord Śrī Viṣṇu
is always spread widely (like a canopy) over our head.”][Ṛg Veda,
1.22.20]
This is the Ṛg mantra, the
first Ṛg mantra. Whenever you approach to do any duty you must
think of your identification and their environment, “Who are you?” You are
going to take up some work, some duty, you must think, “Who are you?” You will
think this, that the eye of Viṣṇu; eye like a sun is over your
head, the viṣṇo paramaṁ padaṁ, His holy leg is
on your head, and that is like an eye, just like a sun on your head. So under
guardian’s great vigilant eye you are doing this thing, so you cannot do any
wrong. The guardian’s eye is the watching eye. His searching eye is overhead.
With this idea we take, do all the duty.
So Kṛṣṇa must come
between, if I talk to anyone, if I associate, and we have any relation
anywhere, bring Kṛṣṇa. In Kṛṣṇa’s cause I
am doing. In this way I can get rid of the danger of anyābhilāṣa,
karma, and jñāna, yoga, etc, and we can take bath in
the rasa of Kṛṣṇa.
So avoidance is no solution, and making too
much of anything that is also not Kṛṣṇa. That is enjoying in
the name of religious, in the name of religion, in the name of Kṛṣṇa
I’m going to enjoy. That is very dangerous and very objectionable. That is not
only artificial but that is deception, self deception; and to deceive others
also.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Dishonest.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
So according to ones own capacity, generally
we should take caution against that private meeting, in a...
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: In a
lonely place.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Ah, in a lonely place, lone meeting, a solitary meeting, that should be
avoided, by all. But when we are many, then we may mix with them; general case.
General recommendation may go in this way. That solitary meeting should be
prohibited, sometimes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Sometimes if they have to ask us a question then we can have our secretary or
another brahmacārī with us.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Ah, sometimes a lady disciple she may have to talk to her Guru, some private anartha
or these things, she may want some private visit to tell something to Guru
sincerely. But the Gurudeva, according to his capacity, madhyama
adhikārī Guru, according to his own capacity he will arrange
that. And whenever it will be possible, he will, one or two ladies also can accompany
him, at least in the light he
may meet, others may not hear, but others may see their talk. He’s talking,
she’s talking to Gurudeva that, “This is my difficulty.” He may not like that
others may know, so Guru may advise, and other people may see but cannot hear.
This sort of private meeting may be arranged.
Satsvarūpa
Mahārāja:
Very satisfying answer. May I ask one more question?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Yeah, yeah. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Satsvarūpa
Mahārāja:
Lord Caitanya has said that we should have no desire for liberation but want to
serve birth after birth. But my question is, is there any conflict between this
desire to serve birth after birth and the desire to go to Kṛṣṇa’s
abode and not return?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
I can’t follow.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: He said
that Lord Caitanya said...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
What is the..
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
[na
dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ, kavitāṁ vā
jagad-īśa kāmaye]
mama
janmani janmanīśvare, bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi
[“O
Lord, I have no desires to accumulate wealth, followers, beautiful women, or
salvation. My only prayer is for Your causeless devotional service, birth after
birth.”]
[Śikṣāṣṭakam,
4]
“Birth after birth I come. I don’t mind to
take birth again.” But at the same time the devotee is praying to be with Kṛṣṇa
again. So is there some conflict? That come birth after birth, he doesn’t mind
to come birth after birth...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Only Kṛṣṇa karma; other desires should be eliminated,
and only Kṛṣṇa karma should be retained.
Devotees:
What is Kṛṣṇa karma?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Kṛṣṇa karma means the service of Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa karma, the desire for Kṛṣṇa:
desire not to enjoy, not any other thing but desire to serve Kṛṣṇa.
That all should be eliminated, only the desire to serve Kṛṣṇa,
that is to be maintained.
And here Mahāprabhu says that, janmani
janmani, He says that, “In the beginning I may not expect that only desire
will abolish all My janma.
I must, according to My karma.”
Nija
karma guna desi gesi janma pi [?]“I maybe, may have to go
here and thither in many according to my previous karma, but I want to serve Kṛṣṇa.”
That is, this lakha, this end may not forsake me in any time, wherever I
may be.
kīṭa
janma hau yathā tuwā
dāsa, [bahir-mukha brahma-janme nāhi
āś]
[“Let me take birth as a worm, as Your
servant. I would forsake a birth as Brahmā the creator, if that birth was
devoid of Your service, O Kṛṣṇa.”]
[From Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Mānasa Deha Geha, Śaraṇāgati]
Kṛṣṇa connection only to
be desired; we shall desire only one thing, and that is, nondesire means sāyujya-mukti,
that is samādhi. Without having any desire that maybe samādhi.
Only service of Kṛṣṇa will be there, service of Kṛṣṇa,
will be there. And if I do not get physically then union in separation, but Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, hankering for Kṛṣṇa, must be present,
otherwise it will be the result of renunciation, that samādhi, like
sound sleep. Kṛṣṇa consciousness: that is the earnestness to
serve Kṛṣṇa. That one thing can never be eliminated. We must
want that, that only one desire. That is no desire. When all desires of
exploitation and renunciation vanishes, then that inner function awakens. That
is our inner function, inner tendency, that cannot be eliminated.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: I have
a question.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Yes. Clear?
Satsvarūpa
Mahārāja:
Well, what if a devotee asks us, “Should I desire to go to Kṛṣṇaloka?”
Then should we reply, “No, just the service of Kṛṣṇa.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
No. Wherever, at least if I’m not eligible to go to Kṛṣṇa, at
least Kṛṣṇa’s connection, His devotee’s connection I must
have in any form or other. I can’t leave that. Any, the least connection of Kṛṣṇa,
I must pray for, otherwise I’m lost, some connection of Kṛṣṇa;
at least His devotee. Kita janma hau; I may have, according to my karma
the birth of an insect, a worm, but my prayer is that I may be in
connection of a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Even if
we don’t go to Goloka, as an insect life, then its
o.k.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Association of Kṛṣṇa, then I’m gone, I’m dead; if
disconnected and no connection with Kṛṣṇa then I’m gone. So a
connection I should always desire of the highest good.
Satsvarūpa
Mahārāja:
Is the desire to go to Goloka tinged with some liberation, or tinged with the
idea of salvation?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
That is to desire that sālokya, sārūpya, sāyujya,
these are, though for serving facility it is wanted, still it is a lower bhakti.
The highest is, “Wherever You are pleased to put me I’m satisfied with that.”
That is the highest. But conditional devotion must keep on your side, that is
some condition, conditional. That is of a little lower order. Sārūpya,
sālokya, sāmīpya, sārṣṭi,
some sort of desire, means selfpushing, pushing the self towards Him,
selfishness. But wherever, what, full, “I am under Your full control. Whatever
You like to do, if You are satisfied, if You like to throw down to the hell,
yes, do that. I’m ready. By Your order I can do anything, make or mar.”
mārobi
rākhobi yo icchā tohārā, [nitya-dāsa
prati tuwā adhikārā]
[“Slay me
or protect me as You wish, for You are the master of Your eternal servant.”]
[From Śaraṇāgati, The Songs Of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
p 13]
“You have every right over me.” Such
quality devotion, dedication, is necessary.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Not
even to desire to go back to Kṛṣṇaloka.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
“If You are satisfied by removing me, yes, I...” But thereby he gets the
highest plane of connection. Actually, such kinds of devotee, they’re of the
first rank, the suicidal army, suicidal squad.
Satsvarūpa
Mahārāja:
Why are they called that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
They’re up to any sacrifice for the country, so the highest confidence they
should enjoy of the countrymen.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Suicide
squad. Some of the kamikazes in Japan they even give their life, so that’s the
highest honour.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Highest sacrifice, prepared for the highest service of the country, so they get
the highest honour, and highest respect, as well as order. Sacrificing to Kṛṣṇa
rather we live, otherwise we die. As much as we can sacrifice for Kṛṣṇa
we are so much highly revered; characteristic we acquire. In fact it is this.
Devotee:
Just like Hanumān.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Eh?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: He
said, “Like Hanumān.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Hanumān’s in the middle. You see Sanātana Goswāmī, a
gradation; he first goes to Prayāga, a brāhmaṇa, zamīndār,
he has come there and spending much money, giving to the poor, to the brāhmaṇas,
to the sādhus, all these things, feeding public. And lastly he’s
chanting the Name of, HariNāma
saṅkīrtana.
Then Nārada came to him, “You are very
fortunate brāhmaṇa. You have done so magnanimous works,
feeding brāhmaṇas, feeding poor, everything, the sādhu,
and giving so many things to others. Very high ideal I find in you.”
“What
do you say? You just go to the king perhaps of Purī. Here, he has arranged
in such a way that mahā-prasādam is being distributed to so
many every day. Thousands and thousands of people are being benefited thereby.
And so much grand upāsanā is going on in the temple; all these
things.”
Then Nārada went to there, and he
praised the Mahārājah. “Your life is very successful. You are so big
being a king you are doing so many things and especially the prasāda distribution
to the people in such a magnitude is impossible. Nowhere we find it.” He
praised.
“Oh! What do you say sādhu? You
just go to Indra. You’ll see how fortunate he is. What fortune I have got?”
The Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta,
have you not gone through?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: No, we
have not.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Then he came to Indra and began to praise him; sing in his praise. “Indra, you
are very fortunate. Upendra, Bhagavān Viṣṇu has come as your
younger brother. In your area so many worshipping festivals are going on, this,
that.”
“Oh!
What do you speak? I’m attacked by the demons and my wife is also sometimes
disturbed. And what is – what fortune you find in me? Brahmā is really
fortunate. He’s the master of this whole brahmāṇḍa. He
has come direct from Viṣṇu, and Viṣṇu sent a Veda through
him.” All these things: in praise of Brahmā.
Then he went to Brahmā, and again
began to talk in his praise.Then Brahmā told, “What do you speak? You
don’t know of Mahādeva, Śiva? I am so very busy in the worldly
concerns. Every time complaints are coming from the brahmāṇḍa
I have to solve that, and no time to worship my master, Kṛṣṇa.
Only of course He gave Veda to me for the good of the people, but I
myself do not know the real purport there, what to speak. Mahādeva, He’s
indifferent to the worldly life, and He has given Himself exclusively to Viṣṇu,
to Nārāyaṇa. And there also in the śruti there are
so many hymns in the praise of Mahādeva.”
Then he went to Mahādeva and he began
to chant many things from Rudra śruti and to eulogise Śiva.And
Śiva was, “What do you say Nārada? I thought that you had some real
knowledge. But what have you come to say to me? What am I? I’m nothing. I’m
opposing Viṣṇu in many times. He has put me in such duty that
sometimes in supporting my disciples I go to fight against Him ____________ I get. So I have
nothing of the real devotion in me. Of course, I like Prahlāda. He has got
śuddha bhakti. He does not want anything, then it will be trading.
[nānyathā
te 'khila-guro, ghaṭeta karuṇātmanaḥ
yas ta
āśiṣa āśāste,]
na sa bhṛtyaḥ sa vai vaṇik
[Prahlāda Mahārāja states:
“Otherwise, O my Lord, O supreme instructor of the entire world, You are so
kind to Your devotee that You could not induce him to do something unbeneficial
for him. On the other hand, one who desires some material benefit in exchange
for devotional service cannot be Your pure devotee. Indeed, he is no better
than a merchant who wants profit in exchange for service.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
7.10.4]
“And
even in such repression also he maintained his devotion, devotional character.
I appreciate, admire him.”
Then Nārada went to
Prahlāda.Prahlāda says, “Oh Gurudeva, you have come to praise me.
What is this that you have begun, to talk so many things in my praise? I am
your small disciple. You should not be so much apathetic to me, cruel to me.
What devotion I have got? Of course, I, by your grace, sometimes I want Him but
I am not, I have not got the facility, the chance of serving Him direct.
Hanumān, he’s really fortunate I see because he’s engaged so much.”
Karma
miśrā, jñāna miśrā bhakti,
up to Mahādeva. Then śuddha bhakti from Prahlāda then śuddha
bhakti, śanta bhakti, śanta rasa in Prahlāda:
submission, but exclusive submission but not active service. Active service
began dāsya rasa from Hanumān, in a clear way.
So Prahlāda he showed Hanumān.And
Nārada Devaṛṣi went to Hanumān. “Rāma, Rāma,
Rāma, Rāma.”
Hanumān leapt up and embraced
Nārada. And both began to shed tears and “Rāma, Rāma.” “Who is
making me hear this, my favourite name Rāma, Rāma?” In this way: for
some time.
Then Nārada began to praise
Hanumān.And Hanumān told, “Devaṛṣi, what do you say? Of
course there was a time when I got the facility, the chance of serving my
master Rāmacandra. But Prabhu has gone, leaving me here. I am here in this
Kalaluvan. I only
live to suffer the pangs of His separation. But how happy are the Pāṇḍavas?
Recently my Lord Rāmacandra has come here as Kṛṣṇa, and
how friendly He is to the Pāṇḍavas. Sometimes I think that.
And when I think that, their fortune, I feel much encouragement.” In this way
he went.
Then Nārada went to the Pāṇḍavas,
and he began to, “You are all so fortunate that Kṛṣṇa is so
friendly to you, always as if He’s in your service. Whenever you’re in danger,
only, no sooner He’s present before you and diminishes all the troubles.” In
this way Devaṛṣi went on.
Then Yudhiṣṭhira
Mahārāja told, “What do you say Devaṛṣi? My one sentiment
is this, that seeing the example of the Pāṇḍavas, us; none
will come forward to worship Kṛṣṇa. None will come forward
for Kṛṣṇa bhajana. They’ll say, ‘Oh! The Pāṇḍavas
were very closely connected and their whole life they’re in trouble.’ So people
will think that Kṛṣṇa bhajana means life long trouble.
None will come this side. That comes now and then in our mind.”
Then Nārada told, “What do you say?
Just the opposite; if any adverse circumstance comes to Pāṇḍavas
that means it is the dhauta, dhauta means messenger; that is
really the messenger to speak to you that Kṛṣṇa is coming.
Pāṇḍavas before, the danger of Pāṇḍava is
just the messenger to say, to express, that Kṛṣṇa’s coming.
Your danger means that, Kṛṣṇa is coming, and everything is
removed.”
So
Pāṇḍava Yudhiṣṭhira told, “Yes, we know Kṛṣṇa
He favours us. We’re not qualified though. But the Yadavas, how they are
fortunate, Krsna is always in their midst, and they’re under His guidance,
direct connection. They’re very happy.” In this way began to praise the
Yadavas.
Then Nārada went to the Yadavas.Yadavas
said, “Yes, of course we have some sort of fortune. We have come in connection
with Kṛṣṇa. But we this, we that, and we also suffer, and
sometimes stolen and this, that. But Uddhava, he’s, amongst us he’s the real
devotee and favourite of Kṛṣṇa. We admit that.”
Then
went to Uddhava.Then Uddhava says to Nārada, “Devaṛṣi, have
you not gone through Bhāgavatam? Did you not find my śloka,
my prayer there?”
āsā
maho caraṇa-renu-juṣām aham syām,
vṛndāvane
kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnām
[yā
dustyajaṁ svajanam ārya-pathaṁ ca hitvā,
bhejur
mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām]
[“The gopīs of Vṛndāvana
have given up the association of their husbands, sons and other family members,
who are very difficult to renounce, and they have sacrificed even their religious
principles to take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, which
are sought after by even the Vedas. O grant me the fortune to be born as
a blade of grass in Vṛndāvana, so that I may take the dust of those
great souls upon my head.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.47.61]
“That is my sincere, that was my sincere
prayer, and what am I when in comparison with those.”
In this way it is established.
Once I was in Madras, there is, have you
gone through Madras?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
The mambalam [?] the new town has grown on the side. And there, Śaṅkarite
brāhmaṇa came and he chanted Bhāgavatam, orally,
whole thing in his memory, and explained. And some of our friends wanted us to
see him. We went to see him. Then after some silence then I asked him, ‘Who is
the greatest devotee, according to you?’
He told, “That Catuḥsana.” He told.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Catuḥsana. The Four Kumāras.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Sanaka, Sananda, Sanātana, and Sanat Kumāra.
I kept silence.
He wanted to know, “According to you, what
is your opinion?”
I told, ‘The Catuḥsana is the
lowest.’
“Then who will be the highest?”
I told this śloka, to Uddhava
of Kṛṣṇa.Na
tathā me priyatama ātmayonir.What
to speak of Catuḥsana, ātmayonir, Brahmā.Na śaṅkaraḥ
na ca saṅkarṣaṇo na śrīr naivātmā ca
yathā bhavān.
[“Neither
Brahmā nor Śīva are as dear to Me as you; My elder brother Saṅkarṣaṇa
is not as dear to Me as you, nor even Lakṣmī Devī. Even My own
Self is not as dear to Me as you.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.14.15]
This is in Bhāgavatam. He knows
it better. This is just from the mouth of Kṛṣṇa, Svayaṁ-Bhagavān.
In the gradation of the list of the bhaktas, His priya, Uddhava
is the highest. Na tathā me priyatama ātmayonir. “Brahmā,
Mahādeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Śrī, not only
Myself. You are more than Myself, more favourite, more beloved than My own self
Uddhava.” This is His saying.And that Uddhava says,
āsā
maho caraṇa-renu-juṣām aham syām, vṛndāvane kim api
gulma-latauṣadhīnām
yā
dustyajaṁ svajanam ārya-pathaṁ ca hitvā, bhejur mukunda-padavīṁ
śrutibhir vimṛgyām
Then, the gopīs, they are the
highest, hold the highest position.
And did not utter any more; logically
proved, through Bhāgavatam.
Then, you go and take something. It is
ready there.What’s the time?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: It’s
about nine thirty.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Nine thirty. After taking food also you may come, if you like, another one
hour. I may be at your disposal.
Devotees:
Jaya. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Hare
Kṛṣṇa.Only once I went there, Purbanda
[?] Dvārakā and Purbanda [?] that Kirti [?] Mandir, the Gandhi’s mūrti
and __________________ Purbanda
[?] Hare Kṛṣṇa. Udharma [?]
There’s one thing I may say in this connection,
that Gaura Kiśora Bābājī Mahārāja,
Prabhupāda’s Gurudeva, he was told by a gentleman that, “One Sambhu
Bannerjee, disciple of Bhaktivinoda, he has married. He was a bachelor, now he
has married.”
And Bābājī
Mahārāja told, remarked, “That does not matter, he may have married.
But ask him to decorate the lady, and serve him [her], as if serving the gopī,
for the service of Kṛṣṇa. He may take this, such attitude, it
does not matter.”
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī:
Decorate the lady? Decorate his wife and serve her as if she’s a gopī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Serve her, as thinking that she’s a gopī. She’s meant only to serve
Kṛṣṇa. And he will help her too, for the service of Kṛṣṇa.
In this attitude she must see.
So in connection of the previous question,
how we should mingle with the women, that we must not deviate, that everyone is
a servant of Kṛṣṇa. That temperament we should always
maintain. Nothing, none is meant for me. Everything is meant for Kṛṣṇa.
I shall mix, and we shall help each other, with that spirit, that universal
spirit may not be absent in us, in all our doings. We should try to maintain
this universal current that everyone is meant to…
na te
viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ, [durāśayā
ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ
andhā
yathāndhair upanīyamānās, te 'pīśa-tantryām
uru-dāmni baddhāḥ]
[Prahlāda Mahārāja says:
“Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material
life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or Guru a similar blind man attached to
external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return
home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṇu. As
blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a
ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound
by the ropes of fruitive labour, which are made of very strong cords, and they
continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold
miseries.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 7.5.31]
...that the end of everyone is to be
connected in the service of Kṛṣṇa, and we must help each
other. With this spirit we shall mix with anyone
and everyone. Everything we come in connection with we must do our duty in this
spirit that how I can help him to serve Kṛṣṇa. In this wide
and broad and deep plane we are to work, we are to live and move.
yo
māṁ paśyati sarvatra, sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ
na praṇaśyāmi, sa ca me na praṇaśyati
[“For one who sees Me in everything and
everything in Me, I do not remain unseen and he also is not unnoticed by Me: he
never sways in his thought of Me.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 6.30]
The furthest corner we must see the
connection of Kṛṣṇa. And as much as possible I shall try to
promote, to help it for the service of Kṛṣṇa. And thereby I
shall get more grace from Kṛṣṇa, yo māṁ
paśyati, or in Bhāgavatam,
sarva
bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed, bhagavad bhāvam ātmanaḥ
bhūtāni
bhagavaty ātmany, eṣa bhāgavatottamaḥ
[“A person advanced in devotional service
sees within everything the soul of souls, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Consequently they always see Kṛṣṇa
everywhere and in everything. One who is situated on the topmost platform of
devotional service is known as an uttama-bhāgavata.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.2.45]
Everywhere I shall try to find its connection with Kṛṣṇa,
and in pursuance of that, following in that connection, how I should deal with
him, the secondary. The secondary connection, my connection with everything;
first his connection with Kṛṣṇa, then I shall calculate what
my connection should be with him, with it, secondary.
Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
DhīraKṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja ki jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Gaura Haribol. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja ki jaya.
Jaya Śrīpāda Tamal Kṛṣṇa Prabhu ki jaya.
Śrī Satsvarūpa Mahārāja ki jaya. Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Prabhu ki jaya. Vyasadeva
Prabhu ki jaya. Bhakta vṛnda ki jaya. Gaura premanande. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: We
finished the prasāda very quickly. In expectation of seeing you
again we couldn’t...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Yes, yes. Seeing but hearing.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: We ate
so quickly today.
Dhīra
Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: The
microphone, this is how we also hear you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
In my last days Prabhupāda is giving me chance of talking about Him. I was
told by many of my friends, God-brothers,
that I can preach well to the educated society, especially. But I was not of
that temperament, the preaching temperament. So they have this complaint
against me.
My Prabhupāda also wanted me to go to
the west for preaching. But I denied, showing that I’m not fit, for two causes.
One, just as you find, that I cannot understand the pronunciation, the
intonation, of the westerners. That is a defect in me. And so, and another,
that I have not the temperament of mixing intimately with them. So, if you
order I must go, but I don’t think that I’ll be successful in preaching there.
Then another God-brother, Professor Sanyal,
the author of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, he
afterwards told me, “Do you know why Prabhupāda wanted you to go there?”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because: you won’t be converted by them.”
I
told, “Of course, yes. I can never be converted by anybody. My firm confidence
I have got. What I have learned from Prabhupāda about Mahāprabhu and
Kṛṣṇa, none in the world can convert me in its faith. This
much faith I foster in my heart. And so Prabhupāda wanted.
Bon Mahārāja went and he came
half converted, leaving his daṇḍa, and giving up his śikhā,
perhaps many things, imitating dress, imitating from there he came back. And he
came first: I was in charge of Bombay Maṭha
at that time. I went to receive him from the ship. And Herr Schulze [aka
Sadānanda Dāsa] and one Baron, two German gentlemen came with him,
with red dress.
Then Swāmī Mahārāja was
present there. He was doing business at the time. And in the round table we
took our seats.
I asked Bon Mahārāja about the
preaching results.
And in course of his statements he told,
“Oh! They ask so many questions that cannot be answered.”
I challenged, mildly, told, “What are the
questions that cannot be answered? I want to hear from you.”
Swāmī Mahārāja, I am
here, Bon Mahārāja that side, Schulze here, Swāmī
Mahārāja here, and Prabhupāda is here. And he used to put
questions and I used to answer his questions. Then he was silenced.
Swāmī
Mahārāja spoke aloud, “Here, Europe is defeated by Asia.” That was
his loud expression. “Europe is defeated by Asia.”
What he told to Svarūpa Dāmodara,
“Though you have come to beg here, come for begging, can’t you give something
to them?”
That was, he told me himself.
I asked him, “Can’t you give something to
them?”
“What can I give to them?”
“Yes, materially they can help you. They’re
in a position to give you. But spiritually they’re poor. And you can help them
in spiritual matters.”
In that way Svarūpa Dāmodara was
attracted.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
What prasāda you take...
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: We took
puris...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
...I also take a bit of it because my faith is, Mahāprabhu grants prasādam
for you. So earnest you are in your bhajana, come far away, in the
land of Mahāprabhu, surely He’s arranging prasādam for you.
And I like to take a bit. And my Mahāprabhu had some connection with
America. Of course, from the beginning, intuitively I had some sympathy with
the Germans. For America a mixed nation: from many countries.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Plenty
of Germans in America also, GermanAmericans.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
German, oh, a portion, GermanAmerican, FrenchAmerican, this way. And mostly
English, is it not British, main population?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: It’s a
big mixture now. Nowadays everything is
there, Africans, Jews...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
It is a mockery. That Eisenhower he was a German, and he was the general to
crush Germany. His fate was like that.
Anyhow, my Mahāprabhu has connection
with America.
When I came here I wanted to establish
Mahāprabhu’s Vigraha.
The carpenter who generally prepares Vigraha
for us, I asked him to give a figure, a Mahāprabhu Mūrti to me, and I asked him, ‘How
much you want for that, for your labour?” I knew that he already supplied a Vigraha and took thirty rupees.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Thirty
rupees?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Thirty: and he told, “Thirty, forty; whatever you like.”
I
proposed to him, ‘I shall pay one hundred and one, and you engage all your
merits and you collect and you try to make my Prabhu as beautiful as you can.
That is my request to you.’
Then he told me, “Yes, I shall do that, but
then I must have some time.”
At that time during the war period, it was
in nineteen forty five, the war
finished almost, and American firms are working in Calcutta; in the vicinity of
Calcutta_______________ [?]
And
he was engaged in his service there, in that firm. He told that, “I am in
service there. I shall take the necessary wood there and there in my leisure
time I shall do the service. And then I shall get ample time to my heart’s
content, I shall do service in such a way that Mahāprabhu comes as
beautiful as possible.”
“All right,
you do that.”
Then Mahāprabhu was actually, got a
figure; took figure there. And then when He came here from Calcutta side, I
went to, he informed me, I went to the station, and from there I took
Mahāprabhu. So Mahāprabhu, in His prakata service, He had some
connection with American firm. I can’t but…
End of 81.03.07.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.07.C_81.03.08.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...Whoever it may be, we leave our,
abandon our flesh connection, and we come to establish new connection with
those that come under the banner of Mahāprabhu. They’re our own. And in
the physical sense, they’re our own, and that is left. The culture is everything.
The inner man is his culture, his culture, his faith rather. So according to
faith we are gathered together.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, today is the
disappearance day of Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Jagannātha dāsa
Bābājī, Rasikānanda, Gaur deva
Goswāmī, and that of Mādhava Mahārāja our God-brother.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Today, yes, that’s right, one year ago.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Mādhava Mahārāja
disappeared two years ago, this day. And Jagannātha dāsa
Bābājī, the veśa Guru
of...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Bhaktivi...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To certain extent, but Gaura Kiśora
Bābājī’s Guru was
Bhāgavat Bābājī. His veśa Guru was Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What does veśa mean?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Veśa means he took
initiation from the Goswāmīns, and went to Vṛndāvana and
took sannyāsa, the so-called bābājī sannyāsa.
Gaura Kiśora Bābājī took from Bhāgavat dāsa. And
Bhāgavat dāsa was the veśa śiṣya, that bābājī
śiṣya of Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī. And
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he came in connection with Jagannātha
dāsa Bābājī. Jagannātha dāsa
Bābājī had one favourite disciple in Amjarduray [?] in the
Burdwan District. Sometimes there he used to stay. And Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
had connection there. And we are told that he got, took veśa, from
Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Did Jagannātha dāsa
Bābājī tell something to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura about
preaching in the west?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can’t remember. Jagannātha
dāsa Bābājī. I can’t remember. He was very, very old. One
hundred and twenty five years we are told.Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
recommended Prabhupāda to take HariNāma
from Gaura
Kiśora Bābājī. And through his recommendation he came to him and got HariNāma. Gaura Kiśora Bābājī did not make many
disciples.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: How many?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maybe three, four, five, like that, maybe. Some say Prabhupāda is his only disciple, but in
Rādhā-kuṇḍa I saw a gentleman who also claimed that, “I am a disciple of Gaura Kiśora Bābājī. I
lived there, I served him.” Nandavin Kṛṣṇa,
he told. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is the
narration which you repeated to us, there is the story of Chitraketu. So
Parvatī, she cursed Chitraketu and for this she was chastised a little bit
by Śiva. Chitraketu however he did not mind…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Unaffected, went away.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Śiva said, “Just
see the nature of Chitraketu, how exalted.”
So Chitraketu Mahārāja was unaffected but his wives, he had many
wives, naturally they must have been very much affected because after all he
was their full shelter, and now he was to be sentenced to a very unfortunate
birth, in their eyes. So how were they able to avoid committing offences, how
the wives of Chitraketu were able to avoid committing offences against
Parvatī? They might have become angry that, “Why
Parvatīhas unfairly cursed our husband?”
If they had that mentality then they might have been guilty of some offence
since Parvatīis such an exalted personality. So my question is on behalf
of the wives of Chitraketu. “What should
their mentality have been?” Because
Chitraketu is like their Guru and their Guru has been cursed.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then, what was the result?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Well, the result is that…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Any conclusion is given there, no?
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: It doesn’t mention very
much I think about the wives, to my remembrance. No. The wives are not
mentioned. What happened to them is not
mentioned, therefore I’m asking you, what could have been their fate now that their Guru pati has
been cursed. How did they react to this?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: One is worldly position, another is
spiritual position. When coming in clash then worldly connection will have to
be defeated. If their affinity is, reverence to Chitraketu is in the worldly
plane, then that cannot contest the spiritual position. That Guru, the
Chitraketu was Guru of those wives, but that mostly in the worldly sense, not
in the spiritual plane. So that won’t
be cared for them. Parvatīhas got some position in the spiritual world,
and that they may not have. If they may not have that strength in the spiritual
plane, there is chance of them being defeated. This prakata sambhanda,
the worldly reverence, respect, but in the spiritual plane that will be more
true, more lasting, and durability there. Anything coming in clash will have to
be broken. That is the general opinion should be; decision. The material
consciousness when it comes in connection
with the spiritual consciousness, the material consciousness must be defeated,
must be broken if there is any clash.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: The wives of Kāliya, they must have had some spiritual vision.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Because they were appreciating that Kṛṣṇa
had blessed their husband with His lotus feet, even though He was smashing him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They came to approach Kṛṣṇa
in a serving mood it is told. They got the chance of approaching Kṛṣṇa
in a favourable mood. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: In the Bhāgavata there is the story of
Durvāsā Muni and Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. So can you
elaborate on the nature of Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, how he was
able to remain so tolerant and in the face of such difficulty. That even he
felt it to be his own offence although he was completely free from such
offence.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Something, due to his kṣatriya nature,
and also sense of varṇāśrama duty, religious duty, atiti.“Durvāsā is my atiti, so it is my duty to
satisfy him. I did wrong. I did wrong.”He was already in a critical position
and put the question to the assembly of his brāhmaṇa advisers.
Then the brāhmaṇa advisers
advised him that, “You take only a drop of water that can be contained in the kuśa
grass.”
He took it. So he was satisfied that from the direction of his own
conscience he was clear that he was not killed. But as regard social customs he
thought he is guilty. He’s put into the
crisis by the supreme will so he may have to suffer though partially. But he
was a devotee and though not of high order but his stability was
unquestionable. And also the nature, the habit of the kṣatriya feeling
has some contribution there. The kṣatriyas are careless of their
body. They do not care for death, as in the case of Karṇa and
Paraśurāma.
Do you know the story of Karṇa and Paraśurāma? Karṇa,
the friend of Duryodhana, and he,
you may know that
he was the son of Kuntī
before marriage. So he was left in the current of the Ganges in a pot, and one suta,
a charioteer, he took him and he was childless, he gave this child to his wife
and he was nourished there, Karṇa.
Though he came from a kṣatriya school but he knew that he
was suta putra not kṣatriya. But he went to
Paraśurāma, the intrinsic temperament was to get training for a kṣatriya,
and he went to Paraśurāma to be taught. But Paraśurāma’s custom was that only brāhmaṇa and kṣatriya,
without kṣatriya he won’t
teach anyone less. Karṇa gave his acquaintance as a brāhmaṇa
and Paraśurāma trained him, taught him the lessons of the weapon
throwing, all these things.
Then, one day Paraśurāma is sleeping on the thigh of Karṇa. And Indra, who was always against Karṇa, he had partiality
towards Arjuna his son, some say that Indra in the form of a worm, he came to
bite Karṇa and blood flowed. And when that blood that flowed touched the body of Paraśurāma he woke up, and told, “What is this?”
Then he was perplexed, “Oh, it is some
worm coming out of the earth and has bitten me and the flow of blood.”
“But so much flow of your blood and you don’t interfere me, don’t
ask me to awake. What is this? This much patience a brāhmaṇa may
not have. You must be a kṣatriya. Only kṣatriyas may
have such tolerance, patience. Brāhmaṇas can never have. So
say you are not brāhmaṇa.”
Then he had to confess. “Oh, then, I am a
suta-putra.” Something like
that he told.
Then he threw a curse that, “You
have deceived me. Whatever you have learned from me won’t come to your help when you’ll
really be in danger.”
So that kṣatriya, they have some natural patience, they don’t be afraid dying of any physical tolerance. So Ambarīṣa,
that kṣatriya habit helped him. “I
won’t shirk. I face the danger, whatever may
come on my head.” And also, he
was a devotee, pure devotee, but of lower order, not very higher order. We know
it from Sanātana. “Ambarīṣa
used to do the service in his hand, and temple,”
all these things, told that “Ambarīṣa
is a general devotee. Above them there is Prahlāda.” In this way the gradation went on.
But Ambarīṣa - and that was,
the argument taken in by Nārāyaṇa in Vaikuṇṭha. “You are a brāhmaṇa, Durvāsā took all
this in his favour, two points - I’m
a brāhmaṇa, I’m a tyāgi,
sannyāsī. And Ambarīṣa he’s a gṛhastha, householder, and he’s kṣatriya. And you are showing partiality to him
and you are Brāhmaṇyadeva,
we learn from the scripture you are Brāhmaṇyadeva. You must give some prejudice towards our side, to the brāhmaṇas.
But we don’t see you doing the justice.”
Then Nārāyaṇa also put in His turn. “Oh, you are a brāhmaṇa, you are a sannyāsī,
but when you went to burn Ambarīṣa he did not fly away, but what
about you? You are making so much of your body consciousness that when
Sudarśana came to attack you then you are fleeing the three worlds. And
you say that you are more closer towards your brāhmaṇa and kṣatriya
but what you say in the consequence Ambarīṣa honoured My vrata,
Ekādaśī. To honour Ekādaśī means to honour Me. He
did it. And you also did it. In the Yamunā you found that the time is
passing away. You also took some water to keep up the vrata, took pāraṇa.
And you were displeased with him because he observed My vrata. You are his atiti.
He did not take any real food but only taking a drop of water he showed respect
to Me. The Ekādaśī vrata is My vrata and you also
observed it. And where is his fault? He gave respect to Me and you were angry
with him. And also that was sanctioned by so many brāhmaṇas of
your race, and he’s a culprit? So
you’ll have to go to Ambarīṣa and
the decision cannot be taken in My court.”
He went to Brahmā, he went to Mahādeva, all sent to Viṣṇu,
and Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa also said like that, “You will have to go to that same Ambarīṣa, you have
committed offence there.”
“You are making me so, insulting me, it is rather insulting to go
to him.”
“No, no. You go there. You will find the magnanimity there.”
Then
Durvāsā had no other alternative but to come to Ambarīṣa.
And Ambarīṣa standing still like a criminal, something like that
offending person he is standing there. “I
have done so wrong that the brāhmaṇa is displeased with me.
And what is this? Sudarśana came and drove the brāhmaṇa to
what direction I don’t know. But all
these troubles due to my connection, so I am a criminal.” Like a criminal he was waiting there and as soon as
Durvāsā came and no sooner he has asked any forgiveness, Ambarīṣa
was ready beforehand. And he gave praise to Sudarśana cakra, “If I have done anything good in my life in the service of the
Nārāyaṇa, Oh Sudarśana, You release this brāhmaṇa.
Don’t trouble him. This is my request, this is my prayer to You. At the cost of all the
merits in my life I pray to You, You please release this brāhmaṇa
from troubling him.”
Then
Sudarśana stopped. Then Durvāsā went to praise: aho
ananta-dāsānāṁ:
[aho ananta-dāsānāṁ, mahattvaṁ dṛṣṭam
adya me
kṛtāgaso 'pi yad rājan, mangalāni
samīhase]
[“I have seen the greatness of the servitors
of the Anantadeva, Śrī
Nārāyaṇa. You are so magnanimous that although I am an offender
you have prayed for me. You hold an unparalleled position in the whole
universe.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
9.5.14]
“Wherever he is moving, Oh, what to speak of the servants of the
Ananta of Nārāyaṇa. They’re so magnanimous yet we brāhmaṇas we are fond
of austerity and collecting some
subtle mystic power and to trouble the ordinary people at large. This is our
qualification. But these whoever he be who has got connection with Nārāyaṇa, they’re so generous, so magnanimous. No purity can be compared with bhakti,
devotion of Nārāyaṇa.”
In this way he began to preach.
But again, Durvāsā had to come against Pāṇḍava,
here, there, everywhere, that Durvāsā is taken in for cursing. He’s a man of cursing, a brāhmaṇa, who is reputed
for, notable for his cursing. Everyone was to be afraid of Durvāsā
for his cursing.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Why is he like that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He comes in the shadow of Rudra,
Mahādeva, Vayankara, Mahādeva, Śiva. He’s born in partiality from the potency of Śiva, Rudra,
Vamsa, destruction, some fated connection with destruction, Dibyara. In Sukhadara also we see his case.
In Draupadī’s, but to a devotee of Kṛṣṇa whatever
unfavourable, ultimately they come to prove the dignity of the devotees.
Draupadī, only a negligent portion of sak, that was in the pot, and
Kṛṣṇa came, urgently. “Give
some food Draupadī, I am very hungry.”
And yes, flow
from the eyes of Draupadī. “What
You say, only for food that we are in danger. Your Pāṇḍava,
Your sakhī Draupadī, all will be turned into ashes just now,
only for want of food. And You ask to eat something from me. Nothing left. I have by some
arrangement of the unfavourable ______.
Today we are in such danger that I have taken my food and everything finished
as it was ordained by the sun.”
But before
Draupadī takes her food, the food in the pot won’t be finished. But after Draupadī has taken nothing will
remain. And that was the case there.
That is…vilolar lankar?, oxymoron or something like the opposite
mixing.
“That we for food that, I am hankering, I am craving Your presence and
You want food. What is this? You know everything and still You want food. No
food, no, You please see. If You search, nothing remains.”
“Something may remain. You search your pot.”
Then Draupadī searched and found a speck, a negligent portion of a sak, vegetable, leek.
“Oh give Me that, give Me that.”
And He took it.
Yasmin tuṣṭe
jagat tuṣṭam priṇite priṇito jagat[By satisfying Kṛṣṇa,
the whole universe becomes satisfied, for one who is dear to Kṛṣṇa
is dear to the whole universe.]
“I am satisfied.” And in such a
plane He’s standing He expressed His satisfaction,
all were fed, especially the Durvāsā with all his disciples.
So they went away, fled away, especially in fear of Bhīma.“That if we go, if we cannot take any food, the Bhīmawill
not leave us, but punish us, so go away, go away.”
So
Durvāsā’s curse to the
Pāṇḍavas has taken the Pāṇḍavas to a pristine glory, glorious position.
So in the case of bhakta it is so. Dangers come but only to
enhance their beauty, to glorify them, whatever. This is the very nature of the
devotion to Kṛṣṇa in that way. None can, nothing can predominate
over it. But what humility they show, that is natural. But opposition cannot
come in touch with them from other side. So Vaiṣṇava aparādha
in that plane we may not commit any anomaly. That is to be very carefully
detected and we must be very careful about that, that who are my well-wisher, I
may not do any wrong towards them.
Yatak karti
jnatam katum saha te tad vidam [?]
The Vaiṣṇava’s are your
guardian, your wellwishers, so be careful
not to do any wrong towards them. Otherwise to the ordinary persons, ordinary
plane, you may not be very particular, they won’t
harm you. But be alert that in your plane, the important plane which you are
able to come in, from that plane obstructions may not come to you to trouble
you. Be careful about your own plane, because they’re your wellwisher and if you do any wrong to them that will be
very bad. And that will bring in turn big disaster. Be careful about Vaiṣṇava
aparādha.
And Vaiṣṇava aparādha is only - the Vaiṣṇava’s; that is another thing, Vaiṣṇava aparādha.
All other misdeeds may get relief from the grace of the Lord but not offences
to the Vaiṣṇava. That is a peculiar thing. All the deeds may be
forgiven by the Lord but in the case of His own He does not take the law in His
own hand, He gives it to him who is offended to decide. That is a peculiar
position of the Supreme.
Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākurasays, “The thorn enters in a particular way in your body and only
through that it can go out, not through other parts.”
So the Vaiṣṇava’s
they consist the body of the Lord, as if as it is. So if anything wrong is done
to a particular place of His body, there should be given some medicine, some
nursing, and not in other parts. In this way - Vaiṣṇava aparādha.
The Vaiṣṇava can only forgive what wrong is done to him or her, not
even the Lord cares to do that. That is a peculiarity in Him.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura
Hari. Gaura Hari.
So we may be
saved from offences against a Vaiṣṇava. Nitāi Caitanya.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: Hare Kṛṣṇa. We will return now to
Māyāpur Dhāma now.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: And come again, tomorrow.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tomorrow. Of course, some of you are coming, either you or he, some coming
every day. And I pray to the Lord keep me fit to meet you.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa Swāmī: We are also praying like that. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: I have one question Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Who is he?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: This is Nava Yauvana Prabhu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Comes from?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He’s
from San Francisco, with Atreya Rsi Prabhu. He’s
working with him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That Atreya Rsi came here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, with Svarūpa Dāmodara.
Nava Yauvana Prabhu, his interest is in Ayurveda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ayurveda. And Prabhupāda, your?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And how long is he in connection with this
ISKCON?
...
Question? Come closer.
Nava Yauvana Prabhu [?]: Kṛṣṇa says in the third chapter [3.37] of Bhagavad-gītā,
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa, that lust and lust alone is the
enemy. And then a few śloka’s later He says that by regulating the senses one can conquer his
enemy.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And by way of regulation He asks us to
have an acquaintance with the nature of soul, then all these will be turned
into ashes.
indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur, indriyebhyaḥ
paraṁ manaḥ
manasas tu parā buddhir, buddher yaḥ paratas tu saḥ
[“The learned proclaim that the senses are
superior to inert objects, the mind is superior to the senses, and the faculty
of resolute intelligence is superior to the mind. And he who is superior to the
intelligence is the soul himself.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
3.42]
evaṁ buddheḥ paraṁ buddhvā, saṁstabhyātmānam
ātmanā
jahi śatruṁ mahā-bāho, kāma-rūpaṁ
durāsadam
[O mighty
Arjuna! Knowing the soul to be thus perfectly distinct from the intelligence,
steady the mind with resolute intelligence and destroy the indomitable enemy,
lust.]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
3.43]
Who is not easily accessible, we cannot trace where he lives, but
suddenly comes and after looting, disappears. Durāsadam. But the way to conquer them is to analyse what is the senses,
what is the position of our senses. Then what is the position of the internal
king of the senses, the mind. And then, what is intrinsically the acquaintance
of the faculty of judgement, the buddhi, reason. Then, with the help of
the reason to try to find out the background of the reason, of the judgement,
of the decisive faculty, the background - what is that? That is only a pencil
of ray and its nature is diabolically opposite to the world of experience.In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
there is an example that in the moonlit night the cloud has covered the moon.
And the cloud is seen by the light of the moon but the cloud has covered the
moon.
na rarājoḍupaś channaḥ, sva-jyotsnā-rājitair ghanaiḥ
ahaṁ-matyā bhāsitayā, sva-bhāsā puruṣo yathā
[“During the rainy season the moon was
prevented from appearing directly by the covering of the clouds, which were
themselves illumined by the moon’s rays. Similarly, the living being in
material existence is prevented from appearing directly by the covering of the
false ego, which is itself illumined by the consciousness of the pure soul.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.20.19]
The example is drawn from Upaniṣad. So, the ahaṅkāra, the mind, the senses, sense consciousness, the mind and the
intelligence, all combined forming a system has covered
ātmā, the moon. But they are seen and it is possible for them
to act only because there is light, because of the ātmā, the
moon. So, by the help of the reason we shall try to catch what is above that
and we shall be able to see that it is ātmā. We may come in direct
connection with ātmā, and conception also, however hazy it may
be. Then the whole thing of the material aspiration will turn into trash and
you will be able easily to conquer all the charms of this world. The Lord says
here. Only anyhow you try to have the superior conception of your ātmā.
You are so and so. And these base things have come to entrap you. How dignified
position you are in there, that you are, raso 'py asya, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā
nivartate:
[viṣayā vinivartante, nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso 'py asya, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā
nivartate]
[“Although the person of gross corporeal consciousness may avoid
sense objects by external renunciation, his eagerness for sense enjoyment
remains within. However, inner attachment to sense objects is spontaneously denounced
by the person of properly adjusted intelligence, due to his having had a
glimpse of the all-attractive beauty of the Supreme Truth.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 2.59]
Their charm will be vanished when you come in
contact slightly with the dignified position of your own soul. And what to
speak of the Supersoul,
Paramātmā, and not to speak anything of Nārāyaṇa and
Kṛṣṇa! So much ecstatic enjoyment is that side, only when
come, it is within you, though it is far away at our present conception, but
still it is with us, the jīvātmā. And try to concentrate
even for a second there and we’ll find how
dignified position, and whose are these thieves,
the reason, the mind, the senses,
all are thieves and dacoits taking you where? In the land of misery, by some intricate conspiracy. That will
seem to you.
indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur, indriyebhyaḥ
paraṁ manaḥ
[manasas tu parā buddhir, buddher yaḥ paratas tu
saḥ]
[“The learned proclaim that the senses are
superior to inert objects, the mind is superior to the senses, and the faculty
of resolute intelligence is superior to the mind. And he who is superior to the
intelligence is the soul himself.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
3.42]
Our senses they’re superior in
comparison with all the things we experience around. Without senses nothing is
of any importance to us. Suppose this touch, the eye and then the vision, the
ear, devoid of all then no conception of anything external, the world is
nothing to us.
Again the central figure of the senses is mind. He is calling me, “Oh, I was unmindful. I did not hear.” The sense is here but because I was unmindful I did not hear
him. I did not see, un- mindfully. So mind is in the centre. And mind is saṅkalpa
vikalpa, the two functions of mind,“I
want this, I don’t want this. I
want this, I do not want that.” This is mainly
the acquaintance of the mind.
Then buddhi, from mind we are to go up
to buddhi, reason. What is that? nischiankar [?] “Oh, mind wants that but it will have such reaction, don’t go that side.” The buddhi,
the intelligence will, the faculty of judgement will give me precaution, “Don’t go, don’t hear what the mind says, don’t
obey.” That is intelligence.
Then, if we go up, surpassing intelligence, and search after what is the
backing of intelligence, the function of intelligence is making possible, what
is that background, then we’ll be able to
see, “Oh, this is myself proper. And all outside
extension in the material world, they are material coating. I may leave them and with the ātmā I can go up
somewhere else. This atmosphere is not at all necessary to me, it is harmful,
it is a coating, a garment which is thrust on me to come in connection with
this bad environment.
We are leaving this here, and my soul proper with that realisation I can
go to a higher direction, towards Paramātmā, by going up. This is
coming down and that is going up. Going up from ātmā to
Paramātmā and His environment, and passing Brahmaloka I am to go to
Śivaloka and Vaikuṇṭha. Then when in Goloka, then I am in
complete, my return journey is complete there, so to say.
Svarūpe sabāra haya, golokete
sthiti - the domain of
love and beauty and extreme dedication. That is innate and that is very easy at
the same time. And this is all laborious and artificial. Whatever we are doing
here, we are in connection with, whatever
function and activity is all artificial. And we shall find there that is only
natural in our innate conception. Svarūpe sabāra haya, golokete
sthiti. The beauty, or love, similar, our intrinsic hankering for that,
that is svarūpe. We may know or may not know but our innate
hankering to come to beauty and not force. Some of us may think that force is a
greater attraction, but if our analysis is perfect then we shall come to know
that power is not the final resort of our hankering. Its final thirst is for
beauty and for love. And that is found in the land of the highest dedication.
We must pay for that, dedication. Dedication means paying. We pay and pay, and
go up and up, and we shall reach the land of spontaneous dedication and love and
beauty. That is Kṛṣṇaloka. That is Goloka. Goloka means a
full sphere, a solid circle, not only circle in the plane, but a solid like a
ball, Goloka. Goloka means ball. That is four right angles, solid four right
angles, right angled figure, in a circle. That is Goloka; a globe. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
End of 81.03.07.C_81.03.08.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.08.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Devotee: …but māyā is presenting a trap in the form of offering
relationship which is not pure, which is not loving.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: That is, māyā, that is
my own karma. That also emanated from me with my cooperation. With my
helping she has taken me so far. We wont forget that first my consent took me
to this illusory world. None else is responsible for that but my tiny freedom,
free will of curiosity took me here, of colonising spirit. That colonising,
that māyā proposed for a good colony here to me and I was
entrapped. ‘Oh. I shall offer so many enjoyment, enjoyment, I came to enjoy and
colonise in this new land, and I am captivated in the colony.’ My prospect was
wrong, my conjecture, my free plan was wrong design. I am captured.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Is that like getting married?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Getting married?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: May be something like that, married. That is of course a major
presentation is there. But there are many who even does not like to marry, the
renunciation, the mukti vādi. But they’re also not of normal
position, does not want to marry, but they want dissolution in the Brahmaloka
there, that is eternal sleep. No marry question there, but apathy towards the
cooperation with the loving principle, the loving nature. No cooperative will
there in the slumber, but not marrying.
But rather, the marrying in the opposite. To be married with Kṛṣṇa,
and marry means to serve, not only enjoying tendency, but in any combination,
in any rasa, with the spirit of service. The service, the dedication,
that is the criterion to take us up. Hatvāpi sa imāḹ
lokān na hanti na nibadhyate.
[yasya nāhaṅkṛto
bhāvo, buddhir yasya na lipyate
hatvāpi sa imāḹ
lokān, na hanti na nibadhyate]
[“He who is free from egotism (arising from aversion to the Absolute),
and whose intelligence is not implicated (in worldly activities) even if he
kills every living being in the whole world, he does not kill at all, and
neither does he suffer a murderer's consequences.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 18.17]
The cooperation, otherwise we can destroy so many worlds, so many
globes, I may not be caught as a criminal. The inner participation is as an
instrument of Their universal will I do I have no responsibility for that,
whether it is good or bad.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: In the end of Prabhupāda’s Bhagavad-gītā As It Is,
in the very last sentence he says, “When you attain Kṛṣṇa
consciousness then the jīva attains his normal condition in the
pleasure giving potency.” So I’ve always understood pleasure giving potency was
hlādinī śakti. So does the jīva in pure Kṛṣṇa
consciousness have some connection there?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Hmm? So jīva?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: The jīva in pure śuddha bhakti, is there some
connection with hlādinī śakti?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Yes. The spirit of dedication can only take us there, bhakti.
Bhakti, prema bhakti.
bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ
[śraddhayātmā
priyaḥ satām
bhaktiḥ punāti man-niṣṭhā
śvapākān api sambhavāt]
[“I, who am dear to the sādhus, can be reached only by
devotion born of unalloyed faith. Even a dog-flesh-eating outcaste who
dedicates himself to exclusive devotion for Me is delivered from the influence
of the wretched circumstances of his birth.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.14.21]
We can only go there through bhakti, not by karma, jñāna,
yoga, anything of the type. Bhakti can give there, bhakti means
dedication, sevā, the tendency of service can only lead us. The
higher company, the company of a higher entity than myself if I want, only
through service I can connect with him. I cannot enjoy him. Is it not? Do you
follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: If I want any higher connection I can only connect with him in the way
of service. I cannot, if I want enjoyment that must be of lower status. I shall
have to compel it according to my sweet will then I shall have to enjoy. But
higher company, which is superior to me in intrinsic position, if at all I want
his company, only through service. That is by satisfying him I can go to him.
My connection with him depends on his will, not that of mine. So only if we
can, if we like to go up, only we can do that through the connection of
service, not of enjoyment, nor of renunciation or indifference. Do you follow
the scientific basis of the service?
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Any connection with the higher entity is possible only when I want his
satisfaction. He wont care to satisfy me. It is my earnestness to meet him.
He’s in higher position. But if he’s satisfied he may call in, then I can
enter, otherwise not. So without serving spirit, no progress on the upper realm
is possible at all. Only practice of shadow exercise, taking the Name of Kṛṣṇa,
but without the spirit of serving attitude it will be only labour in the
mundane world, mundane sound.
ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva
sphuraty adaḥ
[“Therefore, the name, form, qualities, associates, and pastimes of Kṛṣṇa
are beyond the realm of sense experience. When, however, a devotee engages the
senses, beginning with the tongue, in the service of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa
reveals Himself to the purified senses of that devotee.”] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
Purva-vibhaga, 2.234]
Kṛṣṇa Nāma, rūpa, guṇa,
līlā, kṛṣṇa-nāmādi, Name
and the sound, then the colour, the picture. Then the rūpa and guṇa,
His quality, qualification. And the līlā, His pastimes. All aprākṛta,
of higher type. And, sevonmukhe, when we are in serving attitude He
comes down. He comes down within our heart and then from there to tongue, there
to eye, there to feeling, touch. In this way we can have His experience.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: But doesn’t it say, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau, beginning with
tongue.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Jihvādau, jīva, jihvādau, in jīva,
the sound in jīva, and the picture in eye, in this way. Svayam
eva, of His own accord, sphuraty, He reveals, He comes down. The
subtle energy comes to fulfil, to connect with gross and He subdues the gross
and the Name dances in the tongue. But the electric connection is there, then
only, otherwise it is all imitation. And crores of lives we may imitate
without any fruit. Nāmākṣara bahiraya batu nāma kabu
naya.
yadi karibe kṛṣṇa-nāma
sādhu-saṅga kara [bhukti-mukti-siddhi-vāñchā dūre
parihara]
[“If you are going to chant the Holy Name, keep the association of the
pure devotee and totally abandon all your desires for enjoyment, liberation, yogīc perfections or miracles.”]
[From Jagadānanda’s Prema-vivarta]
Only with the help of the sādhus, the devotees, we may
imbibe, but something like electric connection. That may connect with the
higher place. And if He pleases to come down to connect with this body then
this body can work, can show bhakti. Otherwise all imitation. The
imitation wont take us there. So sādhu-saṅga, the dynamo is
necessary to move the fan, to light the light bulb, that is sevonmukhatā,
serving spirit, that is bhakti. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Christians, they want to relate to God in an enjoying mood. In other words they
see God as order supplier.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Sometimes, “Oh Lord, give me my bread.” These are lower habits. That
may be trap also to capture the ordinary people, ‘that you will get bread, come
here.’ And then they may educate about His higher qualification. It may also be
possible. To entrap them such offer may be added, ‘Oh Lord give me my bread.’
But that is not everything, there are other advices also. So we must do justice
to the Bible also. And where we differ in the spiritual conception we
shall fight there, not only in all places, not in every...
A good faith, by His sacrificing spirit Christ has drawn from the
material world, “There is God, there is something like God. Come to Him. Try to
come to Him.” Then what is the conception of the God, then we shall come to
differ. He says that, ‘Father-hood.’ We shall say the, Son-hood and this
consort-hood, not only father-hood. Not only always in the transcendental hazy
world but we can have as concrete as in His own plane. In this way. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: One purport in that chapter, third
chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Prabhupāda says that by
recognising the urgency of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in that way
one can regulate the senses. By understanding, or feeling the urgency of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness one can begin to regulate his senses. So I’m wondering how to
increase that feeling of urgency for Kṛṣṇa consciousness?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: That sādhu
śāstra kṛpa. The scripture is there, and the living scripture is sādhu.
Only by keeping his company through serving spirit we can imbibe power from
him, and my consciousness may be raised up. Confidence must be increased. Śraddhā, faith, must be increased. How? Where
there is faith, higher faith, I am to imbibe from there.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi
Caitanya. They’re all hearing, they’re hearing all, they have no questions? You
are representing them all? Eh?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: They may also have some questions.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: They may have.
Devotee: Yes, I have one question
Mahārāja. The karma, when a devotee falls away, so many
devotees, not so many but a lot, fall away and um, I don’t understand how the karma
for a fallen devotee works. Prabhupāda writes in the fifth canto that
it is different than an ordinary materialist.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: What does he say?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Sometimes some men they’re leaving the mission of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness movement. They fall away. So Prabhupāda explained that that
is different than an ordinary karmī, someone who is a materialist.
That what happens to him, that’s different than what happens to a devotee.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Again repeat it.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Like Nārada Muni says, tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujam
harer. On that subject...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujam
harer, bhajann apakvo ‘tha patet tato yadi
yatra kva vābhadram abhūd amuṣya
kiṁ, ko vārtha āpto ‘bhajatāṁ sva-dharmataḥ
[“One
who has forsaken his material occupations to engage in the devotional service
of the Lord may sometimes fall down while in an immature stage, yet there is no
danger of his being unsuccessful. On the other hand, a non devotee, though
fully engaged in occupational duties, does not gain anything.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.5.17]
Generally
we are, a course of duty has been attached to us, to leave to him but very
slowly, and have indirect connection with the Lord. Mostly what is the mood of
our inner nature we are engaged in that, recommended to engage us in that duty.
But only having a very little and remote connection with God. But there, what’s
the consequence? That sva-dharmaṁ, means varṇāśrama dharma. That is dharma, artha, kāma. Dharma, artha, kāma. Kāma means sense pleasure. Artha means to make money, that is to make
the sense pleasure permanent. The money, if I spend the money I can attain, I
can purchase sense pleasure of the tongue, of the touch, of the ear. I can go
to the music. I can go to the conception of it. So money means which can
purchase sense pleasure. And then dharma, duty, that is to distribute
sense pleasure to others. All material to others. What is the result? That I’m
keeping it in the bank, in the time of necessity I shall draw the money,
something like that. I am given to this and that, but I am keeping it in the
nature, and after my death as reaction that will come to me again. In this body
or beyond this body my ego will have them returned as reaction, whatever I’m
giving to others. But in terms of sense pleasure, all, dharma, artha, kāma, whole thing concerned with sense pleasure. And then
the opposite is mokṣa, renunciation, to dismiss all sense pleasure
in different forms, in giving to others, or in preserving, or in experiencing,
the sense pleasure.
Then,
here Devaṛṣi Nārada says to Vyāsa that, “What have you
taught so long to the world, that is making much of the sense pleasure. Either
in direct sense pleasure or to reserve it in form of money, or distributing
sense pleasure to others in the environment, dharma, artha, kāma.
And mokṣa, and you’re speaking something to get out of it, but not
of any positive gain. Withdrawal from sense pleasure does not mean eternal
bliss, but there is eternal bliss. And you have deceived the whole humanity
from the throne of the great Ācārya. You have done downright wrong.”
In
this way Nārada chastises Vyāsadeva. Then Vyāsadeva came to
senses, what to do.
Tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujam harer, bhajann
apakvo ‘tha. “You are very much particular, they must improve in a gradual process,
otherwise if they march quickly there’s possibility of falling down, keeping
the enemy behind. But if he falls at all what does it harm? And what is the
good in this running in the vicious circle, going up down, up down, like a
wheel. A portion of wheel is going up and next moment it is coming down, and
next moment going up. It is eternally coming up and down, up and down. What is
the utility of going up when you have only to come down in the next moment?”
So if for trying to come out of this vicious circle he takes ambitious
step, and in consideration of the improvement in the illusory he holds come
contemptible position, it does not matter. What little he has earned that is
the real thing and that will help him really. And this imitating and false
imaginary going up and down for eternal time, it has got no value at all. So
one who has given up his householder life, takes to sannyāsa, but
he could not keep that life of continuous Kṛṣṇa bhakti and
Guru bhakti, Guru sevā, bhakta sevā, falls down,
again comes to take wife and house, only the time between for few days what he
did that is nirguṇa. That is not to be compared with any loss and
gain of this world. What he’d acquired for five days or one year that is
another thing quite different from the gain of this mundane world. That is nirguṇa
and that will remain permanent.
nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti,
pratyavāyo na vidyate
svalpam apy asya dharmasya, trāyate
mahato bhayāt
[“Even
a small beginning in this devotional service cannot go in vain, nor can any
loss be suffered. The most insignificant practice of such devotional service
saves one from the all-devouring fear of repeated birth and death in this
world.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.40]
A
little bit of that higher quality thing will help him greatly in the journey of
his eternal life. But these things going up and down eternally, this has no
value at all. Going up no value, again coming down, going up means next moment
coming down. This sort of up and down has got no value. But in their
consideration a man who took sannyāsa he could not keep, then again
he became married and the society rejected him. “Oh, he’s a vāntāsi,
he’s fallen, he went to fulfil his ambition but he could not keep the purity of
life. He has fallen down, so he should be abhorred.” But that has no meaning in
this case. What he has done to take the risk, and if you cannot do, whatever
small you can do, you do in the right way, that:
nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti,
pratyavāyo na vidyate
svalpam apy asya dharmasya, trāyate
mahato bhayāt
The
service of this quality can save you from a great dreadful future, so, tyaktvā
sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujam harer meaning that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So, now, Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, he had to see
hell.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja. Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He’s a great devotee.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: He had to see hell. So...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Sometimes what is taught counting Yudhiṣṭhira or Arjuna
that should not be taken defect in their life.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Sometimes to teach others it is like a drama.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: So in that example what is taught we shall take that. Yudhiṣṭhira
Mahārāja, that truth, this, Kṛṣṇa is above truth,
above law. Previously, just a few minutes ago I told that, that Kṛṣṇa
is above law. His sweet will is above law. The law is given by Him to suit a
particular stage of our life, and we must apply it to Kṛṣṇa.
When Kṛṣṇa’s direct order asks us to do something, the śaraṇāgata
bhakta devotee will do that without giving any importance to the law which
is also given by Him for the lower section. So to speak what is truth, what is
truth, that is to be analysed, that is to be understood first. Kṛṣṇa’s
word is the highest truth. Truth, everything means to satisfy Kṛṣṇa,
not other things. His satisfaction, what lives to the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa,
the Absolute Authority, that is truth. And all other truths have been evolved
to take us to the stage where we can do cent per cent for the, always for the
satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. Truth. That much value should be given
to the law. Do you follow? Am I clear?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: To you, but not to them, to all? Eh?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: To everyone.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Very good.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So, in the same way, we have to satisfy Guru and his orders.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So if we become disobedient to the orders and the vows that we have
accepted in the service of Guru, what is our fate?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: But we must understand the Guru properly, what he says. If we
understand Guru by saying such he wants this thing from me, and I must do that.
But if I think that by saying this he wanted to mean so much, I shall do that.
I must be sincere to understand the direction of my Guru. Do you feel?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: I don’t understand.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: The Guru ordered a particular thing. One thinks that he, by this
order, he wants this thing. Another in his heart thinks no, he meant this. The
difference in the understanding of the meaning, then, what to do? But sincere
of course, not artificial, sincerely. Suppose he says, ‘fetch some water from
the pond.’ I went there then, ‘this is not all right. There is another good
water is here.’ So water, one takes that bad water, knowing bad water he took
it. The Guru ordered. Another thinks, he wanted it for drinking, but this
drinking water, man passing by it will be better. I shall take that. In this
way it may differ.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Yes. But what if he says at the time of dīkṣā he
says, “You do not take any intoxication, māda.” And then the
disciple he becomes overwhelmed by material connection and he takes
intoxication.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Yes. Then, intoxication, to judge it in very subtle way, I shall say,
there are many planes. One may feel in the, who can carry out the order in the
different, higher planes also, the leaving of intoxication that is an external
qualification. That is not very important. You see, because if there be men who
do not recognise Kṛṣṇa but free of intoxication, we wont care
for him. At the same time, a man who has got some habit of intoxication and he
has got some faith in Kṛṣṇa, we shall admire him. Devotee has
got real faith in Kṛṣṇa but this bad habit, that will go,
that will vanish in no time. But free from intoxication, but an atheist may be
free from intoxication, we shall avoid him totally. But this man we shall think
to be better.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So how do we distinguish the prākṛta-sahajiyā? They’re taking intoxication, mixing
illicit, asat-strī-saṅgi, we don’t want to associate with them, do we?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Yes. So, if I’ve got the inner eye we can see. The Vaṁṣī
Dāsa Bābājī, he was a bona fide devotee, recognised by our
Prabhupāda. But to deceive others, deceive the crowd, he used to smoke
sometimes, and sometimes he used to throw the external skin of the fish.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Scales, fish scales.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Outside his āśrama, the people may not come. To avoid
the crowd he used to sometimes do these things. So, we shall have to know more
intimately, what is this. Whether it is his imitation to keep us aloof from the
ordinary mob, or his attraction is for the food of that intoxication. So that
we shall have to...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: So if it is clear...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...but generally we shall try to have both external
and internal, both lives pure. Internal and external, both pure, that will be
good for us. We shall always seek such company. But we shall at the same time
we may think that there are men who, whose intoxication is of no value, but
little superfluous position, but he has got high realisation, mind, realised
mind, and so it is possible, may be. But generally we Gauḍīya
Maṭha people we shall always, the external
and internal purity we try to keep up.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: There was this poet, Gosh, the Bengali poet, and he
made some stories about Kali-yuga in the time of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Bengali poet, Gosha. Oh, Girish Gosh, the dramatist, the renowned
dramatist. He made one drama about Caitanyadeva, and wanted Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
to open that drama. But Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura hatefully dismissed
him. “No. I’m not going in connection of this...” Also one vesya,
prostitute, he was selected to play the part of Caitanyadeva, that one Vinodini
by name, one prostitute he was to go on with the part, that is, he will play in
the form of Caitanya. And he wanted Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura to open,
because it is drama and he’s showing over the life of Caitanyadeva.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, “This imitation, awkward imitation I don’t
want to come in touch.”
Then
Rāma Kṛṣṇa Paramahaṁsa, he went to see that drama and
appreciated that lady very much. So much so that in the next day he went to see
that Vinodini, that prostitute. “Oh, you did the play very impressively.”
And
she was very ashamed. “No, no, no.”
“One
can arouse devotion in the heart of so many by shedding tears, all these things,
when playing for Caitanyadeva. She’s not an ordinary person.” In this way
Rāma Kṛṣṇa eulogised him.
But
we are not a party to that. We don’t recognise that. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
hatefully avoided this sort of imitation _________ wont help our real progress.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Utpātāyaiva kalpate, śruti-smṛti.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-, pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
aikāntikī harer bhaktir, utpātāyaiva
kalpate
[“If
one wants to demonstrate his great devotion to the Supreme Lord but his process
of devotional service violates the standard rules of revealed scriptures such
as śruti, smṛti, Purāṇas and Nārada-pañcarātra, then his alleged love of Godhead will simply disturb society by
misleading people from the auspicious path of spiritual advancement.”]
[Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, 1.2.101] & [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.1.15, purport]
Śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-, pañcarātra-vidhiṁ. With our neglecting the advices of śruti, that is Veda, smṛti, so many scriptures that come
out of other smṛti. Smṛtis are the scriptures
compiled by the Ṛṣis on the basis of the Vedas to apply our daily
life, śruti-smṛti. Purāṇādi, so many stories of good persons have
been related in some historical way, that is Purāṇa. Śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-, pañcarātra, there is another scripture coming from the
Śiva, Śiva followers, as pañcarātra. Nārada-pañcarātra is there, sattvic, rajasic, tamasic, pañcarātra. They have come with some recommendation for our
higher life. If we neglect them and create ourselves a new path and show any
extreme devotion, that is only an utpāt, a disturbance, a great
disturbance to the world, that should be thought and dismissed. That is the
purport of the verse.
śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-, pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
aikāntikī harer bhaktir, utpātāyaiva
kalpate
Extreme,
and new type devotion towards the Supreme, which is not sanctioned by the
previous Ācāryas, that should be summarily rejected by one who wants
his real good. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Since the time of Mahāprabhu and ṢaḍGoswāmīs, how is it that this deterioration took place so
quickly, in such a short time?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Generally we shall think that good things are very rare. The scarcity
in this mundane world, there should be scarcity of the good thing, that will be
normal. That will be normal, that in the mundane world there should be
scarcity, rarely to be found. High things, higher substances are rare, not so
cheap here of course in this mundane world, and it is cheap in its own domain.
So kala dharma, kala dharma.
Kalo pasam ______________________________ [?]
That was inaugurated in a particular, the first part of Kali by
Mahāprabhu. And we shall try to guide ourselves according to the direction
intrinsic acquaintances with the place, not any imitation or show. That we wont
try to deceive ourselves, self deception should always be eliminated. Then of
course we may hope good future. Self deception should be avoided.
Kapatata hoile du pravise premerapur [?]
Self, we are, if we can save ourselves from self deception then we are
sure to enter very soon into the domain of love. Self deception, kapaṭāta. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya. TridaṇḍīBhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara
Deva Goswāmī Mahārājakī jaya!
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Śrīmad
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Goswāmī Prabhupāda kī jaya!
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Jaya Śrīpād Bhaktivedānta SwāmīMahārāja kī
jaya!
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: ___ sat sevā vṛnda kī jaya!
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Prabhu kī jaya!
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Ānanda sevā vṛnda kī jaya!
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Gaura-premānande hari bol!
Devotees: Jaya. Haribol.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Govinda Mahārāja...
End of 81.03.08.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.10.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________________ he’s Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja?
Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yourself. I am told that you are a
little indifferent to the worldly affairs.This reminds me of the speaker of Bhāgavatam,
Śukadeva Goswāmī. His qualification was his,
pariniṣṭhito 'pi nairguṇye, uttamaḥ-śloka-līlayā
gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe,
ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān,
[tad ahaṁ te 'bhidhāsyāmi, mahā-pauruṣiko
bhavān
yasya śraddadhatām āśu, syān mukunde
matiḥ sate]
["O saintly
King, I was certainly situated perfectly in transcendence, yet I was still
attracted by the delineation of the pastimes of the Lord, who is described by
enlightened verses."] - ["That very Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam I shall
recite before you because you are the most sincere devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
One who gives full attention and respect to hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
achieves unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord, the giver of salvation."]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.1.9-10]
Śukadeva is addressing the assembly of the best intellectual giants
of the time, authorities of different departments in the śāstric knowledge;
authorities.
atrir vasiṣṭhaś cyavanaḥ
śaradvān, ariṣṭanemir bhṛgur aṅgirāś
ca
parāśaro gādhi-suto 'tha rāma, [utathya indrapramadedhmavāhau
medhātithir devala ārṣṭiṣeṇo,
bhāradvājo gautamaḥ pippalādaḥ
maitreya aurvaḥ kavaṣaḥ kumbhayonir,] dvaipāyano bhagavān
nāradaś ca
[From different
parts of the universe there arrived great sages like Atri, Cyavana,
Śaradvān, Ariṣṭanemi, Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha,
Parāśara, Viśvāmitra, Aṅgirā,
Paraśurāma, Utathya, Indrapramada, Idhmavāhu, Medhātithi,
Devala, Ārṣṭiṣeṇa, Bhāradvāja, Gautama,
Pippalāda, Maitreya, Aurva, Kavaṣa, Kumbhayoni, Dvaipāyana and
the great personality Nārada.]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.19.9-10]
All these were present in the assembly of Parīkṣit
Mahārāja. And dying, Parīkṣit Mahārāja is sure to
die after seven days, so the assembly is of a very grave nature. And all the
stalwarts they have come to console Parīkṣit Mahārāja. The
great exponent of the all sects of religious schools, helper, and he has been
cursed by the brāhmaṇas whose culture and to cultivate he
supported best, and the curse has come from that quarter. So at heart they’re
very much aggrieved and came to give consolation to the Mahārāja,
Parīkṣit, who was noted for his religious temperament. And he’s
cursed to death. So the stalwarts of the religious world all assembled there.
And Parīkṣit Mahārāja submissively put the
question. “Sure death after seven days, within seven days, how can I utilise my
time? You are so many authorities, by the grace of the Lord fortunately have
assembled here. I’m at your disposal. Help me that after death, after this sure
death, I may attain blissful life.”
Then, they’re, according to their stages of realisation they’re
advising. Some say yoga, some recommend tapasya, some dānam,
in this way.
But Parīkṣit Mahārāja
again, very humbly told, presented that, “You of course give some unanimous
verdict so that it will be easy for me to follow your advice.”
Then they were consulting and discussing within them, but differences
are going on in their opinion.
At that time Śukadeva Goswāmī appeared. A young man of
sixteen, without any dress, quite naked, but a good figure, beautiful, and
stout and strong. Like half mad he’s entering the assembly. And some boys were
behind then and they’re throwing dust and this and that, like just as to a
madman.
The whole assembly stood up with respect. The boys disappeared. And they
all conjectured that, “This must be that Śuka, about whom we’ve heard but
we’ve not the chance of seeing him. Perhaps that boy has come?”
So all stood in respect, and then they could recognise. Vyāsadeva
was there; then he was welcomed, and unanimously he was put into the chair of
the speaker.
Then all the gentlemen, the leaders of the religious
India at the time, they unanimously told that, “We are all very eager to hear
from him, this boy, this young youth. Mahārāja, you are greatly
fortunate, and your fortune has attracted him. And let us all hear you put
questions to him, and let us all hear submissively. We have got a very good
chance. We want to hear him. We are waiting for long, what’s his realisation we
want to know. Because in his eyes even there’s no distinction of a man and
woman; the women do not care to cover themselves. The women never see anything
in his eyes that they feel necessity of covering themselves. Such is his
vision, which is not fixed in any worldly plane. No charm of any worldly things
has he got in his heart, his eyes, his everything, is meant for some transcendental
thing. So what is his realisation we are very eager to know. Put questions to
him.”
So Śukadeva Goswāmī also he gave his own acquaintance, or
expressed his position, “What am I?” Pariniṣṭhito 'pi nairguṇye.
I was regularly trained in transcendental knowledge. I’m established there.
But, uttamaḥ-śloka-līlayā gṛhīta-cetā,
but my attention has been forcibly snatched towards some higher cosmos, above
the transcendental impersonal conception.”
Generally transcendental is known to the philosophers of this world to
be impersonal. It is something like zero, infinite and zero is of the same
characteristic. So where we cannot have any entrance as a subject for
investigation, the subject has got its stand far below, and we have some
conjecture of some hazy thing, the jīva soul. So only cloudy, like
a sky, infinite, blue, something, so the spiritual sky is also seen like an
infinite blue sky, that is Brahman. It is non-differentiated, non-specified,
infinite space, which we cannot have any experience of, practical experience. Nirguṇa
- that is the summation of all negation. The positive experience is
confined only to this world, to us. This ear experience, this eye experience,
this touch experience, sum total of these experiences and something drawn from
that in the mental world; that is our property here. That is saguṇa.
And all these experiences fail to have any conjecture of that background. So it
is nirguṇa, summation of all the experiences are absent there. The
positive knowledge of our experience is absent completely there. So that is nirguṇa
we are told.
Pariniṣṭhito 'pi nairguṇye, “I am well established there.”Puri, sampurna rupena. “Perfectly,
I’m established there, in connection, always in connection of what you call
negation of all these positive things we experience in this world.
Uttamaḥ-śloka-līlayā
gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe. But Oh prince, this is my real stage what I give vent here to.
Uttamaḥ-śloka-līlayā. Something extraordinary,
higher, wave, current, has carried me to some other world. And that cannot be a
part of this world of experience. Uttamaḥ-śloka-līlayā,
uttamaḥ ____________ no
nescience is to be traced here, no nescience, no darkness, no ignorance; that
I’m sure. That is all light, all knowledge; that sphere, all below. That is
rather the foundation is all pure
consciousness. Nothing of the mundane to be traced here, Uttamaḥ__________ Beyond the boundary of all conceptions of ignorance: misconception.
Uttamaḥ-śloka-līlayā_____________śloka means
carita, conduct. A flow of life is to be traced there which cannot be
compared with anything of this mundane jurisdiction, a higher conception of
life, rather, the highest conception of life, śloka.
Gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe. I’m captured totally by the charm of
that sort of life, that sort of pastimes; that sort of flow of nectarine
activity, I have come in connection with. Gṛhīta-cetā
rājarṣe. Forcibly carried my mind, my understanding has been
forcibly carried and engaged there. I can’t come away, come down from that
charm, the land of that charming land.
Ākhyānaṁ yad
adhītavān.
Then, I had to come to my father. Before this he tried his best to take me to
that direction, somewhat, but I didn’t care. Then again I shall have to come to
my father, that Vedavyāsa, and to be a regular student I had to study
about the ways and nature of that higher entity.
Gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe,
ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān, tad ahaṁ te
'bhidhāsyāmi, mahā-pauruṣiko bhavān. You are a great personality, having, you
deserve to have the highest prospect of life. You’re suitable to that. Mahā-pauruṣiko
bhavān. The highest end, you are fortunate enough to receive that sort
of highest attainment. Tad ahaṁ te 'bhidhāsyāmi. I shall
just try to give you the news, my experience about that transcendental līlā
of the Reality the Beautiful of divine love, mahā-pauruṣiko
bhavān.”
With this introduction he began to deliver his lecture. He’s continuing
for seven days. Seven days different questions, answers, and Kṛṣṇa
līlā was established. And all the religious authorities of the
time, they all very submissively gave their ears to the teachings of Śuka
Goswāmī, that is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.Kṛṣṇa
līlā, it is meant for whom? The līlā is
transcendental. Though it has got much similarity with the lustful movements of
this world, but it is just the opposite.
ātmendriya-prīti-vāñchā - tāre bali
‘kāma’ / kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-icchā
dhare ‘prema’ nāma
[“The desire to gratify one’s own senses is known as kāma (lust),
but the desire to please the senses of Lord Kṛṣṇa is prema
(love).”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā,
4.165]
ataeva kāma-preme bahuta antara / kāma – andhatamaḥ, prema – nirmmala bhāskara
[“There is a gulf of difference between lust and love; lust is dense
darkness, love is the brightest sun.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 4.171]
The soul in bondage, their aspiration, mostly, men for the women, and
women for the men: because they find there the most of the food of the senses.
The major portion of our senses is to be found there, so natural attraction is
there. The whole prakṛti, even in the trees, even in the beasts,
even human beings, everywhere we find. But this is a perverted reflection, and
just opposite. Kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-icchā. Just
as suveru and kumeru; South Pole and North Pole: just opposite.
One is desperately searching after sense pleasure, and another the opposite.
The highest dedication one can command for the satisfaction for the centre.
Provincialism, selfishness, extended selfishness, but in the infinite extended
selfishness has got no value. So I am self-interested, or I may be interested
for the family members, or village members, or society, or the country, or at
least the whole globe, or whole solar system, but that is only an infinitely
small part. Small part; in comparison with the infinite existence it has got no value.So what is the conception of the whole? We must
dedicate everything, even an atom in our energy should go to the centre, and no
less than. And what sort of centre? In Bhagavad-gītā we find,
Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna,
athavā bahunaitena, kiṁ jñātena tavārjjuna
viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam ekāṁśena
sthito jagat
[“But Arjuna, what is the need of your
understanding this elaborate knowledge of My almighty grandeur? By My
fractional expansion as the Supreme Soul of material nature, Mahā-Viṣṇu
(Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu), I
remain supporting this entire universe of moving and stationary beings.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 10.42]
“What more I shall go to enumerate Arjuna to you? I am here, I am there.
This is in Me. Everything is Me. Know in a nutshell whatever you can conceive
is in My one part.”
The conception of Infinite; we read in Māyā’s Essay,
“Everywhere there is centre, nowhere circumference.” Infinite: something
towards that. So whatever, the smallest energy I can command, it must be
directed to the centre, who is representing the whole infinite, rather, so many
infinites in His one part; towards that. Then how
to connect with that farthest conceived reality? It can come only down, śrauta-panthā;
never by empirical method, but deductive
method. He can come; we cannot go. We can only submissively accept that way;
that is by our free will, and free will must be guided by sukṛti,
ajñāta-sukṛti, jñāta-sukṛti. Then it comes to the
level of śraddhā that is faith proper. Kṛṣṇe
bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya.
['śraddhā' - sabde - viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha
niścaya
kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya]
[“By rendering transcendental loving service
to Kṛṣṇa, all subsidiary activities are automatically
performed. Śraddhā means viśvāsa, faith, sudṛḍha,
very firm and strong, unflinching faith. Faith in sādhu, śāstra, Guru,
faith in Kṛṣṇa. This is faith. If someone develops Kṛṣṇa
bhakti, all their activities are finished, kṛṣṇe
bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya. Nothing is left out if you have
faith.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.62]
If I serve the centre everything is served, and perfectly. Otherwise if
I serve anything, that is like an understanding between two dacoits or
two thieves. Not more than that. Misguided, they combine; make treaty,
something like that. So the centre of welfare of the whole that is to be
detected, otherwise our energy will be lost. How is it possible? Is it possible
at all? Some men, unknown and unknowable, just as in mathematics this is to the
nth term to enter infinite, recurring, goes to the infinite, nth term, so
unknown and unknowable.
I told several times before; I was questioned by an Ārya Samaji
leader, “That if finite can know Infinite He’s no Infinite.”
And I could tell, by the grace of my Guru Mahārāja, That if
Infinite cannot make Himself known to finite then He’s no Infinite.
So in that direction the connection may come, from the direction of the Infinite.
And we’re to catch that. And His agents only can help us to catch the thread.
And this is in a nutshell what’s the matter.
I was told that our Kīrtanānanda Swāmī is not much
interested in the, even in the administration of the ISKCON. He’s indifferent,
to this, the worldly transaction between ISKCON and the world. Not very earnest
to that, but he goes on in his own way. And still he’s one of the strongest
supporters of the ISKCON. But he has come here today. He’s the President of the
ISKCON I’m told; is it not? He has come to see me because I have got some
friendly connection with his great Guru Mahārāja.Now, I’m also told
that serious sittings are going on to discuss the important affairs of the
internal management of ISKCON. But I don’t understand how he has made his time
to come here, in the midst of such grave engagement, serious engagement.Still,
he has come. And I would like to hear something from him. I am told that
perhaps by his earnestness Nava-Vṛndāvana has been created there. Is
it?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And like prince, like a king, he has
represented his Gurudeva there, I was told, and very valuable.Of course, it is
sincere common sense that everything that will be considered of high value must
be given to the feet of Gurudeva, of the God, and Gurudeva. It is because so
long our mind is captured by the charm of this beauty of this world that all
should be dedicated to the God, and to the Guru. And thereby we can get relief;
we can get release from the charm of those bright things in this world.
Everything what is considered to be good must be devoted.
yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi, yaj juhoṣi
dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya, tat kuruṣva mad arpaṇam
[“O son of Kuntī, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you
offer in sacrifice, whatever you offer in charity, and whatever austere vows
you may keep - do everything as an offering unto Me.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
9.27]
Karmārpaṇa, varṇāśrama dharma; the next higher, kṛṣṇa-karmārpaṇa, but varṇāśrama dharma, that is,
dedicates everything to Kṛṣṇa, but indirectly. Then in the
Rāmānanda Rāya dialogue: Eho bāhya āge kaha
āra.[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
8.59]“This is also superficial. Go deeper.”
Then Rāmānanda Rāya told, Kṛṣṇa-karmārpaṇa-sarva-sādhya-sāra.
“We must be fully conscious that all the activities of varṇāśrama
have got direct connection with Kṛṣṇa, not indirect.”
ite tat karma phalum sri krsnaya samapita
astu [?]That is
indirect way to see the nose in this way. But direct, everything is meant to
satisfy Kṛṣṇa. With that consciousness we march to discharge
any sort of duty in this world, with Kṛṣṇa consciousness at
heart; kṛṣṇa-karmārpaṇa. So everything what
is considered to be charming, and what is considered to be beautiful and good,
must be devoted to the service. Then only we can get out of the charm of those
things, the utilisation of the present environment, for the service of the
Lord. And then we can cross successfully this world and go up towards a more
conscious area, spiritual area, soul area. Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ,
Mahā, Jana, Tapa, Satyam.
I asked Swāmī Mahārāja to construct a temple where
the whole Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava philosophy will be
demonstrated. I had a mind to construct such temple here but that was too much
for me in my purse. I could not do it. Then when I was told that he will build
a temple there I humbly put my desire. “I wanted to do so, according to Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛtam
of Sanātana Goswāmī the whole structure of Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇava philosophy will be represented there in the Mandīr.”
Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ, Mahā, Jana, Tapa, Satya, in a spiral
way, in this way. Then,
[upajiyā bāḍe latā 'brahmāṇḍa'
bhedi' yāya]
'virajā,' 'brahmaloka,' bhedi' 'paravyoma' pāya
tabe yāya tad upari 'goloka-vṛndāvana'
['kṛṣṇa-caraṇa'-kalpavṛkṣe kare
ārohana]
["The
creeper of devotion is born, and grows to pierce the wall of the universe. It
crosses the Virajā River and the Brahman plane, and reaches to the Vaikuṇṭha
plane. Then it grows further up to Goloka Vṛndāvana, finally
reaching to embrace the wish-yielding tree of Kṛṣṇa's Lotus
Feet."][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
19.153-4]
To show by demonstration that such is the structural position of Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇava theology. And from there Kṛṣṇa has come
down in this prapañca, in this world, very kindly to give us the clue,
how we can enter, how we can be lifted up there, in the highest place. And in a
scientific way that should be dealt with. One who will come to have the darśana
of the temple, he will go back with an idea of the whole structure of all
the religious conceptions ever come into the world; and the development in a
scientific basis.
What is Bhūrloka, the land of experience of the five senses? Bhuvaḥloka,
without this body, the mental experience world, and there is also classification.
Svaḥ, Mahā, Jana, Tapa, Bhuvaḥloka, Pitriloka somewhat,
Pretaloka, and Devaloka, Savaloka, and Mahāloka, above Devaloka, Brghu, prakṛti
rsi dhama, then Satya,
Tapa, in this way. There is Brahmā in the Satyaloka, Catuḥsana,
Satyaloka. Then Virajā, the highest position what the Buddhist’s wants to
attain,prikiti lay. And above that Brahmalay, that of Śaṅkara, ends
there, finishes. Then Śivaloka, bhakta Śiva. Vaikuṇṭha,
the land discovered by Rāmānuja, given to the world, Vaikuṇṭha.
And Paravyoma. And there are so many Vaikuṇṭhas for so many types
of the different phases in līlā of Nārāyaṇa,
in the centre. Then above, Ayodhyā, Rāmacandra, vātsalya rasa,
first beginning, then Dvārakā, Bahuvalav, then Kṛṣṇa,
Mathurā, and again in Mathurā sphere there is Vṛndāvana,
Govardhana, Rādhā-kuṇḍa. How, from what standpoint it is
being higher and higher conception? This is to be depicted.
And he accepted this plan and asked his followers to go on constructing
such a temple. But I’m too old. He could not see. And perhaps I may not see.
But anyhow, your combination is greatly encouraging, and what you are
doing is a very big thing, beyond our expectation. We could not think even so much success as was attained by my revered
God-brother Swāmī Mahārāja. So much so that I cannot think
him but śaktyāveśa avatāra, some higher power came
and inspired him and worked for him. Otherwise as a tremendous action in the
plane of such high degree of theology can never be expected to happen. So some
super, higher, divine force, power, worked in him; no doubt: no doubt.
muktānām api siddhānāṁ
nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa
sudurlabhaḥ praśāntātmā koṭiṣv
api mahā-mune
["O great sage, among many millions
who are liberated and perfect in knowledge of liberation, one may be a devotee of
Lord Nārāyaṇa, or Kṛṣṇa. Such devotees, who
are fully peaceful, are extremely rare."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 6.14.5] & [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā,
19.150]
...
tapasvibhyo 'dhiko yogī, jñānibhyo 'pi mato 'dhikaḥ
karmibhyaś cādhiko yogī, tasmād yogī bhavārjuna
[“The yogī
who is a worshipper of the Supersoul is superior to persons engrossed in
severe austerities such as the cāndrāyaṇa, superior to
the worshippers of Brahman, and superior to the fruitive workers. Know this
certainly to be My conclusion. Therefore, O Arjuna, be a yogī.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
6.46]
yoginām api sarveṣāṁ,
mad-gatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ, sa me
yuktatamo mataḥ
[“In My opinion, of all types of yogīs, the most elevated of
all is he who surrenders his heart to Me and serves Me in devotion with
sincere, internal faith.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 6.47]
Wealth of the, from the so high, from the highest plane was taken in and
distributed so lavishly in the world. That is a supernatural activity,
supernatural power. Gaura Haribol. And you are all, you all represent him,
before me. So I am so happy, and think me fortunate, that I’m surrounded.
As Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura told, that, “In the near future the
Europeans, the white men, will also join these black men here under the common
banner of Śrī Lord Caitanya and go on with Kṛṣṇa kīrtana.”
And Prabhupāda our Guru Mahārāja began and half done, or
done in such a great magnitude by Swāmī Mahārāja, which is
unthinkable by us.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi
Caitanya. Dayal.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Gaura Haribol.
Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja: I’ve just come here to hear. I’ve not come to talk. I’m just
very grateful to you for reminding me of Prabhupāda, and enlightening me
further about His Divine Grace.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He wants to be reminded of your
Prabhupāda?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
He said you reminded him of Prabhupāda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. I am reminding him about his
Prabhupāda.His Prabhupāda, perhaps [nineteen] forty four, when he was
in business, whenever he had some money in his hand, Back to Godhead.
Devotees: [Group laughter]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: An issue of Back to Godhead came
to us; and every now and then, “Oh! Let us go and attack Jawaharlal [Nehru] and
Gandhi. What are they doing? Why not they’re doing, if really they want to do
good to the people why do they not take the line of Mahāprabhu, of Gauḍīya
Maṭh? They’re wild goose chasing, and getting so much name and fame. Let
us go and attack.”
And he wrote letters now and then, some replying some no reply. But he
used to go on pushing.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.And he had to fight with his worldly life also;
not only property, but also the characteristic of his family, not very
favourable.
Yasyaham anuga nami hari kseta tad dhana
sa nahi [?]
To attract him
wholesale towards His own, He, Kṛṣṇa, arranges in such a way that the environment may not be favourable for
this worldly life.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
Original thinking also he had in the business life. He created from oil
some medicine for injection. He told me that, “I went to some doctor, ‘Please
canvas my degardine [?]’ or something like that. ‘It can be injected for, in the case
of _____________ cod liver and other oily medicines are
used for purpose, a cough, so it can be in case________’
The doctor said, ‘Oil can never be injected.’
‘Yes, I know that oil cannot be injected. But you see the milk can be
injected but ghee cannot be injected, but ghee comes from milk. So the oil
cannot be injected but oil has got its fundamental position and from there it
may be prepared so it can be injected and it will give the result of cod liver
oil.’ Something like that.So that was his original conception to give oil into
the plane of injection. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Chemist. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
And when he was an agent of Kartick Boshe, PC Raya, that company, Bengal
Chemicals, he came in connection with Prabhupāda, his Gurudeva, really.
Before that only a cursory view with his friend he saw Prabhupāda in
Calcutta once only for an hour or so. But actually he came to connection with
his Guru from Allahabad.
And just before that, this Tapasvi Mahārāja at present in
Chaitanya Maṭh, then he was the Maṭh commander of that Allahabad Maṭh.
And I went there for a visit, for some devotional activity, and he took me to
Swāmī Mahārāja, Abhaya Caraṇāravinda. Then I
arranged for Bhāgavata-pāṭ, in one evening. And also our
prasādam was also taken there, it was so arranged.
His father was living, Gaur Mohan, he was very happy to see us. And that
was the connection day, permanent connection to Gauḍīya Maṭh,
from that time.
And perhaps in [nineteen] thirty three or so [21st of November, 1932]
when the foundation stone was laid by Sir [William] Malcolm Haley, the Governor
of [United Provinces] Allahabad, of the Rūpa Gauḍīya Maṭh
lecture hall, that year he [Abhaya Caraṇāravinda] took initiation.
Guru Mahārāja coming back to Allahabad from Vṛndāvana
after Vṛndāvana parikramā finished, at that time he took
initiation and came in closer connection.
Then he went to Bombay, left the service life, and independently took
the business life, and in Bombay. There also I was in his connection. Then left
Bombay, came to Calcutta, and there was also next door neighbour, his sublease
we were with four rooms, first floor. And ground floor his laboratory. So
closer connection I had with him than any other God-brothers, and discussions
also about Bhagavad-gītā and the Gauḍīya Maṭh
principles, Mahāprabhu, all these things.
And lastly he took the, he wrote a letter from Allahabad to me, “I’m
disgusted with human society.” On a postcard.
But that is missing. I’m searching but I don’t have that postcard.
“I’m disgusted with human, rather the birds and the beasts they seem to
be very friendly to me, but the human society.”
Then he took sannyāsa and devoted him completely, totally,
to that Bhāgavata translation. And gradually the Prabhupāda’s
inspiration came and he went to your land.
Prabhupāda sent his men to London, to England, but he wrote in Gauḍīya,
“That Mārcinaloka,
the American land has not yet been tried.” He wrote it in the weekly journal Gauḍīya
I remember, “That Mārcinaloka,
the land that is American land is not yet attempted for Mahāprabhu’s
service.”
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.And Prabhupāda expressed his heartfelt
desire that Māyāpur, the land of Mahāprabhu, must be ornamented
with gold and diamond.
Once, one of his old disciples, when he engaged himself in digging Gaura kuṇḍa, he...
End of 81.03.10.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.10.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:...acquired some land for the Gaura kuṇḍa,
he made arrangement or some exchange in another land next to it, where
Nitāi kuṇḍa is now, just on the east side.
Then Prabhupāda told him that, “I asked you to purchase the land,
not to interchange, because that land what you are offering for interchange
that is also necessary for my future purpose.”In this way some hot discussion
came, meeting was a little hot.And Prabhupāda told, some very
transcendental sentiment came in him, and he told, “The land of
Mahāprabhu. This is the temple, all, all ornamental, transcendental, and
decoration with gold, diamond, etc, super consciously higher materials. I shall
discover the whole of the Dhāma and express it, make it before the
eye of the persons. And even so much, that why should I get money? If I can
have a brick of the temple I can sell it. I can by selling one of the bricks of
the temple I shall get immense money, crores of rupees. And with the
help of that I shall restore the whole Dhāma and I shall show to
the people that what sort of aiśvaryam.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Opulence.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
“Opulence and majestic view the land, the Gaura Dhāma, has got.”
Feelingly he’s told so much. I can’t understand that why he’ll sell one of the
bricks.“I shall sell a brick if necessary and I shall get crores of
rupees and from that I shall construct and do all these things.”He hoped, madly
he expressed such desire.“I want to; with golden colour I want to express the
land of Mahāprabhu Śrī Caitanya Deva. What was He? Rādhā-Govinda-milita-tanu.
The lustrous expression of the land of love and beauty, and who was so
magnanimous He came to distribute Himself to the people at large. That highly
valuable thing: that was arranged to give to the people at large. So
magnanimous, so kind; and that must be brought into the consciousness of the
people that they may have such prosperous prospect, and they can attain that.
And that is being distributed from here.”He’s feeling transcendental
feeling.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
pahile dekhiluṅ tomāra sannyāsi-svarūpa, ebe tomā dekhi muni
śyāma-gopa-rūpa
tomāra sammukhe dekhi
kāncana-pañcālikā, tāṅra
gaura-kāntye tomāra sarva aṅga ḍhākā
[Rāmānanda Rāya then told
Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “At first I saw You appear like a sannyāsī,
but now I am seeing You as Śyāmasundara, the cowherd boy.”]
[“I now see You appearing like a golden doll, and Your entire body
appears covered by a golden lustre.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 8.268-269]
Then Mahāprabhu had to divulge, to speak out His own svarūpa.
gaura aṅga nahe mora - rādhāṅga-sparśana, gopendra-suta vinā teṅho nā sparśe
anya-jana
[“Actually My
body does not have a fair complexion. It only appears so because it has touched
the body of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
However, She does not touch anyone but the son of Nanda Mahārāja.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 8.287]
Rādhābhāva,
mahābhāva, rasa-rāja, mahābhāva-dui eka rūpa. [Madhya-līlā, 8.282]
Rasa-rāja, the king of all ecstasy, and mahābhāva,
the greatest hankering for the rasa, by dedication, rather, the greatest
dedication personified to draw that rasa. Both combined, rasa-rāja,
mahābhāva. Mahābhāva, mahākula, the greatest
possible hunger, hunger to devour the rasa, to taste the rasa, and infinite source of rasa, ecstasy, anāndam,
beauty, is there. Both combined; the positive and the negative, the tasteful
and the taster in highest degree are represented in one, Mahāprabhu. And sva-bhajana
vibhajana, then turns the thing in this way that He’s searching Himself.
He’s very eager to taste His own sweetness and beauty. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. The outer part is Rādhārāṇī
searching, and the inner part the rasa-rāja whom He’s searching, sva-bhajanavibhajana.
Jīva Goswāmī says. And that He likes to distribute around,
towards four sides. He’s drawing and distributing, milking the cow and
distributing the milk, sva-bhajana-vibhajana-prayojanavatārī. This is the necessity of His incarnation. This was the prayojana,
the necessity of His own.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, you mentioned how our Guru Mahārāja he dedicated
himself to the Bhāgavat translation. So sometimes it is said that
the Ācārya should make a literary contribution. Sometimes
Prabhupāda told us that in regards to the Goswāmī literature
that we were not qualified to hear such confidential talks. And that maybe in a
few generations of bhaktas, of children, and their children Kṛṣṇa
conscious, their children Kṛṣṇa conscious, that we might have
some qualified devotees who could read such literatures, or translate them. So
a question comes that the Ācāryas
in our society, what will be, what their view should be on literary
contribution? Because our Guru Mahārāja he also made some sixty
volumes of books.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Then you also amongst you who are
qualified they may go on translating them and taking them to the public in
different languages. That also he has arranged. But we don’t think that the
higher literature, for the higher souls, highly realised souls; that may not be
propagated in a very broader way. That is meant only for the selected few who
can go up to mark, up to that mark and can have entrance to discuss and to
think and to work according to that high direction.For the general recruitment:
that śraddhā for Mahāprabhu and śraddhā for
Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The mādhurya rasa especially
and parakīya, these two planes may be misunderstood by the general
people. So it is beyond our conception that we can live with God as wife or
mistress. Wife may be possible to somewhat we can accommodate, but mistress of
God that is impossible. The conception of Godhead and the conception of His
mistress at the same time, it is impossible to conceive for the ordinary
intellect. So that should not be brought in very largely to the people. It
should be kept for the selected few only.That in the stage of Uddhava,
āsā maho caraṇa-renu-juṣām aham
syām
vṛndāvane kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnām
yā dustyajaṁ svajanam ārya-pathaṁ ca
hitvā
bhejur mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām
["The gopīs of Vṛndāvana have given up the
association of their husbands, sons and other family members, who are very
difficult to renounce, and they have sacrificed even their religious principles
to take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, which are sought
after by even the Vedas. O grant me the fortune to be born as a blade of
grass in Vṛndāvana, so that I may take the dust of those great souls
upon my head."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.47.61]
The mādhurya rasa, the wholesale dedication, to the
all-capturing attitude of the Supreme Beauty, then when that is also to be
increased in intensity, the parakīya has to come in. That is very,
the meeting should be very rare, then only it will be more intensified, the milan,
and says the background.
Uddhava told, svajanam ārya-pathaṁ ca, whom we
consider to be our own kith and kin, our own intimate friend, at the cost of
the, for the sacrifice of their relationship, that is one. Another ārya-patha,
and those ways that are recommended by the stalwarts, the leaders of the
religious society, that also should be given up. So much risk, who will come
forward to prove such risk, the bad name and even the least help we can expect
from our nears and dears, all eliminating, taking the fullest risk to cast
towards something who is an autocrat, but beautiful.
So such degree
of sacrifice was considered to be the highest even to Uddhava, the greatest of
the devotees whom Kṛṣṇa Himself in His own words describes
that, “You are dearer than My life. What to speak of Lakṣmī,
Baladeva, Śiva and Brahmā. You are dearer than My own body
Uddhava.”And that Uddhava says in that high way about the Vraja gopīs.
So that is not to be dragged in to the ordinary intellect or religious
feeling; should not be. But that will be śrutibhir vimṛgyām.
The Vedas are only showing that that is in this direction, but cannot
express, the śruti. The highest works of revelation, they also only
from a distance shows with finger. “The Kṛṣṇa līlā,
the highest līlā, is on this side. We can’t express that.”
This is the attitude of the very revealed scriptures of the highest order,
where we should not venture to take the whole thing in this mundane world. We
keep it on our head.
pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge
[mattala hari-jana viṣaya
range]
["The path of divine love is worshippable to us and should be held
overhead as our highest aspiration."] [Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī
Ṭhākura]
The very tenor of the preaching of our Guru Mahārāja was this.
He used to worship the path, the way of rāga, that highest love. He
did not try to bring them down here.
Always keep up on your head the rāgapaṭha, the way of love to
attain Him, the divine love. And you tread all possible stages of land with pūjā,
with respectable attitude to saying about the Supreme. And always keep this
highest form of love affairs that is the rāga, divine love, on your
head. Otherwise if you think you have got that you are gone, you are doomed. It
is not so cheap. It is not so cheap. Don’t try to make it very cheap. It is
very difficult.
He once told, there was one scholar, a Doctor, I forget his name, in the
Dacca University. He used to teach the Sanskrit literature to the post graduate
students. And one lady, one girl, was a student of that M.A. class, post
graduate class, and that gentleman, that Doctor, he was a good scholar,
renowned scholar, he used to teach the books written by Rūpa Goswāmī,
rāga-mārga, Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, etc.And
Prabhupāda put objection from here. “What does he think? This is not for
the school students. The highest religious preachers they cannot hope to have
entrance in that domain. And what are they making, taking it in that way?”
Then it so happened that that gentleman had to marry that girl. Then from such stage he came.
Then one day our Guru Mahārāja was saying in that connection
that, “These fellows do not want to understand the dignified position what
Rūpa Goswāmī has told. It is above all religious sentiments.” So
much so he came with some example.
sri rupa manjari sakhi patita pures _______________________________________
[?]
bimbadhare kartam anagata patrika vaya _____________________________________ [?]
This comes from [Raghunātha] Dāsa Goswāmī Prabhu about Rūpa
Goswāmī.
That father and son, Guru and the disciple, they will sit together and
they will discuss these high points. And that is of what level? The śiṣya,
the disciple, Raghunātha dāsa Goswāmī, his attitude was to
see Rūpa Goswāmī as his Guru, in rāga-mārga.
But his statement about his Guru, in this śloka, what is this?Sri
rupa manjari sakhi [?]
She friend, you, Rūpa Mañjarī, that child, that is girl, who
helps the Rādhā Govinda līlā, that mañjarī,
so Rūpa Mañjarī is the leader, and her assistant girl, Dāsa
Goswāmī, he’s Rati Mañjarī.
“I see that there is some, on Your lip there is some mark, so how has it
come? The suka pakhi, the parrot, taking it as a bimba phal, some
red fruit, some scratch created by the parrot’s beak; otherwise it may be
possible that your husband is not here. It might have been possible that if he’s here then he may create this scratch. But he’s not here
and you are not loose character. You are famous for your chastity; then why
this mark in your lips?”
bimba dhari katham anargata bati gaya [?]“Your bata, your husband has not come here. So why
this?”
simata suka punga bena [?]“Is it created by the parrot?”
In this way, in a figurative way, putting to his Guru, Rūpa, who is considered to be his Guru, and he’s talking about him in such
a way. So in what plane the śiṣya and Guru can talk of this?
He’s showing, his aim is towards Kṛṣṇa.“That you have got the
favour of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has kissed you.”That
is the viewpoint. And she puts the question in such a way. And to whom: to his
Guru. So it should be, our mind should be kept in such a stage, in such a
sphere, that this rasa can be used. The śiṣya, the
disciple is talking to his Gurudeva about Kṛṣṇa’s līlā
in such a way. So in such a level one should go. The father and son, the
Guru and śiṣya, they can talk easily and happily and without
any miss-feeling they may talk. From that sphere it should be handled. It is
not in this mundane sphere, that Rūpa Goswāmī’s Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi,
or these things to be taken down.
Pūjāla rāgapaṭha
gaurava bāṅge.
With grandeur he tread this world, and always showing up, that, “My Guru and rāgapaṭha
is above my head, far. And I’m a servant of them, and I’m doing the spade
work. No man’s work,” he used to say, often, “No man’s work. Spade work, the
ground work, I’m doing. I’m doing the ground work. That one day that rasa may
be taken here, prepare the ground.”
So our service will be of that characteristic, always keeping it high
and invisible, in the transcendental world. The acme, the zenith, of
realisation we shall only allude; show finger, that this side. It is unapproachable,
but still it is, and it is the be all and end all of all of us. The highest
fate is being decided there, the highest attainment. Yet it is transcendental.
It is whimsical. Not that it is under our whim. It is autocrat. It is despot.
But still it is, and it is the highest.This should be our attitude when we
shall move and live in all the length and breadth of the world. Only we shall
try to prove it from this side, that side, and not any direct. It is
impossible. It is adhokṣaja. Adhokṣajam indriyaṁ
jñānaṁ yena. By very nature it is such that it will keep
everything under Him, adhokṣaja. Avāṅ-manaso
gocaraḥ. It is
transcendental, but it is, that should be our trend. This is such and such, so
and so. It cannot be described. Only He can describe Himself.
Sanātana Goswāmī says that, “I am a fellow of the mundane
world, and I am writing about the affairs of the harem of Kṛṣṇa.
The Satyabhāmā, the Rukmiṇī, their nature is such and
such. What audacity I have got? I have entered and I am dealing and describing
about the nature of the consorts of Kṛṣṇa. Who am I, a man in
the street? But it is not that I write it. Someone is forcibly making me write.
I am only holding the pen.”
So in this way it can come down only; we cannot go up and fetch the
thing and show it here. When that, He likes, He comes anywhere and expresses
Himself. This characteristic we must not forget any moment; that it is His
will, through His sweet will He can come. But we may break our head but we
can’t venture to approach that land. Always His coming down is our connection.
We can hanker and hanker and hanker. Śraddhā, faith, faith,
and then He will have grace and He may come down, then we can have some
experience whatsoever. This relationship we must not forget any time, that it
is His sweet will. But at the same time we are to, we must be told, that in my
case it is so, but not in the case of my Gurudeva, neither is it the case of
other higher Vaiṣṇava.
ahaṁ bhakta-parārdhīno, hy asvatantra iva dvija
sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo, bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ
[The Lord tells
Durvāsā: "I am the slave of My devotees; I have no freedom apart
from their will. Because they are completely pure and devoted to Me, My heart
is controlled by them, and I reside always in their hearts. I am dependent not
only on My devotees, but even on the servants of My devotees. Even the servants
of My devotees are dear to Me."]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
9.4.63]
There are also His statements; the statement of the Lord is there.“I am
under the clutches of My devotee. What they make Me do I cannot deny.”His
sayings are also there.
mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ, jagad
avyakta-mūrtinā
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni, na cāhaṁ teṣv
avasthitaḥ.
na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni, paśya me yogam
aiśvaram
[bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho, mamātmā
bhūta-bhāvanaḥ]
["In an unmanifest manner, I pervade this entire universe, and
everything conceivable is situated within Me - and yet, I am not situated
within that total entity."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 9.4]
["And again, that is also not situated in Me. Just behold My
inconceivable simultaneous one and different (acintya-bhedābheda)
nature as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and Lord of the
universe! Although My very Self is the mainstay and guardian of all beings, I
am not implicated by them."][Bhagavad-gītā, 9.5]
“See the peculiar, mark the peculiar
position of Myself. Everything is in Me. I am everywhere. Nothing is in Me. I
am nowhere. Paśya me, just mark the peculiarity. I’m not a madman
that I’m contradicting My own statement. This is My peculiar position. If you
can understand, understand this, I am such and such.”
yathā mahānti bhūtāni, bhūteṣūccāvaceṣv
anu
praviṣṭāny apraviṣṭāni,
tathā teṣu na teṣv aham
["O Brahmā, please know that the universal elements enter into
the cosmos and at the same time do not enter into the cosmos; similarly, I also
exist within everything and at the same time I am outside everything."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.9.35]
“This is My peculiar position. I am everywhere, still, none can
see Me.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa.In my young days I was with some feeling
wanted to see God; with some, this indifference to the world came. One of my
learned brothers, he, to discourage my, that sort of temperament he’s saying
that, “If there be any God where is He? He’s to manage this great world. There
are so many stars whose light has not yet reached this land, and the speed of
light is so many miles in a second - the capacity of going, light year. So
great this universe and if there be any God then He has no time to care for
this small world.”
But I told that, ‘Can you say, show a part, that God is absent here?’ My
answer was to him, ‘Is there any part where God is not? Everywhere He is. So He
may be far, He may be near, the nearest. So everywhere He is. If we have got
eye to see then we can see He’s everywhere.’
Tad dūre tad v antike [Śrī Īśopaniṣad, 5]. He’s far, far away, He’s nearest of the near. So still
transcendental, adhokṣaja – it is His will.Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
yadi gaura nā hoita, tabe ki hoita, kemone dharitām de
rādhāra mahimā, prema-rasa-sīmā jagate
jānāta ke
[madhura vṛndā vipina mādhurī praveśa
cāturī sāra
baraja yuvatī bhāvera bhakati śakati hoita
kāra]
[Vāsudeva Datta]
“If Gaura did not come to walk on this earth then who will inform us,
make us know the nature of the highest position of the divine love, and
especially about Rādhārāṇī, Whose sacrifice knows no
bounds for the service of Kṛṣṇa?”
I have got another thing I may tell you. I think that I’m able from Gāyatrī
to take out the meaning of Rādhā Govinda līlā.Śrutibhir
vimṛgyām [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.47.61] Veda-mātā
Gāyatrī, the mother of all the revealed truth has
been told is within this formula of Gāyatrī, brahma-gāyatrī.
If we have, if we can see the deeper meaning there, we see that there is Rādhā-dāsyam.
It wants to teach us the service of Rādhārāṇī. That
is kīrtana, gānattrāyate, by singing we can get
liberation, and liberation to the utmost that means svarūpena vyavaṣthiḥ,
to Goloka, our identification of the function to get back the function in
Goloka, in the highest, innermost corner of our heart. And kīrtana,
and vaṁśīdhani that sets us right and puts us in the
proper service, so gānat trāyate. Trān means liberation,
complete liberation means to come in the position where I can get the
opportunity of rendering my best service to Kṛṣṇa, to
Rādhikā. So liberation in its fullest sense means that, svarūpena
vyavaṣthiḥ, and by Gāyatrī, by chanting, this
formula, we can hope to have such realisation, realised position, that is found
in Gāyatrī.
I have also written a verse about the meaning of Gāyatrī,
such meaning of Gāyatrī. Bhargo, bhargo means
the land of dedication, svarūpa-śakti, nemita jagat. Devasya,
Kṛṣṇa līlā mayīpurusesya sundara and līlā
mayī, deva. Deva means līlā mayīand deva means
sundara, beautiful as well as līlā mayī, Who is
playing, His is playful and beauty and playful habit. And bhargo,
bhargo means the whole territory of dedicating service. And that is the
extension of Rādhārāṇī, Her other half, the negative
half; Positive and negative. So Gāyatrī points out that sort
of goal, end, to each and every one of us. That is Veda-mātā.
That is in a nutshell the whole contents, the whole truth of the Veda.“Go
to the beautiful. Go to the love.”And that is the desired end. The be-all and
end-all of all, everyone, we can’t deny, none can deny. We may not have it but
still we can’t deny it. It is of such position.
Nitāi Caitanya Dayal.Nitāi came to give Gaurāṅga,
and Gaurāṅga came to give Rādhā-dāsyam, Rādhā Govinda. And our
Gurudeva came to give Them all to the world. And your Prabhupāda gave it
to the world at large, beyond India, the whole world. So we bow down to those
great personalities here.
End of 81.03.10.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.10.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:...it is general. It is desirable that an
Ācārya...
my opinion, and another thing...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, can you say that
again because I wasn’t recording? Can you say it again? Repeat, “It is
desirable...?”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is desirable ________________________________ [?]
It is desirable that in such a great
mission the Ācāryawill be a sannyāsī.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Now, another question is that it is said
that the Guru is above discipline, disciplinary action.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. But this is applicable in relation
to the disciples. In the zone of disciples, Guru's position is unchallengeable.
But the Ācāryas among themselves,
with their friends of equal position, they can discuss and may evolve some
laws, by-laws, for their movements.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Especially when it is in a particular
mission. And when there is a combination of many Ācāryas to meet in one place, some laws and by-laws should be there. And
that should be dealt by, within the presence, almost the same plane, and
especially not amongst the disciples. That sort of discussion should take place
privately, amicably and within the persons of same plane of understanding and
so. Because when we live in an association some laws and by-laws are necessary for
conduct.
Devotee: We are seeing that sometimes there is not so much secrecy and
sometimes things become publicly known. So it is very…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course it is known, it maybe known,
but still our aim will be that towards secret, amicable settlement amongst the
equals. There should be some sitting, some consultation, but it is desirable
that consultation will be friendly, discussion will be friendly, and with the
object of adjustment. And above head there will be the direction of Gurudeva
and the scriptures, and other Vaiṣṇavas, mahājanas,
over the head, Guru, mahājana, and śāstra. And the
friends, they must discuss how they will live and move in their ways, because
there are many and they are within an organisation. I think that it is to
evolve some rules and laws and by-laws, should be evolved suiting their harmonious relationship. But these things as much as possible
should be kept away from the disciple section.
Who is here?And what will be sign of a new Ācārya? ________________________ [?]
Who can understand the meaning of the scripture and who can help others
to accept those advices of the
scripture. And who himself respectfully accepts those advices in his own life, he's an Ācārya, general. The
general qualification of an Ācāryawill be this - he will be able to
understand the meaning of the scripture, and he will be able to preach it to
others. And he has got the ability to accept them, accept those advises by the
people, and who himself has regard and lives accordingly. These three phases,
qualifications, we should desire to see in Ācārya, we should expect
to see in Ācārya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: At what point should someone expect to
begin to give dīkṣā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is, the main thing is he has
understood the thing and he's accepting sincerely. To live a life according to
that upadeśa, that is advice, that principle. Who has understood
the principle of the mission and who has accepted it, and who will be able, who
can be expected to live accordingly. Three things must be there.
Devotee: Is this a personal decision or something that is coming down?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then the connection, he's a bona fide
student, he should get admission. Dīkṣā means admission.
Dīkṣā means recognition. Recognition should be given to
a qualified person. And what are the qualities? That he sincerely comes to, he
has understood our principle, and sincerely he has come to accept this creed.
We shall help him, by recognition. And then he will have the same, and he will
grow.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: That's for the śiṣya.
But what moves a man to give dīkṣā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Dīkṣā; that is
the qualification of Guru, Ācārya, that the one who has got sincere
realisation, śabde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ:
[tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta, jijñāsuḥ
śreyaḥ uttamam
śabde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ, brahmaṇy
upaśamāśrayam]
["Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must
seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The
qualification of the bona fide Guru is that he
has realised the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to
convince others of those conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken
shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations,
should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.3.21]
Who has got real, sincere, realisation about the transcendental truth,
and also who can prove it to the public with the help of the scriptures, that
truth, śabde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ. Who has got
practical experience and also theoretical knowledge about the scripture. Śabde
pare ca niṣṇātaṁ, then, śrotriyaṁ
brahma niṣṭham, in Upaniṣad:
[tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum
evābhigacchet, samit paniḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma niṣṭham]
["One who wants scientific knowledge about the Supreme Truth must
approach a bona fide Guru and offer
him everything required for sacrifice. The Guru
must be fixed in the truth, having heard it from a genuine source."] [Muṇḍaka
Upaniṣad, 1.2.12]
And in Gītā: jñāninas tattva darśinaḥ:
[tad viddhi praṇipātena, paripraśnena
sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ, jñāninas tattva
darśinaḥ]
[“You will be able to attain all this
knowledge by satisfying the enlightened spiritual master with prostrate
obeisances, relevant enquiry, and sincere service. Great souls who are most
expert in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the
Supreme Absolute Truth will teach you that divine knowledge.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 4.34]
Jñānī and tattva darśi. If he gets
inspiration from above that you can distribute it to others then he will come
up to take the position of Ācārya. And he must have this
qualification - that he's established in that faith and he can prove the
superior characteristic of his faith from the scripture to others. With the
help of śāstra he will be able to prove to the public that
this is higher life. And he himself believes that and is established in that
form of life.
Devotee: A devotee, he is generally thinking that he has no
qualification himself. He does not desire himself this position. So is it wrong
to want to give dīkṣā? Should a man think: "Well…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The Vaiṣṇava characteristic
is that he's connected with Infinite. Knowing has no limit. So as far as he
will make progress he will find himself helpless and he will find that he knows
nothing. But still he will be confident, like Newton, "That I am more
learned than all of you, because you say that I have finished learning. And I
think that I am only touching the ocean of learning only in one part. So I am more learned than you all." In this
way he will think that I know nothing, because who is to be known, He is of
such Infinite character. So this is more true than what they say. So I can
request them to take my conception. In this way he may take the line of
preaching the transcendental truth.
Devotee: He may desire.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Do you follow?
They say, “There’s no God.”
But I feel the existence of God. I feel that I am helpless, I am
dependent, and the Absolute is there.
But they say, "No Absolute. We are absolute."
So these are all foolish. Though I know that I am very meagre, still, I
hold greater position than these fools who say, "I am God." So, I am
in a position to help them. “Don't be so proud as to
think yourself God. God is great. God is great, great, great - in this way.”
Then, that will be his position, his attitude, and he can go to preach.
"The God is Infinite and we are finite. You are not God." In this
way, where he finds any inspiration in him, "What you feel that is true
and that will help you and that will help all," then he will extend that
knowledge to all, "That be helped. Come to realise the truth and help
yourselves." With this spirit he will do, but in a congregation, in an
assembly, in a mission, that personal will has got no, has got some value, but
not full value, because in a friendly circle, "You do this duty. This is a
common duty. And you do it better. I may not do." In this way. But if
anyone feels in his heart that he cannot do, carry out the order of my Guru
well, I can do it well more." Some sincere feeling, then he will try to be
in that position, to acquire that position of Ācāryaand will go on in
the service of his Gurudeva.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Now, another question is, sometimes,
there are many Gurus, initiating Gurus, and their disciples may be being
trained or under the care of other God-brothers.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But there should be common guiding
rules. The God-brothers should try to help them in such a
way that they may not loose their reverence to the Gurudeva. That may be
promoted, the reverence to Gurudeva, that should be promoted and in this way
the God-brothers will have sense of responsibility
there. And also that there are so many disciples of so many Ācāryas are mixing together and their faith may not be disturbed,
"That your Guru is of lower order. My Guru is of higher order." These
things should not be indulged there. So laws and by-laws, something will be
there. And if it is found that anyone is boisterous and not caring for these
rules then he should be chastised. And there should also be some punishment for
him, warning, and punishment, so that there may not be chaos in the mission. If
we want to go together we must have some rules of conduct so that we may live
together and we can live well, helping each other. We are dedicating units, so
not disturbing elements. Of course we shall, we are, we must be given to
understand that we are all dedicating units. We must not come to fight with
each other. Submissively and modestly there is the law of Mahāprabhu, the
great:
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā,
amāninā mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
[“One who knows himself to be more
insignificant than a blade of grass, who is as forbearing as a tree, and who
gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to
sing the glories of Lord Hari constantly.”]
[Śikṣāṣṭakam, 3]
These things must be repeatedly preached, tṛṇād api
sunīc, I must not be so rigid that I may not accommodate others. Taror
api sahiṣṇunā, if still some aggression towards me I shall
try to tolerate. And amāni, I never seek any fame from the
environment, and still I shall be always ready to give honour to all. With this
attitude we should march on our way. This maxim should be given very broader
circulation, and that to become Vaiṣṇava, to become, we must have
some discipline and discipline of this type. And it comes from no more
personality than Mahāprabhu Himself. So we must have all, more or less
according to our capacity, undergo, give respect to these rulings of
Mahāprabhu. In a congregational movement especially it is required, tṛṇād
api sunīcena.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Śikṣāṣṭakamtranslation
says:
1) śrī-kṛṣṇa-kīrtane jadi
mānasa tohār, parama jatane tāhi labho adhikar
2) tṛṇādhika hīna, dīna, akiñcana
char, āpane mānobi sadā chāṝi' ahaṅkār
3) bṛka-sama khamā-guṇa korobi sādhan,
pratihiṁsā tyaji' anye korobi pālan
4) jīban-nirbāhe āne udbega nā dibe,
para-upakāre nija-sukha pāsaribe
5) hoile-o sarba-guṇe guṇī
mahāśoy, pratiṣṭhāśā chāṝi koro
amānī hṛdoy
6) kṛṣṇa-adhiṣṭhān
sarba-jībe jāni' sadā, korobi sammān sabe ādare
sarbadā
7) dainya, doyā, anye māna, pratiṣṭhā-barjan,
cāri guṇe guṇī hoi', koroha kīrtan
8) bhakativinod kadi', bale prabhu-pāy, heno
adhikār kabe dibe he āmāy
[1] If your mind is always absorbed with great care in chanting the
glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then, in that process of Kṛṣṇakīrtana
you will gain mastery over the mind.
[2] You should give up all false pride and always consider yourself as
worthless, destitute, lower and more humble than a blade of grass.
[3] You should practice forgiveness like that of a tree, and giving up
violence toward other living beings you should protect and maintain them.
[4] In the course of your life, you should never give anxiety to others,
but rather do good to them and forget about your own happiness.
[5] When one has thus become a great and pious soul, because of
possessing all good qualities, one should abandon all desires for fame and
honour and make one's heart humble.
[6] Always knowing that Lord Kṛṣṇa resides within all
living creatures, one should, with great respect, show honour to all living
beings at all times.
[7] Humility, mercifulness, respect towards others, and the renunciation
of desires for fame and honour — one becomes virtuous by possessing these four
qualities. In such a state you should sing the glories of the Supreme Lord.
[8] Weeping, Bhaktivinoda submits his prayer at the lotus feet of the
Lord: "O Lord, when will You give me possession of such qualities as
these?"]
Saṅkīrtana means bahubhir militvā yat
kīrtanam. Many combined, a joined, chorus kīrtana. That
means it presupposes all these qualifications in the members. Who are they? Dainya,
he will be humble. Humility must be in him, humble, dainya, doyā.
And he will be sympathetic to others, doyā. Anye māna,
especially he will honour others. And pratiṣṭhā-barjan,
he won't care for his own name and fame. These four qualifications we must have
if in a combined many we are to go on with saṅkīrtana.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Now, every disciple has his own
temperament.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Now, the Guru, he has one temperament.
His disciple is under the care of a God-brother
who has another temperament. So the Guru may become a little disturbed that the
disciple is developing the temperament of the other.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, yes, there are difficulties,
I don't deny, that it is very smooth and very easy. But still if we
successfully want to go on with the movement in a combined way then some sort
of check there should be. All cannot be let loose. There should be some check.
And to check there should be some common laws and by-laws. And there may be
some teachers engaged also who will look about the conduct of the disciples in
general, some inspector. In every camp he
will go and he will hear such complaints and give soberly advises to them. If
such department is opened it won't be bad, because in a variegated nature there
may be so many complaints. Some impartial
judges should make a circular movement, and they will hear about such cases and
they will help to minimise and compromise and pacify and to maintain the peace
of the movement - internal peace. To
maintain internal peace some well conducted character, officer may be engaged,
a Vaiṣṇava of course. It should not be useless, I think. It will
help the movement of the mission smoothly to go on.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So there's another question that also,
you mentioned before there may be addition and elimination. So at what point is
one to be eliminated?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Eliminated, the general, main point will
be when he loses his faith in Guru and sādhu and śāstra.
Gurus and religious society and in the scripture, if so, God forbids, if such things happen, he should be eliminated, summarily, who has lost the faith, he
should be eliminated. Then how can he be maintained, to what purpose? He has
lost his faith. The capital is the faith, really, the faith in Guru, the faith
in Vaiṣṇava, faith in scripture, Mahāprabhu, Kṛṣṇa,
all these things. If the faith is gone the man is gone. He can no longer be
taken in the group.
Devotee: How is it demonstrated when someone will lose faith in his
Guru?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Lose
character?
Devotees: How is it demonstrated - that one has lost his faith in his
Guru?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, who has got faith, by his
movements, by his ways and his activities it may be detected by those that have
faith. Suppose he has clearly revolted against Guru, he's preaching against
Guru, he's preaching against scripture. "What I say that is
everything.""Oh, you are moving in a novel way.""Yes, I
have got inspiration from the upper, beyond the Guru. I do not like, I am not
compelled to imitate the practices of my Guru." In this way, if he leaves
his Guru and Mahāprabhu and others then he will be considered that 'you do
not have faith in the creed so you should go out and do according to your own
creed, your own faith.'
guror apy avaliptasya, kāryākāryam ajānataḥ
utpatha-prathipannasya, parityāgo vidhīyate
["A Guru who is
addicted to sensual pleasure and polluted by vice, who is ignorant and who has
no power to discriminate between right and wrong, or who is not on the path of śuddha-bhakti
must be abandoned."] [Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, 179.25]
We find in the sayings of Bhīṣma, one of the twelve mahājanas
in the Vaiṣṇava School. Guror apy avaliptasya, if he is
seen clearly in a fallen stage, very sensual, and preaching politics or
sociology, or this thing that thing, and sometimes giving blame to the
spiritual agents, in this way, if it is explicit then he should be eliminated,
rejected.
Devotee: It has to be some very grave
thing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Very grave and very gross. But it is
impossible to maintain, when to maintain him that is to give slap to the Guru
and Vaiṣṇava, then we can retain them.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Sometimes, our personal feelings about
our own temperament may be so great…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That should be, the others will come and
minimise and, temporary excitement about feelings may have a clash between the
two and after some time that will be minimised and they will be friendly again.
That should be tolerated to certain extent and that should be managed that if
that is a standing then they should be given, different priests may not be
allowed to work together, a little separation. In this way it may be managed.
Exiting temperament, that is no disqualification. But we must try to manage in
combined, and maybe managed to be a little distant between the two who have not
worked together, in different planes, the feeling may be changed, or something
like that. But if he has sincere earnestness to preach and qualification of
that sort for the propaganda of his Guru, Guru's dictum, then he should not be
eliminated. Some eccentricities may be tolerated, if the main thing is there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To err is human but to forgive is
divine. A difference amongst many and that is most natural. But the adjustment
is divine and admissible, that should be the ideal. If we want to work
together, the God-brothers who
have come from different quarters with different temperaments, from different
countries, different ways, so we'll have to give some provision, toleration,
there should be room for toleration. Otherwise so many of different countries,
different nations, different societies, different faiths, they have come to
work together. So differences there may be there, it is not a miracle. So we
must be prepared to work together with differences. But differences of minor nature should not be cared much. The main
thing we shall give importance and there we shall
try to meet because they have got that common ground when they have come to one
person with a particular temperament. They've all come, they're all charmed and
they're all sympathetic and they're all attracted for the temperament and for
the creed, for the preaching what Swāmī Mahārāja gave. So there must be some common ground. And there must be
some differences. So, if we want to work in a mission, we shall have toleration
and also unification, and what I said, some superintendent may have a circular
tour to examine what are the petty troubles
amongst the different zones. And that man will be of impartial and of tolerant
nature, and have some good faith in the cause of the mission. That should be allowed to make tour, two or three or four or five, to keep up the peace, the internal
peace and order, liquidity. That
will be a good thing.
Devotee: Hare Kṛṣṇa. I was thinking today, this
morning, how Mahāprabhu, He's very desirous that this movement expands,
and therefore He actually wants many Gurus to come forward.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. In
Mahāprabhu's time also, many Gurus worked on His behalf. Advaita Prabhu,
Nityānanda Prabhu: then others also, Gadādhara Paṇḍita,
Narahari Sarakara Ṭhākura.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Paramānanda Purī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Paramānanda Purī, we don't
find any
disciple of Him, that in future. Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Advaita
Prabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, and Sarakara family, and many others, they are
disciples, main disciples. And then again, Śrīnivāsa
Ācārya, Narottama Ṭhākura. Narottama Ṭhākura's
Gurudeva, he did not accept any disciples but at last anyhow accepted only
Narottama. And Narottama Ṭhākura in his turn in the whole nearest
world he overflooded the whole of Manipur. That came under the banner of
Narottama Ṭhākura.
Devotee: He had many disciples in Manipur?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The Manipur, extensively Manipur accepted Narottama Ṭhākura
very ardently and extensively. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee: So we should be thinking, in the GBC that somehow or other it
is good that we expand the number of Gurus, it's a good thing?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Expansion, not very lavishly, but must
have some provision for extension. And the fit persons should be accepted to
show the dynamic character of the mission and then there will be hope, or prospect.
And the people may wait and may not leave the mission, 'that we have got no
prospect, no hope here, so let us go and seek our fortune elsewhere.' So, some
openness there should be, the bona fide person may be accepted, even after the
departure of Guru Mahārāja.
Because we shall have to, if we want to continue, then after when we are old sufficiently we
are giving it to our disciple section. So why we cannot on principal we cannot
extend it to our brothers? And already we are many. The number may be increased
so many of the qualified God-brothers they
will have some hope, they will stick, they will render service, they will be
kept in. We must get chance of to my heart's content to give it to the world.
That is not to hanker for the chance - that is not always pratiṣṭhā.
That I want position, not that. The sincere necessity within the heart also may
be there, the feeling of necessity that, "I must do something of higher
service towards my Guru. I can do." So that sort of feeling must be
encouraged. Such broad basis there must be in the mission. This is my opinion.
Devotee: Our Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “As the need arises.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, the need arises; the numbers of
soldiers should be increased. Now they are doing. The military expenses are
increasing day by day, every year, increasing military expense to fight with
the opposition.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
So need of spiritual soldiers are not only
not wanted but we want it, from village to village, everyone, every place
should be hunted and approached. "Take the Name of Kṛṣṇa
and come under the flag of Mahāprabhu,
and Swāmī Mahārāja
said let's go to every village, every man approach. This is life, it shows
life, the vitality of the mission."
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You said something very interesting in
August, that you talked about, you always say something interesting, but in
August you said, Narottama parivad,
and you said, "We are rather inclined to think ourselves as Bhaktivinoda parivad."
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, we do it.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Now, I thought this was very interesting
because your Guru Mahārāja…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You say, "We are all
Bhaktivedānta parivad."
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: We will say that, but your Guru
Mahārāja he instilled in
you this feeling that we are Bhaktivinoda parivad. So we have thought
that in our mission that the mood should be instilled in all the disciples, we
are Bhaktivedānta parivad. That's correct?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is not making much. It is quite fit,
proper. He was such a big personage that we
will say that, "We are Bhaktivedānta parivad." It will be
befitting, according to me, my understanding.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: Thank you very much.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Hari. Take some prasādam.
Devotees: Yes. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Caru Swāmī has not come yet?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, not returned.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He's gone to Calcutta. And Haṁsadūtahe's
not coming. It is definite?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, it appears so.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He won’t come I’m told. He does not like
to come.
Devotee: Maybe he will come at the end, we’re hoping.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maybe. But all have come except him?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Devotee: We are hoping that he will come.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: We told him that we're speaking to you
and there is so much wonderful taste of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So we're appealing to
him in that way to come. Because HaṁsadūtaMahārāja he loves very much to hear from you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But Jayatīrtha
has come?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Bhagavān dāsa also come.
All else, all others come. What do you think, how do you think about that
atmosphere; no admission of any Ācāryais possible?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Perhaps, not immediately.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not immediately.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: They want to extend…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They accept the niti, the law they may accept. Some other thing hereafter they take
up the thing practically.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. There is just one case…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But one case is Bhāvānanda, he
has been given recognition after Prabhupāda, is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Bhāvānanda? No.
Devotee: He was made GBC afterwards.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: After the departure of Prabhupāda?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There is a precedent there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: There is one case Mahārāja
where there is a, you know Satsvarūpa Mahārāja, he is giving dīkṣā in the zone of
Adikeśava Swāmī. So there are many people in the zone of
Adikeśava Swāmī who would like to take dīkṣā from
him. And Satsvarūpa Mahārāja he is not inclined to make more
disciples there. He was feeling, "They are all developing the temperament
of Adikeśava Swāmī…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:…and I would like that my disciples develop
my temperament." So now, in this case, the GBC, or the
Ācāryaboard, they may be a little perplexed.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.Kṛṣṇa. Then God willing we hope there may be peace and everything may
be adjusted, we pray to Him. Such a big organisation; of course these
difficulties also maybe of big nature, but still we shall have to hope, cannot
but, we can hope. We hope that God gives peace and proper direction to the
management, to the administration. Let such a big thing go on in the name of
Mahāprabhu and help the world at large.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Haribol. Hare
Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Now you take prasādam.
Devotee: Now we don't want to take prasādam. By talking to
you, hearing you, we have no desire to take prasādam.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Why?
Devotee: Because it is fulfilling us enough, it is filling us.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha. This is one side. That is
another side.
Devotees: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
End of 81.03.10.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.10.D
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...and his zone is?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He’s originally from Germany, and his
zone is in South America.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: South America, where?
Devotee: Columbia
and Ecuador.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And he is?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Keśava Bhāratī
Mahārāja. He’s American and he’s preaching in France, in Europe; oh, in Italy.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Italy; I’m told that is under
Bhagavān Dāsa, the South Europe.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. He’s a GBC. Bhagavān Dāsa
is GBC of South Europe, and Ācārya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, both; and he is?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Sannyāsī preaching in
Italy.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Preaching there in Italy, Italy and
Germany.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And Gopīpurāṇadana
Dāsa, I wanted to bring him to meet you. He is translating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, translating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Took up the thread of Pradyumna, Pradyumna began, is it not? And he has left.
Pradyumna, he wanted to begin the work of Bhāgavatam translation
but he has left it, and you are engaged less. Yes, translate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Who else have come there, newly, in Māyāpur?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In two days I think some devotees are
coming from America and South America.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Canada?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And Canada also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That Subāl Vilāsa, the manager
of Tamal Kṛṣṇa, he is in Canada. He gave a letter to me,
"And I shall also go very soon."
Devotee: Yes, he’s
in Chicago now.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He was in Chicago but his business was
in Toronto and perhaps he is there. Or, in the letter, he may again go back to
America.
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, do you want to mention this idea
that he would look at some of this work?
Devotee: So we've
done a little of ___________ [?]
We have almost enough for one volume, we have five chapters finished. So is it
possible that maybe
you can look at what we've
done and make some judgements whether it is good enough?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can't follow.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He wants to say that they have
translated five chapters of this eleventh canto. And if they could bring some
of this to you and you could hear it and make some, give your comments,
opinion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Opinion. If anywhere you have got any
doubts you may refer to me and I can try to make it understood.
Devotee: Not just
on technical things, the problem is whether…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Some points, if you've got any doubt you
make a list of them and come to me and I shall try to explain that. Have you
got a list?
Devotee: No. My
papers are in Calcutta but I can bring on Friday.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, conveniently you can do.
Devotee: But just
generally the doubt is whether we're not very spiritually qualified,
technically we may be able…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He's saying that there's one general
doubt about the qualification of the translator.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If I can hear, the general, how you have
caught the plane from which the translation should be made, I shall try to examine that from your writings, to find out what angle
of vision you are looking at, then… Hare Kṛṣṇa. The angle of
vision: that is the main point.
Devotee: I know it
is not very high. We're just trying to copy, take from the commentaries…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When you are selected of course, it is
their responsibility and they must have imparted some inspiration in you. They
have selected you for the service. So your Prabhupāda must have grace for
you that you may do the work successfully.
Gaura Hari bol! Gaura Hari bol!
It is not our merit that we can deal with adhokṣaja realm.
But His gracious inspiration, that only can help us to deal about Him. It is
unknown and unknowable. That characteristic is always there. Still, by faith,
by devotion, a devotee can perhaps live and move in that plane, the plane of
grace. It is not a matter of right that they can stay. That is the primary
acquaintance of that plane. But of course that has got a sort of right, the
right in the affection and the grace also. Devotees, they find a sort of right.
Not for him but for the others, Guru, Vaiṣṇava. Mayi te teṣu
cāpy aham, in Bhagavad-gītā:
[samo 'haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu, na me dveṣyo
'sti na priyaḥ
ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā, mayi te teṣu
cāpy aham]
["I am equally disposed to all souls, therefore no one is My enemy
or My friend. Yet, for those who render devotional service unto Me with love,
as they are bound by affection for Me, I am similarly bound by the tie of
affection for them."][Bhagavad-gītā, 9.29]
His relation to other things is, He may be there, may not be. But that
is not in the case of His devotees. In their case, mayi te teṣu
cāpy aham, "They're in Me, I am in them." That is the
exception; svarūpa-śakti. He cannot do away with svarūpa-śakti
- that is His own. Without svarūpa-śakti His existence cannot
be conceived. So taṭasthā-śakti and apara-śakti,
they may be eliminated if necessary but svarūpa-śakti is in
His constant company, so mayi te teṣu cāpy aham.
mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ, jagad
avyakta-mūrtinā
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni, na cāhaṁ teṣv
avasthitaḥ
["In an unmanifest manner, I pervade this entire universe, and
everything conceivable is situated within Me - and yet, I am not situated
within that total entity."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 9. 4]
All these statements are about the taṭasthā loka and
this mundane world, but not about svarūpa-śakti and the
devotees.
sādhavo hṛdayaṁ mahyam, sādhūnām
hṛdayaṁ tv aham
mad-anyat te na jānanti, nāhaṁ tebhyo manāg
api
[The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always
in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me,
and I do not know anyone else but them.] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
9.4.68]
"They do not know anything but Me.
And I am also in My turn do not know anything but them." That is the
relationship with the devotee and the Lord. The Lord of love cannot frustrate
any devotee. He says: "Uddhava, you are more favourable to Me than
Myself." That is the position of the devotee to Him, near Him. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Ahaṁ bhakta-parārdhīno:
[ahaṁ bhakta-parārdhīno, hy asvatantra iva dvija
sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo, bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ]
["I am the
slave of My devotees; I have no freedom apart from their will. Because they are
completely pure and devoted to Me, My heart is controlled by them, and I reside
always in their hearts. I am dependent not only on My devotees, but even on the
servants of My devotees. Even the servants of My devotees are dear to
Me."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 9.4.63]
He says to Durvāsā: "What do you think? You are
neglecting Ambarīṣa. But it is not negligible, by necessity. I am
always with him. He is always with Me. And you Durvāsā, you are a tyāgī,
yogī, brāhmaṇa, and houseless. And he maintains a
kingdom, an empire. But still, he's more favourite. You will have to go to him
for forgiveness. I can't do it. That case, if I take the case in My own hand
for judgement it will be insulting to him. I honour, My devotees should be
given such honour as others should give to Me.Rather, more honour should be
given to My devotees then I will automatically be honoured." Ha, ha, ha.
"Automatically, if My Name is honoured, respected, then I’m automatically
respected before. But if you give respect to Me and neglect My devotees I am
not satisfied. Your respect is not so much intense. It is vague. It is deceptive
character. But if you honour, if you love Me, love My dog. There they do not
know anything but Myself."Kathaṁ tāṁs tyaktum utsahe:
[ye dārāgāra-putrāpta-prāṇān
vittam imaṁ param
hitvā māṁ śaraṇaṁ
yātāḥ, kathaṁ tāṁs tyaktum utsahe]
["Since pure devotees give up their homes, wives, children,
relatives, riches and even their lives simply to serve Me, without any desire
for material improvement in this life or in the next, how can I give up such
devotees at any time?"] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 9.4.65]
“How can I leave that, abandon them? They do not know anything but
Myself and I also in My turn do the same thing.”
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, tāṁs
tathaiva bhajāmy aham
[mama vartmānuvartante, manuṣyāḥ
pārtha sarvaśaḥ]
["As a person takes refuge in Me, I accordingly respond to him.
Being the ultimate goal of all philosophies and doctrines, I am the object to
be attained by all. Certainly, O Pārtha, all men follow My various
paths."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.11]
"In any way you approach Me I shall
respond similarly. This is My general conduct. But a special case also;
sometimes I deceive people. Bhakti, they want bhakti, but I give
them mukti. I don't give them bhakti."Muktiṁ
dadāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam.
[rājan patir gurur alaṁ bhavatāṁ
yadūnāṁ, daivaṁ
priyaḥ kula-patiḥ kva ca kiṅkaro vaḥ
astv evam aṅga bhagavān bhajatāṁ mukundo, muktiṁ dadāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam]
["Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, the
Supreme Person, Mukunda, is actually the maintainer of all the members of the Pāṇḍava
and Yadu dynasties. He is your spiritual master, worshippable Deity, friend,
and the director of your activities. To say nothing of this, He sometimes
serves your family as a messenger or servant. This means He worked just as
ordinary servants do. Those engaged in getting the Lord's favour attain
liberation from the Lord very easily, but He does not very easily give the
opportunity to render direct service unto Him."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
5.6.18]
“Anyhow he wants bhakti from Me. To give bhakti means
to give My own self. But when I find that he's not fit, not so sincere, though
anyhow he has come to beg devotion, to aspire after devotion, devotion means to
sell Myself for that. But when I can't rely then I say, Oh, you take mukti and
go away. At the same time there are other cases, sincere devotees, but do not
know how or what to pray.”
sei mukha ami vigya
[?]
krsna bhuli ami bhaje male visay shuk ami vigya sei mukha vishay
kana________ [?]
In the case of Druva.
stanadi ladi tapa sisti druvam tam prapta dham deva muni gudyam
___________________________________________________
[?]
"I came to recover the kingdom but
now I don't want anything now I have got You. I went to seek some glass but
anyhow, fortunately I have got the diamond. Now I cannot throw out the diamond
and again want the glass."
"No, no, Dhruva. You will get
kingdom. You will get Me also."
"All right. I like it."
"Yes. If you like so, it may be
today."
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari bol! Gaura Hari bol!
Devotee: I have a
question in this regard. It's said that the Lord wants that His devotee is
glorified. He likes that. So I have a question - when we worship Kṛṣṇa
we worship Him very opulently. We put crowns on Kṛṣṇa, we put
jewellery, the best cloths, the best food, the best temple, all the best for Kṛṣṇa.
Now my question is whether if somebody is Vaiṣṇava Ācārya
representing Kṛṣṇa in preaching His message, and is he in a
good position, if he takes a lot of opulence for himself also, since he's the
devotee of Kṛṣṇa, if he represents himself also in a very
opulent environment personally, whether this is a very good representation
towards the public, to those who don't know Kṛṣṇa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Has he finished? What does he say?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, he's saying that we…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In the name of Kṛṣṇa
we collect so much money and resources for personal satisfaction?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No. No. He's saying that we will give to
Kṛṣṇa, we will offer to Kṛṣṇa crowns, mukuts,
jewels, so many nice clothes. So also, Kṛṣṇa's
representative, the Guru, we will offer him so many nice things, the disciples
they may offer. But how much should he accept, because at some point the public
may be disturbed? So how does the Vaiṣṇava Ācārya decide
what is the limit of such opulent offerings from his followers?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ:
[ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ,
prātikūlya-vivarjjanam
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso, goptṛtve
varaṇaṁ tathā.
ātma-nikṣepa kārpaṇye, ṣaḍ-vidhā
śaraṇāgatiḥ
evaṁ paryyāyataś cāsminn,
ekaikādhyāya-saṅgrahaḥ]
[The six divisions of surrenderare to accept those things favourable for devotional service,
to reject unfavourable things, the conviction that
Kṛṣṇa will give protection, to accept the Lord as one’s guardian or master, full self-surrender, and
humility.]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.100 - quoted from Vaiṣṇava Tantra]
What will help him to render the maximum service of Kṛṣṇa;
that should be accepted, by Ācārya, or a Vaiṣṇava,
anyone according to their own respective position; whatever will be necessary.
He must be sincere. And a Vaiṣṇava and Ācārya - here,
Ācārya means superior Vaiṣṇava - generally we may take
it. But everyone won’t want anything.
To want anything for himself, for his sense pleasure, that is nonVaiṣṇava
life, Vaiṣṇava thought. He accepts everything for the service of Kṛṣṇa.
Even this body, this mind, that is also dedicated for the service of Kṛṣṇa.
And whatever I accept from others for the service of Kṛṣṇa,
and because I shall have to render service, so for winter I want some warm
cloth. Because I must render my quota of service to Kṛṣṇa I
want food, I want water, only to maintain this body and do the service.
And service may be of different kinds - ordinary service and dignified
service. The position of the Ācārya, sometimes of the preacher, they
may have, require some position, otherwise ordinary people won't care to hear
them. So a platform is necessary. At the same time it should not be so much as
to raise jealousy in the people that they will say, "Oh, this man is only
a worshipper of resources and money and jewels." This; such sort of
misunderstanding should not be given to be indulged in the people. So carefully
we are to handle. And when it is necessary we must have a grand garment, and
when necessary then naked I may approach. Śukadeva, the naked young man,
he could address the whole religious intelligentsia of India at the time.
Devotees: Ha, ha, ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A naked, sixteen year-old boy. So,
according to the circumstances we have to adjust. Dignity may be necessary but
too much of everything is bad. Hare Kṛṣṇa. May bring reaction
to the public, that, "We can't gather a morsel to keep our body and soul
together. And this man is lavishly expending money like water, throwing money
in the water." At the same time we are to teach the people that if we
learn to give everything to the Lord, then our want will vanish. Give it to the
Lord. Whatever energy you have got, try to give it towards the centre, whatever
it may be.
Sītā Devī when in forest life, she offered Dasaratha, her
father-in-law, _________ [?], the
kingdom of Badukar [?], sand. Sand, instead of rice she offered sand. Bhāva-grāhī-janārdanaḥ. Not the things outside but the sentiment of the heart; that
goes to Kṛṣṇa, not the external things. If you have you must
offer, but if you don't have, with a small thing…
Duryodhana wanted to feed Kṛṣṇa with very rich dishes.
Kṛṣṇa refused and went to the abode of Vidura. And Vidura by
begging he took some kool [?] Kool means
a part of rice which is generally eliminated from food - that is the negligent
part of rice that is set aside. And that was cooked for himself and he offered
to Krsna, Kṛṣṇa took it refusing the rich dishes of
Duryodhana.
And Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī refused his father's
money, which he sent for his food purpose. And what the cows could not eat, he
took that and washed it with immense water. And the inner substance that was left,
that was not rotten, with some salt he took it.
Mahāprabhu went there and one day He took and remarked, "So
sweet prasādam I have never taken."
Then what is prasādam? The will of Kṛṣṇa.
Another day He told to Sārvabhauma Paṇḍita, "You
see these are the wonderful prasādam, how wonderful the taste. We
all know the general, physical taste of these things. But why such wonderful
taste has come here?”
Gaura Hari bol!
Devotee: I am
personally quite disturbed in my spiritual understanding because when I joined
the movement I saw Śrīla Prabhupāda preaching just the same way
you are preaching right now. And he has specifically ordered all his disciples
to dedicate at least fifty per cent of all our energy into the book distribution
so people can read about Kṛṣṇa. And nowadays, after
Śrīla Prabhupāda has disappeared I am seeing that so much energy
is dedicated towards the glorification of the new Gurus. And the message of
Prabhupāda, the book distribution, is in some places stopped altogether. And
people say, 'We cannot worship Prabhupāda in this way because there's no
money.' But on the other side they're using money in such big amounts for
things which Prabhupāda never did, like very fashionable motor cars, and
so many other things.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, I follow.
Devotee:
Mahārāja, __________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gadādhara temple,
Gaura-Gadādhara temple, of this Champahatta. Previously his predecessors
they are the simise[?] of the temple, and they gave it to our Guru Mahārāja. And he's a disciple of Prabhupāda, my God-brother, he's in charge at present in the service of Chappahadi
[?]
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: From his young days, from his youth,
he's serving our Guru Mahārāja. Though he's in white dress but still
from the age of sixteen or so he's engaged in the service of Guru
Mahārāja and at present he's in charge of Champampat [?] Maṭh.
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _____________________________________ [?]
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This is something personal. My Guru
Mahārāja wanted me to improve my dress, twice.First he told once,
"Improve your dress."
It is my nature to live plainly.
Again he told me, "Improve your dress. Otherwise the people at
large they may not give importance to your words, your preaching."
But still, ha, ha, I was, ha, ha, my habit is like that, plain living.
At the same time he also chastised many for their vilasita[?], of their
luxury. But he wanted me to be otherwise.
So we see differences of temperament in different devotees. But if the
spirit of dedication is pure then it may not affect much. But still, we must accommodate
ourselves, adjust ourselves with the environment so that the work began by our
Guru Mahārāja may not be hampered. That should be the aim, that the
work of the mission may not be hampered, that should be the object, everywhere.
So if it is necessary, when it is necessary to show grandeur to the public, to
attract, to bend down their head, it may be accepted. But when it will arouse
only jealousy in the public heart it should be avoided. We must try to draw
their attention in whatever way will help us. Generally yukta-vairāgya;
the middle path: that is good.
So your trouble, of course I follow. A sort
of dignity must be maintained, but that does not matter, as you say, that no
money in the case of propaganda, but there is
money to show in competition the dignity of the Ācārya. But do the
Ācāryas follow the same
policy, same principle, in the case of all the Ācāryas, or some try to compete with each other?
Devotee: There's
competition.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Competition?
Devotee: Yes.
Devotee:
Imitation. Imitation of our Prabhupāda, because…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Prabhupāda was a man of simple
style, simple life.
Devotee: But we
offered him the best that we could. So now there's the same idea that they
should imitate Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Imitation, sometimes if necessary they
may show themselves in higher opulence than Prabhupāda. It does not
matter. Just as your Prabhupāda, he came in such a position, in such a
circle, that he could show more rich position than his Guru. But everything, to
the inch, to the atom, it was meant to establish the glory of his Guru. If it's
in that spirit no harm. And whether it is necessary or
not, whether for personal dignity or to raise the dignity of the whole mission,
that is the point. And how it should be managed in what items, what percentage
of money should be used, these are to be considered of course. And if the GBC
is there and all the members of GBC are not Ācāryas, and outside GBC there is also so many stalwarts, well-wishers
of the mission. They must have some opinion in that.
Devotee: They're
all disturbed. There's many, many devotees disturbed by the same thing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I told to him previously that collect
some opinion of the big personages of the mission and then you make a
programme, you will prepare, and put it to the GBC that, 'These are the general
complaints against Ācāryas
and against GBC. You please consider. You are our representatives so we put it
to you. Guru Mahārāja has left confidence and trust in you, so you
consider properly and do the needful. Otherwise
so many of us will be under painful necessity to go on in our own way according
to our spiritual conscience. We have got some conscience which took us to that
great Guru. We cannot disbelieve that conscience within
us. That inner voice we cannot ignore. The inner voice, the conscience that
took me to my Guru, I can't ignore the sincere urge of that conscience. I shall
have to retire from you all. And we, so many, want to combine ourselves and
that may go against you.' I told to you at that time…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: …and you made so many copies and
distributed.
"What can I do? The conscience is
within and we cannot disbelieve our conscience. We must be thankful to our
conscience that took me to my illustrious Gurudeva. Some understanding I can
demand at least. And there are so many of such stages. You may be superior
elder brother but that does not matter. You should help us understand your
position; otherwise we cannot follow you blindly. And not only one or two,
there are so many and they're not all less qualified. They have got some
status. So give some importance to our common voice."
In this way, mildly, with humility you approach them for some consideration.
And if it is not possible because, for this, that Pradyumna, that gentleman in
the beginning he made a list of eighteen points and showed it to me.
"These are general complaints against the present government, GBC, these
are the," he showed. But none, many
sympathetic internally, but externally none ventured to support him perhaps.
And gradually so many important hands that I am acquainted with they went far
away one by one. That I see, I feel, I am sorry for that. They are all sincere
souls who came to render their service for ISKCON but this sort of management,
the present form of management was not very palatable and they had to go far
and far from this present working centre. And many discouraged still
maintaining and some disconnected already. And they're good souls, I'm
personally known to them, some of them at least.
Devotee: Some
eighty to ninety percent of our Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples
have now disconnected.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Eighty or ninety disconnected?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. That's in Prabhupāda's
lifetime, and after, combined.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who has disconnected in the lifetime of
Prabhupāda, we are not to consider them. But after the departure of
Prabhupāda, there also so many may be disconnected because they could not
observe, accept the principles and observe the regulations. That is also not to
be counted. But who wanted to be within the mission and wanted to serve their
utmost for their whole life, if their heart is disturbed, that is to be
reckoned and considered and reconsidered why they felt discouraged, they're
still feeling discouragement? They should be helped.
Devotee: ______________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:They may have something to say in their
favour, "That our position, the public naturally thinks that these present
Ācāryas, their
importance and their value is not so great as that of the founder." So,
they will minimise, they will try to look at us with some lower mentality. So
they may not think like that so we are to show the dignity of the position of
the Ācārya, but they are not of lower standard - to attract their
disciples." Otherwise, newcomers, newcoming disciples, they will have a
defeatist mentality, "That our grand Gurudeva was a supernatural figure,
but these fellows they are not up to that standard." So, ācāryaṁ
māṁ vijānīyān:
[ācāryaṁ māṁ
vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ]
["One
should know the Ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way.
One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the
representative of all the demigods."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.17.27]
The Ācārya should be seen not inferior, but the delegated
power of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Entity. To maintain that dignity,
reluctantly we are to show this grandeur of the position. And as much as I can
gather, I must accept that facility as it is given to me.
There is Bhagavān Dāsa, he's in opulence. Men and money,
perhaps he has got the maximum. And he will try to show that, "I get the
major portion of favour and grace of my Gurudeva."
In this way the competition is coming, but give and take. He has got the
facility perhaps of the zone. Together it is collecting more money and more
men. But at the same time he should be sympathetic to the other
Ācārya God-brothers, that
their position, that will be magnanimous tendency and practice. The other God-brothers may not be shown, may not be viewed of less importance.
This is give and take. The affection they show, it will be happy if we work
together, then we must have sympathy for each other; in a family…Who is he?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: This is Kavicandra Prabhu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kavicandra Prabhu, from where?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He's coming from America, he's going to Japan.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And the other two?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Katvanga Dasa, from Germany.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He came here previously?
Devotee: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And this gentleman?
Devotee: Bṛhat
śloka Dāsa from New Vṛndāvana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You live in Vṛndāvana?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: New, Nava Vṛndāvana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, Nava Vṛndāvana.
Devotee: As a pūjāri.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nava Vṛndāvana. He's a pūjāri,
priest…
End of 81.03.10.D
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.12.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
A favourite place of Swāmī Mahārāja, Nava Vṛndāvana.
“There’s New Delhi, Newcastle, why not New Vṛndāvana? So every
advantage I must take up from the world and utilise it for the service of Kṛṣṇa.”
That was his
grand outlook.Everything should be converted to help the Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, and nothing should be left to plead for māyā,
the misunderstood aspect of the world. Misunderstood is suicidal thing,
misunderstanding, that means a suicide. Misunderstanding always commits
suicide. That is not desirable, should not be desirable by anyone; wild goose
chasing; that should not be given indulgence under any circumstances. Always
try to crush it, and establish Kṛṣṇa consciousness of any
type, however small degree it may be. It is truth,satyaṁ
paraṁ dhīmahi[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.1.1]
“My friends, all
come, let us go on with the cultivation of the real truth. Otherwise
frustration will be disappointment, if you don’t search after truth that is
disappointment will be our be all and end all. We don’t want it, it is sure. So
come all under this banner.”
And Mahāprabhu says, “Not only cure yourself from the disease of
misunderstanding, but oh, come for you, the highest blissful life awaiting.
Come with Me. I shall take you there; that Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana,
go there. Apparently it is giving everything, but really to get everything;
dedication, service, ostentatiously it seems to give, but really to have higher
thing in return, that is sevā. That is service. That is dedication.
So dedicate yourself for the whole truth and you will find the backing of the
whole truth in you. And what point there can be any nothing?”
So, na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ
tāta gacchati.
[pārtha naiveha nāmutra, vināśas tasya
vidyate
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ
tāta gacchati]
["O Arjuna,
son of Kuntī, the unsuccessful yogī does not suffer ruination
either in this life or the next. He is not deprived of the pleasures of the
heavenly planetary systems in this universe, nor is he denied the chance to
personally see the Supersoul in the divine realm. This is so, O dear one,
because a person who performs virtuous actions never becomes ill-fated."]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
6.40]
There may be so many disturbances externally and internally, and
patiently you must deal with them, and ask my conscience and my self. Whatever
the sincere answer we get from them I must go on with that. Caitya Guru; when mahanta Guru
is there then we shall work under his direction. And when he’s absent we shall
try to understand how far we can obey them, thinking that they’re appointed to
lead the mission, so no, suddenly I shall do something against them. But if it
is impossible to adjust with them I shall have no other alternative but to be
sincere to my own conscience, spiritual conscience. I shall try, I shall crave for higher guidance. But if I can’t get such
direction which is, which can corroborate with my inner voice then I’m to take
another course. Cannot but be; I can’t be insincere to my own self. Sincerity
should be maintained at any cost.Na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt
kaścid, durgatiṁ tāta gacchati.The Lord will help me. God
helps those that help themselves. He will help me if I am sincerely in search
after Him. Even there may be some misunderstanding but that will be cleared
easily. From my position I am to think. A boy may not be expected to perform
the service of an experienced man.
Milton says, “Doth God exact day labour light denied?” In his sonnet,
Milton, “Doth God exact day labour light denied?” He was blind in his last days
and at that time he’s praying to the Lord. “I feel some inner urge to produce
some literature. But for that I am to write I must have my sight. But you have
taken away my eyes. I am stark blind. How can I produce literature?” But anyhow
he did; the Paradise Lost when he wrote he was stark blind.Hare Kṛṣṇa.Then
Paradise Regained also was written by him, but that is not very famous.
Gaura Haribol.He was a Puritan. The Catholic, then Protestant, and Protestant again two divisions,
Presbyterian and Puritan; and Puritans again sub-divided, and one class was
Independent.
When in I.A. class we are to study Milton’s Sonnet. The Stopford
Brooke’s, Milton, one Mr Stopford Brooke he wrote about Milton. Raleigh’s
Shakespeare, Raleigh wrote about Shakespeare, criticism, commentary; and Stopford
Brooke, the famous commentator of Milton.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol.
But Milton’s theistic temperament cannot be supported. Cannot be
supported; his idea of theism, we could not support it, even from
childhood.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
He was an Independent man. Rather, Wordsworth was a favourite to me
among English poets, Wordsworth.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Hari.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, I was wondering, I
was reading the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and Mahāprabhu’s
travels to South India, so when He returned to Purī in the evening He was
telling to His associates and followers of His travels.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. The Sārvabhauma, “I went to the south
and found many Vaiṣṇavas, but not one equal to you, of your type.”
That means, “What degree of theism that I’m preaching that is never to be found
anywhere.” Indirectly He’s saying to Sārvabhauma this. “Only
Rāmānanda gave Me great pleasure. Except that of Rāmānanda,
all I found, they’re Vaiṣṇavas, so-called, of lower type. I could
not find a Vaiṣṇava of your type.” Sārvabhauma’s type, and
Sārvabhauma means the other day he was an atheist and was converted by
Mahāprabhu and got some Vaiṣṇavism by His grace. So He’s
praising Himself, in other words, indirectly. “I cannot but, this type of
devotion to Kṛṣṇa is not found anywhere, only except
Rāmānanda Rāya. He could respond. I’m satisfied with his
representation.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare.
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.
The loving Kṛṣṇa, the conception of Kṛṣṇa
to be the highest, Vrajendranandan to be the highest: as He showed to the
father of Gopāl Bhaṭṭa, Venkata Bhaṭṭa Prabhu.
“Why? Yes, Venkata Bhaṭṭa, your Lord whom you worship, that
is of a grand style. His grandeur is so great, magnanimous, as your present
Ācāryas are. But My
Lord whom I worship is only a cowboy, wanders in through the forest, on the
back of the cowherds, a cowherd.”
“No, no. Why do you think in that way? He’s also Nārāyaṇa,
or comes from Nārāyaṇa and Kṛṣṇa,
Nārāyaṇa and Kṛṣṇa one and the same thing.
Why do you think yourself unfortunate in that way because You have attraction
for Kṛṣṇa and not for Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa?”
“But Bhaṭṭa, I have got a doubt in My mind.”
“What is that?”
“The Lakṣmī Devī: how she did aspire after rasa,
a part of pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, a cowboy? What is this? She’s in
opulence, in so much grandeur she is, but still she had some aspiration for the
rasa pastimes of that cowboy. What does it mean? That that sort of
ecstasy is wanting in Nārāyaṇa? And what harm is there? Lakṣmī,
she wanted to have taste of different types of pastimes of her husband, Kṛṣṇa and
Nārāyaṇa are one and the same. So she had some aspiration in
her heart for the participation in the rasa līlā of Kṛṣṇa.
That is not to be blamed I think.”
“Yes, if You say so, I may take up. But something more I find there.”
“What is that?”
“She did not get any admission into that rasa, disqualified, and
she again began a life of penance to purify herself so that she may have
entrance into that plane. So Lakṣmī Devī’s disqualified, what
is this? And she began her penances for long, long time, but still she’s not
given any admission. What is this?”
Bhaṭṭa
was perplexed. “Yes, that is to be thought. I can’t follow. Yes, I do not enter
into the depth of this pastime so much.”
...
Then, Bhaṭṭa was a little perplexed, “Yes, it is puzzling. Lakṣmī Devī’s declared disqualified and she had
to make penances and still it’s not heard that she had got admission. It is perplexing trouble.”
Then Mahāprabhu told, “It does not end there.”
“What more?”
“The more we see
that the Daṇḍakaranya Ṛṣis, analysed in the śruti, they get entrance, the ordinary soul,
they get entrance, and Lakṣmī Devī is not allowed to enter.”
Then Bhaṭṭa’s perplexion,
he was completely puzzled. “I don’t understand; that in this, so many puzzling
matters, I could not understand, I am rather puzzled. I cannot differentiate
what is right and wrong. And You know all these subtle affairs. You are not an
ordinary man I think. This is only tricks that You are playing with me to make
me understand that Kṛṣṇa’s position is superior to that of
Nārāyaṇa. That Lakṣmī Devī who has every
command over Nārāyaṇa camp, she is turned down and not accepted
to enter. And the others are entering, getting entrance, the śruti,
so many śrutis, and the Daṇḍakaranya Ṛṣis
that wanted Rāmacandra to enjoy. This is of course a serious thing. Please
educate me. I am Your disciple. Take me as Your disciple and be clear to me.”
Then Mahāprabhu came to make him understand that.
siddhāntatas tv abhede ’pi, śrīśa-kṛṣṇa-svarūpayoḥ
rasenotkṛṣyate kṛṣṇa-, rūpam eṣā rasa-sthitiḥ
[Venkata Bhaṭṭa
continued, “'According to transcendental realisation,
there is no difference between the forms of Nārāyaṇa and Kṛṣṇa.
Yet in Kṛṣṇa there is a special transcendental attraction due
to the conjugal mellow, and consequently He surpasses Nārāyaṇa.
This is the conclusion of transcendental mellows.'”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 9.117]
Both are one and
the same, but when, as the rasa, the ecstasy is concerned, Kṛṣṇa
embodies more rasa and higher quality. Both, though both of Them are one
and the same, and when Kṛṣṇa becomes Nārāyaṇa
He comes under constitutional position. And when Nārāyaṇa, He’s
Kṛṣṇa, Svayaṁ-Bhagavān, akhila-rasāmṛta-murtiḥ.
He’s an extravagant in dealing with rasa, anyone and everyone to quench
His thirst He’s throwing rasas, all sides.
Prodigals
favourite, misers pensioner.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Nitāi Caitanya. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: This
morning we were discussing about Vidura. I was
wondering, what is his relationship with Lord Kṛṣṇa? Is it sākhya
rasa _______________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Vidura is shown in dāsya rasa,
mainly, and with a bit of sākhya, in connection with the Pāṇḍavas;
mainly dāsya rasa: and also śanta, dāsya,
and a little bit of sākhya, in connection with the Pāṇḍavas,
a little confidence there. And for dāsya he’s hankering, but not
engaged in continuous service, so śanta.
kṛṣṇa! tvadīya pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam, adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ
prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye
kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ, kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau
smaraṇaṁ kutas te
[“O Kṛṣṇa!
Please allow my mind to immediately yield to Your lotus flowerlike feet, just
as the flamingo enters into the labyrinth of the lotus flowers’ stems. When at
the moment of my last breath my throat becomes constricted by the action of the
bodily humours air, bile, and phlegm, how will I be able to remember You?”][Mukunda-mālā-stotra,
33]
Kulaśekhara Āḷvār. Alalanatha, Ala means Āḷvār,
and Āḷvārmeans parṣada bhakta, eternal devotees
who are surrounding the Lord, Nārāyaṇa, parṣada.
Āḷvārs in Tamil it is
Āḷvār. And it has come in Orissa as Alalanath. So
Kulaśekhara Āḷvār, he was one of the best Āḷvārs, in the first century, first AD, AD century.He was the King of
Keral. And this Mukunda-mālā-stotram in Sanskrit he has
composed very beautiful verses, and this verse is one of them. Kṛṣṇa!
tvadīya pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam adyaiva me viśatu.“No
time. I have no time. Immediately grant me to enter into the cage of Your lotus
feet. Allow the gander of my mind to enter into the cage of Your lotus feet. I
can’t trust any future. In old age when the cough, the mucus will gather to
choke my throat I won’t be able to take Your Name, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa.
So no time; immediately allow me. Take me within Your lotus feet.”
nāsthā dharme na vasu-nicaye naiva kāmopabhoge
yad bhāvyaṁ tad bhavatu bhagavan
pūrva-karmānurūpam
etat prāthyaṁ mama bahu mataṁ
janma-janmāntare ‘pi
tvat-pādāmbhoruha-yuga-gatā niścalā
bhaktir astu
[O my Lord! I have no attachment for religiosity, or for accumulating
wealth, or for enjoying sense gratification. Let these come as they inevitably
must, in accordance with my past deeds. But I do pray for this most cherished
boon: birth after birth, let me render unflinching devotional service unto Your
two lotus feet.][Mukunda-māla-stotra, 5]
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Ahaitukī
bhakti, these are, these prove ahaitukī bhakti, causeless
devotion. ‘I want service of Kṛṣṇa, not to serve any purpose
to be traced within me.’ It is quite natural. Everything else is unnatural.
Only to serve Kṛṣṇa, that is the innate nature of my soul: or
myself. Anything else all unnatural, and they’re all like garments.
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ,
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
[ānukūlyena-kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ
bhaktir uttamā]
["One
should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa
favourably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive
activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional
service."][Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, 1.1.11]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.21.11, purport] & [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 19-167]
They’re all
covers. ‘I want this and that,’ anyābhilāṣ, unscientific
whims. And karma is regulated in
some scientific attempts to enjoy; regulated by the scripture, but it is
enjoyment, mostly. And the jñāna, to become a rebel; that, ‘I can’t
enjoy, that is the demon of reaction is there, I can’t enjoy. I’m not happy.
Give up everything, everything. Give up everything.’ That equates to zero; just
as we are in our sound sleep. ‘Don’t awake. If you awake, the company of a
second thing will pollute.’ A hateful temperament it encourages for the jñānīs.
‘Whenever you come in contact of a second thing you’re lost, so withdraw;
complete withdrawal.’ The cynic; ‘There cannot be anything in this world whose
company will improve you, whose company will at least not allow you to degrade,
to go down, no.’ Completely pessimistic, no optimism there.
But the Vaiṣṇava, they’re optimistic. ‘We’re misled,
misguided; anyhow we have come to enjoy. And we’re in the trap. Enjoyment is
not healthy, not wholesome. But there is a normal life, happy life, blissful
life, and that is a life of dedication; just the opposite. And renunciation is
no solution, that is ______ And
constitutional dedication, dedication regulated, that is in Vaikuṇṭha,
in Nārāyaṇa ______ and in the
domain of Kṛṣṇa, no limit of dedication. It is spontaneous.
It is unlimited. There is competition of dedication. And it is irresistible.
The innate function of continuous and irresistible
dedication, that is discovered, then it is irresistible and it is spontaneous
and there is competition in dedication. And that is the acquaintance of the
highest function of jīva. There, the jīva in its
highest position, giving, giving,
giving, to the centre. All the flow of his energy
going towards the centre, and there it is coming in reaction to adjust others
according to their deservation. It is coming
from the centre, the distribution, reaction. But this is, every unit is only sending energy towards the centre, the current
towards the centre, dedication. And from the centre it is coming out again to
bless the whole universe according to their deservation, the capacity and
position.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Yasmin tuṣṭe jagat tuṣṭam
priṇite priṇito jagat.“So
unconditionally send everything to Me.”
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
[ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
["Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively
unto Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair."]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 18.66]
“Blindly dedicate everything towards Me, the centre. And it is My lookout to dispose of your energy, how to deal with that, for what
purpose. That is My lookout and not yours.”
...
Caitanya Dayal.Mahāprabhu came with this idea of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness here about four hundred and ninety five, or six years ago; ninety
five years ago.Gaura Sundara. Gaura Sundara.With this message, the Kṛṣṇa
and Rādhārāṇī combined, They came jointly to give
admission, chance, to every soul, into Their harem, into Their private room of
service; gave it to all, one and all, offered it to one and all. “Their highest innate desire to be satisfied; to grant, so that
they may come to their highest attainment, the innermost nectar of the pastimes
of Both of Us, they can be able to taste Us.”That sort of _________ [?]
anarpita-carīṁ [cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ
kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ
sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ
śacī-nandanaḥ]
["May that Lord, who is known as the son of Śrīmatī
Śacīdevī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers
of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in
this age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation ever
offered before: the most sublime and radiant spiritual knowledge of the mellow
taste of His service."][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.4]
Which has never been offered to the world here before, anarpita-carīṁ
cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau; that is the
speciality of the magnanimity of all the Avatāras,
Mahāprabhu. Both jointly came to give entrance into the innermost līlā,
pastimes.
But dedication is the first thing. We must not forget. Imitation will
ruin our future. We must be cautious very, very
much. It is very similar to the lust, very similar, but that is a danger. That
is a danger. We must avoid that. So the bhakti, sevā, this
HariNāma, this kathā, the līlā, but
everywhere the common factor is serving attitude, sevonmukhe hi
jihvādau.
[ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ]
[Therefore, the name, form, qualities, associates, and pastimes of Kṛṣṇa
are beyond the realm of sense experience. When, however, a devotee engages the
senses, beginning with the tongue, in the service of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa
reveals Himself to the purified senses of that devotee.][Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
Purva-vibhaga, 2.234]
Otherwise all
blank, misfire, blank fire. We must be very cautious in this matter, that there
must be the spirit of dedication underlying. Otherwise mere form won’t help me;
it will rather take me down. Dedication, dedication, dedication; no worldly
interest or any interest in my experience I shall find there. But dedication
not to a prostitute, not to a shop of wine; we must be cautious of that, the
dedication to the purity, to the highest.Like Ramakrishna Mission, and others,
this Nobel Prize lady, in India, Calcutta, Mother Teresa; all misguided,
they’re helping the flesh and blood, by helping the flesh and blood. There is
no dearth of flesh and blood, flesh and blood. It is the enjoying mood of the
subtle body. They’re all waiting, standing, to enter into flesh and blood.
When I was in charge of Madras Maṭh one pleader came, “Oh. You
don’t do the service of the patients, like Ramakrishna Mission. Suppose you
have come to preach to everybody, but if one dies then you miss him, you can’t
help him. So we must help the body and soul together, and then you’ll preach,
give Name.”
I told to him that, suppose there is a famine. I have got some food. I
am distributing that. And people around me, so many, and if one flies, runs
away from the place, then stopping the distribution of the food should I run
after him, to fetch him, to catch him, so that I may give some food to him, and
the others are waiting?
“No, no, no. And we also see like that.”
So many flesh and blood always on my, in a throng, in a crowd, and I
cannot find time to distribute Hari Nāma. Why should I run, leaving
this giving up Hari Nāma I should run after a person? And he’s
dead. And where he’s going? And I shall follow him? And a loss of time is it
not?
“Yes, what you say.”
So something
like that. The bodily existence is undesirable. Still it will continue
according to my karma. So varsansi _____ [?]this is only a garment, a fleshy garment. But we must deal with
the inner person, the inner man, the inner soul. We must put some injection
there.
When in Madras, then one education minister was some Redi [?]. We wanted to
preach in his jurisdiction, and we went to him for a letter of recommendation.
“We shall go to your district to preach there about Mahāprabhu.”
Then he told me, “Oh. First you learn Tamil then you’ll go there.
Otherwise they’re all Tamil speaking people; you do not know Tamil. Bengali, Sanskrit
or English, that won’t help them: first thing.”
I told him,
suppose I’m going by the side of a tank, and I see that a man is drowning, then
I shall go to learn Tamil and then...? Or anyhow, by gesture, posture, I shall
try to make them understand that he’s drowning? So we see such cases around us.
Anyhow we shall try to find a mediator, the language translator, with his help
we shall speak what we have got to speak to them, we shall transmit.So there
are so many common errors.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Then another gentleman, when our Guru Mahārāja went there, he
wanted a procession and went to the leader of the Boy Scouts. “We are making
arrangements of so many things, band party, this kīrtana party, and
other things. We want that your boy scouts will also join with us.”
“No, no, no. We are engaged in social work only; not religious.”
“But we are also doing social work.”
“No. You are doing religious work.”
“I suppose human species; there are cow species, dog species; so many
species. You are helping the dogs, keeping them dogs you like to help them. But
if it is possible the dogs can be converted into human beings, if such
programme is possible, the dogs will no longer be a member of the dog society,
they’ll be transformed into a member of the human society, then that sort of
service you won’t accept? Why not? So our case is such. We are also doing some
service to the society, but we don’t like that they will be under limitation.
They will be taken to some higher form of life. Perhaps you believe you have
faith in God. So if our programme in the social service is formed in that way
you have no objection.”
“No, no. Then it will be better.”
“Yes. We shall go.”
Gaura Haribol. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
So while preaching we had to answer many positions, and to answer many
questions, and do our work. By the grace of our Gurudeva, none, I remember,
whether of ancient type, philosopher, or modern type scientist, could defeat
us. Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī, our Gurudeva, the master of the
decision of the Bhakti School, the judge, the supreme judge, who knows all the
laws and ways of the Bhakti School.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I think we should go now.
Devotee: Thank you
very much. We...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And our Kīrtanānanda
Swāmī came yesterday, did not speak anything, he did not come out,
only came in disguise and fled away, ha, ha, but did not speak a word.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa.He’s
in a position of the President. He should be much sober and less talking. His
commitment means high degree, highest degree; the value of his opinion and his
speech, it should be sober and less.
“Give thy ears to all but none by tongue.”Do you know the King Lear?
His father is teaching the son, in Shakespeare’s King Lear.“Give thy ear
to all, you will hear everything, but none by tongue, don’t speak a word to
anybody. Don’t ever commit. By word, speaking, you commit, there is commitment.
But hear everything, but don’t speak anything, give your opinion on anything.
Don’t commit my son.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Badrinārāyaṇa Prabhu is in Calcutta?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Caru Swāmī; not yet come?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not yet.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Sarvabhāvana is he free from
fever, or don’t you know?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Very sick.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Very sick?
Devotee: Chicken
Pox.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Chicken Pox. Oh, that does not matter;
and then others?
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa.Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja is here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Svarūpa Dāmodara is also
here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And important sittings are being
continued, at intervals.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Today the full, the GBC meetings,
full body: that has begun today. Before that it was partial, so sometimes they
could come here, like, now it is full meetings for three days.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Full meetings, all the members must be
present?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Confidentiality in a closed room?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And sitting after sitting until the
conclusion is reached?
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
Devotee: Then
Mahārāja, there are many devotees who also feel that whatever
conclusions the GBC Body comes to that we should accept, whether we...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see, no conclusion...
Devotee: ...give
the harmony we need to push forward Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see; united we stand. From long time
I’m hearing complaints against him. But my general opinion, wait and see. Don’t
make yourself the first revolt, rebel. If there is – whatever happens that is
God’s will, through God’s will, but if a reaction is sure to come we can’t
avoid, or we may not be the party to that.
But anyhow I must stand by my own spiritual consciousness, spiritual
conscience, cannot but do so. So we shall try in that way. I don’t want to
disturb others. I don’t know how far I am fallible and infallible, but still,
what I think to be the best, I cannot but do that. I cannot be a hypocrite for
all the life. I can wait for some time, but the whole life I cannot go against
my own consciousness and that is spiritual. That should be the position. We
must save our self. But we may not be party because I’m not above faults, not
above ignorance, in perfect knowledge. So it will be sober to wait and see what
leads to what.
And in the mean time there are persons who are of my temperament. I can
mix with them, and humbly we may try, “That these are our complaints, and if
good and well that should be removed because that is not my individual case but
the case of many well meaning disciples of Guru Mahārāja,
God-brothers. So you should consider these points and do the necessary and save
us. We don’t think that we are insincerely, to fulfil some other evil
purpose...
End of 81.03.12.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.12.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...that our thinking is the highest, of highest
type. But anyhow you are all, you are going to help other people at large, but
we are already in your fold. Don’t neglect us. Don’t neglect us. Or deal
properly with us. We are already in the fold, and you are going at large to
collect men, and you should do so. And we are also eager to help you in that
matter but we have got this sort of weakness in our mind. Please, you
stalwarts, you are given the confidence of guiding the ISKCON, the
responsibility put on your head by Guru Mahārāja, so do justice to
his disciples. That is your God-brothers. Don’t neglect this. We are
well-meaning, not any mala fide object we have got.”
In this way you should move to them to draw their sympathy and have
justice; not only for one but for many. Being disregarded and uncared for
they’re going far, far away. That is not desirable. They should be given a
chance and they should be utilised in services from their respective position.
It will be laudable.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, since I came here in
August there’s been a lot more open communication with the GBC and the
devotees. I think things have improved very much since that time.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Very good, very good, hopeful, that is
hopeful. And you will try to point out those points to those that are feeling
discouragement; that the things are improving. So wait, and in the near future
with more energy we’ll be ale to do the service of our Guru Mahārāja
in a combination. So wait and see.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Because one thing we see is that once
our Guru Mahārāja Prabhupāda he wrote in the Bhāgavatam,
in one purport, he said, “Anyone who thinks that he can practice Kṛṣṇa
consciousness outside of our society,” he means in the western countries,
especially, he said, “He’s living in a great hallucination.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who’s living in hallucination?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: The person who thinks that he can be Kṛṣṇa
conscious, separately. He thinks, ‘I will go away from the mission, the Kṛṣṇa
consciousness movement, and I’ll be Kṛṣṇa conscious
separately.’
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In other words, who will think of
leaving the ISKCON, this organisation, he’ll be in fool’s paradise, is it?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “So always be under the guidance of the
committee whom I appoint for the welfare of the whole institution.”So generally
then try to follow, but if it is impossible for anyone, they have no other
alternative but to follow his own conscience.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. But we see, my point is that we
see...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Wait and see, whether...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What you’re saying is true...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sometimes when one is climbing the
mountain, or hill, sometimes going up and sometimes a little down; again going
up and a little down. In this way action reaction things go up, so maybe a
little setback and then again they may – the committee, the combined opinion
may come in favour of the God-brothers.
But in the living organisation, the newcomers, that element cannot be
neglected. We have got something to do in our own mind, but those newcomers
they should be given facility in outer practices. We can go on mentally. We
have got some sort of experience within. But the newcomers, the external
practice is indispensable to teach them. But they should be under the guidance
of the Guru and the friends of the Guru.
Yesterday as I recommended, some inspector should move to set right the
conduct of the newcomers to their Guru, Guru God-brothers, and as well as the
core disciples of different Ācāryas.
And a sort of by-law should be evolved and that should be taught in the big
mission.It is a complex thing; many nationalities, many different ages,
different nationalities, different previous religious colours, with so much
variegatedness. So it is very possible that they will differ from one another.
It cannot be neglected, this, and we should try to put them, set them properly
in their conduct. There should be a department for that.
What’s the time? I feel fatigued.
...
...knowledge may be encouraged, under this bhakti.
Karma mukham eka bhakti yoga jñāna [?]
Jñāna, yoga and bhakti, they may contribute
something when they’re guided mainly by bhakti, by devotion, by the
spirit of service, by the impulse of service. Under them, some sort of jñāna,
yoga and karma, they may help us. And,
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānañ ca yad
ahaitukam
["If somehow with the help of the scriptures and His agents, the
devotees or saints, we can develop our devotion, bhakti, then, the
proper knowledge and proper apathy towards worldly substances will follow us."]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.2.7]
And a spontaneous knowledge will come in its full purity only when He
comes down to your heart and shows to you that, “I am such and such.” Then
only, knowledge about Him is possible, when He wills, He wills, He likes to make
Himself known to you, that knowledge is real knowledge. Otherwise your
conjecture of so many lives, meeting in the same plain, that is all
misconception.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, there’s one point in our
philosophy...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
siddhānta baliyā citte nā kara alasa, ihā
haite kṛṣṇa lāge sudṛḍha mānasa
["A sincere
student should not neglect the discussion of such conclusions (regarding the
Absolute Truth in the revealed scriptures), considering them controversial, for
such discussions strengthen the mind. Thus one's mind becomes attached to
Śrī Kṛṣṇa."]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 2.117]
Just as, suppose, to attain God it is not, to do His work this English
language may be necessary, may not be necessary. But it is necessary when I’m
going to teach an English man, whose language is English; then I shall have to
learn English to deal with him. So when one is a Bengali literate man, nyāya,
tarka, if I want to talk with him, to convince him, to convert him, then
some knowledge of logic and nyāya I must learn to talk with him.
Otherwise it is not necessary. So also when a man is proud of his knowledge,
then to stop him, to convert him, to keep him down, to make him submit to
attend to my words, I require some sort of knowledge. So knowledge may be used
in the service of the Lord, under certain conditions.
And siddhānta
baliyā citte nā kara alasa, Kavirāja Goswāmī says,
and Mahāprabhu says, “Don’t sit idle and think that to be illiterate, to
be foolish, that is the only condition to get His grace.”
Knowledge must come to serve me, to help me, for the adjustment of my
position in a secure way. To meet the negative tendencies that may spring up in
me, to stop them, that sort of knowledge is necessary to a certain extent. But
real thing may not come through knowledge. It is only through submission and
waiting and to show sincerely to Him I am really qualified because I am the
most insignificant, I am the bona fide person for Your grace, because I am the
most wanting person.In this way, that will be dainyam, ātma-nivedanam.
Only through śaraṇāgati we can expect to have Him. And śaraṇāgati,
dainyam, first thing is humility, and sincere humility. Purīṣera
kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha. Jagāi
mādhāi haite.
[jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha,
purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha
mora nāma śune yei tāra puṇya kṣaya,
mora nāma laya yei tāra pāpa haya]
[Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Goswāmī says:
"I am worse than a worm in stool. When Jagāi and Mādhāi
came in the relativity of Mahāprabhu they were considered to be the worst
sinners, but I am worse than them. My sins are so dirty no one can even dream
such things. I am such a great sinner that whoever will hear about me, dirt and
sin will enter him through his coming in contact with my name. Sin will enter
one who once hears my name, and his good qualities will vanish.I am a person of
the worst type, but the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu possesses such a high
degree of disinfection that He has given me so many things: He has taken me to
Vṛndāvana and has given the relationship of Rūpa,
Raghunātha and Govinda. There is no qualification in me but all is the
grace of Nityānanda Prabhu. It is shameful to speak about one's own life
but still I do this. Why? If I do not do so then I shall be ungrateful to the
grace and magnanimity of Nityānanda Prabhu. So fallen am I but
Nityānanda Prabhu has given me all these things: Vṛndāvana,
Rūpa, Sanātana, Govinda, Mahāprabhu, Raghunātha Dāsa
and so much else. It is all the gift of Nityānanda Prabhu. It is His
unconditional gift to this one with no qualifications, and therefore I have
mentioned: 'Yes I have such things.' If I do not say so then I shall be an
offender to Nityānanda Prabhu's grace, so I am compelled to confess that I
am so sinful and fallen but by His grace I have received these things."]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādī-līlā, 5.205-6]
But,
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā / [amāninā mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ
sadā hariḥ]
["One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a
tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is
qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa."] [Śikṣāṣṭakam, 3]
The sincere helplessness, the realisation of one’s helplessness, the tṛṇād
api sunīc, dainyam, ātma-nivedanam, and necessarily I cannot
stand myself, I’m not such an entity that I can stand independently on my leg.
I must seek some shelter, by whose grace I can live only. So ātma-nivedanam
will naturally come from – the tendency of ātma-nivedanam will
naturally come from within, because I cannot stand independently. I’m so
insignificant. So I want some shelter, ātma-nivedanam.Then, goptṛtve
varaṇa, when I get some assurance I must ardently and sincerely
accept Him as my guardian, goptṛtve varaṇa.
Avasyase laksene krsna visvase varan [?]
And I must first have such intrinsic
tendency that He will protect me. I am not shelter-less, nor helpless. He’s my guardian. He cannot but save me,
help me. So I foster such idea. I maintain such idea.
Dainya atma-nivedan goptrve varanavasyase
lakse krsna visvase paran [?]
bhakti anukul matre karye sikhabhakti
pratikulya-vavarjan adhikar
[?]
And to accept what is favourable to the
life of a devotee, and to forsake, to abandon what is anti, unfavourable to the
life of a devotee, to abandon that. That should be the characteristic of a real
devotee.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Finite wants
Infinite, so the quest will be very strange, must be, not an ordinary thing.
Finite wants to have Infinite. Necessarily works only through submission, only
through fervent prayer, only to show that, ‘I’m helpless. Without you I can’t
go on, I can’t do, I can’t do.’ So that will attract His kindness, His pity,
and then my object may be fulfilled. No other way, no other way. Just to
present before Him in a naked way that, ‘I am such and I’m the most needy.’ The
fervent appeal that, ‘I’m the most needy so I have come to seek Your help.
Without that I cannot be saved. I cannot live at all.’ Such sincere craving:
that is the real qualification of a devotee in any form or other. He may be a
good scholar but this tendency must be, must have the upper hand. He may have
many qualifications in the worldly sense, but still, if the leading feeling is such,
then he’ll get grace. Not that all that are graced by the devotion of the
Supreme Lord they’re poor in all respects in comparison with the worldly men.
They’re highly talented, highly resourced, full men. They also get the grace of
the Lord. But still, at their heart they’re very humble, and they think
themselves nothing, akiñcana.
Akincanasya bhagavad bhagavan dantasya
param padam ____________________ [?]
‘I have nothing to boast. I have nothing. If I analyse myself I see that
I have nothing. I’m the most needy.’ I’m the most needy: that must be the
leading feeling of the devotee, whatever qualification he may have. He may be a
Brahmā, he may be Śiva, any position he may hold, but still, to
attract the attention and the grace of the Lord, that needy characteristic
there must be predominating, otherwise cannot attract Him.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, as a necessity for preaching,
Rāmeśvara Swāmī he wanted me to put one question to you.
That the Bhaktivedānta Book Trust they’re publishing one book called Reincarnation,
and he says that the western rational mind, that we need to describe to the
western rational mind how the soul is being transferred from one body to the
next, how the soul is entering into the semen of the father?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Into the?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Entering into the semen.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Semen, from someone, oh.These are to
satisfy the curiosity of the scientists, yes?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But when śraddhā springs
from sukṛti he may not care to come in all the details. If you go
to analyse then no end; approximate knowledge will help you sufficiently to
take the path of devotion and dedication, and go to analyse the scientific
characteristics no end, no end.It does not come through that. Through that way
the knowledge of the Absolute never comes. It comes from an independent way
that is sukṛti. It comes from the nirguṇa, the nirguṇa
only; the nirguṇa approaches the nirguṇa and
takes him to the nirguṇa. This guṇa, satya, raja,
tama guṇa māyi, misunderstanding in any stage cannot lead to
even satya guṇa. In its highest position it is satya guṇa.
Satya guṇa also cannot lead us to nirguṇa. So it is
said, ahaitukī apratihatā.
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo, yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
[ahaituky apratihatā, yayātmā suprasīdati]
["The supreme occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that
by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendental
Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to
completely satisfy the self."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.2.6]
And what is that? How it originates? Ahaitukī apratihatā.
It is causeless, meaning its cause cannot be traced in this mundane, in the
world of guṇa māyi, this māyic misconceived
world. It is beyond. Sukṛti, that’s coming from the agent of the
Lord, bhakta, and that when accumulated sufficiently, then only, truth
can disperse ignorance. Not a part of ignorance can dispel ignorance – truth.
So nirguṇa can save us and take us to nirguṇa, from
all shades of saguṇa, māyā, misunderstanding,
misconception. You see, so when the Lord says,
api cet sudurācāro, bhajate mām ananya-bhāk
[sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ, samyag vyavasito hi saḥ]
["If even a
person of extremely abominable practices, abandoning all non-devotional
pursuits of exploitation and renunciation engages in My exclusive and
uninterrupted devotional service, he is venerable as a true saint because he
has embraced the revolutionary plane of life."][Bhagavad-gītā,
9.30]
“Sudurācāro, in consideration of this māyic,
this misconceived standard of morality, api cet sudurācāro,
most disqualified he may be considered from the standpoint of the purity of
this world. But bhajate mām ananya-bhāk, but his exclusive
tendency can be found towards Me, a spontaneous flow towards Me, avoiding any
other direction. Sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ, he should be
considered as sādhu because nirguṇa, that flow, that
is to be considered. Other things, now it is here, it will vanish next moment.
The satya guṇa takes to the highest position of Brahmā, the
next moment the wheel will come here. The concocted good or bad, that is only
moving in a circle. It is now holding the highest position, only next moment
he’s coming back, he’s coming down.”
ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ, punar āvartino
‘rjuna
[mām upetya tu kaunteya, punar janma na vidyate]
["O Arjuna, from the planet of Lord Brahmā downwards, the
residents of all planets are naturally subjected to repeated birth and death.
But, O Kaunteya, upon reaching Me, there is no rebirth."] [Bhagavad-gītā,
8.16]
So any development in the misconceived area is no development. But in
the consideration of nirguṇa, a little improvement, that is of
infinite value. That won’t leave you. That won’t be destroyed. Api cet
sudurācāro, bhajate mām ananya-bhāk, sādhur eva.
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
[ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
["Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively
unto Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair."]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 18.66]
All these advices make us to have a faith; that my consideration cannot
be taken into comparison with any worldly good or bad.
'dvaite bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba-'manodharma' / 'ei bhāla, ei manda',-ei saba 'bhrama'
["In the
material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental concoctions.
Therefore, saying, ‘This is good, this is bad,’ is a mistake."][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Antya-līlā, 4.176]
The good in a dream - in a dream, a good dream a bad dream both false.
Do you follow? So, in this illusory conceived world, good or bad has got no
value. And to save anyone from this charm of this enchantment, or this glamour,
that help must come from nirguṇa, from the Vaiṣṇava,
from the scripture of the nirguṇa; that is Bhāgavatam,
Gītā, all these things, which springs from nirguṇa
adhikār. We must be all attentive towards that, that nirguṇa can
help us, snatch away our soul in bondage in the saguṇa. The nirguṇa
agents will come and snatch away the soul from the bondage of misconception.
And no saguṇa agent can do it successfully. He’s captive himself.
So the help must come from nirguṇa. And from here the emptiness of
guṇa, that in spite of so much possession of power here I am most
insignificant because this thing has got no value at all. Such aggrievement of
heart makes him fit for nirguṇa, when he comes to know this is all
futile. The possession, sapna samsthita [?] I possess in a dream, so it has got no value. So when he
earnestly prays for the help from the nirguṇa world, from the
proper cent per cent truthful world, then that comes to their help. And no saguṇa
is qualified to help any saguṇa. That will be in his own way.
Deception for deception, chari chari mastata bhai [?], deception
for deception.One blackmailer is exchanging his things with another
blackmailer. Two thieves are exchanging things. None is the real owner, so
blackmailing.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Again perhaps
tomorrow some friends will come.I feel exhausted.
So Charu Swāmī won’t be here tomorrow morning? You’ll have to
go to Calcutta?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: If I’m here Mahārāja I will
possibly come but I might have to go to Calcutta tomorrow morning.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anyhow, Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Prabhu, he’s here, constant. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.Vaiṣṇavānāṁ
yathā śambhuḥ _____________ name is a name of Mahādeva, Śiva. And Śrīmad-Bhāgavata[12.13.16] has given recognition to Śiva as one of the principal
devotees of Kṛṣṇa.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And also Keśava Bhāratī
Mahārāja has come, from south Europe. He was here yesterday; from
south Europe, Italy.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: South Europe, Italy.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What’s your name Prabhu?
Devotee: Nagaraja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nagaraja Prabhu. That is a nonname to me
I think, Nagaraja. Did he come here previously?
Nagaraja Prabhu: A couple of days ago.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, Nagaraja, paramahaṁsa,
four stages of the sannyāsī, the first portion, kuṭicaka,
bahudaka, kuṭicaka means when one is within a cottage. Does
not like to get out of the cottage, and always being in the cottage he goes on
with his meditation, thinking, Kṛṣṇa Nāma, kuṭicaka.And
bahudaka, when he comes out to preach, goes anywhere and everywhere, and
takes daka means water, hudaka means water. Bahudaka means
various kinds of water he takes, he drinks, and moves here and there always. In the length and breadth of the world he may move and go on with
preaching about his own Lord of the heart.Then haṁsa, haṁsa
means one who is eligible to take the important things from ordinary. In the śāstra
there are many kinds of advices suiting to different natures of people. And
the haṁsa, just as the duck [swan] can take out the milk from
water, so he is able to take the gist, the important thing, leaving aside the
ordinary, unnecessary thing; that is haṁsa.And paramahaṁsa,
who is expert in such work, he’s always in sāragrāhī,
essential things. He’s always within essential things and nonessential things
cannot come near him, paramahaṁsa.
parahaṁsa-varaṁ-paramārtha-patim, patit-oddharaṇe
kṛta-veśa-yatim
yati-rāja-gaṇaiḥ-pari-sevya-padaṁ, praṇamāmi
sadā prabhupāda-padam
[O
Śrīla Prabhupāda, all the great mahā-bhāgavat
devotees are surpassed by you, because you are the storehouse-keeper of life’s
highest wealth, pure love for Lord Kṛṣṇa. Simply to rescue
the fallen souls, you accepted the outer garb of a renunciate. Hence, your
divine lotus feet are adorable in every respect by the greatest stalwart sannyāsīs.
I eternally offer my obeisances unto that wonderful effulgence that emanates
from the lotus toe tips of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.][Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja’s Śrī-Śrī-Prabhupāda-padma-stavakaḥ,
10]
You are all Bhaktivedānta parivar, the Bhaktivedānta
group, parivar means group. You are all Bhaktivedānta parivar,
Bhaktivedānta group.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya. Dayal. Dayal Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, this praṇamāmi
sadā prabhupāda-padam, when did you write that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Just after the departure of
Prabhupāda. When Prabhupāda was living only one poem about
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was written by me and Prabhupāda
appreciated very much the argument there. In Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s
poem I wrote,
lokānāṁ hita-kāmyayā bhagavato
bhakti-pracāras tvayā
granthānāṁ racanaiḥ satām abhimatair
nana vidhair darśitaḥ
ācāryaiḥ kṛta-pūrvam eva kila tad
rāmānujādyair budhaiḥ
premāmbho-nidhi-vigrahasya bhavato
māhātmya-sīmā na tat
[Desiring to
benefit the people in general, you preached the Bhāgavata principles
of devotion. Like the great spiritual geniuses Rāmānuja, Mādhva,
Nimbarka, and Viṣṇuswāmī, you composed different
scriptures which reveal the divine philosophical vision of the previous
Ācāryas and great
devotees. But, O Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, O Gurudeva, more than that,
you are a vast ocean of divine love, and your magnanimity knows no bounds.]
[Śrīmad-Bhaktivinoda-viraha-daśakam,
6]
A comparative study of development in the theistic conception, that was
represented, and Prabhupāda liked it very much, appreciated.
yad dhāmnah khalu dhāma caiva nigame brahmeti
sanjñāyāte
yasyāṁśāsya kalaiva duḥkha nikarair
yogeśvarair mṛgyate
vaikuṇṭhe paramukta-bhṛṅga-caraṇo
nārāyaṇo yaḥ svayam
tasyāṁśī bhagavān svayaṁ
rasa-vapuḥ kṛṣṇo bhavān tat-pradāḥ
["The
effulgent, non-differentiated aspect of divinity known as
Brahman is composed of infinite particles of individual consciousness, and has
been considered by the Upaniṣads and by Vedic scholars to be the
halo of the Absolute. The localised plenary portion of Godhead known as
Paramātmā is sought after by the great yogīs practising
extreme penances. Nārāyaṇa Himself, the predominating Lord of
the Vaikuṇṭha planets, whose lotus feet are worshipped and served
by His unexcelled beelike devotees, is only a partial representation of the
original Personality of Godhead. The original or full-fledged aspect of
divinity is Kṛṣṇa. O Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, you
have not come to distribute Brahman or Paramātmā or even
Nārāyaṇabhakti, but SvayaṁBhagavān Kṛṣṇa, the original conception of
the Absolute, who is all-ecstasy. It is you, O Gurudeva, who can gently place
me in His hands, and you have come to give Him to the public."][Śrīmad-Bhaktivinoda-viraha-daśakam,
7]
Brahman conception of the Reality, then Paramātmā conception,
and Nārāyaṇa conception; Brahman conception by the jñānīs,
Śaṅkarites, Paramātmā conception by the yogīs,
and ordinary bhakta they have got Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa
conception. But surpassing that you give up the higher conception of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness; and Kṛṣṇa is so and so, such and such. That
was shown in those hymns.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Both poetry and philosophy combined. There are many books in the world
which have got poetry character. But there are many that have got
philosophical, ontological character. And ontology and poetry combined, such
books are very rare in the world, both poetry and ontology. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
contains both in its superior quality, both kavyam,that’s poetry, beautiful poetry there; and also the ontological
representation is also of the highest type. And in Caitanya-caritāmṛta
both poetic and ontological side we find in its high degree.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ,
kavibhir īḍitaṁ kalmaṣāpaham
śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ
śrīmad-ātataṁ, bhuvi gṛṇanti ye
bhūridā janāḥ
["O Kṛṣṇa,
the nectar of Your words and the narrations of Your pastimes give life to us,
who are always suffering in this material world. This nectar is broadcast all
over the world by great souls, and it removes all sinful reactions. It is
all-auspicious and filled with spiritual power. Those who spread this message
of Godhead are certainly doing the greatest relief work for human society and
are the most magnanimous welfare workers."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.31.9]
We are talking, talking and talking, but about mortality. Just as it is
written in Bhāgavatam[2.3.20],dādurikeva
sūta, the frog also makes noise, and what is the
result? That serpent gets the clue that there is the frog and the serpent comes
and devours him. So all our talking is of that nature. We are only, mis chattering [?] that is all
mortal. Theism, the subject of our talking, speaking, is all mortal and we are
being mortalised. By all our efforts we are only helping
us to be fodder of the god of death. Mortal, by every movement, we are, the
matter is mortal, and we are, being soul, we are only cultivating about chewing
all things that are mortal. And identification is growing in its condition and
dragging us to the mortality, and we are being prey of mortality.
Kṛṣṇa consciousness is just the opposite. To speak
about Kṛṣṇa, try to see Kṛṣṇa, try to move
in Kṛṣṇa in all affairs, and not only will you be above this
mortal area, but you will be able to enter into some positive world, of Kṛṣṇa,
the Reality the Beautiful. Reality, the harmony, beauty and harmony and love,
all similar and almost same: divine. Divine means dedication, at the bottom,
the foundation is dedication, not of exploitation, in the midst of which we are
plodding.
Exploitation, exploiting one another here, we live; our very life is
possible only when we devour our neighbours. So nasty form of life we have got
at present that without creating disturbance into the environment we cannot
live. Without food we cannot live, go on, and food means so many lives to be
killed. So living in this plane, that is a nuisance thing, very nasty. Without
disturbing the environment we cannot maintain ourselves; a very nasty thing.
So we all must promise to leave this land where we are living at
present. And we shall try to enter into another land where we can give, we can
help others, where our living may not create any disturbance to the environment;
such land, a land of dedication. Here, everyone, every unit is an exploiting
agent, cannot but be. But there, everyone is a dedicating unit. And its acme is
in Goloka, in Vṛndāvana, the zenith of dedication, dedicating
tendency. It is spontaneous and it is irresistible rather, irresistible, ahaitukī
and apratihatā. Spontaneous, that is causeless, no cause,
naturally. It was, it is, and it will be. And spontaneous, and apratihatā,
nothing can make or mar. It is of such nature. And that is the position of our
innate nature, really.
And the agents of that land come here to recruit us to that holy land.
And the duty fell on the head of Swāmī Mahārāja to go to
you all in the wide world, to carry this news to you. And you are attracted by
his words, and so many of you have gathered. Our joy knows no bounds to see you
here. The land of Mahāprabhu, wherefrom it began, the flow; though it is
eternal, but in this mundane world, such flow in its brightest colour came,
began from Māyāpur. So with what thankfulness, and what contribution
from our heart we shall try to see that land, the birthplace of such flow. Not
only to save us, but to crown us with the highest success of life eternal. Not
a particular life. This is not only for human beings, a handful of animals, but
it is meant for all, even beasts and trees, stones. It is so light, and so
fine, that it can pierce through the four walls of stone, and can enter like
x-ray, everywhere. Any movement, the wave that is created in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness: that will pierce through everything. No hindrance, apratihatā,
it can go to help. There may be difference in degrees of intensity, but it is
sure that it is passing to the – it comes from Infinite, and it is working also
in the plane of Infinite. No limitation it cares for; it does not recognise any
limitation at all. It is Vaikuṇṭha. Kuṇṭha means
calculation, limit. The talk of the unlimited, in its characteristic, it is
also so, none can limit it, check it, hinder it, oppose it; apratihatā.
It may not be felt; it may not be measured, by the knowledge of our senses. But
it is there and it is progressing.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Any new figures have come?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. More and more are coming every day
now. Later on today I think some more devotees will be coming from America,
South America, and perhaps Canada...
End of 81.03.12.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.12.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, many of the
devotees here right now, they’re presidents of different temples in ISKCON
around the world. So after the GBC meetings there’s also a temple president’s
meeting, in which the GBC resolutions they will be presented to the temple presidents
as a body. So one thing that will be presented is that the decision concerning
the extension of Ācārya-ship:
so it has been decided that it will not be extended.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It won’t be extended?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, and some of the reasons...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is decided in the GBC.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: First the Ācāryaboard then the
GBC.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then the GBC, the decision is final?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. They’re saying indefinitely. That means
for no specified period of time, because...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Because it is not the proper time for
further extension?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No necessity.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right. But they were thinking, many of
them were thinking when they went into the Ācāryaboard meeting to
extend, but taking the last year into consideration, because there were some
difficulties on the level of Ācārya, they were thinking that now is
not the proper – there is not the right atmosphere in our society for
extension. And that those who were to be considered as candidates for
Ācāryathat there was some political motive there, or political
dealing, with some political concern; so they wanted to make it free from such
political concerns. So they have thought to not extend at this point.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So that decision has already been taken,
the important decision. Yesterday such a resolution was taken, only yesterday?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And unanimous, that verdict was
unanimous?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Finally. It’s actually, it may be like
half and half in terms of how people feel, but the verdict is unanimous.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Someone may be willing to forego their
personal feelings for the sake of being unified as a body.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh. Let us wait and see the result, the
consequence. Anyhow, unity is desired; unity and progress, what is desirable.
...
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Conservative,
Liberal, Labour; so many parties: in India there are many parties in the
political world, but in England, Conservative and Liberal, and then came the
Labour party. Three parties we find there. And in America the Democrat and the
Republic, two parties. But the people outside they say there’s very little
difference between the Republic and Democrat. They look like almost the
same.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
There is a famous saying about the definition of democracy by Abraham
Lincoln: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
I used to, when I was in charge of Madras Maṭh, daily class I used
to advertise in the paper for the daily class. Government of the people, it is
true, of the people. And government for the people, it is also tenable. But by
the people is untenable. The mass is ignorant. So vox populi is not vox dei.
Where is this mentioned? [16th century: from Latin, literally ‘the people’s
voice.’]
Vox populi is not vox dei. The voice of the people is not the voice of
God. It is a general saying, “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
These are all unguided, mistaken people. What value may be there in their
voice? They’re all fallen, not up to standard of thinking. They’re being the
fodder of death, their movement, so how can they take us to our desired goal?
asato mā sad gamayo tāmaso mā, jyoti gamayo mṛtyor
mā amṛta gamayo
[“I am mortal, make me eternal. I am ignorant, filled with nescience,
take me to science, knowledge. And I am threatened with misery, guide me
towards bliss.”]
[Bṛhad Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 1st Adhyaya,
3rd Brāhmaṇa, 23rd mantra]
That is the innate and principle of life: to save ones own self, to
become immortal, and to become, out of ignorance, and to become happy. Our very
existence is being threatened every second here where we live. And it is also
threatening to cover our knowledge. And it is always offering, threatening to
swallow us with misery. The misery is threatening to swallow us every second.
These are our standing enemies. We must fight with them in a scientific way,
how to get out of these three born enemies of us, who are always threatening,
our very existence, our very knowledge, and our very sense of happiness,
feeling.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
So the God conception has come in this world. The ideal, above, in the
transcendental realm, even superseding our imagination, how to be happy. The
area of happiness is the area of God. Satan may not enter there, may not have
his influence over Him. So Godly life, that again, what is the conception of
God proper. There is also possibility of comparative study from this side, and
that is our conjecture from here. But in reality there is such position and
such place. And they’re not idle, God is not sitting idle. He’s also sending
His messiah, messenger to this world to recruit, from different positions to
different stages of theism. And there is also gradation.
In the political dominion status a sort of independence, then different
conceptions of political emancipation; so also the general emancipation has
various conceptions. And according to our hankering and demand of our sincere
soul we come to similar class.
There is a possibility of comparison, taṭasthā, both
relative and absolute consideration. Everywhere: both kinds of knowledge,
relative and absolute. The absolute holds the supreme position, but relative is
there and must be there.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Nitāi Gaura Gadādhara. Nitāi Gaura Gadādhara.
Nitāi Gaura Gadādhara. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.Then,
any question?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You don’t have any questions?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No question?
bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś, chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ
kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi, mayi dṛṣṭe
'khilātmani
["The knot
in the heart is pierced, all misgivings are cut to pieces and the chain of
fruitive actions is terminated when I am seen as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead."]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.20.30]
All the questions disappear when we get the solution proper. Bhidyate
hṛdaya-granthiś. Which is almost impossible, unthinkable, such
solution we get from Bhāgavatam. Such a stage is possible. What is
that? Bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś. All the ties are unloosed, in
the heart. The heart is full of different ties. I tie myself with this idea,
this idea, that idea, thousands of ideas I am tying with that. I want. I want.
I like it. I like it. I like it. All the ties are unloosed at once. Such
knowledge may descend in us. At once, all the ties all unnecessary, so many
ties are all unnecessary. Unloose it, unloose it. They’re rather enemy. Let
them, we thought that they’re friend and wanted to tie me with him. Unloose,
unloose, unloose. They’re not friends, all enemies. Bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś.
All the ties of the heart are broken off.
Chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ. This is in the stage of activity, karma,
bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś, and in the layer of knowledge, chidyante
sarva-saṁśayāḥ. There are so many doubts, doubts
after doubts. All doubts cleared. Just as the mist disappears, so all doubts
cleared.
I thought how it is possible, in the beginning. It is impossible. In the
beginning I thought that there the sayings of Bhāgavatam, when Gauḍīya
Maṭh came to say this, something like this, “That this is the truth and
nothing can be, no other conception of truth may be absolute. This is the
absolute”. Then how it is possible? But in my childhood I had some knowledge of
Bhāgavatam. This śloka came to my mind. Yes, Bhāgavata
says there is such stage. It is possible. Chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ.
Free from all doubts, there may be such a stage that we’re free from all doubt.
Then also Upaniṣad came:
yasmin vijñāte sarvam evam vijñātam bhavati
yasmin prāpte sarvam idam prāptam bhavati
["By knowing Him, everything is known, by getting Him,
everything is gained."]
tad viddhi jnasasya tad eva brahman[?]Enquiry is good: but enquire like a proper man, in a proper
scientific way. That enquiry, search, search for a particular thing which
equates to search after everything. Come to search that thing which will solve
all your problems. Searching after this, searching after A, searching after B,
searching after C, dismiss all these mad ideas. Search for one thing which will
satisfy everything. It is possible.tad viddhi jnasasya[?]
Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evam
vijñātam bhavati.
If we know that point everything is known. Yasmin prāpte sarvam idam
prāptam. If you get that thing everything is got. Is it possible? Yes,
it is possible. And when we come to such faith, then there is real faith. It is
śraddhā. It is known as śraddhā, in Sanskrit
language. And perhaps it may be, the similar word in similar meaning as faith,
in English, śraddhā. It is possible. There is the central
truth. If I know that, everything is known. If I get that, everything is got. Yasmin
prāpte sarvam idam prāptam -tad
viddhi jnasasya [?]
If you want to
be a student you study such a thing of absolute characteristic, of the grand
characteristic; not partial, but search for the whole, the conception of the
whole. That is, it takes us to such understanding, the one ruling the
plurality. One unity, the oneness of the whole, and from one point the whole of
our conception is being controlled and ruled; that idea. The one in whole and
the one is the master of the whole. And if I be acquainted with that one the
whole is under me.
Our Guru
Mahārāja, in Bombay, in answering some question he told, “That
suppose a lady, a girl, is very poor, but if she’s married to a prince, the
prince has everything, and through her matrimonial relation she can have
command over the kingdom of her husband.”
This is something
like that. Kṛṣṇa is the paramount power and we have got some
intimate relationship with Him then everything comes within our jurisdiction
through Him, through His love, and my love towards Him. Through that affection
everything may come within my adhikāra, within my power, or
something like that. So in this way we can know. We can know, we can have,
everything. And also, we may not think that to have everything means under us.
That means exploitation. It is not that. That is the tendency is to serve. In
that world exploitation is unknown. I will get chance of serving so many, with
so many assistants also.
Our Guru
Mahārāja used to say, “The whole duty which I find in this mission, I
should do it. It is mine, but I can’t do. So Kṛṣṇa has sent
so many assistants to me. But the responsibility is mine.”
So this sort of spirit must arise in the heart of every servitor. “The
whole thing, it is my duty, I should do the whole. It is the service of my
Lord, my loving Lord, and the whole responsibility is that of mine. But because
it is not possible, so Kṛṣṇa has sent so many helping hands
to me.” In this way everyone will try to accommodate the service of everything.
Just as at present in our crude form of mentality we want master-ship over
everything. In the land of exploitation, generally, our innate nature will be
to be masters of all infinite, that everything will obey me. The whole world
will obey me. But just the opposite; I shall serve the whole world. That is,
the opposite is in our innate nature, to serve all. And such a world is there.
And Kṛṣṇa
is the leader there. Rather, He’s the predominating – if such representation is
possible, and the predominated aspect, half, is Rādhārāṇī.
Predominating and predominated, but both of dedicating stuff. But formally one
is predominating half and another is predominated half.
Proton or
neutron or something like that; what is said? In the centre of the electron,
electron is just like a solar system, and there, all atoms are moving,
electrons are moving in atom, and in the middle the both combined, the neutron
and proton perhaps, one negative and one positive.
But the half, moiety, our Prabhupāda used to use this word.
Predominating Moiety and Predominated Moiety; two halves. Formally,
predominating, aggressor, Kṛṣṇa, and to be aggressed,
Rādhikā, in its highest form possible, dedication.So
Rādhārāṇī’s lookout
is, “All the services of Kṛṣṇa is Mine alone. I take so many
only to help Me.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol.And Gurudeva according to the stages of the devotees are seen in
various planes to play his part. And ultimately enters into
Rādhārāṇī, and Her group, and in taṭasthā-vicāra,amnaya vetirek.
These services are planned to – the anti party is necessary, the
opposition party is necessary to enhance the degree of services. It is
performed by Yogamāyā. Different groups, competition of services. We
are to hear, and vague impression we may receive in our young, lit, the
photographic plane, according to its capacity are deep or vague, so the picture
may have some impression within our heart according to the awakening.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee: I have a question. If one devotee is desiring or hankering
after the responsibility of taking on disciples, does that mean he’s
unqualified to be a Guru, a spiritual
master?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What does he say?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: His question is that if someone is
hankering after the responsibility of accepting disciples, does this mean that
– is that to be interpreted as a disqualification?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It depends, it is laudable, but it
depends upon the purity of purpose, sincerity.Do you follow?
Devotee: How will that be understood?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is, at his risk he can do. There’s
the śāstra, the sādhu, then the right. His ultimate decision with his conscience. If he’s sincere he’s
all right. But if other elements are mixed in
that desire, the bhukti, mukti, pratiṣṭhā,
mainly pratiṣṭhā, name and fame, then he will have to
take the risk and reap the result accordingly. Otherwise, on the whole, it is a
good thing. But at the same time it may be tested in that way, if he thinks
there are superior Ācāryas and
if he weighs the good of the disciple he may carry him to that
Ācārya. But if he finds there is none to help him, and I can help him
to certain extent, sincerely, then he should go at once to help him. Otherwise
he’ll be a criminal. One man is drowning and I can rescue him, I must come
forward. But there is possibility that in going to rescue him I may also drown.
Then he’ll bring another gentleman, “Oh. Stronger man, help him, he’s
drowning.” So the purity of our purpose, that is the highest response with
which we are to judge it.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Sundara. Gaura Haribol.
A patient is
suffering, and I know something of treatment, I shall come forward to help him.
But a better doctor is available, then I shall try to help him in that way.
Otherwise I shall go with my sincere desire to help him. It’s something like
that. I have got – I had a disease, I got medicine from my Guru
Mahārāja, and I think that I’m improving, my health is improving, I’m
getting out of the disease. That medicine I may recommend in the case of
another similar patient. But there also, it is mentioned in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa,
when one rushes to take the responsibility of deliverance, and when there is
another, higher man, to deal with the case, he’ll be criminal.
Anyadhikari
ācārya, bhatta mani, nimbadhikari_____________________________ [?]
A better doctor is
available, but for my trade, for my selfish purpose, I run to, rush to take the
patient in my care; that will be criminal.But none to help, then whatever
little knowledge I have got I must utilise that for his betterment. Na hi
kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ tāta gacchati.
[pārtha naiveha nāmutra, vināśas tasya
vidyate
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ
tāta gacchati]
["O Arjuna,
son of Kuntī, the unsuccessful yogī does not suffer ruination
either in this life or the next. He is not deprived of the pleasures of the
heavenly planetary systems in this universe, nor is he denied the chance to
personally see the Supersoul in the divine realm. This is so, O dear one,
because a person who performs virtuous actions never becomes ill-fated."]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
6.40]
If purities purpose is there, that is invincible. None can defeat him,
or make any harm of him. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Sincerity. Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
Devotee: Mahārāja, the situation may also arise where a group
of senior devotees, some of whom may be qualified themselves to take on this
responsibility, may desire that some other specific personalities be chosen to
be able to deliver the...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A jīva soul’s personal
opinion, I think this decision is unhappy and injudicious. The decision of the
GBC is unhappy and injudicious, it seems to me. And the consequence will be
that many independent Ācāryas will
spring up, will stand up, as a result of this bigoted policy. This is my
personal opinion. And I wanted to save the ISKCON from such reaction. But they
should be accommodating and expanding. They should expand themselves. They’re
doing it in a particular way, that making disciples, the expansion. From
outside the ISKCON, with some little knowledge we have got in my life, with all
sincerity I wanted to help the ISKCON that the organisation with its prestige
they can go on for some time, safely. But the Divine
Will we must work in its own way.
In Hegelian
language, the thesis, antithesis, synthesis. Whenever anything happens some
opposite happenings occur. And then again greater synthesis is the outcome in
future. So we must submit to the inevitable. We shall have to submit to the
inevitable.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Sometimes what we do not do, willingly, voluntarily, we are forced to do that,
with some punishment. Not always, let us
see what way the Divine Will goes, Divine, the sweet will of Kṛṣṇa;
what way He passes. Let us wait and see.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
I am – my heart aches to hear that many important persons have already
become indifferent and many vanished.That gentleman whose reaction is very
deplorable, I was known to him, that Pradyumna. First he came with eighteen
points complaining against the present GBC and the Ācāryaboard. “I
represent the general body of the non Ācārya, non GBC members.
They’re moving in this way and there are eighteen points of objection from us
against them.”
I saw that many of them were not objectionable, but I asked him, wait
and see. Many of my friends I advised only wait and see. Don’t do anything
hurriedly. Hurriedly you’ll have to repent. Especially when your Guru
Mahārāja Prabhupāda – so many sincere and good friends whom I
cannot mention but with little difficulty in my mind, with some pain in my
mind. According to me they’re all sincere devotees came. But they could not
have any room within the fold of ISKCON and disappeared. And some of them are
prey to reaction, prey to reaction I’m told.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: United we stand, divided we fall. That
is providence. What I can do?Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.So accommodating nature would have been better according to me. But
what – the Kṛṣṇa’s will, we must submit to that, submit to
that. And thereby we won’t be losers, we won’t be losers. His will, His will
goes this side. It may be pleasing to me. In this way we shall try.
tat te 'nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo,
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidhadhan namas te, jīveta yo
mukti-pade sa dāya bhāk
[Lord Brahmā said: "One who, in the hope of achieving Your
grace, goes on enduring the inauspicious fruit of his own karma, and
passes his days practising devotion unto You in every thought, word, and deed -
such a person is heir to the land of freedom: he attains to the plane of
positive immortality."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.14.8]
And also the last Śikṣāṣṭaka śloka
of Mahāprabhu,
āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu
mām, adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā
yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo,
mat-prāna-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ
["Kṛṣṇa may embrace me in love or trample me
under His feet. He may break my heart by hiding Himself from me. Let that
debauchee do whatever He likes, but He will always be the only Lord of my
life."] [Śikṣāṣṭakam, 8]
His sweet will may move this side, that side, in my favour, against me,
still, I must submit to that supreme absolute will.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.Let us hope that their decision may help the
ISKCON, by the will of Kṛṣṇa, it may not bring any disaster
in the organisation. Let us hope and pray.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare.ISKCON is a newborn
child, a newborn child. There may be many child enemies, so we shall pray to
the Lord that the child may grow to be a strong young man, and do the desired
service of its founder, Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja.
Gaura Haribol. With these good wishes we shall pray to him.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa
Hare Hare.
[pārtha naiveha nāmutra, vināśas tasya vidyate]
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ
tāta gacchati
["O Arjuna,
son of Kuntī, the unsuccessful yogī does not suffer ruination
either in this life or the next. He is not deprived of the pleasures of the
heavenly planetary systems in this universe, nor is he denied the chance to
personally see the Supersoul in the divine realm. This is so, O dear one,
because a person who performs virtuous actions never becomes ill-fated."]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
6.40]
With a great
campaign, the highest campaign the world has ever seen. The expansion of the
creed of love of the Absolute in the religious sky. So its expansion, its happy
movement is to be wished and prayed for by all. Mahāprabhu’s grace may
reach to every corner of the unknown corner of the world, and so many souls may
receive that nectar.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
End of 81.03.12.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.12.D
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Devotee: ...that
the Vaiṣṇava philosophy would indicate that any senior, sober,
disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda should be able to accept disciples,
rather than just by some appointment.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What does he say?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He’s saying there’s a feeling among many
devotees that among the senior disciples of Prabhupāda that they should be
allowed to accept disciples.
Devotee: And it
shouldn’t be based on appointment.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And it should not be based on
appointment.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They may think from their standpoint,
‘If we allow one, the two will come, then many will come, everyone will say
that I must have otherwise I will revolt.’ From their standpoint if I am to
think, so they may think like that, in this way. ‘If one opening then many
opening we’ll have to endure. With recognition of two or three this year, then
next year many will flock together, ‘we want’, and then the threatening will
come. So we must stand rigid. We have got a good position now that our
Prabhupāda has recommended this and there is no explicit saying from him
that extend yourself gradually. So we are in strong foundation at present. But
if we come down to take any other advantageous position then we may loose our
position for all. And now there is eleven, then there will be a hundred, and we
cannot be able to quench the thirst of the ambitious persons. So we are in durga,
in a fort, that Prabhupāda has sanctioned only these eleven. We must not
get out of the fort. That will be dangerous for us.’That may be their position
at present, they think, ‘This is political.’ And according to me this is also
political stand; stand in a firm position within the fort, given by
Prabhupāda. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: They’re thinking that later more can be
added, but right now in our society...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. They’ll be put in fire, when one is
going to die, then he’ll think, ‘I must have nomination from my disciples, in
my place.’ There they’ll come before the test. When one is departing, at that
time his spontaneous desire will come to find his successor from amongst his
disciples. And the real fight will begin at that time. He won’t like to give
nomination to God-brothers, but perhaps one of his disciples, to keep his name
eternal. And there the real test will come at that time. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Suppose if one of the eleven severs his connection with them, then what
will they do? To keep up the number full, eleven, they will take in another new
person, or not? Then ten will be the number. The eleven as spoken by
Swāmī Mahārāja that will lose its character, so eleven must
be, so one God-brother should be taken in, or ten will work?
There will be difficulties, so independent action will be necessary, but
if not now, a little later it may be. But only the difficulty is that so many sincere
souls they’re going away from the organisation. And they cannot keep their
position while single and they’re going down. That is our sorrow. Otherwise it
does not matter whether eleven Ācāryas
or one Ācārya. It does not matter. But those that have come under the
banner of Swāmī Mahārāja, if they lose their purity of
life, then that is to be mournful. Only this much, this is what is aching me. I
knew some of them personally.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
And I advised them all, wait and see. Don’t go to take any adverse
steps. Wait submissively. And maybe, just as too much grandeur, and in
competition to show the position of every Ācārya that he commands
more men and more money. This is undesirable. Rather, if the competition would
have been otherwise, one is helping another in his gorgeousness, according to
the qualification, that would have been a more happier thing, more happy thing.
But after all, His will, will go on. And that is our solace. Our
consolation will be that. It may not suit or please me, my heart, but I cannot
expect, I should not expect, that everything, all events will satisfy me,
they’re only to satisfy me. No. His will should be satisfied at any cost and
every cost. So patiently we shall have to take what happens, practically. We won’t
allow ourselves to be perturbed much as to do something which will go against
this decision. Though not with full heart, still, we shall try to accommodate
with it. That attitude should be better according to me. But when God wishing
it will be – it may take another way any time.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Our solace will
be, His will may not be challenged or may not be opposed. Let us try to be
happy with the decision. And He will see.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.We
should not allow ourselves to be identified with the disturbing element. It may
go against the organisation built up by Swāmī Mahārāja. So
toleration: that will be laudable, according to me. Wait and see.
There is a
saying:suhasya sigram aso misra kalo harmam [?]When Rāvaṇa
was killed, informally, and his life, still he was living but he was sure to
die very soon, at that time Rāmacandra sent Lakṣmaṇa: “Go
approach Rāvaṇa and ask him some advice about rāja-nīti,
political conduct.” He had long experience, cuda-yuga, fourteen yugas.
So Lakṣmaṇa went to Rāvaṇa and asked advice how to
conduct the kingdom, “What policy should we accept?”
Rāvaṇa told one thing:suhasya sigram aso misra kala
haranam [?]“What is good we should do it immediately, and what is bad we
should take time, we should take time after time.”kala haranam [?]
And he also gave example from his life. “When Śurpanākha, my
sister, came and reported to me that her nose and ears had been cut by Lakṣmaṇa,
knowing fully well that to enter into war with Rāmacandra that is not an
easy task. That is bad. Still I hurriedly took up and I am going to be
finished. I am almost finished for that. But I had a good plan also in my mind,
that this salty sea must be replaced by the milky sea.Ksiyo sarga [?]We
are around with the sea of salt, but there is a sea of milk. I must change.I
could do it, but,kala haranam [?]Yes, I shall do, I shall do. In this
way I lingered and I could not do that good thing. Because it was a good thing
on the whole and I did not take it immediately so I could not do it. And this
bad thing immediately I took up and I am dying now.”
So suha [?] things which are good, primavesi[?] from theprimaves[?] view, what is
good we must do immediately, and what is undesirable we shall wait for that to
take any action against it. Wait and wait. Then perhaps if my plan is good it
will come out naturally. After a little time it may come naturally.
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
What’s the time now?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: It’s nine thirty five.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nine thirty five?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And today you came here, you reached
here what time?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: At eight o clock.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Eight o clock.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So one hour and a half engagement with
you; and sometime before you with these friends.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. So I think we’ll take your leave
now.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. You may take leave now.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Tridaṇḍī Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja ki jaya.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swāmī
Mahārāja ki jaya.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sevā Vṛnda ki jaya. Sevā
Vṛnda ki jaya.Sevā Vṛnda ki jaya.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.What does he
say?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He says, “By your mercy we can become
free from this political consciousness and become Kṛṣṇa
conscious.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. That we want from our heart, whole
of my heart, that I want you all to be happy with Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, and also you can spread it. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I was thinking, your name is Bhakti Rakṣaka,
so we have the bhakti-latā-bīja must be protected from Vaiṣṇava
aparādha and Nāma aparādha and by your kind
advices you’re protecting us from these serious offences.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Let God decide in our favour, what you say, we
may be saved from Vaiṣṇava aparādha and other aparādha.
That is the highest interest of us all.Nitāi. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Haribol.
End of 81.03.12.D
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.13.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
[About thirty five seconds with Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja and Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja in Bengali conversation]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, the devotees they
also want to give some dhan.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What are they? Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Nitāi Caitanya.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
What is your point?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So can we ask you some questions about
paintings for Brahma-saṁhitā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Do it.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Sometimes we would ask questions, the
artists would put questions to Prabhupāda on the details, and he would
think that, he would describe this sometimes as teasing, that these questions
would tease him, because sometimes they may be a little intricate. So we hope
not to be too intellectual about it, but if we can ask the questions simply or
clearly and you could give some advice.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Let me hear then I can say.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: [To another devotee] This is my own
list, you have yours.
Devotee: The first
painting that we want to do is in the first verse and the second verse there is
description of Gokula Vṛndāvana as thousand petal lotus with Kṛṣṇa
in the centre. And in the twenty sixth verse there is description of Lord
Brahmā’s meditation on the thousand petal lotus of Goloka Vṛndāvana
with Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs.
So we want to do one painting of the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet with
Rādhā Kṛṣṇa surrounded by the gopīs.
So...
Devotee: Do you
have the exact questions written down, did you write them down?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: _____________________ I just have these little extra comments that
RāmeśvaraMahārāja made.
Devotee: So it is
described that Rādhā Kṛṣṇa are seated on a divine
throne, and the whorl of the lotus flower where They are seated is described as
a hexagonal figure. So we were wondering, what is the meaning that it’s a
hexagonal figure, the whorl of the lotus?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I am sorry that we are not to enter into
the discussion of such higher and subtle position of the līlā of
Rādhā Kṛṣṇa. That is not to be brought into public.
And that is the distinction of Gauḍīya Maṭh and the sahajiyā
section. They’re trying to imitate all these things. But we are not, we have no faith in imitation. It will come in individual case
and it will awaken in an irresistible way when the programme of the sādhana
stage is finished, it will come automatically, spontaneously. We are
believers in that. Not to know the form already, and then we’ll reach there,
that is not the policy accepted by Guru Mahārāja Prabhupāda.
pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge,
[mattala hari-jana viṣaya
range]
["The path of divine love is worshippable to us and should be held
overhead as our highest aspiration."] [Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura]
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura also said, “Stick to the rulings of the
class you are fit for, then you’ll see automatically.”
yathā yathā gaura padāravinde, vindeta bhaktiṁ
kṛta puṇya rāśiḥ
tathā tathot sarpati hṛdy akasmāt,
rādhā padāmbhoja sudhāmbhu-rāśiḥ
[Prabodhānanda
Saraswatī Ṭhākura says: "As much as we devote ourselves to
the lotus feet of Śrī Gaurāṅga, we will automatically
achieve the nectarine service of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī
in Vṛndāvana. An investment in Navadwīpa Dhāma will
automatically take one to Vṛndāvana. How one will be carried there
will be unknown to him. But those who have good fortune invest everything in
the service of Gaurāṅga. If they do that, they will find that
everything has automatically been offered to the divine feet of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. She will accept them
in Her confidential service and give them engagement, saying: "Oh, you
have a good recommendation from Navadwīpa; I immediately appoint you to
this service."]
[Caitanya-Candrāmṛta,
88]
Strictly stick to Gaura līlā, Mahāprabhu, and you
will find automatically within your heart that the rādhā-rasa-sudhānidhi
is flowing. Don't attempt directly to have it.
Vaiṣṇava, heta mālī
sece nitya śravaṇa-kīrttanādi jala [?]
[mālī hañā kare sei bīja āropaṇa,
śravaṇa-kīrttana-jale karaye secana]
["When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should
take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he
waters the seed gradually by the process of śravaṇa and kīrtana,
the seed will begin to sprout."][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
19.152]
[tāhāṅ vistārita hañā phale
prema-phala, ihāṅ mālī sece nitya śravaṇādi
jala]
["The
creeper greatly expands in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet, and there it
produces the fruit of love for Kṛṣṇa. Although remaining in
the material world; the gardener regularly sprinkles the creeper with the water
of hearing and chanting."] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā,
19.155]
It will come automatically, spontaneously. Not intellectually you are to
approach that. That will give you a bad prejudice. Not only that, a harmful
prejudice and you will have to have more energy to do away with that layer of
misunderstanding.So our Prabhupāda did not allow these things. Do your
duty in your plane, what you deserve, and that will come naturally. That is his
instruction all through, not only temporarily, but all through.Don't go to be a
disbeliever and very eager to see the final result. Don't do like that, for
then you will get māyā
instead of Yogamāyā. He knows it fully well, She knows it fully well,
when you are to be taken in to the confidential area, and that cannot be
acquired by any other thing but His sweet will - the flow of Her sweet will, or
His sweet will. Try to have the natural thing, not any thing of imitation or
any reflection. Reflection and shadow, these two kinds of misconceptions may
come there. Reflection is more dangerous. In HariNāmaalso it has been
stated like that. Reflection and shadow, both are misguiding. And we are to
cross that. In our way that sort of temptation may come, but we must not think
that everything will come within the fist of our intellect.
acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs
tarkeṇa yojayet
[prakṛtibhyaḥ paraṁ yacca tad-acintyasya lakṣam]
["That which is inconceivable can never be understood through the
logic and reason of the mind. The very symptom that something is inconceivable
is that it is beyond logical comprehension."] [Mahābharata, Bhiṣma
Parva, 5.22]&[Skanda-Purāṇa]
Which is inconceivable, don’t take it under the jurisdiction of reason.
When it will be extended to you, you’ll be astounded only to find a peep into
that. Na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet. Don't try to drag that
into the zone of reason. This is autocratic in its nature. It may come in one
shape to you; it may go in another shape to another gentleman. It is so
expansive and so free in its nature. It is infinite. Rather the Infinite is the
base of those pastimes. And always prepare yourself, hanker, but don't make it
an object of experience.
When Mahāprabhu also talked about that as if in a trance; as if in
a trance He’s giving description of His wonderful experience of Kṛṣṇa
līlā. Several times we found that sort of deep līlā,
the higher līlā of Kṛṣṇa, to be related by
Mahāprabhu Himself. Govardhana līlā, and the Jāla-keli
when He jumped unconsciously into the ocean and for few hours carried by the taraṅga,
waves of the sea, He was carried to Chakra tīrtha from Sagrada. The Jāla-keli
of Kṛṣṇa He has described how it is.
And also in Caṭaka-parvata,
no end to His līlā, when His body was transformed like that of
a – pumpkin, then also He described the līlā. But the nature
of that description, not any book produced thing, it cannot be taken into black
and white; it’s such thing.
So we received caution, often, that don’t try, it will come
automatically. Go on with the programme that is given by śāstra and
Guru. And it will be; if you have such a
possibility of fortune then it will come to you. Not a matter of experience and
it can be given to this and that – not to be tackled in such a way.
Yathā yathā gaura
padāravinde. Engage
your full attention in Gaura līlā and that will come
automatically within you. From indirect way it will come to you, from higher domain.
When He will be pleased it will come down, for some time to give you experience
and you will simply be astonished – “What is this?” Then again when gone, it is
drawn, you will have nothing to lament. A living thing - try to come to get, to
hope. We cannot make it the object of our, such higher thing. An ordinary man’s
conduct with his intimate friends, that is very hard to get. And the secret līlā
of the Supreme Lord, how we can dare to enter into: and especially
publicly. That is not possible. Externally we can try to have, to give some
description of the outer possibilities, and not actual thing.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So they can do something general.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: We won’t venture to enter. In general...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Like lotus flower.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Lotus flower representing the idea of beauty, softness, all these things, lotus
flower, and in different petals representing different platforms of rasam.
In this way, such way we can take it, beauty, softness.
No mundane ideas should be drawn there; only a distant similarity. But
categorical difference there should be; there will be always.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Even we were not allowed by our master to read the books where they’re
described – Govinda-līlāmṛtam, and even Stava-Kusumañjalī,
even Ujjvala-Nīlamaṇi – he did not allow us to study and
discuss it. Rather, he would have been feeling very much disturbed if he heard
that someone is interfering with those higher līlās in those
books. He did not like it.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, one question I had
on that subject...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Duṣṭa-phala karibe
arjjana. [Kalyāṇa Kalpataru, Upadeśa 18]
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is giving warning that you’ll get only a bad
result if you venture to cross the line; a bad effect will come to you, aparādha.
From the lower position, as anartha, the steps are shown. Śraddhā,
sādhu-saṅga, śravana, kīrtana, then anartha-nivṛtti, undesirable things will vanish altogether, anartha-nivṛtti.
Then ruci, then āsakti, then bhāva-bhakti, the sprout of real devotion; then prema-bhakti, and sneha,
māna, praṇaya, rāga, anurāga, bhāva,
mahābhāva. By such steps we are to approach there.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Once Prabhupāda remarked – how you will take it I don’t know. One gentleman, of course he was a senior; he wanted to discuss
these things with Prabhupāda, and he laid much stress to that. And
ultimately he left the association of Prabhupāda and lived a secluded
life. But previously he did much service to the mission; that gentleman.
Prabhupāda
remarked, “Oh. His true life, he’s married with Kṛṣṇa and she
has got a child.” Something, such remark Prabhupāda made.He was a man, but
taking him as a gopī he wanted to culture about the life of the gopīs
and to intimate connection of Kṛṣṇa and gopī in
this way he wanted to culture intensely and Prabhupāda remarked in that
way.“Oh. He has turned into a lady, a gopī, and after coming in
contact with Kṛṣṇa she produced a child.”
Gaura Haribol.
And another time, the Guru Mahārāja of Prabhupāda, Gaura
Kiśora Bābājī, he was in a hut near the Ganges. Another
disciple of Prabhupāda, Kṛṣṇa
Caitanya or something, he imitated,
leaving Prabhupāda, he imitated Prabhupāda’s Gurudeva, Gaura
Kiśora Bābājī, and constructed a tiny hut nearby and
imitated his bhajan, HariNāma, and the alocana, the discussion
of Narottama Ṭhākura, all these things, and observed strict vairāgyam
in his physical life.
Gaura Kiśora Bābājī remarked one day, “That only by
entering the room of labour...”
When a lady
gives birth to the child she’s in a room, is it not? In a special room, here
that is called atudhar [?] atu means rogi [?]____________ [?] “So if a lady enters into the room of that
labour and shows, imitates some pain of giving birth to a child; then child
won’t come by imitation of the sound. There are many things before, many
important previous events there must be, then the child will come. Only imitation
won’t give birth to a child.”That was his remark to that gentleman.
So śuddha-sattva,
you must come in connection with what is known as śuddha-sattva.
First viśuddha-sattva, nirguṇa world, śuddha-sattva
means nirguṇa; sattva-guṇa and viśuddha-sattva –
coming in connection with that nirguṇa; then only you may try to
approach the subtle happenings or events there. So not to satisfy curiosity –
where fools rush in angels fear to tread, fools rush in where angels fear to
tread. So in this spirit we must approach the whole thing.At the same time we
may not be, by God’s grace, disbelievers. ‘So give me, I shall judge the whole
thing to the details; then I shall accept what you say.’ There are many things
below. The charm and reasonable-ness of that is enough to convince a person to
come this side, and they should be left high above our head. So very cautiously
we are to handle all this līlā, especially mādhurya-līlā.Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Yes, the other day I was thinking, when I’d joined the mission for about
a year, Prabhupāda arranged for one full month Kārtika-māss to preach in Vṛndāvana, and asked the
Mahārāja, Bharati Mahārāja at that time, to “Explain the
seventh canto, the story of Prahlāda, not of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa,
or Yaśodā, or anything of Vṛndāvana. But preach śuddha-bhakti
of Prahlāda first. They’re all rife in business as sahajiyā.
Just try to make them understand that enter into the domain of bhakti.
What about Kṛṣṇa līlā, that is far, far
above.”
So in Vṛndāvana they rather wondered, ‘What is this? In Vṛndāvana
they’re explaining Bhāgavata leaving the tenth canto, only seventh
canto, Prahlāda līlā, the lower portion of bhakti.”
That was wonderful and strange. Again I found later on when
Prabhupāda himself he gave lecture between Rādhā-kuṇḍa
and Śyāma-kuṇḍa. There is a boundary line. Have you gone
there – Vṛndāvana?
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rādhā-kuṇḍa and
Śyāma-kuṇḍa and there is a boundary, and there
Prabhupāda used to explain for a few days, and Upadeśāmṛta
of Rūpa Goswāmī, that was read by him and explained. Not
about Rādhārāṇī, not about Kṛṣṇa,
that Upadeśāmṛta, the basis. His attention was always
towards the basis and the fruit will come of itself. Pour water into the root,
pour water into the root, and fruit will come of itself. So he himself he
explained sitting in the middle of both Rādhā-kuṇḍa and
Śyāma-kuṇḍa and he explained not only Bhāgavatam but
Upadeśāmṛta. Upadeśāmṛta you know?
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That substance of Mahāprabhu and
the language of Rūpa Goswāmī. What are they?
vāco vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ,
jihvā-vegam udaroprastha-vegam
[etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ,
sarvām apīmāṁ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt]
["A sober
person who can control the urge to speak, the mind's demands, the actions of
anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make
disciples all over the world."][Upadeśāmṛta, 1]
All these things:
kṛṣṇeti yasya giri taṁ
manasādriyeta, dīkṣāsti
cet praṇatibhiś ca bhajantam īśam
śuśrūṣayā [bhajana-vijñam ananyam
anya-, nindādi-śūnya-hṛdam
īpsita-saṅga-labdhyā]
[“One should mentally honour the devotee who chants the Holy Name of
Lord Kṛṣṇa, one should offer humble obeisances to the devotee
who has undergone spiritual initiation (dīkṣā) and is
engaged in worshipping the Deity, and one should associate with and faithfully
serve that pure devotee who is advanced in undeviated devotional service and
whose heart is completely devoid of the propensity to criticise others.”] [Upadeśāmṛta,
5]
All these; in this way; and last is:
kṛṣṇasyochchaiḥ praṇaya-vasatiḥ
preyasībhyo 'pi rādhā-
kuṇḍaṁ cāsyā munibhir abhitas
tādṛg eva vyadhāyi
yat preṣṭhair apy alam asulabhaṁ kiṁ
punar bhakti-bhājāṁ
tat premedaṁ sakṛd api saraḥ snātur
āviṣkaroti
["Of the many objects of favoured delight and of all the loveable
damsels of Vrajabhūmi, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī
is certainly the most treasured object of Kṛṣṇa's love. And,
in every respect, Her divine kuṇḍa is described by great
sages as similarly dear to Him. Undoubtedly Rādhā-kuṇḍa
is very rarely attained even by the great devotees; therefore it is even more
difficult for ordinary devotees to attain. If one simply bathes once within
those holy waters; one's pure love of Kṛṣṇa is fully
aroused."] [Upadeśāmṛta, 11]
This is the last śloka in Upadeśāmṛta.
That was explained by Prabhupāda. Not even anything of Govinda-līlāmṛtam,
or Viśvanātha Chakravartī's Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Bhāvanāmṛta
- these things were left. So our training was in that line, pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge. That is always on our head, that the prospect of our life’s
future, life after life. It cannot be finished. We shall rather foster the
hope, the pure hope that we shall, may be taken in one day in that camp, with
this idea.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, sometimes in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta
Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Goswāmī he’s making
reference to Govinda-līlāmṛtam, Ujjvala-Nīlamaṇi,
these other confidential selected works. How are we to take that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: These three chapters were generally – we
were not allowed to enter into of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the catudas,
adi-catudas, and madhyam-līlā of Rāmānanda
Rāya – to certain extent where the līlā portion of
Rādhā Govinda is mentioned then we had no entrance into that līlā.
Adi-catuda or something like Svarūpa Dāmodara and – of course
when parayana is going on we read, go on reading, making parayana.
But not to enter into details of discussion about that thing; three chapters...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What do you mean by parayana?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Parayana means from the beginning
to chant the whole book; finish the whole book. That is parayana.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Continuous reading.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Then we went on reading, but without giving any particular attention to the līlā
of the highest order of Rādhā Govinda. That was barred. Don’t try
to come into details there. That will come automatically when the time will be.
Don’t make it a discussion of the public. Don’t take it in the public eye.
So much so, Prabhupāda once while in Vṛndāvana, he had
got a bala bandhu, a friend of his
childhood, one attorney there. And he came to see him, so he went to give a
return visit, Prabhupāda, to his boyhood friend. Then he saw – this
Paramahaṁsa Mahārāja was with him at that time, now Paramahaṁsa
Mahārāja is at Calcutta, Mahānanda Brahmacārī
previously, he was with Prabhupāda. And he went to give the return visit,
and when he’s told ‘he’s upstairs’ and he went there and saw the Pran
Gopāl Goswāmī he’s explaining Bhāgavatam, rasa
līlāuday. Prabhupāda
just bowed down his head and he came away, immediately came away.
Then his friend came, leaving that rasa līlā uday there
going on, explanation. His friend also came down. “Yes, the rasa
līlā is going on in the explanation. And you did not take your
seat at all and you just bowed down your head and coming down. What is the
matter?”
“Our Guru’s order is such, that if you attend rasa līlā
explanation you will commence offence; that will be offence to attend rasa
līlā. So I can’t stand there, even for a second. I had to come
back. This is my Guru’s order, so aparādha.”
So for us, such a strict behaviour he has shown. And we also do that,
especially myself. So many other places: the jhulana līlā, the
rasa līlā, they show by dolls. I never do that. What’s true to
my understanding of my Gurudeva’s will or his words I don’t make any show of jhulana
or rasa līlā of the type. I find in my heart that this was
not desirable by Prabhupāda. But in so many Maṭhs I see at present, I hear also that they’re doing that. But I strictly abstain
from that sort of showing, the jhulana līlā or rasa
līlā; that is too high for us, I considered. I must be true to my
hearing of the words of my Gurudeva if I want my realisation and not my
position. The position or some sort of popularity to attract people by such
show and to make money or to make a favourable field for preaching, they may do
like that. But I don’t do. I don’t want popularity. Nor any position of a
higher Ācārya. I am a student, still I am a student, I consider
myself to be a student, a faithful student. What I heard from my Gurudeva I try
my best to stick there, to keep my position there as I heard from him. I don’t
want to mutilate that in any way to suit my purpose. I try not to do that. So –
of course, for big propaganda they may take different ways as they think
they’re now free. But I’m not a member to do so, to go on in such a way. I try
because – ha ha...
When Prabhupāda offered me to go to the west and I told simply that
“I don’t consider myself fit to go there to the west, I won’t be able to show
success there for such defects.” Two defects I showed.
The some of the sannyāsīns they showed much reverence
to me, “What is this? So many persons there to take and you lose this chance,
you don’t, you neglect to take advantage of such a position that you’ll be a
world preacher. You have no hankering for that?”
I told, “Yes Mahārāja, I have no hankering for such position.
My only humble ambition is that I may be reckoned as a sincere devotee of
Mahāprabhu Śrī Caitanyadeva. No other ambition I have in my
mind, to become a world preacher and so on.”
So in my nature I’m such and such, I want truth, and I hope, I crave for
the mercy of the Vaiṣṇavas, and you all, that I may not have that
ambition, but to be the humblest, most humble servant of the Lord, I may not be
misguided.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
I may engage myself in the lower form of service. Tad
dāsa-dāsa-dāsānāṁ dāsatvaṁ dehi me
prabho. My faith may be so firm, and may be of such quality, that the least
offer of His service, of divine service, may satisfy me. I may not be ambitious
to run high, to get the chance there in the higher officer class, with my
lowest connection with the divinity I may go on satisfied with my life.Gaura
Haribol.
Pāda-dhūlī – Mahāprabhu says, “Just consider myself as a dust at the feet of You, Kṛṣṇa.”What
is that śloka?
ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ, patitaṁ māṁ
viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ
vicintaya
["O son of Nanda Mahārāja, I am Your eternal servant, yet
because of my own karma, I have fallen into this terrible ocean of birth
and death. Accept this fallen soul and consider me a particle of dust at Your
holy lotus feet."] [Śikṣāṣṭakam, 5]
“Consider me to be one of the dusts that is in Your feet.”That may be our guidance. That is too much. Our faith
should come to such a great – in quality – that we may be satisfied to become a
dust in His feet. Then, by His sweet will it may happen, anything. But our
humble aim should be to have the least connection of the divinity real. Not a
concocted Kṛṣṇa.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol.Pūjāla
rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge. Very sweet, the rāgapaṭha is on the head, the rāgapaṭha,
we are servants of the rāgapaṭha. We are in viddhi
mārga, under śāstric rule. We must live and move
under śāstric rule and always keep the rāgapaṭha
on our head.
Once Prabhupāda, while in Rādhā-kuṇḍa, one panda,
he in his talk made aside remark that, “We are brāhmaṇas in
Braja. We can bless [Raghunātha] Dāsa Goswāmī.”
And Prabhupāda was perturbed by such haughty remark. “Dāsa
Goswāmī is the highest Ācārya in our Gauḍīya
camp. And that fellow he says that he’s able to bless Dāsa
Goswāmī. And I’m to hear that?”He left taking food, he won’t take
food.And he remarked, “If I was an ordinary bābājī I
wouldn’t care and would leave the place. But I’m running with the motor car
here, like an Ācārya. I have got the responsibility, moving here in
the pose of an Ācārya that I shall protect the sampradāya.
I shall brush the dust, the undesirability from the sampradāya. In
a motor car I am running on the Vṛndāvana. How can I tolerate such
remark against my Guru?”He left food. “No. I won’t – if no praticar –
arrangement for any relief or something like that – is made by me I won’t take
any food. I can’t take any food.”
And Prabhupāda’s fasting so we’re all fasting. Then one influential
person when he heard the news he came and he anyhow managed to take that brāhmaṇa
and he begged pardon. “Excuse me. I’m an ordinary man, a fallen fellow. I
do not know the greatness of Dāsa Goswāmī. He came in a caste of
a śūdra family and I’m in a brāhmaṇa family.
With general inclination I made such remark. But now I find that I committed
mistake. Please forgive me.”
Then of course it was minimised and Prabhupāda took food and we
also took food.
Pūjāla rāgapaṭha
gaurava bāṅge. Gaurava bāṅge. Always his posing was like that of a protector, or not only
protector, but a servant protector of the sampradāya.He himself
remarked, he said, “Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had taken a pose that ‘I am
a jarudar, the jarudar means
who rubs away the dirt. The Nityānanda Prabhu’s Nāma-hatta,
and I am a jarudar. One with a broomstick in his hand he brushes the
dirt, clears – he’s jarudar, sweeper...”
End of 81.03.13.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.03.13.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...[Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura]
told that, “I’m the sweeper in the Nāma-hatta of Nityānanda
Prabhu.”
And Prabhupāda told that, “I’m one of the sticks in the broomstick
in the hands of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
is jarudar, the broomstick
in his hand. I’m one of the sticks.”
And if he’s sincere, if this remark is sincere, if we take it sincerely,
and not imitation or not any false assumption, if his sincere liking is for
that then we are to measure, this is the
unit with which we must construct our body and then we shall hope to enter,
venture to hope to enter into Vaikuṇṭha, in Goloka, in the camp of
the Vrajavāsīs. So:
tṛṇād api sunīcena, [taror api sahiṣṇunā / amāninā mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ
sadā hariḥ]
["One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a
tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is
qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa."] [Śikṣāṣṭakam,
3]
This is not a figurative word, not ornamental thing, but this is real,
substantial. If we think like that, in what level should I come, should we take
ourselves to be qualified to enter into the domain of the Lord, in Goloka? Not
least ambition; cent per cent dedicative agent. Meanest of the mean, with this
idea; this is the qualification to enter into that domain, what is required of
us.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Tṛṇād api sunīcena,
taror api sahiṣṇunā, because in cent per cent humility
there cannot be any trace of enjoying spirit. No aggression is possible. The
meanest of the mean, that is to eliminate fully the aggressing nature.
Aggressing nature cannot be present there only. Enjoyer must be aggressor. The
aggression is a property of this world, of exploitation. And dedication of this
quality is necessary for the entrance of that domain. This is reality;
otherwise all concoction, all imagination. If this is imagination then that is
also imagination. If this is concrete reality then to them Goloka is reality.
In that plane they will come in contact with Goloka, in such subtle and
fundamental plane they will come in contact with that thing really. Otherwise
this is all in fool’s paradise, to live in fool’s paradise.Gaura Haribol.If we
have faith in this then that is real to us, otherwise we’ll be given the
ambition to live in fool’s paradise.Nitāi Caitanya Dayal. Nitāi
Caitanya. Gaura Haribol.I think I did something to give vent to the feeling of
my Gurudeva today; his position, to clear his position, I did something
today.Gaura Haribol.
pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge,
[mattala hari-jana viṣaya
range]
["The path of divine love is worshippable to us and should be held
overhead as our highest aspiration."] [Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura]
This is enough, tad
dāsa-dāsa-dāsānāṁ dāsatvaṁ dehi me
prabho. This is not a figurative thing. This is
not mere poetry.Mahāprabhu says:
nāhaṁ vipro na ca nara-patir nāpi vaiśyo na
śūdro
nāhaṁ varṇī na ca gṛha-patir no
vana-stho yatir vā
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramānanda-pūrṇāmṛtābdher
gopī-bharttuḥ pada-kamalayor
dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ
["I am not a priest, a king, a merchant, or a labourer (brāhmaṇa,
kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra); nor am I a student, a
householder, a retired householder, or a mendicant (brahmacārī, gṛhastha,
vānaprastha, sannyāsī). I identify myself only as the
servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
the Lord of the gopīs, who is the personification of the fully
expanded (eternally self-revealing) nectarean ocean that brims with the
totality of Divine Ecstasy."][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 13.80]
This is not ornamental thing only, this is reality. This is reality. To
become ostentatiously mean is really to become eligible for the higher service.
So selflessness, so self-abnegation is necessary for a unit here of the lower
order to enter into that domain, so self-abnegation is necessary; then we can
come into that plane. There is a plane undercurrent, undercurrent plane, and if
we really want to contact with that, we shall have to be such finest of the
fine, in our [mood] and no demand. In this negative way we
are to transform ourselves; then we can have touch of that plane where we can
come. The least exploiting speck of the ambitious life won’t take us there.
This is another thing, pratiṣṭhā. Pratiṣṭhā
means that is self establishment; or what is that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Aggrandisement.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Aggrandisement, no, pratiṣṭhā,
the hard stability, to be stable, to be immortal, to be invincible. Not self
giving but self establishing tendency, pratiṣṭhā; ‘I
must stay. I must live.’ If necessary I must die for the interest of Kṛṣṇa.
mārobi rākhobi yo icchā tohārā,
[nitya-dāsa prati tuwā adhikārā]
["Slay me
or protect me as You wish, for You are the master of Your eternal
servant."]
[The Songs Of
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, p 13]
A suicidal soldier: “For the cause of the country if necessary I must
die. I must efface myself, I may be effaced. If it is necessary my very
existence may be effaced if it is necessary for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa.”Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.My
very existence may be effaced if it is necessary. Such temperament, such
selflessness of such degree is necessary to find out that plane; so
subtleness.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.Nitāi Caitanya Dayal. Mahāprabhu. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.Let
us be blessed by the, by PrabhupādaSaraswatī Ṭhākura. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Tridaṇḍī Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva GoswāmīMahārāja kījaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nitāi Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol.
Gandhi told once, that gentleman, “Gandhi
kījaya. Mahatma Gandhi kījaya.” Then they’re singing glory to a particular form. If I go
away from that position, they’ll go, “Down with Gandhi, down with Gandhi.” So
it does not concern me,” he says.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.So that jaya goes
to somewhere else. All glory to Guru and Gaurāṅga.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All glory to Guru and Gaurāṅga.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śrīpāda
Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja kījaya.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sevā Vṛnda kījaya.
Devotees: Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.You are
helping me to take out from my inner heart so many beautiful and so many
valuable things. It is through your help that these old memories are again
becoming fresh to me. I’m forced to take out those things from the inner nature
of my previous life which I got from my Gurudeva, the wealth – again I show, I
got the chance of seeing that treasury. I was given the opportunity, by this
recapitulation what I heard from the divine feet of Gurudeva.
Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.What’s the time?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: We should go now. It’s nine thirty.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nine thirty. But are you dissatisfied?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, no. I’m always satisfied.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: By this connection the valuable thing;
and this is what is our education what I got from the divine feet. I just
sincerely put it to you all. It is such.
Gaura Sundara. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge.
He told me, “We must not go and live in Rādhā-kuṇḍa.”
Our, one day in the, near Lalitā-kuṇḍa,
the Śvānanda-sukhada-kuñja is there and there the first story, and he
told, “A second story is necessary, but I won’t be able to live there.”
I told that, If you don’t live in the first floor, then who will live
there? What is the necessity of further construction?
“No. You don’t
know. Better persons will live there, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Gaura
Kiśora Bābājī Mahārāja, they will live there. And
we’ll live in the ground floor and we serve them, and we come and live on
ground.”
Again he told, “I shall live in Govardhana. Rādhā-kuṇḍa
is the highest place, the place of our Guru Mahārāja, our Gurudeva.
They will live here in closer connection with līlā. And we are
not fit to live there. We shall live Govardhana, a little far away, because we
shall have to come and serve our Gurudeva, so we must be, but we must not live
in closer connection with them. We are not fit.”
Pūjāla rāgapaṭha
gaurava bāṅge,
the whole tenor of his life was such, pūjāla rāgapaṭha
gaurava.“That is high, high, and from below we are to honour that. To
establish in the whole world this sort of posing that that is too high.”
One day in Allahabad, perhaps that very year Swāmī
Mahārāja was initiated, in Malaka, in
a park when he was speaking he told, “I’m out to give miydarn.”
Miydarn means
to wrestle, a challenge to wrestle. Wrestling, what is it? Miydarn,that in a
meadow, two fighters.Just as that one who became Mohammedan from Christian?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mohammed Ali.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mohammed Ali. What is that, the
wrestling?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Boxing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Boxing. “I’m ready to fight with any
person, for the, to show that the highest position is occupied by my Gurudeva,
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Gaura Kiśora Dāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja, Mahāprabhu. Let anyone come to
fight with me to decide. I’m ready.” That he told. “I’m ready to give miydarn
to anybody and everybody. Let him come and fight with me. I want to
establish the throne in the highest place, of my Gurudeva.”
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Pūjāla rāgapaṭha
gaurava bāṅge. Nitāi Caitanya.
Then: this garland?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Jaya. Hare Kṛṣṇa.That
stick – bring that stick.
...
[Inaudible from
16:40 to 47:03, the end]
End of 81.03.13.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.09.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
[Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja and Bhakti
Caru Swāmī in conversation until 01:45]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
[Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja] He came at a quarter to
twelve.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Direct? From where?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I’m coming from – I started in Los
Angeles. And then I went to visit HaṁsadūtaMahārāja in San
Fransisco. Then from there I went to see Jayatīrtha Mahārāja in
London. And then from there I went to Delhi and I got the raja dhani
express, and then I came to Calcutta to see Bhakti Caru Mahārāja. And
now I’ve come here to see you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Actually my purpose was to come here and
see you, but I’ve seen so many on the way.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ______________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He’s saying that his actual objective was to see your lotus feet...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
But on the way he met so many people.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So many, they’re
all well?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jayatīrtha Mahārāja met
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. He met him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. But he was not very favourable to
him?Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tomorrow morning, no, today, morning,
Vidagdha Brahmacārī, he came here. He went to Calcutta. You did not
see him?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No. I didn’t see him.
Devotee: [Twenty seconds of Bengali [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
His visa is expiring so he had to go to somewhere and then come again. First he
told he may go to Nepal. Today he told he’s going to Malaysia. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
So Jayatīrtha Mahārāja is
doing well there?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. I spoke to him at length, and
especially about Your Divine Grace, and we had a very mutually enlivening
discussion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But I think it will be a delicate
situation with him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Jayatīrtha Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And, he’s in delicate situation there?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. And I think the other
Ācāryas and GBC they
should deal with him in a very magnanimous way, to not disturb this delicate
condition.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. I hope they will adjust the
situation, favourably manage. What about his
disciples – of Jayatīrtha Mahārāja – are they favourable or some
difficulty there: with his previous disciples, any difficulty, in England?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: On some levels there may be. The ones
who are first initiated Prabhupāda, second initiated Jayatīrtha
Mahārāja, there may be some doubt.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hesitating mood?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. And some of the God-brothers were
disturbed.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is their opinion? When they’ve once
left sannyāsa āśrama then he should not be regarded as
formerly? This is their mentality?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. One point they were, that I heard
them say, that they did not want to hear that this is some kind of līlā.
And generally when such a thing occurs there comes doubt about turning over
newcomers to such a person.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If he’s accepted sannyāsa and
leaving that and again accepting?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s making trifle.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Like whim.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course there is such example amongst
our previous God-brothers during the time of Prabhupāda, sannyāsa was
taken up and again – or sannyāsa was given to him and he, afterwards as an Ācārya he got recognition in the
society. The Parvat Mahārāja was in Udala. First he was Purī
Mahārāja, and then for some reason or other the sannyāsa was
taken off. Again, he was given by Prabhupāda himself. The name was
changed. He was Parvat. Previously Purī Mahārāja, became Parvat
Mahārāja. And of course he preached. And after the departure of
Prabhupāda he was accepted as an Ācārya by other devotees of
Prabhupāda. Sannyāsa has got formal value, but to a Vaiṣṇava
the valuation is according to the degree of devotion, not in accordance with
the dress, the garment, external. It is a formal thing; still it has got some
value in the society, ordinary society, outside.
Anyhow, Jayatīrtha Mahārāja, is he firm in his position,
or he’s also wavering, hesitating? What did you find?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, I find that he still wants to
internally pursue some realisations about Rādhā Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And externally?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Externally, no.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Externally, what does he want to do?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He wants to continue to work on in the
society as best as possible, but he has some internal inclinations and he feels
that the society in general is too discouraging in that regard. He feels that
the society is discouraging too much.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So, what to do?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, he intends to go on to the best of
his ability in his – go on working in his service.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: As a sannyāsī?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Did you meet his former wife, or son?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What will be the percentage of his
followers there who are hesitating, in hesitating mood?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I can’t say.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Can’t say. The general estimation: half,
no, more than that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: It’s difficult for me to say. I was only
there for two days.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But what is the attitude of the
administration, ISKCON, to discourage him? What is the attitude of the ISKCON
administration?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well their attitude...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Against him or to reinstate him in his former
position?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: They want to reinstate him in his former
position.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Really want?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, they want to give the benefit of
the doubt. And they have made some objection to his attributing some credit to
yourself.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That sort of weakness is also on the
part of ISKCON because they wrote a letter to me to interfere with this case; a
long letter by the instruction of Bhāvānanda Mahārāja and
written by Jayapataka Mahārāja, requesting me to advise and to help
in this matter. And I did so. And fortunately I could convince him, both of
them, even his wife also, that once he has taken the position of a general with
such high rank, he should not come back. It will be a bad name to ISKCON as
well as Swāmī Mahārāja. So anyhow they agreed, and I
replied to the letter of Jayapataka Mahārāja to my best
understanding. I tried my best according to my best understanding to reinstate
in his former position. And now it is your duty to adjust him with your
institution. Something like that. And they also came, Bhāvānanda and
Jayapataka, and Caru Swāmī knows, he might have heard. What is HaṁsadūtaMahārāja’s
opinion?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, he thinks it was a very glorious
act by Your Divine Grace to save Jayatīrtha Mahārāja. And he
feels quite differently than the other Gurus and Ācāryas. They are afraid that by devotees hearing of Your Divine
Grace’s wonderful activities and your preaching that many people will be
attracted to you. So this has created a fear in them. Whereas HaṁsadūtaMahārāja,
he told me that he feels that if he did not pass on Your Divine Grace’s
instructions to his disciples in the forms of these tapes that I’ve recorded,
that it would be the greatest cheating, that he’d be holding back from them the
greatest benefit. And he does not feel threatened.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
[about fifty seconds spoken in Bengali [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________________ A relative consideration or absolute consideration. Sva
dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ, para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ.
[śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ,
para-dharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt]
sva dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ, para-dharmo
bhayāvahaḥ
["It is better to carry out one's own duties a little imperfectly
rather than faultlessly perform another's duties. Know that even death is
auspicious in the discharge of one's duties appropriate to his natural position
in the ordained socio-religious system, because to pursue another's path is perilous."]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 3.35]
That is one stage.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja ________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sva dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ,
para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ, a śloka in Bhagavad-gītā.
And the absolute consideration,
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
[ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
["Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively
unto Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair."]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 18.66]
This is absolute, “Give up everything. Come to Me direct.” That is
revolutionary way. And this is relative, “Stick to your own clan. Don’t leave
them.”The national conception, nation consciousness and God consciousness:
society consciousness and God consciousness. God consciousness is absolute, and
society consciousness if that hinders the development of God consciousness that
should be left away.
gurur na sa syāt sva jano na sa syāt, pitā na sa
syāj jananī na sā syāt
daivaṁ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān, na
mocayed yaḥ samupeta mṛtyum
[Ṛṣabhadeva
says: "Even a spiritual master, relative, parent, husband, or demigod who
cannot save us from repeated birth and death should be abandoned at
once."]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
5.5.18]
What to speak of
ordinary things, even Guru, the
spiritual guide, in the case of Bali Mahārāja. Then sva jano,
in the case of Vibhiṣana, the sva jano, the own relative. Then pitā na sa syāj, in the
case of Prahlāda, father. Then in the case of Bharata: mother. In the case
of, daivaṁ na tat syān,in the case Khaṭvāṅga, he left off other gods, demigods. And in the case of the yajña patnis, they left
their husbands in order to, their endeavour to reach the Absolute Personality.
The society we need only to help us. But if our affinity to the society it keeps us down, then that should be given up, and we must march
on. Every time I mention these two things - the absolute consideration and the
relative consideration, when they come into clash, the relative must be given
up, and the absolute should be taken. So if my inner voice, my spiritual
conscience does
not, cannot decide
that this sort of company will really help me, then I shall be under painful
necessity to give them up, and to run away towards my destination, which my
spiritual conscience will guide to that direction. Otherwise it will be
hypocrisy and it will check our real progress. Na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt
kaścid, durgatiṁ tāta gacchati.
[pārtha naiveha nāmutra, vināśas tasya
vidyate
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ
tāta gacchati]
["O Arjuna,
son of Kuntī, the unsuccessful yogī does not suffer ruination
either in this life or the next. He is not deprived of the pleasures of the
heavenly planetary systems in this universe, nor is he denied the chance to
personally see the Supersoul in the divine realm. This is so, O dear one,
because a person who performs virtuous actions never becomes ill-fated."]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
6.40]
If we’re sincere in our attempt, none in the world can check me, or
deceive me. Only we ourselves can deceive us, none else. We must be true to our
own self and true to the Supreme Lord. We must be sincere. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, my spiritual
conscience has directed me to your lotus feet.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.Caru
Swāmī Mahārāja _____________________ [?]
Unfortunate and injudicious _____________________ [?] I’m
not wholly one with ISKCON. I have got some independent consideration.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
___________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ISKCON as well as Prabhupāda.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mainly Prabhupāda. So that although you were very good friends and you
were friendly even before Prabhupāda took initiation and after, and even
after...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And I considered him as śaktyāveśa,
but still there are some points of difference.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
So I was wondering Mahārāja, what is the difference?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Points of difference may be, as far as I can guess, he had attraction for the sākhya-rasa,
but mine is towards mādhurya-rasa – one thing.Then, this is the
main thing; then he came to me for consultation several times. I gave him the
idea of building, the plan of building the temple here according to Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛtam.
He accepted.Then when he was very seriously ill in America he gave a letter to
me, “What to do? Should I die working here, or I shall go back to India?”I
plainly told him, No. You die working there.He asked my, searched my opinion,
and what I told he accepted.Then, he consulted with me some other points also,
about the preaching, how it should be done. But of course he dismissed other
God-brothers but he did not make any unfavourable remark about me. I was open
to him always with my views.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I have...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja found two very valuable
things. One is the letter that Prabhupāda wrote to Jaya Govinda, who came
at first with Acyutānanda Mahārāja. There Prabhupāda has
directly written to him that how you are the most reliable...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Competent.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
...competent and most reliable person to take care of Prabhupāda’s
disciples; and Prabhupāda’s disciples can come to you for instructions.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jaya Govinda or Rāmānuja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: There were three of them, Jaya Govinda,
Acyutānanda, Rāmānuja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, there were three?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Jaya Govinda, maybe he didn’t come. But
this is a letter that Prabhupāda wrote Jaya Govinda, he wrote a similar
letter to Acyutānanda, because there was some difficulty with Bon
Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. And that fellow was Jaya Govinda...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...who took sannyāsa from
Bon Mahārāja.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, no. That is Ṛṣikeśa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh. Ṛṣikeśa. Then, Jaya
Govinda, what did he do?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: We don’t know what he did.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He came here?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
No, he didn’t come.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He didn’t come; but a letter was given
to him.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right, because he was in Vṛndāvana
with Acyutānanda Mahārāja. And in that letter Prabhupāda
says that, “If you’re going to accept śikṣā Guru you must go to one who is actually practising spiritual life and one who is competent to act as such.” And
then he says that yourself, “You are the most competent of all of his
God-brothers.” And then he says, “I accept him as my śikṣā Guru; what to speak of the benefit that you will get from his
association.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In his lecture in Māyāpur he
plainly told it, perhaps that has been taped...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes, he’s found a tape also, Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There he told, after the lecture was
delivered by Govinda Mahārāja, my disciple – Govinda
Mahārāja told in his lecture that, “He looks at me like a child, like
his child, and he looks at my Guru Mahārāja as śikṣā
Guru.”And after that when he delivered his
finishing lecture he accepted totally, “That what Govinda Mahārāja
has told it is true. I look at him as my child. And I look at his Guru,
Śrīdhara Mahārāja, as my śikṣā Guru.”And he gave “Jaya Oṁ Viṣṇupāda” in
my name; beginning with “Oṁ Viṣṇupāda” which is
generally done only to Guru.Of course I could not take it very happily but
still he told it.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, since I’m a disciple of his, how can
I accept any other conception or opinion?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But I always wanted to, as I told you
all, that wait and see. And there is the constitution, the ISKCON, the body, so
we should not neglect it if it becomes weak, then there will be a loss to the
whole ISKCON, whole mission, and division, all these. So try if we can, if
ISKCON can accommodate you all and a little generously: that I wanted. But if
it is not possible in particular cases: then what to do?
We have already
done that. We tried our best to follow the combined attempt after
Prabhupāda. But when that was not possible, gradually we had to come out
in different paths and to go on with our own way, because we could not neglect
our conscience.
At the same time, it is found, it is written in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa,
and common sense will also say so, that when a man of superior realisation is
there, the inferior must not stand in the way of his preaching. They should
rather help them. Strictly if we follow this spiritual law – and this is common
sense also, because higher seed should be distributed to all and everyone
available should have the chance of getting that higher instruction.
Instruction means realisation, like homeopathic globule, externally we cannot
recognise what potency is there. So mantram and Nāma,
externally, physically, it cannot be detected what is that. Only the man who
gives it, his realisation is the potency with the sound. So when higher potency
in the Name or in the mantram, whatever, is available, really, then
everyone should try to utilise himself in that way. That is common sense and
the śāstra is also there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, Mahārāja, you are that
personality.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
So still we shall:No vidya vedam yam eva jnanam karma sanginam [?]The
others will also be allowed to go on in their way.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. They can go on.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In their way, different stages,
different strata, there should be, but still the gradation is there.And we find
that Narottama Ṭhākura and his Guru was Lokanātha
Goswāmī, he’s also a parṣada of Mahāprabhu,
contemporary. But Narottama Ṭhākura says:
Kavi lokanatha more hati ya duriya rupa
manjari sampadi samarpan
[?]Something like that.“When my Guru Lokanātha he will take me by the hand
and he will offer me to Śrī Rūpa, Guru, Mañjarī?”So taṭasthā-vicāra,
the absolute consideration is there, and especially our Guruparamparā.
mahāprabhu śrī-caitanya, rādhā-kṛṣṇa
nahe anya
[rūpānuga janera jīvana viśwambhara priyaṅkara
śrī-swarūpa dāmodara,
śrī-goswāmī rūpa-sanātana]
["Mahāprabhu Śrī Caitanya is nondifferent from
Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and is
the very life of those Vaiṣṇavas who follow Śrī Rūpa
Goswāmī. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Goswāmī,
Rūpa Goswāmī, and Sanātana Goswāmī were the givers
of great happiness to Viśvambhara (Śrī Caitanya)."] [Songs
of the Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas, p 90-2]
Mahāprabhu, Svarūpa Dāmodara, Rūpa, Sanātana,
and then Narottama, and then Viśvanātha [Cakravartī Ṭhākura],
then Bāladeva [Vidyābhūṣaṇa], Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
mostly they have no body connection at all, but only the connection in the line
of a spiritual flow, of the same order and intensity and height. The śikṣā
Guru paramparā is śikṣā
Guru not dīkṣā Guru; that is only a physical current. Physically they had no
connection. But only through the flow of the spiritual knowledge, that has come
from here and there, there, then
degree of future knowledge, spiritual knowledge; that is to be accepted. And
they’re all mādhurya rasa.
When I was initiated, Prabhupāda, at the time of initiation, he
told something about Harikathā, that is the
pastimes of God. Then, I was a newcomer.When I came out, Vasudeva Prabhu, he
was conversant with siddhānta, with spiritual knowledge, śāstric
knowledge, he asked me, “What did Prabhupāda say after your dīkṣā
initiation?”
I told that such and such things were told by him just after dīkṣā.
He told, “You are a very fortunate one.”
Because
Prabhupāda told me at the time of dīkṣā about
Rādhārāṇī’s group: so mādhurya rasapasanga.
And also when Prabhupāda was passing away he took me from my bed
and asked me to chant a kīrtana,
śrī-rūpa-mañjarī-pada. The rūpānuga-sampradāya,
just to the very point, where we should stick: if we take our stand in that
point that is the centre of the whole Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava
knowledge, or education, or spiritual wealth – rūpānuga bhajana.
Even the sakhī, in mādhurya rasa the sakhī
they cannot enter were Rādhā Govinda are united privately. But
the mañjarī; that is their age is a little down, lower, so they’re
allowed there. They could be allowed. Younger section, younger batch is
allowed. And that is the highest rasa when it is produced in Their
private union the mañjarī they can have some taste, not even the sakhīs.
So the highest point of our attainment, our aspiration, is there, rūpānuga.
Rūpa Mañjarī, she’s the leader of all the mañjarīs, and
there the highest quality of the union rasa to be found, so rūpānuga-sampradāya.
We had the fortune. And Prabhupāda was very much pleased with one
of my Sanskrit poems about Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. So much so that he
told to his disciples, other disciples, that, “Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
has himself made him to write this poem.”
And in another place he told that, “After me there will be a man who
will be able to deliver my understanding, or teachings.”
That is, anyhow, came to my fortune. And when, in the beginning also,
just before dīkṣā also he told,
yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas, tad tad evetaro
janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute, lokas tad anuvartate
[“Whatever action is performed by a great man, the general masses
imitate and follow. And whatever standards the great personality sets by
exemplary acts, the whole world pursues as the right conclusion.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
3.21]
Because I came from a high brāhmaṇa family, and a
scholarly family in Sanskrit, so he took me like that. “If a man of your
position comes to preach about Mahāprabhu then it will be easy for the
ordinary public to accept the teachings of Mahāprabhu.”
But I looked at
him, with his attitude, it appeared to me that how eager he is to preach the
doctrine of Mahāprabhu that a small thing he’s appreciating so much for
his help. Really, that was the thought in me at that time; that even a straw
he’s taking and considering it’s of great help to him. This is the high degree
of earnestness in him to preach about Mahāprabhu. That was my conception
at the time, and not that I came from a big family, or educated, or this and
that. My heart at that time – only his eagerness, earnestness, has got no limit
to preach about the doctrine of Mahāprabhu. So whatever little he thinks
he gets for his help he considers it to be a very big thing.Anyhow, I had some
reputation during the time of Prabhupāda that I could understand his
things and I could give delivery to them, better, generally.Gaura Haribol.
Swāmī
Mahārāja he also knew all these things.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:Mahārāja
___________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja _________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________________________________ [?]
The long and short is this. I do not want to disturb the ISKCON Movement
but I cannot deny myself. That is the position of mine. And I don’t like any disturbance may be created in the Mission of
Swāmī Mahārāja by me. Because I was not very eager to
preach in my whole life of a preacher: so that was not a very big tendency in
me to preach. I don’t like to come in hitch with such a big world-wide
movement. I don’t like to be a party to stand against. It is my good will. But
still I cannot deny myself, that what I understand to be the best, I, if
necessary I must say that, vaguely. That is my position: whatever it may be.
But I don’t like to create any disturbance, not to give propaganda of any other
God-brother, what to speak of Swāmī Mahārāja who has shown
such a wonderful propagating capacity in the world. I don’t relish that thing.
But still, the difficulty is that I cannot deny myself. What I am, what I know,
I should say that, cannot be untrue to myself. That is the position at present.
So some adjustment would have been better, but, such as, I tried my best
to reinstate Jayatīrtha Mahārāja to his old role of a sannyāsī
to save the good name of ISKCON. And I also for that sent him to Katwa,
where Mahāprabhu Himself took sannyāsa, for his inspiration
and impression that he can be firm in his future life. That is one thing. And
another thing that...
End of 81.08.09.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.09.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...from the form. I also asked him; give
a letter to the sannyāsa Guru,
Kīrtanānanda, ‘That I am again coming back to the role you’ve given
to me. Please accept.’But Jayatīrtha Mahārāja is a very frank
man, not very diplomatic, so what he felt sincerely in himself he gave vent to
that, and that created the trouble.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I wanted to avoid that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But already, I spoke to him, and he said
that he’ll – he won’t pursue that any more, just privately he’ll have some
appreciation but not publicly.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
______________ publicly _______________ inwardly, privately, he may have some appreciation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of mine?
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And publicly he’s connected ISKCON – and
that is what I wanted, and there will be a smooth activity with the ISKCON in
harmony I thought it. But things are going otherwise.Vidagdha Mādhava this morning he told that Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja has ousted you from his zone, in an insulting way. Is it
true?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He used the words, “Kicked him off.” I
could not detect. Nimāi told me, “Vidagdha Mādhava told Rāmeśvara Mahārāja kicked him out.” I
could not understand why it is so.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Because the situation is such that Rāmeśvara Mahārāja’s
position itself has become very...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Position?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, he and I had a meeting in which we agreed that I would
come and speak to you for your advice.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Advice on which?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In my personal case, how I should
continue. Then the day after I left he called for a meeting of all of his
God-brothers. And he wanted to explain to them what his feelings about you
were.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is his feeling about me? What is
that? Any respect or hate?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, he says that he’s respectful, but
he believes that there are some...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s creating some disturbance.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: That’s one thing that sometimes you
create a disturbance; and there’s some differences between you and
Prabhupāda...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: ...and we should be very careful of
that.See, many devotees in Los Angeles are discontent with the activities of
the Ācāryas and GBC. So by
hearing your instructions they became more satisfied and wanted to give them
the benefit of the doubt. But then in different ways they began to speak
against you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _____________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And some of the leaders began to speak
against you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So they will ask people not to come to
me. I’m not going anywhere to do anything against them. I’m sitting here. But
people are coming and according to my conscience what I have to say to them I’m
saying. I’m not an aggressor.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So then, this disturbed many of the
devotees who are appreciating your instructions, because...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Is it going against Swāmī
Mahārāja what I...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not according to them. See, there’s a
difference of opinion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But what I said, and you all taped, but
was there anything which is going against the preaching of Swāmī
Mahārāja? I don’t think like that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No one thinks that.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
It’s only just them. And actually many of the God-brothers started to see
things from a different perspective after...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Last time also I told them, they wanted
me, what they will do, I shall give ditto to that. Then I told them, “Do you
think that I’m under your committee?”
“No, no, no, no. That type we cannot do.”
The day before yesterday also the same thing; they said, “We had a
meeting and in our meeting we accepted the principle that the Ācārya
numbers may be increased. But we did not receive any inspiration this year for
extension. But this was not told to you, so we are told that you remarked that
our decision is injudicious and unfortunate.”
“Yes, yes, I did remark in such way, because I want to clear my position
to you now, that I’m not one wholly with ISKCON, and even not wholly one with
Swāmī Mahārāja. I have got my special consideration and
inclination and thinking. And with other God-brothers also I differ in many
ways. So everyone has got his special characteristic and I also have such. So
what you think to be śrauta-panthā, your meeting, unanimous
verdict, what you think that is the right thing coming down, I’m not bound to
pronounce the same thing that it is infallible. The meaning is like that.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. But see, there are many devotees
who feel that what you say...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “According to my consideration your
combined decision was a faulty one.” Then, I did not say so clearly but that
was my real opinion. “Because you have come to a common, unanimous resolution,
so everyone will have to give ditto to that? I’m not a party like that. I have
got my independent opinion and independent realisation and suggestions. I’m a
separate person; even separate in many ways from your Guru Mahārāja,
what to speak of your combination. That is my point.” Some special
consideration everyone may have got his own...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Now, one of the accusations of Rāmeśvara Mahārāja against
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja is that he’s saying that Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja is trying
to remove Prabhupāda from ISKCON and put you as the Ācārya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I, you got my letter? I replied, I don’t
want to create any party there in competition with ISKCON. Only those who are
led astray, disappointed, dejected, if any help to them from my side will be
beneficial, I’m ready for that only. Is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Right. Though I did not suggest
that you be the Ācāryafor ISKCON. He’s making propaganda like that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So why should I not do that minimum
thing? That those who came under the banner of Swāmī
Mahārāja and dejected they’re going away, and we should see to them
indifferently? I don’t like that they will go away. Some help to them, and that
is also in connection with ISKCON and not independently. But if ISKCON wants to
cut off the connection, then what can I do? I may try as it will be arranged by
the Supreme Lord.
Who will come for help I shall try to do
whatever is possible for me, a poor man sitting in a place, not moving hither
and thither and moving the world. I’m sitting in one place, and you all come
and put questions, I go on answering, and you tape and you preach, and now the
difficulty.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Because, you told me not to proceed in
the mood of competition but relief.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, relief work, quite so, I ordered
relief work.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right, but it got to the point of where
they’re saying that my relief work is competition.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What to do? You all combine and settle.
[Bengali (?) conversation with Bhakti Caru Swāmī for about one and three quarter minutes]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja is telling that Jayatīrtha Mahārāja thought
that Rāmeśvara Mahārāja is your good friend, but he’s been
disappointed.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Mahārāja, I also donot want to create any disturbance in ISKCON, but also, I cannot
deny yourself.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. What about
Dayādhara Gaurāṅga, what’s he doing there?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He’s with HaṁsadūtaMahārāja
and he’s...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No difficulty?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, not that I know of.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Going on smoothly in work?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
________________ Jai Oṁ Viṣṇupāda
paramahaṁsa __________
[Bengali (?) conversation with Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja
for about three minutes]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Jayatīrtha Mahārāja, he
wants to try and contact Pradyumna, because of your desire to see him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, I wanted to see him.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Also, Yaśodānandan
Mahārāja he’s going to California next month, and the devotees are
saying that he’s going to begin giving dīkṣā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yaśodānandan.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. But will they give any recognition
to him?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. But he will start independently?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What was the previous name of
Yaśodānandan?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Always Yaśodānandan. Before sannyāsa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yaśodānandan, same name.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, no, his previous name?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Oh, really, Yolander (?)
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, no. Nimāi?_______________ [?]
Nimāi: __________________ some
Bill?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Some Bill? In Ānanda
Bāzzār Patrikā one gentleman wrote about
Yaśodānandan, and with some previous name as some Bill. He met him in
Ayodhyā and Benares also and he was very much impressed with his company.
Yaśodānandan,
I liked him very much. He came once to me, and his practices and his sentiments
and his ways I appreciated much, that Yaśodānandan. I can’t forget
him.
[The remaining eleven and a half minutes are in Bengali (?)]
End of 81.08.09.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.10.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Five hundred
dollars.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Five hundred
dollars.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
[About thirty seconds in Bengali [?]The
whole work is going to cost about ten thousand dollars, and once they start the
work, you know like they have to have certain...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What about that lady who gave a letter,
sent a letter to me, through one gentleman, one Mr Astana. Where is she?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, she’s in Los Angeles right now.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In the zone of Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. She was formally in HaṁsadūtaMahārāja’s
zone, and she was inclined to take dīkṣā from HaṁsadūtaMahārāja.
But then the GBC they removed him and that created a big disturbance for her.
And she began to have doubts near-about everyone; of Ācāryas. So sometimes she was interested that I should give her dīkṣā.
But I’m not doing that, I’m not inclined to do that. And so she knew that I had
some attachment for you, so she was interested to take dīkṣā
from you. But first I advised her to hear your tapes. Because up to that
point, sometimes she was wanting one Ācāryafor Guru, sometimes another, sometimes another, sometimes another. So
to make sure this was serious, I told her for, to continue listening to your
instructions for six months.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Adopt firm faith.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
The other day I told that I’m not one with ISKCON, and not even one with
Swāmī Mahārāja. That does not mean that I am bigger than
Swāmī Mahārāja. Swāmī Mahārāja is a
very big man of world renown. And I am an insignificant person. None knows me.
And you all have got some touch with me, that also in connection of
Swāmī Mahārāja. He’s like a sun and I may be compared with
a glow worm. In a corner I’m sitting. And what boldness and pushing character
and huge capacity he conquered the whole of the world. So much so that I cannot
but see that divine potency came down to work on his behalf. So tremendous and
wonderful service he has shown to his Guru Mahārāja and to the world.
He spread nectar, distributed nectar like water. And what we are doing, in a corner taking a seat? And because he had some affection
with me so you all come to me.
And still, everyone has got his special thinking and consideration, as
you amongst your God-brothers also have, we also amongst our God-brothers we
are also so. No two things are exactly equal and identical. All have got some
special characteristic.
And I do not like to come in a fighting field with the followers of
Swāmī Mahārāja. I’ve no such capacity and no such energy,
and still now old. When I was young a remark came from my Guru Mahārāja
that, “You are an ease lover.” His remark was to me. “That means you have
capacity to render service but you are not pushing, not forward. You like to
waste your energy in idleness.” Something like that. His words were, “You are
an ease lover.”
When he offered me to go to the west, and I told that I don’t think
myself fit to preach in the west, for two reasons. One, I can’t follow their
intonation, this pronunciation. And second, I’m not fit to mix with their
society and their ways and behaviours. So you will send me at the expense of
huge money and I shall not be able to produce the desired result. Of course if
you command I must go. But this is my humble submission to you.
Then he left me and sent [Bhakti Sāraṅga]Goswāmī
Mahārāja to the west.
And Professor Babu one day, Niśikānta Sānyāl, the
writer of the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book, and
editor of Harmonist at the time, he told, “Do you know why
Prabhupāda wanted to send you to the west?”
I told, no I don’t know.
“You won’t be converted there. The others that are going every time are
a victim to their conversion instead of converting them.”
I told, yes, it is sure, none can convert me. In this world none can
take me and snatch me away from the divine feet of Guru and Gaurāṅga.
I’m sure there. I can challenge.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, after I left Los
Angeles, well before I left, I had a meeting with Rāmeśvara
Swāmī and we both agreed that I could take some advice from you on
what I would do. So after I left he called for a meeting of his God-brothers,
and at that meeting some of these God-brothers began to express their doubts to
him about his spiritual qualifications.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Whose?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Rāmeśvara Swāmī.
Because previously you mentioned about upabāsa and not making the mālā
fast; but in his case it has been fasting for many years. So they said
that, “This is one reason why we have some doubt or lack of enthusiasm to
preach on your behalf.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hmm?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I heard it from my Guru
Mahārāja that the mālā must not be allowed to fast. __________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_________________________________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Some uneasiness there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: There are some other things also which
they feel uneasy about. So anyway they expressed their feelings to him openly.
And he became very enraged, and he said the proof of his sādhana is
his enthusiasm for preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness, organising Ratha-yātrā festival, publishing books, and he attacked
his God-brothers very strongly. So he made it known to them that they could
just begin to leave Los Angeles if they were not prepared to help him there
spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness; that better they go somewhere
else.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is the number of the God-brothers
there? And what is the number of his own disciples, in Los Angeles?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, the total number of God-brothers I
believe is seventy, seven zero.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Seven zero, God-brothers number. And his disciples; thousands?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No; disciples, in equal number. Los
Angeles has a large concentration of God-brothers in the movement. More and
more in our ISKCON society around the world...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Was it under HaṁsadūtaMahārāja
formerly?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Always under Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Before him, Jayatīrtha, before
Rāmeśvara Swāmī. But for the last, Rāmeśvara
Swāmī has been there for eleven years, but not always as GBC. He was
GBC since nineteen
seventy six.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Now, what is the issue?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja Well, it’s that generally in our society
that there’s a question about the position of the God-brothers, that perhaps
they’re envious of the Gurus...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The God-brothers are in residence of
that place, or they come from other provinces? What are they?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In Los Angeles they’re residing there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Their home is there?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, but they have come originally from
other places.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Originally come, and there they’re
posted in some service?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They’re posted by Swāmī
Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Or Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All?
Devotee: Or! Not all, or.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All the God-brothers...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not all, either by Swāmī
Mahārāja or Rāmeśvara.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is the percentage? Swāmī
Mahārāja took some there and Rāmeśvara Mahārāja
also.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I would say mainly Rāmeśvara
Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mainly, majority.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Now he says that you must vacate your
position and I shall bring new faces there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, in certain cases, yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is the affair to look after by the
GBC. What can you do there? As you were in the manager or president, you were
the president at that place? Administration was with you? But now you are
removed from your position there?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, he has asked that I not return,
that I should not return to Los Angeles, and I should not return to America.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s not the authority to say so, what
GBC wants you to do.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, he’s GBC, local GBC. Generally
there’s a GBC rule that you require three GBC’s to remove a president. But I’m
tired of fighting. I don’t want to fight anymore. If he wants me to go I’ll go.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But if others want you to remain there, the
majority of the GBC, if they want you to remain there to go on with your
service, but you don’t think that they will come in your favour, the other GBC?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Some may, some may not.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anyhow you do not like to give any fight
in this matter?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And the GBC they think that I’m a
trouble maker.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then? Perhaps you have friendship with
HaṁsadūtaMahārāja who is the next door neighbour?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You can join with him and help him.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja Jaya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What’s Caru Mahārāja’s
suggestion?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes Mahārāja. Actually Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja
wants to stay here now.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, temporarily he may stay here.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You see, HaṁsadūtaMahārāja,
I spoke to him, like you’re saying, maybe he should be my GBC. And his advice
to me was, if he was my GBC, his advice is that I should come and stay here
with you and record your discussions because many devotees have requested me to
put them in a written form; to put the discussions in a written form.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What discussions?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
The tapes
__________So
Mahārāja is saying that that is already done.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But they want me to put all of them; and
HaṁsadūtaMahārāja would like me to do that also.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Just this morning Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja was
telling that after he left Rāmeśvara Mahārāja’s zone, he
went to HaṁsadūtaMahārāja and he felt that HaṁsadūtaMahārāja
is his GBC now. And then HaṁsadūtaMahārāja told him to
come here, and tape, ask questions to you and tape the answers, and put them in
writing, and keep them for the future generations.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That should be his life long duty? Ha,
ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And what is your opinion?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Well, as a matter of fact I discussed with HaṁsadūtaMahārāja
about that, and when I was there HaṁsadūtaMahārāja liked
the idea very much. And then I rang up Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja and I persuaded him to come back with me to India. But at
that time Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja felt that he
should stay there for a little longer, and then gradually...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When is HaṁsadūtaMahārāja
expected here?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
In about two months. So actually this we already discussed before, and my point
was, actually both of us, HaṁsadūtaMahārāja and I agreed,
or rather realised, that somebody should ask you the questions in English so
that you give the answers in English also. That becomes more preferable.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But I do not feel myself fit always to
hear in English and also to speak in English.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes, but you understand Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja’s
intonations.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: For that drawback...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
You understand Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja’s English
and Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja also understands your
English; so that solves all the problems.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course practising; not all but somewhat. Now and then, I’m a fellow who got
the remark from Guru Mahārāja as, “Ease lover.” So any constant duty
to take up it is difficulty constitutionally for me. Now and then I...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Whenever it’s possible.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
It’s not that there’s going to be any pressure on you. Like whenever you want
to speak you speak. And Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja
will ask you questions and will tape them.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course sometimes now and then, when
I’m in the mood.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes, right. Actually Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja used
to tell me when I was in Los Angeles that he would very much like to stay in
Navadwīpa at your lotus feet. And he wanted to...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, for the time, temporary stay
here.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes. This would be for two or three months.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is of course good, but to take it
as permanent duty, that to take tapes from me and to preach, to supply it to
the preachers, of course the idea is good. If Mohamed does not go to mountain,
mountain coming to Mohamed. I did not go to the west, but in my last days
Prabhupāda is wresting something what he deposited with me, to take it for
the west. I can’t deny. As much as I can do I shall do.But Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja then he wants to retire from the practical field?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Not exactly; only for the time being.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: For the time being.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes, because knowing Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja, I
know that he’s such a big preacher that he cannot become a bhajanānandī.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: See, Mahārāja, I’m accused of
being a trouble maker. When I’m mixing with my God-brothers, the GBC they feel
that I’m...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Generally they’re afraid of you?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I create disturbance.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And dissidence against the policies of
the GBC, so I thought maybe for a brief time I should remain here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. For the time being you may stay
here, as you like. But what I understand in
you, that you should visit those that are dejected, disappointed, and to have
relief work with them.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Rescue them.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To rescue them, to help rescue, to organise them so that they should not leave the movement of
Swāmī Mahārāja or Mahāprabhu or our Guru
Mahārāja. This Divine Movement may not be lost, to keep up the standard. These, my words, may be used to
enliven them and to keep them within the fold. You may visit here and there,
and the leading persons like Yaśodānanda and others, whether
Pradyumna, who are some stalwarts of Swāmī Mahārāja.
They’re going away, hither thither, like a ship without a rudder, being
scattered in different directions; to connect with them and to encourage them
in their service to Guru, Gaurāṅga, Swāmī
Mahārāja, our Guru Mahārāja, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
And come now and then here and take the necessary directions. So mainly
theoretical and practical, both sides, to collect some things and to distribute
to the patients. To collect medicine, that
is not enough.
I’ve also done so, using my life from Guru Mahārāja, I am
rather devoted to that, a selfish idea. I tried to collect most, but not to
push them outside. That was my nature, to improve myself. Even now when I chant
different ślokas of Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
all these things, I try to catch new light from there; and I do, new light, new
adjustment, new harmony, in the line of Guru Mahārāja and
Mahāprabhu. I want to enrich myself. That is the tenor of my life, rather
than to help others. This is the main tendency in my life.
But there are others also, what little they know they want to distribute
to others. That is also a useful nature, whatever little, they want to
distribute to others.
Caru Swāmī __________________ what
is your nature, to collect or to distribute?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
I’m totally unqualified Mahārāja. I’m no good for anything.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then, you want to increase your
qualification? You’re very busy with that? Have qualification for distribution,
or what qualification you’re in need of? Ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
My qualification is sense gratification _____________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then, why you are here? Do you think
that we’re of the same nature? Birds of the same feather flock together. Ha,
ha, ha. Now you’re defeated. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Also, Rāmeśvara
Swāmī criticised me that I spend too much time with the śāstra,
and do not engage in enough practical service.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, they’re of that temperament,
they’re very eager to help others, even risking their own self. But if they’re
in the real plane it is well and good. We should appreciate self-forgetfulness.
He’s forgetful of his own improvement. He’s busy with what he’s got from his
Gurudeva to give to others. That is a good qualification. But really, where
he’s standing, in what plane he’s standing, that is the all-important thing.
He’s very eager to distribute, but distributing what? Is it the standard what
his Guru Mahārāja kept? If he’s there of course it is admirable. He’s
eager to distribute the nectar what he collected from Guru Mahārāja
to others is a laudable thing. We appreciate that.
yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa,
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa
[kabhu nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga,
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga]
["Instruct whoever you meet in the science of Kṛṣṇa.
Teach them the instructions of Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā,
and the teachings about Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In this way, on My order, become a Guru
and liberate everyone in the land. If you follow this instruction, the waves of
materialism within this world will not affect you. Indeed, if you follow My
order, you will soon attain My association."] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 7.128-9]
But generally, that is not a cluster of external formalities; the real
spirit, to have, bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir, anyatra.
These three things we must have within
us.Our serving attitude should increase, we must have some conception of other about the real truth, and we must be simultaneously
indifferent to the worldly things. These three points are the criterion of
whether one is in the plane of devotion or not. A proper conception of the
Absolute we must have, and our indifference to the worldly things must remain there,
and our earnestness for the service must be present within us.
bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir, anyatra caiṣa
trika eka-kālaḥ
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus, tuṣṭiḥ
puṣṭiḥ kṣudapāyo 'nughāsam
["As with every mouthful an eater feels the threefold effects of
his satisfaction, his stomach being filled, and his hunger being dispelled, in
the same way when a surrendered soul serves the Lord he realises devotion of
three natures simultaneously: devotion in love, the personal appearance of the
Lord who is the abode of love, and detachment from all other things."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.2.42]
Just as a hungry man when he’s taking food the three things
simultaneously occur there. The hunger is removed, uneasiness, and also by
every morsel he gets strength, and his uneasiness removed, and hunger also
removed, and he finds strength; three things. Tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ
kṣudapāyo. Satisfaction, strength, and no hunger, hunger
lessened.
So it’s laudable he’s energetic to preach the advices of
Mahāprabhu. What more can be expected from any man, that he’s an agent of
Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu? Well and good.Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, there are some
devotees they feel that we have wandered away from the things that were
introduced by our Guru Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That depends on their understanding the
real thing.
Prakāśānanda abused Śrī Caitanyadeva. “That You
have taken sannyāsa in our sampradāya. Why do You not
read Vedānta? We are told that You chant, dance, and take prasādam
without observing vairāgyam, that indifference to the food.
What is this? We can’t follow.”
So, according to
their conception, Vedānta, the discussion on Vedānta,
this Brahman, Paramātmā, all these things, that is the standard of
religious life. So it depends upon the proper conception of what is theism,
what is reality; the Brahman conception, the Paramātmā conception,
the Bhāgavata conception, and Kṛṣṇa conception.Brahmeti paramātmeti, bhagavān
iti śabdyate
[vadanti tat tattva-vidas, tattvaṁ yaj
jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti, bhagavān iti
śabdyate]
[“Learned transcendentalists who know
the Absolute Truth call this non dual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or
Bhagavān.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.2.11]
Some, they’re satisfied with the Brahmans conception, they think, “This
is enough that we are out of the worldly, like the exploiting agents. We are;
we have worked liberation from the hands of exploiting agents. That is enough.”
Some of them think, the yogīs, that, “We can hear the inner
voice. That is enough.”
But the devotional school they want some service by dedication, crossing
the plane of exploitation, as well as renunciation or indifference; the active
dedication and service. And in the beginning with the help of scripture, and
also excitement, that awe, grandeur, all these things, power, that is in
Nārāyaṇa. And when they can understand that love is the real
essence of life; without that we can’t, we should not exist. Love is such a
precious innate wealth that the very life we should deny if we do not have that
most precious inner wealth as love to Kṛṣṇa, to the Absolute.
And He’s love consumer, the Absolute, He’s beauty, He’s beauty consumer.
Affection, beauty, love, harmony: that is the highest thing to ever come to the
conception of this world.
In the last scripture of Vyāsadeva He gave it through Bhāgavatam
to the world. “The very gist, the highest goal of life is here, to have
connection with Kṛṣṇa conception of the Absolute.”
Now, who has
come to realise things in such a plane, then to them, even the servitors in
Vaikuṇṭha, that is the servitors of Nārāyaṇa, they
seem to be of very lower status.
Dās Goswāmī, Raghunātha Dās Goswāmī,
who is called to be the Ācārya, the distributor of prayojana-tattva,
what is the summon-bonum of life, the highest attainment is prayojana,
is prema, and he’s the authority in that department. He says:
Selidi parola hadi paravyomi divi pheli [?]
“If I have got much affinity towards the scriptural service then I
should be thrown down to Paravyoma. I won’t be allowed to take my position in
the land of freedom where spontaneous love is the queen, and who is regulating
the whole thing. The Queen of love, She will throw me down in Vaikuṇṭha,
“Go there, do your duty according to scripture, according to calculation,
according to the new excitement created by grandeur, awe, reverence, all these
things, go there. Here only the simple, the plain, the spontaneous service,
hearty service of the Lord reigns here, and we are in the midst of that plain
thing. And we do not care for any other thing, but only for the object of our
love. That is our guide; that is our śāstra; that is our
everything. We do not know anything more and we do not want to know anything
more.”
So the gradation is there, and of course one, what he has got, he can
only give to others, what he knows himself he can give to others. In that sense
we have nothing to say. Our eagerness to help others that is well and good, but
at the same time we must not neglect to detect the quality of things that we
are eager to distribute.
Suppose we are distributing some medicine, but if some medicine of
higher quality has been invented then what should we do? If we neglect to
distribute that sort of medicine then we’ll be responsible for that: so
something like that.
strī-putrādi-kathaṁ jahur viṣayiṇaḥ
śāstra-pravādaṁ budhā
yogīndrā vijahur marun niyamaka-kleśaṁ
tapas tāpasāḥ
jñānābhyāsa-vidhiṁ jahuś ca
yatayaś caitanyacandre param
āviṣkurvati bhakti-yogapadavīṁ
naivānya āsīd rasaḥ
["Something
most wonderful and miraculous has happened because the Divine full moon
Śrī Caitanyacandra has graciously illuminated the sky of everyone's
heart, imbuing them with ambrosial transcendental love. Being deeply attracted
by that, the materialists have given up talking about their wives, children and
mundane affairs. The paṇḍits have given up arguing the
scriptural conclusions, the yogīs have given up the difficulty of
controlling the breath, the ascetics have given up their austerity, and the
impersonalist renunciates have given up their pursuit of impersonal philosophy.
Now there is only one exclusive and super excellent taste, the nectar of pure
devotional service, compared to which, nothing else is attractive
anymore."][Caitanya-Candrāmṛta, 113]
When Mahāprabhu came with His ecstatic love to give to the people
that Divine Love of Kṛṣṇa, all other preachers of different
camps they lost their taste in their own business; all were for the time being
they had to stop their engagement and to look at the manners of
Mahāprabhu. “What has He taken here to give us?”
In Macbeth, “The wine of the spirit of life is drawn.” When Duncan was
murdered by Macbeth, Shakespeare writes, “The spirit of life is drawn. He was
such a good man, innocent, and very affectionate to his subjects. And he was
murdered? Then what is the necessity of living in this world? To live here has
got no value. Such a good man he can be murdered?”
So the general
negligence to the life of this world came at that instance.
Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
So I’m a peaceloving man. Don’t try to take, to drag me into the
battlefield. I’m of a ministerial habit. I’m rather a minister than a king.
That was told to me by Mādhava
Mahārāja, “That you can give us good advices but you cannot work as a
king.” My God-brother Mādhava
Mahārāja told me.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.“You have got foresight. You can give good advice. But you cannot
take up anything at your hands direct and to go on with the programme.”Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja is also not in a fighting
mood. He’s also...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________________________________________ [?]
The followers of Swāmī
Mahārāja who have got affection for me, you combine yourselves and do
whatever you think good. I’m ready to help you theoretically.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
To us it seems that the most important thing is to get the association of your
lotus feet.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. What is
there? Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. If you think so you may extort from
me.Just as Dās Goswāmī says, “I was blind, I was unwilling, but
Sanātana Goswāmī was so kind with me that he tried his utmost
and forced me to drink the nectar.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Vairāgya yug?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
vairāgya-yug
bhakti-rasaṁ prayatnair, apāyayam mām anabhipsum andham
[kṛpāmbudhir yaḥ para-duḥkha-dukhī,
sanātanaṁ taṁ prabhum āśrayāmi]
[“I surrender unto Śrī
Sanātana Goswāmī, the Ācārya of sambandha-jñāna.
He is an ocean of mercy and is always unhappy to see the sufferings of others.
Although I was blind, in the darkness of ignorance, he gave me the light of
transcendental knowledge. He taught me the real meaning of detachment and made
me drink the highest nectarine rasa of divine love.”] [Ragunātha Dāsa
Goswāmī’s, Vilāpa-kuṣumāñjali 6]
“Not only blind but also unwilling, and I was forced to take as if the
medicine...
End of 81.08.10.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.10.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So I am unwilling and you come and
force, exact from me if you find anything good. What is very akin to your
master’s gift, if you find that what you have already got from your spiritual
master, similar things are to be found here, then of course you may come and
try to snatch it and distribute to the world. You have got that right.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
We are situated in Dās Goswāmī’s position, and you are situated
in Sanātana Goswāmī’s position.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
You are forcing us to relish the nectar.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But you are active. I am passive here.
I’m reluctant...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: That is deception.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...and you are coming to me. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: We’re active like monkeys.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī: A monkey is also active.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Whatever you are giving us is spiritual, so the activity cannot be perceived in
the material plane, but in the spiritual plane the activity is going on
Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.They say
like that, even my senior God-brothers they’re of the opinion, when they listen
to me they say it’s as if they’re listening to Guru Mahārāja.Some
sort of peculiarity is in my chanting, my statement; the nature of my delivery
about the spiritual thing. I think perhaps I always talk from above the plane
of knowledge, jñāna. Bhakti transcending jñāna: that is
knowledge, sphere of knowledge, of consciousness. That is my tenor, that never
on this side, on the side of this exploitation. Exploitation, renunciation, and
dedication; I’m always awake that I must be on the land of dedication, crossing
renunciation; a positive. Renunciation is negative. This is the negative side,
it is abscissa, and then the positive side, the land of dedication, the
plane of dedication. It must be of that characteristic. Perhaps that is the
tenor of my speech about the Absolute.So they say that, ‘as if we are hearing from Prabhupāda.’ And when
Prabhupāda was also present, then also many senior sannyāsīns
after hearing Prabhupāda’s lecture they took me to their room and
asked me, “What has Prabhupāda said? Just repeat it.” And I did as much as
I could, and they appreciated.It is Prabhupāda’s grace, Mahāprabhu’s
grace: something like that.
But
Prabhupāda was mortified, or sorry that ‘ease lover’ with the remark ‘ease
lover.’
He asked the editor of Nadiyā Prakāśa at the time
was Śramaṇa Mahārāja, who is Ācārya in
Māyāpur now: I sent an article for Nadiyā Prakāśa
from Bombay about Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. And Prabhupāda told
him, “If you can print such articles in your paper, the standard of your paper
will be higher.” That remark also Prabhupāda made about my article.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
And he also told you that, about you he said that, ‘he’s leaving his spokesman
behind,’ in you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. He left the word to
Goswāmī Mahārāja. “I’m satisfied that my words will be, my
advices will be here after,” after going through my poem about Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
yad dhāmnah khalu dhāma caiva nigame brahmeti
sanjñāyāte
yasyāṁśāsya kalaiva duḥkha nikarair
yogeśvarair mṛgyate
vaikuṇṭhe paramukta-bhṛṅga-caraṇo
nārāyaṇo yaḥ svayam
tasyāṁśī bhagavān svayaṁ
rasa-vapuḥ kṛṣṇo bhavān tat-pradāḥ
["The effulgent, nondifferentiated aspect of divinity known as
Brahman is composed of infinite particles of individual consciousness, and has
been considered by the Upaniṣads and by Vedic scholars to be the
halo of the Absolute. The localised plenary portion of Godhead known as
Paramātmā is sought after by the great yogīs practising
extreme penances. Nārāyaṇa Himself, the predominating Lord of
the Vaikuṇṭha planets, whose lotus feet are worshipped and served
by His unexcelled beelike devotees, is only a partial representation of the
original Personality of Godhead. The original or full-fledged aspect of
divinity is Kṛṣṇa. O Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, you
have not come to distribute Brahman or Paramātmā or even
Nārāyaṇabhakti, but Svayam-Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa,
the original conception of the Absolute, who is all-ecstasy. It is you, O
Gurudeva, who can gently place me in His hands, and you have come to give Him
to the public."][Śrīmad-Bhaktivinoda-viraha-daśakam,
verse 7]
Prabhupāda took that, ‘he would not sell my things in a black
market very cheaply. He knows the standard, after crossing Brahman,
Paramātmā, Nārāyaṇa, then Kṛṣṇa.’ 'Virajā,'
'brahmaloka,' bhedi' 'paravyoma' pāya, tabe yāya tad upari 'goloka-vṛndāvana'
'kṛṣṇa-caraṇa'-kalpavṛkṣe.
[upajiyā bāḍe latā 'brahmāṇḍa'
bhedi' yāya / 'virajā,'
'brahmaloka,' bhedi' 'paravyoma' pāya
tabe yāya tad upari 'goloka-vṛndāvana' / 'kṛṣṇa-caraṇa'-kalpavṛkṣe
kare ārohana]
["The creeper of devotion is born, and grows to pierce the wall of
the universe. It crosses the Virajā River and the Brahman plane, and
reaches to the Vaikuṇṭha plane. Then it grows further up to Goloka
Vṛndāvana, finally reaching to embrace the wish-yielding tree of Kṛṣṇa's
Lotus Feet."][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
19.153-4]
And then there is the Goloka, then mādhurya-rasa, and then Rādhā-dāsya, the highest end of the whole Gauḍīya sampradāya,
the Rādhā-dāsya. That was represented in the last stanza.
śrī-gaurānumataṁ svarūpa-viditaṁ
[rūpāgrajenādṛtaṁ
rūpādyaiḥ pariveśitaṁ raghu-gaṇair-āsvāditaṁ
sevitam
jīvādyair abhirakṣitaṁ
śuka-śiva-brahmādi sammānitaṁ
śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho
tad dātum īśo bhavān]
["What was
sanctioned by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by His descent was
intimately known only to Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara
Goswāmī. It was adored by Sanātana Goswāmī and served
by Rūpa Goswāmī and his followers. Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī
tasted that wonderful thing fully and enhanced it with his own realisation. And
Jīva Goswāmī supported and protected it by quoting the
scriptures from different places. The taste of that divine truth is aspired for
by Brahmā, Śiva, and Uddhava, who respect it as the supreme goal of
life. What is this wonderful truth? Śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanā:
that the highest nectar of our life is the service of Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī. This is most wonderful. O Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
you are our master. It is within your power to allow them to bestow their grace
upon us. You are in a position to bestow the highest gift ever known to the
world upon us all. It is at your disposal. O Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
please be kind to us and grant us your mercy."]
[Śrīmad-Bhaktivinoda-viraha-daśakam,
verse 9]
And was very beautifully, and the
adjustment was very nice, śrī-gaurānumataṁ
svarūpa-viditaṁ rūpāgrajenādṛtaṁ,
these are the qualifications of Rādhā-dāsya, sanctioned by Gaurāṅga. And
appreciated by, and that is thoroughly known by
Svarūpa Dāmodara, and appreciated by Sanātana Goswāmī.
And it was distributed by Rūpa Goswāmī and Raghunātham.
Raghunātha tasted it and again developed it. And Jīva
Goswāmī came to protect it from others that it may not be mixed with
other alloyed things. So protection from the scriptures and reason was given by
Jīva Goswāmī, and Baladeva, others, jīvādyair.
And that was prayed [for] by Uddhava, and Brahmā, Śiva, and others.
That was, they showed their respect from far away, the Rādhā-dāsya. And you, Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda, you can,aho, what to speak,
what wonder, that you can distribute that very thing to all. You are so great.
The Rāmānuja, Madhvācārya, they’re Ācāryas of the Bhakti School, Devotional School, but their strata,
their plane, is lower. And what you have given that is the highest and its
acquaintance is like this.
So step by step the development was shown there. Though it is kavya,
poem, but still, as in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; both, the tattva
and kavya, poetry as well as argument, this ontology, poetry and
ontology mixed together. So Bhāgavat, Śrīmad-Bhāgavat
is of that type, both poetry as well as ontology.
And in my style also, poetry as well as ontology is mixed, not only
poetry, but ontology is there, and poetry is also there. That is the
characteristic of my Sanskrit verses. And Premadhāma-deva-stotram
it is also both the ontological aspect as well as the life of Mahāprabhu
has been given there it is found.
In Caitanya-caritāmṛta, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
also, they deal with this, both poetry as well as ontology, the presentation
combined.
So Prabhupāda was very much satisfied with my writings.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In one of your writings you have
mentioned the spiritual identity of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura, and
Gaura Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja.[Asks
another devotee] “Do you know
that poem I’m talking about?”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mm:
kamala-priya-nayanam, guṇa-mañjari-garimā-guṇa-hari-vāsana-vayanam
[sarasī-taṭa-sukhad oṭaja-nikaṭa-priya-bhajanam
lalitā-mukha-lalanā-kula-paramādara-yajanam
vraja-kānana-bahu-mānana-kamala-priya-nayanam
guṇa-mañjari-garimā-guṇa-hari-vāsana-vayanam
śubhadodaya-divase vṛṣa-ravijā-nija-dayitam
praṇamāmi ca caraṇāntika-paricāraka-sahitam]
["O Dayita
dāsa, preoccupied with intimate service alongside the Lord's closest
servitors, you are residing on the banks of the Saraswatī River, seated
inside a simple grass hut in the beautiful garden known as
Svānanda-sukhada-kuñja. Always standing just before Śrīmatī
Lalitā Devī within a group of Mañjarī servitors (as Nayana-maṅī
Mañjarī) you are deeply absorbed in devotion's inward current. In the
gardens of Vraja you are intimately disposed to Śrīmatī Kamala
Mañjarī (Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura), the closest
object of your affection, and your singing of the divine qualities found in Guṇa
Mañjarī (Śrīla Gaurakiśora) weaves a tent inviting Lord
Hari to reside there. On your auspicious appearance day I offer my obeisances
unto the tips of your lotus feet in the association of your dearmost servitors.
O Gurudeva, you are the favourite object of King Vṛṣabhānu's
daughter, Śrīmatī Rādhikā."]
[Śrī-Dayita-dāsa-praṇati-pañcakam,
verse 4, from Śrī Kīrtana Mañjuṣā, p 33-4]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.Vraja-kānana-bahu-mānana-kamala-priya-nayanam.
Kamala means Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Kamala Mañjarī, bahu-mānana-kamala,
and very favourite to Kamala Mañjarī. That is Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
And who is always trying to enchant the good qualities of Guṇa
Mañjarī [Gaura Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī
Mahārāja] and thereby he’s constructing as if a room where Hari can
live, Kṛṣṇa can live ____________tent.So
guṇa means thread, thread means guṇa, and also guṇa
means quality, so with the guṇa of Guṇa Mañjarī, by
the chanting the qualities of Guṇa Mañjarī, his Gurudeva, with that guṇa
he’s preparing a tent where he’s asking Kṛṣṇa to live
there; that within the fist of Guṇa Mañjarī his Gurudeva. That is
mentioned there.And also in sujanārbuda [first word of the first
verse of Śrī Śrī Prabhupāda-padma-stavakaḥ]
I have mentioned:
vipulī-kṛta-vaibhava-gaura-bhuvaṁ, bhuvaneṣu vikīrtita gaura-dayam
dayanīya-[gaṇārpita-gaura-padaṁ, praṇamāmi sadā prabhupāda-padam]
[O Śrīla Prabhupāda, you have widely spread the glories
of Śrī Gaurāṅga’s holy abode, Śrī
Māyāpura Dhāma, and you have openly declared the nature of
Śrī Gaurāṅga’s mercy throughout the universe. Your
graceful personality has planted the lotus of Śrī Gaura’s holy feet
in the hearts of your deserving servitors. I eternally offer my respects unto
that wonderful effulgence that emanates from the radiant lotus toe-tips of
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura
Prabhupāda.][Śrī Śrī Prabhupāda-padma-stavakaḥ,
5]
Then,
cira-gaura-janāśraya-viśva-guruṁ, [guru-gaurakiśoraka-dāsya-param
paramādṛta-bhaktivinoda-padaṁ, praṇamāmi sadā prabhupāda-padam]
[O
Śrīla Prabhupāda, as the universal spiritual master and guide,
you are the eternal refuge for Śrī Gaurāṅga’s devotees.
You are always dedicated to serving your spiritual master Śrīla Gaura
Kiśora, and you are a careful servant to the lotus feet of Śrīla
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. I eternally offer my respects to that charming
effulgence that shines from the radiant lotus toe-tips of Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda.]
[Śrī
Śrī Prabhupāda-padma-stavakaḥ, 6]
Though You are eternal master, the general
of the Gauḍīya camp, cira-gaura-janāśraya-viśva-guruṁ,
and the universal Ācārya, guru-gaurakiśoraka-dāsya-param, still, we see in you the serving mood about your Gurudeva, Gaura
Kiśora. Being so big, still you hold the mood of serving your Guru, dāsya-param.
And paramādṛta-bhaktivinoda-padaṁ, and great reverence
for the holy connection of Śrī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura we
observe in you there also; and in some other places also.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Taṭasthā-vicāra; and
relatively he was more connected with Gaura Kiśora, relative
consideration: but from absolute consideration he had more attraction for
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, than that for Gaura Kiśora Dāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
That’s from the absolute.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The absolute consideration. These are
very subtle things, very subtle things.
Sanātana Goswāmī he says in Bṛhat-bhāgavatāmṛta
when he’s writing about the Queens of Dvārakā, “Rukmiṇī is
such and such, Satyabhāmā is such and such; these are such.” Then he
says at the time, “A man, a fellow like me, a fellow of the street like me, now
he has sat down to deal with so many higher ideals. How much audacity I have
got, that what I am, like a worm or insect, and I go to judge the position of
Satyabhāmā, Rukmiṇī and others, who have so much loving
affection and gives to Kṛṣṇa, all these things. But this is
not mine. Someone I feel, someone has got hold of my hand and pen and is
forcing me to write all these things. It is not mine. What audacity I may have
that I’m going to give a comparative study of the affectionate service of the
great divine Queens of Kṛṣṇa. Who am I? But someone is
forcing my hand to write all these things. In this way it is possible.”
[Kṛṣṇadāsa] Kavirāja Goswāmī also
says,
ei grantha lekhāya more ‘madana-mohana’ / āmāra likhana yena [śukera paṭhana]
[“Actually, Śrī
Caitanya-caritamrta is not my writing but the dictation of Śrī
Madana-mohana. My writing is like the repetition of a parrot.”][Caitanya-caritamrta,
Ādi-līlā, 8.78]
It is cent per cent true. This is not a hyperbolic expression. They’re
forced to write from above. There is such potency and it is possible that
connection with them. These are very higher things.Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, considering that
I’m just a mleccha from the western countries, what audacity I must have
to even think I can understand something about Sanātana Goswāmī
or these great spiritual personalities. So sometimes I wonder.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________ what audacity?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I was saying like he’s saying, that
Sanātana Goswāmī is saying that Satyabhāmā...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_______________________
Sanātana
Goswāmī _______ what
audacity; that I’m a man from the street and I’m writing about...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Going to deal their...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Comparing between the Queens of Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā.So
in the same mood Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja also is
feeling that after all I’m a mleccha and what an audacity that I’m
trying to understand Sanātana Goswāmī and Rūpa
Goswāmī and all these elevated personal associates of Caitanya
Mahāprabhu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha. So perhaps that plenary
force is acting within you. Ha, ha, ha.Hare Kṛṣṇa.Of course: yam
evaiṣa vṛnute tena labhyas.
[nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo, na medhayā
na bahunā śrutena]
yam evaiṣa vṛnute tena labhyas, [tasyaiṣa
ātmā vivṛnute tanūṁ svām]
[“One cannot
understand the substance of the Paramātmā, the Super-soul residing
within everyone's heart, by means of expertise in logic, intelligence or
learning. When the living entity begs the Lord for His mercy, being desirous of
His transcendental loving service, then the Supreme Lord reveals His
self-manifest form directly before him.”][Katha-Upaniṣad, 1.2.23]
We’re all discussing all these things; is it a very easy thing for others
to talk in such matters, leaving – there are so many things for our enjoyment
in the world of exploitation, leaving all these...
When I came to
Prabhupāda first, in Calcutta, there the Upaniṣad was being
explained there, UrupiPaṇḍita, there was one Paṇḍita
from Urupi, from Mādhva School, he was explaining, Prabhupāda was
also one of the audience, and myself, and Kalna Purī Mahārāja,
and one or two more.At that time I thought, “What is this? The Calcutta is a
town of mundane business, full of so much noise, with mundane business and
activities. And that ancient tapovan what was cultivated in ancient
India in the tapovan we are told, and that in the busy city of Calcutta,
that thing is being dealt with. That high order that was cultivated in the
ancient tapovan of India amongst the ṛṣis, and that
thing is again being repeated here in this busy city of Calcutta of mundane
business.” That thing made me wonder.So whenever and wherever the kathā,
that is the chanting of the qualities; that is well and that is good.
No yatra,
vaikuntha kathā suda paka ____________________________________ [?]
However
outwardly purer the atmosphere may appear, but if there is no talk about Hari,
that must be rejected like anything. The talk of Hari, that is the criterion of
the highest plane, Harikathā, sudapara, the nectar of nirguṇa, that Kṛṣṇa.
Because the surrender is at the extreme point there, the absolute autocrat, and
love begins there, love begins.
As in the Hindu
system of marriage, one wife sacrificed, and then there is a possibility of
appearance of love. Otherwise a mutual contract, as in the marriage of the
Christians and the Mohammedans; a contract, equal partnership. No room of love
there. The sacrifice must be in one part, then the question of love and
affection appears.
The highest sacrifice of the highest degree only exacted in Goloka, in Vṛndāvana,
so the question of love can come there only. No sacrifice, no affection, no
love; according to the degree of sacrifice, dedication. Dedication is the
foundation of love, of the structure of love. Without dedication no love can
stand over. The highest, the greatest autocrat, and the highest dedicating
agent: Rādhārāṇī, mahābhāva
svarūpini.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Rādhikā, why Rādhā-dāsyam? We are wanted
to dedicate and dedicating highest ideal is Rādhārāṇī,
in all respects, mādhurya rasa, and parakīya,
endangering all His achievement. She is approaching to be fodder of the
greatest consumer, autocrat, Kṛṣṇa. The dedication in its
zenith is there only. And Her company in any way, a slight company, or Her
connection, will purify us. Our adherence should go that side. That should be
considered the highest wealth.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.And
Mahāprabhu came only to prove, to show, to prove to the world the highest
dignity of Rādhārāṇī.
yadi gaura nā hoita, tabe ki hoita, kemone dharitām de
[rādhāra mahimā, prema-rasa-sīmā jagate
jānāta ke
madhura vṛndā vipina mādhurī praveśa
cāturī sāra
baraja yuvatī bhāvera bhakati śakati hoita
kāra]
[“What great
insurmountable, unsurpassable
loss would we have faced in our life, if Śrī Gaurāṅga had
not appeared before us on this earth? How could we bear our unfulfilled, empty
life without Him? Who in this world would have described the super excellent
transcendental glory of Śrī Rādhikā, Who is the last limit
of divine love and devotion for the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa?
Without His grace, who would be able to know the super excellent devotional
path that gives entrance into the transcendental realm of the ambrosial ecstasy
of Vṛndāvana? Who would be able to attain the mood and taste of the
topmost devotional ecstasy of the young damsels of Vraja?”][Vāsudeva
Ghosa]
Those that are
closely connected with Rādhārāṇī it is their
statement. “Our heart’s nectar has been taken out here by Mahāprabhu, our
greatest admirer, our canvasser.” Vāsudeva Ghosa, one of the sakhīs;
“What we possess in our bosom is so valuable and Gaurāṅga has come
to establish in the market that our heart’s wealth is of the highest type of
wealth. If He did not come to express this to the world then how could we live?
Our life would have been impossible if the greatness of our Mistress had not
been shown, placed in such high standard. Then how could we bear our life?”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You said once that for someone to change
their rasa that that’s very rare.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Very rarely, but it’s possible.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So when Mahāprabhu came and,
anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ
kalau
[samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ
sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ
śacī-nandanaḥ]
[“May that Lord, who is known as the son of Śrīmatī
Śacīdevī, be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers
of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in
this age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation ever
offered before: the most sublime and radiant spiritual knowledge of the mellow
taste of His service.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.4]
With this mādhurya rasa, was He giving opportunity for jīvas
to be promoted to mādhurya rasa - because He’s distributing
those sentiments?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He came mainly to distribute mādhurya
rasa. And automatically other rasa are there because they’re living
on mādhurya rasa. They’re all dependent on mādhurya rasa.
Mādhurya rasa is the mukhya rasa and ādi rasa. In
both these important ways mādhurya rasa has been described. It is
the first original rasa and it is the combination of all the rasa,
the mādhurya rasa, independent rasa. All others are like
satellites, vātsalya, sākhya, they’re only depending on this
transaction, vilāsa.
So
Mahāprabhu came to give the original, the principal thing, and all others
automatically got their justice. And so His sampradāya is known as rūpānuga.
Rūpa Goswāmī is exclusively in mādhurya rasa. Our sampradāya
is known as rūpānuga. That exclusively we are, we profess
that we are in mādhurya rasa. Then there may be somevatikrama, exceptional cases, but mainly the rūpānuga. The
Mahāprabhu came and rūpānuga, all this means that all are, grahak, purchasers, seekers of mādhurya
rasa, mainly. There may be several exceptional cases, but the general tenor
is this, mādhurya rasa, rūpānuga, because it is rūpānuga.
Our Ācārya Guru paramparā
is mādhurya
rasa. Vātsalya rasa eliminated, even Nityānanda Prabhu.
Nityānanda Prabhu is not in the list of Guru paramparā.
The Svarūpa Dāmodara, Rūpa, Sanātana, Raghunātha, all
in mādhurya rasa.
Ācārya, more or less, mādhurya rasa.
So mainly our sampradāya is that of mādhurya rasa,
taking towards Rādhā-dāsya, generally, but Rādhā-dāsya
presupposes other rasa. The mādhurya rasa presupposes all
other rasa. There must be vātsalya rasa, must be sākhya
rasa. Krsna means such a group, not Kṛṣṇa alone, He must
have His paraphernalia, mother, father, others, all these things. But mādhurya
rasa, though it is covered in disguise, but it is the main current is there
and all other rasas are subsidiary, are helping His līlā with
mādhurya rasa. They also cannot be eliminated. They also must be
there. But they’re living on mādhurya rasa. The principal thing is mādhurya
rasa, and to help the transaction of mādhurya rasa all other rasas
are necessary, to do their quota, to contribute their quota.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So śanta rasa of Goloka must
be different than śanta rasa of Vaikuṇṭha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes of course different.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So they’re helping to promote mādhurya
rasa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, they’re also helping.Just as
Rādhārāṇī says in Kurukṣetra, “Though He’s that
Kṛṣṇa, I’m that Rādhā, but My mind is always
running towards Vṛndāvana.”
The anukul parivesh,
the favourable environment, the Yamunā, the trees, the sand, all these,
the birds, the moira, all helping, they have got their particular
contribution to the līlā, in different times. They’re all
helping; otherwise Vṛndāvana līlā is not possible.
So everything has got its special serving value.
Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, our Guru Mahārāja, he
introduced the Ratha-yātrā of Jagannātha in the western
countries.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So I was thinking that eleven years ago
I first saw that. Naturally I had practically no idea of the spiritual
significance, but by somehow coming in contact, like Rūpa
Goswāmī says,
kleśa-ghnī śubhadā mokṣa-, [laghutā-kṛt
sudurllabhā
sāndrānanda-viśeṣātmā,
śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī ca sā]
[“Uttamā-bhakti, the purest devotion, is the vanquisher of
all sin and ignorance, and the bestower of all auspiciousness; liberation is
belittled in the presence of such devotion, which is very rarely attained, the
embodiment of the deepest ecstasy, and the attractor of Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Himself.”] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Pūrvva, 1.17]
Śubhadā, it is so auspicious that it seems that
after some time you are drawn into some understanding of such things. As our
Guru Mahārāja gave Caitanya-caritāmṛta...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This is all that sukṛti.
Anyhow having some connection with the transcendental nirguṇa,
transcendental wave. You all have some connection with transcendental wave previously,
and wherever you are it has kept you, it has taken you, floating above very
near to such thought, of the Vṛndāvana plane, coming near to the Vṛndāvana.
The underground activity of previous lives was there. And that has taken you
floating just near were Swāmī Mahārāja began his preaching.
That nearness to the capacity of acceptance of his words, that sort of merit
was already within you, and in variegated nature, and that has taken you to
appreciate. Otherwise it is not possible; nirguṇa, connection with
nirguṇa.Gaura Sundara. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, I was reading Śrīmad-Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta
and I was wondering one thing. Both the Madhvi vipra and Gopa Kumāra, in the beginning they didn’t have any knowledge
about Vṛndāvana or...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In the beginning?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
They did not have any understanding of the spiritual nature, but still they
were interested and that’s how they were approaching the spiritual world. When
I was reading that I was wondering whether this knowledge about the spiritual
nature that beforehand if we have the knowledge whether it will stand as an
obstruction?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see; they had some previous
connection with things, acquaintances with things of nirguṇa world,
of the hazy world. Otherwise how when they’re connected in their gradual
improvement in a place and after experience of some time it does not have any
charm? Then the occasion comes from the higher. One
agent comes in their connection and he’s taken to that place. And again after
living, passing some time in that plane he feels unsatisfied. Then some
connection from upper agent comes there and he goes there. What does it mean?
That the background is such that though they’re going gradually externally, but
some backing, some healthy backing is there that wherever he’s led he’s not
satisfied. Then again...In this way in the highest position only they could get
their fulfilment; that sukṛti in the background that was there.
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’
[tha bhajana-kriyā
tato’ nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā
rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ
premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ
prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ]
[“In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in
associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual
master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is
freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service.
Thereafter, one develops taste and then attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti,
the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles.
Gradually spiritual emotions manifest and intensify, then finally there is an
awakening of divine love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead
for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”] [Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu, 1.4.15-16]
From there it has begun, but how śraddhā is produced? Sat-saṅgaḥ
prāpyate puṁbhiḥ sukṛtaiḥ pūrvva-sañcitaiḥ.
[bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhaktasaṅgena parijāyate
sat-saṅgaḥ prāpyate puṁbhiḥ sukṛtaiḥ
pūrvva-sañcitaiḥ]
[“Actually we
can recognise a sādhu by sukṛti. Apparently we can
know him from the śāstras, the scriptures, because the śāstra
helps us to know who is a sādhu, and the sādhu gives
us the interpretation of the śāstra. So sādhu and śāstra
are interdependent, but the sādhu holds the more important
position and the śāstra has the secondary position. The living
śāstra is the sādhu, but to know who is Guru, who is sādhu, we are to consult the
descriptions given about them in the scriptures. The symptoms of the sādhu,
both of the Guru as well as the disciple, have been
written in the Bhāgavatam, in the Gītā and in the Upaniṣads.”]
[Bṛhan-Nāradīya
Purāṇa]
That we meet a proper sādhu it is not a chance coincidence
but it is the result of the previous sukṛti. What is sukṛti?
Our connection with the plane of service, dedication, and not of this land of
exploitation or renunciation: that is called sukṛti.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So in the same way it is our causeless
good fortune that we have got your connection and association.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________
Swāmī Mahārāja, and now he’s departed and you have come
here, and he also told about that in some way or other. Anyhow we’re connected and
this talk is going on. Talk is going on; the praise of Rādhārāṇī
which proves the highest attainment. Anyhow we’re as in such a way that we have
got the advantage of, we’re forced to talk about Rādhārāṇī
and Her greatness and all these things. There may be so many engagements, but anyhow by Their grace we are engaged in the topic of the
highest order to our realisation.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Prema-rasa-sīmā, rādhāra
mahimā, jageta jānāta ke?Dedication, dedication, bhakti means
dedicate, para-bhakti. Mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām.
[brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā, na śocati
na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, mad-bhaktiṁ
labhate parām]
[“The spotlessly
pure-hearted and self-satisfied soul who has attained to his conscious divine
nature neither grieves nor craves for anything. Seeing all beings equally (in
the conception of My supreme energy), he gradually achieves supreme devotion (prema-bhakti)
unto Me.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 18.54]
“Brahma-bhūtaḥ, attained a spiritual position fully placed
on spiritual plane, brahma-bhūtaḥ, that has crossed the
mundane and has got his identification with Your conscious unit. And prasannātmā,
a sort of selfsatisfaction is there. Na śocati na kāṅkṣati,
in reference with the mundane loss and gain; indifferent. Samaḥ sarveṣu
bhūteṣu, considering the worldly persons they’re neutral, not
contributing any mundane help to any other person, samaḥ sarveṣu
bhūteṣu. And they’re all equal in soul consideration. In
conscious consideration they’re all unit of soul, samaḥ sarveṣu
bhūteṣu. Mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām, then he’s in a
position to go to the, to My real affectionate love quarter, mad-bhaktiṁ
labhate parām.He gets My higher devotional service. They’re eligible,
from this position they’re really eligible to search, or to advance towards the
land of My dedication, of My devotional service, mad-bhaktiṁ labhate
parām.”
The bhakti is
always above the land of renunciation. We must take it for granted always that
it is cinmayi, never mundane, bhakti. Dedication to the country,
dedication to the society, to the nation, to the family, this is all extended
selfishness.
For a few years I joined the Gandhi Movement of non-cooperation, and
then came to Gauḍīya Maṭh, then I had to fight with the same
people, people of same nature. And my weapon was ‘extended selfishness.’ That
was a very helpful weapon, the extended selfishness, to identify with the
country. To identify with the body, bodily comforts, then extend it to the
family, to the village, to the clan, then to the country. But there’s clash
between the greater units. Hindustan, Pakistan, then Europe, Russia, they fight
with one another. The clash is inevitable, only extended selfishness. The
lover, the patron, philanthropist, all extended selfishness.
Nothing less than identification with the Infinite can get us proper
relief. And no number of finite can make infinite. So from the beginning the
plane of infinite should be taken up. ‘I shall begin from here by extending the
area of our activity we shall reach one day to the infinite,’ that is not
possible, because no number of finite can make infinite. So from the beginning
that comes from higher to lower, śrauta-panthā, the method of
descent, of deduction, deductive method, and we are to submit to that. And He’s
trying to give Himself, to reveal Himself. We must connect with Him. We must
sell our head there. That is the only way, śrauta-panthā___________ And that depends upon ajñāta-sukṛti,
jñāta-sukṛti, then śraddhā, that if I do my
duty towards that Wonderful One my duty is done to the whole, and more than
that.
“Whatever you can conceive that is in My one part; I’m such.”
So begin there, not any part. No part can be any important part in Him;
always transcending, transcending.Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
So Mahārāja, in Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta
again, you were saying that when Gopa Kumāra
was going through the eight layers of prakṛti, outer layers of māyā,
in the causal layers of māyā, then he was getting rid of his
physical concept. Like the earth, water, fire, air, ether; and then ahaṅkāra,
mahat-tattva too, and then ultimately prakṛti. So in that
layer only he got rid of his false ego, or the mundane concept of his identity.
And then from there he started to develop _____________ [?] So does that
mean that unless and until we go through those veils of māyā and...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sometimes unconsciously we pass over
that. By the help of sādhu-saṅga and saṅkīrtana,
all these things, his progress is such; unconsciously he’ll pass those very
subtle different stages of māyā.
Just as śatapatra vedhaḥ nyāya, the hundred lotus
petals that are pierced by a needle, it takes no time, and unconsciously only
within a very short time the whole is penetrated. But if we finely analyse we
find a hundred. So something like that; unconsciously we may pass through,
different stages.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You quoted that verse, once you quoted
that verse of Prabhodānanda Sarasvatī...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If we walk our progress is very slow,
but horse riding quick, and aeroplane in no time we pass so many provinces.
Something like that.
What do you say?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You quoted a verse once...
End of 81.08.10.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.10.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Dev Goswāmī Mahārāja
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: ...Ṭhākura, yathā
yathā gaura padāravinde, vindeta bhaktiṁ kṛta puṇya
rāśiḥ.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: bhaktiṁ kṛta puṇya
rāśiḥ, tathā tathot sarpati hṛdy akasmāt,
rādhā padāmbhoja sudhāmbhu-rāśiḥ.
[yathā yathā gaura padāravinde, vindeta bhaktiṁ
kṛta puṇya rāśiḥ
tathā tathot sarpati hṛdy akasmāt,
rādhā padāmbhoja sudhāmbhu-rāśiḥ]
[Prabodhānanda
Saraswatī Ṭhākura says: “As much as we devote ourselves to the
lotus feet of Śrī Gaurāṅga, we will automatically achieve
the nectarine service of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī
in Vṛndāvana. An investment in Navadwīpa Dhāma will
automatically take one to Vṛndāvana. How one will be carried there
will be unknown to him. But those who have good fortune invest everything in
the service of Gaurāṅga. If they do that, they will find that
everything has automatically been offered to the divine feet of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. She will accept
them in Her confidential service and give them engagement, saying: ‘Oh, you
have a good recommendation from Navadwīpa; I immediately appoint you to
this service.’”]
[Caitanya-Candramṛta,
88]
If we put the coin somewhere the ticket comes from another position;
something like that. If we put our energy to Mahāprabhu we find that I
have got ticket to Vṛndāvana. Mahāprabhu is nothing but
combination of rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitam [possessing
the colour of molten gold like that of Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī.] And ostentatiously He’s an
Ācārya, but who is that Ācārya? If we come in closer
contact, real contact with Him, we shall find out who is the Ācārya.
There is one śloka of Narahari Sarakara Ṭhākura.
He says, he’s more addicted towards Braja līlā than Gaura līlā,
he says, “I don’t admit Your sannyāsa.” Addressing Mahāprabhu,
“I don’t admit You as a sannyāsī.”gopinam kucha kum kumino
nijitam kim vasa [?]
“Where have you got this saffron colour of your cloth?”
He says, “It comes in connection from the kum kum of the gopīs.
It is remarkably present there. And You feel to be a sannyāsī.
I don’t admit that.So our approach is like that. You are in disguise. You are
that lampat [?]”
What is the English?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
The common English would be womaniser.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Woman hunter.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Debauchee.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “And You are a notorious debauch of
Vraja and now You have taken the garb of a sannyāsī.”
Ha, ha, ha, something like that. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.Talking too much in this mean mouth.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Jaya Nitāi. Jaya Nitāi.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Prabhupāda used to give the example of stepping into a lift. If we try to
climb a hundred story building then it’s very strenuous. But if we get into the
lift then we just shoot up.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, yes; sādhu-saṅga.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
There is a very high building in New York called...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Empire State Building.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
No, that World Trade Centre; it’s one hundred and forty stories. And there’s a
lift that goes straight up to the ninetieth, or hundredth story in one shot, it
doesn’t stop anywhere. And it takes only a few seconds.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Mahāprabhu took like in a lift
to Rādhā-dāsyam, to the highest quarter, lift smoothly.
So many things without our notice passed, by step by step, āroha-panthā.
That is very shortly depicted in Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛtam.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, when we hear you, then all these troubles outside and
involvement in the struggles seem to be such a waste of time. Isn’t it, like fighting on trivialities just to... When we hear from your
lotus mouth, then we notice that all this involvement in the material
platform...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Are being cleared.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
...is such a useless waste of time.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And are cleared.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Yes. Then there’s no taste left to be
involved in it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.And
that was perhaps in the case of Jayatīrtha Mahārāja and his
wife. The wife’s weeping and in the midst of that she was ready for the
sacrifice. And sometimes when encouraging words she was smiling. And again weeping
and smiling. A good lady: of good heart.“You are my daughter; you’re daughter
to Swāmī Mahārāja, my niece, like daughter to me. If any
trouble you may come here.”Ha, ha, ha. Anyhow she was...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
She asked me to send some of your nectar from your lotus mouth.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
[Two minutes spoken in Bengali [?]
Day of departure of Rūpa Goswāmī Prabhu, so you must come
then the day after tomorrow; this is for Rūpa Goswāmī.Where is
that PramāṇaSwāmī?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: __________ Mexico,
Venezuela________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ______________________ they want already appointed. He gave hope that he will spend _____________ and remain, medium. ________________________
Some of them they’re of an indifferent
mood to HaṁsadūtaMahārāja, in England?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Jayatīrtha Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ah, Jayatīrtha Mahārāja.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Jayatīrtha Mahārāja is in an unfavourable situation right now
because...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s in uncertain position now?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Devotees there might have had some…But I think that is only temporary.
[About fifty seconds spoken in
Bengali (?) with Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But the reaction came in some other
form.Anyhow, He’s willing, Kṛṣṇa’s will, wish, sweet will of
Kṛṣṇa. Mayā santuṣṭa-manasaḥ
sarvāḥ sukha-mayā diśaḥ.
[akiñcanasya dāntasya,
śāntasya sama-cetasaḥ
mayā santuṣṭa-manasaḥ sarvāḥ
sukha-mayā diśaḥ]
[“One who does
not desire anything within this world, who has achieved peace by controlling
his senses, whose consciousness is equal in all conditions and whose mind is
completely satisfied in Me finds only happiness wherever he goes.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.14.13]
If we can live in that plane, all the waves that will come to us cannot
but be favourable; every wave carrying favourable news. Only to find out the
plane of our stand, what is necessary really for us, to that plane. To find out
that plane where to take our stand properly. Then the harmony, the plane of the
highest harmony, when all discord has been eliminated; properly adjusted.
Proper adjustment has no complaint, no complaint – or complaint only
self-centred.
Rādhārāṇī says,more durdaiva vilas tarkena
dosa nai [?]
By this great viraha, separation, She says: She’s taking this
vision, angle of vision, that,“Nothing to complain about from outside, from His side; it is
only something within Me is showing like a magic what is undesirable, amora
durdaiva vilas. [?] That was so near, so loving to Me, and now He’s cruel;
how is it possible? It is only evolving from Me no doubt.”
aher iva gatiḥ premṇaḥ, svabhāva-kuṭilā
bhavet
[ato hetor ahetoś ca, yūnor māna udañcati]
[“Just as a serpent naturally moves in a crooked way, in a zigzag way,
the nature of love is naturally crooked. It is not straight. So the concerned
parties quarrel, sometimes with cause and sometimes without cause, and
separation comes. Separation is necessary for the transcendental pastimes of
Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”] [Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi]
Intact original thinking welcomed. Just as the serpent does not go straight, but his natural
progress is crooked. So the wave of the Divine Love, the wave of love also goes
in a crooked way. Ato hetor ahetoś ca, yūnor māna udañcati.
So the abhimāna, the different sentiments arise from the hearts of
both the parties without cause, sometimes no cause, that sentiment, but because
of that crookedness it is natural, it must come.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Loving anger?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Loving, anger? It is emotion or
sentiment. Bhāva-dyuti, what would be the English synonym, bhāva
and dyuti, bhāva-dyuti-suvalitam?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Emotion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhāva means emotion?
Rādhārāṇī is represented only by Her emotion?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Effulgence.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Effulgence is a kānti, and bhāva
means...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Sentiment.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mood. But Rādhārāṇī
may have different moods in different times so She Herself is not...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Loving – the mood of Her loving.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitam.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Suvalitam naumi kṛṣṇa
svarūpam. What is that? Heart and halo: or nature and lustre. Bhāva
means She Herself, Her existence, both bhāva and dyuti.
Her very nature, and the dyuti, the out-coming lustre, the relative wave
out-coming from Her nature. Nature or heart; what will be the most appropriate
thing? Bhāva-dyuti-suvalitam. The mood may be a flickering thing,
in different time different moods. But bhāva means Her real
existence, Her nature. And halo, heart and halo, heart and nature may be used
as synonymous, no?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
What about Her being?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Being.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Very existence.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Very existence. Satya. And what
is out-coming, the fruiting, the foam. So ordinary people who are not connected
with this sort of Gauḍīya ontology, it will be difficult for them to
translate properly. “That won’t appeal to us, their translation.” That is the
difficulty.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.All right, then I shall let you go now. Take something.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
The radiance of Her being.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, radiance, being and radiance.
[About thirty seconds of Bengali [?]
“My friends, what is the acquaintance of your Guru, any writing or any
life? Nothing, and you say, ‘My Guru is a big fellow.’ What is this?” Ha, ha,
ha, ha.
...
Garbhodakaśāyī, Kṣīrodakaśāyī,
and one, the smaller, is a jīva daṇḍa, representing the
jīva, the soul, who is taking that daṇḍa,
accepting. So we should consider we should give divine respect to the daṇḍa.Is
this the first time you come here, no?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: First time?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes. I saw you speak once.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You saw me?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Once you spoke, that was during our festival.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where, at Māyāpur?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes. Our Guru Mahārāja was there and you were
speaking something. Only that time I had your darśana Prabhu. But
Venkatta and myself were anxious to come to meet you for a long time.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
I’m known to him, though I can’t see now clearly, only vague. Having conception
for the faces is not sufficient to recognise you.
Who is in charge
of the Vṛndāvana Gurukula now?
Devotees: Dhanudara.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A disciple of Swāmī
Mahārāja, or a new Ācārya?
Venkatta: [Bharati
Mahārāja] Swāmī
Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Dhanudara. I did not hear his name, or
did not see him.
You have collected Hindi?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes. My Guru Mahārāja ordered me to learn Hindi.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Putting Gītā in Hindi
language, a gṛhastha, what is his name? Do you know? He came to
see me.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Rajiva Gupta.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rajiva Gupta, maybe.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: But he’s from Delhi. He has done our Gītā into
Hindi. His name is Rajiva Gupta.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rajiva Gupta, he came here.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes, yes. We met him just before coming here. He’s a good
friend of mine also. We told him we were coming to see you. He said, “I wish I
can come.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s also your God-brother, Rajiva
Gupta?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: He did not receive initiation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, not even one, HariNāma?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: He did not receive HariNāma. But he considers that he received. He
considers that, although he did not receive. He’s very nice.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In Vṛndāvana, have you come
in connection with Oudh Bihārī [Lal] Kapoor?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Dr. Kapoor?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Professor Kapoor?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes, yes, Oh yes, I know him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You know?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where is he now?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: He’s there still, he’s in Vṛndāvana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Vṛndāvana?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He was a man of Allahabad, and he was
Professor to Agra College. He wrote; he got Doctorate writing on the philosophy
of Śrī Caitanya Deva. And Professor [Nisikanta] Sanyal was one of the
examiners. Professor Sanyal, the writer of Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Caitanya in English. He was professor of history, good scholar, professor
of Ravenshaw College, and head examiner of Patna University: Professor Sanyal.
He was one of the examiners of Kapoor ji’s doctorate.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I had great fortune I could stay in Vṛndāvana for
about three or four years. At the beginning of that temple my Guru
Mahārāja had made me a manager there, so I stayed there three or four
years.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: For long time you were there.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes. I was very fortunate.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You were initiated what year?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: First initiation was nineteen seventy one, HariNāma initiation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: In London, in seventy one. In seventy two I got sannyāsa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You come from England?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: New Zealand.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: New Zealand.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: New Zealand, near Australia.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, New Zealand.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Below.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Newly discovered island. And France is
trying atom bomb there, near New Zealand.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Is it? Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. The whole
world is fodder of atom bomb. At present the threatening of neutron bomb.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes, I heard about it also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is the difference between atom bomb
and neutron bomb?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Neutron bomb will not blow the building. The neutron bomb will
kill the people but it will not break the buildings.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh. That is something like death ray,
only kills the life and not the structure. That is neutron bomb. The man will
be killed, the house, building, everything will be there. The bed will be
there, the box will be there, everything there. Only life gone and the body
began to be rotten. Neutron bomb. Then who will be victorious
he will come and enjoy all those things. He’ll have to remove the dead bodies,
and to fill up with his own men. Ha, ha, ha.
Action, reaction, the plane of exploitation. This is a suicidal civilisation. The whole civilisation is rotten
to its bottom, exploitation. Exploiting the nature for the apparent good of the
human society, but its incurring loan from the nature, and it must be paid back
to the farthing, with interest. Because they do not believe this so they won’t
be able to have any French leave. They will have to clear the debt. The nature
is there, and with the computer calculation. So this civilisation is no civilisation:
anti civilisation. The whole thing is a rotten one, a camouflage, a treachery,
treachery to the soul world, to the living world. The whole civilisation is
treachery, suicidal treachery.
Plain living, high thinking, to make the best of a bad bargain: that
should be the policy. Anyhow, we have already come here, we are to utilise our
time and energy is such a way that with least exploitation we can get out of
this world, least exploitation. And of course another real solution has been
given in Bhagavad-gītā.
yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra, loko 'yaṁ
karma-bandhanaḥ
[tad-artham karma kaunteya, mukta-saṅgaḥ
samācara]
[“Selfless duty
performed as an offering to the Supreme Lord is called yajña, or
sacrifice. O Arjuna, all action performed for any other purpose is the cause of
bondage in this world of repeated birth and death. Therefore, remaining
unattached to the fruits of action, perform all your duties in the spirit of
such sacrifice. Such action is the means of entering the path of devotion, and
with the awakening of true perception of the Lord, it will enable you to attain
to pure, unalloyed devotion, free from all material qualities (nirguṇa-bhakti).”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
3.9]
The karma that
is your energising here, that will surely bind you down with the environment.
But only if you tackle it in some other particular way then you may be relieved
of that; yajñārthāt, if you do it in the spirit of yajñā.
Yajñā means sacrifice. What sort of sacrifice? Not sacrifice for the
country, or for your own, for society, not that.
“For nothing
less than the Infinite that is Myself.”
Viṣṇu, yajño vai viṣṇu. Yajñeśvara
is Hari Who is the Absolute owner of everything. Only connect Him and there is
proper connection, not only imaginary connection. Real connection you must have
with Him then whatever you do it won’t bind you down with any result
whatsoever. Even so, hatvāpi sa imāḹ lokān, na hanti na
nibadhyate.
[yasya nāhaṅkṛto bhāvo, buddhir yasya na
lipyate
hatvāpi sa imāḹ lokān, na hanti na
nibadhyate]
[He who is free
from egotism (arising from aversion to the Absolute), and whose intelligence is
not implicated (in worldly activities) even if he kills every living being in
the whole world, he does not kill at all, and neither does he suffer a
murderer's consequences.]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
18.17]
There is a plane if we stand here and we can destroy the so many
planets, brahmāṇḍas, we remain unaffected. Na hanti
na nibadhyate, he does not kill and he has got no reaction to suffer.
Because a pure agent he’s doing of the Absolute, pure agent of the Absolute
he’s doing. When one has got ________________________ his
personal, or selfish ideas, thoughts,
exhaustively, then if he works, where does it get his inspiration?If coming
from the centre, and centre inspires him to activity, and he does. So whatever
he does as cent per cent agent of the Absolute centre, so he will not have to
undergo any result of his action, whatever nature it may be of. So,
yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra, loko 'yaṁ
karma-bandhanaḥ
tad-artham karma kaunteya, mukta-saṅgaḥ
samācara
[Bhagavad-gītā, 3.9]
“You do, do it for Me.”
karmaṇy evādhikāras te, mā phaleṣu
kadācana
[mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr, mā te saṅgo
'stv akarmaṇi]
[“I shall now describe niṣkāma karma-yoga, the path of
selfless action. You have a right to perform your natural prescribed duties,
but you are not entitled to any fruits of that action. You should neither act
with desire to enjoy the fruits of your work, nor, as a result, should you be
attached to neglecting your duties.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.47]
“You are created to work only, and you are not created to enjoy its
fruit. Your constitutional position is such that you will work. You are
potency. Your duty is to assert, to exercise your power. But the result is with
Me.”
ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ, bhoktā ca
prabhur eva ca
[na tu mām abhijānanti, tattvenātaś cyavanti
te]
[“-Because I
alone am the enjoyer and rewarder of all sacrifices. But since they cannot know
Me in this way, they again undergo birth, disease, infirmity, and death.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
9.24]
“So don’t look
at the result of any activity, only do everything as imposed on you, duty, with the sense of duty go on doing. And beware, you must not sit
idle. That is your greatest enemy. Mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi.
But I’m afraid that you may have some apathy to activity; then you are doomed.
You have gone to the world of annihilation as renunciation, inconclusive and
destruction, mā te saṅgo. You should work and for Me, that is
your position and Mine. And don’t be afraid of that. Why? I am your friend. I
am your guardian. I am your well-wisher. Everything is in My control. I am the
enjoyer of everything. But you are My own, you are My friend, so you must not
apprehend for your future prospect, in any way. It won’t be hampered. Rather it
will be improved when it is in My... so no apprehension. Go on, work on My
behalf _______ and thereby you’ll be best benefited. If
you adopt that policy you’ll be best benefited. In other words you’ll adapt intelligently utilise Me for your good. That is the best
sort of intellect.”
Śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī
ca sā, this is the
extraordinary power of devotion, that devotion can, kṣetra-hari prema
bhajana, devotion can force the Supreme Lord as a loving friend. Devotion
can convert the Autocrat into a loving friend of everyone if he takes the path
of devotion. The devotion has got so wonderful power. Śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī
ca sā, kṣetra-hari prema bhajana. It can make Hari, the Absolute Good prema bhajana, to be
very loving and affectionate to you, it can convert Hari through your – it can
take and force Him to favour you, to make friendship with you, and to work in
your favour. This is the capacity of devotion, svarūpa-śakti,
prema. The highest stage of devotion: that is prema. The prema is
so powerful, extraordinary power in Her hand that She can force the Autocrat to
work on behalf of those of His beloved, the servant’s servitors.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.Prema dhana, this is the natural fortune we
have got, but if we march on to get master-ship over the world, the reaction
demon will come and will break my neck, and drink the blood there. Ha, ha. And bhakti,
she can give infinite at your hand, within your fist.Gaura Haribol.
Kṣetra-hari
prema bhajana, Rūpa
Goswāmī’s śloka from Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu.
kleśa-ghnī śubhadā mokṣa-,
laghutā-kṛt sudurllabhā
sāndrānanda-viśeṣātmā,
śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī ca sā
[“Uttamā-bhakti, the purest devotion, is the vanquisher of
all sin and ignorance, and the bestower of all auspiciousness; liberation is
belittled in the presence of such devotion, which is very rarely attained, the
embodiment of the deepest ecstasy, and the attractor of Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Himself.”] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, Pūrvva, 1.17]
The highest
benefit that we get from bhakti is that she can draw, attract Kṛṣṇa,
the Autocrat’s sweet will, and attract Him for our benefit. Śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī
ca sā. That is her highest gift to us, bhakti; Rūpa Goswāmī says in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
The Science of Devotion.
In Bihar, you generally preach in Bihar?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Myself?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Or U.P., the whole of the Hindi
knowing country?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Most of the Hindi speaking area I’ve been.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then what is your zone?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I’ve been to Rajasthan. First I was in Vṛndāvana;
that includes Rajasthan, U.P., M.P., also Bihar. Now I’ve been also to
Maharasthra. Like that. NilācalaI did not go yet. Punjarb I did not go.
But I’ve been in India for eight years, but I could not spend much time in Navadwīpa.
But now I’m very fortunate, very lucky, I can come here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course. Navadwīpa is considered
by the high order devotees to be the highest place of theism of absolute love.
Both Śrī Rādhikā and Govinda combined, and They’re about to
put Their dearest thing to the public. With this idea both the parties They
have got Their the best wealth and They have come
to distribute that for the public.
“Come this way.
You will get the highest thing, what We taste Ourselves. And the same dish you
can have. Oh people, you can have the taste of the same dish that We relish,
the prema, prema of the highest order, prema and love, taste, raso
vai saḥ.”
The Upaniṣads say, the rasa, or ānandam,
or sundaram; that is controlling really the whole creation or
non-creation. Everyone wants rasam, none can say, from the atheist to
the highest order of theist, everyone wants rasa. But what is rasa proper?
A man taking wine, he’s also for rasa. A guṇḍā,
a rowdy, he’s also working for rasa. One is attacking another animal for
rasa, satisfaction. But what is that rasa in its real form, its
real status? Rasa, that scientific gradation takes us to mādhurya
rasa. Śanta, dāsya, sākhya, vātsalya, mādhurya.
And does not stop there, and even approaches from mādhurya rasa to parakīya
mādhurya, what is found only in Vṛndāvana. Parakīya,
to make it very rare and risky.Parakīya
is more intense
than ordinary mādhurya rasa due to its peculiar position. It is
very risky and rare, and at the cost of any other prospect of life, the name,
fame, of the society, the affection of the near and dear; we risk anything and
everything for particular rasa and that is parakīya. Of
course it is in mādhurya plane but more intense and more tasteful.
And that peculiar thing has been given by Mahāprabhu Śrī
Caitanyadeva to be the best attainment of our life, best attainment. That is
very peculiar. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other Purāṇas
have given already some clue, but openly to us declared and more broadly by
Mahāprabhu and His followers to be the highest. And the difficulty that
crossing the moral rules; if we consider really the charge is on our side, not
on the side of the Lord, because everything absolutely belongs to Him, and not
to us. Some say this is a funny thing. We consider the parakīya that
is a very filthy one, filthy thing. But if we can analyse its real
characteristic then we’ll be found that we are culprits. We go to claim that,
‘This is mine. Kṛṣṇa is aggressing to take it, to snatch it
from me.’ But He’s the real owner. He’s stealing the...
[The last minute of this recording is unclear]
End of 81.08.10.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.12.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Any question?
Bharati Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, Rūpa Goswāmī, he was the Ācārya of
sambandha-jñāna or abhidheya?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Ācārya of abhidheya. Sambandha is Sanātana and prayojana
is Raghunātha Dāsa and abhidheya is Rūpa
Goswāmī, who is Ācārya. How to attain, how we can reach to
the highest goal, the means to the end: that was mainly given by Rūpa
Goswāmī. And what is the end; that was rather given by Dāsa
Goswāmī, Raghunātha Dāsa. And what is the position, place
and position and purpose of our life and our relation with the environment:
that is given mainly by Sanātana Goswāmī. Sambandha,
abhidheya, prayojana.
And Jīva
Goswāmī has given us a protection from the public and from the
scholar’s side, to create some adjustment, how the scripture step by step takes
us there. “What my Guru Rūpa Goswāmī has pronounced to be the
highest thing, how the śāstra comes to prove that.” To the
scholarly people Jīva Goswāmī has given so many explanations. Śāstra
and reason supplied to support this Gauḍīya siddhānta by
Jīva Goswāmī: and Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
afterwards, Vedānta Ācārya, the author of Govinda-bhāṣya
on Vedānta, Brahma-sūtra.
And parakīya rasa has been mostly dealt with by Rūpa
Goswāmī. And Sanātana Goswāmī both viddhi –
that is the scriptural law abiding devotion, as well as a tinge of anurāga
– free love; that is given by Sanātana Goswāmī. And purely
the free love as the way to attain the Absolute in its highest position; that
has been shown and proved by Rūpa Goswāmī.
vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī
tatrāpi rāsotsavād
vṛndāraṇyam udāra-pāṇi-ramaṇāt
tatrāpi govardhanaḥ
rādhā-kuṇḍam ihāpi gokula-pateḥ
premāmṛtāplāvanāt
kuryād asya virājato giri-taṭe sevāṁ
vivekī na kaḥ
[“The holy place
known as Mathurā is spiritually superior to Vaikuṇṭha, the
transcendental world, because the Lord appeared there. Superior to
Mathurā-purī is the transcendental forest of Vṛndāvana
because of Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā pastimes.
And superior to the forest of Vṛndāvana is Govardhana Hill, for it
was raised by the divine hand of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and was
the site of His various loving pastimes. And, above all, the super-excellent
Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa stands supreme, for it is
over-flooded with the ambrosial nectarean prema of the Lord of Gokula,
Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Where, then, is that intelligent person
who is unwilling to serve this divine Rādhā-kuṇḍa, which
is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill?”]
[Upadeśāmṛta,
9]
Rasa. In
Christianity we are given father-hood of Godhead, but here we are given not
only son-hood of Godhead but His fullness, consort-hood of Godhead. We are to realise that, because parents are also servants, a
particular kind of servant in filial service, filial affection. That is really
a service we can’t ignore and we have no necessity to ignore. And the Lord must
be in the centre, not in the circumference. “He’s the Creator, He’s the Father,
He’s above all. He’s in the verge.” No. He’s in the centre. He’s always in the
centre.
And our central
thought is really in what is called here lust. Our centre of all our being is
love and affection, not knowledge,
neither energy.So, He must have His central position in the domain of love.
From there He will control everything. The controlling office of the whole must
be in the domain of love, not in power, neither in knowledge. We are to realise
that. If we can realise that then we’ll understand what the Gauḍīya
Maṭh, what Mahāprabhu, what Bhāgavatam has given us,
what sort of wealth given to us.
If we understand this jñāna karma, the energy and knowledge,
they’re of lower importance. They’re rather a cover of real life, not a part of
real life, this faculty of knowledge and energy that is rather a cover. And
love is our real life, and these two they will be subservient to love and
beauty. This is the situation of the world in reality. We are to understand
that, then we’ll understand what is devotion, what is bhakti. Otherwise
we’ll become sahajiyā – that is imitationist, we shall go on with a
fashion, wearing this tilaka, the garb, and all these things. But if at heart we can really realise what is the position of real
love. And this faculty of knowing things that is luxury, a fashion, which is
impossible. The finite can never measure the Infinite, it is sheer folly, jñāna.
And karma is an enemy, it is, any karma is digging your grave.
The energy by which you want to thrive here, that is digging your grave, if
it’s not connected with the Absolute. And jñāna means a ludicrous
thing. You finite, you want to get the Infinite in the fist; a ludicrous
attempt.Only the method of love, through which the Infinite will be inclined to
come to you by śaraṇāgati, and that is the only
realistic attempt of our development. And all else is absurd and injurious; a
madman’s gesticulation.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, what is the situation when there is pracāra without
ācāra? What is that
categorised as?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ācāra is necessary for
the preacher only to help them to come to sympathise us according to their adhikāra;
that is their position. To advanced persons ācāra may not be
necessary. But to the juniors ācāra is necessary to show some
external behaviour to attract them. That is necessary, only for the attraction
of the public ācāra is necessary; for pracāra
ācāra is necessary. Otherwise they will think that, ‘They’re all
– according to their own whims they move, they have not got any secured or any
controlled life. There may not be real truth, good,’
so they will misunderstand.
īśvarāṇāṁ vachaḥ satyaṁ,
tathaivacharitaṁ kvachit
teṣāṁ yat svavacho yuktaṁ buddhimāṁs
tat samācharet
[“The instructions of the great personages are always true, but their
conduct and their practices may not always be useful to the beginners. So the
sober person will accept those practices that are backed by his words,
understanding that in his higher stage he may do something which may not be
useful to those of a lower stage. He has such spiritual power that what may be
seen as a defect in the beginner, cannot harm him in any way. Therefore the
fair minded beginners will accept those practices which are in consonance with
his instructions, as being useful to their progress.”] [Srimad-Bhāgavatam,
10.33.31]
Īśvarāṇāṁ
vachaḥ satyaṁ,
the leaders of the higher order, what they say that is true, vachaḥ
satyaṁ. Tathaivacharitaṁ kvachit, but their conduct is not
always the same, tathaivacharitaṁ kvachit, sometimes. Always try
to follow what they do, their advice, but don’t try to imitate their conduct, ācāra,
always, charitaṁ kvachit, there sometimes according to their own
advice. Teṣāṁ yat svavacho, the ācāra,
the conduct which is one and the same as their advice, buddhimāṁs
tat samācharet, an intelligent man will accept them only.
So ācāra, when he has realised the higher state he may
not be very ardent to follow the conduct of the lower stage. But when he’ll
come to advise me, he will say what is necessary in my position. But he himself
may not accept the same thing as his own conduct. He’s above that. He’s above that.
He’s finished that class, study of that class, and he’s reading in a higher
class. And when a student of that class comes he gives study of his level.
So īśvarāṇāṁ vachaḥ satyaṁ,
their advice, because he knows that he’s giving advice to a particular section,
he will always give in a proper line, advice, vachaḥ satyaṁ.
Tathaivacharitaṁ kvachit, but their own practice is not always with
their advice. That they themselves may go to higher position, no necessity of
that sort of practice, tathaivacharitaṁ kvachit. Teṣāṁ
yat svavacho, of the conduct which is corroborated by his advice. Buddhimāṁs
tat samācharet, an intelligent man will accept them, buddhimāṁs
tat samācharet.
...
...be very eager to publish, circulate this book.So no translation of the
local scholars is coming up to mark. If you please do it it will be better…Hare
Kṛṣṇa.
...
...and previously to start your English medium school here yourself?
Bharati Mahārāja:
Yes. That was back in March. I was trying to find some
way to stay here at that time, and so that was the only service I could think
of offering. You had told me that the Gurukula was upa-sākha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha.
Bharati Mahārāja:
So I dismissed the idea. So now I have one person from England, he has replaced
me in Vṛndāvana. He has taken my place in the Gurukula. So now I
have time to devote to the translation. And a few of the Ācāryas
they’re interested in the Caitanya-Bhagavāt, and other such works
to be published. So Akṣayānanda Mahārāja and myself were
talking to Bhakti Caru Mahārāja and his......that there were some
rooms next to your Maṭh here, which I think Acyutānanda
Mahārāja used previously. There were rooms...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rooms?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
Yes, where our Guru Mahārāja was staying in this house nearby.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh yes, that house.
Bharati Mahārāja:
So he said to inquire as to whether those rooms maybe still available or maybe
they’re being rented out to some other gṛhasthas.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, Caru Swāmī
Mahārāja already proposed that we can preserve that house for our
necessity whenever it will come. So we shall take that house...
Bharati Mahārāja:
So Gaura Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī his Jīvani we
have also completed in English.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, Gaura Kiśora Dāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja’s Jīvani, Life.
Devotee: Yes.
Devotee: Paramahaṁsa Gaura Kiśora.
Bharati Mahārāja:
So with your blessings we would like to undergo this here in Navadwīpa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, these are very happy and fortunate
undertakings.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Actually the last four or five days we have been travelling.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: From where, from Vṛndāvana,
via?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Bombay.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Bombay.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: From Vṛndāvana to Bombay.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Then to Delhi. Then we went to Mathurā to see Nārāyaṇa
Mahārāja. Then we went to Vṛndāvana. Then we went back to
Delhi. Then we came here. Our minds have become a little disturbed. We could
only think of your shelter. And then Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja read this letter to us last night which Śrīla
Prabhupāda had written in nineteen sixty nine. So this reaffirmed in our
minds that we should undergo this. But first we can do nothing without your
blessings.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Yes.
Swāmī Mahārāja had much affection for me. And he also told
me that I have taken these gentlemen here and it will be your business to look
after them. He told me also several times.
I see that my Guru Mahārāja wanted me to go to the west, but I
could not go at that time somehow or other. But he’s so merciful that he’s
taken you all to me here. He won’t let me go off from his command. What he
said, what he wanted to get from me, he must get it done by me, my Guru Mahārāja.
Yes, I’m living, old man, and gradually feeling that I am withdrawn from
the other world. Memory and other capacities are vanishing day by day. But
still as much as possible it shall be my very life to cultivate about these
things, or to imbibe from our Guru Mahārāja and thought to be things of the highest type, to distribute it to the other fortunate and proper souls. That must be a fortune itself.
I asked Jayatīrtha Mahārāja to send Pradyumna’s son to me
if he can find him there, because it is that Pradyumna Swāmī, perhaps
is a Swāmī or white clad?
Devotees: No, gṛhastha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gṛhastha, Pradyumna
Dāsa Adhikārī, he gave me a paper where eighteen points of
complaint against the GBC. He brought me a paper with eighteen points, “That
these are our complaints against the present management.” According to that,
and he told
that, “This is not
only mine alone, but this is the complaint of many of us. And as we look up to
you as well-wisher of our institution, I have come to you that please try to
keep us within the fold, and ask them to be a little liberal and to accommodate
all of us.” By proper consideration to these eighteen points he gave to me.
And accordingly I wrote a letter to Tamal Kṛṣṇa to his
zone in America.
But Tamal Kṛṣṇa replied
that, “No. Works are going on very well, progressing with greater progression.
And those that are complaining against their number is very few.”
Perhaps the letter may be with me.
“So I can’t go now, leaving the field. When I shall go to Navadwīpa
during Mahāprabhu’s Birth Ceremony I shall meet you and explain the
things, what are there.”
He came but he did not meet me at that time.
Then things went worse. Then I found a position – that very Tamal Kṛṣṇa
and HaṁsadūtaMahārāja, and some other gentleman, they’re
receiving some check from the controlling agency. Then they came here. And
anyhow I asked the authority and they also came to me and I effected a
compromise.
“The question of faith not of harsh administration, so if any difficulty
arises you internally manage it, and don’t give it any publication, and don’t
want them to stand as culprit just at the door of your court of justice. Then
the whole thing will bring some reaction to the whole institution. Today this
man is unfit, another will be tomorrow unfit, though the recognition of your
Divine Master will have no value to the eye of the public, so minimise this
private compromise.” And that was effected somehow.Tamal Kṛṣṇa,
Haṁsadūta...
Devotees: Jayatīrtha Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jayatīrtha Mahārāja
perhaps was not present at that time? Was he here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, but he was the third person to be
dealt with by the GBC.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jayatīrtha Mahārāja has
also visited me later on. The complaint against him was that he’s showing so
many emotions and disturbing people; all these things. “That is it real śakti
_____ bhāva, all these things?”
No, can never be. This is rather the shadow, misguiding things that come
in our mind.
Then Jayatīrtha Mahārāja listened to that. And at that
time these gentlemen forced the role of sannyāsī on him. And
he of course accepted. But he could not keep it.
When that question again came to me I told I can’t say anything before I
meet Jayatīrtha Mahārāja himself personally. Then I was told
Jayatīrtha Mahārāja has come to Purī on pilgrimage.
And Jayapataka Mahārāja gave a long letter to me, ‘that such
are the conditions at present.’
Then I told that as a third man I shall approach the thing without any
bias or prejudice from any party. So I want to get him here as an independent
person, not on your behalf.
And that was done. Caru Swāmī brought him here. I wanted his
wife also. She also came with her boy. Then I tried my best to convince them,
once you have taken the position of sannyāsa – of course that is
the highest and real position of the preacher – you should not go back.
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene
naya, / yei kṛṣṇa-tattva
vettā sei guru haya.
[“Whether a person is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī,
or a śūdra, if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa,
he is to be accepted as Guru.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 8.127]
It is written in
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and your Guru Mahārāja, though
you as a householder, still he gave you, empowered you to go on to make
disciples, go on preaching in that way as an Ācārya position. But
that was all right. But once when you have accepted the position of a sannyāsī,
now if you go back it will be detrimental to the cause of the ISKCON. And that
will bring a slap in the name of your great Guru Mahārāja. So you
must come back as soon as possible without much advertisement.
And he told
that, “He had some hesitation but he was forced to a certain extent to take sannyāsa.”
But he had in mind that Guru Mahārāja gave
him a particular position, and also the Ācārya-ship of a particular
zone, “And now I have taken sannyāsa whether it will be helpful for
me or not. So this hesitation made me weak and I again connected with my former
wife.”
But anyhow I
think whenever once accepted, right or wrong, you must not go back: to keep up
the purity of the name of your great Guru Mahārāja, and also of the
institution. Before it goes to wide publicity you accept that sannyāsa.
You give a letter to your sannyāsa Guru
Kīrtanānanda, “That I have again decided, I’m convinced by
Śrīdhara Mahārāja, and I’m again taking the robe, as I
think you will sanction it. In anticipation of your sanction I’m taking sannyāsa.”
To keep impression I asked him to go just to
Katwa, the place of sannyāsa of Mahāprabhu Himself, and there
you take the sannyāsa, it will add to the gravity. It will be easy
for you to keep up the sannyāsa. You will get inspiration and force
from there, because Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa from here. You
surround and you bow down there and accept the robe again. And you get some
letter to your sannyāsa Guru
to keep up the formality.It was done. Caru Swāmī and some others from
this Maṭh accompanied him, and took sannyāsa satisfied.
And here, of course beforehand, I convinced his wife also. What is best,
you consider. You are sacrificing for Kṛṣṇa, for your Guru. You have come out to sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa
and that to get Him in return. You have come out for that?
“Oh yes.”
Before marriage you joined Swāmī Mahārāja’s
Movement.
“Yes.”
You want Kṛṣṇa and if you sacrifice the best thing
then He must look after you.In this way she was convinced and through weeping
and also smiling, with both contradictory emotions she gave consent.
The boy cried aloud, “My father is becoming sannyāsī again.”
No, no, he’s a general. The fight is going on with Kṛṣṇa
consciousness and māyā and he’s a soldier. He has come as a
general to fight. And when you’re grown up you will also be a soldier and
perhaps a general also, to fight with māyā. We’re all soldiers
of Kṛṣṇa to fight with māyā. We’re all out ofhome. No place of showing any weakness or affection against
that. Anyhow the boy was encouraged.
Mother also encouraged the boy. I gave her a garland for on the neck of the boy
who was very much young. Anyhow, such things happened in such a way.
I gave a reply
to the letter of Jayapataka Mahārāja. He wrote that under the instruction of Bhāvānanda
Mahārāja I am writing to you. I told that I tried my best, and what I
have done to my best understanding he has accepted sannyāsa again.
And now the next thing depends on you to adjust with your administration; in
this way.
But I am told
that the lady went straight to London, and Jayatīrtha Mahārāja
went to Hawaii, and from there to America perhaps, and told Rāmeśvara
with my name…
Caru
Swāmī _____________________
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja is an intimate friend of Jayatīrtha
Mahārāja. But I heard that Rāmeśvara Mahārāja,
and again Jayapataka and Bhāvānanda came to me, “Jayatīrtha
Mahārāja is preaching that,
‘I have taken sannyāsa from Śrīdhara Mahārāja.
I don’t care much for this administration,’
and he told it to Rāmeśvara Mahārāja. And
Rāmeśvara Mahārāja is giving vent to this feeling of him
that, ‘he has taken.’
But no, of course materially
he might have taken sannyāsa from me, because through my
inspiration he was induced to take sannyāsa again. But formerly I
asked him to get the permission of Kīrtanānanda, his former Gurudeva.
So you do not make much of these material things, you try to give a colour of
the formal things and try to hush up for the good name of the institution.
Don’t make much of the formalities. If necessary
I shall also request him, that don’t preach that I am your sannyāsa Guru. I helped you, but at the same time I told you repeatedly
that you take permission from your previous sannyāsa Guru. So for the good of the good name of the institution you
admit that.And this is the position now.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, before I left Los Angeles, Rāmeśvara
Swāmī he gave me some questions that he wanted me to ask you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Well, one of the questions, he wanted to know that in your Maṭh who would
be the next Ācārya? One of your younger God-brothers, or one of your
own disciples?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Generally I think one of my disciples.
That is the general case. But in special case the position may be taken by any
God-brother. But in the general case the disciple. That is the order. But if
such proper disciple not found in particular case then I or anyone may take
either God-brother or disciple of any other God-brother, he may put in the
chair. It’s the quality we give real importance.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja
How would they know to take that position? You would tell them, or they would
have some realisation, or...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Your disciple.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is up to me. And if possible before
my passing away I shall give the name that he may do the work of an
Ācārya after me, it may be.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Did Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura
designate anyone as Ācārya?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ācārya from whom?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta, before his leaving this world, does he,
did he designate anyone as Ācārya?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. Before, oh, no. His last words are
there.He told, “Form a governing body and go on with propaganda.”
Then he asked one of his disciples whom we thought to be next to him in siddhānta,
in the theological knowledge. And he asked, “Is he here?”
“Yes, he’s here; Vasudeva.”
He asked him, “That Rūpa, Raghunātha, the words and advices of
Rūpa, Raghunātha may be continued. You are to look after.”
That was told in our presence to that gentleman who was – there were two main, one publication that is Harmonist and Gauḍīya,
and the editors were Nisi Kanta Sanyal and Sundarānanda Vidyavinoda. And
he was at the back of them, this Vasudeva Prabhu. And he was requested to see
that the words of Rūpa, Raghunātha, their advices may not be stopped,
“You are to look after that.”
Then he told,
taking the name of Bharati Mahārāja, “The Bharati Mahārāja
may look after the mission, look after this mission.”
But we did not take it that he’s an Ācārya, but that he may
not create a parallel institution. We thought like that.
Then he told, “I am indebted to Professor Sanyal, Bhakti Sudarka Prabhu.”
Then he told, “Form a governing body, but Kuñja Bābu will manage as
long as he lives.” That was one sentence in his last words. “Form a governing
body, but Kuñja Bābu will manage,” latterly [Bhakti Vilās] Tīrtha
Mahārāja, “manage as long as he lives.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Did that mean separately from the governing body?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He means that intelligence excels that
of all; this was about him, he should be respected. We took it from this that
Kuñja Bābu was managing during Prabhupāda’s lifetime, he was really
managing the whole institution, so he should be respected. But he was a gṛhastha
and we were sannyāsīns. He had some drawback. He was educating his brother, educating his son. And he was building,
he was a very poor man, and he was still in the service of the postal
department, he’s building pukka house in his native place. So many
complaints against him we heard.But he told that,
“He should manage as long as he lives, and he should be respected.”
As he did not
select anyone as his follower Ācārya, so there were differences of
opinions amongst us. And there were many ambitious sannyāsīns,
they were very eager to go on as Ācārya themselves. And this Kuñja
Bābu management they’re in one party.
Then a clash began, generally two parties, one accepting Vasudeva Prabhu as
Ācārya, I was along with them. And another, those that wanted to be
Ācārya themselves, and with Kuñja Bābu. There were three
trustees, Kuñja Bābu, Paramānanda, and Vasudeva Prabhu, whom we wanted to make Ācārya. One trustee
one side and two trustees another side. So there
was a case in the high court, so we read the will, so
many things happened. But afterwards we found some defect in Vasudeva Prabhu
and we could not accept them any longer, and
many of us came out. And after some days...
End of 81.08.12.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.12.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
...was requested to effect a compromise between the two contesting parties, and
I did so successfully. The management was divided into two. Kuñja Bābu was
pressing with Caitanya Maṭh as head, and
another party had Bagh Bazaar as head. So many Maṭh’s were, the sevā
was divided, and things are going on. Now also some trouble.
In his last words Prabhupāda also told, “Love and rupture. There
may come anything, but it must be for Kṛṣṇa. It does not
matter whether it is love or rupture, but that must be for Kṛṣṇa.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So he knew, perhaps he knew.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. So when we went to the court the
lawyers also sometimes told, “Being religious persons you have come to the
court.”
I remember I told that pleader, that we are not sādhu of
that order who by fear of māyā runs to the mountain and enters
a particular cave and go on with meditation. But our Guru Mahārāja
was a type, has created a type of sādhu who will fight with māyā.
Wherever there’s the strong centre of māyā we shall attack and
we must destroy that centre of māyā. That is our tact,
totalitarian war we have begun with the illusory energy that has captivated so
many souls. So we are not afraid of any law court or anything; everywhere that
principle. There are so many political shades; they’re also fighting with each
other, but you don’t see anything wrong there. But we also, we’re very
realistic in our thought. We say not sādhu of that theoretical
type. So many of my brothers they’re suffering with this misunderstanding and
we must help them. And whatever trouble will come on our head we must take it.
We do not care for any, whether it is quarrel, or it is any peace, or anything
else even. Whatever is necessary to take on our head, for the service of Kṛṣṇa,
for the service of Guru, to spread the real truth we must do, whatever may
come. And according to our karma the environment is coming to us but we
must not be a coward to fly away from the battle. If I’m sincere nothing can
deceive me in the world. Na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid,
durgatiṁ tāta gacchati.
[pārtha naiveha nāmutra, vināśas tasya
vidyate
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ
tāta gacchati]
[“O Arjuna, son
of Kuntī, the unsuccessful yogī does not suffer ruination
either in this life or the next. He is not deprived of the pleasures of the
heavenly planetary systems in this universe, nor is he denied the chance to
personally see the Supersoul in the divine realm. This is so, O dear one,
because a person who performs virtuous actions never becomes ill-fated.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
6.40]
Self help, if I really want to help me, none can deceive me. Only I can
deceive myself, and none else. So if I’m sincere that I’m doing, I may be
wrong, but still I must shake off the influence of that error if I’m sincere.Saroye gaura sikha bujare [?] Simplicity is never defeated. Whatever is coming we must fly
away from that position and go on with all sincerity.
You see, when the Mohamedans attacked this Māyāpur, your
Caitanya Chandrodaya Maṭh, so many people in the public, they with a loud
voice created, “Oh. They are Vaiṣṇava? They have come from foreign
lands to follow the advices of Śrī Caitanya Deva.”
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā / [amāninā mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ
sadā hariḥ]
[“One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree,
who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is qualified to
always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.”] [Śikṣāṣṭakam,
3]
“What are they doing instead? They’re firing on the people at large, all
these things.”
No. What they
have done they have rightly done it. Why tṛṇād api
sunīcena? Tṛṇād api sunīcena to whom? You
are all madmen. Tṛṇād api sunīcena that must be to
a standard society, to the Vaiṣṇava. All the general public, they are, we consider them to be mad, and so that tṛṇād
api, the standard is not according to their
choice. The standard is according to the normal persons, that is the Vaiṣṇavas.
You are all abnormal thinkers. What do you know about the real standard, what is sunīc and what is sahiṣṇunā?
To become sunīc, to become humble, to Guru, Vaiṣṇava, I
cannot but oppose who is coming to attack my Gurudeva, my revered Deity. You
are coming to attack and to damage my Guru, my Vaiṣṇava, my Deity,
and I shall be tṛṇād api sunīcena to you or to my
Deity?So that may be imitation of the sahajiyā, imitationist, tṛṇād
api sunīcena. But tṛṇād api sunīcena is
really that we must be humble, modest, to the fact, to the truth, and do
accordingly. So it may lead to fight.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Some of our devotees feel that in a
similar way we’re in a similar situation as Gauḍīya Maṭh
previously. And due to the activities and behaviour of Ācāryas they
don’t feel that they can preach to the public on their behalf.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You have come to fight as a soldier, to
save your country, or whatever, your people, or your own honour. War, your
environment does not depend on your whim. It will be; it will appear like
anything. You are to face that. Whatever complex may be the war field, the
battle field, as a soldier you are to approach them. Otherwise you have no real
faith in your own cause. There is so much fight amongst us but we have not left
the real field, preaching the creed of Mahāprabhu, in spite of all the
differences.
When I came here first, leaving the main association of Prabhupāda,
one gentleman, one engineer, he put a question to me.
“You call yourselves Vaiṣṇava, but you are quarrelling with
each other, with your own persons whom you say are God-brothers, you are
quarrelling with them. And a man was killed also when the local gundwallahthey attacked your party, anyhow, one was killed. And you are
murderer.”
In this way he attacked me.
I told him in the beginning that that is not murder. What is murder?
What is hiṁsā? And what is nonhiṁsā? Do you
know it?
“Yes, we know.”
And have you gone through Bhagavad-gītā? One may kill
the whole universe and he does not do anything. Hatvāpi sa imāḹ
lokān na hanti na nibadhyate.
[yasya nāhaṅkṛto bhāvo, buddhir yasya na
lipyate
hatvāpi sa imāḹ
lokān na hanti na nibadhyate]
[“He who is free
from egotism (arising from aversion to the Absolute), and whose intelligence is
not implicated (in worldly activities) even if he kills every living being in
the whole world, he does not kill at all, and neither does he suffer a
murderer's consequences.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
18.17]
Can you
understand this position? One can kill, destroy the whole universe, still he
does not do anything. Do you know? How is it possible? And then don’t pronounce
high words
that we are committing hiṁsā and all these things.
And then, you see, you are worshipping the Deity Kali, and how is her
posture? She’s killing so many persons, and a garland of
their heads on her neck, and you worship that Deity.
Or you worship Śiva, Mahādeva, and He’s the destroyer of the
world at the time of doom.
Then you may go to Rāmacandra. He also conducted war and killed so
many.
You may go to Lord Kṛṣṇa. He has also murdered many.
Then who is not a murderer, will you tell me?
Then Nārāyaṇa He also comes as incarnation and kills so
many.
Then what is killing, what is not killing, you are to understand that.
When I put so many examples, the Kali, the Śiva, the Rāma, the Kṛṣṇa,
all killers, and we are worshipping one of Them. And then, you are worshipping
a killer, and you’re abusing me that I have killed. Then please try to
understand what is killing and what is not killing.Then that man was silenced.
So there may be disturbances, rather, we may say it should be,
disturbance must come, because my most beloved Guru has withdrawn from amongst
us. And should we like to live peacefully? Such a great curse, as it may be
felt, is thrown on my head. And should I like to live peacefully? In its
retinue disturbance must come, and we are to undergo them, but we must remain
sincere and we must face the difficulty in a proper way. That has come to train
me to go on in the right direction. What I have received from him I understood
in a rough estimation. Now the things have come in such an order that I’m to
scrutinise me in my every position within me to analyse, ātma-samika,
self analysis has begun. What I have got from him, I’m under trial. In what way
have I received it, properly or only showily? The time has come to purify me,
whether I’m a real student, a real disciple, or only in face, only in
confession, I’m his disciple? What is the position of a real disciple? Should I
leave the society then what is the depth of my creed? In what attitude have I
accepted his teachings? How deep rooted is it in me? The fire is there, come to
test me, that whether I can stand – my acceptance is real or it is a sham, imitation; this fire will prove that. So we must not be afraid
of any adverse circumstances. Sukhinaḥ kṣatriyāḥ
pārtha, labhante yuddham īdṛśam.
[yadṛcchayā copapannaṁ, svarga-dvāram
apāvṛtam
sukhinaḥ kṣatriyāḥ pārtha, labhante
yuddham īdṛśam]
[“O Pārtha, such a battle, present of its own accord like the open
gates of heaven, can be gained only by the most fortunate warriors.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
2.32]
Kṛṣṇa says in Gītā, “The battle that you have faced, a happy
kṣatriya he hankers after this.”
So a bad workman
quarrels with his tools. Stools. The karma,
my karma has now come to face me, to surround me, and I can’t avoid
that. It is the result of my own karma. It comes from within me, and I
must not quarrel, I do the proper
dealing with that. We are to scrutinise what we thought we understood more
accurately and find out within me, where am I? What is my real need? And how
much my hankering is for the real thing? All these things will be expressed,
has come into publicity now. So this is a real field of sādhana. My
sādhana, my advancement needs all these difficulties. Otherwise we
may not know what is progress, what is
nonprogress. We can go on blindly, and we can patch up everything, and we can
give it to others, and we may turn to be hypocrites. So to purify our own
selves it is necessary.
And God has no
error. He’s commanding the environment. It is not my responsibility. The
responsibility of the environment is not on me. My responsibility is only with
me, and the environment is at the hands of the Lord. He has not done any wrong
to me. If I’m sincere then I have to adjust myself with this environment and to
put my real faith before Him. By my stand in any circumstances in the battle my
patriotism will be examined, be put to test, whether I’m a real soldier or not.
Anything may come, but I’m to face them, I’m not to forget my Lord, my Guru, my
Gaurāṅga, Rādhā-Govinda, under any circumstances. Under any unfavourable circumstances I must stand with my head
erect. ‘Yes, I’m a servant of that clan, that sampradāya. Everyone
may leave me. I shall stand single.” With this attitude we must go on, whatever
may be the circumstances.
Then the recognition may come in my favour, “That yes, under such trying
circumstances, he’s there.” They may be pleased with us. How much selfish, or
that anartha, in what person, which is necessary to be eliminated, this
mental, this karmana vasana, this karma, jñāna, anyābhilāṣa,
how much it’s mixed with the real faith? That must come out and that must be
eliminated in different ways. So na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt
kaścid, durgatiṁ, if we want real good within us, none can
hinder me. With this spirit we must move.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
What is what, we’ll be able to understand, what is what.
Even Christ, He told, “One of you will help me to be caught.” Judas was
amongst the ten. “So amongst ten followers there is one who will in this night
he will help to hand me over to the enemies.” Even it may be possible. “Even
the Peter, that you will also deny Me thrice before the cock crows.”
“No, no, no. I can’t neither.”
No pride of a devotee the Lord tolerates: surrender, complete surrender.
“No. I’m Your firm servant.”
That ego also must not stand. The Peter, who is the leader, he was also
exposed. So a devotee is only a tool in the hands of the Lord.
There is one story, a Nawab, he has advertised to recruit the
sycophants. Sycophants you know? Previously in the court of the kings, some
sycophants, whatever the Nawab will say he will give ditto to that, flatterer.
He advertised, “I want some flatterers.” So many applications came. Then he had
an interview, and he asked, putting questions to them. “You’ll be able to do
your duty do you think properly?”
Then he says, “Yes, I shall do. I shall be able to do the duty.”
Then in this way he’s putting questions to different persons. And then
to one man, “I think you won’t be able to do.”
All say the same, “No sir, I shall be able to do.”
Only one told, that when Nawab says, “You’ll be able to discharge the
duty of a flatterer?”
“Yes, I shall do my lord.”
“I believe you won’t be able.”
“I also believe like that.”
“No, no, no. You’ll be able. You’re the fittest.”
“Yes, I’m the fittest.”
“No, no, I doubt.”
“Yes, I also doubt.”
And those that
told, “I will be able,” continuously, “No, I’ll be the fittest,” they were all dispersed, rejected.
So our soul must have such flexibility in the service of the Lord. No
ego whatsoever, of course in the external sense. Then when
we have our permanent ego within the soul entering that domain, that position
is a separate thing. But of this material ego, that must be dissolved cent per
cent. And that may have different type, different colour, but when put into the
fire it will be burned into ashes.
Only when Arjuna, when Droṇācārya was the weapon master,
āstraGuru, of the
Pāṇḍavas, then one day while testing the progress of the
disciples he put one show, one artificial bird on the top of a tree, and said
to his disciples, asked his disciple to put an arrow into the eye of that
artificial bird. One by one he’s asking his disciples to come for the aim.
Yudhiṣṭhira came.
“Fix yourself to hit that bird.”
“Yes.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“What do you see?”
“I see the bird.”
“Nothing else?”
“Yes, I see the tree.”
“Nothing else?”
“Yes, I see all.”
“Go away.”
Then another disciple: “Hit the bird. The eye of the bird should be
marked by your arrow, fix and make your aim. What do you see?”
“The bird.”
“Nothing else?”
“Yes the tree also.”
“Oh, go away.”
Then Arjuna was taken in.
“Prepare yourself.”
“Yes my lord I have done.”
“Do you see the bird?”
“Yes I see.”
“The tree?”
“No.”
“The whole of the bird?”
“No.”
“What do you see?”
“Only the head.”
“The whole of the head?”
“No.”
“What do you see?”
“Only the eye.”
“You can see nothing?”
“I can see nothing.”
“Yes my boy; put up the arrow.”
So we shall have that sort of aim in our life idea. Do or die. Whatever
the circumstances may come to frighten me I won’t be frightened. If my own, they seem to be enemy, does not matter. My own is only He. He cannot tolerate that any other will be a partner of Him.
He’s the Absolute. He’s the Absolute owner of mine. He does not tolerate any
partnership there.
In this way what – I’m what my spiritual conscience took me, or what I
must follow that what I understand, my aspiration. Friends may be converted
into foes, and foes may be converted into friends. But I must stick to my
ideal. By His will, friends may turn into foes, and foes may turn into friends.
But in my progress, some elimination and some new acceptance, it must be. If
there is progress real, then some sort of elimination and some sort of
newcomers. It must be. It can’t be avoided, if I’m progressing. If I’m of a
progressive nature then there must be elimination and must be new beginning,
new friends. It can’t be stopped, in our realisation.
When we begin our education in the school, or class, so many, all may
not pass, they fall back. And we are to make new classmates. And again go up,
new classmates, new classmates, and old classmates may fall back. It is quite
natural. But it does not mean that we are envious of them. We’re sympathetic;
we shall try our best to help them. But still, it may happen that I can’t help.
But this is the nature and this cannot but be the nature.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya. Kṛṣṇa.Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya Dayal.
Is this to discourage you? That our friend
may not remain friend all along, is it discouraging?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: This gives us life. We’re getting new
life.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This is the truth in life and we cannot
but face that.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: You’re giving us life.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But at the same time we must not be
nonsympathetic. Always we must be sympathetic to our friends, our environment.
But we cannot ignore the fact that His, Lord’s dispensation we can’t avoid. We
must take it on our head. His dispensation is above all. With this we are to
march on: what to do.
And we cannot – a bad workman blames his tools. We cannot put blame on
the circumstances or any one of us; in this way no complaint. It has come out
of the development. It is necessary, it is necessary development, unfoldment,
it has come, and we do accordingly, adjust accordingly, according to the new
development we are to adjust. But we must be friendly to all, not animosity to
anyone. That should be our attitude, sympathetic, that
of sympathetic, not of apathetic.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura
Hari.
The creed of love, so no apathy has any room. Sympathy for all, and
sometimes sympathy, love, produces cruelty. When
our guardian comes to control, to rebuke us, that is also a product of love,
and not of jealousy or anything else. When parents, our mother, our well-wisher
comes to chastise us that is the outcome of affection, not always of hiṁsā.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Is there any mistake that one can make
that can’t be rectified in this life?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, yes. If you say that in different
planes of life mistakes are committed. In karma-kāṇḍa
the prāyaścitta is there. This was put by Parīkṣit
Mahārāja to Śukadeva and he’s answering, in that Ajāmila’s
case. Then that Ajāmila’s question came here, incident. Prāyaścitta,
that he has injured a person, suppose he has killed a cow, and some penances
are there. That is he should feed other cows, or feed some brāhmaṇas,
this and that, to create some good reaction which may meet that bad reaction
and minimise it.Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Some bad wave has been created, then
again to create some good wave so that this wave may...
Bharati Mahārāja: Equalise.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...embrace that and finish it. That is karma-kāṇḍa, prāyaścitta. Then a question
was raised against it. Once I had done something wrong. I made something, some
antidote; I’d taken some poison and then again some medicine. But the tendency
to commit that offence again is not
removed, so this penance is ultimately nothing.Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Prāyaścittam atho
'pārthaṁ, manye kuñjara-śaucavat.
[kvacin nivarttate 'bhadrāt, kvacic carati tat punaḥ
prāyaścittam atho 'pārthaṁ, manye
kuñjara-śaucavat]
[“Sometimes a person refrains from sin, but in time he again commits the
same kind of sin. Therefore, I consider atonement (in the line of karma-kāṇḍa,
or in the calculation of worldly deeds) to be as futile as an elephants bath.
(The elephant is habituated to immediately rolling about in the dust after
taking a dip in the river).”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 6.1.10]
An elephant is
given a good bath, his body is purified. Then whenever, as soon as he comes out
of the tank he’s taking dust and throwing over his body, kuñjara-śaucavat,
the bathing of the elephants like that.Done something wrong, made some penance,
that is removed, and again committing the same thing, again committing the same
thing. So this sort of penance has got no meaning, prāyaścittam
atho 'pārthaṁ, manye kuñjara-śaucavat.
Then Śukadeva Goswāmī told, “This is karma-kāṇḍa
prāyaścitta, and there is jñāna-kāṇḍaprāyaścitta.
What is that? Tyāgena satya-śaucābhyāṁ, yamena
niyamena vā, aghaṁ mahad api, veṇu-gulmam ivānalaḥ.
[tapasā brahmacaryyeṇa, śamena ca damena ca
tyāgena satya-śaucābhyāṁ, yamena
niyamena vā
deha-vāg-buddhijaṁ dhīrā, dharmmajñāḥ
śraddhayānvitāḥ
kṣipanty aghaṁ mahad api, veṇu-gulmam
ivānalaḥ]
[“Austerity or one-pointed attention, exclusive celibacy, subjugation of
the internal and external senses, charity, truthful speech, cleanliness,
sensual discipline (yama) headed by nonviolence, mental regulation (niyama)
headed by regular utterance or concentration on mantras - by the
strength of such practices, faithful liberationists (jñānīs)
who know the mysteries of religion drive away even the most grievous sins
committed in thought, word, or deed, as bamboo clusters are destroyed by
fire.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 6.1.13-14]
This is compared to hāsthī-snāna,
the bathing of the elephant, useless, futile; this karma
prāyaścitta.Then jñāna prāyaścitta: by
penances, by repentance, by taking the vow, and all these mental adjustments,
readjustments, so that the tendency within to do the same mischief may be
removed. And the example was given as a veṇu-gulma, the cluster of
bamboos. The veṇu-gulmam
ivānalaḥ, when in a bamboo cluster, if we put fire into that the
whole shrubs are cleared. It is like that jñāna prāyaścitta.But
Parīkṣit Mahārāja thought that again when the rainy season
will come those – now it is all cleared, all put to ashes, but again it will
come up because the root is under the earth.Then Śukadeva
Goswāmī came with a third class of prāyaścittamreaction.
kecit kevalayā bhaktyā, vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ
aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena, nīhāram iva
bhāskaraḥ
[“Only a rare
person who has adopted complete, unalloyed devotional service to Kṛṣṇa
can uproot the weeds of sinful actions with no possibility that they will
revive. He can do this simply by discharging devotional service, just as the
sun can immediately dissipate fog by its rays.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
6.1.15]
There is another section, very rarely to be found, they do, clear all
the reactions, results of their misdeeds only by taking refuge of
Vāsudeva, nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ. And the
example he gave, when the sun rises, all the drops of dew vanish, just like
that. When Vāsudeva, the God consciousness, the consciousness of
Vāsudeva arises in our mind, all sinful tendencies are automatically
removed, and never to return again. As long as the sun is there no drop of dew
can come.Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So your question is, how to clear off
our misdeeds, our past misdeeds, how to? Was that your question? If I have done
something wrong, now how to make them removed, is that your question?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well I was thinking more specifically
that on the devotional path – like before, you were saying that we have to go
ahead according to our sincerity. But we may make mistake, we may be right, we
may be wrong. So what I was saying, if you’re wrong...
[Bharati Mahārāja and
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja talk in Bengali for about
thirty five seconds]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When I’m going, I’m making progress, I
may commit some mistakes, but how in my future life I can avoid those mistakes
– is it?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Or I can do anything which can remove,
which can purify me from the wrongs of those mistakes, is it, no?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Or at least to proceed correctly. On the
basis of your sincerity you went on and you made some mistakes. Now you want to
get back on the right...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see, that is a very broad question,
and that question, whether it will help you or not I don’t know. The finite is
going to meet the Infinite, and commitment of error it is its nature. So the real thing is this. As much as he’ll be
able to make progress really, he’ll think that he’s committing more and more
offences. You see, purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha,
jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha.
[jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha,
purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha
mora nāma śune yei tāra puṇya kṣaya,
mora nāma laya yei tāra pāpa haya]
[Kṛṣṇadāsa
Kavirāja Goswāmī says: “I am worse than a worm in stool. When
Jagāi and Mādhāi came in the relativity of Mahāprabhu they
were considered to be the worst sinners, but I am worse than them. My sins are
so dirty no one can even dream such things. I am such a great sinner that
whoever will hear about me, dirt and sin will enter him through his coming in
contact with my name. Sin will enter one who once hears my name, and his good
qualities will vanish.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādī-līlā,
5.205-6]
“Whatever, I
can’t do it well. I’m not up to standard.” You see, this is the very nature of
the negative thing, to attain that, that is our progress, that stage, to be
always careful. “To do everything, I can’t do anything. I must have offended.
This is not perfect.” The progress will be in that line. And that is the nature
of the negative substance, always faulty, aparādha. “I’m unfit.”
Rādhārāṇī
Herself says, “I’m unfit to do any service to Kṛṣṇa. It is
His grace that He accepts it, but I’m unfit.”
That is the very nature, but that must be sincere, not imitation.
Imitation is our enemy.
In Purī I met an experienced headmaster, one Paraśurāma
Patanaya, touching with Brahmo religion,
Rabindranatha etc. He came to us, myself, Bon Mahārāja, and
Mādhava Mahārāja, and others. “Can you
get God? Is it possible that one can get, one can
see God?”
Yes, it is possible. So we are out to find out God, to see Him. Our own
dress: that is the evidence.
“Yes, I want to see God. How? What qualification is necessary to see
God? Say to me. I’m ready to do that, whatever is necessary.”
We told śaraṇāgati. I told the śaraṇāgati,
that is, by that qualification we can see You, we can get Godhead.
“Yes, I’m śaraṇāgata. You take the test. There’s
the ocean, and if you ask me to jump into the ocean I’ll do that. But if you
give me God I’m ready for that. Whatever you say I shall do that. I’m śaraṇāgata.”
It was I that told him, what you say that’s just the opposite to śaraṇāgati.
One who’s approaching to śaraṇāgati he will feel from
his heart, core of his heart, that I can’t become śaraṇāgata,
I can’t become. And you say, “I’m ready,” that is just the opposite.
So this is so, a very hard nut to break. Progress means to feel that I’m
nothing. I’m nothing. He’s all in all. My Guru is so great, Vaiṣṇavas
are so great, but I am the most unfortunate, most tiny
person. I’ve no qualification. We are told that that is
the sign of progress towards that land. But there is one thing, ācārya-abhimāna,
this is all negative, real, but a negative posing. But when any attack will
come to my Guru, to the Lord, furiously...
End of 81.08.12.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.12.D_81.08 13
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
...from somewhere else, such abhimāna, such ego will appear. But
ordinary, that is the negative; that is ācārya-abhimāna.
In my Guru Mahārāja’s, in Prabhupāda’s words, that is
pralāpa. Pralāpa means delirium. This is like a delirious
position. But a healthy position is that I have nothing, I am none. But some
delirium will spring up when such opposition will come.
Mahāprabhu
says He’s unknowing also: “Sanātana, I feel that Kṛṣṇa
is passing though Me to grace you. What I say, this is My pralāpa.
I’m talking, expressing delirium. It is not known to Me. But at the same time I
can feel from the inner-most of My heart that Kṛṣṇa is going
to grace you through Me, though My advice, My words. So much I can feel, but
I’m speaking in a delirium. I don’t understand all these things.”
Our Guru
Mahārāja also told once, “This is my pralāpita vakra. When I think
that ‘I'm in a position, I can do this, that, I am something’, that is a
concocted position, not a real one. Really, the Guru, ‘I am servant of all my
disciples.’ That is the attitude of Guru, they're servants. ‘You say a flower
is being offered to the feet of the Lord, just as the flower we take on the
head. So many living souls they have been offered by the process of dīkṣā
to the Lord, and they're all my Guru, my respected things. I can't take
them as holding a lower position.’ This is the real angle of vision of the
Ācārya. ‘What I have offered to the Lord, to Kṛṣṇa,
they're things of my respect and worship.’
But, ācārya-abhimāna,
‘No, I am their master. I shall teach them.’ This is a sham ego, this is. What
the Guru says, chastises his disciples, controls, all normal, ācārya-abhimāna, a
posing given by the Lord for the time being, ‘Be a master and control them,
whip them, or abuse them.’ This is a posing, this is
temporary, put to a devotee to take the position of an Ācārya.But in
his real position, in his intrinsic position he says that, ‘I am most
insignificant, meanest of the mean.’ But when the Lord wishes to get some
service of the Ācāryathen He inspires him for the time being with
that sort of ego, ‘And you control them. You are big and they are low and you
must look after them, their welfare.’ That sort of ego has been given to a
particular devotee and then he becomes Ācārya. That is a foreign
thing, ācārya-abhimāna is a foreign thing. That is not
innate. But that sort when that is got by inspiration so he does not commit
anything wrong there, because it comes from the Lord direct. So hatvāpi
sa imāḹ lokān na hanti na nibadhyate:
[yasya nāhaṅkṛto bhãvo, buddhir yasya na
lipyate
hatvāpi sa imāḹ lokān na hanti na
nibadhyate]
[He who is free
from egotism (arising from aversion to the Absolute), and whose intelligence is
not implicated (in worldly activities) even if he kills every living being in
the whole world, he does not kill at all, and neither does he suffer a
murderer's consequences.]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
18.17]
If he kills the
whole universe he does not kill anything. So all this abusing, controlling,
chastising, he's not the recipient. It is the Lord's special will has done
this; these are the things.
Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Nitāi Caitanya.
[Bharati Mahārāja and Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja speak in Bengali for about one minute]
Bharati Mahārāja: Mahārāja, maybe you can speak
English because Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja he’s
recording.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, English.Some fifty years back
perhaps when Prabhupāda had a tour through Vṛndāvana, coming
back he stroked his forehead by the palm."I
could not see a real Vaiṣṇava in Vṛndāvana Dhāma.
It is my misfortune." In this way he pressed his palm on the forehead.
That is the sign of disappointment, despair.
Again when,
[nineteen] thirty-three, he continued the Braja-maṇḍala parikramā,
at that time in his weekly paper he wrote that,
"No real Vaiṣṇava in Vṛndāvana.
And who is supposed to be the leader of all those sahajiyās in Vṛndāvana,
he may be considered to be a kaniṣṭha-adhikārī."
That Ramakrishna Dāsa Bābājī, who was at that time
considered by them to be Siddha Bābājī Mahārāja. And
Prabhupāda told that he's only kaniṣṭha-adhikārī,
a lowest division Vaiṣṇava. He was a brāhmaṇa, he
had austerity, a spotless character, well-read in the Vaiṣṇava śāstra,
but he was considered by Prabhupāda only the third class devotee, that
Ramakrishna Dāsa Bābājī. Who was considered at the time in the whole of Braja-maṇḍala to be siddha-mahātmā.
Once I, coming
from Bombay via Vṛndāvana, stopped in Vṛndāvana for some
time, for a few days. That was in the summer, Nṛsiṁha-caturdasi
day. I went to visit that Ramakrishna Dāsa Bābājī, that the
whole Braja-maṇḍala thinks him to be siddha
bābājī and our Guru Mahārāja considers him of the
third order. I went to trace the difference, what is he? Two or three days
continuously I went in the afternoon to his quarters. Before him, two or three
disciples perhaps, reading Bhagavāt, and he's giving advice, explanations,
now and then. I am looking at him and also thinking of my Guru
Mahārāja, Prabhupāda. I thought that he's a man.
In the meantime
I heard one of his disciples told there was another bābājī of
reputation, Pran Kṛṣṇa Dāsa
Bābājī. Then one told that, "Pran Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Bābājī was saying
that I have completed my fiftieth, some years in Vṛndāvana."
Then that is deriding his position and that, Ramakrishna Dāsa
Bābājī could not tolerate, perhaps. He remarked, "Oh, he
came here when he was fifty-five. Before that he was a gṛhastha.
And now his age maybe such and such, and have lived here a long time. But I
came here when I was fifteen years of age and I am staying here so long."
I found as if he could not tolerate the fame of the other bābājī.
Bharati Mahārāja: What was the other bābājī's
name?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Pran Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Bābājī. They've all gone now.
Then I sometimes
put my attention on him and to think of my Guru Mahārāja. "What
is he and who is he?" I came with conclusion that this gentleman is trying
hard to attain a particular thing. With much great austerity and abstention,
strictly following the scriptural rules, the practices as Rūpa and
Sanātana inaugurated. He's trying hard to go on in that way. And when I
looked at our Guru Mahārāja I came to the conclusion he is a resident
of that land and come down here to give something to the world. That was my
conclusion. And from here in an ascending method he's trying his best to go up.
And he has come down to fulfil some order, that
was his own thing he has come to give to the world. And this gentleman is
trying his utmost to achieve, finish, a previously chalked out path, trying to
get the thing.
He did not
recognise this thread ceremony to anyone and everyone which was inaugurated by
Guru Mahārāja. Guru Mahārāja wanted to create Vaiṣṇava,
daiva-varnāśrama, thereby to help both the parties. The
society at large they should not think that a true Vaiṣṇava is
below brāhmaṇa standard. And those that will come to be Vaiṣṇava
they must think that they're crossing the stage of brāhmaṇaism and
then going to be Vaiṣṇava. This gulf of the middle stage: that was
supplied by Guru Mahārāja. A Vaiṣṇava is always above brāhmaṇa.So,
the sahajiyā, they have to think that they're above brāhmaṇa,
such abhimāna, such impression they must have. A Vaiṣṇava
is not below brāhmaṇa. And the society will also begin to
think the Vaiṣṇava is always above brāhmaṇa. Viṣṇu-jñāna
is always above brahma-jñāna. Brahma is the last position
of this world, and Viṣṇu, His place is not below Brahma, sattva-guṇa, but nirguṇa,
guṇātīta,
consider themselves above Brahmaloka and above brāhmaṇa.
These things our Guru Mahārāja wanted to preach, both amongst the Vaiṣṇavas
as well as the public.
brāhmaṇānāṁ sahasrebhyaḥ
satra-yājī viśiṣyate
satra-yāji-sahasrebhyaḥ
sarvva-vedānta-pāragaḥ
sarvva-vedānta-vit-koṭ yā viṣṇubhakto
viśiṣyate
vaiṣṇavānāṁ sahasrebhyaḥ
ekāntyeko viśiṣyate
["Among
many thousands of brāhmaṇas, a yajñika brāhmaṇa
is best. Among thousands of yajñika brāhmaṇas, one who fully
knows Vedānta is best. Among millions of knowers of Vedānta,
one who is a devotee of Viṣṇu is best. And among thousands of
devotees of Viṣṇu, one who is an unalloyed Vaiṣṇava is
best."][Hari-Bhakti-Vilāsa, 10.117]
& [Bhakti-Sandarbha, 117]
But those sahajiyā bābājīs they could not
tolerate this idea, so they're hypocrites. They do not understand what is real
Vaiṣṇava. That Ramakrishna Dāsa Bābājī who was
considered to be the siddha-mahātmā, siddha-bābājī
in the whole of Braja-maṇḍala, he ridiculed this idea.jenow deta
hai sa koi [?]
He remarked
about our Guru Mahārāja, jenow deta hai sa koi. He was born from raga putana. He came from raga putana brāhmaṇa family. He
could not tolerate this idea that one who has come to enter into Vaiṣṇavism,
whatever caste he may come out. "Before having Vaiṣṇava dīkṣā
he must have that brāhmaṇa." So he could not
tolerate that he was, to anyone he’s conferring sacred thread and misusing the
use of sacred thread, that was his complaint. So he could not understand the
real purpose of what Vaiṣṇavism is.
But they were
giving this kaupīna to anybody and everybody. Kaupīna:
that is a higher emblem. That was given by Mahāprabhu to Sanātana
Goswāmī and that is continued so far downward, kaupīna.
Then one of us
put a question to a bona fide follower of that Ramakrishna Dāsa
Bābājī, "Whether sacred thread is superior or kaupīna
is superior? Kaupīna is compulsory to a bābājī,
so whether kaupīna ceremony is superior or sacred thread ceremony?"
Then, he could
not but express that kaupīna is higher.
"Then, when our Guru
Mahārāja gives sacred thread to persons, you complain against, you
raise complaint. But you are giving that kaupīna which is higher,
you consider, to anyone and everyone. What is this?"
And they can't say anything.
"We consider that kaupīna giving,
kaupīna ceremony is higher, and sacred thread ceremony is lower. So
first sacred thread ceremony, then after that the kaupīna ceremony
will come. That is the sign of the fifth rank. The sacred thread are the fourth
rank - catuh-tarsana _______ sannyāsa. But anyhow brāhmaṇas the
catuh-varna, and the fifth, higher varna, paramahaṁsa. That
is paramahaṁsa means that kaupīna."
So, he could not
tolerate that the real Vaiṣṇava is above a real brāhmaṇa.
Vaiṣṇava
viṣṇu-jñāna, Viṣṇu means there is service.
Brahma means withdrawal from this world, brahma-jñāna; one who has
withdrawn from the charm of this mundane world and who is engaged in
consideration of Brahma. But who is engaged in the service of Viṣṇu,
who is above Brahma, his position is higher.
Sarvva-vedānta-vit-koṭ
yā viṣṇubhakto viśiṣyate [Hari-Bhakti-Vilāsa, 10.117]
A vedānta-vit
may be considered to be a brāhmaṇa but Vaiṣṇava
is superior.
In the whole of Vraja-maṇḍala such conception was absent,
and Prabhupāda could not recognise them as Vaiṣṇava proper.
This is the conception of Gauḍīya School, the speciality. They have
imitated the dress of a Vaiṣṇava paramahaṁsa as
Rūpa and Sanātana etc, imitated, but they do not realise the real
purpose of the principle of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
So, the form does not give us Vaiṣṇavism but the real
material which is necessary, we must have to acquire that. What is Vaiṣṇavism
proper we are to understand and we are to acquire it. And we must have this
audacity that these brāhmaṇas as created by Prabhupāda,
they consider themselves to be servants of the real Vaiṣṇava. That
is fourth āśrama, and that is fifth, paramahaṁsa.
Vaiṣṇava means always paramahaṁsa.
I told one of his bona fide followers of Ramakrishna Dāsa
Bābājī, who was considered to be the siddha-mahātmā,
"That we consider ourselves as sannyāsīns, brāhmaṇas,
ourselves to be the servants of the real Vaiṣṇava, or the real bābājī."
He was very much pleased.
Then I told, "At the same time we don't consider you to be the
fifth class bābājī."
Then, "Oh, this is atheism."
Again, "No, this is theism proper."
So that is the position of the bābājī
class and the
Gauḍīya Maṭh claim. The Vaiṣṇava is always above brāhmaṇa.
And they are afraid of the brāhmaṇas, the goswāmīns,
the gṛhastha goswāmīns, the brāhmaṇas,
general brāhmaṇas. Because we find in the writings of
[Raghunātha] Dāsa Goswāmī Prabhu:
gurau goṣṭhe goṣṭhālayiṣu
sujane bhūsuragane
[svamantre śrī-nāmni
vraja-nava-yuva-dvandva-śaraṇe
sadā dambhaṁ hitvā kuru ratim apūrvām
atitarā
maye svāntarbhrātaś caṭubhir abhiyāce
dhṛta-padaḥ]
["O mind - my brother! I fall at your feet and implore you: 'Give
up all pride and always taste ecstatic love while remembering the divine guide,
the holy abode of Vṛndāvana, the cowherds and milkmaids of Vraja,
the loving devotees of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
the gods on earth or pure brāhmaṇas, the Gāyatrī
mantra, the holy Names of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the
divine youthful couple of Vraja, Śrī Śrī
Rādhā-Govindasundara."]
[Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, 3.23]
"I offer my obeisances to all these, bhūsuragane
means brāhmaṇa and sujane means Vaiṣṇava."
Dāsa Goswāmī offers his obeisances to all. But from the position
of a paramahaṁsa he says:yat kinca tena guna mukti gatam kam
gosthi samastam gitam [?]
"I want to confer my obeisance to
all, even the insects, the birds, the beasts, shrubs, everything in this
world."
So in that spirit he offered his obeisance to the bhūsuragane,
the brāhmaṇas. That does not mean that bhūsura,
ordinary brāhmaṇa is superior to Dāsa Goswāmī,
to a Vaiṣṇava proper. The Vaiṣṇava is always nirguṇa,
and brāhmaṇa is just in the verge of the saguṇa and
the nirguṇa world. This is his location. But the substantial
difference between the Gauḍīya Maṭh and the Bābājī
class. They're fictitious, their conception of Vaiṣṇavism is a
fictitious one, not nirguṇa proper, because they're afraid of
locating the position of a Vaiṣṇava, they're afraid to put it above
brāhmaṇism. That is their weakness, and there is the
difference, so we do not have any respect for them. That is a hypocritical,
imaginative bhajana, not real.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So after Gaura Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja,
practically there may not be any proper bābājīs.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Proper bābājīs,
and there was one VaṁśīDāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja, how, by the dint of their previous
life they were real Vaiṣṇava.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
So your Guru Mahārāja, in the beginning he was chanting for some time
three lākhs daily…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Three lākhs. And sometimes
we are told in one month he finished crores, hundred lākhs in
a month, he did so in his life previous to his preaching inspiration. First he
had reluctance to come into the public life, that preaching life. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
wanted to entrust him with Yoga-Piṭha Mandeer service, but he hesitated,
our Guru Mahārāja.
Then Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura gave him impression, "Then
what do you know, want? Do you feel the responsibility of the service of
Mahāprabhu that is a burden? Then do you like to be a nirviśeṣa-vādī?
That you want this mukti of their conception, you consider the service to
be a disturbing thing, and go on with your bhajana?"
Then that put our Guru Mahārāja in a hesitating mood, and then
he was thinking what to do, how to begin the life of preaching, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
wanted him to do so. At that time, suddenly carried by the wind, a part of the
book of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, a leaf, came to him. And he
found there Mahāprabhu is asking Sanātana Goswāmī,
"Please do these four-fold services for the society."Lupta-tīrtha-uddhāra, [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā,
4.80]
sadacar govardhana [?] Then?
Bharati Maharaja: Bhakti śāstra pracār,
vigraha pūjā, pratistha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Then Guru Mahārāja took it that this is the will of the Divine.
"I shall have to take up these services." And he was thinking to
begin such life.
At that time
Gaura Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja passed
away. And then Kuñja Bābu, later on [Śrīpād Bhakti
Vilās] Tīrtha Mahārāja, he met him. And he could recognise
that he will be able to help him a great deal. Guru Mahārāja's nature
was that of a philosopher, not a mixing temperament with the public. But Kuñja
Bābu supplied that. He could mix with the public and anyhow he could bring
persons to Prabhupāda and Prabhupāda could speak about śāstra.
So this combination gradually grew this Gauḍīya Mission. The
material help of Kuñja Bābu and the spiritual, the father and mother of
the Mission, the core founders of the Gauḍīya Maṭh, the
practical material side service that was done by Kuñja Bābu, and the
spiritual service.
Prabhupāda
wanted one, once he told in Benares, I heard it direct from his lips. "I
want only good audience. And Kuñja Bābu has done that best of the
lot." In other words, "Amongst all my disciples Kuñja Bābu has
served me best by taking near me a good audience. I only want a good audience,
proper audience, I want nothing else in this world. And in that direction Kuñja
Bābu has helped me greatly." I heard with my own ears in Benares,
from his mouth.
That is the difference between the sahajiyās and the Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇavas, that Vaiṣṇavism is nirguṇa and
Brahmanism is in the last plane of saguṇa world. Brahma is the
verge of saguṇa, and the basis of nirguṇa, and the nirguṇa,
from Brahma the nirguṇa world begins. That is the world of
service, the world of dedication. And Brahma is:
brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā, na śocati
na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, mad-bhaktiṁ
labhate parām
["The
spotlessly pure-hearted and self-satisfied soul who has attained to his
conscious divine nature neither grieves nor craves for anything. Seeing all
beings equally (in the conception of My supreme energy), he gradually achieves
supreme devotion (prema-bhakti) unto Me."][Bhagavad-gītā,
18.54]
That is positive, Vaiṣṇava dharma
is positive, and Brahman means withdrawal from the negative side, that is
Brahmanism. Positive participation to the highest acme, that is Vaiṣṇavism.
That Nārāyaṇa parsanaya[?]
and Kṛṣṇa parsanaya[?]
two-fold. The lower half Nārāyaṇa parsanaya, and the
higher half Kṛṣṇa parsanaya. In Vraja the highest
conception of service. The gap is filled up by Gauḍīya Maṭh.
Bharati Maharaja: Mahārāja, there was one story
in the Sarasvatī-jayaśrī of some persons in
Navadwīpa, smārta-brāhmaṇas, and they were trying
to show defects in the Gauḍīya sampradāya by stating
that the Gauramantra was not bona fide. So Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura came with the Caitanya-Upaniṣad
and defeated those persons. Do you know about that story?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Caitanya-Upaniṣad?
Bharati Maharaja: Yes. Caitanya-Upaniṣad he
used to show that the Gauramantra is coming from the Vedas, the Atharva-Veda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That maybe, that is not a very known
incident, not broadly known. But Caitanya-Upaniṣad, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
found it out from Atharva-Veda, a part of Atharva-Veda as Caitanya-Upaniṣad
and it was published, that Caitanya-Upaniṣad. Have you seen it?
Bharati Maharaja: Yes. I have a copy.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Caitanya-Upaniṣad, a part
of Atharva-Veda. But that has not wide recognition amongst the public.
And we find, in Bhakti-Ratnākara when Narottama Ṭhākura
installed Śrī Vigraha sevā of Mahāprabhu in his own
house in Kheturi, then he invited all the stalwarts of the then Vaiṣṇava
sampradāya. And Śrīnivāsa Ācārya he was
given the leading part, and he installed Gaura Mūrti and he worshipped
Them.
And then he was asked that, "In what mantram you have
worshipped this Gaura Mūrti here?"
He told that, "I have worshipped in Kṛṣṇamantra
inauguration, the bija-mantra, Krsna
bija-mantra I have worshipped," to his friend circle.
These are things which we understand with a little boldness, the value
of mantram.
Once I was challenged by a friend of our own school, "That the
names of the sannyāsīns and others are not found in previous śāstra."
I answered to them, "That what we find created by the present
authentic Ācāryas, mantram, that created, that is given to us
by the authentic Ācārya, that has got not less value than those that
were previously seen by the Ṛṣis."
My point of argument was such that if we consider Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
and the teachings of Mahāprabhu to be the full-fledged theism, and in Veda,
Upaniṣad, we find the conception of the Absolute in a very crude
form, undeveloped form, and the Ṛṣis are not creator,
they're seer. Mantram is nityam, eternal. They pass through their
mind so with the spiritual eye they could see, they are seer only, onlookers.
"The mantram is passing through me." Just as Mahāprabhu
told when teaching Sanātana, drusta [?] not srusta [?]. The Ṛṣis
are not srusta mantram but drusta. Drusta means it is
eternal, it is from the eternal world, it is coming down here and they're the
first onlookers. So it comes from them, Ṛṣis.
And the undeveloped stage of theism those Ṛṣis they
are seer and they are supposed to be the creator, and now also in the case of
full-fledged theism who can really understand the higher dignity of this
full-fledged theism? What mantram comes from them is not of less
importance. These persons are more than Ṛṣis. Am I clear?
Bharati Maharaja: The Ṛṣis are drusta
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Suppose something has come from Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, or
Prabhupāda, or some such respected Vaiṣṇava Ācārya,
they have got inspiration of giving that sort of thing to the world for the
propaganda. So it has got its value. Not only it is not unreal but a greater
value. Because (ordinary she?) they're appreciator of crude
conception of theism, that is conception of Brahma, Paramātmā. And
Bhagavān and Kṛṣṇa, the highest form of development of
theism, and who can conceive Him, recognise Him, understand that that is the
highest conception of theism, so any mantram or anything like that, if
inspiration is coming through there, that is more valuable. That has got more
authenticity. Otherwise what are they? They are worshippers, they are
preachers, they are appreciators, they have
devoted them to the highest cause, they have got no foundation, no particular
position in the plane that he can feel things of the highest order within their
heart and give it out to the public.
So any bona fide devotee of Mahāprabhu, if he thinks in his heart
that, "This sort of thing, this sort of mantram, and other things
that are necessary for Gaura līlā," and he has expressed
that, then that is more valuable than ordinary śāstra, Veda, Upaniṣad,
etc,. That is my conviction. Otherwise we can't say that this is full-fledged
theism, this is highest form of theism, and those that can appreciate this
highest form of theism their position is nothing? Their position is not
serious? So our conviction in the highest form of theism, that is to be doubted
if we could not give such position to the espouser of the highest form of
theism, if we shrink to give that sort of respectable position to the present
Ācārya.
Sanātana Goswāmī he says that, "When writing this Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta,
someone is forcing me to write this. It is not I who is writing. I have no
audacity, such audacity that I can enter into the harem of Kṛṣṇa
and I can compare - Rukmiṇī’s such,
Satyabhāma is such and such. What audacity have I got to deal with them?
But someone is forcing me to write."
Kavirāja Goswāmī says this, ekam sada kayam maya madan
mohan [?]
"It is true, cent per cent
true." So the present Ācāryas they're
not of less position than the former Ṛṣis, but they have got
greater position. And they have to give to the public to deal with higher
conceptions of theism. So they're Ācāryas of higher order, the present, though modern, we may think them
to be modern, but at the same time if we think what Mahāprabhu gave, what Bhāgavatam
has given, that is the developed condition of theism, than given by Upaniṣad,
Veda, in the previous limited age. If we really realise this then we
must give the position of the propounders, the Ācāryas of the full-fledged theism to that importance. Otherwise we are
all hypocrites…
End of 81.08.12.D_81.08 13
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.13.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
[Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja and Bhakti Caru Swāmī talk in
Bengali and English for about six minutes but almost inaudible by a loud kīrtana
downstairs]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, everything should be used
according to the necessity of the service, not for personal account. He has
chastised many for such superfluous luxury.Ha, ha, ha, at the same time he
asked me twice to improve my dress, ha, ha. First told it, but I’m habituated to a very simple life. Second time again he told
me, and with some reason. “That if you do not improve your dress, then to whom
you will speak, they will consider yourself to be a bogus, nonimportant
person.” In Bengali he told,
[About fifty five seconds spoken in Bengali]
Hare Kṛṣṇa.In Bombay, he was so much enraged that he
expressed that, “I did not like to come to this way of preaching, but I was
rather forced to accept this path. And now I have to suffer for all these
things.” Sometimes in excitement he told like that.
And some other time also he told, “The whole thing, it is my duty to
discharge all the services, but they have come to help me. They’re my
Gurudeva.” In this way.
Rādhārāṇī wants to do all the services of Kṛṣṇa.
She’s not satisfied by discharging, and She says that, “I’m unfit, so I want
help of so many. But the whole responsibility is on My shoulders.”
In Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, there was a śloka,
I don’t remember that śloka now. The purport is that a servitor, he
says that, “Kṛṣṇa, I’m Your servant, and it is my right to
serve You in all ways and I don’t allow any Vaiṣṇava to come
between and to take up Your service. Even if Baladeva, or even Lakṣmī
Devī Herself comes to take Your service, I won’t allow Them. I shall do it direct.”
This Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
when that edition was prepared by Rāma Gopāla Bābū, my
God-brother,
M.A. B.A., well read man, he
told that, “What is this? A Vaiṣṇava, he should be very modest. Only under
the direction of the Vaiṣṇava I shall serve you Kṛṣṇa.
I cannot render any direct service to You. That should be the attitude. But why
this opposite attitude that I won’t allow even Baladeva, Mahā Lakṣmī
to serve You, it is my duty.”
Then I read this śloka and found out the angle of
vision, I told him, here the angle of vision is a
little different.He wants to say that, “They should also be served along with
You. They’re sevā-tattva not sevāka. Yourself,
Baladeva, Lakṣmī Devī, and Vaiṣṇava, They are not
servants. They are Your favourite, Your devotee. Only serving it is my duty
that I shall serve. I shall ask Them, ‘No, You are not servants. You are
masters here. You all sit down here. Myself alone are Your servant and I shall
serve you all. You all take your seat peacefully.”With this spirit he’s saying
this śloka.
So
a real servant he thinks that all other servants that are the higher, superior
Vaiṣṇava, they should also be served along with the Lord. His
paraphernalia also should be served. And the whole burden, the responsibility
of service is with me. That should be the - of
the higher devotee. Not only Ishall serve the
Lord, but with His paraphernalia, the whole group, I alone am serving. So we should think like that.
So Prabhupāda told like that, “The whole duty, it is mine only, but
I can’t do, I’m unfit. So these my Gurudeva’s they have come to help me in this
way also.”
One amnayaki [?] another vetivek [?]
The Vaiṣṇava in his natural temperament he will see that the
whole responsibility of the whole service will be with him, and the disciples
are also Gurudeva. They’re vaibhāva, they’re extension, extended
self of his Guru, so they’re also reckoned as Gurudeva. This is amnayaki [?]
the direct conception is like that.But the indirect conception, pralāpita
vakra, when a special inspiration of an Ācārya spirit is present
in him, at that time he wants to chastise the disciple.“Here I am pralāpita
vakra.” It is mentioned in Prabhupāda’s letter also.
And Mahāprabhu Himself says in Sanātana śikṣā,
“What I’m saying to you Sanātana, this is all, I can’t, I don’t know their
meaning, and I’m only a mediator, I’m in delirium. What I say to you it is
delirium to Me. I can’t understand what I say; like delirium, something. From
the depth of My heart I conceive this much, that Kṛṣṇa is
very much gracious to you, and many higher things are passing through Me to
you. You are being benefited by those things, but they’re passing through Me
but I can’t feel them.”
Abuses his disciple or any sort of punishment, then he’s not in, he’s in
mood, which is particularly supplied by the Lord by His special will, pralāpita
vakra. And when normal they say that, “They’re all my Gurudeva. They have
come to help me. I am unfit, so they have come to help me. Kṛṣṇa
has sent them. My Gurudeva has sent them. They’re all the extended self of my
Gurudeva. Gurudeva has sent them to help me in my service to Kṛṣṇa.
So I must have respect for them.”
So Prabhupāda used to address Prabhu, all, a Mahārāja, Apṛakṛta
Prabhu, Prabhu, Prabhu, almost all, he used Prabhu to the disciple.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
[Speaks for about fifteen seconds in Bengali]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. There is gradation, in the
devotional school also, everywhere the gradation is there.
In this occasion I remember one thing. When Prabhupāda began his
early life of a preacher he had a disciple
named Vaiṣṇava Charan, came from the neighbourhood, ordinary class,
labour’s class. He was given HariNāma, and taking HariNāma,
Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. And at the same
time one gentleman came to visit Prabhupāda, and Prabhupāda was
talking with him about Mahāprabhu and Hari kathā. And that
person, that Vaiṣṇava Charan, Vaiṣṇava dāsa, he
was at the top of his voice he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Then Prabhupāda asked him, “Don’t disturb me, don’t shout. I’m
distributing and serving Hari kathā to this gentleman.”
Then he answered, replied, “You are shouting. I’m going on with HariNāma.”
He was, “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa,” loudly,
and he told Prabhupāda, “You are shouting. I’m taking the Name of Kṛṣṇa,
I don’t shout. What you are speaking that is not Nāma, Name, and
ordinary words you are pronouncing, so you are shouting.”
[Speaks for about fifty five seconds in Bengali]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
[Speaks for about fifteen seconds but
inaudible]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “Their shouting will give inspiration to
me for writing. It will be source of inspiration...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
No, they’re
__________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “And they’re my Prabhu’s children, and
they’re shouting, they’re rejoicing, so that will give me impetus rather, the
source of inspiration for writing. It won’t disturb me but rather it will give
impetus to me for my service, for my duty.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
That’s a very nice way to look at it.
[Speaks forty five seconds in Bengali]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. When Mahāprabhu…
[about one minute and twenty five seconds spoken in Bengali]
Internally that is all nectarean.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs
tarkeṇa yojayet
prakṛtibhyaḥ paraṁ yacca tad-acintyasya lakṣam
["That which is inconceivable can never be understood through the
logic and reason of the mind. The very symptom that something is inconceivable
is that it is beyond logical comprehension."] [Skanda Purāṇa] & [Mahābharata, Bhiṣma Parva, 5.22]
Which is not to be found in this world, this ordinary, the production of
this nature. Transcendental, unknown and unknowable, inconceivable; but still
that is and that is the real substance.
yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ,
tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī
yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni, sā
niśā paśyato muneḥ
["While
spiritual awareness is like night for the living beings enchanted by
materialism, the self-realised soul remains awake, directly relishing the
divine ecstasy of his uninterrupted spiritual intelligence. On the contrary,
the wakefulness of materialistic persons addicted to sense enjoyment is night
for the self-realised person who is completely indifferent to such pursuits.
The realised souls, indifferent to the mundane, are ever joyful in the divine
ecstatic plane, while the general mass is infatuated by fleeting mundane
fancies devoid of spiritual joy."][Bhagavad-gītā, 2.69]
Some awakened there, and some ordinary people awakened here: in the
sense experienced world, and God sense experienced world. Transcendental: that
is infinitely more powerful and blissful. Gaura Haribol. Rasa-varjaṁ
raso 'py asya, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate.
[viṣayā vinivartante, nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso 'py asya, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā
nivartate]
["Although
the person of gross corporeal consciousness may avoid sense objects by external
renunciation, his eagerness for sense enjoyment remains within. However, inner
attachment to sense objects is spontaneously denounced by the person of
properly adjusted intelligence, due to his having had a glimpse of the
all-attractive beauty of the Supreme Truth."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.59]
Mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām.
[brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā, na śocati
na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, mad-bhaktiṁ
labhate parām]
["The
spotlessly pure-hearted and self-satisfied soul who has attained to his
conscious divine nature neither grieves nor craves for anything. Seeing all
beings equally (in the conception of My supreme energy), he gradually achieves
supreme devotion (prema-bhakti) unto Me."][Bhagavad-gītā,
18.54]
To get out of the duality of this world, daṇḍa, good
or bad? Bad and good, both is erroneous, māyā, both false; the
conception of good also false, the conception of bad also false.
'dvaite bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba-'manodharma' / 'ei bhāla, ei manda',-ei saba 'bhrama'
["In the
material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental concoctions.
Therefore, saying, ‘This is good,
this is bad,’ is a mistake."][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Antya-līlā, 4.176]
There, just the opposite __________ that is
real. False things, bad things, cannot have eternal existence _________________ that must have such durability. And an
ordinary thing cannot claim that sort of attribute. Ajo nityaḥ
śāśvato ‘yaṁ.
[na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin, nāyaṁ
bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ‘yaṁ purāṇo,
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre]
[“The soul is never born and never dies, nor does he repeatedly come
into being and undergo expansion, because he is unborn and eternal. He is
inexhaustible, ever-youthful yet ancient. Although the body is subject to birth
and death, the soul is never destroyed.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 2.20]
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
[Bhakti Caru Swāmī and Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja
talk in Bengali (?) for about two
minutes and thirty five seconds – with Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja quoting ślokas at the end]
Śaraṇāgati, the last reach of knowledge, if healthy,
must come to śaraṇāgati, cannot but come to śaraṇāgati,
knowledge proper. Otherwise,
śreyaḥ sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho,
kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye
teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate,
nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām
["My dear
Lord, devotional service unto You is the only auspicious path. If one gives it
up simply for speculative knowledge or the understanding that these living
beings are spirit souls and the material world is false, he undergoes a great
deal of trouble. He only gains troublesome and inauspicious activities. His
endeavours are like beating a husk that is already devoid of rice. One's labour
becomes fruitless."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.14.4]
&[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.22]
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kevala-jñāna,
kevala-bodha-labdhaye, any attempt, the knowledge for knowledge, no, śreyaḥ
sṛtiṁ bhakti, it must come to the feet, take us to the feet of
the devotion.
bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat, piśācī
hṛdi varttate
tāvad bhakti-sukhasyātra, katham abhyudayo bhavet
[“How can the joy of holy devotion appear in the heart as long as it is
haunted by the ghosts of desire for exploitation and renunciation?”] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
Pūrvva, 2.22]
Rūpa Goswāmī he says jñāna means generally
leads to mukti, and karma means to bhukti; enjoyment and
renunciation. But Rūpa Goswāmī Prabhu says where those two she
ghosts are sitting, the divine lady of bhakti, she does not like to come
to take her seat there with those two she ghosts, piśācī.Gaura
Haribol.
bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat,
piśācī [hṛdi
varttate
tāvad bhakti-sukhasyātra, katham abhyudayo
bhavet]
["How
can the joy of holy devotion appear in the heart as long as it is haunted by
the ghosts of desire for exploitation and renunciation?"] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
Pūrvva, 2.22]
nikhila-bhuvana-māyā-chinna-vichinna-kartrī
vibudha-bahula-mṛgyā-mukti-mohānta-dātrī
śithilita-vidhi-rāgārādhya-rādheśa-dhānī
vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhaktisiddhānta-vāṇī
["Slashing
and smashing the illusion of the whole mundane plane, Dealing the deathblow to
the scholars' manic search for liberation's throne; Relaxing calculation, for
the realm of Pure Devotion in Love of Śrī Rādhā's Lord
Supreme: O Abode of Divine Love - Divine Message of
Śrī-Bhakti-Siddhānta, May you dance and play and sing your song
within my heart forever."][Śrī Caitanya Saraswatī]
Straight, clear, nikhila-bhuvana-māyā-chinna-vichinna,
cutting asunder into pieces, nikhila-bhuvana-māyā, the
pleasure of misconceptions of the misconceived world, and vibudha-bahula-mṛgyā,
and so many scholars who put their heads together to find out different
remedies from the bondage of this mortal charm, but that is nothing but
illusion. It has been proved, yes, has thrown a death knell to all the
speculations of different kinds of liberation, emancipation.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, what is the root, what is the meaning of this mṛgyā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mṛgyā means anusandriya,
searching, vibudha-bahula-mṛgyā. Śrutibhir vimṛgyām,
in Bhāgavatam.
āsā maho caraṇa-renu-juṣām aham
syām
vṛndāvane kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnām
yā dustyajaṁ svajanam ārya-pathaṁ ca
hitvā
bhejur mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām
["The gopīs of Vṛndāvana have given up the
association of their husbands, sons and other family members, who are very
difficult to renounce, and they have sacrificed even their religious principles
to take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, which are sought
after by even the Vedas. O grant me the fortune to be born as a blade of
grass in Vṛndāvana, so that I may take the dust of those great souls
upon my head."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.47.61]
Mṛgyā, anusandriya: searchable. Different scholars they’re
trying their utmost to find out a path to get out of the entanglement of this
world. But bhaktisiddhānta-vāṇī has thrown atom
bomb to that. The atom bomb has been the finishing touch, final.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Totally devastated.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śithilita-vidhi-rāgārādhya-rādheśa-dhānī.
And to worship the devotion which is guided, directed by the rules and
regulations according to scriptures: that has been discouraged. And the
spontaneous love which is shown in the service of Śrī
Rādhikā, and Her beloved, rādheśa-dhānī,
the abode of that thing is his, his words are the abode of that thing, vāṇī. Śithilita-vidhi-rāgārādhya-rādheśa-dhānī.
The Lord, Rādhikā, are being worshipped with pure loving line or so,
and this is, his words are abode of only that truth. Rādheśa-dhānī,
dhānī means Rādhā, the abode of rādheśa.
And that aradhana, and that is also, Śithilita-vidhi-rāgāradhana,
this service through love, anurāga. And that service of
Rādhā Govinda. And that is the whole purport of all his sayings,
statements. And this is bhaktisiddhānta-vāṇī. Vilasatu
hṛdi nityaṁ, and always let that
play in my heart, that tendency, vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ
bhaktisiddhānta-vāṇī.
Gaura Haribol.Covering the whole siddhānta, these three
lines.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
When did you compose this Mahārāja?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Long ago. Perhaps some thirty years back
or so. At least twenty five years.
Devotee: ___________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If you go to Bombay you may try to meet
that gentleman, Asthana, that Ami
Asthana. He’s known to our Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja and more intimately with this Venkatta Rāma Prabhu [Bharati Mahārāja],
who is intimately connected with him. Before coming here he used to visit
ISKCON, their Bombay Maṭh.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
[About thirty seconds spoken in Bengali]
Mahāprabhu met there _________ Pandharpur.
Mahāprabhu met Śrī Raṅga Purī and got the information
that Viśvarūpa, Mahāprabhu’s elder brother, the place of His
departure there, Pandharpur; that is Śaṅkarāranya. [Vitchal
and?] Śaṅkarāranya the same, one and the same.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, Bhadridharan Prabhu is
asking, whether Tukārāma is a pure devotee?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I do not know all the abhaṅgs.
Tukārāma’s songs are known as abhaṅgs, is it not? I’ve
not gone through all of them. But I’m told that Tukārāma was the
disciple of Mahārāṣṭa brāhmaṇa, one who
was very closely connected, rather disciple to Mahāprabhu. He met in
Benares. It is mentioned in Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Mahārāṣṭa brāhmaṇa, who took
Mahāprabhu to the assembly of Prakāśānanda, that
Mahārāṣṭa brāhmaṇa, in his house, in
some place of Sald [?].
And that Mahārāṣṭa brāhmaṇa was the
preceptor of Tukārāma. Satrendranath Ṭhākura, the second
eldest brother of Rabindranatha, he made some discuss about Tukārāma,
and he has put this question. It is mentioned in Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s
Life and Precept of Mahāprabhu that Tukārāma was the
disciple of a Mahārāṣṭa brāhmaṇa, and
he, Tukārāma, used to tell about Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
Perhaps that brāhmaṇa’s
name was Raghava Caitanya, Mahārāṣṭa brāhmaṇa.
And he was preceptor of Tukārāma. So Tukārāma must have
some pure devotion in his heart. But if any
deviation from the purity I can’t say without examining his particular
songs.The criterion of pure devotion is this, that he must have real honour and
affinity towards the devotee.
[ye me bhakta-janāḥ
partha, ne me bhaktaś ca te janāḥ]
mad bhaktānāṁ ca ye
bhaktās, te me bhaktatamā mataḥ
["Those who worship Me directly are not real devotees; real
devotees are those who are devoted to My devotees."] [Ādi-Purāṇa]
Within his jurisdiction of his devotion: not only Godhead alone, but
Godhead with His paraphernalia. The Lord is not alone. The Lord is always with svarūpa
śakti, His group of servitors. When that is present in any song or any
statement, there the śuddha bhakti will be, otherwise that will be
contaminated by māyāvādā. ‘We
respect Kṛṣṇa, but His paraphernalia not nitya, and
not pūjā, not to be honoured, and eliminating them we can
worship, satisfy Kṛṣṇa alone.’
This idea is anti bhakti. So to test pure devotion we should put that
criterion, whether Kṛṣṇa alone, Kṛṣṇa
means, raja means with all His paraphernalia. Raja is not alone
in any time. So Kṛṣṇa means with all the groups of His
servants of different types. That Kṛṣṇa is real Kṛṣṇa.
Only Kṛṣṇa alone that is Kṛṣṇa concoction,
imagination, is not realistic.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: ____________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is of lower order.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Lower order. I was saying that there’s a saying that,
“By hook or by crook you should fix your mind on Kṛṣṇa.” And Mahārāja is saying that’s of lower
order.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Kṛṣṇa means with
His paraphernalia.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Associates. Mahārāja, in Jaiva Dharma...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Just as father means the son, the wife,
the group. So Kṛṣṇa, the relative term, Kṛṣṇa
is attracting, attracting whom? The paraphernalia, the friends of the
attraction, the servitors, they must be there
with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is never alone.
What is the question?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, why are the Deities of the Goswāmīs are just Kṛṣṇa?
End of 81.08.13.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08,13.B.1
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Dev Goswāmī Mahārāja
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He’s reminded about the GBC resolution that one should get the permission of the GBC to come to you.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: So remind him.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Some other senior devotees in the temple...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
[About one minute and twenty five seconds
spoken with Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Your will is the important thing, and not the hired money.
There is a brāhmaṇa who’s mentioned in Jīva
Goswāmī’s book, quoted, a brāhmaṇa, a Jain, perhaps
one brāhmaṇa he used to mentally... devata,
Nārāyaṇa also, but mentally. So many things he mentally did,
Lord. One day when he was going to offer this paramānna [sweet
rice] suddenly a thought came in his mind that it’s too hot to offer. Then
mentally also, he put his finger into that imagined paramānna,
whether it is too hot or tolerable. But he found the paramānna actually
there, he’s in meditation, there was a blister in the finger, the paramānna
was so hot. But all imagination, but between imagination and the thing
imagined, there is a relation, and imagination becomes too strong that it can produce things.All subjective, the will, our desire, that
is the primary thing.What do you say?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
One day, once something happened in GBC, they imposed some restriction on HaṁsadūtaMahārāja.
So HaṁsadūtaMahārāja’s comment was that, “If somebody
comes and tells me that Kṛṣṇa has come here, He’s in that
street corner, so do I have to wait for the GBC’s instruct order, or should I
just run to Kṛṣṇa?”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: GBC exists to promote devotion.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Right. Not to restrict it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not to destroy, or to hinder, or to
oppose it.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
You said a very wonderful thing during the GBC, when some of the GBC came last
October, you pointed out that the laws should be there to enhance the devotion,
not to curb devotion, not to restrict or check the devotion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To promote, not to destroy.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Right. In the material platform the laws are
there to restrict, but in the spiritual platform the laws are there to enhance.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The law will stand as a servant, to help, not as a master.
________ says,sedu te
pramadi hade paravyoma pade phili
[?]
“I’ll be thrown down in the world of law, by the will of law I’ll be
thrown down there, from the country of free love.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Does Paravyoma here mean Vaikuṇṭha
Mahārāja?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Vaikuṇṭha
Nārāyaṇaloka, Goloka, just lower portion of Paravyoma, and higher portion is Goloka and the lower portion of Paravyoma is Vaikuṇṭha Nārāyaṇaloka
sedu te pramadi hade paravyoma pade phili nahi jai vas vraja puri [?]
Vraja is spontaneous free love, no law, no necessity of any law. Law is
serving from far away the vrajavāsīs. They’ve got their own
law that is quite right.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
End of 81.08.13.B.1
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.13.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Dev Goswāmī
Mahārāja
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Rādhāramaṇa, Gopāl
Bhatta Goswāmī’s Deity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No Rādhikā there? No
Rādhārāṇī on the side of Kṛṣṇa?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What have you seen, Caru
Mahārāja?
I saw, _____________________ in Karoli alone, and
Rādhārāṇī in another room, and when the devotees want
to see Them combined they are to pay something and then Rādhārāṇī
is taken to Madhanmohan. They’re living separately, in Karoli; that is a
fashion there. Other places only Govinda, and They’re alone. I did not see like
that.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
I remember in Vṛndāvana, Govindaji’s temple there’s both
Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In Jaipur.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He’s saying that he heard that They have been brought in later;
Rādhārāṇī was brought in later on.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where, in Jaipur, or in all these
temples?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Jaipur. Yeah, all these temples.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jaipur may have some particular case.
When I visited Jaipur, I found the priest had made his tilaka in this
way, this flat way. I asked him, he’s a Bengali brāhmaṇa,
they worship; the priests are all recruited from Bengal because the saivaite
is from Bengal. I asked him, “What is this, that you have taken this saiva
tilaka?”
He was perplexed and avoided me.I could understand, did understand then,
that they’re under control of the king who is influenced by the smārta,
so they’re compelled to do in that way. The smārta conception of Kṛṣṇa, they give recognition to Kṛṣṇa, but not to
the bhakta, the devotees. ‘They’re all māyā.’ That is,
Kṛṣṇa alone, they want to worship. And they think the gopīs,
Yaśodā, Nanda, Vasudeva, all, they’re all jīva, devotee,
but not Kṛṣṇa’s constant companion. Nitya līlā they
do not recognise.
The Krsna means the eternal Kṛṣṇa, and the devotees
are also eternally connected with Him. This is Vaiṣṇava
conviction.And the smārta conviction is, ‘the Kṛṣṇa
represents Brahma, and He’s advaya, alone. And He descended here and
made connection with the human beings. He may be of higher order, but they’re
not eternal friends to Him.’ This is the consideration of the smārta or
māyāvādā.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, this reminds me that when Śrīla Sanātana
Goswāmī got Madanmohanji, when Madanmohanji came to Sanātana
Goswāmī He did not come with Rādhārāṇī, He
was just alone. When he found...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That Madanmohan was being worshipped in
Amili [?] but only Madanmohan, and no
Rādhārāṇī. Then Rādhārāṇī
was brought after...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Manifested.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Manifested later on.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
But Mahārāja, another thing is that...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That might have been under the influence
of the smārta, so they might have done like that.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
In Jaiva Dharma, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is telling that a pure
devotee does not worship the Deities in the temple, he worshipsmanosek radha
govinda siva karune
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ____________________ [?]
arcāyām eva haraye, pūjām yaḥ
śraddhayehate
na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu, sa bhaktaḥ
prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ
["A devotee who faithfully worships the Deity, but does not
properly respect the Vaiṣṇavas or the people in general is called a
materialistic devotee, and is considered to be in the lowest position of
devotional service."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.2.47]
That the kaniṣṭha adhikārī, the devotee of
the lowest order, they...
But their manasa pūjā, their bhāva
pūjā...
Nearer approach to Govinda... proper. Not only their help in the
physical plane is not necessary for them.
When I came to Gauḍīya Maṭh first I found only
Mahāprabhu’s Śrī Mūrti there. I asked that, “This
Śrī Mūrti, is it out of dāru or śilā or
earth?”
They were very much enraged with me and told, “Don’t look like that. It
is sākṣād mahāprabhu, Mahāprabhu Himself. You
must try to look like that. And don’t take this material connection with your
visit, in this way.”
Then I put the question, that if He’s sākṣād
mahāprabhu, Mahāprabhu Himself, then why a junior devotee amongst
you worships Him? Why not the highest amongst you, your Gurudeva, he’s not with
Him? That was my question. If Mahāprabhu Himself is present here then the
highest amongst you... he must... but he’s in the upstairs and your sākṣād
mahāprabhu is on the outdoor room. What is the matter?
Then the answer came. “He’s also with Mahāprabhu. In his heart he’s
always in the company of Mahāprabhu, and that Mahāprabhu is within
his heart. It is clearly shown there. And that sort of Mahāprabhu is of
higher order than this Mahāprabhu.”
Then also I told, it may be like that.
Then of course we are encouraged to see this Mahāprabhu, this
ArcāMūrti, ignoring our eye experience, to try, of course it is good.
But the bhāva pūjā within the heart, that shows madhyama
adhikārī. A higher realised soul; the sannyāsīns are
generally expected, with prasādam also, the ordinary people when it
will take to the temple and offer to the Deity then take out that prasādam
then it is prasādam. But the
sannyāsīns, without connection of the temple they offer
mentally to the Lord and take that prasādam. And the mahā-bhāgavata,
he neither has connection with the temple, nor in mental offering, but whatever
comes to him he says that, “My Lord is sending to me today this for my food.
This is prasādam.” No necessity of any formality. But this is mental
formality with the middle class, and the gross formality is to be observed from
the third class. But otherwise they may not have real, deep conception about
the divinity. That’s how they should begin life.
Just as when a boy begins to write he wants some big pen, and sometimes
on the ground he’s requested to write down the letters, and when grown up then
some rough paper and with bamboo or some other pen; and when higher, then of
course with the pen and fine paper.
And to begin with because our attention is addicted and is always
engaged in gross things, so the Lord has come – if He wants to come to us He
has to come in that gross plane, in His arcā, paravyuha, vaibhava, antaryāmī
and arcā. And most graciously He comes to our gross level to take
us up from that plane to the subtle, and more subtle. That is the process to
help us.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
That reminds me Mahārāja, in the beginning when I was with
Prabhupāda, one day I told Prabhupāda, “Whenever I go to Calcutta I
feel very much tempted to eat sweets from the shops.”
Then Prabhupāda said, “Well, it’s all Kṛṣṇa, I
mean eat, there’s no harm, eat, it’s Kṛṣṇa prasāda.”
But I said, “But Prabhupāda, I go to the shops and eat sweets.”
Then Prabhupāda said, “Well after all, everything is Kṛṣṇa
prasāda. Everything has been given by Kṛṣṇa.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anyhow to connect ourselves with that
divine connection, anyhow to be near to that connection. Kṛṣṇa
smṛti, that is to be roused within us any way or other. Wherever
I’m posted I must begin from there.
loke vyavāyāmiṣa-madya-sevā, nityā hi
jantor na hi tatra codanā
vyavasthitis teṣu vivāha-yajña,-surā-grahair
āsu nivṛttir iṣṭā
[“Everyone is
naturally inclined to have sex, eat meat, and drink wine. There is no need for
the scripture to encourage these things. The scriptures do, however, give
concessions to people who are determined to do these things. The scriptures
therefore grant a license to enjoy sex by allowing sexual intercourse with
one’s lawfully wedded wife at the proper time of the month. They grant a
license to eat meat to those who perform a certain kind of sacrifice, and a
license to drink wine to those who perform the Sautramani sacrifice. The
purpose of granting these licenses for sense gratification is only to restrict
these activities and encourage people to give them up altogether. The real
intention of the Vedic injunctions regarding sex, meat-eating, and
wine-drinking is to make one abstain from these activities.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.5.11]
In the lowest class when there is affinity to many filthy things, even
the śāstra and mantra and sādhu come to
that lower level to lift them up gradually.
parokṣa-vādo vedo 'yaṁ, bālānām
anuśāsanam
[karma-mokṣāya karmāṇi, vidhatte hy agadaṁ
yathā]
[“Childish and foolish people are attached to
materialistic, fruitive activities, although the actual goal of life is to
become free from such activities. Therefore, the Vedic injunctions indirectly
lead one to the path of ultimate liberation by first prescribing fruitive
religious activities, just as a father promises his child candy so that the
child will take his medicine.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.3.44]
By instalments they’re to give advices to us, gradually, with gradual
development. To our lowest level, by the will of Kṛṣṇa, the sādhu
and śāstra have to come to take up.“Oh. Manu-saṁhitā
says take this fish, this meat. Don’t take that fish, that meat, because if you
do that you will get many diseases that will come and attack and disturb you.”So
they also come to restrict him to take him in the way of restriction in a
gradual process.Then Manu-saṁhitā says, pravṛttir eṣā
bhūtānāṁ, nivṛttis tu mahā-phalā.
[na māṁsa-bhakṣaṇe doṣo, na madye
na ca maithune
pravṛttir eṣā bhūtānāṁ,
nivṛttis tu mahā-phalā]
[“It may be considered that meat-eating, intoxication, and sex
indulgence are natural propensities of the conditioned souls, and therefore
such persons should not be condemned for these activities. But unless one gives
up such sinful activities, there is no possibility of achieving the actual
perfection of life.”] [Manu-saṁhitā]
“But all I have given provision here for your food, this is when you
cannot shake yourself and which is impossible for you to check your, to think
of being independent of these allurements. But don’t think that this is as pure
as the renunciation of these mundane foods. Nivṛttis tu
mahā-phalā, if you can give them up you will have a great
achievement is waiting for you if you can check, control yourself from the greed
of all these foodstuffs. Nivṛttis tu mahā-phalā. Then
again you’ll come that nivṛtti, mere renunciation has got no value
at all. You must connect with the highest divinity otherwise it won’t fetch any
real value to you, this tyāga. This prasāda you must take.
In this gradual process they’re arranging for our good.”
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, this reminds me of another incident. In Vṛndāvana
I used to cook for Prabhupāda, and Prabhupāda wanted me to get some
vegetables. And one of the vegetables was the bitter melon, korola [?] And he
asked me to get Balan sak [?], korola, kumru [?], begoon [?] and munda [?].
Then I went to the market and got, I bought...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Purchased.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
But then when I came back I told Prabhupāda that I got all the vegetables.
Then Prabhupāda asked me, “Tell me what have you got.”
And so I started telling him one by one after the other, I got the
spinach, I got the radish, I got the pumpkin, I got eggplant. And then I
remembered that I forgot to bring a korola, I forgot to bring the bitter melon.
And those days Prabhupāda was not feeling very well. And I knew that if I
told Prabhupāda that I forgot to bring the korola he’d be very angry. So
I...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Suppressed.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
...I lied to him. I told him, and I got the korola. And I thought that I’ll just
send somebody to the market and get some korola.
And then Prabhupāda told me, “Ok. You bring all the vegetables.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “You give me?”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes. “Bring them here so I’ll show you how to cut them.”
Then I immediately ran out. And there was
a boy who used to work in the guest house, so I told him that, “You immediately
take the cycle and immediately go to the market.” Well first of all I went to
the kitchen and looked around for if they had any korola, if they had any
bitter melon.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In their stock.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes, in their stock, but they all said there was no korola. And then I sent
this boy to the market on the cycle and told him that immediately you get it.
So in the meantime I was waiting outside the gate for this boy to come back.
And at last he comes back and tells me that there’s no korola in the market. At
that time I was totally, and then I felt that now I’m finished. Now I have to
go and tell Prabhupāda that I’ve lied to him. And now he’ll be extremely
angry with me and he’ll chastise me and then he’ll feel very bad. And anyhow I
felt totally surrendered and then I started praying to Kṛṣṇa,
“Kṛṣṇa, You are the only hope for me.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Come to my relief.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
I kept on praying, “I don’t mind if Prabhupāda chastises me or whatever he
does with me I don’t care. But I’m very much concerned about his health, and if
he gets angry then it will be...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Excitement will cause, damage his
health.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes. And thinking that I felt very, I became totally numb.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Perplexed.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes. And then I started walking back towards the kitchen, and then I saw that
right on the veranda on the way back to the kitchen there’s one bitter melon
lying on the floor. And I just pounced on it, picked it up and ran, and then I
took all the vegetables. And I just kept on praising Kṛṣṇa
that, “Kṛṣṇa, You’re so merciful.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A miracle.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
And I still don’t know Mahārāja how, what to think of this. And then
I went to Prabhupāda, and by that time it was quite late, Prabhupāda
was already having his massage. So I went and told Prabhupāda, “I brought
the vegetables.” And so Prabhupāda said to cut this like that, and I
started cutting according to his instruction. And then at last I picked up the
bitter melon and I asked Prabhupāda how I should cut the bitter melon. And
Prabhupāda looked at me with a smile and said, “Yes, bitter melon.” And
the way he said it I knew Prabhupāda knew what happened.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “But I had to manage it on your behalf.”
And to keep up your prestige, just as Arjuna to Hanumān, “They say,
we are told, that in Treta-yuga you are to
construct a bridge to go to Laṅkā. And with the help of trees and
stones and so many awkward things, there was not good such a good archer who
could construct a bridge only with the arrows.”
Then Hanumānreplied, “Oh. You can’t conceive the matter. If these
stones were so heavy, the bridge constructed by your arrows, that cannot stand,
that will go down.”
Then Arjuna told, “It is impossible. If I construct a bridge with my
arrows, none can break it down; no pressure.”
“Then let us go and see.”
Then Arjuna constructed with arrows a bridge. And Hanumānhe took so
many stones with him, even tied to his ________
the hairs on his body. And he’s going, and with the pressure the bridge is
going down, but not finally broken. In this way he passed. Then Hanumān,
anyhow, some sort of, the bridge was somewhat damaged but it could not be
broken completely. Then Hanumānwas a little defeated.
Then Kṛṣṇa, coming to Arjuna, He says, “What have you
done? I feel much pain on My head.”
“What’s the matter?”
“When Hanumānwas passing with his weight your arrow bridge is going
down. Wherever it’s going down I’m putting My head there. And wherever
Hanumānputs his foot I put My head there, below. So anyhow he passed.
Arjuna of course he promised that, ‘If my bridge is a failure then I won’t
live, I shall die.’ So to save you I had to take so much trouble.” Then Arjuna, what he will say? Nonplussed, or something like
that. “But for your earnestness and your
repentance and all these things, I had to secure anyhow this cover for you, to
keep up your prestige.”
In Yoga śāstra it is mentioned that astheya,
when one can practice the subtle, check the subtle form of greediness,
perfectly has checked, then he comes in a
stage whatever he wants, that thing automatically comes to him. Just as when
one does not speak any falsehood, any lie, then whenever he speaks anything
that cannot but be true, bhak-siddham.
Whatever he speaks that comes to be true, siddha bhak. Then astheya,
when no greed, it has been practised within, then whenever he wants anything
that will come to him automatically; this is the nature, natural arrangement of
prakṛti.So prakṛti what we see to be a rigid, inert
and dead thing, it is not so actually. It is all conscious, and conscious and reasonable
hand behind it, so all these are possible. One who does not speak lie, whatever
he speaks that comes to happen. One who does not want anything, if he wants
anything that must come here, astheya. The yogī willing
something.
Paramānanda Prabhu, Prabhupāda’s personal assistant and the
most senior disciple, a boy disciple, he was travelling in a train with
Prabhupāda, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura,
towards Haridwar. Then Paramānanda Prabhu felt hungry and he asked
Prabhupāda, “I’m hungry, I want some halava.”
Then Prabhupāda told that, “Perhaps that may not be available here.
Yes, in the next station let us try, if we
can get that, we shall purchase.”
Then there was a yogī in that carriage with Prabhupāda,
talking about devotional things and yoga. “Oh. What does he say, that
boy?”
Prabhupāda told that, “He wants some halava, he’s hungry.”
“Oh. Yes, is it?” Then he put his hand outside the carriage, through the
window and took – “Take this, it is halava. You take it.”
So this siddhi, this may be arranged. And the devotees, they do not want this, but still they wait to
serve the devotees, such siddhi. Muktih svayaṁ
mukulitānjali sevate ‘smān, dharmārtha-kāma-gatayaḥ
samaya-pratīkṣāḥ.
[bhaktis tvayi sthiratarā bhagavan yadi syād
daivena nah phalati divya-kiśora-mūrttiḥ
muktih svayaṁ mukulitānjali sevate ‘smān
dharmārtha-kāma-gatayaḥ samaya-pratīkṣāḥ]
[“O Supreme
Lord, if our devotion (bhakti) for You were more steadfast, Your
adolescent form would naturally arise (appear) within our hearts. Oh Devotion,
you are of such a magnanimous nature, if there is any way that we can have your
least favour, then mukti(salvation
or liberation) will wait to serve us with open arms. What to speak of mukti, even dharma (ritualistic virtue), artha (affluence),
and kāma(material enjoyment) will be waiting far, far away for
whenever their calling bell is sounding. Then, they will rush to our feet
saying: 'What do you want?' Then there would not be the slightest necessity to
pray for the triple pursuits of religiosity, gain, and sensual desire (dharma,
artha, kāma), and their negation in the form of liberation, because mukti will personally attend us as a concomitant subsidiary fruit of
devotion in the form of deliverance from ignorance, her hands cupped in prayer
(like a preordained maidservant); and the fruits of bhukti (transitory
pleasure culminating in attainment of heaven) will eagerly await their orders,
from us, should any necessity arise for them in the service of Your lotus
feet.”][Kṛṣṇa-karnāmṛta, 107]
They’re always waiting whenever a devotee wants to get the chance to
serve them. Devotees very rarely they may take such course, on account of Kṛṣṇa’s
service. ‘That these newcomers have come to serve Kṛṣṇa. He
will be discouraged. He’ll be unsuccessful in his attempt.” So Kṛṣṇa’s
managing to help a junior devotee.
Then all right, I want to take leave of you now.
It’s too late.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
End of 81.08.13.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.14.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: This one is from Bhakta Prīya
Dāsī. She’s one of Prabhupāda’s disciples in Los Angeles.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Mahārāja, Bhakta Prīya Dāsī ____________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ______________________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja, what’s
her identity?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: She distributes Śrīla
Prabhupāda’s books and she also collects donations for the temple.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Prabhupāda śiṣya ______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That lady who wrote a letter for
initiation?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No. This is her friend. This is
Prabhupāda’s disciple.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, Prabhupāda’s disciple.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: _________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ____________________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: _______________________________________________ [?]
“Dear Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja, Please
accept my most humble obeisances at your glorious lotus feet. I have been
listening to the tapes of some of your conversations with our Śrīla
Prabhupāda’s disciples and I find great enlivenment in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness by hearing the transcendental exchanges between yourself and the
devotees. By the purity of your instructions I become very much inspired to
continue in the service of our Guru Mahārāja, with tolerance and
perseverance. So I beg that you kindly accept this offering as an expression of
gratitude for your concern and eagerness to help us in this mission. Thank you
very much. Your servant: Bhakta Prīya Dāsī.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then a suitable reply_________________ [?]
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: ___________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Also, there’s another letter.This is
from a boy who had first initiation from Prabhupāda.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: __________________________________________________ [?]
“Dear Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja, Please
accept my obeisances. All glories to Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga.
Please let me introduce myself. My initiated name is Dayal Dāsa
Adhikārī. I received HariNāma dīkṣā from
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Swāmī in nineteen seventy seven
after hearing about him and reading his books since nineteen seventy two. Now
I’m twenty five years old and have a wife and two children. Daily I chant the
prescribed number of rounds and visit the temple of Śrī Śrī
Rukmiṇī Dvārakādiśa. Accordingly, I associate with
His Holiness Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Swāmī who is known to
you. And from him I have heard of your exalted qualities. I have also gotten
from him many tape recordings of conversations with you, and I have developed
strong faith in your words, just like my Gurudeva Śrīla
Prabhupāda.
So I have an important question which I do not trust in any other hand
but your own. One day in January nineteen eighty one, I found in a garbage
heap, of all places, an original copy of the Gāyatrī
mantra that was given
by my Gurudeva. So I asked my wife who received the mantra initiation
from Prabhupāda, before she had met me, how to chant it, and in this way I
began to chant. However, I was not initiated with this mantra. Nor have
I ever worn a brāhmaṇa thread. I have understood from your
Divine Grace on a tape recording, the purpose of Gāyatrī and
the importance of the HariNāma. What is my position now with Gāyatrī?
Please instruct me in this matter, because I’m in doubt. Should I go on
chanting the mantra? Perhaps by your mercy I could receive the mantra
in the proper way. But whatever you say I will accept that.
I’m reluctant to inform you that I, as of yet, am not a very successful
dollars and cents man, being new at household life and would have to borrow
money to come to India although that is what I want to do. I’m saying this only
because of my responsible position as a family man.Please instruct me.
Your insignificant servant,Dayal Dāsa Adhikārī.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: ___________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________________________________ [?]
Kāma Gāyatrī,
not this Brahmā Gāyatrī? There is Brahmā Gāyatrī,
Brahmā Gāyatrī is another thing; that is meant for the brāhmaṇas
only. And Prabhupāda [Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura]
used to give that only to the male persons.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: I don’t know what kind of Gāyatrī
a woman gets.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ordinary Gāyatrī,
Brahmā Gāyatrī and...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: It’s all the same thing, seven...
Akṣayānanda Swāmī: Similar.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That’s Kāma Gāyatrī.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: ______________________________ [?]
Akṣayānanda Swāmī: Brahmā Gāyatrī,
Guru Gāyatrī, Gaura Gāyatrī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, Guru Gāyatrī,
Gaura Gāyatrī, and Kāma Gāyatrī–
three, three Gāyatrīs.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ______________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________________________________ [?]
Not for the ladies necessary, Brahmā
Gāyatrī.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Mahārāja is saying that usually the lady doesn’t get
the Brahmā Gāyatrī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Brahmā Gāyatrīis only
given to the male persons. Only sacred thread ceremony: that is Brahmā Gāyatrī.
Kṛṣṇa Gāyatrī– what Swāmī Mahārāja
introduced I don’t know, but Brahmā Gāyatrī
only on the ceremony of sacred thread it is there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He never gave sacred thread to the
ladies.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Prabhupāda first told me that the Gāyatrī,
the brāhmaṇa initiation is only for, it’s more or less like a
formality. And Prabhupāda actually pointed out that – actually I was there
and Prabhupāda was talking to some other person, that other person was
asking Prabhupāda, “Why you are giving brāhmaṇa initiation
to the yavanas and mlechas?”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nonbrāhmaṇas.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: So Prabhupāda said, “I’m giving them brāhmaṇa
initiation; I’m giving them the brāhmaṇa thread so that
rascals like you do not commit an offence thinking that they’re anything less
than a brāhmaṇa.”[Group laughter]And Prabhupāda pointed
out that, “Their position is much higher than a brāhmaṇa.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, than brāhmaṇa. To
show to the society, to adjust them in such position, this secret thing has
been taken out, that they’re already brāhmaṇas then they’re
Vaiṣṇava. They cross the threshold of brāhmaṇism;
then they can reach the Vaiṣṇava stage.So the competition is only
with the male. The women they generally do not get sacred thread, so no brāhmaṇa
Gāyatrīor thread is necessary for them.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: So Mahārāja, he wanted to know, first of all what is
his position...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And what sort of Gāyatrī,
that I want to know first. Is it Brahmā Gāyatrī
or Kāma Gāyatrī?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He found a paper with all the mantras.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Brahmā Gāyatrī, Guru Gāyatrī, Gaura Gāyatrī, and Kāma Gāyatrī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa Gāyatrīis
of two kinds. Kṛṣṇa mantra, Kāma Gāyatrī,
and for arcana purpose another set, Kṛṣṇa Gāyatrīand
Kṛṣṇa mantram.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He found what Prabhupāda would give
to his disciples, he found that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________________________________ [?]
Arcana conite [?]
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: __________________________________________________ [?]
Mahārāja is saying that if he’s
willing to take second initiation from his Divine Grace then there’s no objection.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No objection. But I am afraid of the
disturbance that may be created.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He doesn’t live in the temple.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: He doesn’t stay in the temple Mahārāja, he lives
outside.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, then no trouble.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: With him there’s no disturbance.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So how should that be done?
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: You’re the contact.
Akṣayānanda Swāmī: Just tell him that Guru Mahārāja has no objection.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But does he want him to come, should he
come here?
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: _____________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Say it in English.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Oh yes. Prabhupāda used to give the Gāyatrīmantra many times in a tape. In a tape, the disciple used to hear the mantra
in a tape and used to receive the upavitafrom a representative of
Prabhupāda, usually the GBC.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The ṛtvik system,
representative, ṛtvik system.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: So Adridan Prabhu is suggesting that maybe you can also make a
tape so that many willing disciples can get the initiation of the Gāyatrīmantra from you that way from all over the world.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That I may think out. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
I shall appeal to Guru Mahārāja and if I get inspiration in that way,
if it be necessary, necessity of the time, then I may come to that conclusion
hereafter. I can’t say now.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Then, you are to start by nine o’clock or
what?
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Yes Mahārāja, around nine, nine thirty.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Or eleven? All right.
In Marga Kavya [?] Marg [?]
was a Vaiṣṇava kavi, his epic is known as Sisupal Avagni [?] Bāladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa has quoted one of his verses on his
commentary on Vedānta, to clear the position of Brahmā and
Nārāyaṇa in this sense.
chayistha syam nitya baditam pura tatas _____________________________________ [?]
When Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Uddhava met in a
conference, at that time Devaṛṣi Nārada was seen coming
through the sky. First They saw a mass of light is approaching towards them.
Then gradually could recognise that there is a figure within the mass light.
Then a male figure, and lastly the Devaṛṣi Nārada has come.
So in the first hazy conception of the spiritual realm only a mass of
light something Brahman, then Brahmapura, the figure, the Vasudeva, then Lakṣmī
Nārāyaṇa; in this way the deeper and deeper vision will express
that there are so many things there. And in that mark there is one śloka,vanapti kala pita ei pi yogya tanum [?]
He’s praising about sādhu-saṅga, the association with
the devotees, sādhu.
The first line I fail to remember. Anyhow, the meaning is that when we
come in contact of a saint, sādhu, it tells our – merit, or what is
this – for three stages of our life. As a result of our past good activity I’m
able to meet a saint, and when I’m discussing with him at the present that will
also produce the good result, and it will help me in future also. So past,
present and future, three stages of time is concerned with our association with
the saints, and, sat-saṅgaḥ śevadhir nṛṇām.
[ata ātyantikaṁ kṣemaṁ, pṛcchāmo
bhavato ‘naghāḥ
saṁsāre ‘smin kṣaṇārdho ‘pi, sat-saṅgaḥ
śevadhir nṛṇām]
[O
sinless ones! We therefore inquire from you about that which is supremely
auspicious for all living beings, for in this world association with saints –
even for a half a moment – is the most valuable treasure in human society.] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.2.30]
And with the transaction what
we get in their connection, that is the most valuable thing, and that is the
fulfilment of life to its highest degree. Sat-saṅgaḥ
śevadhir nṛṇām.
And another place in Rāmānuja sampradāya it is
mentioned, in one dark night, three Āḷvārs by chance met in a
place. They did not know each other but they heard of their name. Then they
began to talk in the dark night and then gradually they came to understand that
they are those three renowned saints of that time anyhow met together.
Then one questioned, “We are three here, but do you feel the presence of
a fourth one?”
Another answered, “Yes. The fourth one is here.”
Fourth one means the Lord Himself. They’re talking about Him and by that
He’s also present there, the fourth one. Three are talking and talking about
the fourth so the fourth must necessarily be present there.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: Once I asked...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And kīrtana,
Mahāprabhu, Mahāprabhu recommended kīrtana, bahubhir
militvā yat kīrtanam tad eva saṅkīrtanam. When many we
meet to talk about the Lord: that is saṅkīrtana. And that was
recommended especially in the Kali-yuga. Others are more or less powerless.
What’s the reason? In kīrtana, saṅkīrtana, generally the
influence of the environment comes to disturb us, to disturb our attention for kīrtana.
But when we’re all engaged in saṅkīrtana we try our best to
collect all our attention and energy to apply in the case. We are rather
compelled to collect and maximum energy to attend. Especially
when one is telling or another putting questions the depth of the cultivation
is appreciable and cannot but be intense. It commands the maximum energy from
all, the hearers and the speaker, saṅkīrtana.
nāhaṁ vasāmi vaikuṇṭhe, yogināṁ
hṛdayeṣu vā
mad bhaktāḥ yatra gāyanti, tatra tiṣṭhāmi
nārada
[The Lord Himself says: "O, Nārada, wherever My devotees sing
My praises I cannot but be present there."] [Within the purports of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
4.2.41 & 4.30.35]
That intense presence of Him, not only Vaikuṇṭha, in the
consideration of eternity and infinite, vaikuṇṭhe, yogināṁ
hṛdayeṣu vā, “When in ascending method one is attempting
to reach Me, to catch Me, these are less productive, yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu
vā. Mad bhaktāḥ yatra gāyanti, “But where more than
one they’re in the attempt to bring Me down, to make the object of their talk,
I’m attracted more there, that place, mad bhaktāḥ yatra
gāyanti. Surrendering themselves, there the layer of surrender, that
brings Me down, attracts Me down more than anything, surrender, śaraṇāgati.
Everything they have offered. They’re empty, and I go to fill up the empty pot,
cannot but. They have made them empty for Myself and I cannot but be thankful
to go and fill up their emptied heart.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.What do you say?
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: It just reminded me once I asked Prabhupāda, actually I
told Prabhupāda that I wished to be with him when he first went to America
and he was all alone, struggling so hard.And then Prabhupāda told me, “I
was never alone.” He said, “Kṛṣṇa was always with him.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is very clear when I read his...
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Biography.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Journey, yes, journey to America I was
sure that Kṛṣṇa came to his help, and Baladeva, Nityānanda came to his help. He could not have stayed but
to have Them. So empty handed, empty hearted, only with the Name of Kṛṣṇa,
the adventurous journey he undertook. Certainly, surely, Kṛṣṇa
was on his head, in his heart, Guru, Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Mahārāja, yesterday while we were coming here, Adri
asked a question. He was asking that Prabhupāda is nitya-siddha,
which means Prabhupāda came down from the spiritual sky. Then why, at
times Prabhupāda spoke about his previous life, that he was a very pious
doctor in his previous life.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Pious doctor, in his previous life.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Pious doctor.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He said one astrologer told him that.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Oh, I see. He said that Prabhupāda said that one
astrologer told him that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Told like that, because his natural
knowledge was chemistry?
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: In that life he committed one sin and that’s why he had to
come here.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: To get some medicine for someone he
killed a snake, to get some venom to administer.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And for that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well he said for that he had to take
birth again.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: As a doctor?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: No, as Prabhupāda, in this life.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This life? No, no. That must be pushed
in the background. His brightest duty awaiting him to spread this doctrine of
love, begin. He’s a doctor not only of this physical, to remove and cure
physical disease but the disease wholesale. Hṛd-rogam āśv
apahinoty acireṇa.
[vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca
viṣṇoḥ, śraddhānvito
'nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ
bhaktiṁ parām bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ, hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ]
["One who hears with firm faith the supramundane amorous affairs of
Lord Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, as described by a pure
devotee of the Lord, soon becomes freed from mundane lust and achieves divine
love of Kṛṣṇa."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.33.39]
He came to remove the heart disease of so many in the world. That was
his; that is the purpose.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa sent him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: If Prabhupāda is nitya-siddha so how come...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And one important point I want to clear
in this occasion. That for the devotees when it is necessary that they should
come to discharge some divine duties, the life of any time that is merely a
plea. Just as C.I.D, he may take any garment, any shape, any duty, but his main
object is to watch, something like
that. When they come to this world of mundane surface, they come with
variegated plea, by the will of Kṛṣṇa. But that matters
little; not important thing. Reality is there and this is only a sham dress for
the time being. It does not matter.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Even if he came as a doctor...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see the Pāṇḍavas
and other parṣada of Kṛṣṇa in different type, someone begging, someone’s enraged, someone’s killing, so
many things, but this is somewhat worldly. And all to show to the people that
these things have got no value. This is all māyā, satya-guṇa,
raja-guṇa, tama-guṇa, all māyā. A sacred life
according to the standard of this world: that is satya-guṇa. That
is also false. And the Ratnaka Dasu’s life, that is tama-guṇa in
the very beginning, that is also false. When the light comes, darkness of any
density may disappear in a moment. So this matters little in the case of the nirguṇa,
the bhagavan māyā dhaya,
Yogamāyā. Whenever Yogamāyā wants, Mahāmāyā
retires. In the jail law, as I say, in the prison there is a particular law for
the jailers, for the culprits. But whenever one officer of higher sphere,
anyone comes to visit the prison house, wherever he goes the prison law
retires: the Yogamāyā, prakṛtiṁ svām adhiṣṭhāya,
sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā.
[ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā, bhūtānām
īśvaro 'pi san
prakṛtiṁ svām adhiṣṭhāya,
sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā]
["Although My eternal form is transcendental to birth and death,
and I am the controller of all beings, I appear within the world in My original
form, by My own sweet will, extending My internal potency of
yoga-māyā."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.6]
Ātma-māyayā – Kṛṣṇa says, prakṛtiṁ
svām adhiṣṭhāya, by controlling, not by fighting even. Wherever this higher law goes the lower law retires, forced to
retire, and no exertion, no fight is even necessary for that to remove. So when
that nirguṇa has control:
api cet sudurācāro, bhajate mām ananya-bhāk
sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ, samyag vyavasito hi saḥ
["If even a
person of extremely abominable practices, abandoning all nondevotional pursuits
of exploitation and renunciation engages in My exclusive and uninterrupted
devotional service, he is venerable as a true saint because he has embraced the
revolutionary plane of life."][Bhagavad-gītā, 9.30]
What he’s doing that is perfectly right, cent per cent. You may see some
black things in the life of a sādhu, but if he’s real sādhu,
if he’s nirguṇa position, then what you see that is only
concoction, that has got no value – cent per cent he’s doing right. So this māyā
is a negative space. It has got no value when any positive thing comes back
to it.So taking this form of Ratnaka Dasu’s case, the Jagāi and
Mādhāi’s case, the next moment previously he was a great demon and
the next moment after then he’s a great
sage.This is His will, divine will. The final phenomenal conception has got no
position before divine will. Infinite divine will in one place and this self
condemned misconception is in the other side of the battle. What can māyā
do to Kṛṣṇa and His person?So in any form, in any way
they may come. The śāstra asks us not to look at those
backgrounds.
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene
naya, yei kṛṣṇa-tattva vettā sei guru haya.
["Whether a person is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī,
or a śūdra, if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa,
he is to be accepted as Guru."] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 8.127]
Kṛṣṇa consciousness is absolute. It does not depend.
Still because we have got some weakness here, so if we find Guru in a high
family and his figure is a beautiful one, janma, aiśvarya,
and he has neglected opulence, like Buddhadeva, kicked out the kingdom, janma
aiśvarya, śruta, and he was a great scholar, this may help us,
to the disciples that has got such negative value, all these things.
[janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir,
edhamāna-madaḥ pumān
naivārhaty abhidhātuṁ vai, tvām
akiñcana-gocaram]
[Queen Kuntī Devī prays: “O Kṛṣṇa! Those who
are intoxicated by false ego on account of their good birth with respectable
parents, great opulence and wealth, great learning and high education, and
personal bodily beauty, cannot cry out: “Govinda!” or “Kṛṣṇa!”
with sincere feeling. Only those who have no charm for anything material within
this world can chant Your Holy Name in purity.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.8.26]
Otherwise Kṛṣṇa bhakti, the devotion of the
Supreme Lord, divinity does not care for any such grandeur of this false world.
Am I clear?
Devotees: Yes Mahārāja.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Right at that time the answer that came to my mind was, yes,
Prabhupāda came in his previous, I mean before he came as a doctor, but we
don’t know if maybe in another kalpa that Kṛṣṇa sent
him. Then he went back and again he came this time. It’s not that he came...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You see, we are told when
circumambulating Braja Mandal, in Varsana there was a camp and Prabhupāda
was delivering lectures. We were all sitting around hearing. He told at that
time, “Up to my Gurudeva the Guru paramparā
is coming down,
and up to my Gurudeva we must not look at them as sādhana siddha, nitya
siddha. Gurudeva is never sādhana siddha.” Because, sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair, Gurudeva and ordinary Vaiṣṇavas’
position is different. In Ekādaśī Gurudeva is given ana
prasādam, that bhogam,
not other Vaisnavas. So to the disciple, Kṛṣṇa, Baladeva, Rādhārāṇī... His own necessity is represented there.
Just as the affection for the child in the mother reaches the highest
position: and not the grandmother and others.
So by the special arrangement of the Lord the maximum well wisher of a
disciple is found in Guru and that is not...,
that is maximum purest and by order of Kṛṣṇa he will have to
present there, work on His behalf. So
Guru should never be seen as sādhana siddha, up to, from the line,
from the beginning Guru must not be seen as sādhana siddha. He’s nitya
siddha. Otherwise it will,bhoga, will disregard. Because we are asked to see Guru as Kṛṣṇa
Himself or His representation, His double, delegation is there. We are to see
that. We must come in that connection. Then only our bhajan, our sādhana:
then that will have real impetus. We’re nearest to perfection. With this idea
my progress will be more and more increased and intense. Something tampered, the
truth which has reached to me there is some dirt there; some certain percent of
dirt is there? No. The truth is ________ just at the door, graciously to take
me in, to take me up. That is, the śāstra asks us to see
things in that way. And what the śāstra says that is not
false. That is true. We cannot come up to mark. That is our defect.
sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair,
uktas tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ
kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya, vande guroḥ
śrī-caraṇāravindam
["In the revealed scriptures it is declared that the spiritual
master should be worshipped like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this
injunction is obeyed by pure devotees of the Lord. The spiritual master is the
most confidential servant of the Lord. Thus let us offer our respectful
obeisances unto the lotus feet of our spiritual master."] [Śrī Śrī Gurv-aṣṭaka, 7]
To the Vaiṣṇava, mukunda-preṣṭha, because
they know that the Kṛṣṇa śakti of the highest
type, the function of Guru is there: not Kṛṣṇa Himself, so mukunda-preṣṭha.
The most favourite of the Lord has come as Guru to me. I am just adjacent to
the highest purifying dynamo, so I cannot but be purified. Ha, ha, ha, ha. This
sort of idea must come within us to help our progress really.
Devotee: ________________________
Dāsa Goswāmī Prabhu _____________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: By the will of the God, it is
transferred.
Devotee: _______________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is a complicated case. You see,
[Raghunātha] Dāsa Goswāmī had his first dīkṣā
from Yadhunandana Ācārya, a gṛhastha, when he was gṛhastha
himself, first. Then he used to, he came to exemplify the, according to the change of the śiṣya, Lord He
takes different kinds of form to help him in different classes. Then he went to
Mahāprabhu. Then Mahāprabhu handed him over to Svarūpa
Dāmodara. We may say that ordinary śikṣā Guru we may take Yadhunandana, the vartma-pradarśaka,
the beginner, the canvasser, something like ṛtvik, representative.
Not Guru proper but his representative came as Yadhunandana and helped him,
helped him in a right way, otherwise he could not be attracted by the charming
personality of Mahāprabhu. He approached Mahāprabhu. And
Mahāprabhu we may take as Rādhārāṇī, in the garb
of Rādhārāṇī, Kṛṣṇa in the garb of
Rādhārāṇī. He was there, charmed. And
Rādhārāṇī placed him to Svarūpa Dāmodara,
Lalitā, Lalitā Devī, handed over to Lalitā Devī. Then,
but we trace that Dāsa Goswāmī’s tendency is always towards
Mahāprabhu. Though Mahāprabhu deputed Svarūpa Dāmodara,
again he approached Mahāprabhu and told that,
“I can’t understand why You have taken me, snatched me here from my family...
End of 81.08.14.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.14.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
“Give definite direction to me.”
Then
Mahāprabhu He told something in a nutshell. “Do this and don’t do this.”
And He told, “What I do not know Svarūpa Dāmodara knows it for
certain, elaborately. So I have rightly deputed him to train you on My behalf.”
So again He put the hand of Dāsa Goswāmī into the hand of
Svarūpa Dāmodara.
Then of course
he went on with his bhajan in a very stern manner. Sixteen years after
that, after the disappearance of Mahāprabhu he left. “Anyhow I’d like to
have a view of Vṛndāvana and then I will rather try to finish my
life. No more prospect to be seen in my future life.” But when he came to Vṛndāvana
he found Mahāprabhu there in Rūpa and Sanātana. And all his
plans disappeared. He found that Mahāprabhu is there, and especially he
was attracted to Śrī Rūpa. The internal connection of the
sympathetic cord he found with Rūpa.
Thereby we are taught that passing through so many ups and downs in the
life of a sādhaka he at last comes to Śrī Rūpa and
there he thinks that he has reached the station,
desired station.What is this rūpānuga sampradāya?
Mahāprabhu named this rūpānuga sampradāya. First
disciple of Mahāprabhu is Rūpa Goswāmī. Though Rūpa
Goswāmī took formal initiation from Sanātana Goswāmī,
but Mahāprabhu met Rūpa first and second Sanātana. So Rūpa
Sanātana, not Sanātana Rūpa.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Who was originally elder Mahārāja out of the two
brothers?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sanātana. But Rūpa
Sanātana because first recognition of Mahāprabhu with Rūpa
received and then next Sanātana, so Rūpa Sanātana.
Now what is the
real meaning of the rūpānuga sampradāya? You are to hear
it, mark it very attentively. The mādhurya rasa is the total rasa,
and the most intense of all rasa, all accommodating. Twenty four hours
engagement of service with Kṛṣṇa is only possible in mādhurya
rasa. And there is possibility of reaction: that is leisure, that ālasyam,
that tiredness in all other rasas, even in vātsalya rasa.
Sometimes the mother may think, father may think, “I am too much tired, I shall
do the arrangement of feeding a little after.” Ālasyam. But in mādhurya
rasa, there is no ālasyam, no reaction.
Then, now the difference between Rūpa
the mañjarī and Lalitā the sakhī, these are of
course things of the very higher order. We should not have audacity to enter
into these subtle points. Still what we understand only when that question has
come to me about Raghunātha Dāsa and by divine arrangement I am going
to say.
When Rādhā Govinda is lonely in union, the sakhīs of
the higher order does not approach that place, but the mañjarīs can
go. The junior sevākas they can go to perform any service necessary
there because due to their lesser age, they are allowed. And the higher friends
of Rādhārāṇī they keep some respectable distance. So
when Rādhā-Govinda are alone in union, there the highest quality of rasa
is to be found in Their līlā, and that is approachable to
the juniors. That is to the mañjarīs, not to the sakhīs.
So, the highest attainment is to be located in Rūpa, the leader of that
group, that junior group who has got the special advantage of the special
service in that stage, so, rūpānuga. Wherever we are we shall
have to accept that that is the acme of our fulfilment; that point. And through
Dāsa Goswāmī – that not only through formal Guru, then,
kavi sri caitanya navi koi vrindaya kotavi
pay na vaisnava padachaya
[?]
First we may be attracted by the highest peak of the Himalayas. Then
when approaching, we see so many other beautiful peaks. So we are attracted by
Kṛṣṇa in general, then from Kṛṣṇa, we come
to a proper Vaiṣṇava, proper location according my necessity of my
innate nature. In this way, from Mahāprabhu then to
Svarūpa Dāmodara, and with permission of Lalitā he comes to
Rūpa, and the point of Rūpa, that is the place of our highest
attainment. And that has been shown in the līlā of Dāsa
Goswāmī Prabhu.
Sri rupa manjari sakhi pratita pariva sen
pumsa pravasya pranam hite
[?]
These are the ślokas written by him, and he has been
accepted as the Ācārya of prayojana tattva. The
Ācārya of prayojana, what is our highest necessity, that is in
his hand, in Dāsa Goswāmī, the prayojana Ācārya.But
the whole thing must be approached with the mood of divinity, where there is
the land, the plane of dedication. And nothing of enjoyment, spirit of
enjoyment, pleasure: must not enter, then that will keep us down in this plane
of mundane relativity. The divinity to the extreme, it reaches there, the
zenith is there, Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Cāru Swami: Mahārāja, who are the
Ācāryas of sambandha and abhideya-tattva?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sambandha Ācārya we are
told is Sanātana Goswāmī. He has given us a graphic description
of the environment, who am I? He put this question to Mahāprabhu.
'ke āmi,' 'kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya',
ihā nāhi jāni -- 'kemane hita haya'
‘sādhya’-‘sādhana’-tattva puchite nā jāni, kṛpā
kari’ saba tattva kaha ta’ āpani”
[“Who am I? Why
do the threefold miseries always give me trouble? If I do not know this, how
can I be benefited?”] [“Actually I do not know how to inquire about the goal of
life and the process for obtaining it. Being merciful upon me, please explain
all these truths.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.102-103]
Mahāprabhu gradually gave him the description of everything in
details, what is what? Who are you?Jīvera
'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa'[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.108]In a nutshell, in one word, the slave to Kṛṣṇa:
the slavery.
When this European style people they accused
Gauḍīya Maṭh, “They’re preachers of slavery.” So when [Herr] Schulze [aka
Sadānanda Dāsa] came to Dacca University a lecture was arranged, and
Prabhupāda selected the subject, “Gauḍīya Maṭh stands for
the dignity of the human race.” Not for slavery. It is not a very easy thing to
get the service of God in the form of Kṛṣṇa. So, jīvera
'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa'.
Nitya-dāsa means,"born
slave, born servant." That is slave. That was like clarion call. In a high
voice that was declared first, jīvera 'svarūpa' haya, with
such pride, and magnanimous pride, jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera
'nitya-dāsa'. Such a dignified position the jīva soul has
got. But now in the garb of a master he is the slave of māyā,
ajñāna, ignorance. But his real position, innate position, he has got
inseparable in the position of such a great order. The Kṛṣṇa
has got His Autocratic power over them. So fortunate they are. So fortunate, so
close connection with Kṛṣṇa the jīva has got in
an innate stage.
jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera
'nitya-dāsa', kṛṣṇera 'taṭasthā-śakti'
bhedābheda-prakāśa'
[kṛṣṇa bhuli sei jīva
anādi-bahirmukha, ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra
dukḥa]
[“The
constitutional nature of the jīva soul is that of an eternal servant
of Kṛṣṇa; the jīva soul is a manifestation of
divinity which is one with Kṛṣṇa and different from Him. The jīva
souls are the marginal potency of the Lord. Though in reality they are
servants of Kṛṣṇa, from time immemorial, they have been
engaged in misconception, as exploiting agents.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.108 & 117]
But at present
it is not found. It is in his prospect he is such, but in his present position
he comes from the line of demarcation, the marginal potency, and so his
entrance into māyā has been possible at all. Otherwise, it
would not have happened. Kṛṣṇera 'taṭasthā-śakti'
bhedābheda-prakāśa', adaptability of both sides is within
him, 'taṭasthā-śakti' bhedābheda-prakāśa',
something common and something different, everywhere of course.In this way,
Mahāprabhu began.
And Sanātana Goswāmī asked,
put question after question and got answers and he gave about the conception
about the environment, and the position of the jīva, Bhagavān,
who is who. That is sambandha.
And Rūpa Goswāmī generally deals with the abhidheya,
the means to the end. How to attain our desired position? That is abhidheya.
Abidha means abidhan, dictionary – abidha abidhan, the
natural meaning of the word. What comes naturally from the Veda, from
the śrautawords; what flows naturally. Veda means what do
you want to do? What do you want us to do? That is abidheya: abidha,
abidheya. What is their natural implication of the śruti that
has been extended to us by Kṛṣṇa? Abidheya, that is He
wants that, “Do this, and come to Me.” That is abidheya, so abidheya Ācārya,
the means to the end, sādhana. Rūpa Goswāmī has
elaborately given, described about the way, “By step by step in this way you
come.”
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’
tha bhajana-kriyā
tato’ nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā
rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ
premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ
prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ
[“In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in
associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual
master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is
freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service.
Thereafter, one develops taste and then attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti,
the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles.
Gradually spiritual emotions manifest and intensify, then finally there is an
awakening of divine love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead
for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”][Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
1.4.15-16]
Gradual process to enter into our long missing link: prema, sneha,
mana, pranaya, rāga, anurāga, bhāva, mahābhāva.
This has been graphically described by Rūpa Goswāmī in details.
“This is the way, and in this plane, do this, and then next step, next step,
this way, this way, you can come to the highest.” That has been given by
Rūpa, the means to the end, how to come to the desired goal.
And prayojana-tattva – the Dāsa Goswāmī, he’s prayojana,
because he has clearly and boldly asserted that our necessity is not so much
with Kṛṣṇa, as with His highest servitor. Because generally
we come from taṭasthā-śakti, we have got a limited
prospect, and limited prospect to its highest degree takes us to the highest
servitor, eternal servitor in mādhurya rasa to
Rādhārāṇī. That is the general show, and in other rasas
to the highest operator of that service.
So in Rādhārāṇī,
he declared boldly, “Kṛṣṇa, I do not want You if I do not
find Rādhārāṇī there. I want rather
Rādhārāṇī. Two phases of meaning there. I cannot
really give You the supply of the highest type of service. So, what is the
necessity of going in the front rank? I was wandering in the street the other
day, and I have got such audacity that will come nearest and venture to render
service to You? There are permanent servitors there, how high and of what a
high quality service there? I must admit that. If
I am really liberated and really I am graced, then I must understand my real
position. I must not cross the original and higher
servitors. That will be a fault in me, and that will be suicidal. That will
defeat its own object. So, my highest goal will be to help the real and eternal
servitor who is taking that great charge of
serving You in a high way. That is the thing.And also our necessity, we are the
serving group, so the serving master, that is our group, our leader naturally,
so I must accommodate with the serving leader. That is, I am not hankering
after direct service of You but the serving leader, I must try to earn the
confidence of her or of him who is the leader. Then I am seeking, searching
Your proper service, and not otherwise, it would be selfseeking in some form or
other.”
So he boldly
declared that Rādhādāsyam, Rādhākiṅkarā
is the highest end, should be our summum bonum of us, Rādhādāsyam.
There is Rādhādāsya, or Yaśodādāsya
in vātsalya rasa, or Nandadāsya, the leader of every
camp, the highest leader; that should be more concern real, the point of
attention should be there. That he told, and then gradually came to Rūpa,
the leader of the juniors. That he depicted there. And this has been clearly, bakārināpi ____ explained
in Dāsa Goswāmī’s śloka – āśābharair-amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ
kathañcit.When Prabhupāda used to explain this stanza, this śloka,
his figure was transformed into like a phantom.
āśābharair-amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ
kathañcit, kālo
mayātigamitaḥ kila sāmprataṁ hi
tvaṁ cet kṛpaṁ mayi vidhāsyasi naiva kiṁ
me, prānair vrajema ca varoru
bakārināpi?
["O Varoru my beautiful, most magnanimous Goddess, my heart is
flooded with an ocean of nectarean hopes. I have somehow been passing time
until now eagerly longing for Your grace, which is an ocean of ever cherished
nectar. If still You do not bestow Your mercy on me then of what use to me are
my life, the land of Vraja, or even Śrī Kṛṣṇa who
without You, is simply a mighty hero, the destroyer of demoniac forces like
Baka."]
[Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa
Goswāmī’s, Vilāpa-Kusumāñjali, 102]
[From Bhakti Nandan
Svāmī’s, Śrī
Bhakti Rakṣaka Bhajana Madhuri, p 39]
Dāsa Goswāmī’s appeal to Rādhārāṇī,
“Āśābharair-amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ. From long time I am cherishing the hope, this sweetest hope, amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ,
my āśā is compared with the ocean and that ocean of
nectar. From far away I am fostering such a hope, of nectarine ocean, kathañcit
kālo mayātigamitaḥ kila, that I shall come to serve You, I
shall get the privilege of serving You. Āśābharair-amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ
kathañcit kālo mayātigamitaḥ. Anyhow, I am dragging myself
with this great infinite and sweetest hope, that I shall get the chance of
serving You, of Your service of Your divine feet. Āśābharair-amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ
kathañcit kālo mayātigamitaḥ. But now I think I have come
in the last verge of my hope. No longer I can
contain myself. No longer I can live, I can
breathe any more. To the last minute or last circumference of my hope, I have
reached, my master. Kila sāmprataṁ hi tvaṁ cet kṛpaṁ
mayi vidhāsyasi naiva kiṁ me. If You won't be satisfied with me
and accept me, then I no longer can stand, or sustain my life. Anyhow, I have
dragged to the last moment of my life. Prānair vrajema ca varoru. I
have come to the final conclusion that of what use is this Vraja? What is the
use of my life if I cannot reach this my sweetest goal of my dream, then what
is the use of my life further, dragging, dragging, dragging on life? Prānair
vrajema ca. What shall I do with this great Vraja Dhāma of such a
renowned acquaintance? Vrajema ca varoru. Oh beautiful footed, bakārināpi.
And even what should I do with Kṛṣṇa? I don't want Them. The
whole concentration – You will serve Kṛṣṇa, You have got that
capacity, it is natural, and if I serve You, I utilise myself to serve You so that that service through You may pass
to Kṛṣṇa, that will be the highest attainment of my fortune.”
He declared it, Dāsa Goswāmī. And still now, that is the
highest point of our achievement for the whole Gauḍīya Sampradāya.
He is the proyojana Ācārya, Dāsa Goswāmī.Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee: _______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nitāi. Nitāi. Gaura Haribol.
Nitāi. Nitāi. Gaura Haribol.And by the grace of you all, by the
necessity, Prabhupāda is drawing things. Gaura Haribol. And I cannot but
remember that he wanted me to go to the West.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
To tell everyone about Dāsa Goswāmī. He wanted you to perhaps
deliver this conception that you are carrying for the benefit of the people of
the world.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ke bolchen?
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: To spread this knowledge about the Goswāmīs,
Prabhupāda wanted you to go to the West, to give them the knowledge.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anyhow, and the credit is to
Swāmī Mahārāja.Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: And Prabhupāda wanted to bring everybody here to you.
Akṣayānanda Swāmī: Your speaking is going to the West. We know sādhu by
how he speaks.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is by the grace of Swāmī
Mahārāja it is going.
Kalidāsa
says in Raghu-vamsa, _____________________________________ [?]
Kalidāsa
sayswhen he is approaching to describe about the Raghuvamsa, that, “I am a man of small literary experience and that great Raghuvamsa,
so many stalwarts have sprung there, and I am going to describe about them with
my least wealth of poetry?” He says that, and many ślokas are
devoted for that purpose. There is one,
athova kritavordhore granthe sminn purva suribhih[?]
mono vajra somuthenesutresye vostune gotih [?]
Or, I may think like that, that previous renowned kavis like
Valmiki and Vyāsa, they have given a description of Raghuvamsa and
they have made my, the path of my entering into that secret description easy.
How? Mono vajra somuthenesutresye vostune. In a mani-mālā,
the mani [jewel] is a hard thing, and the sutre, the thread cannot
enter, pierce it, but vajra, means that iron needle, it has already made a hole through it, and now the
thread is going, passing easily through it.
So, Swāmī Mahārāja was like a vajra, the hard
thing has been, he has prepared a hole and like a thread, I am passing through
that.
Devotee: _________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
He was so simple. He was so great and so simple at the same time. Anyhow,
Mahāprabhu has done, or Gurudeva has done through him a tremendous
inconceivable thing.
Bon Mahārāja who could not tolerate all these things because
he was first in charge to go to the West and he could not get the desired
success, but the other day, when coming from Māyāpur, Bon
Mahārāja told, "Acintya." He did not want to give
recognition, but from his mouth, the word came out, “What he has done, this is acintya, it is inconceivable. So, it is divine.”
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ____________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
“It is inconceivable what he has done, what Nityānanda Prabhu, our
Prabhupāda, Baladeva; has done through him, that is inconceivable.”
He himself told
here, that a merchant of Bombay told him, “So many stalwarts approached, went to America, this Yogananda, Vivekananda, so many,
Rabindranatha, but you have put ink into their mouth.” He himself told me
[laughs].
_____________________________________________________________________
[?]
And ink, black as well as with burning pain.Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
__________________________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Bhadri Daran Prabhu __________ whether
one can have two rasas in the spiritual world.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is not seen generally. Transformation
is possible. In the first stage it may not be detected finally. You see, this
is a great problem to us, and also a great guidance to us. Anyhow, we have come
to a group which is explicitly the group of mādhurya rasa. The Guru
paramparā you say, the mantram you see, not of vātsalya
rasa, but to mādhurya rasa. All the mantram leading to mādhurya
rasa. Mādhurya rasa is all accommodating rasa, and that was
mainly given by Mahāprabhu and Śrī Rūpa, so
Rūpānuga sampradāya, and the mantram what we get, is
all rasa combined, that is and to help that rasa, the service of
that rasa, other paraphernalia has been created. Ādirasa and
mukha rasa, two paricaya, denominations of rasa, they are
identical. Ādirasa means most original rasa is mādhurya
rasa, and mukhya rasa, the principle rasa is mādhurya
rasa. And the [origin] of all rasa is found there. And our Guru paramparā
all in mādhurya rasa, and the mantrams that are given to
us are all mādhurya rasa, so that is the real rasa.
anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ
kalau
[samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ
sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ
śacī-nandanaḥ]
[“May that Lord,
who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacīdevī, be
transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent
with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in this age of Kali by His
causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation ever offered before: the most
sublime and radiant spiritual knowledge of the mellow taste of His service.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.4]
What was not given previously Mahāprabhu come to give it, that Rādhā
Govinda milita tanu, They Both come to
jointly give the type of Their divine love for the public. If you have such
qualification, you can come up to this, the highest quarter. That was the
necessity of the coming of Śrī Gaurāṅga here to distribute
that. Gaura Hari. All others are subservient, helping the service of that rasa
of Kṛṣṇa.So, in our childhood, when not sufficiently
developed, we may be here and there, but ultimately, we shall mostly we are to
go there.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: The different individuals will have their respective rasas,
but the original mood, the objective, is to enhance the mādhurya rasa,
support the mādhurya rasa. Say somebody is in sākhya rasa,
but he is in Mahāprabhu’s movement, he is trying all the time...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes, there is also an instance, not only that, but greater than that.
Mahāprabhu tried to convert Murārī Gupta, but He could not, then
He left. “Very strongly your innate function is towards Rāmacandra.” But
still, Murārī Gupta had some respect for this.
Then also,
Sanātana Goswāmī he tried his best to take the father of
Jīva Goswāmī, Anupama, he was a devotee of Rāmacandra, to
take him in to Kṛṣṇa līlā, but they also
failed. So there are: the trial that has got some value, even by
Mahāprabhu and Sanātana.
That is not a
chance coincidence or a flickering, false attempt. So it is possible, and at
the same time there is such strong nature that cannot be converted. That faith,
that thing, is in the jīva. The both
sides have been pleaded here.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Mahārāja, it has been clear now, in a way that
Prabhupāda was in sākhya rasa. So that means that...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: At least temporarily he has showed like
that. What he has expressed there in that journey, here it is almost clear that
he liked that sort of līlā best. But it may be that he might
have suppressedpurposely. It also cannot be denied, maybe. That is one thing.
________________________________________________________________ [?]
There may be such possibility. He has said that Rādhārāṇī
was his Gurudeva. His Gurudeva was Rādhārāṇī. But he
himself posing like that that mādhurya rasa should not be
distributed in the first instalment. That may
be in his view.
And another, that is one, another point I miss, there is another point I
am going to say. One thing, I miss that point what I wanted to say. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Sorry Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And because that pracāra was
helped mostly by Nityānanda, Baladeva; so influenced by Their tendency,
mood, he might have for the time being may have that posing. And another thing… _____________________________________________ [?]
Bharati Mahārāja: Mahārāja, you previously said
that Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ah! Another sign that he showed affinity
towards sākhya rasa is, in Vṛndāvana, he has installed
Baladeva, Kṛṣṇa Balarāma, and Nitāi Gaura: a type
of sākhya rasa preference. But that also may be with the previous
idea: that generally, by, “Influenced by Nityānanda, Nityānanda and
Baladeva has helped me to preach the līlā of Kṛṣṇa
in such a broad way,” so in gratitude he might have placed that Vigraha.
But our Guru Mahārāja did not place, then Pañca-tattva in
other places, otherwise the pure mādhurya rasa, Mahāprabhu,
Rādhā-Govinda. Everywhere he installed Mahāprabhu, both combined
and Rādhā-Govinda separately. Naumi kṛṣṇa
svarūpam.
rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir
hlādinī śaktir asmād
ekātmānāv api bhuvi purā deha-bhedaṁ
gatau tau
caitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā tad-dvayaṁ
caikyam āptaṁ
rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ naumi kṛṣṇa
svarūpam
[“I worship
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself,
enriched with the emotions and radiance of Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī. As the Predominating and Predominated
Moieties, Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are eternally one, with
separate individual identities. Now They have again united as Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Caitanya. This inconceivable transformation of the Lord's internal
pleasuregiving potency has arisen from the loving affairs of Rādhā
and Kṛṣṇa.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.5]
But Guru
Mahārāja, though preached exclusively this mādhurya rasa,
Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, but with great precaution.__________ What is not that thing he perhaps used ninety per cent of his
energy to preach that this is not mādhurya rasa, the negative side.
To clear away the negative side, he had to spare in his words, "gallons of
blood" to be spared to teach that this is not that rasa. Neti neti,
this is not that thing, this is not that thing. And whatever he did, that pūjāla
rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge. His whole life in a nutshell
is expressed in this, his own expression, “The pūjāla rāgapaṭha,
the my sampradāya, the very
nature of my sampradāya is this.”
pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge,
mattala hari-jana viṣaya
range
[“The path of divine love is worshippable to us and should be held
overhead as our highest aspiration.”]
Pūjāla
rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge. The
whole tenor of his preaching expedition, the pūjāla rāgapaṭha
gaurava bāṅge, the rāgapaṭha is above, on our
head. That is the goal. We are to go there. But before that you have got charm
for many things, the grandeur. You try to learn that what is at present charming
to you, utilise that for the service of that great
domain of love. The majesty, the awe, the wealth, the reverence, everything
what is grand to you, what attracts you most, all these, put into the service
of that Lord of love and beauty. The absolute is beauty and love, harmony,
autocrat, and everything should be sacrificed for Him. Learn this! Whatever you
come in connection with sacrifice into the fire to establish that the Lord of
love. For His little satisfaction, all this grandeur
may be put into the fire. Learn this. Don’t try to attempt to get that thing in
your hand, within your fist. This was the whole tenor of his preaching.
End of 81.08.14.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.14.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
...the bābājī ________, that is to be revered. Don’t go
to take up the kaupīna and imitate Rūpa and Sanātana.
Then I shall give a blow. Become a sannyāsī, varṇāśrama.
And they’re above your head. You try to think like that. Prepare yourself in
that way. Then one day you’ll easily reach the desired end. Don’t keep these
enemies behind, they will draw you back. Put all them for the service.” That
was his nature. Pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge.
And his desire, earnest desire was, “All the wealth in the world must be
taken into Māyāpur. The Māyāpur will be decorated with gold
and jewels of the world. Mahāprabhu, was so magnanimous He has done so
much for this world that all the highest things in the world must come in gratitude
and they will be left under His feet. Everything charming must be snatched and
must be put into the feet of Mahāprabhu. Such great giver, none in the
world, in the history of the world has given, has shown such magnanimity,mahā-vadānyāya avatāra. None thought so much for the jīva,
for the welfare of the jīva, and none has come with such news of
higher prospect of the jīva, has come to give the highest nectar to
the jīva. The greatest of all the givers and donors and of things
of highest quality: Mahāprabhu. The whole world, all the scholars, all
saints, they must come to worship the feet of Mahāprabhu. He has done so
much for this fallen world of māyā, of ignorance. All our
attention must come to the feet of Mahāprabhu.”That was his heart’s desire
and tendency.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Mahārāja, _____________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________ [?] Mādhurya rasa
main, the principal thing, and surrounding that other rasas they’re not,
cannot be excluded. They’re necessary to foster this mādhurya rasa.
Mādhurya rasa also wants that other rasas must be there.
Otherwise mādhurya rasa cannot stay alone. So gradually they will
be arranged in so many camps - it will be, but it will be mainly in the middle.
Just as Grand Trunk Road and so many roads, this way that way, subsidiary. The mādhurya
rasa is the main thing, mukhya rasa, ādī rasa, the samaha
of all rasa.
But in absolute consideration it has been
described, the vātsalya rasa is present there, sākhya rasa is
present there, and dāsya rasa is present there, and śanta
rasa also is present there, and not only present: of course, very – too
much audacity – in taṭasthā-vicāra, absolute
consideration we are to think, the mother serving the dish to the son, and the
wife serving the dish to the husband. What will please most? We are told that
the mādhurya rasa, the vātsalya in mādhurya
rasa, that will be more pleasing. So the śanta rasa niṣṭha,
the servant is doing, is giving a service to the master, and that same service
when given by the wife that will be more sweet. In this way,
all rasa not only in the physical, in the measurable sense, but in
qualitative difference, it is highest in taṭasthā-vicāra,
not neglecting, disrespecting other rasa.
But formally, Rādhārāṇī every day when She
gets up Her first duty is to go and to touch Her forehead on the feet of
Yaśodā. Her first duty when She awakes from, Her first duty, we find
from Gopāl-Tāpanī by Jīva Goswāmī, first
duty, anyhow She runs and anyhow She touches Her forehead to the feet of
Yaśodā. Then She begins other work.This formal respect is such.Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, also, Rūpa
Goswāmī in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu describes the priya-narma,
like Subala.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They’re in sākhya rasa,
there is a particular group. There is difference in every personal character.
Then Subala, and Madhumaṅgala, mostly Subala is the friend who has got
direct connection with mādhurya rasa. So much so that bhāva
– mahā bhāva is only reserved in mādhurya rasa, no
other rasa. But Subala sometimes attains that bhāva daśa,
bhāva – mahā bhāva. Mahā bhāva is only for
Rādhārāṇī. And bhāva in sākhya
rasa only reserved for Subala, because that friend has connection with mādhurya
rasa. He can attain up to bhāva stage it has been described
there in bhāva portion, in Caritāmṛta we find
that, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ______________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Na. And I’ve already said that mādhurya
rasa presupposes all other rasa. It is dependent, all correlated.
Everything is gold but still if we are to differentiate there is the possibility,
room of differentiation sufficiently.Still, the peculiar thing is this, that
Yaśodā won’t admit that mādhurya rasa is better than her.
She won’t admit. Yei rasa, sei sarvottama.
[kintu yāṅra yei rasa, sei sarvottama / taṭa-stha haṣā vicārile, āche
tara-tama]
[“It is true
that whatever relationship a particular devotee has with the Lord is the best
for him; still, when we study all the different methods from a neutral
position, we can understand that there are higher and lower degrees of love.”][Caitanya,caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 8.83]
She won’t admit. “What? I can chastise. I can rule them, whatever I
like. I am all in all. Who is she?”Yei rasa, sei. Subala won’t like...
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: But can sākhya rasa say that same thing?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Every rasa, every rasa,
he’s the supreme in his own position and dignity. “I don’t want that.” That is
the peculiar nature of Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Actually Mahārāja, in saṅkīrtana movement,
in Mahāprabhu’s pastimes all the associates of Mahāprabhu, those who
are in sākhya rasa, they’re with Nityānanda Prabhu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
They have more attraction, thatDvādaśaGopāl, they like more
Nityānanda Prabhu as their leader. “Mahāprabhu is too stern, too
strong. Nityānanda Prabhu is very magnanimous. We like Him very much. He’s
our leader. And the connection with Mahāprabhu, Śrī
Nityānanda Prabhu will see how to arrange, how to adjust with Him. We want
Nityānanda Prabhu.” That will be their temperament.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ____________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
heno nitāi vine bhāi rādhā kṛṣṇa
pāite nāi
[From Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura’s Manaḥ-śikṣā,
verse 1]
So the benevolence of Nityānanda Prabhu in the primary stage it is
highly necessary. The entrance, eliminating Nityānanda Prabhu, if anyone
wants to enter into mādhurya rasa that is mere dream, imagination, heno
nitāi vine bhāi rādhā kṛṣṇa pāite
nāi. Don’t run like a madman towards Rādhā Kṛṣṇa,kāṛṣṇa, ignoring Nityānanda Prabhu, then everything will be
bogus. Baladeva: the very basis.
nitāiyer koruṇā habe, braje rādhā-kṛṣṇa
pābe
[From Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura’s Manaḥ-śikṣā,
verse 3]
The primary sanction must come from Baladeva and Nityānanda. He
holds the key to enter into Braja. First have entrance and then go according to
your innate necessity. But mainly the key of the whole is in the hand of
Baladeva and Yogamāyā.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
They are all correlated. Who are we to discuss about Them? Only through
the śāstric representation we come to try to enter, to touch a
drop.Mahāprabhu Himself says, tomāya cākhāite tāra
kahi eka ‘bindu’. When He teaches
Rūpa Goswāmī Mahāprabhu Himself says, “Only one drop I am,
an ocean.”Pārāpāra-śūnya
gabhīra bhakti-rasa-sindhu. “Endless
ocean of bhakti rasa. Only a single drop of that I am trying to give it
to you.”
[pārāpāra-śūnya gabhīra
bhakti-rasa-sindhu / tomāya
cākhāite tāra kahi eka ‘bindu’]
[“The ocean of the
transcendental mellows of devotional service is so big that no one can estimate
its length and breadth. However, just to help you taste it, I am describing but
one drop.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 19.137]
Then in another place: “Eka-bindu
jagat ḍubāya.” [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,Antya-līlā, 15.19] “This one drop is sufficient to cover, to inundate the whole of
the world.”
Then that is infinite. Infinite taken from infinite, infinite remains:
or add infinite, that same infinite. Infinite is such. Just as zero, zero minus
zero is zero, zero plus zero is zero, zero into zero is zero. So infinite,
infinite into infinite is infinite, plus infinite is infinite, minus infinite
is infinite – all infinite.
So Kṛṣṇa says, “Whatever you can [conceive] that is in
My one part.”
And infinite Anantadeva is His bed, and He’s lying on infinite.So what
can we speak about? Who are we? Eka-bindu
jagat ḍubāya. Who are we? Na
prema-gandho.
[na prema-gandho 'sti darāpi me harau, krandāmi
saubhāgya-bharaṁ prakāśitum
vaṁśī-vilāsy-ānana-lokanaṁ
vinā, vibharmmi yat prāṇa-pataṅgakān vṛthā]
[Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu said: “My dear friends, I have not the slightest tinge
of love of Godhead within My heart. When you see Me crying in separation, I am
just falsely exhibiting a demonstration of My great fortune. Indeed, not seeing
the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa playing His flute, I continue to
live My life like an insect, without purpose.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 2.45]
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: The only thing we can feel Mahārāja is that we must
have done something very good in the past because we are receiving the mercy
from your lotus feet. We are hearing all these transcendental pastimes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It maybe it is like mockery. If the Lord
is wishing everything is mukam karoti vācālaṁ.
[mukam karoti vācālaṁ panghum langhāyate
girīm
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī gurun
dīna-tāranam]
[“I offer my respectful obeisances unto Mādhava, Who is the
Personification of transcendental bliss. By His mercy, a blind man can see the
stars in the sky, a lame man can cross mountains, and a dumb man can speak
eloquent words of poetry.”]
[Śrīdhara Svāmī’s Bhavārtha Dipikā, maṅgala
stotram, 1]
If He wants to speak through me He can do it. I can’t, I can’t.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _____________________________________ [?]
According to the
śrauta, the calf can draw milk from the ovum, so according to śrauta.
Mahāprabhu
says when Sanātana Goswāmī asked Him that, “I heard that You
gave eighteen different kinds of explanations of the ātmārāma
śloka of Bhāgavatam.
I had a mind to hear that from Your lips, divine lips.”
“Oh. You want
that? But what I told to Sārvabhauma, it was by the influence of
Sārvabhauma that those meanings, explanations, different, came. Generally
I have no different explanations in My mind, in a general time. But only with
the attraction of Sārvabhauma so many meanings came out. Let Me attend,
try, what meaning I may find within for you.”Then began and then sixty one or
two types of explanation came from ātmārāma śloka.
Then
Sanātana Goswāmī told, “What You have done this is impossible:
only possible for You. You are Veda mayi Mūrti. You are that person
whom the whole Veda wants to make known. So You can do anything and
everything.”
Mahāprabhu told in return, “Why Sanātana you are praising Me
so much unnecessarily? I am a man of tiny capacity. But don’t you think that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is Kṛṣṇa Himself? Every letter in Bhāgavatam is Kṛṣṇa.
Every letter can be explained in infinite ways because it is Kṛṣṇa.
So what of these sixty one or two types of vision about the particular śloka,
it is infinite. It is Kṛṣṇa Himself, the Bhāgavatam.”
Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.Such are the ways we have come to.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, isn’t this why Kṛṣṇa
consciousness is so nice even from the beginning, that even if you’re given a
drop of the infinite, that’s also infinite, isn’t it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Infinite you find, yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So even in the beginning.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Beginning, middle, end, all nectar, according to the stage of devotees.
And we are told
that one man could not sleep, but some gentleman requested him, “Go and seek to
hear Bhāgavatam, then you may get sleep.”He went to do that and he
actually – sleep came. Because he could not enter into it, it was not – it was
like a burden to him, he cannot come, but drowsiness that came to relieve him.
And Swāmī Mahārāja also told, “In America, one
gentleman he tried his best, he used all sorts of medicines and other practices, but could not sleep. Then one gentleman told him to
go to the Hare Kṛṣṇa Movement, you may get sleep. That man
came and he got sleep.” Then he helped in many ways, your institution, I heard
from him.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: In Punjab, Mahārāja, once I
heard one man speaking, he was giving pravacaṇ but at the same
time he was giving many stories also. So he was telling that when Vibhiṣana,
when Kumbhakarṇa died, then Nidra Devī went to Lord Rāmacandra
and told that, “Vibhiṣana was – Kumbhakarṇa was my only...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. “Where is my shelter?”
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: “And where’s my shelter now that You’ve killed him?”
So Rāmacandra blessed her by saying that, “Wherever the Bhāgavata-pāṭis
going on you can...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha.__________ So Bhāgavata
is so precious and so not available easily – Bhāgavatam.
Because Kṛṣṇa is all in all, we are nowhere, no position. The
Bhāgavatam means that. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān
svayam.
[ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ,
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ, mṛḍayanti
yuge yuge]
[“All the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or
portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa
is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever
there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect
the theists.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.3.28]
Everything belongs to Him, He’s the autocrat. It is very hard to digest
this principle. Everything belongs to Him. Even Rabindranatha,par vaikunthe tade
[?]
“Then nothing left for us to enjoy?”
That in some poem of Rabindranatha perhaps it is, par vaikunthe tade
[?]
“Nothing left for the jīva, for us?”He could not tolerate.
Everything for him.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: _______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________________________________ [?]
I pointed out to one gentleman that: ________________________________ [?]
He admits caran, he admits dhula, but he does not admit
other limbs and other colour, or life, or anything, then he’ll become converted
into Vaiṣṇavism. So he only admits caran and dhula.
This is _________________ not only half, admitting a part, and not the whole.
He has not the courage to accept the whole, but only caran and dhuli.
And other things, the heart, the hand, the head, where do they go – of the
Lord?Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee: _________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nitāi Caitanya.Anuraga anu raya
ca [?]
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi
Caitanya. Dayal. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja ______________________________ [?]
Devotee: Jai Oṁ Viṣṇupada...
End of 81.08.14.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.17.A_81.08.18.A
Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva
Goswāmī Mahārāja
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: ...Mahārāja went to Bombay.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When, yesterday?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Around, two days ago.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Two days ago. And he’s to come back?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He should be back on Saturday.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Saturday, all right. And Sarvabhavana Prabhu is here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No. He’s in Calcutta. He said that he
wanted to come to see Your Divine Grace on Wednesday.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Wednesday. Wednesday evening or?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Sometime Wednesday.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Wednesday. Wednesday means day after
tomorrow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You are doing well?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Me?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Your health is quite fit now?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: My physical health, but my mental health
is quite disturbed.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Disturbed?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Meeting, after meeting whom?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, I called America, and there I
found out that RāmeśvaraSwāmī was saying some things which
have caused me a lot of grief.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, has caused me some grief. He does
not want you in his zone?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: That’s part of it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And then, more? He,
RāmeśvaraSwāmī is passing his unfavourable remark against
Jayatīrtha Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I think that’s in the past. Now he’s
passing unfavourable remarks about me.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s against you?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To what effect? If he does not like you,
then what can he do? What harm he can do to you?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, really, no harm. If I’m sincere
about cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness then no harm can be
done.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. You won’t care for any harm of the
mundane world. But the present social status, any harm he can do – in ISKCON?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, yes, he can do a lot.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He can ask the committee to expel you
from ISKCON? Can he?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. He could do that, but...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The committee can do that. He can’t do
it alone.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, but there’s other things that he
can do.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He may recommend to the committee that,
“He has done such and such mischief so he should be expelled from the ISKCON.”
At most he may try to do like that. Then what will happen, God knows, Kṛṣṇa
knows.Any fresh news from Haṁsadūta Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. Jayatīrtha Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No news from him either.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No news. Then Tamal Kṛṣṇa?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He’s in Los Angeles right now with
RāmeśvaraSwāmī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And he’s supporting
RāmeśvaraSwāmī?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I haven’t heard anything first hand.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then, let us see what happens. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Hari.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But, I’ve been accused of trying to
destroy my Guru Mahārāja’s movement.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: According to you, how in way they are
moving that is not exactly in the line of Guru Mahārāja, you think
like that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In a very gorgeous way, they’re moving,
living and moving in a very gorgeous way.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not just gorgeous.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: See, our Guru Mahārāja was
very accommodating. The same people that he was able to accommodate, it appears
that they’re not able to accommodate. And sometimes I don’t even expect them to
be able to accommodate everyone: because our Guru Mahārāja was a
special person.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ultimately the will of the Lord will act.
So we need not be afraid of any situation whatsoever.
Devotee: _______________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
There will be always clash between the relative and the absolute consideration,
cannot but be.This is one stage, sva dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ,
para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ.
[śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ,
para-dharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt]
sva dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ, para-dharmo
bhayāvahaḥ
["It is better to carry out one's own duties a little imperfectly
rather than faultlessly perform another's duties. Know that even death is
auspicious in the discharge of one's duties appropriate to his natural position
in the ordained socio-religious system, because to pursue another's path is
perilous."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 3.35]
And this is relative consideration. And the absolute
consideration:
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
[ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
["Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively
unto Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair."]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 18.66]
Wherever I shall
get intense Kṛṣṇa consciousness I must keep company there.
And because I may not go down so I shall try to maintain my position with the
present association of good thinking.Gaurasundar. Gaurasundar.
You are to take
something now? Any sugar water or anything else?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No. Your words are very soothing to me.
After my journey your words are the most soothing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where is Bhāvānanda
Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He’s in Vṛndāvana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, he’s in Vṛndāvana, and
will be there up to Swāmī Mahārāja’s Janmotsav.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, and then he’s coming here for that,
to Māyāpur.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And you won’t go to join Janmotsav in Vṛndāvana?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I don’t know. I was thinking maybe to
go.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. And you are in India, then of
course it will be good if you can join Janmotsav ceremony.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In Vṛndāvana or
Māyāpur?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Janmotsav generally takes place in
Māyāpur, is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, we have...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Virahotsav there, in Vṛndāvana.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Oh, I see.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Janmotsav perhaps will take place with
grandeur in Māyāpur, nearer to Calcutta, his birthplace.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, I see.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And the place of his departure is Vṛndāvana,
so in Vṛndāvana Maṭha
his Virahotsav will be observed with grandeur.Gaura Hari.
So Bhāvānanda Mahārāja will come soon before
Janmotsav?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He will come. On Janmāṣṭamī
he will be in Vṛndāvana. The next morning he will fly from Delhi to
Calcutta to here, to Māyāpur.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: On that very day, Janmotsav, here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Jayapataka Mahārāja, he’ll
stay here?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He’s in Gohati, and he’s coming to
Calcutta tomorrow, and he’ll be in Māyāpur also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, before, you
suggested that I perhaps should work with Haṁsadūta
Mahārāja, as GBC. But if I – Bhāvānanda Mahārāja
is the chairman – I have some feelings that if I tell him that I will work with
Haṁsadūta Mahārāja that he’ll be very disturbed by that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then what is his opinion?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He thinks that I should travel with him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: With Bhāvānanda
Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. And maybe like go all over the
world, Australia, this place that place.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Now, what he’s doing, your secretary,
Svarūpa Dāmodara Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He may be in Bombay.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Now?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. I’m guessing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Cāru Swāmī
Mahārāja he’s also going to – went to Bombay.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, for some meeting there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Adidaran
Prabhu is at Calcutta now?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Oh yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Soshimenon [?] do you know him? No?
One Soshimenon, one officer in the Switch [?] Electric Board, you don’t know
him.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, I do not know him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Subarga Prabhu is at Calcutta?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And another Indonesian gentleman some
Brajendra Kumar.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He’s in Calcutta.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, pretty much wherever
I would be sent, wherever the GBC might want me to go, because my opinions are
controversial they will take it as some disturbance of the devotees there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Consult with Cāru Swāmī
Mahārāja. What is his opinion? What does Cāru Swāmī
Mahārāja say?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, we have our feelings privately
that we don’t think things can go on the way they are very much longer. We are
known to be persons who have connected themselves with your Divine Grace and we’re
not willing to abandon that connection. We do not want to abandon that
connection. We will not abandon your association regardless of what the GBC say.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who, yourselves?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Myself and Bhakti Cāru
Swāmī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Sarvabavana?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And Sarvabavana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then what about Venkata Raman? He’s also
of that type.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. And I guess Haṁsadūta
Mahārāja also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Haṁsadūta Mahārāja,
and perhaps Jayatīrtha Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: See Mahārāja, Jayatīrtha
Mahārāja, they could deal with him in such a way by social pressure
to make him abandon. I don’t think he will but they try like that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, they may try.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: See, I have a letter from our Guru
Mahārāja saying that you are his śikṣāGuru, that he accepts you as such.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Several times he expressed like
that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, so many times.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So many times, and exactly he did behave
with me like that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right. I’ve listened...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He was my junior, he was junior to me.
And generally I was the cause to take him to the Maṭha from Allahabad and many – much of his time he spent with me at
Calcutta when I had a centre there, just by the side his, just, his laboratory
was ground floor and first floor, four rooms we hired; and there with the very
close connection.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So the point is Mahārāja that
since I have his instructions and letters and tape recordings, and even I
prayed to him very earnestly and sincerely to know and he appeared to me in a
dream, as I wrote you in the letter. So how can I think any other way? I can’t
change that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And whatever it means to continue your
association I’m prepared for that, whether it means with the Society or without
the Society.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________________ [?]You
go and take rest.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I can’t eat and I can’t rest. I cannot eat
and I cannot rest. My mind is reeling.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Why? So pray to the Lord. Pray to the
Lord, “Give peace to my mind.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, today on the way to
see your Divine Grace,
on the inspiration of what you said the other day I was reading the first
chapter of Bhagavad-gītā and the second chapter of Bhagavad-gītā.
And never before did these chapters, especially first chapter, mean so much to
me. But when I was reading it today I was deriving a great inspiration from
that, because I feel like that. Just like there’s this verse:
gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān,
[śreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣyam apīha loke
hatvārtha-kāmāṁs tu gurūn ihaiva,
bhuñjīya bhogān rudhira-pradigdhān]
[It is better to live in this world by begging, without taking the lives
of our great, noble elders and teachers. Otherwise, by killing them we shall
only live in this world to enjoy their wealth and properties tainted with their
blood.] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.5]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So I’m thinking my Godbrothers they’re
superior to me, they’re Gurus, so I don’t want to fight with them. But it
almost seems inevitable.For me to act in any other way is sheer hypocrisy.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right,
take rest now.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And take something. Then again we shall
meet tomorrow. I shall go to take
rest.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: All right.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________________________________ [?]
Requires high pronunciation, high
voice.Nitāi, Nitāi, Nitāi.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I was thinking Mahārāja that
even here in Navadwīpa Dhāma these sounds of māyā.
So we are living, Akṣayānanda Mahārāja, Venkatta, we’re staying downstairs on our level and having to hear
this māyāic sound. And then I was thinking that you’re in
elevated position of Kṛṣṇa consciousness but you have to hear
these sounds also.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
Amnaya vitilay karvyang yasya sarvatra
sarvada [?]
Padyamna brahma puliya caitanya dhuli [?]
Taru dhani caitanya dhuli pusti kari [?]
Amnaya itarata [?]
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Bhajana-lālasā
he says, even today if we find any person, any brāhmaṇa of
demonic temperament, we are to take it as sustainer of the līlā of
Mahāprabhu. Not direct but indirect way, direct and indirect, everything
contributing to the cause of the Absolute by direct or indirect.
Just as opposition party in the parliament. Opposition party leader, he
also gets some pay from the government. Has got recognition, the opposition has
also got recognition.
This is the way
of His līlā, but it is līlā when autocracy is
maintained in the centre. By His līlā it has been so arranged.
We are to harmonise in that way. The autocracy is there, but His līlā
is there and the nature of His līlā at present is of this
form, we are to take it.So opposition is not against autocracy because that is
His decision – līlā. Līlā means above all reasoning
– spiritual…
_______________________________________________ [?]
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.Līlā
– only subjecting and objecting: so līlā.
Darwin’s theory
also chance coincidently evolving in a way. How, none knows. Stone producing,
fossil producing everything in a wonderful way; how it will move it is not
known to anybody, evolution.
But ours is
subjective evolution, not objective. Evolution from the side of the subject,
from the conscious world, and above that, that is beauty, harmony, love. That
is evolving Itself or Himself in this way, or Herself in this particular way. Not
from finite to infinite but from infinite to finite. The movement of the waves
are not from finite towards infinite, but from infinite, infinite is the data,
and from infinite waves are coming towards the finite world. They say finite
will produce infinite. But we say infinite has produced finite: necessary for
its activity, relationship.Āmnāya, that is the positive and
negative, both here and there. Svarūpa-śakti, śakti is
negative, śaktimān positive, asserting. Predominating Moiety
and Predominated Moiety. Predominating half and Predominated half, in the words
of our Guru Mahārāja. The combination – Nimāi ____________________ [?]
Mahāprabhu is the combination of
Predominating and Predominated Moiety.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, once you were explaining how Kṛṣṇa’s
pastimes in the material world defeat the pastimes in the spiritual world.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Ha, ha. Yes. Gokula is the source of Goloka. Gokula is in prapañca but
that is original, and Goloka is its production, a peculiar thing. And my
assimilation was there in this way, that aprākṛta, prākṛta-vat,
very lively to mundane, that is Kṛṣṇa līlā.
And in this mundane area it can be played best, Gokula. Goloka is Gokula’s vaibhava.
It has been written, I am told but I’ve not seen in writing anywhere but I’m
told from long time that it has been mentioned by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
and perhaps Brahma-saṁhitā or something that Goloka is
Gokula’s vaibhava, the extension of Gokula, Goloka. Goloka
is, which we think to be in the original position, and Gokula its extension in
this prapañca. But it is a very peculiar thing. Nitya līlā is
there and here is also nitya līlā.Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa
nitya līlā koiliya prakāśa.
But suppressed, anyhow it is extension in prapañca here. That prapañca,
the extension is better than the original. It comes like that. How it is
possible? But that is its extension it has been told. So it can be thought out
in this way.
The original
conception of the drama is in town, but when that drama wants to show the
village play, when that is taken to the village it becomes very beautiful, very
nice, perfect, village paraphernalia. So the mundane is not very skilfully
shown there with the elements of infinite. In the finite world, the play of the
finite things have been shown to its perfection: something like that. Otherwise
how to harmonise Gokula? Goloka, it is so beautiful.
In [Edmund] Burke, we studied, we read, perhaps, it was mentioned
perhaps in Burke’s Speech of Conciliation. For example it was mentioned
there – generally the custom is that the lord is upadi – what is upadi?
Title, the title lord that is conferred on a person and his successor they
become lord. The Burke quoted one instance, the grandson was so qualified that
he was conferred the title of lord. And so his father and grandfather they
automatically became lord. Just like that.Ha, ha, ha.
The production
is so important here that this is thought to be the – excelling the original
play in the Goloka, Gokula, due to its real mundane position. It may be like
that, Gokula. Gokula is the origin of Goloka. Gokula, that means Vṛndāvana
here, that is the origin and the Goloka is its extension. Is it inconsistent?
Inconsistent. But by the will of Kṛṣṇa everything is
possible. That of wonderful strides: His every activity is wonderful: nothing
to say. By His special will it may be. Gokula, Goloka.I’m not finding it in
writing in any place, but I heard, first from Vasudeva Prabhu and then from one
or two gentlemen, that this has been mentioned, Goloka, Gokula. Perhaps the origin
is Brahma-saṁhitā. Have you got it anywhere?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I’ve read in Brahma-saṁhitā
and there Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta says that generally it is
thought that Gokula is the original, I mean Goloka is the original and Gokula
is the extension.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Then he says but there are some who say
that Gokula is the original and Goloka is the extension. He makes a reference
like that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. You have got it?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: How to harmonise?Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa
nitya līlā koiliya prakāśa. And Gokula, not only in this brahmāṇḍa but
there are many brahmāṇḍas where there is Gokula, and
all may be the photo of the original. But here we are told that Gokula is the original
and its reflection goes to the scrutiny, to the...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Satellite.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Satellite, manmade satellites, reflection going to that and from there it goes
to any place.Hare Kṛṣṇa.Origin, origin, that may be, that may be, by another example.
Just as Yaśodā says, “He’s not God.
He’s my son. He’s my son. I don’t like that anyone will say that ‘He’s not my
son, He’s God Himself. I don’t want to hear that.’”
Something like that. The thought may come from
that. Sweet, sweet home: there’s no place like home. So as we are in this
Gokula we are or Vṛndāvana, this jñāna sunya bhakti, the
blind faith, blind form of devotion, according to their – “No, this must be the
original. We don’t care to know about Gokula, where it is.” This may be the
outcome of jñāna sunya bhakti, jñāna sunyabhakti. “We do not
know where is what, what is where, but this must be the highest place.” That is
the firm faith in a stage of jñāna sunya bhakti. “We do not care to
know about taṭa-stha, right, the relative is so.”
[kintu yāṅra]
yei rasa, sei sarvottama / taṭa-stha
hañā vicārile, āche tara-tama
[“It is true
that whatever relationship a particular devotee has with the Lord is the best for
him; still, when we study all the different methods from a neutral position, we
can understand that there are higher and lower degrees of love.”][Caitanya,caritāmṛta,
Madhya- līlā, 8.83]
Sarvottama, the vātsalya rasa, “No, no, mādhurya rasa,
I don’t care for it. How can it be better than myself? I don’t admit it.” In
this relative position also it can be asserted like that with firmness. “This
must be the highest position where we are. We do not care to go, enter into
calculation and controversy. We assert that this is the original, and if there
be anything that must have to be extension.” It may be assertion from that jñāna
sunya bhakti, that blind love, may come even from that, and that must have
some value.
Bharati Mahārāja:
So there’s a spiritual relativity?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Spiritual?
Bharati Mahārāja:
Relativity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Relativity, yes, relativity.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Spiritual relativity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
But that is un-flickering firmness to take ones position in his particular
duty. “It’s my duty.”
Like Casabianca
[1826. Felicia Hemans. The boy stood on
the burning deck.]
That blind discharging necessary temperament of duty. He says,
“Everything, I don’t know any general or so, but my patriotic feeling inspires
me to think that it is my duty to oppose the enemy.” Something like that.
“Though I’m a soldier but if a general calls me back I won’t budge an inch. I
must fight to my death. I’m a soldier. If a general says to come back I won’t
observe.” With such firmness just as one soldier may do his quota of his duty
towards the mother land. It may be something like that.
“My firm faith where we are, where is my child Kṛṣṇa,
I find that must be the highest place. I won’t, in the whole of the universe I
don’t admit that there should be any higher place than this. If there be they
must be servant of this place, subordinate to this place.”This sort of
assertion in blind love, prema, may be. So that value it may fetch – the
expression.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, in Gokula, we see in the pastimes like Kaṁsa and
Pūtanā, but in Goloka Vṛndāvana we sometimes read that
they’re in the same form as there but in citra and vicitra.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bharati Mahārāja:
So that means they’re inanimate, they’re not moving?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There they get the second hand
existence. The positive side is holding principal position and opposition very
inactive there, we are told, yes.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Like statues?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is there, what is, in some passive
form. We are told the opposition is not very powerful there in the original
place. And here it is shown more active and powerful, play.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, what is the difference between parikar and pāriṣada ?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Parikar and?
Bharati Mahārāja:
Pāriṣada.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Parikar may be of a greater
circumference, it may be, parikar.Pāriṣada who
are closely connected parikar. Parikar, pāriṣada.
Generally the force of the word as we find in use in this way: pāriṣada closer
and parikar more extensive.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Persisting?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: More extensive, not even – parikar.
Bharati Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, the other morning you were discussing about Nidra Devī
but you didn’t finish. We stopped because of time shortage.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Why? What?
Bharati Mahārāja:
What her actual function is in the spiritual world.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nidra Devī. There is a conception
of rest, a type of rest. Nidra Devī.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Is she a śakhi or gopī?
Did she take the form of a sakhī or gopī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nidra Devī, she may be in the group
of Yogamāyā. She is to help, Nidra
Devī is to help the līlā. And that is in charge there to
manage suitably. To control the paraphernalia is the duty of Yogamāyā, and Bāladeva. Bāladeva and Yogamāyā, Devī then must be under Yogamāyā. And Yogamāyā
has got different functions to create favourable circumstances for the līlā
of RādhāGovinda and others, so one of her functions will be this nidra,
the rest, a form of rest, a very intense form of rest, Nidra Devī. That is
just like separation, separation when awake, and another form of separation
like nidra, rest. And that may be like a reflecting glass, sometimes
while sleeping there is also dream, and in dream also union and separation,
just as a reflection, like that, a reflection of rest.
End of 81.08.17.A_81.08.18.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.18.B
Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva
Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There is dream also in sleep and there
also a sort of līlā, play, pastimes, in nidra. That may
be compared with reflection in other restful condition.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. GauraHaribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, we see that different Ācāryas in their tikas they give different conceptions of śuddha-sattva.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is that?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Some, maybe that was, I’m not sure, maybe Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, that śuddha-sattva
takes on the form of sandhinī-śakti, transformation of śuddha-sattva
is sandhīnī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sandhinī, and then?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. And sandhinī has two functions.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: One is existenal potency and the other is the vaicitra,
or the variegatedness. But then we see again that Śrīdhara
Swāmī he says that śuddha-sattva is Vāsudeva
realisation. How do we judge?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So generally whatever
realisation that Śrīdhara Swāmī has said, that is the
general conception. And more particular we shall find in Baladeva [Vidyābhūṣaṇa]. Śrīdhara
Swāmī is a follower of śuddha-advaiti. Rāmānuja
viśiṣṭādvaiti. Madhvācārya śuddha-dvaiti,
and Nimbarka dvaitādvaita, and Mahāprabhu acintya-bhedābheda.
But śuddha-sattva is the general conception, he simply says
Vāsudeva. Vāsudeva conception is just after Brahman conception, Paramātmā conception, Vāsudeva,
then, more developed then Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. In
Vāsudeva conception there is no śakti, no potency clear. But
greater attention will disclose that there is potency, Lakṣmī
Devī before Nārāyaṇa. The śuddha-sattva
generally begins after Brahmaloka. Uncontaminated, the consciousness
uncontaminated with material conception, that is śuddha-sattva.
From there begins really the nirguṇa, that is the conception nirguṇa, śuddha-sattva
and nirguṇa, synonymous. Positive thing and consciousness, not
misconceived world finishes there. Then we enter śuddha-sattva, we
get the glimpse of the reality. Then that is pure consciousness, pure
understanding. But the beginning is Vāsudeva, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa,
in this way. And that is all extension of Baladeva.
Baladeva is the aṁśi and they're
all vilāsa, śuddha-sattva.And now, what was the point?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I was wondering how this can be adjusted, how you adjust these
two different opinions?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not two different, one Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa says that?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: He says the śuddha-sattva transforms into sandhinī
potency.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And master is Baladeva.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Baladeva’s
potency is śuddha-sattva, and he says that is Vāsudeva. And
Vāsudeva is the extension of Baladeva.
Though Vāsudeva is Kṛṣṇa when only consciousness is
concerned, because Kṛṣṇa cannot be eliminated from anywhere,
from anything else, in the beginning, when we come to that land, that plane, it
is Vāsudeva. Vāsudeva, but when Vāsudeva, a part of
Vāsudeva, a particular function of Vāsudeva is to be traced, then it
is seen as Baladeva, it is not direct from Vāsudeva
proper, but it is His second Baladeva, it is His
extension. We separate Vāsudeva from Baladeva,
when? Then Vāsudeva is icha śakti pradhan, and Baladeva is the
serving, fulfilling the icha śakti,
the will of Kṛṣṇa. That is taken as Baladeva. Am I clear?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then the Vāsudeva what we see in
the beginning after crossing Brahmaloka, the Vāsudeva conception, that is
really extension of Baladeva. And Baladeva should be differentiated from Kṛṣṇa in the
upper stage, that:icha
śakti pradhan.The master of
willing is Kṛṣṇa, He, and Baladeva
is the first supplier of His will. He’s only facsimile, a next conception.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Śrīdhara Swāmī also says that śuddha-sattva,
which is Vāsudeva realisation, instead of saying sandhinī he
uses the word cit-śakti, which is the same as sandhinī but
he uses cit-śakti as the synonym.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Only roughly when we,
bahūnāṁ janmanām ante, jñānavān
māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ
[“After many, many births and deaths, one who is actually in knowledge
surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is.
Such a great soul is very rare.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 7.19]
The first hazy, personal conception, first we have some impersonal
conception of the whole conscious element. Then, when more attentive we are to
find that it is personal. The first conception of personality in the ocean of
consciousness, that is Vāsudeva conception. Then when more and more we are
attentive to look at that thing, then so many differentiation comes in our
vision, ideal.
So many, the Naraki, Nārāyaṇa, then His Saṅkarṣaṇa,
Pradyumna and Aniruddha, according to the difference of the functions so many
representations of, or delegations, or agents are found, gradual development.
But from the chaos we are moving towards the cosmos, in this way, the gradual
development. So Baladeva in the
higher position in intense cosmos, and hazy, the first beginning we see
Vāsudeva, as a whole, endowed with personality, not an inert conscious
substance like Brahman. That is
Vāsudeva. And Vāsudeva is to be seen in differentiated character,
then also we shall see many things there. First Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa
and His paraphernalia - Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna,
Aniruddha. Vāsudeva in a particular form is there. Then Saṅkarṣaṇa,
Pradyumna, Aniruddha. And then again chavish Mūrtiin
Vaikuṇṭha, that is found in Paravyoma, and then crossing that we
are to enter into Ayodyā, Dvārakā conception, Mathurā, and
then Vṛndāvana. Deeper and deeper conception will divulge all this realisation.
Gaura Hari bol! Gaura Hari bol! Gaura Hari bol! Acintya
bhedābheda.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, what is the svarūpa-śakti,
is that the hlādinī śakti, is that coming from the hlādinī
śakti or when does the svarūpa-śakti...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Svarūpa-śakti, the sat-cit-ānanda,
sattva-sandhinī, ciram-sat-pradhana, Vāsudeva, but everyone is conscious there, common, and the hlādinī
Rādhārāṇī. Sat-cit-ānanda, ānanda
is the central integer. Most original and complete thing is ānandam.
So hlādinī should be the main thing in the svarūpa-śakti,
ānandam.But each one of them is more or less present in another, but
principal, ānandam is principalbut that presupposes also consciousness as well as existence,
and generally existence then consciousness and then ānandam, rasa
mula, that fulfilment of bliss.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: And svarūpa-śakti refers to bhakti-śakti
or what?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Svarūpa-śakti extended
up to Vaikuṇṭha and just above even Śivaloka, bhakta Śivaloka,
Sadāśiva, he's also included in the boundary of svarūpa-śakti.
Just after Brahmaloka the activity of svarūpa-śakti begins and
it ends to Vṛndāvana, Rādhā-kuṇḍa, more
intense, fine; valuable, in this way the gradual development. That is the
original and it is the vaibhava, extension coming, rather becoming of
lower intensity, lower valuation. In this way it ends in Brahmaloka.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In Jaiva Dharma Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
says that the jīva-śakti is part of the svarūpa-śakti.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jīva-śakti is part of
the svarūpa-śakti. Jīva-śakti is the
marginal. Part of the svarūpa-śakti may be… māyā-śakti
is almost non-existing thing, but svarūpa-śakti is what is
really existent, and māyā only a negative misconception of svarūpa-śakti.
So to be a substantial position that must be connected with svarūpa-śakti,
a part of svarūpa-śakti, infinitesimal. Just as sun and its
ray. So svarūpa-śakti is the sun. Jīva Goswāmī
has said in Tattva-sandarbha, by the example of sun,
suja tat mandala tat vaikatta jiva pariksa rupena catuhvyuha
advaiya jnana avidyate [?]
Advaiya jñāna, one undivided whole, may be first seen
in classification as suja tat mandala [?],
and then kirana[?], and tat
pariksite maya [?], this world,
and kiran[?] is jīva.
That is some original, smallest facsimile of the original thing, but it has got
its real position. So we may consider the svarūpa-śakti which
is really existing. Svarūpa-śakti is really the suja tat
mandala [?] Then the ray emanating from svarūpa-śakti,
that is jīva, and that may be considered as a part of that suja
mandala. Just as the dust of the earth, the dust is not the earth, and
still, the dust is the smallest part of the earth, in this way. The dust is
nothing but the earth.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja,
each energy has a different function, so sat…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But we must remember acintya
bhedābheda, different but not completely separated, some sort of
dependence on the higher. A part of the higher and also harmonising the other
lower, a relative position, everywhere there is relative position, producing something and product of something, so both sides of
the relationship. And that is governed by law and which comes from the sweet
will of the Autocrat, in this way, acintya bhedābheda.
Nothing we can fix in its own position,
that Einstein's theory, always changing. It may change by the influence by the
will of the Autocrat, so acintya bhedābheda. We can't see a thing
that this is such. Something in dilution in its future must be added to that.
Just as Einstein says at present, take the photo of a thing, and one year after
take the photo, it will be different, not exactly the same thing. So this sort
of merging must be kept in our mind, they are ever changing.
So there also, vilāsa
is there, and the Supreme Will is there, His control is always there. So we
cannot fix anything. We must work under a living master so it may change any
moment. With this idea in our hand then we shall go to describe the
characteristic of anything else. Not fixed thing like māyā.
Māyā is also flickering. So we are to deal with a higher thing as
He will give us, send us the conception, the revelation. It may change. It is
not a limited object that we must keep under our subjective control. We must not
go to think it like that. Still, a sort of idea about the paraphernalia what we
want to go in, some idea we may have. But at the same time we'll think that He
can change His position if He likes like a magician. He's showing something to
one and something to others, simultaneously. That sort of freedom is with Him,
with svarūpa-śakti. The svarūpa-śakti, that
world has reserved the right of showing herself differently to different
enquirers. This must be taken in hand before we venture to approach to know
about her. Her freedom more than us, we cannot be investigator, she may not
allow us to be investigator of His harem, or His internal affairs. With this
caution we must try to move there. A delicate thing, it is her sweet will. She
may help me to know or may not, may close the door, not to be known.So our
intellectual investigation, and to give a particular form, and to broadcast
that to the public; all may be falsified.
“I am not such. You have described Me as
such and such but I'm not such thing, a new thing.”
Reserved; the right, that freedom. So intellectual investigation about
all these things, the audacious investigation, attempt that we are to get about
the thing, that is not very happy. By Their grace, if we have that primary
conception that her position is such and such, very modestly and keeping her
prestige, we shall go to enter into her rule,
into her formation and anything and everything. Otherwise it will be something,
a facsimile, you will be deceived, you’ll be shown a false second. That
characteristic must always be maintained in our lives, that “She’s free, she’s
subtle.”
bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat, piśācī
hṛdi varttate
tāvad bhakti-sukhasyātra, katham abhyudayo bhavet
[“How can the joy of holy devotion appear in the heart as long as it is
haunted by the ghosts of desire for exploitation and renunciation?”] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
Pūrvva, 2.22]
Where there is the aspiration of salvation or exploitation, she feels
shy to come to that place to be discussed. So very touching, and thereby we
should know, touching, her prestige, her sentiment, also to be considered.
Once, Prabhupāda in his office room, he was enquired about the
beauty of Rādhārāṇī. Any, from particular quarter,
"The Lakṣmī Devī is very beautiful and
Rādhārāṇī is less than that." In somehow or
other such question came to him. And he could not tolerate that. He wanted to
describe the beauty of Rādhārāṇī. But as he was in
the position of an Ācārya he can’t say to the public the physical
beauty of Rādhārāṇī, he can’t say, so there was a
clash between the two. He will try to establish the superiority of the beauty
of Rādhārāṇī in one current, and another attitude,
that it won’t be expressed to the public, he can’t do that. Two forces clashed,
and he lost his consciousness and fell from the chair.
So to deal with those things which are very subtle and very honourable
sentiments, that is not an atom in a dead body we analyse with so much study.
It should not be treated like that.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.With
due respect, honour, love, service, we should approach to know about the very
secret, very mystic, higher sentiments. With due respect and serving attitude
we should try to approach. Automatically or spontaneously it may come with
revelation in my heart in any time it may come. If we do our duty and wait for
the time when it will come out of its own accord we are to know, “I am such and
such. Do this do that.” Think like that nature. Not in the laboratory we should
take all these things and show to the public the benefit of that, not like
that.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Nitāi Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: One practical question, nothing theoretical. I think that I know that I will remain here with you in your
temple but I feel that there will be some pressure coming from our Maṭha, about me staying here. But still I am determined to remain. So
what is the attitude that should be taken?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then I think it is better to consult
among yourselves. There is Charu Swāmī and others here and they have
got knowledge of the ISKCON and also something about me. So you consult among
yourselves what will be the better.
I am a poor man with my own position. Then that big affair of propaganda
what contribution may come from me? I am with my
own, however small, independent Maṭha,
with my own thoughts and ideas and aspirations, I am here.
But my good will was that who came to join Swāmī
Mahārāja, if some of
them are discouraged by the present behaviour of the ISKCON, they should be
helped as far as possible to be reinstated in their spiritual consciousness
under the flag of Mahāprabhu, Kṛṣṇa. A good will, there
is a good will from me and to translate that into action I have got no such
power, I’m an old man. And what program you should take you should consult
among you. I of course told previously that if the present administration be
very orthodox, very determined in their, very self-sufficient you think, so you
meet the other stalwarts that are outside the committee and find a way.
“What should we do? We are others, we are also interested in
Swāmī Mahārāja, but we can’t keep our interest in this
present administration. Then what should be our duty? We should combine and try
to live outside ISKCON under the banner of Swāmī Mahārāja.
We want to live outside the present administration which we cannot accommodate.”
That path may be taken. This I may recognise. Meet one another,
especially the leading and qualified persons, and then you consult with them
and come to some conclusion.
“Because the administration does not care for us, so should we go
astray, or we must live under the banner of Swāmī Mahārāja,
according to our capacity and thinking?”
I thought you must not go astray. You that have got love for
Swāmī Mahārāja and Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṇa
but you can't place some active confidence in the present administration, you
meet and you combine yourself and go on with some activity. Of course you won't
try to come in collision with them as much as you can but that is inevitable.
Sometimes after you are compelled to do that also, that is the nature. But in the
beginning you try to work as peacefully as possible without giving the least
hindrance to them.
In this way you meet one another and think that, “We also want to live
and improve our life according to the light which has, which we have received
from Swāmī Mahārāja about Mahāprabhu, Kṛṣṇa,
etc. We cannot commit suicide. We must be true to our own conscience and own
faith that has attracted us to such a great thing, which he realised. And we
should have to discharge our duties to my friends who are more or less
suffering with the same disease with us.”
That may be, but you are to consult. I am an old man and I am not
ambitious enough, but what little I have got I am at your disposal. This is my
way of thinking.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, Mahārāja, I was thinking,
when I return to America to meet with these devotees who are outside. But one
problem I anticipate is that amongst those that are outside there’s also so
many differences of opinion. So...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Everyone
has their different way of thinking, but common maximum should be taken, and if
in that case my interference may help you, I am ready to do that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Aha, very good.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And at present, in the practical field,
what I see, if you find there are some who won’t
take any initiation from the ISKCON eleven, and they have some regard for me,
you may ask the ISKCON people, “You are eleven. At least give recognition to
Śrīdhara Mahārāja to be one of you, at least you can grant
this much. Though he’s separately existing, he’s independently existing, but
you may give some moral sanction to him that he may be one of you. So from
anyone’s zone if anyone is desirous of getting his help then you don’t take it
as the action of your enemy. If there is some saying in his favour from your
own Gurudeva, so at least you can accept him of the status at least one of you.
This much you do in your spirit of toleration so there may not be a big crack between the two. But practically it is such that there are so
many who come to this creed but unfortunately they cannot have any faith,
cannot have any regard for one of you, but he has got faith in him. Then at
least you can do this. If you don’t do that then we
shall have to find our own way.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, they may be afraid
that you will put them out of business.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I am beginning a business?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No. If they allowed people to take dīkṣā
from you then no-one would want to take dīkṣā from
them.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Wherever you are going there are so
many,
kala jani dijya vilaja patra hiya [?]
The world is a very big thing, so many corners are there. It may not be
so. Of course there may be such apprehension, that once let loose, the gate opened,
they generally may have, especially the thoughtful persons, they may have
attraction.
“Why such a special arrangement is made? But you will have to give a
pledge that very temperate we should be in our dealing. Only that will be we
won't canvass for him, for Śrīdhara Mahārāja, then only
what will be unavoidable I shall only take them to him. We shall take them,
then only to him, in the case of unavoidable case.
And generally we won’t canvass in his favour.” Something like that is possible.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I’ve suggested…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anyhow if you consult amongst yourselves.
You know the position there, here, everything. I do not know all these things
in details, but in general…
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I just want to stay with you. I only want to stay with you. I
want to stay here. If possible, if you will allow me, as far as you will allow
me then I would like to stay here. What they may do I do not know. For some
time if you allow me.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha. Then you are to consult
amongst you.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I will not disturb them.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Consult with Caru Swāmī
Mahārāja. He’s conversant with the position here and also there, and
from long time he is here. Some of you may stay here, some may work there, and
how, what is your present number, all these things should be considered and
that should be done. And if you who are to stay here, I am of opinion that you
must have to go on in your own way. Your habits of taking prasādam etc.,
is different from the habits of the Indians. So you must have your own place
where five, six or ten, you can live there in your own way, freely. That is,
another centre, subordinate, in connection with this.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Like this house where you let our
Guru Mahārāja stay there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: This house, where Bhakti Caru...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Maybe there, or even in a greater
form if you gather more friends in your company, then another place, or any
place in Madhyadwīpa. No centre has yet been established just on the other
side of the Ganges. Some land, and you may have your own place there, and you
can go on accordingly, your physical habits, so that you can facilitate your
service, the capacity of your service more and more. And of course any moment
you will come and go. I may not, or my presence
also, if possible I also may go sometimes. It
may be run in this way, of course if more of you are interested in this
thought, this kind of thinking. Now of course what he says, you may stay here,
three, four may stay here temporarily. But if you, if it grows then you will
have to have a proper place that suits you, your habit, and your nature, and
your food, and other things should be done in such a way because your body is not to starve but to serve. It will be utilised in
service. That is the creed and not by starvation to try to reach the desired
end. But full-fledged service, not only showing through penance our own
affinity for the God. But we march like
a total war with all our sentiments, feelings, kāya-mano-vākya,
thought, word and deed, we shall march to Kṛṣṇa,
full-fledged. Not the mind or the conscience or anything debilitating the body
and other things, no, the wholesale march towards Kṛṣṇa.
So when
Swāmī Mahārāja asked me, “I’m very unwell. What do you say?
Prabhupāda is not here. I want your advice. I have got some respect for
you. Whether I should die working here or I shall return back to India?”
I told, seeing and examining the things I am of this opinion that
Prabhupāda has given you that land for your activities in this old age. So
I think you should work there, you should die there working. And then your body
will be taken here. That will be a greater propaganda for the Gauḍīya
Maṭha. And he accepted that.
So wholesale march, ‘die to live,’ Hegel’s words, ‘die to live.’ To have
a proper life we shall have to die, and nothing left, with everything we shall
serve and die. “To die in harness.” There is an expression, proverb.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: “To die in the saddle.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To die in harness, that is to die in
fighting, die in harness. Not a flying man, to die in harness.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
When Caru Swāmī comes here, Sarvabhavan, and you all put you
heads together and think out what should be the future course of your activity
and service.
I may give some suggestion according to my experience and my
consideration and my...
End of 81.08.18.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.18.C_81.08.19.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
I’m eighty six, only two months left till
I’m eighty six to be filled. How long I may stay is uncertain. If necessary
then Prabhupāda may keep for more time. So he knows what to do.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
I do not know why I am living.So many of the intimate friends they departed. I am living.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Just as in our Guru Mahārāja’s
old age, Kṛṣṇa gave him so much opportunity for preaching, so
I think also...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And he did wonders, inconceivable
wonders, inconceivably wonderful. What in ten years of his last time, was
devoted to produce a miracle, simply a miracle. Not only ordinary things, there
may be many receivers, many persons to purchase, to take it, sell and to purchase, may be customers of things of very lower
order. But things of the higher order, the purchaser’s their number will be very few.
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
[ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
[“Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively unto
Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.66]
Purchasers of this principle; of this type of surrender to the Lord, is
very rarely to be found in the world. And anyhow he has found you all, large
numbers, so many, from the unexpected quarter.
And Prabhupāda of course mentioned before his departure, “We have
made attempts in England in Europe, but MārkineMolark is left aside.” In Gauḍīya it is left in
his article, The Mārkine Moluk, this was his
expression, “Mārkine
Moluk has not been approached yet. We have hope for Mārkine Moluk.”
And Swāmī Mahārāja
did that. Hare Kṛṣṇa. And his approach was a different one,
with simplicity, with unassumed ordinary line, approach, to the masses. He
simply began this kīrtana and chanting Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Caitanya, Hare Kṛṣṇa. And the travellers in the square they
thought him to be one of the hippies and surrounded him. Acyutānanda was
one of them. And then when they surrounded and began to talk in a ridiculous
way he handed over the books to them.
Acyutānanda said that, “After seeing Gītā and Bhāgavat
we were wonder struck, astounded. Oh, this hippy is not a hippy of ordinary
type.” Acyutānanda told that his father was fond of Gītā,
Acyutānanda’s father, but that was of Śaṅkara School. “But that could not satisfy me, but when I got this Gītā,
of personal God, it touched me, my conscience and I feel it.” Hare Kṛṣṇa.He was a graduate of the music
college, or something like that, Acyutānanda, who came here first.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol! Gaura Haribol! Gaura
Haribol! Nitāi Caitanya.
So, you have not taken anything, as yet?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, we have taken.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Taken something? You?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes.
Devotees: Everyone. Yes. We have taken.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi
Caitanya.
After Jayatīrtha
Mahārāja has left, no trace about him, no news from him?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not since I was in England. I met with
him personally.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh. Why?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well in India you don’t get news so
much.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Takes a long time.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There was one gentleman, PramāṇaSwāmī…
Devotees: Yes. Yeah.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: …the self-made Ācārya.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yeah.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But he has got his hold and so many
disciples, he also came here.
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And he also expressed much satisfaction
hearing from me.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes. There’s another self-made Ācāryaalso in Behar.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who is he?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Rādhā-Govinda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rādhā-Govinda; a sannyāsī?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: He’s a Godbrother, I don't think he’s a sannyāsī,
no.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But he got twofold dīkṣā
from Swāmī Mahārāja?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yeah. Rādhā-Govinda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rādhā-Govinda. And another in
Punjab, but he has gone.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: He has gone.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And there is another in South America,
Viraha Prakash Swāmī. He works with PramāṇaSwāmī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, with PramāṇaSwāmī.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: They have divided the country of
Venezuela in half.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Amongst themselves.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The zone has been divided amongst them.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. And
Yaśodānanda Swāmī, his previous name was some Bill?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No, I don't think so.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But inĀnandaBazaar it was
mentioned one Yaśodānanda name one, and then Mr Bill, Mr Bill.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He has a French name. He is a
French-Canadian. So his name is Yolander.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But what we find the philosopher Mill,
there is an empirical philosopher whose name was Mill, from England perhaps,
the atheistic philosopher, Mill, a noted philosopher, Mill, of the atheistic
school, no-God school.
...
So what is necessary for your proper diet you must…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Everything is being arranged.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I think curd, potato and bread; that
will suit you most and [peepa powder?]
You are generally accustomed to that sort of diet.
...
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, yesterday, Govinda
Mahārāja and I were speaking and we were talking about our Guru
Mahārāja as śaktyāveśa-avatāra.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And so he mentioned that you had said
previously about Baladeva,
Nityānanda Prabhu, āveśa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. That is the Guru-tattva, generally Guru-tattva
is Baladeva and Nityānanda, in general. So for
propaganda work They’re in the highest office for propagation, generally. So I
took it that, especially Nityānanda Prabhu had some special recognition
from the section from which Swāmī Mahārāja has come,
special grace for that particular section, Nityānanda. It is mentioned in
the scripture we find. And pajar gauranga…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What section?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That Suvar Navanik [?]
They're the most favourite section of Nityānanda Prabhu, it is mentioned
in the śāstra, Caitanya-Bhāgavat. So I thought
that Nityānanda Prabhu’s in charge of preaching about Mahāprabhu’s
glory. And so I took it that Nityānanda Prabhu must have some special
delegation in him in his last days, which helped him to inundate in such an
inconceivable magnitude in the whole of the world. But that does not mean that
he was nothing before such delegated power came in him, that he was nothing.
That delegation may come in a proper place. Just as in other śaktyāveśa-avatāras
the śakti accepts a particular place, and he’ll not, anything and
everything, an ordinary thing, must be proper to receive that. That is one
thing.Another, to preach, that when that delegation consideration has come, so
without delegation he has no value his own, that is some wilful propaganda, and
that will defeat its own object. What is that thing? Does it mean that one
where the delegation will come he should be some empty or some bad thing? This
supposition is mischievous and that will, of those that will take out of my
statement of delegation, they will be mischief for their own people…
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: …by falsely propagating in this way,
that that was his purpose. It will be very difficult to arouse faith in man,
and this sort of statement will diminish the faith, will prepare the field for
the atheists. So this is suicidal propagating that line. And sākhya-rasa
is also not to be neglected. [Raghunātha] Dāsa
Goswāmī, who is thought to be the highest, to hold the highest
position of mādhurya-rasa, prayojanaĀcārya, he himself
says:
sakhyāya te mama namo 'stu namo 'stu nityam / dāsyāya te mama raso 'stu raso 'stu satyam
[Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī, the
greatest exponent of the faith of servitude to Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī, Rādhā-dāsyam, wrote:
"I won’t allow myself to become fascinated by the proposal of the higher
level service as a friend, sākhya. Rather, I shall tend always to
do the lower service, dāsya, the service of the servant. I shall
not consider myself to be a high-class servitor and I shall always tend to go
towards the lower class of service. But He may forcibly take me to a higher
service – “No, you are no longer to serve there; now you must serve in this
higher category.” But I consider that I am not fit for that confidential
service, my Lord. You may engage the higher servitors in Your confidential
group, while I may serve in the lower level.”][Vilāpa-kusamāñjali,
16]
What does it mean? Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Is it an
intellectual field, that we can pass resolution, we can pass remark in any way
we like in our fashion? Dāsa Goswāmī, who is supposed to be
posted in the highest position of the prayojana-tattva, the
Ācāryaof the prayojana, in mādhurya-rasa Rādhā-dāsya. He says that dāsyāya te mama raso 'stu, and
sakhyāya te mama namo 'stu. “I’m trying to put, to show my reverence
to the sākhya, and I want, I crave that my real earnestness may go
for the dāsya-rasa.” Is it a thing to play?”
Rādhārāṇī Herself She wants that, “My
attention is always to serve, but because Kṛṣṇa wishes to
enjoy Me He enjoys, but My mark, My ideal is always to serve Him.”
So service is _____________
[?] the śanta-rasa, the…
priyonam manayo rajan nevitar viseshey
lakha [?]
naigranyatha ramante sma gunar no karan
hare [?]
This is śanta-rasa, in Bhāgavatam.
ātmārāmāś ca munayo, nirgranthā
apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim, ittham-bhūta guṇo
hariḥ
[“Those sages who, being merged in the bliss of the spirit soul, are
totally free from the binding knot of mental images - they too engage in the
unmotivated service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the performer of
marvellous deeds. This is but one of the qualities of the Supreme Lord Hari,
who charms the entire world."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.7.10]
These are examples of śanta-rasa. This is very rarely to be
found. We must go to that plane and then we
should deal with things. So dāsya just
the opposite. The mādhurya-rasa, even Rādhārāṇī
Herself She says that, “Always My tendency is to serve Kṛṣṇa,
towards dāsya-rasa, dāsya-rasa.” Then, what of dāsya,
then sākhya, sākhya-rasa is only a very small thing? What is
this?
sakhyāya te mama namo 'stu namo 'stu
[nityam / dāsyāya
te mama raso 'stu raso 'stu satyam]
“From a distance I want to show my respect
to sākhya-rasa, and dāsya-rasa I really want.”
That should be the tendency of a real
devotee. And to disregard all these things, as they seem to play like a ball,
play ball, all these things.
...
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, as Govinda Mahārāja and I
were discussing, he gave this one example of Vashu.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: [speaks Bengali (?) for about fifty seconds]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In Mahāprabhu also we find,
sometimes, Mahāprabhu Himself, there was such āveśa,
sometimes by the influence of Baladeva, “Give Me
wine, give Me wine,” in Caitanya-Bhāgavat we find that
Mahāprabhu sometimes He showed different inspired stage. When He was
captured by the feeling of Baladeva, then He
says, “Give Me wine, give Me wine, give Me wine.” They gave some Ganges water.
“You take it.” Sometimes even He was inspired with the feeling of Pradyumna.
sekha pran jaya nityananda prabhu kari bap
krsna rakhi ven pran [?]
eve pran tri bole jata balaram [?]
Mahāprabhu inspired by the feeling of Pradyumna is uttering like a
madman. “I can’t stand. I can’t take rest from dancing mood. Some inspired
power is making Me dance like a madman, I have gone, I can’t take rest.” In
this way He says.bap krsna rakhi ven pran [?]
“By the
inspiration of Kṛṣṇa anyhow I was saved. But when inspiration
has come from Balarāma, now I am gone, I can’t contain Myself but dancing,
but I feel too tired.”
That was His_________ that sort
of feeling of maybe Baladeva, yata
balarāma. He’s; yata means elder brother or father, so
Pradyumna’s yata is Balarāma. So Mahāprabhu is attacked by
that feeling of Pradyumna,abhimāna, and He says, yata balarāma,
is almost killing me. So inspiration may come in different times for different
purpose. Even Mahāprabhu Himself has
shown that so many inspirations of different
types coming to Him and going away. These are the transcendental laws, or will
of the Lord, in other words.So śaktyāveśa, it is not a
thing for the play of the child, for the children, childish play, that śaktyāveśa.
Very belittled and very much mortified that the remark śaktyāveśa
that is being used in such a mean way, śaktyāveśa, a
childish thing.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.And dāsya-rasa,
sākhya-rasa, having all these very cheap, and we can decree and
dismiss, anything at our sweet will. A poor conception of the real reality:
that can make us audacious to pass such remark.Hare Kṛṣṇa.The
love of power, the love of power is making mad to take any path or the other.
But that will be suicidal, that will dig its own grave.
Devotee: _________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is clear that our sampradāya,
rūpānuga sampradāya, and that sampradāya, that mantram,
the mantram, all show that it is wedded to mādhurya-rasa,
the ādi-mantra, and the selection was coming to Prabhupāda, rūpānuga.
The Guruparamparā, all rūpānuga, mādhurya-rasa. But
for the propaganda work some temporary delegation for the time being to be, to inundate
the whole country, that came in my mind. They may not care for that, they may
not care. It is my consideration, I gave it out. If anyone may think in that
way they may do, however it is. I am not forcing it towards the unwilling
batch. It is my special estimation that something might have happened, like
that.
When I came to take my shelter here I thought that I am going to take my
permanent shelter in Navadwīpa Dhāma, but Navadwīpa
Dhāmeśvara is Nityānanda Prabhu. So I must go to Him first. Not
the place of Mahāprabhu, I went to Ekacākrā first, to seek His
permission, that, “I like to pass the last days of my life in Navadwīpa
Dhāma. Please, You give permission, otherwise my attempt will be futile.”
So I went to Him and invoked for His permission, and as if with His permission
I came and settled here. Dhāmeśvara is He. Though my aspiration is
innately towards mādhurya-rasa, but still I went to Nityānanda
Prabhu to give me admission here, that the rest of my life I may pass.
heno nitāi vine bhāi rādhā kṛṣṇa
pāite nāi
[From Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura’sManaḥ-śikṣā, 1]
By the grace of Nityānanda we shall get the grace of
Mahāprabhu. And by the grace of Mahāprabhu we can enter into mādhurya-rasa
and Rādhārāṇī, all these things. That is our way
chalked out by our spiritual masters. And we have got great regard for
that.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And sometimes I’ve heard it said that if
you similarly, if you want to get the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu you
should approach the Jagāi and Mādhāi.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________________ [?]
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha. That the deliverance of
Jagāi and Mādhāi, that is also who have no acāra, no
vicāra, neither real conception of divinity, nor any holy
practices, pure practices. And that was all delivered in a great number. And
there it attracts us to think of the presence of Nityānanda Prabhu.
Nityānanda Prabhu’s presence, why? There were so many who had no such pure
acāra and vicāra, they were taken direct to the higher
position. So the potency, the great mercy of Nityānanda is to be located
there. So what I have said that is also corroborated, as you say, is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He himself told me, Swāmī
Mahārāja, that, “I have taken them from a country where no question
of any food restriction, or the consideration of
purity or impurity of food, nothing of the kind, and also that of sex. So from
that we have come then to you all. So much I have done and you must give
attention to them properly. You must not be unmindful to them.” Because he told
me that I can’t deny, not only once but several times he repeated this to me,
“I have done so much and you must be sympathetic to them. They are recruited
from such lands. They have no consideration of all these things.” So this is
from Nityānanda, this shows that Nityānanda’s presence in him.
Anyhow, it was suggested in my mind, they may take or not take, it doesn’t
matter, what to do? Hare Kṛṣṇa. I am innocent and sincere in
my remark in that way as I have conjectured, I could conjecture.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, sometimes our Guru
Mahārāja used to chant the verse,
śrī caitanya mano'bhīṣṭaṁ,
stāpithaṁ yena bhūtale
svayaṁ rūpa kadā mahyaṁ, dadāti
sva-pandāntikaṁ
[Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura said: “O when will
Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī, who has firmly established in this
world, the pure devotional teachings and principles of Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu and thus fulfilled His cherished desires, ever bless me with
eternal shelter of his lotus feet?”]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, can you explain what that verse
means?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Śrī caitanya
mano'bhīṣṭaṁ, stāpithaṁ yena bhūtale,
the real purport of Śrī Caitanyadeva was established by whom, in this
earth? He’s my Gurudeva. Śrī caitanya mano'bhīṣṭaṁ,
what Śrī Caitanyadeva wanted to do in this earth, mano'bhīṣṭaṁ,
he reminded to do in this earth,caitanya
mano'bhīṣṭaṁ.Stāpithaṁ
yena bhūtale,
and that was propagated in this world. What Śrī Caitanya willed, and
that was translated into action in this world by whom? That is Gurudeva, mano
stāpithaṁ yena. Svayaṁ-rūpa, this is in the line of mādhurya-rasa.
Svayam-rūpa, Rūpa Goswāmī, svayaṁ-rūpa.Śrī
caitanya mano'bhīṣṭaṁ, stāpithaṁ yena
bhūtale / svayaṁ
rūpa kadā mahyaṁ, dadāti sva-pandāntikaṁ. “When,” about that Rūpa Goswāmī, “will take me,
will attract me near his feet?” That is the literal meaning. “What Caitanyadeva wanted to do, that has been done by Rūpa
Goswāmī. And when that day, fortunate day will come when he will
attract me near his feet, Rūpa Goswāmī?”The svayaṁ
rūpa, that does not mean svayaṁ rūpa Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa.
The propagation is not His business.
[About fifty five seconds of Bengali (?) conversation]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Who composed that verse?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who composed? As far as I remember by
Narottama Ṭhākura.
Govinda Mahārāja says that the reading is not svayaṁ
rūpa, Rūpa himself, svayaṁ
rūpa means Rūpa himself, but svayaṁ
rūpa, this rūpa, that rūpa, that is sva-ayaṁ
rūpa, that rūpa. Śrī caitanya mano'bhīṣṭaṁ,
stāpithaṁ yena bhūtale, that rūpa who has installed
here the, what are desired by Śrī Caitanyadeva, when such rūpa
will take me near his feet, draw me to take my position near his feet. That
is the verse.
[About one and a half minutes of Bengali (?) conversation]
anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ
kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ
sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ
śacī-nandanaḥ
[“May that Lord,
who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacīdevī be
transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent
with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in this age of Kali by His
causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation ever offered before: the most
sublime and radiant spiritual knowledge of the mellow taste of His service.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.4]
Nityānanda’s
duty is to take ordinary persons to Gaurāṅga. And Gaurāṅga
came to take them to Braja līlā. Yathā yathā
gaura: Nityānanda Prabhu preached about Gaurāṅga.“You could
not reach so high, you just come to Gaurāṅga. That will be the easy
thing.”Anyhow He tried His best to take persons to the feet of Gaurāṅga.
And then you will get it.
yathā yathā gaura padāravinde, vindeta bhaktiṁ
kṛta puṇya rāśiḥ
tathā tathot sarpati hṛdy akasmāt,
rādhā padāmbhoja sudhāmbhu-rāśiḥ
[Prabodhānanda
Saraswatī Ṭhākura says: “As much as we devote ourselves to the
lotus feet of Śrī Gaurāṅga, we will automatically achieve
the nectarine service of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī
in Vṛndāvana. An investment in Navadwīpa Dhāma will
automatically take one to Vṛndāvana. How one will be carried there
will be unknown to him. But those who have good fortune invest everything in
the service of Gaurāṅga. If they do that, they will find that
everything has automatically been offered to the divine feet of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. She will accept
them in Her confidential service and give them engagement, saying: “Oh, you
have a good recommendation from Navadwīpa; I immediately appoint you to
this service.”]
[Caitanya-Candrāmṛta,
88]
“Automatically you’ll be led to Rādhārāṇī.” Prabodhānanda says. Mahāprabhu asked Nityānanda
Prabhu, “Go and preach about Kṛṣṇa in Gauda-deśa,
Bengal.” But Nityānanda Prabhu came and He began to preach about
Śrī Caitanyadeva, not Kṛṣṇa direct, shortcut.
“Anyhow come to Gaurāṅga and the rest Gaurāṅga will see
for you.”
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in Caitanya-Bhāgavat it says
that when Lord Caitanya sent Him, there were twelve persons with Him, twelve pracāras.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Dvādaśa pracāra, with Nityānanda
Prabhu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Dvādaśa Gopāla,
they were assistants, there Dvādaśa Gopāla in Braja.
Nityānanda as Baladeva and other śakhya-rasa
group in Vṛndāvana, they came here and they're known as Dvādaśa
Gopāla, twelve intimate friends of Nityānanda or Baladeva. With their help Nityānanda began to preach here.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, where is that verse dāsyāya
te mama raso 'stu?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It may be Vilāpa-kusamāñjali
[16] perhaps of Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī.
This verse is made by Raghunātha Dāsa.
sakhyāya te mama namo 'stu namo 'stu nityam / dāsyāya te mama raso 'stu raso 'stu satyam
“I am not up to mark of serving the Lord in the confidential way of śakhya.
That is higher. That is too much for me. My aspiration is anyhow to get a
position amongst the servants of the Lord. I pray that my real, my sincere
tendency be towards the service of a servant, and never to such a higher degree
as to render confidential service to the Lord.
I have no such audacity.” So śakhya-rasa he says, “Who is he?” Who
is considered to be the Ācārya of the highest mādhurya-rasa,
the prayojanaĀcārya.
That’s Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī, he says that, “I pray that
I may not have any audacity to come
into the confidential service of Kṛṣṇa. But I pray that my
sincere flow may go to the ordinary servant group, that I pray, raso 'stu
satyam, that my attraction really may go to there in the lowest rank.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. And Mahārāja, Uddhava,
this,āsā maho caraṇa-renu-juṣām aham syām. So he’s praying, gulma, to be like a creeper, or…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He aspires after a birth of a creeper or
shrub in Vṛndāvana so that automatically the feet-dust of the gopīs
may come over them.
āsā maho caraṇa-renu-juṣām aham
syām
vṛndāvane kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnām
yā dustyajaṁ svajanam ārya-pathaṁ ca
hitvā
bhejur mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām
[“The gopīs of Vṛndāvana have given up the
association of their husbands, sons and other family members, who are very
difficult to renounce, and they have sacrificed even their religious principles
to take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, which are sought
after by even the Vedas. O grant me the fortune to be born as a blade of
grass in Vṛndāvana, so that I may take the dust of those great souls
upon my head.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.47.61]
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi
Caitanya.Nitāi.
End of 81.08.18.C_81.08.19.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.19.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Gopī-bharttuḥ pada-kamalayor
dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gopī-bharttuḥ
pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ.
nāhaṁ vipro na ca nara-patir nāpi vaiśyo na
śūdro
nāhaṁ varṇī na ca gṛha-patir no
vana-stho yatir vā
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramānanda-pūrṇāmṛtābdher
gopī-bharttuḥ pada-kamalayor
dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ
[“I am not a
priest, a king, a merchant, or a labourer (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya,
vaiśya, śūdra); nor am I a student, a householder,
a retired householder, or a mendicant (brahmacārī, gṛhastha,
vānaprastha, sannyāsī). I identify myself only as
the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
the Lord of the gopīs, who is the personification of the fully
expanded (eternally self-revealing) nectarean ocean that brims with the
totality of Divine Ecstasy.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 13.80]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: What is the explanation of that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Explanation? He says, “I am neither a brāhmaṇa,
nāhaṁ vipro na ca nara-patir.”Varṇāśrama,
He’s discarding varṇāśrama _________________ varṇāśrama dharma, leaving, abandoning, leaving away the varṇāśrama
dharma going up.“I am neither a brāhmaṇa, nor a kṣatriya,
nor a vaiśya, nor a śūdra. My identification is
not with any of them. Then I’m neither brahmacārī, nor gṛhastha,
nor vānaprastha, nor sannyāsī. Varna and āśrama,
four varna and four āśrama, I am none of them. But what
is my real identification? I am a person who has got the highest sincere
aspiration for the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant. That
position, of whom, prodyan-nikhila-paramānanda-pūrṇāmṛtābdher,
that conscious ecstatic embodiment who can command the whole of the universe,
whole infinite, that absolute ecstatic joy embodiment, prodyan-nikhila-paramānanda-pūrṇāmṛtābdher.
That sort of, who is He? The gopī-bharttuḥ: the master of the
gopīs, the paramā of the gopīs, lover of
the gopīs. Pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ,
I am the servant of the servant of the servant.”
I told once that this is like a telescopic system in Vaikuṇṭha.
A telescopic, mainly, generally a
spectacle, it comes between the seer and the seen, the spectacles. Generally it
may be thought that it will hamper the sight, but it improves. So in telescope
so many glasses are placed. Apparently it may be thought that so many glasses
must disturb the real sight, but no, that helps that. They help them. So as
many glass, so far we can see. So, master, master, master, master, guardian,
guardian, guardian, they take something and from them, some distance, they give
some assistance, the many guardians will help me from far off, very fine thing,
they will help me to bring in my sight. Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So, gopī-bharttuḥ
pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsā, then dāsa, his
servant, his servant, his servant, his servant I want. He says that this is the
real clue to take advantage of the telescopic system. So much, the kṛpa,
the grace of the first, second, third, fourth, so many Gurus, the kṛpa, that will come from so many Gurus that will help me. So don’t go up but try to go down, then
you’ll be benefited much. That is the direction.In the Rāmānuja
section also there is a,
vrtya vrtya tavichar ca vrtya vrtya ca
vrtya para lokanatha [?]
The real devotees who know the real clue, they don’t want to go up. They
really realise that to go down, to become the servant as much as I can go down I will get greater benefit. This is a peculiar thing
in Vaikuṇṭha. In the land of exploitation we want to be master, but
the land of service, mainly the land of service, so we must not be afraid of
the service. The serving, that is the real nectarine, serving, service of real quality, total quality. Here, service
are all relative things of exploitation, partial exploitation in different
ways. But there, the land of pure service, and service is the capital. So, like
a contractor, as many business’s he can capture he may make more money, more gain.
So as many masters we shall be able to gather, we might be so rich, and so much
gainer we will be, as many masters we shall have. And here the opposite, as
many servants I shall get, I will be able to do many works through them. But
there, the opposite, as many masters I shall get I shall derive benefit from so
many directions. My income will come from so many directions. Service life is
like the opposite thing to be understood, to be felt, the service. From the
feeling of exploitation we cannot have a real conception of what service is.
Service is life giving. That is beneficial. That is not a burden. That is real
health, that is sustainer, service. So, their competition that I shall become
servant of the servant of the servant, in this way, this is not insane, this is
not show, neither this is a fashion of polite modesty. It is the reality. That
by serving we thrive, and receiving service we go down. So Vaiṣṇavas
generally do not allow anyone to serve them, but they’re eager to serve, but
not to give their service to others. That is the very nature. The gain is
there.
Devotee: ______________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Svayaṁ rūpa, svayaṁ
- this, that rūpa.
Devotee: ______________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Svayaṁ rūpa means
Rūpa Goswāmī himself. Svayaṁ manasa ayam, svayaṁ
rūpa___________________________________
[?] Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Nitāi. Nitāi.
Swāmī Mahārāja, when he’s just coming down from the
plane and going away, so many newspaper reporters surrounded him and put many
questions, and one of them I remember. “You are selling, your mission is
maintained by the output of the sale of your books,” or something like that.
“How you get the money to maintain your mission?”
He simply told, “Yes.”
“And you sell the body and live on that, sell the books and live on
that.”
“I am giving you books and you are giving money to me. In this way I go
on.”Ha, ha, ha, ha. He did not come to the point of selling. That brahma-vidya
is taken into market for sale. He avoided that.“I am giving you books and you
are giving money.”
In this way it is going on, so simple things, the simple thing is this.
What I say sincerely, as I think, as I have heard from Guru Mahārāja
and accordingly collected from the books, and if you have any attraction for
that, you will love me. What I say, if that attracts anybody then he will be
affectionate to me. Easy thing, no other complication should be taken here.
What I say, if you think it, it is the desired thing what Swāmī Mahārāja
told, these sayings are also of similar nature. What he says, this is also of
similar nature. The words that attracted us towards him, the meaning contained
in his words which attracted us, we find the same thing here. So this is our
place of attraction. A simple thing, whoever will take, will appreciate, the
subject is not of mine, my Gurudeva's. And he will say it is from his Gurudeva,
in this way, Gaurāṅga.
We came to Gauḍīya Maṭha,
why? Attracted by the charm and the realistic spiritual substance of the subject
matter and as it was dealt by our Guru Mahārāja attracted us, no
other things, attracted by the spirit of his advice, we joined the mission. And
as long as he lived that was, of course, we also read scriptures also, but the
standpoint we get from him, and in that light we tried to understand, and we
did understand. This is our impression. That he gave us the key to the
scriptural safe, the key to the almirah where spiritual books are, Guru
Mahārāja gave us, supplied the key. So with that standpoint, that
angle of vision, we've gone through other scriptures also. And we are
satisfied, we are attracted more and more, and now we are doing that thing.
Scripture is there and different interpretations are also there, from Śaṅkara,
Rāmānuja, this, that, many. But the angle of vision that was given in
the line of Mahāprabhu by our Guru Mahārāja, that attracted us
really. And we are his servants. And we are his servants, or servants of the servant, etc.
That is, nothing else, I am there, and it is their words, Vaikuṇṭha
śabda, the Nāma, Name, Name means sound representation
of the Lord. Through sound, the sound is the medium, and śravana-kīrtana,
the medium of sound. What news comes to my heart, that has captured me, that
has taken me, and in consonance with that I shall move. Anyone who will come to
help in that way, in that journey, he's my friend, and who hinders, he's no
longer so. The main thing is the response of my heart to the sound aspect of
the Lord, the artha.
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ
["Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively
unto Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair."]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 18.66]
I sometimes tell that when Aurovinda he absconded, Aurovinda, he was the
founder of the Revolutionary School of India in the beginning. And one Mr
Norton, there was a case, Aurovinda is not found, then Norton was pleading in
the high court. "Where is Mr Aurovinda?" He told in a newspaper when
he found any article, "Here is Mr Aurovinda." He told. "Here is
Mr Ghosh. This writing cannot but be of him."
So sound, that style
of the sound, the meaning, that can locate us where we are, what are our
interests, the artha, for which we are out - the charming representation
of the Lord through sound. Gaura Haribol. The
friend and foe, so many, the father, mother, son, so many kinsmen, they become
enemy to a religious man. And who are unknown, he may be friend. That is the
acceptance and elimination, progress means this, that acceptance and
elimination, that is goti,
progress means that. Elimination of the environment, then only when finally settled, then fixed circle there. The
Guru, they all come to help me, and by, as an order supplier I may work there.
And I shall think if I am utilised in the post of order supplier I have
attained my destination, I have come to such a position here.
Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura
Hari. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, our sukṛti determines our
inner interest.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Sukṛti is of two kinds, first ajñāta-sukṛti then
jñāta-sukṛti, and sukṛti makes us float on the
surface and helps us to recognise the proper thing. That is it comes from nirguṇa
and it helps us to make us understand what is nirguṇa,
unconsciously draws us towards that, first unconsciously then consciously draws
us towards nirguṇa. Saguṇa means the local provinciality.Nirguṇa means
of infinite consideration. The finest and most fundamental plane is nirguṇa
and I want to be a member of that plane. The wave I shall receive and I
shall respond, that is in nirguṇa, to live and move in the nirguṇa
plane, to receive the instruction and to
do accordingly in the nirguṇa plane, giving up all local
prejudice. Kṛṣṇa vaṁśī, that sound
will make us cry, make us dance, make us sleep, everything. The intimation of that plane, wave of that plane, then I am nirguṇa.
I have no selfish suffering or enjoying; all enjoying, all enjoying, plane, the
joyous plane, nirguṇa, and no responsibility of my own. Purely,
wholly, harmonised, or adjusted with the universal will, that is Kṛṣṇaloka.
Without caring for laws and rules even, nothing but Kṛṣṇa's
satisfaction, just to obey the direction of that wave, no consideration of
anything else. That is nirguṇa.
Guṇa means disease, sattya, raja, tama,
bhava-roga. This is a diseased part of the world, this brahmāṇḍa,
that is, disease generally may be classified as sprung up from exploitation or
renunciation. Exploitation and renunciation, then service, constitutional
according to law, and then automatic, actuated by the motive of love, that is nirguṇa,
the highest plane of Braja. Uddhava aspires after that, and there also the
highest quarter is that of the gopīs. So much sacrifice, so much
intensely that none could catch or accept the nirguṇa will of Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari.
In Rāmānanda Rāya, the last step by step approaching
towards the highest, the last, "I do not know anything, only actuated by
the motive. By the attraction I am guided. I do not know right and wrong,
nothing of the kind."
Just as Swāmī Mahārāj told, "We are giving
books, they are giving money. Kṛṣṇa demand coming, I am
supplying. I do not know anything else. I do not want also to know anything
else. His demand, my supply, I am only conscious of this fact, nothing else. I
don't care for anything else. His vaṁśīmilan, I am madly running; these two things, I am not conscious of
myself or the paraphernalia, favourable or unfavourable. The call - I am
running, I don't know anything else."
The absolute position is such, the autocratic rule in its highest
conception. The autonomy is such intense, such intense autonomy and autocracy.
That is desirable or advaita, advaita-advaya in its highest conception
will be like that, and vilāsa-advaya, a dynamic advaita, advaita
not static equilibrium, but moving, dynamic advaita. Advaita and
dynamic, that is like this. Call, ‘yes, that is advaita.’ No difference
between the caller and the supplier, minimum demand, that is advaita, advaya-jñāna,
dynamic. And the real plane of satisfaction, joy, ecstasy, whatever you may
say, is there. That is the depot, the absolute depot of ānandam, saṅtoṣa, satisfaction, relief, whatever it may be called. The depot, ānandam,
of beauty, beauty behaves in its own land in such a way, the law of beauty is
such, it does not care for anything else. Capturing, capturing, that is the
only capacity, attribute of beauty, and the captured are mad. Whatever is
wanted, it does that, autonomy, advaya-jñāna in its highest position,
highest degree.
Gaura Hari bol! Gaura Hari bol! Gaura Hari bol! Nitāi. Nitāi.
Nitāi. Nitāi.
[Speaks Bengali (?) for about twenty
five seconds]
Without Nityānanda everything is vacant. Ha, ha, ha.
Bāladeva's position is such. Nitāiyer koruṇā habe,
braje rādhā-kṛṣṇa pābe. Nitāi. You
don't know who gave you birth, ha, ha, ha, something like that, you don't know
your mother who has given you birth. So to be indifferent to Nityānanda is
like that. Without Nityānanda, no admission in the...
[Bengali (?) conversation for
about twenty seconds]
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Nitāi. Nitāi.
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
…may not be known to anyone only
conjecture. Śrauti Mahārāja
may know that. I am not sure but he has got some extended study of all these Purāṇas,
beyond them, So he may know that.
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo [Bhagavad-gītā, 15.15],
that line. Veda mata Gāyatrī must lead to Kṛṣṇa.
With this basis, this foundation, I have tried to evolve the meaning of Brahma Gāyatrī
to Kṛṣṇa conception ________ [?]Rādhā-dāsya, that is the object of Gāyatrī, Rādhā-kiṅkarā.
Devotee: There's something in the Tattva-sandarbha,
Ādi-Purāṇa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ____________________________ Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam [?]
artho 'yaṁ brahma sūtrānāṁ,
bhāratārtha-vinirṇayaḥ
gāyatrī bhāṣya rūpo 'sau,
vedārthaḥ paribriṁhitaḥ
["Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam represents the real
purport of Vedānta-sūtra. And although it is very difficult to
draw out the real purpose of the one hundred thousand verse epic Mahābhārata,
the great history of the world, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
has come to give its real meaning. The mother of all Vedic knowledge is the Gāyatrī
mantra. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives the gist of Gāyatrī in
a very full-fledged way. And the supplementary truths of the Vedas are
also found within Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam."] [Garuḍa Purāṇa]
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is Gāyatrī
bhāsya, so what Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
has given as the conception of our highest duty that must be within that thing.
Artho 'yaṁ brahma sūtrānāṁ. About Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
this has been related, artho 'yaṁ brahma sūtrānāṁ,
the meaning of Vedānta-sūtra. Bhāratārtha-vinirṇayaḥ,
and the real meaning of Mahābhārata has been drawn to be such,
the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Gāyatrī bhāṣya rūpo 'sau,
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is the elaborate explanation of Gāyatrī, so Gāyatrī
has to come to the line of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In Garuda
Purāṇa it is mentioned. Vedārthaḥ paribriṁhitaḥ,
and all the meanings from the Veda have been given here in full-fledged
form in Bhāgavatam. So:
nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ,
[śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayaṁ, muhur aho
rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ]
["O expert and thoughtful men, relish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the
lips of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has
become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable
for all, including liberated souls."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.1.3]
The full-fledged form of theism in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is drawn from the Vedas. So in the line of Bhāgavata the Gāyatrī
must come. And the highest gift of Bhāgavatam is Rādhā-dāsya, gopī-dāsya, and that must have to come from Gāyatrī.
So in that way it has been evolved. In Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam,
you have got, and just on the cover you will find that in śloka.
________________________________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ______________________________________________ [?]
gāyatrī muralīṣṭa-kīrttana-dhanaṁ
rādhāpadaṁ dhīmahi ______________________ [?]
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Śrauti Mahārāja ___________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: May know, because he had extensive
study, more than myself, only he has got.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: He's in Yaragram [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yaragram ________________________ [?]
Anyhow his place is Yaragram. You could
write a letter to him.
__________________________________________________
[?] Five months
younger.
Devotee: Only months?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Months __________________________ [?]
Bhāratī Mahārāja: He's Guru Mahārāja’s relative?
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: Nay, a
God-brother. In Chapahatti Gaura-GadādharaMaṭh, Gaura-Gadādhara
Maṭha, he's the Maṭh commander, in
charge.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maṭh commander, in charge, of the
service of Gaura-Gadādhara.
_______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Devotee: ____________________________________________________________ [?]
…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___ citram
vedānta-sūtra.
The credit is there, the credit of the Absolute is here, vidya syamanyam,
to harmonise the opposite,tasmin na citram. That is not wonderful, not strange there. It is His nature. By
nature He's so, that He can harmonise the opposites of different natures and
different stages. Bahu and one, many and one, plurality and unity,
plurality means diversity. __________________________ [?]santam śivamadvaitam.
Peace, cooperation, no, mutual help not cooperation. Santam,
peace first, next śivammaṅgalam, and then advaitam, in
one, vanishes. This is Brahma formula, the Brahma dharma formula is this
- santam śivamadvaitam - first peace and then maṅgalam,
and then advaitam, nothing, all...,
santam śivam advaitam. Ours is satyam, śivam, sundaram,
truth and goodness and beauty, progressing. Beauty is the original, then the
outcome, the goodness is there, all goodness is beauty, harmony. In English
terms ānandam means harmony. Satyam that is the conception
of truth, truth developed into śivam, into maṅgalam,
that is auspicious, good, and then sundaram, charming.Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari.
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmilitaṁ yena, tasmai śrī-gurave
namaḥ
["I was blind in the darkness of ignorance but my Spiritual Master
applied the ointment of proper spiritual knowledge and thus opened my eyes.
Unto him I offer my respectful obeisances."]
The eye is opened by Gurudeva, see, the standpoint, the angle of vision,
is supplied by Gurudeva, angle of vision, standpoint, standard bearer. That is
everything. Everything is there but the only necessity is to get the angle of
vision, how to see.
There is no objection
for any eating, but learn how to eat, that is prasāda-sevā.
Otherwise you'll be in bondage, you’ll be caught in the net. Learn how to eat, yajña-viśeṣa,
if offered to Kṛṣṇa take the prasādam, the
process of eating. Otherwise you will be caught in the net if you devour
anything. It is not a place of anarchy that anyone will devour anyone. It is
not a place of anarchy. The stern rules
of the environment always watching over you. And you cannot do but eating, jīvo
jīvasya jīvanam[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.13.47], one jīva, one animal must
devour another animal for the upkeep of his body. It is unavoidable, to eat is
unavoidable, for living. But learn how to eat. So not to eat, that is not the
conclusion, the necessity is how to eat, learn it. How to live, because living
is painful so do away with the life, no, learn how to live, that is necessary,
that is the constructive way. That is Vaiṣṇava thinking.
And Buddhist and
Māyāvādī thinking, "Do away with the life, existence,
because life is painful and also leading to the pain, continuous pain. So do
away with the life."
But Vaiṣṇava Ācārya's say, "No, life is
happy, only learn how to live. Everything is all right. You set yourself
accordingly." This is specially the direction of Bhagavad-gītā,
yogaḥ karmasukauśalam. Just learn what is the kauśala,
kauśala means the art of solution, kauśala, the
skilfulness, the art of skilfulness, the art of handling wisely, wise handling,
kauśala. Yogaḥ, learn yoga, the secret mystery of
life, then you will thrive.
[buddhi-yukto jahātīha, ubhe sukṛta-duṣkṛte
tasmād yogāya yujyasva, yogaḥ karmasu
kauśalam]
[“A person who
is not motivated by desire to enjoy the fruits of their action rids themself of
both good and bad deeds within this very life. Therefore, engage in the path of
selfless action, since such buddhi-yoga, or equilibrium in selfless
action, is certainly the art of action.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 2.50]
End of 81.08.19.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.20.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Only one? Ha, ha, ha, ha.
Devotee: To begin with.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is that?
Devotee: In the transcendental world, especially in Goloka, the
language spoken is Urbhasi [?] and in one section or the other section, in
Mahāprabhu’s section. So where is Sanskrit Mahārāja, to be
found?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sanskrit is also there in both places.
In Navadwīpa so many Sanskrit scholars, Mahāprabhu Himself Sanskrit
scholar, and in Vṛndāvana also Garga Muni and others, and in
Mathurā they’re all Sanskrit scholars.
Devotee: But Kṛṣṇa cannot understand Sanskrit – in
the sense of that in His particular gopa līlā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gopa līlā, He might
have heard partially, but then He studied from Sandīpanī and others.
But that is in Mathurā līlā. In Vṛndāvana līlā
mainly ________
but some communication with
Sanskrit paṇḍits also there.
Śrīla Govinda
Mahārāja:
___________________
[?]
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.We may
think aprākṛta, that is broader, wider, so when Vṛndāvana,
that is the broadest, the widest, we think, so everything must come within, the
Sanskrit will come within vraja-bhuli. The grandeur is within the
plainness of Vṛndāvana. In every respect that should be the origin.
So Sanskrit is the product, we may think in that way.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
This is a real revolutionary concept Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. It cannot but be. That must be the origin. Just as we have our Vedic
culture here, and tradition, and the present European paṇḍits,
the scholars, they say, “No. First the origin of civilisation from Misha, or
Babylon, or here, there,” the empirical scholars they’re of particular opinion.
But our opinion, we do not accede by that. So also, when we once accept that aprākṛta
is the origin of everything, so whatever is there it may be so plain, the
grandeur of Vaikuṇṭha, that is there within.
In Svarūpa
Dāmodara and Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita’s talk, in
Herā-Pañcamī day there, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, [Madhya-līlā,
14.214-229], Śrīvāsa
Paṇḍita is speaking in favour of Vaikuṇṭha; the so many
grandeur, so many things.Svarūpa Dāmodara says, “Don’t, you are
Nārada temperament Śrīvāsa. You appreciate more about Vaikuṇṭha,
and majesty, grandeur there. But don’t you know, can’t you remember that Vṛndāvana,
they do not like this ratnam, but it is there and suppressed. Where it
is, the poor they adore much the gold and the jewels, but those who have got
enough jewels and gold, they like the flower and the leaf, all these natural,
simple things. So that is suppressed there. Kalpa-vṛkṣa,
then cintāmaṇi, all these things, anything can produce
anything there, the original place.”
So once we admit that to be the original position, by deduction
everything will come. Whatever gorgeous or dignified, everything must come from
there. What is there, that is the acme. By mathematics, by logic, we are think,
regulate our thoughts in that way.What do you say?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I was just wondering, is that
Śrīvāsa of Pañca Tattva?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, Śrīvāsa of Pañca
Tattva.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So how is he – he’s in Pañca Tattva with
Mahāprabhu and he has so much appreciation for Vaikuṇṭha?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That means, he’s Nārada, and then
you can say he’s pleading for others to understand. He’s pleading from the
opposition party to make it known to the public. You may take it in that way.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: ___________ Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Ultimately
_________________________________So
unanimously and quite spontaneously you came to one title, that, The Nectar of
Surrender.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nectar of Surrender or Surrendered?
Nectar in the life of the surrendered people, Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam,
Prapanna-jīvane-āmṛta, those that have come to take refuge,
this will be like nectar to them. That was my conception previously. It will be
nectar to whom? Those that have surrendered, it will be nectar to them.
Otherwise, ordinary people may not...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
It will be poison to them. Give up this, give up that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa. It will be nectar in the lives of who have
surrendered. There the real adhikārī, there, it is meant for
them.
Jīva
Goswāmī has written in his book ______________savatopita [?],
“Those that have got faith in such, in Veda, in Bhāgavatam,
they’re to read this book. Otherwise, I put a curse, so those that have no
faith in this they must not come to read my book.” Jīva Goswāmī
has written in such a way. “You won’t come, you unbeliever, you won’t come to
touch my book,” in this way. “You are unbelievers, it is not meant for you –
sealed. Only who has got faith in such and such things, it is only for them.
You are discarded, you ordinary public discarded, savatopita [?], you
must not touch my book. You will understand it otherwise.”
This is also a custom. At least if one comes, ventures to read, with
some caution he’ll come. The curiosity will be more – “Why he says so?”Adhikarī-
nirmnay, who will come to read the Veda with adhikāra,
adhikāra, if we have got no – attained the standard, then it will
misunderstand, mutilate, all these things.
parokṣa-vādo vedo 'yaṁ, bālānām
anuśāsanam
[karma-mokṣāya karmāṇi, vidhatte hy agadaṁ
yathā]
["Childish and foolish people are attached to materialistic,
fruitive activities, although the actual goal of life is to become free from
such activities. Therefore, the Vedic injunctions indirectly lead one to the
path of ultimate liberation by first prescribing fruitive religious activities,
just as a father promises his child candy so that the child will take his
medicine."]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.3.44]
Śaṅkarācārya
also says, just before athāto brahma-jijñāsā, “What is
the meaning of this athā?” Śaṅkarācārya says.
Rāmānuja
also says athāto brahma-jijñāsā. Athā, “What is the
meaning of athā? Athā means anantaram, after
this; after which, one has attained this śama, dama, titikṣā;
all these. One who has controlled his senses, and his mental speculations, śama,
dama, who has got a very tolerant and persevering spirit, titikṣā,
and something, they will come to study this book.”
In Uttara-mīmāṁsā
of Vedānta Vedavyāsa has written, “Athāto
brahma-jijñāsā. Athā means anantaram, after this;
after which, after he has acquired such particular qualities, particular grade,
then he will come to study this. Not for ordinary people, they will
misunderstand, misinterpret, mutilate, and trouble will be created in the
society. So for social benefit I say that only such persons will come and they
will have proper clear understanding and then they will preach that to the
public in inspired particular instalments and they’ll be benefited, the public,
so athāto.”
Rāmānuja
says, “No. Athā does not mean that. Athā means after
finishing the Pūrvva-mīmāṁsā of Vyāsadeva, of Jaiminī, Pūrvva-mīmāṁsā and Uttara-mīmāṁsā,
after one has finished the course of Pūrvva-mīmāṁsā, that is niskarma varṇāśrama
dharma, then he will come to understand the study of this Uttara-mīmāṁsā.
Then it will be beneficial to him. He has finished successfully the karma
adhikāra, and then he will come to enter into the jñāna
adhikāra.” That is what Rāmānuja says.
And Baladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa says, “Whoever he may be, this, whether karmī
or jñānī, whoever he may be, athā means he
must have sat-saṅga, sādhu-saṅga. From everywhere he
has got the proper association of a proper sādhu, he’s entitled to study this book, qualified to study this book,
he will understand the real meaning.”
In this way, so everywhere there’s consideration for adhikāra,
yogyatā.
Devotees: Fitness, ability, aptitude, qualification.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Qualification, the standard of
qualification he must acquire and then he will come to tackle this plane. And
he will have healthy association.
...
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Our Guru Mahārāja used to say, “Athāto,
now that we have come to the human form of life, after coming to the human form
of life.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Only human form of life is not sufficient. Sat-saṅga, sādhu-saṅga,
sad-guru caraṇāśraya, sādhu-saṅga. Sādhu-saṅga,
anyone, one who has got the grace of a sādhu, ya'o paḍa
bhāgavata vaiṣṇavera sthane.
[“yāha, bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera
sthāne / ekānta
āśraya kara caitanya-caraṇe]
[“If you want to
understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,” he said, “you must
approach a self-realized Vaiṣṇava and hear from him. You can do
this when you have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Antya-līlā, 5.131]
Even a brāhmaṇa
is not qualified to read, to enter into Bhāgavatam.Mahāprabhu
says, “Go to a Vaiṣṇava and then you will get the real standpoint
of Bhāgavatam from him, how to approach Bhāgavatam.”
Here was one Devānanda Paṇḍita, a brāhmaṇa of noted scholarship, he used to,udarpana,
he was a professor of Bhāgavatam, and many used to come to hear
from him Bhāgavatam.Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita he was an expert in the explanation of Bhāgavatam here
in Kuliyā.The [Bhakti Prajñāna] Keśava Mahārāja’s Maṭh
is named after them, Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭh.Devānanda,
he was a scholar of Bhāgavatam, but he had the standpoint from the
Śaṅkara School.
So Mahāprabhu, suddenly, one day, “Oh, here that Devānanda Paṇḍita, he...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He gives lectures.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
“He teaches Bhāgavatam to the students, so many students, but he
himself does not know the real purport. He’s spreading poison in the name of Bhāgavatam.
I shall go and tear up his books.”One day suddenly inspired with such spirit
Mahāprabhu ran.
And
Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita,
and others perhaps, stopped Him. “No, no, that won’t be well in You, anyhow.”
Then one day
Mahāprabhu met Devānanda Paṇḍita and told, “You teach Bhāgavatam to the students,
but do you know it, what is there in Bhāgavatam? What nectar is
there, you yourself do not know.”
So in a very
base, ridiculous way Mahāprabhu told,
Prabhu kahe
pari purna
______________________________________________ [?]
“One who has fed full belly, when he goes to the latrine – while passing
stool he gets some relief. But you do not get that sort of pleasure also. That
sort of pleasure also you do not get. What nectar, what taste, is there, and
you mean fellow with mean mind you approach the Bhāgavatam and you
teach in such a filthy way. What do you know about Bhāgavatam?”
Then, some other
time, Vakeśvara Paṇḍita,
Mahāprabhu’s intimate devotee, he came and stayed – ah, what I wanted to
say - Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita
came one day to hear Bhāgavatam from Devānanda’s tol,
school. Then Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita when hearing Bhāgavatam, he’s pronouncing the śloka,
Śrīvāsa is understanding in his own way, and so many feelings
coming, sometimes tears, sometimes shivering.
And Devānanda Paṇḍita asked his students, “Oh. That man has come to disturb us with
all these lower sentiments, take him up, take him out.”
So his students took Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita from there and left him outside.
And that enraged Mahāprabhu.
And anyhow, that
Vakeśvara Paṇḍita
he came to his house, who was the first disciple of Mahāprabhu. And he was
the first successor in Rādhā Kantha Maṭha Purī, Vakeśvara Paṇḍita. After Mahāprabhu’s departure Vakeśvara was in charge
of that place where Mahāprabhu lived twenty four [twelve] years.
Gambhīrā, Kāśī Miśra's Maṭha, Rādhā Kantha Maṭha. And that Vakeśvara Paṇḍita came here previously, and he had a private talk and
Devānanda was converted.
“Yes. I did not know that such meaning may
be in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We were influenced by Śaṅkarācārya,
the Brahman is all-in-all, and these are all saguṇa, māyā."
So when Mahāprabhu, after five years of sannyāsa, He
came again to visit this Navadwīpa Dhāma, this Kuliyā,
Vakeśvara Paṇḍita,
[Devānanda Paṇḍita]
fell on His feet, “I committed great offences.”
Devotees: Devānanda Paṇḍita.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Devānanda Paṇḍita. And Mahāprabhu, “Yes, you committed offences so much, not
about Me as you have committed to Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita. Go and beg forgiveness from him. You will be absolved from your
offences.” Mahāprabhu told him.
kuliyā-grāmete āsi' śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya / hena nāhi, yā 're prabhu nā karilā dhanya
["At Koladvīpa - the Govardhana Hill of Vṛndāvana,
concealed in Śrī Navadvīpa Dhāma - the Most Generous
Absolute expressed Himself in His maximum generosity. Without considering any
crime, He absolved whoever He found. He accepted them all."]
[Caitanya-Bhāgavat: Antya, 3.541]
The
Cāpāla Gopāl and many others that gave so many bad remarks about
Śrī Caitanyadeva’s Movement,
they all came, “I could not understand Your outstanding personality and
superiority, so I, we did much wrong against You unknowingly, unconsciously.
Please forgive us.”
“Oh, no, no, no, you’ve no offence,
I say go away.”
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.So adhikāra, Bhāgavatam
also, and sat-saṅga, even a brāhmaṇa may not
have a proper position to understand and to teach scripture. Only sādhu-saṅga,
a good teacher, a good teacher is necessary to understand the śāstra.
Mahāprabhu
asked Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa also,
he was living in Benares, son of Tapana Miśra. Tapana Miśra was a
devotee and scholar also. When Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa went to visit
Mahāprabhu in Purī He told, “Don’t marry, serve your parents, they’re
Vaiṣṇavas, and when they pass away you will go to Vṛndāvana
and live with Rūpa and Sanātana. In the meantime you read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
from a Vaiṣṇava teacher.Ya'o
paḍa bhāgavata vaiṣṇavera sthane [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Antya-līlā, 5.131]Get the real standpoint, how to approach, what
is the theme, what is its end, all these things. They will be able to give you
real direction in your study.”
So Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa comes
to say that, “He may be anyone, but he comes to a proper Guru, guide, then he’s got the capacity to enter into the meaning
of the book, of the scripture.”
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Then it’s said,
eka bhāgavata baḍa - bhāgavata-śāstra / āra bhāgavata - bhakta bhakti-rasa-pātra
So what is bhakti-rasa-pātra?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Two Bhāgavatas, bhakti
rasa pātra means the sādhu, one who is living the life of
a Bhāgavata, bhakti-rasa-pātra, pertaining to Bhagavān.
The book and the man, living scripture is Bhāgavata, Vaisnava is Bhāgavata.
Bhāgavatu bhakta bhāgavata. So Bhāgavata is person
and Bhāgavata is scripture, both.
eka bhāgavata baḍa - bhāgavata-śāstra,
āra bhāgavata - bhakta bhakti-rasa-pātra.
[One of the bhāgavatas
is the great scripture Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the
other is the pure devotee absorbed in the mellows of loving devotion.][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.99]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: What is the meaning of bhakti-rasa-pātra?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhakti-rasa-pātra – a person
who is filled up, a pot filled up with rasam, raso vai saḥ,
ānandam, pātra. Pātra means person as well pātra means
pot, two meanings of the word pātra. Pātra means the pot,
glass, container; and he’s also container, pātra vecti. Deṣa-kāla-pātra,
the space, time, and person, deṣa-kāla-pātra, three
factors of the world.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Devotee: ________________ Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam ________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam,
āmṛtam, prapanna-jīvane āmṛtam, prapanna-jīvane
āmṛta svarūpam, those that have surrendered this is nectar
in their life. The nectarine in the surrendered life, nectarine in the souls
surrendered, surrendered souls nectarine; it will sustain them like āmṛtam.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
To those that have surrendered.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To those that are surrendered, it is
nectar to them. And they will live eating this. This is their food. If they go
on doing it their life will be sustained as the food like āmṛtam to
them.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, what inspired you to
compose Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When I came out to live alone, leaving
away the association of the disciples of Prabhupāda I came to live alone I
felt some sort of helplessness within me. And then I found that śaraṇāgati
that is the indispensable necessity in
the life of a devotee. I have left, or anyhow I am excluded from the company of
Prabhupāda’s association, I am helpless, but śaraṇāgati
may come to my relief. So especially I came to think that what is śaraṇāgati?
Śaraṇāgati will be the basis. And Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s
Śaraṇāgati impressed me most, when I came to its
connection.
ṣaḍ aṅga śaraṇāgati haibe
yāṅhāra / tāṅhāra
prarthanā śune śrī nanda-kumāra
[“The youthful son of Nanda Mahārāja, Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
hears the prayers of anyone who takes refuge in Him by this six-fold
practice.”] [The Songs of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, p1]
“If I want Nanda-kumāra then I must have this six-fold śaraṇāgati.”
And I wanted to culture that. So I heard as much as, in that time, after coming
from Maṭha, in my Maṭha life, I recollected them, as well as consulting with Hari-bhakti-vilāsa,
Śaraṇāgati, Jīva Goswāmī Prabhu’s Bhakti
Sandarbha Śaraṇāgati, and Rāmānuja sampradāya
Śaraṇāgati. And then I tried to collect them and to put
them in a particular way as I thought best, and then began to write this book,
that this may help others who will come in such position as mine. That was the
reason. This question I was never asked so far. You have asked today. And I say
what led me to compose this book.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
New questions mean the possibility of new nectar Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Nicari sapna bangal [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I heard of Rabi [Rabindranath] Tagore’s noted poetry but I have not gone through that.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
It’s more a nationalistic feeling...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The orthodox, he blamed the orthodox
system.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Nijari sapna bangal [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: ______________Rabindranatha Tagore, he had command of the language ___________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _____________he could describe beautifully anything he touched; kavi.
But Kalidās is also a notably, renowned kavi, but he’s not
Ācārya, his life was a filthy one we’re told. So Rabi Tagore he may
be a poet, but what is given to us that is not acceptable.
Professor
Sanyal, our Nisikanta Sanyal, the writer of Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Caitanya, a very blind follower of our Guru Mahārāja, and very
strong, he was first follower of Rabi Tagore. Then when he came to this School,
in his diary he noted, “One who does not sincerely believe in a particular
creed and he goes to write, eulogise that thought, he’s a hypocrite.” So, and
he rejected Rabi Tagore from there. Hypocrite, kapaṭā, deceit, he’s a deceit, banchak, deceiving agent is he who does not, who has no faith really in
that creed but he’s writing many things in its favour. So we must be very
careful about them. He does not believe what he says, he does not believe it in
itself. The man and his word is
different. We must not believe such man. We should be rather very much careful
when we shall meet him. What he says he does not believe that. He’s a
hypocrite; double dealing. That was found in his diary.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.
______________________________ [?]
One Doctor came for treatment when I was a
patient. “You have come, you have passed so many days in your red cloth, what
have you got?” He wanted.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He’s asking you?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hmm.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He had the audacity to ask you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
“Have you got anything? You are passing so many days with red cloth.”
Yes. I have, I may think that I have got so much as to say with boldness
that what is written by your Rabindranath Tagore, all false.
[Group laughter]
_________________________________________________________ [?]
The highest position in the culture of the
present day, everything wrong and filthy, so much I have studied.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He must have been quite shocked. ________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: One of my friends in previous life he
came to see me, “What have you got? Have you seen God?” In this way: straight
question.
No, I have not yet seen, as you may think, to be seen.
“Then what have you got? So many days you have passed?”
I also told him that, your Vivekānanda and Ramakrishna, they’ve got
nothing, and what they’ve said is all false. This I have understood.
Then he was very much depressed and went away.
That their sight, what they say, “That this is God, I have seen God,”
all these things are false, and nothing. That is saguṇa; that is māyā.
That is not seeing.
Once, an important thing, while Calcutta Maṭha was in a hired house, UlṭāḌāṅgā,
at that time, in the beginning of the Maṭha,
we came, perhaps that year or one year ago I’d come, joined the Mission, the
day of appearance of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was observed with some
festival, and some pandal was to be erected on the street, and there
meetings were going on. One respectable zamīndārwas taken by
one of our, that
Goswāmī Mahārāja, one of our God-brothers, was invited and
he came to hear. And he asked Prabhupāda, our Guru Mahārāja, “I
have got a very private talk with you.”
Then it was in a dark night when it was arranged, two chairs were given
a little far off, and Prabhupāda went there and that gentleman also, sat
closely. Anyhow, I managed to take position little far in the dark night. That
Prabhupāda may not be left alone, that was also my thought in the mind,
and also, ‘what does he say?’ a curiosity.
Then that man taking his head possibly nearest distance to
Prabhupāda’s ear; “Have you seen God?”
Then Prabhupāda’s answer was, “What is the good of saying that I
have seen or I have not seen? As long as you do not know how to see, what is
called, ‘to see the Lord’, you do not know, you cannot
get any benefit by my mere statement that,
‘I have seen or I have not seen.’ You are blind to both the things, to both.
First thing you should learn how to see God. You must get that sort of eye to
see the God. Without that my statement, any man may say, ‘I have seen.’ Then, what of that to you? You may be deceived.
‘I have not seen your God what you have concocted within you as God.’ That may
also misguide you.”
So Prabhupāda’s trying to see.
And he’s repeatedly, “Have you seen, have you seen?” in this way.
And Prabhupāda is always sticking to his own point, “That will be
of no good to you. You should know what is God and how to see, what is His
sight; all these you must study yourself. Otherwise you’ll be deceived by any
man and every man by the mere statement that has got no value.” In this way.
And our Mādhava Mahārāja, he was Hayagrīva
Brahmacārī first, and then Mādhava Mahārāja, and his
cousin-brother Nārāyaṇa Mukhergee, both of them first went to
visit Katwa to see Mahāprabhu’s Mūrti, and from there he came to see
Māyāpur and went to see Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda seeing two young men of fair complexion, he asked them,
“Who are you? Where did you go?”
They told, “We went to see Katwa, to have darśana of
Mahāprabhu’s Vigraha there.”
I heard from Mādhava Mahārāja.
Then Prabhupāda stressed, “Have you seen, could you see
Mahāprabhu?”
“Ordinarily we have seen. But the way he was putting his question and
pressing, ‘Have you had darśana?’ That raised some questions within us. Then he means something
else, the real sight. Then yes, we have seen that as ordinary men are seeing.
That is not seeing proper. If we want to see Him then we must have to get such
eye and go to Guru.”
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
[cakṣur unmilitaṁ yena, tasmai śrī-gurave
namaḥ]
["I was blind in the darkness of ignorance but my Spiritual Master
applied the ointment of proper spiritual knowledge and thus opened my eyes.
Unto him I offer my respectful obeisances."]
“All these things he came in with, teaching. And then at that time we
went away, but again we came with the proper seeing, how to see Him properly.”
And then
Hayagrīva Prabhu, he was Herambo Banerjee, once, as he told, he was working
in a private European company, and suddenly by reading the book of Śaṅkarācārya
he had some intense indifference to the worldly life and ran to Haridwar and
went far up into the hills and stayed three days and nights there under a tree,
and ate some bael fruits. Then he told to me, “I
heard a sound. Go away, you will get sad-guru, the real Guru you will get, you go now.” Then I came back, and generally I
have come here.” Consequently he told, this Mādhava Mahārāja.
Herambo Banerjee, Ganeśa, and then Hayagrīva Brahmacārī.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.So
how to see, the eye is necessary, the eye, divya darśana. Divyaṁ
dadāmi te cakṣuḥ, paśya me yogam aiśvaram.
[na tu māṁ śakyase draṣṭum, anenaiva
sva-cakṣuṣā
divyaṁ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ, paśya me
yogam aiśvaram]
["By these present eyes of yours you will not be able to see Me.
Therefore I give you supernatural eyes by which you can see My almighty, mystic
power."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 11.8]
That is another consideration. Arjuna had higher eye, but divya
darśana to Arjuna had to come lower, in the lower strata then to have
that sort of darśana. That is not the highest darśana. Divivya
Kṛṣṇa, that is the
highest darśana, and vaṁśīdhari more higher,
more higher.So divya darśana, the darśana, the seeing
of a lower type what Arjuna had to undergo, another darśana; though
it is said there, sudurdarśam idaṁ, then that is in another
side.
sudurdarśam idaṁ rūpaṁ, dṛṣṭavān
asi yan mama
devā apy asya rūpasya, nityaṁ
darśana-kāñkṣiṇaḥ
["Oh Arjuna, the chance to see Me as you are now seeing Me before
you is very, very rarely attained. Even the gods constantly aspire for a
glimpse of this human-like form of truth, consciousness and beauty."] [Bhagavad-gītā,
11.52]
Dṛṣṭavān
asi, present tense.
When Arjuna could not tolerate that divya darśana he told, “I can’t
bear. You come to that in my level as I had experience of Your darśana.”
Then He became catur-bhuja first and then deva-bhuja.
dṛṣṭvedaṁ mānuṣaṁ
rūpaṁ, tava saumyaṁ janārdana
idānīm asmi saṁvṛttaḥ, sa-cetāḥ
prakṛtiṁ gataḥ
["O Janārdana, my heart is fulfilled upon seeing Your charming
form of human features. My fear is dispelled, and my inner peace has
returned."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 11.51]
“Now I have come to my normal position, sa-cetāḥ, saṁvṛttaḥ,
sa-cetāḥ prakṛtiṁ gataḥ.”
Then Bhagavān told, sudurdarśam
idaṁ rūpaṁ, dṛṣṭavān asi yan mama. “Generally we may think that divya-rūpa that is very rarely to be found.”
End of 81.08.20.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.20.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
[śrī bhagavān uvāca]
[sudurdarśam idaṁ rūpaṁ, dṛṣṭavān
asi yan mama]
devā apy asya rūpasya, nityaṁ
darśana-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ
[The Supreme Lord said: O Arjuna, the chance to see Me as you are now
seeing Me before you, is very, very rarely attained. Even the gods constantly
aspire for a glimpse of this humanlike form of truth, consciousness, and
beauty.] [Bhagavad-gītā, 11.52]
But interpreters say, “No, that divya rūpa that is applied
to that divya rūpa, because dṛṣṭavān asi,
asi means present tense, not dṛṣṭavān, that
is past tense. Dṛṣṭavān asi, that is, “What at
present you see Me, that is two handed figure.” Devā apy asya
rūpasya, nityaṁ darśana-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ.
They can’t, they generally say that catur-buja. And that divya
rūpa, the whole thing within Me, that is a troublesome rūpa of
Me. So that is not natural: naturally some unnatural. That is like to play the
part of a magician. Everything is in Me. You see this, this, this, this.” That
is not aprākṛta. That is full of majesty of different types
mixed together. So dṛṣṭavān asi, aprākṛta
rūpa, divya rūpa. That is:
kṛṣṇera yateka khelā, sarvottama
nara-līlā, nara-vapu tāhāra svarūpa
[gope-veśa, veṇu-kara nava kiśora, nata-vara,
nara līlāra haya anurūpa]
[“Lord
Śrī Kṛṣṇa has many pastimes, of which His pastimes
as a human being are the best. His form as a human being is the Supreme
Transcendental Form. In this form, He is a cowherd boy. He carries a flute in
His hand, and His youth is new. He is also an expert dancer. All this is just
suitable for His pastimes as a human being.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 21.101]
Of all His pastimes, that is very near to human, human life, human type;
that is the highest. Rather, the human life has been created after His highest
form of playful life.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: It has been created after, I mean...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Model is there and the human society has
been created after that model. The original, highest form is there. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: God made man after His own image. The Christians say.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. God made man after His own image.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.And the Vṛndāvana līlā,
ha, ha, most ordinary, most human, more than that even, like a debauch, guṇḍā.
Stealing, lying, doing anything and everything, in a sweet way. Without that
the servitors of those rasa they can’t stay. Perhaps if He did not steal
and did not make such boisterousness or so Yaśodā will die?Audata, roguery - impertinence?That was though externally
Yaśodā is enraged, but otherwise
if that impertinence is not there Yaśodā could not live. Such is her
constitution. She’s made of that stuff.There is a pleasure in toleration of the
impertinence of the child. That is in vātsalya rasa, an important
part of vātsalya rasa is there. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Nimāi is absent? ________________________ [?]Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, I was reading yesterday in the Paramātmā
Sandarbha, descriptions in the Paramātmā Sandarbha, of how
the living entity sees in the dream, dreaming state, in svapna he also
sees. So what is that medium? What is the medium by which one sees in a dream?
What kind of eye is that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
The medium, is everything, the subtle body within, the subtle, the mental body,
the mental system within, sūkṣma-deha. There is not only see,
that eye, the ear, everything is there, the touch, everything is there. In our
subtle body everything is there, what we find in the flesh and blood, it is
there, everything. It is more akin than this external body. It is more perfect
than this external body, the mental system. Everyone has got that system.
There is world,
there is government, and Yāmarāja is the judge. A government is
there. Without this physical body the mental body can live and move. And there
is a region where there are different stages of mental body, living
independently of this physical, the good and bad, of course within the area of sattya,
rāja, tama, in this brahmāṇḍa, the mental body
what we say ourselves.
And Rāmānuja says that our dream is not a false thing. There
also we live many lives. In dream we feel pain and pleasure and thereby many of
our karma is finished. Just as by this physical life by suffering bad karma
vanishes, and by feeling pleasure, puṇyam, merit finishes. So
also in dream, in a bad dream we feel some pains and some of our previous bad karma
finishes. And in good dream when we’re happy there also the puṇyam
is finished thereby. That is life and that is real in this sense, in the
mundane sense.Bhūr, Bhuvar, Svar, Mahar, Janar, Tapar, Satyam, in those
stages, where are they? Not in the physical plane but in the mental plane. The
world is there, mental experience.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Janar, Tapar, Mahar, this is all mental experience?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, up to sattva-guṇa, Satya-loka,
sattva-guṇa, the guṇa-māyī, the misconception
according to its degree, it extends up to Satya-loka, up to Brahmā,
Satya-loka. And then the negative side finished in Virajā, in prakṛti,
and then the beginning of the other plane, Brahmaloka. And then Śivaloka,
Vaikuṇṭha-loka, of variegated types. And then above, Ayodhyā,
Dvārakā, Goloka, Dvārakā, Vṛndāvana, gradation
is always going on up to Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Svayaṁ-Bhagavān,
rasa, Govardhana līlā, Rādhā-kuṇḍa,
according to the degree of the ecstatic joy. The standard of measurement will
be rasam, rasa, ānandam. International measure is gold, they have
got their own coins, dollar, pound, rupee, rouble, all these things, but international
standard is gold. So rasa is the standard by which we can measure what
is, that is the universal standard, ānandam, by which we are to
measure what high what is low.
vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī
tatrāpi rāsotsavād
vṛndāraṇyam udāra-pāṇi-ramaṇāt
tatrāpi govardhanaḥ
rādhā-kuṇḍam ihāpi gokula-pateḥ
premāmṛtāplāvanāt
[kuryād asya virājato giri-taṭe sevāṁ
vivekī na kaḥ]
["The holy
place known as Mathurā is spiritually superior to Vaikuṇṭha,
the transcendental world, because the Lord appeared there. Superior to
Mathurā-purī is the transcendental forest of Vṛndāvana
because of Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā pastimes.
And superior to the forest of Vṛndāvana is Govardhana Hill, for it
was raised by the divine hand of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and was
the site of His various loving pastimes. And, above all, the super-excellent
Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa stands supreme, for it is
over-flooded with the ambrosial nectarean prema of the Lord of Gokula,
Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Where, then, is that intelligent person
who is unwilling to serve this divine Rādhā-kuṇḍa, which
is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill?"]
[Upadeśāmṛta,
9]
In this way:
gradual improvement in rasa. Raso vai saḥ. Akhila-rasāmṛta-sindhu.
Rasa is controlling the whole universe, seen, unseen, rasa. Raso vai saḥ.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Nitāi Gaura Gadādhara.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: These higher planetary systems which are within this brahmāṇḍa,
our existence, or the living entities existing within those planets, they all
have sūkṣma body?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, even the trees, even the stones
have their sūkṣma body, but not awakened sufficiently. The
degree of awakening is there,
different.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: No, the living entities on these higher planetary systems,
they are already living on those planets in their sūkṣma body,
not in this gross body of flesh and blood.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. We are told that Pitṛloka,
generally the departed souls from the human body, if they under special order
have immediate next birth they will live in Candraloka. Pitṛloka is
Candraloka, and there day and night is one fortnight. So Pitṛloka, they
may rest there. They do not want such food. So these kishikaja, all these
calculations is not necessary for them. They live on their pension what is sent
from this world towards them, that bhava. The sūkṣma-deha
lives on some mental pension.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Piṇḍu?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mental pension. One mentally sending
something that goes there and they live on that food. Pitṛloka, they
live, generally they’re located in Candraloka, in the moon. Just as one ghost
may live in a particular tree, ghost says, “I’m living there in a particular
tree,” that mental affinity. So in general the Pitṛloka they live in
Candraloka though Candraloka is not favourable for the souls with flesh and
body, not a favourable place to live,
but without this body only the mental body can live there. And live means only
a mental association, their living means mental association. And they can also
communicate amongst them, they’re so many, the society, they can also communicate
with them. Just as in Theosophy, the Theosophists they say that devoid, without
this body so many souls can live, are living.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: They’re living off the piṇḍu offering?
Devotee: _________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, by piṇḍa-dāna,
they’re offering here and the impression going to them. He’s doing some deed,
giving something, and the mental impression is there, and that is going to feed
him, to connect. He has got that mental body and the mental impression is their
food, not this physical thing. And if he offers to a good person then that will
create greater effects there. So after offering piṇḍa that
is given to good persons here; or even at least to the cows, they’re innocent,
not mischievous. Cows are the, amongst all the beasts cows are considered to be
the most innocent birth, innocent form of birth. And after that they come to
live in the human birth, it is supposed, the souls. After finishing their
animal course, the last point they come to be cows and bulls. And then the
ordinary course finished they come to get a chance in the human form to begin
the free will action. But there they have got no free will, all work on
intuition, so they do not acquire any merit or demerit. They’re only suffering
or enjoying the result of their former action. But only new action begins only
in the human birth, especially in India, Bhārata-varṣa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So they’re also subjected to starvation, hunger?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: In Pitṛloka.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In the Pitṛloka?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They may do sometimes, and they may die
also. Because when that is finished – by transformation, may be transferred,
this, this, there, somewhere else. That is not a permanent thing. That is, must
be interval of time.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: If someone in the heavenly planets, their puṇya,
if in the Svaga, somebody’s puṇya becomes...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Svaga is that of puṇya,
when finished, generally he may come here to get another chance of doing good
or bad...
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: It is said they come...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And even in a special case he may be
hurled down to another section if his pāpaṁ is more intense.
He may not always be allowed to come here where there is freedom of action, not
always, but generally they may come.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: They say they come in the rain.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rain, yes; that is another thing. When pāpa
and puṇya finished, they get the chance – the ordinary pāpa
puṇya what was ripe, that is finished, they’re thrown into the sky
and with rain they fall, adopting, with some physical adopting connection they
come here and they connect themselves mentally with some crops. In this way the
crops with the food come to the male persons and they enter into the womb and
then come with a body. That is also a particular process, but not always, there
are exceptions also. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: They’re thrown into the sky, after dying.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: His association; that is their
inclination or association with their, when they left in the chaos then
gradually their sūkṣma karma evolves and takes to the
particular, not always with human section but so many animals also. But with
that first association with the gross thing and with that association they come
to enter into different stages of this physical life. It is not unreasonable.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: Generally the living entities go to the heavenly planets to
get the results of their pious activities.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can’t follow.
Devotee: Generally the living entities they go to the heavenly planets
to get the results of their pious activities.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, by some pious activity they go up.
Devotee: And what about the result of their sinful activity? They go to
the hellish planets? What about their sinful activity? I mean...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sinful? Must be classified either pious
or heinous...
Devotee: But they’re doing both sinful and...
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: ________________________________ [?]
They’re committing both pious and impious
activity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He says neither pious nor sinful, do you
mean to say that?
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: ___________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________________________ [?] …in the lower creation...
________________________________ [?]
Without the physical body, only mental body...
___________________________ [?]Without
this physical body one can feel pain of different types. That is nāraka. _______________________ [?]Ha,
ha, a waste of energy. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Yes Mahārāja, it is a waste of energy to simply
photograph some tree or some landscape. But when I’m doing it of a
transcendentalist then it is bhāgavata-sevā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What’s that verse? Ei baro karuna
koro, vaisnava gosai.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
ei baro karuna koro, vaisnava gosai, patita pavana toma bine
keho nai.
jahara nikate gele papa dure jay, emona doyalu prabhu keba kotha
pay.
gangara parasa hoile pascate pavan, darsane pavitra koro ei
tomara guna.
hari-sthane aparadhe tare’ hari-nama, toma-sthane aparadhe
nahika paritrana.
tomara hrdoye sada govinda-visrama, govinda kahena, mora vaisnava
parana.
prati janme kori asa caranera dhuli, narottame koro doya apanara
bali’.
[O Vaisnava Goswami, please be merciful to me now. No one except for you
can purify the conditioned souls. Where does anyone go to find such a merciful
personality by whose mere audience all sins go far away? After bathing in the
waters of the sacred Ganges many times one becomes purified, but just by the
sight of you, fallen souls are purified. This is your great power. The holy
name delivers one who has committed an offence to Lord Hari, but if one commits
an offence to you, there is no way of overcoming it. Your heart is always the
resting place of Lord Govinda, and Lord Govinda says the Vaisnavas are always
in My heart. I desire the dust of your holy feet in every birth I may take.
Please consider Narottama dasa Thakura yours and be kind upon him.][Prarthana
– Narottama dasa Ṭhākura]
[Gauḍīya
Kaṇṭhahāra, 3.40]
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi
Caitanya.
_______________ Nitāi.
Nitāi. Gaura Haribol.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: ...we find that, which scripture?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Perhaps in some Upaniṣad it
is.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I see, I see. I was curious.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nitāi Caitanya. Only give
statement. No reason or rhyme there we find, because it is meant for the higher
level where no possibility of any deception. For whatever is told, they the
listeners take it as full truth, no doubt, no position of doubt, because there
is no possibility of any deception. In that highest civilised plane the Upaniṣad,
“You say this, this is this, and yes, it is that.” No tarka, no
reasoning, no doubt, nothing of the kind because the plane is such, this
deception is unknown there. So Veda, Upaniṣad, na tāṁs
tarkeṇa yojayet.
acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs
tarkeṇa yojayet
[prakṛtibhyaḥ paraṁ yacca tad-acintyasya lakṣam]
["That which is inconceivable can never be understood through the
logic and reason of the mind. The very symptom that something is inconceivable
is that it is beyond logical comprehension."] [Skanda-Purāṇa]
& [Mahābharata, Bhiṣma Parva,
5.22]
Don’t take your doubt and reasoning to that higher stage. This is
unnecessary there. Only plain speaking, fare dealing, no trial of any, none
wants to deceive, it is unknown there. So Upaniṣad he says in that
plane, Veda, Upaniṣad, no rhyme reason. But when it came in lower
level then of course the smṛti came, the Purāṇa came,
to advise like friends, “Do this, you’ll be benefited. Such man did that, he
got this result. And he did bad things and a bad
result. So my friend don’t.” This is like Purāṇa. And smṛti
to apply the truth in our everyday life smṛti comes to our
help.Manmate atardhi. And kavya it
comes like the affectionate wife. “Do this, it will be good to you.” Very sweet
form kavya comes to advise us. It is the Veda. Acintyāḥ
khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet. It does
not come into the jurisdiction of doubt and reasoning and all these things.
Don’t drag all these filthy things to that sphere.
I told in one lecture, the mother is giving a sweetmeat to the hand of a
child, her son.“Oh, it may be poison within, here, there may be poison. I must
examine, go to the laboratory.”Then this is a very harsh civilisation,
deplorable thing. Affectionate and fair dealing is unknown. And there the tarka,
the vichar, yukti, doubt, examination, inspection comes there: a filthy
life.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Mahārāja, in Vṛndāvana,
Rādhārāṇī is in charge of the Vṛndāvana
Dhāma. She’s the Dhāma ______ Now, in Navadwīpa Dhāma,
Mahārāja, who is _______ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Here, Nityānanda Prabhu we may
take, Nityānanda Prabhu.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Balarāma, Lord Balarāma expands Himself into the
Dhāma. The Vaikuṇṭha Dhāma is an expansion of Lord
Balarāma.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Balarāma’s facsimile that is Saṅkarṣaṇa,
you may say. Balarāma is in Goloka standard, Balarāma, and His vaibhava,
extended self, His delegated self in
Vaikuṇṭha.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: And He Himself expands into
the Goloka Dhāma.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Goloka.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Lord Balarāma.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Goloka,
Vṛndāvana, everywhere, but sandhīnī, that
underground.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Sandhīnī-śakti.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And always active; only in mādhurya
rasa passive. There, Rādhārāṇī’s vaibhava having
full play, and Balarāma passively, Yogamāyā, Balarāma and
Yogamāyā of similar function. Both of Them combined conducting that,
about the arrangement of the stage.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, what is the position of Subhadrā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Subhadrā? In Bhadrā’s position
in Dvārakā, not in Vṛndāvana. There is one sakhī of
Rādhārāṇī named Bhadrā. There are many sakhī’s
and Subhadrā name may also be found there. That is another thing. But
what we find in Jagannātham, in Arjuna patni; that is within the
Dvārakā līlā. Bhadrā is sister to Kṛṣṇa
in Dvārakā līlā, nothing to do in Vṛndāvana.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: She’s sometimes referred to as Yogamāyā,
Subhadrā Devī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where?
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: No, isn’t she?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: No, she’s not that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When I used to write Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam
I had to think very deeply, and at that time I came in this position, that who;
what will be the relation of Baladeva and Yogamāyā? I found within
myself that Baladeva must be master of Yogamāyā. But I did not find
it anywhere in the scripture. But anyhow, after calculating in the environment,
analysing, I came to that they must have some connection. Yogamāyā is
also making arrangement about Kṛṣṇa līlā and
Baladeva is also doing. So Their relation
must be very intimate. And perhaps Yogamāyā must be as if the wife of
Baladeva, Balarāma. That was, that conclusion came to me. But then later
on I found that Jīva Goswāmī he has also expressed such opinion,
that Yogamāyā and Baladeva, similar.And Vṛnda Devī also
very akin to them there conducting the affairs, Yogamāyā. Yogamāyā
especially in the female circle, śakti, Balarāma, and Baladeva
in the outer rather, male circle, something like that. But they two are the
second layer. First layer only feeling His own ecstasy.
sukha-rūpa kṛṣṇa kare sukha
āsvādana, [bhakta-gaṇe sukha dite `hlādinī'-kāraṇa]
[“Ecstasy
personified is Kṛṣṇa Himself, and He feels, tastes and enjoys
Himself; but only through faith is it possible to transmit and distribute that
ecstasy and joy to others. Faith is the very nature of the hlādinī-śakti,
the ecstasy potency, which is represented in full by Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī. It can transmit total Kṛṣṇa
consciousness to the devotees outside. Faith is the halo of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, by the light of
which others may understand Kṛṣṇa. When the negative combines
with the positive, realisation of Their function is distributed to all other
negative parts.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
8.158]
And when extension begins we find the Balarāma and
Yogamāyā. They’re making arrangements for that transaction of Kṛṣṇa.
Rasāmṛta murtih rasa, He’s tasting Himself. Rasa is
tasting Himself. Cit rasa, not this mundane rasa, the
subject, and rasa is object. When rasa is Himself the subject,
the highest subject, He’s tasting Himself. Sukha-rūpa kṛṣṇa
kare sukha āsvādana. Then it will gradually extend itself, or
Himself, and we find Baladeva, facsimile of Kṛṣṇa. And
Baladeva and as direct approach to Baladeva to the mādhurya rasa,
is in the science of rasa it is not admissible, so He should extend
Himself as Yogamāyā, His special potency Yogamāyā is going
to perform. And another representation, delegation of Baladeva is the younger
sister of Rādhārāṇī, Anaṅga Mañjarī.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Anaṅga Mañjarī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Baladeva as Anaṅga
Mañjarī, He is there participating in the service of
Rādhārāṇī. And Yogamāyā is managing
externally, management in the hands of Yogamāyā, we find that way.
Bhakti Cāru Swāmī: Anaṅga Mañjarī is actually an expansion
Balarāma, or a manifestation?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Manifestation, His representative in
that rasa, for that particular way. With that abhimāna of
Balarāma He cannot enter, the science of rasa does not allow, the
laws of rasa, fine importance. So He has to go there as Anaṅga
Mañjarī. We are told there. And as Yogamāyā potency the
management department, extension, that is meant by Yogamāyā. All
second hand, first hand Kṛṣṇa, then second hand helping Kṛṣṇa
līlā from outside.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
But didn’t Balarāma return to Vṛndāvana and dance rasa with
the gopīs?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. That is separate. That is the group
is a separate one.
Devotee: A separate group of gopīs were there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A separate group of gopīs with
whom Baladeva, Balarāma showed rasa. The Goswāmīs, their
interpretation and inner understanding says Balarāma makes rasa externally,
but He’s making rasa līlā of Kṛṣṇa within
His heart. Ha, ha. Within His heart He’s making rasa of Kṛṣṇa.
His position is such, the wholesale dedicated position, dedicated personality
to be faithful cent per cent to the central satisfaction.
__________________________________ [?]His
very constitutional position is such, He cannot do otherwise. That is His very
nature, intrinsic nature. So all leading towards the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa,
the key is in His hand. Ha, ha, ha. And the master is autocrat. Ha, ha.
“But don’t be jealous of Me. I am friendly
to you.You are all My own. Don’t be afraid.”
ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ, bhoktā ca
prabhur eva ca
[na tu mām abhijānanti, tattvenātaś cyavanti
te]
[“-Because I
alone am the enjoyer and rewarder of all sacrifices. But since they cannot know
Me in this way, they again undergo birth, disease, infirmity, and death.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
9.24]
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ,
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarvva-bhūtānāṁ,
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
[“I am the enjoyer of the results of sacrifice performed by the
fruit-hunter, as well as the results of austerity performed by the
liberation-seeker - I am their only worshippable object; I am Nārāyaṇa,
the indwelling monitor of all planes of life, and the Supreme Worshippable
Personality who awards liberation. And I am the well-wisher of all - I am Kṛṣṇa,
the devotee's most adorable friend. The soul who thus knows My true identity
attains the ecstasy of knowing his own original divine identity.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
5.29]
“Your anxiety will subside when you come to understand that everything
is in My hand and you are My friend, and not foe. I’m in friendly relation with
you all. But I’m all in all. Then you will find real peace at your heart. I’m
all in all, but I’m your well wisher, I’m friendly to you.”
When you come to realise this then you will get real peace. Otherwise
you will have worry and no finishing of worry. The worry will finish only then,
that who is controlling the whole, my interest is represented there for
favourable consideration. He’s my friend. My representation is there, the cause
is there, so no any miss-justice, no apprehension of any misdeed, miss-justice.
Then only we can find peace within us.Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ,
sarva-loka-maheśvaram. The great master of all that we can conceive, sarva-loka-maheśvaram,and
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ, and He’s the recipient of
everything, to the farthing, goes to Him only. And He’s friendly to me. Suhṛdaṁ
sarvva-bhūtānāṁ, not only myself but all real interest
represented there in His consideration. Jñātvā māṁ
śāntim ṛcchati, he can only attain real peace in heart.
That my interest is insured in the highest quarter of management; then only,
“Yes, I have no worry, no anxiety.”
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.But we find so many signs of
impressions, anxiety, worry, in the līlā. That is something
else. That is something else. It should not be reckoned with the life of this
plane. And that will come under this category:
bahye viṣajvāla haya, bhitare ānandamāya,
[kṛṣṇa premara adbhuta carite]
["The
wonderful characteristic of divine love of Kṛṣṇa is that
although externally, it works like fiery lava, internally it is like sweet
nectar that fills the heart with the greatest joy."] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 2.50]
That union in separation: that is the highest form of union. Union in
separation: that is the highest form of union. That cannot be assailed and
challenged under any circumstances. Bhitare ānandamāya, bahye viṣajvāla
haya. Apparently the painfulness but the inner position is more ecstatic
intensity. Bahye viṣajvāla haya, bhitare ānandamāya.
The whole thing is like this. We are to understand and follow it with
particular attention, intelligence, and really only to be intelligible by faith
only, śraddhā, buddhi-grāhyam
atīndriyam.
[sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad, buddhi-grāhyam atīndriyam
vetti yatra na caivāyaṁ, sthitaś calati tattvataḥ]
[“The yogī
remains satisfied in the Lord alone, having directly seen the Supersoul by
dint of his purified heart, and he experiences that happiness which is eternal,
perceptible by the divine intelligence of the soul, and devoid of contact with
the senses or sense objects; he never deviates from the intrinsic nature of the
soul.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 6.21]
No precedence will come to prove, but faith can only go; no
verification. No verification but faith alone can enter that domain. Infinite,
if our faith, how much capacity our faith, tiny people as we are, how much is
our faith? What may be impossible in this universe that our faith will be
deceived that is a very tiny measurement, our faith, how much expansion we may
boast to have? The infinite. So why should we be very miserly in our faith?
That is suicidal. Faith will go first then the research comes. In this world
also the faith goes, the intuition goes first then comes the research in this
mundane world. So faith, unbridled faith must be allowed in all those:
acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs
tarkeṇa yojayet
[prakṛtibhyaḥ paraṁ yacca tad-acintyasya lakṣam]
[“That which is inconceivable can never be understood through the logic
and reason of the mind. The very symptom that something is inconceivable is
that it is beyond logical comprehension.”] [Skanda-Purāṇa] & [Mahābharata, Bhiṣma Parva, 5.22]
Verification, tarkeṇa
yojayet, reason must be allowed to enter there. It
will fail to enter, gross becomes, makes mastery over grosser things, of his
experience. There may be so many planes where he cannot venture to peep into
it, their reason, drawn from several mundane affairs, reason. So śraddhā,
śraddhā,grāhya, śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ loka, Upaniṣad says,
where no rhyme and reason can be applied, that Upaniṣad says, śraddhāmayo
'yaṁ loka, there is a plane where only your śraddhā can
enter into, and nothing of your other parts, however
efficient you may think them to be,śraddhāmayo
'yaṁ loka.Rūpa
mayo 'yaṁ loka,
the ear cannot demand to enter into. And śabdamayo 'yaṁ loka
the eyes cannot hope to enter into that. So śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ
loka, it is the jurisdiction of śraddhā. The other senses
or intelligence based on that experience they cannot...
End of 81.08.20.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.20.C
Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva
Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
yadi gaura nā hoita, tabe ki hoita, kemone dharitām de
rādhāra mahimā, prema-rasa-sīmā jagate
jānāta ke
[madhura vṛndā vipina mādhurī praveśa
cāturī sāra
baraja yuvatī bhāvera bhakati śakati hoita
kāra]
[Vāsudeva Gosh has said: “If
Mahāprabhu had not appeared then how could we sustain our lives? How could
we live? What type of ecstatic rasa has He imbibed that we have been
able to have a little taste? Without this our lives would be impossible. Who
else could take us to the acme of realisation of the position of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. She holds the
highest position. She is the greatest victim to the consuming capacity of
Śrī Kṛṣṇa. She stands as the greatest sacrifice before
Kṛṣṇa's infinite consuming power. Rasarāja-Mahābhāva
- the rasa is there, and She is the drawer of that rasa from the
storehouse. She has such negative capacity that She can draw out the rasa to
the highest degree both in quality and quantity.”]
At the reach, the zenith of śraddhā, how it can be
wonderful as Gaurāṅga has taken it down. And we are getting a taste
of it and thinking, 'If I could not have a chance of tasting such nectarine
substance how could we live? One cannot live, one should not live without such
things. When such things are existing, such degree of nectar existing, and if
devoid of that in life it is most undesirable. Gaurāṅga has with His
most intensified faith He has come down with a great thing __________________________________ [?]
How I could live if I could not get a connection of such wonderful sweetness.
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: Who said this Mahārāja?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Vāsudeva Ghosh.
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
When after sannyāsa Mahāprabhu came to visit this
Nadia, again Vāsudeva says.
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
The whole population of Nadia ran madly to have a glimpse of that
Gaurāṅga of their former experience. They madly ran after Him.
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
So so much filled up with ecstasy they can't leave, they can't move.
Very painfully they're making progress. The feeling has almost paralysed them.
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
They thought, 'How long and such days
passed away that they're deceived with such darśana of Gaurāṅga,
the former of His students.
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
And their eyes were fixed on His dress and His limbs, so grossly they
forgot themselves.
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
And Śacī Devī when she heard that her Nimāi after sannyāsa,
five years after, He has again come here to visit her, she ran after and taking
on her lap.
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
“You are a boy of my lap. You're so and so now.”
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
A dead body has again got the life. Something like that to
Śacī Devī and other devotees.
______________________________________________________________________
[?]
Vāsudeva Gosh told that,
"Such is the scene when Gaurāṅga came to visit once again after
His sannyāsa. The scenery of the place was such. All dead bodies
were as if they got knew life and stood and to do something. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
What intensity of love has been expressed in his, the Vāsudeva Ghosh.Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa. Like my stanza,
nyāsa-pañca-varṣa-pūrṇa-janma-bhūmi-darśanaṁ
koṭi-koṭi-loka-lubdha-mugdha-dṛṣṭi-karṣanam
koṭi-kaṇṭha-kṛṣṇa-nāma-ghoṣa-bheditāmvaraṁ
prema-dhāma-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram
[“When He
returned to His birthplace, Nadia, after five long years of sannyāsa,
millions of people rushed to see Him, feeling a most wonderful and irresistible
love attraction. Deeply moved with eyes full of eagerness, they beheld their
Lord who attracted their innermost heart of hearts. Excited by His ecstatic
presence there arose a continuous tumultuous uproar that spread in all
directions and pierced the sky. To please their beloved Gaurāṅga,
the people's voices repeatedly resounded the Holy Names of Kṛṣṇa.
I sing with joy the unending glories of my golden Lord Gaurasundara, the
beautiful divine abode of pure love.”]
[Prema-Dhāma-Deva-Stotram,
34]
When He came to this Koladwīpa the actual happenings were such.
Nitāi. Nitāi.
When I read in Chaitanya-Bhāgavata that Mahāprabhu when
visited this Navadwīpa after sannyāsa, five years passed, then
people ran to see Him in such a mad way that so many jungles were all cleared,
everywhere there is path, no jungle. The Ganges water filled up with human
heads, all swimming close by. None can even dive because four or five hands
come to his relief. So thickly the Ganges water is set with human heads. And so
many boats are also carrying so many children and old people.
And so I thought how it was? But at the time of Gandhi, such a great
throng I saw, then I thought that even to see Gandhi so many people may be
attracted. Then how, what degree of attraction really was when Mahāprabhu
came after His sannyāsa in Navadwīpa. How, with what great
degree of attraction when this Gandhi can attract people in such large numbers,
because only for his ahiṁsā, and that is also to the
political purpose. And for the highest purpose, the great and most intense
dedication, that came with Mahāprabhu then how,
what such high degree of attraction came here, down.
How mad the people were to see Him.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi.
Nitāi. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee: ____________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ____________________________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Also Mahārāja, there's a verse
by Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī:
vañcito 'smi vañcito 'smi, vañcito 'smi na saṁśayaḥ
viśvaṁ gaura-rase magnaṁ, sparśo 'pi mama
nābhavat
[Śrīla Prabodhānanda Saraswatī says: "Deceived,
deceived, no doubt, deceived I am! The whole universe became flooded with love
of Śrī Gaurāñga, but alas, my fate was not to get even the
slightest touch of it."] [Caitanya-candrāmṛta, 46]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sparśo
'pi mama nābhavat. It is a plain
thing. That is the very nature of the devotees. That is, as much conception of
the infinite as you have, your insignificance to that degree you must feel
within yourself. Do you follow? Am I clear?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The infinite conception, the question of
relativity. When you can see a bigger thing then relatively you cannot but
think that you are so very infinitesimal. Your look is for a great thing and in
comparison to that you are smallest. Do you conceive this?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When you are seeing the ocean you see
how tiny you are in relation to the great magnitude of ocean and water. You are
very insignificant. Is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So, that you apply in this case. One who
is looking at the great thing whether in size, or knowledge, or love, when you
are standing at the relativity of the verge of the great thing, in
consideration of that you should think that,
'I am very poor, I am very low.'
jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha,
purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha
mora nāma śune yei tāra puṇya kṣaya,
mora nāma laya yei tāra pāpa haya
[I am more sinful than Jagāi and Mādhāiand even lower
than the worms in the stool. Anyone who hears my name loses the results of his
pious activities. Anyone who utters my name becomes sinful.] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādī-līlā, 5.205-6]
[Kṛṣṇadāsa] Kavirāja Goswāmī
himself says for him, “That I am so mean.” When he has seen so much pure and
higher thing, in comparison to that he says, “What is this?”
Mahāprabhu
says, prāṇa-pataṅgakān vṛthā, [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 2.45]
"I am an
insect. My life is like an insect. I'm going on with it."
dūre śuddha-prema-gandha,kapaṭa
premera bandha,seha mora nāhi kṛṣṇa-pāya
[tabe ye kari
krandana,sva-saubhāgya prakhyāpana,kari, ihā jāniha
niścaya]
[“Actually, My love for
Kṛṣṇa is far, far away. Whatever I do is actually an
exhibition of pseudo love of Godhead. When you see Me cry, I am simply falsely
demonstrating My great fortune. Please try to understand this beyond a doubt.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 2.46]
“So pure and natural love of ocean I see
before Me, spread, and I am not getting even a
drop of it. I'm so unqualified. Why? I am a hypocrite. I really do not want,
not that I don't deserve, I don't want it. My life is unfulfilled, unfulfilled.
I have come near such a vast and beautiful thing and I am not allowed to touch
even, to get even a drop of it. I am so low, so unqualified. Why? Because I am
a hypocrite.Kapaṭa premera
bandha.Still I think
that I am great. I'm a big thing, pratiṣṭhā.Sva-saubhāgya
prakhyāpana. Even at this
plane I can't leave vanity, false vanity.Sva-saubhāgya
prakhyāpana. I want to
display that I have a great achievement of Kṛṣṇaprema and
I am shedding tears for that and this is not real shedding, kapaṭa. Still
I am addicted to My lower self, self-centred, self-centring is not being
dissolved. Still I am self-centred. I am a seeker of My own fame. So I am not
being allowed to partake into that ocean of nectar.”
So in that relativity they cannot but see themselves meanest of the
mean. As much as coming in connection with the higher reality, conscious of
higher reality, then relatively they are compelled to think themselves the
meanest of the mean. That is the truth. That is the law of nature. So devotees
of the higher order they are seen always to say that everyone is getting the
chance but I do not get the chance. I cannot avail myself for getting this
situation.
Narottama Ṭhākura, "Jagāi Mādhāi, up to
the standard of Jagāi Mādhāi culprit, what standard of the
culprit Jagāi Mādhāi? They are getting released, and they're
getting the nectar, and only I Narottama am outside. I can't touch the
thing."
The nature of the appreciation of the highest
makes himself to think to be of lower position. That we find from the practices
and sayings of the great men. That is the question of tṛṇād
api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā, and without that,
that is a qualification also, if we do not have that sort of qualification that
is the earth. Of course earth means not artificial. If we are not ready to
think ourselves lower we cannot come in connection with the higher.
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā / amāninā mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ
sadā hariḥ
["One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a
tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is
qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa."] [Śikṣāṣṭakam,
3]
Your attitude for the search will be such;
that you are almost unfit in the search for where you want to go, want to
begin. So unqualified you are. This is the qualification for the finite to
approach the infinite. If you think that you are something that is a
disqualification in your search after infinite. In other words it is such.
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā,
/ amāninā mānadena,
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
You will take the name of the Lord, divine sound, but the process is
such, you must be mindful to that. Otherwise your search will be in vain. Your
attempt will be lost. What will be the attitude? Tṛṇād api
sunīc, the meanest of the mean, to think you're humblest of the
humble, and sincerely. Taror api sahiṣṇu, your forbearance
must not have any limits. 'That so many days, so many ages I have past. I don't
get.' Be sure that you have come to search infinite, so no time limit, ha, ha,
and no vanity, that you will make master over that thing.This qualification
must be given up in the beginning. Amāninā mānadena, your
highest enemy is your self-seeking nature, that you are something, you have got
some greatness in you. That sort of vanity must be left out. Amāninā,
you must not seek any honour to you, no reward, amāninā.
Mānadena, at the same time you must be modest in your dealings to all
others, then your amāninā is genuine. If you do not like to
give the honour to others then your self-seeking will be there, it will be
traceable. But when you give honour to others but don't want it within you,
then you will be qualified to make search after Govindam, to the Centre, the
Infinite, the Absolute. Then a qualified student if you can give up all these
bad prejudices, these unfavourable prejudices, if you come to search after the
Absolute then you must have such qualifications, otherwise you'll fail. So, we
find that the great devotees they're always condemning themselves like
anything, extremely, what we cannot conceive even of, for ordinary persons.
Purīṣera
kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha, Kavirāja Goswāmī who is the giver of the
highest conception of the truth, he says, purīṣera kīṭa
haite muñi se laghiṣṭha, "I am worse than the worm in the
stool."Jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha,
Jagāi and Mādhāi in the case relativity of Mahāprabhu, they
have been considered to be the worst sinners. I am more than that. My sins are
so graphic I may not be engaged. Mora nāma laya yei tāra pāpa
haya, I'm such a great sinner that whoever will hear about me, the dirt,
the sin will enter into him, in the relativity of my name. I'm such a great
sinner. My sin is with my name also and the one who once hears my name, the sin
will enter into him, yei tāra pāpa haya. And tāra puṇya
kṣaya, his good qualities will vanish. And mora nāma laya yei,
if anyone positively takes my name then he will commit sin. Such a worse type
of person I am. But, the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu possesses such a high
degree of disinfection that He has taken me to Vṛndāvana and has
given the relationship of Rūpa, Raghunātha, Govinda, all these things
He has given. Nothing in me but all in Nityānanda Prabhu."
And by this he wants to express his highest gratitude to Nityānanda
Prabhu. "It is shameful to speak about one's own life, but still I do
this. Why? If I do not do that then I shall be ungrateful to the great
magnanimity of Nityānanda Prabhu. So fallen am I and Nityānanda
Prabhu has given me all these things, the Vṛndāvana, Rūpa,
Sanātana, then this Govinda, Mahāprabhu, all these things,
Raghunātha Dāsa. It is all gift of Nityānanda, unconditional
gift. I've no qualification, so I mention that,
yes I have got. If I do not say, then I’ll be an offender to Nityānanda
Prabhu's grace, so I am compelled to say, confess that I am so and so, but by the grace I have got these things."
Sparśo 'pi mama nābhavat, Prabhodānanda Saraswatī, all
these, they're all of such common feelings, conceptions. "It is there. I
see, I feel, so many persons are looting, but I am deprived, I am
deprived."
Rādhārāṇī Herself says: "Kṛṣṇa
is qualified in every way. I can't blame Him in any way. Still He is so cruel
to us all. He left Vṛndāvana. We are all feeling extreme pain. This
is My durddaiva-vilāsa. I cannot accuse Him in any way."
This is union in separation.
bahye viṣajvāla haya, bhitare ānandamāya,
[kṛṣṇa premara adbhuta carite]
["The wonderful characteristic of divine love of Kṛṣṇa
is that although externally, it works like fiery lava, internally it is like
sweet nectar that fills the heart with the greatest joy."][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 2.50]
It is a peculiar type of achievement when one who has got the thing they
say, "No, I have not got." This is the special characteristic of the
Infinite. One who has got possession of it he says, "No, I have got
nothing." The characteristic of Infinite is such. And when he says that,
"I have got." He has not got. It is such, because it is a statement
from the negative for the Positive. The negative who cannot assert at all but
can attract only, negative. Assertion is with the Positive only. So the negative
can hanker, he can express his own reality in the negative characteristic, and
degree of want. He or she can
express her position in the degree of want. The measurement is just the
opposite, minus, the measurement is in the negative side, minus, the depth of
necessity, depth of attraction, but not of gain. Positive can only assert that ,"I am purer."
Devotee: That’s wonderfulMahārāja, such a beautiful land.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Hare Kṛṣṇa. But
your beautiful attraction is to take all these things out, the negative - positive. This has come to
my mind some few days back. This must be explained in the present language of
sounds.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. So Mahārāja, it's one thing for such great personalities as Kavirāja
Goswāmī to make these statements, but for men like ourselves, ha, ha,
we actually are like that, ha, ha, ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That will be our standard in the front,
the ideal, that will be our Guru Mahārāja. But we must not assume that,
‘I am Kavirāja Goswāmī.’
Devotees: Ha, ha, ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is another type also, in Caitanya-Bhāgavat.
Vṛndāvana dāsa he is praying, he's trying his utmost to
describe the greatness of Mahāprabhu, magnanimity of Mahāprabhu and
Nityānanda. Then he says, "After appealing to the people at large in
such a modest way I am putting to them. Like I touch your feet, I hold your
feet. You please come and appreciate."
__________________________________________________________ [?]
After so much appeal, fervent appeal, to ask them, to requests them to
appreciate, for appreciation of Gaura and Nityānanda.
"Do it, it will be your benefit. Whatever any position you are, whatever
class of sinner you are, you please, you try to come. Connect with
Gaura-Nityānanda. You'll be blessed, you'll be saved, you whole hankering
will be fulfilled." Still, after so much entreat and appeal, if anyone
wants to blame, criticise and blame Nityānanda and Gaurāṅga, I
want to kick on his head." This is also a peculiar sentiment coming in the
heart of the devotees.
Devotees: Ha, ha, ha, ha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And how to explain that? That so many
superficial critics they're saying, "Kavirāja Goswāmī has
appealed in such a modest way, and this Vṛndāvana dāsa he has
such vanity, his vanity is so much. He's so proud that he wants to kick the head of those who do not have faith in
Gaura-Nityānanda, 'they're most impertinent,' all these things."
But when I came
to Gauḍīya Maṭha
I heard a peculiar interpretation from Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda told
that the most sinful and heinous, Nityānanda Prabhu has come to their
relief, by this statement. Do you follow? By this expression, one who has got
no other way but to fly away, to come to the divinity. Nityānanda Prabhu
has opened a way to them. By his punishment, Kṛṣṇa's special
attraction will be drawn towards them. "That My child has beat him, or
damaged him so," and gives some grace. Am I clear, no? Kṛṣṇa's
attraction will be there because His child, His devotee has done something
wrong, apparently, so He'll come to compensate for that.
So His play in the fashion, taken to task, mildly, and also beating,
punishment, if punishment is given by His devotees to a public man, Kṛṣṇa's
special attention will be drawn to that man to compensate in the way of compensation, and he'll
be benefited. He has tolerated. Vṛndāvana has given punishment,
dishonoured them, they're mortified. So they must be taken in, some special
case will come for
them. So by this
statement Vṛndāvana Ṭhākura has
opened, to the worst, the gainer also, the door to enter into Kṛṣṇaloka.
That sort of impression we got from him, from the standpoint that there
cannot be any filthy thing in the devotee, whatever they do. By that way they
get some connection with Kṛṣṇa. Some connection is
established. When mother, ultimately no revenge, when mother chastises her
child, then child may cry, then mother may come and take him on the lap. So no
permanent apathy or jealousy or any, no spirit
of revenging in that side; in any connection, in way she wants to take him.
That does not mean that wilfully we should offend the devotees and try to take,
avail myself of that advantage. That will be nāmāparādha ________We
shall go on sinning and say, “I take Name and that will go.” It will be that
type of aparādha.
Devotee: ______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right,
today I stop.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: Jaya Om Viṣṇupada...
…
Devotee: ...you were taking
rice and some neem leaves cooked and…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Twenty-three.
Devotee: At the age of twenty-three.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Austerity I observed too much.
Devotee: So that was very much surprising to Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja and myself…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha.
Devotee: ____that…
Devotee: ________________________________________________ [?]
Devotee: We would like to hear from you Mahārāja how that Nityānanda Prabhu has actually asked you to come
and initiate here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: After Vāsudeva Prabhu I was asked
by some leaders, leading members of our mission to take position of Ācārya. But from the beginning I had no
such impression within, inspiration. But when I left the mission and came to stay alone, there was always some sort of hesitation in
me, that Guru Mahārāja did not like nirjjana bhajan, the separate life. He liked kīrtana,
saṅga. And if I live in a saṅgathat means I preach,
then many newcomers will join. And who will go to initiate? They asked me to
take the charge of initiation but I did not feel any inner inspiration for
that. So anyhow, I was passing my time. What to do? I do not feel any urge for
that.
Then when from Vṛndāvana
I came to take my permanent residence here, this aparādha-bhañjan-pāṭ
Koladwīpa. Then I thought that I am going to take my shelter in
Navadwīpa Dhāma permanently, but Dhāmeśvara is
Nityānanda Prabhu. I must visit His birthplace, going to Mahāprabhu's
birthplace, but before that I must go to Nityānanda Prabhu's birthplace,
that is Ekacākrā _________ and beg
His permission. So that if He's propitiated then I will be, possibly, live in
Navadwīpa Dhāma there, safely. Otherwise it will not be possible,
impossible. So I straightly went before I came here I went straight to
Nityānanda Prabhu's birthplace. And whenever I fell there with that
prayer, 'That You are Patita Pāvana, Saviour of the Fallen, and I crave
Your mercy, and You grant please my stay in that, permanently I may have my
shelter there in Navadwīpa Dhāma, in Koladwīpa.” In this portion I already fixed, this portion, Gupta-Govardhana.
I fell flat and with that prayer, at once some urge came in my mind, "You
seek, pray for the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu as Patita Pāvana, but
you are apathetic to patita. How can you hope His sympathy?" So
this suddenly sprang in my mind. "Nityānanda Prabhu is Patita
Pāvana but you do not like to extend your helping hand to others. So how
can you expect His grace, His mercy?" That sort of strong impression came
in my mind. Anyhow I put my petition to Him
and came here. And our Prabhupāda's nature is always pressing me. He's
against nirjjana-bhajana, but I am going to do that.
Anyhow, I came
here, and by two rupees monthly rent I took one room here, nearby, and stayed
there. Daytime I began to read the śastra, scripture, and from
evening I used to take the Name, one lākha, eka lākha Nāma. And after it is finished I went to bed.
And only once I cooked something. And
I took Giridhara with me from Vṛndāvana, in a small throne I put Him
in place in the room and I used to offer Him daytime and then took some prasādam,
and the evening something or other. In this way I was passing my days. I came
unknown in this place, but gradually my Godbrothers searched for me and found
out myself, and began to come now and then. And some began to stay with me,
they won't go. In this way I passed some time.
At that time
also when going through the books of Jīva Goswāmī I found that
he has written that those that have money but do not spend it for the Lord,
he's vittha-śāthya. And so, those that know something, have
some knowledge, and some experience about bhakti and Kṛṣṇa
and devotees, if they do not like to help others they're jñāna-śāthya,
they commit jñāna-śāthya.
At the same time, I had in memory of my early days that in a story of Purāṇa
it was mentioned that one brāhmaṇa was big scholar, but
he did not help others, or give others his, he did not give education to
anyone. So in the next life he was a mango tree and so many beautiful fruits
all over the tree, but not even a bird taking that, not touching, untouched.
Then, one who saw in the way to God, Anantadeva, he asked this question,
"What is this?" Another two also, “He was a great paṇḍitabut
he did not instruct and give his share of learning to anybody. He was so
miserly in his scholarship so in the next birth his position is such.” That
also came to mind. Then I thought...
End of 81.08.20.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.21.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: …did not try in a broader scale to
preach and to make disciples, but anyhow I shall keep it open. If anyone comes
then I shall try to keep him or to initiate or to educate him in the spiritual
line in a minimum way. With this spirit I took my position here. That
Nityānanda Prabhu, that sort of inspiration there came in me, that...
Devotee: Indirectly.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ... whose Patita
Pāvana, and you must try your best to
help those that are fallen, in your consideration. That sort of inspiration I
got from there, Nityānanda Prabhu. And also, something: that if a doctor,
a doctor is not omniscient, but should he not try his best to cure a patient?
As much as he has got his capacity he must try to help. Otherwise the world
will at standstill. If everyone says,
‘that if I've got complete, full knowledge, then only I can approach another to
help,’ but that is not possible in this world. Everyone has got some relative
position, so everyone will try his best to help others according to his own
capacity and position. That also came in my mind. So I began in a narrow and
mild way to help. Not reluctant altogether but not any big attempt, because it
is mentioned also in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu:bahu sisya na kaivay,
bahu grantha kalābhyāsa varjan, mahārambha.
[bahu-grantha kalābhyāsa
vyākhyāvāda-vivarjanam
vyava hāreha pyakārpaṇyaṁ
śokādyavaśavartitā]
[Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, 2.79.76]
These temples and all these things, a big
scale: that is prohibited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu. That
also, when our Guru Mahārāja
delivering lectures on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, the sixtyfour
kinds of devotion, then I marked that this is prohibited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu.
But he's doing the same thing. In a big scale he's making propaganda, and money he's spending in a great quantity to construct the mandira
and other temples and other things, so mahārambha, which has
been prohibited by Rūpa Goswāmī, our Guru Mahārāja has undertaken all those things. What does he say when this
point comes in and he will have to discuss over that point? Then I found that
in one or two words he explained the whole thing. He told that, “This is a
point of personal question. One man can manage a kingdom, an empire, and may
find leisure. Another man cannot manage a family and he does not find any
leisure to manage the family. So it is a particular case and particular
capacity, according to which it will be great or it will be small, a question
of personal capacity.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, when you were in Vṛndāvana, then Lord
Nityānanda appeared to you and asked you to come here? In your dream, is
that right?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I don't remember such things. I have,
from before I went to Vṛndāvana, I had a mind that I shall, I won't
stay in Vṛndāvana. That is for the higher. And I am of lower order.
So aparādha-bhañjan-pāṭ in Navadwīpa, the fallen,
they should take shelter under Mahāprabhu. So I shall take my shelter here,
not in Vṛndāvana. That was a pre-conclusion in me, so I had that
thing in mind and I don't remember that I had any such dream.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
But you had, Nityānanda Prabhu at one time appeared before you in dream
and asked you to start initiating. You had mentioned that sometime.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He appeared before me and asked me, that
sort of inspiration I got when in the birthplace of Nityānanda Prabhu,
that I remember. Thereby I took it that Nityānanda Prabhu wants me to
begin initiation. Hare Kṛṣṇa.I realised that by the grace of
Nityānanda Prabhu we can get the grace of Mahāprabhu. No other
alternative for us, the fallen souls, especially for the beginners.
heno nitāi vine bhāi rādhā kṛṣṇa
pāite nāi
[from Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura’s Manaḥ-śikṣā, 1]
By the grace of
Nityānanda we shall get the grace of Gaurāṅga. And by the grace
of Gaurāṅga we shall get the grace of Rādhā-Govinda. That
is the general way, the Grand Trunk Road.
Even what is
foretold by Brahmā, karam kati kati
kam kam [?]
Hare Kṛṣṇa.He
was a renowned jyotiṣa, our Guru Mahārāja, and according
to his calculation he says that sarasvata pandika, that is the real calculation, real basis. But he adhered to Hiram
Bachi because Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
has accepted that. So mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ,
we must follow mahā-janas.
[dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ,
mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ]
[Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja said: "The real secret,
the solid truth of religious principles is hidden and concealed in the hearts
of unadulterated self-realised persons, saints, just as treasure is hidden in a
mysterious cave. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one
should accept whatever progressive path the mahā-janas
advocate."] [Mahābhārata]
Śraddhāmayo
'yaṁ loka. Our
intellectual calculation and other things, that falls, should fall lower. And śraddhā, with the help of śraddhā,
faith, we must follow the directions and practice of the devotees. We have seen
by his conduct, the rhyme, reason, all these of the mundane calculation. Above
that there is śraddhā, śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ loka.
And his loss and gain; that is of different type.Tat
te 'nukampāṁ,
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.14.8]. None can make any loss on them, impart any loss on them. That
comes to be like a test and comes in a flying colour from that sort of danger,
has come to serve them.Kuntī Devī, she's asking for dangerous
position.
vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat, tatra tatra
jagad-guro
[bhavato darśanam yat syād, apunar
bhava-darśanam]
[Queen Kuntī Devī prayed to Kṛṣṇa: "I
wish that all those calamities (poisoning, arson, cannibalism, the vicious
assembly, exile in the forest, the battle), would occur again and again so that
we could have Your darśana again and again, for seeing You means
that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.8.25]
She's inviting
adversity, so that, “In adversity our prayer will be more intense to the Lord
and He will come. So adversity is our friend, and happiness may be rather foe.”
So śraddhā is independent of anything. All the
hindrance of different times they rather come to help in indirect way; comes to
serve. There is such conception of life, tat te 'nukampāṁ. It
is considered from the standpoint of eternity.
nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti, pratyavāyo na
vidyate
svalpam apy asya dharmasya, trāyate mahato bhayāt
["Even a small beginning in this devotional service cannot go in
vain, nor can any loss be suffered. The most insignificant practice of such
devotional service saves one from the all-devouring fear of repeated birth and
death in this world."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.40]
hato vā prāpsyasi svargaṁ, jitvā vā
bhokṣyase mahīm
[tasmād uttiṣṭha kaunteya, yuddhāya kṛta
niścayaḥ]
["Oh son of Kuntī, either you will be killed on the
battlefield and attain the heavenly planets, or you will conquer and enjoy the
earthly kingdom. Therefore get up and fight with determination."][Bhagavad-gītā,
2.37]
sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā,
lābhālābhau jayājayau
tato yuddhāya yujyasva, naivaṁ pāpam
avāpsyasi
["Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering
happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat - and, by so doing, you
shall never incur sin."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.38]
The calculation of the immediate fruit of our action, result, that makes
us coward; ha, ha, hesitating.Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare.
Devotee: ______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Visuddha-siddhānta _______________________ [?]
I read an
article in Sajjana-Toṣaṇī written by Prabhupāda.
There, he showed why he has accepted Hiranbachi Paṇḍita, because
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura accepted that. Though he mentioned there the
calculation of this Visuddha-siddhānta from the standpoint of the
present calculation cannot be rejected. But still, he for himself he accepted
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. That beyond calculation, mahā-jano
yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ, śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ loka.
Gaura Haribol!
Gaura Haribol! Prabhu?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Your necessity, demand? Gaura Haribol!
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In what respect?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What respect? A general enquiry: the
general interest.
Parīkṣit
Mahārāja, when he put
the question to Śukadeva, Śukadeva accepted: "Yes, it is a real
question."Kṛto
loka-hitaṁ nṛpaātmavit-sammataḥ. Because two inherent signs of enquiry is here. One, it is ātmavit-sammataḥ,
it not irrelevant question, a relevant. Why? Ātmavit-sammataḥ
as well as loka-hita, two aspects. It is a general question. It is
necessary for everyone of us, the solution of this, the answer of this question
will contribute, help to all of us here. And also, this question, ātmavit-sammataḥ.
One who has got proper knowledge of his own self, he will accept this, 'yes, it
is not irrelevant but relevant.' Ātmavit-sammataḥ. One
sanctioned from the subjective region, another is for the good of the whole
public. So such questions are real questions of universal interest. The
solution of that will help the whole of the enquirers, not only any partial
aspect, and not only any provincial
solution, but the absolute solution, which will
help solve the problems of the whole. It is the question that should be asked
by anyone and everyone in this world."
varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ, kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa
ātmavit-sammataḥ puṁsāṁ, śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ
[Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmīsaid: "My dear King,
your question is glorious because it is very beneficial to all kinds of people.
The answer to this question is the prime subject matter for hearing, and it is
approved by all transcendentalists."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.1.1]
"You have asked what is the śrotavyādiṣu
yaḥ paraḥ? We are exercising our senses in this plane, but what
will be the most beneficial to us? We are receiving things from outside to meet
the demand of our internal self. But what will be the best utility of our
senses? Which things we should indent within us for our best interest?"
That was the question. "Always we are accepting something from the environment
for the inner interest. Now how should we utilise our senses, the channel of
our knowledge, utilise that it may help best my inner interest?"That was
the question.Then he told, varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ.
"Yes, your question is bona fide, esa te prasnahvarīyān,kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa, it will solve not only your problem but
it will solve in general the whole problem of the whole world, esa te
prasnah. This is the question to be solved, the only question."Varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ, kṛto loka-hitaṁ nṛpa, ātmavit-sammataḥ.”
Now, the
population here, they have got no perfect knowledge. They do not know what is
what. So their enquiry may be of faulty character, so one may think that the
public are always wrong. The mass is ignorant, so any question of the mass that
may be a mere supposition. The demand of the majority may be erroneous. The vox
of populi is vox dei, it cannot be admitted. So the intrinsic purity of the
question, that is also necessary.
And so he says ātmavit,
"Though rarely understand their own position, they will accept also. Their
sanction also we shall get in this sort of question. 'What is my best benefit?
How should we utilise our senses to draw knowledge from the environment so as
it will help me in the best way? Ātmavit-sammataḥ. Passed by
the subject committee of the higher section who are above faultless knowledge,
infallible, they will also sanction, 'Yes, it is a relevant question.' So from
two sides, from the up and from the down, both sides will accept your question
as relevant. I am going to answer them and you try to hear."
śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṇāṁ
santi sahasraśaḥ
[apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu
gṛha-medhinām]
[Śukadeva Goswāmī said to King Parīkṣit:
"Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of
ultimate truth, have many subject matters for hearing in human society, O
Emperor."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 2.1.2]
"Oh King,
there is no end of ways by which we can utilise our senses. Thousands of
engagements there are in which all the senses are busily engaged and no leisure
they find.Nṛṇāṁ santi
sahasraśaḥ, apaśyatām
ātma-tattvaṁ, but they're
mostly all engaged in search of those that do not know the real necessity of
his real self, who does not know his own want, who does not know his home. He's
travelling in a foreign land and satisfying his curiosity,aimlessly working. Nṛṇāṁ
santi sahasraśaḥ, apaśyatām
ātma-tattvaṁ,
no diagnosis but very busy in treatment, that is to be found in the world. Ātmavit-sammataḥ.
Apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ, this is important thing, ātma-tattvaṁ.
The normal understanding has accepted this, not by the majority of the abnormal
thinkers. That is śrauta-panthā, the necessity of the revealed
truth. That must come from the perfect realm from God Himself. So here, he's
established in the indispensable necessity of the śrauta-panthā,
the method of revelation. It must come from the perfect realm, from sārvajñā,
from the quarter of omniscience it must come. So, apaśyatām
ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām, the
thousands of engagements we find in those that are unconscious of their own
real interest. They're very busy but very busy about nothing."Apaśyatām
ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām.
nidrayā hriyate naktaṁ, vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ
divā cārthehayā rājan, kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā
[The lifetime of such an envious householder is passed at night either
in sleeping or in sex indulgence, and in the daytime either in making money or
maintaining family members.]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 2.1.3]
What we see if we look around, nidrayā hriyate naktaṁ,
two things, either sleep or vyavāyena, playing with women, the
night passed in these two ways. Nidrayā
hriyate naktaṁvyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ, and divā cārthehayā
rājan. The daytime, ārthehayā, in search of money, kuṭumba-bharaṇena
vā, or by serving the mere relatives, kuṭumba-bharaṇena
vā.
dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv, ātma-sainyeṣv
asatsv api
teṣāṁ pramatto nidhanaṁ, paśyann api
na paśyati
["Persons devoid of ātma-tattva do not enquire into the
problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body,
children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see
their inevitable destruction."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.1.4]
Dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv,
ātma-sainyeṣv,
our own group is with those that we can exploit, ātma-sainye, those
that supply our sense enjoyment, sense pleasure, we are surrounded by them. Dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv,
ātma-sainyeṣv asatsv api, we are fully engrossed in their
interest and only live for my own sense pleasure. Teṣāṁ
pramatto nidhanaṁ, paśyann api na paśyati, so much
engrossed in that sort of false duty that we have not the leisure to find out
my own death that
is drawing near towards me. Nidhanaṁ,
paśyann api, seeing also not seeing. It is a plain thing, everyone is
going to the jaw of death, I see, but still I can't see, I do not see, I don’t care to see, I do not mind to see. This is the peculiar
position I hold now. The final danger is approaching and I am sleeping over
that. I won't care to take notice of that, that great danger. What can be more strange then this? Paśyann api na
paśyati. You say that you have no time, only seven day’s time. But
that does not matter at all. Seven day’s time is enough. Only what is necessary
is your particular attention for the solution. Only a moment is enough.
kiṁ pramattasya bahubhiḥ, parokṣair hāyanair iha
[varaṁ muhūrtaṁ viditaṁ, ghaṭate śreyase yataḥ]
[“What is the value of a prolonged life
which is wasted, inexperienced by years in this world? Better a moment of full
consciousness, because that gives one a start in searching after his supreme
interest.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.1.12]
There are so many trees and mountains, hills, they are living years and
years, ages after ages, but no benefit. So what is the necessity of, no
question of the longevity, or question of time. Varaṁ muhūrtaṁ viditaṁ, what is necessary, that attention to one's own self. 'What am I? What is my?...'
That sort of attention, our attention should be drawn to our own real interest.
That is the thing which is to be it, that should be it. And no question of
time, there's enough time. Seven days is enough, the necessity. Varaṁ muhūrtaṁ viditaṁhaṭate
śreyase yataḥ, that the
peculiar necessity is this that how our attention can be drawn towards the
reality. That is what is necessary. Muhūrtaṁ
viditaṁhaṭate śreyase yataḥ. And then and there our real interest will be satisfied. Only
by sādhu-saṅga that is possible, with the association of the
higher souls, highly realised souls.
khaṭvāṅgo nāma rājarṣir,
jñātveyattām ihāyuṣaḥ
muhūrtāt sarvvam utsṛjya, gatavān abhayaṁ
harim
["The saintly King Khaṭvāṅga, after being informed
that the duration of his life would be only a moment more, at once freed
himself from all material activities and took shelter of the supreme safety,
the Personality of Godhead."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.1.13]
There is precedent in the history. Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga,
he had only one moment left in his longevity, and he so perfectly engaged
himself forever. He gave himself without any reservation. He surrendered to the
feet of the Lord and he got the desired end, muhūrtāt,
gatavān abhayaṁ, he got Hari, abhayaṁ. What is, who
is Hari? When we get Him, no apprehension, no fear, nothing of the kind, no
undesirability, that is what Hari means. Hari means sat-cit-ānanda,
the eternal existence, and the perfect consciousness, and also the fulfilment
of life in ecstatic joy. He got that in a moment, in a moment.
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
[ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
["Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively
unto Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair."]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 18.66]
So the problem
is how we can surrender, giving away our attraction, our ignorance, about our
own interest. How we can jump into the absolute good, the ocean of our real
interest. That is the problem. So questions should be of such character,
general character, general character there's only one question, ānandam brahmano vidvan?It
is admitted by all, the maximum happiness we want. From the tree, from the
stone, to the demigods, ṛṣi, muni, everyone, maximum
happiness, that is the only thing to be aspired after. And how to attain, what
is He? That is to be discussed, conceived. What is He? What am I? And what is
my end, and how to reach the goal? What is the destination, and how to reach
the destination?
Sambandha,
abhidheya, prayojana, under three heads the Vedic scripture
has discussed the whole problem. Who am I, where am I, and then what is my best
benefit, and how to attain that goal? Sambandha, prayojana
and abhidheya, three things, under three heads to be discussed. The
general question: the question of everyone. It's not any partial thing, not any
sectarian or provincial, nothing of the kind, no such questions can come
against this campaign. What the Gauḍīya Maṭha people of Mahāprabhu began His expedition against māyā,
misunderstanding, that of general demand in the world. Of course, to the
conscious, to the saner section. The insane people
they're not up to standard, standard is not with the insane, but the saner section. They all will welcome the movement that
is inaugurated by Swāmī Mahārāja over the whole globe. And our Guru Mahārāja began that attempt to attack māyā, illusion,
illusory energy, and to devastate and smash it.
This is kīrtana, this is preaching, this is HariNāma,
and with this Mahāprabhu came here. "Don't fly away, run away for the
fear of māyā, misunderstanding." Ultimately it is
misunderstanding, ha, ha, and you want reality so why should you be afraid?
Your basis is a real one. You are standing on fundamental reality so you should
not be afraid and run to the jungle and to the cave, and there also you will be
always afraid that māyā is entering here, not as bold soldier of saṅkīrtana party. Fearlessly
wander through the length and breadth of the water, or the world and chant
about Kṛṣṇa, truth, truth, and māyā won't
venture to approach you. That is misunderstanding. By the repetition of your Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, and also in generating the truthful consciousness with the help
of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you'll be able to do away with all
the infectious. By throwing disinfecting substances you'll drive away the
infection all around. That will be your duty. Be agent of disinfecting batch
who are throwing around the medicine of disinfecting the infectious area. Go on
with that. If you disinfect all around then infection may not approach, can't
approach you, because you are disinfecting all around you. So how infection
will come to attack you? Others will also be saved at the same time.
Devotee: What necessity?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Only one necessity, the necessity of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to
spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and our end, our object is prema.
Prema means to acquire more energetic tendency to spread Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, higher and higher, of higher. 'Dāsa' kari' vetana more
deha prema-dhana.And what is that prema which will help me more
intensely to engage myself in my service? Prema means that, to serve,
and prema, to get the remuneration as prema. And what is the
nature of prema? That it will excite me more and more for the service,
so in a circular way it will move. What I get as remuneration, what is that?
That is a tendency to produce service to the object of my reverence. That is prema.
It is not a separate thing. That will help me more and more towards the
service. So it is continuous, it is dynamic. And I have acquired prema now
that I am a king I shall enjoy that, no necessity of service, it is not this.
Such stage will never come. It will promote the speed and quality of the
service. That is prema. Love will actuate us more and more towards the
service of the object of our love. So service will acquire prema, and prema
will induce us to service.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi.
Devotee: ________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________________________________ [?]
That's a negative side of life. ___________ [?] Nitāi.
Nitāi. Nitāi. Dayal Nitāi. Dayal Nitāi.
Śrīla Govinda Maharaja: _________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Locana dāsa Ṭhākura.
veshya paradar lasuda chayadar
____________________________________________ [?]
Devotee: ___________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________ [?] Direct hit in
the soft sentiment: the fine sentiment. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.In
Baladeva and in Nityānanda Prabhu the next to Kṛṣṇa and
Mahāprabhu, in the next stage we see a peculiarity of opposing, of
opposition also, sometimes. The next lower stage of Kṛṣṇa is
Baladeva. And here also, next lower stage of Gaurāṅga is
Nityānanda. Their confidence is so strong that only the first layer of
deviation, but sometimes They're opposing, ha, ha, opposing. Baladeva is seen
to oppose Kṛṣṇa openly, sometimes. Nityānanda Prabhu
also is seen to oppose Mahāprabhu.
Devotee: Dandabangal.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Externally. Dandabangal. Kala Kṛṣṇa dasa ke? Service there.
_______________
Kṛṣṇa Nāma __________________ [?] Jagāi Mādhāi _____________ [?]
Devotee: Rāmacandra līlā te la kunta sniya te ________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Opposition _______________________________________ [?]
End of 81.08.21.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.21.B_81.08.22.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara
Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...father, the king, who has got no real
consideration.In this way: Lakṣmaṇa.
And next layer, second layer, Baladeva also is behaving, in Vṛndāvana
līlā also, one day Baladeva gave a slap to Kṛṣṇa,
and Kṛṣṇa is putting it to Yaśodā. “Dādā [brother] has beaten Me, Baladeva,
Dādā, has beaten Me, mother.”
Then Baladeva was much perplexed, and then going to a little distant,
“Yes, I did it My brother, and does it look well that You put that to mother,
against Me? Does it look well? How can You put it as a complaint against Me, to
Our mother?”
Devotees: ________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________________ [?] “Yes, I did, but
should You complain that to Our mother? I’m Your elder brother, I have done
something, I have exercised My little right over You, and why should You make
any complaint against that? That is very bad.”
Ha, ha, ha, ha.Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.He
has got that capacity, that right. That right is given there; up to that layer
the right has been bestowed, extended.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________________ [?] Kṛṣṇa
has taken the greatest risk and He jumped into the Yamunā where that
Kāliya nāga, the great demonic serpent, that was there. “And
that Kṛṣṇa is gone.” All the friends, including all, gopīs
also, they fainted. “That Kṛṣṇa has jumped into that
poisonous area, lake.” So they all fainted, for the separation.
And Baladeva, “No, no, don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid, that He will be
ended. None can end Him. He will come soon, after doing the justice necessary
there, He’ll come.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Hare. Hare. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Gadādhara.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, Madhvācārya, he’s explaining the śloka,
anta-kāle ca mām eva, smaran muktvā kalevaram
[yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ, yāti
nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ]
[If one remembers Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, at
the time of death, one is certainly eligible to return immediately home, back
to Godhead.] [Bhagavad-gītā, 8.5]
That at the time of death one must think of Lord Nārāyaṇa,
then only can he reach the abode of the Lord.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
But then, Rāmānuja, he said that it is not necessary at the time of
death to think of the Lord. It is entirely up to the Lord.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Huh? It is?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
It is entirely up to the Lord. If throughout our life we have served the Lord
then it is the duty of the Lord, and it His responsibility to take us, not
necessarily just at the time of death that He has to take us.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Ah, the view of the same thing from different standpoints. What is the
difference you find?
Rāmānuja
says that if we go on with our duty, discharging our duty while living, then we
may not care for our last moment. That will automatically come. That is also
true.
And what
Madhvācārya says, that is a particular case, the particular cases.
Even, one, if do not observe such purity during whole life, still, at the time
of his death, if he’s reminded or anyhow he gets, he will be, the next chance,
or chance of the next birth he will get a benefit, in the next birth. Then
he’ll be able to go on with – so it is also effective.
What
Rāmānuja says if one, if a śuddha bhakta, whole time he’s
going on with bhajana and in the last moment he, if we find that he’s unconscious,
it does not matter. He has taken the pill. It is the lookout of Kṛṣṇa
Himself. So whether he’s conscious, in the case of a śaraṇāgata
bhakta, this uttarāyaṇa, the death in the uttarāyaṇa,
or unconscious death, won’t affect, because he’s surrendered. And who are
surrendered, Kṛṣṇa has taken their charge. So in whatever
way, when and how, any way he goes,
it is the lookout of Kṛṣṇa and His own. He need not care for
anything else. Only he will stick to śaraṇāgati. That is
a great thing.
And what Madhvācārya says here, and also the general purport
of Gītā is that that if you do not do for the whole life, at
least try to do it in the time of your death, just before your death. Thereby
you will get a better chance in the next birth. Tyajaty ante kalevaram, taṁ evaiti kaunteya, sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ.
[yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ, tyajaty
ante kalevaram
taṁ taṁ evaiti kaunteya, sadā
tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ]
[“O son of
Kuntī, at the time of leaving the body, whatever object a person meditates
upon will be attained by him, due to his constant contemplation on that
object.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
8.6]
He’ll get a better chance in the next life and there he will get the
good chances and will increase his bhajan and will do, will better his
life; in this way.
anta-kāle ca mām eva, smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ, yāti
nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ
[Bhagavad-gītā, 8.5]
Rāmānuja has given stress on śaraṇāgati.
One surrendered, and acceptance of the God, necessary acceptance of the God,
and he’s not within...
ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi, mayi sannyasya
mat-parāḥ
ananyenaiva yogena, māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate
teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt
bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha, mayy
āveśita-cetasām
[“But those who offer their every action unto Me, take refuge in Me
alone, think of Me constantly in pure devotion unadulterated by exploitation or
renunciation, and who thus worship and adore Me - O Pārtha, I swiftly
deliver those devoted souls from the deathly ocean of material suffering.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
12.6-7]
“Who has left everything in Me, I do on their behalf. He does not want.
He need not care for anything else, śaraṇāgata.”
martyo yadā tyakta-samasta-karmā,
niveditātmā vicikīrṣito me
tadāmṛtatvaṁ pratipadyamāno,
mayātma-bhūyāya ca kalpate vai
["One who is subjected to birth and death attains immortality when
he gives up all material activities, dedicates his life to the execution of My
order, and acts according to My directions. In this way, he becomes fit to
enjoy the spiritual bliss derived from exchanging loving mellows with
Me."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.29.34]
“I have reckoned him as one of My family, one member of my family, and I
take such interest over him. So he need not take any special attention for
himself. He will go on with his duty in śaraṇāgati and
service. That will suffice.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa. Hare Hare. Hare
Rāma.Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Nitāi. Nitāi.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
...
...has given much importance on śaraṇāgati, prapatti.
Prapatti, of course of two kinds according to them, prapatti,
mārjjāra-nyāya, markaṭa-nyāya.
mārjjāra-nyāya, the calf of the, what is it?
Devotee: Kitten.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kitten, means ... kitten, it does not do
anything. Mother does everything for it. Where to remove, the mother catches on
his neck and takes here and there. This is mārjjāra-nyāya;
everything dependent on the mother.And markaṭa-nyāya, the
monkey, the small monkey, or the monkey cub, what is it?
Devotee: Baby monkey.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He catches on the mother and the mother
takes him here and there. So Deśikācāryya he preached about this
markaṭa-nyāya. Jīva has got some responsibility. He at
least must catch the mother, and the mother will take here and there.
And the Teṅkalai, the followers of the Śaṭhakopar, that
is the original, and [Vaḍakalai followers of] Deśikācāryya came with some modification. Their
opinion is, “No, śaraṇāgati is like mārjjāra-nyāya,
he won’t do anything. Everything will be done by the superior part, the
guardian, Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, Nārāyaṇa.” He’ll do
anything. It won’t do anything, like the kitten. This is mārjjāra-nyāya,
this is śaraṇāgati.
Śaraṇāgati is of two types, this mārjjāraśaraṇāgati
and the markaṭa śaraṇāgati.
“No. He has got something. He has got his free will, jīva,
and he must stick to, and the rest will be done by the Supreme Entity. He must
accept, he must come forward, and then he will come and see.” This is
Ācārya, Deśikācāryya, ātmā-tattva,
comes from Ācāryafamily, it comes from Deśikācāryya.
Deśikācāryyaand the Vidyaranya, and Aksabya. Aksabya
Tīrtha from Madhva School, Deśikācāryyafrom
Rāmānuja School, and Vidyaranya from Śaṅkara School; three
stalwart scholars from three groups, they were contemporaries. Sometimes they
had to take seat for discussion in different places, and especially the two
opponents, the Madhvācārya and Śaṅkara. And
Rāmānuja School went to be mediator.
Devotee: ___________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rakṣiṣyatīti
viśvāsaḥ – that is a part of śaraṇāgati,
a stage of śaraṇāgati. Rakṣiṣyatīti
viśvāsaḥ, so much confident that, ‘He will protect me from
any danger.’ He runs to...
Devotee: Yamunā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...knowing that it will be mischievous,
I may be injured, but still it will be done, that, my guardian is there. He
will save me.” It reaches to such, śaraṇāgati reaches to
such zenith, high, to such height, that he, not only, ‘That He will save me, if
I go on in a real, right way, no, I shall risk, and He will come to my relief.’
This, with audacious and aggression...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
That is possible on a very high platform.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ah, very high class. It is found only in
the – it may be found in all shades, a particular mentality. One who has, the
ordinary soldier that has got confidence in his general, they may take the risk
of entering into the camp. ‘The general is there, he will come and devastate
them.’ It may be found in many places, in many stages of life, but here also,
that sort of confidence not in the world, but in the highest quarter; that sort
of confidence. “Whom do we care?” So much indulgence they enjoy, so much
confidence they enjoy, so much faith, ‘He’s their protector.’ That they do not
care, and run hither and thither, go to catch the snake, to catch the tiger...
Devotee: __________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yamunāpani.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, the Yogamāyāpotency, she’s arranging for all the parṣadas and associates of the Lord, so that perfect līlā is
performed by the Lord. For example, all the gopīs that that they’re
married, actually they’re not married but by the arrangement of
Yogamāyāthey’re married.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Couching, it’s couched in such a way.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
So this relationship of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: For the necessity of Kṛṣṇa,
this is arranged by Baladeva and Yogamāyā. For the necessity of Kṛṣṇa
and Rādhikā this arrangement is made by Baladeva and
Yogamāyā, intuitively, almost intuitively.Automatic arrangement
according to the necessity, to intensify the transaction of the love of the
very highest degree, such arrangement is necessary, of the environment is
necessary. And it is done by the potency that is Yogamāyā, backed by
Baladeva.
Devotee: _________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
So Baladeva Prabhu is belonging to the sandhini potency.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ah, the Master of sandhini, sandhini
śakti mat tattva, and śakti is known as sandhini,
and He’s the Master of that potency, sandhini. That is to make the
Master of the environment. And to help Him, Yogamāyāand assistant Vṛnda
Devī; she also has got a function of that nature, especially the animal
and bird, trees, that section. Assistant of Yogamāyā, and her
activity concerned with the birds, the beasts,
the trees, etc, including apparently inanimate, or half inanimate, irrational
section. And rational section is managed by Yogamāyā. Of course the
backing is of Baladeva Prabhu.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
In both cases?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Both
cases. The facsimile of Kṛṣṇa, Baladeva, He understands the nature, the necessity.
And Yogamāyāalso, necessity from the side of Rādhikā and
the gopīs, and harmoniously the things are done. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
These are subtle things.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
But Mahārāja, if one is thinking about the different pastimes of Kṛṣṇa...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Huh?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
If a devotee is thinking, trying to remember the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa,
then does that come into the category of imagination, or...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That’ll depend upon the realisation of
that devotee.
When I first joined, or not joined, trying to join Gauḍīya Maṭh,
the day of Janmāṣṭamī, I attended so many lectures of the
sannyāsīns. I was told, or at least I heard repeatedly, ajay
janma, the birth of the... unborn, and birth of the unborn. That subject
they’re dealing with.
And they told that, “Today, at midnight, Kṛṣṇa will be
born, and in the heart of the devotee, the śuddha-sattva, heart of
the devotees.”
Then the daytime lectures over, gap in the middle, and then again at
twelve o clock there will be kīrtana and Bhāgavata-pāṭ.
All went away. I took my seat just near the door of Prabhupāda. There is
only one roof, second story, no, first floor, and there Prabhupāda used to
live. In darkness I am sitting just near the door of Prabhupāda. Kṛṣṇa
will be born here in his heart, as I am told, in the heart of the devotee Kṛṣṇa
will take His birth, this noon time [midnight], midday. Then I took my seat
there. I may have some influence of that and I began to think that Kṛṣṇa
is being born, Kṛṣṇa is coming. With this attitude I passed
there.
Then one gentleman came, “Oh, who is here? Who is here?”
I am.
“Why you are here?”
I’m not a member of the Maṭh, coming from outside, I’m so and so,
I’m...
“Why you are here?”
I’m sitting and thinking of the birth of Kṛṣṇa.
“No, no, no. You should not... none is here. Again you may come only when the Bhāgavata will be explained, at twelve o
clock you may come.”
Then perhaps I had to go downstairs and wait and come.
So, what was your question?
To think, that depends upon the realisation
of the devotee, the heart.
Though He’s nitya, Kṛṣṇa is nitya, and
not only His birth and every pastime is eternal.
Just as sunrise is eternal, in the general sense, sometimes here,
sometimes there, sometimes there, the twenty four hours in any place or other
the sunrise is taking place.
So though Kṛṣṇa is eternal, His every līlā
is also eternal, and always, every moment it is taking place. So, in the
heart of the devotee when they’re attracted to a particular līlā when
that is going on that is reality. Every līlā is reality. And
when a devotee’s attention is attracted by a particular līlā it
is real. And who is imagination, in the case of imagination, that is the
question of adhikāra. One who has not come in the śuddha-sattva,
it is imagination in his case. That may be in sattya-guṇa, raja-guṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He has to come to the platform of śuddha-sattva?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Then he will come to the plane of
reality.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
But sometimes a devotee might, due to the process of chanting, at a particular
given moment, come to that platform.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, that flow may come, automatically, janma-līlā,
rasa-līlā.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
In any other līlā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Any līlā, going on
always, his attention will be attracted towards that particular part of the līlā:
it may be.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Because sometimes a līlā is not fully explained in individual
details, all are not fully explained any way, in any śāstra, or
he’s not read of it, but that is coming in the mind in a particular sequence;
that this gopa did this, and this cow went this way, and then they
came...
Devotee: ____________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________________ [?]
Devotee: ______________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right.
Today we dissolve the meeting now.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
...
...save ones’ own self and also to help others.
Hegel ____ says,
the idea is the first, and then the movement of the mind and the body.
___________ Ideal Realism: or something like. First we conceive to do anything
and then the movement begins, of the mind and... so idea leads us, and the idea
is all important. What sort of things do we follow, the body, the mind, towards
everything we follow, what sort of idea?
The idea of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, conception,
consideration, that has been told to be the highest ideal. Absolute good,
absolute beauty, autocrat absolute infinite, we must live in His relativity.
Vaikuṇṭha, in its fullest conception is Goloka. Vaikuṇṭha
has no kuṇṭha, that is, no limitation. That is Vaikuṇṭha.
The conception of the infinite when it comes to be congruent with Kṛṣṇa
consciousness: that has been considered to be the highest end, highest goal.
The Absolute, the Autocrat, and the Beauty, the Good, the Beauty, ānandam,
raso vai sah, akhila-rasāmṛta-murtiḥ. All conceptions of rasa
harmonised. Different varieties of rasas, they’re given harmony by Kṛṣṇa
conscious conception of the Absolute. Raso vai sah, akhila-rasāmṛta-murtiḥ.
The peculiarities, that has got some appearance; that is not mere abstract.
At the same time not to be intelligible by the, by our present senses, present
senses.So divya-darśana, divyana-bhuti, divine awakening must be made, and we must have the help of the sādhus,
that is His agents, bona fide agents. There may be many sham agents also,
pseudo agents, the sahajiyāism, imitationist. We must go to the
genuine agent. And with the help, with the grace of him, we’ll gradually attain
our end.
naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ,
sprśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ
[mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekaṁ,
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat]
["Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of
a Vaiṣṇava completely freed from material contamination, persons
very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus
feet of the Lord, Who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by
becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet
of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
7.5.32]
Prahlāda
Mahārāja says, “So long ones’ mind may not have touch with the divine
feet of the Lord, anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ, for which the
elimination of the undesirable elements that are within us is necessary, and
for that purpose it is indispensable to get the help of His devotees, the
agents, anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ. Mahīyasāṁ
pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekaṁ, niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta
yāvat, so our divine life does not really begin as long as we do not
come to the feet of a genuine master; there it begins. Real progress, real
life, towards divinity begins when we get recognition of the supreme through
His agent.”
This is a monopoly of the orthodox system. God is for everyone. Why
should some mediator be necessary at all? He’s open to all. We all belong to
Him. Only if we sincerely want Him, He will come direct. That may be a
conception of a part.
...
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, there’s one verse here from Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
and you were talking about impostors.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Imitation.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Imitation, sahajiyās, there’s a saying in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
there’s one verse, it says, dhana-śiṣyādibhir-dvārair...
[dhana-śiṣyādibhir-dvārair yā bhaktir
upapādyate
vidūratvād uttamatāhānya tasyāś ca
nāṅgatā]
["If one
relies on one's disciples or wealth to attain bhakti, his devotional
practice will certainly become slackened. One cannot claim that one is engaged
in devotional service simply on the basis of engaging one's money or disciples
in bhakti. To rely on money and disciples to perform devotional service
in one's place is not considered to be a branch of pure devotion."][Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
Pūrva-vibhāga, 12.128]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Dhana-śiṣyādibhir,
dhana means wealth and ṣiṣya the disciple. Dhana-śiṣyādibhir-dvārair
yā bhaktir upapādyate: that is not considered to be śuddha-bhakti.
That is what is done by our representative. That is not śuddha-bhakti.
I do not do it myself, I give some money, to help śuddha-bhakta and
other holy duties, to help, money. And men, I supply men. I do not do it
myself. I ask my ṣiṣya to do the worship, the kīrtana,
all these things, and I myself do not do. But that is not śuddha-bhakti,
to send representative to perform the function of devotees, practices of
devotees. For the sender, the giver, he’s not practising śuddha-bhakti.
...
So, Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, he did, by his own hand he
cleansed the temple and other devotional activities, giving the responsibility
of his government to the ministers. But he did not give any representative for
the service of the temple of the Lord. That he did in his own hand. And he gave
representative for the government of the country.So one should do it himself,
not by any, through any representative; that is, dhana-śiṣyādibhir-dvārair
yā bhaktir upapādyate.
Devotees: Vidūratvād uttamatāhānya
tasyāś ca nāṅgatā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nāṅgatā, no āṅgatā,
it is not to be recognised as the part of śuddha-bhakti.
Devotee: __________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bharampur edition.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ______ śaithilya______ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śaithilya- slackness.
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ,
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
[ānukūlyena-kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ
bhaktir uttamā]
["One
should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa
favourably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive
activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional
service."] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, 1.1.11]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.21.11, purport] & [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 19-167]
Ādi sabdena śaithilya tai tadi [?]
That is by [Viśvanātha]
Cakravartī Ṭhākura and others. The ādi, what is ādi?
Jñāna, karma, anyābhilāṣa, karma, jñāna.
Ādi means ‘so many others.’ Ādi śaithilya ta, is one
of them, slackness, negligence.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, before, you were
talking about idea, the idea stage, according to Hegel. And sometimes we’ve
heard that the bhakti-latā-bīja, that the bīja is
like a conceptual stage, some idea stage.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The idea, intuitively it comes,
beginning from sukṛti, ajñāta-sukṛti, jñāta-sukṛti.
Bhaktyā sañjātayā bhaktyā.
[smarantaḥ smārayantaś ca, mitho
'ghaugha-haraṁ harim
bhaktyā sañjātayā bhaktyā, bibhraty
utpulakāṁ tanum]
["The
devotees of the Lord constantly discuss the glories of the Personality of
Godhead among themselves. Thus they constantly remember the Lord and remind one
another of His qualities and pastimes. In this way, by their devotion to the
principles of bhakti-yoga, the devotees please the Personality of
Godhead, who takes away from them everything inauspicious. Being purified of
all impediments, the devotees awaken to pure love of Godhead, and thus, even
within this world, their spiritualised
bodies exhibit symptoms of transcendental ecstasy, such as standing of the
bodily hairs on end."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.3.31]
Bhakti is its own cause, and nothing else. So nirguṇa comes
from nirguṇa, and no saguṇa can produce nirguṇa.
Nirguṇas’ guṇa-titha, guṇa means badi,
disease cannot produce health. Removal of the disease is health proper. This
way we must think, that nirguṇa is healthy position, and saguṇa
is diseased state, sattya, raja, tama, three kinds of disease,
mainly. So nirguṇa must come from nirguṇa, nirguṇa
can produce it. So nirguṇa when within the
diseased stage, suppose one is in delirium, from the sober section the
beginning of the treatment must come to his help. So those that are in
misconception, misconception cannot help proper conception, so it must come
from the proper conception world. So first sukṛti, ajñāta-sukṛti,
anyhow or other he’s utilised for that purpose, nirguṇa, then
gathers sukṛti. And when sufficient it produces śraddhā,
and when śraddhā that comes over the surface then his
conscious cooperation begins. Before that when the patient has got, when the
patient is senseless, there is also treatment, injection and all these, and
after some treatment the consciousness awakens and
the cooperation with the patient it may go on. Am I clear?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So when fully engrossed in māyā,
misconception, anyhow, some interference of the nirguṇa will come
in him, his energy will be utilised by them in any way, the sukṛti.
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-janma-mūla haya
‘sādhu-saṅga’
[kṛṣṇa-prema janme, teṅho punar mukhya aṅga]
["The root cause of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa
is association with advanced devotees. Even when one's dormant love for Kṛṣṇa
awakens, association with devotees is still most essential."] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.83]
Sādhu-saṅga, and then when sukṛti: sat-saṅgaḥ
prāpyate puṁbhiḥ sukṛtaiḥ pūrvva-sañcitaiḥ.
[bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhaktasaṅgena parijāyate
sat-saṅgaḥ prāpyate puṁbhiḥ sukṛtaiḥ
pūrvva-sañcitaiḥ]
[“Actually we
can recognise a sādhu by sukṛti. Apparently we can
know him from the śāstras, the scriptures, because the śāstra
helps us to know who is a sādhu, and the sādhu gives
us the interpretation of the śāstra. So sādhu and śāstra
are interdependent, but the sādhu holds the more important
position and the śāstra has the secondary position. The living
śāstra is the sādhu, but to know who is Guru, who is sādhu, we are to consult the
descriptions given about them in the scriptures. The symptoms of the sādhu,
both of the Guru as well as the disciple, have been
written in the Bhāgavatam, in the Gītā and in the Upaniṣads.”]
[Bṛhan-Nāradīya-Purāṇa]
From unknown accumulation of sukṛti, that is some
connection with nirguṇa, that arouses what is śraddhā
within us, and with śraddhā it comes upon the surface.
Then he can cooperate with the doctor. Then conscious movement towards the God
is begun.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, and then at what stage bhakti-latā-bīja...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, then he first goes to śravaṇa-daśā,
the stages after śraddhā maybe divided into five, śravaṇa,
then varaṇa, then sādhana, then āpana,
then prapanna, five stages. First stage śravaṇa...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Hearing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hearing, the stage of hearing, listening
to the agents of the divine. He feels pleasure to hear, gets some hope,
anyhow...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Does that include reading?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, reading also. Śravaṇa
from the sādhu more powerful, and then also he reads similar
things. In this way, after śravaṇa-daśā, then he begins
his practical stage. He takes initiation, gets recognition from the agent of
that domain. And then has a regular life. Varaṇa-daśā,
after śravaṇa then comes varaṇa, the acceptance.
There that is first to listen, then to accept the creed practically, to come
within the regular life.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Is that official acceptance, at varaṇa...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Varaṇa means to accept.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Officially, like dīkṣā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Officially? Ah, yes, dīkṣā.
There’s the dīkṣā, the guru-karan, the
recognition through the Guru. He gets admission into the party through Guru,
gets recognition of Kṛṣṇa through His agent: that is Guru, dīkṣā.
Then sādhana begins proper. Sādhana, śravaṇa,
kīrtana, etc., really begins after dīkṣā,
after guru-karan, this sādhana-daśā. Then comes āpana-daśā,
that realisation, self-determination, svarūpa-siddhi...
End of 81.08.21.B_81.08.22.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.22.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
[ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’
tha bhajana-kriyā
tato’ nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā
rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ
premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ
prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ]
["In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested
in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual
master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is
freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service.
Thereafter, one develops taste and then attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti,
the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles.
Gradually spiritual emotions manifest and intensify, then finally there is an
awakening of divine love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead
for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness."] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
1.4.15-16]
Ādau śraddhā tataḥ
sādhu-saṅgo’,
then that is bhajana-kriyā, śravaṇa, kīrtana, etc.
Then anartha-nivṛtti, undesirable elements gradually die out, anartha-nivṛtti.
Tato niṣṭhā, then real adherence begins to the cause, anartha-nivṛtti.
Niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ, niṣṭhā-nairantaryya,
a continuous flow of life of that thought, continuous, niṣṭhā
means continuous. Continuity comes when undesirable things disappear from
the mind, then continuity begins, niṣṭhā. Then ruci,
real taste awakens, rucis tataḥ. Athāsaktis, then that taste
becomes more intense, and it is named as āśakti. Whenever a
little ______ comes in the memory, in the continuance, then of course he feels prema,
that is āśakti, tato bhāva, then bhāva-bhakti,
just like the bloom, flower, bloom, what is it, the primitive stage of a
flower?
Devotees: Bud.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bud. Then the bud of devotion, prema,
comes. After that bhāva-bhakti then prema-bhakti begins.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, did you say athāsaktis...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Athāsaktis tato bhāvas.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: That he feels if there’s some
discontinuation in the niṣṭhā that he feels pain?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If continuation is a little slackened he
feels pain. Then it comes to the stage of āśakti. Then tato
bhāva, that bud condition, and then prema, that is blossoming.
And then sneha, mana, division in the prema, sneha, mana, rāga,
anurāga, bhāva, mahā-bhāva. Bhāva goes to sākhya-rasa
only to show all that are connected. And mahābhāva otherwise bhāva
in vātsalya-rasa and mādhurya-rasa, general, and mahā-bhāva
only reserved for Rādhā Ṭhākurāṇī, that is
we are told the stages of bhakti.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But you were saying that the rāgānugās
they get some taste of that mahā-bhāva?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Taste of mahābhāva, but
quantity is small. That quality can descend to that position.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, you said sādhana then āpana...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Āpana-daśā then prapanna-daśā.
This āpana-daśā means realisation,
and then prapanna, that he can give to others, prapanna-daśā.
There are two things, two classes, that vastu siddhi is also prapanna.
Svarūpa siddhi, āpana, and vastu siddhi, prapanna,prakista lokena apna, finalised,
finally entered into the group.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Now Mahārāja,
is that possible while in this present body? Because once I heard our Guru
Mahārāja explain, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma, naiti
mām eti, so explaining mām eti he said that Sanātana
Goswāmī has said that, "This means that first one is transferred
to that universe where Kṛṣṇa's līlā is going
on."
[janma karma ca me divyam, evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma, naiti mām eti so
‘arjuna]
[“O Arjuna, one
who actually perceives My supramundane birth and activities enacted by My sweet
will, does not undergo rebirth in this material world. After giving up his
present body, he attains Me. Having become subservient to My divine pleasure (hlādinī-śakti)
in the form of My revealed divine potency, such a soul achieves eternal
devotional service unto Me.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 4.9]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. He can come only by His direction,
not for his own fault he’s to come back. But he may come when desired by the
Lord, “Go and...” as He Himself comes. So, under His direction he may also be
sent here, to do good to others, prapanna, mām eti. He may come
here as an Avatāra comes. In this way he may come here.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Who?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Prapanna, mām eti, who has
finally achieved that stage...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Matured.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Finally, he also may come, not for his
weakness, but when sent by the Lord, to fulfil some purpose, just like
Avatāra.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Our Guru Mahārāja said
that, “There, in that universe where Kṛṣṇa’s
pastimes are being enacting, that one would serve as an apprentice.”
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Svarūpa siddhi and vastu
siddhi, when one attains the stage of ________ siddhi, then āpana,
then from āpana to prapanna, it is said that when Kṛṣṇa
has descended in any brahmāṇḍa, he’s transferred there.
And he gets chance of participating in that prapañca līlā, and
after participation there practically with the company of the gopīs,
it is finalised, and he is vastu siddhi; that is prapanna. Prapañca
līlā…svarūpa siddhi pare prapañca līlā_______ The first participation, when he comes in this world, and after
participation, that is as a probationer, and then service becomes permanent.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. So, what I wanted to know; is it
possible for one who is in the conditioned state, nitya baddha, to
progress to this state of...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Unconditioned.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But to the point of prapanna, in
this lifetime, before giving up this body?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Huh?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Possible, but not all cases, in special
cases, in one life one may achieve that svarūpa siddhi. It is
possible, but not very cheap.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Was that the case of Bilvamaṅgala
Ṭhākura?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bilvamaṅgala? Yes, we consider it,
if we do not take it that he came to teach us. There are so many Āḷvārs
that come, and in their activity also, so many mundane ______ is to be seen,
but that is all show, only to help us, to take us from the lower position to
the higher. They play the part of the baddha jīva, but really they
are mukta. So not only in all cases
should we think that from baddha he has come to be mukta, the
final stage.In Jagāi Mādhāi’s case: ‘patita-pāvana’
nāmera sākṣī dui bhāi.
[mahā-kṛpā-pātra prabhura jagāi,
mādhāi / ‘patita-pāvana’
nāmera sākṣī dui bhāi]
[Jagāi and Mādhāi, the eighty-ninth and ninetieth
branches of the tree, were the greatest recipients of Lord Caitanya's mercy.
These two brothers were the witnesses who proved that Lord Caitanya was rightly
named Patita Pāvana, "the deliverer of the fallen
souls."]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 10.120]
It has been told, mahā-kṛpā-pātra prabhura
jagāi, mādhāi, who were said to be the standard sinners,
that were saved by Mahāprabhu. They’re also told, that, ‘patita-pāvana’
nāmera sākṣī dui bhāi, they came to play the part
of the witness that such pāvana, that such purification is
possible, to help us. The purification from such a wretched position to attain
the highest end, that is possible by the grace of the Lord, by magnanimous
personality. They stood as witness, we are told. Jagāi Mādhāi,
first they were in Vaikuṇṭha, Jaya Vijaya; and then Hiraṇyākṣa
Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa,
Śiśupāla Dantavakra, again they have been taken from Brahmaloka,
to become Jagāi Mādhāi. That shadow, that idea.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But Mahārāja, in the seventh
canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Yudhiṣṭhira
Mahārāja he says that, "I cannot believe that some unflinching
servitors of Kṛṣṇa that they would fall from Vaikuṇṭha."
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yudhiṣṭhira
Mahārāja, when he heard about his cousins, who were they in that
birth, Śiśupāla and Dantavakra, when he heard that they were
associates of Viṣṇu, he said, "I cannot believe that they
could fall from Vaikuṇṭha."
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The underlying perhaps is this: that
temporary degradation, conditional degradation is no degradation. Do you
follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: One officer has committed something
wrong, and he is suspended for some time. That suspension is not dismissal. The
service is there. Something like that.
They came with conditional; "After three births you will be again
reinstated." And because they were in the service of Nārāyaṇa,
Nārāyaṇa’s sympathy was there. Only to keep the formal respect
of the Ṛṣis,
they were asked to accept extraordinarily that sort of show. And they were
again reinstated in that former position. So, really, they were not helpless at
the time of their fall, they were in Nārāyaṇa’s presence, His
sympathy was with them. It was external formality they were to observe to keep
the respect of the Ṛṣi. But internally when they had
acquired the sympathy of Nārāyaṇa:
nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti, pratyavāyo na
vidyate
svalpam apy asya dharmasya, trāyate mahato bhayāt
["Even a small beginning in this devotional service cannot go in
vain, nor can any loss be suffered. The most insignificant practice of such
devotional service saves one from the all-devouring fear of repeated birth and
death in this world."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.40]
________ to give respect to the words of
the Ṛṣis, they were made
to act that sort of play. That is the underlying meaning.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Now, should we think that generally,
this is the case with the jīva, the baddha jīva?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
In some cases it may be thought, and also in the general cases it is such depth
of vision may have in some quarters of the devotees, whose vision is very deep
and far-reaching, because Māyāherself is a conditioned thing, māyāic-vilas.
As much as long as it may be, still it is not infinite; a part of infinite, but
it is finite, finite, the līlā, the finite. So, in
consideration with infinite time, long ages have got no value. Long ages, long,
long ages, has no value in consideration with the infinite. In consideration,
you see, everything is relative. All visions
more or less relative. So a human life a hundred years, and there may be an
insect, in one hour so many generations. The Brahma-yuga, Videya-yuga, then
this ordinary ego, all relative calculation. So when māyā, is
conditional, only time calculation of this world begins when we are, the māyāic ego, we come within the form of thought, time, space, person,
these are the forms of thought, comes from ego, this ego, of the noneternal
aspect, the familial aspect. Am I clear? No?
...
Jīva’s connection with this māyāic world is called anadi. Anadi means beginningless. But anadi
has been explained in this way: “Why it is anadi?” Because after he
enters the, this phenomenal world, then he comes within the factor of space,
time, space begins, time begins. It is a form of thought. When the whole world,
whole creation is dissolved, it enters into the mind. Do you see, the land, the
solid, enters into liquid, liquid enters into heat, heat enters into gas,
moisture, and moisture enters into ether, and ether enters into mind; the
object of thought. So subjective evolution enters into thought, ego.
Devotee: Mind to intelligence, to...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Ah... Mind to intelligence, intelligence to ego, then no experience, no world
of experience; again, when creation begins, prakṛtermahān, mahato
ahaṅkara, ahaṅkara pancatran mahatrāni, in this way the
gross things come, and they enter into the subtle, into the, they’re all mental
forms. So, the participation of the soul in this material world has been called
as anadi, which has no beginning, because it effects before he enters
into the factor of time and, this jadiya kāla. So when one can see
that this is limited, however lengthy it may seem to the victims of māyā,
still, it is a limited thing. So in their consideration it may be like that.
The jīva
is engaged in the pastimes of the Lord, and as reaction there they have got
sleeping tendency, and in sleeping they’re having a dream, and in that dream
they may be seen to act in different ways in this world. And the dream finished
and they awake and say: “I am at home, back to God, back to home. There is I.”
It has been also told. But such vision will be rarely to be had.
The most
spacious, whatever is indirect, that is always cooperating fully with the
direct; it is servant of direct, it has got no independent value, only helping
the direct. The indirect is always meant only to help the direct; not
otherwise. So they will see the negative also within positive, something like
that, that this sort of negative, not in svarūpa-śakti
negative. That is mahā-bhāgavata, who does not, who cannot see
anything but Kṛṣṇa, anything but Kṛṣṇa, svarūpa-śakti,
always awakened in svarūpa-śakti area. To become conscious of māyā-śakti
it is generally coming in madhyama-adhikāra, who can see māyā.
In the first stage, not māyā to do any mischief to them, but
doing mischief to others; in this way. Para-duḥkha-dukhī, no
pain in himself, but he’s affected by the misery of others.
Direct and
indirect, Kṛṣṇa and māyā; the māyā
is to help Kṛṣṇa in the fullest sense, when they come to
realise that, that this is, has got no status to oppose Kṛṣṇa,
but is playing at the hand of Kṛṣṇa, to serve His own purpose,
as a doll in His hand. In that, when the vision is extended so much, to the
fullest, they say, “What’s the matter? It is epic only. That is nothing.”And
when already we are in māyā we do not find any end of māyā.
We tiny souls, no end of māyā _________ according to angle of vision, according to the position, so all
relative view, conception, we may think out.Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare
Kṛṣṇa.
Teji nasam naro saya vande sarve yo yata [?]
tvaṁ tu rājan mariṣyeti, paśu-buddhim
imāṁ jahi
[na jātaḥ prāg abhūto 'dya, deha-vat tvaṁ
na naṅkṣyasi]
["O King, give up the animalistic mentality of thinking: "I am
going to die." Unlike the body, you have not taken birth. There was not a
time in the past when you did not exist, and you are not about to be
destroyed."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 12.5.2]
Teji nasam naro saya vande sarve yo yata [?]
A great, nothing to be blamed, no blame
can affect them. A man may be so great that little anomaly may not affect him.
Vande sarve yo yata [?]
Śukadeva Goswāmī says,
“Just as fire can eat everything, and digest,” something like that.
Teji nasam naro saya [?]Another example, what I did?
Teji nasam naro saya, vande sarve yo yata [?]Another example I cited, forgot.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: You said, the official, when an
official... makes a mistake...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, no, this example, vande sarve yo
yata [?] another example I got in my mind, but I missed it,vande sarve yo yata
[?]
They’re so strong that māyā cannot do anything,
effectless, for them.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, I was also
wondering, in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, in the chapter on
neutral love of God, śanta-rasa, in the end of the chapter,
Rūpa Gosvāmī gives Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura as an
example. So, I couldn’t understand that. I thought he was an example of someone
in mādhurya-rasa, because of his book Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam,
but he’s…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What has Rūpa Gosvāmī
done?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Given Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura
as an example of śanta-rasa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But I thought he was an example of mādhurya.
Devotee: ________________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura
and Śukadeva Goswāmī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śanta-rasa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Give me that pink book, Nectar of
Devotion.So here, in this Nectar of Devotion, our Guru
Mahārāja’s summary of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, he
says, “Śukadeva Goswāmī, Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura,
their giving up of the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth and taking
to devotional service are the best examples of devotees being situated in the
neutral state.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Last part.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He said, “Their giving up of the
impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth and taking to devotional service
are the best examples of devotees being situated in the neutral state.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ātmārāma, neutral
state, they’re, from nirviśeṣa they have entered the realm of
saviśeṣa, śanta-rasa.
Prayano mano rajan nivrta vidhi sevita
nadgunasta avantesna guna nata guna harih.
ātmārāmāś ca munayo, nirgranthā
apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim, ittham-bhūta guṇo
hariḥ
["Those sages who, being merged in the bliss of the spirit soul,
are totally free from the binding knot of mental images - they too engage in
the unmotivated service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the performer
of marvellous deeds. This is but one of the qualities of the Supreme Lord Hari,
who charms the entire world."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.7.10]
pariniṣṭhito 'pi nairguṇye, uttamaḥ-śloka-līlayā
gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe,
ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān,
[tad ahaṁ te 'bhidhāsyāmi, mahā-pauruṣiko
bhavān
yasya śraddadhatām āśu, syān mukunde
matiḥ satī]
["O saintly King, I was certainly situated perfectly in
transcendence, yet I was still attracted by the delineation of the pastimes of
the Lord, who is described by enlightened verses." - "That very Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
I shall recite before you because you are the most sincere devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
One who gives full attention and respect to hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
achieves unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord, the giver of salvation."]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 2.1.9-10]
Of course from nirviśeṣa, the conception of nirviśeṣa,
Brahman, he came not only to Vasudeva conception, or Nārāyaṇa
conception, they came, they went forward to have Kṛṣṇa
conception in their appreciation. Now, they’re considered to be in śanta-rasa.
That is a difficult thing, difficult thing, that Śukadeva
Goswāmī has given us so many things, even rasa-līlā,
gopī-gītā, Rādhārāṇī’s līlā,
Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with the, His friends, vātsalya-rasam,
but still, he’s not considered to be, generally to be established in the
highest position of the rasa world, Śuka. For some purpose, that rasa
was preached through him, but that does not mean that he has entered there
and he’s established there. For the particular service, purpose of the Lord,
through him it was given to the world, given to the world. Just as pralapita
vacra, he does not know, though all these higher
thoughts passed through him, but still, he was a peon, of those higher
thoughts, delivered letters. But he himself had no permanent settlement in that
highest quarter. We do not hear about that.
We see in Caitanya-Bhāgavat, Mahāprabhu is asking
Śrīvāsa, “That what type of devotion you think this Nara, My
Advaita [has]?”
Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita told, “That like Śuka
and Prahlāda.”
Mahāprabhu was enraged. “Śuka is a boy, the other day. You put
My Advaita in the same rank.” He was enraged. “He’s of higher type.”
So Śukadeva who gave the Bhāgavatam, it was necessary
because, to, the intellectuals, the so-called learned, to convert them
Śukadeva was used, but...
And Bilvamaṅgala has been called Śukadeva, Śuka, of the
similar nature, Bilvamaṅgala, Līlāśuka, his name. He also
came from that māyāvādā, svanandasuka, singasana
_______ [?]
And he went far up to appreciate and give
to the world his fervent poetries about Kṛṣṇalīlā
to the public. But he’s more concerned with Kṛṣṇa than
the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa than the gopīs.
So, they were utilised by Kṛṣṇa to give it to the
public for the facility of their conviction, that such man who was a sinner,
then who was a māyāvādā jñānī, and then he
was again converted into Kṛṣṇalīlā, then Kṛṣṇalīlā
must be above this jñāna and others, and it is practically
helpful such a sinner is converted overnight. So to give these teachings to the
world to help the public, for the necessity of the devotional – for preaching
facility, they have been utilised by the higher power, what he himself does not
possess. We are told like that. Though many things unknown to them have been
delivered through them; vyāso vetti na vetti vā, just as there
is a saying, “The Vyāsa has given everything but he may
not know the real purport.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. But I thought that he said aham
vetti śuko vetti.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
aham vedmi śuko vetti, vyāso vetti na vetti vā
[bhaktyā bhāgavataṁ grāhyaṁ na
buddhyā na ca ṭīkayā]
[Lord Śiva says: "I know the true purpose of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam;
Śukadeva, the son and disciple of Vyāsadeva, knows it thoroughly, and
the author of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrīla
Vyāsadeva may or may not know the meaning. The real purpose of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is very difficult to conceive and can only be known through bhakti."]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 24.313]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But he says “śuko vetti, he
knows.” Now we’re saying he does not know.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. That is from one plane. This is
talk of Śiva himself, but Śiva’s knowledge is also limited. The
knowledge, who is the author of this śloka, his realisation is also
limited. From his standpoint he says like so: Aham vedmi śuko vetti,
vyāso vetti na vetti vā. The higher knowledge can make the lower
as an instrument, to serve its purpose. Something like that.
Aksayananda Mahārāja: There is another problem. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta
we read that śanta-rasa, that bhakti has not really begun,
in śanta-rasa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhakti means service not begun.
Aksayananda Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So it has been translated as neutral.
Not really neutral, but prejudiced in favour of the vilasa, of the
service, but not actual service there. Prahlāda has been told to be the
example of śanta-rasa. Prahlāda himself says: “I only think, I
keep in my memory, but actual service not to be found in me. That fortunate man
is Hanumān. You go Devaṛṣi, go to him, to Hanumān. He
does actual service of the Lord.”And Hanumān also sent to...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Pāṇḍavas.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Pāṇḍavas, the sākhya-rasa,
the dāsya-rasa then sākhya-rasa is better than dāsya.
Then Pāṇḍavas says to Yadava, vātsalya-rasa, then
Uddhava, prema-nistha vātsalya-rasa. Jñāna-bhakti-paramāḥ
premaika-niṣṭhās tataḥ. Karmibhyaḥ parito hareḥ
priyatayā vyaktiṁ yayur jñāninas.
[karmibhyaḥ parito hareḥ priyatayā vyaktiṁ
yayur jñāninas
tebhyo jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ premaika-niṣṭhās
tataḥ
tebhyas tāḥ paśu-pāla-paṅkaja-dṛśas
tābhyo ‘pi sā rādhikā
preṣṭhā tadvad iyaṁ
tadīya-sarasī tāṁ nāśrayet kaḥ kṛtī]
[“There are those in the world who regulate their tendency for
exploitation in accordance with the scriptural rules and thereby seek gradual
elevation to the spiritual domain. However, superior to them are those wise men
who, having given up the tendency to lord over others, attempt to dive deep
into the realm of consciousness. But far superior to them are the pure devotees
who are free from any mundane ambitions and are liberated from knowledge, not
by knowledge, having achieved divine love. They have gained entrance into the
land of dedication and are engaged there spontaneously in the Lord's loving
service. Among all devotees, however, the gopīs are the highest, for they have
forsaken everyone, including their families, and everything, including the
strictures of the Vedas, and have taken complete shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa,
accepting Him as their only protection. But among all the gopīs,
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī reigns supreme. For
Kṛṣṇa left the company of millions of gopīs during the
rasa dance to search for Her alone. She is so dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa
that the pond in which She bathes is His very favourite place. Who but a madman
would not aspire to render service, under the shelter of superior devotees, in
that most exalted of all holy places.”]
[Śrī Upadeśāmṛta, 10]
Devotion mixed with material achievement; that is the lowest. Devotion
mixed with pure consciousness; that is next higher stage. Then, independent of
material; that is the influence of exploitation and renunciation, that sort of
devotion to be traced, karmibhyaḥ parito hareḥ priyatayā
vyaktiṁ yayur jñāninas, tebhyo jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ.
That is the type of Nārada, jñāna-sunya-bhakti-paramāḥ,
jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ. He’s more appreciable of bhakti
and dis-appreciation in the world of exploitation as well as of
renunciation. The example is Nārada, jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ,
premaika-niṣṭhās tataḥ.
Then exclusively attentive towards the prema-bhakti, that example
is Uddhava, connected with Braja, that is the highest stage of devotion, tebhyas
tāḥ paśu-pāla-paṅkaja-dṛśas.
Then the highest stage, paśu-pāla, the gopīs as
general, though gopī, in Braja, paśu-pāla-paṅkaja-dṛśas
tābhyo ‘pi sā rādhikā, and amongst them also,
Rādhārāṇī is unprecedented. Her devotion, Her
service, has got no parallel.In this way it is the way of development of
devotion.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Śukadeva, who has given the whole of Bhāgavatam,
including everything, he says he’s a mediator. So
the position of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura. It has been detected by
the great Ācāryas.
Aksayananda Mahārāja: So the tendency is neutrality.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Neutral, something like that.
Śukadeva, after finishing his lecture he again entered into the
non-differentiated class.________________________________ [?]
Very strongly he pleaded the position that bhakti is higher than jñāna.
That was what was necessary there, in the example by Śuka and his
delivery, that the jñāna, the renunciation school was downed,
finally, and then the structure grown up. And that came within him. It was
necessary that it should come, śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam.
[nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ,
śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayaṁ, muhur aho
rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ]
[“O expert and thoughtful men, relish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the
lips of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has
become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable
for all, including liberated souls.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.1.3]
That got in such a broader scale it came and with the experience of
Śuka in the details of the renunciationist school, the jñānīs,
that it was able to clear vigorously the doubts of the jñānīs and
to establish the truth of Bhāgavatam, bhakti, prema-bhakti.
So he was used for the purpose, Śukadeva.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, but in Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam,
Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura he says that he was initiated into the
path of Brahman realisation, “but now I have become misled by a naughty boy who
is very cunning, and who is very much attached to the gopīs, and
who has made me His maidservant.” So he’s saying that he’s become the
maidservant.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not maidservant but maid’s servant.
Dasi krta gopa vadhu vicena [?]
The Sanskrit is not dasa krta, dasi krta. _________________________________ [?]
The swans have been done white by
whom?____________________________________ [?]
There is a technique in Sanskrit
grammar.__________________________________[?]
Who was not a slave, to make him slave, so
dasi krti, in Sanskrit also it is like that.
So not necessarily that maid of the gopīs,
but he may be having recognition of that of a servant, dasi krta, may be
a sakha.
And he gave description mainly about Kṛṣṇa, and
including the gopīs. That is also found in his statement, and
fervently.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Who is the first author to present this;
Rūpa Goswāmī’s conception?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To...?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: To present in written form, where, the
Gauḍīya siddhānta, in which writings does that first
occur?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In [Raghunātha] Dāsa
Goswāmī we find, in Sanātana, in Jīva Goswāmī
mostly we find. Jīva Goswāmī he gave commentary to Rūpa
Goswāmī’s writings. Jīva Goswāmī himself he was his
direct disciple and he was brought ______________ [?]He was under the care
of Rūpa Goswāmī, he grown up, grew up. So Jīva
Goswāmī and Dāsa Goswāmī. Dāsa Goswāmī
took the rasa side and Jīva Goswāmī the śāstric
aspect; śāstric aspect explanations by Jīva
Goswāmī. And the ecstatic aspect was given by Dāsa
Goswāmī, to certain extent. And [Kṛṣṇadāsa]
Kavirāja Goswāmī has also given, with quotation also, the
meaning of Rūpa Goswāmī.________________________________ [?]
Aksayananda Mahārāja: Some pseudo, modern, so-called Vaiṣṇavas, they say
that the Goswāmī Grantha’s are not necessary. What is the
cause of this disease? Why do they...?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Because they can’t tolerate their
elimination from higher type of devotion.
End of 81.08.22.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.22.B
His Divine Grace
Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī
Mahārāja
[the same as the MP3 dated
81.08.22.A]
End of 81.08.22.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.22.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jealousy.
Akṣayānanda
Mahārāja:
They’re envious.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Envious. And also, some of them cannot
accommodate themselves with the selection of Mahāprabhu, with
Mahāprabhu and Rūpa Goswāmī, the gradation. They say, some
think Chandravālīgroup in mādhurya rasa the Vallabha gosthi,
the Vallabha School, especially in Gujrat. They think that
Chandravālīas Yamunā she represents the highest form of service.
Gokula Gosai, once I visited him in Bombay. He tried his best to impress that
Yamunā holds the highest position in Mathurā in mādhurya rasa,
because after rasa, rasa līlā, when it is dissolved, they
found Kṛṣṇa when they went to the banks of Yamunā. That
was his argument. The Yamunā holding the principal position in mādhurya
līlā of Kṛṣṇa, that is their... and not
Rādhārāṇī. But in different Purāṇa also,
and Bhāgavat suppressed the...
anayārādhito nūnaṁ, bhagavān harir
īśvaraḥ
[yan no vihāya govindaḥ, prīto yām anayad
rahaḥ]
[The Vraja gopīs
said: “O my friend! Leaving us aside, Śrī Kṛṣṇa
has gone off to a secluded place with a particular gopī. She must
be truly expert in worshipping (anayārādhito) Him, for He was
so pleased with Her service that He has left us all behind.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.30.28]
One pradhana gopī and He’s not one with Yamunā; She’s
not one with Yamunā.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: One of the things of what
Mahārāja was saying, sometimes it is stated by the so-called devotees
that the Goswāmī granthas no longer serve any purpose. They
serve no purpose because they are so abstract.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha. And what about Bhāgavatam?
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam serves all purposes. That is not to be
understandable by the public. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has no
meaning of its existence?
Akṣayānanda
Mahārāja:
No, they say the Bhāgavatam is all right. They accept the Bhāgavatam
but they say the Goswāmī grantha, they are too far, too
abstract, too far advanced, so what is the use for us.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
So what is the use of the post graduate classes? What is the use of research
scholarship? That is too far. What is the necessity of a Newton or an Einstein?
That is too high.
There is one scientist in the beginning of the invention of electricity,
one Faraday scientist, when he showed his experiment to the scholars of the day
one lady put a question to him that, “After
all what will be the benefit of all your experiments and your inventions, what
benefit the general public will derive from it?”
Then the Faraday
told, we read it in Discovery of Gregory, that, “Madam, will you tell me
the utility of a newborn babe.” That was the answer of Faraday. “A newborn
babe, when he will grow up then you will get the benefit, appreciate.”
So, the high things not for the public, but those that have
appreciation, those few that can appreciate in those higher study, by their
movement that high things come in different ways to this plane. And it creates
such sukṛti. And that sukṛti one day will prepare
them for that higher, to receive that higher thing, that is satya kathā.
They will say, “The Kṛṣṇa, Svayaṁ Bhagavān
what is the utility?” Or to the public, public, as Ramakrishna Mission,
“Whether God or Kali or Kṛṣṇa or Allah: all equal.”
That is very palatable to the ordinary public, the primitive
God-conception.
“And you say Kṛṣṇa
is the highest, he says God is the highest, what is the utility of all these
troubles stating
that my realisation is the highest.”
That also may be stated by a particular group. Should we go to tolerate
that? Only those that consider much favour of denotation they will say like
that, the majority, the quantity. But quantity cannot satisfy all. Those that
hankers after qualitative, comparative higher things, they will eliminate
everything and go forward for that thing. This is discouraging, the gradation.
The qualitative highness: that should be hankered by all. This is all
apathetic. In the political field we tolerate so many sections, so many
sections of different political conceptions, shades. But in religious school, “Oh! Why so? Only one suffice.” That is Ramakrishna Mission.
They’re idle, idle in religious realisation.
That sort of reckless brain who has got no sympathy for religion at all, they
will say like that.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Reckless brain.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is apathetic, generally. They do
not want any comparative study in religion.
Akṣayānanda
Mahārāja:
They don't want any movement. They don't want any progress.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They want movement only for the belly.
The belly is everything to them, the belly people, the belly servants, slaves
of physical senses. They are free physical senses.
We are just opposite. Kāma dāsa, not Rāma dāsa. They
are all kāma dāsa, slave to the sensual pleasure. They cannot
tolerate the gradation in the religious thought, qualitative difference. But in
their political opinion they can tolerate so many shades of political
conception. And they fight with each other, the follower of Locke, the
Marxists, then the communists, then so many divisions in the communists.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, this sort of question arises also because
like in my own personal experience, in my personal studies, Hari-Nāmāmṛta-Vyākaraṇa
etc. I have always been discouraged. No one has ever encouraged, it has always
been discouraged. And it has actually been said that it is a useless endeavour.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. We are one with them, the study, jñāna-sunya-bhakti. The real
thing what is necessary to work, to use our energy for the service of the Lord.
By that process only we can go up. And not by satisfying our intellectual
necessaries. An illiterate man can achieve a higher position in the realm of
devotion, where a literate man may not be.
But when by the command of the Lord we engage ourselves in the literary
culture, just as Mahāprabhu asked Rūpa, Sanātana, of course they
had their knowledge already acquired, and to utilise that for the service of the sampradāya.He also
asked Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa: ya'o paḍa bhāgavata vaiṣṇavera
sthane: “Read Bhāgavatam but from whom who knows the real
purport of it, Vaiṣṇava, bhakti.”[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Antya-līlā, 5.131]
Only Jīva
Gosvāmī is the exception whom we see that He made study. He studied
independently before he joined Vṛndāvana. He left his home and then
went to Benares. Benares was the city of all sorts of learning at that time.
And he studied different śāstram. And then he joined Vṛndāvana.
And there under the direction of Rūpa, Sanātana he utilised his previous acquired knowledge into the service of the sampradāya.
So, when we get
inspiration from up, to study, that study is devotion. Otherwise when I have
got a whim within for me to study, to acquire scholarship, that may not be bhakti
proper, śuddha bhakti, because my energy must be utilised by the higher agent, higher agent, a Vaiṣṇava.
Energy must be spent to satisfy the higher world. Then it will be bhakti,
it will be devotion. My mental imagination it may be sukṛti but it
won't be śuddha bhakti. If I want to be, if I have a mind to help
the sampradāya in a scholarly way, but at your own risk you must go
on with your study, and thinking. When it is accepted, he’s connected by the
higher agent, then it will be considered as devotion, otherwise not. It is
empirical attempt with some sort of good ambition, imagination. But this is not
pure bhakti, pure devotion. Pure devotion is to carry out the orders
from the high, from the higher. The waves are coming to catch that and then to
do accordingly.
Once when I joined the mission, I wanted to read the books of the
mission, even including Bhāgavatam, but I did not find any
encouragement from the authority. Then I was sent with a party to Benares, Nemi
Mahārāja, well read. Not highly scholar but in ordinary way he could
explain Bhāgavatam and other śāstra very well and
to impress on the public, including the scholars of ordinary type. In Benares
perhaps in Ahulabhai [?] ghat or
something like that he used to explain Bhāgavatam. I was with him.
And his lectures from Bhāgavatam were very capturing.
At that time Nemi Mahārāja told me that, “Kuñja Bābu does
not tolerate any good for other servitors. If I get order from Prabhupāda
to construct a Maṭh of our own here I can do it.”
And I saw that it was not impossible. If he gets such encouragement then
he can construct, he can purchase a place of our own and construct temple and
quarters, he can do.
So I wrote direct to Prabhupāda, that, “The propagation, the Bhāgavat
lecture here is going on in a very good way and people are much impressed.
And that has also encouraged the preacher Nemi Mahārāja. And he says
that if you ask him to erect a Maṭh of our own in this place of religious
importance then he can do. I think at this nick of time of you order him then
we may have a place of our own, a preaching centre of our own in this important
place where so many religious schools are represented in Benares.”
I got no – I wrote to Prabhupāda but the general secretary Kuñja
Bābu he replied that, “I, we already know that Nemi Mahārāja is
a good preacher. You try to collect your necessary equipments from him for
preaching.” And
no mention of the proposal which I sent to Prabhupāda.
Then when Prabhupāda, a little after Prabhupāda went there and
he suddenly one day told me that, “What is the necessity of karma-kāṇḍa?”
First I could not understand. Why Prabhupāda said so, what is the
necessity of doing karma-kāṇḍa?
Then again he
went on, “That if a Vaiṣṇava says to a person ‘Oh, bring some
flower,’ and he is taking that flower – ‘No, no,
no flower, take the water.’ And if he says that, ‘No, accept this flower, you
have already ordered me to bring flower, I am taking it. You take it.’ To say
so, such, will
be karma-kāṇḍa. He may cancel his own desire. He is
free. A Vaiṣṇava is free. He ordered already to take flower. And if
you take flower and try to force it on him, that will be karma. You must
throw it off and bring water. So any desire to thrust on the higher authority:
that is karma-kāṇḍa. The authority, the Gurudeva, what
he receives from high, that, ‘do this,’ he then ask his followers to do that. And then that will be bhakti.
Once that
Schulze, that German, first gentleman who came to join our mission, Herr
Schulze [Sadānanda dāsa], he told Prabhupāda that, “We are accustomed to do
anything with a program, so sometimes before three months we fix some program
and then we do accordingly. But here at least I want one week’s notice to
prepare myself, where to go, what to do, at least one week before.”
Prabhupāda told, “I get information five minutes ago. How can I
inform you a week ago?”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In advance.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That was his... So our Nisikanta Sanyal
told, I said to you the other day, that, “When you are requested by a Vaiṣṇava
to write, to read any book, that will be devotion. But when of your own accord
you will go to read a book, that won't be, that will be karma or jñāna.”
Something like that.So unconditionally and unqualified surrender to serve the
direction which is coming [from] up, that is bhakti, and all else
imitation and eliminative, that we should understand. So vaiṣṇavera
ānugatya, sādhu ānugatya, everywhere you will find this
warning.
In saṅkīrtana you are taking the Name, as a saṅkīrtana
party. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, “At least one must be a śuddha
bhakta there.” The saṅkīrtana party is going, but at
least one śuddha bhakta must be the leading, otherwise it will be nāmābhāsa,
nāmāparādha, or something like that.
So connection with the divinity, that is, descending agent, the bona
fide agent who has got connection, who can receive impression, who in his heart
so many waves of the wish of the desire of the Lord striking in whose heart,
and he says, ‘this should be done.’ And we must connect with such centre and
then do to get bhakti. Otherwise it may be imitation bhakti,
imitation bhakti, devotion.
Our attraction for knowledge, curiosity to satisfy my inner curiosity,
that I must know what is what about the bhakti before I accept this, or
I must get some fame when delivering lectures, that must be a scholarly one, so
many fleeting desires may make it filthy, pure devotion.
The surrender, and what You order I receive I do act on it. I do not
know what is good and bad. I do not know what is good and bad, a direct order.
And when the Guru is living I am far away. No time to ask him. I must take some
immediate. Then I shall try to think that in such position what my Guru used to
direct me. As much as I can conjecture I do accordingly. In this position what
my Gurudeva would ask me to do. As far as I can conjecture at the time I shall
do accordingly. I shall try to get some sort of order from him that he might
have said this thing in such condition, as far as I can conjecture I shall do
that. The criterion of bhakti is that what we do, the starting idea must
come from above, irrespective of the action, what it may be, whether to go to
the temple, or to beat a man, it does not matter. It must have the upper
connection. That is bhakti. It is independent of the guṇa, tri
guṇa, satya, raja, tama. Ahiṁsā - satya guṇa, hiṁsā
- raja guṇa, sleeping and idleness - tama guṇa.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
So we must have our fixed aim towards the high. It must come from there.
I cannot waste my energy in any engagement what is considered good or bad from
my consideration. That will spring up in the relativity in this māyic world.
We must be careful, very much, that whether I am catching a wave, the wave
coming from the finest plane, or a gross plane. The thought that actuates me,
excites me to act, whether that is, which plane it comes, from the higher
finest plane, can I catch that, the news of that wave, can I read? If I can
read waves of that plane, the meaning of the waves of that plane, all right. We
should always watch, the wave of the plane coming from what sort of plane. That
helps me to begin my activity, from what plane it comes, the order. And my
services will go, that is to be recorded in that plane. And that will help me
qualitatively in a very extraordinary manner. So for the qualitative
improvement we shall disown our present environment, even including the mental
sphere. Try to get the insinuation from the
highest possible plane and I must give my bowed down head to that and not to
the external environment of any kind in consideration of me, good or bad.
'dvaite bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba-'manodharma' 'ei
bhāla, ei manda',-ei saba 'bhrama'
["In the
material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental concoctions.
Therefore, saying, ‘This is good, this is bad,’ is a mistake."][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Antya-līlā, 4.176]
Clear in answering your...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, you are so clear,
that you are leaving us with feelings that we want to surrender.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________________________ [?] So our eagerness will always be to serve
wishes of that plane, in the highest
plane of Kṛṣṇa bhakti. That is very, very, very rarely
to be found in this mundane world. We shall be eager to catch the ____________ [?] that telegraphic language of the highest plane. We must try to
catch and be subservient to that. That should be our nature of quest and utilisation of our energy.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, in the absence of
my spiritual master, when I wanted to get that pure direction, I've come to
your Divine Grace to get such direction, because I am well aware I may make a
mistake. So I don't trust my own judgement.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That you can do in your own risk. That I
think that this is in the line of my spiritual master, and those that demand
that we are in his path they cannot represent so subtly, but grossly, not up to
mark. Everyone must move in his own risk, own risk. You have joined
Swāmī Mahārāja’s camp, to one’s own risk, leaving the
present society and present religious faith, everything you have left. At your
own risk you have, so also appreciation and risk. Sarva-dharmān
parityajya:
[sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
["Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively
unto Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair."]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 18.66]
That is bipravik[?],
revolutionary, more or less revolutionary. That is the highest way of attaining
any higher thing. And that we may not go down, so many barriers are there.Sva
dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ, para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ.
[śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ,
para-dharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt
sva dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ, para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ]
[“It is better to carry out one's own duties a little imperfectly rather
than faultlessly perform another's duties. Know that even death is auspicious
in the discharge of one's duties appropriate to his natural position in the
ordained socio-religious system, because to pursue another's path is
perilous.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 3.35]
You must give respect to your... Ke?
...
[martyo yadā tyakta-samasta-karmā,
niveditātmā vicikīrṣito me]
tadāmṛtatvaṁ pratipadyamāno,
mayātma-bhūyāya ca kalpate vai
[“One who is subjected to birth and death attains immortality when he
gives up all material activities, dedicates his life to the execution of My
order, and acts according to My directions. In this way, he becomes fit to
enjoy the spiritual bliss derived from exchanging loving mellows with Me.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.29.34]
Hare Kṛṣṇa.Samarpaṇa,
sei-kāle kṛṣṇa tāre kare ātma-sama, sei deha
kare tāra cid-ānanda-maya, aprākṛta-dehe tāṅra
caraṇa.
[prabhu kahe – vaiṣṇava-deha 'prākṛta'
kabhu naya
'aprākṛta' deha bhaktera 'cid-ānanda-maya'
dīkṣā-kāle bhakta kare ātma-samarpaṇa
sei-kāle kṛṣṇa tāre kare
ātma-sama
sei deha kare tāra cid-ānanda-maya
aprākṛta-dehe tāṅra caraṇa bhajaya]
[Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu said: “The body of a devotee is never material. It is
considered to be transcendental, full of spiritual bliss. At the time of
initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa
accepts him to be as good as Himself. When the devotee's body is thus
transformed into spiritual existence, the devotee, in that transcendental body,
renders service to the lotus feet of the Lord.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Antya-līlā, 4.191-3]
He has got no engagement. Another, rejecting previous engagement,
entrance into new; that is of two types.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Examples of that Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Vacant, sometimes vacant, he had got no
religious life at all, he came to a sādhu and began; one section.
Another, he is disgusted with his former religious conception and comes in
contact with a real sādhu and leaves his previous engagement and
enters into that.āśraya anya rahiti [?]He was not reckoned in
any particular āśraya, either a Christian or a Mohammedan or a
Pañcapasi, or nothing. From atheism, he had no religious conception. He
began first with this conception. Another, comparative study he found it
nothing then entered into it. Two types may come here. One with open mind, and
another leaving his previous prejudices, enters into new, that two types.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But Mahārāja, that’s very broad or general. Previously he may have been a Christian
or, and then he comes to the...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When he reads comparatively he feels
more attraction for this and then leaving his previous prejudice of religion he
comes to accept this truth. And another, has no religion, he did not, he had no
religious engagement or conception or anything of the like, when he comes to,
in the vicinity of this sort of conception he accepts.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Now, is that within Kṛṣṇa
consciousness also?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not, generally it is not that; in a
general way it has been stated that one who has got, who is entering into Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, and then also within Kṛṣṇa consciousness there
also the selection and elimination of guide. That is also allowed in special
cases, we see.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Because sometimes you have said
that there’s three stages of conception of Guru. That in the first stage seeing
Kṛṣṇa, in the intermediate stage seeing the potency,
function, and then again in the third stage it becoming more defined.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In a particular group of potency.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. That is the first attracted by
general Kṛṣṇa consciousness and then when that is more
intense they can find there are so many servitors there also. And gradually
when progressing he finds his attraction for the particular group, and
particular type of service. In this way finally he is posted in a particular
place for his service, in this way. To serve Vaiṣṇava, one who has
attained the service of a Vaiṣṇava, Guru or a Vaiṣṇava, that is tadīyatā. That is a deeper kind of
devotion. To serve the Lord that is a general and hazy thing. And to serve His
devotee that is more intensive position. So that is higher position, tadīyatā.
Tadīya means... Rāmānuja sampradāya has given
much stress in tadīya, tadīya sevā; that is bhakta
sevā. Mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā.
[ādaraḥ paricaryāyāṁ, sarvāṅgair
abhivandanam
mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā, sarva-bhūteṣu
man-matiḥ]
[Kṛṣṇa said: “My devotees take great care and respect
in rendering Me service, offering obeisances with all their bodily limbs, and -
above all - worshipping My devotees. They see all living entities as related to
Me.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.19.21]
Then the:
[ye me bhakta-janāḥ partha, ne me bhaktaś ca
te janāḥ]
mad bhaktānāṁ ca ye bhaktās, te me
bhaktatamā mataḥ
[“Those who worship Me directly are not real devotees; real devotees are
those who are devoted to My devotees.”] [Ādi-Purāṇa]
To that stage, if we, without śaraṇāgati in the
beginning we cannot attain that stage also, tadīyatā.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So what is the asida?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tadīyatām.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Service to the Vaiṣṇavas?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Service of a Vaiṣṇava, that
also presupposes śaraṇāgati. So śaraṇāgati
is a fundamental thing, avoiding that we cannot attain any course of
devotional life, it is most fundamental. Wherever you go, in which side for
your engagement you must enter through the door of śaraṇāgati.
That is what is meant here.
If I belong to Him, underlying this conception there is śaraṇāgati.
Otherwise I can't attain this position that I belong to Him, I am His own. But
must first enter the door of śaraṇāgati then you can get
that sort of self conception, that sort of realisation
that you are His own. But before that you must enter through the door of śaraṇāgati.
Otherwise no entrance is possible on the higher plane without śaraṇāgati,
help of śaraṇāgati.
I have attained, I have, Sad Guru I have got. You must have practised, or invited, welcomed, some sort of śaraṇāgati.
Then only you could come to him. Without the temperament of śaraṇāgati
you cannot approach even the first agent of the domain. So śaraṇāgati
is such a general and fundamental and expansive position in the relation of
the devotional world.
I care for my Gurudeva, I don't know anything else. I’m a servant of Vaiṣṇava.
I don’t want anything. With that spirit, with that power, strength, I can go
on. I do not care for the śāstra, this and that, anything. If
anyone says such, shows his deep and strong confidence in Vaiṣṇava
that is of a good achievement no doubt. But it is mentioned that to have that
position you have had to cross the threshold of śaraṇāgati if
we analyse the subtle point, the thought, then you
have come here. The śaraṇāgati you could not eliminate.
That is the underlying meaning of the expression there.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So tomorrow we will spend...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tomorrow, I can't say whether I'll be
able to have a sitting tomorrow. Tomorrow Janmāṣṭamī you
may stay here. But day after tomorrow after finishing your pāraṇayou
must go to Māyāpur to attend the function of the appearance
celebration of your Guru Mahārāja. Is it not?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
End of 81.08.22.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.25.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
[Very unclear MP3 in places, but a transcript was previously
available]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
The spiritual conception of the high level is flowing from this peak to that
peak; from that peak of mountain the Ganges is coming in a zig-zag way. You see
what is Ganges? Ganges water is passing this side and going to some other
place. That water is not Ganges water. Other water from Sāraswatī maybe is entering Ganges water, and the demarcation line is also there in the
beginning. Then if I take
that water, is it Ganges water? It is just coming from the other River
Sāraswatī? Then what is Ganges water? How are we to take it? This is Ganges water? It
must go to the order of the Lord. This Ganges water, Ganges water just passes
from a channel to another side, and if I see that
Ganges water is passing through this channel to a lake, I take that water, is
it Ganges water? One river is flowing, entering into Ganges, and that water, if
I take, is it Ganges water? Physical eye?
The saying is
there, whatever will be in the bed of the Ganges, the current, the bed of the
Ganges, that water is Ganges water. [And what] is flowing out of the area of
Ganges, that is not considered as Ganges. And when the other river's waters
enter into the Ganges, it will be Ganges; whatever water is within the (jul
ion?), that is Ganges water. That will purify. The purification is not
congruent with the water which I feel and I see.
The order is there, the spirit is there. The order, the sanction: that
is the proper thing. So, the Guru paramparā, the very gist of Guru
is śikṣā. Wherever it is to be traced, there is Guru.
One who has got that eye, that transcendental eye, the divine eye, he will see
the Guru is coming here, Guru there, Guru. One who is possessing that
knowledge, that love, of that type, that purity; there is Guru. Otherwise the
Guru paramparā means body paramparā, the continuation
of so many bodies together. Then the caste brāhmaṇas, the
caste Goswāmī’s, they will continue, because body after body they are
getting that mantram. But the mantram is dead there, so living mantram,
living tendency for the service of higher type, wherever it is to be traced, we
shall find that there is the Guru. One who has got that sort of eye awakened,
he'll see where is Guru.
Devotee: Can the spiritual master change the śāstra?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. He can take out the real purpose
from the śāstra. There is no necessity of changing any śāstra.
It is a question of the inner meaning.
Devotee: How far it is justified, we are wearing this kashaya vastra,
which is not in Vaiṣṇava conception?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, then Mahāprabhu not only took kashaya
vastra, [the saffron dress of a sannyāsī] but he even also
took sannyāsa from a Māyāvādī, but what for?
Then Mahāprabhu was a Māyāvādī? What for?
The living man can adjust himself for the cause. A general, he must be
up to date, but he may have sincerity and awareness and the capacity, training,
and he may be a general and he can mould his army in his own way just as
Napoleon did. He must be, it is not an imaginary thing, not a fairy tale, but
the practical thing is there, and one who can understand; when Napoleon first
began his war against Austria, France and Hungary was at that time when
Napoleon was made general. The Austrians were gaining ground. France was going
back. Napoleon came and then the whole thing changed.
Then the Austrian king, he called for his generals. “For so long you
were making progress, but what is that? Now you are coming back?”
The generals told that, “The new general has come on the other side, and
he does not know the real policy of war or battle.”
The king told them, “What do you say! He does not know the laws of war,
and he is gaining and you know the rules and regulations of the battle, and you
are being defeated. What is this? How is this?”
[They said, “The
general] tactics in battle are that one should attack the weak portion, but
that man he attacks the strongest point, and so we
cannot manage, and so he does not follow the old laws of the war, battle. Such
is the matter.”
One who can feel
what is divinity, for the preaching purpose he may adjust himself with new
things. So, the reality must be real thinking, the thought, the spirit must be
there. For Mahāprabhu, what was His
necessity of taking sannyāsa? He took that red cloth, and took sannyāsa
to suit the purpose of His preaching. We have to take that.
Our Guru Mahārāja also took that position. His foresight was
that if, “If we are to preach, if I really want to preach, I must take the help
of the varṇāśrama dharma. They [the bābājīs]
are all imitating Rūpa and Sanātana
and doing what is very nasty things in their practice and copying Rūpa and
Sanātana in their dress.” Guru Mahārāja
declared that, “Dress is not so cheap. First you become sannyāsī,
varṇāśrama. In varṇāśrama, the
fourth stage of life is the sannyāsī, and that dress [of the bābājī]
is the dress of the Guru of a sannyāsī. First become sannyāsī
and observe the rules and regulations of sannyāsī and keep
those bābājīs on your head. And you are all
imitationists, you are all debauchees, and taking the dress of that highest
position of Guru and disserving the whole society, degrading his name, and
spoiling everything. So the bābājī dress is the purest,
is the highest, that of paramahaṁsa. So, first become sannyāsī
and practice accordingly under rules and regulations, and try to show your
respect towards Rūpa and Sanātana and their dress.” That was his idea.
Devotee: For preaching purposes is it permissible; suppose someone
started to preach with long hair and a long
beard? Under the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava philosophy it is o.k.?
[The
devotee asking the question has long hair and a long beard]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can’t follow.
Bhāratī Mahārāja:
____________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: ___________________________________ [?]
Particular - but that was not
the custom, neither with the sannyāsī, nor with the bābājī.
Sanātana
Goswāmī had a full beard and Mahāprabhu ordered that, “Go take
him to a barber and remove the beard and hair.”
And sannyāsa and bābājī
both, they do not keep such things, so, we do not like to keep. But during cāturmāsya,
for the vrata it is mentioned in the śāstra, we keep
hair and beard for the cāturmāsya, otherwise generally not.
But still, it is not so that if one
keeps long hair and long beard he cannot be a Vaiṣṇava.
There was one Vaṁṣī Dāsa Bābājī, an
independent Vaiṣṇava. Our Guru Mahārāja also gave respect
to him as a Vaiṣṇava, but he had this big beard and he did not
shave at all. He was very negligent, not as a fashion, not fashionable, he did
not allow any barber to shave, but he was a respectable Vaiṣṇava.
Even our Guru Mahārāja had respect for him; Vaṁṣī
Dāsa Bābājī.
As for yourself, if you keep this only to satisfy the Muslims for the
purpose of your service, that if your go there you can collect money, and you
can render good service to your Gurudeva, and for that purpose you have kept
for the safety of your vocation as well as your person...
Devotee: Oh yes, I have kept it only for that purpose.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If someone does that for the time being,
suppose for the service if it is necessary, one can have a dress of a gṛhastha.
A gentleman's dress; even in our Prabhupāda's time, the suit was also used sometimes by his disciples. And
some was clad in white dress, though they were Vaiṣṇava of high level, but still they were white clad, because they had to
approach so many officers and higher things. So that was suitable.
Devotee: Just like Tamal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja in
China.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To fulfil the purpose of the Gurudeva of
that type, living type, to carry out his orders suitably, he can take any
dress. It is the question of purity of purpose, a question of the heart.
Devotee: The purpose of a tridaṇḍī-swāmī
is it during the time of Bhāgavattime,
there is sannyāsa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tridaṇḍī-sannyāsa,
we find it was in the śāstra, Purāṇa. Rāvaṇa,
when he came to steal away Sītā Devī, he came as a tridaṇḍī.
Arjuna, when he met in disguise, he had the tridaṇḍī-veśa. So
tridaṇḍī-veśa, tridaṇḍī-sannyāsīs
in Bhāgavat also. The Avantī brāhmaṇa
he took tridaṇḍī-veśa and Kṛṣṇa
is relating the story to Uddhava, tridaṇḍī. Tridaṇḍī-sannyāsīns were
wellrespected in the society at that time. And also from the Jyotiṣa we
find that Bṛhaspati when strong, he takes
tridaṇḍī-sannyāsa. There are so many sannyāsīns, but tridaṇḍī
seems to hold the highest position of all sannyāsīns. And in Rāmānuja sampradāya - the ekadaṇḍī we find in the Śaṅkara
School - and in the Rāmānuja sampradāya we
find tridaṇḍī. And our Guru Mahārāja reasoned
that Prabodhānanda he was a tridaṇḍī-sannyāsa.
And also here and there, some other tridaṇḍī we see,
but extensively in the Rāmānuja sampradāya. And in our sampradāya...
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Nimbarka?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In Nimbarka sampradāya _____ tridaṇḍī-sannyāsa, I don't know.
Devotee: They have no sannyāsa in Nimbarka.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nimbarka. And Vallabha
sampradāya also, no sannyāsa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: And Viṣṇuswāmī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Viṣṇuswāmī, Śrīdhar Swāmī, there swāmī,
there sannyāsa, but not tridaṇḍī-sannyāsa
as far as we know.
Now our Guru
Mahārāja, he inaugurated tridaṇḍī-sannyāsa
extensively in our sampradāya. He filled up the gap; the brāhmaṇa’s
thread and the daṇḍa. After varṇāśrama
dharma, varṇāśrama dharma is but a step to Vaiṣṇava
dharma. From the scriptures to show that varṇāśrama
dharma can only plan to observe sanātana dharma,
to carry out that form of theistic life, and then above this, Vaiṣṇava
dharma. Brāhmaṇa dharma vanishes, and Vaiṣṇava
dharma begins. So, to show that; to preach that position to the society,
and to the pseudo
Vaiṣṇava, he
supplied the gap
and filled up another step. And after
collecting the qualities of the brāhmaṇa and sannyāsī
and then you can aspire to have the position
of the bābājī. That is paramahaṁsa, the paramahaṁsa
veśa, the dress of the Guru of the sannyāsīs; pañcama-āśrama.
Akṣayānanda
Mahārāja:But our Guru didn’t accept bābājī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: And those bābājīs
are not accepted as bābājīs proper. They have
deviated. Only physical dresscannot
keep them in the position of bābājī.
The
mere imitation of Gaura
Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, the Guru of our
Guru Mahārāja, lived very simply in a hut, sometimes in a dharmaśālā,
and when he was living in a hut on the Ganges bank, another man he came and constructed a similar hut by his side, and he began to
live there. Gaura Kiśora Bābājī Mahārājagave
respect to him and that man he also demanded
something like that from the people; in this way.But one day, Gaura Kiśora
Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja remarked that, “That if a
lady enters into the labour house and shows, imitates some sort of pain, as if
giving birth to a child, will child come by that mere imitation?”
Do you follow? Am I clear? She
must have some child in her belly, in her womb. Then naturally the pain will
come and the child will come out. But without any pregnancy, if she imitates
the pain of giving birth to a child, will the child come? That is a ludicrous
thing.
So, only to imitate the dress of a bābājī, that
cannot give the position of a real bābājī. So before you
take the dress of a soldier or a general,
you will have to learn what is battle, what is fight, how to handle so many
weapons. You must learn them, but only the dress of a soldier does not make one
a soldier. So also you must acquire the inner
attributes of a bābājī, of a high type of Vaiṣṇava.
Only mere dress cannot make you bābājī.
So many bābājīs are in Vṛndāvana, in
Navadwīpa, but our Guru Mahārāja did not recognise any of them. He put his hand to his forehead, “Such a sacred
land, Vṛndāvana; I came, but it was my own misfortune that I did not
see a single Vaiṣṇava here.” That was his disappointment. “Not a
single Vaiṣṇava in VṛndāvanaI
find here. That is my
misfortune.” That was his statement in Vṛndāvana. So Vaiṣṇava
is not by garb
first of all, must be by his
internal realisation. And
those who have got the real eye to see the internal realisation, they won't care for any external dress, only if a man takes the dress of a vidvan, a paṇḍita.
tavaty ashbhate mukham yavat kinchit na bhasate.
[A well-dressed fool goes unrecognised until he speaks.]
But only the
dress of a paṇḍita will not make him a paṇḍita.
A real paṇḍita, when we have a talk with him, he will detect whether he’s
a real scholar or not, and not by dress. So Vaiṣṇava
can also be measured by a Vaiṣṇava. Vaiṣṇava
can see who is Vaiṣṇava. He has got that eye, what is the criterion
of a Vaiṣṇava. He has got the eye; that sort of divya
jñāna, divya
dṛśti which he can feel that,"This
is a Vaiṣṇava, Vaiṣṇavaism." Otherwise only the
encasement of a Vaiṣṇava, the outer show; the tilak,
mālā and dress, that cannot make anyone a Vaiṣṇava.
Śrīla Govinda
Mahārāja: ____________ Baladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Jagannātha dāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja, ______________________________ [?]
Bhāratī Mahārāja: _______________ Baladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa and Jagannātha
dāsa Bābājī.
Devotee: I met this guy yesterday, a white bābājī.
Devotees: Hiranyagarbha.
Devotee: Yes, Hiranyagarbha, and he told me that he is a disciple of...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is unfortunate that he has gone out
of the line...
Devotee: He told me that
he is a disciple ofBhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s son.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He is making much of the form. But
whether this is Ganges water, only about the pot, he is looking after that, but
not the thing within the pot.
Devotee: I asked him to come here and talk with Śrīdhara
Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He won't come here.
Akṣayānanda
Mahārāja:
He won't come
here; he’s afraid.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Formerly he used to come here, so I knew
him, so when I heard that he is such and such, I told some of my acquainted
persons, “Please request him to come to me.”
But he does not
come. He’s afraid of
coming.
Akṣayānanda
Mahārāja:If our Guru did not take bābājī, then we also could not.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What to speak of him, he has taken that sort of dress from Lalitā Prasād,
we do not recognise Lalitā
Prasād also. He is the son of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. We know our
Prabhupāda and Prabhupāda has written about Lalitā Prasād
that his affection to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
is mostly the father and son relation, and not so much of Vaiṣṇavism.
He has written an article in Gauḍīya, our Guru
Mahārāja, and we can understand that. BhaktivinodaṬhākura’s
inner purpose, what it was, that was taken out by our Guru Mahārāja,
and preached to the world. But Lalitā
Prasād was an imitationist more or less. So what to speak of
Hiranyagarbha, Lalitā Prasād we do not recognise, Lalitā
Prasād.
Akṣayānanda
Mahārāja:If our Guru Mahārāja,
if our Guru did not, if our Guru was in sannyāsa, then we could not
accept a higher varṇaalso. That
would be forbidden. If our Guru is sannyāsa then we could not...
Bhāratī Mahārāja:
___________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _____________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:Imitation is not a big thing, but to have
the real thing within, we want that. We came for that. The real teaching of rūpānuga, the comparative study, we are particular with that, to appreciate
that, to enter into the depth of the reality within, not so particular about
the dress. Dress we shall do according to the purpose of preaching; suiting to
the purpose of preaching, and not to show to the public that I am a Guru, I am
a sādhu; not for that. We are fighters, soldiers; we have taken such dress of a soldier to fight with the world.
Devotee: In preaching we are practising
viddhi bhakti; shall we achieve that...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Raga-bhakti is far, far above. It
is not a very ordinary thing to be sold in the market. Those who say that ‘we have got raga-bhakti’,
we hate them; they are enemies of the sampradāya of
Mahāprabhu. Ragapatha bhakti is so cheap? There are so many signs
of the ordinary man, the scent of the beast is in him, and he says he has attained the raga-bhakti? Only to destroy them, the
Gauḍīya Maṭh has come; to destroy those imitationists of raga-bhakti.
They are enemies of the sampradāya.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So, they also give another false argument that there’s
a hundred year difference from Bāladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa to Jagannātha dāsa
Bābājī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, we know it fully well.
Swāmī Mahārāja also knew it fully well. It is not unknown
to us. But I told that we are followers of the thought, not of the body.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Madhusudhana Dāsa
Bābājī, wasn't he after Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Madhusudhana Dāsa
Bābājī had connection with Jagannātha Dāsa
Bābājī.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: He was his Guru?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Devotee: Then what is the meaning of initiation, Mahārāja?
Akṣayānanda
Mahārāja:That means śikṣā
is more than dīkṣā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Dīkṣāmeans to impart the real knowledge and sentiment from one to another.
And that must be of the real type. Homeopathic
globule; only
the outer, nothing can be
known by the outer physical plane, but the potency is within. So, the mantram
and other things, the potency within, what type of thought or sentiment is
imparted through that sound, that should be
the important thing. The Māyāvādīs have same mantra,
Māyāvādīs are also taking the Name, but that sort of Name
will vanish in Brahmaloka. They won't be able to cross that Virajā. That
is throwing the thunder. When the Māyāvādī takes the Name
of Kṛṣṇa, our Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura
says that his praise, his taking the Name, his devotional characteristics are
all just like thunder to the holy body of Kṛṣṇa. Not any
soothing effect. Gauḍīya Maṭha, they deal with reality, not
with the frame, that is Gauḍīya Maṭha, what is what in the
thought world. Step by step, the adjustment; that we want. We are not enchanted, we are not captured by the form, mere form. The development in
the thought and the step by step gradual development into the thought. 'Virajā,' 'brahmaloka,' bhedi' 'paravyoma' pāya.
[upajiyā bāḍe
latā 'brahmāṇḍa' bhedi' yāya, 'virajā,'
'brahmaloka,' bhedi' 'paravyoma' pāya
tabe yāya tad upari 'goloka-vṛndāvana',
'kṛṣṇa-caraṇa'-kalpavṛkṣe kare ārohana]
["The
creeper of devotion is born, and grows to pierce the wall of the universe. It
crosses the Virajā river and the Brahman plane, and reaches to the Vaikuṇṭha
plane. Then it grows further up to Goloka Vṛndāvana, finally
reaching to embrace the wish-yielding tree of Kṛṣṇa's Lotus
Feet."] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
19.153-4]
What is paravyoma, tabe yāya tad upari 'goloka-vṛndāvana',all these things.
karmibhyaḥ parito hareḥ priyatayā vyaktiṁ
yayur jñāninas
tebhyo jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ premaika-niṣṭhās
tataḥ
[tebhyas tāḥ paśu-pāla-paṅkaja-dṛśas
tābhyo ‘pi sā rādhikā
preṣṭhā tadvad iyaṁ
tadīya-sarasī tāṁ nāśrayet kaḥ kṛtī]
[The gopīs
are exalted above all the advanced devotees because they are always totally
dependent upon Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental
cowherd boy. Among the gopīs, Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī is the most dear to Kṛṣṇa.
Her kuṇḍa is as profoundly dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa
as this most beloved of the gopīs. Who, then, will not reside at
Rādhā-kuṇḍa and, in a spiritual body surcharged with
ecstatic devotional feelings (aprākṛta-bhāva), render
loving service to the Divine Couple Śrī Śrī
Rādhā-Govinda, who perform Their aṣṭakālīya-līlā,
Their eternal eightfold daily pastimes. Indeed, those who execute devotional
service on the banks of Rādhā-kuṇḍa are the most
fortunate people in the universe.”][Upadeśāmṛta, 10]
[Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta
SwāmīMahārāja's translation]
This gradation, what is Virajā proper, what is brahmalokaproper,what is Śivaloka, what is Vaikuṇṭhaloka and
then what is Ayodhyā, what is Dvārakā,
what is Mathurā, the realistic view of the whole gradation.
na tathā me priyatama ātmayonir [na śaṅkaraḥ
na ca saṅkarṣaṇo na śrīr
naivātmā ca yathā bhavān]
[“O Uddhava!
Neither Brahmā nor Śīva are as dear to Me as you; My elder
brother Saṅkarṣaṇa is not as dear to Me as you, nor even Lakṣmī
Devī. Even My own Self is not as dear to Me as you.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.14.15]
“What is the position of Brahmā? Na śaṅkaraḥ, Mahādeva? Na ca saṅkarṣaṇo na, Baladeva? Śrī, Lakṣmī? Naivātmā, as
you are My favourite, Uddhava.”
Step by step.
How it is
possible?We have to follow the spirit; otherwise from Jāhnavā up to
Vipina Goswāmī, from whom initiation was taken by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
from Vipina Goswāmī, from Jāhnavā to Vipina
Goswāmī, so many ladies are there, unknown ladies. Through them the mantram
came to Vipina Goswāmī and from him, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
came. But we take
Bhaktivinoda. Should I go to
count all those ladies in the paramparā? What was their realisation? The realisation, we
are slaves of the truth. What is flowing, the current, the pure current, we are
told, we are beggars of that. We have no charm of any
form.
You see, I
generally quote an instance when Aurovindo Ghosh - you know his name?
Devotee: Aurovindo Ghosh of Pondicherry.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Of Pondicherry.
He was almost the founder of the revolutionary movement in Bengal. When in nineteen twenty eight or
so, when a case was going on in Calcutta High Court against him, a big
barrister, one Mr. Norton. Aurovindo he absconded, and Norton, when the case was going on Aurovindo was not to be found
anywhere.
That Norton told, whenever, however, in whatever paper he found - Aurovindo's English was very good English.
He stood first even; his training was in England from the childhood, and he knew English very well, even better than an
English man,
good English he could speak.
Norton said, in any magazine or any
paper, or whenever any article, he could detect,
“Here is Mr. Ghosh.” By Aurovindo's writing, whenever he read, he could say, “Here is Mr. Ghosh. In this writing you are to trace
wherefrom this article is coming.”So, by the spirit we can judge who has
written it; not by the name, whose writing.
So there is an
internal thing and those that cannot see that internal truth, they will make
much of the external cover. We are not one for that. Ordinarily, so-called Vaiṣṇava’s,
so-called goswāmīs, they are hated by the general smārta
brāhmaṇa section varṇāśrama. And we came
from that stock. Because we have some earnest inclination for the teachings of
Mahāprabhu, for His personality, we came, being attracted by the purity
and the intensity of the śikṣā of Mahāprabhu that
we found in Prabhupāda. Only by that degree of intensity of theistic
conception we were attracted. We have no charm for the fashion, these bābājīs,
the goswāmīs, and other vairāgis; they are
hated in the society. And Guru Mahārāja has come; now they have got
some position,
relatively. But they left
Mahāprabhu and indulged in so many debauchery activities and tradery. The goswāmīs
are all traders. They are making money. The real spirit we want; so we are
not deviated, and these ______ may not touch us. The dogs will bark. We take it like that. Dogs
may bark, but it has no importance, a dog barking. Because they make much of
the outer thing, they have no real purification of their heart to accept the
pure thing, to discriminate what is purity, what is prema, how pure it
is.Brahmā and Mahādeva, they also aspire after that thing. First
understand what degree of purity is that thing. These fellows, they are not only imitation, but they want to exploit Mahāprabhu and not
to serve Mahāprabhu. They are the worst enemies. They are traitors; they
have taken the garb of Mahāprabhu’s sampradāya, and they are
saying something else. This is cheap marketing; they are selling these
adulterated things extensively for less money, very cheaply. They have no inner
necessity to have the purest thing for them.
pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge, [mattala hari-jana viṣaya
range]
[“The path of divine love is worshippable to us and should be held
overhead as our highest aspiration.”] [Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura]
Being of such a high order, our Guru Mahārāja never seemed to
be so. “I am a servant of the servant of the servant of the Vaiṣṇavas.”
That was his claim. And, “They are my Guru, they are so high. First come and
practice all these things, and then one day you will hope to reach there. It is
not so easy, so cheap.”
[koṭi-jñāni-madhye
haya eka-jana ‘mukta’]
koṭi-mukta-madhye ‘durlabha’ eka kṛṣṇa-bhakta
[Out of many millions of liberated persons, a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa
is very difficult to find.] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 19. 148]
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, Caitanya
Mahāprabhu, He did not give actually mantram, he just gave śikṣā,
isn't it?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is said that Vakeśvara Paṇḍita
was His mantra śiṣya. We find
in Gaura Candrodaya, a Sanskrit book written by an Oriyan devotee named
Govinda Dās. Prabhupāda also quoted, govinda vacana jani hoi
gauranga vani aprakat kali sara katha. There is eleven verses; Upadeśāmṛta
and composed in Sanskrit verse by Rūpa
Goswāmī. There Prabhupāda has written, and I have gone through
that book published by Gauḍīya Maṭha, Gaura Candrodaya.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Upadeśāmṛta.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In Upadeśāmṛta,
Prabhupāda has mentioned one book, Gaura Candrodaya, or something like that. And composed by an Oriyan scholar, whose name
is Govinda Dās. By him it is written, a book; Gaura Candrodaya.
There it is mentioned that when Mahāprabhu
departed, the devotees consulted within them who is to be made Ācārya
of the Rādhā Kanta Maṭha, where Mahāprabhu lived. They
consulted, and Vakeśvara Paṇḍita was selected. And he was the
first Ācārya of the Rādhā Kanta Maṭha there, and his
disciple was ________ candra. ____________________________________________________ [?]
[The following is from a previous
transcript]
In this way it is mentioned.
Devotee: Rūpa and Sanātana
Goswāmī, did they have any mantra śiṣyas? Wasn’t
Jīva Goswāmī a mantra śiṣya of Rūpa
Goswāmī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, and Rūpa Goswāmī was
the mantra śiṣya of Sanātana, Sanātana
Goswāmī was the mantra śiṣya of
Vidyāvācaspati. Vidyāvācaspati’s brother was
Sārvabhauma. That is formal.
Devotee: Was that actually dīkṣā or śikṣā?
Between Rūpa and Sanātana;
they got mantram?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They got mantram from their Guru
– mantram; but what mantram? Mahāprabhu Himself got mantram,
but according to His order, Sanātana
Goswāmī has selected another mantram for the Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇavas. Mahāprabhu got the dvādaśaka mantram
[twelve syllables] from Īśvara Purī, but when ordered by
Mahāprabhu to consult the the Vaiṣṇava śāstra and
try to preach what the real conduct of a Vaiṣṇava should be. “And I
bless you that Kṛṣṇa will guide you to compile a Vaiṣṇava
śruti,” and Sanātana
Goswāmī did that accordingly, and he has collected the aṣṭadaśaka
mantra [eighteen syllables] for us, and
that is now in use. It is continuing in the sampradāya, and not the
mantra that Mahāprabhu received from Īśvara Purī.
But by the order of Mahāprabhu, this mantram came through
Sanātana Goswāmī, this mantram came,
aṣṭadaśaka, and that is continuing and someone also
amongst the Goswāmī’s, they go on with that dvādaśaka
mantra of Mahāprabhu.
End of 81.08.25.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.25.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
[The start of this MP3 is the same as the end of the MP3 dated
81.08.25.A,
and also almost inaudible]
End of 81.08.25.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.26.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You are depressed and disappointed ____________________ [?]
With what immediate motive you are going
to Bombay, Er, America?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: America?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. What will be your next program,
immediate?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, see, Mahārāja, before I
left there were some devotees, they wanted to know the results of my speaking
to Your Divine Grace. So I wanted to return to America and meet with my God-brothers and God-sisters, and
explain to them some of the instructions that you’ve given, some of your
advice. And find out, move amongst them and find out more specifically what
they’re interested to do for their own Kṛṣṇa consciousness
and to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is the present attitude of ISKCON
and Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja’s present feelings?
What is the attitude of the present administration towards you? They can't see
it with sympathy, is it?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Towards me? Well, I think that they think
that I am a potentially dangerous individual.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That will, your endeavour may
encourage...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Dissension.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...the hesitating to go to side with
you. Those that are hesitating, they are already disconnected. Perhaps for them
if they are organised then there
may be a difficulty. And those that are hesitating they will also have got some
footing.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Such apprehension is not, may not be imaginary
only. But what to do! If you want to save the disappointing element, to enliven
them with the words and thought of Mahāprabhu, then of course this
dissension is to be tolerated. But unnecessarily; no hitch is not desirable.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What is not desirable?
Devotee: Hitch _________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Be very careful. That is the institution
founded by your Guru Mahārāja, our revered Swāmī
Mahārāja. So we must try our best not to disturb them, as much as
possible. But at the same time we cannot be only idle onlooker to those that
are going away and astray from the path of Mahāprabhu towards which after
life after life they have got the chance, after how many births, innumerable
births.
In the words of
our Guru Mahārāja, a soul in bondage is in the ocean. And he is
coming towards the shore. And again to push him to the ocean, that is most
cruel and heinous. After long and long time fighting with the waves of the
ocean, ________ one is anyhow coming home, coming to the safe position. And
again to push them, or they are going to the ocean to take them in. That should
be the great service.
And Guru Mahārāja he came to do that.
Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura in his last words he
told that, “I have given, I disturbed many, I have given anxiety, created
anxiety to many ordinary hearts. But to my best understanding I have done it
rightly, because
for the distribution of the
highest thing to them it was necessary.
It was not my personal interest that I gave to many in the world such anxiety.
But for the saving of the people I was under painful necessity to give anxiety
to a certain portion of human kind, mankind. I could not but do it.”
So with this idea in our heart, we are under painful necessity to save
those that came under the flag of Swāmī Mahārāja, to attain
the highest peace. With this spirit you will march on. I also approve your
going to America for the purpose.
There is a
proposal here, as I told previously to you all, that a centre for you may be
established on the other side of the Ganges in Madhyadwīpa. In
Madhyadwīpa is vacant, no Maṭha has been built there.
Prabhupāda had will, wish, to establish in every dwīpa, nine
islands, in every island to establish one centre, Mahāprabhu’s sevā,
pratiṣṭhā, but the Madhyadwīpa still empty. So,
if you all agree, then we may try to secure a plot on the other side of the
Ganges, in Madhyadwīpa, to acquire some land. And there, perhaps in the
beginning it will be given to understand that’s in our interest, but really it
will be for you. That is the Swāmī Mahārāja people that
have been neglected, that cannot; if they’re treated harshly they may have an
independent centre here. And our, those two gentlemen, our Venkatta Prabhu [Bhāratī Mahārāja] and the Akṣayānanda Mahārāja, and another
gentleman, are very eager to do this. So to select land for fitting our
purpose, should we go forward? What do you say Caru Swāmī
Mahārāja?
Devotees: ______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Prabhu and yourself, you consider it seriously.Mostly it will be for the, for
those that are neglected by the present ISKCON, and have got real interest for
Mahāprabhu. It will be a bold step. In the beginning it may be begun in my
name, but the object is such. In my connection it may be begun. That may not
trouble them. But it is meant for such, they will have got an independent
footing here when it is necessary; if you think necessary, whether it will be
judicious to begin with now. He has got much enthusiasm in the matter.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: We were thinking actually
Mahārāja, that foreseeing that in the future some separate place it
would be necessary.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maybe.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: It may be.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And if you like, if they come in terms,
you may amalgamate also.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You have got a respectable position
here. If necessary, when time may come, when it may be amalgamated with ISKCON,
doesn’t matter. But they have got some sort of shelter here. With this object
should we move forward? You consult within you.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, actually we’ve been
consulting amongst ourselves quite a bit, and we’d come to a similar
conclusion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right.
Discuss among yourselves and...Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.Then what about your Bombay meeting? What was the object of the
present meeting there?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
The object of the present meeting was, actually Mahārāja it was a conference to glorify Prabhupāda; and it was an eight day long, or nine day long program. But just to give it a
public appeal, the conference was named as 'Karma, Jñāna,
and Bhakti'.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is the relation between them, or to
harmonise them. Karma means do for Him. Jñāna
inquire what is about Him. And bhakti, that karma is no karma.
In service the external feature of karma is present. And also when sambandha-jñāna
reaching in the comparative study the jñāna’s position, the
position of the knowledge is also there. It is already spiritual. But a third
plane has been invented or discovered, has been discovered where the external
conception of karma, or the misconception of karma vanishes. And
what we think to be the proper nature of knowledge, that also vanishes and jñāna-sunya-bhakti
is discovered - comes in.
[From here the recording speeds
up, so it is a little unclear]
Na jñānam na ca vairagyam. Just as in intuition, when one is doing
intuitively, a reflex action, without consciousness things are being done.
Instinctively in our reflex action no voluntary exercise of any knowledge is
necessary, in intuition also. But things are done not less important than the
calculation of knowledge, consciousness. Such plane is there, automatic. Just
as to push a car or train this oil and gas necessary. So prema, they are
trying to get energy from sun ray,
today’s scientist,
more cheap and automatic. So the prema supplies the fuel there. And
without calculation and without the weary or tiredness of labour, endeavour,
reaction of labour, that is done. No fatigue and neither calculation. Automatic
the _____ is prema love.Naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ,
in Bhāgavat, the conclusion śloka of Bhāgavat,
what is the gift, the seed? After the whole Bhāgavat then a seed is
given. What is here under seed?
śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ purāṇam amalaṁ
yad vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyaṁ
yasmin pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ jñānaṁ
paraṁ gīyate
tatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam
āviṣkṛtaṁ
tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa paro
bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ
[“Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless Purāṇa.
It is especially dear to the Vaiṣṇavas; it has knowledge that is
especially appreciated by the paramahaṁsas. When carefully studied,
heard, and understood again and again, it opens the door to pure devotion
through which one never returns to the bondage of illusion.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
12.13.18]
In the
conclusion Vyāsadeva said, “What I have given here naiṣkarmyam,
jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ,
we shall have to labour then to produce our desired result, naiṣkarmyam.
So the jñānīs they are in search of something disgusted with
the life of labour and live. Labour and live, that is a dishonourable life.
Always do and then enjoy. That is a dishonourable life. So naiṣkarmyam,
the scholars, their request is a life where the previous labour has been
eliminated from that life. And also one can live happily. But they come to a destructive position
of sāyujya-mukti. They have buried themselves in the conscious
world.”
But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
says, “No, I shall give you a life where no weariness of labour, no reaction of
labour, naiṣkarmyam, but the act, the result of the labour you
will enjoy there, naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ.
And jñāna-virāga, they'll be subservient to you. Such a thing
I am giving here.”
Śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ
purāṇam amalaṁ. Purāṇa means prehistoric, and also purāṇa means
which can supplement, give fulfilment, purāṇam amalaṁ.
Make it perfect, anything perfect, filled up. Bhāgavatam purāṇam
amalaṁ, amala purāṇa, purest of the pure, things are being
distributed here. Yad vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyaṁ,
very favourite to the Vaiṣṇava temperament.
Yasmin pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ
jñānaṁ paraṁ gīyate, a particular type of knowledge what is accepted and followed
and searched by the paramahaṁsa. Haṁsa means sāru-grahi,
who can eliminate unnecessary and collect necessary. That is the nature of
swan, who can eliminate the water, if water and milk mixed together, swan will
take up the milk and water will remain. So that is haṁsa. Paramahaṁsa
is very expert in that activity, paramahaṁsa, sāru-grahi
and the proper necessity, higher thing you can take from anywhere and
everywhere eliminating the undesirable, the reactionary. Pāramahaṁsyam
ekam amalaṁ jñānaṁ paraṁ gīyate. This is a
particular type of knowledge, not ordinary knowledge of the empirical school.
But it is a peculiar type of knowledge, pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ
jñānaṁ. Paraṁ gīyate, it is praised by the experts to
be the highest type of knowledge, jñānaṁ paraṁ gīyate.
Jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ
naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ. Naiṣkarma means to get out of the disturbance of
labour, the reaction of labour. That is naiṣkarma, in this sense, naiṣkarmyam,
free from the reaction of labour, naiṣkarma. Naiṣkarma
means, it does not mean the cessation of labour, but the undesirability in the
labour, that is eliminated here. The tedious element of labour, that is
eliminated, but not the movement eliminated. Vilasa is not eliminated,
but in vilasa the dissipation of energy and so one becomes tired and
suffers from a reaction, that is eliminated, the poison eliminated. And the
nectar section of the labour, that is retained, movement is retained. Movement
retained and weariness eliminated.Naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ,
tatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Last line? Tac chṛṇvan
su-paṭhan...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ purāṇam amalaṁ
yad vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyaṁ
yasmin pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ jñānaṁ
paraṁ gīyate
tatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam
āviṣkṛtaṁ
[tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa
paro bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ]
How it was possible to get out of the reaction of jñāna, karma?
Bhakti-sahitaṁ, because devotion has got the principal part there, bhakti-sahitaṁ
naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ, sevā, bhakti sevā
bhajan. Tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa paro
bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ. If one can very carefully attend that,
listen to that, chṛṇvan su-paṭhan, and makes a regular
study, study of that thought, su-paṭhan vicāraṇa paro,
and he discusses it with the sādhus and any doubt may be removed, vicāraṇa
paro. Bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ, and then he gets the real
acquaintance of devotion and automatically he has all bondage shaken off.Then
what was the beginning?
Devotee: Karma, jñāna, bhakti.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Karma, jñāna, bhakti. The
undesirability in the movement. Karma will be there. The movement will
be there, and the undesirable portion of it is eliminated. Jñāna will
be there, that is spiritual. But only by trying to control everything within
our fist, this final, impossible attempt: that is eliminated.
And the proper
way, praṅipāta, paripraśna, sevā, sambandha jñāna, the knowledge which is based on praṅipāta,
paripraśna, sevā, that is not eliminated to know. That is the
proper knowledge which takes us to the final thing, which has got the
consciousness that I am finite. I am going to know infinite. And the real
principle is there that to satisfy infinite that He will come in me, descend in
me and I shall know. This sort of knowledge has been admitted. So the
misconception of real karma and real knowledge that is eliminated. Karma
means vilasa, movement that is retained. And jñāna also
for the regulation of the service activity, that is also to be retained. And
service, bhagavān
bhajanīya-sarva-sad-guṇa viśiṣṭha [From
Jīva Goswāmī’s Bhakti-Sandarbha], our fulfilment of life in the service of
the Lord. It will reach us in that plane where one
will find that by serving we have come to such a great thing, great substance, that by serving Him we shall get fulfilment of our life - at
every step we shall feel that, that my life is being successful, getting
fulfilment more and more only by serving Him. Such a great magnanimity, noble
substance is found. By giving my everything to Him, I'll become a gainer and
gainer more and more. In such a plane it will take us. Then everything is good.
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ,
jñāninas tattva darśinaḥ [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.34]
yajñārthāt karmaṇo
'nyatra, loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bhagavad-gītā, 3.9]
bahūnāṁ janmanām
ante, jñānavān māṁ prapadyate [Bhagavad-gītā, 7.19]
...
[tad viddhi praṇipātena, paripraśnena
sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ, jñāninas tattva
darśinaḥ]
[“You will be able to attain all this knowledge by satisfying the
enlightened spiritual master with prostrate obeisances, relevant enquiry, and
sincere service. Great souls who are most expert in scriptural knowledge and
endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will teach you
that divine knowledge.] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.34]
...
[yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra, loko 'yaṁ
karma-bandhanaḥ
tad-artham karma kaunteya, mukta-saṅgaḥ
samācara]
[“Selfless duty performed as an offering to the Supreme Lord is called yajña,
or sacrifice. O Arjuna, all action performed for any other purpose is the cause
of bondage in this world of repeated birth and death. Therefore, remaining
unattached to the fruits of action, perform all your duties in the spirit of
such sacrifice. Such action is the means of entering the path of devotion, and
with the awakening of true perception of the Lord, it will enable you to attain
to pure, unalloyed devotion, free from all material qualities (nirguṇa-bhakti).”]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 3.9]
...
[bahūnāṁ janmanām ante, jñānavān
māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ]
[“After many, many births and deaths, one who is actually in knowledge
surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is.
Such a great soul is very rare.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 7.19]
...
The pure, the real jñāna will lead to the proper place, to
the service, that is real jñāna. Jñāna is not to be condemned;
karma is not to be condemned in its real spirit. But at the present, the
form which has captured us with the satanic idea of enjoyment and renunciation,
that should be eliminated. The spirit of renunciation, cutting off connection
with everything, cutting off connection with the environment, the knowledge
that encourages us to cut off connection with the whole of environment thinking
it is all bad, that is eliminated. And karma when it is for selfish,
whether small or extended selfishness, any part, that is eliminated.But karma,
go on, movement is encouraged and knowledge proper, that’s also encouraged. But
not leading to exploitation or renunciation. That is two enemies, karma and
jñāna. So the elimination of these two we may utilise. Rather, that is necessary. That is replaced by devotion, love, highest fulfilment of life. With the
discovery of a particular plane where whatever we do for that higher thing we
are benefited, we are improved and we feel at every step the inner fulfilment
of inner gratification of our own self.Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
I heard somewhere, I don’t exactly remember
where...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So it will be, karma can; the
looker: at the same time, a greater definition, karma, jñāna, anāvṛtam.
The connection must be kept with that, the real definition of bhakti, karma
jñāna anāvṛtam.
[anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ,
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena-kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ
bhaktir uttamā]
[“One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa
favourably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive
activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional
service.”] [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, 1.1.11] & [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.21.11, purport] & [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
19-167]
And Nārada-sūtra
, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ:
[sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ, tat paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ
bhaktir ucyate]
[“Pure devotion is service to the Supreme Lord which is free from all
relative conceptions of self interest.”] [Nārada-Pañcarātra]
Upādhi is selfish, selfish cover. And the two phases, the exploitation
and renunciation. Renunciation also selfish. Exploitation is selfish, it is
clear. Renunciation also selfish because divorcing the environment.
Environment, no connection, so that is also selfish to cut off everything, to
seek ones own imaginary comfort. So that is also selfish. So devotion that is
only impartial, nonselfish, and an organic attempt; and real devotion is the
organic function, otherwise also partly selfish.Now, what you were going to
say?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes, so I heard Mahārāja somewhere, that
these six sons of Devakī and Vasudeva that was killed by Kaṁsa...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Six or seven?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
First six sons, they were representing the sad-darśana, the six
branches of Vedic philosophy, that after
that___________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Well and good. If anywhere it is
mentioned I do not know. I think I might have heard somewhere, but I can't
recollect where, when, I have heard it. It may be in some tikā,
Viśvanātha, or somewhere, may be. I don't remember that.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
This is not objectionable.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Kaṁsa is representing false ego, ahaṅkāra.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ahaṅkāra ________
Atheism.
Bhakti Caru Mahārāja: __________________________________________________[?]
He pointed out that what Guru does like
that the demons that Baladeva is killing one after the other like
Dhenukāsura. Dhenuka is symbolising
ignorance.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________________________________________ [?]
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Śrī
Kṛṣṇa-saṁhita ____________________________________ [?]
All of you must go through it. There you
will have materials that are based on the present reasoning ground; Śrī
Kṛṣṇa-saṁhita, in Bengali and in Sanskrit also, by
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, a very useful book. And Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta,
to preach in the western countries, Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta
is more useful than Jaiva Dharma. Jaiva Dharma is meant for the
Indianised people, those that think in Indian way, Indian philosophy. And the
western philosophy has been dealt in comparison in Caitanya-śikṣāmṛtam.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Actually Prabhupāda also wrote The Teachings of Lord Caitanya, one
book which is giving all the teachings of Lord Caitanya, Caitanya
Mahāprabhu’s teachings to Sanātana Goswāmī,
Rūpa Goswāmī, and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya.
This way like all the teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu have been presented
in that book.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In an English book?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That O.B.L.
Kapoor, he was research scholar, got
doctorate, and Professor Sanyal, was one of the
examiners of three. He was a student of philosophy. And he has based his
research only on the direct teachings of Mahāprabhu.
“Goswāmīns there from the ṣāstra
they've collected in support of Mahāprabhu’s line.”
And he said, “I have given the materials, my materials is what is the
direct advice of Mahāprabhu. And where have you got? There is only eight ślokas
and some other, about fourteen ślokas direct come from
Mahāprabhu, and some stalwarts of Jagannātha etc.”
“Where do you get direct?”
“I have my basis of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Caitanya
Bhāgavata.”
Then I told, from Mahāprabhu, Sanātana Goswāmī, and Sanātana Goswāmī, Rūpa Goswāmī,
they have given all the philosophical side.
“But no I have only collected from Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
That is given by Kavirāja Goswāmī.
There he has given this upadeśa to Sanātana, Rūpa, or
indirect way you get from Kavirāja Goswāmī.
In our line wherever from it may be but when there is mention that Caitanya
Deva mentioned, He says that can be taken as coming direct
from Him.”In this way he has, this is the
basis of his doctorate.That book also you may look over: O.B.L Kapoor.
[The Philosophy and Religion of Śrī Caitanya] O.B.L
Kapoor.[Oudh Bihārī Lal Kapoor, aka Ādikeshava Dās,
disciple of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and Gaurāṅga Dās Bābājī]
And Nisikanta Sanyal’s book [Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya]
of course during the time of
Prabhupāda it was written, and Prabhupāda saw it. But there, only one
mistake. In Madras, a professor of Rāmānuja School, he, where it is
mentioned what is the teachings of Rāmānuja, he perhaps read that
portion and he came with, “This is not the conception of Rāmānuja,
what you have told.” Then Sanyal has to accept that, “Yes, yes, it is a
mistake.” So in some portion he admitted,
‘this is a mistake.’ His distinctive advaita, or something like this, he
has given the name of Rāmānuja dāsa. The objection came there,
that this should not be the proper translation of Rāmānuja dāsa.
It should be like that, the name should be like this.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja
wanted to seek for your advice or to have the confirmation from Your Divine
Grace about his plans when he goes back to America. He is thinking of working
with Atreya Ṛṣi Prabhu who is that Iranian gentleman. He is the GBC
of San Francisco and he is very sympathetic to all of Prabhupāda’s
disciples, those who are not really feeling very comfortable.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anyone whom you think to help your
cause, you may take his help.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
And actually Atreya Ṛṣi Prabhu is very friendly with us also, with
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja, and he is a very nice devotee.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Well and good anyhow we have got the
news of...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, as I have made all
these recordings of Your Divine Grace I wanted to know or seek your permission if
I could take the philosophical portions and...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And collect them and publish.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, you may do, Hare Kṛṣṇa,
for the benefit of the people.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja:
nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau
sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau
lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau
tri-bhuvane mānyau śaraṇyākarau
[rādhā-kṛṣṇa-padāravinda-bhajanānandena
mattālikau
vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau
śrī-jīva-gopālakau]
[“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvāmīs, namely
Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī,
Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī,
Śrī Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī and Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa
Gosvāmī, who are very expert in
scrutinisingly studying all the revealed scriptures
with the aim of establishing eternal religious principles for the benefit of
all human beings. Thus they are honoured all over the three worlds, and they
are worth taking shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopīs
and are engaged in the transcendental loving service of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Śrīla Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 1.33, purport]
This will be for lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau,
for the worlds benefit.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Loka hitam ripau lokānāṁ
hita-kāriṇau, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya’s
composition.
___________________________ Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee:
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa
nāma-kīrtanaṁ
rāma-rāma-gāna-ramya-divya-chanda-nartanam
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
yatra-tatra-kṛṣṇa-nāma-dāna-loka-niṣtaraṁ
prema-dhāma-devam eva naumi
gaura-sundaram
...
[kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa
nāma-kīrtanaṁ
rāma-rāma-gāna-ramya-divya-chanda-nartanam
yatra-tatra-kṛṣṇa-nāma-dāna-loka-niṣtaraṁ
prema-dhāma-devam eva naumi
gaura-sundaram]
["The Lord travelled to the holy places of pilgrimage in South
India with the clever underlying compassionate intention of delivering the
fallen souls. Appearing as a beautiful young renunciate He distributed the
sweet transcendental Names of the Supreme Lord, singing Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa he...as He strolled down the
different pathways, entered temples and visited homesteads. During His sacred
pilgrimage sometimes the Lord would be carried away by some indescribable,
ineffable, divine exaltation and would sing, "Rāma Rāma"
and dance gracefully with most charming gestures and rhythms. Regardless of any
time, place, circumstance, or personal qualification, He magnanimously
delivered all those in South India who came in contact with Him by inspiring
them to chant Kṛṣṇa's Holy Names with pure devotion. I sing
with joy the unending glories of my golden Lord Gaurasundara, the beautiful
divine abode of pure love."] [Premadhāma-deva-stotram, 22]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, one other thing. I
was wondering, there is a class of devotees who are being produced who have
attachments for our Guru Mahārāja and for Your Divine Grace also. So
this is kind of a new breed of bhakta who have equal devotion for
Prabhupāda our Guru Mahārāja and Your Divine Grace. So is this
all right?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _____________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
__________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Common thing they have got, so many, ninety-five percent or more common.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: It’s that five percent?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In some places he also exceeding my
position and thinking also in the preaching affairs, so many tactics he did in
his ways, inhuman action. So in that respect he is so great, so big. And I cannot stand before him. In some internal way we have had a
little, it is not difference really but little distinction, distinctive. Every
man has got his inner distinctive characteristic. Amongst you also there are so
many, a little, bedabeda acintya. Hare Kṛṣṇa. It is in His hand.
Devotee: _____________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
acintyāḥ khalu ye
bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet
prakṛtibhyaḥ paraṁ
yacca tad-acintyasya lakṣam
["That which is inconceivable can never be understood through the
logic and reason of the mind. The very symptom that something is inconceivable
is that it is beyond logical comprehension."] [Skanda Purāṇa]
& [Mahābharata, Bhiṣma Parva, 5.22]
Supernatural, beyond nature, that is the
common sign of acintya. And not to be, that won't come to our own
subjective jurisdiction, acintya. That is there but not within our
jurisdiction, but as a subject we can control it to make the object our
thinking. But when He makes any contact we
understand. That is adhoksaja.
End of 81.08.26.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.27.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...incarnation of Satyabhāmāin
Dvāpara-yuga. He [Jagadānanda Paṇḍita] went to Vṛndāvana.Mahāprabhu
gave some instruction. “Do this, don't do this. And as long as you remain there
you should be under the guidance of Sanātana Goswāmī.”Then he went, and the instructions were like
this.Vṛndāvana jaibe nā rahiha cira-kāla. “You go to Vṛndāvana but don't remain there for long
time.”Govardhane nā caḍiha dekhite
‘gopāla’. “To have a look
of the Gopāla of Madhavendra
Purī don't go up over the Govardhana.”
[śīghra āsiha, tāhāṅ nā
rahiha cira-kāla, govardhane
nā caḍiha dekhite ‘gopāla’]
[“You should
remain in Vṛndāvana for only a short time and then return here as
soon as possible. Also, do not climb Govardhana Hill to see the Gopāla
Deity.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 13.39]
And, vrajavāsīgan
dui haite saman koive [?]“You should give respect to the vrajavāsī.”
Tāṅ-sabāra ācāra-ceṣṭā
la-ite nāribā. “But don't
imitate their practices. And as long as you stay there, stay under the guidance
of Sanātana.”These were the instructions.
[dūre rahi’ bhakti kariha saṅge nā rahibā, tāṅ-sabāra ācāra-ceṣṭā
la-ite nāribā]
[“Do not mix
freely with the residents of Mathurā; show them respect from a distance.
Because you are on a different platform of devotional service, you cannot adopt
their behaviour and practices.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 13.37]
And one day Jagadānanda Paṇḍita
found Sanātana Goswāmī
came to visit him when he was going just to put the pot for cooking purpose
into the oven. At that time Sanātana came to know things are from him. And at that time Sanātana Goswāmī had a red cloth around his neck, like a turban. Jagadānanda Prabhu was much delighted to see that red cloth and
asked, “It must be of our Mahāprabhu, the red cloth, have you got from
Him?”
“No, no, this I took from one Mukunda Sarasvatī, a sannyāsī
of this part.”
“Oh, you have put his garment, his cloth on your head, and you
are the leading disciple, follower of Mahāprabhu.”He could not tolerate,
and with that cooking pot he went to strike on his head.
Then Sanātana Goswāmī with folded palms, “Yes, Paṇḍita Ji, what I wanted
to see, your exclusive love towards Mahāprabhu, what I wanted to see by
the grace of God, Mahāprabhu, I have seen it now. I have seen with my own
eyes the intensity, exclusive love of Mahāprabhu. My life is fulfilled. I am very fortunate that I have got such an
exclusive and intense love towards Mahāprabhu.”
Then by this time Jagadānanda
could realise, Prabhu could realise that his excitement was too abrupt, and awkward. So he felt
shy and kept silent. “No, no, no, I mistook. Who can tolerate this? You are one
of the main followers of Mahāprabhu and you have got respect for another sannyāsī,
Māyāvādī, whose red cloth you have put on your head as a
turban. I could not tolerate, please forgive me.”In this way the things ended.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Ha, ha, ha.
Touchy. Just as some of us, of our section, cannot
tolerate that you say ‘Prabhupāda’ to your Guru Mahārāja. There
is a section within us. Though they cannot tolerate, their sentiment does not
allow. Because Prabhupāda gave such respect to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
he could not tolerate that anyone have that title of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.One
gentleman, Priyonath, some gentleman, Priyonath, his Guru gave him the title of
Bhaktivinoda. Prabhupāda could not tolerate that,
and wrote articles against him. “He is so and so, he is so and so, he’s Bhaktivinoda.” In this way!
So this question of sentiment may be some time, some places;
impatience.Although we find that Prabhupāda, an ordinary title for
Gurudeva, Prabhupāda Atula Kṛṣṇa, Prabhupāda Pran
Gopāla Goswāmī, that is the practice
here. The śiṣya and the public in general also they say,
'Prabhupāda Atula Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī,
Prabhupāda Pran Gopāla
Goswāmī, Prabhupāda ________ Goswāmī, that
Prabhupāda title is almost given to all the respectable Ācāryas
of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava School, Prabhupāda. And we
also called Prabhupāda, but other followers of Prabhupāda they did
not take this title, following the sentiment of Prabhupāda towards
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
Sometimes Bon Mahārāja, for some days he used to take
that title Prabhupāda from his disciples. So there was a voice of protest
raised against him.Sakhī Caran, Bhakti Vijaya, who constructed the big
temple at Yoga-pīṭha, and many things he did, he told me, “Bon Mahārāja has become Prabhupāda
nowadays.”Ha, ha, ha. In a taunting tone he remarked it before me.
And that is an ordinary title. And every Ācārya they
use this. But though we are practised
in a particular way but we cannot ignore the outside environment totally. Maybe
that does not matter. That Guru, Oṁ Viṣṇu Pāda, all
these things, Goswāmī, all these things have been applied in the case
of the Ācārya.In the beginning it was a terrible thing to enter into
initiation for us, after Prabhupāda. Then though anyone ventured to initiate,
the others said, “He won’t be, he should not use Oṁ Viṣṇu
Pāda.” They came to me that, “He’s using Oṁ Viṣṇu
Pāda.”
I said this is śāstra. What you are to do?
Before one takes the name of his Gurudeva, he should use Oṁ Viṣṇu
Pāda before that. It is the śāstra. So they are doing
according to śāstra. You can’t prohibit that, protest that. If
he’s a Guru then the disciple must have such respect.Then gradually everyone,
daily, more and more, the number increased and everyone allowed his disciples
to use this title and to give jaya. But in the beginning it was a
horrible thing for the disciples to hear.
Once after giving initiation
Yājāvara Mahārāja came to a place where myself, this
Hayagrīva Prabhu, that is
Mādhava Mahārāja, and other senior God-brothers, who were senior to Yājāvara
Mahārāja, and whom
Yājāvara Mahārāja respected, they are leaving. I proposed, with disciples, I proposed that Yājāvara
Mahārāja should be given a respectable position amongst us because he
has taken his disciples with him. So there was one, in that room, there was one
chokie [?] and I proposed Yājāvara Mahārāja should
be given his bed on that katiya chokie[?] and we shall all lie down
on the floor.
But Hayagrīva Prabhu, that Mādhava Mahārāja,
he was then Hayagrīva Brahmacārī, he told, “No. That never be
allowed. That one who will make disciples
he should consider himself as a servant of all other senior Vaiṣṇavas.
In this way he can only...”
That is not possible, there is his disciple. Disciple, they are
newcomers. Their sentiments towards their Gurudeva that
is our duty to nurture them. That may not be disturbed. So we should give
respect to his Gurudeva though he is a colleague and junior to many, still to
help the disciples in their devotion we shall try to do that.
And that was done. But Mādhava
Mahārāja protested, then Hayagrīva Brahmacārī.Then after, Hayagrīva Prabhu he was pressing me to take the
position of Ācārya but I denied. ‘No, I am not going to take
position, I am not going to give initiation, as long as I do not find an internal urge for that.’
Then Hayagrīva Prabhu he
himself began to make disciples. He was Mādhava Mahārāja, before
he goes to take sannyāsa from Vaikhānasa Mahārāja he
came to me, fell flat, I was in the hut there, and begged permission.“I had a
mind to take sannyāsa from you Mahārāja, but I can't
leave Māyāpur, Caitanya Maṭha. And you are so much against
Kuñja Bābu. So I can't take sannyāsa from you. But you may
help to select my name of sannyāsa.”
I suggested two names. Bhakti Dayita I like; Dayita is mentioned
in the name of Prabhupāda, so Dayita, Bhakti Dayita. And either
Dāmodara or Mādhava, that you ask your sannyāsa Guru, he
may select any of them.Then he went away, took sannyāsa and then
began to make disciples.
Then one day I went to, Hydrapur, where he
was living and I found that a very big āsana he has prepared for
himself to take his seat and he is going on with his tilaka.And when we
visited that place, we don't find any space to take our seat.Then I asked, what
is the matter? I told that Yājāvara Mahārāja should be
given a preferable position and you refused. Now, what is the matter? You have
taken the major portion, you have occupied of the floor with this gigantic āsana
and we don't find any space to take our seat anyhow. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
So this is abhimāna,
Ācārya abhimāna. Ācārya - relative
consideration makes us to adopt in a particular way, Ācārya abhimāna,
the abhimāna of a disciple, the relative posing, that is necessary
to fulfil our purpose. It is also allowed both in the śāstra as
well as in the social custom. The śruti śāstra also says pita
mata maha guru, not the grandfather, grandmother; the nearest obligation
that should be considered to be the highest.Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
A difficult thing to adjust properly with relative and absolute
position: consideration; absolute consideration and relative. Generally we
shall accept the relative position but keeping at the background the
consciousness of the absolute calculation. Absolute calculation is always
superior. But that is risky. Relative position generally helps us not to get
down. Sva dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ, para-dharmo
bhayāvahaḥ [Bhagavad-gītā, 3.35] this is the
type of relative position.
yataḥ pravṛttir bhūtānāṁ, yena
sarvvam idaṁ tatam
svakarmmaṇā tam abhyarccya, siddhiṁ vindati
mānavaḥ
[“A man achieves perfection by the performance of the
appropriate duties prescribed for him according to his qualification. By the
execution of his duties, he worships the Supreme Lord from whom the generation
and impetus of all beings arises, and who permeates and pervades this entire
universe (exercising His Supreme qualification of Lordship over one and
all.”)][Bhagavad-gītā, 18.46]
Wait and see. Don't go forward, don't go forward. Keep up your own
position. Just in the battlefield, keep your own position, strongly, mind it.
But when you get chance to make any progress you should not lose that. But you
must be sure. Otherwise, leaving the former position you are going to take a
new position, that is risky. But progress is necessary.
It is indispensable that you must make progress. So risk you must take, but the
risk you take in such a way that you don't lose your former position.
śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ,
para-dharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt
sva dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ, para-dharmo
bhayāvahaḥ
[“It is better to carry out one's own duties a little
imperfectly rather than faultlessly perform another's duties. Know that even
death is auspicious in the discharge of one's duties appropriate to his natural
position in the ordained socio-religious system, because to pursue another's
path is perilous.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 3.35]
For defensive necessity occupy the former position, that is helpful. But
still we must have our tendency to make progress. So:
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ
[“Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively unto
Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.66]
That is our goal. That absolute consideration is our goal. And the
relative position, that is for our safety. So, progress is necessary, but very
carefully we must go ahead, so that I may not lose my former. When śikṣā
Guru. Our Guru Mahārāja’s movement was rather revolutionary, more
than defensive in character. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s writings mainly very sober and slow progress, but slow and steady. What we find in his books that is not any
bold step to be taken. That is not recommended there. So gṛhastha
āśrama, gṛhastha āśrama he has recommended
mostly. The āśrama of the tyāgi, that is risky.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s tone through all his books, it runs like
that. But our Guru Mahārāja’s, that is revolutionary. Take and accept
anyone who has got the least attraction for Kṛṣṇa or
Mahāprabhu and give help. So this mission, sādhu-saṅga
was arranged in so many centres. The sādhu-saṅga is the only
most valuable thing that can help us in our progress. So he arranged for sādhu-saṅga,
opened different centres, they can live and cooperate between them and go on,
march on ________? Sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ
śaraṇaṁ vraja.And Swāmī Mahārāja also
more risky and revolutionary.
...
...used this colour, purchased from market. Do not take any trouble of
rubbing that red stone and get the colour desired.Hare Kṛṣṇa.I
am more of conservative nature. Only, Mahāprabhu took me out from that
great ideal.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
What do you think of us?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The lofty ideal of Mahāprabhu has
taken me out from my conservative nature. On the strict He has taken me, strict.
Many new things had to absorb. But still I think that I have come in the
forefront of the liberals.
Astradristi - vedai pasyanti pandita [?]One
must have the eye of scripture. Ordinary people, it is perhaps in Manu or
somewhere else.
Pasu pasyati gandhena [?]
The animals they see by their nose, by the
scent.
Vede
pasyanti pandita [?]
The Vedic scholars, spiritual scholars,
they will see through the eye of scripture.
Raja pasyati karnadbhya [?]
The king sees things through his ears.
Ears means through the detectives, the informers. The
king sees things not by his eyes but through his ears, that is by his
detectives, his informers. And,
Chakra van tari jana [?]
Ordinary people see things by their eyes.
So, Vedai pasyanti pandita [?] the paṇḍit:Panda
vedu jara budhi [?]
Whose understanding drawn from this
scriptural knowledge, they are paṇḍit. Panda vedu jara
budhi [?] The understanding that has been influenced by the learning of the
scripture; he - that is panda. And who is possessor of that
understanding, he is paṇḍita. So Vedai pasyanti pandita.Paṇḍita should see through the scripture, through the spectacle of
scripture. So, that devotee also try to see things and to deal with them
according to the rules and regulations of the scripture, not by their
prepossessed sentiment or old saṁskāra.
And
Mahāprabhu’s ideal impressed me very much. Although born in a very strict smarta
paṇḍita family, still I could shake off all these things,
because my attraction for Mahāprabhu,
by His grace, was very intense.
Devotee: _____________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: _________________________ Translated Gītā in Farsi, who is that gentleman?
Devotee: _____________________________________
[?]
Dhira Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Ravanari did it in Arabic.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I have got a copy here, I was presented.
What is his name?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Ravanari.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ravanari. Where is he now? Not in
Russia?
Dhira Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, the other day you
said something that impressed me very much. You said if we try to thrust
something upon higher authorities that that is karma-kāṇḍa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What did I say?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: The other day you said something that
impressed him very much.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is that thing?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
That if we thrust something on the higher authority then that is karma-kāṇḍa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. The origin of the motive must not
be the centre within us. That must come from Hari, Guru, Vaiṣṇava.
And we must carry out. We should not be the creator of the wave of command,
commanding. But we must carry out the news that comes through the wave from
higher, Hari, Guru, Vaiṣṇava. We are only to carry out order and
not to make any order. And when one has got the license of that centre of
carrying out, he can order. While God that sends license from God, “Yes,
whatever you think, I will be at your back. I have got constant connection with
you and I supply the wave to your centre, permanently.” Instructions of
permanent character and from that capital you will be able to transmit wave to
others.Am I clear?
Dhira Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That must come, the command must come from the centre, from the higher
position; and the carrying out of that command from the lowers. The nature of
harmony requires this system of control, harmony. The centre is one, to
command, advaya-jñāna. That is absolute autocrat, advaya-jñāna.
Advaya-jñāna means the dictation from a particular quarter and
carrying out according to the degree of capacity by different centres. Then the
result connected with the absolute.
So I must not venture to command anything to anybody, but if I have
received that sort of command from upper region, then I can transmit them only.
I may be a transmitter, but not absolute creator of any desire of any will. My
heart may be a sub-centre but not absolute centre. There are so many
sub-centres; reliable sub-centres. They have got always the capital there and I
can draw from them. Maybe in Gurudeva, Rādhārāṇī and
Baladeva they were permanently and at present also there may be recognised centres of command and I can communicate with them and carry
out their orders. In that way we can keep our connection with the higher
authority, the absolute. We are very eager to keep our connection with the
absolute harmony. Then we must be always eager to have direction from the up
and do accordingly. The thing by its necessity of harmony requires this sort of
conduct within us. A Vaiṣṇava must be of that nature.
Amita vaisnava vivad ji haili amanina habe
pratistha saji lila dusay ________ [?]
You will have to go down; and to go up, the carrying out of the orders
of the higher authority, always that sort of tendency.
Tomar kinkar apane jani sada imam tadi [?]
Setting aside my own sentiment I’ll always look up with earnestness what
order I may get from the up. That should be my guide, the guide of anyone in
the centre. And that will keep up the harmony and unity of the organisation that's part of a particular system, to keep up the health
of the system; that is necessary always.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, when a person like,
when a very elevated devotee like Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura speaks like
that, what should we think?
________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He is setting the example for us. That
should be the attitude and he is also of that attitude, that means always
hankering, increasing his hunger to get direction from up at every position.
And it is infinite. So every centre is with that hankering. And there is also
Ācārya abhimāna where some money is already deposited
with some condition, spend it for this purpose. Then as if his own money, he is
distributing, that is Ācārya abhimāna. A direction, a box
of direction, so many slips of direction within a box, we may think like that
some deposited direction. ‘You do this,’ then he is going straight forward with
those directions. The insinuation, the
inspiration at his heart is always coming, ‘do this, do this, do this.’ Like an
aggressor he is going forward and forward, Ācārya abhimāna,
and by doing that he is internally really carrying out the order of his. So
rationally he is moving but internally he is connected with the higher. The
assertion in one side and the begging in the other side; ha, ha, begging from the higher power and distribution to the lower
section; that should be the duty of every man in the mission, kīrtana.
yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei
deśa
kabhu nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga, punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga
[“Instruct whoever you meet in the science of Kṛṣṇa.
Teach them the instructions of Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā,
and the teachings about Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In this way, on My order, become a Guru
and liberate everyone in the land. If you follow this instruction, the waves of
materialism within this world will not affect you. Indeed, if you follow My
order, you will soon attain My association.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 7.128-9]
“If you stick to this business then I will supply the capital to
you. You be sincere to your dealings.”
The current is always there, it is a dynamic thing. The current is
always, the wares, the dynamo, or all these things, must be healthy, wholesome.
No want of current. The mediator must be all right. The current is infinite.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, sometimes we notice
that some devotees they are very friendly with us, but their Kṛṣṇa
consciousness is not very developed or very strong, in line. But since they are
nice to us we tend to become also nice to them.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They may not be relied upon with work of
responsibility but they should be given facility to serve.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: But if that kind of persons are in very
high authority? If a person like that, if say one leader or some leaders...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So, unqualified person in a higher post
that means there will be injury in the action, harm in the action, activity.
Improper man in a high position that is injudicious and they will have to reap
the results accordingly. Weak persons with good will but not steady, not strong
enough, not firm, they cannot be relied with permanent responsibility. But
short period activity, chance of service should be allotted to them, and under
vigilant eye. We can do good to them in that way, help them in that way. Always
under vigilant eye they should be kept and they should be helped in that
particular way. Their good will should be utilised
and their flickering -ness should not
be encouraged, relied on. That should be the nature of our help to them.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
When we see that some leaders are like that, then to what extent we should try
to rectify them, or should we just wait for the time?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Generally we should try give some time, we must wait. But when we shall find
that that is doing a practical mischief in the whole system, then we should try
to consult with friends of our own nature and try to evolve some way how to
deal with that. We must combine of same thinking, similar thinking. And we
shall try. Otherwise that infectious disease, that will spread and that will
make harm more to the whole system.
So a well-wisher of the system, he, after waiting for some time
he must express it to the persons of common thinking, “That this is the matter.
Please examine. I may be faulty, but I have got such suspicion or doubt. You
please try to see whether it is true or not.”
Then if he says, “Yes, it is true, we are sorry it is true,”
then you may consult, or the two may consult, then the three, four, in this
way. Then when sufficiently gaining ground he may ask the person, “My brother,
you are doing this, but this is producing bad effect in the whole of the
system. Be careful.”
And any higher authority in comparison with him it may be taken to his
notice that this poison has entered in this particular part of the body and how
to deal with that. As a faithful member of the administration of the system I
must have some duty of that nature for purifying the whole, my environment. I
must be under necessity to try my best, leaving the result to the Lord. If He
wills; otherwise then a good man may be eliminated from the whole thing, whole
system.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, sometimes some devotees tend to think that history repeats
itself. And whatever has happened to Gauḍīya Maṭha, the same
thing might happen to ISKCON.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maybe. Everyone will die but still we
must take the precaution. We call for doctor, we use medicine, that is also not
an imagination. That is also reality. If I die, I must die with treatment and
taking help I shall die. That does not mean everyone is dying whenever attacked
by a disease I shall be idle. That is not the...
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Hari.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
At times it so happens that even when one brings the doctor but the patient
does not want to take the medicine.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then the well-wisher will try his best
to use the mission, to compel him to take the medicine. And that depends upon
the relationship between the two. His nearer persons they cannot, helplessly,
only onlooker, that he is neglecting himself, can’t tolerate. But a distance
related, he may not care. But a closer friend, intimate friends, they won't
allow him to die without taking the help of the doctor and the medicine. They
can’t do so.
End of 81.08.27.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.27.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...in mādhurya-rasa they
won’t approve. They try to force him to take medicine. That should be their
nature, nature of affinity must come to such a degree. “We can’t allow you to
go on without medicine.” That is possible only in the case of indifferent school.
That is Māyāvādī or renunciationist. They may take such
attitude, but not devotees.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
They may become flabbergasted, Mahārāja, then what should we do? We
want to rectify the, we want to save the situation. But then again, if we try
to do that then immediately they'll brand us.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
We shall pray to the higher authority and what inspiration we should get in our
sincerity, sincere heart, we cannot but do that. We can't give up our own
conscience, that inner voice. We should fervently pray to him, “Please guide me
properly.” Wait, until we get such inspiration, “do this,” we may not be very
indiscriminate and very rough and very abrupt in our dealings, may not be very
quick; a little slow we may be. Hesitation may force us to be slow to take our
step.
As Rāvaṇa
told,subashya sigram
asalisya kala haranam [?] “If I think that
this step will create some disturbance into the environment, I shall wait and
see. And when I shall see that this is the auspicious result it will bring,
then I may be quick in my action.”
Straight and bold we must be always;
straight, sincere, sincere, straight, bold. Otherwise the poisonous environment
will swallow me up.
Rabi[Rabindranatha]
Ṭhākura ___________________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
To give indulgence I do rightly by, but I give indulgence, not give indulgence
but I patiently forbear what wrong is going around me without protesting,
without taking any action according to my position and capacity. I may protest
but according to my capacity to save my own self I must take some step around
me. Otherwise I will be affected. So I have got some duty towards my
environment and society. That is a part of my selfish interest.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...was too much delayed.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ______________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Govinda Mahārāja was wondering whether his English was correct, what
he said was correct?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: At least conveying his purpose, meaning.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
And he asked Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja. So
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja said that, “Just you
speak and then only it will become correct, perfect.” Then he said that, “Am I
also speaking correctly?”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha. Not correct English.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, everyone appreciates your English in America. They feel
that it’s so eloquent, and it’s so rich; that your selection of words are so
meticulous and so pure.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
...to find out the real meaning of the words that you use at times.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Generally the selection of word that is
happy with me.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Sometimes we have to look in the
dictionary.
Devotee: Philosophical words.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I am told that the nature of my delivery
is like that of my Guru Mahārāja. And
whenever I deal with a particular thing, always new, not mere formal. Our God-brothers they say, “When I attend your lecture we think that we
listen to the lecture of our Guru Mahārāja.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
The other day Mahārāja, I was telling Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja that sometimes a very good chess player, ________ you don't
know what move he is going to take. The same way when we ask a question, we
don't really know what kind of answer is going to come from you. And when the
answer comes we get totally amazed that we never
even dreamt of that kind of answer. It is so new, so fresh.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Guru Mahārāja’s grace. At his
last time, he took me in such a central position and placed me there that
standing from that position I look around and I get a clear conception of what
is what. Gaura Haribol. I can survey from that position, what is where. Gaura
Haribol. That is the secret of my speaking.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He has empowered you, Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Might have been, might have been that
also.
When he gave me initiation, he told in such a way, I was asked by one of my senior Godbrothers, “What did he say
during the time of your initiation?”
He said such and such thing.
“Oh, you are very fortunate.” That was the remark.
Then when I got sannyāsa, Bon Mahārāja was present
there, many others also. Bon Mahārāja remarked that, “Prabhupāda
has got a high satisfaction by giving you sannyāsa. So much
satisfaction we did not find in any occasion of other sannyāsīns.
He is highly satisfied conferring sannyāsa to you.”
That is one thing. The selection of words: that is something like
intuition.When I am coming to Gauḍīya Maṭha, but not enlisted,
only negotiating in that condition, they are thinking a suitable term,
Prabhupāda was there, other members also, senior English knowing members
were there; the exhibition, religious exhibition, what should be the proper
name, they are searching for. I am an outsider. Some say ‘spiritual’, some say
‘religious’, but Prabhupāda does not accept. I told 'theistic', the word
came from me, ‘theistic exhibition’. That was accepted. I am a stranger at that
time.So selection, it is intuitive, selection of words, got in my nature from
previously; the proper selection of words.
Then also in Allahabad, once Prabhupāda was delivering a lecture, I
was sitting by his side, a Kanada lecture. Then Prabhupāda used the words,
the 'least-common-multiple'. For example, he quoted these words
'least-common-multiple', that may be compared with this. And just the opposite,
that may be compared with the other thing.
And I prompted, that 'greatest common measure'. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
Least-common-multiple – greatest-common-measure. My pronunciation of measure,
that was Bengali pronunciation and Prabhupāda’s pronunciation was of
English type.
Measure? So Prabhupāda says, “What do you say?”
Least-common-multiple, greatest-common-measure.
“Oh, measure, measure. You are very clever. I am collecting this word
from you,” he told. Ha, ha.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: Swāmī Mahārāja
___________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Europe is defeated by Asia.
Swāmī Mahārāja, in an argument, Bon Mahārāja put
so many arguments that, ‘they cannot be
answered’. But I like to hear what questions cannot be answered. Then he
reluctantly went on with the arguments
which he had to face there. And I began to answer them. Then when Bon
Mahārāja could not speak anything more, Swāmī
Mahārāja was present in that round table conference, myself, Bon
Mahārāja, that Madhusudana Mahārāja, [Herr] Schulze, all
around the table, then Swāmī Mahārāja told, “Here, Europe
is defeated by Asia.”
[Herr Schulze later became known as Sadānanda Dāsa, a German
born disciple of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Europe was represented by Bon Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bon Mahārāja, and Schulze was
very attentively listening to the argument, discussion. Later on Schulze told,
“I was attracted more by the book [Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Caitanya] of Nisikanta Sanyal, Professor, than that of Bon
Mahārāja.”
And before that he appreciated my articles in Nadiyā
Prakāśa, our Guru Mahārāja. And also that Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's
stotram, that was much appreciated by him. That is the only Sanskrit
production during the time of Prabhupāda. And that was highly appreciated
by him. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: Śrī-rūpa-mañjarī-pada_________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, sometimes we've
heard that in the Kali-yuga that the saṅkīrtana movement will
be prominent for ten thousand years. Is that correct?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. It may be, might have been
mentioned in Purāṇa, anywhere, but always depending on the
sweet will of the Lord. And in which kalpa, that is also to be
discussed, we must ascertain. There are many things mentioned in the Purāṇa,
meaning a particular kalpa, a day of Brahmā. That may not be, that
may not hold true in other kalpas. Se Varāha kalpa, Sam
Varāha kalpa - there are so
many kalpas. And one may hold true in a particular kalpa not to
be applied in another kalpa, though we must not be discouraged by that.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Prabhupāda said, I remember that, “Satya-yuga will be established in
Kali-yuga for ten thousand years.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: After, ten thousand years.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
I mean, in Kali-yuga, in the middle of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will come for
ten thousand years.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Just as the antadasa [?] within dasagruha
[?] antadasa [?] also, so aprantadasa [?] also.So in the Kali
sometimes there is also up and down. In some portion of Kali, the less sin,
that it may be considered Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, Kali, in that way,
subdivision. Just as Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, Kali, so in each yuga there
is also subdivision, and then also within that, sub-subdivision. In that way
things move. So it may be like that.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, when I spoke to Bhāvānanda
Mahārāja yesterday.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, about?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Well, he was asking me what I’m going to
do about going back to America. So I told him, in San Francisco, I also work
speaking in Universities, giving lecture and he approved of this idea of being
there.
Then he told me that in terms of dealing with yourself, with Your Divine
Grace, that he wanted to be very careful so that devotees in our society would
not offend you, that we should not create any situation where they become
offensive towards you, because that would be very detrimental for their
spiritual lives.
And he had one question that he also wanted you to clarify, was when
Jayapataka Swāmī and Bhāvānanda Mahārāja came
here and they read you this paper that was prepared by the GBC, at one point
you said that if they were to reject a man from being an Ācārya, that
they may say that we do not recognise
the mercy of our Guru Mahārāja is within you; that we do not recognise the mercy of our Guru Mahārāja within you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Within me?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes: to a man who is a candidate for
Ācārya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can't follow.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Someone may be nominated to be
Ācārya, but he may be rejected by the Ācārya Board. And you
said that they may say to him, 'we do not recognise
the mercy of our Guru Mahārāja within you.'
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ‘They can't feel that the mercy, that is
the grace Guru Mahārāja came to distribute to the world, that is
absent in me.’ They told like that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: 'They can't see the mercy of Guru
Mahārāja in me', what does it mean?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: No. The Ācārya Board, someone
may come to be nominated to be Ācārya. So they have to accept or to
reject. So there was a point of rejecting someone. And they say that you have
said on this tape that the Ācārya Board,
they may say to this man, this candidate, the nominee, that 'we do not find the
mercy of our Guru Mahārāja within you, so we have not accepted you to
be a part of the Ācārya Board'. So Bhāvānanda
Mahārāja thought that this is too harsh, it might be too much
arrogance for the Ācāryas to tell another man that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You have got no mercy of Guru
Mahārāja within you.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right. Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ___________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What
does Bhāvānanda Mahārāja say? He says that when he is to
cancel one continuing Ācārya from his post...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not a continuing, a candidate.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Formerly the vote was prepared to cancel
two.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When they are to cancel anyone or to
accept anyone, then their lookout will be whether he can trace Swāmī
Mahārāja’s grace in them, in sufficient quantity. Then they can take
him. And where they do not find that grace, they should reject. That I told.
That is the criterion, the criterion of making Ācārya or rejecting
will be that whether Swāmī Mahārāja’s grace sufficient is
found in him, that he will be able to do the work of Ācārya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Right. So the key word is
sufficient. You said grace sufficient.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, sufficient.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Because that is all he wanted to
clarify.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sufficient to hold the honourable
position of Ācārya, that sort of grace, the minimum grace may be any
disciple.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right, not that if a man is rejected
that he has no grace.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, sufficient deviation from the grace
we received direct from Swāmī Mahārāja. When he has himself
appointed Ācārya anybody, as Haṁsadutta and Jayatīrtha,
then when they wanted to reject them, the board, they must be confident that
Swāmī Mahārāja has withdrawn from them the delegating power
that he conferred upon them, must be sure about that before they oust them from
the board. And also when he will take anyone within the Ācārya Board,
they must have to detect that Swāmī Mahārāja’s grace is
there in sufficient quantity to help him to distribute to the others, keeping
proper faith in his holy feet. What is necessary. That I might have said.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, but sometimes they have thought
that our Guru Mahārāja’s grace is in this particular man. But for the
society or the organisation we find
certain things objectionable so we'd like him to separate.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: His external behaviour.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Grace is there but behaviour is so
unmannerly that he could not be kept as a cooperating member in the board.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then what will be the decision? That is
his question?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Sometimes.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So in that case_____________________________________[?]
The grace is there, the devotion is there
in intense quantity, but his behaviour is such that we cannot tolerate them.
That is, his behaviour, his conduct cannot be harmonised in the board. In that case I think...
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ___________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________________________________________ [?]
He should be allowed if sufficient grace
of Swāmī Mahārāja of an Ācārya is found in him. But his behaviour may not be harmonised in a system, then he should be left to work on independently.
Independently you may go on with your help to the society independently. We
cannot have your cooperation. There is much difficulty that you can't move with
a body, you can go on independently with your service to Guru
Mahārāja. That may be the solution, especially in the case where Guru
Mahārāja has given direct appointment.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, now this is an important question,
that...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But there should be some understanding
that one party may not abuse another; a spirit of toleration.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right. Now, you know Satsvarūpa
dasa Goswāmī, his ex-wife, former wife, she was Prabhupāda’s
first lady disciple. And around one year ago she left the society.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Faith?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not the faith but the society ISKCON.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Why?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Because she believed, she was known to be philosophically, she knows philosophy. So she
objected to the Ācāryas
as appointed Ācāryas of Prabhupāda. Because Prabhupāda,
he told us many times that his Guru Mahārāja
Śrīla BhaktisiddhantaSaraswatīṬhākura, he never named anyone as Ācārya. So she and many other devotees they
think that since Prabhupāda’s Guru he did not name anyone, how could he
name someone? And if this created so much of a disturbance in Gauḍīya
Maṭha, why would our Guru Mahārāja do the same thing, the
opposite of what his Guru Mahārāja did? In other words,
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta did not name anyone as Ācārya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Clearly.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And Prabhupāda told us, he said,
“He left word, who is Ācārya he will come out.” Those were his words.
He once said in a lecture, he said, “Our God-brother
Professor Sanyal he was doing very nicely during our Guru Mahārāja’s
time. But after his disappearance, his departure,” he said, “Professor Sanyal
he became a party man.” And he said, “And he wanted to post one of his pet
fellows onto the position of Ācārya.” And then he said, “But my Guru
Mahārāja never designated anyone as Ācārya. He said, 'who
is Ācārya, he will come out'.”
So the point that these devotees feel very strongly about, they object
to the concept that Prabhupāda, our Guru Mahārāja, appointed his
disciples as Ācāryas. They do not accept this. They think it is a
contradiction.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: Ṛtvik, as a Ṛtvik?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Ṛtvik they accept, but
not...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So she says that Guru Mahārāja
did not make any Ācārya definitely.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But he used some as his helper
Ācārya, Ṛtvik.Now the question after the departure of
Guru Mahārāja will come whether the Guru Mahārāja’s line
should be continued or not? Then if the unanimous verdict is that it must be
continued, but then continued only informally or in a formal way? That is dīkṣā,
mantram, sannyāsa, all these things should be kept up, or all
disorganised preaching of his name and other things?
Then the question will be solved and known in a particular form in which he
used to preach. Then the third question will come, then who will be the
Ācārya: one or many? Then if the answer comes, ‘one Ācārya
cannot manage the whole thing so we may have an Ācārya Board,’ that
is to be a serious conclusion we are to take; whether one or many?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But she believes that only a mahā-bhāgavata,
an uttama-adhikārī should act in that position.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That is, if it is available, it is well and good. Otherwise, the madhyama-bhāgavata
who cannot stop his activity of preaching, by his intrinsic inspiration, his
urge, he feels urge to propagate, then he cannot be checked, should not be
checked. We are to detect whether that urge for preaching is for to acquire the
fame, or some position, that is also fame, or money or something else. If it is
true that he wants to spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness he
should be recognised as an
Ācārya. Recognition should be given, should be allotted to them who
have got sincere enthusiasm to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness in
the line of Swāmī Mahārāja. A fair field should be.
If Swāmī Mahārāja’s case is justified,
Prabhupāda did not give recognition to Swāmī Mahārāja
in a clear way that he will become Ācārya, but why Swāmī
Mahārāja has taken that interest in himself? Because he had love,
sufficiently intense for Prabhupāda, he could not check the urge for
preaching and he came in the battle, in the forefront, in a pushing way. If
that has got justification, then this Ācārya will feel urge within
himself to go on with the work of Swāmī Mahārāja ahead.
They should not be checked. They are justified, thereby. Their internal
feeling, that is their justification. So they should be left free to go on with
their sincere propaganda, their attempt, their enthusiasm. Only we should try
to detect whether that energy, the source of energy is something else than Guru
Mahārāja, than Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What if there is a mixture?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
A mixture? Generally there may be mixture in madhyama-adhikārī,
but if the better portion is Kṛṣṇa consciousness then he may
be allowed. And if there is urge, then that will be his own certificate;
sincere urge for propagation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That
should be the; but the sincerity, that in a fair way that should be judged.
In other words, when one is engaged to
spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the name of Swāmī
Mahārāja but he does not cross the limit of good and moral practices,
he may be allowed. The sincerity first and the second his formal practices of
good behaviour necessary for the Ācārya and the sampradāya:
flesh eating, meat eating, wine drinking, and also too much attraction to the
ladies, all these things should be considered.
The knowledge of the scripture may not be very, reach everywhere. But
the sincere following of Swāmī Mahārāja’s dictation must be
present there. That is, Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be traced
there. That should be the first consideration, then the fair dealings with
others.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________________ [?]...too much nyāya. The days have changed from that
of Mahāprabhu. So in consonance with the progress of the time we may deal
with the ladies for their help, but the unfair mixing must not be tolerated,
unfair mixing. Whereas Kṛṣṇa kathā between the
Ācārya and disciple, it may be lady, or it may be boy, or anyone it
may be, the Kṛṣṇa result between them, that is the
protection. The dealings will be only about Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, surrounding, Kṛṣṇa consciousness surrounding
the dealings. So ladies may not be left, excluded from getting the benefit of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness and of preaching. They will also, may have chance. But whether
the lady Ācārya should be appointed or not, that may come in future.
Whether a lady devotee, for the facility to propagate amongst the ladies,
whether such qualified lady Ācārya should be accepted or not, that
may be a question of controversy. But I think that, for the sincere thinking
person wherever there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is
purity, and wherever the sincere urge for propagation, the sanction must be
there. That should be the fair field. Here also previously Jāhnavā
Devī and others, ________ Ṭhākurani, they did that sort of
function of the Ācārya.________________________________________________________ [?]
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So there were some lady
Ācāryas?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: There were previously.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, very rarely. The number can be
counted on fingers, lady Ācāryas.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Whenever this question would arise our
Guru Mahārāja he would always quote the verse:
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene
naya, yei kṛṣṇa-tattva vettā sei guru haya.
[“Whether a person is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī,
or a śūdra, if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa,
he is to be accepted as Guru.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 8.127]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Wherever Kṛṣṇa
consciousness is present and wherever Mahāprabhu consciousness, that is to
preach:
yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa,
[āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa
kabhu nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga,
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga]
[“Instruct whoever you meet in the science of Kṛṣṇa.
Teach them the instructions of Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā,
and the teachings about Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In this way, on My order, become a Guru
and liberate everyone in the land. If you follow this instruction, the waves of
materialism within this world will not affect you. Indeed, if you follow My
order, you will soon attain My association.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 7.128-9]
That is not mere Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but that is
Mahāprabhu consciousness; Kṛṣṇa consciousness with Guru
consciousness, Mahāprabhu consciousness.And Mahāprabhu says that,
“Whomever you will find, talk about Kṛṣṇa, nothing else. You
won't be lost. You have no fear to be lost. I am there.”
This wide command, but everywhere, the test is sincerity must be there,
sincerity, not any imitation. Imitation is the greatest enemy to this,
imitation.Anyābhilāṣa, karma, jñāna, there may be
so many things of temptation and if we are prey to that we are lost. Madhyama-adhikārī;
so higher type of madhyama-adhikārī, no apprehension, because,
to preach means to go and mix with those that have the contamination of
enjoyment and renunciation in all these things, anyābhilāṣa,
karma, jñāna. So he must be strong enough to fight with them.
Anyone may be a general, but he must have the capacity, the merit, to
become a general. Napoleon came from the ordinary section. Then Rommel,
Hitler's general, he came from the very lower position, and he got much
appreciation of his position, appreciated even by their enemies. Achinlake [?]
or Montgomery, who was the leader in that war, he kept Rommel's portrait in his
camp.
One asked me why he used to keep the portrait of Rommel within his camp.
I answered, the look at the face and to conjecture
what policy he may take to draw from it. He kept it that this man in such case,
what sort of diplomacy and policy he may accept in this war. To get inspiration
from his portrait he used to keep.
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene
naya, yei kṛṣṇa-tattva vettā sei guru haya.
Where matter is present, form may be sacrificed. When material is
sufficiently present, the form may be sacrificed.
End of 81.08.27.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.27.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: One of the questions I’ve heard devotees
ask, they've heard your example of the Guru with one foot in Vaikuṇṭha,
one foot here; three categories.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, three, like that; three categories.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But they want to know? Is that your example,
or is there some example in the śāstra?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _________________________________________________ [?]
Two feet in Vaikuṇṭha and
taking, recruiting from here, that is mahā-bhāgavata. When, by
the special will of the Lord he’s requested to
do this service, he does. Mahā-bhāgavata is qualified, there
cannot be any doubt.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then generally the madhyama-bhāgavata,
the Ācārya appointed from madhyama, madhyama-bhāgavata
section mainly. Why? They have got the vision of differentiation. All is not
within Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Someone out, outside Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, this is; both things in his view, Kṛṣṇa
consciousness and nonKṛṣṇa consciousness. And it is
necessary. The nonKṛṣṇa consciousness should be converted
into Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
So mahā-bhāgavata, when he comes to take up this duty
he has forcibly given by Kṛṣṇa some prejudices. “You see
there is nonKṛṣṇa consciousness. And do your duty.”
And it
is natural with the madhyama-bhāgavata that there is nonKṛṣṇa
consciousness and that must be converted into Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. That is madhyama-bhāgavata. So madhyama-bhāgavata
should get appointment, an Ācārya. It is clear from that.
Then, the madhyama-bhāgavata may be of two types.
One from one leg here, one leg there, he’s also considered to be the madhyama-bhāgavata,
in the middle stage. One leg here, one leg there, means he has got realisation of the truth, of Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
but not fully acquired the svarūpa-siddhi, on the way to svarūpa-siddhi.
And who has got two legs here, he’s also madhyama-bhāgavata,
his attention is drawn towards them. He’s neglectful of his position here. He
does not make much of his position here. The attraction is there. But he has
not fully escaped from the influence of māyā. Still, though
weak, still he may be, his attempt should be laudable that he wants to help
others. He’s willing to take others along with him, a laudable position.Now,
this is the yukti, and śāstra we may find...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: What is yukti? Example?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
What I told, when he’s here, he has got mundane touch but he depreciates this
completely but he’s fully
attending this spiritual realisation,
appreciating and engrossed there. But he has not even completely disassociated
his mundane nature, but he is conquering, he’s gaining battle after battle and
moving towards the Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is, he has got
good will, he’s of goṣṭhyānandī type.When just
before we’re finally disassociated with this world, and take leave of this
world finally and enter there, two types – goṣṭhyānandī
and viviktānandī [aka bhajanānandī]. One
class does not care for others. They’re very particular for their own release.
And there is another class by nature who does not like to go alone but he wants
to go with so many associates there. Very particular nature in that stage we
find, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has
written in Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta. In premārurukṣu,
in that stage, two types, goṣṭhyānandī and viviktānandī.
The goṣṭhyānandī type has got a natural
inclination not to go alone but to take many with them.And now from the śāstra
reference we may find,
laukikī vaidikī vāpi, yā kriyā kriyate
mune / hari-sevānukūlaiva, sa
kāryā bhaktim icchatā
[“O
great sage! One who aspires for devotional service should perform all
activities, whether Vedic or mundane, in a way that is favourable for the
service of Lord Hari.”]
[Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu,
Purva-vibhaga 2.200, from Nārada-pañcarātra]
[Gauḍīya Kaṇṭhahāra,
13.82] & [In Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā,
13.113, purport]
Whatever duty we may accept, whatever activity we may accept as
our duty in the spiritual life, it may be vaidiki and laukiki. It
may be, it may, the inspiration may come from the scripture, vaidiki and
laukiki, vapi yakriya kriyate mune. And the duties that come from our
social life, the problems that come from social life, the both, everywhere he
should do according to his own spiritual consciousness.
In the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī,
one may not care of his social life. He will go to the temple, worship there,
strictly following the rules of the scripture, but when outside temple, he may
do anything and everything. To his relation with others, he may not deal
spiritual way, any other way. But scriptural dictations have got influence over
him partially there. And as regards his dealings with others, he may not have
any spiritual principle.
But madhyama-adhikārī is he who applies in his ordinary
life also, whom I should make friend, what sort of trade I should accept for my
livelihood, and how we shall select friend amongst the public, whether devotee
or nondevotee or anyone. This is, social life is also affected and controlled
by his spiritual principle. Then he becomes madhyama-adhikārī.
When he adopts such form of life then he can help others, he’s fit to help
others. He won’t be affected by the foreign unfavourable association because he
has already practised and settled
in that form of life how to deal with others and keep up his spiritual
vitality.Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So he has practised in that way, so he can be eligible to initiate, to help
others, because he has already transformed himself in his dealings to outside
environment. He can keep up by fighting with the agents of māyā.
He has already proved that he has kept up his spiritual position fighting and
adjusting with the unfavourable environment. So he can be relied. And he may be
given, may be entrusted with the duty of Ācārya.
Devotee: ______________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You will go?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: I am going tomorrow morning.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tomorrow morning, all right.So madhyama-adhikārī:
the classification of madhyama-adhikārī.Kaniṣṭha-adhikārī
cannot be relied to be an Ācārya because his spiritual life is only
confined in the temple and in particular, behaviour of himself.
But madhyama-adhikārī there is already a
transformation, wholesale, total transformation from ordinary life into
spiritual life. So he should be considered fit with dealing the unfavourable
environment. And he will fight and he will take in, make progress in his
spiritual campaign. And really by such person the world is benefited. Who is
above, disassociated themselves from this mundane world, they generally do not
come to achetheir head, but when specially requested by the Lord they come.
Otherwise they do not care for the mundane world.
And the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī has got very
little. And he’s busy to purify himself and he may not care for the others, for the environment.But it is the duty, general, of the madhyama-adhikārī,
that who is transforming his social position in this world into spiritualising, he will be the fittest man to do good to the world.
īśvare tad-adhīneṣu, bāliśeṣu
dviṣatsu ca
prema-maitri-kṛpopekṣa, yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ
[“The devotee in the intermediate stage of devotional service is called
a madhyama-adhikārī. He loves the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, is a sincere friend to all the devotees of the Lord, shows mercy to
the innocent and disregards the envious.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.2.46]
This is in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the description of
the madhyama-adhikārī, what is the sign of a madhyama-adhikārī,
in Bhāgavatam. Īśvare tad-adhīneṣu,
bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca, who has got love and affection
for the Lord, for Kṛṣṇa, Īśvare. Tad-adhīneṣu,
love for God and friendship with the devotees of the Lord. And, īśvare
tad-adhīneṣu, bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca, and
those that are ordinary, simple men, to
extend grace to them, and inimical vision towards the atheist, to the enemy of
the spiritual thing. These are the items or the factors of his conduct, of a madhyama-adhikārī.
That his love towards the Lord, his friendship towards the devotees, and to the
ordinary public his attitude is to convert them, to make good to them. So it is
only madhyama-adhikārī who holds the fittest position for
Ācārya. He abhors the atheistic anti section, and he extends his
grace, his kindness to the ordinary people, and he has got friendship with the
devotees of the Lord, and he has got extreme love, attention, and obligation to
the supreme authority. So that bāliśeṣa, the ordinary
people he's eager to extend his help. So this is madhyama-adhikārī.
He holds the fittest position of an Ācārya, and not kaniṣṭha-adhikārī,nor uttama-adhikārī, uttama-adhikārī:
sarva bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed, bhagavad
bhāvam ātmanaḥ
bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany, eṣa
bhāgavatottamaḥ
[“A person advanced in devotional service
sees within everything the soul of souls, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ŚrīKṛṣṇa. Consequently he always sees Kṛṣṇa
everywhere and in everything. He is known as an uttama-bhāgavata, one situated on the topmost platform of devotional
service.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.2.45]
Everywhere he sees the connection with the absolute, with Kṛṣṇa.
So no room to request anyone, ‘that be
devotee’; there’s no room. He sees that he has got that connection with Kṛṣṇa.
I am rather unfit to render my service to Kṛṣṇa. That is in
the case of uttama-adhikārī, so no question of a general
preaching tendency to be there. That is only confined to the madhyama-adhikārī
who is established there and also seeing nonGod area. The nonGod area he wants
to, he’s eager to convert the nonGod area into God area, Godly area. That is
the tendency with madhyama-adhikārī. And it is natural. So he
should hold the position of an Ācārya. But there is also gradation in
madhyama-adhikārī, that sub-gradation, gradation,
sub-gradation, and we are to consider it amongst ourselves.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Are there gradations of uttama-adhikārī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Or course, gradations, only because that
is a positive world. Only get complete liberation from māyā.
That does not mean that he has got the highest position there. So a progressive
thing is there. There are so many rasa - śanta, dāsya,
sākhya, vātsalya, each rasa
they are also
groups according to quality, and in the group also the leader and servant succession
there is.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: These āśraya-vigraha
like Subala...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, the mula āśraya,
we may consider them to be in final position.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But they are not jīva-tattva?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. They always come from cit-śakti,
svarūpa-śakti. The svarūpa-śakti, from the
innermost part of svarūpa-śakti has produced them, if you
speak at all of their production.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Right.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They’re eternal, but the deeper svarūpa-śakti,
more intense, intense. The intensity of svarūpa-śakti is not
always the same. Nearer to Kṛṣṇa more intense, and far from,
that is less intense. In this way we are to understand. Anyhow they are caring
always for Kṛṣṇa. They do not care for the men here in the
mundane plane. This is the concern generally with the madhyama-adhikārī
devotees. They think that this is good and it should be their intending method
that I am tasting, it is very tasteful, give it to others. Preaching means
that. I have used this medicine, which has cured me from such disease, I must
give it to others, recommend it. “Take this medicine. It will help you.”
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: This Māyāvādī,
Swāmī Muktānanda, he was in Los Angeles and he gave example that
when you eat something very nice, you become silent. So I gave this example
that you have said. When you eat something very nice, immediately you broadcast
to the person next to you, oh, this is so...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If there is anyone whom you love, you cannot
partake, cannot but give it, extend your helping hand. But you are selfish
people and so you are punished to enter into the grave, spiritual grave. You
like the cessation of the nectarine flow. You have no knowledge that the flow
may be nectar. All flow, all movement is mundane; you are suffering from that
disease, that hopeless disease like cancer. That wherever there be any
movement, more than many, there cannot be harmony. You are seeking harmony,
seeking oneness, you have to enter into grave. Outside the grave you cannot
find any harmony, any beauty. Your beauty is to be reduced into cipher. In
other words, you are an atheist of the highest order because you do not believe
in the tastefulness of the highest nectar, sat-cit-ānanda. Ānanda
is not to be, cannot be tasted. We cannot partake to taste of that ānanda.
The highest position to cut off cessation with the whole environment, with ānanda
even...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So, once the jīva is atomic cit-śakti,
atomic portion of cit-śakti, once the jīva is
enlightened by cit-śakti and hlādinī, this ānanda,
can he ever give that up?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Give up?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Can he, once he’s tasted the full...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So through the sādhu, so sukṛti,
or by sādhu association, a slight injection of that higher type of amṛtam
he can't forget, and gradually it draws him to that side.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But when he is established in that side?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Established?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: In the spiritual world, when he is
established in his svarūpa, can he give that up? Once the jīva...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: We are told, very rarely it has been
found that even from svarūpa-siddhi one may deviate for the time
being.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But what about vastu?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But never from vastu-siddhi. From
svarūpa-siddhi also, deviation is possible sometimes. But from vastu-siddhi,
never, no fall is possible.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right, so the other day you told me that
some section of mahā-bhāgavata they view the nitya-baddha
jīva, that it is part of līlā that he has come here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There is a section...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But that is their vision.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Deepest vision, they say this baddha also
temporary, nitya-līlā. Māyā’s function is
conditional. The svarūpa-śakti is eternal from His all aspect.
But the māyā-śakti; suppose, the hospitals and the prison
houses may be closed sometimes, may be closed, no patient, no culprit, so it may be closed, but the government
in the country cannot stop. The country, the movement in the government of the
whole country that may not stop, but the prison houses and the hospitals may
sometimes be stopped. So this māyā may seem sometimes in a
nonworking position. So they say the limit of māyā, māyā
and when also it is working, it is working indirectly to help svarūpa-śakti,
only for the time being.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But those baddha jīvas, they
were not in vastu-siddhi?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Just as when an affectionate mother is
punishing a child, and suppose she is putting the child in a room and under lock and key. The temporary onlooker may think that is
under lock and key forever. But a wise man, only for a minute or two the mother
will come and unlock and take the child in her lap.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So temporary vision, the conjecture, the
supposition of temporary vision, that is something else. And long sight,
farsightedness may divulge some other truth. So something like that. “Oh, that
is suffering in the māyic jurisdiction. That is for a limited time.
We will again be allowed to participate in this. Kṛṣṇa is
there and He is merciful, so no vindictiveness in Kṛṣṇa.” So
none can be reckoned as lost forever, it is only for the time being.
Affectionate punishment is dealt to him. When one has got such sort of vision
that Kṛṣṇa’s grace is unlimited and His eye is everywhere, so
the punishment only can be temporary and not outcome of any vindictiveness. So
it may be neglected because he’s in the
boundary of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa is
attending him. Kṛṣṇa’s consciousness has never separated from
him, it is there. The guardian's eye is there. So his suffering may be apparent
and temporary. So everyone any way or other serving Kṛṣṇa.
That is in his connection, that sort of extension may be in his view. Do you
follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Giving stress to the particular type of
vision. Then why my interest is greater than Kṛṣṇa? He is
everywhere. His guardian's eye is present with him. What sort of help he will
need from me? Kṛṣṇa is there with His graceful heart, more
than anyone? So why should I go to think about him? That may be the type of
vision of a particular section and which cannot be eliminated at all. At the
same time, and they’re seen concerned more with the infinite wave of vision.
And those that have got little limited form of vision, “No, no, he is
suffering. I must go. Kṛṣṇa will back me to help him. I can't
tolerate his suffering.” That is of relative wave, madhyama-adhikārī.
So nothing is completely to be eliminated. But generally we must do according
to our own position. We must be sincere to our own feeling and thereby we shall
thrive. Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, so our own position.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, our duty from our own position, we
must not feel that we have got the vision of that mahā-bhāgavata
and do accordingly. That will be hypocrisy. From our plane we must select our
duty and do accordingly. Am I clear?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, that’s clear.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi
Caitanya.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And also, the other day you said
something, that
when we go to analyse the spiritual world it is not like some dead thing, that when
you go, it’s the same. But each time, it’s
a living thing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha. Yes a living thing. And
it may show infinite character to me, always new thing, ever new. It is ever new,
it is independent. I am dependent. As it will disclose to me, I am bound to see
that only, not more. If we approach the infinite, the characteristic of
infinite truth is such, it is all super consciousness, made of super
consciousness element. The element is like that. They are not fixed material.
Or even this material thing, that also by analysis may show many phases. That
also cannot finish; what to speak of spiritual substance.
So, that I shall know everything, ultimately that is a foolish thing,
and that is untenable in the spiritual world where we shall live within the
atmosphere of infinite. Only it may be applicable to this mundane world, that
also to certain an extent. Analyse
the atom, electron, and then again analysis of electron may come sometime
after, so no end.
Aṇor aṇīyān mahato
mahiyan; [Kaṭha
Upaniṣad, 1.2.20], the smallest of
the small, and the biggest of the big, everywhere He is. Still I must have some
earnestness to do good to others according to my standard. And there is
gradation also. Consideration of good and bad is there. They are in different
planes.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Isn't real good to others...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
And the highest plane, the most fundamental plane of everything is good.
Everything is good. And until and unless we reach that plane of thinking, of
living, we shall have to deal with all these relative good and bad.Each one in
his position in that highest plane he thinks I am, I hold the best position.
Yaśodā won't admit that Rādhārāṇī
She holds superior hold, She holds superior hold over Kṛṣṇa.
“No, I took Her the other day as my daughter-in-law. Can She cross my control?
Never. I have got the complete hold on my child.”
So in this way, in relative position, everyone thinks, “I hold a very
favourite position, a most suitable position I have, I have held.” That
temperament there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: On Janmāṣṭamī I
was reading the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam tenth Canto of our Guru
Mahārāja and one place describes the appearance of Durgā,
Yogamāyā, but as Durgā Devī, when she appeared as the
daughter of Devakī. You know that portion, where...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Devakī or Yaśodā?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yaśodā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of Yaśodā, eight handed.
Dhira Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes.So in that purport our Guru
Mahārāja said, “The Lord appears and the Lord’s energy appears,
together.” And then he explained in the purport. He said, “Therefore we chant
Hare Kṛṣṇa and we are praying to the energy, Hara, Hare, the
energy of the Lord to please engage me along with You in the service of Kṛṣṇa.”
So he is saying that Hare Kṛṣṇa, we are praying to Kṛṣṇa’s
energy, Rādhārāṇī, to please engage me in...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Rādhārāṇī.
Hara means Rādhā, but not the same with that astavidya Durgā. She may be considered to be a particular shadow of
Rādhārāṇī.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Right. But so he was just pointing out
that we are praying to Rādhā to engage us in Kṛṣṇa’s
service which is being conducted through Her. So it appears, we cannot approach
Kṛṣṇa directly. But we can approach Rādhārāṇī
directly like that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Also, coming in details, when we go to
Rādhārāṇī, we do not eliminate Kṛṣṇa,
but to get Kṛṣṇa in a better way we go to
Rādhārāṇī. So also when approaching to
Rādhārāṇī, then also in a proper channel we must
approach Her. So the consideration of the sakhī and the mañjarī
comes in front. Do you follow?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You go to Rādhārāṇī
to have Her direct approach is not possible for ordinary souls like us. We must
go through. And according to Her consent, I should be properly placed, located
in my befitted service, amongst the mañjarī, sakhī,
etc. I should be adjusted. And from that position only, that my fitting
position only, I will be able to draw my best benefit from the whole, of Kṛṣṇa
from Rādhārāṇī only, when properly located. And that
will be most beneficial to me, my proper location, sambandha-jñāna.
From there where I can show my best service, render my best service and I can
draw my best remuneration.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So then, the best position for the
aspiring jīvas is the third position.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Third, what is that?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not directly to Kṛṣṇa,
first position; mañjarī, second position.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sakhī,
Rādhārāṇī second position is direct potency, second
position. And then the sakhī there, and then mañjarī,
fourth position, under mañjarī fifth position.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: To assist them.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: One, two, three, four, five. From Kṛṣṇa
it may be generally the fifth position – in mādhurya-rasa, and so
also in other rasa also that sort of hierarchy. And according to our
innate capacity, the service will be drawn most from me and my remuneration
will also go, get, I shall go in a maximum way, in a particular, that is sambandha-jñāna, proper location. Sambandha-jñāna means proper location, consequently.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So sometimes these spiritual
personalities like Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura,
Prabhupāda, they are coming to this world and giving service...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sometimes they are delegated superior
power by the will of the Lord.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: And then they give so much service to
their disciples while they are here.
Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Some
delegation capacity may come, may descend in any position and can give him the
power to do as His representative whose delegation he is, that is possible.
Especially in Gurudeva we are to see the highest delegation, we are ordered.
And with that capital, Kṛṣṇa is present there in Gurudeva.
That Guru also dīkṣā and śikṣā,
different types of dīkṣā Guru, vartma-pradarśaka
is also considered a Guru. Then Nāma Guru, bhāgavata
dīkṣā, then this pañcarātra dīkṣā,
then sannyāsa dīkṣā, all these, and rāga-mārgadīkṣā,
there may be so many śikṣā Gurus also there. But as
special delegation, simultaneous delegation, Kṛṣṇa may
delegate power for one disciple to one Guru, and for another disciple another
Guru. His special will, delegation may differ
in this way, and He will be present there. Of course if the hierarchy is a
genuine one, not imitation, not concoction. The genuine place, that should be
the policy. That is the policy.
End of 81.08.27.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.27.D
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So, PramāṇaSwāmī
is coming from Vṛndāvana. Today I came to know, Caru Swāmī
Mahārāja came, he told that from Bhāvānanda
Mahārāja he heard that you were in Vṛndāvana, you were
there. He phoned you to your own seat, but he did not getthere. Only yesterday
he heard from Bhāvānanda Mahārāja that you were at Vṛndāvana.Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee [PramāṇaSwāmī?]:
Viraha Prakāśa Mahārāja he wanted
to go and see Bābājī Mahārāja, Niṣkiñcana
Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, he wanted to go and see
him.
Devotee: Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Bābājī
Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa Dāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja. He went to visit him? Then, how he is
doing? A little better?
Devotee: Nice. Yes, his health is much better now.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He is writing letters now and then to
me.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.I forgot about Viraha Prakāśa Swāmī Mahārāja.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He came here once, Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: His zone is?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He’s in South America, along, with PramāṇaSwāmī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nearby?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes, very near to him. Both of them together, they started initiating
disciples. And now they are a little separate from ISKCON, but very much
maintaining Prabhupāda's mission.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It seems to be inevitable. Independent
enterprise seems to be inevitable gradually. So, though they have taken
exception to my remark; that the verdict of the GBC was...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: "Unhappy and injudicious."
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Injudicious and unfortunate. Only with a
view of such future inevitability, I remarked in such a way. It would have been
judicious and fortunate only by expansion, by proper and economic, not very
liberal, but considerate expansion, the situation could be saved, at least for
years to come. That was my idea, inner idea. So I thought it injudicious: and
so division is not desirable so unfortunate. That was the basis of my,
foundation of my, that stern remark.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, it is unfortunate that some people cannot understand that a
mahā-bhāgavata is tri-kāla-darsi.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mahā-bhāgavata is not
very cheap in this plane. In this plane it is not very cheap. One should not
have the audacity, ha, ha, thinking in such a way, mahā-bhāgavata.
Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes, Mahārāja, it is not cheap. That is why there is only one in the
entire universe.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Let us aspire after the best. First truth,
then organisation!
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
The Vṛndāvana utsava ceremony
has been performed with great success.
Devotee: Yes, very nice.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You did not go to Bombay? No?
Devotee: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What about that Caitanya Pāda, that
Italian gentleman?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. He wanted dīkṣā from
Mahārāja. Did you ever find him again?
Devotee: He’s in Vṛndāvana. He was going to Europe. He’s leaving India.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s in Vṛndāvana. He wanted
to go to France, I was told.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol.No news about Jayatīrtha Mahārāja?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Not yet. We are going to call Europe.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī is calling Europe to find out something.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What about Svarūpa Dāmodara
Mahārāja, in Manipur?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He is most probably still in Manipur, Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mostly he is staying at Manipur?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
When he comes to India mostly he’s spending time in Manipur because he has
started some construction work there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But he is meant for other sort of
construction, not this brick construction. There are so many for that work.
Swāmī Mahārāja wanted him to construct a building over the
tomb of Darwin.
Devotees: [Group
laughter]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Who is he?
Devotees: Akṣayānanda.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, you were just saying that truth first, then organisation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. Organisation is necessary only to spread truth to
the people for their benefit. Mere organisation
has no value. When organisation is
distributing something healthy to the atmosphere: that organisation is to be welcomed. Otherwise if any organisation fails to distribute truth, then it fails, it commits
suicide, it fails to do its proper duty. There may be so many things, the political
organisation, social organisation, there are many. But party are those, understanding, they
may appreciate, but we rather want that ________ mission as soon as they
vanish, it is good for the country, for the people at least.
Once I, when Prabhupāda was living, something like thirty
four or so, nineteen thirty four: in Kulan [?] I told one gentleman follower of
Ramakrishna
Mission, “Big, big signboards there ‘Sevā Āśrama Mission’, all
these things, the signboards are so many, big size. But if auditor goes there,
then they will prove themselves to be bankrupt.”
No capital, false capital, big signboard but capital is a false
thing, a hoax, not real wealth, welfare.
They have got no reality to distribute to the people, but bogus,
Māyāvādā. Giving an evil diet to the patients, bad diet to
the patient, that is their business. Where is the patient? The patient is
within. The soul is the patient. And they are helping the body, independent of
the interest of the soul. Without caring for the interest of the soul, they are
serving the body. And with that indiscriminate help, the body is going more and
more against the interest of the soul.
We generally do not organise
help for the guṇḍās,but for the
students, for the social workers, we organise
help. But never for the guṇḍās who are misguided. So
generally all souls are misguided, they are living the life of a misguided one.
And indiscriminate help to them without changing their direction, that is to
push them towards the hell. What is not the proper goal, to push that side,
towards the dangerous part; so indiscriminate help in this plane is no help at
all. First he must have the sambandha-jñāna, the good direction, the proper conception of the destination,
proper. And then help will be of any use to him. Otherwise, no destination,
only a whimsical group, a whimsical push may not help anyone in the way of
progress, that whimsical push, no progress.
In Madras one Bakil [?] asked
me, “That first you help the patients and keep the life and body together. Then
you will talk with him about the truth, about Hari, about Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. But if he dies, to whom you will speak?”
I told, suppose there is a famine. I have got some food. I am
distributing then, and so many surrounding me, innumerable, and I am
distributing food. Someone runs away from that place. Should we stop the
distribution and run after him to catch him or I shall continue because there
are so many, and stopping that should we run after him? So many living souls
and some dying, dying, so I must not run after the dying and to bring him back
into the body, stopping my distribution of the nectar, so it is like that.
Their first thing, what they conceive to be truth that is
untruth, not truth. And the second, the process that they have accepted as the
means to help the people: that is also wrong, so wholesale is wrong.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol.No diagnosis but very busy for treatment and diet giving.
Diagnosis is the most important thing. What is amiss with us, what should be
our best interest, summum bonum of life; that should be first settled, and then
the question of help will come next. Whether help or not help, where is the
guarantee? He’s to settle, this is help and this is nonhelp. Progress must be
towards the right direction. And what is that right direction? Maximum
exploitation, skilful exploitation, irregular exploitation and regular
exploitation: that is karmī. And then renunciation, the opposite
thing, renunciation: exploitation and renunciation, two opposites. But a third
thing must be found to conciliate the appearance of the both. But really the thing is something else.
Caru Swāmī Mahārāja asked me, “That in Bombay, to
attract the ordinary public, we gave the name of our movement that to harmonise karma, jñāna and bhakti, only to
canvass the generally public this has been outwardly given, announced. That we want to harmonise karma, jñāna, bhakti, how it is possible?”
I told of course the appearance may be kept, but in spirit that must be a quite different thing. Karma means
energising, but not for us but for the Supreme
Lord. Jñāna means searching: searching which? Not for
Paramātmā or Brahman even. Nor for collective exploitation of nature
as by science of present days, and nor for Paramātmā, neither for
Brahman. But, even not for Nārāyaṇa conception of the truth,
but, not for power, absolute, but for beauty
absolute, love absolute. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has: āviṣkṛtaṁ,
jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ.
[śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ purāṇam
amalaṁ yad vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyaṁ
yasmin pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ jñānaṁ
paraṁ gīyate
tatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam
āviṣkṛtaṁ
tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa paro
bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ]
[“Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless Purāṇa.
It is especially dear to the Vaiṣṇavas; it has knowledge that is
especially appreciated by the paramahaṁsas. When carefully
studied, heard, and understood again and again, it opens the door to pure
devotion through which one never returns to the bondage of illusion.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
12.13.18]
Jñāna, virāga and bhakti, sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ,
tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa paro bhaktyā
vimucyen naraḥ. And ultimately by our sacrifice, our surrender, our
devotedness, we attain vimuceta, vimukti, visesa mukti, the highest type
of salvation or emancipation, in the positive attainment, not with only the end
of the negative conception. Only to get out of the negative side, that is not
real emancipation or liberation. To enter into the positive, safest position,
that is your real selfdetermination, in term of Hegel.And svarūpena
vyavaṣthiḥ in Bhāgavatam[2.10.6], mukti,
the conception of mukti, hitvānyathā rūpaṁ, what is
otherwise, what is not in the inner existence, but, what is not within our
elemental existence but a foreign thing thrust on us, upādhi.
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ, tat paratvena nirmalam
[hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ
bhaktir ucyate]
[“Pure devotion is service to the Supreme Lord which is free from all
relative conceptions of self interest.”] [Nārada-Purāṇa]
So, ānyathā rūpaṁ, that is which is
otherwise, which is just like a disease, undesirable foreign thing has come to
cover me. That is upādhi. That is ānyathā rūpaṁ.
Successfully eliminating that, we must come to our positive, proper position in
the world of love and beauty. It is a very important thing, that power is not
the ultimate controller, but beauty. The control of beauty is very sweet and
that is normal and that is natural. And power, awe, reverence, grandeur, these
have all become stale when Bhāgavatam has come with Kṛṣṇa
conception of Godhead. The Nārāyaṇa conception has become
stale, so to say. That beauty and love and harmony: that is the highest thing
ever discovered.
Śrī Caitanya Deva gave us that,
Vṛndāvana has given us that, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. Our Guru Mahārāja,
Swāmī Mahārāja widely has given to the, announced to the
world, the wide world, that Kṛṣṇa conception, that is the
conception of beauty, harmony, love, that is at the bottom or the universal
cause, the conception of the absolute, not anything else. Not anything else.
So, with that fundamental conception we may find a relief. We may feel that we
are out of danger, we are no longer going to be a victim of power. The power in
Vaikuṇṭha, the grandeur, the power, the awe, reverence, that may
not be inner hankering of any substance. The beauty, that is a hopeful
assurance of our highest position, charming.
So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura foretold, “That when the world
scholarship will be able to understand the worth which has been given by
Śrī Caitanya Deva, all religion will: must vanish, cannot stand. When
the conception of the Absolute is identified with beauty and love, all sorts of
different conceptions cannot stand in competition. All will embrace, ‘I want beauty, ultimate beauty, ultimate harmony, ultimate love,
loving each other. If that is possible, then I don't want any other proposal.’
We must run towards there, the general intimation will take
us. All other religious conception is compelled to vanish. The scholars, it
cannot [but] appeal to the highest thinkers, highest class of thinkers.” He
viewed with his divine eye, the eye of his divine knowledge, or sojourn, maybe
called.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grama,
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
[Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the pioneer of Śrī
Kṛṣṇa saṅkīrtana. He said: “I have come to
inaugurate the chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, and that
Name will reach every nook and corner of the universe.”] [Caitanya-Bhāgavata]
This is not a vain declaration. There is basis, intellectual as well as
intuitive foundation it has got.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Govinda
Mahārāja__________________________________ [?]
Devotee: ________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: __________________________________________________ [?]
One direct disciple of Gadādhara Paṇḍita
was Vāṇīnātha. He established that Maṭha, Vāṇīnātha,
established that Gaura-Gadādhara. And Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he
was fond of Gaura-Gadādhara worship. In his samādhi, near
Godruma, and also Nṛsiṁha Mandir in Yoga-pīṭha
Māyāpur, Gaura-Gadādhara, in two places Gaura-Gadādhara.
And Prabhupāda also installed Gaura-Gadādhara, Gadai-Gaurāṅga
Maṭha at Balihati Daka, Prabhupāda established there.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, that is a complete mādhurya conception,
Gaura-Gadādhara?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, and more than that. That is rather
separation, union in separation, Gadādhara Paṇḍita as
Rādhārāṇī’s bhāva. But though he was the
possessor of that wealth, that was taken up by Mahāprabhu and he stood
empty.Stood empty and following Mahāprabhu
as if his heart has been stolen by Him, but he cannot shun Him, cannot leave
Him. Wherever Mahāprabhu is going he is running like a poor man, all his
wealth has been stolen. With a vacant bag, not vanity bag but vacant bag he is
running in pursuance of Mahāprabhu wherever He goes. That is his position.
We are told that service in separation of the both, that has got greater
importance than when the party is in union. They are pulling them. But when
they are separated, they are feeling a great pain and the service is necessary
at that time to its utmost character. So where we find that the greatest wealth
Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Rādhārāṇī, Her bhāva,
the very purport as if it is told by Mahāprabhu, snatched by
Mahāprabhu, that is Kṛṣṇa and She is bereft of all Her
property, like the poorest of the poor She is standing. So it is so pitiable
and pathetic that it demands service. And the service will be of the greatest
value. In that state the service will draw the greatest remuneration, little,
small service will earn much of the divine dollar.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura-Gadādhara. Gaura-Gadādhara. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare
Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in Antya-līlā,
of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, there’s a section where
Gadādhara Paṇḍita is compared to Rukmiṇī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, that is the outer aspect. Outer
aspect, his bhāva has been taken, emptied. Rukmiṇī means
dakṣiṇā, not bhāma. Bhāma type, that
is little aggressive in nature, and fights with the lover. And dakṣiṇā
type tolerates everything whatever comes, only with a defensive attitude he
stands. That is dakṣiṇā, that is in Rukmiṇī.
So when the spirit of Rādhārāṇī of that opposing nature
was drawn out by Mahāprabhu, then the remaining is compared like that of
Rukmiṇī, a passive seer, without any power to assert, only onlooker.
Onlooker: and bearing everything, a very pitiable condition, to awaken kindness
and sympathy from everyone. What is he and what is she and what is her position
now? And how her lover has taken up everything from her, looted everything from
her, and is a pauper, as a beggar wandering in the street, so, so much looted.
Rādhārāṇī when looted to such a degree by Kṛṣṇa,
then that becomes Gadādhara, the pitiable figure, to draw sympathy. So, the wealth of course cannot go
forever. She is the owner, proprietor, cannot be far off. After a long time,
that must come to Her again, one day. And those that are helping Her in Her day of distress, they will get how much remuneration at that
time, when She will get back all Her property.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, in that case, Mahāprabhu’s relationship with Viṣṇu
Prīya Devī and Lakṣmī Prīya Devī as His wedded
consorts...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They are Gaura-Nārāyaṇa,
that is in Vaikuṇṭha, that is concerning Yuga-Avatāra,
not with Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa,
not of that layer, that plane. It is connected with Yuga-Avatāra,
and externally. But Gadādhara is representing the higher layer, higher
plane, and they represent the potency of Vaikuṇṭha, of Yuga-Avatāra,
but with a connection with that higher thing. But mostly Vaikuṇṭha
conception, Yuga-Avatāra.
Lakṣmī Prīya Devī, Viṣṇu Prīya Devī.
Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
So Gaura Nāgar is not accepted by the bona fide school of
Śrī Caitanya Deva's followers. There is a clash. Gaura
Nāgarīs. They think Gaurāṅga as Kṛṣṇa is
given in Bhāgavatam. But Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura
and others, [Kṛṣṇadāsa] Kavirāja Goswāmī
and the Goswāmī’s, they have rejected that sort of idea to be thrust
on Gaurāṅga. That brāhmaṇa, He’s an
Ācārya, He has come to do the work of the preceptor so not a nāgara,
not an exploiter of the girls, as we find in Vṛndāvana. It cannot
tally, cannot be proper, there is a hitch, the position of an Ācārya,
and at the same time to play the part of a debauch, that can't come together.
The law of rasa won't allow that. It is rasābhāsa.
When one has entered the temple to worship the Deity, his wife
may go there to help in serving, the naivedana and other things to help
the worship, and not to make any, to cut any joke with her husband in the
temple. That will be rasābhāsa. Do you follow? A particular
mood, though husband and wife, but when husband is engaged in worshipping of the Deity in the temple, wife may go there but she will
help him with the materials and other necessary things. But she won't cut any
jokes with her husband, or any merrymaking, cannot be possible there.
So like that, Mahāprabhu has come in a serious mood to distribute
the divine love to the world and with the Divine Name of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa
consciousness to spread, so He will have to take a position of a preacher, a
reverent position. So these two things cannot go together. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: But you told us though of Narahari Sakur
Ṭhākura and his conception.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, there are three sections amongst
the devotees. One, looking at, charmed more by Kṛṣṇa līlā,
another more by Gaura lila, another keeping the balance. The school of
Narahari Sakara, they are more fond of Kṛṣṇa līlā.
Their vision, “That we don't recognise
you to be a sannyāsī. You are that Kṛṣṇa of
Vṛndāvana. We know you better. Here You have only got the garment,
You have wrapped the garment of a sannyāsī, it is Your
external acquaintance. But really who are You, we know well. So we don't like
this forced, this forged identity, we are not going to admit to that.” That is
their temperament. Rather they feel much pain, “What necessity that you are
practising penances as a sannyāsī doing
so much hardships, not taking food and rest, bed properly. Our heart is aching.
You don't care for that. How can we tolerate all these things?” That will be
their nature and complaint to Mahāprabhu. “It’s all sham.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Jagadānanda Paṇḍit had a similar mood.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Jagadānanda Paṇḍit also Satyabhāma, though in
Dvārakā conception. But he could not give up that tendency of reactionary
mood against Mahāprabhu.
He, in those days, three hundred miles
from here to Purī, a big water pot filled up with candana, what is
applied on the head, and keeps the brain cool, he took it, sandalwood oil, he
took it from Bengal to Purī. And
offered very modestly, “That I have taken it and if Mahāprabhu would
graciously accept this.” And he’s appealing to His servant Govinda, “Govinda keep it there and at times you
will help by pressing this oil on the head and Mahāprabhu, He cannot sleep
and He talks like a delirious man. So this sort of oil will help Him a great
deal. I have taken it from Śivānanda, it is a genuine thing and you
take.”
Mahāprabhu overheard that, “What is
this?”
“Jagadānanda
Paṇḍit has got a full pot of candana oil and his request is
that You should take it now and then, a smear on the head, then You will have a
sound sleep and may help to Your health.”
“No, no, no. This sandal oil, this will
emit a good scent and how the people they will remark on Me, ‘That this sannyāsī he has kept a woman. He has
got luxury, this
good scented oil he puts on
his head.’ I can't do that. Rather it is my advice, take it to the temple of
Jagannātha and there it will burn, the light will burn with this scented
oil and you will get a good benefit thereby. Govinda,
remove it from My room.”
Then Jagadānanda Paṇḍit
when it was given up by Govinda, he took it and just coming in the front of
Mahāprabhu, he smashed it on the floor. And the whole oil spread there.
And then he straight went to his room and closed from inside and took to bed
for three days.
After three days when Mahāprabhu
heard that Jagadānanda is fasting continuously these three days from the
time when he has broken the pot here. Then what to do, after the fourth day
Mahāprabhu went Himself to him. “Jagadānanda, Jagadānanda, rise,
open the door. Open the door. Today I shall take prasādam cooked by
your own hand. I will not take anywhere any prasādam. I am going,
and I shall come at the proper time and I shall take My food here today, cooked
by your own hand.”
Then what to do, Jagadānanda had to
rise up, raise up his body and he cooked.
And Mahāprabhu came with Govinda in
time, ________ and took prasādam and remarked, “Oh, very sweet.
Dishes are today very, very sweet. The cooking in a hot temper perhaps becomes
more sweet.” Remarking this, then, “You must take your food now, I shall go.
Before I leave the place, I want to see that you have taken food.”
“No, no, no, Prabhu may go. I shall take food. Of course, I must take food.”
Then Mahāprabhu said, “Govinda, you
take your seat there and when he has finished his eating you will inform Me.
You sit there, I am going.”
That is bhāma-bhāva of
Satyabhāma. Like Satyabhāma it was there.
And Gadādhara Paṇḍita
just opposite: when Svarūpa Dāmodara tried to excite him,
“Mahāprabhu is so much enraged and He’s remarking on you so harshly, why
do you not also repeat the same thing to Him?”
“No, no, no, how can I do that...
End of 81.08.27.D
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.27-
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...and Kṛṣṇa
disappeared. What is this? General heart of devotees he holds there. And
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given his opinion in this place that, “Kṛṣṇa was little aloof only to enjoy the attitude
of Rādhārāṇī at that, under such circumstances, He
was enjoying that.” Harmonising things are there. So in Yaśodā and all the first
class servitors, there cannot be any fault, they’re perfect in their service.
But still if we find any deviation that is to produce some, another rasa for
the taste of both the parties. This way it will be seen to be harmonious.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
So you are all my very precious friends. Prabhupāda wanted me to
preach in the west. But my fault, for some fault on my part, deceived him, but
he is so gracious. And also through Swāmī Mahārāja I get
you. And anyhow my talk, my voice, my, what little I know about Kṛṣṇa
consciousness that is going out _____________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
That also is not fault Mahārāja. That is also to increase the mellow.
To make everybody to taste another kind of mellow you have got from the
pastimes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The publicity. Ahaitukī kṛpa
sindhu. It is in Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, the ocean of
causeless mercy, the Vaiṣṇava.
So exacting from me the service of Mahāprabhu for the world at large, so
very intimately connected friend you are of mine, all of you, all of you,
helping my service a great deal. So I am very much thankful.Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, we are the ones who
are very much thankful to Your Divine Grace.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is the nature of this plane, ha,
ha, everyone thinks that he will be benefited; he's benefited, he'll be
thankful, the very nature. And that is a very peculiar and mystic nature.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
That reminds me Mahārāja, during the last Māyāpur festival,
Gaura Pūrṇimā festival, when everyone used to come here, so one
day you were telling Satsvarūpa Mahārāja when he came, you told
him, he said, ‘thank you,’
and you said, ‘why are you saying thank you.’
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hmm?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He said, ‘thank you,’
to you, but you replied, you asked him, ‘why do you say thank you? As if by
saying this ‘thank you’ you are creating a distance.’But it is our...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. That is the custom, the courtesy
of the society.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
But you pointed out that since we are in the same sampradāya, and
this is, we must accept it as natural gift. And I also understood that when the
father gives something the son doesn’t say thank you, usually. But when a
distant people give something, then...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then they thank you, it is our custom.
But there perhaps...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Even there, they say thank you to the father and mother.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Thank God, no, they will thank God,
thank God. In the Brahmo fashion
here. _________________________________________ [?]
Devotee: _______________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
“We are compelled, or we are obliged to you.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “We are under obligation to give you thanks because you
are supplying so many things for our enjoyment.” This is the relation between
God and the jīva. It is the Brahmo fashion.I am His, I am His own; I am not a second party that I
shall show courtesy towards Him, courtesy. That I am getting some benefit from
Him, I am another independent separate party.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.I am hearing, listening to Bhāgavata
and kīrtan, everything. I am a slave. The whole profit will go
to my master. I am not a party; I am not an independent party. I am His own;
I’m His slave. Whatever He wants to do through me the beneficiary is only one,
not a second beneficiary, advaya-jñāna means the beneficiary is
one. It is līlā, and we are part of that. We are not
independent beneficiaries. That should be thought out, advaya-jñāna.
This is the pure, harmonised absolute,
conception of purely harmonised absolute;
that only one beneficiary in the universe. It is His līlā,
everything to satisfy Him, every movement, every existence. Existence,
movement, and also different expression of satisfaction, all included within
Him, the only beneficiary.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Nitāi Caitanya.
[About 1:50 minutes of Bengali (?) conversation]
Once, to construct a temple in Purī, Goswāmī
Mahārāja collected money from the King of Mailbunj [?], the chief of
Mailbunj Mahārājah. Estimation at
that time was fifteen thousand, and eight
thousand, advance he gave. He took the money and gave it to Prabhupāda.
But there was, the whole money was expended in the exhibition of
Māyāpur. The Māyāpur position for the, one competitor in
[blachin?] Māyāpur, he began to propagate in such a way that
Prabhupāda felt necessity of showing the splendour of Māyāpur at
that time. And the whole money was spent there. And the Mailbunj also inquired,
‘What about the temple?’
At that time Goswāmī Mahārāja explained.
“Vaiṣṇava, we have given something for food, but he was so thirsty
he has taken a glass of water and not milk.” A glass of milk was offered, milk
water or sugar water, but for, he took something else. That was, he was
thirsty. More necessity was there. So it has been transformed. And we must rely
his heart, his attitude, Kṛṣṇa sevā. He knows his
best how to utilise. So we don't
have to repent for that, or to get any explanation for that. He’s more...
Once, when I came here in the beginning, first I came to
Māyāpur. I saw many gentleman has sent money order and Parvat
Mahārāja is receiving them for the service of Mahāprabhu. And
that touched me very much, that how fortunate they are. At the birth time of
Mahāprabhu they are giving some contribution for the service of the Great
Lord.
And when I was
posted in Kurukṣetra I used to come to Delhi and collect funds, four annas,
eight annas, one rupee, two rupee, in this way for the service of Kurukṣetra
Maṭha. But that time, the Gaura
Pūrṇimā, Mahāprabhu’s birth ceremony drawing near, I
laboured hard and collected... You are going
away?
Devotee: Yes. I’ll be coming back.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: ...hard, and
collected twenty-five rupees more for what was necessary for Kuruksetra. And
privately I remitted that to Māyāpur.
There was one senior man with me in Kurukṣetra. He told, “This
time you seem to be too much reduced, fatigued.” Anyhow when the coupon came
back, it came to his hand. He said, “Oh, you have sent twenty-five rupees
there. You did not say to me.”
“I was afraid that without your permission I sent it. So I hesitated to
say to you at that time.”
Then a letter came from Prabhupāda. And he told that, “What you
have sent for the birth celebration of the birth ceremony of Mahāprabhu
has been taken for the service of both Nityānanda Prabhu and
Mahāprabhu,” he told.
Then when I came back there I was told that Prabhupāda told
that, “This money has got a very great value. It
has come, money is small, the quantity is small, but it has come when the necessity
is great; necessity is great.”
When one is thirsty, then the valuation of the water increases.
So, “Thy necessity is greater,” that Sidney case, in the battlefield, Sidney, a
big man, and ordinary soldier, when only one glass of water was taken in the
battlefield for Sidney. He was a rich man and a good scholar and he is dying in
the battlefield. And he wanted a glass of water. And anyhow it was managed only
one glass of water. And at that time a
soldier more wounded he, "I want water." He gave it to him. It has
been an example: Sidney. So
according to the necessity: the valuation of water.
So
Prabhupāda told that, “Twenty-five rupees is not much, but the necessity
for small quantity was very great at that time.” So the twenty-five rupees met
a great necessity. And Prabhupāda told, “This money, who has sent, with
great energy and attention, he has collected this money. So the small quantity
satisfies a big necessity. That is to judge.” And he told that, “You sent it
for Mahāprabhu. I utilised it both for Nityānanda Prabhu and Mahāprabhu.” And he
wrote it to me. Hare Kṛṣṇa. It is for sevā, not
for any conditional gift.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Nitāi.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, what do you think of Atal [?] Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Atal [?] Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī,
a formal Goswāmī, he translated, no, he published one edition of Caitanya
Bhāgavata; an ordinary Goswāmī.
Devotee: Yati Goswāmī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yati Goswāmī.
I attended one of his lectures when I was in Calcutta. Rādhā-Govinda
Pal, Rādhā-Vinode Pal, one of the umpire in the second great war,
after. Rādhā-Vinode Pal, a good lawyer and he was engaged in the
committee to decide the international ________ in the ______ and other, the,
perhaps this side, eastern war field, three judges, one from India, another two
________. He told that Japan has no, he has not committed any crime. If he
would have been victorious then he would have tried you as criminal war
mongers. For this independent judgement he got international position, the
Rādhā-Vinode Pal in Calcutta.
The Kṛṣṇa dasa Pal statue, you know? Kṛṣṇa
dasa Pala, Harrison Road and College Street Road, there
is a statue Kṛṣṇa dasa Pal. His family, Kṛṣṇa
dasa Pal, then Rādhā-Caran Pal, his son was Rādhā-Vinode
Pal.
In his house there was a meeting, Ato [?] Kṛṣṇa presiding, and Svarūpa Ghosh______ and Śyāmasundar Cakravartī, they delivered
lectures. I was at that time living nearby. I went to attend their lecture. I
heard a sober, mild tempered man delivered lecture, not excited. But his later
action has frustrated me totally. When: before his death he gave twenty five
thousand or something, or more than that, some rupees for the hospital; not for
the propagation of Mahāprabhu’s advice.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Ke Mahārāja?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ato [?] Kṛṣṇa Gowāmī.
Devotees: _______________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hari dāsa Goswāmī, a once big scholar, at present living just on the Kaliyadaha,
Hari dāsa Goswāmī, a scholarly man.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
____________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, he has come from that family. I do
not know. I knew Dāmodara, he was a good scholar of Vedānta and
Nyāya. He read Nyāya from Navadwīpa and Vedānta,
he is a good scholar. He has got a book on Vedānta also, the
Rādhā-Ramana Dāmodara.
Another gentleman was Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. He was not a
very good devotee but not anti Gauḍīya Maṭha. Another Guṇamali, three, and
another Madhusudan, Sārvabhauma.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura gave him the title Sārvabhauma. There was a big meeting in Midnapur and Prabhupāda
his Brāhmaṇa Vaiṣṇava _______ that book, the
lecture, on the basis of that lecture and that lecture was given where
Madhusudan Goswāmī presided. He was a good scholar and also related
to Gauḍīya Maṭha. Others,
present generation I am not acquainted with.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
_____________________________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sometimes we do that in order to force
him to listen, and to attract the public. For these two reasons, that he will
also get some idea and he will try to correct himself, as well as to take this
advantage of his good position and then draw the audience. For two purposes to do it, anukulyasya sankalpa.__________________ Test of the people, ordinary people to spread that, that it not much
spread. But to convince people of the highest thing, to so many, number. The
highest quality, when connotation increases, denotation decreases, connotation
increases. And connotation decreases, denotation increases. But the highest
connotation has been distributed so widely, the denotation circle is so wide it
is almost impossible. So impossible has been made possible by Him. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja, do you have any
questions?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja is going for some long time. His separation we shall feel
here very keenly; though short association but still impression is deep.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Very sweet also.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Sometimes, when I am in the west, I feel
your separation very intensely.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Necessarily, because you have got much
affection for me, extraordinary affection.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja is always singing your
glory, Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. He sent a
letter ________________________; that is one, another point
_________________________ These quotations from the scriptures that showed his
position of affection for me.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Their big complaint about Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja
is that he did not manage. Although he was the president of Los Angeles he did not manage, but he was always sitting in his
room and talking about your teachings, talking about Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja’s teachings.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
In a paper I saw,
perhaps inĀnandaBazaar, this India sent ambassador to America, but
what is that? Swāmī Mahārāja is the real ambassador of
India to America. So something like that. What he was doing that was the real
management, thinking of the highest topics within him, and the thought wave
spreading outside.
Vivekānanda mentioned in one place I heard, I read from when I was
in college, in raja yoga perhaps. He of course told about Pariha, one
Pariha bābā. That Pariha bābā and such sādhus
they bring things from a very, very high plane to the ordinary psychic
plane. And the Jesu and Mohammed, all these people they take from the plane of
Parhia bābā and then they take those things to the market here
in the mundane plane. So from the highest plane to take down to certain level,
and from there to spread things to the external world: the mercantile method.
So higher thought may come in the higher level, and from there also it may
come. So high thinking. That is from the highest quarter to take the thing to
the ordinary plane. And the ṛṣis of that plane they may also
take them to the public market here. So high thinking, that is also preaching
in other words, thinking also preaching to certain extent, to move a
particular, to take the wave of movement in a particular layer.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
[Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja finishes speakingat about 27:15, then kīrtans]
[ŚrīŚrīGurv-aṣṭaka,
Pañca Tattva Mahā-mantra,
Śrī kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu jīve dayā kari’,
Śrī Śrī Prabhupāda-padma-stavakaḥ.]
End of 81.08.27-
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.27.E
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...the toleration would be the better
for me. I can't venture, that does not look well, that I do not like, that is
bad that I shall assert myself. I shall make some remark over the advices and
the consideration of Mahāprabhu. I can't do that.”
In spite of Svarūpa Dāmodara’s speaking Gadādhara Paṇḍita
did not come out with that temperament of chastising Mahāprabhu.
In the case of Ballabhvācārya it was so. Ballabhva Bhaṭṭa,
Ballabhvācārya.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Because he agreed to listen toVallabhvācārya’s bhāsya.
So Mahārāja, Gadādhara Paṇḍita although
Rādhārāṇī Herself, but still had a different mood,
but that inlying mood which is not expressed in any līlā, gave
Rādhārāṇī...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, that is two corresponding,
Rādhā Kṛṣṇa, and when in Gauralīlā,
Ācārya līlā, that's the līlā of
distribution of the prema. Then Gaura-Gadādhara, converted into
Gaura-Gadādhara, both converted. Kṛṣṇa to Gaurāṅga
with the bhāva-kanti of Rādhārāṇī, and
Gadādhara the man standing by His side, like a niṣkiñcana,
who has lost everything. Just like a facsimile, only a cut case, only the pot
without the spirit. But Mahāprabhu had so much inner attraction for him
that exceeds that of all His paraphernalia, Gadādhara.
gaura prema maya tanu pandit gadādhara [?]
As a love of Gaurāṅga
personified we find in Gadādhara, not such a degree of love to Gaurāṅga
is found anywhere. And then Svarūpa Dāmodara, then Rūpa, Sanātana, and then that mādhurya-rasa
direction, and in other side Nityānanda Prabhu, His vātsalya there,
Śacī, Jagannātha and Advaita Prabhu, Śrīvāsa Paṇḍit,
They also have respect for Mahāprabhu, devotion, but another type. Not so
deep from the standpoint of love but respectful attachment, with some colour of
love.Hare Kṛṣṇa.So our Guruparamparā
is in that line.
I'm told by Dāmodara Mahārāja that this
Hiranyagarbha, Nadiyānanda, and also one
man who married, Pāṇḍu, they have gone so far that they have
left Lalitā Prasād also, and they're very near to that Tinkori Gosai,
whose highest qualification is that she had a dress, she dressed in this
canvas, not cloth but canvas dress, and canvas dressing has made him so famous
to the foolish that they have found everything in the canvas. The canvas dress,
that surpasses everything in a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī.
The foolish people, they have not got the
inner eye of appreciation, what is what, they will have to take shelter under
external calculation. What is the criterion, standard of vairāgyam,
the positive, no idea of positive attainment, what sort of thing it is. Only by
external abnegation or wilful self assertion, wilful self assertion by physical
privation. These are the charm for the foolish people of those that are born to
be deceived.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Physical calculation. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
The Nāga sannyāsīs
they do not care even for a cloth, they’re all naked. Should that be the
standard? They should be Guru to this Tinkori Gosai? He and his truth want of
canvas but they do not care even for that, so they should be Guru to this
gentleman Tinkori Gosai. Tinkori, the name is also very appropriate.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes Mahārāja, completely impersonal and appropriate.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No name, name has got no sign of a Vaiṣṇava
dāsa, Vaiṣṇava dāsa. Tinkori.
Dhira Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja: What does that mean?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:Three,
what is kori?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Kori is, you know, these shells, small shells which were used...
Dhira Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Little conch shells they used to pay
money...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Right. Tinkori.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The wealth is that three shells, that is
satya, rāja, tama.
____________________________________ [?]Fourth part, he he he he, will vanish, will fly
away.Nitāi Caitanya. Barbella.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura would,
because he being an expert astrologer would calculate certain plans and then go
to Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, and then Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
would say something which might be against, or not corroborating with his
calculations, but that Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura
would follow the instructions of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. He had got respect. The śraddhā is more than calculative
truth. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura followed the calculation of P.M. Bachi, he followed. And as an astrologer Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura he held that the Visudha Siddhānta type of calculation, that may be true in
the material sense. But still he did not observe that, because Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
has accepted that P.M. Bachi, he followed the
calculation of P.M. Bachi, in Ekādaśī, Janmāṣṭamī
and all other things.
The śraddhā is more true, the mahājana,
mahājanas acaran, the practice of mahājana is more
valuable than our human calculation. The physical truth, or the material truth
has not got so much value, after all it is based on false attitude of mind. So
this truth should not be given a greater respect than the arcaran, the
intuitive practices of the pure devotee. That intuition of a pure devotee
should be given preference than this truthful calculation of the ordinary
persons here. Faith has got no connection with the actual so called reality of
this world. It is completely independent, śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ
loka. There is a world which is guided only by faith. Faith is everything
there and that is of infinite nature, all accommodating, all accommodating; the
world of faith. Everything may be true there by the sweet will of the Lord. And
here the advait [?] calculation, that has got no value. It is inconclusive, can be
destructive in its ultimate goal, so it should be rejected, rejected. Which,
the knowledge the materialist that can come under the fallible calculation of
the exploiting souls, that has got no value what-so-ever, what-so-ever. But in
the world of Infinite, there, faith is the standard only, only standard to move
hither and thither. Just as the compass is the only director in the infinite
ocean. When they cannot see, the shippers [sailors] cannot see anything else,
the compass is the only guide, like that. In the world of Infinite:
svayaṁ samuttīryya sudustaraṁ dyuman,
bhavārṇavaṁ bhīmam adabhra-sauhṛdāḥ
bhavat-padāmbhoruha-nāvam atra te, nidhāya
yātāḥ sad anugraho bhavān
[O Self-revealed One, You are bhakta-vāñchākalpataru,
the wish-fulfilling tree of the devotee. The great devotees surrendered unto
Your Lotus Feet, who have crossed over this ghastly insurmountable ocean of
mundanity, have left the boat of Your Lotus Feet in this world (in the guru-paramparā
or in the line of Revealed Truth, śrauta-panthā) - because,
they are greatly affectionate to all beings.] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.2.31]
In Bhāgavatam, only our guide like compass, the footsteps of
those great personages that have travelled on the way, that should be our only
guide. That this way is marked by the holy footsteps of those that have gone to
the highest quarter, that is our, mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa
panthāḥ.
[dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ,
mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ]
[The real secret, the solid truth of religious principles is hidden and
concealed in the hearts of unadulterated self-realised persons, saints, just as
treasure is hidden in a mysterious cave. Consequently, as the śāstras
confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahā-janas
advocate.] [Mahābharata]
So Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja also says, veda vibhina
srutaya vibhina naso ____________ dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ
guhāyāṁ, the real secret is concealed in the mysterious
cave, guhāyāṁ. Mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa
panthāḥ, the broad line chalked out by the tread mark, by the
foot mark of those that are going to the divine world. That is our surest
guide. Only that should be our surest guide. All else may be eliminated because
calculation is fallible, and after all, justification comes from the Absolute
Infinite, so any form of justification can come anywhere, any time. With that
broadest view, that is, Vaikuṇṭha means no limitation. We are in
the boat, floating in the boat in the infinite ocean, so anything may come to
help and to non help. With this, with good faith, only faith, good faith, only
our optimistic good faith, that may be our leader, Gurudeva. Mayānukūlena
nabhasvateritaṁ, guru-karṇadhāram, guru-karṇadhāram.
[nṛ-deham ādyaṁ sulabhaṁ sudurllabhaṁ,
plavaṁ sukalpaṁ guru-karṇadhāram
mayānukūlena nabhasvateritaṁ, pumān
bhavābdhiṁ na taret sa ātmahā]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.20.17]
The Guru is the guide. In the infinite ocean I have floated my
small boat and the destination is uncertain to me, inconceivable to me, but it
is conceivable to my Gurudeva, a Guru, guru-karṇadhāram. And
I am going with that faith, sincere faith in me, I'm going. So, mahā-jano
yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ.
Svayaṁ samuttīryya sudustaraṁ
dyuman, bhavārṇavaṁ bhīmam [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.2.31]. A horrible
ocean with so many waves and so many sharks and other, timingila, what
is that? Whales and other things full of danger. Bhīmam adabhra-sauhṛdāḥ,
nidhāya yātāḥ sad anugraho bhavān. That their
footsteps are our only hope, we are to depend on that only for our relief, that
so many light houses, their footprints, so many light houses in the infinite
ocean, to guide us to that place.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol.Faith, śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ loka. The hope in the Infinite, Infinite, Vaikuṇṭha, Vaikuṇṭha
means Infinite. But śraddhā contains within it good faith.
Cape of Good Hope, there is in the bottom
of Africa the Cape of Good Hope, took turn, Vasco da Gama or someone.
So śraddhā means
surcharged with some good hope in the Infinite. Vaikuṇṭha is
Infinite and śraddhā is only, it is to draw the attention of
the Infinite to me. The only way is śraddhā, by śraddhā
we can attract the Infinite and nothing else, śraddhā. And
when it gets a definite form through bhāva it comes to be prema,
love divine, śraddhā.
Columbus he floated his ship in the ocean and gradually anyhow went to
America, got the land, good hope. Hare Krsna.
The cosmos there, after crossing Vaikuṇṭha we may find the
cosmos. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Spiritual cosmos and śraddhā
the light in the darkness, only śraddhā can guide when we
are, patik means traveller, we are traveller in the infinite. The hope
that I have heard that this is the way to that place, that will keep our heart
enlivened, śraddhā, hope.Viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha
niścaya, kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma.
['śraddhā' - sabde - viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha
niścaya
kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya]
[“By rendering transcendental loving service to Kṛṣṇa,
all subsidiary activities are automatically performed. Śraddhā means
viśvāsa, faith, sudṛḍha, very firm and
strong, unflinching faith. Faith in sādhu-śāstra-guru,
faith in Kṛṣṇa. This is faith. If someone develops Kṛṣṇa
bhakti, all their activities are finished, kṛṣṇe
bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya. Nothing is left out if you have
faith.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 22.62]
No risk no gain, greatest risk greatest gain.
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
[ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
[Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively unto
Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair.] [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.66]
“I am everywhere. Not a room to be afraid of. But only to come to that
plane, that I am your friend, I am everywhere, I am all in all, and you are My
own.”
These are the, pathiyo means? The money necessary for the
journey, what is that?
Devotees: Fare.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Fare. This is our only fare for the
journey.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
We were just discussing this - in the car we were discussingwhen Rāya
Rāmānanda at timesdisplayed the mood of Arjuna, and also at times he
was Lalitā sakhī...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Viśākhā.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Ah! Viśākhā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Viśākhā sakhī. He was more known to us as
Viśākhā sakhī. But superficially he had some
representation of Arjuna, amongst the...Mahāprabhu could detect that.
Bhavānanda
had five sons, and Bhavānanda
Pathanayak, and that Vānīnātha
and Gopīnātha, Rāya Rāmānanda and another two. [Kalānidhi and Sudhānidhi]
So Mahāprabhu told him that, “You are
My eternal friend. Bhāvānanda is Pāṇḍu. And his five
sons they're Pañca-Pāṇḍava,
of similarity, and Rāmānanda is very close and intimate friend to
Mine, like that of Arjuna." That is an external impression of
Mahāprabhu was given. But really
Rāmānanda’s internal acquaintance is that of Viśākhā.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.That is temporary and external, fleeting sentiment
of Mahāprabhu, to see him in that manner, Arjuna, closest amongst those
five, Arjuna, sākhya-rasa.Mahāprabhu dealt with
Rāmānanda a little respectfully, outwardly. Outwardly He used to see
him with some respect, some difference, so sākhya; but internally
with sakhī, as sakhī.
And Svarūpa Dāmodara and
Rāmānanda Rāya, both of them were, used to console Him when the
great flow, indomitable flow of love in separation arose in the heart of
Mahāprabhu and ostentatiously disturbing Him. These two friends they tried
their best to console Him, Mahāprabhu, by diverting His mind towards
different directions, and sometimes giving impetus to His own line of thought,
and sometimes taking Him towards other direction, as circumstance, according to
the circumstance they could read. They tried their best to give Him relief of
the outwardly painful gesture and movement of Mahāprabhu, Svarūpa
Dāmodara, for twelve years continuously.
When Advaita Prabhu almost dismissed Him,
"That no longer You have got any
necessity to stay in this world." Advaita Prabhu declared to
Mahāprabhu,
bāulake kahiha - loka ha - ila bāula, bāulake
kahiha - hāṭe nā vikāya cāula
bāulake kahiha - kāye nāhika āula,
bāulake kahiha - ihā kahiyāche bāula
[Tell our Prabhu, who acts as madmen do,
that everyone has lost their sanity,
And rice once high in price has no value.
In love of God, half-crazed humanity
neglects this world and all they once held dear;
tell Him a madman brings this to His ear."]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19. 20-1]
In a mystic poem he sent it to
Mahāprabhu through Jagadānanda Paṇḍit. Mahāprabhu
read it and became unmindful. Svarūpa Dāmodara marked it and he took
it, "Please hand it over to me." He read through it, Svarūpa
Dāmodara, and Svarūpa Dāmodara told; who was the knower of
everything, here Svarūpa Dāmodara is asking, "What is the real
meaning of this poem?"
Mahāprabhu saying in a vague way, answering the meaning, "I
don't know what is the real purport of this poem, but I guess that Advaita
Ācārya is very conversant with the ways of the śāstra,
śāstric conduct of the Deities. And in the śāstra generally
we find, first inviting, invocation period, and then for some time to keep Him,
to serve the purpose. And when that is fulfilled, then departure, no longer can
we keep with our general adoration spirit. That is bid adieu. The purpose for
which You came here, You descended here, that is finished. Now it is better for
us to retire."
sarsad urgam sastra tepavor, avaham,
stithi and visajya[?]
"I don't know what is the real
meaning, but I may guess something like that."
Then Svarūpa Dāmodara was unmindful, "Oh Advaita
Ācārya, he's bidding adieu to us all."
But after that also Mahāprabhu stayed
for twelve years more and that mood was not approachable by the ordinary
public. That was the high separation mood, with Kṛṣṇa, to the
greatest degree and different types is displayed, both physically, showing
physically or mentally. Twelve years continuous, like fire, a life of fire,
that was exhibited, like fire of separation. That was shown, and what is not to be found elsewhere. So much intense feeling
of separation with God, the God separation spirit can be so intense to such a
degree to produce so many symptoms in the body and the mind and in the
movement, that is unknown to the world.
Somewhat we get
it’s acquaintance from the life of Rādhārāṇī,
Rādhārāṇī we get.But
there also we do not find so many, complete evolution, that is to say in the
pangs of divine separation, so much degree of evolution we do not find
anywhere, for all times, continuous and high intensity. Love; divine love. So much sacrifice, so intense sacrifice at the altar of the All
Beautiful. So much appreciation for the Absolute Beautiful! So deep attraction
never seen anywhere in the history of the world, not even in any scripture it
is mentioned like that, any of the oldest scripture. No witness is found, and that was found the other day, only four, five hundred years
back. And that is written in the books and that is verified by so many
onlookers of genuine persons, men of standard thinking, eye witness, Rūpa,
Sanātana, Raghunātha, Svarūpa Dāmodara, Rāmānanda
and so many others, all so many eye witnesses.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Mahārāja, when our Guru Mahārāja would translate the verse,
yugāyitaṁ nimeṣena, cakṣuṣā
prāvṛṣāyitam / śūnyāyitaṁ
jagat sarvaṁ, govinda-viraheṇa me
[O Govinda! Without You, the world is empty. Tears are flooding my eyes
like rain, and a moment seems like forever.] [Śikṣāṣṭakam,
7]
He would always say that, "Oh Govinda, feeling Your separation I'm
feeling a moment to be twelve years or more." So this word yuga he
would always translate it as twelve years. So that’s not detectable in the
Sanskrit as far as I know, so I always took it that it had something to do with
these twelve years of Mahāprabhu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
It is also current in vocabulary,baro bature eka yuga [?]
It is told. One yuga, twelve years, in some sort of conception,
the yuga has been taken as twelve years. Then this Kali-yuga,
Dvāparā-yuga, Satya-yuga, they have got their separate standard, but
generally twelve years consists a yuga. That is also current in the
society, twelve years. Yugāyitaṁ nimeṣena. Any yuga,
any amount of time, nimeṣena, unlimited. Cakṣuṣā
prāvṛṣāyitam. "Eye shedding tears of rainy
season. The rainy season produces so many flood, inundate. My eyes are doing
the same thing it seems to Me."Śūnyāyitaṁ jagat
sarvaṁ. "The visible are being invisible to Me, absent, so much
absent minded to the present paraphernalia I can't see anything. Wherever I
cast My glance I see nothing. So much internal attraction towards the centre,
the mind is attracted to some other direction in such a degree of intensity.
Seeing I can't see anything, looks are vacant."Śūnyāyitaṁ
jagat sarvaṁ. Govinda-viraheṇa me. "Because I feel as if
Govinda has withdrawn from Me, withdrawn from Myself, so I experience such a
peculiar type of existence in Me. The whole thing is withdrawn, no interest,
all interest is drawn towards Govinda to such degree that I am a stranger to My
present environment. I have nothing, no consciousness, gone somewhere else
towards Infinite."
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.When there is a drought, the rivers, the
tanks, lakes, all dried up, such a drawn of water towards the gas world,
nowhere a drop of water, something like that. The charm is drawn so extensively
that all empty, every department seems to be closed and empty. The general
attraction drawn from here, attention wholesale taken off, the wholesale
attraction of all the senses, mind, etc, everything.
yugāyitaṁ nimeṣena, cakṣuṣā
prāvṛṣāyitam / śūnyāyitaṁ
jagat sarvaṁ, govinda-viraheṇa me
And at times when a little slackened, then full of water, flood,
yugāyitaṁ nimeṣena. When come in the relativity of His
meeting it seems the gap is like so many yugas. "I have lost the
meeting consciousness long, long ago, a faint remembrance, recollection. Left
so far in the back. I had some
union but I have left it so far in the backward direction, come so far off, so
far off."Yugāyitaṁ nimeṣena, "A gap of time
unlimited, a faint recollection I had once, but is then gone forever perhaps.”
So much degree of disappointment and despair.This
is the standard of Infinite world, standard of Infinite. This is rather taking
towards, to have some experience of the standard of the Infinite world. Yugāyitaṁ
nimeṣena, cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam.
Just as light years, we measure the distance of the planets by light years, so
also here the Vaikuṇṭha temperament is being measured by such
standard.
yugāyitaṁ nimeṣena, cakṣuṣā
prāvṛṣāyitam / śūnyāyitaṁ
jagat sarvaṁ, govinda-viraheṇa me
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
The audacity to deal with things so great and beyond our jurisdiction.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
You're being very merciful Mahārāja. You are actually drawing us to
that platform Mahārāja, although
we have no entry into that platform, but by your mercy...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
So maybe for the time being for you people, it may be for your benefit I may be
handled in such a way. Ultimately I don't know, maybe. You have come from so
far and with so much eagerness, that gatney ganga [?] Ganges water
will ooze from the wood.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.A cooling
atmosphere has come.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
I was just thinking Mahārāja that this must be Vaikuṇṭha.
You have brought us to such a platform Mahārāja that the material
world has completely receded.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Forgotten, ha ha.Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, would you like to take some rest now Mahārāja? Of course we are willing to continue
further but I was just concerned about you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When I come outside on the surface I
feel of course of the want of rest.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Rāma. Hare Rāma.But you are also going tomorrow. He will go, and
you are also going. But this friend will remain for some time, to engage us in
their service.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
_____________________________________ [?]We may stop today.
End of 81.08.27.E
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.28.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
We were listening to that tape on Guru paramparā and there was one
question still in my mind which was not clarified, there was that somebody made
the mention that the difference between Baladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa and Śrīla Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura was for almost a hundred years. That’s not
my question. My question is that Jagannātha Dāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja and, before Jagannātha Dāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: We shall have to forget the material
consideration there in the spiritual line. We see:
yadā yadā hi dharmasya, glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy
aham
[“O Bhārata, whenever there is a decline of religion and an
uprising of irreligion, I personally appear, like a being born in this world.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 4.7]
Pāramparyeṇa and prakṛti-vaicitryāt.
Here the spiritual current is always to be disturbed and interrupted by the
material flow. So to keep up the chain, to keep up the continued current when
an interception is seen between, the truth is coming when it is interrupted by
material flow, mixed, tampered, then again from there to reinstate in its
former position the purity intact. So that attempt is always being made. It is
a living thing, not a dead thing. So, the vigilant eye is always there.
Whenever necessary to keep the current pure and in good flow, force, then help
comes from upwards.
[arjuna uvāca]
aparaṁ bhavato janma, paraṁ janma vivasvataḥ
katham etad vijānīyāṁ, tvam ādau
proktavān iti
[Arjuna said: “Vivasvān, the Sun-god, was born in ancient
times, and You were born only recently. Therefore, how is it to be believed
that You previously instructed these teachings to him?”][Bhagavad-gītā,
4.4]
Arjuna, aparaṁ bhavato janma. Kṛṣṇa told
that, “What I say to you today I told it to Vivasvān many, many years ago.
Now, by the influence of the material conception that has been contaminated and
again I say the same thing to you today.” Kṛṣṇa told.
So here the material consideration is always tampering the
spiritual current. The purity is being disturbed. So sometimes Kṛṣṇa
has to come Himself, sometimes He sends His person, and in its former and pure state it is again established. So from
time to time it is necessary that the purity should be kept up.
So the intelligent person, suppose when we
are writing a history, then the main figures in the history we note. And those
not so much qualified, they are set aside. And we take the dynasty from number
one, then two, three, number four, number six, in this way we record in
history: because they are negligible. So we are to admit by the influence of māyā
when that is sufficiently covered and disturbed and mutilated, then to
rejuvenate it, to make it, to take it to the standard of the previous purity,
attempt now and then is made from the spiritually interested people, or the
Lord Himself. So the continued thing we cannot expect here without any
tampering or interception. It is not possible.
So the real thirsty persons, thirsty for spiritual truth, they like to
see the line of pure heritage, where it
is to be found. And they connect together and say that this is our current. Not
always this bodily succession; sometimes here two, three generation again. Just
as Prahlāda and his son, he’s a demon, then his son Bali he’s a devotee,
in the physical line also we see such interception. And in spiritual line also
we see some influence affected, affected by the influence of māyā.
So experts, just as - suppose a scientist has researched some truth,
then after few generations one comes and takes up that thread of Newton and
continues his researches. Then after few generations another man comes and
takes up that thread and goes on. Then if we are to understand the real channel
through which the particular research is being in progress, electricity or
gravitation or any natural law, one has contributed something. After Galileo
began and then Newton came, then may be a gap, and from Newton, Einstein took
up. In this way there may be a gap, but still that thread is continued here. An
intelligent man will see it was begun in a particular person and then it came
to here and then came here. That will be the proper line of research, in this
world also.
So in the spiritual line, who, they are
guided by the saṁskāra, only mental concoction, they do not
understand what is real spiritual truth. For them the physical continuation,
that is Guru paramparā. But those that have got their spiritual eye
awakened, they say, “No, no, what was there in number one Ācārya, and
that is not found in the second or third, again that we find the same thing of
standard purity we find in the fourth Ācārya.” So in this way who has
come to contribute that real channel, the channel is one. The Gauḍīya,
Mahāprabhu’s channel at least one.
Baladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s contribution to the sampradāya is
not less important. He may be of other sampradāya in the physical
sense. But his contribution especially to attract people, the Vedānta-bhāṣya,
that cannot be neglected for the students of the posterity. So his contribution
has been utilised, considering the degree and the essence
of the, and the purity of the thought in the spiritual line.
So they are our Guru, śāstra Guru.
Śāstra Guru, śikṣā Guru, dīkṣā
Guru, Nāma Guru, all taken together and a real line has been
given to us, for our, to save us, to do real work. That is to keep up the flow
of the real truth of that highest type to this world, so that policy has been
adopted. Wherever we have found any contribution; that is by the will of Kṛṣṇa,
the highest contribution to the line, wherever we have found we are taken them
together. The śāstra Guru, the śikṣā Guru,
the dīkṣā Guru, the mantra Guru, Nāma Guru,
they are taken as they are our Guru, they are all our Guru.
Just as we give respect to Rāmānuja and not to a sahajiyā
in the physical sense who is in the line of Mahāprabhu, who is
mutilating. He’s tampering, mutilating and enveloping the real teachings of
Mahāprabhu. They are not considered, though physical sense they are in the
line of Mahāprabhu and Rūpa, Sanātana etc., but when we go to
judge the very spirit of the thing we see that they are nowhere; only a
physical imitation, line of imitation, line of physical imitation. On the other
hand we find Rāmānuja has got substantial contribution to Vaiṣṇavism.
Madhvācārya has given sufficient contribution to Vaiṣṇavism.
Nimbarka has done. So we accept them also according to our necessity. And we
reject so called physical current keeper because what is found there that is
all mutilated and tampered.
There is a proverb,nakay kar nami
sesha kar [?]Whether the nose is more useful or my
breath is more useful? The intelligent section will say that the breath is more useful than the nose. To sustain the life,
the neck may be cut but if the breath continues one may live. So the breath, we
consider breath with more importance than the nose.
For the physical form, what should we do with the physical, they'll
misguide people to different direction from the truth, away from the truth. So
we won't go to consider the body connection in the Ācārya-ship. It is
a spiritual current and not a body current. And only the important question
that whether a disciple of a true devotee, can he be non devotee? Non devotee
we admit that. Because we see it and Lord Himself says that:
[evaṁ paramparā-prāptam, imaṁ
rājarṣayo viduḥ]
sa kāleneha mahatā, yogo naṣṭaḥ
parantapa
[“O conqueror of the enemy, in this way, the saintly kings such as Nimi,
Janaka, and others, learned this path of knowledge through the divine
succession. Presently, after the passage of a long period of time, this
teaching has been almost completely lost.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 4.2]
By the influence of this material world that current is damaged. It is
admitted. It is admitted. So, yadā yadā hi dharmasya, glānir
bhavati bhārata. So some in the line, in the line, some are affected
and may be led astray, so physical current continuation is not safe to be
accepted. Only the spiritual, the current of knowledge we are to trace. And
wherever we get, even Rāmānuja sampradāya, even Madhava sampradāya,
Nimbarka sampradāya we take them for our own interest. As much help as we get from them substantially, we accept that, and we reject
our own.
A political leader, a son may be a
political leader, it may not be. He may collect some successor there; a
political leader succession. It may be accepted. And his own son though brought
up in the favourable environment he may not be that. A doctor’s son may not be
doctor.
So in the disciple order also there is
possibility, and it is admitted that they all may not come of the same
standard, there is possibility. Then if it is possible, they should be
rejected. And it is found somewhere else substantially that may be taken in.
After Baladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa, he was very akin to Madhava sampradāya,
but when he came in connection with Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura,
he showed much interest towards Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism. And
he has also written something on Bhāgavatam and Jīva
Goswāmī’s Sat-sandarbha he has given commentary. And that
enlightened thought we get for the contribution of our sampradāya.
That is a valuable thing. We cannot dismiss him. He’s our Guru.
Wherever the devotion and the correct
consideration about Mahāprabhu, our Guru is there. Who is our Guru? Not in
the physical form. But the embodiment of the pure thought and understanding
which Mahāprabhu imparted to save us here. Our Guru is to be traced there.
Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s
contribution that comes, gives light to help us on Vedānta and Sat-sandarbha and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
and so many others: we practically receive encouragement and light to support
the line of Mahāprabhu. We can’t reject him from the order of our
Gurudeva. He’s our Guru. Wherever there is devotion, there is Guru, there is
our Guru. We must regard. At the same time if my own bodily near person he does
not give recognition to my Guru, to my understanding, to the service of
Mahāprabhu, I am to eliminate him. So the śikṣā Guru
paramparā, Prabhupāda has given in this way.
The light: that extraordinary light of the flow of love and support for
the same, where do we find? I must bow down there. That line may be in a zig
zag way but still that is the line of my Gurudeva. In this way it is accepted.
We want the substance, not the form. We are out of the social and so many other
shackles. Out for which? For the truth, for the truth absolute, and wherever I
shall find that I must bow down my head. And if a connection is made by any mahājana,
that, “This is the line where you will find your thirst quenched, the line is
in this zig zag way.” I must accept that for my own interest. If I love me I
have to love those that have done much for us. We are not worshippers of form,
but the substance, the current of the substance coming that way, I must try to
go that way to reach my goal. Why? This is jealousy, this is blind tenacity to
stick to the physical, to make much of the physical thing, material thing. We
must make us free from the material contamination and try to understand the
spiritual, the valuation, the value of spiritual truth. That we should be
always prepared for that. What is necessary, what way my interest will work I
must follow that. I am not a servant of A, B, C, D, etc. I am a servant of
Mahāprabhu. In which way, I may have to turn this way, that way, that way,
but whatever will be favourable to me I must go through that to my Lord.
Wherever I feel the presence of my Lord in intense form I must be attracted
from that side. We are out for that thing and not for any fashion or form,
formality; that will hamper our cause.
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
[ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
[“Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively unto
Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.66]
Wherever we shall find Him we must run to that direction. The
direction may not be always straight. It may be in a zig zag way. If Kṛṣṇa
comes that side I must run. Again He appears this side, I must run that side.
My interest is with Him. Not that, “Why Kṛṣṇa appeared here
and why He is appearing there? There must be a doubt, doubtful thing. So I must
go this side?” If I have got real appreciation, the capacity of appreciating
the real thing, proper thing, I must go that side. If I am blind that is
another case. Then I must have to suffer for my inability. But ability of any
person, capacity of any person who can understand things, so much insight he
has got, he will run towards wherever he will get some help. A boat is passing
through the current and finds it in danger then from whatever side the help may
come he must run to that, in this way. So, it does not create any difficulty in
our case because in the beginning we broke the shackle, janmaisvarya sruta
sri, and came being attracted by that particular light. So wherever, in the
beginning it has been decided finally, charmed by the intensity of degree of
divine love, so wherever I am saved there.
We are worshippers of Nārāyaṇa. We are worshippers of
Śiva. Then should we stick to that? When we are given to understand the
special superiority of Nārāyaṇa and then of Kṛṣṇa,
and then from Kṛṣṇa of Gītā to Kṛṣṇa
of Bhāgavatam, should we not try to go that ward? I have read Gītā.
I like the speaker of Gītā, that Kṛṣṇa. Then
when Bhāgavatam is given to me then should I stick to that Gītā
Kṛṣṇa or should I try to go to Bhāgavata Kṛṣṇa,
Kṛṣṇa given in Bhāgavatam? That is our fate. If
we have our interest there we must run to that side.
vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī
tatrāpi rāsotsavād
[vṛndāraṇyam udāra-pāṇi-ramaṇāt
tatrāpi govardhanaḥ
rādhā-kuṇḍam ihāpi gokula-pateḥ
premāmṛtāplāvanāt
kuryād asya virājato giri-taṭe sevāṁ
vivekī na kaḥ]
[“The holy place known as Mathurā is spiritually superior
to Vaikuṇṭha, the transcendental world, because the Lord appeared
there. Superior to Mathurā-purī is the transcendental forest of Vṛndāvana
because of Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā pastimes.
And superior to the forest of Vṛndāvana is Govardhana Hill, for it
was raised by the divine hand of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and was
the site of His various loving pastimes. And, above all, the super-excellent
Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa stands supreme, for it is
over-flooded with the ambrosial nectarean prema of the Lord of Gokula,
Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Where, then, is that intelligent person
who is unwilling to serve this divine Rādhā-kuṇḍa, which
is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill?”][Upadeśāmṛta,
9]
In this way Gopa Kumar in Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta
from his kamakshamantra, from there how he is leaving something and
making progress, this side that side. From there karmī brāhmaṇa,
then one king devotee, then from Indra, then from Brahmā, then to
Mahādeva, then from him to Prahlāda, then to Hanumān, then
Pāṇḍava, Yadhava, how in this zig zag way he is passing. How
he is passing - sincerity of his quest. His thirst is not
being quenched. He is going this side, that side, that side, that side, and
going. So Prahlāda’s Guru paramparā, Hanumān’s Guru paramparā,
Pāṇḍava’s Guru paramparā, Mahādeva’s Guru paramparā.
Where are they? They have got their own Guru paramparā. Someone,
he’s himself Guru, Brahmā, Mahādeva, they are creator, they are
creator of a line of Guru paramparā. Passing them also! Why? The
search is not quenched until he goes to Vṛndāvana. So Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta
has given us the line of Guru paramparā, of our quest, of our
search.
If we are sincerely searching after the truth, real, then wherever I go
that may be a contribution to my experience for further preaching in the
future. But I am going there with all sincerity that my thirst may be quenched
there. But I find that it is not quenched; some uneasiness. Then connection
comes. I go somewhere else thinking that here my thirst will be quenched. But
gradually I find, no, dissatisfaction, want for something else, then go to some
other. So many Guru paramparā traversing, crossing, and I am going
ultimately to Braja līlā of Kṛṣṇa as given
by Mahāprabhu. So not the fashion, not the form. If we want the real truth then wherever it will be found:
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene
naya, yei kṛṣṇa-tattva vettā sei guru haya.
[“Whether a person is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī,
or a śūdra, if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa,
he is to be accepted as Guru.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta
Madhya-līlā, 8.127]
Father may not be my guardian. Sometimes
my guardian may be my uncle. My uncle may be my guide, not the father. It is
possible. The line of interest, that is to be considered. That has got the most
importance. Hare Kṛṣṇa. So śikṣā Guru paramparā.
I am thankful to those that are helping my spiritual understanding in the real
sense, not in a formal way. In the real sense; who is untying the entanglement
and seeing me right and quenching my thirst of inner
understanding or satisfaction, he is my Guru. In this way their contribution, I
live on their contribution of these all. They are all my śikṣā
Guru. And again the main line; so many; all the Vaiṣṇavas are
more or less śikṣā Guru. My spiritual life may live on
their contribution, more or less. But that is of course a main line. And that
should be accepted in a general way, but all the Vaiṣṇavas they are
our Guru.
But not the opponents, not the
imitationists, they are rather enemy, asat-saṅga. That will take
me away from the real path of my understanding and progress. Gaura Haribol.We
must ask our own sincere heart from whom I get really the benefit of spiritual
life and progress. My heart, my sincere conscience, that will be the best
judge, not form.
In an earthen pot there was Ganges water, and in golden pot there was ordinary water. What to select? A
case like that, the brāhmaṇa took Ganges water in the earthen
pot. Then the contained, not the container, but the contained substance, that
should be given real importance.
I am not this physical body. My own
identification should be challenged if I am much addicted to the physical Guru paramparā.
My identification should be challenged. Who am I? This physical body? This
physical ear? So if I am spiritual, then spiritual sphere I shall have to look
with spiritual eye, and whoever will come on my front as they are following the
path of Mahāprabhu, I must pursue them, pursue them.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja is going ahead mahaprasan.Even
Draupadī, Arjuna, Bhīma, they all fell. But the dog is going,
following him. So we may see in the path of the journey towards our spiritual
goal many may fall down. But still we shall
try to go to the goal. And whoever will be new company, with their help I shall
go. Some may be eliminated, even he was in madhyama-adhikārī. Madhyama-adhikārī
Guru may be sometimes eliminated when he falls down. It is not a happy thing
but even it may occur, that my śikṣā
Guru going ahead, taking me, but he fell down. Then with fresh energy and
invoking the help of the Lord I shall have to go on. Even such disaster may
come in the journey. But still we must not cowdown ourselves.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Sometimes alone and sometimes with company, anyhow we must go. And the sukṛti,
first sukṛti and then my śraddhā, my faith, that
will guide me. The faith, the quality of faith; faith is a general term, śraddhā.
But śraddhā may be defined into different classes, section.
The high form of faith: that will be my fare in the way, śraddhā.
Sometimes I may find co-workers and sometimes I may have to go alone. What of
that. I cannot but go to the goal, because I shall have the grace of so many
unseen Guru. There are others also are working, their ideal will inspire me,
though physically I am not seeing any companion, any follower with me, but the
inspiration of the unseen Gurus, that will be my fare. They will inspire me to
go on in the journey. And my own sincere hankering for the truth, that will be
my real guide. Guru paramparā. Who is Guru? Guru is a body or Guru
is vairāgya like Tinkori Gosvāmī? Or Guru is only a
formal thief, hypocrite, who is showing the appearance of a sādhu and
within he is doing something other. Who is Guru?That exclusive guide, devotion,
guide to Kṛṣṇa, to Mahāprabhu. He is my Guru, whatever he be.
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene
naya, yei kṛṣṇa-tattva vettā sei guru haya.
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 8.127]
“Rāmānanda, why do you shrink
away? That I am a sannyāsī, you are a gṛhastha.
You are always hesitating to answer, to reply to My questions what I ask. That
from your position it does not look well to advise something to a sannyāsī
brāhmaṇa. Don’t hesitate. You know it best. So you don’t
hesitate, you bestow, you confer, you give it to Me. Have courage.”In this way
Mahāprabhu is encouraging Rāmānanda. Kibā vipra,
kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya.“By the grace of Kṛṣṇa
you have got that capital. Show it, show it. Give it to Me. You are a real
capitalist. I have come to preach to the world that you are the capitalist of
this high spiritual world. And that must be utilised
for the good of the public. Don’t hesitate. Don’t shrink. Come out.”
Rāmānanda said, “Yes, it is Your capital deposited
with me and You have come to take it from me today. It is Your thing. I
understand. And You press and push me to take it out. All right! I am a mere instrument used by Yourself. Whatever You
want to say me I am ready to say.” In this way Rāmānanda is going on.
But is Rāmānanda in a line? But still we were so much indebted
with Rāmānanda Rāya in one sense. But he’s not in Guru paramparā
still. But he’s more than many Guru of us who are in the paramparā.Rādhārāṇī
is not in Guru paramparā. Should we dismiss Her?
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. Hare Rāma. Hare Rāma.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Who is Guru? And who is him, the Guru? At first there be Guru and then
the question of paramparā. The first question of importance is who
is a Guru, and then a chain of them coming down, the light coming down. The
support, the knowledge in support of the divine
love coming down. Where should we find in support of that? I must bow down my
head to those places and make my progress. Not a formalist, but a materialist,
substantialist, not a fashionist, not imitationist, but a
realist, realistic thinker am I. That shouldbe my temperament.
______________________________________________________________________ [?]
Alexander [the Great] went to a fair with his father. There was a knot in the rope and
there is written, 'Who can cut it, who can untie this knot, he will be the king in
the future, a great man.'
Alexander asked his father, “What is it
Papa?”
“This is a knot fixed here. And it is written whoever will unloose it,
he will be a great man in the future.”
“Oh, I do it.”He took the sword and cut it off. It is clear? The
formality is not kept. The man stood by the side. He came out. “Yes, he will be
a great man. It cannot be untied otherwise.”
And also in the case of Napoleon, one gentleman, some proposed an egg,
“Can you keep on the nail, this
egg?”Napoleon pushed it and a portion broken, then he put, “Yes, I have kept
it.”
This is practical knowledge. The formality shaken off, left off, and the
realistic view took and immediately put the egg on the nail.And Alexander also
cut the Gordian knot. It is a famous thing. That cannot be untied, unloosed.
That is practical thing. And sticking to formality, then he’s gone.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yesterday you were talking about Vakeśvara Paṇḍita being the
one and only of Mahāprabhu who received...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I got in Gaura Candra Daya, a
Sanskrit book written by one Govinda Dāsa, an Oriya poet, perhaps there.
And it may be found in Bhakti Ratnakara also. I don’t remember.Govinda
Mahārāja _____________________________________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
You were saying that Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura had
written one śloka or line in preface or introduction to some book,
maybe...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhaktisiddhānta Ṭhākura,
he gave reference of one book to some other
purpose.________________________________________________ [?]That is in an introduction to sādhana part, that
is Upadeśāmṛta. There the name of that book mentioned.
And in that book I think I might have found that reference. That Vakeśvara
Paṇḍita was direct disciple of Mahāprabhu and he was given the
position of Ācārya, succession of Mahāprabhu there in
Rādhā Kanta Maṭha. Or it may be in Bhakti Ratnakara, or
maybe Amiya Nimai Charit of Śiśir [Kumār] Ghose. I can’t
recollect exactly. But I have found.____________ [?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Anybody has any questions? Mahārāja is asking!
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anybody? Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Prabhu has failed.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
No. He has a question Mahārāja, but he’s waiting, he’s giving others
a chance before he asks his own questions.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
So he wants that his record won’t be a monopoly of him.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ... a variegated nature.
End of 81.08.28.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.28.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, many times when our
Guru Mahārāja’s disciples have taken to the study of Sanskrit, we
could say in most of the cases, that they later became very offensive to our
Guru Mahārāja. And in many cases also they came to reject him. So sometimes Prabhupāda, our Guru Mahārāja, said
that a little Sanskrit is very dangerous.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A little Sanskrit, or a little learning,
alpavidyā bhayaṁkorī, scanty learning is always
dangerous, alpavidyā bhayaṁkorī.
bahu-grantha kalābhyāsa
vyākhyāvāda-vivarjanam
[vyava hāreha pyakārpaṇyaṁ
śokādyavaśavartitā]
[Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Madhya, 2.79.76]
It is also recommended by Rūpa Goswāmī that only to try
to have a taste hither and thither in many scriptures. A slight knowledge
collected from many schools of conceptions, to collect that, it is dangerous
for our progress because they will draw to their own interest. So, they will
create disturbance in the progress.
Devotee: ______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
So curiosity to know. Hankering for the truth, that is laudable. But when one
has got the real path, real ideal, if after that he also moves hither and
thither to get experience of this thing and that thing: that will of course
hamper his cause. Bahu-grantha kalābhyāsa.
We must keep it in mind that the highest
thing to go, highest thing that can help us to go to that, our desired goal is
service, not knowledge, service. That is to make progress in the realisation of our negative nature. That I am in want, I am in want, I
am in want of something. The negative
characteristic. So much so that is śaraṇāgati,that is dainya.
“I am the most needy.” The progress must be in that line. That is a healthy
line. The general feeling will be, “I am the most needy.” And that will attract
the positive side. And then only I can know Him. Otherwise by reading, or by
searching, or satisfying curiosity, inquisitiveness, that is not the way. Only
to try to increase the feeling that, “I am the most needy, I am the most
needy.” Then He will be attracted to help you and you will be able to know as
much as He likes, and in any way He likes to take you in with Him and you will
be able to understand. His nature is such.
Sevāya. Praṅipāta,
paripraśna, sevā. Paripraśna is allowed, sincere inquiry to Guru. But the main thing will be
the dedicating tendency, surrendering
tendency. That is the real wealth of śakti, the potency. Purity of
the potency always consists in its submission to the possessor of the potency.
So for preaching purpose, some śāstric
knowledge is necessary. That is another thing. One who feels himself
inspiration of preaching, to help that he
may consult different śāstras even it may be necessary the śāstra
of the Māyāvādīns and others as Śrī Jīva
Goswāmī had to do. To refute the Māyāvādī
scripture he had to study their scripture, their books also to refute, for the
purpose of refutation. But he felt some insinuation within him that he'll have to discharge a duty which will require all this
knowledge. A particular service was put on his
shoulder. He had to do that.
Otherwise, in
the general case of a devotee, selfgiving through a Vaiṣṇava to
that domain: to give up the energy. The energy should be utilised for the service of His interest, for the interest of the
Lord, anyhow. Anyhow; that is our real position, that we should be utilised for His sweet will. That is our normal position. And there we
live. We live properly there in giving up our selfish tendency to serve the
sweet will of the absolute. Our real position requires that only, mainly that.
And that may have different colour in different particular positions. But the
main thing that is necessary from us that we should dedicate, we should march
towards Him only with the help of the attitude of faith that He is my master. I
can’t do anything independently.
Even when we begin our life:ādau
arpita paschad kriyeta. Śrīdhar
Swāmī says. We are listening to Bhāgavata, but if it is
to be bhakti proper, devotion proper, that śravaṇa,
that hearing of Bhāgavatam, if it is to be bhakti proper,
devotion proper, then the idea must be there that what benefit I derive from
such hearing, the benefit will go to my Lord, Kṛṣṇa, not
myself. That I will be enlightened, and I will do greater service, even not
that. Everything, I am doing it on behalf of my master. Wherever and whatever
we are doing we get any benefit, the beneficiary is only one. He is the
beneficiary. With this idea we move and do anything and everything. The
beneficiary is He. So for His interest I must work. What He wants me to do, I
shall do that only, and not to fulfil my personal ambition.
But if I got such inspiration within me
that He wants me to make a preacher and such equipment. If I am to fight then
equipments necessary for that, dress also necessary for that. So when real
inspiration I had that I must go on with preaching; of course the weapons I
must have to collect. With that spirit we are to read and not read, whatever;
to hear from here, there, collect anything, money, for the purpose, but must be
for His account. That must be guaranteed first; whether that is on His account
or something else. That is the main thing to be judged. For His satisfaction I
am doing. It is a plain thing.The tithi, the satisfaction, līlā,
requires that everything, every movement should be done, to be normal, for His
satisfaction. Whatever it be any form or appearance does not matter. The only
criterion: is it for His satisfaction? The criterion of the absolute is there
only.
As Hegel says, “For Itself. The Reality must be By Itself and must be For Itself.” We are to
accommodate that within us. He is not for any other thing to satisfy.
Everything is done for His satisfaction. He is the end. Then it is all right.
Then it is in the harmony. Then it is beautiful. Then it is love. Love means
sacrifice for the beloved. So the beloved divine, for the absolute. Everything
should be done to satisfy the absolute master, my owner, my creator.
I saw in some paper once, a man is
designed and destined by God. Designed and destined. The creation and the
future: both in the hands of the Absolute.So in any way we belong to Him cent
percent. That consciousness must be aroused within us. And all our activity
must be guided by that principle. Whether it is to satisfy Him as much as of
course I can conjecture, I can understand, I can feel, I can conceive as much
as. Whether I am doing for Him, will it satisfy Him or something else; my
country, my society, my parents, my colleagues?
And sometimes when from a distant view we cannot ascertain in a
realistic way what is in this position what would really satisfy Him, I may
take the help of my superior, similar brother
who has got more progress than myself. I can consult him. I take his help when
due to distance we can’t have real conception what would satisfy Him really.
Then we can consult the similar, superior
friends.When such a friend he asks me, “You read this book. You will get some
material that will help you in your way. Collect fare, the journey is long. Try
to secure fare from this, that, in this way.” But that will also only to
enhance to help me on my way.So service under the direction of a superior Vaiṣṇava
is more desirable than to search direction from any book. But when we do not
have such guide, then we shall have to consult so many authentic books of the
Vaiṣṇavas, to collect energy, fare, in my journey. The mahājana,
the śāstra, śāstra is also Guru, a kind of Guru, śāstra.
sādhu-śastra-kṛpāya yadi kṛṣṇonmukha
haya / [sei jīva nistare, māyā
tāhāre chāḍaya]
[“If the conditioned soul becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious by
the mercy of saintly persons who voluntarily preach scriptural injunctions and
help him to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, the conditioned soul is
liberated from the clutches of māyā, who gives him up.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 20.120]
To be sure that my activity will be in the line of service. To insure me
I shall consult a fair progressed Vaiṣṇava, and if that is not available
or not reliable, then the reliable books of Goswāmīs, Gurudeva, to
read books from Gurudeva, then Goswāmī, and Bhāgavatam, Gītā,
all these devotional scriptures we should have to consult. But with the spirit
of service that should be always kept in mind, that sacrifice, dedication. The
whole plane is that of dedication. No exploitation, nor renunciation.
Exploitation, the self aggrandisement, that is exploitation, pratiṣṭhā.
‘Labha’, ‘pūjā’, ‘pratiṣṭhādi’
upaśākhā.
[‘niṣiddhācāra’, ‘kuṭīnāṭī’,
‘jīva-hiṁsana’
‘lābha’, ‘pūjā’, ‘pratiṣṭhādi’
yata upaśākhā-gaṇa]
[“Some unnecessary creepers growing with
the bhakti creeper are the creepers of behaviour unacceptable for those trying to attain perfection, diplomatic
behaviour, animal-killing, mundane profiteering,
mundane adoration and mundane importance. All these are unwanted creepers.”] [Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-līlā, 19.159]
That must be avoided. That is more dangerous. In the plane of dedication
if I want, have tendency of exploitation making myself big; that will be very
detrimental. Faithfulness of a servant must always be maintained and kept,
protected, very scrupulously. None can deceive me, none
can check my progress, except myself. So I must scrutinise, analyse my own inner
temple and brush aside any undesirable thing found there. Guṇḍicā-mārjana
as Mahāprabhu showed, Guṇḍicā-mārjana. There
are many types of undesirability within. So that should be brushed aside. And
then we must make progress closer to our Lord for service. Rather He will take
me closer, closer for the quality of my service. So generally service must be
the spirit of everything, whether study, or collection of money, or collection
of men, the serving spirit: that should be kept intact always.Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in the Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam
there is one verse [1.20] where it says Kṛṣṇa
does not distinguish who is yukta or who is āyukta. Kṛṣṇa
does not distinguish, discriminate, who is fit or who is not fit. Yukta-āyukta
it begins. I don’t know the whole verse.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Yuktāyuktaṁ,
yajñā-ayajñā parityajya – the full śloka?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I don’t remember.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Perhaps Kṛṣṇa is so magnanimous, so generous that sometimes He
is seen not to recognise the fitness or
unfitness of the devotee. And He lavishly bestows His devotee, He is so
generous, sometimes it is seen. Yuktāyuktaṁ parityajya, then
next? The context is necessary. Yuktāyuktaṁ parityajya.
Sometimes it is a prayer of the devotee. That is also a sort of qualification.
jogyatā-vicāre, kichu nāhi pāi, tomāra
karuṇā--sāra
[karuṇā nā hoile, kāndiyā kāndiyā,
prāṇa nā rākhibo āra]
[Gurudeva Kṛpa Bindu Diya, Bhajana Lalasa,
11, by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura]
“Oh my Lord if You come to consider whether I am fit or unfit, then I
can’t stand. So please give up that in my case and accept me in Your service.”
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: It begins viraha-vyādhi-santapta.
[viraha-vyādhi-santapta-, bhakta-citta-mahauṣadham
yuktāyuktaṁ parityajya, bhaktārthākhila-ceṣṭitam]
[Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, 1.20]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Viraha-vyādhi-santapta.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: ________ I can’t read it very well. Where’s Govinda
Mahārāja. You read it, kindly. We don’t have the eye piece.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Viraha-vyādhi-santapta.
Devotee: Viraha-vyādhi-santapta-, bhakta-citta-mahauṣadham.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ah! That is one thing.
Devotee: Yuktāyuktaṁ
parityajya, bhaktārthākhila-ceṣṭitam.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Bhaktārthākhila-ceṣṭitam.
Devotee: Ātma-pradāna-paryyanta...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Pratijñāntaḥ-pratiśrutam.
Devotee: Bhakta-premaika-vaśya-sva-, svarūpollāsa-ghoṣitam.
[ātma-pradāna-paryyanta-, pratijñāntaḥ-pratiśrutam
bhakta-premaika-vaśya-sva-, svarūpollāsa-ghoṣitam]
[Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, 1.21]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ghoṣitam. Hare Kṛṣṇa.The
devotees they appeal to Kṛṣṇa, “That there is a department of
Yours of causeless mercy. Please enlist my name in that department. If you come
to examine me and my fitness I must fail. I have got no hope. So please, jogyatā-vicāre,
kichu nāhi pāi, tomāra karuṇā-sāra,
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says. The appeal, that, “Take me in that, that ahaitukī kṛpa, causeless
mercy. That is my only hope. Otherwise I am undone.” That is the nature of appeal of the devotee.And He does so, Kṛṣṇa
does so. It is seen sometimes that He has done like that. So these are the
different ways of the prayer of the devotees and the line in which Kṛṣṇa
accepts His devotees of different types, in different ways. That is mentioned
there.Ke?
Devotee: _________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Ātma-pradāna-paryyanta. Even He has offered Himself, pratijñā.
He has promised that, “I can give Myself to the, I can sell Myself to the
devotees.”
And Mahāprabhu says about Vasudeva Datta, “The Vasudeva, he has got
so attraction for Me that he can make Me a mercantile property. He can sell Me
anywhere and I cannot but be sold.” __________________________________________________________________ [?]
“I am his property. If he likes he can
sell Me to others.”
Just as there is one story, Nārada approached Satyabhāmā
in Dvārakā. There is a very good vow, that of swami dhan vrata. If one can make a gift of her husband then that is a very great
gain she may have. Satyabhāmā was enchanted. “Swami dhanvrata is
such a great thing, then I shall do.”
Then that was arranged by the will of Kṛṣṇa.
Nārada’s proposal, and there was a function, and Kṛṣṇa
was put, no, Kṛṣṇa was the thing to be given up, and Kṛṣṇa
took His seat. And Satyabhāmā with mantram she made a gift of
her husband. And after the function is finished then the gift must be given to
some brāhmaṇa or some other person. Then to whom to give?
Nārada is the best person, devotee, brāhmaṇa, devata,
given to him.
And Kṛṣṇa is going behind Nārada. “Where do you
go? You have given Me, made a gift. I am now property of Nārada, not of
yours any longer. I am going.”
“Oh! No, no, no. That can never be tolerated. I could not understand the
meaning.”
In this way: “Then what to do?” She began to cry. “I didn’t know. I am a
foolish woman. You have managed to manipulate me in such a way, I am deceived. Then what to do?”
“Then there is of course another way.”
“What is that?”
“If you can give ratna lanka, gems, jewels, etc., of the same
weight with your husband then that will do. You can keep Him.”
“Oh, then I am relieved. As much jewels and ornaments and gold necessary
I shall collect and put on the weighing machine, scales, and put Kṛṣṇa
one side and another side.”
Satyabhāmā puts so many golden ornaments, jewels, etc., but it
is up, and Kṛṣṇa is more heavy. Nothing can be done. So
everything she had in her possession all put there but nothing. Then she began
to cry again. “I am undone. What to do?”
Then attracted by her wailing, Rukmiṇī and others they also
came. “What’s the matter in your harem?”
“So and so I have done.”
Then Rukmiṇī came to her help. “Yes, so if you take off all
those jewels and other things. In a Tulasi patra put His name, Kṛṣṇa,
this name in Tulasi patra and put it there.”
Then that became heavier. The name is greater than whose name it is.
Sound is more benevolent, the sound aspect of the Lord.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.From what
point this story came?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
You were explaining that dhan...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:Ātma-pradāna-paryyanta-, pratijñāntaḥ-pratiśrutam.
To sell, “Vasudeva Datta, he can sell Me
in any market if he likes. I am so much his own.”
So Bhagavān is so much dear and near of His devotees,
helpless in the presence of His devotee. This is the peculiarity of devotion.
So devotion is so great. Śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī
ca sā. The last and the highest result of devotion is this: they can
attract Kṛṣṇa and make Him his own.
Gaura Hari.Big talks in small mouth: so many big talks in the
mean mouth.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
That is the nature of the Absolute, Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.purva sudivi [?]
It is already told by our predecessor and we are repeating that. What
harm? It is their greatness. Who are ourselves? Gaura Hari.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
It is our great fortune that such small souls can get...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, so much hope has been given to us,
the smallest creature. So much hope, so much prospect has been shown to us, so
mean we are. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Still we do not try to accept that bhakti
mārga, that rāgamārga,so
wretched we are.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Mahārāja, you had mentioned
the Guṇḍicā-mārjana. And in one verse our Guru
Mahārāja is quoting Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura. And he says that Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura explained that even
though one may become free from the desire for fruitive activity that sometimes
the subtle desire for fruitive activity comes into the heart.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
It is mentioned in the vivriti that Mahāprabhu first collected
these bigger pebbles, etc. And then something like sand and others, the small
desires, fleeting, of small importance desires; next He collected that, and
then washed with the water, that Guṇḍicā. In the mind also:
that reflection in the mind. By doing that we can cleanse our mental temple! By
cleansing, Mahāprabhu pointed out thereby, thereby physically you are...
First He collected little bigger pebbles,
conquered, and then this baluka, the sense substance fine, so many fine fleeting desires.Desire
maybe, is classified into two sections, very subtle and small, and little
bigger and gross. So first the gross elements removed and then the subtle
elements removed. And then it was washed. By doing that one can cleanse his
own, the temple of his own heart; and the repercussion is there.
And now, so, the karma has been analysed into different stages, prārabdha and aprārabdha.
Prārabdha - which is ripe and then attached to be finished in this
particular body, life, and aprārabdha - which is deposited to be
enjoyed or suffered in future life. And that also divided into three sections: Kūtaṁ,
bījam, phalon-mukam, the very primitive layer that cannot be
detectable, cannot be differentiated. All thickly and in very small figure they
are as if consisting a sheet, a plane. We can’t discern what is there. And then
like bīja and then phalon-muka we can understand this is the
result of that particular karma, bad karma, this is for good karma.
That is only floating. And the next life they will have chance.So the sukṣma
and stula, the gross and subtle; generally it may be divided into
two. First the gross things should be removed. And then the subtle should be
attended to. And they will be cleansed. And then through śraddhā the
whole thing will be washed, the temple. And thereby we can help our own temple
of our heart, of our soul. It is done thereby. It is mentioned there.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So our Guru Mahārāja quotes
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta as saying that one of these subtle desires
is that one often thinks...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
One often thinks of conducting business to improve devotional activity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is the smaller layer?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Pratiṣṭhā.
Devotional: that can be?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
________ He often thinks of conducting business to improve devotional activity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Then, however, the contamination is so strong that it may later develop into
misunderstanding, described as kuti-nāṭi, faultfinding, and pratiṣṭhā,
the desire for name and fame and for high position. Jīva-hiṁsā:
envy of other living entities.________ and kāma and pūjā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
They do not want to leave us so easily but they in a very small shape try to
remain with us and showing some connection with our devotional characteristic.Though they are not main but they do not leave the bhakti-latā.
Bhakti-latā is our main attempt, main endeavour, that we dedicate our self for the Lord. But though not give
much resistance to that bhakti-latā still they do not leave her
connection.
Upa-saka, that trading of bhakti - pratiṣṭhā, labha,
pūjā. He’s in the field of devotion, in the field of a preacher.
But still he may maintain some little fleeting desires, desires which will
hamper the real progress. That is upa-sakha. So that should be cut off.
He’ll be conscious that though not making much injury, but still they are
taking their food from the real latā and making it weak. Upaśākhā means parasites, like parasites in the main creeper of devotion.
They suck blood from there and grow. So they should be cut off. So for the
healthy growth of the creeper of devotion, that is upaśākhā,
should be cut off. That though we are in the field of a preaching agent still
some small petty difficulty of exploitation or renunciation, some small
particles may still be seen around our devotional activity. So we shall be very
careful to shake them off, upaśākhā, cedan.
And the greatest enemy to our progress will be Vaiṣṇava aparādha.
So in the case of Vaiṣṇava aparādha we, not only when
they are come, then we shall take the step necessary. No. He will give a big
fencing so that Vaiṣṇava aparādha, like elephant, if
Vaiṣṇava aparādha like mad elephant enters into, it can
uproot the creeper even. So be very careful about Vaiṣṇava aparādha.
That is the greatest enemy to the progress, especially of a beginner, a
beginner of the journey in this domain. So have a good fencing against Vaiṣṇava
aparādha. And this upaśākhā they will harm
less, but still they will hamper your progress. So shake off them, cut off
them, and help the main creeper to make its progress fairly and safely towards
the feet of the Divine Lord. That is the meaning there. Kuti-nāṭi,
jīva-hiṁsā, the small thing they surround and they won’t go
unless some step is taken against them. Like parasites they, whatever the
creeper draws his food for her own growth, they suck from her body and they
live. So be careful of these small undesirable things, anartha. Take
care. That is the warning, the warning against the healthy growth.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Prabhupāda is saying that gradually in this way, one desires to become a
reputed devotee, or Avatāra.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Pratiṣṭhā. That
Balu Brahmacārī, the Jaga Bandu, Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna is not in the path of a devotee, he’s a jñāni,
and more than that he jumbled together the whole thing in one and says, “This
is the highest thing.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.Pratiṣṭhāśā,
the thirst after fame: that is the worst and greatest enemy of a Vaiṣṇava.
And that can be done away with only by the submission in the holy feet of
Gurudeva. Pratiṣṭhā, kanak, the owner of kanak
is Nārāyaṇa. The proprietor of kāminī is Kṛṣṇa...
End of 81.08.28.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.28.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Pratiṣṭhā, is āśraya
vigraha, Baladeva and Rādhārāṇī, pratiṣṭhā.
Their property, or, what is it? Their share. Gurudeva, all the pratiṣṭhā,
the fame, must go to Gurudeva, because for him whatever I have got only due to
his mercy. So, only by strict adherence to the holy feet of Gurudeva one can be
victorious over this pratiṣṭhā. All credit, if I have
got something, even the smallest, that is due to the grace of my Gurudeva. The
Guru Tattva, the claimer, the claimant of pratiṣṭhā.
He is, the glory of Kṛṣṇa, he’s only distributing to the
world. The whole credit is to him, the Guru Tattva,
āśraya vigraha, mula āśraya vigraha.
sukha-rūpa kṛṣṇa kare sukha āsvādana,
bhakta-gaṇe sukha dite ‘hlādinī’-kāraṇa
[“Ecstasy personified is Kṛṣṇa Himself, and He feels,
tastes and enjoys Himself; but only through faith is it possible to transmit
and distribute that ecstasy and joy to others. Faith is the very nature of the hlādinī-śakti,
the ecstasy potency, which is represented in full by Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī. It can transmit total Kṛṣṇa
consciousness to the devotees outside. Faith is the halo of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, by the light of
which others may understand Kṛṣṇa. When the negative combines
with the positive, realisation of Their function is distributed to all other
negative parts.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
8.158]
Rādhārāṇī and Baladeva in different
departments, the whole credit must go to Them because from Them only the glory
of Kṛṣṇa, the greatness of Kṛṣṇa is being
spread to the world. So the pratiṣṭhā must go to Them
only. And the kanak, the master of everything, aiśvarya: as
under the command of Nārāyaṇa. And the sensual pleasure, so to
say, in the divine realm, that is only for Kṛṣṇa conception.
That Svayaṁ-Bhagavān, He’s the master of this pleasure, or property,
or whatever we may say: kāma.
Kāminīra kāma, nahe tava dhāma,
tāhāra mālika kevala “yādava.”Prabhupāda says in his duṣṭa mana! tumi
kisera vaiṣṇava? [From Vaiṣṇava Ke? Who is a
Vaiṣṇava?]
[Mahājana-racita gītā, Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura] [Gauḍīya Kanthahara, 3.24]
One gentleman came to ask Prabhupāda, “What is the meaning of this
part of your poetry? Kāminīra kāma, nahe tava dhāma.
What is that?”
“What is written there it is so.”
“Kṛṣṇa is the only enjoyer of all the lady
conception?”
“Yes.”
“Then who are we?”
“We are trespasser, and for that we are punishable to a great degree. So
it is only, He’s the master, He’s the owner, the enjoyer, absolute enjoyer,
none else. Kāminīra kāma, nahe tava dhāma.”
And what we find in Vṛndāvana and others that they are
getting child, shedding children, in so different sections of the animals also
they are enjoying their wives. But it is so arranged that they are doing that
only in heart for Kṛṣṇa, for Kṛṣṇa’s sake,
to give excitement in Kṛṣṇa. Anyhow, the paraphernalia is
designed to promote the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, otherwise they
cannot have any place in the Vṛndāvana area.
Yat kinca tina guru matikam gosti samasata
lila [?]
Sadvarnam mayarm mukunda daitam lila na
kulam param [?]
All planned,
designed, to promote the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. And they have
composed the paraphernalia, necessary for Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. Otherwise
they cannot have the spirit of aggrandisement;
have no place there. They cannot get a peep into that transcendental area. That
is all eliminated here in the land of exploitation. Then renunciation, then śāstric
control area, and then automatic love. But to enter there the criterion is
this, that it is only a contribution for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa,
not for any personal end. That is already left there in this mundane world.
This cannot be taken up there. So all in a dedicating mood, it is necessary for
the līlā of Kṛṣṇa, to promote. It is planned
in such a way in Vṛndāvana.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mahārāja, sometimes a mahā-bhāgavata,
because he is a great preacher he may be surrounded by opulence, aiśvarya,
very much, but still we know that he is mahā-bhāgavata,
because he creates many Vaiṣṇavas, like a cintāmaṇi.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If he is a real mahā-bhāgavata
then whatever he does, he does for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa.
These things cannot tie him down.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes. My question is, then if his
followers also behave in such...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Imitationist will die. Sincerity will
save. If it is really for Kṛṣṇa, as Puṇḍarīka
Vidyānidhi; outwardly he showed his life was full of luxury, but inwardly
he was wholesale dedication to Kṛṣṇa. So sincerity is the
criterion. If he’s sincere, true to himself, then he’s all right. And if it is an imitation he will die, he’ll be killed by
that. So:
īśvarāṇāṁ vachaḥ satyaṁ,
tathaivacharitaṁ kvachit
[teṣāṁ yat svavacho yuktaṁ
buddhimāṁs tat samācharet]
[“The instructions of the great personages
are always true, but their conduct and their practices may not always be useful
to the beginners. So the sober person will accept those practices that are
backed by his words, understanding that in his higher stage he may do something
which may not be useful to those of a lower stage. He has such spiritual power
that what may be seen as a defect in the beginner, cannot harm him in any way.
Therefore the fair minded beginners will accept those practices which are in
consonance with his instructions, as being useful to their progress.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
10.33.31]
In Bhāgavatam
it is said, “The great personages
what they say, that is always acceptable; but their practice, not always.”When,
whatever we find their practice and advice consonant, combined, an intelligent
person will accept that as price only, that practice only. And not all
practices. His adjustment with the paraphernalia may be of higher angle of
vision. So his advice to a particular person there is consideration of the
position of that man whom he is giving his advice. So that is a safe thing, to
accept their advice, but not always their practice. We cannot imitate that. So
it is a warning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to ordinary persons,
seekers after truth.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: But as lesser devotees, as general devotees, we may not
distinguish. Perhaps we are not fit.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, one who cannot distinguish,
that is not a credit. If internal awakening
is there, the capacity of distinguishing also be present there. And if
ignorant, man will have to suffer. For the sukṛti will come to our
guide when we are ignorant. Then when that takes to the surface, real śraddhā,
that will show us who is real sādhu or not, how to do it. We will
be able to understand, to decipher the letters, decipher the script. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
He will be able to read when his consciousness has risen above the level. He
will be able to decipher the so many scripts that are unknown to the ordinary
person.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Śrī Gurudeva.
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura
Haribol.
Durgatiṁ tāta gacchati.If we are true nothing can harm us. That should be our main...
[pārtha naiveha nāmutra, vināśas tasya
vidyate
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ
tāta gacchati]
[“O Arjuna, son
of Kuntī, the unsuccessful yogī does not suffer ruination
either in this life or the next. He is not deprived of the pleasures of the
heavenly planetary systems in this universe, nor is he denied the chance to
personally see the Supersoul in the divine realm. This is so, O dear one,
because a person who performs virtuous actions never becomes ill-fated.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
6.40]
You are bankrupt.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes Mahārāja, I am bankrupt.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Another phase!
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: It’s only by your association that
sometimes some spiritual questions come, out of even a
stone.Mahārāja, these verses that you sometimes quote like, na hi
kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ tāta gacchati,
we’ve never heard explanations like this. That was a verse that I would never
quote. I would never use that verse. But until you explained and you have used
it in so many ways then the whole world of that verse is revealed.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Uddhared
ātmanātmānaṁ, nātmānam avasādayet. [Bhagavad- gītā, 6.5]
God helps those that help
themselves, of similar thought, with heart within and God overhead, two sides.
That mārjjāra-nyāya
[the maxim of the cat], and markaṭa-nyāya [the maxim of the
monkey]. We are rather believer in markaṭa-nyāya. And mārjjāra-nyāya
is for the, may be kept for the highest. But in our level the markaṭa-nyāya
will be more helpful to us. We want our own cooperation. We must try to find
out our own unit, what sort of unit I am. The quest is necessary in our
position. Selfsearch, selfanalysis we can’t eliminate.
Daya hrsikesa hrdisthati na yato smi karo
me [?]
That is the highest conception of thought.
When selflessness final: not only selflessness but selfsurrendering attained
very higher stage. Then one can say, “Whatever You
make us to do I do only. I don’t know what is good or bad.” That is the highest
stage. “I don’t know anything. Whatever You like to do with me I cannot but do
that.” That is a stage. But in the sādhaka stage it is always
necessary, the selfanalysis. “Where is myself? What is myself? How can I utilise it for the service of the Lord? How can I utilise it for the service of my Gurudeva?” Always I must be alert to
watch the movement of my own self. Can’t neglect or be indifferent to it, its
existence, its endeavour, its tendency I should not ignore, always must be
alert.
uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ, nātmānam
avasādayet
ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur, ātmaiva ripur
ātmanaḥ
[“The living being must be delivered from the dark well of material life
by means of the mind detached from sense objects, and he must never in any way
be flung down into the material world by the mind enchanted by sense objects -
because the mind is sometimes his friend, and in another situation the very
same mind is rather the enemy.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 6.5]
We are our own
enemies or we are our own friends. And so, na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt
kaścid,[Bhagavad-gītā, 6.40]who thinks sincerely, he
can never be doomed. Who is true to his own self, he must attain victory. He
will guide himself in a proper channel. Whether his own or he is the slave of
his senses, that is the main question. Kanak, kāminī, pratiṣṭhā.
Whether yourself, your soul is its own possession,
or is the creature of the sense pleasure and fame hunter, or in this world popularity seeker and power seeker. Sense
pleasure and power, the money, men: men means popularity or fame in this
mundane world.
Fame
we want, vaiṣṇavī pratiṣṭhā. What is
the real meaning of vaiṣṇavī pratiṣṭhā?
That the recognition from my guardians that, “He’s a good devotee, he’s a good
servant.” I must aspire after the recognition of my real guardian, real
wellwisher. I must have aspiration that what they like me to be, I must try to
be so. According to their liking I shall prepare myself. That sort of pratiṣṭhā,
that is some recognition, that will be healthy
for us, that recognition from the higher guardians. I
may aspire after that.
And nothing, no applause from these mundane, mad persons! What value
they have got of their opinion, a mass opinion, or this mass applause? They are
already misguided souls, mad. They don’t know what is good or what is bad. And
their evaluation, and their applause, that is only a negative charm for me, to
take me astray.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Vaiṣṇavī
pratiṣṭhā, tāte kara niṣṭhā,
tāhā nā bhajile labhibe gaurava.
[From Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura’s
Vaiṣṇava ke? Who is a Vaiṣṇava?]
[Gauḍīya Kanthahara, 3.24]
[In 236 of the collection of Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja’s ślokas]
If you slip from that plane you will have to meet a dangerous zone.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura was saying, Mahārāja that,
“What do I care if the entire world rejects me. What do I care if the entire
world applauds me, if You do not accept me. And what gain
is there in the entire world...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is exclusive devotion, ananya
bhakti, no care for anything else but the whole attention hit only one
point, Yours. But that is a primary stage. It is a primary stage. When we have
more consolidated position there then not Kṛṣṇa in general, but His devotees will be our better shelter. That shows higher
realisation.
ye me bhakta-janāḥ partha, ne me bhaktaś ca te
janāḥ
mad bhaktānāṁ ca ye bhaktās, te me
bhaktatamā matāḥ
[“Those who worship Me directly are not real devotees; real devotees are
those who are devoted to My devotees.”] [Ādi-Purāṇa]
“They have got definite position when they are adjusted with My
devotees. And when they are only thinking of Me, they are in a hazy position, not properly located.”
They are just a candidate outside seeking for some service, but when
they’re posted in a particular department and at a particular ________ then
he’s more consolidated and realistic position. Mad bhaktānāṁ
ca ye bhaktās, te me bhaktatamā matāḥ. More realistic
position when they are adjusted amongst His devotees of a particular group.
Their position is ensured.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
______________________________________ [?] ...yesterday,
that you are already booked, but today I hear to know you have changed your
mind.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes. I would always like to stay
situated at the lotus feet of Your Divine Grace,
but there are some devotees...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Not only near me, but what you got from your Guru Mahārāja, you see
that in me so you have got attraction for me. So you are sitting tight by your
Guru Mahārāja. What do you say, Sarvabhavana Prabhu? Am I not true?
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Mahārāja:
Yes, this is the truth.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The charm, a drop of charm you got from
your Guru Mahārāja that has drawn you here in search of similar
things, similar drops.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
In fact, Mahārāja, we can feel the mercy of our Guru
Mahārāja at all times. Because it is because of his mercy that we are
able to come to your lotus feet and hear you speak. If it was not for him we
would be completely worthless.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He had faith in me and he also requested
you as well as myself to look after. And by divine dispensation I see that I am
in that particular position that I shall have to do something, though my nature
is not very...
Devotees: Conducive? Outgoing?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, very near adopting. My nature is not
very favourable for preaching, but sometimes...
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Not very social?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not social, but not very pushing,
dashing, but always peaceloving. As my Guru Mahārāja remarked, “You
are easelover.” Guru Mahārāja’s remark on me was, “You are easelover.
In other words you do not try your best to do away which you have got, to
distribute that to the world. You are of reserved temperament, not a very
helping temperament, helping to others. That means that you have got
qualification but you do not like to extend it to others.” That was his remark.
Anyhow in his last breath he was very congenial, favourable to me, and
his last graceful conduct has made me almost unique, unique position. The
highest form of divine service he tried to impart to me. But whether I could
receive it or not I don’t know, how much I could receive his grace. But he’s
sure what he wanted to distribute by his transaction of the service of
Rūpa Mañjarī, that is the highest thing in our sampradāya,
rūpānuga.
Even Narottama Ṭhākura says, he is
aspiring when his Guru Lokanātha,
“Will take me by hand and place me in the hand of Rūpa Goswāmī.”Lokanatha
mor hateti dure samapan keli [?]“My Gurudeva Lokanātha, when he will
be gracious enough to hand me over to Rūpa Goswāmī? That is the
highest place of our aspirations, spiritual aspiration.”
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, you said sometimes that, “You could not go to the mountain,
but the mountain has come to you.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, something like that. I am compelled
to say so. I did not go. He wanted to send me but I didn’t go anyhow. I did not
get the fortune of going there but my benevolent Gurudeva, he did not leave me
thereby.
“Yes. All right! You may
remain here and I shall take them, at least to take my thoughts true, I must
take some of them to you and keep my words to be true.”
Gaura Haribol. It’s a wonderful thing!
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Many will be coming. We think many more will come to you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: May, if I live.
Śrīnivāsa Ācārya went to see Gadādhara Paṇḍita
and Mahāprabhu asked Gadādhara Paṇḍita to help study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, Gadādhara Paṇḍita
was waiting. Śrīnivāsa Ācārya anyhow reached there and
Gadādhara Paṇḍita asked him, “Go and fetch a good copy of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
My, mine is lost. The aksara has been hazy by the tears of my eyes. You
can’t, you won’t be able to read it. The letters have been half washed. So, get
a fresh book.”
He went away to fetch a fresh book and when he reached there, already
passed, Gadādhara Paṇḍita passed away. But though he left the
world, but his good will was there. And through Mahāprabhu’s command
Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, automatically, he was the best
scholar of the Bhāgavatam of the day, Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita.
Because Mahāprabhu willed and Gadādhara Paṇḍita willed it
so, anyhow it was effected there.
So, many may come. I may not, I may be withdrawn. Ha, ha. What? He knows
it well. Or if He likes He may keep me for time more.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
All the colleagues are departing day by day. And I am living a solitary
life almost, almost a solitary life. Many a time I think of them. These past days
were such and such glorious, and now almost darkness approaching. But still,
the presence of you all in so many numbers, that has created another form of
light and hope that Mahāprabhu is there.
[Raghunātha] Dāsa Goswāmī, after the departure of Mahāprabhu,
left Puruṣottama kṣetra, went to Vṛndāvana with
aggrieved heart that Svarūpa Dāmodara and Mahāprabhu Himself,
Gadādhara Paṇḍita, they all departed, the darkness came down.
He went to Vṛndāvana with a broken heart. But there he found
Mahāprabhu in Rūpa and Sanātana.“Here is Mahāprabhu. So
energetically and enthusiastically they are carrying out the orders of
Mahāprabhu.” Such intense way that he found Mahāprabhu is here in a
living way. They are distributing Mahāprabhu to the world. So
Mahāprabhu is here. He could not die. Though he thought that, “I shall do away with my life,”
but he could not do, because, “Here is
Mahāprabhu.” In the living, enthusiastic attempt of the direct service of
Mahāprabhu he found there. And not only that, the disappointment was
removed and he himself began his new life there, and has given, composed so
many verses, and given the highest jewel to the sampradāya.Ke?
...
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, when I first came
here, you told me to collect medicine and then distribute medicine; not simply
be a collector of medicine. So I would like to stay here collecting, but I am
feeling that I should also begin some distribution.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, side by side.
Dhīra Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: Yes, and then I’ll return for more
collection.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right.
Utilise me.
We heard from our Prabhupāda that, “I cannot do it myself. So many
friends have come to me to help me in the discharge of my duties. I should do
all these things myself, but because I am not fit for that, Kṛṣṇa
has sent so many friends to help me in that action.”
That is the real conception of the Vaiṣṇava, at least our
Guru varga. They gave us to look at things in this way. When they look
to the real plane, then find that everyone has got a separate, sacred soul. By
construction everyone belongs to Kṛṣṇa only and none else. So
they have come to help under different garb, the different colour they have
come to do the service of their Lord. The svarūpa-śakti is
engaging them of different status to help her duty, in the discharge of her
duty to serve Kṛṣṇa, to serve Kṛṣṇa, līlā,
to partake into līlā. Everything is for Himself, Hegelian
language, “For Itself, for Itself, for Himself. Everything is for Himself.” So,
that is sacrifice. Sacrifice everything for His satisfaction. That is the main
current of thought and purity. The highest type of purity is there, the
surrender to the Autocrat. And when the Autocrat is the absolute good, beauty,
love, harmony, ānandam, and don’t be miser to deal with Him. You
will be deceived there. Wholesale
giving: not giving exactly, realised
that we are His property, to see that, to look at that. That He’s our master,
He can make or mar. He’s in a position to do anything He likes with us: such a
master.
mārobi rākhobi yo icchā tohārā, [nitya-dāsa prati tuwā
adhikārā]
[“Slay me or protect me as You wish, for You are the master of Your
eternal servant.”]
[The Songs Of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, p 13]
The surrender of such quality can save us,
give us eternal life and healthy life. When we live under such, we breathe in
such atmosphere, that He has got full right over us to make or mar, mārobi
rākhobi. Such quality, not sacrifice the surrender to realise that we are, we belong to Him. And the realisation must be of such degree of purity. Purity, and that will be
the degree of holiness will also increase accordingly, purity and holiness.
Purity and holiness: of same order. Ordinary purity is not purity proper. It
must come to the standard of holiness, divinity, the purity.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Tat
paratvena nirmalam.
Purity is nirmal. Tat paratvena, as much as we realise that we are meant for Him, according to that degree the purity
will increase. Tat paratvena nirmalam. Devaṛṣi Nārada
said: Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ, what is otherwise, that must be
banished, vinirmuktaṁ. Tat paratvena nirmalam, an innermost
understanding that we fully belong to Him, as a type of slave, the purity is
there, as much adherence. As much as faith in Him, that is the standard of
purity. Tat paratvena nirmalam, whatever thing has got such standard of
position; so much that is pure and divine and holy, perfect.
[sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ], tat paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ
bhaktir ucyate]
[“Pure devotion is engaging all the senses
in service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa who is the Master of the
senses. In such service, one is totally free from all relative conceptions of
material self interest (upādhis), with senses purely engaged in the
service of Kṛṣṇa.”]
[Nārada Pañcarātra] & [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu Pūrva-vibhāga, 1.10]
It does not mean that that realised position is an abstract one. Not that. Hṛṣīkena
hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ. All your constituent parts of
your spiritual body: that will be utilised.
They are not your enemy. The enemy is in the nature of engagement, not in those
that are doing some function, not there. They should not be eliminated at all.
But only the nature should be changed. Everything will be gold. From iron it
will be converted into gold. From mud it will be converted into gold. But
everything will be retained; only the nature to be changed.
bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād,
[īśād
apetasya viparyyayo 'smṛtiḥ
tan-māyayāto budha ābhajet taṁ,
bhaktyaikayeśaṁ guru-devatātmā]
[“Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material
body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When
the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his
own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This bewildering, fearful
condition is effected by the potency for illusion, called māyā.
Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed
devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual
master, whom he should accept as his worshippable deity and as his very life
and soul.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.2.37]
The dreadfulness is only with; the danger is only with dvitīyābhiniveśa,
conception of a second interest; conception of separate interest from that of
the absolute centre, absolute good. That is to be eliminated; nothing else.
Everything will be kept intact and utilised
to its fullest satisfaction, fulfilment. Everything has got its fulfilment,
real fulfilment, highest fulfilment. Only the connection should be established.
When
Prabhupāda went to Madras he found in a list of books there, Long
Missing Link and he asked us to gather that book, collect that book. What
is this book, Long Missing Link? The very expression is a very sweet
one. Then when the book was presented, given to him, after reading two or three
pages, “Oh, it is not what I meant. It is not the same thing, long missing link.”
Long missing link is a very sweet expression. What in constitution we have got,
but we don’t find in our present consciousness of socalled real life. The link
is very sweet. I am repentant that I have missed it long, long ago. Bearing a
hope also: of conciliation also.
Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee: Ready.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ready? Prasāda? Then take prasādam.
Nine o’clock.
Jaya Oṁ Praṇāmas...
End of 81.08.28.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.30.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________ at first the selection will be
in, of rasa, in rasa also different group, of services. In mādhurya-rasa
there are so many groups of service, the cooking department, the bedding
department, the ornamental, and so many, the newly department, so many
departments. First, the choice of rasa, and then the department of
particular service in particular department. Then the leader of that
department, hankering for her help: that will come. And gradually the
connection will be outside helper.
At that time of course such guide will also be available to you, and you will
make advance towards the, its real...
...
Bhaktisiddhānta Ṭhākura, what did he say?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: That he was honeycombed with faults.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where is it mentioned?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: That our Śrīla Prabhupāda had mentioned.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I don’t know where he had heard that from.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Any letter or his prabhanda,
essay, article?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: When he was speaking he said.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And recorded by whom? Where have you
found? In Gauḍīya?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: No. It was just in a lecture he gave.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In a lecture?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yeah, he had mentioned that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who has noted that lecture and where you
have found it?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: It’s on one tape.
Devotee: Tape, tape recording.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ___________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Prabhupāda’s lectures taped...
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ___________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh! Your Prabhupāda. Oh! What did
he say? Then Bhaktisiddhānta Ṭhākura, you say?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ____________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I have not come direct in connection
with such expression from our Prabhupāda, but still, I may guess some sort
of explanation from this expression. It may be, that in my heart, in my heart,
or in me, not a simple cell, one, but variegated nature of sin, or crime, and
they have got their own compartment. So many varieties of crimes in me, and
with their compartment it is a complicated thing, my heart, the abode of
complicated sins, not one, or two or three, so many cells, and they’re
containing different kinds of sin, crime, etc. That is meant by, maybe meant by that expression; that my heart is like a
honeycomb. So many quarters, different cells there, and so different types of
sin are living in, so encased, different encasement; compartments. So many compartments
and different types of sins are living there.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari. Gaura Haribol. So the heart may be compared, ones
mind may be compared with a honeycomb, a beehive. Beehive, honeycomb means
beehive?
Devotees: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Different types of pleasure, there is, madhu means
honey, so different types of pleasure is quartered in those cells and my
different nature wants to taste of that honey of different infinite nature of
sense pleasure, mainly sense pleasure, honey. And of variegated nature and so
many; and I am like a bee, I’m tasting
them, of different types of sense pleasure. Dharma, artha, kāma:
all these things.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi
Caitanya. Nitāi Gaura Gadādhara.
Ha, ha, ha. Honeycomb. We read Addison’s Spectators. Do you know
the name of the author [Joseph] Addison, English man? [1672-1719, essayist,
poet, playwright and politician] Addison’s Spectator, in I.A. class we had to
read that book Addison’s Spectator. There, different types of character
were mentioned, and one type of character his name was Honeycomb. Roger’s, Sir
Roger, a small zamīndār, then Honeycomb was a man of seeking
very light pleasures, seeker of light pleasures, not, never in any...
...
...keep it in our mind. The environment is not blind. Ha, ha. His
vigilant eye, and the vigilant eye of my Gurudeva, is always there, always
there. So I may not be discouraged about my promotion.Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Devotee: I heard from Venkatta [Bhāratī Mahārāja] yesterday that you have said that there
are a few very difficult subject matters of
understanding in Vaiṣṇava philosophy. There is Guru tattva,
Dhāma tattva, and Śiva tattva.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śiva tattva, yes. Guru tattva,
bhedābheda.
sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair,
uktas tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ
kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya, [vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam]
[“In the revealed scriptures it is declared
that the spiritual master should be worshipped like the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, and this injunction is obeyed by pure devotees of the Lord. The
spiritual master is the most confidential servant of the Lord. Thus let us
offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of our spiritual master.”] [Śrī Śrī Gurv-aṣṭaka, 7]
In the beginning the Lord is Guru. And gradually when we find
differentiative character then we come to conclusion, the most beloved servitor
of Him, it is His function in every rasa. In vātsalya rasa
the highest ideal, the sākhya rasa the highest ideal: in different
departments different ideals also. The highest servitor in the particular
department, He really does the function of Guru, in
every rasa. That we’ll come to know when by our nearer approach. But generally we are to take on the Lord is Guru. That is a hazy
conception of Guru, the Lord, sākṣād-dharitvena
samasta-śāstrair.
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān,
[nāvamanyeta
karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guru]
[“One should know
the Ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should
not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all
the demigods.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.17.27] & [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 1.46]
“I am there, Ācārya, I am your Ācārya. And then it
will be found I am in your Ācārya. Then, My particular function is
there. And what particular function? According to your inner capacity, the
highest member of that department, he will be your Ācārya, you’ll
see.”
Gradually when we’ll go nearer and nearer, we have got, we should have,
the specific nature of Guru, when greater
progress. In the beginning the Lord, including His svarūpa śakti
representative. In many places in the śāstra, Bhagavān:
Bhagavān means with potency, but that is not mentioned. Kṛṣṇa
mentioned, Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, without potency. Then
clear vision will disclose that there is the potency. Then further progress
we’ll see potency’s importance, towards me is more important than He Himself.
So this is Guru tattva, Guru means God in many places God is
Gurudeva. Then again, we are to understand, “No. His potency of higher type is
Guru.” In this way, the complicated thing.
And Śiva also: sometimes he’s a devotee, he plays the part of a
good devotee, and sometimes revolting, the master of māyā, and
encourages so many demons against Viṣṇu by giving them boons. In
this way: binya binya [?]Different aspects, combination of different
mentality.
And Dhāma, the full of favourable things for the service,
but ostentatiously, outwardly we see so many anti things there, anti things.
The Braja Dhāma, or Navadvīpa Dhāma, of our ideal,
there will be all serving, loving, serving, concentrated towards
Mahāprabhu, Gaurāṅga, ________[?] But here we find so many anti
devotional groups, and they are always ridiculing the Vaiṣṇava, in
this way, all these things. Still they’re Dhāma vāsīs. We
are taught to show our general respect for the Dhāma vāsīs.
But what, this is the nature of the Dhāma vāsīs? How to
harmonise with that? How to harmonise with that? In Navadvīpa Dhāma,
of our ideal, how sweet, how generous, how divine it should be, and what we
practically meet. Still, we cannot neglect it altogether. We took the dust of Dhāma
on our head. But so many men, so many animals are coming, the dog is coming
to bite me, and the man is coming to chastise me, the rickshaw wallah always
charging, blaming me. This we find ostentatiously is the nature of Dhāma.
How to make, how to adjust this Dhāma with that Dhāma?
Then what is this? In this way we have adjustment, the adjustment we are to
reach.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee: Just like the swan, haṁsa, he would just...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Haṁsa. Diva vivam bumam yat
[?]
From water it will take the milk. When we shall reach in a particular
plane, suppose, Gaura Kiśora Bābājī Mahārāja,
Guru of our Prabhupāda, Guru Mahārāja, he, halfclad in a
bearded, nasty appearance, out for bhikṣā, so many children
after him throwing some dust and also saying something ill: “What bābājī,
where do you go?” In this way belittle him.
And he says, “Kṛṣṇa, You are at the bottom of all
these disturbances. I’m going to Yaśodā and I shall file a petition
against You.”
Devotees: [Group laughter]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “That with these games You have come to
disturb me. I’m just going to Yaśodā.” So this is harmonised in his
statement, how. How?
tat te 'nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo,
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
[hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidhadhan namas te, jīveta
yo mukti-pade sa dāya bhāk]
[Lord Brahmā said: “One who, in the hope of achieving Your grace,
goes on enduring the inauspicious fruit of his own karma, and passes his
days practising devotion unto You in every thought, word, and deed - such a
person is heir to the land of freedom: he attains to the plane of positive
immortality.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.14.8]
That is also eliminated, ātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam,
eliminated. Fully established in Braja līlā, and what is
coming against him he’s adjusting in that way.“You are at the root of all these
things. I’m going just to Yaśodā and I’ll lodge a complaint against
You. You have been too turbulent.”
Ha, ha, ha. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.This
adjustment we come to know from them.
Nitāi Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Ke?
Devotee: Kṛṣṇa Balarāma Prabhu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where is that Madan Mohan Prabhu?
Devotee: He’s gone to take bath in Gaṅgā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: His hair cutting finished?
Devotee: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right.
Nine to nine thirty, that will be the real auspicious time.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
I have got a poem for Gaura Kiśora
Bābājī Mahārāja.
sadā harer nāma mudā raṭantaṁ, gṛhe
gṛhe mādhukarīm aṭantam
namanti devā api yaṁ mahāntaṁ, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
kvacid-vrajāraṇya-vivikta-vāsi, hṛdi
vraja-dvandva-raho-vilāsī
bahir virāgī tv avadhūta-veṣī, namo
namo gaura-kiśora tubhyam
kvacit punar gaura-vanāntacārī,
surāpagā-tīra-rajo-vihārī
pavitra-kaupīna-karaṅka-dhārī, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
...
[The full poem]
[Śrī Śrīmad
Gaura-Kiśora-namaskāra Daśakam]
[Homage unto Śrī Śrīmad Gaura Kiśora
Bābājī Mahārāja]
[Composed by Śrīla
Śrīdhara Mahārāja]
...
(1) guror guro me
paramo gurus tvaṁ, vareṇya! gaurāṅga-gaṇāgragaṇye
prasida bhṛtye dayitāśrite te, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[O Divine Master of my Divine Master, my most venerable preceptor, you
are supremely worshippable in the group of the foremost associates of
Śrī Gaurāṅga. May you be gracious upon this servitor
surrendered unto your loving servitor (Dayita Dāsa). O Gaura Kiśora,
again and again do I make my obeisance unto you.]
...
(2) sarasvatī-nāma-jagat-prasiddhaṁ,
prabhuṁ jagatyāṁ patitaika-bandhum
tvam eva deva! prakaṭī-cakāra, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[O worshipful one, you alone revealed my Lord and Master, who is
renowned throughout the universe as Śrī Bhakti Siddhānta
Saraswatī, and who is the only friend of the fallen souls of the world. O
Gaura Kiśora, again and again do I make my obeisance unto you.]
...
(3) kvacid-vrajāraṇya-vivikta-vāsi,
hṛdi vraja-dvandva-raho-vilāsī
bahir virāgī tv avadhūta-veṣī, namo
namo gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[Living in solitude at Vraja Dhāma, your heart was absorbed
in the most secret pastimes of the Divine Youthful Couple of Vraja, whilst
externally you maintained the strictures of a renunciate; and sometimes you
appeared to transcend all recognised
strictures. O Gaura Kiśora, again and again do I make my obeisance unto
you.]
...
(4) kvacit punar
gaura-vanāntacārī,
surāpagā-tīra-rajo-vihārī
pavitra-kaupīna-karaṅka-dhārī, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[Sometimes you roam about the edge of Gauravana (the boundary of
Śrī Navadvīpa Dhāma), wandering along the beach near the
banks of the Gaṅgā. O Gaura Kiśora, who dons the holy
loin-cloth and carries the mendicant’s water-pot, again and again do I make my
obeisance unto you.]
...
(5) sadā harer
nāma mudā raṭantaṁ, gṛhe gṛhe
mādhukarīm aṭantam
namanti devā api yaṁ mahāntaṁ, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[Ever singing the holy name of Śrī Hari with great ecstasy and
accepting alms from house to house like a bee collecting honey from flower to
flower, you are the great soul unto whom even the demigods bow to. O Gaura
Kiśora, again and again do I make my obeisance unto you.]
...
(6) kvacid-rudantañ
ca hasan naṭantaṁ, nijeṣṭa-deva-praṇayābhibhūtam
namanti gāyantam alaṁ janā tvāṁ, namo
namo gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[Becoming overwhelmed with love for your worshipful Lord, sometimes you
dance, sometimes you cry, sometimes you laugh; and again, you sing aloud. The
people profusely offer their respects unto you, O Gaura Kiśora, and again
and again do I make my obeisance unto you.]
...
(7) mahāyaśo-bhaktivinoda-bandho!,
mahāprabhu-prema-sudhaika-sindho!
aho jagannātha-dayāspadendo!, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[O friend of the glorious Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda, O matchless
ocean of the nectar of loving devotion for Mahāprabhu Śrī
Caitanyadeva, O moon that received the grace of Vaiṣṇava
Sārvabhauma Śrī Jagannātha, O Gaura Kiśora! Again and
again do I make my obeisance unto you.]
...
(8) samāpya
rādhā-vratam uttamaṁ tvam, avāpya
dāmodara-jāgarāham
gato 'si rādhādara-sakhya-riddhiṁ, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[Completing the great holy vow of Ūrjja-vrata, you selected
the day of the awakening of Śrī Dāmodara to achieve the
cherished treasure of your internal identity as a sakhī devoted to
the service of Śrī Rādhikā. O Gaura Kiśora, again and
again do I make my obeisance unto you.]
...
(9) vihāya saṅgaṁ
kuliyā-layānāṁ, pragṛhya sevāṁ
dayitānugasya
vibhāsi māyāpura-mandira-stho, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[Forsaking the company of the residents of Kuliyā town to accept
the service of your servitor Śrī Dayita Dāsa, your divine
presence is now found in a holy temple at Śrī Dhāma Māyāpura.
O Gaura Kiśora, again and again do I make obeisance unto you.]
...
(10) sadā
nimagno 'py aparādha-paṅke, hy ahaitukīm eṣa kṛpāñ
ca yāce
dayāṁ samuddhṛtya vidhehi dīnaṁ,
namo namo gaura-kiśora tubhyam
[Although I remain deep in the mud of offences, I (a fallen soul) am
begging you for your causeless mercy. Please be gracious and deliver this soul
bereft. O Gaura Kiśora, again and yet again do I make my obeisance unto
you.]
........
A poem: to Gaura Kiśora Bābājī Mahārāja.
Nitāi Caitanya.
sadā harer nāma mudā raṭantaṁ, gṛhe
gṛhe mādhukarīm aṭantam
namanti devā api yaṁ mahāntaṁ, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol.Guror guro me paramo gurus tvaṁ. At last,
vihāya saṅgaṁ kuliyā-layānāṁ,
pragṛhya sevāṁ dayitānugasya
vibhāsi māyāpura-mandira-stho, namo namo
gaura-kiśora tubhyam
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Nitāi
Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya.
Devotee: We have to accept you as madhuri rūpa. (The form of sweetness)
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha. That is, all rights
reserved by Guru Mahārāja. It is his. He may extend, he may withdraw.
Everywhere it is the very nature of Vaikuṇṭha sampāda is
such. The wealth of Vaikuṇṭha is like that, flickering, so we
should be very careful to keep up. That is not mine. This belongs to my Gurudeva: in this way. Then he will extend it in
me, it will keep extended in me. Otherwise it will be withdrawn at any moment.
So fine, so subtle, so sensitive, this sort of feeling or conception or
experience, what you may say, it is very sensitive, very sensitive.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.So the safe position
is, “No, it does not belong to me, it belongs to my Gurudeva, and he has
extended for the time being to me. I am to look after.” That is the key to keep up that position, to keep up us in that
level.
Our Guru Mahārāja told, “The highest form of service, our Guru
Mahārāja, Bābājī Mahārāja, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
they discharged this sort of duty, of higher type. And we are to follow their
direction. Even we do not venture to stay very near. We shall do the service,
the allotted service, and then we shall come back, and in some lower position
we shall stay. We cannot stay along with them, along with our Gurudeva. So
attend our Gurudeva, their highest position in Rādhā-kuṇḍa,
and we must come, a lower level, little, or nearby, because we have to attend
their command, so we must be at available distance, near in Govardhana.”
Govardhana, we shall take our stand and always be eager for the call that may
come any moment from Rādhā-kuṇḍa, for particular, to help
particular service. But we shall always select our position of living in a
lower standard, not in the same plane with them. Them means Gurudeva, our Guru,
Vaiṣṇava.
pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge, [mattala hari-jana viṣaya range]
[“The path of divine love is worshippable to us and should be held overhead
as our highest aspiration.”] [Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura]
That is the key to success. Always keep it at respectable distance over
our head, rāgapaṭha.
sakhyāya te mama namo 'stu [namo 'stu nityam]
dāsyāya te mama raso 'stu [raso 'stu satyam]
[Vilāpa-kusamāñjali, 16]
“I sincerely pray for the servant’s duty, not that of a confidential
nature which is discharged by the friendly section.”
We should understand the real purpose of this attitude. That is a very
paying business, very practical solution. Pūjāla
rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge, a very happy expression, and
a very useful expression also: pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava
bāṅge. Very sweet, very, very sweet: pūjāla
rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge. The whole tenor of our Guru
Mahārāja, of the nature of his service is here. Not only for him, but
he has extended to all.
“Come under the banner of such nature of thought about the divinity, and
your success is ensured, and your position will be safely secured.”
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. _____________________ Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said, "The divine feet of
Rādhā Govinda, the sole object of our service, where is his real
position? Just on the head of my Gurudeva. Just on the head of my Gurudeva,
above Gurudeva. That nondifferentiated Guru from Kṛṣṇa, and
inseparably connected also with Gurudeva. There are many. The
Māyāvādīs, they worship Guru, but not the Lord. There are many who make too much of Guru, eliminating Gaurāṅga,
and others. But ours is the creed that Gurudeva, and on his head; that yugala,
or Mahāprabhu there, on his head. He’s the highest servitor; Mukunda preṣṭha. The final conception of Guru as Mukunda preṣṭha, Gaura preṣṭha,
Rādhā preṣṭha. That is the final conception. He’s always on the head of my
Gurudeva. Very near, and holding the respectable
position. The highest position in Him, or in Her, that is there only I can see
that. I want to see that Kṛṣṇa. Not arādhā Kṛṣṇa. Even without Guru, I
don’t want to see Kṛṣṇa, or Rādhārāṇī,
without my Guru. If Rūpa Mañjarī, I am there, without Rūpa
Mañjarī I won't approach Rādhārāṇī directly, or
Kṛṣṇa without Rādhārāṇī. In this
way our thought; that will be healthy thought, a wholesome progress. Otherwise
a very hazy and very hurried progress is no progress. One will have to retard,
retardation, the prey of retardation, and misfire. We’ll miss the object of our
adoration. So very carefully, always with the guidance of our Gurudeva on our
head and heart, we shall try to move. Just as in Bhagavad-gītā
it is mentioned always, “Don't be too hurried, don't be too slow, in every
case. Don't take food much, and not also less, so yukta.
yuktāhāra-vihārasya, yukta-ceṣṭasya
karmasu
yukta-svapnāvabodhasya, yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā
[“For a person who eats, relaxes, and exerts himself in all duties in a
regulated way, and who keeps regular hours in proper measure, the practice of yoga
gradually becomes the source of dispelling all worldly suffering.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
6.17]
That is the key to success. Not haste, and not too slow. That should be
our motto of life.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya.
Nitāi Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Gaura
Haribol.
Nitāi, Gaura, Gaurāṅga will keep up on the standard, on
the layer, on the plane, by repetition of Gaurāṅga, with the memory
of Gaurāṅga, we can float on the plane. And by Nityānanda, by
taking His grace in our memory, we can also float us in the jurisdiction of
Gaurāṅga. So it is necessary now and then, to invoke Their mercy, so
that I may be allowed to float on the surface where I am at present. It is
Their mercy that can keep me afloat in this plane of thought, because it is
Their property. Jīva vibhinnāṁśa. As a matter of
right, the jīva cannot demand all these resources; a matter of
right. That is by Their grace. The adopt-ability
is with the jīva. As jīva has got adopt-ability in the māyic world, the world of
exploitation and renunciation, so jīva has got the adopt-ability, the jīva soul. And this is extended, and he
adopts within himself. Thinking that, ''This is the property of my Gurudeva.
Any moment it may be withdrawn if I commit any offence; may be withdrawn. By
most, by great fortune that I have got the chance of serving this divine
personified, of love, beauty, etc.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Mahāprabu says, “Generally the meaning of the Bhāgavata
ślokas, and its details may not come to Me, naturally. But when
excited by the audience, their ruci, then it comes.”
So the environment has got a very important part to play, for which
Rādhārāṇī hankers. “I have got that Kṛṣṇa
here, but I am not satisfied, rather dissatisfied. That Vṛndāvana is
necessary. The Vṛndāvana has got his part to play. Without that We
are nothing. We are only mourning our past days in Vṛndāvana.”
Vṛndāvana is necessary. The paraphernalia has an important
part to play in everything. In our discussion, or meditation, or preaching, or
expression, the height of thought all depends on the environment.
It is mentioned somewhere that Kṛṣṇa was requested to
repeat His advices of Bhagavad-gītā. He told, “No, I can’t deliver it now. That paraphernalia of Kurukṣetra,
that drew out Bhagavad-gītā from Me. And now, it is not so
easy for Me to express it again here, to repeat. The circumstance is
necessary.”
So, Gītā has got its peculiar paraphernalia,
environment, everything, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, all. Kṛṣṇa
is not alone. He is with His parṣada, His Dhāma.
Sva parsada sviya dhama saha avatari. Dham
saha. [?]
Raja means His general, His minister, His palace, all these.Hare Kṛṣṇa.Time
is up.
Devotees: Śrīla Śrīdhara Deva Mahārāja ki
jai!
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
...
Myself also, because the words, not my command; master of me. What I
told you, it is not under my command. It’s also above me, transcendental, I
also...
Once Prabhupāda told, when he, from Vṛndāvana he came to
Gaya. I was with him, and he went to, invited, went to a big man's place there,
and delivered Kanada lecture. And so beautiful, new things came out, that I was
feeling very much disturbance that I cannot note them. So much so, that I could
not attend his lectures also deeply. Only I felt much disturbance to get a pen
and paper. Then, I felt very much uneasiness, because I could not note those
words. Then I came out.
And Guru Mahārāja told, his word was to me, “You are gober gaṇeśa.”
That is Gaṇeśa made of gober. Gober means cow dung. Not a
real Gaṇeśa composed of earth. (Laughs) Gober Gaṇeśa.
“You could not note these things, these thoughts which came. Even I felt
necessity of going through them afterwards.”
What thought? He gave explanation of that particular śloka of...
Satya vratam satya param satya yoni__________________________________________[?]
That person
whose house he went to visit, he was some satya upasak, they’re
technically known as the section who worship satya. Then what is the
conception of satya?
Mahāprabhu, and
Rādhā-Govinda, Navadwīpa, that is the highest conception of sattya.
Sattya means, not an abstract conception of law and rules of some
transcendental type. Sattya is such. What is the relation of Kṛṣṇa
and this sattya? That he was to explain. And he told that the thoughts
that came at that time, he also wants to see it, what was inspiration, what was
revealed in his heart at that time. He wanted to see. That was unknown to him.
At least he said like that, told like that. “That they are stranger to me, but
they passed through me, and I want.”
So fine, then I had both sentiments.
I was very much mortified that I could not note them, at the same time, I had
some inner satisfaction that I could appreciate those points. Those extraordinary
higher points which were delivered then, I was very much disturbed that I could
not note them. So, I had the capacity of appreciating the highness of those
higher sentiments. That was my satisfaction. There is some inner element in me
that can appreciate so much high, what our Guru Mahārāja also wants
to have in them, to consult in the second time. That was my satisfaction here,
and at the same time I was mourning all through that I could not keep it for
the public. And what our Guru Mahārāja also wanted to, I also wanted
to see them again, what came through, passed through me.
So, we are an instrument. It is the property. It may not stay in a
particular plane always. By our negotiation, it may care to come down, and to
particular persons, very rarely to be found, few and far between. Gaura
Haribol. That is, in other words, it is the wealth, it is the property of our
Gurudeva, and never mine, ours. That should be. Pūjāla rāgapaṭha
gaurava bāṅge.
End of 81.08.30.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.30.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...the ear engagement and eye
engagement.
____________________________________________________ [?]
Devotee: ...something about the four nāmābhāsa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nāmābhāsa, yes. Sānketyaṁ,
parihāsya, stobha, helanam.Sānketyaṁ, when we handle
one thing and another thing comes out of that. That is meant, meaning goes to
another place. We hit in one place and the sound is in another; in this way. Sānketya.
And that is the famous case of Ajāmila, sānketya
nāmābhāsa. Ajāmila first hit his son, his last son, he
was playing when Ajāmila was half unconscious, in his coma stage. Suddenly
he found three awkward and dangerous figures before him, and they had put a
thread or a rope around his neck and drawing it. Then
he suddenly opened his eyes and found, or in a mental vision. He was
frightened, and could remember that a little while ago, his son, youngest son
named Nārāyaṇa, he was playing, so his first attention was
drawn to his son.
“He may come and save me from the hands of these furious figures.” But
suddenly it came to his mind, “What that little boy will do with these furious
figures?”
Then helpless, and at once, from the name Nārāyaṇa, the
sound, from that sound the God Nārāyaṇa, Lord Nārāyaṇa
came to his mind. He began thinking of his son Nārāyaṇa, but,
he cannot cope successfully with these dreadful figures, so it took him to the
Lord Nārāyaṇa. And as soon as his heart touched the feet of
Nārāyaṇa, the sound Nārāyaṇa, the Lord
Nārāyaṇa is meant, no sooner, four persons came down, these parṣada.
They are four deva-dūta, Vaikuṇṭha dūta,
from the plane of Vaikuṇṭha, four came down. Their appearance very
soothing, and awe-inspiring, and was sympathetic. As soon as those four came
down, the atmosphere changed from dreadfulness to a peaceful atmosphere.
They challenged these three representatives of Yāmarāja, “Why
are you here?”
They told: “The last moment of Ajāmila drawing near, and he was a
very grave sinner, worst sinner, and we have come to take him to our lord so
that he may receive proper punishment there.”
“What do you say? Didn't you listen just now to his pronunciation of the
name of Nārāyaṇa?”
“Yes, we heard.”
“Still you are waiting here; for what
purpose?”
“Yes, he has taken the name Nārāyaṇa, what does it
matter? A great magnitude of sin whole life he has committed and of various,
serious types, and only once Nārāyaṇa, what is that there?”
“O you fellows, you do not know the śāstra. Do you know
what is pāpa, what is puṇya? Do you know?”
“Yes, we know.”
“Then what is dharma? Veda pranihito dharma. What is
written in Veda for us to adopt; that is dharma. Then, have you
not found that if one can take the name of Nārāyaṇa, he’s
absolved from all the sins of his previous life?”
“No, we don’t know that.”
In this way, a sort of fight went on between the two, a debate, and they
were vanquished.
In a commanding tone they told, “Go to your master and inform him, that
he has pronounced the word Nārāyaṇa anyhow. So his jurisdiction
has changed. Whatever little sin he may possess, even now, the jurisdiction has
changed. Now, that will be considered in the court of Nārāyaṇa,
not here in your master’s jurisdiction, karma-kāṇḍa. It
is finished. Go, and tell him, you do not know all these things.”
Then they went away and told their master.
Master said, “What they have said it is all right.
But such cases are very rarely found, so we did not feel it necessary to teach
you all those things, very rare case. If further you find in future such
persons, you please show my namaskāra, my respect to them.”
Now, all these things, this talk, the argument, all, this Ajāmila
heard. And when the Yāmadūtas were gone, the Viṣṇudūtas
also went up.
Then he was left alone, “What is the matter? I was a brāhmaṇa’s
son. I used to do these holy practices, but suddenly my mind fell into a
trap, and I deviated from my former life, into a life of a debauch. And for a
long time I committed so many offences and sins, crimes, that has got no end.
Now in my last days only I took the name of Nārāyaṇa, and such
a wonderful thing happened. So, Nārāyaṇa is there, religion is
there, devotion is there, everything is there. No longer am I to participate in
my former life.”
He arose and started direct to Haridwar. Speaking nothing to the family
went straight to Haridwar. And there he began [chanting] Nārāyaṇa,
Nārāyaṇa.
The emancipation, the liberation by only one Nārāyaṇa, nāmābhāsa,
the sinful tendencies of his whole life disappeared, and he got mukti,
but not any engagement in the service of Vaikuṇṭha, not bhakti,
simply mukti, liberation. Liberation from the negative side: but not any
positive merit so that he may be taken into the internal portion of Vaikuṇṭha.
He went to Haridwar, and there began to take the name of Nārāyaṇa
and when time came, those four persons, Viṣṇudūtas, came to
him with a chariot, and took him there in Vaikuṇṭha, it is
mentioned in Bhāgavatam.
So nāmābhāsa means this is sānketyaṁ.
The son was the excitement, the cause of excitement to him to go to Vaikuṇṭha
conception of Nārāyaṇa. This is sānketyaṁ.
And this is liberation, ābhāsa mukti, not bhakti, not sevā
prāpti. One may not gain any serving engagement, but only emancipation
from the negative side, the sinful, exploiting nature, released, sānketyaṁ.
Parihāsya. One thing I should say in this connection, that nāmābhāsa,
if we take any way it will produce nāmābhāsa, there is no
guarantee. Sometimes it may be, sometimes may not be. It depends upon the sweet
will of the Lord. It may come in a way, or it may not come, maybe crime,
offence, nāmāparādha. Because sānketyaṁ -
parihāsya, in a sporting mood to, in a mild way, to ridicule any
person, parihāsya, in a laughing. One is going on with Hare Kṛṣṇa,
another gentleman may remark, “O you are a great devotee. Suddenly you have turned to be a devotee, and you are taking Hare Kṛṣṇa
Hare Kṛṣṇa?” Not out of his own
necessity, but only to cut a simple joke to his friend, he says so. “You are a
great devotee I see, always saying Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.” Parihāsya.
Sānketyaṁ,
parihāsya, stobha. Stobha
may be an awkward imitation; says Hare Kṛṣṇa [as] “Hori
Keeshna, Hori Keeshna.” In this way:
Devotee: _______________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: ____________________________________________ [?]
Negligently imitate, very negligently with
figure of awkward shape: “Heri Kisna, Heri Kisna,” very negligently make
imitation of a devotee, and despise, may be stobha.Another meaning also
is that in music we may sing Gaura Nitāi, Gaura Nitāi; that is also
called stobha, sometimes.
And helanam; helanam means without
any attention, no attention, only through slack habit. Suppose one is rising
from the bed and yawning: “Hare Kṛṣṇa,” in this way, yawning.
Not devotedly, attentively, or any spontaneous, automatic without attention,
some intuitive, some reflex action. That is helanam.
And also sometimes to take the name hatefully, that is also meant.
Because the example is given such: Once a Mohammedan, he was attacked by a
boar, a swine, and he suddenly cried out aloud, Haram Haram[abominable, abominable]Haram
means that boar,
hog, swine. Haram Haram - Ha means sometimes vocative term. Rām means
Rāmacandra. Haram, total, Haram means that hog, but Ha Rama
when disconnected it means, “O Rāma.” So by Ha Rama it maybe Ha Rāma.
This came to his mind, though hatefully or fearfully Haram Haram, being
afraid of the boar, Haram Haram, but there was nāmābhāsa
in that particular yavana, mleccha, Muslim. There was also nāmābhāsa.
But so many they are saying Haram haram, but it is not always nāmābhāsa.
In particular case it so occurred that in that case it became nāmābhāsa,
and the Muslim he got liberation. It is written in Purāṇa.
They are eye witness. They could see, and they have recorded it, that only by haram,
that is for the hog and he got liberation.In this way, sānketyaṁ,
parihāsya, stobha, and helanam.
madhura-madhuram-etan-mangalam mangalanam
sakala-nigamavalli-sat-phalam cit-svarupam
sakrdapi parigitam sraddhaya helaya va
[bhrguvara naramatram tarayet krsna nama]
[The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is the sweetest of the
sweet and the most auspicious of all auspicious things. It is the
self-effulgent and beautiful fruit of the Vedic desire tree. When the holy name
is uttered once without offence, either attentively or inattentively, it
immediately ensures the deliverance of all human beings from the bondage of
illusion.][Hari-bhakti-vilasa,
11.234] & [Skanda-Purāṇa]&[Gauḍīya
Kaṇṭhahāra, 17.41]
Either with faith or hela, with indifference, with indolent
nature, it might have been pronounced. In such cases we find sometimes that one
gets the advantage of nāmābhāsa and attains liberation. Nāmābhāsa-mukti.
It can sever our connection with the negative side. But it can give the
passport, but not the visa. Not admission to enter into the realm, that is
reserved for the agents of Vaikuntha, that is sādhu. It is reserved
for them to enlist and to issue visa. This is nāmābhāsa.
Stobha, helanam, four kinds of nāmābhāsa.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
sāṅketyaṁ pārihāsyaṁ vā,
stobhaṁ helanam eva vā
vaikuṇṭha-nāma-grahaṇam aśeṣāgha-haraṁ
viduḥ
[“One who chants the Holy Name of the Lord is immediately freed from the
reactions of unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly - sānketyaṁ
(to indicating something else as in the case of Ajāmila who called for
his son by the Name of Nārāyaṇa), jokingly - parihāsya,
for musical entertainment - stobha (to use the Name with some other
intention; Jīva Goswāmī has taken advantage of this in his book
of Sanskrit grammar, the Harināmāmṛta-vyākarana;
when one is playing the mṛdanga drum, using the Names Gaura
Nitāi, Gaura Nitāi to represent different drumbeats), or even
neglectfully - hela (when we are rising from bed in the morning
sometimes, we may neglectfully say Hare Kṛṣṇa; in this way we
may cast off our indolence). This is accepted by all the learned scholars of
the scriptures.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 6.2.14]
Anyhow it must
have connection with Vaikuṇṭha, nirguṇa, must come in
connection with the relativity of the infinite, of the Absolute. If any
connection with this mundane, that is aparādha. Any achievement,
any aspiration connected with this mundane world, the land of exploitation,
then aparādha. But vaikuṇṭha-nāma-grahaṇam
aśeṣāgha-haraṁ, must have connection with Vaikuṇṭha,
kuṇṭhasane. That is infinite, nirguṇa. Some
connection anyhow must come, touch of nirguṇa, then it effects
liberation. Otherwise it will be aparādha. Vaikuṇṭha-nāma-grahaṇam
aśeṣāgha-haraṁ viduḥ, and then
śuddha-nāma. Śuddha-nāma.
nāmno 'sya yāvatī
śaktiḥ pāpa-nirharaṇe hareḥ
tāvat kartuṁ na śaknoti
pātakaṁ pātakī janaḥ
[“Simply
by chanting one Holy Name of Hari, a sinful man can counteract the reactions to
more sins than he’s able to commit.”] [Bṛhad-Viṣṇu
Purāṇa]
&
[In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 6.2.7, purport]
The negative
side, negative entanglement is nothing to one who has got some taste for the
Vaikuntha Nāma, aśeṣāgha-haraṁ viduḥ. Nāmno 'sya yāvatī
śaktiḥ pāpa-nirharaṇe hareḥ / tāvat kartuṁ
na śaknoti pātakaṁ pātakī janaḥ. One has not the capacity to do any amount, any quantity of sin,
which only one Vaikuṇṭha Nāma can wash away. Only a
flash of a second of Vaikuṇṭha Nāma can do away with
all the charm of this sinful world. The world of exploitation, give and take,
the world of to eat on loan, to enjoy on loan, on debt, here. Enjoyment means
to incur debt in the world. Aśeṣāgha-haraṁ viduḥ.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
______________________________________________________________________[?]
He cut jokes; one brāhmaṇa cut jokes with Haridās
Ṭhākura.
When Haridāsa Ṭhākura told
that, “The only real consequence of taking the Name, real Name, one gets bhakti,
service, in Vaikuṇṭha, and by nāmābhāsa, not
pure Name, but only by nāmābhāsa one can attain mukti.”
Then the brāhmaṇa boy, he could not tolerate this
idea. He told, “What does this
fellow say? Mukti is such a great and high thing.”
Koti janme brahma jnane, brahmasmi brahmasmi vedanta anusidan [?]
[koṭi-janme brahma-jñāne yei ‘mukti’ naya / ei kahe, — nāmābhāse sei ‘mukti’ haya”]
[“After many
millions upon millions of births, when one is complete in absolute knowledge,
one still may not attain liberation, yet this man says that one may attain it
simply by the awakening of a glimpse of the holy name.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Antya-līlā, 3.194]
“Tat tvam asi,
I am Brahman. If by crores of lives, if we meditate in this way,
hurriedly we can attain emancipation. And this fellow, this Mohammedan chap, he says that only by nāmābhāsa one
may get that mukti.”
So Haridās Ṭhākura said, “But it is written in the śāstra,
you who are known to śāstra, you have got any knowledge of the
scriptures, you may __________________________ [?]
Haridās Ṭhākura quoted one śloka, and tried
to substantiate his own version to prove.
But that brāhmaṇa boy, his name perhaps Gopāla or something, he became furious and abused him very much.
Then Haridās Ṭhākura he felt pain and came away.
And that brāhmaṇa’s son was - a great curse came down,
came upon him, and within a few days he was attacked with leprosy because he
insulted a śuddha-bhakta, Haridāsa
Ṭhākura in such a way. It is written there, Caitanya-Bhāgavat
perhaps.
So nāmābhāsa, the slight tinge, slight connection,
a hazy connection of the Lord and His magnanimous Name may do away with all our
sins of innumerable lives. It is possible. So great, and this is so meagre. So
the Lord says:
daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī, mama
māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante, māyām etāṁ
taranti te
[“This "trimodal," supernatural, (alluring) deluding energy of
Mine is practically insurmountable. However, those who fully surrender
exclusively unto Me can certainly surpass this formidable fantasy.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
7.14]
“In comparison to you, the jīva soul, the māyā
is immensely powerful, so you cannot fight with māyā, in
direct hitch. But mām eva ye prapadyante, if you come to take
refuge, if you surrender to Me, the māyā will be afraid of Me,
but māyā won’t care for you. If you go to give a fight with
her direct she won’t care.”
But, so it is in Gītā,
the direction has been given to us.
“Come to Me, and māyā will automatically go
away. I’m infinite, she’s finite, and you are a molecule of finite. So, your
real way will be to come to Me and not to begin coming in connection with a
direct fight with her. That will be your waste of energy. But you take this
process, and in no time, and without much energy you will come smoothly from
out of māyā, illusion, misunderstanding, misconception, and
you will get a proper conception. A little you advance towards the proper
conception, misconception automatically goes away, vanishes; can’t stand. So māyā
means misconception, and the proper conception is with Me, Īśāvāsyam.
Īśāvāsyam: that is the very gist of the proper
conception. Everywhere, My presence is there. I am everywhere, I am all in all,
I am your master, I am the master of māyā also.”
So very little of such knowledge is enough to drive away the
misconception, the misconceived experiences may vanish very easily.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, are there also different stages of dhāmābhāsa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Just as nāmābhāsa,
Dhāmābhāsa. Nāma, Dhāma, kāma.Everything
may have... ābhāsa means as a hazy
connection, hazy estimation. Not a proper estimation, not having a view of
anything with differentiation, discrimination, distinction, but a haphazard,
vague impression of anything, that is ābhāsa. Dhāmābhāsa.
Dhāmābhāsa, which is not Dhāma proper, but has
got some remote connection with Dhāma, that may be considered as Dhāmābhāsa.
Dhāma proper is where devotion begins, and just this side, the
beginning, where the vague appearance or perception of that Dhāma,
and not proper conception, that may be Dhāmābhāsa.
Brahmaloka we may say to be Dhāmābhāsa. Brahmaloka may be
something like Dhāmābhāsa. Just outside Dhāma,
not Dhāma proper. Dhāma means where the divine service
begins. Just before we can enter, we are admitted into Dhāma, only
the verge, the halo of Dhāma. That may be called – although such
term we have not yet found in any place, any scripture, Dhāmābhāsa.
But still, Dhāmābhāsa may be told to be located like that
in our estimation. Not the proper thing, but a ray, a halo, the outward hazy
expression of a particular thing, that is its ābhāsa. Rūpābhāsa,
Guṇābhāsa, ābhāsa. Just as the evening may be
considered to be the ābhāsa of night, and morning the ābhāsa
of the day, sunrise: not the proper beginning, but just before the
beginning. This stage: that may be called ābhāsa.
Rūpābhāsa, ābhāsa.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mahārāja, Lord Caitanya prays: Nāmnām
akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis, tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ
smaraṇe na kālaḥ.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi,
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ.
[nāmnām akāri bahudhā
nija-sarva-śaktis, tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na
kālaḥ
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan
mamāpi, durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ]
[“O my Lord, Your Holy Name bestows auspiciousness upon all. And You
have unlimited Names such as Kṛṣṇa and Govinda by which You
reveal Yourself. In Your many Holy Names You have kindly invested all Your
transcendental potency. And in chanting these Names, there are no strict rules
concerning time or place. Out of Your causeless mercy, You have descended in
the form of divine sound, but my great misfortune is that I have no love for
Your Holy Name.”][Śikṣāṣṭakam, 2]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: What is the condition?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That my previous activity, that the
accumulation of nirguṇa or sukṛti is poor. Bhagya means
sukṛti, accumulated previous sukṛti, durdaiva. Durdaiva
means the circumstantial nature is not allowing, the circumstance, the
environment. ‘You are ready to extend Your grace, Your
kindness, but the environment, the circumstance as I have acquired by my
previous endeavour, previous life, is not allowing me to accept that, to get
that. Not any blame can be put on Your side. Your every action is faultless and
full. But if I do not get, the fault must be, the defect must be in my part.
You are perfect. You are gracious. You are affectionate. There is no defect on
Your side. But still, I do not get, it is due to my own defective position.’ Must be searched out. Must be searched more accurately, where
lies the seed of that misfortune. This should be our guiding star, when we
start in the way of devotion, always blaming myself, and none else. Then the
dawn of good fortune will come in no time.
tat te 'nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo,
[bhuñjāna
evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidhadhan namas te, jīveta yo
mukti-pade sa dāya bhāk]
[Lord Brahmā said: “One who, in the hope of achieving Your grace,
goes on enduring the inauspicious fruit of his own karma, and passes his
days practising devotion unto You in every thought, word, and deed - such a
person is heir to the land of freedom: he attains to the plane of positive
immortality.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.14.8]
Don’t try under any circumstances to put blame to others. Not even to
speak of the Lord, not even to any persons. The whole charge, whole
responsibility, take on your shoulder, your head. And then you will get a
shortcut road, the shortest cut. In no time you will be absolved from all
difficulties. That is the key of Vaikuṇṭha, the key to Vaikuṇṭha.
‘The whole filthy
things within me, the Vaikuṇṭha vision is very nearer. I am to be
blamed. I am surrounded by perfect.’
That can help us most, because that sort of experience from four sides will
enter me and purify me. And if we are habituated to see blame on the other,
that will come again in me. Just as there is a proverb, if we spit upwards, it
will come on me. So if we want to put blame on others, the reaction will come
within me again. So we are asked not to see anything bad outside, but
everything within you: and that will help you the most to purify you. Because
He is present everywhere and no mistake in Him. No want of justice in Him. He
is perfect. He is all right. If
anything wrong, that must be in me.
Gaura Haribol, Gaura Haribol Gaura Haribol, Gaura Haribol.
Tat te 'nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo,
bhuñjāna...
Nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis,
niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ.
Mamāpi, durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani.
In Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's Bengali translation:
[1] tūhu doyā-sāgara tārayiti prāṇī,
nām aneka tuwā śikhāoli āni
[2] sakala śakati dei nāme tohārā, grahaṇe
rākholi nāhi kāla-vicārā
[3] śrī-nāma-cintāmaṇi tohāri
samānā, viśwe vilāoli karuṇā-nidānā
[4] tuwā doyā aican parama udārā,
atiśoy manda nātha! bhāga hāmārā
[5] nāhi janamalo nāme anurāga mor,
bhakativinoda-citta duḥkhe vivhor
[1] O Lord, You have brought Your innumerable holy names to this world
and have taught the chanting of them to the fallen living beings just for their
deliverance; therefore You are an ocean of mercy and compassion.
[2] You invest all Your energies in Your holy name, and on the chanting
of Your holy name You have not placed any consideration such as time or place.
[3] Your holy name, which is like touchstone, is non-different from You.
You have distributed Your holy name throughout the creation, and that is the
essence of Your kindness.
[4] Such is Your great mercy O Lord, but I am extremely unfortunate.
[5] My attraction and love for the holy name never came about; therefore
the heart of Bhaktivinoda is overwhelmed with sadness.]
[Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's Bengali translation of Śikṣāṣṭakam,
2, from The Songs of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, p 133-4]
“Your grace is so infinitely spacious, tuwā doyā aican
parama udārā, atiśoy manda nātha! bhāga
hāmārā, but from my side, no qualification to draw Your
grace towards me. That is the difficulty.”
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol, Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Who is there? O, Viraha Prakash Swāmī. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Vyenkatta Prabhu. Akśayānanda Mahārāja. Mahāmuṇi
has no connection with anyone of you? He’s full in himself!
Devotee: Yes.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, once, Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura,
he had said that he was honeycombed with fault.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Honey come?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: With fault, dosh; honeycombed with fault.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Fault?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Honey come?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Honeycombed with fault.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He will honey come?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: No, he was honeycombed with fault.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Honeycome, what’s the meaning of
honeycome?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Honeycomb is like momashi [?] momachi [?]
______________________________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I’ve heard the word but I can’t remember
the real meaning.
End of 81.08.30.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.30.C_81.08.31.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...describing them.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.Cowardly papers!
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, Maybe you could elaborate on one point.If
we find fault in another person or in some other personality, if that will
eventually come back to us?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, that will come back to us.
Connection with faults, through that connection the influence, the
contamination will come here. But like a guardian if you want to remove it
affectionately, it may not come.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I read, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he had
mentioned that para doṣa anu sandan as being one of the parts of prajalpa
or unnecessary talk.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Generally prajalpa or idle talks,
the subject matter of idle talks generally becomes para doṣa anu
sandan, finding fault with others. That is generally the subject matter of
our idle talk, para doṣa anu sandan - finding faults with others,
in others. But when a guardian he tries to analyse
his affectionate child or disciple, the fault, and to point out it to them for
correction and with a sympathetic and graceful eye, then it may not come to
him, but he is pure enough. When any nurse is going to attend an infectious
disease, patient, the infection may naturally come
in us, but if he’s well guarded it may not come to him. And he’s conscious of
the poisonous nature of the disease and he’s very careful that he tries to
remove that poison from the body of the patients. And with guarded mind and
dress, so the poison, infection may not come to him.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, there was one thing I heard once, that the
chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
these two things must be taken together. And that the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa
alone, that will have some effect, but without the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that knowledge must be there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not only Bhāgavatam then
that presupposes bhakta-Bhāgavatam also. Sādhu-saṅga, Nāmakīrtana, sādhu-saṅga, want of sādhu,
living scripture, then that passive scripture, sādhu-saṅga
hari-nāma ei matta jai.
[sādhu saṅga kṛṣṇa nāma ei
matta jai, vaikuṇṭha nāma grahaṇam aśeṣāgham
haraṁ vidun]
[“The Holy Name must be taken with the attitude of service to the
saints. Serving means die to live; to throw oneself wholesale for the higher
existence.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
6.2.14]
So with the association of the sādhu:
when sādhu is not available then of course with scripture, śāstra.Ke?
Devotee: Paraśurāma.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Paraśurāma. And there are that
Kṛṣṇa Balarāma?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: No. Viraha Prakaśa Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Are they gone to market?
Devotee: Yes, gone to market.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Paraśurāma did not go?
Devotee: No, he’s here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Only those two?
Devotee: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.To take Name under the guidance of asādhu, a man of higher realisation, then there may be so many obstacles, oppositions, difficulties on the way, and with his help they may
be removed. So the guidance of the sādhu has been advised to be
indispensable almost. But when sādhu is not available then śāstra
comes.Mahāprabhu says:
sādhu saṅga, nāma-kīrttana,
bhāgavat-śravaṇa
mathurā-vāsa, [śrī-mūrttira śraddhāya sevana]
[“Association with the pure devotee, chanting the Holy Name, hearing the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, residing in Mathurā Dhāma,
and faithfully worshipping the Deity.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 22.128]
That is dhāma-vāsa. Śrī-mūrttira
śraddhāya arcan, śreṣṭha ei pañca aṅga.
[sakala-sādhana-śreṣṭha ei pañca aṅga,
kṛṣṇa-prema janmāya ei pāṅcera alpa saṅga]
[“These five limbs of devotional service are the best of all. Even a
slight performance of these five awakens love for Kṛṣṇa.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.129]
And if only one to be accepted then Nāma
kīrtana; kīrtana
means to chant loudly. That presupposes that with some, with a company, to
someone I am saying, or in congregation, saṅkīrtana.
Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu has given the interpretation of saṅkīrtana,
bahubhir militvā yat kīrtanam tad eva saṅkīrtanam, not
alone, but in a group. To talk about Kṛṣṇa, that is saṅkīrtana.And
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura also warns, “Don’t join any type of imitation saṅkīrtana.
At least one leading man must be there who is a śuddha bhakta.
There is cholera and the great epidemic. Some people they want to go on with Nāma
saṅkīrtana; that is aparādha. Nāma,
Bhagavān, they want Hari to remove away all these inauspicious things from
the world. Sakām, that is aparādha. A śuddha
bhakta, a pure devotee must not associate with him when such a saṅkīrtana
is going on. So at least one pure devotee must be in the group then one can
join that saṅkīrtana.” In this way Bhakivinoda Ṭhākura
has warned. The guidance must take place under śuddha
devotee, pure devotee, that nirguṇa. Who does not want anything mundane but
the grace of Hari. That type of vibration must be present there. And that will
help me in my subtle-most plane of self, my nirguṇa aspect, and
awaken then.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari.
Gaura Hari. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
So, PramāṇaMahārāja, may we stop here today? Are
you going tomorrow?
PramāṇaMahārāja: Tomorrow.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When?
PramāṇaMahārāja: In the morning, about eight o clock,
nine o clock.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nine o clock train. So in the morning we
can have another sitting.
PramāṇaMahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right.
You’ll go to Calcutta direct?
PramāṇaMahārāja: Yes, and then to Delhi.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tomorrow you must go...
PramāṇaMahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ... or you can wait tomorrow
also?[Background laughter] Hare Kṛṣṇa.
PramāṇaMahārāja: My desire is to go so that I can come
back very soon.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh! You’d like to come very soon.
PramāṇaMahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He’s hopeful. Ha, ha. Gaura Haribol.That
Jayatīrtha Mahārāja also told the same thing, “That whenever I
feel any weakness, at least after a month I shall be here, and gather strength
and go.”But no trace, no letter, no trace. What he is doing? He’s a little weak
minded man perhaps, as I hear, I am told. Let Mahāprabhu save him. He has
taken sannyāsa in the holy place where Mahāprabhu accepted His
sannyāsa, Katwa.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
PramāṇaMahārāja: I promise you a weekly report.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Weekly report, oh, every week you
will send a letter?
PramāṇaMahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right,
let us see.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Paraśurāma Dāsa: Mahārāja, can I ask you
something?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, yes. Gaura Haribol.
Paraśurāma Dāsa: My Guru is Śrīla HaṁsadūtaMahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He is Paraśurāma?
Devotees: Yes.
Paraśurāma Dāsa: So, in Berkeley I have heard many things
against my Guru: statements, criticisms. So my position I feel is very weak.
Now my faith has been shaken.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, he’s a very good man. And devotion I
found in his heart, unshakable. So if you have any respect for me, you don't be
suspicious about him, he’s a good man, and in the line of devotion.
They, Jayapataka Mahārāja wrote a long letter to me. “Such and
such things have happened. I consulted Bhāvānanda Mahārāja,
he told me to consult with you. And what is your opinion about the things that
have happened in this way.” Elaborate letter.
I told through a person that I don't like to say anything before I meet
him, I want to know what happened. So again I had some world news. “What is
your opinion in such?”
“He wanted sannyāsa,
and ultimately, we have not forced, but reluctantly we gave sannyāsa.”
Still I told
that I want to hear from him first without making any remark.
Then anyhow, through Caru Swāmī, Jayatīrtha
Mahārāja was taken from Purī here direct. And his wife and
child, son, were left in Calcutta. I heard from him and I also wanted his wife
and son to be here. And they were also brought here. I consulted, what’s the
matter?
I had some apprehension that Swāmī Mahārāja as a gṛhastha
delegated him for Ācārya position. So he might have thought that
the ISKCON, the present managing committee has thrust on him and in some
uncareful moment he has accepted that. But that should not be continued. What
Swāmī Mahārāja has given, my Gurudeva, I must stick to
that. I enquired, I found that something like that there. So I told him, anyhow
when once you have taken up this role of sannyāsī, the
Ācārya proper, so many Ācāryas mostly are sannyāsīs.
And you have, in any way you have once accepted sannyāsayou should not go back formerly. To go back, that won't look
well.
So he told, “What is your opinion?”
I said, that you must, once accepted, you must retain that. Then,
otherwise it will be to put a bad name in the ISKCON, that is your blaspheme of
your illustrious Guru Mahārāja, your Prabhupāda. Then he agreed.
Then I had to convince his former wife also.
She’s a good lady. She also told in details what happened. And I asked her, did
you come before your marriage?
“Yes.”
To come to satisfy him?
“Yes.”
You came to get the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa?
“Yes.”
Then you are to, for Swāmī Mahārāja, you are to
sacrifice your best beloved object for the cause of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, I think. And Kṛṣṇa will look after you. He’s
not a bankrupt, not bankrupt, so He will look after you. You sacrifice, give him
up for fighting. He’s a general, one of the big generals, fighters in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. I heard he has got a good name in his propagation. So it must
not be taken back.
In the beginning of course she wept, shed tears. But anyhow felt
encouragement through my words and advice. The boy also shed tears, cried. I
also encouraged him, and the mother, and they finally accepted my advice.
Then I asked, this came in my mind, that you give a letter to your
previous sannyāsaGuru
Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja and in anticipation and you go to
Katwa where Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa. So Caru
Mahārāja and Govinda Mahārāja, I sent them with him, went
straight to Katwa. And there after taking bath in the Ganges there in the place
where Mahāprabhu took His sannyāsa. The place is located
there. It is marked. There he took again his former sannyāsa dress.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ____________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ____________________________________ [?]
HaṁsadūtaMahārāja? Oh, I mistook, I’m going in
another way. HaṁsadūtaMahārāja is also a good man. He’s
very sincere and he’s very firm in his faith, unflinching adherence to his
Gurudeva, Swāmī Mahārāja. But he may not always be of the same opinion with the present GBC or Ācārya. That difference
may not be a very grave thing, that he will be undermined. I don't think like
that. He’s a good devotee.Those that are doing such, so, they are committing
offence.You never undermine, think lower about
your Gurudeva. He’s a good devotee. If you have got any faith in me, you must
stick very firmly to him.
Paraśurāma Dāsa: Mahārāja, what is the position
of the disciple who has heard blasphemy of their Guru and his faith is shaken?
What should he do?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That sort of association should be
avoided. Some others also came to me beforehand. I asked them not to mix with
them. Still they come to spread poison. You must avoid as much as possible,
otherwise leave the place.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ____________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.Two
disciples came here Rahugana, Rādhā Govinda.HaṁsadūtaMahārāja,
a great thinker and very bold.He revolted, and Bhāvānanda
Swāmī, Caru Swāmī, and Tamal Kṛṣṇa came
to me and I gave something on tape requesting him to deal very mildly with
these three. And they went there and some compromise was effected, I heard.Gaura Haribol.You may not mind or attend all those
criticisms against your Gurudeva. You try to avoid that. And you may write to Haṁsadūta Mahārāja also, “What I am to do
here? I am dealt in such a way.” Any other God-brothers
you have here, or are you alone?
Paraśurāma Dāsa: There is Mahāmuni, who is staying
here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mahāmuni is here.
Paraśurāma Dāsa: Yes.
Devotee: But with you?
Paraśurāma Dāsa: No, not with me.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He does not know you? He’s not
acquainted with you, Mahāmuni?
Paraśurāma Dāsa: Yes, we are God-brothers, we know each other from Berkeley.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh, you know each other. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Paraśurāma Dāsa: I’m wondering now Mahārāja, if
I should take up some service in Vṛndāvana with the Gurukula, or if
I should stay longer and hear from you, for purification of all these
criticisms?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You write to your Guru
Mahārāja, and what he directs, what direction you get from him, you
do accordingly. You write direct to him, and what he wants you do, you will do
that.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Devotee: According to our imperfect considerations, we think we should
leave this morning. What is your consideration?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha. You can spare, you can, you
have no time, you may do.
Devotee: What about your plane reservation?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śravaṇa, kīrtana,
both things together simultaneously should continue, to attain the place of
propaganda that is also necessary.
satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ, yatantaś ca dṛḍha
vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā,
nitya-yuktā upsāsate
[“Disregarding the purity or impurity of time, place, and circumstances,
those great souls are constantly absorbed in singing or narrating the glories
of My Holy Name,
form, qualities, pastimes, and paraphernalia. They are attentive to the
irrevocable and conclusive definition of My nature, personality, and
expansions, and they strictly follow the rules and regulations for taking the Holy Name and
observing holy days such as Ekādaśī. Following all the practices
of devotion beginning with offering obeisances unto Me, the devotees, earnestly
longing for their eternal relationship with Me in the future, worship Me by the
path of engaging in My transcendental devotional service.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
9.14]
To receive and to distribute: both equally important.
Devotee: ____________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The sale of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, to purchase and to sell. To collect and to distribute, the
current, the current business of Kṛṣṇa consciousness; that is
what is necessary. Preaching makes us fit to hear. While preaching we face many
new problems and then hearing will be more perfect, to enquire especially on
those points and newly regard. So constant
thing,śravaṇa, kīrtana,
śravaṇa, kīrtana,
the rolling business, that is more fruitful, rolling business. Take and give,
take and give, be mediator. The river with current, the current water is more
pure, more pure, current water. So the current should be kept always. Not
stagnant but current. To listen, ever new, and to distribute also, to preach,
to speak, if it is current, it is a living thing, and it will show its ever new
characteristic. Prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ.
[ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ
bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ
vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ
pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate
śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam]
[“The Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa cleanses the mirror of the
heart and extinguishes the fire of misery in the forest of birth and death. As
the evening lotus blooms in the moon’s cooling rays, the heart begins to
blossom in the nectar of the Name. And at last the soul awakens to its real
inner treasure - a life of love with Kṛṣṇa. Again and again
tasting nectar, the soul dives and surfaces in the ever-increasing ocean of
ecstatic joy. All phases of the self of which we may conceive are fully
satisfied and purified, and at last conquered by the all-auspicious influence
of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.”] [Śikṣāṣṭakam,
1]
Always it will
seem to be a new thing, thing of new colour, never stale, never stale,
nava-yauvana, always showing new phases, new phases. It is not a finite
thing. The infinite characteristic will be maintained. Ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ,
almost antagonistic, Ānandāmbudhi, the ocean of joy and again
that is increasing every moment. And then, prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ,
at every step we experience new joy. New type, ever green, ever new, always
progressing: as if always progressing. How infinite can make any progress,
where is the room? But still its nature is such, always progressing, showing
new and newer phases, always.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Nitāi Caitanya Dayal.
So divine, for
preaching, that is also not to be ignored. We must do that. That will help us
again to collect capital. The kular,
the need, the hunger, should be kept up, should be maintained, hunger, to hear,
to indent, hunger, to indent goods. And preaching, the distribution, that will
help us a great deal for indenting new goods.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Devotee: If we can engage them at least in nāmābhāsa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What does he say?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nāmābhāsa. His
will, we don’t know. We must attempt our best. This is in our side. We look to
our faith and leaving the rest to Him. He’s infinite, and He is benevolent,
gracious. He will look after that. Na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt
kaścid, durgatiṁ.
[pārtha naiveha nāmutra, vināśas tasya
vidyate
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid, durgatiṁ
tāta gacchati]
[“O Arjuna, son
of Kuntī, the unsuccessful yogī does not suffer ruination
either in this life or the next. He is not deprived of the pleasures of the
heavenly planetary systems in this universe, nor is he denied the chance to
personally see the Supersoul in the divine realm. This is so, O dear one,
because a person who performs virtuous actions never becomes ill-fated.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
6.40]
If we are sincere, the backing must come. We don’t know, none, no Vaiṣṇava
says that, “I am chanting śuddha Nāma.” They’ll all say, “This
is nāmāparādha.” Not always nāmābhāsa even.
“What capacity I have got? I am the meanest of the mean.”Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
avatāra nāhi kahe – ‘āmi avatāra’, muni saba
jāni’ kare lakṣaṇa-vicāra
[“An actual incarnation of God never says, ‘I am God,’ or ‘I am
an incarnation of God.’ The great sage Vyāsadeva, knowing all, has already
recorded the characteristics of the Avatāras
in the śāstras.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.354]
Avatāra, the incarnation of the Lord, when He comes here,
He does not say, “I am Avatāra,” generally. But the ṛṣis are
there according to the calculation of the śāstra. “This time
one Avatāra should come, we find in scripture, so He’s Avatāra. These
are the signs of Avatāra found in Him.” It is the duty of the
Ācāryas to say that one is Avatāra or not, from the śāstra.
It is already given by the Lord.
A Vaiṣṇava does not say and cannot say that I am a Vaiṣṇava.
He says, “I am trying to become the servant of a Vaiṣṇava.” So much
he can assert, practically, “I want to be a servant of a Vaiṣṇava,
Vaiṣṇava dāsa. My aspiration, my highest end to become a
servant of a Vaiṣṇava, I want that, nothing else. So many
disturbances in mind, they are opposing me to reach my goal that I shall be a
servant of Vaiṣṇava, so many obstacles there.”That will be the real
line of thinking of a true Vaiṣṇava. We are told also like that and
we feel also like that. Hare Kṛṣṇa. We will always keep in
mind that we are going to deal with the infinite, the absolute. Absolute. So
whoever will assert that, “I have got it,” that is a very doubtful, bogus thing, we may take it safely. Those that assert themselves to be big, we
must be suspicious about him. Because the very nature of things requires:
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā,
amāninā mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
[“One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than
a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is
qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.”][Śikṣāṣṭakam,
3]
[ayi nanda-tanuja] kiṅkaraṁ, patitaṁ
māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ
vicintaya
[“O son of Nanda Mahārāja, I am Your eternal servant, yet
because of my own karma, I have fallen into this terrible ocean of birth
and death. Accept this fallen soul and consider me a particle of dust at Your
holy lotus feet.”] [Śikṣāṣṭakam, 5]
“Just consider me, very kind of You to consider me the dust in Your
feet. Vibhinnāṁśa.”
mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke, jīva-bhūtaḥ
sanātanaḥ
[manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi,
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati]
[“The soul is a part of Me (as My separate fragmental particle or
potency). Although he is eternal, he acquires the mind and five perceptual
senses, which are parts of material nature (as creations of māyā,
My deluding potency).”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 15.7]
“Not direct part, vibhinnāṁśa, taṭasthā-śakti,
I am a particle in Your marginal potency. So like a dust in the feet. Not even
the similar, an atom of the flesh, not that. Not the flesh of the feet, not sajatiya,
but vijatiya, vibhinnāṁśa, as a
dust of the feet. Please consider me to be so. My highest ambition is there.”
That is the direction we get
from our masters. Try to think in this way if you want to approach and make a real progress towards the absolute. You must couch your
endeavour in such a way. Then you will be able to hit the point.Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.But imitation always should be avoided. Without
sincerity everything is bogus. Sincerity must be there, whatever
____________________________________________ [?]
Be simple, be unassuming, be sincere. Then
everything will be bogus, to imitate that I am a sādhu, then it’s
gone. Don't try to imitate, copy. But really try to be so and don't try to copy
the external movements of a sādhu. The inherent, the inner thing
try to reach and try to acquire the innermost thing. Try to enter into the
heart of a Vaiṣṇava and not his figure nor dress. It is difficult
of course to enter into the heart of a Vaiṣṇava. There is the temple of the Lord. And try to connect with and get a drop of
nectar which is within the heart of a Vaiṣṇava, that rasa, a
drop of that rasa of high quality and divinity.Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Raso vai saḥ, rasaṁ labdhānandī
bhavati.
[raso vai saḥ. rasaṁ hyevāyaṁ
labdhānandī bhavati
ko hyevānyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt yadeṣa
ākāśa ānando na syāt eṣa hyevānandayati]
[“Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the embodiment of all ecstatic
bliss; He is the reservoir of all pleasure. Having derived ecstasy from Him,
the individual souls become blissful. For, who indeed, could breath, who could
be alive if this Blissful Lord were not present within the hearts of all souls.
He alone bestows ecstasy.”] [Taittirīya Upaniṣad, 2.7]
After all we want pure rasa, ānanda. That is our quest. And
we are told that is in the service of the rasa Himself. Rasa is a
person, akhila-rasāmṛta-murtiḥ. Everyone is in quest
for rasa. The status of rasa is the highest. So if we are person,
we have got subjective existence, rasa
has got His
super-subjective existence. He is a person. He is akhila-rasāmṛta-murtiḥ.
He is Kṛṣṇa. Rasa is Kṛṣṇa. There
cannot be rasa in any other place but in Kṛṣṇa, the
highest conception, the source. The fountainhead of all rasa of
different type is only in Him. So, by nature of our construction, we have to
search after Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇānusandhāna.
That will be the type, the nature of a normal person here, kṛṣṇānusandhāna.
Just as brahma-jijñāsā in Vedānta, in Vedānta-sūtra
we find brahma-jijñāsā, enquire after the supreme cause of
this world. Search what is the supreme cause.
yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante, yena
jātāni jīvanti
yat prayanty abhiṣamviśanti, [tad brahma tad vijijñāsa]
[“The Supreme Brahman is the origin and shelter of all living beings.
When there is creation, He brings them forth from their original state, and at
the time of annihilation, He devours them. After creation, everything rests in
His omnipotence, and after annihilation, everything again returns to rest in
Him.”] [Taittirīya Upaniṣad, 3.1]
Wherefrom all has come and where it
is maintaining its existence, how, by whom, and ultimately where do they enter
after death. That is Brahman, the most
fundamental plane. Wherefrom everything is springing up and remains and then
enters. That is Brahman. Enquire after the
prime cause, the all-accommodating, athāto brahma-jijñāsā,
the bhrihatama, the biggest thing, all accommodating.
And Mahāprabhu replaced that, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
replaced that with kṛṣṇānusandhāna. That brahma-jijñāsā,
that is a dry thing. That is only the exercise of your thinking faculty,
jugglery of reasons. But leave that away! Begin kṛṣṇānusandhāna,
your heart’s thirst quenched to try to quench the thirst of your heart,kṛṣṇānusandhāna. Rasa
jijñāsā. Raso vai saḥ. The things acquired by your reason won’t satisfy you. The jñāna,
the knowledge cannot quench your thirst, really. The rasa, the ānanda,
that is a separate thing. So instead of brahma-jijñāsā, you
accept kṛṣṇānusandhāna.
kāhāṅ mora prāna nātha
muralī-vadana, kāhāṅ karoṅ kāhāṅ
pāṅ vrajendra-nandana
[Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said: “Where is my beloved Kṛṣṇa?
I can't tolerate His separation. Where is the Lord of My life who is playing
His flute? What shall I do now? Where should I go to find the son of
Mahārāja Nanda?”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 2.15]
That should be the way of our march, slogan. “Kṛṣṇa,
where is Kṛṣṇa? I want to...
My real want has been discovered and it is to get the service of Kṛṣṇa,
and no brahma-jijñāsā, nor Paramātmā ānusandhāna.
The yogīs, they’re trying to enter into the details in the minutest
part of the world, aṇor aṇīyān, what is
controlling the whole from within. That is the object of quest of the yogīs,
what is controlling from within, Paramātmā. And the jñānīs,
from where everyone is coming, and everything is coming, and everything
maintained, and again everything enters, what is that thing? That bhuma vastu,
Brahman.
And devotees, they want, what my heart, what is the demand of my innermost
heart? I want to satisfy that quench. I do not care to know where am I, and
what is controlling, but I really want to quench my thirst for rasa, for
mādhurya, sweetness...
End of 81.08.30.C_81.08.31.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.31.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...search after rasa, ānandam,
beauty, charm; and not calculative knowledge like Paramātmā.Nahi
gopi yogesva pada kamala tomar dhani kori paibe santosh [?]
The gopīs are saying to Kṛṣṇa in Kurukṣetra:
“Anyhow You want to control us by quoting the scripture which is meant for the jñānī
and the yogī, but we are not that type. Please excuse us. You
know it fully well we’re not that type of jñānī and yogī.
We’re servants. Service is our life. So if you kindly manage to come within us
and accept our service, then only we may be satisfied. No other alternative for
us. So if You like to save us then You must come to our – in close connection
and to accept our hearty service of Yourself. That is the remedy. No other
remedy we have got. You are recommending of course we are hearing. But that is
all outer ear exercise. Something like that. It is not hitting the target, real
point.”
So they’re, kāhā kṛṣṇa prāna
nātha [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
2.15], the search after rasa, and neither for knowledge, nor who is the
controller of this world, to know that, kṛṣṇānusandhāna.
And also to teach others to come in the same camp of kṛṣṇānusandhāna.
Don’t misdirect you. The proper direction of the śāstra is
this. Mahāprabhu, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has taught us
what to beg, what to pray, what to want. They have taught us, “You want this
thing, pray for this. If you beg, beg for this thing, not for any other thing, kṛṣṇānusandhāna.” We want nothing but Kṛṣṇa, nothing but Kṛṣṇa,
even not Nārāyaṇa.
When the gopīs were wandering in search of Kṛṣṇa,
Kṛṣṇa to play a particular mood He took the shape of
Nārāyaṇa. The gopīs gave respect to
Nārāyaṇa. “Oh, He is Nārāyaṇa, yes we respect
you. We honour you Nārāyaṇa. Please be gracious and grant our
prayer that we may get the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By Your grace we
want the association of Kṛṣṇa and not Nārāyaṇa.”
When they find Nārāyaṇa, they give their namaskāram;
namaskāram - outward respect and prays from Him that, “Be gracious and
grant us our company, association with Kṛṣṇa.”
So the Vaiṣṇava, the student of Bhāgavat, and
the followers of Mahāprabhu, their fate is sealed only to go in a
particular direction in search of Kṛṣṇa. They won’t want
anything else but Kṛṣṇa. This is the...Bhāgavat has
been described as the ripe fruit of the tree of Veda. The Veda has
produced out of own accord, the fruit. What is that? Rasa. Bhāgavat
Kṛṣṇa, Svayaṁ
Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa,
Brajendra Nandan. That is the ripe product of the tree of Veda. Veda
means revealed truth embodiment. And its
inner current is producing the fruit. And the fruit when ripe it is Bhāgavatam.
So the natural gift of Veda is Kṛṣṇa, Svayaṁ
Bhagavān, natural gift. But we out of our own prejudice we try to get
something from the Veda, the tree. The animals they try to chew the
leaf, someone they will cut the wood. But the real natural product of the Veda
is producing akhila-rasāmṛta-murtiḥ. Ānandaṁ
brahmaṇo vidvān, na vibheti kutaścaneti.
[yato vācho nivarttante, aprāpya manasā saha
ānandaṁ brahmaṇo vidvān, na vibheti
kutaścaneti]
[“As one gets subjective realisation of the transcendental blissful
aspect of the Supreme Divinity, he sheds fear completely for all time. Such a
realised man of wisdom is freed totally from negative thoughts. Having his
thoughts fully attentive to the All-Blissful Divinity, he is spared from such
torture. Such is the secret doctrine.”] [Taittirīya
Upaniṣad, 11.9.1]
The natural gift of the Vedathey’re giving, the highest revealed truth is Kṛṣṇa, raso
vai saḥ, śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ loka. Through your faith
you can get that rasa of the highest order. That is the gift of all the Vedas.And
Veda Mata, Gāyatrī, she also aims at that very object. I have
tried my best to show that sort of meaning from Gāyatrī,
gānāt trāyate. By chanting which we can get liberation. And
what is the definition of liberation? Svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ,
and to engage ourselves in our innermost duty.
That is what Gāyatrī is directing towards. And the Kṛṣṇa
vamśi, that is also doing the same thing. In the highest place we
find proper adjustment.
“Be ready for My service. That is the sound. The sound gives impression or
inspiration to anyone and everyone. Come to My sweet service, engage yourself
to My sweet service.”
That is the call of the flute of Kṛṣṇa. And Gāyatrī,
Veda Mata who has produced the Veda, there also the same thing in
the seed; and that is in the fruit. What is in the seed, that is in the fruit,
and in the middle the Veda, Smṛti, Vedānta, and Bhāgavatam
at the top.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ, [śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayaṁ, muhur aho
rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ]
[“O expert and thoughtful men, relish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the
lips of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has
become even more tasteful, although its nectarine juice was already relishable for all, including liberated
souls.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.1.3]
Vyāsadeva says in the introduction of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
“What is this? What is the necessity of this new book you are giving to the
society? This is nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ. Nigama
means Veda and that is compared with a tree. And this Bhāgavatam,
its natural ripe fruit comes of its own accord. Not anything pressed, forcibly
attached with that. But of its own accord the tree is giving the fruit and the
fruit is ripe and it is Bhāgavatam. So the juice you drink, bhāgavataṁ
rasam ālayaṁ. Muhur aho rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ.
Oh! If you have real thinking capacity, a normal hankering, you must come to
drink this rasam. This is the natural product of the Veda, kalpa-taru.”
We say this Gāyatrī, gānāt trāyate. If
you chant the Gāyatrī mantram, trāyate, you will be
liberated, emancipated, and the positive conception of liberation is svarūpa
siddhi, self-determination. And in self-determination you must come in
connection with Kṛṣṇa in different rasa to get your
assured and attached service. And thereby you can imbibe the real juice to make
your life fulfilled. Your fulfilment of life is there. Everyone’s fulfilment is connected there. All your attempts otherwise
they are all fruitless labour, fruitless labour only. Only utilise your energy in the proper way to make your life successful. It
is for all; this advice from the revealed scriptures to all of us.
Śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya
putrāḥ. Oh you sons of
nectar, of nectarine ocean, sea, please listen to me. You are born in amṛta,
you were born to taste amṛta, and you must not allow yourself to
be satisfied by anything but amṛta. So anyhow, misguided for the
time being, but awake, arise, and search for amṛtam, that nectar;
that satisfaction. Oṁ, a big yes. Yes, what you are searching,
that is! Don’t be disappointed. Don’t be disappointed. What, the inner search
in you all, that exists, the Vedas say, the revealed scriptures they
say, they assert, declare, announce, that is existing. What is the common
search of all your hearts, that is existent, surely that is existing, and your
thirst will be quenched, śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya
putrāḥ. You are really meant by construction, you deserve. So
don’t be afraid, don’t be cowed down, amṛtasya putrāḥ.
In your being that thing is given, already it is there. You can never be
satisfied anywhere else but with this thing. So prepare yourself to take your,
to receive your long search, long missing amṛtam. In the full
form, full quality. No other business, no other engagement should we have but kṛṣṇānusandhāna.
Kṛṣṇānusandhāna.
Our Guru Mahārāja declared total war against this māyā.
He used to say one thing.
“The māyic reason, what strength is there?” He used thatmurgi tang [?]
The leg of a cock, apparently seems very strong, the leg of a
cock, but how much strength may be there? Only the cock moves in such a
gesture, posture, that his leg is very strong. So the māyā is
also moving with that sort of vanity. “I have got much power.” But in
comparison with Kṛṣṇa consciousness what power she may
possess? So don’t be afraid of māyā.
Śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya
putrāḥ. With that grand
tone, divine tone, the call comes from that quarter, from the divine quarter.
“Awake, arise. Search for your fortune, and you cannot but have that. It is
your birthright.” Svarupa gata
sampat. It is the wealth of your own soul. So it
is there, the relativity of the highest divinity, it cannot but be within you.
You are His creature. You exist in His connection and relativity. So you must
have some connection or other within you. So don’t be afraid of your present
position. Don’t be disappointed! In this way you are to preach to the world at
large. All come, you all want rasam,
ānandam,
ānandaṁ brahmaṇo vidvān. All the ānandaṁ
differentiated, personified in Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana,
and that is very magnanimously being distributed in Navadwīpa. So come, it
will be better to come and flock together in Navadwīpa. And we get the
ticket, then we may go to Vṛndāvana, and in Navadwīpa also we’ll find that there is the Vṛndāvana
rasa. The diet with some medicine applied, it is given here, easily
digested.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya. Dayal.
Gaurasundar. Gaurasundar.Nitāi.
Nitāi. Gurudeva. Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
______________________________________________________ [?]
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, you were talking about sajātīya
and vijātīya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sajātīya, sagata and
vijātīya, three sorts of distinction. Sagata means Kṛṣṇa,
Balarama, then Nārāyaṇa, the Avatāra of sagata.Sajātīya,
the svarūpa-śakti jīva, and vijātīya is jīva,
vijātīya māyā. Just as tree sagata, the branch,
the trunk, the leaves, the different sagata. Sajātīya, difference from any other trees, and vijātīya, the stone, earth, distinction from that of a tree: in this way sagata,
sajātīya and vijātīya. These three class of
difference we are living in the midst of.
Gaurasundar. Gaurasundar. Gaurasundar.
Gaurasundar. Gaurasundar.
Gaura Haribol.Nitāi Caitanya.
Nitāi Caitanya.
[Bengali (?) conversations for about 1:15 minutes]
...
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, maybe you could elaborate on how it’s necessary to get the mercy of Navadwīpa Dhāma before
Vṛndāvana Dhāma.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: First we must try to approach
Nityānanda Prabhu. He’s the Lord of Navadwīpa Dhāma. To
secure any ticket, His permission is first necessary. And there are others
also. Advaita Prabhu, Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita, so many
others. There is another group who comes from Narahari Sarakara Ṭhākura,
but mainly Nityānanda Prabhu.
nitāiyer koruṇā habe, braje rādhā-kṛṣṇa
pābe, [dharo
nitāi-caraṇa du 'khāni]
[“It is by Lord Nityānanda Prabhu’s grace that we may be allowed to
worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana.”]
[From Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura’s Manaḥ-śikṣā,
from Prārthanā]
Who is the real conception of Mahāprabhu here. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa
combined in Navadwīpa, Śrī Gaurāṅga. Only
Rādhā-Govinda combined, distributing Themselves, engaged in
distributing Themselves, that is Gaurāṅga. The innermost existence
of Gaurāṅga is that. And the outer and partial representation of
Him, that gives HariNāma, Kṛṣṇa Nāma,
Yuga Avatāra and this is Avatārī. Avatārī Gaurāṅga
and Avatāra Gaurāṅga. Avatāra Gaurāṅga who
distributes Kṛṣṇa Nāma, the Name to the world,
and every Kali-yuga He comes once. And Avatārī Gaurāṅga
combined, Rādhārāṇī, only once in the whole day of a
Brahmā, not every Kali-yuga of the jīva section; that Svayaṁ
Bhagavān. Kṛṣṇa also comes once in one day of
Brahmā, Hare
Kṛṣṇa, which
is known as kalpa. Yuge yuge kalpe kalpe.Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, that’s the same personality, Avatāra
and Avatārī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Partial representation, limited
function; there cannot be any cut-up, separate connection, separate existence,
functional limitation.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, there was one statement in Gauḍīya-patrikā,
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura, he had
mentioned that one has to go through the medium of Tulasī Devī to
enter into Vṛndāvana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhakti Devī.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Tulasī Devī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tulasī Devī. That’s general.
In the mādhurya-rasa, in all rasa also, the relation will be
that of respect, reverence, but in mādhurya-rasa that will be very
intimate in another way. Tulasī Devī, her general help, that is most
expansive, expanding. Nārāyaṇa, Gaura, Kṛṣṇa,
all, Nṛsiṅgha. The general help we can have from Tulasī
Devī, and particular in Vṛndāvana, mādhurya-rasa.
She is naturally connected with Nārāyaṇa. And the relation with
her was established in the nature of Kṛṣṇa. The Kṛṣṇa
within Nārāyaṇa accepted her. Because she had her husband but
she was accepted by Nārāyaṇa, in her intimate service, and that
is possible only in Kṛṣṇa, parakīya. So that sort
of connection within, and external acceptance of Nārāyaṇa and
His boon towards her, that, “Your grace
will spread My devotion to anywhere,
everywhere. Who will have respect for you, he must get passport in My
domain.”Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Tulasī is like aṅgas prakāśa of
Lakṣmī Devī, plenary portion of Lakṣmī Devī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It may be. Lakṣmī Devī,
and more than that is some respect. Lakṣmī Devī could not enter
in Braja līlā proper. But Tulasī Devī could do so.
And it is mentioned in some Purāṇa, Rādhārāṇī
Herself says, when She’s questioned by
someone, “How have You got so much attraction for Kṛṣṇa?”
Rādhārāṇī told, “For a long time I served
Tulasī Devī, for a long period of My life, even in different lives.
So by her grace I have come in connection with Kṛṣṇa.”
That is spoken by Rādhārāṇī Herself. You will
find in Garga Saṁhitā or somewhere else. So Tulasī is
given that respect also by Rādhārāṇī. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Her fortune that circumstance forced Kṛṣṇa to enjoy her, demand
her inner service.
Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari.
Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, there seems to be a contradiction in Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam
that in one sense it says that one does not have to be perfect in the different
aṅgas of bhakti, but if he surrenders those different aṅgas
will automatically be attained.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is it in Sanskrit?
Devotees: Śravaṇa-kīrttanādīnāṁ
[Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, 1.40]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śaraṇāgati. No
other process of service can be perfect. Without śaraṇāgati,
there cannot be real entrance into the domain. So it will be all more or less
show. Śaraṇāgati is the very life, very essence of
devotion, so that must be present in every form of services. Without śaraṇāgati
that would be mere imitation of service and not devotion proper, it will be
a lifeless activity. Śaraṇāgati is the first condition.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So the Sanskrit says:
śravaṇa-kīrttanādīnāṁ,
bhakty-aṅgānāṁ hi yājane
akṣamasyāpi sarvvāptiḥ, prapattyaiva
harāv iti
[“Everything is accomplished by surrendering unto the lotus feet
of Śrī Hari, even for one who is unable to execute the integral
practices of devotional service based on hearing and chanting.”][Śrī
Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, 1.40]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is the Bengali?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: _______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If one is not able or has not the
opportunity of doing other services, different forms of service to Kṛṣṇa,
but only you have got śaraṇāgati, you will get
everything in the future, śaraṇāgati will give
everything. Śaraṇāgati is the basic thing, substance in
devotional world, the most fundamental. The whole structure of devotional
school is on śaraṇāgati. Śaraṇāgati may
produce them, but without śaraṇāgati they may not stand,
ātma-nivedanam. Without ātma-nivedanam, Prahlāda
Mahārāja: svātmārpaṇaṁ nigamasya satyaṁ.
[dharmārtha-kāma iti yo ’bhihitas tri-varga, īkṣā trayī naya-damau vividhā ca
vārtā]
manye tad etad akhilaṁ nigamasya satyaṁ, svātmārpaṇaṁ sva-suhṛdaḥ
paramasya puṁsaḥ
[“Religion,
economic development and sense gratification — these are described in the Vedas
as tri-varga, or three ways to salvation. Within these three
categories are education and self-realisation;
ritualistic ceremonies performed according to Vedic injunction; logic; the
science of law and order; and the various means of earning one’s livelihood.
These are the external subject matters of study in the Vedas, and
therefore I consider them material. However, I consider surrender to the lotus
feet of Lord Viṣṇu to be transcendental.”] [Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam,
7.6.26]
The whole gist of the Vedic advice is svātmārpaṇaṁ, you give yourself wholly, dedicate yourself to the Lord. And
that is the substance of all the devotional activity, give yourself, ādau arpyeta
paścād kriyeta.
[sā cārpitaiva satī yadi kriyeta, na tu kṛtā
satī paścād arpyeta]
Śrīdhara Swāmī also in his commentary about:
śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ,
smaraṇaṁ [pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ, sakhyam
ātma-nivedanam]
iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau, bhaktiś
cen nava-lakṣaṇā
[kriyeta bhagavaty addhā tan manye 'dhītam uttamam]
[“Hearing about Kṛṣṇa, chanting Kṛṣṇa’s
glories, remembering Kṛṣṇa, serving Kṛṣṇa’s
lotus feet, worshipping Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental form, offering
prayers to Kṛṣṇa, becoming Kṛṣṇa’s servant,
considering Kṛṣṇa as one’s best friend, and surrendering
everything to Kṛṣṇa - these nine processes are accepted as
pure devotional service.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 7.5.23-24]
If it is already dedicated to Him then this śravaṇaṁ
kīrtanaṁ they will get recognition as bhakti, otherwise
everything is bogus. The śravaṇa kīrtana, if I hear to
fulfil my own mundane purpose then it is no longer bhakti. If I make kīrtana,
chant, preach, tell Harikathā to make some money, then it will not
be bhakti, Whatever I shall do it is for Him. That sort of bond forced
aside will be accepted then whatever will be on that basis, that will be
recognised as bhakti. It is the foundation
where bhakti stands. Without śaraṇāgati all karma,
all jñāna, all yoga, anything else, not bhakti. Bhakti means the result will go to the
Lord, to my Lord. I am His slave, nitya-dāsa. I am His slave. I have got no independent personality, to keep any
independent property. I am wholly His servant. Whatever I shall acquire,
everything, the owner is He.
Jīvera
'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa' [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 20.108]Nitya dāsa means eternal servant;
that is slave. He can, He has got the right to make or mar, to do anything with
me as He likes, according to His sweet will. So with this feeling, whenever we
shall make a kīrtana or śravaṇa, or smaraṇaṁ,
pāda-sevanam, that will be devotional activity. But if that is withdrawn everything gone to the hell. The plank of the stage where the dancing stage, if that is taken
off, the whole thing gone.So ādau arpyeta. Śaraṇāgati
means
self-dedication. And then the activity of the man of dedicated self will become
bhakti, will be reckoned as bhakti. Whatever he’ll do, he does on
behalf of Kṛṣṇa. He must cite Kṛṣṇa, not
separate interest.
bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād,
[īśād
apetasya viparyyayo 'smṛtiḥ
tan-māyayāto budha ābhajet taṁ,
bhaktyaikayeśaṁ guru-devatātmā]
[“Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material
body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When
the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his
own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This bewildering, fearful
condition is effected by the potency for illusion, called māyā.
Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed
devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bonafide spiritual
master, whom he should accept as his worshippable deity and as his very life
and soul.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.2.37]
Conscious of
separate interest has made us different from Kṛṣṇa. And the
common interest that He has all interest with Him then only it will be bhakti.
And if that is gone, everything is gone. Śravaṇa, kīrtana,
they are only mere forms, not life. But in order to have a living devotion, śaraṇāgati
must be there. Śaraṇāgati means exclusive connection
with Kṛṣṇa, exclusive identification with the interest of Kṛṣṇa.
And if Kṛṣṇa is not seen, so Guru, Vaiṣṇava, in
this way, self abnegation to the extreme and then self surrendering according
to the degree, one will be benefited. Gaura Hari. And that will have peculiar
different characteristic also.Śanta rasa, dāsya, sākhya,
and in different rasas also subdivision, in this way they will be
located there. So it is mentioned that without śaraṇāgati,
all the formal activities, they will lose the very life of therein and it will
be something else than bhakti. Self-dedication, the land, plane of
dedication that is that. Plane of exploitation, plane of renunciation and plane
of dedication. The land of devotion.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, we feel that if we surrender unto you, if
we can please you in some way; that our spiritual master will also be pleased.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.Yasya
prasādād.
Not only in my case; it is written in śāstra.
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo,
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi
dhyāyan stuvaṁs tasya yaśas tri sandhyaṁ,
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam
[“By the mercy of the spiritual master one
receives the benediction of Kṛṣṇa. Without the grace of the
spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement. Therefore, I should always
remember and praise the spiritual master. At least three times a day I should
offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master.”] [Śrī
Śrī Gurv-aṣṭaka, 8]
It is found in śāstra. The
criterion is there, here in this world the criterion will be there. By
satisfying our Gurudeva we will satisfy Him. And if Gurudeva is dissatisfied
with me, then He is surely dissatisfied. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
In the Purāṇa, there is; I don’t remember where it is
mentioned; a good example has been given. The Lord is the sun, Kṛṣṇa
is the sun. And the Guru is the water around and the śiṣya is
the lotus. If Guru withdraws, then the very sun will dry, will burn the lotus.And the lotus will be cheered as long as the water is supporting
and circumambulating the lotus. The sun’s rays will
cheer the lotus, will help, will grow, will give vitality to the lotus, but as
long as the lotus surrounded and posted in water. But water withdrawn then the
very sun ray will burn it; on the land. That is the position of Gurudeva. It
has been depicted nicely.
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo,
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi
dhyāyan stuvaṁs tasya yaśas tri sandhyaṁ,
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam
But Guru may be
seen in different rasa of different types. So no, not much
differentiation should be made. According to the awakening of
my heart he is infinite potency, he is changing his mood, figure, etc. The Guru
is there, my guide to the Absolute, who is my guide to the Absolute, to Kṛṣṇa,
Guru is there.
Isvara tattva bheda na haya aparadha
[?]Within Nārāyaṇa there is Kṛṣṇa, we may
think, but difference in function. Nārāyaṇa, Lakṣmī,
gopī, distinction and non-distinction bhedābheda, acintya
is there.Isvara tattva bheda na haya aparadha [?]
Lakṣmī, the gopī, when they are in the form of
Lakṣmī serving Nārāyaṇa, and the Lakṣmī
in her inner heart when they have got the position of the gopīs,
they are serving Kṛṣṇa in a particular way. So there is a continued
connection between them, a different distinction and non-distinction. Both
should be maintained, simultaneously.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. But to the formal we
should have our respect, but not that we should ignore the inner substance.
Relative and the absolute, going all together: consideration.Gaura Hari. Gaura
Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari.Sva dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ, and sarva-dharmān parityajya.
[śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ,
para-dharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt
sva dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ, para-dharmo
bhayāvahaḥ]
[“It is better to carry out one's own duties a little
imperfectly rather than faultlessly perform another's duties. Know that even
death is auspicious in the discharge of one's duties appropriate to his natural
position in the ordained socio-religious system, because to pursue another's
path is perilous.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 3.35]
[sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
[“Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively unto
Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.66]
We have to harmonise both of these
great teachings.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, we are feeling that by rendering some
service to you, that that inspiration will increase.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If you feel it sincerely within your
heart, automatically it will be done. None can resist. If the feeling is real
none can resist. Internally it will function,always not to show externally.Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
End of 81.08.31.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.08.31.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You feel it within you; your sincere
heart will be the guarantee there.Hare Kṛṣṇa.So now, today,
we stop. Again we hope we shall meet again.
Devotee: We’ll be meeting every day Mahārāja, and every
night, I’ll be watching this.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Internally you may do. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Hari.
Devotee: Yes. Physically I have to go.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anuraga annamaya ca [?]Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Only to return again.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: _________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “Your grandfather is there. Though I
breathe my last here, don’t be discouraged. Your
grandfather is there to back you.” That was the assurance of Swāmī
Mahārāja to his disciples at the time when he thought that he was
going away from the world. So much seriously his assurance was like that.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Grandfather is always much more merciful.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sometimes more merciful.Raghunātha
[dāsa] Goswāmī found Mahāprabhu again in Rūpa,
Sanātana. Mahāprabhu departed and highly disappointed he left
Jagannātha Purī and went to Vṛndāvana.“After having a darśana
of Vṛndāvana I shall finish my life.”So much so he was in severe
pain by the departure of Mahāprabhu. But he could
not do so, but more energy he found in himself to
live and to work. He found Mahāprabhu is there in Rūpa,
Sanātana, in His advice, in His command. Mahāprabhu is there, he
found. He could not die. But not only lived, but lived and produced so many
things for us, as he has been selected to be the prayojana
Ācārya. The goal, he has expressed, given us the highest
destination. The summum bonum of our life has come from him, Rādhā-kiṅkarā.
Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya.
Nitāi Caitanya.
Dayal Nitāi. Dayal Nitāi. Nitāi Gaura Gadādhara.
...
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: They will try to come in Guru pūjā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi
Caitanya. Dayal.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: ______________________________________ [?]
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...connection with Mahāprabhu.
Śacī Mātā.
[jagannātha-mīsra-ghare bhiksa ye karila,] apūva mocāra ghaṇṭa tahan ye khaila
[“As soon as Śrī Raṅga Purī recalled
Navadvīpa, he also recalled accompanying Śrī Mādhavendra
Purī to the house of Jagannātha Mīsra, where he took lunch. He
even remembered the taste of an unprecedented curry made of banana flowers.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
9.296]
One sannyāsī of up
country he was guest in the house of Śacī Devī and he tasted
that mocāra ghaṇṭa, the preparation of the plantain
flower curry. And he got such extraordinary taste there. Then when he was in
Pāṇḍarpura in Mahārāṣṭra and he met
Mahāprabhu. Mahāprabhu went wandering through the southern countries
and went to Pāṇḍarpura and there met with that Raṅga
Purī who told that, “Your elder brother Śaṅkarāranya, he
breathed his last here in this place.” Mahāprabhu got the information
there, Śrī Raṅga Purī. And he told, “Once with our
Gurudeva Mādhavendra Purī, we were guest in the house of that
Jagannātha Mīsra. And Śacī Devī, Your mother, she
prepared, cooked that curry of that plantain flower so nicely that we can’t
forget that taste.” Apūva mocā-ghaṇṭa tahan ye
khaila.Śacīr aṅgane kabhu, mādhavendra-purī prabhu,
prasādānna korena bhojan, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes
in his divine fashion: [In The Songs of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
Gītāvalī, p 76]
śacīr aṅgane kabhu, mādhavendra-purī
prabhu, prasādānna korena bhojan
khāite khāite tā’ra, āilo prema
sudurbār, bale, śuno sannyāsīra gan
(1) [“O brothers! Whenever Mādhavendra Purī took praśada
in the courtyard of Mother Śacī, he became overwhelmed by
uncontrollable symptoms of ecstatic love of God. O assembled sannyāsīs,
just listen to this.”]
“Sometime Mādhavendra Purī with his disciples was guest in the
house of Jagannātha Mīsra and they were taking prasādam in
the compound. And when taking that prasādam some wonderful flow of
divine love awakened in his heart. Khāite khāite tā’ra,
āilo prema sudurbār. He could not check so the divine prema rushed
in his heart. Sudurbār, bale, śuno sannyāsīra gan.
Then they began to address the sannyāsī disciples there.”
mocā-ghaṇṭa phula-bari,
dāli-dālnā-caccari, śacī-mātā korilo randhan
[tā’ra śuddhā bhakti heri’, bhojana korila
hari, sudhā-sama e anna-byañjan]
(2) [“Mother Śacī prepared and cooked varieties of prasāda:
semi-solid delicacies made with banana flower, a special dhal preparation,
baskets of fruits, small square cakes made of lentils and cooked down milk,
among others. Seeing her pure devotion, Lord Kṛṣṇa Personally
ate all the different vegetable preparations which were just like nectar.”]
“What are you taking here, that has been prepared by our Mother
Śacī Devī. Tā’ra śuddhā bhakti heri’, bhojana
korila hari, sudhā-sama e anna-byañjan. And because it has been cooked
by her, and showing her heart, the heart of the cooker: Hari is attracted. And
He has taken the first taste of all these things. So I feel that it is more
than nectar. So sweet I have never experienced in my life; sudhā-sama e
anna-byañjan.”
yoge yogī pāy jāhā, bhoge āj ha’be
tāhā, ‘hari’ boli ‘khāo sabe bhāi
[kṛṣṇera prasād-anna, tri-jagat kore
dhanya, tripurāri nāce jāhā pāi’]
(3) [“O brothers! Everyone come and eat the prasāda of Lord
Hari and chant His Holy Name! All the results that the mystics obtain by
executing yoga will be obtained today by taking the Lord’s prasāda.
The entire universe glorifies the prasāda of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Lord Śiva dances in great joy on obtaining that prasāda.”]
“What the great yogīs,
what is their attainment, yoge yogī pāy jāhā, by
only enjoying such things by our physical senses we can attain that thing. By
great austerity and self control and directing him, pushing his mind towards
the higher substance, higher inquiry, the attainment of the yogī,
that can be easily had, got by us, only if we can enjoy the taste of this
transcendental prasādam, substance here. And yoge yogī
pāy jāhā, what they do not get with so much austerity you
will get by enjoyment. It is such. Āj ha’be tāhā, ‘hari’ boli
‘khāo sabe bhāi. So go on chanting the name of Hari and take prasādam.”
Nachi agai akaila suna [?]There is another, Vasudeva Gosh, he
said that, “What should we speak about the greatness of Mahāprabhu,
Śrī Caitanya Deva? He simply asks us to sing and dance, with all our
heart and we will be turned into gold from iron. What a new method and
wonderful method He has introduced here that only by rejoicing we shall reach
the goal and no penance, nothing of the austerity and all these things we are
to undergo for our great goal. Only by singing and chanting and this praying
and dancing we shall go, we shall walk to the Goloka. What a new form and sweet
form of sādhana the great Gaurāṅga has introduced in
this world.”Nachi agai akaila suna [?]“Everything, all the iron will be
converted into gold.”
yoge yogī pāy jāhā, bhoge āj ha’be
tāhā, ‘hari’ boli ‘khāo sabe bhāi
kṛṣṇera prasād-anna, tri-jagat kore
dhanya, tripurāri nāce jāhā pāi’
“Be fully conscious to this fact. That Kṛṣṇa prasādam
we very rarely find the mention of the greatness of the prasādam of
Kṛṣṇa. Tri-jagat kore dhanya. It is not only my
version, but it is broadly accepted. Only I am drawing your attention to that.
And tripurāri nāce jāhā pāi’. And Mahādeva
himself, Śiva himself, he once danced getting the taste of this prasādam
once in Kailaśa he used to dance. Such a fortunate thing we have come
across here. If we can only be awake to the fact. Śrī Raṅga
Purī told it to Mahāprabhu. “That mocā-ghaṇṭa
we tasted there, we can’t forget that taste.”
Gaura Haribol.So Navadwīpa has got its special charm that He can
dance you and through merrymaking it can help you to reach the highest goal of
your life, from the most ordinary plane.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.And I have selected especially the aparādha-bhañjan-pāṭ
where Mahāprabhu has been most magnanimous, magnanimous to the extreme for
the fallen, and absolved them from all sorts of offences. This is the place.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Here I stop today.
[Pranams]
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ... to attend it.
Devotee: In London.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In London _______________forty five
minutes, at most one hour, they can’t tolerate the theological lecture and
thought, etc., in London. The first information came from there to here, to
Prabhupāda.
Devotee: __________________________________________ [?]
Bhāratī Mahārāja: We can sit here for hours. We are thinking all day, when will
we be able to sit the next time?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The whole time, your thirst is not being
quenched at all. But it is
increasing, progressing.____________________________________________________[?]
No theology and no conception for any religion has given out, that
twenty-four hours engagement with God. It is never to be found anywhere, but in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava, aṣṭa-kālīya-sevā.
The aṣṭa-kālīya-sevā that has been designed,
or that has been rather brought to light, that twenty-four-hours engagement in
service of the Lord is possible for the jīva. It is never to be
found anywhere in any theological conception of the world.That was told by Herr
Schulze. [aka Sadānanda Dāsa, a German disciple of Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura] Perhaps he’s no more.
His father was a monarchist, he told. Hare Kṛṣṇa. He was
master of eight languages, he told.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol.
...
Bhāratī Mahārāja: There’s one śloka you mentioned yesterday, that
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura had
mentioned explaining satyam, satasya jonim [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When Brahmā is chanting praise of Kṛṣṇa
just before His birth there perhaps this śloka occurs.Dasamas
kandha bhagavat[?]Just before
the appearance of Kṛṣṇa, Brahmā with other gods had come
and going on with the hymns in praise of the Lord. There the first śloka,
that is this śloka. _________________________________________ [?]
What do you ask about this?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: What was the – yesterday when you were explaining that there
are some persons who are worshippers of satya, are they impersonalists?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That particular section, there are, and
found in Gaya. They are not very particular about their creed. So he invited
Guru Mahārāja to his house. And there, what is the true conception of
satyam, satasya satyam. Satya is the basis, so we have to know much more
about the proper conception of satyam, truth, what is truth. Vedyaṁ
vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.1.2] Vāstava-vastu, reality, truth; the truth is personal. Truth
is autocrat. Truth is absolute good. These things to be added to understand the
real nature of truth, vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ
tāpa-traya, vāstava-vastu: satyam means vāstava-vastu.
Reality, vāstava-vastu, two kinds: the substance of two kinds, the
existence of two kinds. Vāstava, real and unreal, that is māyic,
misconception, finite aspect of the truth. That is also truth. Māyā
is also nitya. The vāstava-vastu, there conditioned and
unconditioned, means absolute. Absolute according to Hegel, Absolute
conditioned and unconditioned, finite, infinite combined, Absolute. Not
infinite in itself is sufficient. There should be finite also in relativity.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Rta satyam.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rta satyam, two kinds of truth.
One truth, rta, according to me, which can be deduced from the truth.
__________________________________ [?] The data is there, and in geometry the theorem is there and
there may be deduction. The truth, different conception of truth: that can be
deduced from the data of the basic truth. That is also satya. Which can
be deduced from the basic truth: that is also true. Rta satya, rta is
also satya but a particular kind of satya. Rta means gata[?] which we can go, we can reach, which can be gone. Or in other
words which can be produced from basic truth, which can be deduced from the
basic truth; that is also true.rtam satyam param brahma purusam krsna
pungalam [?]
_______________visvarupa____________________rta satya netram
[?]
Two eyes of the Lord, rta satya netram [?] He sees through, that
is, He comes to our contact with these two processes, and the consideration of
finite and infinite. Through these two aspects we come into His connection; not
only through finite, finite and infinite both, the deduced truth and the
fundamental truth. Because the fundamental truth is there, and also what He
creates, the variety, that which is created by Him: that is also truth. The
truth created, anything created by truth, anything constructed in truth, the vilāsa;
that is also truth. And different differentiative characteristic over the
fundamental base, that is also true.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Netram here is meaning observing?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Netram, yes, netram means
observing. The instrument process by which we observe, we come to have a
conception of a thing, understanding of a thing. A particular instrument
through which we can come in contact with the outside world: netra.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: That was also in Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s
commentary. He was giving that rta satyam as being priya vani.
[?] priya vakyam [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Priya vakyam ? rta satya ?
___________________________________________________ [?]Rta means priya, he says?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: That synonym was given.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is there?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I don’t have the book; it’s downstairs.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rtyam
satyam param brahma purusam krsna pungalam____ [?]
I understand that the meaning of rta is
also satya. Rta means satya, satya rta. But when the two
simultaneously produced, then two different kinds of satya, truth, two
kinds of truth, one satya and another rta.That Cakravartī Ṭhākura
says what is priya, what is sweet, truth as well as sweet, is ānandam.
Satyam ānandam, rasam, satyam ānandam. And cit, rta satya
netram, netra mano buti cit[?]Satya,
netra, netra means conception by which we conceive, and rtam
ānandam. Also what I like to say, rta, what is deduced in satya.
The structure which we find on the foundation of truth, that is sat-cit-ānandam,
that may go, vilāsa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Foundation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The structure which is standing on the
foundation. Substance, then knowledge, and then ānanda; it may come
to similar conception.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: As a background.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mere impersonal, not its impersonal foundation.Rta satya netram
________________________________________________________________________ [?]
In other words it may be rta satya
netram, ṚgVeda, sound. Vede pasyanti panditah.So, our vision
and destination will be through Veda, revealed truth, rta satya
netram. Satya netram and rta netram can be seen by one who sees, has got two eyes. Rta satya netram, two eyes, one through Veda, śāstra, and one
direct perception, a sādhu. Sādhu, śāstra, who can
be approached, who can be seen by two eyes, or who has got these two eyes: he
sees by these two ways or instruments. Vede pasyanti panditah, rta satya
netram. Satya netram and rta netram. Satya, sat, sādhu, we can
see Him through sādhu. And we can see rta as if it is śāstra,
Veda. Both sādhu and scripture, these are the two ways by which
He can be seen. Rta satya netram. We can approach Him through scripture
as well as through sādhu direct, sādhu śāstra,
rta satya netram. That may be another interpretation.
And Cakravartī Ṭhākura says rta satya netram. He
has got two eyes, one really the justice, another mercy. Both justice, He sees
us not only with the conception of justice, with the attitude of justice, but
also He has got another eye, that of mercy. That also may be a good
interpretation. Rta satya netram, which can attract mercy, deduced from
the fundamental truth: which can attract mercy by deduction, which can produce
mercy in Him. So, not with the eye of affection, but the eye of justice,
according to the circumstance He’s to distribute justice. That is not with
vindictiveness but with mercy. And rta, mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa
panthāḥ.
[dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ,
mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ]
[Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja said: “The real secret, the
solid truth of religious principles is hidden and concealed in the hearts of
unadulterated self-realised persons, saints, just as treasure is hidden in a
mysterious cave. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one
should accept whatever progressive path the mahā-janas advocate.”]
[Mahābhārata, Vana-Parva]
The real conception of the heart of the sādhu that is the
fundamental conception of truth, and what has been produced by it as śāstra.
That is also, through that also we can see Him. Through the practices of sādhu,
sādhu-ācaraṇa, and śāstra-upadeśa,
who can be seen by these two, rta satya netram. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. And also justice and mercy, He sees everything
with justice and affection. That is mercy.Nitāi Caitanya Dayal. Gaura
Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Nihitam ca satyam.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nihitam ca satye. Who is
accommodated in satya. Sat-tasya-satya, Who is the foundation of reality
and who also has got his basis, has
accepted satya as his basis. Nihitam
ca satye. Standing on truth, the support of the truth in one side: at the
same time he’s standing playing on truth, nihitam
ca satye. Sat-tasya-satyam.______________ [?]
That is taking a stand, placed on satya.
He has accepted satya as his
āsanas, as the plane where he
is standing, or playing, support: in this way. Satya cannot stand
without him and he
has also taken stand on satya, on truth. That is the cause and effect of
the truth, he’s cause of the truth as well as he’s the effect of the truth: both sides. Nihitam ca satye____________ [?]
means the pot: satya is the pot,
and the substance within the pot is he:
in this way. Nihitam ca satya, placed on truth. He’s placed on truth. He
has got; He has taken His seat on truth. Nihitam ca satya.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
gives a synonym as being antaryāmī, because nihitam is
meaning hidden, gupta, as Paramātmā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Paramātmā rupena,
anyhow, nihitam ca satye. Then satya, what is satya here?
Paramātmā has been placed where?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: As nihitam, nihita.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nihita means placed, has taken
position on. Where? Satye, what is the conception of the truth there?
He’s not in this body.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Hidden.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Hidden in satya, He’s hidden in truth.What has Jīva
Goswāmī said there?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I’ll have to bring the literature, the book, from downstairs.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And Śrīdhara Swāmī?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: There’s only the Viśvanātha Cakravartī edition
I have, here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He of course consulted both
Śrīdhara Swāmī and Jīva Goswāmī. Nihitam
ca, nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ:
__________________________________ [?]
[dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ,
mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ]
[Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja said: “The real secret, the
solid truth of religious principles is hidden and concealed in the hearts of
unadulterated self-realised persons, saints, just as treasure is hidden in a
mysterious cave. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one
should accept whatever progressive path the mahā-janas advocate.”]
[Mahābhārata, Vana-Parva]
It is placed, it is reserved in the cave of mountain. So Cakravartī
Ṭhākura said that it is in the cave of the heart of the jīva.
Who is nimita, who is placed there as Paramātmā. All right. He’s there, but he says, “In the shape of
Paramātmā, in the guha, rdaya guha. The cave of the heart as
Paramātmā He’s there, nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ.
Dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ, so, mahā-jano
yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. Nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ,
placed, guhāyāṁ, nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ.And
here, nihitam ca satye, secretly placed in truth. What will be the
explanation? Nihitam ca satye, means He’s placed over truth, satye,
truth. Satya-vratam, what He says He keeps it, satya-vratam, He
keeps His vow of truth. Satya-param, He’s above truth, satya-param.
Tri-satyam, He’s truth in ___________________ [?]
three ages. He’s true for all ages, the past, present, and future, tri-satyam.
Or in three guṇas, satya, rajas, tamas; everywhere He’s truth, tri-satyam,
tri-loka. Tri-loka, that is this mundane world, and the spiritual world,
and the taṭasthā-loka, everywhere is true, tri-satyam.
Deśa, kāla, pātra, kāla-vibhāva,
deśa-vibhāva, pātra-vibhāva: pātra and pārṣada,
nitya-pārṣada, and nitya-baddha and mumukṣu.Everywhere
is available and true for all, tri-satyam. Tasya-param, satya-param,
tri-satyam. Then?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Satasya-yonim.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Satasya-yonim, He’s said to be
even the cause of satya. Satya is springing up from Him, satasya-yonim.
Nihitam ca satye, again He’s deposited with truth, He’s moving the truth as
the ground of His play, nihitam ca satye. And satyasya-satyam,
again, satyasya-satyam is the very gist of truth, the very life of
truth, satyasya-satyam, saresa-saram, truth of the truth, the very
essence, the very gist about truth, satyasya-satyam. And rta satya nitram,
then two kinds of eyes He has got: ordinary meaning, rta and satya,
these two are His eyes, rta and satya. One I think one of justice and another of mercy, that may be rta and satya,
as impartial estimation, and another, the possible, equity and [bosence ?]Justice and equity and [bosence?],
practical, impartial and practical, theoretical and practical; two kinds of, in
two ways He sees things...
End of 81.08.31.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.01.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ke?Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, we see that when we read, that
Navadwīpa Dhāma is a more merciful aspect than Vṛndāvana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So, in the case of Jagannātha Purī, how is that
adjusted?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jagannātha Purī that is
compared with Dvārakā and Kurukṣetra. Mahāprabhu in
Navadwīpa is more magnanimous.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yesterday you told that story how that man had a previous saṁskāra,
bad saṁskāra.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Baddha, yes.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: That he was thinking to enjoy
with Durgā. He was trying to enjoy Mother Durgā, that man, that story
you told.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: O yes, that Brahmānanda Bhāratī.
Māyāvādī sort of that type, Sanātana Gosvāmī
has written that when one has just attained his freedom from the clutches of māyā,
then Durgā Devī in a very beautiful form comes and prays to him.
“Why are you going away? You stay here. I shall try to serve you, to
satisfy you.”So that sweet charm is the last snare of māyā,
and when one can cross that then he can enter, eligible to enter Vaikuṇṭha.
The last trap of māyā; the māyā personified
in a beautiful figure offers her service, charming service of exploitation, of
enjoying mood.“Why do you go? I’m ready to supply all what is necessary for
your enjoyment. Why do you enter into the land of service?”
The last, the last bullet: sweet
bullet.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Our saṁskāra is also very bad, our saṁskāra.
Jagāi Mādhāi. So we could come here we are very fortunate.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. Yes. And I selected anyhow this
position. The most extended form of mercy was shown here in Kuliya Prakash in
this Govardhana area. I anyhow with this consciousness I took my position here
to come within the greatest circumference of His magnanimity. May be included
where it is most extended.
Devotee: Magnanimity?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Aranyata, audārata, dayā,
mahā-vadanyāya, Mahāprabhu.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Hari. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Where can we refer to that about Sanātana
Goswāmī, mentioning about Durgā Devī coming?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bṛhat-Bhāgavatāmṛta.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa. Hare Hare.Nitāi.
Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, there’s various types of Gurus,
formally; Nāma, dīkṣā, sannyāsa,
maybe śikṣāGuru,
so many different types. So how is respect adjusted to these different
personalities?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. That is both formal, that is
relative, another absolute, that is material; that is independent. We cannot
but according to the capital we get we should be indebted according to the
quality and quantity of what knowledge of devotion we shall get. We cannot but
go on in that way with that calculation of our gain. The degree, the quality,
the quantity of our acquisition of our gain, love, we cannot but be forced to
give our recognition, our thankfulness, our gratitude, our whole heart. We
cannot be insincere. Whenever we’ll get, I must,
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān,
[nāvamanyeta
karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guru]
[“One should know the Ācārya as Myself and never
disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary
man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.17.27]
It is His will. According to the gradation of dispensation, and
according to the gradation of my higher light and acceptance and practice, that
will come, informally. Formal structure also we may give formally, and the
informal recognition will be there, that is the absolute consideration, cannot
but be. Especially in the parakīya Goloka, the formal respect to
the ordinary married husband. And the whole heart that is a show: the whole
heart drawn towards Kṛṣṇa cent-per-cent. But still some
shackle. That is another thing. That is a special (leansed?) in sādhana
also.
What our previous saṁskāra, previous tendency in the
mind; that may be considered with the married husband. They have got some
demand on us. The soul is there and his mental impulse is there, on the whole,
and the mental impulse that is forcing the soul to abide by his direction. Then
the whole mental impulse maybe considered as husband, the external demand. But
soul is free. His transaction with the Supersoul, Kṛṣṇa,
Paramātmā, Kṛṣṇa, there is freedom. But the saṁskāra,
the tendency acquired by the previous lives they won’t allow the soul to go
away.
“First clear the debt to this nature as a whole and then you’ll go out.
You’re within debt. You have enjoyed so many things from this plane and you are
going out, deserting us. We have many things to realise from you as you had
loan here.”
So that may be compared with the formal, the husband. “Husband, he has
got that claim over me.”
But parakīya internally they say, “Oh!” Establish connection
with the Lord: “Outwardly you posses everything in me, but my inner self you
can’t see. You can’t have any demand there. I’m going on with that connection.”
In this way also there is an adjustment in our sādhana. In
our sādhana that is also a process. The saṁskāra allows
him to do anything he likes, but he may not get the very internal substance
what I am, really I am. That I know. Offer to Kṛṣṇa, the
innermost of my heart. There Kṛṣṇa will come. And I am under
bondage. I’m their prisoner, prisoner of this house, because I’ve got so many
debts here. I was an exploiting agent. So much debt I’ve already incurred and
they won’t allow me to go out of this, of that jurisdiction. So ostentatiously
I’m in their possession, but I take my inner soul’s separate through ruci,
through my inner intention I connect with the Lord, the subtle-most of the
subtle. I sign that side. And external man may be in the obligation of māyā.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: That means not by sādhana but by attitude.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: By the surrender to that by attitude,
attitude of the inner-most attitude. And externally, hypocritically, “I am
Yours. I’m at Your disposal. You may do whatever You like with this external
form.” But the inner man is absent there. He’s in another place. And the formal
things are going on. “Whatever You like You may do with this body. And I’m also
doing some duty to You, all these things.” But all absent-minded activity, all
dead, the machinery movement. The soul is gone elsewhere. That is also. And for
the śaraṇāgata he’s most like that, surrendered soul.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: There’s a question. If we may be a preacher, we may be so
called para-duḥkha duḥkhī, can that also be material?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, the spiritual consciousness cannot
be material. Para-duḥkha duḥkhī means this fasting
cannot, half clad, half fed, that is not para-duḥkha duḥkhī.
Para-duḥkhaduḥkhī in its real sense that, “He’s apathetic
to Kṛṣṇa.” That is the source of all his sorrow. So that sort
of duḥkha is recognised here, para-duḥkha duḥkhī.
Not that, “He’s a poor man so give some money. Or, he’s a diseased man give
some doctor.” Not that sort of duḥkha. It is meant that, “He’s
devoid of Kṛṣṇa, in the clutches of māyā.
Sometimes he’s becoming an Indra, Chandra, Vayu, no position, sometimes the
lowest, trees, creatures, all these positions.” That inner poverty of ignorance
and misuse of his own self - that is the disease there. And that draws the
sympathy of the sādhus. That sort of misery, para-duḥkha
means that type of duḥkha, separation of Kṛṣṇa.
That is the duḥkha and sādhu is attracted by that
plenary misery and not the external consequences there.So not like Ramakrishna
Mission, they’re going to do away with the misery externally without caring for
what is the real cause of all these miseries.
And para-duḥkha duḥkhī is, even a king who is
master of so many things, he’s also duḥkhī. Sanātana
Goswāmī’s diagnosis of misery will be in him also, though externally
he’s a very rich man, wealthy man, he’s a big scholar, he’s master of many
things of this māyic world, he’s also a poor man. So that sort of duḥkha
he wants to remove, that devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness
that is the real duḥkha. Everything, he has got in svarūpa
everything, but little disturbance in the brain, and that disease in the
brain that should be removed. Then he’ll find everything there under the holy
feet of Kṛṣṇa. Everything is there in māyā,
all wealth is there, only the disease in the brain, wandering in the street,
sometimes in a cool garden, sometimes in a desert place, does not matter. The
real misery is in the brain, that duḥkha. Sanātana
Goswāmī felt sympathy for that duḥkha, that want of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness; that is the misery, and his heart cried only for that. Not for
this external, ordinary opulence of māyā, etc. Devoid of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness they’re duḥkhī, they’re sufferer. We may be
king, or a scholar, or anything, everyone else, a leader, and with great glory,
but still he’s a man suffering from misery of [lack of] Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. That sort of dosa, or sorrow, and he wanted to make
remedy of that.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: So Kṛṣṇa says in Gītā,
na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu, kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ
[bhavitā na ca me tasmād, anyaḥ priyataro
bhuvi]
[“There is no one in this world of human society more dear to Me than he
(who explains the secrets of bhakti to the devotees), nor will there
ever be one more dear.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 18.69]
He says, “Who tells this kathā to My bhakta, he is
most dear to Me.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In Bhāgavata also, bhūridā
janāḥ. “Who is the best giver, or giver of enough, who talks
about Me.” Bhuvi gṛṇanti ye.
tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ,
kavibhir īḍitaṁ kalmaṣāpaham
śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ
śrīmad-ātataṁ, bhuvi gṛṇanti ye bhūridā
janāḥ
[“O Kṛṣṇa, the nectar of Your words and the narrations
of Your pastimes give life to us, who are always suffering in this material
world. This nectar is broadcast all over the world by great souls, and it
removes all sinful reactions. It is all-auspicious and filled with spiritual
power. Those who spread this message of Godhead are certainly doing the
greatest relief work for human society and are the most magnanimous welfare
workers.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.31.9]
“The great givers are those that give My connection, My relation, who
can distribute to the people, they’re the real givers, benevolent.”
Who can give the
whole, He’s the infinite, infinite beauty, infinite ānanda,
infinite rasa; those that try to give Him, Kṛṣṇa, to
the world, they’re the best, the maximum givers. Otherwise all poor persons
things, all hypocrites, hypocritical transaction, “No, no, no, what is good and
he’s giving and taking,” all mechanical matter, mechanical, transaction of the
machines. Without knowing what they are themselves, the earth, what is really
good or bad, as engaged by māyā, a slave of māyā,
and making transactions of this thing and that thing, agents of māyā.
And māyā means devoid of truth, and where there’s no truth
there’s no ānanda, no rasam.The real givers are those that
can distribute Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the world. They’re the
real party. Transaction is also here, otherwise all sham and all false, false
giving. _________________________________________________________________ [?]
Who are making transaction of different things other than Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, both of them will go to hell, one who is giving, one who is
taking, both will go to hell, to the lowest position of suffering.Kṛṣṇa
is the substance, vāstava-vastu, others are avastava, false
dealing. They who are dealing with Kṛṣṇa they’re dealing with
right things, true things. All else, their transaction is all false,
concoction, so that is māyā. The land of māyā is
misery.Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: In the Gītā Kṛṣṇa says: “He
who tells this to My devotee is most dear to Me. He who tells this knowledge to
My devotees is most dear to Me.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. “I’m the Ācārya.”
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Why does He say, “He tells it to My devotees?”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “To My devotees” of lower order, and who
tells he’s of higher order...
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...madhyama-adhikārī.
He’s telling to the madhyama-adhikārī to help the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī.
Where is it in the Gītā?Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.te ‘pi yānti parāṁ gatim.
[māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya, ye ‘pi
syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ
striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās, te
‘pi yānti parāṁ gatim]
[“O son of Pṛthā, low-born persons of degraded
lineage, women, merchants, or labourers - they also attain the supreme
destination by taking full refuge in Me.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
9.32]
…
kiṁ punar brāhmaṇāḥ puṇyā,
bhaktā rājarṣayas tathā
anityam asukhaṁ lokam, imaṁ prāpya bhajasva
mām
[“So who can
doubt that the pure devotee brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas will
achieve that supreme goal? Therefore, surely engage in My devotional service,
since you have attained this temporary and miserable human body after wandering
throughout many births.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā,
9.33]
[mac-cittā mad-gata prāṇā, bodhayantaḥ
parasparam]
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ, tuṣyanti
ca ramanti ca
[“My devotees mix together, talk about Me, and exchange thoughts that
give consolation to their hearts. And they live as if this talk about Me is
their food. It gives them a high kind of pleasure, and they find that when they
talk about Me among themselves, they feel as if they are enjoying My
presence.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 10.9]
Gaurasundara.
...
[From this section of the recording it is uncertain who is speaking to
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja due to the gradual
increasing speed of the recording]
...
Devotee: Mahārāja, sometimes there’s a feeling that I’m going
to preach but I don’t have enough weapons. My weapons are very limited.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But when a superior Vaiṣṇava
wants me to do that, then with that, whatever capacity, whatever weapons,
whatever ________ I shall do his, I shall obey his order, and gradually I’ll
get the next higher stage, position, by the higher Vaiṣṇava’s
command. That will be the test here. What should I do? I may ask from whom I
have reverence for, “What to do?” He may say begin in a mean way, in a poor
way, but by His will the equipment and capacity will come in no time if He really
wants me to do the service. He’s everywhere and He can do anything. I have got
my limited capacity so I must give that to Him.
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, yo me
bhaktyā prayacchati
[tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam, aśnāmi
prayatātmanaḥ]
[“Certainly, if one offers Me with devotion a leaf, flower, fruit, and
water, I partake of that whole offering from such a pure-hearted and
affectionate devotee of Mine. With heartfelt love, I graciously accept.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
9.26]
Whatever you have you give, you offer that for Him, whatever you have.
You begin from there. Whatever capital you have got you begin with that trade.
You begin your trade with whatever capital you have got. Then by divine will it
may reach to be great, like Himalaya.
Of course, wait for some___________ favourable circumstances, wait and
see.
What is the purport of the śloka you are searching for?
Devotee: I have some trouble reading the Bengali.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Any Sanskrit?
Devotee:
na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu, kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ
bhavitā na ca me tasmād, anyaḥ priyataro bhuvi
[“In human society there is no one who pleases Me by his actions as does
he (who preaches the glories of this Bhagavad-gītā: the Hidden
Treasure of the Sweet Absolute), and (in the future) there will never be one
more dear to Me in the whole world than he.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
18.69]
Before that there’s also one śloka.
ya imaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ, mad-bhakteṣv
abhidhāsyati
bhaktiṁ mayi parāṁ kṛtvā, mām
evaiṣyaty asaṁśayaḥ
[“One who
recounts the glories of this most hidden of all hidden treasures to My devotees
- such a person, attaining supreme devotion for Me, will reach Me without a
doubt.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 18.68]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
“This is My secret advice, or instruction, and who will distribute it to others
they’ll be much benefited and come to Me very soon.”That is the purport. “There
is also something; that the high secret in the sādhana, the
gradation there is in the sādhana. So what I say here, the śaraṇāgati
muna
sādhana. This basis of
surrender through sādhana, that is most efficacy it has got, and
who will say to other class of devotees the śaraṇāgati is
the very soul of all services. You’ll get impression about that to other class
of devotees, by distribution, by doing good to others, he’ll get promotion very
soon to My inner most quarter, inner most.”
Kīrtana, just as when we swim in the water we push the water back and
go ahead; kīrtana is something like that. In jet plane also I’m
told that devours air, wind, in the front, and with some petrol or something it
pushes in the back very forcibly and goes ahead. So kīrtana, to
imbibe from Guru and to give a push to the outside world it can get us some
progressive energy. What I get I also,
then more we get more we can eat from there and more we can push this side. The
higher capitalist; we are middle capitalist, middle trader, as much as I can
sell the higher capitalist he will give supply. “Yes! He’s selling in a big
way, extensive way, so give, supply him.” That is the process: kīrtana.
Whatever you get you caste it aside.
That pleases the capitalist. The original capitalist is very much pleased when
He sees that, “What I’m giving to him he’s___________”
There’s another story in Purāṇa. Once Nārada he’s
going, roaming through a place. Some beggar, perhaps a poor brāhmaṇa,
he’s suffering very much from poverty. He came to Nārada. “You please Devaṛṣi,
I’m suffering very much from poverty. My karma does not end. With a
family I can eat one day and another day I cannot eat. What to do? Can you
manage one thing for me? You are going to Vaikuṇṭha always seeing
Nārāyaṇa. Please ask on my behalf that in my life whatever, in
the whole life whatever amount of money has been allotted for me, may be given
in one day in a fashion. In one day may I not get the whole allotment of my
life. Then please try to do that. Then I shall finish the whole life’s
resources and then fast and go away.”
Then again Nārada met him. “Have you asked on my account and told
the Lord?”
“Yes. He said something like five rupees in
the whole life you are to get.”
“So please arrange that I can get.”
“Yes, yes. You will get that. Whenever you’ll awake in the morning you
will find under your pillow that five rupees.”
He took it. And the day after he removed his pillow and found five
rupees. He took that thing, and marketed, the whole money was spent. And he
invited many of his neighbours and finished the whole thing, by marketing, and
wife cooking. And in this way he finished the whole capital.
Now the next day, “Now we have to fast, my whole life’s income finished,
now I have nothing to do but fast.” But with some curiosity he removed the
pillow, saw again that five rupees. “What is that?” That also he took and went
to the market and finished the whole thing, invited the neighbours. Next day
also he removed another five rupees.
Then people in the locality thought, “This man, living from hand to
mouth, could not collect even his own food, and he’s ______________________________ [?]
Anyhow he’s going on, happy with that.
Then another day he met Devaṛṣi Nārada.
“How are you doing brāhmaṇa?”
“Very well: very well.”
“Why; how?”
“Whatever I get I distribute to the others, and these things I cook and
_______Then again I find___________________ I can’t understand how it is
possible.”
Then Devaṛṣi says, “Oh! I have understood. It was
meant for you, but you distribute to others. So for that labour, you and your
wife you can get food, because she cooks and you market, some labour, and you
distribute. So as a wealth of that work _______________five rupees constant
____________________________________________ [?]
Whatever we get from the Guru we’ll distribute to others. So the
capital continues to come, it’s such a thing.
“He’s a proper appreciator of My nature. So much so it cannot
check him to give it to others. In his appreciation for Me is such genuine and
intense, he cannot but distribute to the environment.”
So by that pushing the water, or the air of the jet plane
__________The current, the understanding: that is pushed aside, behind.Śravaṇa, kīrtana,
so not only śravaṇa or only kīrtana, but kīrtana
means śravaṇa. One who will attend śravaṇa,
kīrtana is compulsory for him. When he’s going to preach he cannot
but feel the difficulties of preaching. Many things will come. New problems
will come. So he’ll have to face new things. And then when he’ll hear from the
higher source__________ [?]
So when we do kīrtana,
it is of a particular knowledge, practical knowledge, we’re out for the
collection of money. And the collection of money, that is also a constituent
part of kīrtana. Because people won’t care to hear you, but if
they’re to pay money then they’re attentive to listen to you. And then they’re
benefited because their energy will be used in the service of the Lord. And
when money, to part with, they cannot but give some attention to you, and
thereby kīrtana, and then gradually enquiry will come from them.
“Give some dollar. You have got
less in your understanding. At least you’re in the consciousness of your inner
want.” And whenever anyone comes to read Bhāgavatam, or to hear a sādhu,
then that one day that truth will be attempted, that, “I could not answer that
person really, but outwardly I gave some answer, but my inner self was not
satisfied with that answer. But what is the real answer of that? I’m Your
expectant. And when sufficient will come You’ll just scatter that thing...
____________________________________________________________________ [?]
Śravaṇam kīrtanam, both combined, the rolling business, śravaṇa, kīrtana. I told to Dhīra Kṛṣṇa
Prabhu, the rolling business that pays more. The capital is not kept standing,
it’s rolling, capital rolling. That pays us most.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.What’s
the time?Nine thirty.Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Dayal
Nitāi. Dayal Nitāi. Dayal Nitāi. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol.Finished, is it?
Devotee: The other day we were discussing one verse...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: …and it is mentioned that māyā
should exist__________that hospitals may not be closed altogether;
something like that...
[The recording is too speeded up from here to make an accurate end to the transcript]
End of 81.09.01.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.01.C_81.09.02.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
...I heard this story, perhaps in nineteen twenty one.
Another
gentleman, one day he gave lecture, we attended, he came back from Haridvar and
Hṛṣikeśa
also. He’s also
standing on the bench in the square addressing students and so many are
talking. Many men standing on the bench, then they began to deliver lecture,
and so many students out of curiosity they flocked there. So one day, that man
is full of that white leprosy, coming back from Udbard [?] and other tīrtha. He told, in quest of whether
the God is or not, whether the Lord is or not. With this idea he went to
consult some sādhus there, a mile or two off, up there Udbard I met
one sādhu coming down from the hill. And I fell flat under his feet
and then asked him, “Have you seen God? Can you see Him?”This was my question.
"Yes. I have seen. Yes. He is."
"Can I see?"
"Don't you see?" In this way he
cried aloud. "Don't you see Him?" In such a tone he cried aloud, “Don't you see Him all around? A flash of light came within me. I
thought your unity in the consciousness of the birds, trees, everything is
within one common flow of ātmā, I found in my heart. Then I
was a little calmed.”
And he went on in his own way. One gentleman gave a lecture like that.So
many lecturers they’re of different types.
Another gentleman, perhaps a Brahmo, he's delivering lectures,
ridiculing sanātana dharma, the sandhya, vandhana, all these
things. I used to perform sandhya, coming from a brāhmaṇa family,
used to do that.
Then he referred to some Viṣṇupādi.“Viṣṇupādi is a place there in Haridwar, Viṣṇupādi.
And the founders of the sandhya mantra they say ganga tui viṣṇupādi.
They say that the Gaṅgā is coming from Viṣṇu
Pādapadma, from the sweat of the foot of Viṣṇu the Gaṅgā
is coming. But they do not know that there is Viṣṇupādi, there
is a place near Haridwar and the Gaṅgā flowing nearby. And only for
that Gaṅgā’s name is Viṣṇupādi. But not from there,
not she had her birth in Viṣṇu Pādapadma. But it is for that
place and coming by that Viṣṇupādi place so its name is Viṣṇupādi
and she does not come from the sweat of the holy feet of Viṣṇu.
This is all ornamental. This is lie. It is false.”
In this way he gave.
But I put a question to him, ha, ha, ha. The Gaṅgā, the
Bhāgīrathī is passing, and it is known as Hoogly River. From
Hoogly, the lower portion is said to be, the river’s name is Hoogly. So
should we mean that that is the, that should be the name of that. Because
Hoogly is there so we say Gaṅgā to be Hoogly River. But should we
think that Ganges has no other origin far above? Then what is the matter, it is
passing through Viṣṇupādi so Gaṅgā will be… Some
people may think that Viṣṇupādi. From Viṣṇupādi
the name of Gaṅgā may not come, but from Gaṅgā the place
may be Viṣṇupādi. That also may be.That gentleman did not say
anything. He did not reply.There is a place on the side on the banks of the
Ganges whose name is Viṣṇupādi. And how can state that he's
coming up from Visnu pādapadma, that cannot be. The Hoogly name, from
Hoogly downwards it is Hoogly. But on the upward Ganges is that also Hoogly?
Hare Kṛṣṇa. So, I retire now. Gaura Haribol. You are making tape? No?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes. We are told often that the Guru and śiṣya,
if the śiṣya is not successful in this life we are told that
the Guru will return by taking another janma, another birth. So I want
to ask does he personally take another janma or does Paramātmā
rūpa manifest?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Anyhow the relation will continue, continue. And whether that particular soul
who was delegated in the previous life he will come, he will be sent or not, no
guarantee. But anyhow the disciple will have consciousness of that. He will see
that my former Gurudeva may be in different forms. Not unknown. He will see
that I am known, not unknown, to my master. He was my Guru. He knows
everything. But external form may not be similar, similar.
Suppose a disciple may come in a particular country, in a
particular sect. The Guru may also come in a particular country, in a
particular sect, particular education. That may be, may be. The śiṣya
will come, the disciple will come to exactly the same position? That may
not be. And the Guru will also come in that fixed position? That also may not
be. But they will be able to recognise one another, each other. My Guru, he
knows about my previous life. And the disciple will also feel that he knows
everything about me. I am beginning in the same place.
So, with such broadness we are to look at our Guru Mahārāja, so in this way it is sākṣād-dharitvena,
not only the person but plus something else, Gurutattva means.
And that manipulation is by the Lord or His svarūpa-śakti. But
anyhow no disturbance will be about the past.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: They say, I don't know if it is correct, but they say that the
Guru, because his disciple was not successful he may not return to the Dhāma,
to the back to Godhead. But he may remain in this, in the brahmāṇḍa.
That question…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Eh?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: They say that the Guru may not return back to Kṛṣṇa.
He may not go. He may remain in this world. In that way…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: If that is the case then no Guru can
return to Kṛṣṇa anytime because the continuation of the
disciple will remain.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So he will have no leisure anytime in
his life. But it may not be so.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: No. That is why I was …
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He may be, sometimes he may be deputed
himself, or others also may be deputed in that case.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Right.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But the inner instruction and inner
feeling will be such, the paraphernalia, that they will have no trouble for
that. Officer may change but the function will go on
smoothly.__________________________________________________________[?]
…
Bhāratī Mahārāja: You were saying he doesn't necessarily, the Guru doesn't necessarily
remain. The Guru may return back.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The Guru may return. The NāmaGuru, mantraGuru, sannyāsaGuru,
they're all Gurus, but we must see something common in them, and so the
expression, so the statement about the ontological aspect of Guru, the
sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair, [Śrī Śrī Gurv-aṣṭaka, 7] "I
Myself."
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān,
[nāvamanyeta
karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ]
["One should know the Ācārya as Myself and never
disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary
man, for he is the representative of all the demigods."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.17.27]
"You should consider, you should look
for there Myself. I am there. I am your Guru. In My different types of śakti
or general recruitment in any way, I am Guru. It is My function to take you
up. In different place but still I am there. I am there. I am there in My mādhurya-rasa
śakti or sākhya-rasaśakti, vātsalya-rasa
śakti, or dāsya-rasa śakti, in a general way also."
Sometimes one may be recruited by Rāmānuja sampradāya,
then maybe again converted into Kṛṣṇa sampradāya,
Gauḍīya sampradāya. It is also possible. So internal
link we are to…
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Then if they say that, 'he will come back, come back,' that is a mundane conception, a
wrong conception.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The main thread, the main thread. Not
always, almost, to the beginners it is safe to say that he will come back. But
ultimately we see that even that one may be transferred into another section,
another section. This zigzag way also may reach according to the detection of
his inner, unfolding of his inner
necessity the departmental change may occur.
Or he will see the change in his own Guru. In the first sight he saw his
Guru of one type. Then again in progress he will see the same Guru, he may be
another thing found in their new thing, new thing. 'I could not detect so much
depth in my Guru in the beginning. I saw him such and such, but now I find that
he's something more and more.' In this way unfolding,
here unfolding and there also unfolding.
So āveśa, śaktyāveśa, Guru is
something like śaktyāveśa. But is it chance coincidence
all these śaktyāveśa? And that is permanent śaktyāveśa,
always, the śaktyāveśa. According to the necessity of the
situation and by the will, by the dispensation of the Lord, they will be
connected but they won't feel any disturbance, due to His presence within.
Who will quench the evolved progress of one’s heart, unfolding of heart, a new demand, new thirst, and that will be quenched
by whom? He’s Guru, he’s Guru, and he will have not any scrupulousness or
anything else. The internal thirst is being satisfied. And there is my
Gurudeva. The unfolding, gradual unfolding, and the attendance of the same from the upper side, there is
Guru, there is Guru. Guru, guide, with my progress, guidance of different type
will be necessary for me. New guidance, new guidance, with the progress I shall
be taken into different planes and new types of guidance, new life will be
acquired, in this way.
But the main thread, the raso vai saḥ, the pure rasa, pure ecstasy, and that will, hṛdaye
nābhyanujñāto, my inner heart will approve. Heart will approve,
cannot but approve, cannot but approve. 'Yes. I want this. I want this. This is
my fate, this is my fortune,' in this way. Otherwise, if any soul, madhyama
adhikārī, he's once appointed as Guru, and so many disciples, and
he will come again and again, he can't enter into nitya-līlā
anytime.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: No.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That cannot be. But anyhow, who will be
connected, here, both parties will be satisfied, because of His presence. So He
says ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān. It
is not meaningless. It has got sufficient purpose, ācāryaṁ
māṁ vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta karhicit / na martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ. Don't go to limit the Ācārya, don't limit
Ācārya. So He says ācāryaṁ māṁ
vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta. "You have come up, so the
Ācārya whom you first meet perhaps you have surpassed him, first
meeting of the Ācārya. Nāvamanyeta, don't see less in
him, don't see him of lower position, nāvamanyeta. I was there, I
was there. In a primary teacher I was there. As a schoolteacher there also I
am, college teacher, so nāvamanyeta, don't see outside. I am your
guide, in different forms I am your guide.” So, ācāryaṁ
māṁ vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta karhicit / na martya-buddhyāsūyeta, sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ. “He has got special characteristic than an ordinary general Vaiṣṇava, Ācārya. For
you, I am there.”Hare Kṛṣṇa."Mayānukūlena
nabhasvateritaṁ, backing so many Ācārya, so many
Ācārya, I am at the back, working through them, mayānukūlena
nabhasvateritaṁ, pumān bhavābdhiṁ na taret sa
ātmahā."
[nṛ-deham ādyaṁ sulabhaṁ sudurllabhaṁ,
plavaṁ sukalpaṁ guru-karṇadhāram
mayānukūlena nabhasvateritaṁ, pumān
bhavābdhiṁ na taret sa ātmahā]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.20.17]
"They're like helmsmen in different
boats, Ācāryas. And I am the favourable wind helping so many boats to
make progress."
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Don't limit the Ācārya, don't limit.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: "Don't limit. Try to see him in the
same level with Me."
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: In the Bhāgavatam our Śrīla
Prabhupāda, he wrote something in the purport in connection with the story
of Dhruva Mahārāja, the third
canto. He said Dhruva Mahārāja
was very, very strong and he could take his mother back to the Dhāma,
back to Godhead. So our Prabhupāda wrote, "If I have one strong
disciple then he can take me back to Godhead." So we find this statement
very mysterious.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha. Dhruva's Guru was his
mother, his mother was vartma-pradarśaka, first guide.Just as Cintāmaṇi in the case of Bilvamaṅgala,
so through her also that Kṛṣṇa, that Ācārya, vartma-pradarśaka.
Then Dhruva came out pressed by his mother, first start from mother. Next from
Nārada, then by dint of his bhajana when he attained the place,
then again he took his vartma-pradarśakaGuru, mother. She was still left perhaps. So vartma-pradarśakaGuru, a very rare case we find that also, the vartma-pradarśaka,
who gives the first start, to the kaniṣṭha-adhikārībhakta,
gave first start. But we are to consider the past life of Dhruva and also his
mother. Dhruva in his past life he had some more progress and now in this life
his mother, who was arranged by the Lord to give some starting, and then he
adopted the path of bhajana. Nimittam, his mother was nimitta,
starting. But both of them have previous life and previous progress in the
proper direction.
Primary teachers, first they may deal with an extraordinary scholar in
the beginning. Then he passes, and again have - the other day I told to someone
that in [Edmund] Burke [1729-1797] we read that the grandson was so much
qualified that he was conferred the title of lord. And to make him lord his
grandfather was also to be made lord. So lord, the title comes from up to down,
but here, from down to up. The grandfather, he was given recognition of lord
and then father and grandfather. But first the grandson, he got the title of lord
by the dint of his capacity. There was a case we read from Burke Conciliation, that American war. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Impeachment of Warren Hastings, these are the American Taxation Conciliation, in
the Parliament, the Burke was a very good player, advocate, or barrister,
something like that, he pleaded. And in B.A. class we had to read those things.
So it may be because by previous arrangements the less qualified he may
give push to a more qualified person, when young. And then, in return he also
may help him, help him. So Guru, he, he means that God consciousness in
different sections and different places. From different directions one may
receive help.
...
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Cakhu-dān dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei. [Śrī Guru-vandanā,
3] [He who has given me the gift of transcendental vision is my lord, birth
after birth.]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Whenever any difference we are to see
the common thread, sometimes. Absolute will have the better consideration than
the relative position. Both Absolute and relative consideration, and without
that, then no progress is possible. Absolute and relative, both considerations
must go side by side, side by side. Absolute has the primary position, and
relative temporary, suiting to the purpose of time, space, and person. So in
the longest journey of my life, and my greatest interest, we are already given,
the keeps, the connection of the Absolute, always, always. So there is unity.
Even in a Guru when he says, this ordinary Guru. The śāstra also
has kept up that link.
parokṣa-vādo vedo 'yaṁ, [bālānām
anuśāsanam
karma-mokṣāya karmāṇi, vidhatte hy agadaṁ
yathā]
["Childish and foolish people are
attached to materialistic, fruitive activities, although the actual goal of
life is to become free from such activities. Therefore, the Vedic injunctions
indirectly lead one to the path of ultimate liberation by first prescribing
fruitive religious activities, just as a father promises his child candy so
that the child will take his medicine."]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.3.44]
It is unable, if I say that don't eat fish,
meat, etc, he won't come into the fold. But our policy is that they must come,
so give some laxity. In the śāstra and Guru also there,
similar Guru, similar śāstra is there, but hoping that they
will take the way of that progress. So, so much generous, the śāstra,
the śāstra is in the lowest, to the lowest generation, lowest
section, and the Guru also similar is there, similar Guru and similar śāstra,
similar sādhu. In this way the śāstra extended to
the lowest plane to take up in the gradual process. The śāstracar,
he has got in his mind that in this gradual process some provision they must be
given, otherwise they will fly away. So they should be taken up in the gradual
process. The universal mind is there. And that sort of consciousness is in the
mind of the Ṛṣi that has prepared that śāstra,
and Guru, lakham, all these things.
loke vyavāyāmiṣa-madya-sevānityastu
jantor-nahi tatra codanā
vyavasthitis-teṣu vivāha-yajña-surāgrahairasu
nivṛttiriṣṭhā
["Everyone is naturally inclined to have sex, eat meat and drink
wine. There is no need for the scripture to encourage these things. The
scriptures do, however, give concessions for people who are determined to do
these things. The scriptures therefore grant a license to enjoy sex by allowing
sexual intercourse with one's lawfully wedded wife at the proper time of the
month. They grant a license to eat meat to those who perform a certain kind of
sacrifice, and a license to drink wine to those who perform the Sautramaṇi
sacrifice. The purpose of granting these licences for sense gratification is
only to restrict these activities and to encourage people to give them up
altogether. The real intention of the Vedic injunctions regarding sex,
meat-eating, and wine-drinking is to make a person abstain from these
activities."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.5.11]
You take wine, but under some condition, if you offer it to the
particular devata and then take. You take meat and fish but don't take all sorts
of meat, all sorts of flesh. And try to keep up without animal food on such
day, and such day, such day. And by instalments they're taken up. Vivāha
vyavaya, don't go freely to the women but you marry a wife and try to keep
your enjoyment there only, in this way only restricting.Then, when he'll be a little
grown up, no more, my son, enough has been done.
panca so dhan bhanam bajet palit latesu
bhutanam nemitestu maha phalar [?]
The real progress awaiting you from such
position and its nature will be such and such. When grown up little then that
sort of duty will be attached to him. The śāstra, and sādhu,
that is Guru, and is going to the extremity of the sinful area. Otherwise they
will have no chance of coming up. But the disciples of sādhaka, in
general they'll take up from their own plane and to go up. And there also they
will find such Guru, such śāstra, all in the middle. Just as we see our jurisdiction of the light, very much intense
we can't see, and very meagre we can't see. Sound also, very intensified sound
we can't hear, and very less we can't hear. So we work in the relative
position. But we are told to stick to the Absolute thread contained within, to
understand the whole thing.
Ācāryaṁ
māṁ vijānīyān, nāvamanyeta karhicit. Don't undermine. Na
martya-buddhyāsūyeta. Though you see some mundane characteristic
there, sleeping, eating, all these things, but don't undermine, undermine. Then
you'll be loser. Just as in the Ganges water, in the Śrī Mūrti,
no stone, no wood, no watery substance, but it can purify, Ganges water can
purify what, the water aspect? No. Another aspect, and that analysed ultimately
we see the order of the Lord, His order that it will purify. The will, the
purifying power, comes from His will, His will backing. So Absolute backing we
shall try to find everywhere, and also the relative position we can't
sacrifice, then we'll have to go to nirviśeṣa. He, with all
His system, paraphernalia of different nature, characteristic, we want to have
both, śakti and śaktimān. In no case we can
sacrifice śakti, either of them.
When [Raghunātha] Dāsa
Goswāmī says that, “I do not want Kṛṣṇa if
Rādhārāṇī is not there. I want rather
Rādhārāṇī.” Then who is Rādhārāṇī?
Who is Rādhārāṇī? She’s full of Kṛṣṇa.
Ha, ha. “So I want Rādhārāṇī?” So Kṛṣṇa
is there, and in different relative positions He becomes, to the particular
persons, sweet, sweeter, sweetest, in this way gradation is there.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari.
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: We are feeling our Guru Mahārāja’s presence within
you.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It maybe for you. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: There are five principals for devotion, for bhakti, and
one of the principals is residing in the Dhāma.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Is that for general devotees or just fortunate devotees?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: General means madhyama-adhikārī,
who can discriminate.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kaniṣṭha
adhikārī cannot discriminate the various positions.
Hare Kṛṣṇa ____________________________________ [?]
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
“Religion is proper adjustment.” Our Guru Mahārāja used to
tell now and then, “Proper adjustment.” Proper adjustment, sambandha-jñāna,
then the function will come accordingly, and the necessity, the destination,
will be fixed on that, sambandha-jñāna. Sanātana
Goswāmī is the Ācārya of sambandha-jñāna. Who
is who, who is who, who am I, where am I, what am I? All these things, why I am
troubled, what's the real purpose of my life?
Nitāi
Caitanya. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
The adjustment with the Absolute and the
relative, nothing can be sacrificed, adjustment of the Absolute and the
relative. And one thing we must always keep in mind, that we can't investigate
all these subtle, higher knowledge as a subject. But according to the degree of
our, our śaraṇāgati, surrender, the truth will come down
to make Himself known to me. That thing we must always remember in our mind.
Otherwise there will be some imitation, imitative spirit will be created. It is
not under the jurisdiction of intellectualism. That is rather dangerous.
Intellectualism is dangerous. That will help us to think that as if we have got
the thing. It will be negligence to the infinite characteristic, the infinite
aspect of the Lord. Adhokṣaja.
Sometimes I
asked Prabhupāda, that Rūpa Goswāmī, he closes Braja līlā
in one way, and Sanātana Goswāmī in another way. And both of
them got their instruction from Mahāprabhu. Why this difference? Guru
Mahārāja told, “Why it
has been called adhokṣaja?” Ha, ha, ha. Adhokṣaja cannot
be harmonised within our intellect. Acintya bhedābheda, acintya
bhedābheda, both may be true simultaneously, acintya.
Vāsudeva-nandana, Nanda-nandana, the Ācārya harmonised
the two children and then one entered into another. Baladeva is having rasa. The Ācārya explained the
Baladeva made rasa of Kṛṣṇa in His heart. Externally
He's seen to participate in the pastimes of the gopīs direct, but
internally He's enjoying, He's making Kṛṣṇa to enjoy that rasa
in His heart. He's not the enjoyer Himself. These are the harmonising
instructions of the upper house. This is the way we shall harmonise.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, the different animals, and trees, insects,
in the Dhāma…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They're wholesale cinmaya,
they're not under bondage, but posing, difference of posing. Particular type of
service and they have got fullest satisfaction in that plane of their service.
They imbibe the best blissful internal feeling thereby and do not want any
other. In their relative position they are fully satisfied there, fullest
aspect. Just as in other rasas, sākhya, vātsalya,
yei rasa, sei sarvottama.
[kintu yāṅra
yei rasa, sei sarvottama / taṭa-stha
hañā vicārile, āche tara-tama]
[“It is true that whatever relationship a particular devotee has with the
Lord is the best for him; still, when we study all the different methods from a
neutral position, we can understand that there are higher and lower degrees of
love.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya- līlā,
8.83]
He thinks that,
“What I get, this is the best. I do not like to interfere in another. What I
draw, this is the best position I have got.” yei, in vātsalya, sākhya, etc, śanta-rasa
is also like – there’ll be different types. The trees are there, the baluka,
the sands are there, so many animals and beasts are there, the birds are
there, trees, creepers, but still the qualitative difference.
Uddhava,
Uddhava, Dwārakā, the highest, he wants to aspire after the birth of
a creeper in Vṛndāvana. Qualitative difference in śanta-rasa,
Dwārakā also there is śanta-rasa, but the sākhya-rasa,
highest type of sākhya-rasa in Dwārakā aspires after the śanta-rasa
service in Vṛndāvana, when he has got a little peeping in the
atmosphere of the type of quality of service in rendering in Vṛndāvana.
He's the highest in a particular plane but he has got this absolute
consideration. Though relative position, he's satisfied there, but absolute
always supersedes, otherwise the unity, the connection of the whole, so
everything will be dislocated and disorganised. So absolute consideration is
possible from every position, from their own position they realise the
supremacy of Vṛndāvana though he’s satisfied there. A taṭasthā-vicāra,
that is also there, yei rasa, sei sarvottama. Taṭa-stha hañā vicārile, āche tara- tama [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya līlā, 8.83]
So it’s a
difficult thing, relative and absolute, and the absolute has always got the
better hand, superior hand. Sarva-dharmān parityajya, everywhere,
absolute consideration, this Guru, śikṣāGuru, all these things.
Narottama
Dāsa Ṭhākura has his Guru Lokanātha, but still he aspires
after, “When the day will come when Raghunātha will take me by my hand and
will guide me to Rūpa Goswāmī? You give some engagement here in
your camp. You will surrender me to Rūpa Goswāmī.”
The absolute consideration underground!
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So the animals here in Navadwīpa are liberated.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Liberated? Yes, liberated, and one who
can see that in his Navadwīpa eye...
End of 81.09.01.C_81.09.02.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.05.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...Rūpa Goswāmī Prabhu.
rādhā-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharmma-bindu-
nirmmañcanopakaraṇe kṛta-deha-lakṣyām
uttugga-sauhrda-visesa-vasat pragalbham
devim gunaih sulalitam lalitam namami
[“I offer praṇāmas unto the haughty Śrī
Lalitā Devī who is charmingly endowed with many beautiful, sweet
qualities (sulalita). She has natural expertise in all arts (lalita),
thus her sevā self-manifests. She wipes away the glittering drops
of perspiration which appear upon the lotus feet of Śrī
Rādhā and Mādhava when They meet; and she is perpetually
immersed in the most elevated mellow of sauhrda-rasa, or undivided absorption
in fulfilling the heart’s desire of her intimate friend Śrīmatī
Rādhikā.”] [Lalitāṣṭakam, 1]
Her nature: rādhā-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharmma-bindu,
if a drop of sweat is found in the holy feet of Rādhārāṇī
and Govinda, she can't tolerate that. And with the earnestness of million times
intensity she comes to remove that drop of sweat at the feet of
Rādhā-Govinda. That has been shown to be the direction where and in
what intense degree of service and love she is living, her abode. Her abode is
located where? It is the domain of love. And according to the intensity the
gradation is there, and her quarter located in such a place. Rūpa
Goswāmī Prabhu gives a glimpse of that. That so earnest, so eager in
her rendering service to the Divine Jewel, that a slight necessity makes her a
million times expansion, expanded, to do the service, to attend the service,
small service, and so much eagerness for a small service, such a magnitude of
eagerness. That is Lalitā Devī.
Rādhā-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharmma-bindu-, nirmmañcanopakaraṇe kṛta-deha-lakṣyām, uttugga-sauhrda-visesa-vasat pragalbham. She's a little aggressive in her nature, but that is due to her
too much intensity of love towards Them. A little forward, more forward, as if
she's less modest, a little haughty it may seem. But what is the reason? She
can't tolerate any drawback or any mistake in rendering the service. So
sometimes her humility seems to be crossed, but that is due to the infinite
intensity of the love towards Them, pragalbham. Devim gunaih sulalitam.But
Rūpa Goswāmī says, “Gunaih sulalitam, we do not see the
roughness, but that seems to us very mild and soft. Her little haughtiness
seems to us to be softness. So humility, such is her internal wealth. Lalitam
namami. Let us show our obeisance to her.”Today is
her birthday we are told from the scriptures. Yam kam api vraja-vani.
[yam kam api vraja-kule vrsabhanujayah-, preksya sva-paksa-padavim anuruddhyamanam -
sadyas tad ista-ghatanena krtarthayantim-, devim gunaih sulalitam lalitam namami]
[“I offer praṇāmas unto
the supremely charming Śrī Lalitā Devī, the treasure house
of all good qualities. Upon seeing any young maiden anywhere in Vraja and
discerning that she is inclined towards her priya-sakhī Śrīmatī
Rādhikā, Lalitā immediately tells Rādhā that She must
accept this person in Her own party (sva-paksa). Rādhā obeys
Lalitā, who thus fulfils that maiden’s desires.”][Lalitāṣṭakam,
7]
When she's roaming about the streets of Vṛndāvana, so many
are coming with petition in hand, "Please enlist my name in the service of
your group. I want to have admission in your group." Not only that, she's
taken immediately and also canvassing wherever she goes, canvassing,
"Come, join our group to do service to my Lord and Lady." So
everywhere, she's also requested, and she's
also requested, and she's also requested for the service of the Divine Pair.
That is the nature of Lalitā Devī.
More we are told about her that she's a little more inclined towards
Rādhārāṇī than Kṛṣṇa.
Rādhārāṇī She sometimes cannot represent Her side out
of Her humility, but before that, Lalitā Devī, she goes ahead to get
the superior understanding for Rādhārāṇī's party,
from Kṛṣṇa. Of course, that is the very deeper layer, deeper
plane, of the Divine love affairs between Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.
That is too high for us. Still, we are told like that.
pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava bāṅge [mattala hari-jana viṣaya range]
["The path of divine love is worshippable to us and should be held
overhead as our highest aspiration."] [Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura]
Our direction from Guru Mahārāja, "Don't tackle all those
fine things of the domain of love roughly. Stand a respectable distance and try
to view them with greatest, with utmost respectful reverence." Very fine,
very subtle, very soft and susceptible is the plane of the divine love of such
high degree. So fools rush in where angels fear to tread, keep always in your
mind. Otherwise in the name of real love you will acquire something else.
guru-gaṇa-śire punaḥ śobha pāya
śata-guṇa
["All desirable objects, when offered to our Gurus, become
glorified one hundred-fold, as Their crown-jewels."]
The very key to have entrance into that plane, to try to see, to look at
them on the head of one's Guru Mahārāja. Then it will see that thing
very brightly, "It is on the head of my Gurudeva." This is the secret
that has been given to us by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Try to see it at
the head, over the head of your Guru Mahārāja, then it will shine
very brightly to you, guru-gaṇa-śire punaḥ śobha
pāya śata-guṇa. So don't be very aggressive in nature,
there in that spirit you will be loser. Pūjāla rāgapaṭha
gaurava bāṅge.
Lalitā Devī is a very beloved of both of Them, the Divine
Couple, but she's a little more tending towards Rādhārāṇī,
Rādhā-dāsya. And our line of devotion goes through that.
Different lines to approach Kṛṣṇa, even in mādhurya-rasa
also, different. But through Rādhārāṇī, if we want to
go to Kṛṣṇa we approach Kṛṣṇa in the side
of the service of Rādhārāṇī, then our desired leader
we can try to have Śrī Lalitā Devī. And then next position,
Rūpa Goswāmī, from Rūpa through Lalitā towards
Rādhārāṇī, that should be our, that way has been
demarcated for us by our well-wishers. And we must consider it very soberly and
sincerely and we shall try to learn how we should deal with them. They are all
our Guru or guide, they're all our guide. If we have aspiration for a drop of
that divine nectar of that intensity then we are to follow such course in our
life.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Then any question? Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: What is Viśākhā
Devī's position in our line of…
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Viśākhā Devī's a
little inclined, she's impartial mostly, more sober and sometimes a little
inclined towards Krsna. That is her position. And she's very expert in playing
music with musical instruments and also singing, all these things. Viśākhā
Devī.
Devotee: ________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rūpa Mañjarī, Lalitā's
line is.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahāprabhu līlā to Svarūpa Dāmodara Prabhu.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ah, Lalitā Devī, Svarūpa
Dāmodara. Lalitā Devī's avatāra is Svarūpa
Dāmodara.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, why didn't Rūpa Goswāmī take initiation from
Svarūpa Dāmodara Prabhu?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mahāprabhu asked Svarūpa
Dāmodara Prabhu to connect with Rūpa Goswāmī. Rūpa
Prabhu, Rūpa Mañjarī has got direct connection also with
Rādhā-Govinda in particular service. We are told when Rādhā-Govinda
are alone the sakhīs may not have entrance there, for their grown
up age, capacity. But the mañjarīs they are of less age so they
have got free entrance in that position. At that time they get the chance of
direct service. And the leader of the mañjarī class is Rūpa
Mañjarī. So Mahāprabhu, rāga-mārga, the rāga-mārga
He direct made connection with Śrī Rūpa, and also asked
Svarūpa to be connected with him, "Whatever you know you please
favourably distribute it to Śrī Rūpa." That was His
request.So in Guru paramparā also we find:
mahāprabhu śrī-caitanya, rādhā-kṛṣṇa
nahe anya
rūpānuga janera jīvana viśwambhara priyaṅkara
śrī-swarūpa dāmodara,
śrī-goswāmī rūpa-sanātana
["Mahāprabhu Śrī Caitanya is non-different from Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa
and is the very life of those Vaiṣṇavas who follow Śrī
Rūpa Goswāmī. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara
Goswāmī, Rūpa Goswāmī, and Sanātana
Goswāmī were the givers of great happiness to Viśvambhara
(Śrī Caitanya)."]
[This is the sixth verse, of eight,from Śrī Guru-paramparā, by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura. Songs of the Vaiṣṇava
Ācāryas, p 90-2]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, the other day I was just wondering, Rūpa
Goswāmī and Sanātana Goswāmī had a brother, Anupama,
and Anupama was a Rāma bhakta. So what is their relationship, like
in the spiritual sky, what is the relationship between Anupama and Rūpa
Goswāmī and Sanātana Goswāmī? They are in
Mahāprabhu's līlā and he's in Ayodhyā līlā,
Rāmacandra's līlā, so do they have the same brother
relationship?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That external relationship of
brotherhood. Just as Murari Gupta he was also amongst the pārṣada,
paraphernalia of Mahāprabhu, but still he maintained his natural serving
function to Rāmacandra, but with some tinge of Gaura līlā.
So, some influence of Kṛṣṇa līlā had in
Anupama, but mainly his attitude towards Rāma worship. Rāmacandra
means niti, too much addicted or…to morality, scripture, vidhi-bhakti,
maryādā. That is something, some want in the quality of
surrender. Kṛṣṇa līlā demands maximum
surrender, especially in Vraja līlā, maximum surrender. And Kṛṣṇa
also,
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, [tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy
aham
mama vartmānuvartante, manuṣyāḥ
pārtha sarvaśaḥ]
["As a person takes refuge in Me and surrenders unto Me, I respond
and reward accordingly. Being the ultimate goal of all philosophies and
doctrines, I am the objective to be attained by all. Certainly, O Pārtha,
everyone follows My various paths in all respects."] [Bhagavad-gītā,
4.11]
The corresponding grace of Kṛṣṇa comes also in that
intensity. So that is Svayaṁ-Bhagavān and the paraphernalia also
must get that benefit that they're more wealthy, they also receive the most.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Can we also look at it this way Mahārāja, that from Rāma līlā
... they...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Murari Gupta also had some connection with Gaura līlā and he
has described Mahāprabhu's līlā also. But Mahāprabhu
graciously showed him that He's Rāmacandra, so abheda. But still
he's seen to stick to that Rāma līlā of Gaurāṅga
knowing it fully well that Gaurāṅga is not less than
Rāmacandra.Just as the relative devotees,yei rasa, sei sarvottama.
[kintu yāṅra yei rasa, sei sarvottama / taṭa-stha hañā vicārile, āche tara-tama]
[“It is true that
whatever relationship a particular devotee has with the Lord is the best for
him; still, when we study all the different methods from a neutral position, we
can understand that there are higher and lower degrees of love.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya- līlā, 8.83]
The vātsalya-rasa group thinks
that, "I am gainer of the highest type."Sākhya-rasa group
they will also think that, "What I get, the bliss in my service, and that
is the highest. Kṛṣṇa loves me most." This is a relative
position and that can be applied here also.
siddhānta-tas-tva-bhedo 'pi śrīśa-kṛṣṇa-svarūpayoḥ
resenot-kṛṣyate kṛṣṇa-rūpameṣā
raṣasthitiḥ
["Although Nārāyaṇa, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha,
and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are one and the same, on the basis of
the fact Śrī Kṛṣṇa exhibits the super excellence of
conjugal mellow, He is considered to be superior. In Him alone do all rasas find
their final and absolute expression."]
[Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Pūrva-vibhāga, 2.32]
Though it is not quite different, the same in different pastimes, the
particular affinity, or yogyatā, ability,
to serve in a particular position, that is the call. And the great hierarchy of
adjustment, everywhere there should be some servitors or other, must be, advaya-jñāna,
the harmony, the adjustment with different stages and different nature of
servitors. But there is the gradation. And though that taṭasthā-vicāra,
the absolute consideration is there, that does not mean that it should
encourage us to be particular about the, or indifferent about the services of
the lower order. We should not, we should be careful against hating and
undermining the other servants, servitors in their respective position. That
will be an offence to my Lord. We must not disregard those that are engaged in
the services of different layers. That will hamper our own cause. Rather, our
tendency will be opposite. We shall be hankering after the services of the
lower nature. That is the nature and law of that.
Rādhārāṇī, She says, "By the grace of
Tulasī Devī I came in contact with Kṛṣṇa."
Though She's in the best eternal contact with Kṛṣṇa always,
but still She says, "By Tulasī Devī's grace I have attained such
position." That sort of,
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā,
amāninā mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
["One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing
than a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is
qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa."][Śikṣāṣṭakam,
3]
Mahāprabhu,
this primary statement has got a very deep and deeper, deepest value. That
pride cannot take us to hold a high office. But always our tendency and
sympathy will be for lower services.
Rādhārāṇī Herself
says, "My hankering is always towards the service of the divine feet. I
want to serve like a maidservant. But because Kṛṣṇa wants to
enjoy Me in another way, only to be the fodder of His earnest desire, I offer
Myself in any way He likes. But My tendency is to serve His feet." That is
Her nature. And that is the nature of the whole hierarchy. And that is the
beauty.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, that we must aspire for the lowest service, so does it mean
that we should aspire for the śanta or the dāsya?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That will, easy jurisdiction, that is
from a particular position to come to a relation, and easy as itch. That will
be their aspiration, confined to. And sometimes even they say about vaṁśī,
"That we are jealous of the position of the flute." So it goes like
that sometimes. That is the key to success. Humility, with tṛṇād
api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā, that is śaraṇāgati,
that is the key to success. That will enhance the negative character of life,
which can draw Kṛṣṇa maximum. Always towards, the tendency to
go to,
sakhyāya te mama namo 'stu namo 'stu nityam / dāsyāya te mama raso 'stu raso 'stu satyam
["I won't allow myself to become fascinated by the proposal of the
higher level service as a friend, sākhya. Rather, I shall tend
always to do the lower service, dāsya, the service of the servant.
I shall not consider myself to be a high-class servitor and I shall always tend
to go towards the lower class of service. But He may forcibly take me to a
higher service - "No, you are no longer to serve there; now you must serve
in this higher category."][Vilāpa-kusamāñjali, 16]
That nature has been expressed in [Śrīla
Raghunātha] Dāsa
Goswāmī. "Dāsyāya te mama raso 'stu, my real
internal sincere tendency must go to the lower side. I'm unfit." And that
increases the yogyatā, qualification, that increases, the
qualification, this quality.Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Mahāprabhu's
śikṣā is that, tṛṇād api
sunīcena. A long-standing prospect is there. Tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā,
amāninā mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. That attitude will make you; will draw for you the greatest
benefit. Don't try to go up but try to go down. And that is the key to success
of that domain. Humble of the humble, humility of humility.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, we see that Nārada Muni is going everywhere. Sometimes
he's in Vṛndāvana, sometimes he's in Vaikuṇṭha.
Sometimes he's here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Everywhere.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
What is Nārada Muni's original position? What is his relationship with Kṛṣṇa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ
[established in non-calculative devotion], that has been, there his position is
located. Jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ. He has crossed…
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Jñāna platform.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...the utility of knowing that the
subjective tendency, as a subject we shall make Kṛṣṇa object
of our knowledge. That has been crossed. And devotion, service, is the only
thing by which we can really come to His connection. Jñāna-śūnya-bhakti
[non-calculative and knowledge-free unalloyed devotion], and with some
connection with Vraja rasa but from a respectable distance, as shadow.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Is it somewhere between śanta and dāsya?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śanta, dāsya, a
different, śanta, dāsya, and with a tinge of sākhya, mādhurya
and vātsalya. He can approach those, but his real position is śanta
dāsya. Dāsya somewhat, not compulsory, but free, and having
connection with broad jurisdiction he can approach anywhere and everywhere with
some particular purpose.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
It's so difficult to make out these transcendental relationships of the
devotees of Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, it is of infinite character.
So we must not forget that we are going to deal with infinite, adhokṣaja,
infinite as well as adhokṣaja; our master hand. We are in the
position of their objective existence. They're subject type, super subject. It
is our audacity that we go to discuss about Them. But only being an instrument
in the hand of our Guru or our guides that we venture to do so, to give some
glimpse of the upper realm to attract people of fortunate type.
Atikrāntaṁ akṣsajam,
indriyajaṁ. Avāṅ-manaso gocaraḥ, [the mind is full of misconception], we
must not forget all these things, then everything is gone. Adhokṣaja,
Śrīmad-Bhāgavat is very fond of using this expression adhokṣaja.
Why? The Bhāgavat has come to deal with aprākṛta rasa
which is very similar to this world, these things. So this warning has been
repeatedly used there, adhokṣaja, adhokṣaja. adhaḥkṛtaṁ
atikrāntaṁ akṣsajam, indriyajaṁ jñānaṁ yena.
Don't mix with your sense experiences. By very careful, very particular care
you should take. Don't mix this with your worldly incidents. Warning here and
there always repeated, adhokṣaja. Yato bhaktir adhokṣaje:
[sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo, yato bhaktir
adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā, yayātmā suprasīdati]
["The supreme occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that
by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendental
Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to
completely satisfy the self."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.2.6]
Be fully conscious that what you are going to deal with, that is not māyā,
it is a fifth thing, a thing within the four walls, it cannot be limited,
never. It is independent nature, it is vague, it can show you in
variegatedness. So, you are seeing in a particular way. Don't think He's confined there only. He may take another shape.
In this way, so be very careful that you are going to deal with a thing who is
independent absolute. Ha, ha. So you can't make you forcibly enter into the cage of your knowledge, any particular concept you can't catch Him.
He's independent and absolutely independent nature and infinite in nature.
Still, tomāya cākhāite tāra kahi eka 'bindhu', - pārāpāra-śūnya gabhīra
bhakti-rasa-sindhu.
[prabhu kahe - śuna, rūpa, bhakti-rasera lakṣaṇa / sūtra-rūpe kahi, vistāra nā yāya varṇana
pārāpāra-śūnya gabhīra
bhakti-rasa-sindhu / tomāya
cākhāite tāra kahi eka 'bindhu' ]
[Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said: "My dear Rūpa,
please listen to Me. It is not possible to describe devotional service
completely; therefore I am just trying to give you a synopsis of the symptoms
of devotional service.] [The ocean of the
transcendental mellow of devotional service is so big that no one can estimate
its length and breadth. However, just to help you taste it, I am describing but
one drop."] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
19.136-7]
“No limit. Like an ocean of rasa,
only a drop I am try to introduce to you, with a drop, eka-bindu jagat
ḍubāya.” [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,Antya-līlā, 15.19] A little after He says, “This one drop is sufficient to cover
the whole world, to inundate the whole world.” It is a drop of infinite. A part
of infinite is also infinite. So with this respect, this, the primary stage,
this sort of conviction is a plane where we are to stand and then to enquire.
This data, the deduction must come out of such data.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān, [ātmasya jantor nihito guhāyām
tam akratuḥ paśyati
vīta-śoko, dhātuḥ prasādān mahimānam
ātmanaḥ]
[“Smaller
than the atom, greater than the greatest, the Supreme Self secretly resides
even within the core of the atomic individual soul [the jīva]. When
the devotee beholds Him he is freed from lamentation, and by the grace of the
Lord [Dhātṛ] he realises the superiority of the Supreme Soul.”] [Kaṭha
Upaniṣad, 1.2.20]
In the primary stage all these things to be dealt with: unknown and
unknowable.
avidya avikema pasup tavi vasam vita [?]
The scholars have described Him like this and that is not lie, false.
But still, a construction on the opposite side is there whose imitation we find
in this side. Vilāsa, cid-vilāsa, like jara-vilāsa
the cid-vilāsa, a great structure stands on the other side and it
is only approachable through serving attitude, dedicating, surrender. The
positive, the world of service, that is the real plane, svarūpa-śakti.
And this plane, of aggrandisement, of exploitation, that cannot be the be-all
and end-all of the existence. Exploit others and live, that is suicidal in itself. The civilisation, the science is
increasing the circumference daily of extortion of power from the nature,
making loan from the nature and that must be paid back to the farthing. To every
action there is equal and opposite reaction. The civilisation wholesale is a
negative one, negative one, it is on debt, debt from the nature, and it must be
paid back. Every action, reaction, the exploitation, jīvo jīvasya
jīvanam.
[ahastāni sahastānāṁ, apadāni catuṣpadām,
laghuni tatra mahatāṁ, jīvo jīvasya jīvanam]
["Those who are devoid of hands are prey for those who have hands;
those devoid of legs are prey for the four-legged. The weak are the subsistence
of the strong, and the general rule holds that one living being is food for
another."] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.13.47]
To keep up one body, thousands of bodies are to be sacrificed; then only
one body can stand. This is a filthy conception of life, it is suicidal in
itself. This is no civilisation, no life, a hateful aspect of the life that at
the cost of other beings we are to maintain us. Whatever we shall go to
maintain, thousands of lives to be sacrificed for that: a hateful conception of
the life.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
The land, the plane of exploitation, then the plane of real
renunciation, a negative reactionary plane, and then the positive plane of
serving, of dedication, that is really civilised position, civilised position,
to serve and live, serve and live. And in the beginning, the lower part, with
consideration, but spontaneous and unconsidered enterprise in the service of
love, that consequently holds the highest position in our conception. And that
is Goloka Vṛndāvana. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
exhaustively, everyone is exhaustively, finishes himself, as if, in the service
of the paraphernalia with Kṛṣṇa as the king. And that is most
laudable and most higher form of life. Without any consideration, exhaustively
to give one's own whole towards the Absolute Good, Absolute Adjusting
Principle.
yathā taror mula niṣecanena, tṛpyanti
tat-skandha bhujopaśākhāḥ
prānopahārāc ca yathendriyānāṁ,
tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā
["Just as if you pour water onto the root of a tree, the whole tree
is fed, and just as when you supply food to the stomach, the whole body is fed,
so if you can gain knowledge of the prime cause, Brahman, then you can know
anything and everything."][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
4.31.14]
To put food in the stomach, that is real health for the body, and not to
put food in any part of the body. To pour water into the root of the tree, that
is proper service of the whole tree, and not to pour water on the branches and
the leaves, ignoring the root. That is anti harmony,
anti existence, sat-cit-ānanda. Satyam-śivam-sundaram, the
real conception of the truth is such, and to cut off the root of these
fundamental principles, if we do not accept the plane of dedication, and
dedication spontaneous. And that is real interest of our, of every unit in the
organic whole is there. The real fulfilment of every unit, whatever we’ll find,
and wherever we find it, the fulfilment is in its highest sacrifice, and
thereby it thrives also highly. That is the teachings of Mahāprabhu and Bhāgavatam.
Give more and have more, not only in quantity but in quality, must be conscious
of the quality. Ahaituka, causeless, without any calculation of any
gain, give yourself, desperately, be desperate for giving yourself, giving
yourself, and you’ll be gainer also in that line. Give and have.
End of 81.09.05.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.05.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. What to speak of the lower
creation, misguided, but giving must be to the highest centre. That thing of
course is the only condition. Giving, that is Kṛṣṇa
consciousness: and give to the real centre and you will have also consequently,
corresponding with. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to receive the highest, valuable thing...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura _________________________[?]
“In the common place books of Hindu religion in which the raja and
tamas guṇa have been described as the ways of religion, we find
descriptions of a local heaven and a local hell. The heaven _________ anything
on earth, and the hell as ghastly as any picture of evil. Besides this heaven
we have many more places where good souls are sent up in the way of promotion.
There are eighty-four divisions of the hell itself, some more dreadful than the
ones which Milton has described in his Paradise
Lost. These are certainly poetical and were originally created by the
rulers of the country in order to check the evil deeds of the ignorant people.
We are not able to understand the conclusions of philosophy. The religion of
the Bhāgavat is free from such a poetic imagination. Indeed in some
of the chapters we meet with descriptions of the hell and heaven and accounts
of curious tales. But we have been warned in some place in the book not to
accept them as real facts but truth as inventions over all the wicked and to
improve the simple and ignorant.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________________________________________[?]
Misconception, the whole thing is false. It is a part of that false,
illusory, and that has got also its efficacy in the illusion world. But when we
are dealt with the real truth, we are concerned to deal with the real truth,
everything is like a dream. In that way we are to harmonise.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Then what is the position of Yāmarāja?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yāmarāja, his position in this
world that has got that sort of reality. The whole world is like a dream, a
misconception. The part also will be misconception, but the real truth will be
here when it has got anywhere any connection with the real world, sādhu-saṅga
transaction, that is concerned. That is real in unreal. That has got connection
with the real self of the soul. Soul is consciousness in the world of pure
consciousness and this mind in the mental world of false ego, whatever is
connected with that, in this aspect, that is all false.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
And that’s why it is said that one who has taken shelter of the Absolute Truth,
for him there is no question of...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No question of jurisdiction changes. Not
under the jurisdiction of Yāmarāja, who has come in slight connection
with the Absolute. A part of the false, that is also false, extremely false.
But that has got its negative utility, so you can say.
Mādhava Mahārāja: Does it mean that the whole description of the universe by
Śukadeva Goswāmī in fifth canto is imagination?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is imagination in this way. That he
is saying about this world and the whole world is like that. That is in one
way. If we are connected with this enjoyment or renunciation, exploitation and
renunciation, that is false. And the Infinite has got accommodation of
everything in Him. In that sense it is true. Everything is true only when
having connection, everything is there. That is infinite. So finite cannot
produce anything which is not in the infinite. It is rather a shadow, or a
perverted reflection of the whole truth.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, I remember once you pointed out that the description of the
universe, the basic description is that it is chotada bhuvanatha markana [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then I shall come to the foundation.
When Mahāprabhu said that Śaṅkara has already denied the
existence of this perverted reflection, but Mahāprabhu told that, “We
cannot dismiss it summarily, because if it does not exist, then why you have
come to preach, that this is not that?” In that way it has got its existence.
But in consideration of the real world which is created by the help of svarūpa-śakti,
there it has got no place. But in the relativity the conditioned has got a
position with the unconditioned. So māyā is existing. In that
sense it is true, but it is false in that it cannot give you the desired result
you are searching after, is all false.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Prabhupāda used to say that, “This material nature is real, as a
reflection, but it is not real as the reality.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Reality, avāstava-vastu,
______________________ [?]
Unreal substance and real substance, if we are to say like that.
Misconception, I think it is mine, but really it is not mine, it belongs to the
Absolute. Everything belongs to Him. But we say, this is mine, and we are
quarrelling with each other. This is mine. Really this is another’s property.
And we are fighting with each other. And so many things are coming out of that
fight. And the difficulty is that the soul is connected with this mock fight.
Otherwise it has got no value. But the dust of spirit very infinitesimal part
of the spirit reality, that is entangled, so we are concerned with this mock
fight. Otherwise nothing remains. All based on misconception. Just as magicians
play, it is false, but still we are perplexed by his tactics. That is also
true, in that way, magician, the hypnotiser;
that proves they can show what is not real, and we cannot deny that for the
time being.
Mādhava Mahārāja: Mahārāja, what is the basis of our realisation of
any particular thing that is within our consciousness. In other words, we make
the material world real for some reason, we make Kṛṣṇa real
for some reason. What is that basis?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ke bolchen?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
He’s saying, “We make the material nature real, and we
make also Kṛṣṇa real. But what is the basic criterion that
makes sometimes the material nature real and sometimes makes us feel that Kṛṣṇa
is real?”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Only everything is Kṛṣṇa
and His belongings. But we, and including our own self, but when we say
something other than Kṛṣṇa, the difficulty arises thereby.
Separate interest. The growth of the, consciousness of separate interest, that
is at the root of all these evils. Advaya-jñāna, we are one with Kṛṣṇa,
and whenever the seed sprouts that I have got some separate interest and not
included in the interest of Kṛṣṇa that is the root of such
malconception, malview.
bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād,
īśād apetasya viparyyayo 'smṛtiḥ
tan-māyayāto budha ābhajet taṁ,
bhaktyaikayeśaṁ guru-devatātmā
[“Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material
body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When
the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his
own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This bewildering, fearful
condition is effected by the potency for illusion, called māyā.
Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed
devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual
master, whom he should accept as his worshippable deity and as his very life
and soul.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.2.37]
This has been; the diagnosis has been given in this way. This universal
disease of concoction of false conception: fool’s paradise. We are living in a
fool’s paradise. And the very seed, very beginning as we can trace is at the
inception of a separate interest. The first deviation from advaya-jñāna
is the conception of separate interest, the necessity of separate interest,
takes me off.And so many, including Mahādeva, Śiva: wholesale, if we
deal it in the character of wholesale, then Mahādeva is the first rebel.
From whom this ego of separate interest is to be seen, separate interest,
_____________________ the master of the māyāic world is
Mahādeva, sometimes voluntary submission and sometimes revolting
temperament. So in that way we are all atomic Mahādeva. We want to be
master of something. And because that is not true, be possible in fact, so in
our concoction only, in our dream only we can satisfy the hankering of that
lower self in us.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Śiva means auspicious, śiva mane mangal, so
his rebelling is also auspicious?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Two aspects he has got, one other side,
another lower side. The whole taṭasthā-śakti has been
covered by him, Śiva. He has got that aspect of a devotee and also as a
supporter of the demonic power. The two aspects we find in him. And we may have
a good compromise there, that after giving indulgence to the demonic power he
creates their confidence in him and ultimately he may try to lead towards the
devotion of Nārāyaṇa. He’s giving indulgence to the demonic
power at the bottom of his heart maybe his good will. That these demons will
have confidence in him and ultimately he will lead them to the Vaikuṇṭha,
to the service of Nārāyaṇa. Maybe it is at the bottom of his
heart. So Śiva from this side, he’s master of māyā, not
servant of māyā like us, master of māyā. But
still he has got connection with māyā. Most of his engagement
is with māyā. So that is not a very happy position.He also
sometimes complains to his master, “Why You have granted me such a position?
Sometimes I have to go against You to encourage the demons. But this is my
fate. This is my fate that You have given me such nasty service.” He mourns
sometimes.Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa.
Mādhava Mahārāja: Mahārāja, I don't know if you have answered my
question exactly as I was asking it.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This is Mādhava?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mādhava.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Your question?
Mādhava Mahārāja: My question was; what is the element that makes us perceive
something as real?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What’s real, what is the element? That
is, the śāstric name is śraddhā, faith, and
that is the developed stage of sukṛti by sādhu-saṅga.
Those that are in the real plane, in the nirguṇa plane, guṇātīta,
beyond creative world, world of creation, the guṇātīta nitya
jagat, the agents of that world have come to establish some connection in
our soul. The deepest element, what we think to be us, our soul. The connection
with sādhu it produces something which is faith and that faith can
see. Śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ loka, there is a world which is
only approachable by faith. Just as colour by eye, sound by ear, so there’s a
world only faith can see; faith can feel it, and no other senses. So that
faith, that is the real function of soul and that is awakened by the agent of
Vaikuṇṭha, of the infinite world, that is sādhu. That
is sukṛti, ajñāta sukṛti, jñāta sukṛti,
then śraddhā. And by śraddhā the sādhu-saṅga,
the association with the sādhu increases, and transaction of the
culture of the reality that takes place, and gradually makes us to be fully
conscious that where we are living this is all transient, this is of enemy
type. And friendly element, my home, is elsewhere, that is located to be in the
world of pure consciousness and pure bliss.
Mādhava Mahārāja: Is that the same process by which the materialist, material
person, sees this world as real?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No, no materialist. Independent of all
material, that is done by the; that injection is given by the Vaikuṇṭha,
by the Viṣṇu parṣada, in our soul proper, and that
arouses śraddhā in us. That is the function of the soul, not
of this material ego or senses, independent of that.When a patient is in a
swoon the doctor sees him and he injects, and then consciousness comes, and
then he can cooperate with the doctor. “That I have such and such, and such and
such.” But before one patient can cooperate with the doctor, the doctor has got
also something to do, when the patient is unconscious.So when one is fully
engrossed in our material engagement the sādhus from other plane,
like doctor, injects something. And that is the cause of our reawakening
in our soul interest and consciousness of the soul.
Mādhava Mahārāja: [asks Akṣayānanda Mahārāja] Can you ask
the question a little differently?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: The question I think Mādhava wants to ask, he says that
as a devotee we have śraddhā, faith, but the materialist...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The first awakening in a soul in bondage that is named as śraddhā and
that is outcome of sukṛti. And sukṛti, that help,
independent of him comes from outside, from the Vaiṣṇava. Vaiṣṇava
sādhu creates sukṛti, independent of the individual
and when that is sufficiently accumulated it produces śraddhā.
Then cooperation with the doctor begins.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: But those who do not cooperate, they may say...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: At that stage the help may come only
from the doctor’s side by his own knowledge. No cooperation with this patient,
but still the doctor through his śāstra, the knowledge of his
books, he begins treatment.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: We accept that, but the materialist will say that we have got
faith in something else. We have got faith in this world.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Everyone may have some faith. The guṇḍās will say that we have got faith in dacoiting. The mere
statement has got no value. Anyone may have given any statement, what is that?
The innocent persons, the mad may be of different type, but that is madness.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes, another type of madness.
Mādhava Mahārāja: One time Śrīla Prabhupāda asked us to prove
that matter comes from life, using chemistry. I didn't know how to start.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes, matter comes from life, that Berkley’s theory that everything is concept
but nothing. The conception of matter, that is within consciousness, not that
the mind is in the world, but that the world is in the mind. Before you assert
anything, the consciousness, it presupposes consciousness. They say the fossil,
what is fossil? It is hard, it is black, it is so. But that is only a stage of
consciousness. Consciousness pre-exists everything. Whatever you’ll say that
this is there, what is that? That is a concept. This is black, this is white,
this is hard, this
is soft, all these, that is mental stages only.
If you press the eye you will see
something else. What does it come from? Is it existing outside? So not this
fossil evolution of Darwin, but we say just the opposite. Evolution from inside
of consciousness is the cause of showing different things of the world. The
evolution within and not outside evolution, what we ordinarily think: this is Vedānta.
Not from imperfection to perfection, but a part of the perfection seems to be
imperfect. Imperfect is producing perfection, this is a ludicrous thing. Rather
it is more reasonable and easy to conceive that a part of the perfection is
anyhow imperfect. We see, it is shown by us to be imperfect. That will be easy,
more reasonable thing. We have to accept something, data of some type or else,
the stone, the fossil, where does the fossil come from? And then fossil can
produce the infinite. What is this foolish idea?
The fossil, the body is showing so many wonderful things to the doctors.
How it has been built. How the brain has been built, it is producing
consciousness, intelligence and wonderful genius is in the brain. The producer
is only a material thing. But that wonderful thing which we find in the brain,
the thought of a genius, that cannot remain independently.We say that really
exists, that wonderful thing, the source of all wonders; that is existing. We
must take data. The starting point must be the wonderful thing. And then so
many things are sprung, if we analyse
the atom we will be in wonder. Everything is wonderful. Only we give limitation
to a particular atom. This is this, this is wood, that cannot be that. But
again analyse the constituent parts of wood or a stone, you will see wonder. So Infinite is
everywhere. Perfection is everywhere. Only we have produced a thing, our mind,
and that is the trouble. The limited thinking of limitation, the nature we have
acquired, that is the puzzle. And how to meet that question, that is to be
solved.
Devotee: That’s a very nice concept Mahārāja, that in
everything there’s perfection and eternity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But we are not ready to admit that, that
is the puzzle. Wherever we are, from the biggest, from the lowest, everything
is wonderful. But we won't admit that. We'll go to the fossil only, the fossil
is producing everything. What is that fossil?
Mādhava Mahārāja: Mahārāja, these are philosophical arguments. But how
can we prove to the scientists that matter comes from life?
[Group Laughter]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________philosophical topics.
You see, the Faraday told, when in the beginning of the electric
generation, one lady asked after a few pieces of paper was moved by a wave of
electricity; when it was generated first by Faraday, the lady asked, “What will
be the utility of this Faraday?”
And he said, “Mother, do you say to me, tell me, what is the utility of
a new born babe?”
What was your question? I forgot.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: He said, “These are all philosophical arguments.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Philosophical, but death, is that
philosophical?
__________________________________________ [?]The
death is there to frustrate your all other things if you don't go to take
shelter in philosophy. The philosophy can only face the greatest enemy death.
The death on not a particular thing, of the whole world, the sun, the moon, the globe, everything will vanish. Science
also tells us so. Still if we want to live, philosophy will help you to live,
to have an eternal life and eternal peace, only philosophy can give you. And
never all these sciences and all the glamour of this life, they're all enemy,
deadly enemy, all leads but to the grave, the Gray’s Elegy.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour;
The path of glory leads but to the grave.
[Elegy written in a country churchyard, 1751]
(Thomas Gray, 1716-71, English poet)
A grave is true and to deal with the grave’s problems philosophy only
will relieve us. Otherwise, all finished. Philosophy also gives us hope that
you live a peaceful life. These are false enemies around us, tempting, “Live. I
shall help you.” This is māyā.
[Laughter]
Bhakti Caru Mahārāja: Mahārāja, once you told me how
to convince the scientists. You once pointed out that the material scientists
are simply concerned about the objective nature. They don't care about the
subjective nature, but the Vedic philosophy leads them to the subjective
nature.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, that is transcending death.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Transcending death, yes, and then ultimately the Vaiṣṇava
philosophy leads them to the point when the so called subjects become the
object in relation to the supreme subject. The living entities, the subjects,
the living entities, the ātmās, they become objects to the
supreme subject, Paramātmā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Supreme subject, yes, it is taṭasthā
and that is over, over jīvātmā -that is
super-subjective realm, and we are to take shelter in that world. Just as when
there is war in a particular country, he’s taking shelter of another.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Any more questions Mādhava Prabhu?
Mādhava Mahārāja: When you said that the world is in the mind, isn't that
idealism?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Idealism, Berkley's idealism, not that
we are in the world, but world is our mind. Of course mind here we are not
concerned. The mind is also the world. The soul is living in the soul region,
and the mind, ego, everything, that is there, the basis is there. The soul
withdrawn, nothing remains. Here also, life gone, the body will perish. So this
neutron bomb or something, you’ll take off the life, the structure will be
there. This atom bomb will destroy the structure of everything. But we are to
death-ray that will only suck the life out. And the whole structure will not be
disturbed. So, soul withdrawn, nothing will remain. The party is soul. That is
reality. And this is in the misguided soul, a misconception like a dream in a
person, so example like that.The party is the soul, he is in concern. And if
the soul is returned, the consciousness nothing remains, all darkness. And that
cannot exist independently. So that is created by his revolting attitude, his
unhealthy attitude.
Just as a man who is in a diseased
condition he pronounces so many delirium. The disease is the cause of delirium,
and not that delirium is existing outside. The cause, if you want to remove
delirium, you must deal with the patient. His brain needs medicine. The world
of delirium vanishes.So soul has got some disease and his world has come as
delirium, and collectively also this world. Just as in our dream we may meet
our friend and also our foes, with hard substance and water in a dream, so also
collectively so many misguided delirious persons are being connected or
disconnected.
Suppose, before this creation; as the scientists say, what was the first
thing, where this concrete world was living? According to us this concrete
world and where it was living before creation. First there was a sun, or ether,
then it sprang up from the fossil everything has come, the consciousness has
come, the same thing again.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, the other day I was listening to a tape of Śrīla
Prabhupāda and Prabhupāda was pointing out that the way the dream is
a reflection of the reality. Like when you are awake we’re collecting many,
many informations from this nature, and during our sleep, in dreams, those
reflections are projected and we experience the dream. The same way when we
analyse this nature we see that this nature also
is like a dream and this nature is a reflection of the absolute nature.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And much more. I met one Vedāntist
he says, just in a dream, we see in a dream that I have entered a garden
and so many trees standing, and it seems to be that trees are standing there
from long time: it is already existing. But really it is only created by the
brain only at that time. But we think that we have entered a jungle or hills
and everything or water, but previously they were existing; in dream we feel
that. But that is created then and there. From the mind it is created then and
there. But we feel already existing,
we have come in the garden, we have come in the tank. That was already existing
here, we think in our dream, but really it was only created, creating its own
atmosphere, environment. It is like that.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
So Mahārāja, then one question came to my mind, is that who is
actually supplying the informations of the spiritual sky? Like we’re...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sādhu, śāstra.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
No, that...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is the beginning Kṛṣṇa
told:
kālena naṣṭā pralaye, vāṇīyaṁ veda-saṁjñitā
mayādau brahmaṇe proktā, dharmo
yasyāṁ mad-ātmakaḥ
[The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: “By the influence of time, the transcendental sound of Vedic
knowledge was lost at the time of annihilation. Therefore, when the subsequent
creation took place, I spoke the Vedic knowledge to Brahmā because I
Myself am the religious principles enunciated in the Vedas.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.14.3]
“I transmitted through Brahmā the nature of real truth concerning
Me. And from Brahmā, śrauta knowledge is knowledge, so the
knowledge of revelation that is accepted. All this is false, a product of false
experience, they have been rejected. So only pramāṇa is śrauta
pramāṇa, that is coming from outside this illusory region. That
should be accepted as pramāṇa, revealed truth. And never any
knowledge which is based on any experience of this false world that cannot be
reckoned at all as pramāṇa.”
From outside the knowledge of reality was transmitted from Kṛṣṇa
to Brahmā, Nārāyaṇa to Brahmā, and from Brahmā
then it came but it was mutilated in many ways for the unfair nature, different
nature of the disciples it was mutilated. And some inductive method also sprang
up like mushrooms, so there is a
jungle now. But if we want reality, the help must come [from] outside this
illusory world.Mayādau
brahmaṇe proktā, dharmo
yasyāṁ mad-ātmakaḥ.
“I first told to Brahmā, the creator of this world, that this is
truth. And he wanted to preach that. Gradually it was modified by the ignorance
of the locality, and now so many variegatedness there.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, I was thinking, I mean I had one question at the time
that...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Light can remove darkness, but darkness
cannot create light. On the whole, this is the line of thought.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, in our dream we have all the experience, information in our
mind, or in our brain of this nature. Now when you consider this nature to be a
dream, then where from the informations are coming? Is it Paramātmā
is supplying the information according to our desire? Our experiences in this
mundane world is actually a dream. But the informations of these dreams are
coming from the spiritual nature or the absolute nature?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I can’t follow.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
_______________________________________________[?]
I draw the conception about Him, that is
to be blamed. And not that the tree will exist.
________________________________________________[?]
The ideal of tree, ideal of difference in
our experience, that is not to be blamed, that is not faulty. Only with what
attitude I am looking at them, that is false and so the whole thing is false.
My world of experience is false. My experience of a tree is false. But tree has
got its utility. Just as in Dhāma,
we see so many ________ trees, beasts, human figures. But when our real eyes
will be awakened we’ll have the darśana of a real Dhāma. Just as a map, a world map, and with map we are to study about
the world, of the country, or a village, map...
End of 81.09.05.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.05.C
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...of the real thing which is
represented in the map. Otherwise it is only a book. Gīta,
Bhagavad-gītā, if no awakening
we cannot see the advice of Bhagavad-gītā. Only to a mad man,
a foolish, or to a beast, it is only paper and ink. And important, the līlā,
śāstra, what is it? So the interest, the degree of the inner
awakening and connection with the real aspect, that
is there. Vigraha, that is also like that, Vigraha. Ganges water, all these.
That is they’re there, but only misguided we are, we can’t derive our real
interest from them.
vana dekhi’ bhrama haya – ei ‘vṛndāvana’, śaila
dekhi’ mane haya – ei ‘govardhana’
yāhāṅ nadī dekhe tāhān
mānaye – ‘kālindī’, mahā-premāveśe nāce
prabhu paḍe kāndi’
[“When Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu passed through the Jhārikhaṇḍa forest, He took
it for granted that it was Vṛndāvana’. When He passed over the
hills, He took it for granted that they were Govardhana.”] [“Similarly,
whenever Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw a river, He immediately
accepted it as the River Yamunā. Thus while in the forest He was filled
with great ecstatic love, and He danced and fell down crying.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
17.55-56]
yaḥ kaumāra-haraḥ sa eva hi varas tā eva
caitra-kṣapās
te conmīlita-mālatī-surabhayaḥ prauḍhāḥ
kadambānilāḥ
[sā caivāsmi tathāpi tatra
surata-vyāpāra-līlā-vidhau
revā-rodhasi vetasī-taru-tale cetaḥ samutkaṇṭhate]
[“That very
personality who stole My heart during My youth is now again My master. These
are the same moonlit nights of the month of Caitra. The same fragrance of mālatī
flowers is there, and the same sweet breezes are blowing from the kadamba
forest. In Our intimate relationship, I am also the same lover, yet My mind
is not happy here. I am eager to go back to that place on the bank of the
Revā under the Vetasī tree. That is my desire.”]
[from Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Padyāvalī]
Exciting towards that, towards reality, they’re all futile thing,
exciting.
______________________________________________________________________[?]
nārāyaṇamayaṁ dhīrāḥ, paśyanti paramārthinaḥ
jagad dhana-mayaṁ lubdhāḥ, kāmukāḥ
kāminī-mayam
[A devotee sees everyone and everything in relationship with
Nārāyaṇa (nārāyaṇam ayaṁ).
Everything is an expansion of Nārāyaṇa’s energy.] [Within Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
7.7.55, purport]
So according to the interest we draw the apparent interest, compelled by
local interest; another vocabulary, our vocabulary of enjoyment we thrust into
the creation of the Lord. The spectacle is to be blamed, not the thing. It may
show me in different ways.
sarvatya krsne murti kari janmal se dekhi te kai kal ja akhila
mor [?]
andi bhuta cakra yar visaya duli te karmone se para tattva pai
duti se [?]
It is He and His paraphernalia, and covered by all prejudiced spectacles
we are seeing things as if they’re mine, or belongs to a party that are friends
of mine; in this way. But really it is all:
īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvaṁ, yat kiñca
jagatyāṁ jagat
[tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā, mā gṛdhaḥ
kasya svid dhanam]
[“Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is
controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things
necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not
accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.”][Śrī
Īśopaniṣad, 1]
Only difference in the stages of our interest of different
kinds, Bhūr, Bhuvar, Svar, Mahar, Janar, Tapar, Satya, and different
sub-planes in the plane of enjoyment or exploitation shows different colours of
the things around. And the wholesale māyā removed, everywhere
it is He and He only. And the conception of the law removed......everything is
receiving his impetus of activity from Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
it is Vṛndāvana. No consciousness of this body or the mind or the
country conception, the nation conception, the globe conception. All crossed:
soul to Supersoul all deeper soul enters there. Everything you will find there.
Yaḥ
kaumāra-haraḥ sa eva hi varas,
[Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Padyāvalī]goes
to Vṛndāvana, Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa.
Is that false? Is that poetry? This is a poetry, this
imagination. Only our deeper nature,
only our self identification, everything depends selfdetermination, who am I?
Hegel's language, selfdetermination: that is the end of all of us, selfdetermination,
svarūpa-siddhi.Who am I, my deeper self? My mind, or my
intelligence, or more than that? Where am I? Who is my real self? Who is the
real party in me? Whose
interest? My eyes interest, ears interest, or mental interest or the interest
of my intelligence? Going
inner, inner, then selfinterest, self determination, svarūpa-siddhi.
That is to be attained. I must enter, I must get back my proper self. And in
His connection I will come in the environment and see the world, what is it?
I am given some wine or some poison then I
am besides myself and I am seeing things. And no sister, no mother, actuated by
my animal motive, I am seeing a thing all for enjoyment. The crude tendency of
lust, that is mustering everything, then I’m seeing what? Then when sober I am
seeing so many things changed.In this way go deeper, deeper, and find who you are, what is your interest, and try to see the
paraphernalia according to your interest. Selfdetermination and you’ll see
things opposite as you are seeing it now. And that how, that may be affected.
How can I go back to my selfdetermination, proper?
How to find out my own lost self, long missing link, long lost self? We may
talk like that. How to find, or get back? And by His interest then we shall try
to go back to home, back to God, back to home.
For a madman, only his brain disease should be removed, and he will find his home, his wealth, his everything is there.
Only disorder in the brain, so disorder in the mind and the self diseased, bhava
roga, this is a kind of disease. The central disease is bhava roga,
the spirit of enjoyment. Spirit has made, separate interest has enticed me and
has made me mad, and I’m roaming. And that disease should be removed. And the
doctors must come outside. And by result the disease removed I’m quite at home:
selfdetermination.So many entanglements, questions, questions, all will finish at one stroke. When the brain disease is
removed I am quite well. Everything is there. Like such nature.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
[bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś,] chidyante
sarva-saṁśayāḥ
kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi, mayi dṛṣṭe
'khilātmani
[“The knot in the heart is pierced, all misgivings are cut to
pieces and the chain of fruitive actions is terminated when I am seen as the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.20.30]
That is somewhat, again more:
svarūpe sabāra haya, golokete sthiti:
[muktir hitvān-yathā-rūpaṁ svarūpeṇa
vyavasthitiḥ]
[“This is Vṛndāvana, Vṛndāvana is so friendly, so sweet,
so near to us, and such a well-wisher of ours. We are quite at home there,
sweet, sweet home. In our innate and innermost existence, we are members of
that plane.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 2.10.6]
Mayi dṛṣṭe
'khilātmani, with my
interest: first with me and my first environment, then different environments;
with all. How? God save me from our friends.
Our charm for this material world of enjoyment should vanish. That is the
trouble, to save us from the friends. That is the question. We love them. That
is the enemy within. The enemy is within, that I have got attraction, I love
this paraphernalia, I like them, that is the enemy.And those that do not like
to enjoy there is also another mania of renunciation. They do not admit the
reality, that a part and parcel of the whole, he has got respective duty for
the whole organic, service, a life of service. Mere renunciation, dharmagat, a strike: that is no solution.
The real engagement we must have got. And
all engagements are not bad. The engagement in the positive side, that is life
giving. The whole thing may be conducted but the standard is sukha, rasa,
quantity and quality. The quality of rasa, that is to be judged. Raso
vai saḥ. Here also rasa, and there also rasa, but the
difference in quality of rasa. By stealing also we can get a sort of
pleasure. And by making gifts to all, we also feel a sort of pleasure. But
there is a distinction. This is also rasa that is also rasa. This
is extraordinary; this is gross, filthy. Then qualitatively rasa will be
improved, it will be purer. Then it will reach to the acme of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, surrendering everything for Him and spontaneous service
reinstated. That distributes the highest type of rasa in quality and
quantity. That is the main conception underlying all this.Akhila-rasāmṛta-murtiḥ.
All different types of rasa is harmonised
in that Personality of beautiful goodness. Our goal will be that. This Bhāgavatam
says and Mahāprabhu says. And our heart will also approve when we
shall have the touch of that thing in any way or other.
Hṛdayenābhyanujñāto, yo
dharmas taṁ nibhodhata, Manusays.
Vidvadbhiḥ sevitaḥ, which is not current in the ordinary
person, but those that are well experienced in
Vedic śāstra, Vedic knowledge, that the knowledge which is
transmitted from outside for our help, for our relief. One who is experienced
in that sort of knowledge, vidvadbhiḥ sevitaḥ, and they
follow the rules of life, that sort, sevitaḥas. Sadbhir, and those
that have accepted those
Vedic rules practically in their life, not only the exponents of the Vedic
truth, but also those that are practising
that truth, that advice of the Vedas, sadbhir. Nityam adveṣa-rāgibhiḥ,
and their external nature will be that they do not care much for the duality of
this jay para jay, the sukha-dukha what we meet in the ordinary
life, they do not care for that, adveṣa-rāgibhiḥ. Hṛdayenābhyanujñāto,
and what will get the approval of the
innermost heart, of your innermost heart’s approval, that thing you should know
as real religion.
[vidvadbhiḥ sevitaḥ sadbhir, nityam adveṣa-rāgibhiḥ
hṛdayenābhyanujñāto, yo dharmas taṁ
nibhodhata]
[Manu-saṁhitā, 2.1]
...
That is also lakṣaṇa.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi
Caitanya.
[Bengali (?) conversations
for about nine and a half minutes]
...
Mādhava Mahārāja: Someone asked me a question about the Bhagavad-gītā.
In the eighteenth chapter Kṛṣṇa says: Īśvaraḥ
sarvva-bhūtānāṁ, hṛd-deśe ‘rjjuna tiṣṭhati,
“That you surrender,” Kṛṣṇa was telling Arjuna that, “You
surrender to the Supreme.” In the next verse He tells him that, “The Supreme is
controlling everyone and that Arjuna should surrender to the Supreme,” as if Kṛṣṇa
Himself were not the Supreme, as if He were speaking of a third person.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
īśvaraḥ sarvva-bhūtānāṁ, hṛd-deśe
‘rjjuna tiṣṭhati
bhrāmayan sarvva-bhūtāni, yantrārūḍhāni
māyayā
tam eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha, sarva-bhāvena
bhārata
tat prasādāt parāṁ śāntiṁ,
sthānaṁ prāpsyasi śāśvatam
[“O Arjuna, the indwelling Supreme Lord, by the potency of His deluding
energy, causes the living beings to wander hither and thither (in many
postures), as though each were merely a puppet on strings, riding on a
carousel. Verily, that Lord is dwelling within the heart of all living
beings.”] [“O Bhārata, surrender unto Him in all respects. By His grace
you will attain the supreme peace and the eternal abode.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.61-62]
That is Kṛṣṇa’s function. Paramātmā we may
think represents one of the functions of Kṛṣṇa, and the
immediate superior to jīva, in the rank of Kṛṣṇa,
rank of Nārāyaṇa.So He asked him, “Try to find...
...
upadraṣṭānumantā ca, bhartā
bhoktā maheśvaraḥ
paramātmeti cāpy ukto, dehe ‘smin puruṣaḥ
paraḥ
[“Within this same body (distinct from the soul) the Supreme Person or
Parama Puruṣa is present as the soul's intimate witness, sanctioner,
supporter, guardian, and Lord. He is known as the Supersoul.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
13.23]
“Your immediate Master is there in your heart to guide you. You try to
connect with Him...“Surrender to Him. Then He will...“Rightly...“With the
concern of these worldly affairs, so come, go through the proper channel. My
connection with you is something else. I say you go. He is also My
representation, representative, but rather try to find Him and His direction.
Then you will find peace. That local God who deals with local affairs, go to
Him; that is entailed. I as a friend advise to you go and follow His direction
and you will get your peace thereby.Tam eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha,
sarva-bhāvena bhārata, tat prasādāt parāṁ
śāntiṁ. [Bhagavad-gītā, 18.62]Then you will have a peep into a particular world which is
independent of this world of good or bad, superior or inferior, as you say. Droṇācārya
Ācārya, Bhīṣma, my Guru, and you are not feeling
encouragement to hit them. So you will come over
the surface of this world duality if you can have His direction. It will give
you immediate relief of this duality of good and bad in this world: take you above the calculation of good and bad of worldly
sense. Accept His guidance that will be safe to you.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Tam eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha,
sarva-bhāvena bhārata, tat prasādāt parāṁ
śāntiṁ.
“You’ll be able to rise above the
consideration of good and bad of this world and exclusively devote yourself to
His direction. That will be helpful to you to get out of this worldly
entanglement.”
upadraṣṭānumantā ca, bhartā
bhoktā maheśvaraḥ
paramātmeti cāpy ukto, dehe ‘smin puruṣaḥ
paraḥ
[“Within this same body (distinct from the soul) the Supreme Person or
Parama Puruṣa is present as the soul's intimate witness, sanctioner,
supporter, guardian, and Lord. He is known as the Supersoul.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
13.23]
“His function we
can experience in these different forms, upadraṣṭā, He’s observing everything you are doing. He is deputed there, by Me it may be called, for that purpose. Anumantā, and
willingly or unwillingly He can check you but little indifferent in His,
indifferently He’s watching your movements in every detail. Upadraṣṭā,
anumantā, and He is indifferently giving approval, not always very
satisfied or dissatisfied, anyhow approving your free actions. Bhartā,
and He does not leave you but He accepts, continues in your guardianship. That
position He has got. Though you do not obey always inner direction but still He
does not leave you. He continues to be your guardian, bhartā. Bhokta,
and also He has to feel something about you. If you follow His direction, He
will be happy and if you ignore Him, He will be little disturbed, bhokta. Maheśvaraḥ,
but He has got His special power to force you to do anything and everything,
but still He does not use that special power over you. But still He’s there
within your heart. That is My particular function in every jīva.
Just as the sun, without considering any gratitude or ingratitude of the world, he goes on giving light. So hṛd-deśe ‘tiṣṭhatam,
that is My one function who exists in all the hearts of all the jīvas that
are to be found anywhere, Īśvara.”
aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān, [ātmasya jantor nihito
guhāyām
tam akratuḥ paśyati
vīta-śoko, dhātuḥ prasādān mahimānam
ātmanaḥ]
[“Smaller than the atom, greater than the greatest, the Supreme Self
secretly resides even within the core of the atomic individual soul [the jīva].
When the devotee beholds Him he is freed from lamentation, and by the grace of
the Lord [Dhātṛ] he realises the superiority of the Supreme Soul.”]
[Kaṭha Upaniṣad, 1.2.20]
All-pervading
aspect, aṇor aṇīyān, the smallest of the small. Everywhere
He’s residing inside. “The highest plane where everything is standing that is
Brahman, and the smallest all-pervading space, that is also My aspect. That is
also Myself, the smallest of the small, aṇor
aṇīyān.
All-comprehensive and all-pervasive aspect, Brahman, Paramātmā: the
infinite of the infinite and the knower of the knower. This is My two aspects
in the relativity of the world thought.”
And there is another, bhajanīya, a new awakening in the soul. Here we are accustomed to enjoy anything and
everything, to utilise anything and
everything, whatever we come across, to
our interest. How I can utilise this thing for
my purpose, of such pleasure. Whatever we see, we connect with that.
But the Lord’s nature of existence is just opposite. Whenever He’s seen
by anyone, he wants to sacrifice for the pleasure of Him, bhajanīya, guṇa-viśiṣṭha,
that is Bhagavān. The conception of that substance when we come in His
connection we want to give us all to produce His satisfaction. That is the
characteristic of Bhagavān. And that is developed to the highest in Kṛṣṇa,
bhajanīya.Here whatever we see we want to enjoy, the excitement we
feel for enjoyment, but the God’s position is just the opposite. Whoever comes
in His connection he wants to make Him enjoy. That is just the opposite aspect
of this world. Bhajanīya guṇa-viśiṣṭha. He’s
my Lord and I am to supply His enjoyment. Such nature He has got, attractive in
all respects. That
is just the opposite
aspect of the world: bhajanīya guṇa-viśiṣṭha, Bhagavān.
And
Paramātmā is like this, indifferent
guardian, everywhere in every jīva He’s there dictating, not
forcing, but He can force.Prakṛtis tvāṁ niyokṣyati [“By your nature, you will have to be
engaged in warfare.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 18.59] Kartuṁ
necchasi yan mohāt kariṣyasy avaśo ’pi tat [“Compelled by
the work born of your own nature, you will act all the same.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.60] “With a special
power He will come and engage you in this fight, if you fail to cooperate in the last moment. But you can't avoid,
the force is there. But it would be better for you to obey Him consciously. You
ask your inner guide.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.Today
we may stop here.Jai Oṁ Viṣṇupāda...
End of 81.09.05.C
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.06.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
____________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja: (Leads bhajans)
[ŚrīRādhikā-stava (from Stava-mālā), by Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī]
rādhe jaya jaya mādhava-dayite, gokula-taruṇī-maṇḍala-mahīte.
dāmodara-rati-vardhana-veśe, hari-niṣkuṭa-vṛndā-vipineśe.
vṛṣabhānū dadhi-nava-śaśī
lekhe, lalitā-sakhī guṇa-ramita-viśākhe.
karuṇāṁ kuru mayi karuṇā-bharite,
sanaka-sanātana-varṇita-carite.
[“O Rādhe, Your transcendental love and beauty are so powerful and
attractive that they captivate even the heart of Mādhava who is eternally
self fulfilled and the unlimited source of all divine ecstasy and charm. By
Your own natural excellence You are the most adorable of all young beautiful
damsels of Gokula Maṇḍala, therefore Your glories remain ever
unequalled.
O Rādhe, Your elegant countenance, decorated by coquettish moods
and captivating dress, ever increase the love ecstasy of Your beloved
Dāmodara. Manifesting such unique loveliness, You forever remain the
beloved queen of the beautiful forest groves of Hari, who is expert in stealing
away Your heart by creating an irresistible love attraction.
O Rādhe, from the ocean of Vṛṣabhānu, You have
risen like a full moon of exquisite beauty that ever delights the heart of
Mādhava.
O Rādhe, You are very fond of Lalitā and
Viśākhā who stand out amongst all other damsels of Gokula, due
to their charming beauty and expertise in prema sevā. They are also
deeply captivated and overwhelmed by Your super excellent qualities which
enchant Kṛṣṇa, the divine monarch of all loving mellows and
so they accept You, with all adoration as their beloved Goddess and exclusive
shelter of life.
O Rādhe, Your transcendental glories are described with unending
joy by the exalted saints like Sanaka Ṛṣi and Your intimate
servitor Śrīla Sanātana Goswāmī. O magnanimous
Goddess! Your heart is full of compassion, therefore please bestow Your mercy
upon me.”]
05:32
........
05:38
[Śrī Rādhāṣṭaka, 2, from Gītāvalī
by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura]
[1] birajār pāre śuddha-parabyoma-dhām,
tad upari śrī-gokula-bṛndāraṇya nām
[2] bṛndābana cintāmaṇi,
cid-ānanda-ratna-khani, cinmoy apūrva-darasan
tahi mājhe camatkār, kṛṣṇa banaspati
sār, nīla-maṇi tamāla jemon
[3] tāhe ek swarṇa-mayī, latā
sarba-dhām-jayī, uṭhiyāche parama-pābanī
hlādinī-śaktir sār, ‘mahābhāva’
nām jār, tribhuvana-mohana-mohinī
[4] rādhā-nāme paricita, tuṣiyā
gobinda-cita, birājaye parama ānande
sei latā-patra-ful, lalitādi sakhī-kul, sabe
mili’ bṛkhe dṛḍha bāndhe
[5] latār paraśe prafulla tamāl, latā
chāri’ nāhi rahe kono kāl
[6] tamāla chariya latā nāhi bãce, se lata
milan sada-kala jace
[7] bhakativinoda milan dõhār, nā cāhe kakhona
binā kichu ār
[1] Beyond the Virajā River lies the pure spiritual sky, or the
Vaikuṇṭha world, and above that Vaikuṇṭha realm lies
the divine abode known as Goloka Vṛndāvana.
[2] The land of Vṛndāvana is made of spiritual gems and is
therefore likened to a mine of fully cognizant and beautiful jewels. This
transcendental realm is certainly a wonderful and extraordinary sight. Within
that abode, where everything is fully conscious, resides Lord Kṛṣṇa,
who is compared to a charming tamāla tree (which is considered to
be the best of trees and possesses colour like that of a sapphire).
[3] Upon that blackish tree has appeared a beautiful golden creeper. Her
name is Mahābhāva, due to being the essence of the pleasure-giving hlādinī
potency. She is the conqueror of all realms, the supreme purifier, and the
enchantress of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is Himself the
enchanter of all the worlds.
[4] She is also known as Rādhā, whose friends, headed by
Lalitā, are compared to Her leaves and flowers. The creeper, meeting with
all Her friends, firmly embraces that blackish tree named Govinda, and having
satisfied His heart, remains there in great ecstasy.
[5] At the touch of the creeper, the tamāla tree blooms; but
without Her embrace He can no longer exist.
[6] The creeper, without the company of that tamāla tree, is
also unable to live. Therefore She always prays for Their meeting.
[7] Bhaktivinoda desires nothing else but the meeting of this divine
couple, Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.
...
08:42
...
[Śrī Rādhāṣṭaka, 3, from
Gītāvalī by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura]
[1] ramaṇī-śiromaṇi, bṛṣabhānu-nandinī,
nīla-basana-paridhānā
chinna-puraṭa jini’, barṇa-bikāśinī,
baddha-kabarī hari-prāṇā
[2] ābharaṇa-maṇḍitā,
hari-rasa-paṇḍitā, tilaka-suśobhita-bhālā
kañculikācchāditā, stana-maṇi-maṇḍitā,
kajjala-nayanī rasālā
[3] sakala tyajiyā se rādhā-caraṇe,
dāsī ho’ye bhaja parama-jatane
[4] saundarja-kiraṇa dekhiyā jãhār,
rati-gaurī-līlā garva-parihār
[5] śacī-lakṣmī-satyā
saubhāgya bolane, parājita hoy jãhāra caraṇe
[6] kṛṣṇa-baśīkāre candrāvalī-ādi,
parājay māne hoiyā bibādī
[7] hari-dayita rādhā-caraṇa
prayāsī, bhakativinoda śrī-godruma-bāsī
[1] Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the
crest jewel of all the young women. She is the beloved daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu
and is very fond of wearing blue coloured garments. Her very pleasing
complexion conquers the beauty of cut gold, Her locks of hair are nicely
arranged, and She is the life and soul of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
[2] Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who is
very learned in the science of rāsa, is artfully adorned with
jewels, nicely decorated with tilaka, and covered with a beautiful
corset. Her breasts are adorned with valuable gems, and Her eyes are anointed
with black collyrium. Thus She appears as sweetness personified.
[3] Give up everything and become a maidservant at the lotus feet of
Rādhārāṇī. Just worship Her and serve Her with great
care and attention.
[4] Beholding Her effulgent rays of beauty, Rati, Gaurī, and
Līlā abandon all their pride.
[5] At Her feet the good fortune of Śacī, Lakṣmī
and Satyā is defeated.
[6] The gopīs, led by Candrāvalī, are all staunch
competitors of Rādhārāṇī for Kṛṣṇa’s
favour. Yet they all accept their defeat by Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī, for She alone controls Kṛṣṇa.
[7] Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda, a resident of Godruma, always
endeavours for the lotus feet of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī,
the most beloved of Lord Hari.
11:05
........
11:12
[Śrī Rādhāṣṭaka, 1, from Gītāvalī
by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura]
[1] rādhikā-caraṇa-padma, sakala śreyera
sadma, jatane je nāhi ārādhilo
rādhā-padmāṅkita dhāma, bṛndābana
jār nāma, tāhā je nā āśroy korilo
[2] rādhikā-bhāva-gambhīr, citta
jebā mahādhīra, gaṇa-saṅga nā koilo jīvane
kemone se śyāmānanda,
rasa-sindhu-snānānanda, labhibe bujhoha eka-mane
[3] rādhikā ujjvala-raser ācārya,
rādhā-mādhava-śuddha-prema vicārya
[4] je dharilo rādhā-pada parama jatane, se pailo kṛṣṇa-pada
amūlya-ratane
[5] rādhā-pada vinā kabhu kṛṣṇa
nāhi mile, rādhār dāsīr kṛṣṇa
sarva-vede bole
[6] choḍata dhana-jana, kalatra-suta-mita, choḍata
karama geyān
rādhā-pada-paṅkaja, madhurata sevana,
bhakativinoda paramān
[1] He who has failed to carefully worship the lotus feet of
Śrīmatī Rādhikā, which are the abode of all
auspiciousness; he who has not taken shelter in the transcendental abode known
as Vṛndāvana, which is decorated with the beautiful lotus flower
named Rādhā...
[2] ...who in this life has not associated with the devotees of
Rādhikā, who are very wise and whose devotion for Rādhā is
very deep-how will such a person ever experience the bliss of bathing in the
ocean of Lord Śyāma's sublime mellows? Please understand this most
attentively.
[3] Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the exemplary teacher of
the brilliant mellows of conjugal love. This pure love between Rādhā
and Mādhava is worthy of discussion and contemplation.
[4] He who cherishes the lotus feet of Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī with great care obtains the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa,
which are like priceless jewels.
[5] Without taking shelter of the lotus feet of Rādhā, one can
never meet Kṛṣṇa. The Vedic scriptures declare that Kṛṣṇa
is the property of the maidservants of Śrī Rādhā.
[6] Having abandoned wealth, followers, wife, sons, and friends, and
having given up materialistic activities and speculative knowledge, one should
become absorbed in the sweetness of service to the lotus feet of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. This is
Bhaktivinoda's solemn declaration.]
14:18
........
14:30
[Rādhākuṇḍataṭa-kuñjakuṭīra, from Śaraṇāgati by
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura]
rādhākuṇḍataṭa-kuñjakuṭīra,
govardhanaparvvata yāmunatīra
kusumasarovara, mānasagaṅgā, kalindanandinī
vipula-taraṅgā
vaṁśīvaṭa, gokula, dhīrasamīra,
vṛndāvana-taru latikā-vānīra
khaga-mṛgakula, malaya-bātāsa, mayura, bhramara,
muralī-vilāsa
veṇu, śṛṇga, padacihna,
meghamālā, vasanta, śaśāṅka, śaṅkha
karatālā
yugala vilāse anukūla jāni,
līlāvilāsa-uddīpaka māni
esaba choḍata kāhā nāhi yāu, esaba choḍata
parāṇa hārāu
bhaktivinoda kahe, śuna kāna, tuyā uddīpaka
hāmārā parāṇa
["The grove-dwelling on the banks of Rādhā-kuṇḍa,
Govardhana mountain, the banks of river Yamunā;
Kusuma-Sarovara lake, Mānasa-Gaṅgā River,
The rolling waves of Yamunā, daughter of the sun;
Place of the rāsa dance, and Gokula, the gentle breezes,
The trees, vines, and Vetasa palms of Vraja;
The birds and animals, the sweet air of spring,
The peacocks, bumblebees, the flute's sweet song;
Flute, horn, His footsteps, range of clouds in the sky,
Season of spring, the moon, the conch, hand-cymbals;
I know all these things are nourishing
the pastimes of the Divine Couple,
I can feel they arouse the holy pastimes of the Lord;
I can never leave all these things so dear to me,
Without them I know I shall surely die;
Hear me, O Kāna, says Śrī Bhaktivinoda:
You are the only light of my life."]
18:18
........
18:20
[Śrī Rādhāṣṭaka, 8, from Gītāvalī by Śrīla
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura]
rādhā-bhajane yadi mati nāhi bhelā, kṛṣṇa-bhajana
tava akāraṇa gelā.
ātapa-rahita sūray nāhi jāni,
rādhā-virahita mādhava pūjaye sa ajñānī.
kavāhi nāhi karavi tākar saṅga, citte
icchasi yadi vraja-rasa-rāṅga.
rādhikā-dāsī yadi haya abhimān,
śīghra-i mila-i tava gokula-kān.
brahmā śiva nārada śruti nārāyaṇī,
rādhikā-pada-raja pūjaye māni.'
umā ramā satyā śacī candrā rukmiṇī,
rādhā-avatār sabe āmnāya-vaṇi.
heno rādhā-paricaryā yākara dhana,
bhakativinoda tā'r māgaye caraṇa.
"If your desire to worship Śrī Rādhā is
not awakened,
worship of Kṛṣṇa is ultimately useless.
Just as the sun is not perceived without sunlight,
similarly I cannot accept Mādhava without Śrī
Rādhikā.
One who worships Kṛṣṇa alone has imperfect
knowledge and
one who disrespects Śrī Rādhikā, is simply
conceited and full of vanity.
Never associate with such a person if you at all desire the
transcendentally delightful pastimes of Vraja, to appear within
you heart.
If you consider yourself to be a maidservant of Śrī
Rādhikā,
then you will very soon meet Kāna (Kṛṣṇa)
the Lord of Gokula.
Even Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Devārsi Nārada,
the personified Vedas (Srutis)
and Lakṣmī-Devī honour and worship the dust of
Śrī Rādhikā's lotus feet.
The Vedic scriptures (āmnāya) declare that
Umā, Ramā, Satyā, Śacī,
Candrā and Rukminī are all the expansions of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
Bhaktivinoda whose only wealth is the service of Śrī
Rādhā Ṭhākuraṇī
humbly begs the shelter of Her lotus feet."
(The Songs Of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, p 129-131)
21:33
........
21:34
[Bhakti-pratikūla-bhāva Varjanāṅgīkāra,
renunciation of conduct averse to pure
devotion, song 4.]
[From Śaraṇāgati by
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura]
āmi to’ svānanda-sukhada-bāsī,
rādhikā-mādhaba-caraṇa-dāsī
duṅhāra milane ānanda kori, duṅhāra
biyoge duḥkhete mari
sakhī-sthalī nāhi heri nayane, dekhile
śaibyāke paraye mane
je-je pratikūla candrāra sakhī, prāṇe
duḥkha pāi tāhāre dekhi’
rādhikā-kuñja āṅdhāra kori, loite
cāhe se rādhāra hari
śrī-rādhā-gobinda-milana-sukha,
pratikūla-jana nā heri mukha
rādhā-pratikūla jateka jan, sambhāṣaṇe
kabhu nā hoy mana
bhakativinoda śrī-rādhā-caraṇe, saṅpeche
parāṇa atība jatane
[I am a resident of Svānanda-sukha-kuñja and a maidservant
of the lotus feet of Rādhikā and Mādhava.
At the union of the Divine Couple I rejoice, and in Their separation I
die in anguish.
I never look at the place where Candrāvalī and her friends
stay. Whenever I see such a place it reminds me of Candrāvalī’s gopī
friend Śaibyā.
I feel pain in my heart when I catch sight of Candrāvalī’s
girl-friends, for they are opposed to Rādhā.
Candrāvalī wants to take away Rādhā’s Lord Hari,
thus covering the grove of Rādhikā with the darkness of gloom.
I never look at the faces of those who are opposed to Śrī
Rādhā and Govinda’s joyous union.
Nor do I find any pleasure in conversing with those who are opposed to
Rādhā.
Bhaktivinoda has enthusiastically entrusted his soul to the lotus feet
of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.]
24:50
........
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmilitaṁ yena, tasmai śrī-gurave
namaḥ
[“I was blind in the darkness of ignorance but my Spiritual Master
applied the ointment of proper spiritual knowledge and thus opened my eyes.
Unto him I offer my respectful obeisances.”]
........
nāma-śreṣṭhaṁ manum api
śacī-putram atra svarūpaṁ
rūpaṁ tasyāgrajam uru-purīṁ
māthurīṁ goṣṭavāṭīm
rādhā-kuṇḍaṁ giri-varam aho
rādhikā-mādhavāśāṁ
prāpto yasya prathita-kṛpayā śrī guruṁ
taṁ nato 'smi
[Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī prays: “I
only aspire after one thing. I cherish the hope that one day I may be welcomed
into the plane where Rādhikā and Mādhava are in Their glory,
sitting and playing.”]
……..
vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya
eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo
namo namaḥ
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇava
devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfil the
desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned
souls.]
........
namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya
te
kṛṣṇaya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmne
gaura-tviṣe namaḥ
[“I offer praṇāma unto Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He has assumed the
golden hue of Śrīmatī Rādhikā and is munificently
distributing Kṛṣṇaprema.”]
........
dīvyad vṛndāraṇya kalpa-drumādhaḥ,
śrīmad-ratnāgāra-siṁhāsana-sthau
śrī
śrī-rādhā-śrīla-govinda-devau, preṣṭhālībhiḥ
sevyamānau smarāmi
[“I constantly meditate upon that Divine Couple Śrī
Śrī Gandharvvā-Govinda, who are seated upon a wonderful throne
highly decorated with brilliant jewels. They are sitting within the illustrious
forest of Vraja, beneath a mind attracting desire tree, accompanied by Their
dedicated servitors such as Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī, Lalitā
Devī, and other intimate servants like the priyanarma sakhīs.”]
........
radhavan namaste
dinam dante yar te punat puna
[?]
srimad rupa padam bhoja suji dui syam janme jan [?]
........
śrī caitanya mano'bhīṣṭaṁ,
stāpithaṁ yena bhūtale
svayaṁ rūpa kadā mahyaṁ, dadāti
sva-pandāntikaṁ
[Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura said: “O when will
Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī, who has firmly established in this
world, the pure devotional teachings and principles of Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu and thus fulfilled His cherished desires, ever bless me with
eternal shelter of his lotus feet?”]
........
mukam karoti vācālaṁ panghum langhāyate
girīm
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī gurun
dīna-tāranam
[“I offer my respectful obeisances unto Mādhava, Who is the
Personification of transcendental bliss. By His mercy, a blind man can see the
stars in the sky, a lame man can cross mountains, and a dumb man can speak
eloquent words of poetry.”]
[Bhavārtha Dipikā, maṅgala
stotram, 1]
........
26:40
[Bengali (?)
and ślokas ________________________________________________?]
End of 81.09.06.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.06.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
[Bengali _______________________ [?]11:37
Bhajans.
Siddhi-lālasā, by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
[1] kabe gaura-vane, suradhunī-taṭe, ‘hā
rādhe hā kṛṣṇa’ bo’le
kāṅdiyā beḍābo, deho-sukha chāḍi’,
nānā latā-taru-tale
[2] śwa-paca-gṛhete, māgiyā khāibo,
pibo saraswatī-jala
puline puline gaḍā-gaḍi dibo, kori’ kṛṣṇa-kolāhala
[3] dhāma-bāsī jane, praṇati
koriyā, māgibo kṛpāra leśa
vaiṣṇaba-caraṇa- reṇu gāya
mākhi, dhori’ avadhūta-beśa
[4] gauḍa-braja-bane, bheda nā heribo, hoibo
baraja-bāśī
dhāmera swarūpa, sphuribe nayane, hoibe
rādhāra dāsī
[1] O when, O when will this soul chant in Gaura-forest on the Ganges’
banks the Holy Names “Rādhā” and “Kṛṣṇa” renouncing
all the body’s joys and drenched with all the tears I’ve wept amidst the herbs,
beneath a tree?]
[2] When, at some outcaste’s
home shall I give up all thoughts of caste and beg to share with him humble prasādam
and drink the water of the Saraswatī? Along the banks, my voice choked
with my ecstasy I’ll chant “Kṛṣṇa” in great delight.]
[3] And when will I bow down before a dhām-bāsī
and beg from him a drop of mercy; when O when will I smear my body with the
dust from a Vaiṣṇava’s holy feet and wear the avadhūta’s cloth?]
[4] Then I shall see no difference in the forest of Gauḍa and
Vraja, and I will be transformed into a resident of the dhām. The
true nature of the Lord’s abode will manifest itself to my eyes, and I will
become a maidservant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.]
[Siddhi-lālasā, by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura]
........
13:33
Śrī Vraja-dhāma-mahimāmṛta, The
Nectarean Glories of Vraja-dhāma
[1] jaya rādhe, jaya kṛṣṇa, jaya vṛndāvan,
śrī-govinda, gopīnātha, madana-mohan
[2] śyāma-kuṇḍa, rādhā-kuṇḍa,
giri-govardhan, kālindī jamunā jaya, jaya mahāvan
[3] keśī-ghāṭa, baṁśī-baṭa,
dwādaśa-kānan, jāhā saba līlā koilo
śrī-nanda-nandan
[4] śrī-nanda-jaśodā jaya, jaya gopa-gaṇ,
śrīdāmādi jaya, jaya dhenu-vatsa-gaṇ
[5] jaya bṛṣabhānu, jaya kīrtidā
sundarī, jaya paurṇamāsī, jaya
ābhīra-nāgarī
[6] jaya jaya gopīśwara vṛndāvana-mājh,
jaya jaya kṛṣṇa-sakhā baṭu dwija-rāj
[7] jaya rāma-ghāṭa, jaya rohiṇī-nandan,
jaya jaya vṛndāvana-bāsī jata jan
[8] jaya dwija-patnī, jaya nāga-kanyā-gaṇ,
bhaktite jāhārā pāilo govinda-caraṇ
[9] śrī-rāsa-maṇḍala jaya, jaya
rādhā-śyām, jaya jaya rāsa-līlā
sarva-manoram
[10] jaya jayojjwala-rasa sarva-rasa-sār,
parakīyā-bhāve jāhā brajete pracār
[11] śrī-jāhnavā-pāda-padma
koriyā smaraṇ, dīna kṛṣṇa-dāsa kohe
nāma-saṅkīrtan
[1] All glories to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and the
divine forest of Vṛndāvana. All glories to the three presiding
Deities of Vṛndāvana —Śrī Govinda, Gopīnātha,
and Madana-Mohana.
[2] All glories to Śyāma-kuṇḍa, Rādhā-kuṇḍa,
Govardhana Hill, and the Yamunā River (Kālindī). All glories to
the great forest known as Mahāvana, where Kṛṣṇa and
Balarāma displayed all of Their childhood pastimes.
[3] All glories to Keśī-ghāṭa, where Kṛṣṇa
killed the Keśī demon. All glories to the Vaṁśī-vaṭa
tree, where Kṛṣṇa attracted all the gopīs to come
by playing His flute. Glories to all of the twelve forests of Vraja. At these
places the son of Nanda, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, performed all
of His pastimes.
[4] All glories to Kṛṣṇa’s divine father and mother
Nanda and Yaśodā. All glories to the cowherd boys, headed by
Śrīdāmā, the older brother of Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī and Anaṅga Mañjarī. All glories
to the cows and calves of Vraja.
[5] All glories to Rādhā’s divine father and mother, Vṛṣabhānu
and the beautiful Kīrtidā. All glories to Paurṇamāsī,
the mother of Sāndīpani Muni, grandmother of Madhumaṅgala and Nāndimukhī,
and beloved disciple of Devarṣi Nārada. All glories to the young
cowherd maidens of Vraja.
[6] All glories, all glories to Gopīśvara Śiva, who
resides in Vṛndāvana in order to protect the holy dhāma.
All glories, all glories to Kṛṣṇa’s funny brāhmaṇa
friend, Madhumaṅgala.
[7] All glories to Rāma-ghāṭa, where Lord Balarāma
performed His rāsa dance. All glories to Lord Balarāma, the
son of Rohiṇī. All glories, all glories to all of the residents of Vṛndāvana.
[8] All glories to the wives of the proud Vedic brāhmaṇas.
All glories to the wives of the Kāliya serpent. Through pure devotion they
all obtained the lotus feet of Lord Govinda.
[9] All glories to the place where the rāsa dance of
Śrī Kṛṣṇa was performed. All glories to
Rādhā and Śyāma. All glories, all glories to the divine rāsa
dance, which is the most beautiful of all Lord Kṛṣṇa’s
pastimes.
[10] All glories, all glories to the mellow of conjugal love, which is
the most excellent of all rasas and is propagated in Vraja by
Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the form of the divine parakīya-bhāva
[paramour love].
[11] Remembering the lotus feet of Lord Nityānanda's consort
Śrī Jāhnavā Devī, this very fallen and lowly servant
of Kṛṣṇa sings the saṅkīrtana of the Holy
Name.]
[Śrī Vraja-dhāma-mahimāmṛta, The Nectarean
Glories of Vraja-dhāma]
........
Gaura Hari Haribol. Gaura Hari Haribol.
Gaura Nityānanda bol Haribol
Haribol.Gaura Gadādhara bol Haribol Haribol.
________________________________________________________________
[?]
20:36
Jaya Oṁ Viṣṇu-Pāda...
22:10
[Bengali (?) and ślokas,
until the end of the recording]
End of 81.09.06.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.10.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ...we went to the Sonar Mandir and we met the pūjārī.
Very nice man! And he has proposition of raising one lākh and then
they would give the Mandir for our usage... One lākh and they would
give us the property there, Sonar Mandir.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They’d sell?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. So he proposed that we raise between us one lākh rupees,
and then he could use that, that could be used for purchasing temple and
property.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What about the money that was deposited
in the bank more than a lākh?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: That he does not know.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So Vinodini wants to sell the mother’s
temple?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. I think it’s mainly her sister’s husband is interested.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Her sister’s husband.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: He left with that intention, of
raising funds for that purpose.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: For that golden plate covered temple?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. Very beautiful: very beautiful place.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is very cheap, one lākh,
very, very cheap.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes, very cheap. Mahārāja, maybe you could describe
the history of those three temples the Anu Prabuj Mandir and Sonar Mandir.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: On the northern side of this temple Ranu
Temple there is Anu Maṭha temple; that is old. And on the eastern side of
this Ranu Temple there is the King’s Temple; Ranu’s husband’s temple. Three
Manipuri Temple’s there.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So the King of Manipura he first came to Navadwīpa. Then
he built for his Queen later, the
Rani Mandir was built later.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes; latest. First Anu Mahāprabhu
then Queen’s
temple, then Rani when the King married again the Rani came away from the King and she wanted to devote her whole life in the worship to
the Deity. And with her own fund she constructed this temple. The King gave some opposition but could not oppose successfully.
Anyhow Rani established.
______________________________________________
[?] These ordinary
things in Vraja, then to cultivate the religious conception in other place:
outside Vraja.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura when he first discovered the birthplace
of Mahāprabhu, according to the divine dream, in order to establish it in
the public opinion he organised fairs with
many shows and display and plays and festivals. And there the dancing of the
birds etc, was shown, and many other things.
Then one man asked him, “Have you discovered this birthplace of
Mahāprabhu to show to the people the dancing of the birds?”
He told, “Yes! To be fortunate enough to see the dance of the birds in
the Dhāmaof
Mahāprabhu, that is a great fortune, we consider. That I am there with the
consciousness of the Dhāmato
remain there as an ordinary
resident, inhabitant, that is considered to be a great
fortune.”
And also [Raghunātha] Dāsa Goswāmī told in Vṛndāvana:
“In Vṛndāvana, to speak ordinary things of the family matters that
is more high, higher and higher, than to talk about religious
things in other parts of the country. Adjustment, the deepest adjustment, I am
one with the Vrajavāsīs. I am one of them. I have a permanent
resident here.”
This consciousness: all the talk:
Yat kinca tina guna tikatham gosthe
samasthan rtam [?]
sadva nanda mukunda dvaitam lilam purnam
purnam [?]
“Whatever has got any accommodation in the area of Vraja, Vraja Dhāma, automatically everything in a serving mood, in serving force.
Otherwise they cannot have any entrance into that plane at all. Anyhow to
secure a position within that area must be the greatest fortune. Otherwise none
can never secure any position there. Everything there, consciously or
unconsciously engaged in the service
of Kṛṣṇa, supporting His līlā somehow or
other, in Dhāma.”
And our deepest position can help us to feel that, the truth underlying.
No________, no wave will have any clash.Maya santusta manasa sadva sukham
maya desa [?]
All the waves that will come to us they will bring only good news. Only
we fail to understand we are in such a plane of contest, but if you dive deep, nirguṇa-bhūmikā,
then the nirguṇa plane, satya, raja, tama, three
waves, that is clash of interest. Separate interests are engaged in clash, in
different planes. Guṇḍā, guṇḍā, and
the ordinary politician, politician and the sādhu, sādhu:
contest in the three planes satya, raja, sādhu, sādhu satya
approximately; politician, politician, raja. And the guṇḍā,
guṇḍā, rowdy, rowdy, boisterous, that is tama.
But if we dive deep, in the deepest plane if we
can take our stand, then we shall
see that everything is bringing good and auspicious news to us, the harmony.
Then all this fight will seem to be business mockery like play, mock fight.
These fights will appear to us as mock fight, not real fight. Because the
interest for which the fighting is going on, that is baseless. And the
suffering that is also temporary and not intense, not any permanent value, so
the ātmā is not damaged by any external fighting. All this
will help us to think that this is mock fight going on so we won't feel any
disturbance for that. Kṛṣṇa is enjoying, all these mock
fights, are enjoyed by Kṛṣṇa. And we also must partake into, take share in His enjoyment. It will come in that light.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
...
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, sometimes we see that three things are
mentioned together. Sometimes we see that three different tattvas are
mentioned together. That is Śrī, Śrī tattva, Bhu,
and Līlā tattva. So what is the siddhānta of the
Goswāmīs on those three?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Śrī, Bhu,
Līlā is considered in the case of GauraNārāyaṇa.
Śrī Lakṣmī, bhu śakti Viṣṇu
Prīya and by līlā Dhāma: in this way they are serving Gaura Nārāyaṇa.
It is told like that. Śrī, Bhu, Līlā. Sandini, samvit,
and hlādinī; general līlā by hlādinī.
Jñāna bala kriya ca in Upaniṣads. Samvit, jñāna,
thinking, bala, willing; and bala kriya ca, hlādinī, feeling: thinking, feeling, willing; three potencies generally
we find in the relativity of the infinite existence. Three phases - sat,
cit, ānanda. Satyam, śivam, sundaram. The basis, the foundation, and the enjoyer and the enjoyed; the background and the
pastimes of enjoyer and enjoyed. Predominating and Predominated Moiety,
negative, positive, predominated, predominating: and the background Baladeva.
In this way everything is analysed. Advaya-jñāna,
when first we, for our, asvadam
means for our understanding, when we want to see by analysis, then we come to
analyse Him in three aspects. Thinking, feeling,
willing, jñāna bala kriya ca; sat, cit, ānanda, satva
representative of fossil, and the background. Though all conscious and he
thinks of the enjoyer who wants to enjoy, and what is to be enjoyed, what he is
searching for, the enjoyment, rasa, raso vai saḥ, three aspects of
the one absolute whole. First division we find it in three ways, three forms to
understand. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Śrī, Bhu, Līlā.
Śrī Lakṣmī, Bhu Viṣṇu Prīya, and
by Līlā śakti for the pastimes the whole paraphernalia
has been... Hare Kṛṣṇa. Śrī, Bhu,
Līlā.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Bhu is taken as Lakṣmī Prīya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Viṣṇu Prīya, as far as
I remember the Bhu śakti represented by Viṣṇu
Prīya. Śrī, Bhu. Līlā, the ground on which the
play is shown, paraphernalia, the environment, comes from Līlā,
the environment. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Viṣṇu Prīya’s help is in which way;
assistance in what way? The Bhu śakti’s assistance is in what way?
These three are assisting, so Bhu śakti - the assistance there is
in?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes, assistant, to help in direct, indirect way, for the propaganda work. By
separation, by accepting the show of the pangs of separation she helped a great
deal for the propaganda. Her attitude, her ideal helped a great deal. Her
penances, melted the hearts of many and did away with the jealousy or
antagonistic feeling about Śrī Caitanya Deva, especially in this
locality in Bengal, and thereby facilitated the preaching of Nityānanda
Prabhu possibly here. So her character contributed much to propagate
Mahāprabhu’s Mission.Gaura Hari.
As a sannyāsīnHe wandered the length and breadth of India and she pained up in
one place was so intensely she used herself in the worship of HariNāma,
Mahāprabhu. That also had a very valuable contribution, especially to the
locality which was fully surcharged with anti spirit of Śrī Caitanya Deva.
The whole tantric, the furious type of tantric upāsanā
was in vogue here in this locality.Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa.
So in order to understand that Dāsa Gosvāmī’s words that,
“Speak ordinary words with the ordinary rural people of Vṛndāvana
that will give us much more, draw for us, collect for us, much more spiritual
wealth than to be engaged in other parts of the world with deep engagement in
the talk of religious thoughts and others.”
Bhāratī Mahārāja: That’s very encouraging.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes! Very encouraging, encouragingand
also very far reaching knowledge is necessary, far reaching, aprākṛta.
Prākṛta vat no tu prākṛtam. It is like very low nature of the creation world, but still it
is the acme of the highest position of the theological world. Very rural, ordinary, prākṛtam,
prākṛta vat, but not prākṛtam: the opposite.
The highest reflected in the lowest position.
So much so that Mahāprabhu, He’s advising Jagadānanda when
he’s going to Vṛndāvana. “Go there, always remain under the guidance
of Sanātana Gosvāmī. Don’t try to mix with the Vrajavāsīs
very intimately. From a distance you will show honour to them but don’t go
to mix with them very intensely.”
dūre rahi' bhakti kariha saṅge nā rahibā,
tāṅ-sabāra ācāra-ceṣṭā la-ite
nāribā
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā,
13.37]
“Don't accept their habits of living.”
For us: such instructions given to one of His parṣada
bhaktas, Jagadānanda.
In Caitanya-caritāmṛta warning is given.
paścimera loka saba mūḍha anācāra,
tāhāṅ pracārila doṅhe bhakti-sadācāra
[“The people in general on the western side
of India were neither intelligent nor well behaved, but by the influence of
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī
they were trained in devotional service and good behaviour.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā,
10.89]
Rūpa, Sanātana preached there good practices. And they were
very stupid and they did not know what real conduct should be.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
[From 23:00Bengali (?) conversations
until the end of the recording]
End of 81.09.10.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.10.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
[Bengali (?) spoken until
04:08]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nirguṇa, guṇātīta,
the most important thing to realise.
What is nirguṇa, guṇātīta, play, the subtle-most
plane in the conscious world. Nirguṇa positive, and this is the
negative aspect we are getting experience of, negative side. Only to take our
stand in the positive plane and that is nirguṇa. No complaint
whatsoever, difficulties all superficial. And all what we are taking so
seriously, that will be seen in the spirit of play, no sting. When we shall get
the touch of that plane, this is such a truth of such characteristic that all
these fighting ways should appear to us like play, līlā.
Because the loss which are counting in so seriously here by the fighting, by
the clash, we shall be able to see that there is nothing, futile, equating to
zero, which is so grave to us;
Jai para jai mana [?] This duality... Mana praman jai
para jai sukha duhkha[?]
That is of zero power, of zero effect, so it is all play. That will come
in comparison with the reality of the plane where we took our stand, and according to the comparative study of own soul’s real
interest. When we shall find our real interest this will be almost negligent,
to the utmost. So both loss or gain, that will be like a play, a play value,
nothing else, so meagre, so ludicrous.These serious things, one country is
devouring another country, so many wailing, and perhaps the whole globe will
vanish, then again created. Then all will be like a play, no value, no
importance. We are giving much attention to the object for which the fighting
is going on so we are serious here. But having a stand in that plane, in
comparison with that, this will be nothing, compared to this, ludicrous.So that
nirguṇa-bhūmikā, the plane of that guṇātīta,the plea of all subdivisions, the play of satya, raja,
tama; the creation, the sustenance, and destruction. When we shall come in
connection with a matter which is free of creation, maintenance, sustenance and
destruction, then this will seem to be a ludicrous thing, to partake with
serious heart in these matters. Do you follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Anyhow, to get our position in that
plane. That is so sure, so true, so friendly, and so lifegiving, and so
beautiful, charming, that this will be like trash. That is what is necessary
for us. Gaura Haribol.
[Bengali [?] spoken for about
three minutes nineteen seconds]
...
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, there’s one question that came up...
Devotee: ____________________________________
[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: ______________________________ [?]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Tell the question.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: The question was, we know that
Gaura-Gadādhara was Śrīla Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura’s favourite Deity. So the question was,
what is the relationship: or we may say rasa, between Gaura and
Gadādhara, is there some relationship there, or is that
symbolic?___________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Prema-vaicittya__________________________ [?] Separation,
union: union in separation. Physically______________ [?] Not physical but in the physical sense.Though both of them
present, wife and husband together, but some vow is there so they cannot enjoy
mutually. Something like that.
The vow, They’re
separated, but still Gadādhara stands in the
position of the spirit of Rādhārāṇī, spirit of
Rādhārāṇī, in separation. But They’re avowed here not
to, that sort of sambhoga. Pure spiritual sambhoga that is as
pure as anything. Highest purity is there. No filthiness, no filthy character
of any enjoyment is there, but still the līlā vilāsa, it
is like that.Sometimes in the case of Rādhārāṇī, Kṛṣṇa
also,prema-vaicittya, both of Them closely existent, but still
some memory of separation is so intense that They are feeling, though They are
together feeling so much pain of intense separation. That is prema-vaicittya.
Once it is mentioned Kṛṣṇa is there,
Rādhārāṇī is there, sakhīs are there.
Rādhārāṇī sees Her image in the body of Kṛṣṇa.
It is so transparent, the body of Kṛṣṇa.
Rādhārāṇī’s image is being seen there. And
Rādhārāṇī thought, “Oh, there is another lady who’s
boldly connected with Him.” So She is very much enraged in jealousy and Her
attitude is like
that.
Then Lalitā comes and she said, “That is not another sakhī.
That is Your reflection on His body.”
Then She became satisfied.
Separation in union that is prema-vaicittya is
Gaura-Gadādhara, may be something like that.Mādhurya-rasa, but
the vow has been taken. Just as in the temple, both husband and wife they are
engaged in the worship of the Lord in the temple. What is their attitude? Not
husband and wife, but one engaged in worship, another is giving supply of the
materials of worship, with another mood.
Something like that, Gaura-Gadādhara.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes, were there
any parṣadas which were sādhana-siddha?
_______________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is told Sārvabhauma [Bhaṭṭācārya]
and some others. Sārvabhauma has been accepted as sādhana-siddha,
and a few others, Prakāśānanda [Sarasvatī] also, those that
were converted, in His sannyāsa līlā.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Haridāsa Ṭhākura?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Haridāsa Ṭhākura maybe,
but he’s told as Brahmā, some devotion he had. Only through curse he came
in the Yamunā Kula because he stole away cows in Braja līlā.
So he had to come to the______________ [?]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: But his avatāra, his incarnation as Haridāsa Ṭhākura
seems more glorious than Brahmā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, more glorious position he held.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Although he came as a curse, but it was more glorious.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Higher. Just as in the case of Nalakūvara
and Maṇigrīva. The trees tamil
arjuna, there was curse and they came to be tree
and then gloriously came out, by connection with Kṛṣṇa.
________________ [?] So many
instances are there. The curse has become boon in connection of Kṛṣṇa.
Devotee: __________________________________________________ [?]
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ... from there, and these two with atom
bomb and the General pressed ahead, German, Hitler’s Germany.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: In the seventh canto Prahlāda Mahārāja says,
“We cannot have any enemy. I have no satru.” So in the real sense, it is
impossible to have an enemy. As in nirguṇa there can be no enemy.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No enemy, but still there may be some
conception of enemy that is for the service of Kṛṣṇa. Enemy
consciousness is also there, antagonistic, but the conclusion is to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.
Rādhārāṇī’s greatest enemy is Chandravālī,
the competitor. And amongst the rasa
there is also a spirit of animosity, vātsalya rasa and mādhurya
rasa; vātsalya rasa is always jealous that mādhurya rasa
people are capturing my son, taking Him away from me. They have conquered a
major portion of the heart of Kṛṣṇa.
_________________________ [?] But now there is
separate interest and that interest is better so they are by nature the vātsalya rasa and mādhurya
rasa _________________ [?] it has been
told, like that, but that only to fulfil the desire of Kṛṣṇa,
for the interest of Kṛṣṇa. So it is pure, purest of the pure.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: So when Lord Caitanya told Jagadānanda Paṇḍit,
“Do not come too close to the Vrajavāsīs. But that _________ is there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Superficially, though He is advising to
Jagadānanda really it is for us. To warn us that they may not be
scrupulous to keep their physical practices but we should not imitate them
externally.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes. Prabhupāda
has written that the Vrajavāsīs have a relation of vātsalya
but Jagadānanda Paṇḍit’s relationship was different.
Therefore close association would have been unfavourable.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not all vātsalya, but mainly
vātsalya.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Meaning generally. Would that have been in the enmity of
different rasas?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
In the Vrajavāsīs section many times they are not all
followers of Caitanya Deva. Nimbarka, Viṣṇuswāmī, other
people also are there, followers. So Jagadānanda was very much intolerant
as he went to strike Sanātana Gosvāmī with the cooking pot.
Intolerant that Sanātana Gosvāmī would associate with any Māyāvādī sannyāsī, could
not tolerate; so very eccentric.
“So he would create some havoc. No spirit of toleration. He quarrels
with Me here, he won’t care anybody there. For his own interest he will create
quarrel there. So always be under the guidance of Sanātana. He is a sober
man. He knows how to deal with whom in that place. So he is My entrusted leader
there. You must remain under his guidance. And generally I ask you not to mix
closely with the Vrajavāsīs. Then your intolerance will pick
quarrel there.”
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja where can we find the reference to that
about, you said that Rūpa Goswāmī had said it is
higher to speak about ordinary matters in the Dhāmathan religious
matters outside?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Raghunātha dāsa
Goswāmī. “To talk about
ordinary matters in that atmosphere, that is greater to me than any religious
talk outside. And that will help us to couch, to form our mentality in a
particular way, will make us intimately connected with a particular form there;
that will come, will be of great help.”
The
pot will be good and the substance within we may keep it. The pots, to secure a good pot, to keep the butter and
something else, that is a great achievement, something
like that. And if we have got that deep vision then we can see Kṛṣṇa
in them. But if not so, still that adjustment, that environment to be
acquainted with, that is a great gain. That must be the spirit of his talk, ordinary talk. And also it gives the peep into the eternal līlā of
Dhāma. The background if you may feel or may not feel, but in the background there is the Braja līlā,the nirguṇa plane, there is backing, this prapañca
līlā. There is that thing. So anyhow after all this would be.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja when you say Dhāma vāsī do
you mean the general residents or the residents such as the Six Goswāmīs?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It includes everything, that is we want
to try follow the ideal, giving away the surface of our experience. When we use
that word, really, the meaning underlying is that we shall try to find out who
is Dhāma
vāsī, what is Dhāma vāsī,
what is Dhāma? Dhāma vāsī that
means trees, creepers, the animals, the human, all, Dhāma vāsī:
Yat kinca kita kum _______________________ [?]
Everything Dhāma
vāsī, that is
to remind us that in the real plane, we are showing the mask, the real plane,
to hit the ideal conception of the deepest plane, the word is used for. We
shall try to find out Dhāma
vāsī. Not
superficially, my mind, my senses may not allow, but the consciousness must be
in the background of my experience with the surface. In the deeper position
there is that Dhāma, that corresponding vision is there, but I
can’t see. But still according to śāstra, according to the
words of mahājanas, I am to see that underground there is such
thing here. At least with this idea, with this respect we must approach them.
Everything, even a dog, even a jackal, even a bird, what to speak of human
beings there: the ideal in the background; to remember that we are told of Dhāma
vāsī. I may not see, I may not have immediate experience, but
still this is surcharged with such atmosphere.
_______________________________________________________
[?]
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: He is adjusting Hanumān also.
Mahārāja, it seems to be
from our previous saṁskāra there are different impressions
left in the mind. So the hardest impression to cross over is the impression
which was left from strī saṅga. That is the hardest
impression. So when that impression comes and one is reminded then one should
immediately take the Name? Or what is the..
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Eh? I don’t follow.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: From previous saṁskāra there are different
impressions which are left in the heart, in the mind. So the deepest impression
of the baddha-jīva is sex desire.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Attraction for sense desire, yes.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So to cross over that should one simply...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
jāto-śraddho mat kathāsu, nirviṇṇaḥ
sarvva-karmmasu
veda-duḥkhātmakān kāmān,
parityāge 'py anīśvaraḥ
[“He who has imbibed heart’s faith in the tidings of My Name, nature and
pastimes; who has become indifferent to all kinds of fruitive work and its
rewards; who has learned that all forms of enjoyment of sensual passions
ultimately transform into misery, yet he is unable to fully abandon such
passions - such a faithful devotee, being determined that his shortcomings will
be dispelled by the potency of devotion, gradually comes to abhor those evil
passions that enslave him, knowing the havoc they wreak - and he serves Me with
love: When his object is pure and sincere, I give him My mercy.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.20.27]
Regard has awakened of Kṛṣṇa. Nirviṇṇaḥ
sarvva-karmmasu, indifferent to all other activity. Veda-duḥkhātmakān
kāmān, he really realises
that all the activities of this world ultimately they produce the fruit of
misery, duḥkha, or sorrow, affliction produced by all activity
here, veda-duḥkhātmakān kāmān. Parityāge 'py
anīśvaraḥ, but cannot be master of the situation, parityāge,
cannot give them up fully, parityāge 'py anīśvaraḥ,
he’s not master, he can’t control the situation, parityāge 'py
anīśvaraḥ.
tato bhajeta māṁ prītaḥ
śraddhālur dṛḍha-niścayaḥ
juṣamāṇaś ca tān kāmān duḥkhodarkāṁś
ca garhayan
[“But the śraddhā
or pure attraction he has acquired for Me is of eternal nature. It cannot
be subdued or cut off by any mundane or ordinary attempt. Despite undergoing so
many sufferings, he goes on remembering Me. His thinking, aspiration and
earnestness is for Me, and the more he is compelled to suffer from the pressure
of the environment, a firmness in Me becomes more and more sure, and finally,
invulnerable. And by standing the test of all these trials, he will stand -
stand and grow beyond the jurisdiction of these mundane forces. The more
pressure comes from outside, the more firmness he feels in the necessity of My
help to him.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.20.28]
“Then what should he do at that time?
Tato bhajeta māṁ prītaḥ. He’ll try, he should try
his utmost, as much as he can gather with maximum affection, attraction, he’ll
try to direct towards Me, bhajeta māṁ prītaḥ
śraddhālur dṛḍha-niścayaḥ. And more firm
and firmer determination he will attend to the cause, to come to Me. Duḥkhodarkāṁś
ca garhayan. This should be the attitude. He will abuse himself to the highest
degree, intense degree. ‘What I have
done? I am trying to achieve the purest of the pure, and such filthy things
continuing in me.’ He will abuse
himself like anything. ‘I am a beast. I
am a hypocrite.’ In this way the
fire will be burning, fire burning within him,
duḥkhodarkāṁś ca garhayan, blaming, abusing
himself, to the utmost. duḥkhodarkāṁś ca garhayan.”
Proktena bhakti-yogena ____________________ [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.20.29]
To pass under such circumstances for the time being, for the span of
time that burning stage, helplessly he is doing something, a misdeed. And then
a reaction comes. Again doing such thing a greater reaction is coming of
painfulness within repentance, in this way. But he won’t give up the position
of going up.Just as:Bhau astkrta padanam bhau ___________ [?]
A child when he begins to walk sometimes he falls down. Still again with
the help of the barrier where he falls, with the help he again comes up and
begins walking and again falls and again come up and begins walking, in this
way.
proktena bhakti-yogena bhajato mā 'sakṛn muneḥ
kāmā hṛdayyā naśyanti sarvve mayi hṛdi
sthite
[“When an intelligent person engages constantly in worshipping Me
through loving devotional service as described by Me, his heart becomes firmly
situated in Me. Thus all material desires within his heart are destroyed.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.20.29]
Then very soon he will find that all those evil tendencies have been
done away with. They’re gone. They are finished. When?
bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś, chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ
kṣīyante [cāsya karmāṇi, mayi dṛṣṭe
'khilātmani]
[“The knot in the heart is pierced, all misgivings are cut to
pieces and the chain of fruitive actions is terminated when I am seen as the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.20.30]
He will come to such a stage.
tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ,
kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye
ceta etair anāviddhaṁ, sthitaṁ sattve
prasīdati
[“As soon as
irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's
modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear
from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes
completely happy.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.2.19]
After a great fight they will have to retire if in this time with the
association of the good, of the sādhu, and those books. Anyhow the bhakti
practices must not be given up or slackened. With more attention they will
follow that system of practices. And gradually one day, gradually he will find
that they are retiring, those enemies they have accepted their defeat and going
away. And then he will find peace._______________________ [?] And when he will
come to see the presence of the Lord ________________ [?] The tidings of
the Lord coming, surrounding him from every direction, and they will vanish.
They are strangers after all. They are not rightful residents of the place, of
the heart or mind, so they will have to go away. Such a broad and wide
conception of the faith, of śraddhā, Kṛṣṇa
is there, devotees are there, and they are not a product of imagination, but
reality. And when they come to realise
the position, the reality of the reality, when they come in touch with the
reality of the soul, Super-soul, Kṛṣṇa consciousness proper,
then they will go. But it is not very easy to get out of their contact. So;
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’
tha bhajana-kriyā
tato’ nartha-nivṛttiḥ [syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ
premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ
prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ]
[“In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes
interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by
the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders.
Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in
devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and then attachment. This is
the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service
according to the regulative principles. Gradually spiritual emotions manifest
and intensify, then finally there is an awakening of divine love. This is the
gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.”][Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindu, 1.4.15-16]
A stage, first sādhu-saṅga,
then śravaṇa, kīrtana, guru karan, varaṇa-daśā,
in bhajan śravaṇa, kīrtana etc, sādhu-saṅga,
bhajana-kriyā, tato’ nartha-nivṛttiḥ. And the result of
that bhajan the anartha, undesirable things, will go away. This
is the consequence, inseparable consequence or result of our bhajan. And
our bhajan will take the realistic characteristic. Śravaṇa
kīrtanaand other duties
which we are to undergo now, when it will come to realise its real position, touch the reality, the region of
imagination _____________ [?] the reality, then anartha-nivṛtti. Niṣṭhā,
the next higher stage is niṣṭhā nairantaryya which
means continued memory of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, continuous Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.__________ [?]
Just as when oil is poured, a continual flow, not drop by drop but a
continual flow. So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness will remain always
in some form or other. Then anartha-nivṛtti, the complete
retirement from the hands of undesirable feelings. Then
ruci, niṣṭhā, ruci, then real taste of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness will grow. After continuing anartha-nivṛtti, then niṣṭhā
means continued Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Kṛṣṇa
feeling, then the real taste for Kṛṣṇa consciousness will
grow. It will grow into āśakti. When even sometimes it is of
less intensity we shall be very much disturbed. “Oh!” Then asakti, then bhāva,
then prema, then sneha, mana, rāga, anurāga, bhāva,
mahābhāva. In this way it’s developing in the spiritual
relationship excluding the plane of body consciousness, or mind consciousness,
or reason which is applied in the loss and gain of this transient world when
all gone.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Very difficult.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Not very light.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
muktānām api siddhānāṁ
nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa
sudurlabhaḥ praśāntātmā koṭiṣv
api mahā-mune
[“O great sage,
among many millions who are liberated and perfect in knowledge of liberation,
one may be a devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa, or Kṛṣṇa.
Such devotees, who are fully peaceful, are extremely rare.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
6.14.5]
&[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 19.150]
It is very rare.
manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu,
kaścid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ, kaścin māṁ
vetti tattvataḥ
[“Out of
countless souls, some may have reached the human form of life, and among many
thousands of human beings, some endeavour to attain direct perception of the
individual soul and the Supersoul; and among many thousands of such aspirants
who have attained to seeing the soul and the Supersoul, only a few receive
actual perception of Me, Śyāmasundara.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
7.3]
It is very difficult of course. Very, very, very, very, very difficult,
otherwise, sahajiyāism, the imitation school, they imitate Kṛṣṇa
līlā, Vṛndāvana līlā within their
flesh and blood, in the region of flesh and blood. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Sometimes it is seeming almost impossible.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Dāsa Gosvāmī has said, (bart path?), those thieves that fall on the way, what is the name? Thieves or dacoits that fall on
the travellers, when
a man is travelling from one country to another there are some thieves or some dacoits
that jump on him and snatches his wealth, bandits, plunderers _______?(bart
path?) means street, who jumps on the street, who jumps on the travellers; kāma,
krodha, they are like (bart path?). He is walking towards the road
to Vaikuṇṭha. And they are waiting here and there and sometimes
jump on the stranger. When such danger will come, Dāsa Gosvāmī
he asks us to cry aloud for the help of the sādhus.
End of 81.09.10.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.10.C_81.09.11.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...then one should cry for the help of
the sādhus because they’re posted to protect, the sādhus that
will come from the spiritual world to the mundane world, to spiritual world
coming and so many sādhus are given charge to protect the
travellers. So he will cry aloud, “I am going to be plundered, please protect
me. Give me protection!” With utmost fervour there, he’s with all his nerves to
the extreme, “I won’t be allowed to be plundered by you. Oh, you saviours on
the street, come, I am a prey to all these plunderers of the nasty type. Please
protect me, give protection.”And the kāma, krodha, the lobha,
they are jumping.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Nitāi. Nitāi. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.There
are so many artificial ways also.
yamādibhir yoga-pathaiḥ, kāma-lobha-hato muhuḥ
[mukunda-sevayā yadvat, tathāddhātmā na śāmyati]
[“The agitated mind, repeatedly taken captive by its enemy in the form
of depravity rooted in lust and greed, is directly mastered by serving the
Supreme Lord, Mukunda. It can never be likewise checked or pacified by
practising the eight-fold yogīc discipline, which is generally
based on sensual and mental repression (yama, niyama, etc).”]Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
1.6.35]
The practices of prāṇāyāma and the other āsanas
they may help us to a slight degree, but ostentatiously, superfluously. But
the deep seed will be eliminated, that can be done only by taking Mukunda in
the throne of our heart, taking Him, taking Kṛṣṇa, feeling Kṛṣṇa
in our heart. Mukunda-sevayā yadvat, tathāddhātmā na
śāmyati. But with artificial means if you go on prāṇāyāma
for the time being this kāma, krodha may seem to be of
little less power, but that is not a permanent cure. Then when that is gone
again it will come. It is temporary relief it may give us from the hands of
this kāma, krodha. Yamādibhir, yama, niyama, āsana,
etc, the yogīs, the jñānīs they accept this as to
quench the inner thirst of the material world, and go on with __________ and go
on with dhyāna, dhāraṇā, āsana,
samādhi, etc, and with some outward practices, they guard here. But
the devotees, they have no faith in that. That is artificial. They only want to
invite Vasudeva in all phases of life, and permanently set away with them.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in the beginning we are supposed to
follow. But it seems that there is a point when there is imitation and then
following because we have no qualification; then if we try and follow then
there is actually some type of imitation there. So what is the difference between the...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I don’t follow.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: At what point does anukaraṇa become anusaraṇa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Anusaraṇa means sincerity and anukaraṇa only for pratiṣṭhā,
to copy, to imitate, to copy anukaraṇa, to imitate. Without inner
purity only to imitate things outwardly, to get the glory of a sādhu or
something like that, to imitate. And anusaraṇa means to attain it
from within the heart, sincerely, anusaraṇa means sincere
progress, and anukaraṇa means artificial.
So it has been practically experienced
that responsible services can help us from falling to the prey of those kāma,
krodha etc. The faith first, śraddhā, sādhu-saṅga
and śraddhā, and deep engagement with the duties attached by
the master, deep engagement: especially engagement for the mind, not only for
the body. Mental engagement only you can get by responsibility. Some
responsible service is given to the disciple. He takes it up in his brain, and
he cannot but think that ‘my mind is engaged there, generally.’ So no chance
the mind gets for thinking about the other world. So, deep engagement and with
the responsible service, that in the physical sense that helps us a great deal.
Sādhu-saṅga, sad-grantha really they will be of help.
But practically
serving, paripraśnena, sevāya, as much as we are able
to engage ourselves in the deep responsible services, they will come and peep
and go back. “No time, he is deeply engaged, he has no time to be enticed to
give attention towards us.” In this way they will have to retire, then coming
twice, thrice, five times. “Oh, no time, no attention he has got to spare
towards us. He is very deeply engaged,” they’re flying away. So sevā,
and also not even physical but mental sevā.
Mental, that means responsibility only can capture the mind. With
responsibility, the mind is compelled to think about that, otherwise mind may
be free and the body is working, labouring, to
engage the mind in intense service that is responsibility.Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Devotees: Jaya Oṁ Viṣṇu-Pāda...
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In an ordinary country there is the country
and also capital. The capital where the existence and the position of the king
is more fortified, more intense, more strong, than in the ordinary country. So
the Lord is everywhere and concentrated existence in Dhāma, like
capital. So with our eye opened, we can feel that, the special characteristic
of Dhāma. Everywhere we shall see His presence, and especially in Dhāma
with particular intense strength. That should be the calculation, with the
awakening of the real eye, we can feel, we can appreciate, otherwise those that
have got no eye, no question of Dhāma. And in the Dhāma,
there is also already the hierarchy. They’re all in serving attitude. Whether
birds, beasts, the worm, insect, trees, everything, their contribution is
towards the divine pastimes. They are all contributing unit and nothing in
their heart or their gesture, posture, their movement; nothing but to help the
pastimes of the Lord. Dhāmera svarūpa, sphuribe nayane.
[gauḍa-braja-jane, bheda nā dekhibo, hoibo
baraja-bāsī
dhāmera svarūpa, sphuribe nayane, hoibo
rādhāra dāsī]
[“I will see no difference between the inhabitants of Vraja
Bhūmī and those of Navadvīpa, and I will be transformed into a
resident of Vraja. The true nature of the Lord’s abode will manifest itself to
my eyes, and I will become a maidservant of Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī.”][Siddhī-lālasā, 1,
in Śaraṇāgati, from The Songs Of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
p 54]
Otherwise it may
apparently seem to us like anything, like a jungle, like ordinary things. The
Ganges water, the purity is only with them who have got that śraddhā,
otherwise to other’s eye ordinary water. Vigraha, Śrī Mūrti.
Śrī Mūrti of Jagannātha in Purī, the awkward figure,
half hand, half feet, the eyes like that; but Mahāprabhu hours and hours
standing and He’s
shedding tears. None could
take Him back from the place. What He used to see there, Mahāprabhu? That figure to our eye. So according to the depth of the vision
of our inner eye we come to that plane where the Dhāma is, Vigraha
is, Gaṅgā, purifying Ganges water, only śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ
loka. Just as,_______________________?No eye, what will do the glass?
[Without eye, what good is a mirror?] In glass we find the reflection but the
eye is absent. What you will see in the glass?
So the eye, the śraddhā,
is necessary. According to the śraddhā the differentiated
character of Dhāma with other places will come, will manifest in
his sight, disclose its real acquaintance. Everything depends on śraddhā,
faith. Faith is the effective thing, no other. To have our connection, if we
want to have any link with the moon, or the sun, an ordinary instrument won’t
do. But some plenary thing, something like electricity or so, that can give
connection with the sun, with the moon, all these things. In that plane we are
to approach. So only by the help of the plane of śraddhā we
can approach the infinite. If we want at all then by the help of the eye, or the nose, or ear, or mind, or even by
intelligence, reason, we cannot hope to come in connection with that finest
plane, the fundamental plane of the existence of this world. The finest plane
which is underlying this creation, if we like to have any connection, then only
through śraddhā, we can hope to establish any connection, or investigation, or
of anything of the kind, śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ loka, through
faith.Then there is a question against it, that credibility, blind faith, faith
may be blind, yes. When there is the qualification of blind, then nonblind
faith is also there. By the help of that healthy faith...blind faith is
diseased faith, but by real faith, healthy faith, we are to connect with them.
On the one hand, we are limited, what
experience we may have, that is also limited and how much faith we can
accumulate, to have. Infinite, when I am going to establish any connection with
the infinite, there is infinite possibility, but faith, can be how much. Its
source is a finite thing like me, and how much more he can imagine. His
imagination must also have a limit. But the infinite even crossing the limit of
any sort of imagination it exists. Infinite is so spacious, so great, so big,
that our imagination also fails there. How much we can imagine? We are born and
brought up in a cell. Our experience also limited. Our imagination is also
limited, so imagination also cannot be so much extended, cannot take infinite
character. We must be conscious that we are going to connect our relationship
with the infinite, and our greatest imagination is only a point there. I cannot
finish it. So imagination should not stand in the way. How much we can imagine?
We are atomic existence. How much may be the length and breadth of our
imagination? That is also very poor in comparison with the infinite, so we must
not be allowed to be afraid of our imagination. More than imagination we cannot
have any conception, cannot imagine so broad, so big the infinite is. So we
must not be cowed down by that blind faith or all these things.
More than that, infinitely more than that
there exists. So faith can only help us to that direction. And when we have
some connection then it is told, the key is with Him. To know Him, the key is
not within us, within our hand. The key to make Himself known is in His hand. And
when He will open the door we can enter. And as much as He likes to make us
see, we can see that much only. So we have to first accept before we approach
and expect to know Him, we must prepare ourselves with this attitude. Adhokṣaja,
because He does not allow us to enter into His domain He is not existent?
Maybe! What harm He has got for that? We are loser, so adhokṣaja realm.
Rāmānuja introduced this to
Śaṅkarācārya. “Because you cannot enter as a subject and
make it an object of your investigation so you are refusing that I don’t accept
such thing to be existent. What does it mean? You foolish, you may be satisfied
with your imaginary tendency. But really there is a domain and when He wants to
take us in within His jurisdiction we can have some sort of experience. That is
adhokṣaja.”
Śrīmad-Bhāgavat has always warned us with this expression, adhokṣaja. He is adhokṣaja, transcendental, supramental. We cannot
enter that domain as a subject, as knower, as an investigator. But as much as
He allows us, how much knowledge He allows us to know, we can know that
only.Still we have to admit that there is such a realm. That is
supersubjective, we are subject and that is super subject. The jīva
caitanya, the soul is not the final existence.
Socrates he
told, “The soul is immortal. The soul can live independent of matter. It is an
independent unit, soul,” Socrates told.It is independent of matter and not
production of matter. And the soul is not the final substance. Just as in
comparison with matter the soul’s position, so soul is considered like matter
and his knower Supersoul is there, Paramātmā, and onward, subjective
realm, onward, more and more.They are masters. We cannot be master there. We
can be servant only. If we want to enter into the highest position we shall
accept the position of the slave of the slave. Then only we can get the chance
of entering into that domain. It is not unreasonable.The matter, the gas, the
sky, the ether is the limit of existence. Some people may think like that. Some
people may say, earth, water, ether, some say ether and electricity that is the
limit of the existence.“But no, soul is there,” Socrates told.
Soul, existence transcending matter, of
all its phases, so also that human soul that is only a particle of the gross
side of the absolute: more finer, Supersoul is existing, and so on.Just as in
the material creation so many stages there are, earth, water, also stone, the
wood, so many things, the gold: so there also in spiritual substance, there is also gradation in that.
Generally too in
the lower part Vaikuṇṭha, and the higher sphere is Goloka, the land
of love. Knowledge, that may be divided into three classes, sat, cit,
ānanda. The objective existence, the subjective existence like caitan,
jīva soul, and another fundamental categorical different thing ānandam,
or happiness, or ecstasy. That is not only cit,
not only subjective, but fulfilment of the subject. That is ānandam.
That is full in Himself, ānandam. And that is the main element to
be found in Goloka. The knowledge is rather subservient there. The knowledge, jñāna,
anubuddhi, perception, experience, may be transcendental, but that is also
subservient, subdued. And the automatic flow of ānandam that is the
real characteristic of the Goloka section, the beauty, the harmony, jñāna
sunya bhakti. Jñāna does not play any part there. Something like
intuition. Intuitively they move and full of ecstasy. No movement by
calculation. Sambhanda jñāna, intuition. Sambhanda jñāna.
How and wherefrom it comes they may not care to know. They are an instrument in
the hands of that ānandam, ānanda mayo vilāsa.
That is Goloka.
This we are told.If we have got faith,
then we shall take the trouble of making a journey towards that. The faith
should be the guide. The greed, laulyam, our attraction, our feeling of
necessity for that thing, śraddhā: that goes ahead. “Yes, I
want that,” then I begin.Just as Hegel said, “The idea approaches first, then
the action.”So śraddhā, “Yes I want that thing.” Then I shall
take the trouble of approaching towards that.So there is, we are told that the
highest position is such that is intuitive labour of love there, vilāsa.
And that is the conception of the highest quarter where one can find the best
happiness, or ecstasy. One who has got attraction for that then he will take
the trouble of accepting and going to that place.
That is given by
Bhāgavatam and Mahāprabhu, this is the satyam śivam
sundaram, the land of beauty, satyam - the conception of existence, śivam
- the land of good; and sundaram - the land of beauty. Śivam
means maṅgalam - that is which is safe of mortality that is śivam,
unassailable existence. Assailable existence, mortal existence, that is also
that energy, the material energy that also exists. But there is a land where no
death, that is considered to be śivam, maṅgalam. And sundaram,
the positive life of attraction. One aspires to live such life. Life worth
living that is sundaram. The land is there in the highest quarter.
Mahāprabhu He called us for that, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also. There is a
soil and you may be a child of that soil if you find yourself, analyse yourself deeply, you will find that you are a child of that
soil. You are not created for this land where you are always suffering from apprehension of this and that uncertainty;
apprehension and uncertainty always troubling you. You must cross, go up, and
you will find the śivam, no apprehension. But the positive life, if
you really like to have then you are to go, to enter into the area of Goloka,
the land of beauty, the land of love. No consideration of calculation, no
necessity of any reasoning, nothing else. No fraud, no deception can ever be
dreamt of there in that land. So calculation, reasoning; they have got no place
at all there, automatically all good, all beauty, all fulfilment there. It is
the general conception.Then for His satisfaction Yogamāyā has
designed it in such a way that they are also afraid of missing Kṛṣṇa;
Kṛṣṇa also afraid of missing Rādhārāṇī,
or Yaśodā, all these things. This is designed to maintain the
pastimes there. Not out of necessity,
but as a fashion it is maintained, for the purpose, not for want.
______________________________________________________
[?]
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Just now, what we heard from your lotus
mouth that Kṛṣṇa līlā is not a necessity but
an actual fashion. This is a most revolutionary concept. It’s so wonderful!
That actually Kṛṣṇa is not in need of anything, not even the
pastime, actually.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
aher iva gatiḥ premṇaḥ, svabhāva-kuṭilā
bhavet
ato hetor ahetoś ca, yūnor māna udañcati
[“Just as a serpent naturally moves in a crooked way, in a zigzag way,
the nature of love is naturally crooked. It is not straight. So the concerned
parties quarrel, sometimes with cause and sometimes without cause, and
separation comes. Separation is necessary for the transcendental pastimes of
Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”] [Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi]
Rūpa Goswāmī gives this example: the serpent goes by
crooked, zigzag; that is nature. So in the land of prema, the māna,
abhimāna, all these, that is the nature, a fashion, and not out of
necessity, that is the way, that is vilāsa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Mahārāja, the last time that
you commented on Lalitā Devī’s appearance day you were saying that
how Lalitā Devī goes out in the streets of Vṛndāvana, like
with her pen and paper and...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Canvassing right and left. “Come and
join my camp. I shall give you engagement in the service of
Rādhā-Govinda.” That is infinite. Ha, ha, ha.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: So Mahārāja, for an aspirant,
for somebody whose aspiring for devotional service with such a thought that,
“Yes, I can enrol myself in that particular...?” Can he have such an abhimāna,
that does he...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of course, otherwise why that exists.
That is infinite, no limited room that says, “All the vacancies fulfilled. No,
don’t force any new servants.” It is not like that.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: No, but I was thinking that if it is on
the part of the aspirant...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh yes, only...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Drstam, whether he’s, precocity, drstada.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Drstada, that is audacity, impertinence.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Audacity, yes. Is it an audacity for him
to aspire to go and ask to be engaged in this mādhurya-līlā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Cannot but, necessity ________,
necessity, do not care all these things. Internal necessity has no law. When
anyone finds in him, mechanically,
unconsciously he will go and appeal, “Enlist my name,” can’t resist.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: This question was actually troubling me
a lot Mahārāja. After hearing that it was such a wonderful idea. How
wonderful all these great devotees of the Lord are, actually wanting simply to
take them to the engagement.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No want of facility on that side.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu said,
tuyā dayā aichena parama udārā, atiśaya
manda nātha bhāga hāmārā
[“Whatever may be lacking is on My part. There is no defect on
Your side.”]
“The want,
whatever it is in My part. In the other side there is no fault.”
It is said by
the Ācārya.
nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis,
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan
mamāpi, durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ
[“O my Lord,
Your Holy Name bestows auspiciousness upon all. And You have unlimited Names
such as Kṛṣṇa and Govinda by which You reveal Yourself. In
Your many Holy Names You have kindly invested all Your transcendental potency.
And in chanting these Names, there are no strict rules concerning time or
place. Out of Your causeless mercy, You have descended in the form of divine
sound, but My great misfortune is that I have no love
for Your Holy Name.”][Śikṣāṣṭakam, 2]
“I don’t find any taste for You. It is hard like rock. No taste. So
unlimited grace on Your side. But I am so mean, so low, so hard.”
But these things also cannot come without the relativity of that. Such
thought cannot come. When really in the relativity of that world then also such
thought comes, “Oh! So much grace.” He is feeling that grace. And feeling
unqualified in himself and the fortune has begun there, we may take it. Necessity is the mother of invention. The śraddhā
has come, śraddhā showing on his front, such a great
prospect and he is very eager to attain that but he fails. But that failure is
also in one sense participating in a particular position. He is already in the
relativity, otherwise he cannot say such statement, make such statement. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
That is infinite, whatever you want to attain but still unsatisfied because
that is infinite.
na prema-gandho 'sti darāpi me harau, krandāmi
saubhāgya-bharaṁ [prakāśitum
vaṁśī-vilāsy-ānana-lokanaṁ
vinā, vibharmmi yat prāṇa-pataṅgakān vṛthā]
[Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu said: “My dear friends, I have not the slightest tinge
of love of Godhead within My heart. When you see Me crying in separation, I am
just falsely exhibiting a demonstration of My great fortune. Indeed, not seeing
the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa playing His flute, I continue to
live My life like an insect, without purpose.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 2.45]
Very successful in His attainment: no.“I have not got it in My
possession, because it is impossible to get Him in possession.”
But possession also is there in the negative sense. Negatives possession
of the positive, that is of that nature. “I am so negative, and so much
positive She can attract. As much negative characteristic is found in a
particular place, the attraction for the positive is so much there. That is the
underlying truth.
So Rādhārāṇī says, “I am in the highest need
of Kṛṣṇa.”
So much feeling of the necessity of the absence of Kṛṣṇa
not to be found anywhere as in Her heart. And that satisfies Kṛṣṇa.
He wants, setting aside all demands He comes to satisfy the demands of that
heart where it is in the highest degree. Is it natural or not natural?
Dedication. We are the unit of the aspect of the Moiety of dedication and not
of fulfilment. Fulfilment is a stagnant thing. That is a qualification in the
limited world. With the unlimited such attitude that won’t go, can’t go, with
the unlimited. There fashion is like that. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṣudhā.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Unquenchable thirst.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Unquenchable thirst, and a drop very
sweet, very, very sweet, a drop, very, very sweet, unquenchable thirst.
In Madras one gentleman put question to me. “Your highest ideal is
Caitanya Deva but He has a dangerous conception. Always mad with want of
something and crying and rubbing face in the wall. So intense madness for the
want of Kṛṣṇa: that is a dangerous thing to us. We are rather
afraid to take that ideal for our life.”
upadiya visala hai vitara ananda maya krsna premi adbhuta carite [?]
That the extreme hankering for the truth,
that in itself, that is ānandam. That
I want only truth, nothing else, that is ānanda, not possessed by
any unessential thing, that is the negative characteristic, that is nature. And there is the highest fulfilment there, the negative aspect, the
intense feeling of negativity. That is the highest attainment in its fullest
position. Fulfilment of life is there, śakti, necessity, negative.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura
Hari. Gaura Hari.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, that negativity means humility?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Humility begins from humility.
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā / amāninā mānadena, [kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ]
[“One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than
a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is
qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.”][Śikṣāṣṭakam,
3]
Produced goes to that negativity, humility, but not humility in the
relativity of the, this exploiting world, but in relativity of that dedicating
world. Not clear?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: What is the highest concept...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Humility not measured by the standard of
the misguided souls, but by the standard of the Vaiṣṇava, humility.
Whatever it be it must come from the normal standard, the measurement, and
never by the standard supplied by the misguided souls, so many patriots, so
many politicians, so many humanitarians, no. Not by their standard, but the
standard must come from the normal position, from the land of dedication. Not
by land of renunciation or exploitation or extended exploitation.Hare Kṛṣṇa.Ke? ______________ [?]
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Also Mahārāja, humility in the
spiritual world means that I am the person who needs Kṛṣṇa
the most. Is that...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Humility, that I am nothing, I am nothing, humility. Why should I seek honour?
What quality I have got that I shall think that I have got a position? What
position I have got? No position.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, “The tṛṇād api,
the _________ [?] the grass has got its some position, but
I amvikṛta, I’m misguided. Not any real position of a straw I have
got,vikṛta, misguided, that is...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: Perverted.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Perverted, and mad, I’m aside myself.
The grass has got some...
End of 81.09.10.C_81.09.11.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.11.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...negative value, not any positive
value of a straw, because vikṛta. With my intelligence I’m going
against my interest. The intelligence is there but this is misguided, going
opposite, but tṛṇā is there, cannot move, but I can
move in the negative side, so I’m in more humiliated position than a straw in
fact. What I have got that’s only to misguide me, but tṛṇā has
got its fixed position there, he’s not going in the wrong way, so I’m lower
than that tṛṇā. In this way. Whatever I got as my
property that is all to harm me. In the worldly sense I may hold a superior
position than a grass, than a tree, but what of that? They’re all misusing, rather, used for my injury, benefit, against me, against my interest. So
I’m in a lower position than the tṛṇā, than the straw.
I have got weapons and I am armed, but armed to suicide, to commit
suicide. It is better that arm should not have its – a mad man if he’s got a
dagger then he’s dangerous. He will be saved if the dagger is snatched away
from the mad man. Any time he may put on his head, on his eye, he’s mad.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: What does Śrīla Bhaktivinoda say about taror api
sahiṣṇunā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā,
[amāninā
mānadena, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ]
[“One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than
a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is
qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.”][Śikṣāṣṭakam,
3]
That also may be seen in that same light. That taror, he is to forbear his former action, to have guard against
result of his former activity.But we, must have guard, we must be alert, not only of the former but
also present. In the present moment also I may commit some wrong, so my
position is more dangerous than a tree. Tree is only reaping the result of his
previous action, but my position, not only previous to tolerate the bad
reaction of a previous life,but also to guard
myself against my present mal activity. So
more forbearance is necessary, position is more dangerous than a tree.Am I
clear? Do you understand?
Devotee: ___________________________ [?]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I asked the question, what did Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
say that was regarding tṛṇād api, and what did he say again regarding taror api?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Taror api sahiṣṇunā.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mahārāja said that the tree is suffering on account
of its past activities. I may perform sinful activity now, so I’m worse than a
tree.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The present activity I also have to
forbear, to check them, so more careful in my attitude of forbearance, more
dangerous position.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi.We
are in such a position, what is my preference, what is my special attainment,
that is going against me.
...
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura he says
that smaraṇaṁ is of prime importance as a devotional service
to the Lord, above even kīrtanaṁ. Or is it subservient to kīrtanaṁ?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There are some of the opinion because smaraṇaṁ
is exclusively connected with consciousness, concerning subtle part of our
existence, so that should be the most effective form of sādhana,
the means. But our Guru Mahārāja, and Jīva Gosvāmī
Prabhu, and also Kavirāja Goswāmī Prabhu, laid stress on kīrtanaṁ,
especially for the beginners. Guru Mahārāja says in, duṣṭa mana! tumi kisera vaiṣṇava?
[From Vaiṣṇava ke? 'Who is a Vaiṣṇava?']
kīrttana prabhāve, smaraṇa haibe, se kāle
bhajana nirjjana sambhava
[Gauḍīya Kaṇṭhahāra, 3.24]
Nirjjana bhajan, smaraṇ, exclusively devoted to one’s own self,
unconscious of the environment one may go on with his smaraṇ within,
but that is not at all possible for the beginners. Kīrttana
prabhāve, smaraṇa haibe, se kāle bhajana nirjjana sambhava.
And Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu says:Anyangam yajane ke
[?]
kirtanakhya bhakti-samyoga-naiva [part of verse 13.41 in Gauḍīya Kaṇṭhahāra]
If other forms of sādhana, śravaṇaṁ,
kīrtanaṁ, smaraṇaṁ, pāda-sevanam, all these,
but they must be subservient to kīrtana. That is the purpose, and
the preaching of Mahāprabhu,
because in Kali-yuga especially kīrtana has got its own
characteristic. Śukadeva Gosvāmī says:
kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
kīrttanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ
paraṁ vrajet
[Śukadeva Goswāmī tells Parīkṣit
Mahārāja: “O King, the age of Kali, the repository of all evils, has
but one glorious characteristic: in this age, those who simply chant the Holy
Name of Kṛṣṇa are liberated and reach the Supreme Lord.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
12.3.51]
[dvāparīyair janair viṣṇuḥ
pañcarātraiś ca kevalam]
kalau tu nāma-mātreṇa pūjyate bhagavān
hariḥ
[“In Dvāpara-yuga, Lord Viṣṇu is exclusively worshipped
by the people according to the principles of Deity worship delineated in the Pañcarātra
scripture, but in Kali-yuga, the Supreme Lord Hari is worshipped only by
the chanting of His Holy Name.”][Muṇḍakopaniṣad]
kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ,
tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ
dvāpare paricaryyāyāṁ, kalau tadd
hari-kīrttanāt
[“Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu,
in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by
serving the Lord’s lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting
the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
12.3.52]
When it is mentioned about the incarnation of Mahāprabhu in Bhāgavatam:
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣā ‘kṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair [yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ]
[“In the age of
Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the
incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the Names of Kṛṣṇa.
Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself.
He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential
companions.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.5.32] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā,
3.52]
Yajña means sacrifice, dedication, which is saṅkīrtana-prāyair,
the principal thing which is saṅkīrtana.
Yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ. So in this Iron Age kīrtana has
got its own special privilege granted by the Supreme Lord, so kīrtana.
And Mahāprabhu’s speciality is there, by preaching, by kīrtana.
He conducted Hari kīrtana, inaugurated Hari kīrtana. So
kīrtana has been accepted by our Guru Mahārāja, Jīva
Gosvāmī and others. And to write, that is also kīrtana.
Writing is also within the jurisdiction of kīrtanaṁ,
assertion, to preach, to take it to others. So, just as to be engaged in
answering the questions of the environment, so there is automatic concentration
which is very rare in this yuga. Concentration, when one is making kīrtana
he cannot but be all concentrated, all attentive, automatically, otherwise
he cannot talk irreverently. So intuitively he must be all attentive. And for
that, kīrtana has been recommended to be the highest form of bhajan,
especially in Kali. All ages, especially in Kali. Mahāprabhu
also said, and five forms, just as nine forms in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ,
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ, sakhyam
ātma-nivedanam.
[iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau,
bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā
kriyeta bhagavaty addhā tan manye 'dhītam uttamam]
[“Hearing about Kṛṣṇa, chanting Kṛṣṇa’s
glories, remembering Kṛṣṇa, serving Kṛṣṇa’s
lotus feet, worshipping Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental form, offering
prayers to Kṛṣṇa, becoming Kṛṣṇa’s servant,
considering Kṛṣṇa as one’s best friend, and surrendering
everything to Kṛṣṇa - these nine processes are accepted as
pure devotional service.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 7.5.23-24]
Mahāprabhu says five amongst them principal.
sādhu saṅga, nāma-kīrttana,
bhāgavat-śravaṇa
mathurā-vāsa, śrī-mūrttira
śraddhāya sevana
[“Association with the pure devotee, chanting the Holy Name,
hearing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, residing in Mathurā Dhāma,
and faithfully worshipping the Deity.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
22.128]
bhajanera madhye śreṣṭha nava-vidhā bhakti, `kṛṣṇa-prema,' `kṛṣṇa' dite
dhare mahā-śakti
tāra madhye sarvva-śreṣṭha nāma-saṅkīrttana, niraparādhe nāma laile pāya prema-dhana
[“Of all forms of Divine Service, nine forms are superior, which with
great potency bestow upon the devotees Love for Kṛṣṇa, and
their personal relationship with Him; and of the nine, the best is Nāma-saṅkīrttana.
By offencelessly taking the Holy Name, the treasure of Love for the Lord is
attained.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā,
4.70-71]
So Nāma-saṅkīrtana has been considered saṅkīrtana,
kīrtana has been considered to be the best thing. It is decided by the
Ācāryas. And especially that is given by our Guru Mahārāja
and the basis is also in the śāstra. But Viśvanātha
Cakravartī Ṭhākura, if he has mentioned anywhere that way that
will mean only that this kīrtana has got the relativity of the
material environment, and the smaraṇaṁ is independent of the
material consideration. From that point he might have recommended that smaraṇaṁ
is the highest. But that is not accepted in the general way; his special
opinion.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, at the time of BaladevaVidyābhūṣaṇa there was one person whose
name was maybe Kavirāja Purī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kavirāja Purī?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I don’t know, there was one Rūpa
Kavirāja.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Ah! Rūpa Kavirāja. Yes. I’m sorry. He had that misconception.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He had some: I don’t know much about
him. I am told that he has been discarded from the line of mahājana.
He has been stamped as boti-bari, he considered himself to be very big
and so eliminated from the sampradāya, in general, boti-bari.
There was another, Rūpa Kavirāja, and there was another in Orissa,
one Jagannātha, boti-bari Jagannātha. They thought themselves
too much, than the general Vaiṣṇava of the time could think that. Boti-bari
Jagannātha, he was a contemporary of Mahāprabhu Himself. And his
tendency goes towards māyāvādā. Thought himself too much, and had no
respect for the existing Ācārya of
that time. Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: This Rūpa Kavirāja was placing more stress on smaraṇaṁ.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maybe.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Viśvanātha Cakravartī he was called to defeat
him on these points.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He quoted Rūpa Kavirāja?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: No. He did not quote him, he quoted from his commentaries on
the Bhāgavatam.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Who, Rūpa Kavirāja?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: No, no. Viśvanātha Cakravartī quoted from the
third canto Bhāgavatam, tikā, and he defeated him.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Whose tikā?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: His own tikā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He has quoted whom?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Himself. Viśvanātha Cakravartī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Has quoted from where?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
From his own tikāof Bhāgavatam.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where has quoted?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mahārāja, this Rūpa Kavirāja was claiming that smaraṇaṁ
was on a higher platform of service than kīrtanaṁ. So
then the assembled Vaiṣṇavas they requested Śrīla
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura to come and defeat
Kavirāja Purī on this point. So when the discussion was going on
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura he defeated
Kavirāja Purī by quoting from his own tika of the Bhāgavat.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: How?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
I don’t know what...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What was his point?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: He did not divide them. He showed that they were a process,
they could not be divided.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Kīrtanaṁ and smaraṇaṁ cannot be separated
at any stage. It is at different stages.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Aruduhkha and aruruha [?]When
just attempting to climb up to the highest plane there are two kinds; one goṣṭhyānandī,
another viviktānandī [aka bhajanānandī].
Those that follow the course of viviktānandī, separate bhajan,
exclude, secluded bhajan, they take to smaraṇaṁ.
Without mixing with the environment they keep a secluded life and go on with
their smaraṇaṁ. And another goṣṭhyānandī,
who are engaged always in kīrtana: two divisions there.
But it doesn’t prove that one is superior
to another. Two types, just before attaining the highest plane of paramahaṁsa:
that is the uttama-adhikārī. The pracāra, the kīrtana
confined in the madhyama-adhikārī. And just before
attaining to that plane of uttama-adhikārī where all activity
stops, two sections, goṣṭhyānandī...
In Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta
perhaps Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has clarified in this way, premārurukṣu,
two sections amongst the premārurukṣu, who are just climbing
up to the final position, crossing the madhyama-adhikārī and
reaching to occupy, or to be introduced, or to be placed on the plane of uttama-adhikārī.‘Everyone is going on with his own bhajan. Only I cannot
do that.’ He’s busy about himself. Just before that two
sections are bhajanānandī and viviktānandī.
Viviktānandī they generally like secluded life and go on with smaraṇaṁ.
And those that are ofgoṣṭhyānandī
type they go on
with kīrtana, preaching, and also attain the highest position
without coming to the school of exclusive smaraṇaṁ.
And Guru Mahārāja clearly said
that smaraṇaṁ in lower position that is injurious. We should
take to kīrtana. Kīrttana prabhāve, smaraṇa haibe, se
kāle bhajana nirjjana sambhava.
And the Sahajiyā School they are more
fond of smaraṇa than of kīrtana. They are followers of
smaraṇa. Lives a secluded life
and within their mind they go on with recollecting their own age, their
identification with a particular sakhī, her duty, and how her place
of attendance of a particular līlā under the guidance of a
particular sakhī, in a particular place in Vṛndāvana,
all these things. They are required to go on meditating by their so called
guru. That is the process amongst the Sahajiyā School.
But we do not admit that. It is all false imagination, like that. They
are not fit for the plane. They have not got real sambandha-jñāna,
what is what. Only they go on with the habituated repetition of a particular
mental speculation. And anartha-nivṛtti, other progress based on
that cannot be affected by it. What they think is their achievement that is
mere concoction. They are not aware of the facts, this Virajā, Brahmaloka,
Vaikuṇṭha, Goloka, all these. They are, pukura-curiwāle [pond thieves] pukura-curi, _________?Just as to steal
away a tank, pukura-curi, _________? That is self deception, something
like, we think it to be so, smaraṇaṁ.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Trying to steal a pond, you know it’s not possible, because it doesn’t belong
to anyone. How can you steal a pond?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
So just as Gaura Kiśora Bābājī Mahārāja told when
he went on with smaraṇaṁ, and there was another bābājī
who constructed a kuṭīra, cottage nearby and he also went
on imitating Gaura Kiśora Bābājī Mahārāja, mādhukarī,
and sitting, and meditating, and wearing such cloth, in this way the imitation. Then once
Bābājī Mahārāja remarked, “That one, if a lady enters
into the room of pain, labour room, she cannot produce a child. Only by
imitation, simply entering into the labour room a lady cannot produce a child.
There are many things before that.”
So only imitating the paramahaṁsa bābājī the
bhajana cannot come, cannot be effected. Śuddha-sattva, must
have connection with the real plane. And then all those speculation like things
may come in.
nā uṭhiyā vṛkṣopari, ṭānāṭāni
phala dhari', duṣṭa-phala karibe
arjjana
[Kalyāṇa Kalpataru, Upadeśa, 18]
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said, “That without taking the labour of climbing
in a tree, if one wants to draw the fruits then what sort of fruits you’ll get
there? You must have to go up through the tree and then you can touch the
fruit.”
Otherwise it is only your imagination, a madman’s feat. So śuddha-sattva,
there is really so many planes. Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ, Mahā,
Jana, Tapa, Satyaloka, Virajā.Brahmāṇḍa bhedi
yāya.
[upajiyā bāḍe latā 'brahmāṇḍa'
bhedi' yāya, 'virajā,'
'brahmaloka,' bhedi' 'paravyoma' pāya
tabe yāya tad upari 'goloka-vṛndāvana', 'kṛṣṇa-caraṇa'-kalpavṛkṣe
kare ārohana]
[“The creeper of devotion is born, and grows to pierce the wall
of the universe. It crosses the Virajā River and the Brahman plane, and
reaches to the Vaikuṇṭha plane. Then it grows further up to Goloka
Vṛndāvana, finally reaching to embrace the wish-yielding tree of Kṛṣṇa's
Lotus Feet.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
19.153-4]
Mahāprabhu says that creeper of bhakti, that grows and rises
up to Goloka and she had to cross these planes, first to cross Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ,
Svaḥ, Mahā, Jana, Tapa, Satyaloka, Virajā, Brahmaloka. 'brahmāṇḍa'
bhedi' yāya, 'virajā,' 'brahmaloka,' bhedi' 'paravyoma' pāya,
tabe yāya tad upari 'goloka-vṛndāvana'.They do not care to
know what is the conception of Paravyoma, what
is Virajā, what is Brahmaloka and what is brahmāṇḍa,
they do not care to know. But only whenever they go to such guru they get some mantra
and go on meditating. But in such stage, if he goes on meditating
Rādhā-Govinda līlā, instead of
Rādhā-Govinda līlā he will rather entangle with the
ladies and gents of this world and he will be entangled into the domain of lust
and will have to go to hell instead of going up to Goloka.
Charma mansa maya kama prema chid ananda dhama [?]
So imitation is not success, it rather degrades, imitation degrades.
Devotee: Mahārāja, kalpanā ______________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kalpanā
issomething like imagination.
Devotee: Kalpanā,
imagination ____________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: _______________ [?] kalpanā __________ [?]
Devotee: Kalpanā,
______________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kalpanā
_________ [?] imagination. Ideal, thinking, meditation, mental
exercise, kalpanā.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Mental exercising ________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No. Mind
is another thing. Mind is not, śraddhā is connected with soul,
and mind with matter -ātmā- mind is material, khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, part of
material potency.
bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano
buddhir eva ca
[ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir
aṣṭadhā]
[“My deluding potency in this world is divided into eight ways: earth,
water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
7.4]
This is the production of the material potency and jīva is
the production of parā-śakti; the principal potency and svarūpa-śakti
is higher than jīva. And mind manodharma, mental speculation, that has got nothing to do with truth. That is drawn from the
material world, the world of misconception, so mind is full of misconception,
no truth. Avāṅ-manaso gocaraḥ, mind cannot reach to the
stage of feeling the truth, of the perception of the truth proper. It is only
related to mundane things, as exploitation.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
But pure mind is a product of śraddhā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mind cannot produce, just as fossil
cannot produce life, so mind cannot produce śraddhā.
Śraddhā is original, fundamental thing. When he awakens, mind
vanishes. Just opposite in relation. Just as darkness cannot produce light,
light comes darkness vanishes. So truth comes, real pure consciousness comes,
mental speculation vanishes. It is concerning to misconception, mind. It is an
element of the aparãśakti. Khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, subtle
and gross. Gross is vaicitra mano bhaum, and subtle man buddhir ahaṅkāra.
They are of material. And the soul is transcendental and svarūpa
śakti bhajana goloka vaikuṇṭha, that is supra
transcendental, on the other side of the soul. Not in the lower side where the
mind is to be located. Mind comes out of the false ego and it is made of
exploitation, exploiting tendency.Aher rday mora mana vrndavana. “My speculation is on the other side.” Mahāprabhu says.
“Not this mind.”
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
Yes. There’s another mind, Mahārāja, which is the pure mind which is
produced...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Pure mind, that should not be told by mind. Mind words should
not be used in that way. Then everything will be there. The senses also there
in the Goloka, so many things, but this thing is not that thing.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
No, because this is a product of śraddhā. But the other is a
product of sense exploitation.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Sense exploitation. So this mind we have
to get relief of, the exploitation, we are surrounded by such poisonous thought.
Tato bhave mano nasa sadve mano nigraha
loka nanta [?](In Tiranya
Upakan?)
All the sādhanas are common in
this, that the mind should be destroyed.
Mano nigraha loka nanta [?]
There may be different phases, forms,
types of sādhana, the means to end, but they’re one in here that
mind should be finished, mano nigraha
loka nanta [?]Should be
checked!
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, you were talking about kīrtana. InkīrtanaBhaktivinoda Ṭhākura shows in the Śikṣāmṛta there are different types of kīrtana, five types. So one type is japa. So then Rūpa Goswāmī showed that there are three types of japa: mānasika,
vācika, and upāṁśu. So which is proper for
us, and which has the greatest effect?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Upāṁśu means only
no sound, but movement of the lips, that is upāṁśu.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Whispered, yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And there is sound and upāṁśu
and the lips also not moving: three kinds of japa. Which is the
superior, you say? If it is real
then what goes to the internal side that will be superior. But that must be of
genuine type, must be japa, not imitation. Our attention should be
always to the lower side. If we can perform that in a real way, then the
promotion cannot be checked. But without being qualified if we are very eager
to go upward there is tendency of fall down, falling down. So:
sakhyāya te mama namo 'stu namo 'stu nityam, dāsyāya te mama raso 'stu raso 'stu satyam
[Śrīla
Raghunātha Dāsa Goswāmī, the greatest exponent of the faith
of servitude to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, Rādhā-dāsyam,
wrote: “I won’t allow myself to become fascinated by the proposal of the higher
level service as a friend, sākhya. Rather, I shall tend always to
do the lower service, dāsya, the service of the servant. I shall
not consider myself to be a high-class servitor and I shall always tend to go
towards the lower class of service. But He may forcibly take me to a higher
service – “No, you are no longer to serve there; now you must serve in this higher
category.”] [Vilāpa-kusamāñjali, 16]
That sort of
temperament should always be followed in the case of bhajan.Dāsa-dāsā nehudāsaḥ dehinam. [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 13.80] Always
try to stick to the lower duty. Promotion is inevitable. But eagerness for
promotion: that is enemy. That is for pratiṣṭhā and pratiṣṭhā
will undermine the whole thing.Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda says that is only, the imitation comes from the
attraction for pratiṣṭhā: that I want to hold the
superior position, to get some name. But that is the great enemy. Don’t be the
prey of that type of pratiṣṭhā, eagerness to hold the
higher, superior position. Dainyam, rather to go down, that is the
healthy sign of a devotee.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, we see in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa
that sometimes the mahata of chanting silently is there. Then we see in
other places that the mahata of chanting very loud, as in the case of
Haridāsa Ṭhākura is very great. So what is the adjustment?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But what do you think?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Loud.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Only to know the meaning theoretically that won’t help you much. Try to carry
the spirit of the thing, the spirit of the truth. When it is real, it is
laudable. We are to differentiate between imitation and real, the sham and
genuine. That is the main thing. And how to trace that, whether it is genuine
or it is adulterated? We must always be very attentive, all attentive towards
that, the genuineness of the thing. So when it is backed by the sādhu,
by Guru of very high type, then you can do anything and everything, by his
support, whatever you do, kīrtana etc. And when this meditating has
been praised, has been called more efficient, maybe in a particular case, if
you go to chant, the opposition
will be so great you’ll be nowhere, you’ll turn to be an atheist, if you have
got no sufficient support to fight against the odds. In that case it may be so.
Don’t venture to attack the enemy when your position is weak, in that case. But
when backed by so many generals, so many ammunitions etc, you must march on.
That will help, kīrtana. But sādhu-saṅga, the
real thing is sādhu-saṅga, the association with the higher
power. Otherwise nothing has got any value. Sādhu śāstra,
your stand must be on the real plane, and the cultivation of real thing, that
is the importance, always. And to keep up the reality of the bhajana,
whatever is necessary as sādhu-saṅga for the weak for the sādhaka
and for the scripture and knowledge. Sādhu śāstra, kṛpa,
then kīrtana, that will be the best preaching.
So Vṛndāvana
dāsa Ṭhākura says one feeds himself, another feeds thousands
and feeds himself. Who is the greater? Kīrtana means he is
cultivating himself as well as at the same time he is helping so many to
cultivate. But when you have got no capital of your own if you go to preach
then you will meet such opposition that will be asat-saṅga, and
the bud will be nipped. In that case only kaniṣṭha-adhikārī
without backing you do not go to attack others. Kīrtana means to preach,
to attack others, in another way. So you will be turned into an atheist, don’t
venture, kaniṣṭha-adhikārī.
Āpana-daśā, śravaṇa-daśā,
varaṇa-daśā, sādhana-daśā,
āpana-daśā,
then prapanna-daśā, then you can preach independently.
Otherwise only with the help of some prapanna-daśā you can go
to preach.Hare Krsna.
Our connection with the reality, and we
have some absolute conception of the
reality, and from that from that position we can never be moved, removed. Some such stable position, that is what is necessary,
invulnerable, sure position, what is what, sambhanda-jñāna.
Then the differences that we find in the writings of the
Ācārya, what will apply where,
we shall be able to understand and harmonise. Under what circumstances has this been advised to be taken
up, and under what circumstances the other thing has been advised to be taken
up: some practical knowledge. Everything about Him is good so we must not make
ourselves very busy to understand technical things, the smaraṇaṁ,
the bhajan. What is really necessary - we must do the bhajan,
śravaṇa,smaraṇaṁ, kīrtana, and sitting here and
to know every details, then we shall
begin bhajana, this is all idle talks.Mainly kīrtana, that
has been given in the age of Kali, inaugurated by Mahāprabhu, by Bhāgavatam,and many other things. Go on, kīrtana but
sādhu-saṅga.
sādhu saṅga kṛṣṇa nāma ei
matta jai,
vaikuṇṭha nāma grahaṇam aśeṣāgham
haraṁ viduh
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 6.2.14]
[“The Holy Name must be taken with the attitude of service to the
saints. Serving means die to live; to throw oneself wholesale for the higher
existence.”]
Because we are
weak, and when one is irresistibly placed in a
position, and can never be removed from his
position, he can go on with himself alone,
and he will create so many helpers and march in a batch, just as our Guru
Mahārāja did. First he began to chant himself alone, almost, then gradually
so many gathered nearby, and the whole
batch marched on in different ways.
One day he told
to an attorney ________ [?] in
Calcutta, “First I began singly, myself, and now five hundred men have come to
talk the same thing on my behalf,
within this ten years or so.”Hare Krsna.
End of 81.09.11.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.11.C_81.09.12.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara
Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
81.09.11.C_81.09.12.A
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, this morning you were talking about
humility. So what is like the perfection of humility in our practical
devotional service? Practically, what is the perfection of humility, for the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī
?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Ha, ha. May be of different type in different persons, so he has to think out
his own way, the humility. And not to
encroach on the rights of others, humility, and also he should not be such as
to kill one’s own self, humility. It must be natural.
Once when we entered the present Bagh Bazaar Maṭha, there was a
festival from the hired house. The Deities came in the chariot, and singing and
dancing, then Deities were removed in the temple and then mahā-prasāda
distributed. At twelve or at one o’clock we went to take, went to bed, and my
bed was just nearby the bed of Professor Sanyal. He was very humble.
Then in the morning that Professor says to me, very slowly that, “Last
night I felt so much weakness that I thought that I was dying. I thought that I
shall rouse you.”
I was just on his side.
“Then I thought no! Why should I disturb Vaiṣṇava? He is so
tired today, and taking rest, let me wait. And when I waited a little then I
got, I gained some strength. And then I did not disturb you. But now also I am
very weak.”
Very slowly and very sober, he was
speaking these things. He was dying and he did not rouse me, only being afraid
of disturbing my rest. When I heard in the morning from his lips, of course
very gently he put it, but it came to me like thunder.
I at once went to Prabhupāda and informed him that such is the
case. “That gentleman was dying last night but he did not disturb me.”
They also knew, Prabhupāda and other Vaiṣṇavas they
also knew that that man was of such type. So at once they took attention and
they called for a doctor, took serious steps.
So sometimes that sort of humility I think it is dangerous. Because his
life is a valuable property to Guru Mahārāja, not only of himself, he
is not concerned with only his interest, but he should live in the interest of
his Gurudeva. So I could not relish that sort of, appreciate that sort of
humility. So everything must be of real characteristic, with some connection
with reality. I am thirsty. I won’t request any Vaiṣṇava, “Please
help me with a glass of water.” Or something like that. Then my disease may
continue and there will be penny wise pound foolish. So common sense should be
utilised always. Hare
Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: When our Guru Mahārāja was in Vṛndāvana,
Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was lying on the bed, before he left he
could not eat anything. Practically not even one glass of water. But I marked
anyone who came, any visitor, he would always say, “Give them prasāda.”
Even in that condition, he himself could not eat.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He wanted to travel the whole of Vṛndāvana,
parikramā in bullock cart. But Kṛṣṇa Dāsa
Bābājī Mahārāja’s help was sought and he came and
anyhow he could stop him from that dangerous campaign in that serious condition
of health.
Devotee: _______________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ___________________________________________________ [?]
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi.
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, you said that we should always take the humble...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Everything, bhajan of different
forms, everything is good,śravaṇa, kīrtana, smaraṇa,
anything in connection with the Lord. We are not blaming anything. But
according to our capacity, our position, what will be most effective, the
consideration and discussion only about that. But we must remember that we
should not neglect: that will be to, committing offence. ‘The smaraṇa and other bhajan,
pāda-sevanam they’re of lower order.’ We must not be, boast proud
enough to condemn them in such a way. But still very cautiously and not only to
satisfy curiosity, but when necessity will arise, then only we shall have to
approach to test the superiority of looking about Śukadeva, about
Ambarīṣa, all these things. But we must not venture to take it up as
a play. They are all serious things. To take one Vaiṣṇava over
another, to consider, that is not a very light thing; very subtle points. They
are devotees and to place one above another with our rough necessity, we must
not try to do that. It is not an academic thing. As a professor we shall coach
the students with some theoretical knowledge of these things. It should not be
accepted in that line. The practical side we shall always be conscious of. They
are all great. And where am I? And I am going to make decree and dismiss over
whom? There should be some limit to our adventurous audacity.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Sarvabhavana Prabhu was relating last night that you had said
once that humility is accepting no position. Humility is also seen in not being
willing to accept position.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Then?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: _____________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That is all right. What do you say now? I am still
sticking there, no position, because a servant has got no independent position.
His position is always under the command of the master. His position is of
infinite possibility, humility. He is most humble to his master, not to the guṇḍās.
His main position is humility, humility must be towards whom? I am humble, I am
lower than the lowest, to whom? Towards my master, towards his own, Vaiṣṇava,
I am humble there.
So Hanumānji when it is necessary to
burn ________ Laṅkā his humility is not disturbed. He is as humble
as anyone in carrying out the order, the interest of Rāmacandra. Wholly
given, wholly surrendered. Humility in other words is surrendering. Humble,
otherwise no opposition to the instruction, to the command of the master. He’s
related to Vaikuntha, to the upper section. Humility: not to the ordinary
street drone or tiger and serpent. Humility does not mean, does not drag them
into relativity, the serpent, the tiger, the jackal. But relativity to the Vaiṣṇava,
that is the real plane where he takes his stand. So he’s concerned with them.
And humble means he does not resist. Whatever comes he only goes to carry out
the order. He’s humble. He possesses humility, without opposition he knows to
carry out, sunīcatā.
No prejudice, not sitting on a seat of prejudice; humility. Generally we
think humility to the outside world, but the meaning is not that. To the
standard thinking person, they are misconceived, they are mad. Not humility in
the standard of madness, to the mad people, the madman has got no standard of
his own. These are all misconceived to be mad. So humility means, has got a
standard, and standard we must have from a standard world. Do you follow? No?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Prabhupāda has interpreted
humility. The humility is absent where there is enjoyment, the spirit of
enjoyment, aggression. Enjoyment, exploitation means aggression. There cannot
be humility. Do you follow? Only cent percent service: there is humility. There
is no humility when there is exploitation and renunciation. These two are in
opposition with the normal nature of the world. These are all misconceived.
They are enemy. They are a challenging element to the normal reality. Do you
follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. That
brings another – we understand that line...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And the spirit of exploitation and
spirit of renunciation, both of them are revolt against the proper, smooth
working of the truth. So they are all misconceived. And real humility must be
in relativity with the truth, full aspect, and not with the misconceived world,
the standard not of the misconceived, the madman.Follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. What about spiritual aggression, for competition? There
is a competitive spirit amongst two persons who are doing the same thing, then
where is the place for humility there?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There is humility if it is really
service: because its object is the centre and inspiration, cooperation,
direction from there. As he feels he does so. He is connected with the Absolute
Centre. So they can be arranged by Yogamāyā. He is not responsible.
The necessity from the centre, as he told in the morning: fashion, not
necessity.
aher iva gatiḥ premṇaḥ, svabhāva-kuṭilā
bhavet[ato hetor
ahetoś ca, yūnor māna udañcati]
[“Just as a serpent naturally moves in a crooked way, in a zigzag way,
the nature of love is naturally crooked. It is not straight. So the concerned
parties quarrel, sometimes with cause and sometimes without cause, and
separation comes. Separation is necessary for the transcendental pastimes of
Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”] [Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi]
It seems to be crooked. But it is not crooked. It is very nature. It is
necessary only for the variegatedness of the services of Kṛṣṇa.
From there: designed from up. They are not responsible for that.
Devotee: _______________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ________________________________ [?] Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So we must not infringe on the property of others. There may
be competition but we should not infringe on the property of others.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Our duty will always be to dedicate
ourselves more and more intensely and as we shall be interfered with the higher
agency we shall do. We must keep ourselves ready always for that. The handling
from the upper house we shall obey cent percent. No; without any hesitation.
That is our duty. Whatever will be asked of us to do we shall do.
In a war field if the general asks a particular battery to go in the
first battle, they say, “Why not the second one should be ordered, commanded to
go, why should we go first? We shall die and the last battle they will rejoice
the victory. Why should we go first?”
What do you say?
Bhakti Caru Swāmī: That is
not dedication.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The military will shoot you then and
there. Ha, ha, ha.That is my consideration of the above, decision from the
above. And it is not left on you, battalion number one, two, or three, or four
who will go, it is not... Only the highest brain, they have the command. The
complaint against that highest command, that means to die, to be done away with
immediately.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
So Mahārāja, then when the Pañca Pāṇḍavas were on
the mahāprasthāna Arjuna had followed the instructions of Kṛṣṇa
ditto, whenever Kṛṣṇa said shoot, he shot, whatever
instructions he received. But we have seen in one case Yudhiṣṭhira
did not follow the instructions ditto of Lord Kṛṣṇa. But all
these people fell before Yudhiṣṭhira. Why did Arjuna have to
actually fall down?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That is not the criteria of the highest devotion. Yudhiṣṭhira’s
achievement that was for another thing; and the devotion proper is not
connected there. That is some sattva-guṇa mundane affairs. The
Yāmarāja, the dog went on, but Arjuna had to fall, Bhīma had to
fall. The test was something else, connected with mundane world. And they went
to Sarga, what is that, not the highest thing of achievement. That is only a
show of the outer case of the Pāṇḍava. But real Pāṇḍava
as sakhā to Kṛṣṇa, that is separate. They already
saw there Duryodhana and others they’re there. What are they? After death they
are all having their good position, honoured position there; they met. Yudhiṣṭhira
went with his own body and found what, that sattva-guṇa deho.
To die in the battlefield for a kṣatriya he is rewarded by
heavenly life, and they were there. And Yudhiṣṭhira went to that
place keeping his body, and others could not, already reached. But the plane
was sattva-guṇa, somewhat like that, Sarga, and not Vaikuṇṭha,
nor Goloka, nor Dvārakā, nor that Mathurā etc. That is aprākṛta,
not, it is sattva-guṇa.
Double, that Keśava Avatāra, the white and the black hair of
Brahmā he gave it, “This will go and save you from the horrors of the
sinfulness you are suffering from.”
__________________________________________________?
But Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma came. They took up those
two robes but they are only... Bhuvalankar Avatāra not Svayaṁ-Bhagavān
Avatāra of Vṛndāvana, that is another thing.
So also it has been seen in many cases, the outer case is something
else, and the inner man is another thing. He also absorbs the lower
personality. Just as when the viceroy comes, the rasapati comes to
Calcutta, then the rajuphal’s function absorbed in him, if he likes.
When the king comes to visit the colony, all the officers, their power really vanishes in him. Whatever he wants done that
will be done, by everyone, their own respective personality dead. So when
higher power descends in the lower case, the lower case has got no value. Then
when retires the lower case has been left, and the higher case goes up.Ke?
Devotee:
_____________________________________________________ [?]
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nitāi... Vanquished; ha, ha, ha.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Ha, ha, ha, ha. Mahārāja, sometimes you speak very
sweetly and then other times it seems very cutting.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Very harshly, sweetly and harshly,
enraged.
Bhakti Caru Swāmī:
As soft as a rose petal and as hard as a thunderbolt.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
vajrād api kaṭhorāṇi, mṛdūni kusumād api / lokottarāṇāṁ cetāṁsi, ko nu vijñātum īśvaraḥ
[“The hearts of those above common behaviour are sometimes harder than a
thunderbolt and sometimes softer than a flower. How can one accommodate such
contradictions in great personalities?”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 7.73]
It is of course mentioned, harshly, when some attack is on the person of
a Vaiṣṇava, some injustice on them, temper may be hot. And I am
also being a party to that. I am entangled. Committing some offence against them, so easily irritated. Why should I not stop in
the beginning? I am carried so far as to disturb their honour. That is the
cause of irritation. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
And the responsibility is mine and I am dragging you up to that distance.
______________________________________________ [?]
...
We want to come to an adjusted position, former position, that if I have
committed any offence when dealing
with so many subtle things about the great personages, any offences, Nityānanda Prabhu, please take those off and keep me in
my normal position as I have got from you all: aparādha. Aparādhanaho
kama [?]Perhaps Kavirāja Goswāmī. “I’m dealing so many great things...
Devotee: ______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To deal with so many, such character of so high type, with so much audacity, we should beg to be excused,
to be pardoned to Nityānanda Prabhu, patita-pāvana. Adoṣa-darśī,
He does not take any offence
generally.Nitāi. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari.Fools rush in where angels fear to
tread. Where angels fear to tread, like a fool may rush in, in the subtle-most,
in the very realm of sentiments of the high order, he’s told that to beg to be
excused.
The siddhānta,
apa-siddhānta, that hits, that strikes, any apa-siddhānta taken
to Mahāprabhu He felt much disturbance. So Svarūpa Dāmodara
heard first, then he would send it to Mahāprabhu. Otherwise
Mahāprabhu was disturbed in a very cruel way.Apa-siddhānta
hits the final cause of the higher thinking persons.
Namadati tatas kandi yata bhadati bhadata [?]
Haridāsa[or Jaḍa Bharata?] told,
“I do not feel pain on my shoulder when carrying the palanquin, but you
grammatically _______________________________ [?]That is striking more. That is more injurious to me; that break
in the law of grammar. That is a great shock to me, and not the pain from
carrying you on my shoulder. That pain I do not care for.”
So subtle beating is there in the high sphere; in the higher sentiment
they may be offended. So this is not curiosity and necessity, and with all
humility, with all respects to them we shall try to enter into that plane
without disturbing any plant or any person who is roaming in that sphere.
Otherwise it will be pure intellectualism and not Harikathā.
Jaya Oṁ Viṣṇu-Pāda Paramahaṁsa...
[End of 81.09-11.C]
[Start of 81.09.12.A]
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So that will be the authentic history of his life, especially the earlier, the major portion
of his life. Last days may not be mentioned there. But he came in a big family,
famous family, in the kāyastha family,
Datta, Upadi. And the Vivekānanda also came out of the same family, Hartcolla
Datta, Calcutta, famous family of substantial name and fame. But his maternal
uncle’s house was at Ula where Lalitā Prasāda has constructed Maṭha,
Prabhupāda’s younger brother Lalitā Prasāda.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Bir Nagar.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Bir Nagar, near Bir Nagar there was a big village named Ula and the Mustafi were the landlords there. And they were the mother connection
of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. His father became poor and he was born and
brought up in Ula. And he studied in Kṛṣṇa Nagar College,
School, College, in Kṛṣṇa Nagar.
Then,
of course he had some exceptional talent. He came in connection with the then
educated society amongst the students. And especially there was one Mr. Da,
Christian missionary who established Scottish Church College. He remained in
his connection. He was encouraging the young Bengalis at the time, attracting
most of them towards Christianity. And many, __________________ [?] and others,
they became Christians.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura once,
there was some association and some journals were also published from that
association. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura also contributed one essay, but Da
Sahib [?]
was displeased with him. He told that, “It is atheistic temperament, so I don’t
expect it from a young man of your type. Here we have tried to prove that
everything is coming out of blind nature. There is God.”
Anyhow, gradually he had close association
with the Brahmo Society. They are supposed to be advanced in culture, followers
of Ram Mohan Raya. And his first friend was the eldest brother of
Rabindranatha, Dajendranatha Tagore was his very intimate friend, in this way.
He had to accept some service for
livelihood, and government service he got, and posted in Orissa in the position
of SDO, in charge of some sub-divisional officer. And sometimes he was also
posted as an inspector of the Purī Jagannātha temple to supervise so
that there may not be any corruption, all these things.
At that time he came in connection with Bhāgavatam
when he was engaged in the service of the Jagannātha temple. And tried
to read it, then he was gradually captured by Bhāgavatam, and the
life of Śrī Caitanya Deva and Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
all these things, from Purī, came in connection.
The Brahmo Association expected much from
him because he was of scholarly character; could write well, argue well. But
coming in contact with Bhāgavatam when he was serving in
Dinājpur he gave his speech on Bhāgavatam. There he separated
himself completely from the Brahmo School and he was seen to side with the Vaiṣṇava
School of thinking, Vaiṣṇava, Mahāprabhu. And gradually he
read these śāstras also and wrote many books of the Vaiṣṇava
śāstras.
Then after retirement when he wanted to go
to Vṛndāvana, to live there, to pass the rest of his life there, he
got a dream, and repeatedly, to find out, to discover the proper birth place of
Śrī Caitanya Deva. He could not neglect that dream. And again he
entered into service in Kṛṣṇa Nagar. And there the records of
the local place he used to consult. And then by the help of the records, as
well as inspiration, he discovered the birth place at Yoga-pīṭha,
Māyāpur. Then, more interested, he visited the whole Navadwīpa
Maṇḍal and from the old scriptures also he gave a description of
the old and modern of the whole Dhāma of Mahāprabhu. And established
a sabhā, a committee, association, committee, so that the sevā
pūjā of that place may continue: and lastly he handed it over to
our Prabhupāda.
Prabhupāda was his: his first son was
one Anada Prasād, the second was Rādhikā Prasād. Anada
Prasād by first wife, he had two wives,
married twice, Anada Prasād only one son and first wife died. Then by
second wife Rādhikā Prasād, then Kamala Prasād, then Bimala
Prasād, our Prabhupāda, fourth. Anada Prasād, Rādhikā
Prasād, Kamala Prasād, Bimala Prasād. And then Balada
Prasād, Lalita Prasād, Virya Prasād, ________ Prasād, eight
sons and two, three, four daughters, perhaps.
But Bimala Prasād from the beginning
had given to the devotion of Mahāprabhu and was of very independent
spirit, did not mind to read, continue his study systematically. Went to
Sanskrit College, up to Sanskrit College he continued his study, but he had a spirit
always to fight in favour of Vaiṣṇavism with anyone and everyone.
And that sort of fighting spirit was the cause of leaving his college. And then
home study, including jyotiṣa also. And whenever any opportunity
he had he used to discuss in favour of Vaiṣṇavism with anyone and
everyone; could not tolerate if anyone says anything against Vaiṣṇavism,
as Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism.
So once he challenged Íśvara Vidyāsāgar [a famous Sanskrit scholar of the time], then Rabindranātha [Tagore], in papers also, and through
writing, and Charan dās Bābājī: in many places.
So, so much so, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura felt little disturbance:
“What will be your future? You’re aggrandising, do not follow a particular
system in your life.”
He answered: “Don’t be anxious for my future. I will manage anyhow.”
Then he went to visit the South, places of pilgrimage in the South, just
as Mahāprabhu did, and gathered many ancient Vaiṣṇava
information, and in Anubhāṣyam [Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura’s commentary on Śrī
Caitanya-caritāmṛta] he recorded...
End of 81.09.11.C_81.09.12.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.12.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
... service of Māyāpur, and hesitatingly
he accepted that in the beginning, but to his last moment he conducted the
service very faithfully. And in that matter, from the physical standpoint Kuñja
Bihārī Vidyābhūṣaṇa, lately
[Śrīpād Bhakti Vilās] Tīrtha Mahārāja,
helped him a great deal. And gradually many scholars also came around him and
with their help he started this movement. He got inspiration to preach and he
did so up to the last moment of his life.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s other
sons, they’re not, Lalitā Prasād somewhat inclined towards
Mahāprabhu’s line, others indifferent mostly.
Then, when
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura passed away, Bimala Prasād, he arranged a
condolence meeting in a public hall and many respectable gents were invited. Amongst them Vipin Pal, then the Principal of
Metropolitan Schools, some Scottish _________________ [?]
The leading
personages of that time spoke very highly about Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.“He
gave new thought to the society in general. His articles were of original
character, not stereotyped things. His investigations about Vaiṣṇavism
have exceeded all the modern
Ācāryas.”
Śiśir [Kumār] Ghose, “The
seventh Gosvāmī. We heard of six Gosvāmīns in the time of Mahāprabhu but Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s
writings have proved that he holds the seventh position amongst the
Goswāmīs. So extensive and
original writings he has left for us about the teachings of Śrī
Caitanya Deva.”
In this way Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura left the world. And his
literature, he’s in his literature, present forever, systematic. On scientific
basis he has delivered suitable to the modern age, his writing has given us
about the teachings of Mahāprabhu and Bhāgavat.Our debt at his
holy feet has got no end.
Prabhupāda was, though Prabhupāda took initiation from Gaura
Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja as suggested by
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, but still he held Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
as his real Guru, substantially. Formerly only by the order of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
he took Gaura Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja as
Gurudeva. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura selected for him. But what we have
found in him he knew that Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is Guru from the
internal consideration, we find. His outside and inside was filled with
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura not in the
physical sense but in the spiritual sense.
He installed many Maṭhas with the name of the Deity as Vinode
Vilāsa, Vinode Rāma, Vinode Ānanda, Vinode Pran. So he saw
through his Gurudeva Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. His attempt to approach
Rādhā-Govinda and Mahāprabhu is inconceivable without Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura’s intervention in him. He was full of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
I think I attempted to write something about Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
and that was the key of his affection towards me, I thought. Because I tried to
give publicity of the greatness of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s character
to the public in a systematic way, so his attention was drawn to me. It is my
own feeling.
One who is a little attached to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he can
give him everything for that. That was his spirit. So he thought to be indebted
in Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s holy life, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
So much so he saw Rādhārāṇī and Gadādhara
in him, the highest ideal of Guru tattva.
In Gaura līlā Gadādhara in mādhurya rasa; and
in Kṛṣṇa līlā Rādhārāṇī.
He also told once, “That if we rise a little higher and look up, then we
shall find Rādhārāṇī in Gurudeva. If we raise our
head a little and try to find, then we shall find it is the
Rādhārāṇī who is doing the function of Gurudeva from
the back, channels, position of instrumentality. But really, the source of
grace, the Guru is coming from the original source
of service, of love. So he used to see Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in that
light.
sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair, [uktas tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ]
kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya, [vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam]
[“In the
revealed scriptures it is declared that the spiritual master should be
worshipped like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this injunction is
obeyed by pure devotees of the Lord. The spiritual master is the most
confidential servant of the Lord. Thus let us offer our respectful obeisances
unto the lotus feet of our spiritual master.”] [Śrī Śrī Gurv-aṣṭaka,
7]
We are asked to
see Gurudeva not opaque but transparent. Transparent to such a degree that
through him in the highest end first conception of service, can be seen, can be
had there, we can get there. If we are earnest then we shall find the highest
link from the very source, original source. So we are requested not to see Guru
as limited, limited in his ordinary personification, but transparent mediator
of the highest function in his line. If only our vision is deep we can see
that, according to the depth of the śraddhā, our vision, of
the disciple, the Guru’s will, the Lord is there.The
Guru tattva is a peculiar thing,
very peculiar, very noble, very broad, wide and very deep. So we are warned
against thinking Gurudeva was with mortality.
So Prabhupāda used to, in his ideal conduct he has shown it to us, how
much earnestness one may have for Gurudeva. We have seen in his practices and
ways, advices. (Goodbyekaniṣṭha?) Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was
wholesale awake in him, everything for Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Nine o’clock?
Devotee: Yes Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura
would openly criticise
Íśvarachandra Vidyāsāgar.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes, Vidyāsāgar, though he was a young boy. Vidyāsāgar wrote in his book, “Īśvara-nirākāra-caitanya-svarūpa,
Īśvara-nirākāra, without any figure and He’s a mass of
consciousness.”
So he went to him, the boy, he was a boy,
went to him, “What have you written here? You say Īśvara and then say
nirākāra. Where have you got it? Īśvara, the
creator, the master, and He is nirākāra. Where have you got
Īśvara is nirākāra? He has got some sort of ākāra
[form], cidākāra [transcendental form], nirākāra
caitanya svarūpa. Only mass of consciousness but without any figure,
and He’s the creator. Where have you got?”
In this way challenged. But he was very young.
Vidyāsāgar may not care. But still he did his duty. That was his
temperament. He will give some challenge. Without that, whenever there is
something wrong against the creed of Mahāprabhu, he must go and give some
challenge. Otherwise he could not find peace in him.
“That I have done my duty, I have given up position. When it
came to my consciousness, I have done something; that is satisfaction, that I
opposed it.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: No
compromise.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
No compromise, protest.“Whatever you say I protest it. I represent a particular party that does not recognise your thought.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa.Rabi
[Rabindranātha] Tagore wrote articles in
some book, in disguise, and Prabhupāda also protested that in a name that
also in disguise, protested, went on protesting his writings.Gaura Sundara.
Gaura Sundara. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, where did you spend most of your time with
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura? You
spent some time with him, personally?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura?
Yes. In the later portion of my life I got chances to live with him, now and often. Perhaps he used to like to take me with
him. Many persons used to come to visit him, and to talk with them in a
respectable way, to represent his teachings to them, he used to keep me with
him. And when he used to, later in his life, he used to speak something, his
memory faded, so some appropriate ślokas from
the scriptures in what line he is going, saying, that should be supplied. Very
few of us we could do that; one, Vasudeva Prabhu, myself, and sometimes
Śrautī Mahārāja; very few. That one, he’s going on in a
particular way and he’s searching some śloka in support of his
speech. So we used to supply that, what is necessary to help his speech in the
line in which he is going on. The appropriate proofs from the scripture, that
is to be supplied to him. In that case Vasudeva Prabhu, then next myself could
help him in that way in his later days.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura when he began the service of the Dhāma
and Mahāprabhu, to attract the people, attract the public to accept
his discovery that this is Dhāma, he had to do many things.
Sometimes, that was a lonely place at the time, in a meadow is a temple, not
temple, then the pukha building
and there Mahāprabhu. And generally cooks, brāhmaṇa cooks,
did not stay there for a long time. In a lonely place they were afraid, and the Mohammedans are very
nearby. So to continue the service he had to undergo many undesirable things.
That is thisgangica, sometimes he had to prepare gangica by
his own hand for the cook, gangica, that intoxication, he had to
prepare, otherwise the cook would flee away. So many things, respectable
persons had come. He had to make arrangement for their tobacco, and many other
things.
Our Guru Mahārāja also did, to the extreme. When [Sir John] Anderson, the Governor [of Bengal],
he was invited to Māyāpur, at that time, of course the arrangement
was made with the Calcutta Hotel to bring appropriate food for him, including
meats and other things. The hostel man was invited to make arrangement for the
dishes of the Governor and his paraphernalia. Anyhow he had to do.
And in foreign preaching also when he told
about that, I modestly protested, that the meat dishes, nonvegetable dishes, if
served in the Maṭha compound, then there will be a blame on the mission.
“No, No.
Thousands of births ago I have decided all these things. We have to do anything
and everything for the service of Mahāprabhu.”That was his answer.“Vaikuṇṭha vṛtti,
no kuṇṭha, no limitation. Anything
I am prepared to do for the service of Mahāprabhu, for the propagation. The grace of Mahāprabhu should be
distributed in the length and breadth of the whole of the world. And for that
anything should be done. No stone unturned. Physical connection is no
connection. We shall try to save our internal purity. That is all.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
And Swāmī Mahārāja also did the same thing, took the
risk of external contamination with filthy things to save so many souls from
that habit of impurity, impure diet. He had to go to the place of that
atmosphere, anti atmosphere, to save them. The house is on fire so if one likes
to deliver them, to save them, the inhabitants, then he must take some risk, of
some abscess, some boil in his body, if he wants really to save them, to enter
the house which is already on fire to save the inmates of the house.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Śrīla Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda he was also,
he had a great vision for the world.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. He saw in his divine eye that prema
dharma, the religion based on divine love, that is so self evident in
character. “That the intelligent people cannot keep them away from such
conception of pure religion as the highest love, prema.The
fine intellect cannot but detect the purity in the love in the religion in its highest conception. So the western thinkers if they are not
much prejudiced, they cannot but appreciate the doctrine of divine love as
given out by Śrī Caitanya Deva. So I’m sure that
in the near future many of the western scholars they will come under the flag of Śrī Caitanya Deva.” And he
delivered such lectures here and there.
One gentleman Hiran Datta, was a good scholar, a theosophist when he
came to preside over a meeting in Bagh Bazaar Temple, some public meeting. When
one Mr. Barchard came with [Bhakti Saranga] Goswāmī Mahārāja while returning from England,
Hiran Datta was president of meeting. He told, “When we were students of City
College, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura delivered a lecture there to this
effect. That in near future the western scholars will come and join with the saṅkīrtana
under the banner of Mahāprabhu. I see it plainly, clearly.” He told
that, “I am the witness and I am seeing the beginning of that; that the western
scholars are coming. I heard the lecture in my young days. And in my older days
I saw the evidence. It is going to be true. I am very much glad for that.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: You had the darśana of Ṭhākura
Bhaktivinoda at that time?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
No. He left the world nineteen fourteen.
I joined the mission nineteen twenty six.
After twelve years.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
There was one Parvat Mahārāja who lived at the next house
where Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in Godruma he used to pass his old age.
He told there was only a partition wall between the house of Parvata
Mahārāja and Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura at Surabhi-kuñjaat that time he was living. From about three o’clock he
woke up, in his last days, and took the
Name of Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, this mahā-mantra
at the top of his voice. He told that as if he’s
calling some man who is far away. He’s
calling a person. With this spirit he was pronouncing the mahā-mantra
as if he’s calling a person, calling someone. Hare Kṛṣṇa, at the top
of his voice. But we could think how a human being can do such things
continuously? And wandering in the garden, and there was a cement chair and
when he could not stand, he took his seat there for some time. And then again
walking and chanting at the top of his voice, Hare Kṛṣṇa,
Hare Kṛṣṇa, just as calling some person with such animation
in the voice, life-full voice, the person he is calling, with this spirit. Not
in a formal way but a material hankering he is calling for the Lord.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.
And I heard from another source, Rāma
Gopāl Vidyābhūṣaṇa, an M.A.P.L. [?] He told, “Once we went to visit him, that a government officer,
an educated man, he has become Vaiṣṇava Bābājī.
We went to see him. And some amongst us asked him,‘please
speak something about Kṛṣṇa Nāma.”
He stopped for a little, “Oh, you want to
hear about Kṛṣṇa. You want Kṛṣṇa Nāma?”
In this way he continued for some time.
“Kṛṣṇa! You are so fortunate. You have come to hear Kṛṣṇa
Nāma.”Then the consequence of such inquiry had such influence on
his body and mind, that as it is written by him in the poem:
[Śrī
Nāma-Māhātmya, The
Glories of the Holy Name]
[By Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura]
(1)kṛṣṇa-nāma dhare koto bal
viṣaya-vāsanānale, mora citta sadā
jwale,ravi-tapta maru-bhūmi-sam
karna-randhra-patha diyā, hṛdi mājhe
praveśiyā,variṣoya sudhā anupam
[What power does the Name of Kṛṣṇa possess? My heart
constantly burns in the fire of worldly desires, just like a desert scorched by
the rays of the sun. The Holy Name, entering the core of my heart through the
holes of my ears, showers unparalleled nectar upon my soul.]
(2)hṛdoya hoite bole, jihvāra agrete
cale,śabda-rūpe nāce anukṣan
kanṭhe mora bhaṅge swara, aṅga kāṅpe
thara thara,sthira hoite nā pāre caraṇ
[The Holy Name speaks from within my heart, moves onto the tip of my
tongue, and constantly dances on it in the form of transcendental sound. My
throat becomes choked up, my body shivers again and again, and my feet cannot
remain still.]
(3)cakṣe dhārā, dehe gharma, pulakita saba
carma,vivarna hoilo kalevara
mūrchita hoilo man, pralayera āgaman,bhāve
sarva-deha jara jara
[Rivers of tears flow from my eyes,
perspiration completely soaks my body, all my skin thrills with rapture, my
hairs stand on end, and my complexion turns pale and discoloured. My mind grows
faint, I begin to experience devastation, and my entire body is shattered in a
flood of ecstatic emotions.
(4)kori’ eto upadrava, citte varṣe
sudhā-drava,more ḍāre premera sāgare
kichu nā bujhite dilo, more to’ bātula koilo,mora
citta-vitta saba hare
[While causing such an ecstatic disturbance, the Holy Name showers
liquid nectar on my heart and drowns me in the ocean of divine love of Godhead.
He does not allow me to understand anything, for He has made me truly mad by
having stolen away my mind and all my resources.]
(5)loinu āśroya jā’r, heno vyavahāra tā’r,varnite
nā pāri e sakal
kṛṣṇa-nāma icchā-moy, jāhe
jāhe sukhī hoy,sei mora sukhera sambal
[Such is the behaviour of Him in whom I have taken shelter. I am not
capable of describing all this. The Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa is
independent and thus acts on His own sweet will. In whatever way He becomes
happy, that is also my way of happiness.]
(6)premera kalikā nām, adbhuta rasera
dhām,heno bala karaye prakāś
īṣat vikaśi’ punaḥ, dekhāy
nija-rūpa-guna,citta hari’ loya kṛṣṇa-pāś
[The Holy Name is the bud of the flower of divine love, and is the very
abode of astonishing mellows. Such is the power He manifests that when His Holy
Name starts to blossom a little further, it then reveals His own divine form
and qualities. Thus my heart is abducted and taken directly to Kṛṣṇa.]
(7)pūrna vikaśita hoiyā, braje more jāya
loiyā,dekhāy more swarūpa-vilās
more siddha-deha diyā, kṛṣṇa-pāśe
rākhe giyā,e dehera kore sarva-nāś
[Blossoming fully, the flower of the Holy Name takes me to Vraja and
reveals to me His own love-dalliance. This Name gives to me my own eternal
spiritual body, keeps me right by Kṛṣṇa’s side, and
completely destroys everything related to this mortal frame of mine.]
(8)kṛṣṇa-nāma-cintāmaṇi,
akhila rasera khani,nitya-mukta śuddha-rasa-moy
nāmera bālāi jata, saba lo’ye hoi hata,tabe mora
sukhera udoy
[The Name of Kṛṣṇa is a transcendental touchstone, a
mine of all devotional mellows. It is eternally liberated, and the embodiment
of pure rasa. When all impediments to the pure chanting of the Holy Name
are taken away and destroyed, then my happiness will know its true awakening.]
[Thus ends Śaraṇāgati by Ṭhākura
Bhaktivinoda, translated by Dasaratha-suta dasa]
Cakṣe dhārā, dehe gharma, sweat, pulakita saba carma, vivarna
hoilo kalevara, mūrchita hoilo man, the mind unconscious. Pralayera
āgaman, bhāve sarva-deha jara jara. Kori’ eto upadrava, creating
so much disturbance. Citte varṣe sudhā-drava, nectarean
current in the heart, more ḍāre premera sāgare, and puts
me into the ocean of ecstasy of love. Kichu nā bujhite dilo, more to’
bātula koilo, could not make out anything, can’t feel about the circle
environment, bātula koilo. Mora citta-vitta saba hare, I lost
myself in that sort of thought.
premera kalikā nām, adbhuta rasera dhām, heno
bala karaye prakāś
īṣat vikaśi’ punaḥ, dekhāy
nija-rūpa-guna, citta hari’ loya kṛṣṇa-pāś
more siddha-deha diyā, kṛṣṇa-pāśe
rākhe giyā
kṛṣṇa-nāma-cintāmaṇi, akhila
rasera khani,
nitya-mukta śuddha-rasa-moy, nāmera bālāi
jata
“Many things I
can’t remember. All these stages were displayed in his body and mind. I saw
with my own eyes.” Simply he inquired. He came to hear.“You are so fortunate.
You have come to hear Kṛṣṇa Nāma from me. Kṛṣṇa!
Kṛṣṇa!”In this way he entered into another domain. And so
many feats and expressions came in his body and mind; convulsions, tears, all
these things.” That I heard from an eye witness.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya. Gaura Hari.
Nitāi Gaura Haribol.Nitāi Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Before Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s appearance the Vaiṣṇava
tradition was very much neglected.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Very few śuddha Vaiṣṇavas
were to be found before Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.But he came and modernised,
and adjusted the religion in a modern garb and so it was easy for many
regardful students to come and accept the śuddha Vaiṣṇavism.
It was molested, widely, in a wide
way by the so called followers. The real ideal was eclipsed and so for the
inquisitive it was difficult to have real entrance and real attachment for Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇavism. Especially the bābājī, the Vaiṣṇava from any caste and they could marry. And only taking Name and no other
practices or real earnestness for the truth. Anyhow
dragging on with their life and mixing with no pure practices, nor pure habits
as especially in the name of religion, mixing with women. That brought in
return a hate for them in the society. And those goswāmīs that
took up the initiation as their trade because they had such low connection, low
association, they lost their honour in the general society of the gentleman.
The goswāmīs, bābājīs, they lost their prestige
in the society because of their imitative character.But Gauḍīya Maṭha
came out with the real spirit of the religion and also pure practices
subsequently following. So the attention of the educated inquirers after truth,
their attention was drawn by Gauḍīya Maṭha and they flocked
together.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: After one hears about great personalities like Ṭhākura
Bhaktivinoda we feel very insignificant. We have no existence. After hearing
about his life we feel as if we have very little importance.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Which was insignificant?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: No, we feel ____________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh! You think yourself very
insignificant?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ____________________________________ [?]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Not insignificant but useless.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: We can utilise, we can do our might,
contribute our might as much as possible for the service of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
That means the service of Mahāprabhu,
and that means the service of Kṛṣṇa, and that means the
service of the whole universe, wherever there is life, and that service to my
own soul, my Gurudeva, everything. It includes within its harmony, everything
remains. What Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura gives us, we shall find:
yasmin vijñāte sarvam evam vijñātam bhavati / yasmin prāpte sarvam idam prāptam bhavati
[“By knowing Him, everything is known - by getting Him,
everything is gained.”]
The broadest thing, broadest conception of our duty, including myself,
the whole of the world, the Lord, everything.
End of 81.09.12.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.15_81.09.19.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: ... but we are told that when Nanda Mahārāja comes
that Droṇācārya enters into him, enters into the personality of
Nanda Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: We are told that’s stated in Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā
that the same personality of Droṇa enters into the personality of Nanda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then, what for?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: We wanted to ask that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Why does the ultimate come to such idea?
But what does he want to prove by it? What is the necessity that Droṇa
will enter into Nanda?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: This idea came from possibly the Kṛṣṇa...
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The necessity to prove that Droṇa
was in Nanda. Some reference there must be. What is that?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Must be from Kṛṣṇa-Sandarbha,
something there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Why it was necessary to prove that. What
is the circumstance? I want to know that; with Droṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Well Mahārāja, sometimes before Kṛṣṇa’s
appearance...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Is he that Droṇa, Dron means that
fighter Droṇa?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Now dron means a kind of crow.
What is Droṇa?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: No, the personality Droṇācārya.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Droṇācārya, it is
mentioned?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I want to see that portion. Droṇācārya
entered into Nanda, why it was necessary to prove, where it is mentioned. I
want to know that and then I can answer. Droṇa. I recollect some sort of
expression I came in connection, not very important, but still maybe Droṇa,
Nanda; Droṇācārya, Aśvatthāmā.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Well Mahārāja, before Kṛṣṇa
appeared there were many prayers which were offered to Kṛṣṇa
and weren’t...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Like?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I think He heard Lord Brahmā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Oh! Brahmā-stava: all the devatas with
Brahmā, their leader.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. So some of the demigods were instructed to take birth so
that Kṛṣṇa’s līlā could begin, or making
arrangements for that, so did some of those demigods enter into other
personalities? Yes?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. They were asked to enter into different personalities to help His līlā.
So the general Kṛṣṇa līlā is of sweet
nature, not of fighting. So where there is fighting that is to: opposing with
the environment. Then the gods, the demigods in those, they came out with their
function, to discourage the disturbances, to rid the disturbance, opposition.
It was the function of the demigods. And the Kṛṣṇa līlā
with His mates that was always playing, singing, dancing with the sweet
side of the līlā, pastimes, that was in Vṛndāvana.
But the āsura
killing and the
other meeting with the unfavourable circumstances, that is all done by the
demigods.
...
You don’t remember the reference of Droṇa and Nanda?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja had mentioned that
coming from the Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha. So I
would have to find the reference.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha it must be
but in what occasion it came? Why it was necessary? What aspect of Droṇa
was found in Nanda? That is to ascertain first, why it was necessary that Droṇa
entered in Nanda._____________________________ [?]
Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, when the
demigods...
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: What would be the relationship when one personality would
enter into another personality: that would be, they would reside within the
heart?______________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is just as one light absorbs
another light, something like that. No physical, the mental, greater thing
absorbs the lower thing. Just as the air or fire can absorb; a small fire is
absorbed in the bigger fire, something like that. Just as in a particular idea.
A philanthropist when he takes the position of a politician for some time, that
politician is present in a philanthropist. A learned man he accepts the
position of social work for some time, that dedication, something like that.
That idea is present in the greater idea; a smaller idea has been accepted for
the time being. Such way, it is there.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, how do we adjust that we see that Arjuna
and Prahlāda Mahārāja they comprise Haridāsa Ṭhākura
personality?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Prahlāda Mahārāja and Haridāsa Ṭhākura they are
in the case of forbearance. Prahlāda had to undergo, to demonstrate the,
our submission to the Lord. The external
punishment, his external torture may come and that was accepted. So in that case
we see similarity between Prahlāda and Haridāsa Ṭhākura
who was also tortured by Kazi and others in different ways. But in spite of
that torture, he stood firmly in his position. So the ideal that the devotees
of Kṛṣṇa, of Hari, sometimes they are to pass many worldly
torture. In that aspect Prahlāda
Mahārāja and Haridāsa Ṭhākura in that point they’re
one and the same. They firmly stick to their principle of devotion in spite of
the unfavourable environment, so much so to the torture of the highest degree.
In that respect they are one, Haridāsa Ṭhākura and
Prahlāda. And Arjuna, Prahlāda is compared with Arjuna, where?
...
Nitāi. Nitāi Gaura Haribol.What Nārāyaṇa
Mahārāja mentioned about Droṇācārya and Nanda, what
was the necessity to mention that Droṇa was
within Nanda, what was the necessity there?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: He was giving different examples of different personalities
who entered into others during Kṛṣṇa līlā.
So the question arose, what was the relationship?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The example.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: And relationship, what would that be?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Just as the function of lower officer is
absorbed in higher officer, something like that, functional, a functional question, a function.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: And then he had mentioned in the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā
that Arjuna and Prahlāda, those two personalities contributed to
Haridāsa Ṭhākura.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Prahlāda is represented there. And
Arjuna, Arjuna is found in Rāmānanda Rāya,
Viśākhā and Arjuna, the two functions were seen in
Rāmānanda. But Arjuna in Haridāsa Ṭhākura, that’s a
new idea coming to me, Arjuna. Who is that? Haridāsa Ṭhākura,
Arjuna, Haridāsa Ṭhākura rather Brahmā, Brahmā and
Prahlāda, not Arjuna.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I think that’s a mistake.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. Brahmā was there. Brahmā Haridāsa. He is known as
Brahmā Haridāsa. It is said that the Brahmā stole away the cows
and the calves and the cowboys to test who is Kṛṣṇa. So for
that offence Brahmā had to come in the Muslim
School to take birth. But a formal, but materially Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s
position is not lower than Brahmā.
A fallen stage:
just as Yamal-Arjuna. Two sons of Kuvera they were engaged in merrymaking after
drinking and cursed by Nārada, “Go and be sthāvarā.”
Which means nonmoving life, trees. And came as Yamal-Arjuna in Kṛṣṇa līlā,and they cried, wailed, repented, and tried to pacify Devaṛṣi
Nārada, and blessed with that curse was blessing for them.
Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi. Gaura Hari.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, at the end of the Yadu dynasty when the
Yadu dynasty was to be destroyed, after the destruction also some personalities
returned back and the divisions within were seen. So, like you said, it is a
matter of function, some purpose there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes. Function means that idea and that sometimes takes form in a subtle plane
or sometimes in the gross plane, as is necessary. They may stay in their formal
position, also their function may be transferred.
The gods that entered into them, they are present in their position also, when
their function was extended there. It does not mean that the gods that entered
into them, they disappeared here. Not always like that. Sometimes when curse or
something,obeying. So their function is also there and also
their spirit, their function is transferred there. The particular type of
function is transferred, a representation.
Gaurasundar.Here we end.Try to finish that translation.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ... our consciousness, that will help a
great deal to do away with the anomalies we have got. It will help to proper
adjustment, consciousness, relativity, that can come, new addition, new light,
new progress, new self analysis.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: But we could not get that without Vaiṣṇava, sādhu-saṅga.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: To be awake in search of our real self,
real interest, that is what is the most urgent necessity of everyone,
selfdetermination, the attitude of selfdetermination, the intuitive search for
selfdetermination. The peace, the love of peace, without selfdetermination,
that is a drawback, disqualification. There must be difference in quality of
peace, the gradation. What is the ideal of real peace? Ordinary peace conception
is a stagnant one, śanta-rasa, only finder of peace; they’re
followers of śanta-rasa, peaceful life.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: But no service, service?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Service is another thing. Die to live.
Something like that. Dedication. It is in the appearance of giving something,
giving the whole thing. But really he becomes a gainer in that risk. A risk, a
risk for the absolute; that is the capital for gain, that I shall risk
everything for the Absolute cause, for His satisfaction. And that reaches acme
in Vṛndāvana. They risk everything for the satisfaction, for a
slight satisfaction of the Supreme, they are ready to sacrifice everything they
can conceive to possess.
Oxymoron, what is oxymoron? A rhetoric expression!Apparently what seems
to be injurious, it seems to be wrong, but really we find there is the truth.
Oxymoron: a sort of alaṅkāra, rhetoric expression, oxymoron.
When in I.A. class we had to read Milton, Stopford Brooke’s Milton,
criticism on Milton’s works by Stopford. Then we were required to read out all
this.
[Stopford Augustus Brooke (1832 - 1916) was an Irish churchman, royal
chaplain and writer. He was born in the rectory of Glendoen, near Letterkenny,
Donegal, Republic of Ireland]
Oxymoron. Bhauma means jyotiṣa,
the outward expression of the pure conscious world, spiritual world, a hazy
view of the spiritual cosmos. Then after we cross the threshold we shall find
the cosmos. But with the nature and intensity of our sacrifice, our degree of
our dedication, we’ll be allowed to enter into the internal nectarine movement.
When we
eliminate that idea we become imitationist, sahajiyā. So we must be
very careful about that. The mundane, this is a reflection,
perverted reflection. Here also we can get everything but it is perverted
reflection.Even Māyāvādī they may not have any aspiration
of the worldly enjoyment, but taking the Name of Hari, Kṛṣṇa,
Rāma, and have some sentiment, feeling, shivering, then that tears etc,
may have. But that is also a kind of reflection, not the
real plane because he has already committed himself to the creed that
Nārāyaṇa or Viṣṇu or Vaikuṇṭha
everything this side Brahman within the
jurisdiction of mundane area.
In Hari
Nāma Cintāmaṇi we’ll find that they may also show some
sorts of devotional signs in their body and mind, but their creed has sealed
their entrance into Vaikuṇṭha proper. Vaikuṇṭha is this
side, Brahmalokanirviśeṣa, that is their
creed. So they’re fixed, though sahjiyāism
may not be there, but still their
devotion is not of pure type. Because sattva-guṇa, it may be in
the jurisdiction of sattva-guṇa at most. That is within
misconception. They have not real faith that across the conception of Brahman, on the higher, deeper vision, there is Vaikuṇṭha,
Goloka, etc. They can’t understand about the real nature of dedication,
selfdedication.
By dedication we come in the relativity of
another perfectly different world. And dedication is better than abnegation or
renunciation. Renunciation of the evil that is good, but that is destructive,
that will lead us to the zero conception of everything. And by accepting and
searching and attaining our inner self as unit of the world of dedication we
find a new world before us, new land. That they can’t believe. The
Māyāvādīns cannot put faith in that, that if we are
wholesale converted, our innermost self is a member of the plane of dedication,
they can’t believe that.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mahārāja, can the Māyāvādīs be -
in some cases they cannot be converted to Vaiṣṇavas, never?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Very rarely, very rarely, and
there’s the two cases seem to be clear, in Śukadeva and Bilvamaṅgala.
Their future was bright.Śukadeva almost he was lost in the Brahman
conception. He had a real touch of the spiritual world. Connection with spiritual
world was a reality in him. But he could not believe there may be any further
progress within that. He was satisfied with that.
pariniṣṭhito 'pi nairguṇye, [uttamaḥ-śloka-līlayā
gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe,
ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān,
tad ahaṁ te 'bhidhāsyāmi, mahā-pauruṣiko
bhavān
yasya śraddadhatām āśu, syān mukunde
matiḥ satī]
[“O saintly King, I was certainly situated perfectly in transcendence,
yet I was still attracted by the delineation of the pastimes of the Lord, who
is described by enlightened verses.”]
– [“That very Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
I shall recite before you because you are the most sincere devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
One who gives full attention and respect to hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
achieves unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord, the giver of salvation.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.1.9-10]
Then by the
gracious and incident, intention and helping attitude of Vyāsadeva anyhow
he was converted. But he was a good student, bona fide. So Bhāgavata came
through him specially to have a position, to give position Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
to the scholars including the Māyāvādīns and yogīns
etc. Śukadeva was accepted as the proper medium to place it properly
over the Māyāvādā thought. He was well versed in
Māyāvādā vicāra, he was rather settled there.
And anything coming, passing though his consciousness to this world, that
cannot but be approved by the Māyāvādā arguments. So he was
chosen to be the deliverer of Bhāgavata view, of Bhāgavata School.
And Bilvamaṅgala also started his
life with the Māyāvādī conception. Then by the sudden
inconceivable grace of Kṛṣṇa we see him converted suddenly into
pure devotional life. So one of his names is Līlāśukha, Bilvamaṅgala’s
another name is Līlāśukha, a type of śukha. His
pastimes, the example in his life was shown as that of śukha,
Līlāśukha.
Just as if enemy has got a very close relation he can partly play of the
greatest enemy, like Vibhiṣana, like ordinary brothers come from the same
womb, same mother. The closer person if he is opposed, he can do the greatest
mischief. So jñāna, the karma, the energy of the enjoying
world cannot oppose devotion so much as jñāna; almost child of the
same plane can stand in opposition of bhakti.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: There’s one verse in Upadeśāmṛta describes
the different gradations in the Dhāma: vaikuṇṭhāj janito.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes,
two comparative gradations, one in respect of the place, another person.
vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī
tatrāpi rāsotsavād
vṛndāraṇyam udāra-pāṇi-ramaṇāt
tatrāpi govardhanaḥ
rādhā-kuṇḍam ihāpi gokula-pateḥ
premāmṛtāplāvanāt
[kuryād asya virājato giri-taṭe sevāṁ
vivekī na kaḥ]
[“The holy place known as Mathurā is spiritually superior
to Vaikuṇṭha, the transcendental world, because the Lord appeared
there. Superior to Mathurā-purī is the transcendental forest of Vṛndāvana
because of Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā pastimes.
And superior to the forest of Vṛndāvana is Govardhana Hill, for it
was raised by the divine hand of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and was
the site of His various loving pastimes. And, above all, the super-excellent
Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa stands supreme, for it is
over-flooded with the ambrosial nectarean prema of the Lord of Gokula,
Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Where, then, is that intelligent person
who is unwilling to serve this divine Rādhā-kuṇḍa, which
is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill?”][Upadeśāmṛta,
9]
That is one. And another is:
karmibhyaḥ parito hareḥ priyatayā vyaktiṁ
yayur jñāninas
tebhyo jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ premaika-niṣṭhās
tataḥ
tebhyas tāḥ paśu-pāla-paṅkaja-dṛśas
tābhyo ‘pi sā rādhikā
preṣṭhā tadvad iyaṁ
tadīya-sarasī tāṁ nāśrayet kaḥ kṛtī
[“There are those in the world who regulate their tendency for
exploitation in accordance with the scriptural rules and thereby seek gradual
elevation to the spiritual domain. However, superior to them are those wise men
who, having given up the tendency to lord over others, attempt to dive deep
into the realm of consciousness. But far superior to them are the pure devotees
who are free from any mundane ambitions and are liberated from knowledge, not
by knowledge, having achieved divine love. They have gained entrance into the
land of dedication and are engaged there spontaneously in the Lord's loving
service. Among all devotees, however, the gopīs are the highest,
for they have forsaken everyone, including their families, and everything,
including the strictures of the Vedas, and have taken complete shelter
at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, accepting Him as their only
protection. But among all the gopīs, Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī reigns supreme. For Kṛṣṇa
left the company of millions of gopīs during the rasa dance
to search for Her alone. She is so dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa
that the pond in which She bathes is His very favourite place. Who but a madman
would not aspire to render service, under the shelter of superior devotees, in
that most exalted of all holy places.”] [Upadeśāmṛta,
10]
Concerning person and concerning the place, side by side, development in
the worker and the place of working; a devotee and the plane of devotion. The
gradation has been given there. By such adjustment we come to know what is what
in the world of devotion, if we can properly adjust ourselves with these
advices, Upadeśāmṛta.Then another is: yat preṣṭhair
apy alam asulabhaṁ kiṁ punar bhakti-bhājāṁ,
another śloka:
kṛṣṇasyochchaiḥ praṇaya-vasatiḥ
preyasībhyo 'pi rādhā-
kuṇḍaṁ cāsyā munibhir abhitas
tādṛg eva vyadhāyi
yat preṣṭhair apy alam asulabhaṁ kiṁ
punar bhakti-bhājāṁ
tat premedaṁ sakṛd api saraḥ snātur
āviṣkaroti
[“Of the many objects of favoured delight and of all the
loveable damsels of Vrajabhūmi, Śrīmatī
Rādhārāṇī is certainly the most treasured object of Kṛṣṇa’s
love. And, in every respect, Her divine kuṇḍa is described
by great sages as similarly dear to Him. Undoubtedly Rādhā-kuṇḍa
is very rarely attained even by the great devotees; therefore it is even more
difficult for ordinary devotees to attain. If one simply bathes once within
those holy waters, one’s pure love of Kṛṣṇa is fully
aroused.”][Upadeśāmṛta, 11]
So the highest praise of Rādhā-kuṇḍa. But here it
is mentioned snātur, one who has taken bath in that
Rādhā-kuṇḍa. But our Guru Mahārāja he gave
light that snāna means not to dive this physical body, but your
soul must have got a bath there, in that kuṇḍa. So
physically you are to honour. Don’t jump into the water you see. But you can
take a drop on your head and think yourself you are purified. The snāna
means not physical bath. It is the bath that is to be coloured with that
tinge.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Our Guru Mahārāja forbade it, to jump in. Our Guru
Mahārāja said it is forbidden to jump in. He would not allow.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Fools rush in where angels fear to
tread.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes. He said it would become nāraka-kuṇḍa,
if we go there.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not to consider it to be of physical
utility, Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Vṛndāvana.
rādhā-padāṅkita dhāma vṛndāvana
yāra nāma [tāhā
yena āśraya karila]
[“He who has failed to carefully worship the Lotus Feet of
Śrīmatī Rādhikā, which are the abodes of all
auspiciousness; who has not taken shelter in the transcendental abode known as
Vṛndāvana, which is decorated with the beautiful Lotus Flower named
Rādhā; who in this life has not associated with the devotees of
Rādhikā, who are very wise and whose devotion for Rādhā is
very deep - how will such a person ever experience the bliss of bathing in the
ocean of Lord Śyāma’s sublime mellows? Please understand this most
attentively.”]
[Śrī Rādhāṣṭaka - from Gītāvalī,
The Songs of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, p 118 – 9]
Whose name is Vṛndāvana?
Where there are the footprints of Rādhārāṇī. The
conclusion of everything goes to the highest consciousness of spirit as well as
service. All the meaning, analyses, commentary, must go to that one direction;
anyhow the direction will go to that side.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Rāma Rāma.
Whatever is done, for whose interest? Not the form of the practices but
the object for which it is being done. That will purify, that will justify, or
act. It may be thieving, it may be murder, does not matter. But for what
purpose, having connection with the happy pleasure of the Absolute Sweet Will,
or have connection with some lower plane?
Whose agent you are? That is to be considered. That you are working as an agent, that must be first condition, and not for your interest. And
whose agent you are; king’s agent or queen’s agent? The queen’s agent surpasses
even the king’s agent. Rādhā-dāsyam, whose agent you are.
That will be amṛtam and that will be poison, some agency of māyā
senses, the poison producing, an unproductive Māyāvādī.
And a nectar producing devotion. Reaction, what reaction will bring, the
movement you are starting, the wave you are starting, what will be the
reaction? It will be ascertained that you are connected with whom? The
conception of Absolute; what is your conception about the Absolute? That will
come in question.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, there were two points you made yesterday
which I thought I will ask again today. And one of those was that you were
describing the śloka, māṁ hi pārtha
vyapāśritya:
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya, ye ‘pi syuḥ
pāpa-yonayaḥ
striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās, te
‘pi yānti parāṁ gatim
[“O son of Pṛthā, low-born persons of degraded lineage,
women, merchants, or labourers - they also attain the supreme destination by
taking full refuge in Me.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 9.32]
Anyone from any place however deplorable position he may be considered
to hold anyhow...
End of 81.09.15_81.09.19.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.19.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...prove himself to be sufficiently
strong.
“My slight connection can dissolve the all filthy... It does not matter
anything. Only My connection is enough. My slightest connection is enough to
remove the most filthy environment.”
That is the inner meaning. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is
disinfecting, of such high quality that no dirt can stand if it comes in His
connection, cannot but be purified.
māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya, [ye ‘pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ
striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās, te
‘pi yānti parāṁ gatim]
[“O son of Pṛthā, low-born persons of degraded lineage,
women, merchants, or labourers - they also attain the supreme destination by
taking full refuge in Me.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 9.32]
“In any way: by constitutional method or unconstitutional
method, in any way. If he has slight connection of Mine in any way.”
So broad-hearted, He says. And again we are told:
‘kṛṣṇa-nāma’ kare aparādhera
vicāra, [kṛṣṇa
balile aparādhīra nā haya vikāra]
[“There are
offences to be considered while chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
Therefore, simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, one does not become
ecstatic.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā,
8.24]
That what about Gaurāṅga, and what more about
Nityānanda? Then will it transform ourselves to be atheist, that none can
purify me? What will be the answer? That Kṛṣṇa says such.
Then we are told that Gaurāṅga is more generous. Then again we are
told that Nityānanda is infinitely more generous. But still we are left
impure. What is the solution? Only one answer is given hither thither.
Durdaiva vilāsa, amara durdaiva nami ihājani nānurāgaḥ[Śikṣāṣṭakam,2]
“The slightest cooperation that is
demanded of me I am in lack of that. Still I am under trial.”
That is the general conception of the servants
of the Vaiṣṇava.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, there was one conception which yesterday
you were talking about how the strī can become the most qualified
servant.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Strī means the conception of negative self. Strī with
the conception of women, the negative relation is there. But if it is used for
a filthy thing that would be more filthy, and when it comes in the connection
with a higher agent then it would be more.
That is a, suppose there is a student who
is very credulous, whatever is said to him, he takes it as truth. But when he’s under a bad teacher,
then easily he will swallow up all the erroneous advices. But when he comes
into the connection of a higher educated man, he will easily accept the advices
that come from the higher professor. So credulity, earnestness is good, but
earnestness misplaced that is disqualification, and if properly placed it is
high qualification. Something like that. The negative attitude is good, but
negative to a bad positive, then negative is in a most deplorable condition.
And when the negative relativity is a higher thing then it will benefit more,
than ordinary hesitating receiver. That is the purpose.
Striyo
vaiśyās tathā śūdrās[Bhagavad-gītā,9.32]. In this world that strī mentality,
the credulity, easily, the tendency which easily falls to the prey of anyone,
that sort of mentality when it comes in connection with the rogue, that is a
very deplorable condition. But when again that comes in connection of a higher
agency, then it will be benefited that much. That sort of
mentality: that easily they can accept; striyo vaiśyās tathā.
Śūdra also, śūdra, serving
mentality, cannot have no independent thinking, śūdra.
Generally who are of such nature that when they are given some work, they do
that. But cannot, whether bad or good, they cannot ascertain. Only you order,
they can do that.He is ready to do
his labour and not direction. That mentality, śūdra
mentality, only labour and not director. But when director, the mentality
of dictator that though apparently seems to be superior, but in Vaikuntha where service is necessary, the dictatorship mentality, that will hamper his progress.
Rather the mentality of serving, following the direction of dictator, that will
help him there, as a servant. So śūdra mentality will be
helpful, because there we are not to master but to serve, we are to obey and
not to command. That will be their general temperament, to serve, to obey. So śūdra
mentality will be.But this śūdra mentality is not that śūdra
mentality. Not same but similar. Just as kāma and prema similar,
not same, opposite, but similarity they have got, in that way. Service, śūdra
means service giver, and strī means only the mentality to make
herself object of enjoyment, not enjoyer, that sort of thing. Similar not same, rather the opposite.
[ataeva kāma-preme bahuta antara] / kāma - andha-tamaḥ, prema - nirmala bhāskara
[“Therefore lust and love are quite different. Lust is like dense
darkness, but love is like the bright sun.] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā, 4.171]
One holds the highest position, surrender to the highest. And surrender
to the lowest; that is most miserable. Surrender is good but surrender proper.
Surrender to the high. That is appreciable. And surrender to the low that is
deplorable. Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, and indriya, the
satisfaction, to follow the dictation of our base sense pleasure; that is the
worst type of life. And at the same time to be subservient to the highest
pleasure of Kṛṣṇa’s sweet will, that surely will be the
highest position. Kāma - andha-tamaḥ, prema - nirmala
bhāskara, opposite, this is the bitterest and that is the sweetest,
most filthy and most pure. Opposite, Sumeru,
and Kumeru, southern pole and northern pole.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in śanta-rasa without service
there is a danger of Māyāvādā contamination, or are there
some very elevated devotees in śanta-rasa?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ______________________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Māyāvādī almost
similar or sometimes same.
ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas, tvayi
asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ,
patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ
[Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said: “O lotus-eyed Lord,
although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the
highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure.
Although they may rise to the level of impersonal Brahman realisation, they
fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they neglect to
worship Your lotus feet.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.2.32]
Whenever it is found there a Māyāvādī is going to take as if the position
of the throne of the Lord, for that crime he is hurled down with a great force
and he comes to be in the lowest position of this created world. Like a hill or earth, something like
that.
In Rāmānanda discussion,
Mahāprabhu, Rāmānanda Rāya:
‘mukti, bhukti vāñche yei, kāhāṅ duṅhāra
gati?’
‘sthāvara-deha, deva-deha yaiche avasthiti’
[“And what is the
destination of those who desire liberation and those who desire sense
gratification?” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked.] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 8.257]
Who aspires after enjoyment, that is sagar,
deva-deha, and mukti vāñche, and one who aspires after
salvation, mukti, liberation, his position is to go sthāvara-deha.
Very similar, in samādhi no conception of environment, and in the
fossil also no conception of environment, so similar thing. Sometimes he
actually goes there. The reaction is such. To abhor, to try to frustrate the līlā
of the Lord, to go to the concentration camp, the rebel. The rebel is sent
to the concentration camp. “Go, live in the fossil, as a fossil. No
consciousness there, whatever you want, no consciousness of the environment.”
Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa
vimukta-māninas,
that thinks himself to be liberated of the highest type. Vimukta-mānina,
viśeṣa mukta, not ordinary liberated but liberated, the highest
among the liberated, thinks themselves. Tvayi asta-bhāvād
aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. But there is
great error, great misconception, very big misconception of the very wide type,
like that of a criminal, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa
paraṁ padaṁ, by dint of their free activity and energy with
great labour they come up to the highest position of liberation, paraṁ
padaṁ. Tataḥ, patanty adho, from there they are forced to come
towards the lowest position.
ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ, punar āvartino
‘rjuna
[mām upetya tu kaunteya, punar janma na vidyate]
[“O Arjuna, from the planet of Lord Brahmā downwards, the
residents of all planets are naturally subjected to repeated birth and death.
But, O Kaunteya, upon reaching Me, there is no rebirth.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 8.16]
Go to the highest, if you cannot catch the current higher then you will
have to revert; come down. And a big you are to come down, little later it may
be. But you can’t catch the inner current. The external current won’t allow you
to stay here and to create stagnancy forever. So some sort of move will come
and you will be hurled down. And that does not matter for you. You do not like
any consciousness of environment, so deep sleep, and to become a fossil,
similar thing. And the underlying object is that such a, the revolt, the rebel
of such a highest type cannot be tolerated. They should be put by the universal
administration in the cell, in concentration camp.“I am Lord of everything.” That is a crime. Ultimately they have come under the
jurisdiction of type of crime. “I do not care
even their administration. I challenge the administration. I am all in all.”This is a sort of crime when it is viewed from
the respect of the whole. They are considered to be criminals, the rebels. So
they have got some sort of punishment for the wholesome of the Absolute.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, when you say they approach the throne...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:Yes. So
ham, when this audacity comes to this so ham,
“I am the Absolute,” then in subtle consciousness that is a great offence, a great crime. And so the punishment in that form comes on
his head. And he’s sent down to be fossilised.
So that is not unreasonable if you consider
from the standpoint of the goodness of the whole absolute region. So I am not
master but I am only enemy of recognition of the real master. That also comes
within the jurisdiction of crime. Do you follow? I don’t like to encroach on
the right of anything else. At the same time I do not care for any higher
authority. So from the absolute standpoint, that is also a crime, and crime of
the high order. And so the punishment is due. And they are sent to the
concentration camp to become fossil. Activity totally stopped. Begin your life again, your chance again given to you. Go, begin from
there. This is not injustice. Do you follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes Mahārāja. What
is the force which causes them to fall?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nature, māyā, prakṛti.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: If kaniṣṭha, neophyte devotee...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mahādeva, Śiva, they are the
master of the buffer state.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Buffer?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Buffer state, no man’s land. Buffer is
an English word. Between two countries there is a space, no man’s land or
buffer state that is called, the marginal position which is not under the
control of anyone.Just as between France and Germany there was a land which was
under some international control for some time.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Something like the iron curtain.That’s a division between West
and East Germany. There’s a division. No man’s land.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Now Berlin, crossing the Eastern Germany
portion, they’re to enter into Berlin, the westerners. The Berlin has got, in
demand of both the parties, but the area around Berlin that is under Eastern
Germany. So there is a road through which one is to pass Eastern Germany and
then enter Berlin. Berlin also divide into two now.
But before this there was one, after first
great war the shar [?] was between France and Germany and that had some international
control. And it was mentioned after ten years or so there would be privy sight,
vote, and the people, both French and
German both population is living in that area. Then
after ten or fifteen years there would be a privy sight, that is vote, and if
you vote for Germany it will be under the rule of the Germans, but if you vote
for French then it will come under the rule of France.
But when Hitler came in power, when
England was busy for the coronation of George the sixth perhaps, in that time
Hitler occupied Rhineland which was arranged to be under German administration
but no military will be posted there, Rhineland. But he entered military into
Rhineland.
Then next he came to handle the shar [?] and the vote came on his favour, Hitler’s favour. That also
came under him. Then he took Austria, he himself and one Sulsnik. Sulsnik went
to see him, Hitler, and he was made prisoner. Then Hitler stood for the vote in
Austria, he was an Austrian, Hitler. Then he got the vote himself. Then Austria
was added to Germany.
Then he came to interfere with Yugoslavia.
The portion of the German population was given to the Yugoslavian after the
first great war. Then they had a wall against Germany but through Austria no
defence wall. So Yugoslavia at that time most reluctantly Chamberlain came to
understanding and a portion of Yugoslavia was given to Hitler.
Then he came to the Danzig question. “The Danzig is my harbour and I want a corridor through Poland to reach that
harbour.” At that time they came to interfere, “That we can’t.” Then Hitler
attacked Poland, and Poland lost. There was a treaty with Russia at that time. Russia took eastern portion of Poland and western portion came
to Hitler.
And
then the world war began.
France was very eager to declare war previously but England only kept him
stalled, then came and they were crying for
America’s help but America did not come very easily.
Then Hitler one by one - first Poland,
then he took next summer through Denmark and Norway he captured. Next month war
of Flanders: the whole Belgium as well as a part of France. That was taken up
within a month by blitzkrieg, and the next year perhaps he came to capture
France. And there was one Mister Peinte, military general. Then Peinte ________
naval general, they met and made peace with Hitler, “That don’t devastate our
land.” To perish France from the eminent destruction, they came to some
understanding.
And there that British was in a very
clumsy position because French navy and British navy side by side in different
harbours to release the Germany. Now France
ordered the French navy to separate himself from the British, a very
peculiar.Churchill ordered, “Destroy, if French navy does not come to combine
with us, destroy them.” In some ports the destruction came in some port. They
flew away.
Darla [?] he went to South French Africa, and there he was murdered by
some British. _______________ anyhow some ______________ he wanted to have his
visit and put his dagger into the neck of Darla and Darla was killed instantly.
Then Peinte was there, the general of land
soldiers. Hitler captured but not disturbed.
Then England thought, “Now my turn...
The grand horse, great mercy of America
come but was too late, getting too late. If you do any ________ we'll be lost.
Hitler knows the value of time,” Churchill told, praised his enemy, “He knows
the value of time.”
And at that
time, First World War there was Wilson, President. And this time Kennedy, or who was the dictator, President of America, I forgot?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Churchill came later no?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Churchill was in England. Roosevelt. Churchill wanted to meet Roosevelt in the
Atlantic. And at that time he didn’t find any man in England to be his
successor for a few days when he’ll meet Roosevelt in the Atlantic privately.
Then he called one Mr. Smut from
Africa, Southern Africa and placed General Smuts in his place, in his position.
Churchill was the dictator of England at that time. No law, all laws were
withdrawn, only the absolute rule of the president. Smuts was installed in
place of Churchill. And Churchill, we wondered, that not anyone was found in
the whole of England to replace Churchill only for few days. But General Smuts
he was taken in from Africa to take the position of Churchill. Anyhow, they
met.America of course came to save England.
But
there was another, perhaps the greatest mistake in Hitler’s life. One of his
generals was Hess. He was cultured about this astrology.
He told, “If we go towards western side we’ll be victorious.”
But Hitler told, “Though we have got a
pact of nonaggression with Russia but they’re ________ we can’t trust them,
can’t believe them. So if we jump over England with all our powers then if
Russia comes from the back side we’ll be nowhere.”So Hitler decided to attack
Russia and that was the greatest, the grave decision and dangerous decision in his life.
Hess, at that time Hess in a plane he
jumped in England, and tried to make any peace.But Churchill was strong enough.
He put him straight into the prison. “I don’t believe Hitler.”
So no truce was
possible. But anyhow Hitler thought that, Russians also at that time they were
going on increasing their air positions just in the western frontier. So that
also excited Hitler. “And if we jump to conquer England then Russia will
suddenly jump on us.”
...
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: You were saying Hitler was excited seeing the Russians were
increasing their air? History class.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Then Hitler wanted that Crete. There was one island. He wanted that his
supremacy over that island Crete which was in the mouth of Dardanelles
[Strait]. “The British will, if I attack Russia, then the allied force will go
through Dardanelles Channel to help
Russia.” So Crete was in the possession of the allied power. So he had to take
risk to capture that island Crete. And through gliders, that was a wonderful
thing. They’re in full possession. The British holds, the French and all, in full possession of that in military
power. But Hitler wanted to go to the Crete shore, he had to come to Greece, to
conquer Greece, and then Crete. So he ordered for the conquer of Greece, this side. Grecian soldiers fought bravely but they fell before the
mercenary warfare of Hitler. Hitler honoured the Greece generals. He allowed
them to keep sword with them.
At that time also he used one expression,
“Napoleon in his time he told there will be no walls, but if walls comes in your way you cross over something like Napoleon
told: But I say if walls stands in your way, you blow it out. We are in such
haste we can blow up the house.” In this way anyhow he came, sometimes blown over.
Then attacked Crete. Crete in fullest
______. When Greece was captured then they put all their forces in Crete. But
Hitler wanted to capture that. And first gliders and this wax man, from the
human figure but made of wax. That parachute coming down. And they think that
soldiers are coming so they began to shoot. And then in the middle of wax man
one or two gentleman, real men came down. In this way so intensely he sent
planes that are shot, again coming, and shot again coming, wax man, and real
men and in this way he landed and from the navy also from this side captured
Crete. And allied party had to retire wholly.
Then Crete captured then he attacked
Russia. In the beginning he could not but blitzkrieg Russia, vast country. His
blitzkrieg failed. Within the first week of the month he’s to arrange,
mobilise, and the second week, third, fifth, sixth of the month he attacked.
And he finished almost within two weeks.This Norway, this Belgium, the Flanders, and France
attack, all was of such characteristic. Within two weeks, war finished, in such
a way. But Russia was a vast country. The generals failed, the blitzkrieg
failed. And they had also used defensive
arrangement, Russia, big tanks and many weapons. And their factories, on the
eastern side near ________ so beyond the reach of Hitler’s planes. In this way
they could not break through the defence line.
Then next year, one year lost, next year
the general was changed, and one Mr. Bock he was given the responsibility of
breaking the line of Russia. And Bock I noticed, he anyhow broke the line. And
immediately two hundred miles he marched in the inner country, that General
Bock.
Then Russians were disturbed. Stalin cried
aloud, “The hateful enemy has entered our homeland and we must, all of us must
oppose him.” In this way I found that Stalin cried aloud.
And Hitler told, “I want Stalingrad.”
Perhaps that was a good centre of weapon producing factories. “Stalingrad I
want.” But Stalingrad far off from Germany, so to capture Stalingrad all
Hitler's resources were spent away. He tried his best, he captured Yugoslavia,
Greece, Austria, and all the factories. They were producing ample ammunitions
for his purpose.
But still, and
Americans came. They came to supply Russia with everything, even shoes, dress,
food, and everything.
And Japan, he joined Hitler only in the
fight with British and Americans in this side. With America
and British, Japan came to fight with, but he did not, he was silent about
Russia.
According to me that was one blunder. If at that time when Hitler went
to Stalingrad, if Japan also attacked Russia from the other side, then Russia
succumbed altogether. Then the direction of war might have been changed. But
Japan was aloof, in that side.
There was an understanding that, “I shall
only keep the British and Americans with my resources. I won’t be able to, at
the same time, to disturb Russia.”
Anyhow, then came, Japan was very strong,
and he declared, Japan declared, “That I am prepared for a war of hundred
years. I have got so much resources and ammunition.” And Japan’s word, that was
also marvellous. In the Philippines every small island,
they are capturing like reeds, Japan soldiers are, one by one reeds and they
are destroyed like anything. But still they are going on capturing one island
after another and in this way the whole Philippines were dispossessed,
Americans were dispossessed.
And the two British big navies were
destroyed with a suicidal army with bombs in their armpits direct jump from aeroplane into the
chimney, and two big navies they were destroyed in this way. So British had to
withdraw from that portion.
Hitler told, “I have got to learn something from Japan...
End of 81.09.19.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.20.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Perhaps his quarters are at Chanchilla,
Chanchilla Hospital, Misra, Dr. Misra, eye specialist. Chanchilla has got a Maṭha,
there is a centre in Chanchilla, Devānanda Maṭha has got a centre
there, Chanchilla.
Devotees: Oh! Sounds the same!
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol.
Trivikram Mahārāja he’s in
charge, he lives there in Chanchilla Maṭha.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Then, how far your
translation?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Well, we are waiting for Govinda Mahārāja to come,
so we can use those books in the room.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Otherwise?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Otherwise it’s finished.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The whole?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The whole is finished?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Everything is done, yes, it’s completed, I have some questions
I’ll ask you when they come, we’re proof reading, as we type, when the
questions arise, then I will ask.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Any question?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Um, I was just doing translation of the Sat-sāra-kriya-dīpikā and Gopāla Bhaṭṭa he’s showing
very nicely, he’s discarding pitṛ and devata worship. In
the beginning he’s showing that. So what is the, we still see in Vṛndāvana
that persons are doing pitṛ there, doing śrāddha to
the pitṛs.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Generally the gṛhastha Vaiṣṇava,
for the social cause, formally they perform those rites, but not, this is for
the Vaidantic Vaiṣṇava.Ānanya
saran, those that
have taken refuge exclusively, taken shelter under the holy feet of the Lord,
they do not do anything else, but everything for the service of the Lord.
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ, [ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ,
yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham]
[“I personally assume the whole responsibility of acquiring and
protecting the necessities of My fully dependent devotees who are always
absorbed in thought of Me alone, and who worship Me exclusively in all
respects.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 9.22]
But those family men who are feeling obligation for their sons or their
wife and other things, only pitṛ deva should be eliminated, that
will be hypocrisy. Do you follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: They cannot give up, those that are:
sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ
vraja
[ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, mokṣayiṣyāmi
mā śucaḥ]
[“Totally abandoning all kinds of religion, surrender exclusively unto
Me. I will liberate you from all kinds of sins, so do not despair.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.66)]
It is for them
that they will leave other gods, pitṛ devo, everything. But one
who has got his attraction towards the son, towards wife, towards society, and
he gives up pitṛ devo, that is a hypocritical action. So he
should, a man of that status who is providing for the wife and he should also
contribute something to pitṛ devo, generally the
gṛhastha he does so. Prahlāda Mahārāja did śrāddham
for his father and everywhere it is mentioned in Bhāgavatam,
Purāṇam. But pulasaya, niskama, as a social duty he
observed. But materially I am feeling obligation for my children, for my wife
and only about pitṛ devo I have got no duty; that is anomaly. Do you follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes Mahārāja.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: That comes under the pañca mahā yajñā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.But
as much as one can avoid, so those that have given up everything and devoted
themselves for the service of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa
and kāṛṣṇa, Vaiṣṇavas, they should
not do all these things.
devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ
pitṛṇāṁ, na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī
ca rājan
sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ
śaraṇyaṁ, gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam
[“Anyone who has taken shelter at the lotus feet of Mukunda, the
giver of liberation, giving up all kinds of obligation, and has taken to the
path in all seriousness, owes neither duties nor obligations to the demigods,
sages, general living entities, family members, humankind or forefathers.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.5.41]
Who has given up
all obligations for all sorts of discharge of duties, he who has eliminated, deva, deva ṛṇī.
A man is born with five or six kinds of debt, deva ṛṇī.
We are indebted to the air, to water, to rain, so many natural things, that is deva
ṛṇī. We are from childhood, when from our birth, we take
help from the environment, that is deva ṛṇī, we are in
debt to the nature.
Devarṣi ṛṇī, we from our very birth, we take the
advantage of the knowledge which has already been given for us to the society.
The rṣi, the research scholar, this electricity and others, the
scholars have discovered many things and we get the facility of that, and the
knowledge, the letters, all these things already given by the society. Society
means especially the scholars, rṣi ṛṇī, that is rṣi
ṛṇī, devarṣi.
Bhūta, bhūta ṛṇī, we get from plants, the vegetable
kingdom, the animal, the milk, and so many other things, the dog protecting, so
bhūta means ordinary animals.
Devarṣi, devarṣibhūta,
āpta, especially the
relatives, nears and dears, they also we cannot but accept their help, the
relatives, āpta, āpta means relatives, kinsmen, bhūtāpta.
Nṛṇāṁ, and generally from the human society we
get something, this rice producing, cloth producing, and these things.
Bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ
pitṛṇāṁ,
and we get something also from the pitṛ, the fathers they have
left some property for us, and gave birth to our body, in this way, pitṛṇāṁ,
pitṛ matṛ ṛṇī. In our childhood they bring us
up, in this way we are indebted to father and mother.
Pitṛṇāṁ, devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ
pitṛṇāṁ, na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī
ca rājan, he, na
kiṅkaro, this is the general obligation, but a man who is exclusively
devoted to Kṛṣṇa, he is not indebted to anyone. Na kiṅkaro
nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan. Who?
Sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ
śaraṇyaṁ, gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam. One who has given up all his duties and
taken up refuge under the holy feet of the Lord, he is not liable to any debt
to anyone. Only he who has completely surrendered to the feet of the Supreme
Lord, he is not indebted to anybody. Otherwise when we are living we are awake
in the social position, the jīvātmā, he of course is
obliged, he has got obligation to so many. But when one has dived deep, to see
only that all superficial agents of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa
is the all in all, He’s all in all, and they are all His servants, so the whole
energy he can devote, he will devote to the master, won’t care for any devata
or anyone from: they should be
considered as agent of Kṛṣṇa. So he does not feel obligation
to anyone, but only to Kṛṣṇa, when one has gone in the plane
of deep understanding.
devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ
pitṛṇāṁ, na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī
ca rājan
sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ
śaraṇyaṁ, gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam
This is one thing, that what we should do, if we do not do that, the
devotee, then he does not commit any sin, ananya-bhakta.There are viddhi and niṣid, two
sections in the duty, some say this we must do and this we must not do. Viddhi,
the ordinary, we should do all this duties, and niṣid we must not
do all these things. So this is about viddhi, generally we should do
this, but the ananya-bhakta Kṛṣṇa if he does not do
that thing, he is not to be blamed, no charge can come on him. And that is niṣid.
sva-pāda-mūlaṁ bhajataḥ priyasya,
tyaktānya-bhāvasya hariḥ pareśaḥ
vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathañcid, dhunoti sarvaṁ hṛdi
sanniviṣṭaḥ
[“One who has
thus given up all other engagements and has taken full shelter at the lotus
feet of Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is very dear to the Lord.
Indeed, if such a surrendered soul accidently commits some sinful activity, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated within everyone’s heart,
immediately takes away the reaction to such sin.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
11.5.42]
What one should not do if Kṛṣṇa bhakta does
that, then no penance for him, no punishment for him. There are two aspects,
two sides. Do you follow? What we should do a bhakta is not doing that,
if he is ananya-bhajan-bhakta, exclusive devotee, then what one should
do, if he does not do that, he’s not to be blamed, no charge can come. And
another side these should not be done but ananya-bhakta if he commits
that thing, outwardly, but he cannot be punished. What is that? Sva-pāda-mūlaṁ
bhajataḥ priyasya, tyaktānya-bhāvasya. Ananya bhakta, he
has given up everything, sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ
śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bhagavad-gītā, 18.66)].Tyaktānya-bhāvasya
hariḥ pareśaḥ, vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathañcid. But
if anyhow any wrong deed is found in him he is not to be punished, because what
is to be his jurisdiction changes what punishment is to be given to him or not, that is on the hand of the Absolute. But the society, the king,
and the law of the country must not go to interfere with him. This is more
difficult. So:
api cet sudurācāro, bhajate mām ananya-bhāk
sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ, samyag vyavasito hi saḥ
[“If even a person of extremely abominable practices, abandoning
all non-devotional pursuits of exploitation and renunciation engages in My
exclusive and uninterrupted devotional service, he is venerable as a true saint
because he has embraced the revolutionary plane of life.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
9.30]
“If anything to
do I shall do it. He has exclusively taken refuge under My feet and I have
taken his charge. If he commits something wrong, it should be taken generally
by My inspiration, insinuation, so none should come to interfere with him. It
is My duty to look after him. Api cet sudurācāro, bhajate mām
ananya-bhāk, sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ. When I have accepted,
things does not belong to anyone, everything belongs to Me. So if he commits any wrong in the eye of the society, the society
thinks that, that thing belongs to ABCD, so they are wrong, he’s doing all right. And that may be in two stages, one in the stage of a sādhaka,
and another in siddha, when he’s siddha he’s committing the
perfect thing. Who is he that he’s doing wrong? But he does not wrong, make any
wrong. And the sādhaka may commit but that may be forgiven by Me,
and you have nothing to do, to come and interfere in the matter.”
Do you follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not completely.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: What is that in relationship to niyamāgrahaḥ,
niyamāgrahaḥ?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, niyamāgrahaḥ, two
fold meanings, niyamāgrahaḥ, too much, too much affinity to abide by the law, and that is one side.
And another aspect, niyama āgrahaḥ, does not accept any law
at all, not willing to abide by any law, niyama āgrahaḥ.
Niyamāgrahaḥ - both bad, two aspects bad: the middle side, yuktāhāra-vihārasya.
[yuktāhāra-vihārasya, yukta-ceṣṭasya
karmasu
yukta-svapnāvabodhasya, yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā]
[“For a person who eats, relaxes, and exerts himself in all duties in a
regulated way, and who keeps regular hours in proper measure, the practice of yoga
gradually becomes the source of dispelling all worldly suffering.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
6.17]
We should go, follow, the middle path, the
easy path, not extreme.Niṣiddhā, one should not steal it, but
the ananya-bhāk devotee he’s seen to steal it. He’s stealing some
flower and taking away and offering to his Deity, but he’s stealing flower. Then how should he be dealt with? Stealing,
that is crime, the society, the śruti law that we will come to
accuse him, “That why you have stolen?”Then he may say, “I have not stolen. It
all belongs to Kṛṣṇa. For
the service of Kṛṣṇa I am taking it.” That is his vision, if
sincerely, then he’s not to be
punished.
“One who is stealing because for My
purpose, if he steals something for My purpose that is not stealing, because
his vision is so deep he sees everything belongs to Me. He is doing rightly. So
niṣiddhā koronay what is forbidden by law, by social society,
and even by the śruti śāstra, but if he’s really
sincerely exclusive devotee to Me, none should come to interfere with his
apparently misdeeds.”
Do you follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
“From the absolute standpoint he’s
seeing and the relative standpoint cannot come in clash, and if it comes cannot
stand. That is nirguṇa, his movements are nirguṇa,
true from the sense of nirguṇa plane. But this saguṇa,
there gradual from tama to raja then sattva, then going nirguṇa,
if they encroach upon the right of the nirguṇa, who are My direct
servants, then they are wrong, their relative vision is wrong. He’s in the
absolute plane, whatever he’s doing considering Myself to be the unchallenged
master of everything, he’s right and they are wrong. That this thing belongs to
A, that it belongs, this woman belongs to that gentleman. This is all contract
amongst you, but from the absolute sense that has got no position.”
Do you follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “Everything belongs to Me and one who
does work only, only backed by My consciousness, he’s doing right.”
So that is little hard thing to digest for the society! Ha, ha, ha, ha.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. They also try to find fault in Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa stealing...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes, “Kṛṣṇa stealing, and Kṛṣṇa coming to
the wives of others, that is wrong, He should be punished.” Eh ? (laughter) They are more than Kṛṣṇa.
The Mary, the mother of Christ, she was the wife of Joseph someone, eh,
but it is told that Mary got child from God’s inspiration, not from the
husband.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Hare Kṛṣṇa. So in the,
practically to digest all these things; of course
such devotees are very rarely to be found, and generally a devotee should not
venture to do all these things because it will create disturbance in the
society.
Bhagavān, Lord says, Kṛṣṇa: loka-saṅgraham
evāpi, sampaśyan kartum arhasi.
[karmaṇaiva hi saṁsiddhim, āsthitā
janakādayaḥ
loka-saṅgraham evāpi, sampaśyan kartum arhasi]
[“King Janaka and other learned personalities attained to perfection in
devotion by performing their prescribed duties. Therefore, it is proper that
you perform your duty for the instruction of the masses.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
3.20]
Only looking at the welfare of the ordinary people, one should not go to
do that, generally, then there will be chaos in the society and they will be
doomed.
na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāni, lokasya sṛjati
prabhuḥ
na karma-phala-saṁyogam, svabhāvas tu pravartate
[“Due to their tendency towards ignorance since immeasurable time, the
living beings act, considering themselves the doers or inaugurators of action.
The Supreme Lord does not generate their misconception of considering
themselves doers, nor does He generate their actions or their attachment to the
fruits of those actions.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 5.14]
yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas, tad tad evetaro
janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute, lokas tad anuvartate
[“Whatever action is performed by a great man, the general masses
imitate and follow. And whatever standards the great personality sets by
exemplary acts, the whole world pursues as the right conclusion.”] [Bhagavad-gītā,
3.21]
utsīdeyur ime lokā, na kuryāṁ karma ced
aham
saṅkarasya ca kartā syām, upahanyām
imāḥ prajāḥ
[“If I do not perform duties, then, following My example, all
the inhabitants of these worlds will renounce their duties and thereby come to
ruination. Thus I will be the cause of social turmoil due to unvirtuous
population, and in this way, I will be responsible for spoiling posterity.”][Bhagavad-gītā,
3.24]
Loka-saṅgraham evāpi,
sampaśyan kartum arhasi
[Bhagavad-gītā, 3.20]To save the ordinary society, we
sometimes abstain from doing lawless things. Looking
at the benefit of the ordinary people we should go according to general law.Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: This morning we were talking about you had said, one day
before that the devotee can even murder, murder and steal for Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Anything
because the centre, the vibration coming from the Absolute, if it is so.
prakrteḥ kriyamāṇāni, guṇaiḥ
karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā,
kartāham iti manyate
[“All the various activities are in every way carried out by the (senses
activated by the) modes of material nature. But a man deluded by identifying
himself with his body and its extensions thinks, "I alone am accomplishing
this."] [Bhagavad-gītā, 3.27]
They should be punished.So sarva-dharmān parityajya [Bhagavad-gītā,
18.66)]
Yudhiṣṭhira did not accept the
direction of Kṛṣṇa, to tell a lie to Droṇācārya,
‘that Aśvatthāmā is dead,’ he hesitated.
When Droṇācārya told, “I
don’t believe You, but if Yudhiṣṭhira says that
Aśvatthāmā is dead, because I know that
Aśvatthāmā is immortal, but if Yudhiṣṭhira says that
Aśvatthāmā is dead then I’ll believe.”
Then Kṛṣṇa asked Yudhiṣṭhira,
“Say it, tell!”
Then he hesitated, then again pressed,
“Yes! Aśvatthāmā is dead, but it is an elephant.”
There was one elephant named Aśvatthāmā.
Aśvatthāmā means who cries like aśva, means the
horse. The horse, what is the technical word, the sound of the horse?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Neigh, neigh.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Neigh.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Uh huh.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Whinny.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Whinny, neigh.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That one Aśvatthāmā when
he was born, he gave sound like the horse, so Aśvatthāmā. So one elephant was also named in that way, he cried like a horse,
that elephant, so Aśvatthāmā. “Aśvatthāmā is
dead, but it is an elephant.” And Kṛṣṇa arranged in such a
way, “Aśvatthāmā dead, it is elephant,” and at that time the
drum was sounded loudly, and that could not enter the ear of Droṇācārya.
Only first portion he attended, “Aśvatthāmā is dead, Yudhiṣṭhira
said,” then he was besides himself. And in that position Arjuna cut off the
rope in the bow, and that bow one end was here and another in Droṇācārya’s
head, was disturbed.
And at that time Dhṛṣṭadyumna
approached and beheaded Droṇācārya. He was born to kill Droṇācārya,
Dhṛṣṭadyumna, in a sacrifice by Drūpada. Drūpada
and Droṇācārya they are perhaps class mates, but somehow or
other they had some antagonistic feeling. Droṇācārya when he
was training to the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas, Guru dakṣiṇā,
at the time of Guru dakṣiṇā he wanted, attack
Drūpada, and Drūpada was attacked, disturbed.
At that time Drūpada he also managed
to arrange a sacrifice, yajña, “That Droṇācārya, this
retaliation I shall take.”
So from the yajña Dhṛṣṭadyumna
came out, to kill Droṇācārya, Draupadī’s brother. And Dhṛṣṭadyumna
beheaded Droṇācārya.
Arjuna was very much displeased when Dhṛṣṭadyumna
was going to kill him, to behead him, Arjuna cried out, “Take him, take the
Ācārya to my side, capture.”
But he did not care, he beheaded. And
Arjuna was very much enraged and began to rebuke Dhṛṣṭadyumna.
Dhṛṣṭadyumna was also excited and went to attack Arjuna. The
disciple of Arjuna was Sātyaki, he came from the Yadu vaṁśa,
Kṛṣṇa vaṁśa, he went to attack Dhṛṣṭadyumna.
Then Kṛṣṇa told, “What
you are doing? Still the enemy party is strong enough and you are quarrelling
within yourselves.” And He cast a glance to Bhīma, “Separate them.”
Bhīma came between separated them, Dhṛṣṭadyumna
and Arjuna, forcibly.
And then Sahadeva came with a serious
lecture. “What are you doing? The enemy is at your head and you are mad in your
internal quarter, you are so excited, and all these things.”
Then everything was calm again.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
When an exclusive devotee, he will cross the social law and do something
wrong, so if he takes any advantage from the society he also must be prepared
to get the punishment also, without any grudge, from the nirguṇa plane.
Not only ostentatious in our eye, that is an enjoyment, he will approach that,
but punishment also, which is in our eye, he won’t avoid, he will with a
smiling face he will accept the punishment.Jai para jai mana paman [?] Even
death with smiling, that is given by Kṛṣṇa. The death offered
by Kṛṣṇa, everything coming from Kṛṣṇa.
When sweet meat is here ‘that is Kṛṣṇa’ and when a bitter
thing, ‘oh no,’ that is hypocrisy.Hare Kṛṣṇa, Gaura
Haribol.Everything comes from Him and that is sweet, whatever the formal
valuation of it may be in the misconceived world of māyā.Hare
Kṛṣṇa.
Rāmacandra, when the proposal came that He will be installed
tomorrow morning, His temper is sober, not very much cheerful. And when He got
the news that His father has entered into an obligation, an understanding with
His stepmother, already committed, then also in that if He wants to oblige,
obey His father’s will, then He will have to go to the forest. His temper is
also just as it was when He had the proposal of sitting on the throne, the
temperament is not disturbed. He’s
only following the duty. “The father’s
will I am to observe.” To sit on the throne or to go to the forest, banishment,
the temperament is same. Only:
karmaṇy evādhikāras te, mā phaleṣu
kadācana
[mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr, mā te saṅgo
'stv akarmaṇi]
[“I shall now describe niṣkāma karma-yoga, the path of
selfless action. You have a right to perform your natural prescribed duties,
but you are not entitled to any fruits of that action. You should neither act
with desire to enjoy the fruits of your work, nor, as a result, should you be
attached to neglecting your duties.”] [Bhagavad-gītā, 2.47]
“I am only come to discharge My duty, in the face of duty in the worldly
sense it may be very joyous and it is maybe very sorrowful, it does not matter,
it is My duty, is to obey My father, obey
the law. I’m doing that.” He’s only present there, “How to ascertain what is My duty and to do the duty.”
And whatever, in the eye of the people, ordinary, ordinary people in the
world of misconception, it is laudable or deplorable, we may not care about
that. Jai para jai. What is the value of a mad man’s dancing or crying?
They are mad, under misconception, sometimes crying, sometimes dancing; no
value. So he’s in relativity of something else, we are to take it. He’s in the
relativity of something great, so these things matter very little to him. Raso
'py asya, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate.
[viṣayā vinivartante, nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso 'py asya, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā
nivartate]
[“Although the
person of gross corporeal consciousness may avoid sense objects by external
renunciation, his eagerness for sense enjoyment remains within. However, inner
attachment to sense objects is spontaneously denounced by the person of
properly adjusted intelligence, due to his having had a glimpse of the all-attractive
beauty of the Supreme Truth.”][Bhagavad-gītā, 2.59]
He does not, the ordinary, this worldly rasa
has got no value in him, he’s mad in another type of rasa,
transcendental rasa.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Nitāi Gaurāṅga. Nitāi
Gaurāṅga.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I have one question Mahārāja.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Some devotees say if you take Kṛṣṇa Nāma
at the time of death then you can go into Goloka Vṛndāvana, and
if you take Rāma Nāma you cannot. So I want to substantiate
that.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The inner conception that is
responsible. The Rāma, when he’s pronouncing the word Rāma, if he
means for Dāsaratha Rāma his attraction will be there, Ayodhyā,
if Paraśurāma he is attracted to another place, and if Rāma
means Rādhā-ramaṇa Rāma he will go to Goloka, the inner
meaning.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Of the devotee.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Of the devotee, that will guide him.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Very nice.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
When I had my... my name was Rāmendra Candra, so he gave
Rāmendra Sundara.
I asked, “What should be the meaning of Rāmendra?”
Then he told, “Rādhā-ramaṇa Rāma. Rāma means
not Rudhi, Dāsarāthi Rāma.”
So I asked him, “What should I think of this, about the meaning of
Rāma?”
Then he told, “Rādhā-ramaṇa Rāma.”
And then it was again transformed into Rāmānanda dāsa,
when I was selected, when we go to discover the place on the
Godāvarī, where Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda met. Bon Mahārāja,
myself, Hayagrīva Brahmacārī, etc, five, we five, in the first
party went to discover that place, and pādapiṭh, to
establish, install footprints there of Mahāprabhu. Then my name was
changed from Rāmendra Sundara to Rāmānanda dāsa.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: That’s wonderful.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa.So I am
very much attracted in the divine discourse of Mahāprabhu and
Rāmānanda. I find everything there. The whole teaching is covered in
that talk. From the lowest varṇāśrama, from varṇāśrama
up to the highest Rādhā-dāsyam, we find there, and
even Mahāprabhu in His full fledged conception. Rasa-rāja
mahābhāva, this aspect of Mahāprabhu was never expressed
anywhere, only there in the Godāvarī. On the banks of the
Godāvarī He showed to Rāmānanda who was He, Both combined,
the highest, two halves combined, rasa-rāja mahābhāva. We
don’t see anywhere, that sort of revelation, self revelation of
Mahāprabhu. Godāvarī, sometimes it is called Gotami Gaṅgā.
Some say that Kṛṣṇa River after Godāvarī, there is
one big river, on the _________ perhaps, there is Kṛṣṇa. Some
say that is Gotami Gaṅgā, or some says this Godāvarī is
Gotami Gaṅgā.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: How did you find the place?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Huh?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: How did you locate that place?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes that place was located, approximately; we enquired there, on the banks.
When Mahāprabhu met Rāmānanda, Rāmānanda was the
Governor of that province, deputed by Pratāparudra the Emperor of Orissa,
who was ruling that province, Andra Province, under Rāmānanda. And
when he came to take bath thousands of brāhmaṇas followed
him. We thought from that that must have been some big festival from the nature
of Rāmānanda’s taking bath in Godāvarī. And that place must
be some holy place, holy ground. Then we found that there is Gospada Ksetra,
the holy place detected on the bank. There is an embankment, by the government,
they did not allow any construction inside, so just on the side of the
embankment, we tried to find one land.
Then one gentleman came to, made a gift of
a small land there, one Rāma Candran, on other side of river, from Raja
Mahindri. Whose land is nearby we went on in our enquiry, and found this is a
small plot, this belongs to a particular gentleman, his name is Rāma
Candra, he lives at Raja Mahindri. We approached him, and he, out of his own
accord, he came
to make a gift of that land to us.
And there the small temple was constructed
and installation of the footprints took place. Prabhupāda accepted that
and he made the first worship there, and that was open to all. Then again that
was declared a Maṭha and the
Śrī Mūrtis were placed there. In that small temple first, only
footprints, then now some other temple they have made for the Deities.
And then nearby there was one acre, or two acres of land perhaps. I was
in charge of Madras Maṭh at that time. I had some money in the temple
fund of Madras. And when I was told that the
nearby land is going away, it is being purchased by another gentleman, then with
that information I came there and anyhow managed to get the half portion of
that and add it to the small plot. Now perhaps that area is in the possession
of Rāmānanda Gauḍīya Maṭh. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
And also one small building with veranda, that was constructed by me, the first
building there, from some collection of the Ello,
the district town of Godāvarī, West Godāvarī District Ello, from there I collected funds and constructed one room. Before
that we lived in a hut there. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in the mahā-mantra the Hare,
Hare is a name of Rādhārāṇī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: It is according to your adhikāra.
When one is firmly established to conceive Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa
at the back of everything, svayaṁ-rūp and svayaṁ-rūpa, They are at the bottom of all sorts of conceptions of all
things good, then only that sort of meaning will come, and nothing else. Otherwise for the beginners, for Hare one may take Nṛsiṁhadeva,
Rāma, this Daśaratha Rāma. And the Kṛṣṇa that
Kṛṣṇa also, of different type, there is one Kṛṣṇa
in Vaikuṇṭha, Who is the vaibhava, about twenty-four, first
Nārāyaṇa, then four, Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa,
Pradyumna and Aniruddha, four vyūha, and everyone has five again.
Then there is also one Kṛṣṇa in Vaikuṇṭha, then Kṛṣṇa,
Dvārakā, Mathurā, all these things, this type, but the highest
type, highest...
End of 81.09.20.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.20.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...the side of Rādhārāṇī.
That is the highest conception of Kṛṣṇa. When one cannot come
below from that plane he will see only Hare Hara, nothing else more, Hara Kṛṣṇa,
Rādhā Kṛṣṇa. Rādhā Kṛṣṇa
completely, perfectly installed in mādhurya-rasa and holding the
highest position of that darśana, they cannot come out. He comes
out only for the interest of that party, he can come anywhere and everywhere,
but his interest is under lock and key there, on the behalf of his service of
that quarter he may come, he is there, he represents that plane. Then Hara
means Rādhā, who can even snatch the attention of Kṛṣṇa,
Hare Haran, Haran, Haran means to steal, to steal, one who can steal, the most
expert in stealing. Who? Who can steal the mind of Kṛṣṇa
even. She is Hara, the Haran, the stealing in its highest capacity is
Rādhārāṇī, and Kṛṣṇa who can
attract most, eh, in the absolute sense They’re Both represented there. They
can’t deviate from that consciousness, they go on Rādhā Kṛṣṇa,
Rādhā Śyāma, cannot think, cannot but think anything but
that that level, he can’t come down from the interest of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa,
he cannot allow himself to be out. Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is the
position of our highest aspiration.Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, Hara can, you said, according to adhikārī,
according to adhikārīone is perceiving.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That sort of meaning will, will awake in
one’s mind, it will be awakened. It is in the inner function and it will be
discovered by sādhana. The cover will be removed and it will
spontaneously come up from the core of our hearts in the spiritual sense. He
can’t contain, he can’t but, he can’t help, in such a way the meaning will
spring up from the fountain of our heart, won’t be able to avoid. That is the
root of the highest source of the
meaning.___________________________________________________________ [?]
Devotee:
_________________________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: At the same time
I feel that I cannot express myself correctly, fully.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja you were saying there would be, according
to ones adhikāra there would be different conceptions.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Eh?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: According to ones adhikāra there will be different
conceptions.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So is that conception also there for Rādhārāṇī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Uh?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Different conceptions of
Rādhārāṇī are also there?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes,
differs. Lalitā Devī looks after the
interest of Rādhārāṇī more than that of Kṛṣṇa.
Viśākhā, almost neutral position, there are others who are more
interested with Kṛṣṇa’s interest. In the highest section it’s
like that. And from different section also different rasas, the
conception of both always, difference is always, bhedābheda, acintya,
acintya bhedābheda, continuing all through. No two things is one and
same, congruent, bhedābheda, and
that is acintya. That should be, that should run all through everywhere,
distinctive, differentiated, always. Even Rādhārāṇī
in Vṛndāvana, Rādhārāṇī outside in Kurukṣetra,
different: Kṛṣṇa also, in Dvārakā, in Mathurā,
all different mood, nature. But in comparative study, the highest conception we
are to enquire and understand.Taṭa-stha, yei rasa, sei
sarvottama.
[kintu yāṅra yei rasa, sei
sarvottama / taṭa-stha hañā vicārile, āche
tara-tama]
[“It is true that
whatever relationship a particular devotee has with the Lord is the best for
him; still, when we study all the different methods from a neutral position, we
can understand that there are higher and lower degrees of love.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya līlā, 8.83]
Everyone in his own position, he finds
that, “This is the highest. I do not want more.” But sometimes when there is
any clash, then they come to realise
under the painful necessity, they have to realise,
“No, he, his position is greater than that of mine.” But not always,
temporarily to admit! So the tara-tama,
superior and inferior in rasa, śanta, dāsya, sākhya,
vātsalya, mādhurya.But the general conception, even of the śanta
rasa, “That we hold the very happy, we hold happy position, the happiest,
because I don’t want another position.”
The Yamunā,baluka, the trees, the
creepers, the birds, they are all full in their own position, they conceive
like that. That is the arrangement of
Yogamāyā, by the will of Baladeva and Kṛṣṇa, for
the interest of the līlā. But bhedābheda always,
that is the absolute standpoint, acintya and it must not be harmonised within our brain, but some sort of remote idea we can have.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. So whenever we shall venture to talk about
those things with very carefulness, and respect, we shall try to approach. And we must think we are going to deal with a living thing, not
with a dead body, that we are analysing
in the, in the, what is, the anatomy?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Laboratory?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Laboratory, we are analysing and being a subject there, object there analysing, not with that spirit. But we are going to talk about our
masters. I do not know whether I shall be taken in any time in future. But only because I have heard from a source which I respect most
sincerely, only I go to that. And what little taste I can derive I do, that is
my wage; that is my wage.
Kasi kadi ani kori apani chay krsna nama
koreye kori man prambam [?]
Kavirāja Goswāmī
__________________________ [?]
Make me dance like anything, now he stopped dancing, my dancing
inspiration, now I sit idle. The necessity of the environment; in the form of
environment things come to us and excite and take something from us, exacting
something.Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.
acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs
tarkeṇa yojayet
[prakṛtibhyaḥ paraṁ yacca tad-acintyasya
lakṣam]
[“That which is inconceivable can never be
understood through the logic and reason of the mind. The very symptom that
something is inconceivable is that it is beyond logical comprehension.”][Skanda
Purāṇa]&[Mahābharata,
Bhiṣma Parva, 5.22]
What is unthinkable we are engaged to talk about that, what is
unthinkable, un-knowable,
unthinkable, we are engaged to talk about that thing; unthinkable.
mukam karoti vācālaṁ [panghum langhāyate girīm
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī gurun
dīna-tāranam]
[“I offer my respectful obeisances unto Mādhava, Who is the
Personification of transcendental bliss. By His mercy, a blind man can see the
stars in the sky, a lame man can cross mountains, and a dumb man can speak
eloquent words of poetry.”]
[Śrīdhara Svāmī’s Bhavārtha
Dipikā, maṅgala stotram, 1]
When he’s not qualified to speak anything
through his mouth, but he’s transformed into a vācā, means who
speaks much.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Talkative.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Talkative, he is transformed into talkative
one, his internal inspiration made a dumb talkative. Mukam karoti
vācālaṁ panghum langhāyate girīm. One who cannot
walk, he jumps over the mountain, made to jump over the mountain. Ghāyate
girīm, yat kṛpā tam. The central energy in the form of
grace can do anything and everything.
Mahāprabhu
Himself says, “What I tell you Sanātana I do not know what is that thing. Only this much I feel that something is passing through Me to
you. And I’m also feeling simultaneously that you are very fortunate to be recipient
of that flow, Sanātana.”
Kṛṣṇa
is such. Vyāso vetti na vetti vā.
[aham vedmi śuko vetti, vyāso vetti na vetti
vā
bhaktyā bhāgavataṁ grāhyaṁ na
buddhyā na ca ṭīkayā]
[Lord Śiva says: “I know the true
purpose of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; Śukadeva, the son and
disciple of Vyāsadeva, knows it thoroughly, and the author of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
Śrīla Vyāsadeva may or may not know the meaning. The real
purpose of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is very difficult to
conceive and can only be known through bhakti.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 24.313]
Whatever He wants to do, that is done.Śukadeva was the great
exponent of Bhāgavatam, but it is not found that he is in the
highest position of Kṛṣṇa līlā. What he is
delivering through his mouth, through tongue, so many high things have been
transmitted through his tongue, but he may not have his stand in that plane. We
don’t find that Śukadeva has got his permanent position in Rādhā
Kṛṣṇa līlā, in the mādhurya rasa,
in a particular sakhī also.
And also we find in the Caitanya-Bhāgavat, when
Mahāprabhu asked Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita, “What type of
devotee, you think about Advaita Prabhu, My Advaita, My Nara?”
Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita said, “Like Prahlāda and
Śuka.”
Mahāprabhu was excited. “Eh! What do you say? The Śuka
and Prahlāda, they are child of the primary school, the student. You
compare My Nara, My Advaita, who has got connection with the high līlā
of Mine only you compare to Śuka and Prahlāda.”
But what Śukadeva has given to us through his mouth that is
unfathomable. He’s delivering acintya bheda sa,he’s going on, if things were coming through him flowing in a
natural way. What he has got delivered through his
nectarine tongue, that has no comparison in the world ever, anywhere. But still he’s considered in
that way, from the general position of his previous consideration,
Śukadeva.Yagamo vikra
visatam [?]
After giving delivery to all these things he went away along with the
beggars to nowhere. He did not care to meet Vyāsadeva his Guru, his father and Guru, and his Guru
Nārada, they’re in the meeting. He did not care for that. He chose to be
unseen. He came from unseen and entered into again, untraceable, solitary life,
but there was his Guru, Param Guru, he did not care. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
So he was selected as some machine, loud speaker, something like that.
Inspiration came only to help, that Bhāgavata is above Vedānta,
above jñāna. The jñānīs, yogīs, they formed
the major portion of the audience, so Śukadeva was necessary. Śuka-mukhād
amṛta-drava-saṁyutam.
[nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ,
śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayaṁ, muhur aho
rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ]
[“O expert and thoughtful men, relish
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of
Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Śrī Śukadeva
Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although
its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated
souls.”] [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.1.3]
To them, to the audience at large, and it was proved that Bhāgavat
is more than this nondifferentiated nirviśeṣa-vādī.
Śukadeva was necessary, Śukadeva was necessary. That must come from
him then those fellows will have some regard.At least they won’t care, “Oh, we
know all these things, from Padma-Purāṇa, from Brahma
Vaivarta Purāṇa, we have seen all those things. What is there
more?”But when coloured by the brahma-jñāna of Śukadeva
Gosvāmī it was delivered,
with rapt attention they gave their hearing, ears, to Bhāgavatam.
So:
pariniṣṭhito 'pi nairguṇye, uttamaḥ-śloka-līlayā
gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe,
ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān
[“O saintly King, I was certainly situated perfectly in transcendence,
yet I was still attracted by the delineation of the pastimes of the Lord, who
is described by enlightened verses.”][Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
2.1.9]
Gaura Haribol. Nitāi Caitanya.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Sūtadeva Gosvāmī also was brahma-vādī?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Sūta?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes, Sūta, later.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Not so much.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Not so much.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He had no such position, a big position
in the society, only his father, he was entrusted by Vedavyāsa,
Vyāsadeva, with the Purāṇa. The Purāṇa section
was given to his father. He read the Purāṇas and he was
expert in the explanation of Purāṇa, his father. But it is
not found that he had any particular creed, he was included in the particular
creed of nirviśeṣa, brahma-jñāna, or yoga,
or anything else, but Purāṇa. But his special characteristic
was as śrutidhar, once heard fresh he could keep it in memory,ugraśravā.
Whatever he heard he did not forget that, that was his qualification. He
attentively heard, kept the whole thing within him, and again he vomited the
whole thing there.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in Caitanya līlā, who is
Śukadeva Goswāmī, in Caitanya līlā?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The persons of the parṣadas have
said Kavirāja Goswāmī. But he is of another type. Just as
Arjuna, Rāmānanda, is combined of Arjuna and Viśākhā sakhī,
so Kavirāja Goswāmī is Kasturi Mañjarī there and also
Śukadeva’s work. Śukadeva’s specialty was the rasa and
philosophy, ontology and poetry, of course spiritual, combined. And in
Kavirāja Goswāmī we find those two, ontology, tattva vicar
philosophy as well as poetry, the alanka, the kabha, rasa......caritāmṛtam. In Caitanya-Bhāgavata rasa may be there of some
order, but no ontological aspect represented there about Caitanya. Ontology as
well as rasa......that we find in Caitanya-caritāmṛta
and Bhāgavat. Rūpa Goswāmī also we find rasa and
philosophy, poetry and philosophy, ontology.Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Nitāi. Nitāi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in the different tikās, the
different tikās, like Baladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa, and Viśvanātha Cakravartī,
they are also representing a different...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, little difference there, Baladeva tending toward Madhva School, more connection with the
Madhva School. Viśvanātha Cakravartī he of course in the Gauḍīya
School. But Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has
detected some anomaly in Viśvanātha Cakravartī when he praised
much the Māyāvādā Ācārya, author of Advaita
Siddhi, that Madhusudan Sarasvati. Outwardly he accepted Bhāgavat but
in the conclusion on the basis of Bhāgavat he wanted to prove
Māyāvādā. So he is more dangerous and a greater enemy. But
Cakravartī Ṭhākura has mentioned his name with some respect.
That Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura could not tolerate. “Ultimately he is a
Māyāvādī, jīva and Bhagavān are one and
same, and outwardly he is enchanting so many devotees of lower order towards
him. He’s more dangerous, vedāśraya nāstikya-vāda.”
[veda nā māniyā bauddha haya' ta nāstika, vedāśraya nāstikya-vāda bauddhake adhika]
[“The Buddhists do not recognise the
authority of the Vedas; therefore they are considered agnostics.
However, those who have taken shelter of the Vedic scriptures yet preach
agnosticism in accordance with the Māyāvāda philosophy are
certainly more dangerous than the Buddhists.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 6.168]
So he should not be given any recognition.
But Cakravartī Ṭhākura has given some respect to that
Madhusudan Pada, Sarasvati Pada. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura,
he did not, perhaps he has left it for his predecessor and successors, that work for Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, to detect that
fine point.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was very keen in his analysis of the
previous exponents, Tulasī dās, Mira Bai, they are rejected from śuddha-bhakti
school. But generally people think that they are devotees of the higher order.
But they are not accepted by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Prabhupāda.
They want to cross, to ignore the whole svarūpa-śakti
department, and want to connect themselves direct with Kṛṣṇa,
which is impossible. That is
concoction, cannot but be concoction. Ignoring the whole eternally existing svarūpa-śakti
system, the whole system ignored, and
they want to have direct connection with Kṛṣṇa, which is
impossible. So they are in māyā, misunderstanding,
misconception, there. That is maybe sattva guṇa, not nirguṇa.
Nirguṇa, who has got real śuddha-bhakti connection, they
must be awake to the real fact that the hierarchy is there, the eternal
servitors of different rasas there. And there is the hierarchy and he
must have some position, location there, anywhere in that system. The system,
but the whole system ignored by these fellows, so this cannot but be
concoction. They’re deceived. With all these feelings, dancing, etc., they are
all baseless, baseless, ignorance, the non recognition of the svarūpa-śakti
and so it is fictitious, cannot but be fictitious.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, where is Viśvanātha Cakravartī
giving recognition to this Madhusudana, which place is it?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: I don’t remember. Some Bhāgavata
tikā or his tikā maybe. I found in Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
in Jaiva Dharma, Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta, somewhere
perhaps it may be mentioned by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Madhusudana Pādain his Gītā tikā, in
commentary in Gītā and Bhāgavata somewhere he has
mentioned perhaps.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Some people in Vṛndāvana, they were saying that
this Madhusudana Sarasvati was the same persons as Viśvanātha
Cakravartī.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: They were saying he is exactly the same.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Never, their words are there, and who
can eye, who can read, who can understand the meaning, it cannot come from
them, an ordinary imitationist bābājīs, who are not
concerned with the real thing, but a process of imitation only.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: The general people are mad for Mira Bai, and...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: There
was one Ramakrishna bābājī, he’s considered, by all the Vrajavāsīs
in general that he’s siddha mahātmā. But only
Prabhupāda discarded him.
Then he had one disciple, I met both, Ramakrishnabābājī also, and when I went to Kadivan, Kaila [?] the place of
Lokanātha Goswāmī’s bhajan
stal, Sakhī Bābu gave money and I constructed the bhajan-kuṭīra,
for which one bābājī
came to our
Prabhupāda in Rādhā-kuṇḍa, “That the bhajan-kuṭīra
of Lokanātha Goswāmī
Prabhu is ruined and please reconstruct the same.”
And Prabhupāda gave him hope, but Prabhupāda departed in the
mean time.
Sakhī Bābu reminded me, “That when the man in charge of bhajan-kuṭīra
of Lokanātha Goswāmī,
some _______came to Prabhupāda and Prabhupāda gave consent to rebuild
it. If you do,” he asked me, “I shall give you the money.”
I consented, I went there and reconstructed the building and put also a
marble in the name of Caitanya Sarasvata
Maṭha and mentioning the name of Sakhī
Bābu, who supplied the money. That place, at that time was under some
direct disciple of Ramakrishnabābājī, Rādhāramaṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: In Bangladesh? Bangladesh, this place is in Bangladesh?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, Maimansing [?], his birth place was Maimansing, he’s perhaps B.S.C. Past or
failed I do not remember, perhaps he could not pass B.S.C. examination, but
anyhow he was a good scholar and he had got variegated capacity, he could
capture men, by talking and so many qualities.
That gentleman, that Ramesh dās Bābājī, he was in Kaila, in
that bhajan sthali when I reconstructed the place.Then they are
generally apathetic, we are red clad.
rakta-vastra 'vaiṣṇavera' parite nā
yuyāya, [kona
pravāsīre dimu, ki kāya uhāya]
[“This saffron cloth is unfit for a Vaisnava to wear; therefore I have
no use for it. I shall give it to a stranger.”] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Antya-līlā, 13.61]
So we were red clad. They were reluctant
to accept us amongst them, and we also did not care for them as the
imitationist. Anyhow the reconstruction of the room, the bhajan-kuṭīra
should be done, we are going on.Then I told him one day that, “We take this red
cloth, the sannyāsī varṇāśrama and to prove
that bābājī they are more than that. They first become sannyāsī,
and then he may be promoted to the position of bābājī.”
He was highly satisfied.
“The Prabhupāda our Guru
Mahārāja, filling the gap, from any position, don’t venture to accept
the position of a bābājī. It is the position of the Guru
of the fourth varṇa, that is sannyāsīns. So bābājī
we consider to be the position of the Guru of the sannyāsī.”
He was highly pleased.
And at the same time I told him when, “But
we do not consider the present imitationist, that they are holding the proper
position, they are false, hypocrites.”
Then he was infuriated, and then he was,
he told me, “You are an atheist.”
“Yes so called atheist we are, as regards
the bābājī’s position of the present Vṛndāvana
area.”Then I came out finishing the work.
Then I heard from Kṛṣṇadāsa
Bābājī, he was there in Nandagrama, that, “That gentleman, one,the varnie,
the sweeper, a sweeper’s girl of very young age used to come there to sweep and all these things, and this bābājī
he used to help her with some cloth or this that. And outwardly he showed
himself that he’s a girl, it’s his girl, he’s the father and she’s the daughter
in that way outwardly, he anyhow that was the act, his propaganda. His
propaganda was that, he is the father and that small girl is his daughter, and
she comes and sweeps the place of Gosvāmī Mahārāja,
Lokanātha Gosvāmī’s place, so I beg from some ______and other
man a cloth to her or this to her, this. At last that gentleman was caught red
handed there with that girl. Then he was forced to leave the place.”
But that gentleman he could not tolerate
that we are sannyāsī, bābājī is our Guru, higher rank, but at the same time we do not consider you to be worthy
of that position.”
He was very much infuriated. Then he left the place and went straight to
Mathurā, and he was an educated man, he began coaching students, a private
tutor. He took the vocation of a private tutor, gave up begging, asbābājī, he was in such a position.
And I am told that at that time he met Keśava
Mahārāja, he met Keśava Mahārāja and the same question
arose and Keśava Mahārāja told him that, “Whether you complain
that we give this sacred thread to anyone and everyone.”
That was their complaint. “That anyone and
everyone will come and the Gauḍīya Maṭha will confer sacred
thread on them, and the red cloth.”
Then Keśava Mahārāja put a
question to him, “Whether sacred thread is superior or the kaupīna is
superior?”
Whoever comes to them, they give kaupīna,
and makes him bābājī.
So Keśava Mahārāja put this
question, “We are lavishly giving this sacred thread to anyone and everyone, we
admit that. And you give kaupīna to anyone
and everyone, without much consideration. What is the superior?”
Then he cannot but say the kaupīna
is superior than sacred thread. He’s
compelled to say that.
“Then we give sacred thread, that is of
inferior quality to anyone and everyone lavishly, and you give that higher
symptom, that kaupīna to anyone and everyone, then who does greater
wrong to the society?”He could not say anything.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Trapped, he was trapped.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “The kaupīna, we consider kaupīna
to be the higher. What Śrīmad Mahāprabhu gave to
Sanātana Goswāmī
that is the highest thing. Anyone should venture to take that garb, but first
become brāhmaṇa, get the, acquire the qualification of a brāhmaṇa,
that you come really to give your importance to the caitan, to the
consciousness. Then in the higher, more high position, he
will get exclusive remembrance of Rādhā-Govinda, that is the highest
thing. The kaupīna is only for that form of life. And for the
ordinary, that spirit is above matter. First accustom yourself to think like
that, the spirit’s importance is always above that of matter. Come to this
stage, consolidate your position
there, and from that position you try to go up in the highest position of
spiritual conception. Without omitting this then it will be imitation, the
material things you will mistake as spiritual; that means to imitate. That is
the highest position of the spiritual, not material. And you are smearing mud
on the body and say that it is nectar. That we can’t admit. It is a wholesale
false forgery.” So:
brāhmaṇānāṁ sahasrebhyaḥ
satra-yājī viśiṣyate
satra-yāji-sahasrebhyaḥ
sarvva-vedānta-pāragaḥ
sarvva-vedānta-vit-koṭ yā viṣṇubhakto
viśiṣyate
vaiṣṇavānāṁ sahasrebhyaḥ
ekāntyeko viśiṣyate
[“Among many thousands of brāhmaṇas, a yajñika
brāhmaṇa is best. Among thousands of yajñika brāhmaṇas,
one who fully knows Vedānta is best. Among millions of knowers of Vedānta,
one who is a devotee of Viṣṇu is best. And among thousands of
devotees of Viṣṇu, one who is an unalloyed Vaiṣṇava is
best.”] [Hari-Bhakti-Vilāsa, 10.117]
The steps we are to cross
consciously, these are the steps on the way. And from here, and you are
dreaming of that thing and thinking you are all siddha mahātmā.
We hate it. You are blasphemy. You are all blasphemy to Mahāprabhu and His
sampradāya, kalonka.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I was feeling, I was staying in Vṛndāvana, and it
was like desert because there is no sat-saṅga. In Vṛndāvana
I could find no sat-saṅga.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, Prabhupāda told once, “That I
came to Vṛndāvana,” in this way, he pushed his forehead, “I came to
Vṛndāvana, such a great place. My fate, I could not see one Vaiṣṇava
here, I could not find a single Vaiṣṇava here, it is my
misfortune.” In this way he struck his forehead.
Devotee: ___________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Our Guru Mahārāja _________ [?]
Yesterday the bus must have come to Māyāpur, Saturday, the bus
trip. I thought some may come here from there,
Calcutta, Māyāpur, bus trip, with the bus trip must have come, and
this morning I expected anyone may come here, but none come.
Hare Kṛṣṇa, Gaura
Haribol, Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Nitāi Caitanya. Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Jaya
Mahārāja. Jaya Oṁ Viṣṇu-Pāda Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakācārya...
End of 81.09.20.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.21.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: ...that his loving temperament is also
old, so something is being snatched. Kṛṣṇa.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I had one dream. I met Prabhupāda and I was telling him
about you. And he was enjoying. I told him, in my dream I told him all my life
I have used the word 'thank-you', thinking it was very great. And then I told
him what you said, everything in detail, and he was laughing.He said, “You know
Brahmo-Samāja?”I said I heard from
Śrīdhara Mahārāja. It was a very nice dream, very vivid. I
was reporting.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: I was so shocked to learn about this, to learn about the
meaning of 'thank-you.' I got a shock.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja: Shocked? Why?
Akṣayānanda
Mahārāja: Because I
thought it was such a good thing, and I
didn’t understand previously. Everyone will say. In our country... It’s not proper, not nice, I had never thought in that way.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is a custom, but I don’t hear it. Because it
seems to me underlying position the thank giver is such of separate party. He
gets something, in place of some sacrifice he’s getting, trading, a business.
But this benefit to me, I am not included in you. Sambandha-jñāna___________ [?]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: When I went to England it reminded me that if walking in the
street by accident somebody will collide and then collide, that was
premeditated. So I expected we will collide and then say excuse me. But they
will say first excuse me and then I am going out of my way, this attitude. It
reminded me of that. In our western countries people are so much violent
actually. The nature is so... Sometimes we cannot imagine how we could come to
this path because our background is so bad.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Cover of independence, freedom. Freedom is a thing which seems to be above God,
some slave mentality, very afraid of slavery. But we preach rather slavery. We
are in favour of slavery. Really we preach for slavery, but not slavery to anything
else but the whole, not for any part, but slavery, faithfulness to the whole.
In the military department faithfulness
perhaps the first thing required, is it not? No independent consideration. In
the military department blind obedience, blind obedience. Only hesitation bas bullet, in military department. There we can appreciate slavery.
But conscious, not blind, jñāna-sunya-bhakti blind, slave of love, not
of impotency, is the acme of higher realization. Rather that is the highest
fulfilment of freedom, highest fulfilment of proper freedom, slavery, to the
Lord of love.
What to speak of jīva soul.
Even the Absolute love is so enchanting and so peculiar substance that Kṛṣṇa
also, the Absolute is also eager to become slave to the devotee, bhakta-parārdhīno[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
9.4.63]. The most
charming thing that svarūpa-śakti, hlādinī-śakti,
specially the śakti, the potency, the negative. The negative means
some respect is lord of the positive. But ways and means is separate. Positive
is aggressor and negative is attractor. Aggression is a type of energising and attraction is also a type of energising, but opposite,
opposite, acintya bhedābheda.
Nimāi, He
has got highest appreciation for acintya bhedābheda. A
very strange expression. Anything can be backed by acintya bhedābheda
and the dignity is maintained. Dignity of the highest is maintained there, and the expression is given. Not to put the unlimited in a limited cage, in the cage of limitation, not
to put the unlimited. Respect is fully maintained of the Absolute,acintya bhedābheda, all most comprehensive at the basis of sambandha-jñāna.
Sambandha-jñāna, who is who, what is what, where I am going, all
these fundamental questions, if we are to solve. The most accommodating ground
is acintya bhedābheda, bhedābheda and acintya. There’s
the rub, acintya, all right reserved.Gaura
Haribol. And it is very wholesome, healthy for the soul. Whatever you say, your
statement whatever it may be, but acintya is
reserved for the Absolute. So you may be saved from committing any offence when
you are making any statement. By making any statement you are going to make
infinite finite. You are making a
statement and you say about infinite, but what you say that is a finite thing.
But the acintya that will save you, the honour is given to there.
Once in Bombay Maṭha I got a Mohammedan book written by one
Mohammed Ali, erudite scholar, I heard his name for years. He’s, in that book
now and then he’s mentioning the name of Mohammed. And whenever Mohammed this
name is mentioned, “Peace be unto you,” all the time. Mohammed, “Peace be unto
him. Peace be unto him.” Whenever, wherever taking the name, “Peace be unto
him.” To take his name means to disturb him. The underlying thought is that
such a low person is audacious to take the name such a great person to
dishonour him. So, “Peace be unto him.” I may not disturb him, to take the
name.
One gentleman from Navadwīpa Dhāma, a good scholar, a
graduate, a high officer from Calcutta, company; he came to complain to me
against his elder brother.“He always takes the name of Rādhā, Rādhā,
Rādhā, every now and then always Rādhā, Rādhā.
Rādhā, She may not be disturbed thereby? Always taking, if anyone
takes my name always then I must feel very disturbed. But
Rādhārāṇī does not feeling disturbed?”He came to me
to lodge a complaint against his elder brother.
I told him,
Rādhārāṇī’s permission of course to a limited circle
and Hare Kṛṣṇa for the wider circle it is for the benefit of
them it is already sanctioned.
Devotee: ________________________ [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:_________________ [?]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mahārāja, svarūpa-śakti is the same
as hlādinī-śakti, same thing?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Svarūpa-śakti is a combination of sandhīnī, saṁvīt,
and hlādinī, but some aspect, some
leading, predominating. In some rasa sandhīnī-śakti
predominating, somewhere saṁvīt predominating, and somewhere hlādinī
predominating. But in the comparative study when we can understand the
predominance of the hlādinī we appreciate that to be the
highest thing in śakti. Everything is accommodated there if we are
to have a very subtle view then śanta, dāsya, sākhya,
vātsalya, everything is included there, presupposed.
Ānanda pradhana, asundara pradhana, classified into three phases, sat-cit-ānanda,
sandhīnī, saṁvīt, hlādinī, satyam,
śivam, sundaram. One whole may be classified into three sections.But
if we enter into ontological discussion in details then we shall have to admit
that saṁvīt is greater, is better than sandhīnī,because the sat, satyam existence is there. And something
more than it is spiritual cetan, conscious. And mere saṁvīt
may not be conscious, something like fossil, mere satya, existence.
Mere existence does not give any full acquaintance of the thing. But when
conscious, the existence is presupposed and some feeling is there. It is more
added, connotation increases.Then consciousness may be there but satisfaction
may not be present there, existence there. When in consciousness existence is
presupposed. But ānandam, or satisfaction, ecstasy may not be
present there.But in the layer of ecstatic joy, beauty or love, hlādinī,they are both, the other previous two phases, existence and
feeling, consciousness is presupposed. And something more and that is ānanda.
Ānanda presupposes both things, consciousness as well as existence.
But existence may not include consciousness,
or consciousness may not include joy. So in that sense hlādinī occupies
the first position. But anubhāva, the feeling, the experience, want
to experience that beauty, that must be there, must be there.In that sense Kṛṣṇa, the saṁvīt,He
has got His position. Without consciousness no feeling of ānanda is
possible. But ānanda means already consciousness. Kṛṣṇa
is consciousness, main consciousness feeler, feeler, and is satisfaction from hlādinī,full. And the arrangement of the platform of the paraphernalia,
environment favourable, that is arranged by sandhīnī. The
stage and the player and the stage and for which the play is meant, that ānanda,
three things are necessary in the play, the environment, and the player, and the object of play, necessity for play.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, maṅgalam and cit?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Generally, because generally satyam,
śivam. Where is mortality there we cannot feel side by side maṅgalam.
Where there is death, death cannot go together with maṅgalam. So
transcending death, existence transcending death, there we find maṅgalam,
satyam, śivam. Śiva means maṅgalam. And maṅgalam
if properly followed we can find there that maṅgal is beauty,
love, prema, in its full feature. Not only not death but positive
ecstasy! Maṅgalam is via media transcending death but may not have
overflow of love or beauty. But it is above death so it is considered maṅgalam.
Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ.
[ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ
bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ
vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ
pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate
śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam]
[“The Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa cleanses the mirror of the
heart and extinguishes the fire of misery in the forest of birth and death. As
the evening lotus blooms in the moon's cooling rays, the heart begins to
blossom in the nectar of the Name. And at last the soul awakens to its real
inner treasure - a life of love with Kṛṣṇa. Again and again
tasting nectar, the soul dives and surfaces in the ever-increasing ocean of
ecstatic joy. All phases of the self of which we may conceive are fully
satisfied and purified, and at last conquered by the all-auspicious influence
of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.”] [Śikṣāṣṭakam,
1]
When we are independent of the relativity
of the mortal world, we acquire the position of śiva, that is maṅgalam.Then
there’s, Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ
vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. We are in a position to contact with the higher sphere, to be gainer from that
company. So śiva, that is emancipation from death, from the jaws of
death, that is śiva, in general. Unassailable existence, permanent
foundation, then there we have a structure of our life, entrance into the svarūpa-śakti
and everything is there, sundaram.Sundaram is the capitalist real
and others are beggars, more or less. The worst of beggars he cannot arrange
for his own food. Then the second class of beggar though they have amassed much
money, they again want more and more. Crores and crores they
wants these, he’s also beggar.And sundaram of course he’s also a beggar,
but beggar of the positive immediate transaction. Always begging, unsatisfied.
He’s getting and unsatisfied. The satisfaction in the process of begging itself, that is sundaram. They don’t say that we are satisfied.
That is only rather possible in Brahmaloka, in Śiva, satisfaction, and not
that we taste that. Śiva is also in want, in want.
Then the question is, if everyone is in want but in want of what thing? That will
come into question. Everything in
want. In an organic whole every part is in want, in demand of the cooperation
of the other. So it is natural, every part in
an organic whole, a living organism, every part wants the cooperation of the
others. But healthy organism and unhealthy, dying organism or no organism: by
renunciation no organism. And this perverted organism, the hankering and
dependence on the other parts, but motive is
bad, exploitation. And the higher section pure organism is there, but the nature of dedication. That
will be the difference. Perverted reflection, the organic whole for selfish
thirst, to quench selfish thirst of exploitation, or there, the noble thirst for dedication. Every part wants to dedicate
for others. That will be the main difference. Or
in the middle nothing, no consciousness, sāyujya-mukti.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, sometimes svarūpa-śakti
is also considered bhakti-śakti?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes. Svarūpa-śakti, bhakti-śakti,
same, mahābhāva, the negative, the attraction for dedicating
to the central whole, the nature will be such. Bhakti means that. Svarūpa-śakti
means that. But the nature of the whole system is that of dedication.
Dedication, and there the key of fulfilment, dedication, that is natural.
Exploitation, the opposite, that is artificial and injurious. And real fundamental life
should be that of dedication. That should be the normal. We are cast towards
the abnormal section of the negative existence. That is the consideration.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhakti, bhoga, bhukti
and bhakti. Bhukti, mukti, bhakti. Bhoga, tyāga, sevā,
three phases, abnormal, normal, and marginal,
between the two, abscissa; positive, negative, and abscissa,
margin, anyhow. Hare Krsna. Happiness not in taking but in giving. By giving we thrive, and by taking we die, we perish. That is the
principle. If we are to live in a cooperative society, everyone should be
contributor, then the cooperative society will thrive. But in a cooperative
society if everyone is drawer, that will perish no time, very soon. So healthy
life is that of dedication, contribution: not of absorption. That is bhakti cult.
Bhakti cult is based on such consideration. More you give, more you
have. And more you take, more you lose. Is it not?
________________________________________________________________________ [?]
You are told that I am speaking neither
Bengali nor English. What I say you please listen to. What does it mean? That
the wave that is coming, it is hitting direct your heart, the soul. So
independent of the language it can work.
__________________________________________________________ [?]
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Many times in India Prabhupāda would speak Hindi and most
disciples would go away. He said, “Do not go away; stay.” I would always stay.
I could not understand but I got greater satisfaction just to hear the sound,
although I could not understand.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Some power is generated, electric generation. And that spreads
itself. And it touches, works in its own plane independently.
Mahāprabhu when in Jhārikhaṇḍa path from Vṛndāvana,
the tigers, the elephants, the deer, they began to dance and chant Kṛṣṇa,
Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa. The medium was language? When
Mahāprabhu danced and chanted Kṛṣṇa and so many animals
also began to dance and chant Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa,
Kṛṣṇa. No language. Independent
of the language. It can work in another plane, the innermost heart, who has not
come in connection with any language of the sort.
Bhāvānanda Mahārāja told when he was first
recruited, the chariot is going and circumambulating the chariot chanting Hare
Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.
Tamal Kṛṣṇa met him, “What is the matter? Do you know
Kṛṣṇa?”
“Who is Kṛṣṇa?”
“Have you come across Gītā, Bhagavad-gītā,
Bhāgavatam?”
“No, no, what is Bhāgavatam? What is Gītā?”
Whatever he says, “No.”
Have you heard the name India?”
“Yes I have heard.”
“There Kṛṣṇa came as God,” in this way was talking.
Then, “But I could not understand anything but the chanting is going on,
and enthusiastically. And I entered into that
circle and began to dance and chant. And then I fell down, fainted. When I
awoke I was taking Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Then with some water perhaps on the face and some nursing I awoke and I found that I am going on with the chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa,
Hare Kṛṣṇa. I was converted.”Bhāvānanda
Mahārāja meeting ____ program. He told this in the meeting there.
Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna.
When Mahāprabhu was in Vṛndāvana, one Rajput young man
came to Him in Imlitalā perhaps. “I have come.”
“What do you want?”
“I want to be a servant of the Vaiṣṇava, Vaiṣṇava
dāsa, Kṛṣṇa dāsa. My inner tendency makes me to
come out in search of Guru. I want to offer myself at his feet. I come for
that, and I think You have attracted me. Please accept me as Your slave, Kṛṣṇa
dāsa.”
We are told that he preached in the Murdarn [?] district in
Punjab. There are many Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava, the Kṛṣṇa
dāsa he preached that side.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi.
Nitāi.
_____________________________________ [?]kṛṣṇa tāre kare pāra.
kṛṣṇa, tomāra haṅa’ yadi bale
eka-bāra, māyā-bandha
haite kṛṣṇa tāre kare pāra
[“One is immediately freed from the clutches
of māyā if he seriously and sincerely says: ‘My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa,
although I have forgotten You for so many long years in the material world,
today I am surrendering unto You. I am Your sincere and serious servant. Please
engage me in Your service.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.33]
sakṛd eva prapanno yas, tavāsmīti ca yācate
abhayaṁ sarvadā tasmai, dadāmy etad vrataṁ
mama
[“It is My vow
that if one only once seriously surrenders unto Me, saying, "My dear Lord,
from this day I am Yours," and prays to Me for courage, I shall
immediately award courage to that person, and he will always remain safe from
that time on.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 22.34]
37:57 - 43:00 Bengali (?)
Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi. Nitāi Gaura
Haribol. Dayal. Dayal.
Nirmala durdaiva name nahi anurag[?]
Tuṅhu
doyā-sāgara tārayite prāṇī, nāma aneka
tuwā śikhāoli āni.
[O Lord! You are
an ocean of mercy, and so You have brought the teachings of the glories of Your
unlimited Holy Names to deliver all souls.]
Sakala
śakati dei nāme tohārā, grahaṇe rākholi
nāhi kāla-bicārā.
[You have
conferred all Your power upon Your Name. And there are no rules governing the
appropriate time or place for chanting the Holy Name.]
Śrī-nāma-cintāmaṇi
tohāri samānā, biśwe bilāoili karuṇā-nidānā.
[The Holy Name
is a cintāmaṇi gem, a divine touchstone, and is non-different from You. Out of Your kindness for all souls, You have
distributed Your Holy Name throughout the universe.]
Tuwā
doyā aichana parama udārā, atiśoya manda nātha!
bhāga hāmārā.
[This is Your
mercy, O Lord, You are supremely kind. But, O Lord, I am most wicked and
unfortunate.]
Nāhi
janamalo nāme anurāga mora, bhaktivinoda-citta duḥkhe bibhora.
[I have never
known any attraction for the Holy Names. And so, the heart of Bhaktivinoda is
filled with sadness.][Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Śikṣāṣṭakam,
song 2]
To dive deep in despair, that is the sign to come in relativity to the
divinity. Viraha, in one sense viraha is a positive thing, it is
no non-existent. It is existent. Viraha,
union in separation, union proper and union in separation, another
__________________ [?] Infinite embraces everything. Those that are not conscious of
infinite they are also accommodated.
End of 81.09.21.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.21.B_81.09.22.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Union in separation, that is proper
union with the infinite. And to come in concrete union, that depends upon Him, that is very rare. So jīva,
jurisdiction of the reach of the freedom of the jīva is union in
separation. Not the question of intensity. In sādhana also union in
separation, bhāva bhakti also, prema bhakti also, union in
separation; this is a common ground for the sādhaka. But if gone
deeper found when real union takes place at least once, then the separation will be very, very intense, very, very
intense. It’ll also have no limit, type in different rasa.
The degree depends on that classification of union. The deepest union is possible
only in mādhurya-rasa. That makes one mad, almost mad, mahābhāva,
a madness in the highest sanity, mad insanity. In the highest form of sanity,
there is madness. It is opposite, mahābhāva.
[Bengali (?) for
approximately thirteen and a half minutes.]
“Please take me along with Him. I can’t tolerate Your
separation.”
When Rūpa Goswāmī Prabhu was taught in Allahabad,
in Prayāga, confluence of Yamunā and Ganges ______________________ [?] “Please take me
along with You. I can’t tolerate Your separation.”
Mahāprabhu told, “You are always with
Me and what I say you do that then it will really be your presence with Me.”
It meant that to be physically near is not properly near; nearness in
the mentality. If we want to have association with a superior then only by
obeying them we can retain our position nearby. Not by any other physical or
mental way. Only as a waiting servant, whatever the instruction comes, ready to
do that. That is the means to be in the association, spiritually, nearness of
distant, not in the sense of miles in the physical plane. That is calculated by
anugatam, submission. Submission is the way of measurement whether he’s
near or far. The measurement is, the unit is of such character.
Sada sange acar tumi punascar ascay
nilacale [?]
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Haribol.Physically far away, spiritually
very close. And physically very close, but physically near, but spiritually may
be far off. To live in the same plane!Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, I have one question from the Caitanya-Bhāgavat.So
in the pratha madyai[?] there is descriptions of Madhya-kaṇḍa. So in
one verse it is being described about maha-laki[?] So it says:
madhya kanday rukmini veshay narayana
nachilin sthana pilo sarva bhakta gane [?]
So
in the vibriti,
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura he has
written:
Rukmiṇī devī maha laki ar sri krsna vaidhi padi mahishi, then, tini jagat mata [?]
Now the question is, then Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura writes:
Darana poshen lila moy paramata, atta
tatta armatri tatta armatrito vitra parkas kori [?]
So
I couldn’t really figure out how to express that into English. He says:
Darana poshen lila moy paramata [?]That’s all right, then the next line:
Atta tatta armatri tatta vitra parkas kori [?]So exactly what that implies?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A mixture of two planes. Generally Rukmiṇī
is connected with Dvārakeśa. But Paramātmā is Kṣīrodakaśāyī.
Gaura-Nārāyaṇa when He came to preach the yuga dharma,
HariNāma, that is the duty of Kṣīrodakaśāyī,
Paramātmā. Paramātmā is always in connection of the jīvātmā,
to supervise his activity, and watch, and
inspect him as guardian, though indifferent. But always the guardian’s eye,
vigilant eye is there, and that is Kṣīrodakaśāyī.
And Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura
he has expressed his opinion that Mahāprabhu was Avatāra of Kṣīrodakaśāyī.
That is Gaura-Nārāyaṇa. But Kṣīrodakaśāyī
Viṣṇu is Paramātmā. And for the nurturing, for the
sustenance of the jīva’s interest Kṣīrodakaśāyī
is entrusted, His function. So Kṣīrodakaśāyī and
Paramātmā have got some interest to help the jīvātmā.
This is the general rule, general way.
Now,
how Rukmiṇī who is connected with Dvārakeśa comes in this
field that is the difficulty. And there is of course, Nārāyaṇa
came with His own potency. But they should not command any respect in that līlā.
Viṣṇu Prīya, Lakṣmī Prīya already gone,
disappeared, Viṣṇu Prīya was there. But she was not in
position to become mother to all these parṣada devotees, for the
purpose of this, for the interest of the līlā. It was not
possible to take her, for her to take the position of the mother
ostentatiously.
And because Mahāprabhu had some
connection within from that Kṛṣṇa Avatāra, so from there
some delegation came from some higher level. It was not practical for Viṣṇu
Prīya to do the part, to play the part of the mother of the devotees. So
because she was connected with Kṛṣṇa līlā in
this special Avatāra, special Kṛṣṇa, Svayaṁ-Bhagavān
Kṛṣṇa, so for necessity the potency from the higher level
came to help.
And vātsalya cannot be traced
in Lakṣmī Devī in Vaikuṇṭha. Lakṣmī
Devī, she has got not any son or daughter, so no filial affection is
displayed there, in Nārāyaṇaloka.
So necessity in Dvārakā; Rukmiṇī is mother of Pradyumna
etc., so that potency of Kṛṣṇa had to come down to play the
part of Viṣṇu Prīya because circumstance did not allow her.
She was too young, and the ordinary environment was not favourable to accept
her as mother in this play.
So to give a divine characteristic, crossing Lakṣmī Devī because no filial affection there, so Mahāprabhu had to connect
with the Dvārakā potency and Rukmiṇī Devī had to
appear in that arena. And Mahāprabhu Himself took her garb and also some
display of her majestic affection, affection mixed with having the body of some
aiśvarya so that people in general have some respect for the same.
So Rukmiṇī, is shown that though He’s playing the part of
Gaura-Nārāyaṇa but unconsciously, consciously sometimes yet
He’s more than that comes to the field. Unknowingly, only following His sweet
will, the potency of higher plane are coming to
help Him in His līlā. He wanted to perform a particular type
of līlā. And it was not possible within the jurisdiction of
His present form of the order of Nārāyaṇa, so Kṛṣṇa līlā had to give,
supply some potential energy to come down and perform the līlā smoothly.
And also Mahā-Lakṣmī is superior to Lakṣmī
Devī. Sometimes Lakṣmī Devī in Vaikuṇṭha also
is called Mahā-Lakṣmī,
but still Rukmiṇī Devī’s position is higher than that of Lakṣmī
in Vaikuṇṭha. It is aiśvarya and that is nearer
approach to Svayaṁ-Bhagavān. Dvārakā position of Kṛṣṇa
is superior to Vaikuṇṭha.
vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī
tatrāpi rāsotsavād
[vṛndāraṇyam udāra-pāṇi-ramaṇāt
tatrāpi govardhanaḥ
rādhā-kuṇḍam ihāpi gokula-pateḥ
premāmṛtāplāvanāt
kuryād asya virājato giri-taṭe sevāṁ
vivekī na kaḥ]
[“The holy place known as Mathurā is spiritually superior
to Vaikuṇṭha, the transcendental world, because the Lord appeared
there. Superior to Mathurā-purī is the transcendental forest of Vṛndāvana
because of Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā pastimes.
And superior to the forest of Vṛndāvana is Govardhana Hill, for it
was raised by the divine hand of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and was
the site of His various loving pastimes. And, above all, the super-excellent
Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa stands supreme, for it is
over-flooded with the ambrosial nectarean prema of the Lord of Gokula,
Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Where, then, is that intelligent person
who is unwilling to serve this divine Rādhā-kuṇḍa, which
is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill?”][Upadeśāmṛta,
9]
Madhu-purī, Vaikuṇṭha and Madhu-purī midway there is Ayodyā and
Dvārakā. So as Mahāprabhu is concerned with Kṛṣṇa
and not with Rāmacandra so much, so Dvārakā potency came to help
Mahāprabhu in His Gaura-Nārāyaṇa līlā where
vātsalya-rasa was thought to be necessary. Vātsalya-rasa
is not to be found in Vaikuṇṭha. Vātsalya-rasa begins
from Ayodyā, Dvārakā, Braja, for necessity of vātsalya-rasa.
And so it is not found in Vaikuṇṭha. From a higher region it had to
descend to help His līlā for the time being.So it was the
function of Paramātmā for the welfare of the jīva.
Rukmiṇī Devī is above Kṣīrodakaśāyī
and Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, Mahā-Lakṣmī. Or
she may be called Mahā-Lakṣmī. But vātsalya-rasa is
there which is not found in Kṣīrodakaśāyī, nor in
Vaikuṇṭha Nārāyaṇa. So vātsalya-rasa
means to go higher. And when that higher connection will come to this lower by
the special will of Śrī Gaurāṅga who is within Kṛṣṇa
and without, yuga Avatāra, Kṣīrodakaśāyī.Do
you follow the ontology?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Then you are to adjust.King came to
visit a place of a district magistrate. Local people gave an application to the
king which is under the function of district magistrate, “Please help us in
this way.”But the king found that magistrate jurisdiction is not here. So he
used some special power. And above magistrate, from above function, he, because
he’s a king he is not limited to the power of magistrate so he utilised his free will and what is not in the jurisdiction of the
magistrate he did that for the application of the local people.Do you follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Something like that, because he was
king.So Mahāprabhu as He was Kṛṣṇa, He easily could
invite Rukmiṇī in the field where Rukmiṇī was not
necessary.Do you follow?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In this way it was managed.Do you
follow?
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So He’s showing two functions, potion...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Dharana potion - that is to look
after the welfare of the jīva. And that is the function of Kṣīrodakaśāyī,
the Paramātmā.
______________________________________________________________________ [?]
Where māyā and jīva
is concerned the function of Paramātmā is there.Here
Mahāprabhu what He is doing there,
that is with the connection of jīva and jagat, māyā.
So it is the function of Paramātmā. But He came to help the jīva
in the function of Paramātmā, but what He wished He did not find
in the jurisdiction of Paramātmā.So He went to Vaikuṇṭha
but Vaikuṇṭha has got no filial affection, so He had to go to
Dvārakā and from there invite Rukmiṇī within Him; and to
finish the function. That was anyataka, that was a drama He was playing.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So the atta tatta?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What is the spelling? What is the
meaning?
__________________________________________________________ [?]
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I think it means extensively on a wide spread way. It says...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Extension; atta tatta means
extended. It extended itself, Paramātmā, ___________ extended himself
to ________ and so it was not found in Vaikuṇṭha, He had to go to
Dvārakā. Atta tatta for His extensive characteristic ________
When _________________ that extension was necessary for motherly affection to
foster them, so He had to go to Dvārakā, next nearest vātsalya-rasa.
To take vātsalya-rasa from the store of Dvārakā, because
it was not in Vaikuṇṭha, nor in Kṣīrodakaśāyī,
Lakṣmī Devī. That is Lakṣmī and she has got not vātsalya,
no son, no child. So, because vātsalya-rasa is necessary towards
______ it was extended to ______ and so ________ in the nearest store was in
Dvārakā so Rukmiṇī had to come. Really the function of
Paramātmā, but when ______ was necessary towards______________ nurturing, sustaining, so He had to go beyond Vaikuṇṭha
to Dvārakā, the nearest store of vātsalya-rasa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So we can, in the English, in the second line it says:Nachilan
stana pilo bhakta gan [?]So Lord Caitanya enacted as if He was feeding
them.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: In the form of Rukmiṇī
Devī, in the dress of Rukmiṇī Devī, He danced there. And
whether His form of Rukmiṇī was genuine or not, to prove that
perhaps, “Yes! I’m really Rukmiṇī.” And to prove that He invited the
devotees to take, to suck the breast. “I am Rukmini.”
Bhāratī Mahārāja: But He kept His own form.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: And this is not only a show. There is
substantial reality there, to produce confidence, to arouse confidence and
strengthen in the heart of His devotees that He has got that supernatural
position. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Gaurāṅga willed, He really,
He could take the body of Rukmiṇī herself and not an ordinary
imitation show.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, why is Lord Caitanya sometimes referred to
as Gaura-Nārāyaṇa?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Generally Gaura-Nārāyaṇa
because of the YugaAvatāra. Every Kali-yuga there comes generally one
Avatāra to preach Kṛṣṇa Nāma saṅkīrtana,
at every Kali-yuga. But in twentyeighth yuga, once in a day of
Brahmā, that Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa combined comes in
that order. And YugaAvatāra absorbed in Him.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: There’s one other thing that came up here Mahārāja.
There is one līlā here where Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He
accepts the tandula[?] So two types of rice are there, there is siddha and also atta. So atta means hot but heated.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Siddha means _________, atta means
which is not boiled. From the paddy, the white rice is taken up, and the husk
removed, without boiled. And the siddha means what is boiled once, then
it is dried in the sun and then the husk removed, it is siddha.
Generally here in Bengal and Orissa and perhaps Sind, they
accept this boiled rice, siddha chal.
That is more easily digestible, and also a little bigger in size, easily
digestible. And the atta, which is not boiled but un-husked rice, small in figure and that is little, gurupak, not very easily digestible. So, but that
is considered to be the purer type.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So this is in Bengal, they use mostly siddha?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Siddha.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I saw they’re boiling before.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: But in U.P. and others, other parts in
Madras, they use atta. They hate this boiled rice siddhajal.
End of 81.09.21.B_81.09.22.A
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.22.B
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So there’s one other thing that came up here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Where is the letter? It’s with you?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I gave it to him, Nimāi.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nimāi?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. There’s another thing here, it says:
madha kande caitanyer avasese patra brahma
durlava narayani paila matra [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Mahāprabhu, out of His own accord
gave some uchistam perhaps tambul, chewing gave Nārāyaṇī,
a small girl of Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita or his brother.
Nārāyaṇī was his girl, daughter of perhaps
Śrīvāsa of Śrīvāsa’s brother.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: His brother, bratris patri.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Brother yes, mother of Vṛndāvana
dāsa, Nārāyaṇī. Mahāprabhu out of His own accord gave some uchistam to her.Not very
accessible by Brahmā himself, Nārāyaṇī got that
fortune.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes. The
only trouble was avasesa.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Avasesa means uchistam,
remnants. And out of His own accord Mahāprabhu gave her that uchistam,
a small girl.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, what is the Rāmānandi sampradāya?
That is a branch...
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Of Rāmānuja. Deviation is there. Rāmānuja sampradāya,
they are strictly worshippers of Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa.
But the Rāmānandi they select the Sītā-Rāma the most
revered Deity for their worship. Ayodhyā is the centre of the
Rāmānandi, and they are more given to some vairāgya, and
they’re opposed especially to Śaṅkarite.
Śaṅkara School also created
some naga, sannyāsī, when necessary to fight first with the
Buddhists, then perhaps with the
Vaiṣṇava. And the Rāmānandi they have got also naga,
half-soldier. And they are also very eager to fight with Śaṅkara
School, or others, to establish the dignity of Rāmacandra,
Sītā-Rāma.
But Tulasī dāsa is considered to
be a member of Rāmānandi sampradāya who are especially a
devotee of Rāma-Sītā, they are called Rāmānandi. They
have also Vedānta tika. From bhāṣyam Rāmānandaperhaps,
or someone in their generation, composed from bhāṣyam on Vedānta.
But I did not read it direct, but I saw in
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura perhaps from Jaiva Dharma that they foster within their
heart mukti to be the highest, mumuka, want mukti. Whenever through worship anyone attains mukti,
mukti is superior than bhakti. So their bhakti is gone. It’s
not śuddha-bhakti. But ordinary people they may not think like that. But
still some of the Ācārya of that sampradāya has connected
the sampradāya with that, mumuk, mukti, wants mukti. At least they want mukti for the
service of Rāma-Sītā. That also may be.
But the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava doesn’t care for mukti
even. “Whatever You like, wherever You want, You like to post me doesn’t
matter. I want Your service, bhakti. And service of You or Your devotee.
Wherever You place me, it matters little.” That is Gauḍīya sampradāya.
paśu-pakhī
ho ‘ye thāki svarge bā niroye, taba bhakti rahu bhaktivinoda-hṛdoye
[“Be my life in heaven or in hell, be it as
a bird or a beast, may devotion to You always remain in the heart of
Bhaktivinoda.”] [Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Śikṣāṣṭakam,
4, page 136 of his Songbook]
“You may put in hell. I won’t care for that. But Your connection through
devotion, that is my only demand, not for any local posting.”
But there are some who want that after liberation, “I must have Your,
liberation, after that Your service.” Conditional, that is also to be found
somewhere.
But the gopīs, the Vrajabhajan,
there’s no room for any condition: unconditional
dedication to the Lord. “Yes, hell, I’m ready to go for Your service if it is
necessary. I’m ready.”
Service, serving spirit of that degree is to be found only in Vraja. In
Gauḍīya sampradāya, not any condition.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So they are originating from the Rāmānuja sampradāya,
the Rāmānandis?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Rāmānuja. And from
Rāmānanda another sakhā as kavis, the disciple of
Rāmānanda. “We were by caste and he created another sampradāya.”There
are so many.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: He’s very popular.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:
__________________________________________ [?] So many branches mixed with Śaṅkara and Vaiṣṇava
together, Tukaram in Maharastra, so many divisions, subdivisions, prakṛti-vaicitryād,
pāramparyeṇa.
[evaṁ prakṛti-vaicitryād bhidyante matayo nṛṇām
pāramparyeṇa keṣāñcit pāṣaṇḍa-matayo
'pare]
[“Thus, due to the great variety of desires and natures among
human beings, there are many different theistic philosophies of life, which are
handed down through tradition, custom and disciplic succession. There are other
teachers who directly support atheistic viewpoints.”]
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11.14.8]
Cannot but deviation to accommodate their forced to accommodate
deviation.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: What was Tukarama’s position?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Pāramparyeṇa and prakṛti-vaicitryād.
Due to the variegated nature of disciples and then successors and disciples,
disciples, disciples that is also prakṛti-vaicitryād. So the
Lord has to come down here to set right what is already modified, polluted. To
set right, to put it in its former glory and purity, He himself comes.
yadā yadā hi dharmasya, glānir bhavati
bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy
aham
[“O Bhārata, whenever there is a decline of religion and an
uprising of irreligion, I personally appear, like a being born in this world.”]
[Bhagavad-gītā, 4.7]
And sometimes sends His own man, “Go and set right everything
there.”Already polluted, prakṛti-vaicitryād and pāramparyeṇa,
so again to put in its pristine purity, original purity He had to come now and
then.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Mahārāja, what is the position of Tukarama?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Tukarama we are told that he was the
disciple of a Mahārastrian brāhmaṇa who was connected
with Śrī Caitanya Deva at Benares. Not any authentic report, but from
outside we gather that Tukarama took initiation from a brāhmaṇa and
he heard from him about Caitanya Deva. That is mentioned in some _______, in some song of Tukarama. Caitanya the name is found in his
songs. From there some research. The elder brother of Rabindranatha, he was the
first ICS of India, Satendra Tagore. He wrote a book about that, that Tukarama
was in the line of Caitanya Deva. It is mentioned in Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s
writings that Satendra Tagore mentioned that Tukarama was in the line of
Caitanya Deva. It is found in Satendra Tagore’s writings, who was the first ICS
and elder brother of Rabindranatha Tagore. I found it in Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s
writings.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Rabindranatha Tagore had many brothers which were famous
writers?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, he is the fourteenth amongst his
brothers and sisters, he is last. And the first is Dvijendra, and second was
Satendra. In this way there were so many brothers and sisters and the last, and
fourteenth was Rabindranatha. So Rabindranatha once
opposed, some said that in the last days,
in the old age, the son may not be so fit. An old man’s son may not possess
good health, a good brain. So Rabindranatha opposed, “I am the last son, my
father’s fourteenth son, but am I am less qualified?”
Hare Kṛṣṇa. So it depends upon brahmacārī.Gaura
Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol.Nitāi.Nitāi Gaura Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: In Rabindranatha Tagore’s family, there were also many other
famous poets, within his family?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Yes, somewhere among brothers. One of his
sisters Sadnukumari, she wrote many things. Then Dajendranatha also wrote some
articles, eldest brother, and Satendranatha also. Then one brother
Savandranatha he had more artistic endeavours, making dolls, artist he was to
produce some dolls etc.
His father was Davendranatha and
Rabindranatha’s grandfather was Darukanatha, Prince Darukanatha. He was very
favourite to Queen Victoria. So much so that there was a talk I heard from
Swāmī Mahārāja that Edward the seventh, the son of
Victoria, his face cutting and Darukanatha’s face cutting was very close. The
face cutting of Darukanatha’s figure and the Edward the seventh, the son of
Victoria, most very similar, and Darukanatha had very closer connection with
Victoria. So some have got, in a particular section there was rumour that
Dharukanatha had very closer connection with Queen Victoria. I heard it from
your Swāmī Mahārāja Prabhupāda.
Prince Darukanatha, in a very high style
he moved, a moneyed
man, and in England also he holds great respect and his company was
____________ [?]
A big man of
England at the time,
aristocratic family, his style was also like that, Prince Darukanatha.
His son Davendranatha he was religious
minded, and he entered Ram Mohan Raya’s Brahmo-dharma, mixed Hindu and Brahmo,
mixed we find in Davendranatha, and in later days more Brahmo than Hindu.And
then Rabindranatha, all came, Davendranatha, the founder of Balpour ___________ [?] Davendranatha, Rabindranatha’s father. And sometimes he went
there and he sat in penances in Amala Kuñja. Many things he did in the type of
previousṛṣi tapovana.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Gaura
Haribol.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: What
was it satyam, maṅgalam,
advaitam, who had said
that?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Their mantram is santam,
śivam, advaitam.Rabindranatha told, the other day I found in paper, in
his last time he requested some of his brother’s wife or something like that,
“You please, in the last moment help me to recollect the mantram, santam,
śivam, advaitam.”That was their mantra, santam, śivam,
advaitam, advaitam is the last, and śivam not sundaram,
charming.
Advaita, that is merging in advaita, means whether an organic
whole or nondifferentiated whole? Whole, advayajñāna, it is
admitted by all spiritual thinking men, advaita. But what is the proper
conception of that advaita? Other things remain or everything vanishes
into a nondifferentiated oneness? Then how from that position have all these
things sprung up? That is also like a fossil, spiritual fossil; advaita.
If we do not admit that this organic whole,
it is nitya, nondifferentiated static, thenitya, the eternal is only static. Why it
should not be dynamic, why the eternal substance should not be a cosmos, a
harmonised whole?Advaita means organism,
one organic whole, a dynamic harmony. That should be the conception otherwise
the dynamicity springs up from staticity. That is the original wherefrom the
motion comes, and that as if no consciousness. Wherefrom this consciousness
comes? The same difficulty, the fossil then this Brahman.
Why shouldn’t I accept that what they say this is product, but that
productive characteristic is eternal?
If we want to something eternal we must have to accept. But why shouldn’t I
accept that the dynamic organic whole, what is produced, why that is not
eternal? And higher things, the product is
of higher nature and the lower nature can produce higher things, and this is
permanent, and the higher things cannot be permanent? Things of higher conception that cannot be permanent, that
cannot be eternal? Only when the
question of eternity will come we must have to go to the static conception,
either to fossil
or to Brahman, the spiritual
fossil.From equilibrium the movement comes. Why not movement is eternal? In the
present day, rather I find that nothing can remain static in the sky, higher
sky. Everything is moving. If a sputnik is to be sent, that is always moving,
cannot make it fixed, difficult to make it fixed. So dynamic character, that is
natural, outside the world. So dynamic characteristic: that should be the
eternal thing, the essence of everything, and the static rather a diseased
condition, paralysed condition of
the dynamic. Dynamic is the original. And static is a paralysed condition of the dynamic. It is artificial. It is the
disease. And the dynamic is health. That is the basis of Vaiṣṇava dharma.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari.The
original thing must have to be static, and must have to be of very lowest order, and whatever good, whatever higher, that must have
sprang up from that fossil. This is a bad type of mentality.
But the revealed
truth always helps in this. There is God. “Let there be water. Let there be
light.” There was light, there was water. The truth rather, in this way, the
truth lies. By His order things come into existence. Not that this is producing
God, fossil is producing God. God is not producing
fossil.____________________________________________________ [?]
Replacement by God, self-sufficiency, that
is not laudable, kudha, hunger is necessary. I am full fed, full belly.
That is not a healthy sign. Hunger is healthy sign. Always we want more
progress. That presupposes progress. Hunger means progress.“I’m unfit, I’m
unsatisfied. I want more and more.”Spiritual thirst must be traced within. Not
stagnant. Hare Kṛṣṇa.“I’m hungry, I want more food, from Your
grace. Mahāprabhu, I want more and more.”Eho bāhya āge kaha
āra [“This is superficial; go further.”][Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-līlā, 8.51-313] More and more.
Gaura Haribol. Gaura Haribol. Nitāi. Nitāi. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
So today I like to take leave of you. Nitāi Caitanya.So are you
satisfied to hear the news that came from Dhīra Kṛṣṇa,
or it is disturbing? What do you think?
Devotees: It was expected.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He is going to establish an independent
centre there for the activity independent of ISKCON. That means a battle is
being created there, going to be created.
...
What type of ghost?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I don’t know. It came and putting pressure, holding me very
tight on the floor, against the floor, holding down. I could not get up.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: You laid down perhaps on the back?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Maybe, possibly yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Maybe, and your hands on the breast.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is the cause.
Akṣayānanda Mahārāja: Yes, I mentioned that.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Ah, yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: This weight, in the dream that is mental
body, this consciousness of this weight on the breast, on the heart, that
gradually develops into that thing pressing. When you’ll awake you will find
that the hand is there. So you are to be careful about the habit of putting any
weight of the hand even on the breast when sleeping. Better to sleep on the
side, left side after food, of course on the right side then heart is under relief. The heart is left side, left side pressure may come, of course
when old and when right side heart is in the upper
position, no pressure. But we are told that on the left side after food, the
digestion becomes easier, becomes easy. I also experience sometimes that hand
on the back lying and with hand on the chest, then some sort of dream that
someone is pressing. Then when awake found the weight of the hand, and heard
also several times such stories. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So that’s not ghost?
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Never, in the area of Mahāprabhu, what ghost can enter. He would be afraid
of coming. Of course there are ghosts in the Dhāma also of
different type. When I came here to live, the cluster of the bamboos that was a
notorious place for the ghosts. Even the _____wallahthey were much afraid to pass under this bamboo cluster. They
used to say that bamboos are lowered and when passing over it suddenly jumps up
and cast him in any way the ghost is arranging all these things, so many
stories. I came, I never found anything.
Our Maṭha also, in Dacca Maṭha
in a hired house very easy rent, get a ghost haunted house in ______________ [?] only fifty rupees monthly rent. That was a notorious place for
ghosts.
Even the college hostel, the college
students accepted that as their hostel. But one night found that they were
boiling meat in a cauldron. And they
found that the cook’s head is pushed into the cauldron,
in the boiling cauldron, and they
left all.
But our party rented that very cheap, no ghost. But, something, a ghost
haunted place because outside the broad jungle road of the town, city and the
other side so many houses around and in the middle dilapidated condition,
jungles, so many rotten things were there, dilapidated, a very favourite place
for the ghost to live there. Such was the thing, we the other side. So many
houses around, and the middle portion is the more nasty of the nasty, so very
favourable position of the ghosts who lived there.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, jeanies?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Jeanie and the ghost also same thing is
it not?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Jeanie is not a female?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: When guṇḍā,
independent of this physical body, that is ghost. That type of mental person,
free of this physical body, flesh and blood; that may have that position. And
sometimes the yogīs of the bad type, they also have got some siddhi,
and when they leave this body and for some punishment, cannot enter in any high
place they remain as ghosts.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, in Māyāpur I saw something very
strange. There was light close by coming down to the ground. Not so fast, but
relatively fast, and then after some distance from the ground, disappeared. I
saw several times.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That may be some un-extraordinary feats
of nature. So many gas, so many rays, so many animals there are who emit a sort
of light, all these things generally found. A kind of jackal when they open
their mouth, the saliva that is like light in the night, so many beasts like
the jackal type if they open their mouth there is light. And when close the
mouth, no light. There are so many types of insects and animals that can emit light, just as this glowworm. So there are many similar
things. Even there may be some creepers that show light in darkness. That is to
be mostly found to be in the hill area. The creepers can emanate light. In the Gandharbas
it is mentioned ______ śāstra Kavya Kalidās, that
from the light of the particular creeper the gandharba they utilized
that for their own friendly purpose. The creeper emanating light, phosphorous.
From the ground also sometimes phosphorous things are seen in a particular way,
in the form of light, phosphorous. So in most places we are misguided by the
peculiarity of natural incidence. But still there are ghosts, I don’t deny
that.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: But in the Dhāma the ghosts are fewer?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes, of different types.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: I saw there was one Muslim man and this Muslim he said some mantra
and he held one stick and the stick was taking him to one, to find a thief,
to find one chor. There was a chor who had taken some money.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
Oh, to catch, some stick, yes, that is also possible. It is also shown in our
Maṭha. I was not eye witness, I heard. There was one God-brother. He could show all these things. By mantram, he
fasted the whole day and in the evening, Mādhava Mahārāja and so
many others bold and cunning persons they were present when those feats were
shown to the Maṭha people. Two bamboo sticks were given to a gentleman
and they put it in this way, bamboo stick, and he put mantram and some
offering, in this way, and do this, do this, he began to order and these two
gentleman were forced to go to a particular side, to find out the man and where
the thing is hidden. He forced these two persons. They were unwilling but they
were drawn forcibly towards a particular place and found that that thing was there
and he took it in the public. Then he asked the man who placed the thing there,
“Go fetch him, catch him.” He went to them. That I am told, they’re reliable,
this Mādhava Mahārāja, and so many others they were eye witness
there. ____________ [?] does not
matter.Subservient, so many things, nothing is impossible. Everything, whole
power is there of different type and different nature and there may be
subsidiary, so many, this hierarchy. Samantra tantric, what is it in
English?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Samantra tantric?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: The lower, the master over them, zamīndār,
zamīndār, in this way the samantraemperor.
The emperor under him so many chiefs, under them so many land owners, under
them so many big ranks, in this way, by gradual process the power is also
distributed in that way in various lines. Amongst soldiers also there are
ranks. Amongst the police there are also ranks. Amongst CID there are also
ranks. So in every phase of creation, good or bad, there may be some hierarchy:
system, and of variegated nature. That
under māyā,and under
ordinary god, under some sādhu, this is siddha.
Śaṅkarācārya etc, they also wanted seeker of power,prākāmya,īśita, aṇimā, laghimā, vyāpti,
all these siddhis necessary
for them to display over the society and to get some special benefit for that. Only real Vaiṣṇava hate them all.
No yoga siddhi na puna brahma na
napravestam nacapa varestam
[?]
naca va siddhi na pumam varamva samanjasa
vidha kamsi [?]
“I don’t want anything but your grace.”
“Oh, all harmonizer, I want Your grace. I don’t aspire after all these
things.”
The plane of the heaven,not the post of the Brahmā, the creator,or
the position of the absolute emperor, absolute ruler of the whole world,or the
supremacy over the underground animal or subterranean region what is unseen at
present to our senses.I’m renouncing at present or which is acquired by the yogīs
the authority over the nature, different phases of nature, or not cessation of rebirths, mukti, I won’t come in this
world again, I must not be born again, stop of my birth I don’t want. Only I
want You. Who are You?Who harmonises everything, the master of everything and
who has harmonised everything,
accommodated everything, I want Him, all harmoniser,
that is the Absolute.
Vṛtrāsura
says as Citraketu who by curse came to be in the birth as Vṛtrāsura
and when retiring from the life of demon, for the last time he’s again praying to the Lord. “I want this.”
Na jata vaka vimatam stanyam vatsya kulata [?]
Priyam pri eva visamya mano virindaka
kadikam [?]
“My mind is very eager to be united with You my master. How?”
Na jata vaka vimatam [?]
Just as the small cubs of the birds when their wings are not grown, they
hanker after the presence of their mother when she will come and put some food
into their beak.The earnestness which they look after the path of their mother,
the young birds.
Stanyam yatha vatsya kulata [?]
All
the animal cubs they hanker after naturally, intuitively, for their mothers.
Priyam pri eva visamya [?]
Or the lady lover she awaits for her beloved who is long away from her,
with earnestness she awaits his union. In such a way my mind is mad to meet You
my Lord.
Mano virindaka kadikam [?]
O
lotus-eyed Lord, my mind is very eager to have Your darśana.
Citraketu, who was the classmate of
Mahādeva: in the class where the teacher was Saṅkarṣaṇa.
Śiva and Citraketu they are both students in the School of Saṅkarṣaṇa,
their Guru.
And Parvati once put curse on him.The story is in Bhāgavat.
Do you remember?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Gaura Hari. Here I take leave of you.
End of 81.09.22.B
* * * * * * * *
Start of 81.09.23.A
His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka
Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja
Bhāratī Mahārāja: ... maybe can be elaborated on with Bhaktisiddhānta
Saraswatī Ṭhākura bibriti, so it will be clear. Some
things are not so clear. So I was wondering.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yesterday I spoke about that Rukmiṇī
nityam. I want to hear that bibriti again.______________________________________________________
[?] Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: rukmini devi maha laksmi o sri krsner, sri krsner vaida patni mahishi, [?]
tini jagat mata dharan poshan lila moi
paramatma ata tatta o ata tatta vya tito, ata
tatta. [?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: tini o paramatma, jagat matrito,
then?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Then it says ah tatatto.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: No Just before that.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Dharana poshana lila moi, paramata, then dash.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Paramātmā.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes, Paramātmā, then dash.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Parama toi moi.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Paramātmā.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Paramātmā ata tatta.
Bhāratī Mahārāja:Ata tattva o matrito vriti prakash kori. [?] Then,
tini vatsalya vichara sva asrito gana ke'
dude pan kori acha nay.
[?] Then he says:
krsna mata krsna pita krsna dhana prana,
ei jana sri krsna shako lilar akhar, [?]
thag boliya shakale sri krsna ke matri
sajai pari ganit o bushita koriya[?]
thar nikat hoite je nija bhoga moi seva
grahan koriben ei ruk nai,[?]
krsna adoka adhokshaja bastu sutrong
naswar jagateir sevika rupini[?]
jnana ner heyata take sparsa koritei
samarta hoina.[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: All right.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So there’s one thing I would like you to say. Last night you
were talking about the social lineage, Nilambar Cakravartī and his
relationship with Śacī Devī, then Vasudeva Sārvabhauma, if
you could give a synopsis of their family. If you could give a synopsis of
their family social positions that would be very helpful.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: What of that?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Nilambar Cakravartī, he was an associate of Vasudeva
Sārvabhauma?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nilambar Cakravartī was classmate
of Viśārada, who perhaps father of Vasudeva Sārvabhauma. What is
written here?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes, that he’s the father.Shistine
mahesh, maheshvara, visharader putra o gopinatha bhatta acharya shallok chillan[?]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Vasudeva Sārvabhauma, Vasudeva
Sārvabhauma.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He was brother-in-law of
Gopīnātha Ācārya and he was son of Mahesh
Viśārada.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes, and Nilambara Cakravartī?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He was classmate of Viśārada,
Sārvabhauma’s father, Mahesh
Viśārada.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Acha, I see, so Śacī Mātā in relationship?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Nilambara Cakravartī’s daughter.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Acha.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Śacī Mātā.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Ah huh, I see.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So Sārvabhauma told that,
“Nilambara Cakravartī is classmate of my father, and Śacī
Devī, Nilambara Cakravartī’s daughter is in social relation, my
sister, and Nimāi is my sister’s son, my sister’s son. I am His maternal
uncle. He’s my nephew, maternal nephew, my sister’s son. And He’s very
beautiful, and He looks like a genius and I have much affection on Him.
But you Gopīnātha, you tell that he is the incarnation of God.
He’s a good boy. You are making some conspiracy to eat his head.” (chuckle)
“He’s a good boy, a young genius and very beautiful to see, and I have got much
interest on him because in my father’s connection, social connection, he’s my
sister’s son. I want to look at him in the eye of a guardian. But you fellow,
you are making too much of him, that he is incarnation of God, and you want to
spoil his life.” (chuckle)That was the nature of the audacious statement of
Sārvabhauma to his brother-in-law, to his sister’s husband,
Gopīnātha.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, there is another thing here which...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Huh?
Bhāratī Mahārāja: In English what this would be? It’s describing Svarūpa
Dāmodara before Svarūpa Dāmodara his brahmacārī name
is given here.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Puruṣottama Ācārya, Puruṣottama
Ācārya was his previous name, before, Svarūpa Dāmodara,
Puruṣottama Bhaṭṭa Ācārya. In Navadwīp, he had
much appreciation of Nimāi Paṇḍit, Mahāprabhu. Puruṣottama
Bhaṭṭa Ācārya, his previous name. But though in his early
līlā of Mahāprabhu, we don’t find much mention about Puruṣottama
Bhaṭṭa Ācārya, but later on we are told that Puruṣottama
Bhaṭṭa Ācārya was closely, perhaps from a distance with
some awe and respect, he was watching the līlā of
Mahāprabhu, Nimāi Paṇḍit, bālya-līlā.
When Nimāi Paṇḍit took sannyāsa then he could not
tolerate it. He ran to Benares and took sannyāsa, but he was half
mad, after the whole ceremony of sannyāsa finished he ran away, so
his name remained as Svarūpa. Svarūpa is the title of brahmacārī.
Prakāśa, Caitanya, Svarūpa, Ānanda, these are symptoms,
prefixes are added in the name of a brahmacārī,
Prakāśa Ānanda, Nitya Svarūpa, Kṛṣṇa
Caitanya and Prakāśa Caitanya, Ānanda, Prakāśa,
Caitanya, Ānanda, Svarūpa, these four, these are part of the name of brahmacārī.
Sometimes Nityānanda Svarūpa also told, Nityānanda was
not a sannyāsī, but He was a brahmacārī. But
He performed Vyāsapūjā in
Śrīvāsa Aṅgan. There some say that He was a sannyāsī,
but there He had no special garment either for sannyāsī or brahmacārī.
He was very independent spirit. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So Mahārāja, it says here that, before Svarūpa
Dāmodara met Lord Caitanya, he had desired to take, what is called yoga-pata,
yog-pata.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yoga-pata.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
That is a sign of a sannyāsī, yoga-pata, he did not accept,
before that he fled, so the name Svarūpa remained, that of a brahmacārī,
the sign of brahmacārī, Svarūpa. Yoga-pata means kaupīna,
vaiba, the sannyāsa, a form of formality of a sannyāsī,
he did not accept he fled away, half mad. Because his heart was burning for the
separation of Mahāprabhu, he was not normal thinking. So when sannyāsa
function half done, he ran away. (chuckle) His Guru was some, is
Caitanyānanda, or someone who is Guru, where he was taking sannyāsa
in Benares, but he couldn’t stand the whole function, he ran away.
And he met
Śrī Caitanyadeva after two years, in Purī.Mahāprabhu
welcomed him, “You have come Svarūpa, I have got two eyes back, I see
through your eye.”Bhāla haila, andha yena dui netra pāila.
[tumi ye āsibe, āji svapnete dekhila / bhāla haila, andha yena dui netra pāila]
[Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “I saw in a dream that you were coming, and so
this is very auspicious. I have been like a blind man, but your coming here
restores My vision.”]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
10.122]
“I feel that I have regained My two eyes, lost eyes, I have got, you
have come.”
Sākṣāt mahāprabhura dvitīya
svarūpa. Just a double:
facsimile of Mahāprabhu.
[kṛṣṇa-rasa-tattva-vettā, deha —
prema-rūpa] / sākṣāt
mahāprabhura dvitīya svarūpa
[Śrī SvarūpaDāmodara was the personification of ecstatic love,
fully cognizant of the transcendental mellows in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
He directly represented Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as His second
expansion.] [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
10.111]
saṅgīte — gandharva-sama, śāstre bṛhaspati[dāmodara-sama āra nāhi mahā-mati]
[Svarūpa
Dāmodara was as expert a musician as the Gandharvas, and in scriptural
discussion he was just like Bṛhaspati, the priest of the heavenly gods.
Therefore it is to be concluded that there was no great personality quite like
Svarūpa Dāmodara.]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 10.116]
His scholarship can be compared with Bṛhaspati,
the highest, biggest scholar in heaven, Bṛhaspati. And the saṅgīte,
in singing line, may be compared with Gandharva, who are very expert and
notable for their singing capacity. So in song and in, as well as in
scholarship, he was unique, in the sampradāya of
Mahāprabhu.And in Mahāprabhu’s parichay in the fourteenth śloka,
which is the basis from which we know who Mahāprabhu was, that comes from
Svarūpa Dāmodara. It is quoted in Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
the whole structure, steel frame of the Caitanya līlā supplied
by Svarūpa Dāmodara.
Kavirāja Goswāmī has
quoted, who is Nityānanda tattva, who is Gadādhara, who is
Caitanyadeva, who is Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita, all these
things, Advaita. The whole
structure is given by Svarūpa Dāmodara, and that is followed by all,
Sanātana, Rūpa, then Kavirāja, Lokanātha, they have
accepted that. Advaita was such and such,
Mahā Viṣṇu, Nityānanda as Baladeva, Caitanya, Rādhā-Govinda-milita-tanu,
Gadādhara, Rādhārāṇī emptied, ________ the whole
thing. The basic acquaintance of Caitanya līlā comes from
Svarūpa Dāmodara. And the structure has been formed on that
foundation: that is Svarūpa Dāmodara, everything in Gaura līlā.
And Lalitā
in Kṛṣṇa līlā, who is the guardian, who
thinks herself the only guardian of Rādhārāṇī. Even
she does not care for Kṛṣṇa, her
affection, blind affection towards Rādhārāṇī. Even
sometimes she gives stricture to Kṛṣṇa. “You don’t know how
You should treat my mistress, how great She is, how great affection She has got
for You, You do not know that. You come to compete with Her? Who are
You?”(Chuckle) In this way she chastises sometimes Kṛṣṇa
Himself, such position she holds, and such great affection she bears for
Rādhārāṇī, her guardian.Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: So it says here that Svarūpa Dāmodara,gaudiya
vaisnava sampradaya ek matra mallik.[?] For
this reason, you’ve explained. It’s very nice.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja:Viśwambara
priyaṅkara,
śrī-svarūpa
dāmodara.
[mahāprabhu śrī-caitanya,
rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya
rūpānuga janera jīvana
viśwambhara priyaṅkara
śrī-swarūpa
dāmodara, śrī-goswāmī rūpa-sanātana]
[“Mahāprabhu Śrī Caitanya is non different from
Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and is
the very life of those Vaiṣṇavas who follow Śrī Rūpa
Goswāmī. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Goswāmī,
Rūpa Goswāmī, and Sanātana Goswāmī were the
givers of great happiness to Viśvambhara (Śrī Caitanya).” [From
Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura’s Śrī
Guru-paramparā, 6]
[From Songs Of The Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas, p 90-3]
Then comes in the routines. Ya mitra rūpa sanātana eho
gaurāṅga, svarūpera bhāṇḍāra.
It is also, Śrī Gaurāṅga līlā, the store,
that is in the store of Svarūpa Dāmodara. Teṅho thuilā
raghunāthera kaṇṭhe. He extended something to the throat
of Raghunātha. Tāhāṅ kichu ye śuniluṅ.
“Whatever I have got, a few drops from my Guru Raghunātha, I am going to
describe it, elaborate that here.” Kavirāja Goswāmī says. Gaurāṅga
svarūpera bhāṇḍāra. “Gaurāṅga is in
the store of Svarūpa, and from his bhāṇḍāra,
the storehouse, he gave something to Raghunātha. And from Raghunātha,
my Gurudeva, I got something, and now that, oh my beloved listeners, readers, I
am going to contribute to you a part of that.” So svarūpera bhāṇḍāra.
Svarūpa Goswāmī, he knows everything about Gaurāṅga,
he is the master, the master Ācārya.
[caitanya-līlā-ratna-sāra, svarūpera
bhāṇḍāra, teṅho thuilā raghunāthera kaṇṭhe
tāhāṅ kichu ye śuniluṅ, tāhā
ihāṅ vistāriluṅ, bhakta-gaṇe diluṅ ei bheṭe]
[“The pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are the topmost
of jewels. They have been kept in the storehouse of Svarūpa Dāmodara
Gosvāmī, who has explained them to Raghunātha dāsa
Gosvāmī, who has repeated them to me. Whatever little I have heard
from Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī I have described in this book,
which is presented to all devotees.]
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
2.84]
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja what was the, Rāma,
Rāmānanda Rāya, Svarūpa Dāmodara.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Viśākhā, sākhya-rasa,
they are friends.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Says that the father of Rāmānanda Rāya,
Bhavānanda.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Son.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Father.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Father was Bhavānanda.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Paṭṭanāyaka.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Bhavānanda Paṭṭanāyaka,
kāyastha, Orriya kāyastha. Bhavānanda had five
sons, the second perhaps is Rāmānanda, second or third, something
like that. Vānīṇātha he was, like a servant he attended
Gaurāṅgadeva, in many ways he served, Vānīṇātha.
And Gopīnātha, he was a manager of a particular state of
Pratāparudra. Gopīnātha, Rāmānanda, then that
Vānīṇātha and there are another two [Kalānidhi and
Sudhānidhi].Nitāi Gaura-Gadādhara.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, what, if one compares the Caitanya-caritāmṛta
with Caitanya-Bhāgavat, I had read in Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura’s Vibrti that the
Caitanya-Bhāgavat is like the first half.
Śrīla Śrīdhara
Mahārāja:
First half, generally the Adi līlā the first half has been
given by Caitanya-Bhāgavat elaborately, and the second half, he did
not describe. That was mainly Purī centred, and he remained here, so he
did not get much information, he did not like to interfere with that Śeṣa
līlā. Only what short sketch he heard, he only gave, he only
wrote about that. And his conception about Caitanyadeva and His līlā,
of course he has given a statement very fluidly and very emotionally, but as
regards the siddhānta, the ontological aspect of Śrī
Caitanyadeva’s teachings, it is not to be found very accurately there.But Caitanya-caritāmṛta
we find the real siddhānta, the ontological aspect of Śrī
Caitanyadeva, we find there. That is more valuable to us.
There is another book, Caitanya Maṅgala. That is also a
little more sentimental. And sometimes going to help, so much so that, it was
to help that Gaura Nāgarī vada. So he eliminated that portion.
And there is also Bhakti-ratnākara, which was written after
two hundred years of Śrī Caitanyadeva. There also we find a tinge of
Gaura Nāgarī vada. So we are not to follow that side there.
...
_____________________________________________
[?] Nitāi Gaura-Gadādhara. Nitāi.
Very hot huh, in the morning sweating,
body sweating.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Mahārāja, there was one word here which Vṛndāvana
dāsa Ṭhākura has used, he is describing Nityānanda Prabhu,
it says,sesa kande nityananda maha malla
raya.
So this malla?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Malla,
wrestler.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Wrestler, achar.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: He does not care for anyone, a very
desperate follower. He’s roaming half mad here and there, and requesting people
to take refuge under Śrī Caitanyadeva, to join the camp of
Śrī Caitanya. Bhaja gaurāṅga, kaha gaurāṅga.
And fearlessly, the smārta-paṇḍit they were very inimical to Him but He did not care. He showed that, “I have got
infinite strength. I won’t care for you, or a
fig for you.” Very boldly He used to wander through the length and breadth of
Bengal, especially on two sides of Ganges defying the smārta-paṇḍit
and the tantric. So mahā madhurai, He was just as a big
wrestler does not care for anybody, fearlessly He roamed everywhere. So
Nityānanda without caring, the great enemies of the smārta and
tantric, the two sections influential in the society at the time. They were
very much against Śrī Gaurāṅga, but Nityānanda cared
fig for them. With fearless look He used to roam here and there and preaching,
“Give up everything and come to join our camp. And don’t be afraid of the
society, and those social leaders, you need not care a fig for them. I am
here.” In this way, with such attitude He preached.
Mahāprabhu
sent Him to Bengal. “Nityānanda You don’t
remain in My company, Bengal is there. The worst place, I also failed, I also
ran away from Bengal. But without You no one will be able to help the Bengalis,
so You select that as Your zone.”
The most atheistic, the nyāyaics were there, nyāyaics
means atheist, mostly atheist, the nyāyaics, and Navadvīpa
was the capitol of the nyāyaics, of whole of
India at that time. Nyāyaics as
logicians, logicians, “Yes there may be a maker of this world, someone, some
Īśvara, but what are we to do with him?___________________________ [?] “When we find
this world, must have, there must be one who has created this world, this much
we can admit from logic, but nothing more. There is a creator, when the created
thing we see, someone must have created. Then there may be a creator of this
world. That much, no more we find from our logic.”
The nyāyaics they are a kind
of atheist, intellectual atheist, and the tantric the oppositionist,
direct oppositionist to Vaiṣṇavism. “The potency is everything, māyā
is all, and your Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, all
created by, they all come from māyā’s womb, from the womb of māyā.”
Māyā is everything; that is the tantric.
And the smārta, the karma-kāṇḍi:
“The karma is everything. As we shall do,
we shall reap the result. What devotion will have to do here? As you do, you
will get the results accordingly. So don’t go hither thither, stick to your karma,
duty. We have come to discharge duty, and strictly adhere to that duty.
Wherever you have come you have got some duty, in relation with the
paraphernalia, and go on discharging your duty, that is all. And if there be
any God, he is bound to give you fruit according to your karma, so karma
is everything.”
Isvara the karma phala prayojan [?]“He gives, he joins
particular result to particular karma, that is His duty.”
Karmanga bhuta [?]“But you will be dealt according to your karma, so be
attentive about your duty, nothing else, more concerned, your highest concern
is with your karma. If you do good karma, Īśvara is
bound to give you good result, if you do bad karma, he is bound to give
you bad result. So he is a secondary position, karma is the primary
thing.”This is smārta vāda.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: The Tantrics, they use agama what is their śāstra?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Yes agama, that is Tantra
śāstra, agama, ________Veda. That mainly comes from
Śiva, the plane of renunciation.“If we secure power, acquire power, then
who is my mother, she will be my wife, come under my control.” Bhama, ma
bhama, Bhama means wife.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Bhama meaning which...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: Wife.
Bhāratī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: “When I shall become Śiva, by
following the path of yoga and this tantra, I shall attain the
position of Śiva. When I shall attain the position of Śiva, then the prakṛti,
the māyā, will be my wife, my servitor, master of māyā,
Śiva. When I shall attain liberation, then māyā will be
subservient, her position will be subservient. Now I am fallen in a trap, in
her trap she’s interfering, handling with me like anything, like mother, I come
from her.”
...
[From 31:10, Mostly Bengali (?) spoken, with
a little English]
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: That is nature of the healthy body, to
be hungry, satisfaction is māyā, limited, connection with
infinite means more and more,_____________________ [?]
End of 81.09.23.A
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