Vaisnavaism

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and all Vaisnavas who

walk in the pure love of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Please

accept my humble obeisances. I pray that this meets each and

everyone in this wonderful group in perfect health and in the

service of Guru and Gauranga.

 

There was a request sent to me by a wonderful friend requesting that

I reply to a post entitled "Why are Gaudiya Vaishnavas so

Intolerant?". In this post, there were several questions asked

that

are certainly viable. It is not my intent to offend anyone, so I

humbly ask for forgiveness now if any find offense to this post. It

is my intention to teach what the position of Gaudiya Vaishnavaism

is, not the separatism that it has become known for.

 

The Gaudiya Matha is a part of the Vedic Vaisnava tradition and

presents the teachings of the Vedas in original pure form. By this

I mean that the Vedic Sastras are translated as close as possible

out of the original Sanskrit into whatever language that is

desired. Great pains are taken by several scholars to ensure that a

complete translation is achieved. This Vedic tradition is preserved

due to a direct succession of spiritual masters and disciples called

a parampara. This method has proven that it can change the lives of

thousands in a positive way.

 

It is easy to illustrate the difference between traditional Hinduism

and Vaisnavism: Vaisnavas accept the Vedas, but accept "many

paths"

only partially. Different scriptural paths are the means leading to

the end (liberation), but the path of devotion and service (bhakti)

is both the means and the end. It continues forever, even after

liberation. The Gaudiya Matha does not believe that there is a

merging into the Brahma effulgence, rather Krishna is the ultimate

source of Brahma. Therefore, Krishna is the One to be worshiped,

and "many gods" are to be revered as His empowered

representatives

only, not to be worshiped as independent of Him.

 

In the Brahma-Samita hymn 1, Sri Brahma sings:

 

Isvarah paramah krsnah

Sac-cid-ananda-vagrahah

Anadir adir govindah

Sarva-karana-karanam

 

"Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has

an

eternal blissful spiritual body, He is the origin of all. He has no

other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes."

 

Here Sri Brahma establishes the supremacy of the Absolute Truth, Sri

Krishna. One does not offer praise and humility to a subordinate or

to a peer on this magnatude, only to one that is superior. Through

out the Brahma Samita, Sri Brahma exhaults Sri Krishna as the Lord,

and refers to himself as His faithful servant.

 

In the Bhagavad Gita 10:2 it is stated:

 

Ne ma viduh sura-ganah

Prabhavam na maharsayah

Aham adir hi devanam

Maharsinam ca sarvasah

 

"Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin

or

opulences, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods

and sages.

 

Here Sri Krishna indirectly states that He is the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, and that if anyone wants to know the

Absolute Truth, then "here I am", He sets it straight that He

is the

Supreme.

 

In the Bhagavad Gita 7:20 it is stated:

 

Kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah

Prapadyante `nya=devatah

Tam tam niyamam asthaya

Prakrtya nayatah svaya

 

"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires

surrender unto the demigods and follow the particular rules and

regulations of worship according to their own natures."

 

Those who are freed from all material contaminations surrender unto

the Supreme Lord and engage in His devotional service. As long as

the material contamination is not completely washed off, they are by

nature non-devotees. But even those who have material desires and

who resort to the Supreme Lord are not so much attracted by external

nature; because of approaching the right goal, they soon become free

from all material lust. Less intelligent people who have lost their

spiritual sense take shelter of the demigods for immediate

fulfillment of their material desires. Generally, such people do

not go to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because they are in

the lower modes of nature and therefore worship the various

demigods. Following the rules and regulations of worship, they are

satisfied. Because in the Vedic literatures there are

recommendations for worshiping different gods for different purposes

(e.g., a diseased man is recommended to worship the sun), those who

are not devotees of the Lord think that for certain purposes

demigods are better than the Supreme Lord. But a pure devotee

knows that the Supreme Lord Krishna is the master of all. In the

Caitanya-caritamrita (adi 5:142) it is said, ekal isvara krsna ara

saba bhrtya: only the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is

master, and all others are servants. Therefore a pure devotee never

goes to the demigods for satisfaction of his material needs. He

depends on the Supreme Lord, and the pure devotee is satisfied with

whatever He gives. (Srila Prabhupada BG Purport 7:20)

 

Now we search for the needs of our desires to be met in this

material world. Lets say, for love. We search for love, but there

is no love here, and even if there were, it turns to sorrow when our

loved one departs from us. Therefore, the Vedas tells us not to

search for love in the material world, for it is a waste of time,

but to search for the love of Krishna. When we develop that love,

by the purificatory process of Krishna consciousness, we will

finally become satisfied. When we fully surrender to Sri Krishna,

then all our desires and needs are met, without the karmic strings

that are attached to the worship of the demigods for their favors.

 

According to popular Indian tradition, Ganesa is a benign and

helpful diety who brings successs and assures worldly well being.

Since devotees of Krishna are more interested in spiritual

realization than in worldly security, Vaisnavas tend to forgo the

worship of Ganesa. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita 9:23:

 

Ye `py anya-devata-bhakta

Yajante sraddhayanvitah

Te `pi mam eva kaunteya

Yajanty avidhi-purvakam

 

"Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with

faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), but they do

so in a wrong way.

 

Lord Krishna uses the word avidhi purvakam, "in an inappropriate

way." Why is such worship of the demigods inappropriate?

Because

it is materially motivated. As Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita

4:12:

 

Kanksantah karmanam siddhim

Yajanta iha devatah

Ksipram hi manuse loke

Siddhir bhavati karma-ja

 

"Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and

therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course, men get

results from fruitive work in this world."

 

It is our position to return to Godhead, not to remain in the

karmic cycle. Since material enjoyment is temporary, and all things

outside of Krishna will be destroyed at the annihilation, it seems

that one would desire to return to their original position instead

of remaining on this material platform.

 

Since we are essentially spiritual beings in a material body,

material rewards can never truly satisfy us. Only spiritual rewards

are satisfying for a spirit soul. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada

concurring with the two Bhagavad Gita verses mentioned above says

that "To worship Ganapati (Ganesa) is not required, but sometimes

we

do it. Just like the Gopis, they worshipped the Goddess Durga,

Katyayani. They were not required to worship her, but that was part

of the social system. But they asked, Mother Katyayani, give us the

opportunity to have Krishna as our husband. Their aim was

Krishna"

(Morning walk, Los Angeles, Jan 10, 1974)

 

So the worship of Ganesa, like that of his mother, Durga (Parvati),

is not condemned, but it should be done for the proper reasons:

Ganesa is a devotee of Lord Krishna and we can pray to him to remove

obstacles on the road to Krishna Consciousness. In this regard,

Brahma Samhita (5:50) explains that Ganesa is Krishna's devotee.

 

Yat-pada-pallava-yugam vinidhaya kumbha-

Dvandve pranama-samaye sa ganadhirajah

Vighnan vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya

Govindam adi-purusam tam sham bhajami

 

"I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, whose lotus feet are always

held

by Ganesa upon the pair of tumuli protruding from his elephant head

in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all the

obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds."

 

Ganesa holds on his elephant head the lotus feet of Govinda.

 

Srila Prabhupada wrote in the "Nectar of Devotion" concerning

the

demigods:

"One should not neglect to offer due respect to the demigods.

One

may not be a devotee of the demigods, but that does not mean that he

should be disrespectful to either them or to their devotees. For

example, a Vaisnava is not a devotee of Lord Siva or Lord Brahma,

but he is duty bound to offer all respects to such highly positioned

demigods. According to Vaisnava philosophy, one should offer

respect even to an ant, so then what is there to speak of such

persons as Lord Siva and Lord Brahma? In the Padma Purana it is

said, "Krishna, or Hari, is the master of all the demigods, and

therefore He is always worshipable. But this does not mean that one

should not offer respect to the demigods.

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is a complete incarnation of both Sri

Krishna and Srimati Radharani, therefore He is the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. Caitanya preached pure love of Godhead

(Krishna) without deviation. In essance, there is no difference

between the teachings of Sri Caitanya and the teachings of Lord

Krishna in the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad Gita. Lord

Krishna's ultimate instruction in Bhagavad Gita is that everyone

should surrender to Him. Krishna promises to take immediate charge

of such a surrendered soul.

 

Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita 9:34;

 

Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto

Mad-yaji mam namaskuru

Mam evaisyasi yuktvaivam

Atmamam mat-parayanah

 

"Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee,

offer

obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me,

surely you will come to Me."

 

Lord Caitanya teaches direct worship of Lord Krishna. He taught the

population in the sankahya philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva,

which maintains that the Lord is one with and different from His

creation at the same time. Lord Caitanya taught this philosophy

through the chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord. (Hare Krishna,

Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama

Rama, Hare Hare) He taught that the Holy Names of the Lord is the

sound incarnation of the Lord, and that since the Lord is the

absolute whole, there is no difference between His Holy Name and His

transcendental form. Therefore, by chanting the Holy Names of the

Lord, one can directly associate with the Supreme Lord by sound

vibration.

 

Gaudiya Vaishnavaism follows the teachings of Sri Krishna Caitanya

Mahaprabhu and because there is no difference between His teachings

and those of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita, and other Vedic

scriptures, we look to Sri Caitanya as the perfect example of

Vaisnavaism.

 

As a Vaisnava I sincerely believe in the teachings of Caitanya

Mahaprabhu and also the acharyas that are in the disciplic

succession. But personally I do not believe in secretarianism nor

in fanatasism. Unfortunately there are those who believe that one

sect is above that of another. This is most unfortunate. One of

the ten offenses to devotional service is "One should not give

unnecessary trouble to any living entity." Yet there are sects

within Vaisnavaism that persecute, lie, slander, take to court,

restrain, murder, maime and harass not only members of other sects,

but also those of their own that are out of favor for whatever

reason. Many will defend themselves by becoming puffed up in their

pride stating "You are not qualified to make such an

opinion!", but

in truth, an offence is an offence in the eyes of Sri Krishna

against on of His devotees no matter what group they belong.

 

The greatest suggestion that I can offer to you is to be tolerant

and follow what you believe in your own heart. Yes, I am a

Vaisnava, I teach Vaisnava tradition, but I also realize that others

have very different beliefs. If one worships only Lord Siva, I am

bound to respect them because I am bound to respect Lord Siva. I

cannot respect Lord Siva by being anything less than a true Vaisnava

to his devotees. We may not agree, but there is no reason to be

disrespectful. Also, it is my experience that through understanding

and love, one preaches more effectively. I certainly cannot teach

one that I have offended, especially to the point of unforgiveness.

 

I pray that this has helped you in your understanding.

 

Your eternal servant;

Arjunananda Gauranga Maharaj