philo question about Kali Yuga

[Guest guest]

> So the yuga dharma and prema rasa sankirtana seem to be both of the same

> nature, Hari nama sankirtana or not?

 

Yes, indeed they appear as the same. However, during other ages of Kali,

when Sriman Mahaprabhu does not descend, following the yuga-dharma of

nama-kirtana will not yield the fruit of prema-rasa of Goloka Vrindavan.

 

As quoted earlier from the Caitanya Caritamrta (Adi-lila 4.16), Mahaprabhu

descended out of His own desire, as he wanted to taste the sweet essence of

the mellows of love of God and to propagate devotional service in the world

on the platform of spontaneous attraction. Incidentally, the implementation

of yuga-dharma was also carried out upon His descent. Just as a drop of

water is included in the ocean, so the yuga-dharma of nama-sankirtana was

included in the ocean of Gaura's prema-nama-sankirtana.

 

 

> But what did

> the Goswamis, what did the Acaryas- Jaganatha dasa Babaji, Bhaktivinoda

> Thakura, Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji, they have chanted.

 

And what did Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu? He chanted. And what did the six

Gosvamis of Vrindavan do? They chanted. And what did Narottama Dasa Thakura

do? He chanted. So I think it should be clear once and for all that everyone

should chant, and the deeper his understanding is, the better.

 

 

> So, no one wants to have the inferior process,

> everyone wants to feel himself advanced and a kind of sentimental approach

> to the intimate pastimes was preached as the higher process.

 

What, then, would be the superior process, if nama-kirtana would be

inferior? Saying that nama-kirtana is inferior is tantamount to saying that

Krishna is inferior, since He Himself is harinama! For sincere and serious

sadhakas, hearing of lila-katha acts as a means of entering deeper into

harinama-bhajana. Lila-katha is not for sense gratification, although one

who mistakes it as such may still be purified by its potency (viz. Srila

Prabhupada's preface to Krishna-book).

 

For all I know, I believe it was Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti who ousted the

heretic Rupa Kaviraja from the Gaudiya community due to the misconceptions

he propagated, one among which was that a raganuga-sadhaka may outright

reject the formalities of regulated devotional service. This is not correct

according to Srila Rupa Gosvamipada himself, as he points out in his

Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu --

 

sravanotkirtanadini vaidhi-bhakty uditani tu |

yanyangani ca tanyatra vijneyani manisibhih ||

 

The thoughtful know that just as the processes of sravana, kirtana etc. are

adopted on the path of vidhi, so they should be adopted by the

raganuga-sadhaka. I believe this topic has already been discussed earlier,

one may refer to my earlier text in this forum citing the verse above for

more information and references on the topic.