Vaisnava-siddhanta-mala

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Vaisnava-siddhanta-mala (A Garland of Vaisnava Truths)

 

by Srila BHAKTIVINODE THAKURA

 

(printed in 1892 and distributed as a preaching pamphlet for spreading

the Nama Hatta Program - the Marketplace of the Holy Name)

 

 

First Section

 

Nava-prameya-siddhanta (Nine Truths of Evidence)

 

 

First Chapter

 

Q. What command has the supremely worshipable Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

given to us?

 

A. His order is this--that we very carefully observe the nine

essential instructions of truth that have been handed down through the

guru-parampara (disciplic succession) from Sri Madhvacarya.

 

Q. Who are the spiritual masters in the guru-parampara?

 

A. The adi-guru (original guru) of all the spiritual masters in the

disciplic succession is Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Showing His great mercy, He instructed Brahma, the adi-kavi (original

poet from whom the Vedic scriptures emanate). These truths were in

turn taught by Brahma to Sri Narada, by Narada to Sri Vyasa, and by

Vyasa to Sri Madhvacarya. Such instructions as received through this

disciplic succession are called guru-parampara-upadesa.

 

Q. What are these nine essential instructions given to us by Sri

Madhvacarya?

 

A. They are thus:

 

1) Bhagavan (God) alone is the supreme truth, one without a second.

2) He is the object of knowledge in all the Vedas.

3) The universe is real (satya).

4) Differences (between God, souls and matter) are real.

5) The spirit souls are the servants of Sri Krsna.

6) All souls are different according to their different situations.

7) Liberation (moksa) is the name of attainment of Bhagavan's lotus

feet.

8) Bhagavan's pure worship (amala bhajan) is the only way to attain

liberation.

9) Pratyaksa (direct perception), anumana (logic) and sabda (spiritual

sound) are the three types of evidence.

 

 

Second Chapter

 

Bhagavan Alone is the Supreme Truth

 

Q. Who is Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

 

A. Bhagavan is the one supreme being Who expands all souls and all

matter by His inconceivable energy (acintya-sakti), and then enters

into these emanations as the Supreme Lord (isvara-svarupa). He also

transcends all souls and matter as the impersonal brahman effulgence

(brahma-svarupa), which is far beyond all imagination. He manifests

His divine potency (para-sakti) to reveal His form of eternity,

knowledge and bliss (sac-cid-ananda-svarupa), thereby becoming the

object of devotion for all souls.

 

Q. What are the various types of saktis (potencies) of the Lord?

 

A. We are unable to fully describe the Lord's potencies. The reason

for this is that while His sakti has no boundaries, we have

boundaries. Therefore His energies are called para (above), because

His sakti is completely imperceptible to us. Above the veil of matter,

in the divine realm of His para-sakti, all things are accomplished

effortlessly. The opposing affairs of spirit and matter are conducted

by the para-sakti automatically.

 

Q. Then is Bhagavan subordinate to the sakti?

 

A. It's not that Bhagavan is one thing and the sakti is another thing;

just as the burning power of fire is inseparable from the fire, so

Bhagavan's sakti is similarly inseparable from Bhagavan.

 

Q. If Bhagavan, God, is the one and only Supreme Truth, then why did

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu instruct His followers about devotional

service to Sri Krsna (krsna-bhakti)? Isn't Krsna just one aspect of

Bhagavan?

 

A. Bhagavan has six eternal qualities that make Him all-attractive. He

 

possesses unlimited and ever-expanding wealth, strength, fame, beauty,

 

knowledge and renunciation. Different forms of the Lord

(bhagavat-svarupa) manifest according to whether these qualities are

expressed to greater or lesser degrees. For example, when His wealth

feature is foremost, then He manifests as Narayana, the Lord of

Vaikuntha. When His beauty or sweetness predominates, then Bhagavan

manifests as Sri Krsna. The name Krsna means "all-attractive";

therefore Krsna is the topmost supreme manifestation of Bhagavan.

 

Q. How many types of forms does the Lord have?

 

A. All of His forms are fully conscious, supremely beautiful,

overflowing with divine bliss, all-attractive, vibrantly active, and

perceivable by pure love. According to the different natures of

different souls, the Lord's eternal form manifests in an infinite

number of ways. Thus, according to these differences in the Lord's

manifestation, different-natured souls are eternally attached to

Him in their own original forms. The form of Sri Krsna is the original

form of Bhagavan that includes all other forms of God.

 

Q. What is Sri Krsna's lila?

 

A. Lila means "pastime" or "play". God is the origin of everything,

including the playful spirit. In the limitless realm of the spiritual

world, the most supremely charming portion is called Sri Vrndavana.

There, Sri Krsna displays His conjugal lila with His divine feminine

counterpart Sri Radha. When souls attain their own forms of divine

bliss, they become qualified to participate in Radha and Krsna's

eternal loving pastimes.

 

Q. What are the obstacles to the attainment of Sri Krsna's lila?

 

A. There are two types of obstacles: 1) material consciousness

(jada-buddhi) and 2) impersonal consciousness (nirvisesa buddhi),

which is beyond the conception of material consciousness.

 

Q. What is material consciousness?

 

A. Material consciousness is an awareness that is confined to material

place, time, objects, aspirations, thoughts and activities. According

to material consciousness, one thinks of Vrndavana as a material

place. Material consciousness divides eternal time into three parts:

past, present and future.

 

The objects of material consciousness are the perishable forms of

matter. Material aspiration refers to the hopes for impermanent

happiness, such as attaining higher and higher material pleasures. In

this condition, the soul can think only material thoughts. Such a soul

imagines the following temporary activities to be worthwhile: the

culture of civilization, moral ethics, scientific learning, industrial

development, and the increase of domestic prosperity.

 

Q. What is impersonal consciousness?

 

A. The principle that separates one material object from another is

called visesa (distinction based upon material quality). When one

renounces material objects, one only gives up the conception of visesa

or material distinction. Consciousness then enters into nirvisesa

(nondistinction). In this condition, one is not able to perceive the

differences between material objects, since the self is situated in

nirvana, the impersonal state of negation. This state is not a happy

one at all. Bereft of the natural bliss of fully awakened

consciousness, the soul's prema or ecstatic love for Krsna remains

concealed.

 

The eternal pastimes of Sri Krsna are beyond matter. They are endowed

with cin-maya-visesa, or divine distinction which is transcendental to

distinction based upon material quality.

 

Q. If Sri Krsna's pastimes are beyond matter, then exactly how does He

enact His lila in the material world as He did 5000 years ago?

 

A. Sri Krsna-lila is certainly transcendental to matter, but by the

power of His inconceivable potency (acintya-sakti) He manifests His

pastimes within the material sphere. Even so, Sri Krsna's pastimes

never blend with matter or become subject to the laws of matter. The

pastimes of Sri Krsna have two phases: 1) prakat (visible in the

material world) and 2) aprakat (visible only in the spiritual world

beyond matter) and both are visuddha-cinmaya or pervaded with the

purest divine consciousness. His pastimes are performed only in the

most purely sacred realm of the splendid spiritual forest of Sri

Vrndavana.

 

Their manifestation in the material world and in the hearts of

purified souls is only due to Krsna's causeless mercy. Even when

Krsna's lila is performed in the world of matter, the conditioned

souls who are absorbed in material consciousness (jada-buddhi) are

unfortunately cheated; their contact with matter makes them see the

lila with faulty vision. Only souls free from jada-buddhi are able to

understand the truth. When one becomes believed of faulty material

vision, he is then attracted to the Lord's pastimes.

 

As long as the souls cannot understand Sri Krsna-tattva (the truth

about the Lord), they cannot taste rasa or the pure sweetness of

loving exchanges with God.

 

Q. The teachings of Sri Krsna-tattva are the religious principles of

the Vaisnava-dharma. What about people who follow other types of

religion?

 

A. Different religions have different instructions for the worship of

either Isvara (the personal God), Paramatma (the localized Supersoul

in the heart) or Brahma (His all-pervading impersonal feature) but all

three of these types of religions are ultimately pointing in the

direction of Krsna-tattva (the truth of Krsna). After the souls evolve

upward through their various paths of development, they will

eventually attain Krsna-bhakti (devotion to Krsna) in the end. Even

though they aspire for the incomplete goals of various religious

paths, Krsna-bhakti is always available to them, because the

perception of Sri Krsna-tattva is the ultimate knowledge inherent

within each and every living entity.

 

(To be continued)