Please explain?

[Guest guest]

Dear Nayana-ranjana Prabhu,

please accept my respectful obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and all other Vaisnavas!

All glories to Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai and Sri Sri Radha-Govinda!

 

> SB 6.1.13-14 Lecture Honolulu

>

> Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to say... He was sannyasi. He said that "Even if

> I see a doll made of wood, a beautiful woman, My mind becomes agitated."

> So what to speak of us? So this is the example. Caitanya Mahaprabhu giving

> some... To be agitated in the mind, that is not unnatural, but if you

> practice, then you'll not be agitated anymore. If you practice by your

> knowledge, then you'll not be agitated. That is called dhira. Dhiras tatra

> na muhyati. You have to become dhira.

 

I am not the person who can answer You questions, but I have some

words to say.

 

> QUESTION

>

> Now on one hand, Lord Caitanya was agitated just by seeing a wooden doll

> of a woman. On the other hand Prabhupada says that one can remain

> unagitated by practice. Does that mean Lord Caitanya had no practice or

> that he was not dhira or he was not actually agitated? Prabhupada is

> saying Lord Caitanya is giving example. What exactly does that mean?

First of all, I don't know why Srila Prabhupada said Lord Caitanya

felt agitated. I mean, in CC Antya 2.117-118 (the story about Junior

Haridasa) He says that, but not about Himself, rather about a bogus

sannyasi:

The Lord replied, "I cannot tolerate seeing the face of a person who

has accepted the renounced order of life but who still talks intimately with

a woman.

So strongly do the senses adhere to the objects of their enjoyment

that indeed a wooden statue of a woman attracts the mind of even a great

saintly person."

At least, we can be 100% sure that Lord Gauranga was NOT agitated.

But He might have said He was, why not. He was playing a role of a devotee,

giving us an example:

"Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also left that place to perform His noon

duties. NO ONE COULD UNDERSTAND HIS PASTIMES." (CC Antya 2.127)

As far as giving of an example is concerned, the example is Junior

Haridasa. Just read that passage in Caitanya-caritamrta. A minor fault can

cause major calamity in one's spiritual life.

 

> Prabhupada says that we should remain unagitated but if we don't feel

> agitation like Lord Caitanya, isn't something wrong? If we are aware of

> the big danger, we stay away from it. Isn't it that if one says I don't

> feel agitated, it is accepted that there is something wrong? Isn't this

> kind of agitation healthy which gives us a red signal to stay away from

> Maya?

There is a "healthy" (i.e. constructive) criticism, for example, but

"healthy" agitation is something new to me.

Why it is wrong to feel no agitation!? First You say Srila

Prabhupada said "that we should remain unagitated", but then You doubt,

whether it is OK to remain unagitated.

And it is NOT "accepted that there is something wrong", if "one says

I don't feel agitated". (Who has ACCEPTED that???) For example: are You

agitated with, say, onion? No, You are not. So, then why it should be wrong?

Where is logic?

 

> I also heard something like this. The more advanced you become in Krsna

> consciousness, the more sensitive your senses become and the tests of Maya

> become more severe. Like a neophyte may not feel disturbed by seeing a

> wooden doll but Lord Caitanya feels like that. How do we reconcile?

Na, na, na. This "I also heard" should first of all be supported by

sastra, of course. Second, Yamunacaraya. Remember? What did he say about

mithuna? Accha! So, the more advanced we are, the more dhira we are, the

less we are agitated, don't we?

But it is true that Maya's tests become more severe. My Guru

Maharaja gave an example of passing through examinations at schools. At the

beginning of our education all exams are quite simple, but when You come to

a high-school they are much more difficult. So, similarly in spiritual life:

the more You proceed forward, the more difficult are tests of Your devotion

to the Lord.

But the difficulty of a test does not say anything about Your

abilities. However difficult a test may be, if You are properly trained, You

will not have any problem with it. A pratyaksa argument.

 

Your servant,

Sergei.

Hare Krsna.