The Pro-rtviks' approach is the same as Ekalavya's faulty approach

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The Pro-rtviks' approach is the same as Ekalavya's faulty approach

 

The story of Ekalavya occurs in the Mahabharata. Ekalavya was the son of a

Nishada (a low-class tribe) king and wanted to become a disciple of Drona to

learn the art of Dhanurveda. But Drona refused to teach him. Then Ekalavya,

without securing the permission of Drona, made an earthen and mystical image

of Drona and started worshipping it. Mahabharata mentions that Ekalavya

obtained power from the image so much so that Ekalavya did become a very

proficient archer.

 

One day Arjuna found out about Ekalavya's mode of worship and skill and

informed Drona about Ekalavya and hinted to Drona that Ekalavya should not

be allowed to remain in such situation. Dronacarya then went to Ekalavya and

asked for his right thumb as a guru-dakshina. Ekalavya cut his right thumb

promptly and gave it to Dronacarya.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has commented on this incident in an

article published in Upakhyane Upadesa, Part II. This article was translated

by Srila Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja into English. It also appeared a few

years back in one of the Back To Godhead Magazines. Some excerpts follow

below. Our comments for the sake of clarification appear within square

brackets.

 

"Ekalavya wanted his skill to be greater than that acquired by learning the

Vedic wisdom directly from a bona fide spiritual master [i.e. by personally

approaching and serving a bona fide guru], as Arjuna had done. By asking

Dronacarya to do something about Ekalavya, Arjuna showed Ekalavya that

Ekalavya's approach to learning the Vedic science was wrong.

 

"If Arjuna had not mercifully pointed that out to him, impersonalism would

have prevailed. To learn sciences and devotions, people would have created

imaginary, mundane, unconscious gurus instead of [personally] approaching a

[living] bona fide guru.

 

"So Arjuna took care that such an atheistic principle not be established.

Arjuna was not envious of Ekalavya. Arjuna's action was a manifestation of

his mercy toward Ekalavya and the whole world.

 

"If Ekalavya had been an unalloyed devotee of his guru, Krsna would not have

destroyed such a guru-bhakta, an earnest disciple of the guru... But

Ekalavya was killed by the hand of Krsna. That is what finally happened to

Ekalavya."

 

Comment:

Ekalavya's mistake was that he did not approach a living guru and serve and

please such a living guru. He made a mystical form of his guru (who was

living) and worshipped that mystic form and indeed obtained extra-ordinary

powers of archery. However, his approach was illegitimate. Srila

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains that Ekalavya's approach was

opposite to that Arjuna who directly and personally served the guru in his

manifest living form.

 

The Ritvik approach to take shelter of Srila Prabhupada through his books is

like that of Ekalavya. One who is not initiated by Srila Prabhupada in His

Divine Grace's manifest presence and who only wants to approach Srila

Prabhupada through his books derecognizing Srila Prabhupada's follower-gurus

might say that he is getting mercy from Srila Prabhupada but his approach is

illegitimate. Indeed, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati sternly warns us that

Ekalavya's approach is not bona fide and would bring about impersonalism.

 

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Here is the excerpt from the article originally entitled "Arjuna o Ekalavya"

(in the Internet-standard Ascii transliteration scheme for roman characters,

ITRANS 4.1):

 

ekalavya shrauta-vidyaa vaa mahaanta-gurura nikaTa haite saakshhaad-bhaave

adhita vidyaa apekshhaao nijera baahaaduriike 'baDa' karite chaahitechhila,

taahaa arjuna droNaachaaryera nikaTa jaanaaiyaachhilena. yadi arjuna kR^ipaa

kariyaa ihaa naa jaanaaitena, tabe nirvisheshha-vaaderai 'jaya' vighoshhita

haita. loke mahaanta-gurura nikaTa vidyaa-shikshaa naa kariyaao taahaara

ichchhaara viruddhe kaalpanika vaa maaTiyaa achetana gurura nikaTa vidyaa

vaa bhakti shikshhaa karite paare - eiruupa naastika matai pratishhThita

haita. ataeva arjuna ekalavyera prati iirshhaanvita hana naai, ekalavyera

pratio jagatera prati ahaitukii dayaai kariyaachhena.

 

ekalavya yadi nishhkapaTa gurubhaktai haibe, tabe seiruupa gurubhaktake

kR^ishhNa vinaasha karite paarena naa... kintu shrii kRishhNera haste

ekalavya nihata haiyaachhila. ihaai ekalavyera sheshha pariNati.