Misleading statements

[Guest guest]

Dear Krishna Kirti Prabhu, PAMHO. AGTSP!

 

I have been away from computers for a while and could not respond promptly

to your points. I am frankly quite shocked that you could possibly author a

text under the subject header, "The aim of Manu Samhita and

Srimad-Bhagavatam are one and the same." It would take a highly qualified

word-juggler to attempt to explain how such a statement might be in some

limited sense true, but any such screwed-out meaning would certainly be

irrelevant to the subject matter at hand. Srimad Bhagavatam itself declares

in its very second text, "dharma-projjhita kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsaranam

satam". This is nothing short of a bold and broad declaration that it's aim

is quite different from the aim of dharma sastras of all kinds. Regardless

of the actual content of your text, the subject line was a great mistake in

itself and the readers of this conference should not be bewildered by it.

 

> We can see the details of varnasrama to be specific directives which are

> based on broader principles which are mentioned in scriptures like

> Srimad-Bhagavatam, NOI, etc., to help people avoid behavior that will

> destroy their devotional service, in spite of their sincerity.

 

Here you are speaking as if there is some great harmony between these

different literatures -- "The Bhagavatam gives broad brush-strokes, and Manu

and Yajnavalkya kindly fill in the harmonious details for us." This is again

extremely misleading, in two ways: (1)The details of varnasrama as mentioned

by Manu and Yajnavalkya in their dharma-sastras are certainly based on

broader principles, but any similarity between the broader principles of

asuri-varnasrama on which they are based and the principles of

daivi-varnasrama mentioned in the Bhagavatam is purely coincidental; and

(2)The literatures of these two sages are completely lacking in any

reference whatsoever to pure devotional service. They are not at all

INTENDED to help people avoid behavior that will destroy their devotional

service, but are fully intended to help people make material advancement

through karma-kandiya processes of incremental purification.

 

> Sri

> Caitanya Mahaprabhu himself demonstrated this principle of utilizing

> varnashrama in order to nurture devotional service in others. Lord

> Caitanya reasoned that only if people somehow or other offer obeisances to

> Him, they can make spiritual advancement. He therefore accepted the

> sannyasa order of life.[1] Sannyasa itself is a material affair (after

> all, even a sannyasi is not a sannyasi forever), so we see practically how

> the Lord and his associates practically employed varnashrama in the

> service of bhakti.

 

More misleading statements. In this lila, Lord Caitanya is neither

glorifying varnasrama nor instructing others to follow it. He was simply

tricking those who were addicted to following it.

 

> Since the aim and purpose of dharma-sastras like Manu-samhita and

> transcendental literature like Srimad-Bhagavatam are ultimately one in

> purpose (vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah),

 

This Gita quote does not help your point. Krishna is saying that if one is

studying the sastras but does not know Him, then he has missed the point of

the sastras. Sure there is some indirect way in which Manu Samhita will help

one to know Krishna, but it is *most* indirect.

 

> to properly understand how to

> implement varnasrama in the mood of yukta vairagya, we have to know (1)

> our core transcendental literature that Srila Prabhupada has given us; and

> (2) vedic literature that specifically deals with the theory and practice

> of varnasrama dharma (because you can't practice it if you don't know it).

 

OK, but whatever we see in (2) better be directly there in (1) or else it

cannot be declared as an absolute principle of daivi varnasrama. We can

accept or reject according to time, place, and circumstance, any statement

in (2) that is not confirmed by our bhakti sastras.

 

> I therefore recommend that a group of senior devotees study these

> dharma-sastras, and that these devotees act as brahminical advisors in the

> matter of any sort of attempts to restructure our ISKCON society along the

> lines of varnashrama dharma.

 

No harm, provided they understand things properly.

 

Your servant, Bhaktarupa Das