'Sat guru and siksa mantras' [From Sanga]

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

S a n g a

 

Saturday, May 12, Disappearance of Srila Raya Ramananda

 

"You have found a sat guru in Srila Prabhupada. Consider yourself very

fortunate. Find a siksa guru who actually represents your diksa guru and

encourages you to chant the mantras he gave you."

 

Q&A discussion with Swami B.V. Tripurari.

 

Q. What is the spiritual etiquette for hearing the gayatri mantra (and in

some cases new mantras) a second time from a siksa guru? Are these mantras

meant for the siksa guru or do they also reach Srila Prabhupada?

 

A. If we accept a siksa guru in the full sense of the term, we will

consider him to be a manifestation of Krsna who is not different in

substance from our diksa guru. His function is to instruct us and thereby

water the seed of bhakti planted in our heart by our diska guru. If we have

given up our practice for a long time, there is no harm if we hear the

mantra from him again. But we shouldn't do this unless we feel that he is

fully representing our particular spiritual interest.

 

If we consider ourselves a member of the particular group in which our

Gurudeva is serving in Krsna lila, we will want to have a siksa guru who

understands this and helps us to enter that group. However, it is also

possible that the siksa guru may be more spiritually advanced than the

diksa guru, and in this case his ideal may take precedence in out heart.

Another possibility is that the two gurus are of the same stature and one

or the other becomes our main guru. This is not something to legislate. It

is a matter of the heart.

 

You are an initiated disciple of Srila Prpabhupda, as am I. We follow in

the line of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. Prabhupada gave his

disciples the mantras he heard from Srila Saraswati Thakura. The mantras

Prabhupada gave to his disciples are Brahma gayatri, guru mantra and

gayatri, gaura mantra and gayatri, krsna mantra and gayatri. Combined with

the the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha mantra, these are more than

sufficient.

 

You should never give up chanting these mantras in exchange for new ones

that are billed as being higher or better in some way. Find a siksa guru

who actually represents your diksa guru and encourages you to chant the

mantras he gave you. You have found a sat guru in Srila Prabhupada.

Consider yourself very fortunate. This was also the policy of Sridhara

Maharaja, who explained the significance of our diksa mantras to me and

repeatedly encouraged me along these lines.

 

Q. Today is the disappearance of Srila Raya Ramananda. Some say he might

have been a sahajiya Vaisnava who performed tantric sadhana. What do you

make of this?

 

A. This line of reasoning is not very sensible. Given the difference

between the Sahajiya/tantric doctrine and that of Gaudiya Vaisnavism, it is

difficult to imagine that one of the most prominent followers of Sri

Caitanya could differ so considerably on fundamental religious doctrine.

 

The Sahajiya doctrine holds that Radha and Krsna are the macrocosmic

representation of the microcosmic union of man and woman and through sexual

encounter imitates the 'myth' of Radha-Krsna (man thinking himself to be

Krsna and his unwedded partner to be Radha). Through this, one can realize

himself to be the spiritual essence arising out of the combination of the

male and female principles. Gaudiya Vaisnavism on the other hand does not

admit to this macrocosmic/microcosmic concept, nor that it culminates in an

impersonal spiritual essence in which man and woman are thought to have

become one through sexual union.

 

Ramananda Raya was an intellectual giant, and there is no justification for

assuming that he was not morally upright. Indeed, he intimately associated

with Sri Caitanya himself, who was morally strict to the extreme.

Ramananda's sadhana, which involved associating intimately with two female

temple dancers, does at a glance seem to correspond with left-handed

tantric practices common to Sahajiyas. However, under scrutiny it becomes

clear that his practices were in fact diametrically opposed to those of the

Sahajiyas.

 

His purpose for associating intimately with these women so was to teach

them how to perform his drama, 'Jagannatha-vallabha-nataka,' a drama for

the pleasure of Jagannatha. The 'dasis' learned from Ramananda how to

express the various sancari-bhavas, anubhavas, etc. through the movements

of their eyes and bodily gestures which are essential elements of

bhakti-rasa. Caitanya Caritamrta explains that he taught them these things

in the mood of a manjari assisting elder gopis (sakhis) in the art of

loving Krsna.

 

At no time did his practice involve thinking of himself as Krsna or the

women as Radha, or having sexual union with them, or aspiring to an

impersonal form of liberation - all of which are integral to

sahajiya-sadhana. By contrast, his sadhana, at least conceptually, is

overtly raganuga-bhakti, the very sadhana that Sri Caitanya came to

distribute. The somewhat unconventional form that Ramananda's sadhana took,

serves to illustrate his spiritual advancement in which his bhava

manifested in his external practices and guided them.

 

This is no doubt extraordinary and not to be imitated, but it is not an

example of left-handed sahajiya tantric practice. After all, Ramananda Raya

was the first person to understand Sri Caitanya to be Radha and Krsna

combined. He had deep, penetrating spiritual vision and was an eternal

associate of Mahaprabhu. Sri Caitanya singled him out and praised him for

his spiritual penetration that involved this practice, while advising

others not to imitate him.

 

Kavikarnapura has described Ramananda through the mouth of Sarvabhauma in

his drama 'Caitanya-candrodaya-nataka' as a sahajya-vaisnava. However, when

Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami relates this same historical instance in his

Caitanya Caritamrta, he has Sarvabhauma call Ramananda a rasika-bhakta.

Generically and in terms of the consistent use of the term throughout the

Goswami literature, sahajiya means spontaneous, accomplished, natural,

innate. Thus in the Goswami granthas, sahajiya-vaisnava and rasika-bhakta

are synonymous. Furthermore, during the time of Mahaprabhu the Sahajiya

cult was not referred to by that name. That was a later development.

 

Q. What was Prabhupada's opinion of homosexuality?

 

A. Prabhupada felt that homosexuality was a material reflection of sakhya

rasa. When one of his disciples told him he was homosexual, Prabhupada

replied , "No, you just need a friend (Krsna)." The sexual urge must be

replaced with love for Krsna.

 

Q. How important is it whether sadhakas wear leather shoes or not?

 

A. Vallabha makes much of this in his Bhagavata tika regarding Krsna's

refusal to wear shoes while cow herding. Try to avoid it. However,

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura wore patten leather shoes.

 

Q. In a previous Sanga you said that 'Hara' refers to Lord Siva. But isn't

it also true that 'Hara' refers to Srimati Radharani which appears as

'Hare' in the maha mantra?

 

A. The name Hare in the Hare Krsna mantra is the vocative form of Hari.

Thus it is an address to Lord Hari. The maha mantra begins with this

address, "O Hari (Hare)!" In this sense Hare is one of three names of God

in the maha mantra - Hare, Krsna, and Rama. The name Hari means, 'He who

takes away.'

 

When Srimate Radharani chants the Hare Krsna maha mantra, she considers

Hare to be a name of Krsna (Hari) . Some cowherds also understand Hare in

this way. However, Hare can also be considered a name for Radha when taken

as the vocative form of Hara. Hara is she who steals away Hari.

 

Addressing Radha as Hare says more about her greatness than to address her

directly as Radha. In the context of the maha mantra it is also a veiled

way of singing her name, and this is more pleasing to the tasteful

devotees. This is the special interpretation found in our sampradaya.

 

Q. I am a Hindu and we believe in so many gods. Christians say there is

only one God and he is Christ, the real avatar. His life seems to be so

humble, sacrificing, and full of wisdom and good examples. How should I

think about this?

 

A. Christian theologian John Moffit in his book 'Journey to Gorakhpur: An

Encounter with Christ Beyond Christianity,' said the following about Sri

Caitanya, 'If I were asked to choose one man in Indian religious history

who best represents the pure spirit of devotional self-giving, I would

choose the Vaishnavite saint Caitnaya, whose full name in religion was

Krsna Caitanya, or 'Krsna consciousness.' Of all the saints in recorded

history, East or West, he seems to me the supreme example of a soul carried

away on a tide of ecstatic love of God.'

 

I quoted this passage in my book 'Rasa: Love Relationships in

Transcendence.' I think you would enjoy reading it.