Vaisnava-aparadha is a mad elephant: A sadhu doesnt even disrespect an ant.

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The Mad Elephant - a lecture given by

 

Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja:

 

Mahaprabhu says:

 

yadi vaisnava-aparadha uthe hati mata

upade va chinde, tara sukhi; yaya pata

 

If the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a vaisnava while cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offense is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way the leaves of the creeper are dried up.

 

tate mali yatna kari; kare avarana

aparadha-hastira yaiche na haya udgama

 

The gardener must defend the creeper by fencing it all around so that the powerful elephant of offenses may not enter.

 

One very, very wicked, very dangerous animal comes. That is a mad elephant. This is vaisnava-aparadha. Vaisnava-aparadha is a mad elephant. This dangerously wicked animal can still come. Even at this stage, if some sadhu or vaisnava commits aparadha at the lotus feet of such a dear vaisnava, then this mad elephant comes, breaks their fences, enters into their garden, and completely devastates everything. This elephant pulls the creeper out from its root and throws it away ; finished. upade va chinde, tara sukhi; yaya pata ; Completely uprooted, the creeper becomes dried up. So one should be most careful that this dangerous and wicked animal should not enter into your garden. Take the utmost care to maintain this bhakti-lata creeper.

 

Sin and Offense

 

At this point I want to mention something about papa and aparadha. One should understand that there is a difference between sinful activity and offense. One may be a greatly sinful person who has committed many sinful activities in this life and previous lives, but all of these sinful reactions are like dhuli-lepa, layers of dust. They can be washed off very easily. But aparadhas are like vajra-lepa, very strong layers like a thunderbolt. They cannot be washed off. This is the difference. The reaction to sinful activities can be easily washed off. If you merely chant Hare Krishna and attain the stage of namabhasa, then karmic reactions are washed away. The example is Ajamila. He was a very sinful person. Chitragupta, who records all of the sinful activities of the conditioned souls, had made a very big book for him. When the Yamadutas came to take him, Ajamila uttered the name of Narayan. He was only calling his son, yet he attained the stage of namabhasa and his sins were completely washed off, finished. So, sin is like dhuli-lepa, a layer of dust, which is very easily washed off. But aparadha is a layer like a thunderbolt.

 

Even the Supreme Lord tells Durvasa Muni, ;I cannot wash it off. No. It is vajra-lepa, a very strong layer; If the Supreme Lord says He cannot wash it off, then who can? Only that vaisnava at whose feet you have committed aparadha can excuse you.

 

Jiva Goswami says that if a thorn has pierced your body on the heel, do you think that it will come out from the shoulder? It will only come out from where it was pierced ; the same heel. That means you must go and approach that vaisnava at whose lotus feet you committed the offense. Only he or she can excuse you. No other vaisnava can excuse you. Even the Supreme Lord cannot excuse you.

 

Even Lord Siva

 

Sulapani, Sivaji, is a very powerful person. He is so powerful that he drank an ocean of poison. He has such potency. However, Vrindavan Das Thakur has said:

 

sula-pani-sama yadi vaisnavere ninde

tathapiha nasa paya, ; kahe sastra-vrnde

 

iha na maniya ye sujana-ninda kare

janme janme se papistha daiva-dose mare

 

Even if a person is as powerful as sula-pani, Sivaji, still if he commits vaisnava-aparadha, if he criticizes a vaisnava, sadhu, who is dear to Krishna, then he falls down from his most elevated position and he perishes.

 

If someone cannot understand this and still blasphemes such a vaisnava, sadhu, then life after life he;ll go to hell and suffer ; janme, janme.

 

Mahaprabhu describes what punishment is awaiting such an offender:

 

prabhu bale, vaisnava nindaye yei jana

kustha-roga kon ;ra sastiye lekhana

 

apatatah sasti kichu haiyache matra

ara kata ache yama-yatanara patra

 

caurasi-sahasra yama-yatana pratyakse

punah-punah kari; bhunje vaisnava-nindake

 

It is written in the scriptures that one who blasphemes the vaisnavas will suffer from leprosy, after which he will be punished by the agents of Yamaraj again and again, in 84,000 births.

 

This is awaiting the person who does vaisnava-ninda, who blasphemes a vaisnava, sadhu. Not only do they go to hell but also all of their pitr-purusa, their forefathers, will also go to hell. Skanda Purana describes:

 

nindam kurvanti ye mudha vaisnavanam mahatmanam

patanti pitrbhih sardham maha-raurava-samjnite

 

hanti nindati vai dvesti vaisnavan nabhinandati

krudhyate yati no harsam darsane patanani .

 

There are six types of vaisnava aparadha: (1) One who kills a vaisnava. He is a great offender. (2) One who blasphemes a vaisnava. (3) One who upon seeing a vaisnava does not offer obeisances. (4) One who gets angry at a vaisnava, krodha kare. (5) One who upon seeing a vaisnava does not feel delighted. (6) Dvesti, one who thinks ill of a vaisnava in the mind. He does not speak anything but in the mind thinks, ;Oh, who is that?; Skanda Purana says, patanti pitrbhih sardham maha-raurava-samjnite ; Not only does such an offender go to hell but generations of his ancestors do also.

 

Hearing is an Offense

 

Srila Jiva Goswami has written, vaisnava ninda sravane ;pi dosa uktah ; If you hear someone criticizing, speaking ill of a vaisnava, then you also commit offense. The Bhagavatam says:

 

nindam bhagavatah srnvams tat-parasya janasya va

tato napaiti yah so ;pi yaty adhah sukrtac cyutah

 

Anyone who fails to immediately leave the place where he hears criticism of the Supreme Lord or His faithful devotee will certainly fall down, bereft of his pious credit.

 

In Bhakti-sandarbha Jiva Goswami has commented on this Bhagavatam verse:

 

tato ;pagamas casamarthasyaiva; samarthena tu nindaka-jihva chettavya; tatrapy asamarthena sva-prana-parityago ;pi kartavyah

 

Sastra says that if you hear such criticism then you will commit aparadha. It is better on your part to leave that place, I won;t hear; If you cannot leave, and if you have the power to cut out the tongue of the person who is blaspheming a vaisnava, then he will never say such things again. But if you cannot cut off the tongue of that blasphemer and you cannot leave the place, then it is better to kill yourself. “Let me be killed, let me die — sva-prana-parityago ‘pi kartavyah.” Otherwise you will be an offender. The example is given in the sixth canto of Bhagavatam of Sati, the wife of Sivaji and the daughter of Daksha Prajapati. vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh — Sivaji is a great vaisnava. His father-in-law, Daksha, criticized him, and thereby committed aparadha. Daksha was performing a sacrifice. He invited all of his daughters and sons-in-law, but he didn’t invite Sati. Sati wanted to go there but Sivaji said, “Don’t go. We are not invited.” Sati said, “What invitation is required to go to the father’s house?” So Sati went. But there she heard her father Daksha criticizing Sivaji, vaisnavanam yatha sambhu. What should Sati do? She could not cut off the tongue of her father, and she could not leave the place, so she committed suicide and left her body. Vaisnava-aparadha is so serious, so dangerous. One should not commit it. It cannot be washed away. It is vajra-lepa, like a layer of thunderbolt. Papa, sinful activities, are like a dhuli-lepa, a layer of dust. They are very easily washed off. But this vajra-lepa, the layer like a thunderbolt, cannot be washed off. Only the vaisnava whom you offended can excuse you. Otherwise it cannot be washed off. Even the Supreme Lord says, “I cannot remove it.”

 

The Lord tells Durvasa Muni, “Go beg excuse from Ambarish Maharaja. If he will excuse you then you will be free from danger and this sudarsana-cakra will let you go. Otherwise the cakra won’t leave you.”

 

Questions

 

Devotee 2: Devotees sometimes think, “This devotee is not really a vaisnava, he is only a neophyte, therefore if I think something bad of him it is all right.”

 

Gour Govinda Swami: Don’t hear such a thing.

 

Devotee 1: It is very difficult to not hear such talk.

 

Gour Govinda Swami: Do you think it is easy to get Krishna? It is very difficult and it is very easy. You think, “I will do all nonsense and I will get Krishna.” What is this? Day-dreaming! It is not so easy!

 

Devotee 2: So anyone could be a vaisnava.

 

Gour Govinda Swami: The jiva is vaisnava! jivera ‘svarupa’ haya krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’, the svarupa of the jiva is vaisnava. But we have no such vision. We cannot see, because we are such rascals, degraded fellows. We are blind. We have no proper vision. So how can we see the svarupa? We only see the outward, nasty things, the outer body. We have no vision to see. But every jiva is a servant of Krishna — jivera ‘svarupa’ haya krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’. That is what Mahaprabhu has said. But we cannot see it. A real sadhu, paramahamsa, pays respect to one and all. amani manada — Don’t demand respect for yourself, rather, pay respect to one and all. A sadhu doesn’t even disrespect an ant. He sees him as a jiva. You should know that before you offer respect to a sadhu, the sadhu has already paid respect to you in his mind. For practical dealings we have this consciousness of superior and inferior. But a sadhu offers respect to one and all. Seeing the jiva soul within, he doesn’t disrespect even an ant.

 

Is Begging Forgiveness Enough?

 

The fourth canto, second chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam describes how Daksha, the son of Lord Brahma, organized a great sacrificial ceremony, but in the process committed an offense to the topmost vaisnava Lord Siva. Sivaji did not take Daksha’s offense seriously and afterwards Daksha cried, begged forgiveness from Siva, and was forgiven. By the blessings of Lord Siva, Daksha was able to complete his sacrifice. However, in spite of achieving the forgiveness, Daksha had to suffer a reaction for his offense. Srimad Bhagavatam (4.30.48) describes:, yasyam mahad-avajnanad ajany ajana-yonijah — As a result of his offense to Lord Siva, Daksha had to take birth again, this time in a ksatriya family, a lower birth. In that next birth Daksha also committed an offense at the lotus feet of Sri Narada Muni. Jiva Goswami comments that this offense to Narada was an additional fruit of Daksha’s previous offense to Lord Siva. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada describes this in his purport to Bhagavatam 4.4.13:

 

He [Daksha] offended the lotus feet of Lord Siva because he thought that his body, being the father of the body of Sati, was superior to Lord Siva;s. Generally, less intelligent men misidentify in that way, and they act in the bodily concept of life. Thus they are subject to commit more and more offenses at the lotus feet of great souls.

 

So if Lord Siva forgave Daksha, how is it that Daksha still had to suffer these multiple reactions? Why didn;t Lord Siva;s forgiveness forestall all reactions to the offense?

 

Earlier in the same purport, Srila Prabhupada gives a hint:

 

A great soul may forgive offenses, but Krishna does not excuse offenses to the dust of that great soul;s feet...

 

In his Bhakti-sandarbha (265.57-8), Srila Jiva Goswami says:

 

.-prabhrtisv aparadhe tu tat-santosanartham eva santata-nama-kirtanadikam samucitam ... uktas ca nama-kaumudyam — mahad-aparadhasya bhoga eva nivartakah tad-anugraho va

 

In order to be free from offenses unto great souls, one should please that same personality whom one originally offended through constantly engaging in the process of bhakti, beginning with the chanting of the holy names.... Nama-kaumudi confirms this as follows: “Offenses to great devotees may be relieved either by experiencing the calamities they bring or by attaining the favor (anugraha) of the offended devotee.”

 

If Daksha had achieved the favor of Lord Siva then there should have been no reaction whatsoever. But Bhagavatam 4.7.16 describes that he only achieved the forgiveness of Lord Siva (ksama), and not his favor (anugraha). Because he retained the concept of being the father-in-law of Lord Siva, he could not see Lord Siva in a superior position as an advanced vaisnava and achieve his favor by bowing down to touch his feet.

 

One mundane example may serve to illustrate this important distinction. Suppose you lend some money to someone else, then later they come to you, apologize, and say that they are unable to repay you. You may say, ;OK, you are relieved of the debt; But are you satisfied by such behavior? No. Satisfaction can only come through being repaid the debt as originally promised. Similarly, begging for and acquiring forgiveness for an offense is not the same as achieving the blessings and favor of the offended vaisnava. If one actually achieves the favor of the offended vaisnava then one will be protected from Krishna;s displeasure.

 

In contrast to the behavior of Daksha, when Durvasa Muni realized that he needed to achieve the favor of Maharaja Ambarish in order to become free of his offense, he bowed down and touched the feet of that great vaisnava, and immediately he was delivered. This he did even though he was a famous sadhu while Maharaja Ambarish was merely a king.

 

Another example is found in the pastime of Srila Gadadhar Pandit and Pundarik Vidyanidhi as described by Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur (Cb. madhya 7.44-113). Upon seeing the material opulence of Srila Pundarik Vidyanidhi, some doubts came to the mind of Gadadhar Pandit. Later when he realized the exalted position of Vidyanidhi Mahasay, Gadadhar felt great remorse and felt it necessary to take initiation from Pundarik in order to become free from what he considered to be his offense.