How will I be able to recognize someone as a bona fide spiritual master?

[theist]

 

The math can have no connection with anyone who has deceptively become a resident with the intention of misusing the transcendental knowledge; as such there is no real connection.

 

Many people have become my disciples because they think, "In order to cross a river, one needs to engage both a ferry and a ferryman. In the same way, I need to engage a spiritual master." This is the mentality in which they have taken me as their guru. They have never met me and I have never spoken with them. Nor will we meet in the few days that still remain in my life. Even though these phonies may not yet have begun to practise their deceptions, they are already offensive to the spiritual master and the Vaishnavas, as a result of which their material desires will one day surface and they will give up the life of devotion.

 

As soon as we start to argue with the guru, or when we measure him according to the ruler of our empiric understanding, when we stop following the guru and start to imitate him, then our spiritual life is headed for disaster. Benedictions come when we put all these durbuddhi aside and sincerely surrender to the spiritual master's lotus feet, we will be truly benefited.

 

Wealth, learning, worthiness, scholarship, and mundane heroism are all unnecessary for the intense devotee of the Lord, because he knows that if he gives priority to such things, he will end up committing offenses to the guru and the Vaishnavas. The consequences of such offenses are deprivation from the service of the guru and the Lord.

 

 

*************************************************

[krsna]

All quotes by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta .The original source of these quotes is not given. They were compiled by Sri Bhakti Mayukh Bhagavata Maharaj. The edition used is published by Sri Bhakti Sarvasva Tirtha Maharaj of the Sri Gauranga Math in Raipur, Birbhum.Translated into English by Jagat das.

[krsna]

 

 

We don't need people who are seeking a kind of military discipline to come and live in our maths, nor those who are looking for gentile society. Only devotees of Krishna should live in the math.

 

If we can one by one get rid of all those people who have taken residence in the math, but are still attached to the belly and the genitals, the debauches and gluttons, then not only will our costs go down, but the whole world will be better off.

 

Those who live in the math but do not accept the philosophical principles or follow the monastic rule are neither submissive to the spiritual master nor do they possess humility. We should send all such independent and arrogant people home. If this means our numbers will decrease, so be it. If someone has not come here to honestly serve the Supreme Lord, but harbors desires for profit, adoration and prestige, or secretly hopes to win female admirers or make a living for himself, they should not be kept in the math. This is because ultimately they are the enemies of the math. If someone thinks, "I have lived in the math for a long time and performed so much service, so I deserve to eat nicely and dress in good clothes. I should get to play the boss. I want respect and I want to be given an important position in the temple management," these are all attitudes that are inimical to devotion and should not be tolerated. These attitudes arise out of spiritual doubt, criticism of others and gossip.

 

We should not becoming intoxicated with the idea that we are the greatest experts, that we are very intelligent, that we are great speakers or great singers. The real devotional attitude is one of absolute humility. If someone attacks me or criticizes me, I should chant the Holy Name and try to bear the test on my patience. One should think that Mahaprabhu has mercifully given me the chance to act according to his teachings and think of myself as lower than the straw in the street. Thus if anyone personally insults me or calls me names, I should recongnize that they have been sent by Krishna to help me advance spiritually.

 

[krsna]

BE HUMBLER THAN A BLADE OF GRASS

 

A synopsis of two lectures by Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

 

 

 

The perfection of life is for everyone to cooperate in Krishna's service. This is an open invitation. Although service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the highest of all activities, it can be performed by one and all.

 

 

 

Many people worship for material gain or to attain liberation in God's effulgence. Loving devotional service is not to be confused with such worship. It's the pure transcendental position of the spirit soul.

 

 

 

A real spiritual master is one who dispels the darkness of ignorance by the torchlight of knowledge and elevates his or her disciples to the platform of love. Such a teacher has no personal motivation except to do God's will. In this way, one presents universal religion.

 

 

 

We're infinitesimal. God is infinite. We can't approach God by our senses, mental speculation, or austerities. When we become free of selfish desires and cultivate the spirit of unconditional surrender, God gives us mercy and reveals God’s self. Krishna sends his representative to help us attain this realization. The spiritual master is indispensable for spiritual progress and is the transparent medium through which the Absolute is revealed.

 

 

 

We should give up material attachments and the association of people who aren't interested in serving Krishna. We need to serve and love the devotees, encourage them in their service and never be envious of them.

 

 

 

Sri Chaitanya said, "One who is humbler than a blade of grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others, can very easily always chant the holy name of God."

 

 

 

We must establish the genuine feeling of humility if our chanting is to have potency. We're helpless and require God's grace. God is inclined towards humble devotees. God is not attracted by a mere show of humility which is nothing but insincerity or hypocrisy.

 

 

 

We must also be patient if we're to approach God. This requires being free of any desire other than Krishna and Krishna's service. We fall into the jaws of death due to our ignorance. Material knowledge will not help us become free.

 

 

 

It is essential to hear from the spiritual master and follow the master’s orders. Even to learn material skills, one must have a teacher--what to speak of learning the highest spiritual science. Material knowledge produces meager temporary results. Spiritual knowledge produces the highest eternal benefit, love of God.

 

 

 

We have to be able to tell a real spiritual master from a false one. The real spiritual teacher is the servant of God and is able to save us from the clutches of death and addiction to things other than Krishna and Krishna's service. We fall into the jaws of death due to our ignorance. Material knowledge will not help us become free. The words of the spiritual master will. Therefore, we should worship the guru’s lotus feet every moment of our lives.

 

 

 

The spiritual master is one but appears in many forms. The guru is our only shelter. As soon as we fall away from the lotus feet of the spiritual master or forget them, we fall away from the Truth. We immediately become preoccupied with material activities. We may also become subject to the bad desire of seeking to be worshipped by others as spiritual master.

 

 

 

Krishna as Object of Worship is one half, and as Support of His Worshipper, he himself is the other half of the Whole. It's like the hand of God reaching down to massage his feet. The spiritual master is present in everything as the supporting principle. The guru appears as initiator, instructor, and indwelling spiritual masters. We should consider all devotees of God to be our masters; therefore, we address each other as "Prabhu."

 

 

 

Sometimes devotees criticize other devotees. Srila Raghunath Bhatt Goswami never listened to the faults of devotees. It was enough for him to know that they were engaged in Krishna's service. We become agitated by small insufficiencies. Even when we see the devotees engaged in their service of God, we think they should be doing so much more. Their service is so great, but we're busy looking for defects.

 

 

 

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita 9:30-31, "Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if one is engaged in devotional service, one is to be considered saintly because one is properly situated. One quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. 0 son of Kunti, declare it boldly, that my devotee never perishes."

 

 

 

In the Fifth Text of his Sri Upadeshamrita, Srila Rupa Goswami says, "One should mentally honor the devotee who chants the holy name of Lord Krishna, one should offer humble obeisances to the devotee who has undergone spiritual initiation and is engaged in worshipping the deity, and one should associate with and faithfully serve that pure devotee who is advanced in undeviated devotional service and whose heart is completely devoid of the propensity to criticize others.”

 

 

 

As long as we're engaged in seeking out the defects of others, we're devoid of the quality of humility greater than that of a blade of grass. Because I'm full of faults, I'm attracted to finding fault with others. In this way, I lose the opportunity to serve the spiritual master. We need to sit at the lotus feet of the spiritual master and be constantly made aware of our own innumerable defects and be cautioned about the possibility of fall down. Rather than discussing the faults of others, we should speak about Krishna's glories.

 

 

 

Hearing and chanting is the only way to realize Krishna. The genuine spiritual master's chanting is able to actually awaken our remembrance of God. Through submissive aural reception, the desire to chant is aroused in us.

 

 

 

By means of the transcendental sound, we can rise above the conditioned ego. In material consciousness, we're in a masculine ego state thinking ourselves to be the master and enjoyer. Our spiritual ego is feminine and knows itself to be a servant of Krishna meant for his enjoyment.

 

 

 

We're in a lamentable condition due to misidentification with our gross and subtle bodies under the influence of the illusory energy of Godhead. The cause of this fall is to think we're equal or even superior to the Godhead, his devotees, and the spiritual guide. We're arrogant sinners if we think we can worship Krishna and avoid worshiping his devotees who are as worshipable as God. When we try to become master, we become slaves of sorrow, infatuation and fear. We can only become free through the devotional attitude.

 

 

 

We become eligible to serve God by submitting to God with heart, speech, and body, realizing God’s mercy in the sufferings brought about by our own actions. This is the only way of deliverance from this world. Whatever God does is for our good. We'll be saved if we see God’s mercy in every event and activity. If we notice any defect or cruelty in God’s works, it's sure to hamper our spiritual progress.

 

 

 

All our trouble is due to the fact that we're engrossed in activities other than the service of Krishna. We'll be fortunate if our taste for his service increases daily. It's the spiritual master who inspires us in such activity. We should be prepared to carry out the guru’s orders without hesitation.

 

 

 

My guru wanted his disciples to preach Krishna consciousness and deliver the world from Godlessness. Worldly obstacles can't stop this preaching movement since Sri Chaitanya also desired it to spread throughout the world. A guru should not interested in having thousands of useless followers like the innumerable stars in the sky which aren't able to dissipate the darkness by their twinkling. One moon is much more powerful than all the stars. We should become moons and destroy the dark­ness of ignorance.

 

 

 

To do this, we shouldn't merely imitate the conduct of pure devotees, but we should follow their line of thought. We had best scrutinize our own ineligibility for the mission and seek to rectify our own faults. Then we'll see that we're lower than the straw in the street and become eligible for receiving the mercy of God and God’s devotees. Why should a person be anxious to pry into the defects of others when one doesn't examine their own conduct? Is this the disposition of a devotee?

 

 

 

The acts and expressions of the pure devotees cannot be understood even by the wise. Let us not be misled by external appearances. If we offend the devotees of God, we will "be cast into the pursuit of material objects, name, fame, etc. Service of the devotees is the best thing we can do.

 

 

 

We don't find God in this world. The devotees of God show themselves to us by their mercy. We'll be wise to follow their conduct and teachings. This is the only path to our well being.

 

[krsna]

Now I know why I'm so addicted to finding faults in others !!!

*****************************************

 

As long as we're engaged in seeking out the defects of others, we're devoid of the quality of humility greater than that of a blade of grass. Because I'm full of faults, I'm attracted to finding fault with others. In this way, I lose the opportunity to serve the spiritual master. We need to sit at the lotus feet of the spiritual master and be constantly made aware of our own innumerable defects and be cautioned about the possibility of fall down. Rather than discussing the faults of others, we should speak about Krishna's glories.

 

**********************************************

[krsna]

 

By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur

 

 

Published in The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)

 

 

 

Q: Please tell me in brief the doctrine of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

 

 

A: There is an old Shloka which says "Bhagavan Krishna's (Son of the Chieftain Nanda of Braja) own place Vrindavana is the object of worship according to the example of the cowherd-wives of Braja which is glorified in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the stainless Puranam, and Love of God is the highest thing for attainment." This is the doctrine of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, for which we have the greatest regard and not for anything else.

 

 

The fullest development of the idea about Godship is in Shri Krishna. He reveals Himself to His devotees of different competences in three Forms. All these three are perfect conceptions, not like the partial one of Paramatma and the incomplete one of Brahman. These three perfect conceptions are full, fuller and fullest. These three are revealed in Dwaraka, Mathura and Vrindavana. At Dwaraka Krishna's manifestation is full, at Mathura it is fuller and in Braja (including Vrindavana) it is the fullest.

 

 

We are living in the Bhuloka, one out of the fourteen worlds comprising the seven lower worlds and seven higher ones. Of the latter, this world (Bhuloka) is the first. The Bhu (earth) Bhuvah (between heaven and earth) and Svah (heaven) are the regions of enjoyment for householders performing virtuous deeds with desire; the remaining higher regions, viz., Mahah, Janah, Tapah and Satya are attainable by non-householders. Of these four, the first is meant for those who live and study in the preceptor's house and intend to become house-holders after paying the preceptor a ceremonial present; the second is for the celibates who live with the preceptor for good and ever observe the rules of religious austerities; the third is for the hermits, who after retirement from worldly life live in the forest or in seclusion for meditation; and the fourth for the sanyasis (roaming mendicants). But the devotees of God, who have not the inordinate desire for worldly enjoyments or for merger in Brahman, attain to Shri Vaikuntha which is inaccessible to others. Even beyond that Vaikuntha, there is Dwaraka; higher than that is Mathura and above that too is Goloka-Vrindavana. These regions are manifested by the potency of existences lying in God's Esoteric Personality. The places that are there in the transcendental Region are revealed in the mundane region. What is non-existent in that region cannot be found in this one. The manifestation of the non-apparent sports of Vrindavana is Goloka. Just as the lotus remains in a lake without connection with water, so does Goloka stay in the world without any touch of the earth. Those whose mind is not prone to offer service (to God) cannot feel the transcendentality of the region descended on the mundane plane. Ayodhya, Dwaraka, Shri-Purushottam Kshetra of Shri Jagannath etc., are different provinces of Shri Vaikuntha. The bliss available in Ayodhya is better than that in Vaikuntha; the bliss in Dwaraka is superior to that in Ayodhya; and the bliss of the denizens of Goloka is the climax of all bliss. The difference in the degree of a particular Rasa or sentimental mellowness is the cause of the difference in the degree of the bliss. Even the afflictions and distresses that may be there in Goloka dance on the crest of all forms of blisses and happinesses; these are rather nourishers of the highest form of bliss. Shri Chaitanya Deva has demonstrated the superiority of researching the services of the Lord of Vrindavana or of Gokula. Shri Krishna is God Himself from Whom have emanated all the Incarnations of Vishnu. That Krishna manifests Himself as the Lord of Dwaraka, or of Gokula. Shri Chaitanya Deva has said about Lord Krishna of Gokula: "In Krishna are present all the five principal Rasas (forms of sentimental mellowness). He is Himself the Ocean of Rasas."

[krsna]

 

 

 

 

From ,"Organized Religion"

 

 

The church that has the best chance of survival in this damned world is that of atheism under the convenient guise of theism. The churches have always proved the staunchest upholders of the grossest form of worldliness from which even the worst of non-ecclesiastical criminals are found to recoil.

 

[theist]

can we substitute matha for churches?

[krsna]

Associates of Sri Caitanya:

 

APPEARANCE OF THE DIVINE

 

 

The appearance of Godhead in this world implies the co-appearance of all His Divine paraphernalia. Godhead must not be conceived as in any way separable from His entourage. Godhead shorn of any of His paraphernalia is a delusion. In the same way the appearance of divine paraphernalia involves the appearance of the divinity. The two are distinct yet inseparable forms of the one Supreme.

 

 

Sri Caitanya is the Divine Personality Himself. His associates share His divine nature. Sri Krsna Caitanya is an extended subject. All the six divine forms have to be worshipped if is the intention to worship Sri Caitanya.

 

 

The guru is one of His constituents. It is necessary to receive initiation from him. It is also necessary to be instructed by Him. As teacher, the guru has two forms. He guides from within. He also appears as a guide and instructor existing outside his disciples. Initiation is received from one person only. Instructions may be had form many gurus. Sri Kaviraja Goswami himself was instructed by the famous six Goswamins.

 

 

GUIDE TO THE ABSOLUTE

 

 

The Guru is the embodiment of the manifestation of the divinity to the pure receptive spiritual essence of the disciple. The guru is the real and original recipient of the Truth. He communicates his knowledge to the disciple. The disciple is too small a particle to be able by himself to receive the whole truth. He is enabled tot receive Him through the power of the guru. The guru as it were, takes the disciple by the hand and guides his every step on the plane of the Absolute. It is perpetual tutelage on the part of the disciple. This fact may be expressed in another way. The cognitive faculty of the individual soul can have no ground to stand upon unless the Divinity Himself condescends to be the legs as well as the ground on which he is to stand to function at all. This function of the divinity is performed by the guru. As a matter of fact the Divinity actually reveals Him only to Himself. The individual soul is a separable constituent of the guru. It is only when he happens to be associated by his own free choice with the guru in a completely dependent manner that he can be on the plane of the guru's service of the Divinity. He may or may not choose to be associated. The guru may or may not chose to admit him to his association. When there is active willing assent to such association on the part of both then it is possible for the individual souls to attain to the service of the Divinity in the really conscious form.

 

 

ALONE FIT TO INSTRUCT

 

 

Every one who is cognizant of the true nature of Krsna is alone fit to instruct another in the knowledge of Krsna The Divine paraphernalia area the gurus of all individual souls. In this sense all the six divine categories are identical with the guru. It can be so by reason of the fact that on the plane of the Absolute there is no separative difference. On that perfectly wholesome plane there is distinction without difference. But there is also the distinctive function of the guru which must be considered as also simultaneously distinct from that of any of the other categories. One who neglects to seek the special favor of the guru and to enter into the relation of disciple ship with the spiritual guide will miss entry to the spiritual plane. Nityananda is the Primary Manifestive Constituent of the Divinity. Nityananda alone possesses the distinctive function of the guru. In Nityananda the function is embodied. Nityananda is the servant-God. He serves Sri Gaurasundar by the distinctive method of reverential servitude. He is identical with Sri Balarama of krsna-lila. Sri Balarma is not the chum of Krsna, but His respected elder brother. It is intimate relationship characterized by becoming reserved on one side and of respectful deference on the other. Individual souls are under the directions of Nityananda. They receive their service of Sri Gaurasundara i.e. of Krsna, at His hands. Nityananda is not a jiva. He is Divinity. He is the ultimate source of the jiva. The jiva is a potency of Nityananda. No jiva can be the medium of the service of the Absolute to another jiva. The Absolute alone may communicate. His service to the separable constituents of Himself. This is the real nature of the function of the guru.

 

 

NEVER TOUCHED BY MAYA

 

 

But all jivas are not liable to be eclipsed by the deluding potency. Those who are so liable are again distinct from the eternally free jivas. The eternally free jivas are inseparable associates of Nityananda. They are integrated part and parcels of Himself. They never fall into the clutches of maya. When Nityananda manifests His appearance on the mundane plane His inseparable constituents also appear in His company. They sometimes manifest their functions on this lower place in a visible form on the errands of Nityananda. They are Vaisnavas whose subordination to Nityananda is natural and ingrained in their nature. It is not necessary for such souls to undergo the process of enlightenment for being restored to the spiritual plane. Unless this fact is born in the mind the conditioned soul may be tempted to undervalue the constant guidance of the guru on the hypocritical plea of following in the footsteps of the eternally free pure devotees. Those, therefore, who suppose that deliverance from the bondage of this world should be practicable without the constant guidance of the spiritual preceptor, confound the conditioned state with the free.

 

 

The guidance of the guru is no curtailment of one's spiritual freedom. Those who are eternally free also follow his guidance by the spontaneous undeviating impulse of their perfectly pure nature. Guidance of the guru is the only divine guidance. Only atheists who are by their choice opposed to the service of Godhead, can be consistent opponents of the obligation to serve the guru in the same unconditional way as one should be prepared to serve Godhead Himself. There is no difference between the two functions. If the claim of the one is denied it necessarily involves the denial of the claim of the other. Nityananda and His companions form one of the five groups of the associates of Sri Krsna Caitanya, whose distinctive function is that of the guru.

 

 

SRIMATE RADHIKA

 

 

But Nityananda does not directly instruct in the confidential service of Krsna. Srimate Radhika is the guru of the inner circle of the servants of Krsna. Srimati, however, accepts the offer of service of only those souls who are specially favored by Nityananda and are deemed by Him to be fit for Her service. There is, therefore a most intimate relationship between the function of Nityananda and that of Srimati which is at once supplementary and inclusive of the former.

 

 

The guru admits to the service of Krsna. The next divine category is the bhakta or devotee. In this case also as in that of the guru, service of the divinity, which is the distinctive function of the bhakta, is not confined to him only. The servants have been divided into two classes viz., (1) servants other than consorts and (2) consorts. The guru has distinctive function as master. The servant has no distinctive function as master. This distinguishes the guru from the bhakta. The bhakta is also Godhead in the distinctive form of this servant to whom the guru manifests the divinity. The mercy of the bhakta enables the dissociable soul to receive the mercy of the guru. The guru and the bhakta are the inseparable divine counterparts of one another. The guru and the bhakta are thus two distinct entities forming the five categories. The avataras (descending divinities) are the third category. They have their distinctive functions in the maintenance and deliverance of jivas inclined to divine service. They have distinctive functions as master. The difference between the avataras and the divinity as master consists in this that the avataras are derivatives from the divinity possessing the plenary divine nature. The relation between the two is analogous to that between the original self-existing source-light and other shining lamps that have been lighted from the source. There is no substantive or magnitudinal difference between the two. But there is distinctiveness in function. The avataras have distinctive natures of their own. But the divinity is their common source possessing all their distinctive functions in a synthesis which distinguishes Him from the avataras without suffering any diminution of His divinity by the eternal parallel coexistence of the distinctive activities and personalities of the avataras as divinities.

 

 

Another divine category is the group of the divine manifestations. The manifestations are divine forms who are either identical with that of the divinity or of a distinctive nature. Krsna can appear simultaneously in the same form or in different forms to different persons and also simultaneously retain His own form. All these other forms are His own manifestations.

 

 

The fifth divine category is divine power. Divine power is the Predominated Moiety of the divinity who is Predominating, Whole. Sri Radhika is the predominated Counter-Whole of Sri Krsna. Sri Radhika has Her duplicates and constituents who are also of the nature of plenary powers of the divinity. She also directly serves Sri Krsna in an infinity of ways in Her countless distinctive plenary and secondary forms.

 

 

NECESSITY TO SERVE THROUGH AN ASSOCIATE OF MAHAPRABHU

 

 

The associates of Sri Krsna Caitanya are made up of the five divine categories. If any one of these categories be left out the Truth who is indivisibly one, refuses to present Himself to the arrogant aptitude of the pedant who does not fully submit to be enlightened by grace regarding the necessity of serving the divinity in and through the distinctions.

 

 

The pedant is disposed to be skeptical by reason of a lurking belief that it is the look-out of the divinity to make Himself known to Him. But the jiva is a dissociable particle of the divine essence with the onus of choosing for himself from among the alternatives of a serving, a neutral and disobedient career, his own relationship to the divinity. He cannot escape the privilege of exercising his responsibility except by conscious self-deception or by hypocrisy.

 

 

MARGINAL POTENCY

 

 

The dissociable individual soul is distinct from the divine categories. He is a particle of the marginal potency of the divinity. Sri Nityananda who is identical with Balarama is the ultimate source of the jiva. The conditioned souls is a particle of the marginal potency, who has been sent into this world by the wil of the Purusa, viz., Visnu reposing in the Causal Ocean, who is a plenary part of Nityananda exercising the divine function of crrator of all mundane existence including the conditioned state without Himself belonging to the mundane plane."

 

[krsna]

 

 

 

A: It is where there is no kuntha or the characteristic feature of measuring everything. This Vaikuntha has two petals or apartments. In the one God exists as Bhagavan with the highest Majesty. In the second apartment above the first one He is ever present with His Personality of perfect sweetness, He being the Ocean of all the sentimental succulence that gives the utmost sensation of transcendental pleasure; here He covers up that climax of Majesty with the predominance of His graceful sweetness by dint of inevitable Potency.

 

Vaikuntha is no kind of limited region like the Swarga, of the Hindus, Bahest of the Persians, Heaven of the Christians, nor is the place, a habitation of the deities who are subject to the measuring limitations. The conception of Vaikuntha among the Vaisnavas is not like that of persons who think that as the result of virtuous acts they will go to the region of heaven and again come in contract with wives, sons and relatives connected with their bodies to remain absorbed in enjoyments as in the world.

 

In Vaikuntha, Krishna is the only Master and all are eternally engaged in serving Him. According to the Vaishnavas, Swarga, Bahest, etc., are as false as day-dreams. We are all servants of God and God is the only recipient of our service.

 

We are believers in Achintya-Bhedabhedavada i.e., the doctrine of the inscrutable simultaneity of distinction and non-distinction among God and His creation, animate and inanimate. We have no desire for obstructing the eternal essential virtue of chit (animation) in order to annihilate it with a suicidal policy by merging into Brahman, or, on the other hand, for being absorbed in material enjoyments in this world or in heaven etc., along with relations. We are associated counterparts of God.

 

The modern thinkers are apathetic towards listening to Vaidic [sic] commands which have come down to us through the true line of Gurus, but they attach more value to the process of empiricism. And they are properly rewarded with punishment through that process itself. But we accept Avatara-vada, or process of Deduction.

 

God and His devotees graciously come down to this world and give us the message of Vaikuntha. The Vaishnavas are not elevationists, following the karma-kanda, nor followers of jnana-kanda or salvationists. They are not achid-vadins, nor believers only in achit (i.e., achit-matra-vadins) nor again chinmatravadins; but they are chid-vilasa-vadins.

 

[krsna]

 

 

 

A: Achid-vada is materialism of the following nature as when one says, "I shall be Indra, the King of heaven" or "I shall enjoy worldly pleasures" in the vein of Charvaka, the Indian Epicurus, whose philosophy was that pleasure was the highest good or again "I shall borrow and drink and not think of discharging the debt; I shall have convenient arrangements for leading a comfortable life in this world; and to be a greater enjoyer, I shall acquire and preserve health; I shall make a proper use of the canine teeth by eating fish and meat and vigorously manage the function of youth" and so on. 'Achin-matra-vada is the name of the attempt to annihilate the sentient existence, on the ground that Achid-vada is only temporal and the sentient existence is the unavoidable root of all troubles and miseries. According to them the extinction of the sentient existence is the most laudable and valuable thing, inasmuch as existence is the root of all evils. Sakyasimha, Kapila, etc., were the propounders of this doctrine. Chinmatra-vada is the name of the attempt to merge in Brahman and thus destroy the anuchit property of jivas. Shankaracharya and, before him, Dattratreya, were the propounders of this doctrine. The different anuchetanamsas (jivas) of the Entire Chit (God) remaining ever attracted by the Vibhu-Chetana (God) show love towards Him: this is known as chit-vilasa-vaichitrya. Here the atma (soul) is ever entirely engaged in the sportive activities with the God. In it there are no sins and no spiritual offences more heinous than sins, like the covered state of the soul as in Achid-vada, the attempt to annihilate atma and Paramatma as in Achinmatra-vada, or spiritual suicide as in Chinmatra-vada. There are here the full unfolding, the full beauty and the full coalescence of Paramatma and atma.

 

[krsna]

... to digest.

 

 

 

 

A: Only time will not do. These truths should be listened to again and again verbally from the mouths of true Acharyas. Some time ago Mr. Chapman (of the Imperial Library) listened for two or three hours to the philosophy of Shri Chaitanya Deva and at the end he admitted that even for a scholar like him, the philosophy was extremely difficult to enter into. So it cannot be understood without repeated hearings and with devout submission.

[krsna]

 

 

 

A: -- One-sided and biased critics may understand absolute monism by the term Indian Vedantism, but those who are impartial and who judge things from all angles of vision, find the transcendental personality of God-head as the settled conclusion of the Vedantic doctrine. The theory of non-distinction has been wrongly preached as propounded in the Vedanta, before a world which is averse to God, being disguised with the imperfect, partial and distorted conception of the Vedanta Philosophy of India which is the universal reality. In reality the doctrine of personality of God-head is the proper conclusion of the Vedanta and that is the true interpretation of the Vedanta by the unbiased learned scholars.

 

 

The unique and genuine interpretation of the Vedanta, as contained in the Shrimad Bhagavatam, points at the true Vedantic doctrine. Shri Vyasadeva, the compiler of the Vedanta-sutras, has himself as commentator elucidated the true meaning of the Sutras or aphorisms compiled by him, in the Shrimad Bhagavatam which reveals their intrinsic import which equalises all sides, reconciles all diversities and is beyond all sectarian conflicts created by various professors of empiric knowledge, who give different shapes to the Vedanta in their laboratories of mental researches. It is only they that secure the true Vedantic principles from the Shrimad Bhagavatam who can save themselves from the danger of falling into the ditches of various imaginary principles and wrong sectarianism.

 

 

To be brief, the difference between the followers of Mayavada, or absolute-monism and the Vaishnava Vedantics is that the former have a bias for the idea of Nirvisesha or non-distinction, whereas the latter accept the eternality of Personal God-head. The monists are atheists in disguise; on the other hand the Vaishnavas are sincere theists; the former are followers of the method of induction i.e. the process of reasoning from particular data to a general one, and the latter are followers of the deductive method of reasoning by which we arrive at the necessary consequences of admitted or established premises; i.e. a monist is inimical towards self-surrender to God, while a Vaishnava is inclined towards it. Most of the intelligentsia of the present day India are empiricists and as such, more or less, supporters of the Mayavada of the monists. Acharya Shankara has extensively propagated this Mayavada by dint of his exceeding intelligence and thus been able to captivate men's minds.

 

 

The supporters of Savisesha-vada, the doctrine of eternity of personal Godhead, are known as Vaishnavas or theists. We shall call any persons of any country and any era as Vaishnavas or theists to the same extent that this Saviseshavada is found in them. We think that the noble Jesus propagated Saviseshavada, as Acharyas Shri Visnuswami, Shri Ramanuja, Shri Madhva, Shri Nimbarka, etc., did in India. The Saviseshavada as propagated by all the teachers of the world, more or less, found perfection in the preachings of the different Indian Acharyas, which have attained the climax of mutual reconciliation of all souls of pure knowledge distinct from matter. This Savisesha is the conclusion of Mahaprabhu Shri Krishna Chaitanya Dev, Who, though God Himself, played the part of a Supra-human Professor of the University of Nadia.

 

[krsna]

Eulogy of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

 

 

(The Harmonist, Dec. 1931, vol. XXIX No. 6)

 

It is not empiric wisdom that is the object of quest of the devotee. Those who read the scriptures for gathering empiric wisdom will be pursuing the wild goose chase... The mutual admiration society of dupes does not escape, by the mere weight of their number, the misfortunes due to the deliberate pursuit of the wrong course in accordance with the suggestions of our lower selves... Thakura Bhaktivinoda is acknowledged by all his sincere followers as possessing the powers of the pure devotee of Godhead.

 

His words have to be received from the lips of a pure devotee. If his words are listened from the lips of a non-devotee they will certainly deceive. If his works are studied in the light of one's own worldly experience their meaning will refuse to disclose itself to such readers. His works belong to the class of the eternal revealed literature of the world and must be approached for their right understanding through their exposition by the pure devotee. If no help from the pure devotee is sought, the works of Thakura Bhaktivinoda will be grossly misunderstood by their readers. The attentive reader of those works will find that he is always directed to throw himself upon the mercy of the pure devotee if he is not to remain unwarrantably self-satisfied by the deluding results of his wrong method of study.

 

The writings of Thakura Bhaktivinoda are valuable because they demolish all empiric objections against accepting the only method of approaching the Absolute in the right way. They cannot and were never intended to give access to the Absolute without help from the pure devotee of Krishna. They direct the sincere enquirer of the truth, as all the revealed scriptures do, to the pure devotee of Krishna to learn about Him by submitting to listen with an open mind to the transcendental sound appearing on his lips. Before we open any of the books penned by Thakura Bhaktivinoda, we should do well to reflect a little on the attitude which serves as the indispensable prerequisite to approach its study. It is by neglecting to remember this fundamental principle that the empiric pedants find themselves so hopelessly puzzled in their vain endeavor to reconcile the statements of the different texts of the scriptures. The same difficulty is already in process of overtaking many of the so-called followers of Thakura Bhaktivinoda and for the same reason...

 

[krsna]

Q: -- I have truly been astonished to hear from your Holiness these mysteries of the Vaishnava Philosophy and their scientific analysis with the most reasonable arguments. I could not even think before that there are in the Vaishnava Philosophy such excellent solution, corroboration and elucidation of the problems of Indian Philosophy.

 

 

A: -- The Vaishnava Philosophy has spoken about true wisdom. True wisdom is not subject to an attack from any rival camp like the changeable and fluctuating knowledge of the empiricists; this is the special feature of the Vaishnava Philosophy. The philosophies that have been, are being and will be built on the foundation of empiricism will be abandoned, enlarged and altered along with the increase and decrease of experience. Before the civilization five-thousand years old, the three-thousand year old civilisation is imperfect; and the seven-thousand year old one is more enlarged; and in ten thousand years it will be still further changed and enlarged. The Vaishnava Philosophy built, as it is, upon the strong unalterable foundation, of true and perfect wisdom is not fit for change and reformation through scuffling and disputes even like the foot-ball being kicked to and fro.

 

 

The Shrimad Bhagavatam which is the essence of the Vedas and Vedantas speaks of the real Truth. This scripture describes something which is beyond the regions of human civilisation and all the rules and regulations of society, and speaks about the attainment of another or spiritual body by the soul. Some empiricists of the inductive school do not recognize this change of body for the soul. There are others who try to prove such a change by various mundane reasonings. Some of them cite the example of the tendency of a newly born monkey to grasp the branch of a tree, or that of a new-born rhinoceros to fly away from the mother, considering which, they say, every one must have to admit the previous life of creatures and cannot disbelieve the transmigration of souls. As a baby-rhinoceros is born, it runs away from the mother lest the mother should lick its skin. Her tongue is so sharp that the bark of a tree licked by her is removed. The baby comes to the mother only when its hide gets hardened in the course of a few days. Seeing these, the empiricists realise that this habit of the baby rhinoceros is indicative of its previous birth.

 

 

The Vedic scriptures, however, have given a scrutinising analysis of the mutual difference of the soul, the mind and the body as the atomic sentience, pseudo-sentience and matter. The soul (atma) is the owner of the body and the mind. These two are the properties of the soul which again is the property of the Supra-soul (paramatma). The Supra-soul is the casual sentience and the soul (jivatma) is the effectual sentience. The soul has two bodies or distinguishing properties; one is the subtle one or mind and the other the crude one i.e., material body. The outer body is the aggregate of atoms of the five elements of matter; the inner or mental body is the conductor of the outer body. The soul in its conditioned or bound state is connected with foreign properties through the mind. The soul is now asleep and inattentive to the service of the Supra-soul. Seeing the owner asleep, the subordinate workers, mind and body, are busy about their mean self-interest, instead of looking after the interest of their owner. All the universe, animate and inanimate, is included within the Supra-Soul; in reality every creation is animate. Our scriptures have proved this since time immemorial. Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose has proved, even by the inductive process, before the empiric school, that there exists animation even within grass shrubs, creepers, etc.

 

[krsna]

Words From Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

 

 

1. We are put to test and trial in this world. Only those who attend the kirtana of the devotees can succeed.

 

2. Every spot on earth where discourses on God are held is a place of pilgrimage.

 

3. Possession of objects not related to Krsna is our main malady.

 

4. Let me not desire anything but the highest good for my worst enemies.

 

5. As dalliance with the body in luxury increases, so wanes the spirit of service of the Lord.

 

6. Those favored by God find their paths set by thorns.

 

7. There is no peace or happiness in our worldly life. Circumstances create turmoil and annoyance.

 

8. Chant the mahamantra loudly and with attachment. This will drive away inertia, worldly evils and pests.

 

9. Be indifferent to bazaar gossip, stick firmly to your cherished goals, no lack or impediments of the world will ever stand in your way.

 

10. Pay due respects to the extroverts of the world, but do not be appreciative of their manners and conduct. They are to be shaken off from your mind.

 

11. A devotee feels the presence of God everywhere, but one averse to the Lord denies His existence anywhere.

 

12. You cannot appreciate transcendental matters with the reasoning of the world. It is sheer nonsense to decry them with the measuring stick of your intellect.

 

13. To recite the name of Sri Krsna is bhakti.

 

14. Life is for the glorification of topics on Hari. If that is stopped, then what need is there to carry on life.

 

15. Physical illness with Hari-bhajana is preferred to physical fitness without Hari-bhajana.

 

16. Our span of life on earth is short. Our life will be crowned with success if the body wears out with constant discourses on Hari.

 

17. We are here on earth not to work as artisans for making big buildings with wood and stone but to work only as messengers for the teachings of Sri Caitanya Deva.

 

18. A sycophant is neither a guru or a preacher.

 

19. To transform the adverse desires of the jivas is the supreme duty of the most merciful. To rescue one person from the stronghold of Mahamaya is an act of superb benevolence, far superior to opening innumerable hospitals.

 

20. Unless we are devoted to God, secularism shall not leave us.

 

21. Look within. Amend yourself, rather than pry into the frailities of others.

 

22. In this world of Maya, averse to the Lord, full of trials and tribulations, only patience, humility and respect for others are our friends for Hari-bhajana.

 

23. The Lord, Gaurasundara, puts His devotees in various difficulties and associations to test their patience and strength of mind. Success depends on their good fortune.

 

24. When faults in others misguide and delude you - have patience, introspect, find faults in yourself. Know that others cannot harm you unless you harm yourself.

 

25. I wish that every selfless, tender-hearted person of Gaudiya Math will be prepared to shed two hundred gallons of blood for the nourishmentof the spiritual corpus of every individual of this world.

 

[krsna]

 

 

 

December 26, 1935

 

Published in The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)

 

 

 

 

Q: -- Your Holiness, kindly enlighten me about the different aspects of human pursuits.

 

 

A: -- In India as in Europe we find people holding different views, but here we have attempted to classify them into three divisions. One class of people are seekers of fruits of their action. Another class wish to annihilate their individuality. And the third class want, in their true selves as absolute infintesimals, to be in touch with the Absolute Infinity, rejecting all non-absolute features. We belong to the third party.

 

 

The seekers of fruits by means of their actions are called Karmakandins in the Sanskrit language. The Christian way of thinking about life is included in Karmakanda. In India we have also that sort of idea, that a person is to be judged by his action. He gets something in return as a reward for his pious deeds. Virtue and piety are the main principles that are wanted by such doers. Most people understand this common view, which holds that what I do will be either rewarded or reprimanded. We think that we should live a pious life in order that we may be rewarded in our next life with all sorts of enjoyments. We have got subtle bodies in which we are rewarded or punished. That body is not exactly similar to the ordinary gross body, the mortal coil which we see here. Egyptians thought that they have but one life and that they should have no occasions to bear future lives. But persons who to the theory of metempsychosis think that they will have future lives when they can make up for the nefarious acts done both in their present lives and in their past lives, and receive grace from the great dispenser of justice. They are fruit-seekers. They want to gratify their senses.

 

 

There are persons who hanker after knowledge. They went [sic] to secure knowledge by the empiric method. To them annihilation is the final goal. They think they should merge in the Integer, the Absolute, and that all the undesirable situations of this world will end with this merging. In that case observer, observation and observed, these three situations are eliminated. When all the activities of the senses such as hearing, tasting, smelling, seeing and touching will cease, the observer, observation and the observed will mix up together and there will be no occasion for knowing, willing or feeling. All volitional, cogitational and emotional activities should cease, because they have given us a bitter experience; and so, according to the empiricists, in order to make an end of them, it would be better for us not to think of anything which will respond to our senses. This idea is formulated by theorists like pantheists, agnostics, and sceptics. These people think that they will be able to secure happiness by destroying their identify.

 

 

The third view is the theistic view. We believe that there is a Personality of God-head and that we are persons. We want our troublous situations to be eliminated and wish to reach a peaceful position where we can freely move and have everything, whatever we are in need of; and this has resulted in directing us to the Absolute Who is represented as a Personality. In the Absolute Personality we find three features: He is Ever-existent, He is ever full of knowledge and He is the Fountain-head of unceasing bliss. In Him there is no factor of time, no factor of ignorance. In Him there is no discrepancy, no defect, no inadequacy, nothing of the kind. In our conception of God, we hold He is the Emporium of all bliss, all knowledge, and no acts of nescience or ignorance are to be associated with Him, and we should not seek after any fruit for our worldly purpose, leaving Him aside. He need not give us anything. We are to serve Him as servitors, He being the only Lord. In this world we find that hundreds of absolute infinitesimals trouble themselves with the undesirable elements of these phenomena. If the undesirable elements are simply driven out, eliminated, then a desirable position can be had. But in the ordinary conception of heaven, we find that it is meant for our purpose, to get our wishes for enjoyment fulfilled, for our enjoyment apart from the enjoyment of the Absolute. The enjoyment of the Absolute is full, whereas our enjoyment is liable to be involved in some troubles. All these miserable situations should be avoided for the purpose of safety, for our peace. The eternal peace can only come if we are at all eager to engage ourselves in the service of the Lord, I mean, the Personality of God-head. God has got spiritual eyes, spiritual ears, spiritual nose, spiritual tongue, spiritual skin and spiritual mind; not material things like us. Our senses are made up of material things and there is no such element in God. God is the Emporium of all desirable elements. He is found to be eternally Existing, He is full of knowledge, He is Omniscient and He is All-blissful. He delegates His power to certain absolute infinitesimals, or, in other words, the absolute infinitesimals are endowed with such potencies which enable them to transact affairs with the Eternal Authority. Ordinarily we are placed in a region where all sorts of imperfections and undesirable situations are prominent, and we require that our bitter experience should devise some means to get rid of these unpleasant situations; the painful propensities must be kicked out from our activities. We should be prepared for the stage where we can realise our own real selves. We should not trouble ourselves here engaging ourselves in amusements and other things. It is necessary that some prudent, preparatory measures should be adopted during this life, that we should acquire the discretion to judge what is really desirable and making a thorough study of the revealed scriptures which have come to us, find out how we could ameliorate our conditions and give up the passionate desires that are engrossing such people as are busy with annihilating themselves or with fruit-seeking endeavours.

 

 

The third party is known as Bhaktas or devotees who possess Bhakti which is the vehicular agent to carry us to the Absolute. It will act as the tie uniting the Personality of the Lord and our personalities. Our persons should be united with the Personality of God, and that Personality of God-head is purely spiritual and has no mundane reference. If we wish to know Him by any mundane reference that would be like trying to send rays from the retina to the sun. Just as we receive rays emanating from the self-luminous disc of the sun, so by the mercy of the Supreme Lord we will be able to know what He is, and after learning this, we will engage ourselves for His purpose. We will have nothing else to do in this world. We have got the only purpose of associating ourselves with the Spirit, with the Over-soul. When we leave this mortal coil, we will be engaged in some occupation or other, but we should not think that in the subtle bodies we will continue these conditions and have our enjoyment. This enjoyment is temporary and in the long run becomes the cause of binding us to grosser coils. But if we have any mind to engage ourselves with the Eternity, with All-knowledge, and One Who is devoid of ignorance and full of incessant Bliss, we must respond to His call, we should be participating with the Absolute and not with the non-absolute environment here. Our phenomenal existence is not at all sympathetic to our highest aspiration. Our so-called relatives show that they are very kind to us, but in the end we find that they too wish to draw something from us and at best have only some wordly motive. They are not kind to us in the best sense. We should not be dissuaded by their influence. We should have a stern will to give up all our passionate enjoying habits, as well as the inclination for self-annihilation which the empricists {sic] seek. The desire for annihilation as well as the tendency for enjoyment are to be sacrificed at the altar of devotion. They do wrong things. They enjoy instead of serving, and we want that we should be set free from all these wrong ideas of the speculative people of the world. We are aware of the history of civilisation for the last ten thousand years and we expect that when the world shall have run for some ten thousand years more some new troubles will arise and the human race will be destroyed by some influence which we cannot foretell now. So, the Absolute is to be enquired into, what He is, whether He is a human being, or whether He belongs to the lower creation, or whether He is of a stony character; whether the Absolute is neuter, masculine or feminine. Let us strive to acquaint ourselves with all these ideas and thoughts about the next world and the Absolute: whether the region of the Absolute has all sorts of manifestive phases, whether these phases are agreeable and free from invasion of wrong thoughts. So, if we want to wash off all our wrong conceptions we will have to surrender to the Absolute Infinity and then we shall be in touch with Him. We will have the opportunity of dove-tailing ourselves with Him and no other ideas and thoughts should dissuade us from having touch with the Absolute. If we can secure the tendency of love for the Absolute, we will be attracted by Him. He Himself is Love. We have no loving tendency, whereas He is full of love. We should try to meet the merciful strain by which He wants to attract us to Him, to His region where there is no defect, no disagreeable feature, no ignorance and no undesirable situation. We should go back there. We do not carry our bones and flesh there. The proprietor of these bones and flesh is to go there, leaving here all these dirty appurtenances for the enjoyment of jackals and dogs and those creatures of the lower creation who have no devotional motive at all, who do not want to come in touch with the Absolute Infinity.

 

 

Most of the people of the globe are very busy with getting fruits, gratifying their senses by attending cinemas, driving motorcars and they are quite indifferent about serving those who can guide them to the Absolute region. All the undesirable situations which impeded our course are to be eliminated. The enjoying and empirical activities are obstructing our ways and we should try to drive them off. We should want that we should be in touch only with the Absolute. As devotees, we are always in touch with Him and never dissociated from Him. We want to serve Him. We want to regain our position. We need not pass our time just as ordinary people do. We should submit to the heaven-sent messenger and follow his dictations. Our philosophies and empirical knowledge will be of no use to us. Our devotion should not be directed towards dogs, horses, men and women and other object of worldly phenomena. We need not serve such things. We should be determined to come in touch with the Absolute Who is very different from the non-absolute phenomena. Any person or thing that serves the Personality of God, should be treated in a friendly manner. And if any persons or thing proves hostile in the cause of His service, we should leave that off. We should not try to understand the spiritual plane from the material standpoint.

[krsna]

In the following discussion, Srila Saraswati Thakur answers a question by referring to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s instruction to Srila Raghunath Das Goswami (Cc. antya 6.236):

 

Don’t listen to mundane talks and don’t speak on mundane topics. Don’t eat opulently and don’t dress luxuriantly.

 

Question: Why are trivial talks and gossip, gramya-katha, unfavorable for devotion and harmful for us?

 

Srila Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada: Sriman Mahaprabhu has said, “Do not hear gramya-katha and do not speak gramya-katha, Do not eat sumptuous food and do not wear fancy clothes.” He said these words for those who are very attached to devotional service. If one eats sumptuous food one only harms oneself. This does not create any problem for others; it does not cause any disturbance in anyone else’s devotional life. But it is much more harmful to wear fancy clothes. People wear fancy clothes only for the sake of others. How for the sake of others? The only purpose behind wearing fancy clothes is to distract others’ eyes and mind from devotional service to the Supreme Lord. It is also not beneficial to indulge the tongue.

 

Mahaprabhu also said, “If one runs here and there to satisfy his tongue, then such a tongue-indulgent person does not attain Krishna.” (Cc. antya 6.227) If one hears gramya-katha, one hurts oneself more than by eating sumptuous food, and if one speaks gramya-katha, one hurts others more than by wearing fancy clothes.

 

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami said that to hear or speak harmful things (things which are untrue, gossip, things which are distasteful or things which are very trivial) is the same as associating with a prostitute. Such talk distracts the mind and contaminates the consciousness, and thus creates a great obstacle to devotional service. You should know that those who are attached to such talk will automatically be uninterested in hari-katha.

 

If five ordinary people get together, then invariably they will talk about trivial things. This is why devotees constantly talk about the Supreme Lord. Where there is hari-katha, no one gets a chance to gossip or talk about trivial things.

 

[krsna]

Written in December, 1928, and published in The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)

 

 

 

The ceremony of diksha or initiation is that by which the spiritual Preceptor admits one to the status of a neophyte on the path of spiritual endeavour. The ceremony tends to confer spiritual enlightenment by abrogating sinfulness. Its actual effect depends on the degree of willing co-operation on the part of the disciple and is, therefore, not the same in all cases. It does not preclude the possibility of reversion on the novice to the non-spiritual state, if he slackens in his effort or misbehaves. Initiation puts a person on the true track and also imparts an initial impulse to go ahead. It cannot, however, keep one going for good unless one chooses to put forth his own voluntary effort. The nature of the initial impulse also varies in accordance with the condition of the recipient. But although the mercy of the good preceptor enables us to have a glimpse of the Absolute and of the path of His attainment, the seed that is thus sown requires very careful tending under the direction of the preceptor, if it is to germinate and grow into the fruit-and-shade-giving tree. Unless our soul of his own accord chooses to serve Krishna after obtaining a working idea of his real nature, he cannot long retain the Spiritual Vision. The soul is never compelled by Krishna to serve Him.

 

 

But initiation is never altogether futile. It changes the outlook of the disciple on life. If he sins after initiation, he may fall into greater depths of degradation than the uninitiated. But although even after initiation temporary set-backs may occur, they do not ordinarily prevent the final deliverance. The faintest glimmering of the real knowledge of the Absolute has sufficient power to change radically and for good the whole of our mental and physical constitution and this glimmering is incapable of being totally extinguished except in extraordinarily unfortunate cases.

 

 

It is undoubtedly practicable for the initiated, if only he is willing, to follow the directions of the preceptor that lead by slow degrees to the Absolute. The good preceptor is verily the savior of fallen souls. It is, however, very rarely that a person with modern culture feels inclined to submit to the guidance of another specially in spiritual matters. But the very person submits readily enough to the direction of a physician for being cured of his bodily ailments. Because these latter cannot be ignored without consequences that are patent to everybody. The evil that results from our neglect of the ailments of the soul is of a nature that paralyses and deludes our understanding and prevents the recognitions of itself. Its gravity is not recognized as it does not apparently stand in the way of our worldly activities with the same directness as the other. The average cultured man is, therefore, at liberty to ask questions without realizing any pressing necessity of submitting to the treatment of spiritual maladies at the hands of a really competent physician.

 

 

The questions that are frequently asked are as these: ‘Why should it be at all necessary to submit to any particular person or to to any particular ceremony for the purpose of realizing the Absolute Who by His nature in unconditioned? Why should Krishna require our formal declaration of submission to Himself? Would it not be more generous and logical to permit us to live a life of freedom in accordance with the principles of our perverted nature which is also His creation. Admitting that it is our duty to serve Krishna, why should we have to be introduced to Him by a third party? Why is it impossible for one to serve Sri Krishna directly?’ It would no doubt be highly convenient and helpful to be instructed by a good preceptor who is well-versed in the Scriptures in understanding the same. But one should never submit to another to an extent that may furnish a rascal with an opportunity of really doing harm. The bad preceptor is a familiar character. It is inexplicable how those gurus who live in open sin contrive nevertheless to retain the unquestioning allegiance of the cultured portion of their disciples.

 

 

Such being the case, can we blame any person who hesitates to submit unconditionally to a preceptor, whether he is good or bad? It is of course necessary to be quite sure of the bonafide of a person before we accept him even tentatively as our spiritual guide. A preceptor should be a person who appears likely to possess those qualities that will enable him it improve our spiritual condition.

 

 

Those and similar thoughts are likely to occur to most persons who have received an English education, when they are asked to accept the help of any particular person as his spiritual preceptor. The literature, science and art of the West, body forth the principle of the liberty of the individual and denounce the mentality that leads one to surrender to however superior a person his right of choosing his own course. They inculcate the necessity and high value of having faith in oneself.

 

 

But the good preceptor claims our sincere and complete allegiance. The good disciple makes a complete surrender of himself at the feet of the preceptor. But the submission of the disciple is neither irrational or blind. It is complete on condition that the preceptor himself continues to be altogether good. The disciple retains the right of renouncing his allegiance to the preceptor the moment he is satisfied that the preceptor is a fallible creature like himself. Nor does a good preceptor accept any one as his disciple unless the latter is prepared to submit to him freely. A good preceptor is in duty bound to renounce a disciple who is not sincerely willing to follow his instructions fully. If a preceptor accepts as his disciple one who refuses to be wholly guided by him, or if a disciple submits to a preceptor who is not wholly good, such preceptor and such disciple are, both of them, doomed to fall from their spiritual state.

 

 

No one is a good preceptor who has not realised the Absolute. One who has realised the Absolute is saved from the necessity of walking on the worldly path. The good preceptor who lives the spiritual life is, therefore, bound to be wholly good. He should be wholly free from any desire for anything of this world whether good or bad. The categories of good and bad do not exist in the Absolute. In the Absolute everything is good. We can have no idea in our present state of this absolute goodness. Submission to the Absolute is not real unless it is also itself absolute. It is on the plane of the Absolute that the disciple is required to submit completely to the good preceptor. On the material plane there can be no such thing as complete submission. The pretence of complete submission to the bad preceptor is responsible for the corruptions that are found in the relationship of the ordinary worldly guru and his equally worldly-minded disciples.

 

 

All honest thinkers will realise the logical propriety of the position set forth above. But most persons will be disposed to believe that a good preceptor in the above sense may not be found in this world. This is really so. Both the good preceptor and his disciple belong to the spiritual realm. But spiritual discipleship is nevertheless capable of being realised by persons who belong to this world. Otherwise there wold be no religion at all in the world. But because the spiritual life happens to be realizable in this world it does not follow that it is the worldly existence which is capable of being improved into the spiritual. As a matter of fact the one is perfectly incompatible with the other. They are categorically different from one another. The good preceptor although he appears to belong to this world is not really of this world. No one who belongs to this world can deliver us from worldliness. The good preceptor is a denizen of the spiritual world who has been enabled by the will of God to appear in this world in order to enable us to realise the spiritual existence.

 

 

The much vaunted individual liberty is a figment of the diseased imagination. We are bound willingly or unwillingly to submit to the laws of God in the material as well as in the spiritual world. The hankering for freedom in defiance of His laws is the cause of all our miseries. The total abjuration of all hankering for such freedom is the condition of admission to the spiritual realm. In this world we desire this freedom but are compelled against our will to submit to the inexorable laws of physical nature. This is the unnatural state. Such unwilling for forced submission does not admit us into the spiritual realm. In this world the moral principle, indeed claims our willing submission. But even morality also is a curtailment of freedom necessitated by the peculiar circumstances of this world. The soul who does not belong to this world is in a state of open or court rebellion against submission to an alien domination. It is by his very constitution capable of submitting willingly only to the Absolute.

 

 

The good preceptor asks the struggling soul to submit not to the laws of this world which will only rivet its chains but to the higher law of the spiritual realm. The pretence of submission to the laws of the spiritual realm without the intention of really carrying them out into practice is often mistaken for genuine submission by reason of the absence of fullness of conviction. In this world the fully convinced state is non-existent. We are, therefore, compelled in all cases to act on make-believes viz. the so-called working hypotheses. The good preceptor tells us to change this method of activity which we have learnt from our experience of this world. He invites us first of all to be really and fully informed of the nature and laws of the other world which happens to be eternally and categorically different from this phenomenal world. If we do not sincerely submit to be instructed in the alphabets of the life eternal but go on perversely asserting however unconsciously our present processes and so-called convictions against the instructions of the preceptor in the period of novitiate we are bound to remain where we are. This also will amount to the practical rejection of all advice because the two worlds have nothing in common though at the same time we naturally fail to understand this believing all the time in accordance with our accustomed methods that we are at any rate partially following the preceptor. But as a matter of fact when we reserve the right of choice we really follow ourselves, because even when we seem to agree to follow the preceptor it is because he appears to be in agreement with ourselves. But as the two worlds have absolutely nothing in common we are only under a delusion when we suppose that we really understand the method or the object of the preceptor or in other words reserve the right of assertion of the apparent self. Faith in the scriptures can alone help us in this otherwise unpracticable endeavour. We believe in the preceptor with the help of the shastras when we understand neither. As soon as we are fully convinced of the necessity of submitting unambiguously to the good preceptor it is then and only then that he is enabled to show us the way into the spiritual world in accordance with the method laid down in the shastras of that purpose which he can apply properly and without perpetrating a fatal blunder in as much as he himself happens to belong to the realm of the spirit.

 

 

The crux of the matter lies not in the external nature of the ceremony of initiation as it appears to us because that is bound to be unintelligible to us being an affair of the other world, but in the conviction of the necessity and the successful choice of a really good preceptor. We can attain to the conviction of the necessity of the help of a good preceptor by the exercise of our unbiased reason in the light of our ordinary experience. When once this conviction has been truly formed Sri Krishna Himself helps us in finding the really good preceptor in two ways. In the first place he instructs us as regards the character and functions of a good preceptor through the revealed Shastras. In the second place He Himself sends to us the good preceptor himself at the moment when we are at all likely to benefit by his instructions. The good preceptor also comes to us when we reject him. In such cases also it is certainly Krishna Who sends him to us for no reason what-so-ever. Krishna has revealed from eternity the tidings of the spiritual realm in the form of transcendental sounds that have been handed down in the records of the spiritual Scriptures all over the world. The spiritual Scriptures help all those who are prepared to exercise this reason for the purpose of finding not the relative but the Absolute Truth to find out the proper instructor in accordance with their directions. The only good preceptor is he who can make us really understand the spiritual scriptures and they enable us realise the necessity and the nature of submission to the processes laid down in them. But there is still every chance of foul play. A very clever man or a magician may pass himself off as a person who can properly explain the Scriptures by means of his greater knowledge or deceptive arts. It is very important, therefore, that we should be on our guard against such tricks. The Scholar as well as the magician pretend to explain the Scriptures only in terms of the object or happenings of this world. But the Scriptures themselves declare that they do not tell us at all of the thing of this world. Those who are liable to be deluded by the arts of pervert yogis who persuade themselves into believing that the spiritual is identical with the perversion, distortion or defiance of the laws of physical nature. The laws of physical nature are not unreal. They govern the relation of all relative existences(.) In our present state it is therefore, always possible for another who possesses the power or the knowledge to demonstrate the merely tentative character of what we choose to regard as our deepest convictions by exposing their insufficiency or inapplicability. But such surprises as they belong to the realm of the phenomenal, have nothing to do with the Absolute. Those who have an unspiritual partiality for scholarship or for magic fall into the clutches of the pseudo-religionists. The serious plight of these victims of their own perversity will be realised from the fact that no one can be delivered from the state of ignorance by the method of compulsion. It is not possible to save the man who refuses on principle to listen to the voice of reason. The empiric pedants are no exception to this rule.

 

 

The plain meaning of the Shastras should, therefore, be our only guide in the search of the good preceptor when we actually feel the need of his guidance. The Scriptures have defined the good preceptor as one who himself leads the spiritual life. It is not any worldly qualifications that make the good preceptor. It is by unreserved submission to such a preceptor that we can be helped to reenter into the realm that is our real home but which unfortunately is veritable terra incognita to almost all of us at present and also impossible of access to one body and mind alike which is the result of the disease of abuse of our faculty of free reason and the consequent accumulation of a killing load of worldly experiences which we have learnt to regard as the very stuff of our existence.

 

[krsna]

Published in The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)

 

 

 

Herr Schulze was a great German scholar and a famous writer, who became a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, living in India as a mendicant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We require the fullness of things. The plenary transcendence is to be approached. The difficult problem to be solved is how we can do so. First of all we find that the mind is meant for dealing with the external finite things of this world. Our senses are gratified by available objects but these objects are found to be inadequate for our purpose. When we are in search of more than is available here, or when we require a continuity of those very things, we are simply denied this full satisfaction. We cannot have our desirable objects in full, so we try to devise some means that continuity may be preserved.

 

 

Here we find three different trends, I mean qualities. One quality tends to operate for creative purposes, the next for sustenance and the third for destruction. Thus we have three situations. When there is nothing, something comes up for our sensuous inspection, something which was not in existence before or whose existence we could not trace before, just like an entry on the stage. It exists for some time. And then it takes its exit from the stage. These are the three stages we mark in this world, whereas in the Absolute, these are not the current conditions, though they have got their existence in order to foster the ecstasy of the Absolute.

 

 

We have to eliminate all sorts of undesirable impediments. We have to get rid of the alloyed portions, the defective portions, which we have incorporated with us. All sorts of imperfections should be avoided.

 

 

In the region of the Absolute we know there are three different energies working, one of which is His ecstatic energy by which bliss is conferred on us, and He is found to be inebriated with the ecstatic explorations. The very Absolute indulges Himself in the ecstatic mood and He is delighted; and when we find that He is delighted, we, being more or less part and parcel of the transaction, get a share as well, we being not the mind but the soul proper. When He is delighted, we necessarily get the advantage of that delightful temper of the Absolute. When He is surcharged with all beatific phases, we are also endowed with a part as per our own eligibility; as per our affinity for serving Him, we enjoy a part. Here where we are passing through a non-absolute region, our enjoyment is nothing but depriving Him of His enjoyment. We should take proper care not to carry our defective ideas there. The passionate desires of this mundane world should not be carried to the Absolute region. The second is the true energy, the energy of diffusing true knowledge; and the third is existence.

 

 

In the mundane region, we find three things: existence, sustenance and destruction. Destruction is a thing which is quite undesirable here. But in the Absolute region, we find the very dissociation or separation has got a factor in inebriating us. Here when we are deprived of something, we are rather helpless; there we get more opportunities of serving Him in case of separation. The procedure of approaching Him is to realise the condition of separation. Here we do not find Him. The Absolute cannot be had here though we may have ample inclination for having Him. The very formation of our equipments, the mind and the senses, is quite inadequate to have an approach to the transcendence, neither can we expect Him to be confined here as one of the objects of phenomena. We need not think that He comes under our sensuous jurisdiction. If He can come as an object, we should accuse Him of His finiteness. He is not to be dealt with as one of the material objects which can be reciprocated by our senses. He keeps Himself quite out of our vision and out of the touch of our senses. Unless we have devotional aptitude, we cannot invoke Him here. He does not condescend to come to this region and become an object of the activities of our senses. So we should find out a means to approach Him and this is known as Sadhan-Bhakti, i.e., the procedure to be adopted in our case. The Supreme Lord has not given us any privilege of exposing Himself to our senses. Phenomenal objects are presented to us, for duping us, for deluding us. So we have to be in touch with Him, but He has denied us this privilege. This is the case of separation. When He, the Lover, the Centre of all love, has denied the beloved His presence, our inclinations and activities should double, or treble to have His association. So this sort of separation is an essential point, is indeed the cardinal point, that will help us to have the inclinations of approaching Him.

 

 

All our attempts should tend towards association with Him, because the association is denied for the purpose of studying our hearts. He has given us this facility to have an easy track to reach Him. The very condition of separation is a very good thing for His servitor as he can culture his affinity or inclination for the Absolute more than when he is allowed to appear before Him. He has intentionally deprived us of His presence. He was found to be for a loving temper, but the Lover has deserted us, and we are to follow Him. When we are disappointed in not having His presence, we should actually thank our stars that our Lover has gained much by dissociating Himself from us. I mean the Autocrat has got the right of making Himself quite happy by deserting us, and we are to submit to His pleasure and wish, we are to submit to His whims. We must abide by His decision. That I consider to be service. That is, I need not satisfy my senses by approaching Him. But when he has managed to shut Himself from my senses, I know He wants that I should acquire more affinity for Him, and He has given me that opportunity. If He came within our perception, we would simply gratify our senses, which would be a detriment to our cause and would prove an obstacle to our service.

 

 

An illustration is quoted: One infinitestimal absolute was fanning the Absolute Infinity. The moment he thought that the Lord was delighted by his services, that the Master had accepted his services, he became overpowered and could fan no more. Thus he was found to be negligent in offering his services. The fanner should have known that he ought not to satisfy his senses by stopping his services by considering that the Master had accepted his services. He should not have become inebriated, because it proved rather a bar to his offering further service. Instead of being carried away by our emotional sentiments, we should always be alert in offering our service, and service is best offered by chanting the Name. The Supreme Lord is keeping Himself at a distance and we are to seek Him assiduously; this is the proper way of chanting the Name. The Name of the Absolute should be chanted continually so that we may be mindful and not diffident to offer our services. As soon as we show our diffidence to serve Him, and stop chanting His Name, we are necessarily led to lord it over the worldly phenomena, and we get a quite different occupation. The occupation or the sole function of the soul is nothing but to associate himself with the Supreme Lord. As soon as we are negligent of our services, we miss the opportunity of associating with Him. We are His eternal servitors (Bhaktas) and as such we have no other occupation but to serve Him. If we neglect this injunctions, [sic] we will have to become engaged with temporal things; but these engagements will not be continued for a long time. There will be a cessation of such engagements, and we miss what is eternal.

 

 

The transcendental Name is quite different from the ordinary sounds. The ordinary sounds carry the impression of things of this world for our purpose. All things of this phenomena are meant to serve us; but we are to serve Him. Service is to be rendered to the Absolute, and we need not hanker after receiving service from non-absolutes. Anything done for the purpose of our own self, is not service. Whatever is offered to the Absolute, is known as service or Bhakti. When the service is done property [sic], when it is not dominated by some regulation, the service is pure. All gnostic transactions or associations with the mundane things are quite opposed to service because they are meant for our purpose and not for the purpose of the Absolute. When we know we are absolute infinitesimals, our vision is fully restricted to the Absolute Infinity and not to any non-absolute thing. Devotion or Bhakti is the policy of approaching Him. Unconditional surrender should be performed at all cost. When we surrender, we will have an opportunity of depending on Him fully, otherwise we will be thinking of other things whether the Absolute is at all prepared to rescue us from this troublous region or not. The unconditional surrendering will give us the assurance that we will be rescued from the worldly affinity. If we chant the Name continuously, we will be able to get rid of our inclination of accepting worldly things, we will be simply relieved from the invasion of phenomenal finite objects. So chanting should be the process. We need not trouble ourselves in the beginning to enter into the details of the Absolute; the very chanting of His Name will take us to Him.

 

 

This world is a place of trial. We are to educate ourselves in the transcendental Science. We should not fail to do so now that we have got a human frame. We must avail our present opportunity, leaving aside everything else for our next life. This life should be engaged solely in the pursuit of the Absolute and that sort of pursuit will be effected if we adopt the process of devotion. We have very little to do with the worldly people; but we have everything to do with those who are engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord. Association with people who are busy with their measuring temperament, will not be congenial for our purpose. We should not culture our enjoying temperament as most people are inclined to do. If we have at all to meet an undesirable person, we should always make it a point to proselytise him through education about the Transcendental.

 

 

The only aim of our life should be to make progress towards the veiled region. People may accuse us that we are talking in a vein of mysticism which cannot be examined by the senses. But we do not talk of mysticism, we talk of certainties. As seekers of positive knowledge, we should try to peep into the veiled region. People are busy in examining things by their seeming aspects. The seeming positions are not to be confused with the actual positions, as a wrapper should not be considered to be the letter. We should penetrate into things. The outer case, the bahiranga maya-shakti, has produced these things to be measured by our senses. This sort of measuring is not at all congenial to our purpose. We should have a peep into the Absolute. We should not take our physical and astral bodies to be our real self. At present we know nothing due to ignorance, and this ignorance, is to be dispelled. We cannot deny the fact that we will have to die and get rid of this fleshy tabernacle. We cannot retain it. So the real owner of the body should be aimed at first. This is swarupajnana. We should not be identified with our bodies. When we are found to be eligible to see Him, we will be attracted by His sublime beautiful face. His beauty should not be enjoyed by us, but our beautiful transcendental frame should be shown to Him for His pleasure. As soon as we show Him our spiritual beauty, He will disclose Himself to us.

 

[krsna]

The sadhu helps the fallen jiva to regain his natural state of freedom from sin, by the constant service of bringing about the descent of transcendental sound in the form of words uttered by his lips and the mahaprasada in the shape of food that is offered by him to the Lord. The sound uttered by the sadhu and the mahaprasada are not things of this world. They are not identical with ordinary sound or ordi-nary food which are only means for the grati-fication of our sensuous appetites. The word of God and mahaprasada cannot be enjoyed, or in other words cannot be used for the grati-fication of the senses, because they are spiritual. Those who enjoy the kirtana, or any spiri-tual discourse, or eat the mahaprasada for ap-peasing hunger or for gratification of the pal-ate are guilty of sacrilegious acts which serve only to prolong the state of sin and ignorance. This is the greatest possible calamity that can befall the human soul. The kirtana of Hari is the constant and natural function of all the faculties of the jiva soul in the state of it’s freedom from all affinities with this changeable world. Because the absolute truth is identical with Hari, Hari has to be served exclusively, constantly, and by all the faculties of the soul. The only function of the voice is to chant the kirtana of Hari, which is identical with and inseparable from the simultaneous service of Hari by all the other senses. One who does not employ his voice constantly and exclusively in chanting the kirtana of Hari has no access to the service of Hari by any other faculty.

The kirtana of Hari has therefore to be chanted by being humbler than a blade of grass. There can be no trace of worldly vanity. There can be no seeking after any worldly advantage. The only object should be to please Lord Hari.

The absolute truth is a living person and not an abstract principle. He has the power of communicating His commands to us and ex-pressing His approval and disapproval of our activities. No one can understand His com-mand who does not fully submit to Him.

 

The absolute truth is not anything limited or partial; neither can it be divided. It is not dependent on any condition except itself. It is always one and the same.

 

Listening to or chanting of it is always and necessarily beneficial, being the natural function of the soul. Any other view of its nature will stand in the way of that perfect humility, the outcome of absolute submission which is the indispens-able condition of its realization.

A chanter of the kirtana of Hari is necessar-ily the uncompromising enemy of worldliness and hypocrisy. As a chanter of the kirtana of Hari, it is his constant function to dispel all misconceptions by the preaching of the truth in a most unambiguous form, without any influence of person, place or time. That form has to be adopted which is least likely to be misunderstood. It is his bounden duty to op-pose any person who tries to deceive and harm himself or other people by misrepresent-ing the truth either due to malice or genuine misunderstanding. This will be possible if the chanter of kirtana is always prepared to sub-mit to be trodden on by thoughtless people if any discomfort to himself will enable him to do good to his persecutors by chanting the truth in the most unambiguous manner. If he is unwilling to chant the kirtana under all cir-cumstances due to consideration of self-re-spect or personal discomfort, then he is unfit to be a preacher of the absolute truth. Humil-ity implies perfect submission to the truth and no sympathy for untruth. A person who en-tertains any partiality for untruth is unfit to chant the kirtana of Hari. Any clinging to un-truth is opposed to the principle of humility born of absolute submission to the truth.

Those who serve the truth at all times, by means of all their faculties, and have no han-kering for the trivialities of this world, are al-ways necessarily free from malice born of com-peting worldliness; and are therefore fit to admonish those who are actively engaged in harming themselves and others by the method of opposing or misrepresenting the truth in order to attain the rewards of such a policy in the shape of a perpetuation of the state of mis-ery and ignorance. The method which is em-ployed by the servant of the good preceptor for preventing such misrepresentation of the truth is a part and parcel of the truth itself. It may not always be pleasing to the diseased susceptibilities of deluded minds, and may even be denounced by them as a malicious act with which they are only too familiar, but the words of truth from the lips of a loyal and humble servant of Hari possess such benefi-cent power that all effort to suppress or ob-struct them only serves to vindicate to impar-tial minds the necessity of complete submis-sion to the absolute truth as the only cure of the disease of worldliness. Humility that is em-ployed in the unambiguous service of the truth is necessarily and qualitatively different from its perverted prototype, which is practiced by the cunning people of this world for gaining their worldly ends. The professors of pseudo- humility have reason to be afraid of the preachings of the servants of Hari (those whose duty it is to expose the enormous possibility of mischief possessed by the many forms of so-called spirituality), when they are taken to task for serving the untruth.

 

 

[krsna]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published in a 1932 edition of The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a beautiful lake of very sweet water in the Yamuna, which bears the name of Kaliya. This lake happened to be infested by a most venomous Serpent from whom the lake derives its name. On a certain day while the cowboys of Braja were out pasturing their calves on the wooded banks of the Yamuna they happened to feel thirsty and not knowing that the water of the lake had been poisoned by Kaliya drank of its water which resulted in their instantaneous death. On being apprised of their plight Krishna came to the spot and restored them to life.

 

 

Thereafter Krishna goes down into the lake with the intention of sporting in its water. This enraged the hideous monster who forthwith came out of the depths of the lake in the company of his adherents and fell upon Krishna coiling Him up in their great hoods for Kaliya was a thousand-hooded Serpent and his brood were equally formidable.

 

 

Thus attacked by Kaliya with his whole brood Krishna appeared to faint away under their murderous onslaught. On seeing Him apparently slain by His enemies the cowboys and all the assembled milkmen filled the air with their loud lamentations. But Krishna soon showed that He was quite safe and He forthwith climbed up the hoods of Kaliya and began to dance o his thousand heads. He danced in an infinite variety of the most marvelous of figures. The pressure of Krishna's Feet crushed the towering pride of the myriad-hooded monster. Kaliya lowered his hoods and vomited blood. But the Dance of Krishna did not cease. Kaliya was found tottering towards death when his wives came out of the lake and with palms joined in prayer begged Krishna to spare the life of their husband. The prayers of the wives of Kaliya who had faith in Krishna moved the Son of Nanda to have mercy on Kaliya. Krishna now desisted from His terrific Dance on condition that Kaliya was to quit the lake at once and to betake himself to ho original home in the island of Ramanaka. Krishna gave him His assurance that Garuda would now do him no harm, as he would respect the print of His Feet on hoods of Kaliya. The water of the Kaliya Lake was now rendered immune from all poison and became as sweet as it was before the advent of Kaliya.

 

 

The taming of Kaliya is one of the Brindaban Pastimes of Boy-Krishna. Kaliya is the type of cunning and malice. He is the embodiment of unrelenting cruelty. There is no place for Kaliya in the happy realm of Braja. Deceit and cruelty are as poison to the artless loving nature of the denizens of Braja. It is quite conceivable for the confiding chums of Krishna not to entertain any suspicion regarding the malicious intention of cruel and deceitful persons whose purpose is to poison them against Krishna. They may even unwittingly fall into the counsel of such evil persons. But Krishna is sure to rescue His Own from the whiles of His enemy.

 

 

Nay Krishna has also a plan for curing the evil propensity of Kaliya himself. The process consists in making him feel the touches of His Dancing Feet. But Kaliya attempts to bear up against all curative chastisement. Instead of feeling the joy of supporting the Feet of Krishna o his nasty hoods the monster finds it impossible to bear his good fortune without undergoing the pangs of actual death. Even the loyal wives of Kaliya who desire the reformation of the monster and whose god wishes are at least forced to intercede by a prayer for his banishment from the realm of Braja. But the pride of Kaliya has received a mortal check.

 

 

The banishment of Kaliya from the lake of the Yamuna has a most important spiritual significance. Those who have a purpose to create trouble among the pure devotees of Krishna by infecting their nature with their own malicious dispositions meet with a certain degree of initial success in their nefarious undertaking. This emboldens them to make a direct attack on Krishna Himself when He appears on the scene of their depraved activities in order to restore the living faith of His Own bonafide associates.

 

 

Those who are not exceedingly clever can never be servants of Krishna. But the service of Krishna is also never available to those whose cunning is employed for depriving Krishna of the fullness of His enjoyment. Kaliya and those whoa re actuated by a naturally malicious disposition are also styled clever in the ordinary phraseology of the damned world. Such rascals may also have the impudence of taking their stand upon the texts of the Scriptures by using their cunning in the graceless attempt of depriving Krishna of the service of His Own. This kind of conduct may also pass undetected and may even be regarded as possessing the perfect skill of confidential service. But Krishna is sure to expose the real nature of the villainy just at the moment when it has been successful in misleading His best-beloved ones.

 

 

It is indeed, very difficult to understand the Ways of Krishna. Krishna apparently permits almost every form of offense to be perpetrated with impunity against His most beloved ones. This has the effect of providing an opportunity for His Own for proving their incomparable love for Himself and by means of this unique exhibition of their love for Himself and by means of this unique exhibition of their love to defeat in the most fruitful manner the machinations of His worst enemies. The friends and chums of Krishna are offered to the malice of cunning and relentless brutes in order to bring out the difference between the two and thereby enable the latter to desist form troubling the devotees of their own accord.

 

 

But these brutes are never allowed to associate with the servants of Krishna even after they forego their malice towards them. They are eternally debarred from the service of Krishna in Braja. But the touch of Krishna's Feet makes a real difference between the recipient of His mercy and the other brutes. Kaliya is no longer regarded by Garuda as the enemy of Krishna. Kaliya is, therefore, allowed a place among the protected of Krishna. It does not follow that is a paying business to poison the hearts of His servants against Krishna, which is sure to be rewarded by the grant of His protection. Yes, this is so after the pride of the miscreant is thoroughly broken by being trod upon by Krishna Himself. His is thereby inspired with a most wholesome dread which effectively prevents him from trying to breed mischief among the bonafide devotees by owning an unwilling allegiance to Krishna and assuming the badge of His servitude by wearing on his head the print of His lotus Feet. The mercy shown to Kaliya is so obviously and disproportionately great in its magnitude in face of the extreme gravity of his offense that no rationalistic explanation can do justice to its full beneficent significance.

 

 

"In the eighth chapter of "Shri Krishna Samhita', eighteen evils have been cited from 13th sloka to the end as obstacles to Vraja-bhajana. If breaking up of Yamalarjuna and vanity of Brahmin performing sacrifices are added, these will make up to 20 obstacles. These are all adverse tattvas to Vraja bhajana. The aspirant devoted to Nama bhajana, in the very beginning should loudly address All-Powerful Hari, praying always to drive out these evils. If he does, his heart will be purified. If the devotees cry out most humbly and piteously to Hari to drive out the trouble of those Asuras whom Krishna has destroyed from the domain of their heart, Hari Himself will remove those evils. But they will have to drive out themselves, with their own efforts the troubles of those Asuras whom Baladeva has killed. This is the mystery of Vraja-bhajana.

 

 

Dhenukasura is the evil of licentiousness, gain, honor and aspiration for selfish end. The aspirant will remove these evils with his own care and effort and obtaining mercy of Krishna. Loss of knowledge of swarupa of self, swarupa of Nama and relationship with swarupa of adorable Deity, ignorance and Avidya constitute Dhenukasura. With the greatest care and endeavor the aspirant will have to remove this evil and restore his self-knowledge. Lewdness for male or female, greed for wealth, effort for acquiring material prosperity, increasing one's honor, fame and reputation etc., are very pernicious evils and knowing these as strong impediments to Nama-bhajana, the aspirant, with his best acre and effort will remove them. If humility becomes very deep and intense, Krishna will be merciful. In that case, feeling of Baladeva will arise in his mind and then these will be destroyed in no time. Then favorable and smooth cultivation of Bhajana will gradually improve. This process is naturally very secret and should be learnt from a good preceptor with clear mind.

[krsna]

 

 

 

 

Published in a May 1932 edition of The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first act of New-born Infant Krishna recorded by the Bhagabatam is the slaying of the demoness Putana.

 

 

The demoness Putana was deputed by King Kansa to kill all the newborn babies of the realm of Brag where the Divine sage Nard that his would-be slayer had been recently born informed him. Meanwhile Sherrie Krishna had been born in Kansa's prison and had been conveyed by His father Versed to the house of His foster parents Nana and Yasoda in Braja during the night of His advent. The guards of the prison had failed to detect the movements of Vasudeb who had returned to his prison with the new-born daughter of Yosoda with whom he had exchanged His own Boy without the knowledge of Yadosa herself. Vasudeb had carried Krishna in his arms across the flooded Yamaha lashed into fury by the tempestuous water of that moon-less night. He had waded on foot the deep waters which had been turned into yawning whirlpools by the fury of the tempest. The iron chains, bolts and locks of the barred gates of the prison had opened of their own accord on the approach of Vasudeb carrying Krishna to the home of His foster parents. The daughter of Yasoda was thereupon duly reported to King Kansa as the new-born-dreaded eighth issue of Devaki. The King rushed into the prison-cell on receipt of the tidings for which he had been waiting through long years of sleepless nights.

 

 

He was at first willing to spare the life of the baby as the prophecy was to the effect that he would be killed by a male child, eighth issue of Vasudev and Devaki But he thought of being relieved of all possible doubts on the point by putting to death the new-born girl. As, however, King Kansa was on the point of dashing the baby on the block she escaped from the grip of the King and disclosing herself as the Deluding Energy of Godhead as she remained visible for a short time in mid-sky, assured the King of the certainty of the birth of his future slayer but dissuading him form the fruitless attempt of avoiding his fate by the cruel murder of innocent infants. Saying this Mahamaya disappeared from the view of the astounded King. Kansa was subsequently informed by the sage Narada that his future slayer must have been born among the denizens of Brag and that he was mindful of his safety he should lose no time in taking drastic measures for nipping the danger in the bud. This advice was relished by the blood-thirsty coward and he has accordingly deputed the demoness Putana to kill by an unsuspected process all the new-born infants of the surrounding country.

 

 

The demoness Putana accordingly made her appearance in Braja and presented herself in the home of Yasoda during the absence of Nanda who was then in Mathura to pay the tribute due from him to King Kansa. The demoness has assumed the form of a most beautiful matron with a most benignant aspect as she approached the couch where Infant Krishna had been put to sleep by Yasoda. Yasoda noticed the unknown female as she entered the house, but did not suspect any foul play. She accordingly watched the new-comer without any anxiety as she made her way to the couch of the Baby, took Him up in her arms and offered her breast to the Infant to give Him to suck. But the nipples of Putana's breast has been tipped with the deadliest poison.

 

 

The infant Krishna was aware of the intention of the demoness and took hold of the breast of the monster with His supple Arms. The grip of the Infant was so terribly severe that it was enough to drive the demoness to despair of her life as she was convulsed by the mortal agony of the pressure of Krishna's little Hands. The Infant then applied His lips to the breast of Putana and sucked away her life in an instant. The terrible monster bellowing with pain was compelled to disclose her own huge, loathsome demoniac form as she fell lifeless on the ground covering with her hideous carcass a long distance with Infant Krishna still clinging to her poisoned nipples.

 

 

Accordingly the first act of the milkmaids, who with Yasoda rushed to the spot, was to snatch the Infant Krishna from the breast of the terrible demoness. Then they all marveled how the Baby could escape unhurt from the clutches of the demoness. They attributed the safety of the Infant to the mercy of the gods who are especially kind to the helpless. The affrighted milkmaids invoked the help of all the gods and goddesses for their continued protection of the Infant.

 

 

Meanwhile, Putana was saved by her service to Krishna for having offered Him the suck of her poisoned breast. The author of the Bhagabatam is careful to mention that the good fortune of the demoness equaled that of Yasoda in as much as her breast had been sucked by Krishna. Putana, therefore, attained to the eternal status of the foster-mothers of the Supreme Lord in the Realm of the Absolute.

 

 

The above narrative of the Bhagabatam embodies a most important moral for the seekers of the Absolute. Butbefore offering the interpretations of the texts favored by the former Acharyas I would like to draw the attention of the reader to certain possible misconceptions regarding the nature of the interpretations about to be offered.

 

 

The transcendental meaning of the words cannot be conveyed to the senses of the conditioned soul so long as he does not agree to follow the method of submissive listening to the transcendental sound appearing on the lips of the pure devotee. There is a definite line of succession of the bonafide teachers of the truth. The bonafide teacher should be available sooner or later to the real seeker of the Truth. The bonafide Acarya is not recognizable by the hypocrites and atheists who do not really want to serve Godhead. So long therefore, as the bonafide teacher does not manifest his appearance to the pure cognitive essence of the seeker of the Absolute Truth it is necessary for the candidate for spiritual enlightenment to concentrate on self-examination to be able to avoid harboring any lurking traces of insincerity. The words of the sadhu are also available, by his causeless mercy, for bearing the efforts of such candidates, for finding out their own insincerity.

 

 

It is by overlooking or deliberately neglecting to undergo this preliminary training for obtaining access to the transcendental meaning of all words that the literal interpretationists who follow the ordinary lexicographical meaning of the words of the scriptures fail to understand the necessity of never deviating from the interpretations offered by the self-realized souls to whom the transcendental meaning of the words is available. Those empiricists who, while following the lexicographical and syntactical method of the literal interpretationists, do not scruple to read their own meanings into the texts under the impression that the scriptures and the products of the human brain liable to every form of error and, therefore, fit to be corrected by the equally erring caprices of other hypothetical thinkers on the ground of allegations of error that cannot be proved, are disposed to think that the interpretations offered by the Acharyas are not scrupulously faithful to the texts and offer allegorical explanations for supporting their own sectarian views.

 

 

These possible misunderstandings are stated to invite the attention of the reader to their bearing on the following interpretation of the narrative of Putana based on the exposition of the former Acaryas heard from the lips of the bonafide teacher of the Absolute. The interpretation is not offered as a literal lexicographical explanation nor as an allegory concocted in the light of empiric knowledge of the past history of the race and may accordingly be accepted as such. Shree Krishna manifests His Eternal birth in the pure cognitive essence of the serving soul who is located above all mundane limitations. King Kansa is the typical aggressive empiricist. He is ever on the look-out for the Appearance of the Truth for the purpose of suppressing Him before He has time to grow up. This is no exaggeration of the real connotation of the consistent empiric position. The materialist has a natural repugnance for the transcendental. He is disposed to think that faith in the incomprehensible is the parent of dogmatism and hypocrisy under the guise of religion. He is also equally under the delusion that there is and can be no really dividing line between the material and the spiritual. He is strengthened in his delusion by the interpretation of the scriptures by persons whoa re like-minded with himself. This included all the lexicographical interpreters. The lexicographical interpretation is upheld by Kansa as the real scientific explanation of the Scriptures and one that is perfectly in keeping with his dread of an aversion of the transcendental. These lexicographical interpreters are employed by Kansa in purring down the first suspected appearance of any genuine faith in the transcendental. King Kansa knows very well that if the faith in the transcendental is once allowed to grow it is sure to upset all his empiric prospects. There is historical ground for such misgivings.

 

 

Accordingly if the empiric domination is to be preserved intact it would be necessary not to lose a moment to put down the transcendental heresy the instant it threatens to make its appearance in right earnest. King Kansa acting on this transitional fear is never slow to take the scientific precaution of debuting empiric teachers of the scriptures backed by the resources of Dictionary and Grammar and all empiric subtleties to put down, by the show of spacious arguments based on hypothetical principles, the true interpretation of the eternal religion revealed by the scriptures. Kansa is strongly persuaded that the faith in the transcendental can be effectively put down by empiricism if prompt and decisive measures are adopted at the very outset. He attributes the failures of atheism in the past to the neglect of the adoption of such measures before the theistic fallacy has time to spread among the fanatical masses.

 

 

But Kansa is found to count without his host. When Krishna is born He is found to be able to upset all sinister designs against those who are apprised by Himself of His Advent. The apparently causeless faith displayed by persons irrespective of age, sex and condition may confound all rabid empiricists who are on principle averse to the Absolute Truth Whose Appearance is utterly incompatible with the domination of empiricism. But no adverse efforts of the empiricists, whose rule seems till then to be perfectly well-established over the minds of the deluded souls of this world, can dissuade any person from exclusively following the Truth when He actually manifests His birth in the pure cognitive essence of His soul.

 

 

Putana is the layer of all infants. The baby, when he or she comes out of the mother's womb, falls at once into the clutches of the pseudo-teachers of religion. These teacher are successful in forestalling the attempts of the good preceptor whose help is never sought by the atheists of this world at the baptisms of their children. This is ensured by the arrangements of all the established churches of the world. They have been successful only in supplying watchful Putanas for effecting the spiritual destruction of persons from the moment of their birth with the co-operation of their worldly parents. No human contrivance can prevent these Putanas from obtaining possession of the pulpits. This is due to the general prevalence of atheistic disposition in the people of this world. The church that has the best chance of survival in this damned world is that of atheism under the convenient guise of theism. The churches have always proved the staunchest upholders of the grossest forms of worldliness from which even the worst of non-ecclesiastical criminals are bound to recoil.

 

 

It is not from any deliberate opposition to the ordained clergy that these observations are made. The original purpose of the established churches of the world may not be always objectionable. But no stable religious arrangement for instructing the masses has yet been successful. The supreme Lord Shree Krishna Chaitanya in pursuance of the teaching of the scriptures enjoins all absence of conventionalism for the teachers of the eternal religion. It does not follow that the mechanical adoption of the unconventional life by any person will make him a fit teacher of religion. Regulation is necessary for controlling the inherent worldliness of conditioned souls. But no mechanical regulation has any value even for such a purpose. The bonafide teacher of the religion is neither any product nor the favorer of any mechanical system. In his hands no system has likewise the chance of degenerating is not a lifeless arrangement. The mere pursuit of fixed doctrines and fixed liturgies cannot hold a person to the true spirit of doctrine or liturgy.

 

 

The idea of an organized church in an intelligible form, indeed, marks the close of the living spiritual movement. The great ecclesiastical establishments are the dykes and the dams to retain the current that cannot be held by any such contrivances. They, indeed, indicate a desire on the part of the masses to exploit a spiritual movement for their own purpose. They also unmistakably indicate the end of the absolute and unconventional guidance of the bonafide spiritual teacher. The people of this world understand preventive systems, they can have no idea of the unprevented positive eternal life. Neither can there be any earthly contrivance for the permanent preservation of the life eternal on this mundane plane on the popular scale.

 

 

Those are, therefore, greatly mistaken who are disposed to look forward to the amelioration of the worldly state in any worldly sense from the worldly success of any really spiritual movement. It is these worldly expectants who become the patrons of the mischievous race of the pseudo-teachers of religion. the Putanas, whose congenial function is to stifle the theistic disposition at the very moment of its suspected appearance. But the real theistic disposition can never be stifled even by the efforts of those Putanas. The Putanas have power only over the atheists. It is a thankless but salutary task which they perform for the benefit of their willing victims.

 

 

But as soon as the theistic disposition proper makes its appearance in the pure cognitive essence of the awakened soul the Putanas are decisively silences at the very earliest stage of their encounter with new-born Krishna. The would-be slayer is herself slain. This is the reward of the negative services that the Putanas unwittingly render to the cause of theism by strangling all hypocritical demonstrations against their own hypocrisy But Putana does not at all like to receive her reward in the only form which involves the total destruction of her wrong personality. King Kansa also does not like to lose the service of the most trusted of his agents. The effective silencing of the whole race of the pseudo-teachers of religion is the very first clear indication of the Appearance of the Absolute on the mundane plane. The bonafide teacher of the Absolute heralds the Advent of Krishna by his uncompromising campaign against the pseudo-teachers of religion.

[krsna]

Published in a 1932 edition of The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)

 

[Editor: We have assumed that the Batasur demon referred to herein is Bakasura, the demon Krsna killed during his Pauganda Period.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Batasur is one of the demons slain by the Boy-Krishna. He represents evils that are peculiar to boyhood. The neophyte is extremely susceptible to such evils. They cannot be got rid of except by the Mercy of Krishna. If one engages in the service of Krishna the juvenile vices are completely eradicated at an early stage.

 

 

There is an English proverb that sowing of wild oats is inevitable at a young age. The term 'Puritanism' was originally coined to express the protest of boys and young men against any undue curtailment of the scope of enjoyment that should be regarded as permissible to them. Boys and young men claim the right to be merry and frolicsome. There is nothing objectionable and much that is of positive value in the display of these juvenile qualities. If the attempt be made to stifle this innocent play of the boyish nature under the impression that is an exhibition of sensuousness and for that reason, as being as harmful as similar conduct on the part of grown up persons, the result is not assurance but discouragement, of juvenile innocence. There are, indeed, black sheep and these should not be allowed to taint the whole flock, for this purpose caretakers with full sense of their delicate responsibility are required to keep watch over them for ensuring the innocence of boyhood and youth without killing their joys. But with every precaution it has been found impossible to attain this double purpose.

 

 

The Scripture say that it is not in the power of man to ensure the immunity of boys and girls from the blight of precocious sensuousness except by means of the service of Krishna. This is declared to be the only effective and natural method. Let the boys be exposed to the attraction of the CowBoy of Braja. They will soon learn to pick up His Company. They will easily realize that the Boy-Krishna can alone save them form every form of danger to which they are exposed by the 'right' of their juvenile nature.

 

 

Why should this be so? There is a very simple reason. Krishna does not limit His service only to the middle-aged and old people. The Puritanic ideal of Godhead is a conception which owes its origin to persons who are elderly although honestly enough anxious to establish the 'Kingdom of God' on this earth. But if you scratch the think coating on the surface of their sage and sober scheme as befitting their age you only detect the rotten arrangement for securing the maximum of sensuous enjoyment even for those very children who are brought up in this 'virtuous' way. If the child is allowed to spoil his health in boyhood, think these righteous people, he will not be in a position later on to enjoy the legitimate pleasures of the grown up man. Unless the young man husbands his resources of sense-capacity he will also be a victim to premature old age. It is a policy of expediency of postponing a small present enjoyment for reaping much larger measure of it through the long tracts of the years to come.

 

 

The spurious Brahmacharya ideal as misconceived by its worldly supporters embodies this Puritanic outlook. The Scriptures, indeed, enjoin that every one should serve Godhead from the womb. This is the real meaning of Brahmacharya. The ascetic practices that have come to attach themselves to the conception were interpolated into the Scriptures in order to ensure worldly values by this form of the empiric method. The scheme requires that the laws of the growth of the physical and mental bodies should be observed and followed. Nature is regarded as the kind mother who favors only those of her children who cultivate the filial habit of prying into her secrets. Nature is supposed to be unable to avoid divulging her secrets to her inquisitive children although she is well aware that her children will exploit this knowledge for troubling herself by harnessing her to their service. In other words it is also assumed to be the duty of the kind mother to consent to put herself in chains in order to minister to the sensuous appetites of her worthier children. Nature is assumed to be able to do good to her children only by submitting to be the victim of their lust.

 

 

The practices of asceticism are really conceived in the epicurian spirit. The ascetic dreams of obtaining the mastery over Nature by the method of controlling his senses. If the senses grow callout to the temptations of the world the ascetic thinks that he will have less chance of falling into the power of Nature. He has an idea that when he will have perfected these defensive arrangements he will have become the real master of the situation. The brahmachari, according to the ascetic point of view, is to pass through a period of training in sever abstinence with his guru in order to be fitted to discharge the duties of citizenship, which will make a great demand on his nerves and muscles with greater thoroughness. There is no reference to the service of Godhead or to any spiritual issue.

 

 

We have had many occasions to explain that the spiritual is transcendental. No mundane consideration can form any part of spiritual training or conduct. It is not a spiritual affair to be even able to control one's carnal desires. Such self-control itself is, indeed, automatically produced by the awakening of the soul. But self-control itself is not therefore a function of the soul. The souls has nothing to do with the senses. The soul desires neither sensual nor sexual purity. The soul is not a mere moral being. If Brahmacharya means a method of gaining moral power it is wholly a mundane affair and is as such not one of no concern to the soul but is positively obstructive of spiritual well being.

 

 

This is bound to be so because the point of view of the soul is all embracing. The soul rejects nothing. He regards nothing as redundant or useless. The souls has a use for everything. But the souls sees everything as it is really related to himself and to other entities. There is, therefore, no room for the temporary type of morality in his relationships with the other entities. Everything is absolutely good on the plane of the soul. The scriptural Brahmacharya institution accordingly means service of the Brahman i.e. the Reality Who is always the Great and always the Help. The servant of the Absolute is free from all delusion.

 

 

Morality is a valued commodity only on the plane of delusion. But it has no locus standi on the plane where the conditions of existence are perfect.

 

 

Till the service of Godhead is realized it is impossible to be really moral in the sense of being needlessly and perfectly virtuous. If a person is causelessly virtuous in the worldly sense he or she will be a subject of easy exploitation for all the cunning rascals of this world. This is so because morality as conceived by the empiricist, has reference to the physical body and the changeable mind and is, therefore, liable to change so long as the conditions are not radically altered.

 

 

The empiric contriver of juvenile welfare strives to produce conditions that will favor the growth and continuance of the empiric moral aptitude. These artificial conditions are confidently enough expected to be likely to prove of permanent benefit to those young persons who are brought up under those improvised conditions. But the brand of morality that has to be produced by the artificial manipulation of the natural environment is likely to prove of little value when the props are withdrawn. The analogy of needed protection for the growth of delicate plants does not apply, as such plants are always exoterics. Hot-house morality is thus a misnomer and a delusion in relation to the soul.

 

 

Brahmacharya fully embodies the substantive ideal of spiritual purity distortedly reflected in the empiric ethical conception. Brahmacharya means service of the Absolute. Juvenile innocence is not he monopoly of young persons, any more than juvenile naughtiness. They are the animal entities corresponding to analogous spiritual qualities The spiritual activities are perfectly wholesome. They include all value and harmonize all disruptive conflict both of which are so utterly wanting in their mundane pervert reflections to be found in this world.

 

 

It is not to be supposed that everything is done by Krishna and there is nothing to be done by ourselves in any matter. As a mater of fact there is a division of parts to be played in functions that relate even to ourselves, as between us and Krishna. Certain duties are allotted to us. Certain other functions are reserved to Krishna. Batasur cannot be killed by us. He is too strong for us. This is in keeping with the experience of most educationists. Juvenile innocence is a necessity for both young and old. One cannot acquire it by any artificial process. No person can also ordinarily retain it after boyhood and youth. This is a real tragedy of human life.

 

 

Juvenile innocence is desired on account of its enjoyability. But it should properly be desired only for the service of Krishna. (The parent can have no higher duty that to employ his boy in the service of Krishna by putting him under the proper teacher viz., the pure devotee of Krishna. No parent is entitled to undertake the charge of the spiritual training of his own boy. He is unfitted for the task by his mundane relationship. Once such relationship is grasped to be an obstacle in the way of juvenile training the necessity of sending the boy at the earliest opportunity to the proper teacher becomes self-evident. If the parent continues to retain his paternal interest in the boy after he has been put to school for the above purpose he will be only standing in the way of his boy's progress. The training is not for the boy only but it is a training for his parents as well.)

 

 

Boyish naughtiness is apt to be overlooked, nay encouraged, under the impression that it is his nature to be naughty. This opinion overlooks the all-important factor that the training is intended for the welfare of the soul of the boy and not for the juvenile body or mind. The soul does not require to be treated with indulgence. He is neither young nor old in the worldly sense. The body and mind of the boy have to be employed in the interest of the soul. Boyish naughtiness and boyish virtue are alike unnecessary for the soul. It is necessary for the soul to be freed from either from of worldliness. The mundane nature of the boy is not less a clog to the wheel of spiritual progress than the adult nature of the grown-up-worldling. The process of training is identical in the two cases as the soul is neither young nor old.

 

 

Much irrational pity is wasted on boys who are employed form early infancy in the whole time service of Krishna, on exactly the same terms as grown-up-persons. Persons who affect much kindness of disposition towards juvenile frailties profess to be unable to understand why juvenile offenses are taken as seriously in spiritual training as those of adult persons.

 

 

But the teacher in charge of the spiritual training of boys can perform his duty by them only as the special agent of Krishna. If such a teacher chooses to confide in his own devices he is bound to be undeceived at every step. What he has really to do is to use the boy constantly in the service of Krishna. For this purpose it is necessary for the teacher himself to be a whole time servant of Krishna. It is only by abstaining to do anything that is not distinctively commanded by Krishna or His real agent viz., the Sat-Guru that the spiritual teacher of boys can hope to be of any help to his pupils. The so-called science of pedagogies requires to be thoroughly overhauled in order to afford a free hand to the bonafide devotee of Krishna in managing young persons. The present arrangements based on the experience of this world and on the hypotheses of an absolute causal relationship connecting each phenomenon with the rest, by leaving out the reference to Krishna, can only realize the tragic part of a quack lightly administering all thew wrong drugs to a patient smitten with a mortal illness.

 

 

The King of atheists Kansa is always setting the demon Batasura to corrupt and destroy the boys. The teacher of the young employed by the atheistical society is verily the agent of King Kansa. The atheist is afraid lest the boys are employed in the service of Krishna. He is naturally anxious to prevent any acquaintance of the boys with Krishna. But if a boy has really found Krishna the nefarious attempts of the empiric teacher are powerless to destroy his innocence. If such a teacher perseveres in the fruitless attempt he will thereby quickly bring about his own utter moral degradation and his sorry trick will also be fully exposed. Because in this case it is Krishna Himself Who opposes his wicked activities on behalf of His protégé.

 

 

As a matter of fact the concern of empiric educationists for ensuring immunity of boys from the blighting effects of precocity is altogether hypocritical. The empiric pendant only ants the boy to grow a body and mind that will ensure greater and longer scope for their worldly use. He does not want that the worldly use of his body and mind should be curtailed in any way. In other words he is on principle opposed to the employment of the healthy body and sound mind for any spiritual purpose. But why does he want a healthy body for his nasty purpose? Is in only in order to be able to have the pleasure of a more prolonged wastage and the take's progress in downright earnest? A sickly boy is not really harmful to a person who has no higher object in view than undiluted self-gratification.

 

 

(10) Kaliyadamana (Subduing Kaliya serpent)- Removal of vanity, maliciousness, doing wrong to others, crookedness and un-kindness.

 

 

(Sri Caitanya Shikshamritam, p.243)

 

[krsna]

 

 

 

 

We who have come to the Sri Chaitanya Math are all surrendered to Sri Chaitanya Deva, therefore we do not have any other goal besides devotional service to the Supreme Lord. If we lack in our service, then our mentality will become like that of a materialistic person and ultimately devour us. In order to protect the math, however, we have to abide by some rules.

 

 

1. It should be the duty of a sannyasi that they should never use shoes, rather they should go everywhere on foot.

 

 

2. They should never accept service from anyone. Neither should they never ask someone to massage their body or feet with oil.

 

 

3. Eating nice food and eating separately from other devotees is totally forbidden.

 

 

4. One should never go to a physician and should never take medicine according to their own wish.

 

 

Note: (When a sannyasi needs something then it should be the duty of residents of the math to nicely take care of him. It is the duty of a sannyasi to serve the ones who are not sannyasis. The living entity invites difficulties by criticizing others, scandalizing others and unnecessarily talking about others. One should always desire auspiciousness. A devotee can easily control his mind and destroy his desires by steadfastly serving the Holy Name.

 

 

5. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna is residing in every spirit soul, therefore one should not consider himself worshipable and that others should serve him. When a sannyasi is free from false ego then the residents of the math should enthusiastically serve him, otherwise he should go back home.

 

 

6. Excessive foppery, excessive drinking of milk, eating luxuriously like a big man, should be totally given up. We don't want gymnasts (body builders) in our math. This is the place for the devotees of the Lord.

 

 

7. Strengthening the senses by taking excessive medicine and trying to spread one's domination in order to attract other's wives should be given up totally.

 

 

8. Sri Krsna is the only Lord and Enjoyer of everybody and everything. One should remember that all the time. One should serve according to the degree of their devotion. There cannot be any auspiciousness unless we become free from the evil desire to use the devotees in our service. The fire of lust that burns for material sense gratification should be given up. But that doesn't mean one should speak uncivilized language and dress in an uncivilized way in order to mix with dignified society.

 

 

A bramachari should not desire to become a sannyasi simply in order to have greater sense gratification. The desire to dominate is detrimental to devotional service. To consider a sense enjoyer to be a sannyasi, and wanting to become a sannyasi with that ideal should be totally rejected. When one begins to enjoy his senses and becomes deceptive, he cannot serve the Lord nor His devotees.

 

 

One should be very careful that no mood of foppery enters into Sri Chaitanya Math which will to ruin the sannyasis and bramacharis. The examples we are having about should not be tolerated, the householders also, like a sannyasi, should overcome the urges of lust, anger and greed. Everyone should consider himself to be very low and serve the residents of the math and the other Vaishnavas with all humility. Those who are not residents of the math, but are staying in the math for some business, or wanting some favor from the math should always be willing to serve the residents of the math and the math itself. The residents of the math should never behave indecently with a guest of the math.

 

 

The residents should reject the mentality that the math is their personal property and that the guests are merely objects of their mercy. A guest should be treated with the highest honor - actually everybody in this world should be respected. Otherwise we may land up in the same extreme distress the materialists are suffering. A resident of the math should remember all these things very carefully. One should always serve Sri Krsna, there shouldn't be any mistake in that and more indispensable is the service to a Vaishnava. If a sannyasi must go to the shop or the dispensary for some reason other than service to the math, then he should go on foot. Let the car be sitting empty, but still they will not get into it. What everybody else gets, they should receive only that.

 

 

Never should they use any conveyance, but with the excuse of going to the doctor, they take the car. They buy medicine and eat luxurious food. If they again behave properly for one year, then their eligibility can be considered. The math is not the place for foppery or staying in a hospital. One should not display his foppery. They can better behave that way by staying at home. Instead of saffron cloth they may be clad in white with a tail and send them back home. The ones who desire foppery, luxurious food and medicine they can go back to their homes and take care of their families, then they won't have to identify themselves with the math.

 

 

Everybody should be reminded that cars, horses, launches and indeed men, are all meant for the use of the math, not any individual's display of foppery. Luxurious eating should be totally stopped. The sannyasis who do not indulge in foppery, should be recognized as Gaudiya Math sannyasis. The rest should be sent back to their respective homes. If our man power decreases due to that, that is still better. The ones who have taken shelter of the math, but are simply motivated by their bellies and genitals, if they are driven away, then the expenses of the math will be reduced. The pleasure-loving, sense gratifying managers should not be allowed to waste money rather everyone should earn for the math. It is important to make a list of how much one earns. It is not necessary to eat, buy medicine and display foppery more than one earns.

 

 

The ones who come to render devotional service are bramacharis, grhasthas, vanaprasthas and sannyasis. To the ones who do not render any devotional service, the math will not give them shelter, because they do not deserve it. One should never think: "I have rendered a lot of service to the math so I will use their car." This is the mentality of a materialist. One who is serving the math should do that without any expectation of return because everyone has come to serve the math. If anyone takes anything in return of his service to the math or serves himself, he will become a sense gratifier. When one is a guest, then he cannot demand, he should eat according to the wishes of the host. One who is busy seeking sense gratification should be asked to leave. Your ever well wisher,