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

[krsna]

Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 19.132 purport:

 

”According to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, distributing literature is like playing on a great mrdanga. Consequently we always request members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to publish as many books as possible and distribute them widely throughout the world. By thus following in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami, one can become a rupanuga devotee.”

[krsna]

"Those who are unwilling to show any duplicity, wish to be frank and straightforward, or in other words to exercise unambigiously the function of the soul, such really sincere persons are called sectarian and orthodox by those who practice duplicity. We will cultivate the society only of those who are straightforward. We will not keep company with any person who is not so. We must by all means avoid bad company. We are advised to keep at a distance of a hundred cubits from animals of the horned species. We should observe the same caution in regard to all insincere persons."

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

 

[krsna]

MAY WE ALWAYS REMEMBER

 

By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada

 

Shri Krishna Chaitanyadeva is the Supreme Teacher of all teachers of this world and the ideal possessor of intelligence that is the highest of all. It should be our only duty to constantly chant those words regarding the cleansing of the mirror of the heart of which He speaks in His Eight Precepts (Shikshastakam).

 

 

 

We are only the bearers of the Transcendental World. We shall never in any way hesitate to offer every honour and facility, for which they are eligible, to all persons of this world. We must pray to all for the boon of aptitude for the service of Krishna. We shall come across many persons in this world, possessing an endless variety of characters, disposed or hostile to the service of Krishna. But we should not slacken in our loving service of the Lord of our hearts and should offer due honour to all persons.

 

We will have opportunities, as we approach different persons in all parts of the world with the vendor's bag of the discourse of Hari, to see a good many sights, to hear much, and to seek to derive much benefit from our experience. May we never forget that all entities of this world are essentially protégés of the Lotus-feet of Shri Guru for helping the expansion of His service.

 

 

 

May we always remember that all excellences must only be prepared to wait with the utmost eagerness on the particle of dust of the Lotus-feet of my Shri Guru; otherwise they are merely the mirage devised by the deluding potency for our ruin. I wish to remind those friends of mine who are proceeding to the West for preaching the words of Shri Chaitanya, the two precepts of my Master Shri Rupa:

 

 

 

(1) “The constant endeavour for cultivating relationship with Krishna of a person who, being free from all mundane affinity, enjoys the entities of this world, having due regard to the propriety of each case, in pursuance of his purpose, is called the proper kind of renunciation.”

 

 

 

(2) “The abnegation, by persons desirous of liberation, of entities that have an affinity with Hari in considering their mundane nature, is termed renunciation possessing little real value.”

 

[krsna]

When you make judgments based on your own intelligence that such and such a person is guru, you are in fact projecting the qualities of guru on him. Such a person is never truly the guru. In such cases, you are thinking that the guru is somehow under your control, or within the purview of your sensory knowledge. When Krishna himself decides to send you someone to act as your spiritual master, that person will be manifest before you as the Mahanta Guru.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

[krsna]

 

 

 

by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

 

(An article originally published in The Harmonist on Sept 19th, 1934 - Vol XXI No.2)

 

The Fountainhead of all eternal and temporal manifestations is confined in Sri Krsna alone. The non-absolute phases are emanations from a particular potency whose analytical distributions are known as gunas or qualities. In the factor of time, they are branched as past, present and future and their material representations have three characteristics viz. evolution, sustenance and dissolution. The Fountainhead is Absolute and His borderland emanations are absolute infinitesimals, though they are recognised in the same qualities. Their quantitative reference is then considered as apart from the Absolute, but swayed by a quality and their special characteristic is that the infinitesimal bearing should not be confused with the Infinitude.

 

 

The resources of manifestive nature have their common origin in the absolute existence of the Fountainhead. The delegation of the power of the Absolute Infinity is traced in the spirit and the matter. The family of qualitative temporal representations possesses numerous isolated entities and so the absolute infinitesimals are grouped together in magnatudinal difference form the Fountainhead.

 

The present human figure or the figure of a member of the Zoo or of one of the family of the phytographic species has got a restrictive and depending position and it is liable to change in the shape of growth and deterioration. The internal nature of the absolute-infinitesimals is spirit and takes the initiative; whereas, the difference of quality cannot show the power of taking initiative, similar to that of living entities.

 

The two potencies possessed by the Fountainhead are known as spiritual and material. The frame of the living should never be confused with the life itself. so there is a broad distinction of aspects between the two families of spirit and matter. The predominating phase is exercised in the material atmosphere which is liable to be controlled by animation. The animal world differs from materialistic structure, though it is endowed with a material association in its outward appearance.

 

We may often distinguish between a living body and a dead one. The generative advent has a smaller beginning to undergo development and growth and the elimination of the life principle from the structure itself has got different denominations.

 

In the Semitic thought we do not find any metensomatosistic speculation; so they are prone to consider the spirit as a composition of chanced incident, and this material combination as the starting point of the souls. So these thoughts are opposed to the theory inculcated by the conception of seelanwanderung or metempsychosis. The spiritistic view is quite different from the idea of material congregation which is wrongly considered as the composition of the eternal soul. On the other hand, the non-Semitic thoughts make a departure from the Semitic ideas of non-transmigrating accidental composition.

 

The explanation of the different methods of the two bearings - the tabernacle and the inner temporal animating entity - can lead us to a differing element in the transcendental entity beyond our sensuous conception when we bring into consideration the true eternal position of the absolute infinitesimals, by following the analogy of wrapping the entity by two kinds of garments covering the same as incorporations. The covers, though foreign, are amalgamated to create a confusion of their natural isolated position.

 

Portions of matter, in the factor of time, are liable to change. But the substratum - the spirit - is not obliged to undergo transformation like the foreign parts attached to the same by conventional practices. The very theory is explained in other words by the encountering attitude of a different potentia of the Fountainhead to effect the conversions by means of temporary decorations. The exercising function of the spirit is more or less impeded by the counteracting agency of a different potency of the Absolute. So the susceptibility of being attacked is an inevitable element in the spirit infinitesimal which is different from the spiritual Infinite.

 

Conversion in or mixing with the temporary material dust should not and cannot disable or disfigure the Spirit Infinity, as the value of spirits infinitesimals should not and could not be identical with the Fountainhead and His emanation, just like a particular pencil of ray should not be misconceived as the glowing disc from which the rays come. The Absolute Fountainhead of spirit should not be considered to slumber like absolute infinitesimals who are subject to the other potentia of the Absolute.

 

The nature of the spirits of borderland potency of the Fountainhead need not be affirmed with the objective knowledge of the mixed up conception. The nature of the Absolute Infinite should not be standardised in the same line as His infinitesimals. The spirits are observed in two different stages; whereas the eternal Fountainhead of all spirits has no bifurcation. The Absolute Infinite cannot be expected to be accommodated in the finite reference of phenomena which have limiting merits.

 

The Fountainhead alone has the reservation of Ubiquity; whereas all ubiquitous aspects are wanting in infinitesimals. So isolation and association of infinitesimals with the Infinite should not be recognised as two different entities. Pleasure and pain are of the same temporary stay and they are counted differently in their gradatory condition.

 

The eternal and temporal potencies have got their two realms, and on the border of the two, the border-land potentia can easily be traced. The members of the border-land potency can claim one of the two potencies at a time which are double-winged places of their habitation. The mundane phenomena have got a temporal situation; whereas, the eternal manifestations of the Transcendence are not subject to the atmosphere of inadequacy, limit and imperfection of phenomena.

 

The border-land potency can be traced to exhibit her neutral position which is normal and does not espouse at that time the cause of temporal or eternal manifestation of the Fountainhead. The members of this potency are apt to be forgetful of their eternal situation, when they have stronger affinity to live in this temporal region as lords and by their inherent free-will want not to submit to their eternal functions of the transcendence.

 

The forgetful demeanor posed by a member of the border-land potency cannot welcome the guidance of the eternal blissful wisdom of a devotee. The misguiding and tempting objects of phenomena often dictate the necessity, in the heart of a weak, cringing forgetful spirit, of his wonted participation in the enjoyment of this material sphere.

 

The eternal acquisition of the members of the border-land potency cannot be dissociated from their persons. The impersonalist has got a non-differentiative impression of all spirits into one. If an erroneous argument is offered by a silly person of his having been endowed with the susceptibilities of forgetfulness of his eternal function, and therefore, because the Fountainhead is to be blamed for delegating to him inadequate power, he should not have been held responsible for the incomplete investiture on him alone with complete freedom, then this polemic character of the Semitic school can easily be met by an acquaintance of prepossession of spiritual independent element inherent in the border-land potency to entangle themselves in undesirable situation. Free will of an absolute infinitesimal cannot be denied as a limited quality like the material characteristic of phenomenal nature.

 

The absolute infinitesimal has got his free will, and by his free will he can either pose himself as a forgetful agent or he can awaken himself for his original eternal function of remembering his own eternal exploits. The Fountainhead does never wish to delude nor oblige His parts - the infinitesimal spirits by devoiding them of such free will but allows them the freedom inherent in them.

 

The conditioned souls, out of their own discretion, rush into moods quite apathetic for not serving the Fountainhead when He Himself sends His message of delivering them through His messengers who act as spiritual guides to the wrong-doers. Both the Semitic and the non-Semitic people live in the impersonality of the Absolute; whereas, the clear eyes of the devotees can see the personality of Godhead as the Fountainhead of many conflicting and contending energies that foster the whims of different parties. Proneness to forgetfulness is afforded by the free will of non-devotees who are found to adopt wrong processes as their guiding principles.

 

[krsna]

 

 

 

From the article titled “Madhva Gaudiya literature” in Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s Harmonist.

 

“It is not our contention that all people of this world are under the necessity of learning the Bengali language in order to deserve to be saved by availing themselves of the only dispensation of this age. The mercy of the spiritual guide is open to all persons on the only condition that one really wishes to attain to the unconditional service of the Absolute.

 

 

The Gaudiya literature enshrines also that which is revealed by the mercy of the bona fide spiritual guide. The literature offers the Absolute in a continuous and visible form to all the peoples of the world. This is the function of all the revealed scriptures. These records are a great help to those who are given access to them by the mercy of guru. They represent the agency by whom the divine mercy is showered on all conditioned souls. The scriptures and their authorized exponents have an identical complementary function, which is nothing less than the duty of dispensing the divine mercy to the deserving as well as the undeserving alike.

 

The Gaudiya literature will be translated into all the languages of the world by the agents of the divine mercy at the appointed time. They will also, no doubt, spring up a mighty host of pseudo exponents and an immense body of spurious Gaudiya literature as has been the case in the past. This is all to be expected by those really thoughtful persons. But nothing can have the least power of depriving a person of the mercy of the real agents of the divine mercy except one’s deliberate refusal to avail of the very same when it is offered at his very doorstep in a perfectly recognizable form. As soon as a single person will have conceived a sincere desire of undertaking the promulgation of the tidings of the Gaudiya literature to the peoples of this world he is thereby enrolled amongst the agents of divine mercy with the power to forward the fulfillment of this express wish of the Supreme Lord.

 

The Gaudiya literature will not long remain confined to the Bengali-speaking people. It will in a short time expand and display its full brilliancy through the medium of all the languages, including those of the birds, beasts and the vegetable tribes.”

 

[krsna]

When you make judgments based on your own intelligence that such and such a person is guru, you are in fact projecting the qualities of guru on him. Such a person is never truly the guru. In such cases, you are thinking that the guru is somehow under your control, or within the purview of your sensory knowledge. When Krishna himself decides to send you someone to act as your spiritual master, that person will be manifest before you as the Mahanta Guru.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

[krsna]

"The Gaudiya literature will not long remain confined to the Bengali-speaking people. It will in a short time expand and display its full brilliancy through the medium of all the languages, including those of the birds, beasts and the vegetable tribes.”

[krsna]

Many great sages have been born of other living entities.

 

• Rsyasrnga was born from a deer.
  

 

• Kausika was born from kusa grass
  
• Jambuka Rsi was born from a jackal
  
• Valmiki was born from an ant hill
  
• Gautama was born from the back of a rabbit
  
• Apart from these personalities, there are many other wise persons born from other castes who became sages.
  

   

  • Vyasadeva was born from a fisherman's daughter
    
    • Vasistha was born from Ürvasi, and Agastya was born from a pitcher
      
      

 

 

Therefore caste is not the brahmana.

 

 

From Vajra-sücikopanisad, cited in Brahmana o Vaisnava by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati.

[krsna]

“A devotee feels the presence of God everywhere, yet a person averse to the Lord denies his existence anywhere.”

- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

[krsna]

<description>By</description>

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada

 

The world stands in no need of any reformer. The world has a very competent person for guiding it's minutest happenings. The person who finds that there is scope for reform of the world, himself stands in need of reform. The world goes on it's own perfect way.

 

No person can deflect it but the breadth of a hair from the course chalked out for it by providence. When we perceive any change being actually affected in the course of events of this world by the agency of any particular individual, we also know very well that the agent possesses no real power at any stage. The agent finds himself driven forward by a force belonging to a different category from himself.

 

The course of the world does not require to be changed by the activity of any person. What is necessary is to change our outlook to this very world. This was done for the contemporary generation by the mercy of Sri Caitanya. It could be only known to recipients of His mercy.

 

The scriptures declare that it is only necessary to listen with an open mind to the name of Krishna from the lips of a bona fide devotee. As soon as Krishna enters the listening ear, He clears up the vision of the listener so that he no longer has any ambition of ever acting the part of a reformer of any other person, because he finds that nobody is left without the very highest guidance. It is therefore his own reform, by the grace of God, whose supreme necessity and nature he is increasingly able to realise by the eternally continuing mercy of the Supreme Lord.

[Laulyam]

<CENTER>Thakur Bhaktivinode

 

</CENTER>We avail of the opportunity offered by the Anniversary Celebrations of the advent of Thakur Bhaktivinode to reflect on the right method of obtaining those benefits that have been made accessible to humanity by the grace of this great devotee of Krishna. Thakur Bhaktivinode has been specifically kind to those unfortunate persons who are engrossed in mental speculation of all kinds. This is the prevalent malady of the present Age. The other Acaryas who appeared before Thakur Bhaktivinode did not address their discourses so directly to the empiric thinkers. They had been more merciful to those who are naturally disposed to listen to discourses on the Absolute without being dissuaded by the specious arguments of avowed opponents of Godhead.

 

Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode has taken the trouble of meeting the perverse arguments of mental speculationists by the superior transcendental logic of the Absolute Truth. It is thus possible for the average modern readers to profit by the perusal of his writings. That day is not far distant when the priceless volumes penned by Thakur Bhaktivinode will be reverently translated, by the recipients of his grace, into all the languages of the world.

 

The writings of Thakur Bhaktivinode provide the golden bridge by which the mental speculationist can safely cross the raging waters of fruitless empiric controversies that trouble the peace of those who choose to trust in their guidance for finding the Truth. As soon as the sympathetic reader is in a position to appreciate the sterling quality of Thakur Bhaktivinode's philosophy the entire vista of the revealed literatures of the world will automatically open out to his reclaimed vision.

 

There have, however, already arisen serious misunderstandings regarding the proper interpretation of the life and teachings of Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode. Those who suppose they understand the meaning of his message without securing the guiding grace of the Acarya are disposed to unduly favour the methods of empiric study of his writings. There are persons who have got by heart almost everything that he wrote without being able to catch the least particle of his meaning. Such study cannot benefit those who are not prepared to act up to the instructions lucidly conveyed by his words. There is no honest chance of missing the warnings of Thakur Bhaktivinode. Those, therefore, who are misled by the perusal of his writings are led astray by their own obstinate perversity in sticking to the empiric course which they prefer to cherish against his explicit warnings. Let these unfortunate persons look more carefully into their own hearts for the cause of their misfortunes.

 

The personal service of the pure devotee is essential for understanding the spiritual meaning of the words of Thakur Bhaktivinode. The Editor of this Journal, originally started by Thakur Bhaktivinode, has been trying to draw the attention of all followers of Thakur Bhaktivinode to this all-important point of his teachings. It is not necessary to try to place ourselves on a footing of equality with Thakur Bhaktivinode. We are not likely to benefit by any mechanical imitation of any practices of Thakur Bhaktivinode on the opportunist principle that they may be convenient for us to adopt. The Guru is not an erring mortal whose activities can be understood by the fallible reason of unreclaimed humanity. There is an eternally impassable line of demarcation between the Saviour and the saved. Those who are really saved can alone know this.Thakur Bhaktivinode belongs to the category of the spiritual world-teachers who eternally occupy the superior position.

 

The present Editor has all along felt it his paramount duty to try to clear up the meaning of the life and teachings of Thakur Bhaktivinode by the method of submissive listening to the Transcendental Sound from the lips of the pure devotee. The Guru who realises the transcendental meaning of all sounds, is in a position to serve the Absolute by the direction of the Absolute conveyed through every sound. The Transcendental Sound is Godhead, the mundane sound is non-Godhead. All sound has got these opposite aptitudes. All sound reveals its Divine face to the devotee and only presents its deluding aspect to the empiric pedant. The devotee talks apparently the same language as the deluded empiric pedant who had got by heart the vocabulary of the Scriptures. But notwithstanding apparent identity of performance, the one has no access to the reality while the other is absolutely free from all delusion.

 

Those who repeat the teachings of Thakur Bhaktivinode from memory do not necessarily understand the meaning of the words they mechanically repeat. Those who can pass an empiric examination regarding the contents of his writings are not necessarily also self-realised souls. They may not at all know the real meaning of the words they have learnt by the method of empiric study.Take for example the Name "Krishna". Every reader of Thakur Bhaktivinode's works must be aware that the Name manifests Himself on the lips of His serving devotees although He is inaccessible to our mundane senses. It is one thing to pass the examination by reproducing this true conclusion from the writings of Thakur Bhaktivinode and quite another matter to realise the Nature of the Holy Name of Krishna by the process conveyed by the words.

 

Thakur Bhaktivinode did not want us to go to the clever mechanical reciter of the mundane sound for obtaining access to the Transcendental Name of Krishna. Such a person may be fully equipped with all the written arguments in explanation of the nature of the Divine Name. But if we listen to all these arguments from the dead source the words will only increase our delusion. The very same words coming from the lips of the devotee will have the diametrically opposite effect. Our empiric judgment can never grasp the difference between the two performances. The devotee is always right. The non-devotee in the shape of the empiric pedant is always and necessarily wrong. In the one case there is always present the Substantive Truth and nothing but the Substantive Truth. In the other case there is present the apparent or misleading hypothesis and nothing but un-truth. The wording may have the same external appearance in both cases. The identical verses of the Scriptures may be recited by the devotee and the non-devotee, may be apparently misquoted by the non-devotee but the corresponding values of the two processes remain always categorically different. The devotee is right even when he apparently misquotes, the non-devotee is wrong even when he quotes correctly the very words, chapter and verse of the Scriptures.

 

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. There are not a few dupes of their empiric Scriptural erudition. These dupes have their admiring under-dupes. But 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 inaccordance with the suggestions of our lower selves.

 

What are the Scriptures? They are nothing but the record by the pure devotees of the Divine Message appearing on the lips of the pure devotees. The Message conveyed by the devotees is the same in all ages. The words of the devotees are ever identical with the Scriptures. Any meaning of the Scriptures that belittles the function of the devotee who is the original communicant of the Divine Message contradicts its own claim to be heard. Those who think that the Sanskrit language in its lexicographical sense is the language of the Divinity are as deluded as those who hold that the Divine Message is communicable through any other spoken dialects. All languages simultaneously express and hide the Absolute. The mundane face of all languages hides the Truth. The Transcendental face of all sound expresses nothing but the Absolute. The pure devotee is the speaker of the Transcendental language. The Transcendental Sound makes His appearance on the lips of His pure devotee. This is the direct, unambiguous appearance of Divinity. On the lips of non-devotees the Absolute always appears in His deluding aspect. To the pure devotee the Absolute reveals Himself under all circumstances. To the conditioned soul, if he is disposed to listen in a truly submissive spirit, the language of the pure devotee can alone impart the knowledge of the Absolute. The conditioned soul mistakes the deluding for the real aspect when he chooses to lend his ear to the non-devotee. This is the reason why the conditioned soul is warned to avoid all association with non-devotees.

 

Thakur Bhaktivinode is acknowledged by all his sincere followers as possessing the above 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode we should do well to reflect a little on the attitude, with which as the indispensable pre-requisite, 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 endeavour 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode and for the same reason.

 

The person to whom the Acarya is pleased to transmit his power is alone in a position to convey the Divine Message. This constitutes the underlying principle of the line of succession of the spiritual teachers. The Acarya thus authorised has no other duty than that of delivering intact the message received from all his predecessors. There is no difference between the pronouncements of one Acarya and another. All of them are perfect mediums for the appearance of the Divinity in the Form of the Transcendental Name Who is identical with His Form, Quality, Activity and Paraphernalia.

 

The Divinity is Absolute Knowledge. Absolute Knowledge has the character of indivisible Unity. One particle of the Absolute Knowledge is capable of revealing all the potency of the Divinity. Those who want to understand the contents of the volumes penned by the piece-meal acquisitive method applicable to deluding knowledge available to the mind on the mundane plane, are bound to be self-deceived. Those who are sincere seekers of the Truth are alone eligible to find Him, in and through the proper method of His quest.

 

In order to be put on the track of the Absolute, listening to the words of the pure devotee is absolutely necessary. The spoken word of the Absolute is the Absolute. It is only the Absolute Who can give Himself away to the constituents of His power. The Absolute appears to the listening ear of the conditioned soul in the form of the Name on the lips of the sadhu. This is the key to the whole position. The words of Thakur Bhaktivinode direct the empiric pedant to discard his wrong method and inclination on the threshold of the real quest of the Absolute. If the pedant still chooses to carry his errors into the Realm of the Absolute Truth he only marches by a deceptive bye-path into the regions of darker ignorance by his arrogant study of the scriptures. The method offered by Thakur Bhaktivinode is identical with the object of the quest. The method is not really grasped except by the grace of the pure devotee. The arguments, indeed, are these. But they can only corroborate, but can never be a substitute for, the word from the living source of the Truth who is no other than the pure devotee of Krishna, the concrete Personal Absolute.

 

Thakur Bhaktivinode's greatest gift to the world consists in this; that he has brought about the appearance of those pure devotees who are, at present, carrying on the movement of unalloyed devotion to the Feet of Shree Krishna by their own wholetime spiritual service of the Divinity. The purity of the soul is only analogously describable by the resources of the mundane language. The highest ideal of empiric morality is no better than the grossest wickedness to the Transcendental perfect purity of the bonafide devotee of the Absolute. The word 'morality' itself is a mischievous misnomer when it is applied to any quality of the conditioned soul. The hypocritical contentment with a negative attitude is part and parcel of the principle of undiluted immorality.

 

Those who pretend to recognise the Divine Mission of Thakur Bhaktivinode without aspiring to the unconditional service of those pure souls who really follow the teachings of the Thakur by the method enjoined by the scriptures and explained by Thakur Bhaktivinode in a way that is so eminently suited to the requirements of the sophisticated mentality of the present Age, only deceive themselves and their willing victims by their hypocritical professions and performances. These persons must not be confounded with the bonafide members of the flock.

 

Thakur Bhaktivinode has predicted the consummation of religious unity of the world by the appearance of the only universal church which bears the eternal designation of the Brahma Sampradaya. He has given mankind the blessed assurance that all Theistic churches will shortly merge in the one eternal spiritual community by the grace of the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna Chaitanya. The spiritual community is not circumscribed by the conditions of time and space, race and nationality. Mankind had been looking forward to this far-off Divine Event through the Long Ages. Thakur Bhaktivinode has made the conception available in its practicable spiritual form to the open minded empiricist who is prepared to undergo the process of enlightenment. The key stone of the Arch has been laid which will afford the needed shelter to all awakened animation under its ample encircling arms. Those who would thoughtlessly allow their hollow pride of race, pseudo-knowledge or pseudo-virtue to stand in the way of this long hoped for consummation, would have to thank only themselves for not being incorporated in the spiritual society of all pure souls.

 

These plain words need not be misrepresented, by arrogant persons who are full of the vanity of empiric ignorance, as the pronouncements of aggressive sectarianism. The aggressive pronouncement of the concrete Truth is the crying necessity of the moment for silencing the aggressive propaganda of specific untruths that is being carried on all over the world by the preachers of empiric contrivances for the amelioration of the hard lot of conditioned souls. The empiric propaganda clothes itself in the language of negative abstraction for deluding those who are engrossed in the selfish pursuit of worldly enjoyment.

 

But there is a positive and concrete function of the pure soul which should not be perversely confounded with any utilitarian form of worldly activity. Mankind stands in need of that positive spiritual function of which the hypocritical impersonalists are in absolute ignorance. The positive function of the soul harmonises the claims of extreme selfishness with those of extreme self-abnegation in the society of pure souls even in this mundane world. In its concrete realisable form the function is perfectly inaccessible to the empiric understanding. Its imperfect and misleading conception alone is available by the study of the Scriptures to the conditioned soul that is not helped by the causeless grace of the pure devotees of Godhead.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura,

The Harmonist, December 1931, vol. XXIX No.6

[krsna]

Caitanya-caritamrta Madya Lila 25.9:

 

• "If by some means I can assemble all the sannyasis together, they will certainly become His devotees after seeing His personal characteristics."

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada comments:

 

• "Without being empowered by the direct potency of Lord Krsna to fulfill His desire and without being specifically favored by the Lord, no human being can become the spiritual master of the whole world. He certainly cannot succeed by mental concoction, which is not meant for devotees or religious people.
  Only an empowered personality can distribute the holy name of the Lord and enjoin all fallen souls to worship Krsna.
  By distributing the holy name of the Lord, he cleanses the hearts of the most fallen people; therefore he extinguishes the blazing fire of the material world. Not only that, he broadcasts the shining brightness of Krsna's effulgence throughout the world.
  Such an acarya, or spiritual master, should be considered nondifferent from Krsna - that is, he should be considered the incarnation of Lord Krsna's potency. Such a personality is krsnalingita-vigraha-that is, he is always embraced by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.
  Such a person is above the considerations of the varnasrama institution. He is the guru or spiritual master for the entire world, a devotee on the topmost platform, the maha-bhagavata stage, and a paramahamsa-thakura, a spiritual form only fit to be addressed as paramahamsa or thakura.":pray:

 

[krsna]

A Little Devotional Service Is A Million Times More Valuable Than Mundane Charity

 

 

“The neophyte Vaishnava devotees’ ringing the bell even once during worship of the Deity of the Supreme Lord is a million times more valuable, spiritually and otherwise, than the charitable fruitive workers building many hospitals, feeding thousands of the poor, or building homes, or even the empirical philosophers’ Vedic studies, meditation, austerities, and penances.”

 

- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Prabhupada Thakura (as quoted in 'Renunciation Through Wisdom')

[krsna]

 

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By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada

 

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 maha mantra loudly and with attachment. This will drive away inertia, worldly evils and pests.

 

9. Be indifferent to bazaar gossips, 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 frailties 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 nourishment of the spiritual corpus of every individual of this world.

 

[krsna]

Sri Guru-Parampara

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada

krsna hoite catur-mukha, hoy krsna-sevonmukha,

brahma hoite naradera mati

narada hoite vyasa, madhva kohe vyasa-dasa,

purnaprajna padmanabha gati (1)

 

In the beginning of creation Sri Krsna spoke the science of devotional service to four-faced Lord Brahma, who in turn passed these teachings on to Narada Muni, who accepted Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasadeva as his disciple. Vyasa transmitted this knowledge to Madhvacarya, who is also known as Purnaprajïa Tirtha and who was the sole refuge for his disciple Padmanabha Tirtha.

nrhari madhava-bamse, aksobhya paramahamse,

sisya boli angikara kore

aksobhyera sisya jaya-tirtha name paricaya,

tara dasye jnanasindhu tore (2)

Following in the line of Madhvacarya were Nrhari Tirtha and Madhava Tirtha, whose principal disciple was the great paramahaàsa Aksobhya Tirtha. He in turn accepted as his disciple Jayatirtha, who passed his service down to Jnanasindhu.

taha hoite dayanidhi, tara dasa vidyanidhi,

rajendra hoilo taha ha’te

tahara kinkora jaya-dharma name paricaya,

parampara jano bhalo mate (3)

From him the line came down to Dayanidhi, then to his disciple Vidyanidhi, then in turn it was introduced to Rajendra Tirtha, whose servant was the renowned Jayadharma, also known as Vijayadhvaja Tirtha. In this way the guru parampara is properly understood.

jayadharma-dasye khyati, sri purusottama jati,

ta ha’te brahmanya-tirtha suri

vyasatirtha ta'ra dasa, laksmipati vyasa-dasa

taha haite madhavendra puri (4)

The great sannyasi Sri Purusottama Tirtha was a renowned disciple in the service of Jayadharma; from Sri Purusottama the line descended to the powerful Brahmanyatirtha, then to Vyasatirtha. He was succeeded by Sri Laksmipati, who passed the line down to Sri Madhavendra Puri.

madhavendra puri-bara, sisya-bara sri-isvara,

nityananda sri-advaita vibhu

isvara-purike dhanya, korilen sri-caitanya,

jagad-guru gaura mahaprabhu (5)

Sri Isvara Puri was the most prominent sannyasa disciple of the great Sri Madhavendra Puri, whose disciples also included the avataras Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Advaita Acarya. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Golden Lord and spiritual preceptor of all the worlds, made Isvara Puri greatly fortunate by accepting him as diksa guru.

[Nityananda Prabhu took diksa from Laksmipati Tirtha and was actually Madhavendra Puri’s godbrother but He accepted Madhavendra as His Siksa guru. Thus, we follow Bhagavat parampara, the line of Siksa rather than diksa.]

mahaprabhu sri-caitanya, radha-krsna nahe anya,

rupanuga janera jivana

visvambhara priyankara, sri-svarupa damodara,

sri-gosvami rupa-sanatana (6)

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Radha and Krsna combined, is the very life of the rupanuga Vaisnavas who follow Sri Rupa Gosvami. Sri Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana Gosvamis were the dearmost servants of Visvambhara (Sri Caitanya).

rupa-priya mahajana, jiva, raghunatha hana,

tara priya kavi krsnadasa

krsnadasa-priya-bara, narottama seva-para,

jara pada visvanatha-asa (7)

Dear to Sri Rupa Gosvami were the great saintly personalities, Sri Jiva Gosvami and Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, whose intimate disciple was the great poet Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja. The dearmost of Krsnadasa was Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, who was always engaged in guru seva. His lotus feet were the only hope and aspiration of Sri ViSvanatha Cakravarti Öhakura.

visvanatha-bhakta-satha, baladeva jagannatha,

tara priya sri-bhaktivinoda

maha-bhagavata-bara, sri-gaurakisora-bara

hari-bhajanete jara moda (8)

 

Prominent among the associates of Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura was Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana. After him the line descended to Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, who was the beloved Siksa guru of Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Bhaktivinoda was the intimate friend of the great mahabhagavata Srila Gaura KiSora dasa Babaji Maharaja, whose sole delight was hari bhajana.

sri varsabhanavi-bara, sada sevya-seva-para

tahara dayita-dasa-nama

prabhupada-antaranga, sri svarupa-rupanuga,

sri kesava bhakati-prajnana

gaudiya-vedanta-vetta, mayavada-tamohanta,

gaura-vani-pracaracara-dhama (9)

The most distinguished Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, whose initiated name was Sri Varsabhanavi Dayita dasa, was always engaged in divine service to Hari, Guru, Vaisnava. An internal and intimate disciple of Prabhupada following in the line of Svarupa Damodara and Rupa Gosvami was Sri Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami.

Having full knowledge of Vedanta philosophy according to the Gaudiya sampradaya, Srila Kesava Maharaja annihilated the darkness of all mayavada arguments. He has served Navadvipa Dhama so much, and his life is an example for both practicing and preaching Mahaprabhu’s message.

tara pradhan pracarako, sri bhaktivedanta namo

patita-janete doya-dhama

His foremost disciple-preacher was Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who has spread the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu throughout the world and is thus a reservoir of mercy and compassion for all fallen souls.

kesava priya mahajana vamana narayana hana

gaura-vani tadera prana-dhana

Most dear to Sri Kesava Gosvami were the saintly personalities Sri Vamana Gosvami and Sri Narayana Gosvami, whose life and soul are the teachings of Mahaprabhu.

or: tara sisya aganana, tara madhye prestha hana

sri bhakti-prajnana kesava

tara sisya aganana, tara madhye anyatama

sri bhaktivedanta narayana (9)

or: Out of Prabhupada’s countless disciples, Sri Bhakti Prajïana Kesava Gosvami was his dearmost. And out of the countless disciples of Sri Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami, one of the most prominent is Sri Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja.

ei saba harijana, gaurangera nija-jana

tadera ucchiste mora kama (10)

It is my desire to honor the remnants (ucchista)—their mahaprasada and their instructions—from the lotus mouths of all these personal associates of Sri Krsna and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.]

[krsna]

 

 

 

 

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Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur discourse,

 

July 12, 1936, The Gaudiya Math, Calcutta.

 

 

 

(Within the beautiful marble Temple at Bagh Bazaar, Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada sat upon a raised platform before the assembly (composed of many distinguished persons of learning and theistic culture, prominent amongst whom were Mr. Sultjay, Sj. Supati Ranjan Nag M.A., B.L. of Dacca, Raja Khitendra Deb Roy of Bansberia and Tridandi Swami Shripada Tirtha Maharaja). After pointing out the indispensable necessity of proper cultivation of Krishna-bhakti with quotations from the Bhagavata and other Holy Scriptures, His Divine Grace Shrila Prabhupada continued, with all humility, thus:)

 

 

 

We jivas are really poor, no doubt. We are poor jivas but we are not poor Narayanas. (To identify Narayana Who is the permanent Possessor of all wealth, with a poor jiva, is an absurdity.) Our poverty should be diminished. And to that end, wealth should be accumulated. Wealth of what kind? It is wealth of Krishna-prema, i.e. causeless love for the Absolute Truth-Krishna. And for this, we should pray to Him in the same way as a Vaishnava mahajana prays, in the following lines:

 

prema dhana vina vyartha daridra-jivana

dasa kari vetan more deha prema dhana

 

 

 

Life without Love is useless and poor they say,

Appoint me in Thy service, Oh Lord with Love as my pay.

 

 

Our prayer should be of the aforesaid nature. We naturally begin to feel dislike for everything but Krishna as soon as we feel necessity for Krishna-prema. In absence of this, other tendencies and considerations take firm hold of our mind, exhorting us to be great workers, forgetful of the main object of the Pancharatra.

 

 

Now, what course should we adopt, with regard to our propaganda work in England? Mahaprabhu enjoins us to proclaim His Name, throughout the length and breadth of this world-from small hamlets to big cities. Gross, worldly names are being in vogue, everywhere at present; let the Transcendental Name be henceforth proclaimed all over the world.

 

 

We do not belittle the importance of Pancharatrik process (system) of having representatives (in theistic institutions), or establishing temples with deities; but we are of the opinion that the duty of better or higher class, is propaganda work. And Mahaprabhu’s open desire was that the Transcendental Name should be proclaimed everywhere. And to that end, we think sufficient number of pamphlets should be published. The rich are the so-called big men of the world, who are running after fame, females and money. They will not listen to our words even if we cry hoarse in their ears, so what’s the use of wasting our time, in trying to make them hear? We say therefore, that the line of our propaganda work should be to publish sufficient number of pamphlets even at the cost of possible suspension of building temples. This will show to them the insignificance of discoveries of truths or discussions that have found expression in their philosophies or applied sciences, in contrast to the enormity and magnitude of the subject matter of our discussions.

 

 

So far about our propaganda work. Now, as to the manner in which that work is to be carried out. A self-conceited or vain-glorious man can never successfully carry on propaganda work. How will it be possible for him? For, the Absolute Truth never manifests Itself to a vain-glorious man, who looks upon himself as the only preacher of truths. Such a man can do no good to the world. Of such persons some will be fond of prohibited food as available at Kalighat. Some will be malicious patriots engrossed with considerations of their own advantages, as opposed to others’ interests; while others will be in the clutches of self-enjoying propensities or its opposite-renunciating tendencies with a view to have, respectively, self-emolument or salvation; and the rest will make pretended show of bhakti. But none of them will have the least idea of the Absolute Truth divested of the slightest trace of insincerity and maliciousness.

 

 

Oh, how deplorable it is that the propaganda of the Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu, the glorious, unique, devotional teachings of India is stopped here, in the very land of its origin. And it is not the less regrettable to see people suffer under the mistaken idea that mere ringing of bells in places of worship (i.e., mere formal observance of prescribed rites), or touring in holy places, or ostentatiously reading of holy works like the Bhagavata with no other purpose than earning livelihood, or playing the role of preceptors by a right of heredity only, are sure signs of bhakti, they being quite ignorant of the true significance of right worship, the true object of pilgrimage, the right duty of the proper ways of preceptorship, the true culture of theistic works like the Bhagavata and the real difference between true and false bhakti. And it is painful to see people wasting their valuable time in no better work than mischievous, ill-conceived criticisms of others’ conduct. They excel only in giving advice to others. (Their damned mind is, no doubt, responsible for this.) So, every morning, on rising from bed they should make their wicked mind hear the following immortal song of Thakur Bhaktivinoda:

 

bhaja re bhaja re amara mana ati manda

(bhaja) vraja-vane radha-krishna caranaravinda

(bhaja) gaura-gadadharadvaita guru nityananda

(smara) shrinivasa, haridasa, murari, mukunda

(smara) rupa-sanatana-jiva-raghunatha-dvandva

(smara) raghava-gopala-bhatta svarupa ramananda

(smara) gosthi saha karnapura, sena sivananda

(smara) rupanuga sadhu-jana bhajana-ananda

 

 

In this song, the mind is asked, first of all, to hold bhajan of Radha-Krishna (in Their joyful activity) in the sacred woodland of Vraja. In comparative view, the degrees of excellence of the five rasas, from madhurya (consorthood) to shanta (the state in which active service is wanting), are gradually lowering. A servitor in the last mentioned position (i.e., shanta rasa) is neither actively engaged in bhajan, nor against it. He will neither oppose bhajan nor actively hold it. Now bhajan or bhakti may be of different kinds. There is such a thing as micha bhakti (false bhakti), as opposed to shuddha bhakti (unalloyed bhakti); the former kind of bhakti being taken recourse to by adherents of karma, who again are followers of Smriti. And Thakur Narottama Das warns us against such false bhakti by saying:

 

karmi jnani, micha bhakta, na habe tate anurakta,

suddha bhajanete kara mana

 

 

The cult of the so-called social reformers (or society makers) of the past or present age is quite different from the ideas and principles of bhaktas. And the followers of the former are engaged, at present, in various movements relating to personal advantages and self-enjoyment.

 

 

Those agitators, who, leaving aside all considerations of bhakti, are busily engaged in movements for temporal advantages only, are doing harm to themselves. And their failure to serve Krishna, Who is the emporium or rather effigy of all endless, immeasurable nectar of love, joys and pleasures, bespeaks simply of their ignorance of the real state of affairs. And such desistance of service to Krishna, gradually turns a man into an upholder of nirvishesha-vada (i.e. the doctrine of the unspecifiedness of the Absolute Truth.) And what can be more deplorable than such misfortune of the mankind. So, to counteract the aforesaid tendencies in us, we should sing, every morning, advising our wicked mind to hold bhajan, which is impossible if we be unmindful of the dictum:

 

trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna

amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

 

 

-which means that Hari kirtana should be continued ceaselessly and with the humility of low grass.

 

 

Now, what is the object of our bhajan? It is only the Holy Feet of Radha-Krishna, roaming about freely in the woodland of Vraja. And what should be our line of conduct in holding bhajan? Mahaprabhu’s advice to Shrila Das Goswami, in this connection, is as follows:

 

gramya katha na sunibe, gramya katha na kahibe

bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe

amani manada hanya sada krishna nama labe

vraje radha-krishna seva manase karibe

 

Have no worldly talk, nor pay heed to it,

Wear no good clothes, nor rich food eat,

Have Krishna-nama always, humbly, on your tongue,

Serve Radha-Krishna in the closet of the mind, all day long.

 

 

In the aforesaid verse, the first two advices are in the negative and the remaining two are in the affirmative. By “Vraja-seva” Mahaprabhu meant service to Krishna by one who has a transcendental body and whose self-realisation is complete. People ignorant of this generally turn into mental speculators, and cannot rightly understand the teachings of the Gaudiya Math.

 

 

[krsna]

This wicked mind, which is never to be trusted, should be broom-sticked every morning with such warning as, “Be not anxious to find fault with others, or to proclaim thyself as a true, sincere, bonafide bhakta, which certainly thou art not.” In this connection, the advice of a Vaishnava Mahajana is this:

karmi-jnani micha-bhakta, na habe tate anurakta,

suddha-bhajanete kara mana

vraja-janera yei mata, tanhe habe anugata,

ei se param tattva dhana

Be not attached to karmis, jnanis and bhaktas false.

But pure, unalloyed bhajan you should always endorse.

Follow principles, which Vraja folk adopt,

These being valued truths to be kept aloft.

 

The mind is always working erroneously in looking upon this thing or that, either as good or bad. The Charitamrita sings:

dvaite bhadrabhadra jnana-saba mano-dharma

ei bhala ei manda-ei saba bhrama

 

People are usually too much busy with mental speculations. They should relieve themselves of this and try to find out the real good of their own selves or souls. There is an adage to the effect that para-carccakera gati nahi kona kale, “a man who is habituated to criticise others’ conduct will never prosper.” Let others do whatever they like, I have no concern with them. I should rather find fault with my own damned mind, and think like the Vaishnava Mahajana who sings:

amara jivan, sada pape rata, nahi punyera lesa,

para-sukhe duhkhi, sada mithya-bhasi,

para-duhkha sukha-kara

Ever engaged in vicious activity,

And without the slightest trace of virtue in me,

A liar as I am, always sorry at others’ pleasures

And merry at others’ sorrows, troubles and cares.

 

We should always remember this song and engage our mind ceaselessly in Hari-bhajan. We should not run about attacking others with dissuading policy; such conduct behooves only deceitful persons and not preachers.

 

The way of Karmis and Jnanis will lead us to immense troubles and difficulties, by engaging our attention to consideration of the shadowy, transient things, instead of the only cause or true origin; viz., the Sac-chid-ananda vigraha (the ever-existing, joyful, conscious Entity-Krishna), of Whom every thing visible is a mere shadow. The gross archaeologist is too much busy with ascertaining of material ingredient of idols which may be either of stone or wood or any other material. There are some who work as iconographers or iconoclasts, while there are others who are busy in ascertaining the amount of filth or impurities accumulated in a particular soil. But none of them ever cares to find out or measure the impurities of their own minds. There is no attempt on their part to weed out the undesirable elements in their mind, though such an attempt is of paramount importance in their own personal interest.

 

Now, whose bhajan are we to hold? Whom are we to worship? Usually we want to worship Mammon, with a view to satisfy our own personal greed; or sometimes we desire to secure the exalted position of presidentship of the American Republic. But we never think of the necessity of worshipping the lotus feet of Radha-Krishna moving merrily in the woodland of Vraja, without which there is no other way of securing the permanent good.

 

There are some who want to worship Krishna not of Vrindavan but of Dwaraka, where He is being served majestically by thousands of His Queens; while others are willing to serve respectfully the Lord Vaikuntha-natha (Who is possessed of all wealth and magnificence), with the help of their upper limbs only. But Shri Chaitanya Deva asks, “Should there be any service which may not be unrestrictedly done with the help of all the limbs from head to foot (not excluding the inferior lower limbs)?” One will find no difficulty in finding out proper answer to this, when he thinks within himself thus: If these lower limbs have no use or existence at all in the Transcendental World (of which this gross world is a mere shadow), whence are they and why are they? In fact, to use these limbs in serving the Absolute Lord is their proper adjustment. Want of this, will lead us to woeful ways of karma and jnana.

 

Tad vanam upasitavyam-the woodland of Vraja alone is to be served and worshipped. And to that end, we should always associate with the followers and devotees of Shri Chaitanya. Association with those who take historic side or speculative side of Krishna will spoil everything. Now what does Shri Chaitanya say? He says that His Name will be proclaimed everywhere, all over the world-from small hamlets to big cities. Mahaprabhu desires that all the people of the world should know Krishna-katha (details or discussions about Krishna) as prevailing in Vrindavan. Notwithstanding their proficiencies in their particular field of activities, they should feel necessity of Radha-Govinda’s bhajan.

 

The twelve vanas or woodlands, included within Vrindavan are twelve places of Krishna-bhajan, in twelve separate rasas (capacities or tastes), of which five are primary, and seven are secondary. Vana-bihari Krishna, i.e. Krishna who wanders in the woodland of Vraja, playfully, and Who is the effigy, emblem, or incarnation of all rasa, is alone to be served and worshipped and not any other thing like earth, water or mud. And in doing this, we should beware of the ways of the mental speculators, who want to pose as so many Krishnas, by going to enjoy the world, and thus imitate Him. For such persons are liable to quarrel amongst themselves for their own share of enjoyments and fall ultimately into this lowest depth of degradation. To avoid this calamity, Krishna should be worshipped as Vana-bihari, i.e. Krishna in bihari, the land of His Own free, joyful movement.

 

Now, to turn to the third line of the previous song, which is:

(bhaja) gaura-gadadharadvaita guru nityananda

 

Shri Gadadhara has taught us the proper way to serve Krishna, with His Own example in serving Mahaprabhu. Raya Ramananda and Damodara Svarupa too have set the same example. Mahaprabhu Himself has shown the true functions of a servitor. Though Himself the real Master to be served, Mahaprabhu has played the role of a servitor, with a view to let us know how a servitor is to do his duty. Again, Shri Gadadhara Prabhu too is a servitor (to Mahaprabhu). The same absolute Lord is Krishna (in His enjoying activity), and Shri Gaurasundara (in His serving capacity). And Shri Gadadhara Prabhu is His Transcendental Consort. A parallel case of this is the instance in which a man may scratch his body with one of his own limbs, while an entirely separate person (i.e. a third party) also may do the same work. And Shri Gadadhara Prabhu furnished the example of the last mentioned person, i.e., He stands in the place of the third party, in the aforesaid case. (To be more explicit, Mahaprabhu here serves Krishna-His Ownself, while the third party Gadadhara serves Mahaprabhu.)

 

Now to turn to Advaita Prabhu. He acted as an acharya or preceptor. And so Kaviraja Goswami says:

advaitam harinadvaitad

acharyam bhakti samsanat

bhaktavataram isam tam

advaitacharyam asraye

 

“Because He is non-different from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Acharya. He is the Lord of the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him.”

(C.C. Adi-lila Ch.1, v.13)

 

The so-called acharyas of present day are not removers of the afflictions and miseries of their disciples, but removers (stealers) of their disciples’ properties. But what sort of acharya Advaita Prabhu was? From His Own version in Chaitanya Charitamrita we find that He declares Himself as a servant’s servant of Shri Chaitanya (Vide Charitamrita 6.86)

 

Servitude is the predominating feature of bhakti. And the acharya (Advaita Prabhu) sings glory to it by declaring Himself as a servant’s servant of Mahaprabhu. This serving tendency is predominant in the other four rasas. The special characteristic of Advaita Prabhu’s conduct is found in His identification of His Own revered Self as a servitor to Mahaprabhu, in spite of His venerable position like that of a father. But such humble serving attitude is never found in the conduct of the so-called acharyas of present day, whose only object in life is to live happily by acting as gurus.

 

Next advice in the aforesaid song is to serve Guru Nityananda. We are to follow their ideal only. We should not offer ourselves to be guided by these ignorant, debauched fools, who are fond of eating goats’ flesh. Such persons can never act as gurus, they themselves having fallen to the lowest depth of degradation. Next advice in the song is:

(smara) shrinivasa, haridasa, murari, mukunda

 

To remember Shrinivasa, Haridasa, Murari and Mukunda, who were Nityananda Prabhu’s assistants, and Mahaprabhu’s associates in His earthly activities in Navadvipa. They were asked by Mahaprabhu to go from door to door, and bless everyone with Hari-nama, thus:

prati ghare ghare giya koro ei bhiksa

bolo krishna, bhaja krishna, koro krishna-siksa

iha bai ara na boliba, bolaiba

dina-avasane asi amare kohiba

Go from door to door and beg their favour

To say “Krishna,” serve Krishna and learn His air,

Say not, and make not others say, anything more,

And at sun-set, come back, with news to my door.

Then we find the following advice in the song:

(smara) rupa-sanatana-jiva-raghunatha-dvandva

 

Here we are advised to remember Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Raghunatha Das Goswami and Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami. We are to follow them. Bhajan is impossible without following Rupa Goswami (in particular).

 

(At this stage of the discourse, Raja K.C. Deb Roy of Bansberia comes in, offering due obeisances to Shrila Prabhupada’s holy feet, and refers, in course of talk, to God’s mercy in letting him incidentally know Prabhupada’s arrival at the Math on that very day. In reply to which, His Divine Grace remarked thus:)

 

Prabhupada: Yes, Bhagavan is always lending us helping hands, and we should stretch our hands on our part to catch hold of them. We should wait for His favour; and when it comes, we should avail of it. It will be alright then.

 

The Raja: But your blessings-the holy dust of your lotus feet-are above all. Today is a glorious day. Bhagavan has kindly supplied food for my soul today.

 

Prabhupada: Yes, the soul requires nourishment, no doubt. The function of the limited soul to the Universal Soul is what is called bhakti, and that is the only thing needful. But unfortunately, people do not understand it. In bhakti alone, all will meet. Nowhere else is union possible.

 

Everything should be used in Bhagavan’s service. And such use alone is the proper adjustment of things. It will be alright if all our acquired knowledge is used in His service, making coincidence of circumstances possible, in absence of which there will be only chaos.

 

The Raja: The news about you, in newspaper, at once presented your appearance before my mind.

 

Prabhupada: Yes, such association of ideas takes place when one is engaged in serving Shri-Vigraha (the Deity). And without this, one is likely to be overtaken with nirvishesha ideas (i.e. ideas about the Absolute Truth as without form, figure, attributes and activities). We should have full association with the Absolute Truth. But at present, we are unfortunately detached from the same, with the result that we are bringing miseries and troubles upon ourselves, by running after finite things with out-stretched hands, to grasp any and every limited thing, which is far from being the Undivided Whole or the Absolute Truth. Such state of affairs will not cease to continue unless and until we take shelter under the Holy Feet of Bhagavan, Who is Undivided and Infinite. And Shri-Vigraha is nothing but direct manifestation of the Absolute Truth, i.e., Bhagavan.

 

The Raja: But the ideas about the Trueself of the Bhagavan are different in different sects and communities, some opining that He is invisible, while others are of the opinion that He is visible.

 

Prabhupada: Yes, but they are mere different perspectives of mental speculation. Such attitude as to accept one idea now, and reject it the next moment, is useless and should be avoided. We should relieve ourselves of this, and try to directly approach Bhagavan, Who is the effigy of the nectar of endless rasa (akhila-rasamrita-murti).

 

But we should not lose sight of the fact that He is Transcendental, and so, not measurable or perceptible to our gross senses. And effort in that direction, viz., to measure Him, will bring in varied sceptic views. And it is for this reason, that the Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu and the Brahma-samhita says:

atah shri-krishna-namadi

na bhaved grahyam indriyaih

sevonmukhe hi jihvadau

svayam eva sphuraty adah

 

“So the Name Who is identical with Krishna, is not perceptible to gross senses but manifests Himself (i.e. is articulated) of His Own accord, on the tongue (i.e. in the mouth) of those who are eager to serve Him.” (B.r.s. 2.109)

premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santah-sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti

yam syama-sundaram acintya-guna-svarupam

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

 

“I worship that original Lord Shyama Sundara (Krishna) Who is possessed of inconceivable Form and Attributes, perceptible to such (transcendental) eyes only as are painted and so invigorated, as it were, with the paint of loving service known as bhakti.” (Bs. 5.38

From the anthology, Shrila Prabhupada’s Discourses.

 

[krsna]

Maha Mantra tika (commentary )

 

 

 

 

 

....................

Maha Mantra

....................................

Hare Krsna

Hare Krsna

Krsna Krsna

Hare Hare

Hare Rama

Hare Rama

Rama Rama

Hare Hare

......................................

.......................

Tika by

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarsvati

...........................................

Only the maha-bhagavata Sri Gurudeva is able to give the name of Sri Krsna which is non-different from Krsna.

 

nama-cintamani krsnas

caitanya-rasa-vigrahah

 

 

 

purnah suddho nitya mukto

bhinnatvan nama-naminoh

 

 

 

 

"Sri Krsna’s name is directly Sri Krsna, it is a spiritual, transcendental object full of liquid mellowness. The Divine name arises or manifests Itself upon the tongue of someone who is favourable towards service.

 

The glorification (kirtana) fraught with spiritual offence to the Divine Name done by those who are inclined towards enjoyment or renunciation is not the pure Divine Name.

 

The pure Divine Name (suddha nama) and the stage of offence to the Divine name (namaparadha) are not the same.

 

The mahabhagavata who is free from spiritual offences to the Divine Name and who takes shelter in the glorification of the pure Divine Name is alone fit to bestow the name of Sri Krsna.”

 

 

[krsna]

"Preaching without following proper conduct falls within the category of karma, mundane activity. Without criticizing the nature of others, one should correct one's self - this is my personal instruction.":pray:

[krsna]

 

 

 

The Upadesavali Of Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada

1. "Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam–supreme victory to the congregational chanting of Krsna’s names" - this is Sri Gaudiya Math’s sole object of worship.

 

2. Sri Krsna, who is the visaya-vigraha or the object of the devotee’s prema, is the sole enjoyer, and all others are to be enjoyed by Him.

3. Those who don't perform Hari-bhajana are ignorant and murderers of their own soul.

 

4. The acceptance of Harinama and direct realization of Bhagavan are one and the same.

 

5. Those who equate the demigods with Visnu are unable to serve Bhagavan.

6. Establishing a printing press to print devotional books and preaching by organizing Nama Hatta programs constitutes genuine service to Sri Mayapur.

7. We are not doers of good or bad deeds, nor are we scholars or illiterate. Carrying the shoes of Hari's pure devotees as our duty, we are initiates into the mantra "kirtaniya sada hari".

8. Preaching without following proper conduct falls within the category of karma, mundane activity. Without criticizing the nature of other, one should correct one's self - this is my personal instruction.

9. Serving the Vrajavasis who felt great separation from Krsna when He left Vraja to reside in Mathura is our supreme constitutional occupation.

10. If we desire to follow an auspicious course in life, then disregarding the theories of even countless people we should hear instructions only from a transcendental source.

11. Life as an animal, bird, insect, or any other of the countless thousands of species is acceptable, but taking shelter of deceit is thoroughly improper. Only an honest person possesses real auspiciousness.

 

12. Simple heartedness is synonymous with Vaisnavism. Servants of paramahamsa Vaisnava should be simple-hearted, a quality which makes them the topmost brahmanas.

13. Helping to draw conditioned souls away from their perverted attachment to this material energy is the greatest compassion. If even one soul is rescued from maha-maya's fortress, that compassionate act is infinitely more benevolent than the construction of unlimited hospitals.

14. We have not come to this world to be construction workers; we are the bearers of Sri Caitanyadeva's instructions.

15. We will not remain in this world for long, and by profusely performing Hari-kirtan, upon relinquishing these material bodies we will experience the ultimate reward of embodied life.

16. The foot-dust of Sri Rupa Goswami, the fulfiller of Sri Caitanyadeva's inner desires is our life's sole desired object.

17. If I were to desist from lecturing about the Absolute Truth due to being fearful that some listeners may be displeased, I would be deviating from the path of Vedic truth and accepting the path of untruth. I would become one who is inimical to the Vedas, an atheist, and would no longer possess faith in Bhagavan, the very embodiment of Truth.

18. Krsna's darsan can only be attained through the medium of the ear as one hears Hari-katha from pure Vaisnavas; there is no other way.

19. Wherever Hari-katha is being spoken is a holy place.

20. Proper sravana, hearing, is accomplished through the medium of kirtan, and this will give one the good opportunity to practice smarana, remembrance. Then internal experience of rendering direct service to the astakaliya-lila, Sri Radha-Krsna's pastimes in each of the eight parts of the day, becomes possible.

21. We should understand that the loud calling out of Krsna's names is bhakti.

22. Bhagavan will not accept anything, that is offered by a person who doesn't chant Harinam one-hundred thousand times daily (1 lakh of names).

23. By sincerely endeavoring to chant Harinam without offences and remaining fixed in chanting constantly, one's offences will fade and pure Harinam will arise on the tongue.

24. As mundane thoughts arise while taking Harinam, one should not become discouraged. A secondary consequence of taking Harinam is that these useless mundane thoughts will gradually dissipate; therefore one should not worry about this. By dedicating one's mind, body, and words to serving Sri Nama and continuing to chant with great persistence, Sri Nama Prabhu will grant one darsan of His supremely auspicious transcendental form. And by continuing to chant until one's anarthas are fully eradicated by the power of Sri Nama realization of His form, qualities and pastimes will automatically arise.

[Murali_Mohan_das]

In bhakti alone, all will meet. Nowhere else is union possible.

[krsna]

We should understand that the loud calling out of Krsna's names is bhakti. :namaskar:

[Murali_Mohan_das]

And, when I try and fail, it's just an irritation to my neighbors.

 

 

We should understand that the loud calling out of Krsna's names is bhakti. :namaskar:

[krsna]

 

And, when I try and fail, it's just an irritation to my neighbors.

 

23. By sincerely endeavoring to chant Harinam without offences and remaining fixed in chanting constantly, one's offences will fade and pure Harinam will arise on the tongue.

 

24. As mundane thoughts arise while taking Harinam, one should not become discouraged. A secondary consequence of taking Harinam is that these useless mundane thoughts will gradually dissipate; therefore one should not worry about this. By dedicating one's mind, body, and words to serving Sri Nama and continuing to chant with great persistence, Sri Nama Prabhu will grant one darsan of His supremely auspicious transcendental form. And by continuing to chant until one's anarthas are fully eradicated by the power of Sri Nama realization of His form, qualities and pastimes will automatically arise.