Because of association with beginningless ignorance the jiva has forgotten...

krsna · February 23, 2005

From Sripad Visvanatha Chakravartipada's Sarartha-darshini:

3.7.9 — anAdyavidyA saGgavazAt jIvena sva jJAnAnandaM vismRtya dehAbhimAna prAptaM deha dharmaM durbhagatvAdikaJca prApya yadi klizyate tarhi kasmai doSo deya iti |

"Because of association with beginningless ignorance

the jIva has forgotten his blissful and conscious nature and has developed a false ego in the material body.

He suffers due to acquiring bodily characteristics

and misfortune, therefore no one is to be blamed."

vastutastu paramAtma jIvAtmanau sUrya tat kiraNAviva jAtyaiva mitho vilakSaNau caitanya caitanyakaNau bhavataH iti siddhAntaH. chAyA-kiraNau yathA sUryataH eva bhavataH athApi sUrya tulya kaNau sUryAn na bhidyete bhidyete ca, tathaiva mAyA zakti jIva zaktI paramezvarAd udbhUte apyanAdi abhinne api svarUpto'bhinne eva |

"In reality the Supersoul and the soul

are distinct from each other

just like the sun and its rays,

one being the super conscious

and the other the atomic conscious being.

This is the principle.

A shadow and rays both come from the sun

and yet the sun-like atomic particles

are different and non-different from the sun.

Similarly both mAyA and the jIva

have sprung from the Supersoul

yet they are anAdi.

Furthermore, they are non-different from the Supersoul

and yet different by nature, or svarUpa."

raga · April 29, 2005

These passages are from the translations of Advaita Das, who's made a number of interesting notes on Visvanatha's Sarartha-darshini.

krsna · April 29, 2005

KRSNA BHAKTI RASA BHAVITA MATIH

KRIYATAM YADI KUTO-PI LABHYATE

TATRA LAULYAM API MULYAM EKALAM

JANMA KOTI-SUKRTAIR NA LABHYATE.

(SRI PADYAVALI-14 (PREMA SAUBHAGYAN)

O saintly persons,

Pure devotional service in Krishna consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price — intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without a doubt.

krsna · May 1, 2005

Here are some words of wisdom from Panchatantra :

* * * * * * * * * *

adeza-kAlajJam anAyati-kSamaM

yad apriyaM lAghava-kAri cAtmanaH |

yo’trAbravIt kAraNa-varjitaM vaco

na tad-vacaH syAd viSam eva tad bhavet ||

"Speech that is inappropriate to time and place, that may produce unpleasant consequences in the future (to oneself or others), which is unpleasant to hear, which reveal the speaker to be petty and insignificant, and which is spoken without valid reason, is not really speech at all, but poison." (Panchatantra 3.112)

balopapanno'pi hi buddhimAn naraH

pare nayen na svayam eva vairitAm |

bhiSaG mamAstIti vicintya bhakSayed

akAraNAt ko hi vicakSaNo viSam ||

Even a powerful man does not, if he is intelligent, go about wilfully creating enemies. Does an intelligent person drink poison without reason, thinking "I have a doctor, so there is no problem."? (Panchatantra 3.113)

parivAdaH pariSadi

na kathaJcit paNDitena vaktavyaH |

satyam api tan na vAcyaM

yad uktam asukhAvahaM bhavati ||

"A wise man should not, under any circumstance, reproach others in the public arena. Even if true, if it causes distress, it should not be spoken." (Panchatantra 3.114)

raga · May 1, 2005

And you'll actually copy and paste that from another topic in this very same forum, where I already requested that credit be given to the translator.

I wonder if you are reading at all? Do you care at all what Vaishnavas think of you?

krsna · May 2, 2005

Chapter 11. The Universal Form

TEXT 32

sri-bhagavan uvaca

kalo 'smi loka-ksaya-krt pravrddho

lokan samahartum iha pravrttah

rte 'pi tvam na bhavisyanti sarve

ye 'vasthitah pratyanikesu yodhah

SYNONYMS

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Personality of Godhead said; kalah--time; asmi--I am; loka--the worlds; ksaya-krt--destroyer; pravrddhah--to engage; lokan--all people; samahartum--to destroy; iha--in this world; pravrttah--to engage; rte api--without even; tvam--you; na--never; bhavisyanti--will be; sarve--all; ye--who; avasthitah--situated; prati-anikesu--on the opposite side; yodhah--the soldiers.

TRANSLATION

The Personality of Godhead said:

Time I am,

destroyer of the worlds,

and I have come to engage all people.

With the exception of you [the Pandavas],

all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.

krsna · May 2, 2005

Who Is A Real Vaisnava?

Vaisnava ke? - by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

1) dusta mana! tumi kiser vaisnava?

pratisthar tare, nirjaner ghare,

tava 'hari nama' kevala 'kaitava'

O, wicked mind! What kind of Vaisnava do you think you are? Your pretentious show of chanting Lord Hari's Holy name in a solitary place is only for the sake of attaining the false prestige of a worldly reputation - it is nothing but pure hypocrisy.

2)

jader pratistha, sukarer vistha,

jano na ki taha 'mayar vaibhava'

kanaka kamini, divasa-yamini,

bhaviya ki kaja, anitya se saba

Such materialistic prestige is as disgusting as the stool of a hog.

Do you not know that it is only a mere illusion cast by the potency of Maya? What is the value of contemplating day and night your plans for enjoying wealth and women? All these things are only temporary.

3)

tomar kanaka, bhoger janaka,

kanaker dvare sevaho 'madhava'

kaminir kama, nahe tava dhama,

tahar - malika kevala 'yadava

When you claim wealth as your own, it creates in you ever - increasing desires for material enjoyment. Your riches should be used for serving Madhava, the Lord of all wealth. Neither is it your proper place to indulge in lust for women, whose only true proprietor is Lord Yadava.

4)

pratisthasa-taru, jada-maya-maru,

na pela 'ravana' yujhiya 'raghava'

vaisnavi pratistha, tate koro nistha,

taha na bhajile labhibe raurava

The demon Ravana (lust-incarnate) fought with Lord Ramachandra (love- incarnate) in order to gain the tree of wordly reputation - but that oasis turned out to be but a mirage cast in the desert wasteland of the Lord's illusory material potency.

Please cultivate fixed determination to attain only the steady and solid platform whereupon a Vaisnava ever stands. If you neglect worshiping the Lord from this position, then you will ultimately attain a hellish existence.

5)

harijana-dvesa, pratisthasa-klesa,

koro keno tabe tahar gaurava

vaisnaver pache, pratisthasa ache,

ta'te kabhu nahe 'anitya-vaibhava'

Why do you needlessly suffer the torment of blaspheming the devotees of Lord Hari, attempting to achieve their eminence, thereby only proving your own fruitless foolishness? The desire for spiritual eminence is easilly fulfilled when one becomes a devotee of the Lord, for eternal fame automatically follows the heels of a Vaisnava. And that fame is never to be considered a temporary worldly opulence.

6)

se hari-sambandha, sunya-maya-gandha,

taha kabhu noy 'jader kaitava'

pratistha -candali, nrjanata -jali,

ubhaye janiho mayika raurava

The relationship between a devotee and Lord Hari is devoid of even a trace of worldly illusion; it has nothing to do with the materialistic cheating propensity.

The prestige of so called popularity in the material realm is compared to a treacherous dog-eating witch, and the attempt to live in solitude to supposedly engage in unalloyed bhajan is compared to an entangling network of distraction. Please know that anyone striving in either of these ways verily lives in the hell of Mayas illusion.

7)

kirtana chadibo, pratistha makhibo,

ki kaja dhudiya tadrsa gaurava

madhavendra puri, bhava -ghare curi,

na korilo kabhu sadai janabo

I shall give up chanting the Lord's name publicly in kirtan and retire to solitude, thus smearing myself with worldly honor." Dear mind, what is the good of seeking such so-called glory? I will always remind you that the great soul Madhavendra Puri never deceived himself in that regard by committing theft in his own storehous of perception the way you do.

8)

tomar pratistha - 'sukarer vistha',

tar -saha sama kabhu na manava

matsarata-vase, tumi jada-rase,

majecho chadiya kirtanan saustava

Your cheap reputation is equal to the stool of a hog. An ordinary ambitious man like you can never be equated with a devotee of Madhavendra Puri's eminence. Under the sway of envy, you have drowned yourself in the filthy waters of material enjoyment after having abandoned the excellent perfection of congregational kirtan

9)

tai dusta mana, 'nirjana bhajan',

pracaricho chale kuyogi -vaibhava'

prabhu sanatane, parama jatane,

siksa dilo yaha, cinto sei saba

Truly, O wicked mind, the glories of so-called solitary worship are propagated only by false yogis using unscrupulous means to deceive others.

To save yourself from these pitfalls, please contemplate the instructions that the Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahprabhu kindly gave us while addressing Srila Sanatana Goswami with the utmost care.

10) sei du'ti kathe, bhulo' na sarvatha,

uccaih-svare koro 'hari nama rava'

'phalgu' ar 'yukta,' 'baddha' ar 'mukta,'

kabhu na bhaviho, ekakar saba

Do not forget for a moment the two most valuable concepts that He taught: 1) the principle of dry, apparent renunciation as opposed to real, appropriate renunciation, and 2) the principle of a soul being trapped in the bondage of matter as opposed to a soul who is liberated. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that these conflicting concepts are on the same level.

Please remember this while engaging yourself in chanting the Lord's holy names as loud as you possibly can.

11)

'kanaka-kamini,' 'prathistha-baghini,'

chadiyache jare, sei to' vainsava

sei 'anasakta,' sei 'suddha-bhakta,'

samsar tatha pay parabhava

One is truly a Vaisnava who has given up the habit of falling victim to the ferocious tigress of wealth, beauty and fame. Such a soul is factually detached from material life, and is known as a pure devotee. Someone with this consciousness of detachment has thereby become victorious over the mundane world of birth and death.

12)

yatha-yogya bhoga, nahi tatha roga,

'anasakta' sei, ki ar kahabo

'asakti-rohita,' 'sambandha-sahita,'

visaya-samuha sakali 'madhava'

One is indeed detached who moderately partakes of worldly things that are deemed necessary for living in devotional service; a devotee acting in that manner does not fall prey to the disease of material infatuation. Thus devoid of selfish attachement, and endowed with the ability to see things in relation to the Lord, all sense objects are then directly peceived as belonging to Lord Madhava Himself.

13)

se 'yukta -vairagya taha to' saubhagya

taha-i jadete harir vaibhava

kirtane jahar, 'pratistha-sambhar,'

tahar sampatti kevala 'kaitava'

This is the standard of befitting renunciation, and one who realizes this is most fortunate indeed. Everything involved in such a devotee's life represents Lord Hari's personal spiritual opulence as manifest in the world of matter. On the other hand, one who engages in chanting the Lord's name with hopes of enhancing his own material reputation finds that all his activities and paraphernalia represent only the riches of hypocrisy.

14)

'visaya-mumuksu,' 'bhoger bubhuksu,'

du'ye tyajo mana, dui 'avaisnava'

'krsner sambandha,' aprakrta-skandha,

kabhu nahe taha jader sambhava

O, mind, please reject the company of two types of persons - those desiring impersonal liberation from the material world and those who desire to enjoy the pleasure of material sense objects. Both of these are equally non devotees. The things that are used in relation to Lord Krishna are objects belonging directly to the transcendental realm, and thus having nothing to do with matter they cannot be either owned or forsaken by persons interested in mundane enjoyment of renunciation.

15)

'mayavai jana,' krsnetara mana,

mukta abhimane se ninde vaisnava

vaisnaver das, tava bhati as,

keno va dakicho nirjana-ahava

An impersonal philosopher is opposed to thinking of Krishna as an object of devotion, and thus being puffed up with the false pride of imaginary liberation he dares to criticize the true devotees of the Lord. O mind, you are the servant of the Vaisnavas, and you should always hope for attaining devotion. Why then do you make such a loud commotion by calling to me and trying to prove the supposed supremacy of your practice of solitary worship?

16)

je 'phalgu-vairagi,' kohe nije 'tyagi,'

se na pare kabhu hoite 'vaisnava'

hari-. chadi', 'nirjanata badi,'

labhiya ki phala, 'phalgu' se vaibhava

One wo falsely gives up things that could actually be used in the Lord's service proudly calls himself a 'renunciate', but unfortunately he can never become a Vaisnava by such an attitude. Abandoning his servitorship to the lotus feet fo Lord Hari, resigning himself to his solitary home - whatever is gained by that exercise can only be the worthless trasue of deception.

17)

radha-dasye rohi', chadi 'bhoga-agi,'

'pratisthasa nahe 'kirtana-gaurava'

'radha-nitya-jana,' taha chadi' mana,

keno va nirjana-bhajana-kaitava

Ever engage yourself in the service of Sri Radha, and keep aloof from the vicious snake of materialistic sense gratification. The glory of participating in the Lord's kirtan is not meant to bolster anyone's ambitions for personal recognition. O mind, why then have you abandoned the identity of being Radha's eternal servant in favor of retiring to a solitary place to practice the cheating process of so called bhajan?

18)

vraja-vasi-gana, pracaraka-dhana,

pratistha-bhiksuka ta 'ra nahe 'sava'

prana ache ta'r, se -hetu pracar,

pratisthasa-hina-krsna-gatha' saba

The most valuable treasures amongst the Lord's preachers are the eternal personalities residing in Vraja-dham. They never occupy themselves with begging for worthless material reputation, which is cherished only by the living dead. The Vraja-vasis are truly infused with life, and therefore they preach in order to give life to the walking corpses of the mundane world. All the songs that the Vraja-vasis sing about the glories of Lord Krishna are devoid of any tinge of desire for fame.

19)

sri-dayita-das, kirtanete as,

koro uccaih-svare 'hari-nama-rava

kirtana-prabhave, smarana svabhave,

se kale bhajana-nirjana sambhava

This humble servant of Radha and Her beloved Krishna always hopes for kirtan, and he begs all to loudly sing the names of Lord Hari. The transcendental power of congregational chanting automatically awakens remembrance of the Lord and His divine pastimes in relation to one's own eternal spiritual form. Only at that time does it become possible to go off to a solitary place and engage in the confidential worship of their Lordships.

(from Dushta Mana Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati translated by Dasaratha-suta dasa, nectar books)