Sadhu-Sanga - Hearing and Talking About Higher Lilas

krsna · March 29, 2006

Sadhu-Sanga - Hearing and Talking

About Higher Lilas

BY: KRSNA DAS

Mar 28, INDIA (SUN) —

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Srila Bhakti Promod Puri Maharaj:

“In your foreign countries a party of

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Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Dasa Mula Tattva

“On the path of raga, however, it is necessary to avoid imitation or deception. If that occurs, it produces disturbance and obstacles, though the person may think that his corrupted raga is real raga. Finally, material association turns that raga into material attraction and causes falldown of the jiva.”

Prema Pradipa - Tenth Ray

“If I explain this topic in the assembly, it could be harmful for the unquali .ed devotees. Higher truths cannot be attained unless one is situated on a higher platform. Just as higher knowledge gradually arises in all scienti.c literature, likewise, con.dential truths are attained in devotional literatures by proper quali.cation.”

i Chaitanya Siksamrta, Chapter 3. Part 2

“One should not discuss topics of rasa with anyone except highly qualified persons on the same level of spiritual advancement.”

Sri Chaitanya Siksamrta, Chapter 7, Part 1

“Those who have attained the level of prema and are completely detached from worldly pleasure are qualified for rasa. Those who have not attained pure rati and sense control make futile attempts to become qualified for rasa by practicing rasa. That taste which arises naturally in a person on the level of prema is called rasa. The discussion of rasa is only a description of how the various elements combine in the different rasas; it is not a part of sadhana. Therefore, if anyone says that he will teach you the sadhana of rasa, he is an impostor or a fool.”

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Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur

A letter by Saraswati Thakur:

I have noted your letter dated the 24th. The asta-kaliya-lila about which you have heard from the Vaisnavas in Vrndavana should be highly regarded no doubt. But the way in which these pastimes are conceived of in the contaminated state is totally corrupt. Some fortunate individuals are capable of knowing these things after chanting for a long time, for that is the identity of the true self. But it can only be known after one is freed of mental contaminations. With the awakening of this spiritual identity, one automatically has constant cognition of his spiritual form. Those who say that they can teach or reveal this identity are practicing a kind of deception; it cannot be done. On the other hand, if a devotee receives some inspiration after sincerely chanting for a long time, he should go to the sad-guru or advanced devotees and ask for it to be confirmed and purified by them. The spiritual identity has eleven aspects (eka-dasa-bhava). There are many cases of unscrupulous gurus who artificially force-feed these designations on unqualified practitioners, but we cannot call this the mark of spiritual perfection. Those who have achieved the perfection of being fixed in their spiritual identity (svarupa-siddhi) have attained such a realization through internal revelation and the spiritual master’s only involvement in these matters is to help the further advancement of a disciple. As a practitioner progresses toward spiritual perfection, all these things are revealed naturally within the heart that sincerely seeks service.

Prabhupader Patravali, Chapter 2

‘We should constantly pray to the Holy Name for His mercy. One who is still in a contaminated state should not engage in smarana of the daily cycle of the Lord’s pastimes (asta-kaliya-lila). When we engage in chanting the Holy Names, we are simultaneously engaged in hearing and the opportunity for remembering is included in that. One should not engage in asta-kaliya-lilasmarana on false premises.

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Srila Bhakti Prajnan Kesava Maharaj

From introduction of Jaiva-dharma published "om Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti,

“According to Srila Prabhupada’s line of thought, even if one engages in bhajana but is not highly qualified, it is improper to enter into discussions on rasa. Srila Prabhupada has expressed this very clearly in such works as Bhai Sahajiya, Prakrta-rasa Sata-dusini and many other essays. Never the less, even today there are many unqualified persons who are given to studying the portions of Jaiva Dharma containing the analysis of rasa. According to Srila Prabhupada’s understanding, this is detrimental. Being the worthy recipient of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s merciful glance, and being destined with an increasingly intense desire to fulfill his innermost wishes, he has divided the book into three sections for his followers. According to his desire we will not be selling the third volume, viz. Rasa-vicara to the unqualified public. The first two volumes will be available for a symbolic price.”

His life and Teachings, Part 4, P. 343

“One day a devotee was studying the commentaries on rasa-lila, brahmara-gita and so on, and Srila Gurudeva (Srila Sarasvati Thakur) said, “The qualification to hear topics such as rasa-lila will come when sri nama-kirtana has freed the heart from anarthas, and suddha-sattva has appeared there. Otherwise the transcendental pastimes of Sri Radha-Govinda will appear to be the activities of a worldly hero and heroine, and will only give rise to false ideas. The conception of rasa is only possible in the siddha-deha, the perfect state. It is impossible to perceive srngararasa in a material body. Only a person who is free from the lower types of enjoyment and is in the stage of bhava is qualified to discuss sambhoga-rasa.”

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Prof. Nishi Kanta Sanyal

Sri Krishna Chaitanya

“One who presumes to instruct others without himself realizing the nature of the course of loving devotion, or who, although himself cognizant of the nature of the path of devotion, instructs the disciple regarding the same without due consideration of the aptitude of the latter, is the pseudo-guru. It is necessary by all means to renounce the guidance of such a guru. Those who, falling into the clutches of the pseudo-guru by neglect of the proper exercise of their judgment, deceive themselves by consenting to adopt the higher grade of worship to which they are not entitled, fall under the category of the third class of offenders described above. But those who, even after becoming aware of their unfitness, persist in practicing the higher method of worship, hoping thereby to gain honour and wealth for themselves, commit the offense of religious hypocrisy. Until this defect is discarded, there can be no appearance of the principle of spontaneous liking for Krishna. These hypocrites only deceive the world by the display of the external insignia of sectarianism and pseudo-renunciation. Those persons who choose to show their regard for these arrogant persons in consideration of the external marks exhibited by them, failing to attain the favor of Krishna, only prove to be thorns in the sides of the people of this world.”

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Srila B.R. Sridhar Maharaj

Following the Angels, Chapter two

“Once Prabhupada (Saraswati Thakur) arranged to preach in Vrndavana for the full month of Karttika. He asked Bharati Maharaja at that time to explain the Seventh Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, the story of Prahlada. He did not ask for narrations about Krishna, Radha, Yasoda or anything of Vrndavana. ‘Preach suddha-bhakti of Prahlada first. People are ripe in sahajiya, imitation of devotion. Just try to make them understand, to enter the plane of bhakti. That is great; what to speak of Krishna-lila-that is far, far above.’ There in Vrndavana the people wondered, ‘What is this? They are explaining Bhagavatam, but leaving aside the Tenth Canto. They are explaining the Seventh Canto, the Prahlada-lila, the lower portion of bhakti. That is wonderful and strange.’

I found later on that Srila Prabhupada himself spoke for several days on the boundary line between Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda. He read and explained the Upadesamrta of Srila Rupa Gosvami. He did not speak about Srimati Radharani or about Krishna, but about Upadesamrta - the basic teachings. His attention was always focused on the basics, because the fruit will come naturally. ‘Pour water onto the root and the fruit will come up by itself.’ Sitting between Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda he explained not Bhagavatam, but Upadesamrta. Upadesamrta contains the substance of Mahaprabhu’s teaching in the language of Rupa Gosvami. Srila Prabhupada explained these topics and not anything of Govinda-lilamrta or Visvanatha Cakravarti’s Sri Krishna Bhavanamrta. The higher topics of madhurya lila, Radha- Krishna’s amorous pastimes, were left aside. Our master did not allow us to read the books where the highest lilas are described. Govinda-lilamrtam, Stava-kusumanjali, Ujjvala Nilamani. He did not allow us to study and to discuss them. Rather, he would be very much disturbed if he heard that someone was interfering with the higher lilas in those books. He did not like it. There are three chapters of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta that we were generally not allowed to discuss fully, including the conversations with Ramananda Raya, where the lila portion of Radha-Govinda is mentioned, we were not to delve. Of course when parayana (consecutive chanting of the whole book) was taking place, we were to go on reading those sections, but without giving any particular attention to the lila of the highest order of raga. That was barred: “Don’t try to come into details there. That will come automatically when it is time. Do not make it a public discussion. Do not place it in the public eye.”

and:

“‘Dusta phala karibe arjana’-Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura warns that we will get only a bad result if we venture to cross that line. It is aparadha. From the lower position, the steps are shown: sraddha, sadhu-sanga, sravana, kirtana, then anartha-nivrtti, when the undesirable things vanish. Then comes ruci, then asakti, then bhava-bhakti, the sprout of real devotion. Then premabhakti, and sneha, mana, pranaya, raga, anuraga, bhava, mahabhava -by such steps we are to approach the highest plane.

Our Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada, asked that we keep Radharani in great reverence, ‘On your head, over your head - don’t be bold enough to approach directly: Pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange. Try to keep Her and Her group at a respectful distance, above your head. Don’t rush towards that position. It is not that cheap.’

The whole tenor of Guru Maharaja’s life was such: ‘That is high, very high, and from below we are to honor that.’ We must establish this conception, the proper regard for that higher lila, throughout the entire world: ‘That is too high.’

Prabhupada has ordered such strict behavior, and we also follow that. At so many other places they show the Rasa-lila with dolls, but I never do that. Following what is true to my understanding of my Gurudeva’s will and his words, I do not make any show of Jhulana-lila or Rasa-lila or anything of that nature. I find in my heart that this is not pleasing to my Guru Maharaja. But in so many mathas I see at present, I hear also, that they are doing that, but I strictly abstain from showing Jhulana-lila and Rasa-lila. That is too high for us.

I must be true to the words of my Gurudeva if I want my realization and not just some sort of popularity. Some may discuss the higher lilas to attract people, to make money, or even to develop a favourable field for preaching, but I do not do this. I do not want popularity or any recognition as a higher acarya. I am a student.

Still I am a student. I consider myself to be a student, a faithful student. What I heard from my Gurudeva, I try my best to stick to that, to keep my position there as I heard from him. I do not want to mutilate that in any way to suit my purpose. I try not to do that. Of course for big propaganda some may adopt different ways, as they see it. They are now free. But I am not one to do so, to go on in such a way. I try to follow my Guru Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada.”

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Srila Bhakti Promod Puri Maharaj

Room conversation 7th Feb. 1996. Sridham Mayapur. Gopinatha Gaudiya Math

“In your foreign countries a party of sahajiyas has appeared. And it is not a matter of inventing something - what they speak is there in 10th Canto, in the works of the Gosvamis, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. But the very fact of their speaking such higher topics to unprepared audiences, ignoring the glories of the Holy Name, who is the only real path to this higher lila, is namaparadha. Mahaprabhu never did like this. He was relishing these topics with a few of his antaranga-bhaktas, and He was inspiring the masses to perform nama-sankirtana, and Himself performed sankirtana with great numbers of devotees. Pracara should be nama-pracara!”

Room conversation, Sridhama Mayapura, Gopinatha Gaudiya Matha, 1994

“If I spoke here on Bhramara-gita, Gopi-gita and other such high topics, I would fill this room (laughs). This room would be full. But these topics are very high - not for everyone. Srila Prabhupada never spoke like this in public - these confidential topics. Mahaprabhu only spoke these things with four and a half devotees. Not every devotee.” <CENTER> Posted Image </CENTER>

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The Teaching of Narayana Maharaj

Excerpt "om www.purebhakti.com/lectures/lecture20000203am.shtml

So raga is that fully saturated love and affection for Krishna. In the gopis it is perpetual; in the Vrajabasis it is perpetual and transcendental. Somehow, by the grace of your guru, by his pure association, and by hearing from him, I will think, “Oh, I want to serve my dear Krishna like mother Yasoda. I would like to serve Radha- Krishna conjugal like Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Ragunatha das Gosvami, Sri Svarupa Damodara, and Sri Raya Ramananda. This greed may come. Greed is the adhikar, qualification, for raganuga. Nothing else; nothing else.

One may think, “First we should be free from worldly desires, all kinds of unwanted things, and all kinds of anarthas, and offences - then it will come.” But this is not the process. It will never come by such thinking. Even if one is enveloped in lust, as Bilvalmangala Thakura was, by the association of a high-class vaisnava, by hearing all these topics, one will develop a greed to serve Krishna with raga.

I must follow anyone who is very wealthy in this way. If you want to be a rich person then you will have to follow any wealthy person. Who are wealthy? Those who have the highest wealth of Vraja prema. Who are they?.....

As your bhakti increases, that svabhavika, constitutional, natural humility will come. And we should try to keep it very secret. These pure devotees are bandhari, in possession of Vraja prema. They are the root of all these things. They are sisya parampara, and one gets greed by reading the books compiled by them or written by them. They have given Vrajariti bhajan, the process of sadhana-bhajana to attain Vraja, in Ujjvala nilamani, Bhakti rasamrta sindhu, etc. - especially in the books of Sri Rupa Gosvami. Srila Rupa Gosvami writes about astakaliya-lila and how you can serve Radha and Krishna. The books Dan keli Cintamani, and Dan keli Kaumadi are the highest books, and Sri Caitanya caritamrta is not less. It is the very highest. Though it is Bengali, it is more diffcult to understand than Sanskrit. In fact, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has written a Sanskrit commentary on it. He has also written one book called Vrajaritti Cintamani. Have you heard the name? Some say, “Don’t speak the name of all these books; otherwise you will go to hell. We should not try to remember all these things.” But why did our acaryas write? And why did they preach through their guru parampara? How can we enter Vrindavana? They have given the process in those books.

This process has been told for rare persons; not for all. I think the instructions of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura are especially needed in this age, because he and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada are the recent acaryas. So we should try to read their books. Srila Svamiji has not said anywhere, “You should not read any book of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Read only my books. Everything is here, and so you should not read anything else.” I think if Srila Svami Maharaja was present, he would have perhaps translated the rest of Srimad Bhagavatam 10th Canto, and given explanations, as well explanations to so many other books - Brihad Bhagavatamrta, Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu, and Ujjvala Nilamani. And I think that he may have translated the asta kaliya lila padadi of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. Even though he has written everything, so many things are yet to be written.

excerpt "om: http://www.purebhakti.com/lectures/lecture1993indiapuri.shtml

[srila Maharaja:] No. I explained that here in Puri there is only lamentation in the mood of separation. I said that the acaryas in our disciplic line are associates of Srimati Radhika as palyadasi. We want that Srimati Radhika is always cheerful, and She is cheerful when She is with Krsna. We are pleased when Krsna searches Radhika, when Radhika is hidden in a kunja and Krsna is calling, “Where is Radha? Where is Radha? Where is Radha, Lalita, Visakha and the others?” The gopis are very pleased, thinking, “Oh, today He is searching.” They are all in a good mood, and Radhika is so joyful. We should always be pleased in that way.

Here in Puri, Radhika is always calling, “O Krsna! O Krsna! O Krsna!” We don’t want that. We select as the best place that place where Krsna will search in a place like Radha-kunda. Krsna approaches Radhika and serves Her feet, and at that time Radhika is proud and enjoys so much. Here in Puri there is no rasa-lila. Here there is a separation mood; no meeting.

[Question:] You said one time that this was the most important part of everything He showed.

[srila Maharaja:] It is extremely important. For us, at our stage, the mood of separation is more helpful than meeting. But we want that Srimati Radhika should be always pleased. Here She is always weeping and weeping. We don’t want to see Radhika constantly weeping.

[Question:] But it is Krsna who is weeping, isn?t it?

[srila Maharaja:] But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is in the mood of Radhika. We consider Vrndavana the best place. It is the where Radhika will place Her feet in the lap of Krsna and He will paint His name on them. Krsna will then keep Her feet on His head and heart, and that fresh color will make a stamp-like print on His body. He is always serving Her there; there She says, “Oh, He loves Me best.” We want that; but for sadhana, separation is helpful. Without separation we cannot advance an inch further.

excerpt from http://www.purebhakti.com/lectures/lecture20000201pm.shtml

The gopis are dancing on Govardhan Hill, and Krishna is also dancing there. It may be that Krishna will tell the gopis, “O, now you are tired and you are perspiring.” He takes His pitambara (yellow shawl) and removes their perspiration. He asks them, “O, may I tie your anklebells? May I massage you because you are tired?” This is called ‘rasa’.

We may enter in rasa by hearing, and by associating with this kind of bhakta. Perhaps you are in the assembly of Srila Rupa Gosvami, and there Srila Ragunath Bhatta Gosvami is giving class of Srimad Bhagavatam. Or you should come to Jagannatha Puri, in the council of Tota-Gopinatha. Who is speaking Srimad Bhagavatam? Sri Gadhadhara Pandit. And who is the srotya, listener? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu...... Who is speaking? Sri Gadadhara Pandit. Who is he? He is actually Srimati Radhika. Srimati Radhika is giving class on Srimad Bhagavatam, Rasa pancadyaya (the five chapters explaining Rasa-lila......

What high class of association is there. And what is the result of being in such association? Rati raso bhavet tirva.You will have so much thick greed to enter that rasa. This is the highest thing; you cannot even imagine.You should know the benefit of an exalted Vaisnava coming anywhere.Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada came. Why did he come? What he has realized in so many past lives, what he learned from his Gurudeva for so many years-he came to give all these things. He could have given everything in a moment, but you were not suffciently qualified to enter into those topics.

Similarly, I have served my guru-varga (disciplic succession of bona fide spiritual masters)-and then I realized something-and I have also come to give these realizations. Sometimes I was worried that I cannot give all these truths, because I am not so qualified, or it may be that no one is so qualified to realize them. But really, I have no self-interest at all. I came only to help you, and to give this same thing. That is why I am explaining these topics in this class. If, out of lakhs and lakhs, hundreds and thousands, a rare person somehow picks up this katha, then it will be a very great gain for the whole world.

After me there will be another guru. And after that guru, another guru will give all this to others. And among those others, some will be qualified. Thus, in the line of guru parampara, this katha will go on. Otherwise, if we are not giving all these things, the link will be broken- and what will happen? All will be deprived of happiness. So, whether you have so much taste or not, somehow you should try to be there, and to hear all these truths. Gradually you will see that all kinds of lust and worldly desires will quickly leave.

...... Sometimes I see that someone becomes sleepy and wants to go outside. So I have some medicine for this. Chili powder. When you become sleepy, just give this punishment to the eyes and say, “Why are you like this?” Try to listen very carefully. You have come from very far, far distant places, and you are giving up all other things-only for this. If you take just a little bit, my coming will be successful.

[srila Narayana Maharaja asks Navina Krishna Prabhu to speak.]

Navina Krishna Prabhu: Srila Gurudeva was explaining the glory of sadhu-sanga. He quoted one sloka, “tasmin mahan-mukarita...” He told you that he came to distribute his realizations. Among lakhs and lakhs of devotees, if one person can understand his realization, he thinks his coming and preaching in the West is successful. Why? Because those who will accept can distribute this idea, this conception, this realization, to others.

For example, so many fountains are coming from the Himalayas, and there is no end to this water. Similarly, when a sadhu is speaking hari-katha from Srimad Bhagavatam, then automatically, like a fountain, the pastimes of Krishna are realized and seen in his heart. He is explaining all topics about Krishna, and they are coming automatically, without any effort. Madhubid caritra. What is the characteristic of Madhubid? Madhubid is Krishna, He who can destroy the Madhu demon. Madhu also means lust, and Madhubid is He who can destroy lust. By hearing, we can understand who is this personality.

Srila Narayana Maharaja: What is an example of madhubic caritra? Krishna’s premalap, His loving conversations or dialogues with the gopis. This is very sweet rasala (nectar). The gopis say, “O Krishna, we are very thirsty”.

“O, you can go to Yamuna, or here and there, and you can take water.”

“ No, I am very thirsty for your love and affection.”

This is a very sweet conversation, and there are so many other things.

Srimati Radharani is mad in divyonmada. Jalpa, prajalpa, and so on are going on, and Uddhava is hearing and seeing all these pastimes. “Madhuva kitava bandhu...” O black bee, you should at once go from here. You are a drunkard and you are impure. At once go. I don’t want to see you. You want to fall at my feet, telling me you have some message from Krishna.” This is madhuriccarita. Piyusa sesa. It is more than nectar, and the hearer of hari-katha is always drinking this nectar. How? Not with the mouth, but by the heart. He will never be satisfied in lakhs and lakhs of years. He will say, “O, more should come; more should come.”

We have to drink with our ears. In the material world we drink by mouth, but in this case we should not drink by mouth. We have to drink this nectarian drink from the bona fide sadhu by the ear. And what will be the effect? When you hear with your ears, then ‘pravista karuna.’ Krishna will enter through your ears-because there is no difference between Krishna and krsnakatha. By the causeless mercy of Guru and Vaisnavas, Krishna will enter in our heart through hari-katha. When Krishna once enters, He never comes out. At that time bhava will manifest in our heart, and then we can control Krishna there.

For we have many types of anarthas - and especially lust - then Sri Sukadeva Gosvami is telling another thing. Krishna will wash all these away. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami gives the example that in the rainy season all rivers and falls become muddy. Even if you want to purify it, it will be muddy when the rain comes again. When autumn season comes, however, the water will become transparent - automatically -without any effort. Similarly, if you want to get rid of lust, anger, and anarthas by your own endeavour, this is not possible for you. However, if you have sadhu-sanga, if you come under the guidance of any bona fide Gurudeva and hear these pastimes from him, it will be very powerful.

<CENTER>Is conjugal love in separation the highest expression of bhakti?</CENTER>

Narayana Maharaja Sri Vraja-Mandala Parikrama, p. 45+46:

“Those who have not scrutinizingly studied the scripture Srimad Bhagavatam, and who have not conscientiously comprehended Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, and who have also not properly understood books like Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu, Brhad Bhagavatamrta, Ujvala Nilamani, Krishna Karnamrta and other literatures of this nature. These people consider vipralambha, the mood of separation to be the highest level of ecstasy. Our previous acaryas also considered vipralambha to be an exalted state; but after much reflection they perceived vipralambha as a prerequisite to highlight and more fully embellish and amplify the ecstasy of reunion. If there would be only vipralambha for all of eternity what would be the use? What would be its service? Vipralambha is necessary only because it intensifies the ecstatic feelings of reunion again......

“So you can see that the mood of vipralambha is much more complex than possibly the way you envisioned it to be before. And those who still persist in advocating that vipralambha is the highest, they do not yet have the spiritual maturity and understanding to realize that it is not possible for anything to be more elevated than Srimati Radharani and Krishna's ecstatic loving exchanges in reuniting again.”

From Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya lila 8.191-197 in Teachings of Lord Caitanya A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:

“Upon hearing of these transcendental activities, Lord Caitanya said, "My dear Ramananda, what you have explained regarding the transcendental pastimes of Sri Radha and Krishna is perfectly correct, yet there is something more I would like to hear from you." “It is very difficult for me to express anything beyond this,” Ramananda Raya replied. “I can only say that there is an emotional activity called prema-vilasa-vivarta, which I may try to explain but I do not know whether You will be happy to hear it." In prema-vilasa there are two kinds of emotional activities-separation and meeting. That transcendental separation is so acute that it is actually more ecstatic than meeting.”

From Sermons 3 by Srila Sridhar Maharaj

bahye visa-jvala haya, bhitare ananda-maya

krsna-premara adbhuta carita

(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 2.50)

This means that union-in-separation is the highest form of union. It cannot be attacked or challenged by any circumstances. It appears to be very painful, but internally the position is one of greater intensity of ecstasy. The real gist of the whole meaning of the study of this higher subject is this, and we are to understand and follow it with particular attention and intelligence.

<CENTER>Gayatri mantra and Harinama</CENTER>

Narayana Maharaja Going Beyond Vaikuntha Chapter Seven:

“Without the gopala-mantra and the kama-gayatri, will our sadhana be complete with only the nama- sankirtana? No, because by nama-sankirtana alone we will not be able to chant suddha-nama, the pure name of Krishna.”

Narayana Maharaja Confidential Secrets of Bhajana, page 22:

“Everything is there, but don’t think that we can realize all this by chanting Krishna-nama alone. We must chant nama-mantra (gayatri) as well, if we want full understanding and realization of what is in the Hare Krishna mantra.”

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor - August 13, 1973, Paris:

“Chanting Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Then, as he practices, becomes more purified, then second initiation. Gayatri. Gayatri-mantra. But the first initiation, according to Jiva Gosvami, that is sufficient. Chanting Hare Krishna mantra, that is sufficient. But still, to purify them more, the second initiation, Gayatri, is given.”

Srila Sridhar Maharaj, from Sri Guru and His Grace:

“We accept the mantra (gayatri) only to help the nama-bhajan, the worship of the holy name. Otherwise it may not be necessary at all. It has been judged in such a way. The name alone can do everything for a person. It is full and complete. The (gayatri) mantra helps us to do away with the apa hradhas, offenses, and the abhasa, or hazy conception. The (gayatri) mantra comes to help us only so far.”

<CENTER>About initiation</CENTER>

A Delhi businessman who wishes to remain anonymous (but whose narration has been checked and confirmed by Ravindra Svarupa prabhu, Prithu prabhu, and Mahamantra dasa):

“You know, Narayana Maharaja has been trying to initiate me since a long time… I kept avoiding him. When I went away on business at one stage Narayana Maharaja had somebody call my wife to tell her that Narayana Maharaja wants to see her. She went and he instantly initiated her. When I came back I was most upset and in fact infuriated. So I told my wife: ‘Since you did this without asking me I can take sannyasa now at any time without asking you as well.’

“My wife was crying and crying and Narayana Maharaja heard about it. He passed the message that we both should see him so he would fix this problem. When we went Narayana Maharaja offered instantly that the whole situation could be resolved if I were just to take initiation from him as well. I declined his repeated coaxing, saying ultimately: ‘Maharaja, you should know that every hair on my body belongs to ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada,’ “Instantly Narayana Maharaja took my arm and made many disparaging remarks against Srila Prabhupad. Among the things he said was, ‘Do you know that he [srila Prabhupada] was selling liquor?’ My blood was boiling that he would go so far to get me to take initiation from him that he would try to break my faith in Srila Prabhupada. I instantly said to my wife: ‘Give him the beads back’ which she did. And we rushed out of his room." (Note: It seems that Narayana Maharaja must have been referring to the fact that in his householder days Srila Prabhupada's pharmacy sold 100% alcohol for medical use.)”

March 29, 2006

Sadhu-Sanga - Hearing and Talking
About Higher Lilas

BY: KRSNA DAS

<CENTER>About initiation</CENTER>

A Delhi businessman who wishes to remain anonymous (but whose narration has been checked and confirmed by Ravindra Svarupa prabhu, Prithu prabhu, and Mahamantra dasa): . . .

QUOTE]

This story is an absolute distortion and misrepresentation of SBVNM.. Ravindra Svarupa, Prithu and Mahamantra are hardly reliable sources for any information in this regard.

Krsna Das' motive in posting this article on Sampradaya Sun is puzzling. If he is trying to make a vain attempt to point out differences between acaryas then we direct him to this statement by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wtih regard to Srila Jiva Goswami, from his purport to the 37th sloka of the Brahma Samhita,

". . .There are some who, being unable to understand the drift of his statements, give meanings of their own invention and indulge in useless controversies. . . It is the duty of a pure Vaisnava to accept the real spirit of his statements. It is a great offense to disrespect the acarya and to seek to establish a different doctrine in opposition to him."

". . . He who goes through the commentaries of Sripada Jiva Gosvami and those of the opposing party with an impartial judgment cannot maintain his attitude of protest engendered by any real doubt. What the unalloyed devotee of the Supreme Lord says is all true and is independent of any consideration of unwholesome pros and cons. There is, however, the element of mystery in their verbal controversies. Those, whose judgment is made of mundane stuff, being unable to enter into the spirit of the all-loving controversies among pure devotees, due to their own want of unalloyed devotion, are apt to impute to the devotees their own defects of partisanship and opposing views. "

and we encourage him to apply this principle in trying to understand our acaryas, rather than quote them out of context., and understand that they are all teaching the same siddhanta.

March 29, 2006

A Very High Topic

by Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

[Volgograd, Russia: September 17, 2004]

My heartly blessings, and so much thanks to those who have organized this gathering and festival. My heartly blessings to the preachers who came here to join this festival and teach you so many good things. My blessings to the cooking department, to those have served me in my book distributions, in chanting the holy name, in preaching here and there, and especially to those who served my Navadvipa project. I pray to the lotus feet of Sri Giriraja Govardhana, Sri Caitanya Maharaprabhu, Sri Nityananda prabhu and Sri Sri Radha Vinoda-bihari to sprinkle their mercy on all these devotees.

These days we have been discussing a very high topic. I know it is beyond your limit. It is beyond the limit of understanding for the neophyte devotees, but I am still telling it – for senior devotees. They should know this topic and preach.

You must remember that it is Srila Rupa Gosvami through whom we want to know ourselves and identify ourselves as rupanuga Vaisnavas, and that in the rupanuga line Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is prominent. Both Rupa Gosvami and Raghunatha dasa Gosvami have written books to enter raganuga-bhakti. Srila Rupa Gosvami has written Sri Upadesamrta, so do not reject this book. And Srila Raghanatha dasa Gosvami has written Sri Mahah-Siksa.

In Sri Mahah-Siksa it is stated

yadiccher avasam vraja-bhuvi sa-ragam prati-janur

yuva-dvandvam tac cet paricaritum arad abhilaseh

svarupam sri rupam sa-ganam iha tasyagrajam api

sphutam premna nityam smara nama tada tvam srnu manah

[“My dear mind! Please hear me. If you are eager to gain residence in Vraja on the platform of ragatamika-bhakti, and if you desire to obtain the direct service of nava Yugala-kisora, Sri Radha-Krsna, then birth after birth always distinctly remember and bow down with great love to Srila Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, Srila Rupa Gosvami and his elder brother Srila Sanatana Gosvami, and all other associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who are the recipients of His mercy.” (Sri Manah-siksa, verse 3)]

If you want to be in Vraja and serve in raganuga-bhakti, with love and affection, then follow Sri Manah-siksa. Do not think this is a third-class book. If you neglect Upadesamrta and Manah-siksa, you cannot advance in rupanuga bhajana* [see Endnote 1].

I have instructed all sannyasis to preach from these two books first, for these two are the backbone of raganuga-bhakti. My request to all senior devotees in this country is that they try to help all new devotees by the process described in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, and thus they will all gradually enter raganuga-bhajana.

Yesterday I told you that Lord Krsna sent Uddhava to Vraja. In Vraja, Uddhava begged admission into the college of love and affection, but the gopis rejected him. Is it written in Srimad-Bhagavatam that when he went to the gopis they asked him, “Uddhava, you are a friend of Krsna. You are black but not that same black Krsna. You are dressed in His garments and ornaments, and you are wearing His garland.

The gopis continued, “There are two kinds of love and affection. One is artificial, with selfishness and a cause, and the other is selfless and without a cause. We have pure love and affection without selfishness. Krsna’s love and affection is also very pure, so why has that love broken? Can you tell us?”

Uddhava was scratching his head and thinking about their inquiry, but he could not reply.

The gopis began to give examples of selfishly motivated love: “A bumblebee goes to a flower and takes honey from it, and then flies away to another flower.

“A beggar will go to any wealthy person’s door and stay there waiting, and as soon as the master of the house comes to the door and give some donation, that beggar won’t stay there any longer. He will go away at once.

“A deer may live in the forest, but if that forest is burnt in a fire, he will leave it and go to another.

“So many birds take shelter of a green tree, but if that tree is burnt and dries up, no bird will remain there.

“A prostitute wants money. If a wealthy and beautiful person goes to her, she only wants his money. When his money runs out, she will rebuke him and expel him from her house.

“A student in school or college gives much honor to his teachers and professors, but when he graduates and leaves that school or college, he has nothing more to do with them.” These are examples of affection with a cause.

“But our love and Krsna’s love was causeless. Can you tell us why it was broken at Krsna’s end?”

Because Uddhava could not reply, the gopis rejected his application for admittance in their school.

This subject is very deep and high. I am not telling all these things for neophytes, because they cannot digest it. But gradually, by continual hearing, they will be able to do so.

Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindhu states that you should try to begin bhakti with guru-seva, by establishing the desire of Gurudeva. Chant more. Don’t be weak. If I have returned to India and am no longer here in your country, you should always think, “Krsna and Gurudeva are with me in my heart.” If any worldly desire comes, pray to Guru and Krsna, and they will take out all those unwanted desires and attachments.

Nayanabhirama and Yasoda Kumara [see endnote 2] should try to publish a book in Russian, on the topic I have spoken about this week. [turning to them he said:] You should be ready. You should compile a book and publish it very soon.

[returning to the audience:] When Uddhava was just about to leave Mathura for Vrndavana, he was very worried. He thought, “I will have to lose Krsna’s association for so many days. Lord Krsna understood his mood of separation and told him, “Don’t be worried. I am only partly here; I am fully in Vraja. You will go there and realize this.”

When Uddhava arrived in Vrndavana in the evening, what did he see?

[Padmanabha Maharaja speaks – See Endnote 3.]

The night finished with these discussions. In the morning Uddhava took bath, uttered his gayatri-mantra and looked towards a forest of many kadamba trees. He saw that hundreds of thousands of gopis were lamenting there. These gopis had not returned home since Krsna left for Mathura. They were not sleeping, eating or doing anything except remembering, ‘Krsna, Krsna’.”

The gopis saw Uddhava’s beauty and black complexion similar to that of Krsna. They saw that he was wearing Lord Krsna’s garments and garland, and because of that the sweet fragrance of Krsna’s body was upon his own. The gopis smelled that aroma and thus, knowing he was coming from Krsna, said to each other, “He looks like Krsna, but he is not Krsna.” They saw the golden chariot upon which he arrived and thought, “Who has come on this chariot. It is not Krsna who has come here. Now He is a prince in Mathura. He has sent His servant on a golden chariot, thinking, ‘I am not an ordinary person. I am not a cowherd boy. I am prince and monarch of all Mathura’. To show this, He has sent His servant on that golden chariot.”

Uddhava heard this and thought, “Why did I come on a golden chariot? It was not proper to come in this way. Lord Krsna told me to do so and I followed, but now I see that I have done wrong.”

One of the sakhis said, “He is a servant of Krsna, so Krsna may have sent him to pacify His father and mother. Perhaps he does not know the way to Nanda-bhavana. Why has he come to us? We used to have some relationship with Krsna, but now that relationship is finished. So why did He send a messenger to us?”

Uddhava was standing and simply looking at the gopis. One gopi, Srimati Radhika, had entered deeper into the forest and fainted, and another gopi had placed some cotton under Her nose, to see if She was still alive. The gopis saw that She had some life, but was about to die. All the other gopis approached Uddhava, and took him to see Her.

Returning to consciousness, Srimati Radharani saw a bumblebee there and thought, “Krsna cannot be without young ladies. Now He is in Mathura, pacifying one lady, and in the meantime another became angry, so He then goes to pacify another. Then another becomes angry, so He goes to pacify her.” Radhika realized this in Her heart, and at once began to speak to the bumblebee about Sri Krsna’s character. In the end She began to cry, and again became unconscious. Uddhava was hearing all that Srimati Radhika told the bumblebee. He realized something of the deep and very glorious love and affection of the gopis and especially of Srimati Radhika, and he prayed:

etah param tanu-bhrto bhuvi gopa-vadhvo

govinda eva nikhilatmani rudha-bhavah

vanchanti yad bhava-bhiyo munayo vayam ca

kim brahma-janmabhir ananta-katha-rasasya

[“Among all persons on Earth, these cowherd women alone have actually perfected their embodied lives, for they have achieved the perfection of unalloyed love for Lord Govinda. Their pure love is hankered after by those who fear material existence, by great sages, and by ourselves as well. For one who has tasted the narrations of the infinite Lord, what is the use of taking birth as a high-class brahmana, or even as Lord Brahma himself?” (Srimad-bhagavatam 10.47.58)]

This world is fortunate because India is there, and in India Vraja is there, and in Vraja the gopis are there – for this reason Vraja is glorious. The love and affection of Radha expressed here in separation from Krsna is called mohana-bhava , and still greater is Her madanakya-mahabhava. How glorious is Her love!

Uddhava realized something and he began to speak: “We also want that love and affection for Krsna but we have none. The whole world wants that love and affection for Krsna – including those who are fearful of worldly pain. We – Narada Rsi and others like us – don’t want the birth of Brahma or any brahmana. We want this kind of love and affection. We want to serve the gopis.”

asam aho carana-renu-jusam aham syam

vrndavane kim api gulma-latausadhinam

ya dustyajam sva-janam arya-patham ca hitva

bhejur mukunda-padavim srutibhir vimrgyam

[“The gopis of Vrndavana have given up the association of their husbands, sons and other family members, who are very difficult to give up, and they have forsaken the path of chastity to take shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, Krsna, which one should search for by Vedic knowledge. Oh, let me be fortunate enough to be one of the bushes, creepers or herbs in Vrndavana, because the gopis trample them and bless them with the dust of their lotus feet.” (Srimad-bhagavatam 10.47.61)]

Uddhava prayed, “I want to be any blade of grass in Vrndavana. In this way, when the gopis go to meet Krsna, they will keep their feet on the grass and I will be fortunate to have their foot-dust on my head. The Vedas and Srutis want this, but they cannot attain it. So I want to be a blade of grass in Vrndavana.” Finally, he became a blade of grass in Uddhava-kunda.

vande nanda-vraja-strinam

pada-renum abhiksnasah

yasam hari-kathodgitam

punati bhuvana-trayam

[“I repeatedly offer my respects to the dust from the feet of the women of Nanda Maharaja's cowherd village. When these gopis loudly chant the glories of Sri Krsna, the vibration purifies the three worlds.” (Srimad-bhagavatam 10.47.63)]

He began to pray to the lotus foot-dust of the gopis: “Vande nanda-vraja-strinam pada-renum abhiksnasah – I want to be the foot-dust of the gopis. I want to be one dust particle, at the lotus feet of one gopi, Srimati Radhika. In a separation mood the gopis have glorified Krsna, So, I want to serve just one lotus dust particle.”

Gopi-gita, Brahmara-gita, Venu-gita, Yugala-gita and Pranaya-gita – these chapters are the life and soul of Srimad-bhagavatam. If you will hear the harikatha of the gopis, you will give up all your anarthas, your heart will be pure, and you will attain krsna-prema. And it may be that soon, in a couple of births, you will become the maidservant of the gopis, and at that time your life will become successful.

Uddhava returned to Mathura and related all his experiences to Lord Krsna; and Krsna became overwhelmed. Uddhava was now somewhat qualified to hear from the Lord, and he began continually hearing about the gopis from Him. Uddhava requested Krsna to return to Vraja, but Krsna did not return. After some time He sent Balarama, but He Himself never returned.

Service to the gopis, and especially to Srimati Radhika, is the aim and object of our life, but how should we follow in order to achieve that goal? You will have to come to Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Upadesamrta. I wanted to speak about some verses from Upadesamrta and Manah-siksa, but now there is no time. You must read and learn Upadesamrta, Manah-siksa and Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, and follow all the limbs of bhakti:

sravanam kirtanam visnoh

smaranam pada-sevanam

arcanam vandanam dasyam

sakhyam atma-nivedanam

[“Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Visnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him” (Srimad-bhagavatam 7.5.23)]

I am requesting that if you have no problem to come, you should join our Vraja-mandala parikrama and Navadvipa-dhama parikrama. By touching the land of Vrndavana, taking Yamuna water on your head, having darsana of Giriraja Govardana, Nandagaon and Varsana, and hearing all the sweet pastimes of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna, you can thus develop your Krsna Consciousness.

Gaura premanande.

[Endnote 1: “There is a difference between ragatmika and raganuga devotees. Those in this world who have raga (attachment), and who are just reaching the stage bhava, are raganuga. And those devotees who have not reached this stage but who are developing some greed (raganuga-pravrtti), will eventually be qualified to practice raganuga-bhakti. They are not practicing raganuga yet, but they are approaching it. Sri Caitanya Maharpabhu came only to give this greed; and those who already have greed, to give them bhava; and those who have bhava, to give them prema. What kind of prema does He give? Not Srimati Radha’s mood. Not unnatojjvala-kamatmika-bhava (sambhoga-icchamyi), a direct conjugal relationship with Sri Krsna, but unnatojjvala-tat-tad-bhava-icchamayi (a conjugal relationship with Krsna through Srimati Radhika). (Srila Maharaja’s lecture in Varsana, India: November 1996)]

[Endnote 2: Nayanabhirama prabhu was translating all of Srila Narayana Maharaja’s classes there in Volgograd, Russia. Srila Maharaja would speak in English for a few minutes, Nayanabhirama prabhu would translate his words, and then Srila Maharaja would resume. Yasoda Kumara prabhu has produced several books in the Russian language, which are translations of Srila Narayana Maharaja’s English books. His most recent publication is the Russian translation of Srila Maharaja’s biography of Srila Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja.]

[Endnote 3: Srila Narayana Maharaja spoke on the same topic in San Diego on December 20, 2001, in a class called “Uddhava Failed the Entrance Exam”. The following is the appropriate excerpt from that class:

“Uddhava had so much love and affection for Krsna, but vraja-prema was a totally new thing for him. When he arrived in Vraja, he realized this. He saw Krsna playing everywhere. All the sakhas were playing with Him. Millions of millions of cows, their udders bulging with milk, were hankering after Him. Milk was automatically flowing from their udders because of their spontaneous love. The very beautiful calves, black and white, were jumping here and there. Nanda Baba's big bulls were fighting with each other. And the gopis were churning butter.

“As Uddhava saw that scene of sunset, beautiful ghee lamps flickered in the gopis rooms. These lamps were not like this dead light of electric bulbs. They were soft and sweet. Fragrances were emanating from the varieties of flowers. Bumblebees were humming, blowing the conch-shell song of Cupid. Everywhere birds like the cuckoo were singing, and peacocks calling kee kaa kee kaa were dancing about. And all the gopis were churning and singing, Govinda Damodara Madhaveti. The gopis were all very beautiful, and mother Yasoda was beautiful to the extreme. If Krsna's mother had not been beautiful, how could He have become so beautiful? He would have been only black; but because of her, His beauty was like the luster of pearls.

Uddhava saw all this, but in a moment the curtain of that scene was dropped. Now he observed that all the residents of Vrndavana were weeping for Krsna, "O Krsna, where are you? Where are you?" Cows were not going to graze. They were all simply weeping, keeping their heads and eyes towards Mathura. The calves were not drinking the milk from the udders of their mothers. Peacocks were not dancing and all were like blind. Every being was mad in separation for Krsna. Now Uddhava saw this scene. Now it had become evening, and somehow he entered Krsna's home, where He saw the love and affection of Mother Yasoda and Nanda Baba and became dumbstruck. Previously he could not have imagined how such high-class love and affection could exist, but now he realized something of its height.

Early the next morning Uddhava went to Kadamba-kyari, where all the gopis were maddened and just about to die. Somehow, by the mercy of Krsna, he saw the gopis there. It was for this that Krsna had sent him to Vrndavana - to try to be admitted in the school of the gopis. Krsna had told him, "Be admitted in the school in which I was admitted. Then, when you return, we can speak something about love and affection. So go and become qualified."

Uddhava, however, was not qualified for admittance in the school of the gopis. His examination score was about 25%, and the gopis needed to see more than 85%. Although they rejected him, still he entered the school and saw the very high-class of students there. He saw professors like Visakha and Lalita, and he saw the principal, Radhika Herself. Now he knew something of the glories of the gopis. He realized something of their love for Krsna. He had never seen anything like this, and now he felt, "If I want to love Krsna, I must be admitted in this school. But I am not qualified." He thus requested the gopis, "If you don't admit me in your school, can you at least take me as a servant? To give water like a servant? To clean the school?"

The gopis rejected even that, and told him, "You should go. Return to Mathura. Become qualified and then you can broom our kunja. Right now you cannot broom here." ]

Editorial advisors: Sripad Madhava Maharaja and Sripad Brajanatha dasa

Transcriber and proofreader: Vasanti dasi

Typist: Anita dasi

Editor: Syamarani dasi

March 29, 2006

Gaudiya Vaisnavism vs. Sahajiyaism

Introduction by Devarsirat das, followed by a morning lecture given by His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja in June, 1997, at the ISKCON New Mayapura Farm Community in France.

He requested that this lecture below to be distributed, in order to check the disease of sahajiyaism in the world.

Dear devotees, a few days ago I visited a certain website and was amazed to find so many subtle and open statements to discredit Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, especially in regard to his teachings and personal life. This is indeed very unfortunate, because the devotees who are propagating this false and untrue picture of this genuine pure devotee of Lord Krishna who is so dear to our Srila Prabhupada, will sooner or later have their appointment with Lord Yamaraja, no matter if they are acting themselves as Gurus or are just simple rank and file devotees .

In the past, devotees such as Giriraja Maharaja, Sivarama Maharaja, Tamal Krishna Maharaja and others like Satsvarupa Maharaja, have all openly declared Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja as a pure devotee. They have visited Him and had the greatest admiration for Him. I find it strange that they where not able to identify Him then, as unwanted association, since they where advertising them selves at the time as pure spiritual masters?

Clearly a pure devotee must be able to immediately realize that He is accepting teachings from a beginner. It means for me only two things, one is that neither of the above Gurus where advanced enough to see that they where associating with a pretender and allowed themselves to be cheated for several years and the other is that because of their advancement they realized that Srila Narayan Maharaja is indeed someone who could help them to advance further and therefore they where seeking His association.

Please also read H.H. Satsvarupa Maharaja Glorifies Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

I rather think that the above personalities where advanced enough to see the reality of Srila Narayana Maharaja being a real life maha bhagavad devotee of the Lord, otherwise if the other was true it would not look very good for those Gurus and would reduce their spiritual status to the one of Kanistha adhikari, because a kanistha devotee might just fall for a charming personality, because He does not know the symptoms of an advanced devotee.

A advanced devotee can see into the heart of others and know everything about them, even a madhyam devotee would not be cheated by a pretender. So I assume that they where giving in to pressure from above for what ever reason.

Since Sivarama Maharaja and some others recently visited Srila Narayana Maharaja to beg forgiveness for past offenses I assume that at least under cover and in private, some of the leading devotees in Iskcon have different ideas about Srila Narayana Maharaja and are only defeated by a majority of votes, that's all. I think this, because if Narayana Maharaja was really a Sahajiya, what would be the need for these above devotees to go and apologize to Him ?? That's surely not Iskcon style.

For me the worst thing is, that the new comer to Krishna Consciousness, immediately upon arrival (Unless he is treated like Lord Buddha in his father's castle) will be confronted with our quarreling, quotes and counter quotes, and offenses, the war of words. From this point of view we are achieving absolutely nothing at present.

Confused souls come and want to surrender and upon arrival get even more confused by a totally disunited vaisnava community, how sad. We do not attract many devotees, because the preaching spirit becomes suffocated in politics. I do not know what the motives are to character assassinate a pure devotee but the underlying motive could be " if anyone surrenders to the Gaudiya Math, we lose potential collectors" paranoia, followed by vaisnava aparadha to prevent sincere seekers from making their own choice in finding a genuine guru. In reality everyone should be happy that someone has found a spiritual master that inspires him or her to chant the holy name and makes progress on Krishna Consciousness.

Since some unfortunate devotees are so eager to confuse other devotees about Srila Narayana Maharajas personality and teachings I thought that the following class by Srila Narayana Maharaja will clear up some of the misconceptions spread systematically by some. Especially because I can personally confirm and so can many other Prabhupada disciples, that Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja is one of the greatest vaisnavas that have walked this planet in this century, His association is as good as having the association of the Lord Himself, since the real guru should be seen as good as God, but then everyone will see Him according to their own realizations, like when Krishna came into the arena to kill Kamsa, Kamsa saw Him as personified death, the devotees saw Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cow heard boys saw Him as their best friend and so on. So here are the teachings of Srila Narayana Maharaja on Sahajiyaism and by the way, Srila Narayana Maharaja does practice what He preaches.

Devarsirat das

-------

Gaudiya Vaisnavism vs. Sahajiyaism

Part I - Real & Unreal Siddha Deha

The following is a morning lecture given by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja in June, 1997, at the ISKCON New Mayapura Farm Community in France.

He requested that this lecture be distributed, in order to check the disease of sahajiyaism in the world.

Once, a very little boy of three years, sitting naked on the lap of his mother, put his arms around her neck and said with love and affection, "Mother, Mother, I want a very beautiful wife. She should be very golden in complexion, with curly hair and beautiful eyes. She should not be stronger than me, otherwise she will be able to chastise me; and she should also be more lean and thin than me. Also, I want to have two sons and one daughter very soon after our marriage. Quickly Mother, you should arrange for a very beautiful lady." The boy's mother began to laugh. "Yes, I will certainly search everywhere for a good wife for you, but first you must become fatter and stronger. Then, when your sikha becomes long and thick, I will very quickly arrange your marriage." This story indicates a phenomena which is spreading everywhere among so-called devotees nowadays. They don't want to chant many rounds, nor do they make an effort to develop a devotional mood towards Krishna. They don't want to remember Krishna, and they don't want to enter into a deep understanding of siddhanta. They can't chant all day and all night like Haridasa Thakura. In fact, they can't even chant one round of the Hare Krishna mantra with their minds absorbed in Krishna. They have many requirements for the body and for those things which relates to the body-such as name, fame and fortune. Although they are full of lust and other worldly desires, they still expect their siddha-deha to manifest.

Jumping Into Goloka

Although their minds cannot concentrate on Krishna's pastimes, they want siddha-deha-as if it was an Indian rasagulla. If someone has money he can easily purchase two, three or four rasagullas. Similarly, these so-called devotees think that they can attain their siddha-deha just as easily as one buys a rasagulla. This philosophical misconception has very, very dangerous consequences. Neophytes expect to immediately jump into Goloka Vrindavana and serve Krishna better than Srimati Radhika. They proudly say, "Radhika? Who is this Radhika? Who is this Lalita? Who is this Visakha?" However, if a beautiful young lady or man were to come, practicing his or her false, so-called devotional life with similar misconceptions, the two will fall down together in a moment. There are thousands and thousands of such so-called devotees. Although they are not mature in their bhakti, they artificially think, "I have now achieved my siddha-deha; I am Lalita or Visakha, and I am a better sakhi than Rupa Manjari. Rupa Manjari was not as qualified as I am." As a result of this offensive thinking such persons must go to hell in a very short time-in a day or two. These people also think, "Oh, the Gaudiya Math has deviated from the ancient parampara. The previous acaryas used to think and act like us. Rupa Gosvami and all of the other acaryas used to do as we do. From the beginning stage of their devotional lives they remembered their siddha-deha, and in their siddha-deha they served Krishna." Such speculations are quite wrong. Our acaryas, headed by the six Gosvamis, never acted like this. They are not ordinary persons, but associates of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna Themselves, who have descended to this world only to give their mercy and teachings; and they set the example for the conditioned souls by beginning from sraddha in their own lives and devotional activities.

For Advanced Devotees

In his book Jaiva-dharma Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has described all the principles and practices of bhakti, up to the attainment of one's siddha-deha. There he explained eleven items of perfection (siddha-deha): siddha-sambandha, siddha-vayasa, siddha-nama, siddha-rupa, siddha-yutha, siddha-vesa, ajna, siddha-vasa, seva, parakashthasvasa and palya-dasi-bhava.

He discussed this, however, in the next to the last chapter-not in the beginning. One of the principle personalities in Jaiva-dharma is Sri Raghunatha dasa Babaji, the spiritual master of Vijaya-kumara. Sri Babaji taught these principles to Vijaya-kumara when his disciple was advanced in Krishna consciousness and free from all anarthas and material desires.

Vijaya-kumara had been chanting and remembering Krishna twenty-four hours a day on the shore of the ocean at Jagannatha Puri. In fact the ocean reminded him of Krishna, the ocean of rasa. Vijaya-kumara had understood and realized the meaning of bhava, anubhava, sattvika and vyabhicari. He also realized in what proportion they should be mixed with one's sthayi-bhava (eternal mood of service to Krishna) to become bhakti-rasa. He had become truly humble-trinad api sunicena, taror api sahishnuna, amanina manadena, and he was on the stage of bhavavasta (bhava-bhakti). Even Apsaras, celestial goddesses, like Menaka and others who are more beautiful than any earthly women, can not disturb the Krishna consciousness of a person like Srila Haridasa Thakura. Yet, even Srila Haridasa Thakura himself was not engaged in the advanced practices of devotees in the Gosvami line like Vijaya-kumara. We have never seen or heard in any scriptures that he was engaged like this. Only devotees like Srila Rupa, Srila Sanatana and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvamis were following all of these principles, and, following them, our entire line of disciplic succession has continued in the same way down to the present day.

A devotee must become mature in bhakti before he can fully follow our disciplic acaryas. He must come to the stage of sraddha, then sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, anartha nivritti, nishtha, ruci, and asakti. At the stage of bhava when there is no scent of desire for sense gratification, when he is quite free from all material thoughts and habits, his siddha-deha will automatically manifest.

The Eight Stages of Devotional Service

When will siddha-deha come? Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has explained this in his book Bhajana-rahasya. There he discusses Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's Sikshashtakam which expresses the eight stages of maturity in devotional service. He writes that first one will have to do bhajana of ceto-darpana-marjanam: ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranamvidya-vadhu-jivanam anandambudhi-vardhanamprati-padampurnamritasvadanam sarvatma-snapanamparamvijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam

"Let there be supreme victory for the chanting of the holy name of Sri Krishna alone, which cleanses the mirror of the heart and completely extinguishes the blazing forest fire of material existence.

Sri-krishna-sankirtana diffuses the soothing moon rays of bhava which causes the white lotus (kumudini) of good fortune for the jivas to bloom. The holy name is the life and soul of transcendental knowledge, which is here compared to a wife (vadhu). It continuously expands the ocean of transcendental bliss, enabling one to taste complete nectar at every step.

The holy name of Sri Krishna thoroughly cleanses and cools the self (atma), one's nature (svabhava), one's determination (dhriti), as well as the body both internal and external." This sloka of Sri Sikshashtakam is actually realized after the stage of asakti.

The next sloka is namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis:

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis

tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah

etadrisi tava kripa bhagavan mamapi

durdaivam idrisam ihajani nanuragah

"O Bhagavan! Your holy name bestows all auspiciousness upon the living entities. Therefore, for the benefit of the jivas, You eternally manifest Your innumerable names, such as Rama, Narayana, Krishna, Mukunda, Madhava, Govinda, Damodara, and so on. You have invested those names with all the potencies of Your various personal forms. Out of causeless mercy, You have not imposed any restrictions on the chanting and remembrance of such names in regards to any specified time, such as sandhya-vandana (evening prayer).

In other words, at any time of the day or night, the holy name can be chanted and remembered. This is the regulation which You have established. O Prabhu! This is Your causeless mercy upon the living entities. Nonetheless, on account of committing offenses (nama aparadha), I am so unfortunate that although Your holy name is so easily accessible and bestows all good fortune I have not awoken any attachment toward it." This sloka represents the stages of sadhu-sanga and anartha-nivritti-removal of anarthas by association with devotees. At present our chanting of Krishna's name is not pure. It may sometimes be namabhasa or namaparadha. Pure nama will appear on our tongue when we becomes pure ourselves. At that time the quality of trinad api sunicena taror api sahishnuna manifests automatically:

trinad api sunicena

taror api sahishnuna

amanina manadena

kirtaniyah sada harih

"Thinking oneself to be even lower and more worthless than insignificant grass which has been trampled beneath everyone's feet, being more tolerant than a tree, being prideless, and offering respect to all others according to their respective positions, one should continuously chant the holy name of Sri Hari." This sloka represents nishtha-firm faith, when one's chanting will not be just for "show". The next stage is to realize na dhanamna janamna sundarim:

na dhanamna janamna sundarim

kavitamva jagad-isa kamaye

mama janmani janmanisvare

bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

O Jagadisa! I do not desire wealth, followers such as wife, sons, and relatives; or mundane knowledge described in poetic language. My only desire, O Pranesvara, is that in birth after birth I may have ahaituki-bhakti unto Your lotus feet.

This sloka represents ruci, a taste for bhajana.

When we properly practice in good association, everything will develop automatically. We will then realize the fifth sloka:

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram

patitammamvishame bhavambudhau

kripaya tava pada-pankaja-

sthita-dhuli-sadrisamvicintaya

"O Nanda-nandana! Please be merciful upon me, your eternal servant who has fallen in the dreadful ocean of material existence as a result of my fruitive actions. Like a particle of dust affixed to Your louts feet, kindly accept me forever as your purchased servant." It is at this stage that one's siddha-deha begins to manifest. This sloka represents asakti, or attachment to Krishna. After the stage of asakti, when tears flow continuously, one feels purva-raga, the intense mood of separation experienced before meeting Krishna. As the devotee chants he will think, "O Krishna, I cannot live without You; O Srimati Radhika, I cannot live without You. When will you give me your darsana?" Then, when he is weeping twenty four hours daily, rolling on the earth, then nayanamgalad-asru-dharaya:

nayanamgalad-asru-dharaya

vadanamgadgada-ruddhaya gira

pulakair nicitamvapuh kada,

tava nama-grahane bhavishyati

"O Prabhu! When will my eyes be filled with a stream of tears? When will my voice choke up? And when will the hairs of my body stand erect in ecstasy as I chant Your holy names?" This sloka represents the stage of bhava-at which time the siddha-deha manifests automatically. From where does this siddha-deha come? It is in our svarupa, our original spiritual form. Our siddha-deha does not come from anywhere outside ourselves. In our svarupa everything is perfect. To realize this, we simply require a connection with svarupa-sakti. When that connection is made, siddha-deha automatically manifests and all spiritual sentiments of love appear in our heart.

Krishna Will Manage Everything

Krishna will manage everything; but one should not become mad and imitate this stage artificially, otherwise he will find himself outside this spiritual Gaudiya Vaisnava line; and then he will be ruined. One can only pray, "O Krishna! O Gurudeva! When will I have siddha-deha, siddha-nama? O Srimati Radhika, when will I be your maidservant, Your palya-dasi? When will I reside near Govardhana and Radha-kunda? When will I attain that position?" An aspiring devotee must be patient. In the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Lord Narayana appeared to Sri Narada Muni for a moment, and then He disappeared. Sri Narada immediately became very upset and lamented, "Oh, Lord Narayana has gone; what shall I do?" When he began to weep loudly, a voice from the sky called to him, "Don't worry. You will have to wait, because no one can see Me in his material body. By My mercy I showed you My svarupa, but now you must wait. Continue chanting My names and remembering Me twenty four hours daily wherever you are, and preach My hari-katha to others. One day death will come. At that time you will put your feet on the head of death and quickly give up your material body."

prayujyamane mayi tam

suddhambhagavatimtanum

arabdha-karma-nirvano

nyapatat panca-bhautikah

(Bhag. 1.6.28)

"Having been awarded a transcendental body befitting an associate of the Personality of Godhead, I quit the body made of five material elements, and thus all acquired fruitive results of work [karma] stopped." [bBT] At the time of death, when Sri Narada Muni left his pancabhautikah (material body), his siddha-deha appeared and he realized himself as an associate of Bhagavan. When did his siddha-deha come? Not in the beginning. It came at the most advanced stage of his Krishna consciousness.

It is very helpful to long for the day that our siddha-deha appears.

However, we should not imagine that we have our siddha-deha before it has actually manifested. One can pray, "O Krishna, I want to be eternally in Vrindavana, in a transcendental body." We should always have that as our objective, and we should hanker to attain service to Radha and Krishna. But we should not imagine that we are Lalita, Visakha, or any sakhi. Otherwise we will be ruined. We cannot expect to attain our siddha-deha before we understand all siddhantas. If one does not know them, then he will say, "This fire (the activities of artificial siddha-deha) is my mahaprasada;" he will eat it and he will be finished. This misconception is called sahajism, and there is a great difference between sahajiyas and Gaudiya Vaishnavas.

Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami were not sahajiyas. They were practically following the correct process of bhakti. 'Siddha' means that a man must first become a siddha devotee. How will siddha-deha manifest when our body is still material? In our Gosvamis' books, especially in the books of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, the bona fide process for achieving perfection is explicitly given. One must first pray for this perfection. "O Krishna! O Gurudeva! When will that day come when I will realize siddha-deha and siddha-nama?" One must become mature in understanding all kinds of siddhanta. He must first understand Prahlada Maharaja in the Seventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and then Citraketu Maharaja in the Eighth Canto. Then he must understand the first part of Tenth Canto, especially how Krishna manifested His Damodara-lila, and he must remember all these pastimes. His devotion must mature, so that seeing a beautiful young lady or young man will not disturb him or her. Then, when he has no worldly desires at all, and when he is qualified to be always in Vrindavana and Radha-kunda under the guidance of a self realized soul, a tattvajna, rasika bhakta, at that time he can attain his siddha-deha.

Spreading Like A Plague

There are so many sahajiya babajis-men and women-in Radha-kunda, Vrindavana, Kamayavana and many other places in Vraja. They are devotees in name only.

Coming to Govardhana and Mathura to beg money in all the shops and other places, and then spending the entire night counting how much money they collected, how then will they have time to chant and remember Krishna and practice bhakti? They say their guru gave them siddha-deha, but they do not even know how to clean themselves after passing stool. They do not know the ABC of siddhanta, and yet they imagine that they have been given siddha-deha. This is very dangerous. Not only in India, but all over the world there is a lack of understanding and good association, and this has created a very serious disease which is spreading like a plague among neophyte devotees. We must try to save ourselves from this. Nowadays even brand new devotees are reading Krishna-karnamrita and saying, "Oh, very good". They are reading Govinda-lilamrta and thinking, "The Gaudiya Math does not know all these things. They cannot taste rasa. Oh, we are always in rasa." We should not follow them. Instead of following this very dangerous path, we should try to pursue the bona fide process laid down by our acaryas like Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. At our present stage we should not buy or read Govinda-lilamrta and Krishna-bhavanamrita. We must first engage in very good sadhana- bhajana and become mature in bhakti. Until then, we don't require to read these books any more than the three-year-old boy required a young and beautiful wife. If we follow sincerely, Krishna will automatically send a realized soul to help us. He may send Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, or Srila Rupa Gosvami may come himself. We should therefore follow only this bona fide process.

Our aim And Objective

First we must know the aim and objective of our sadhana, and then we should know how to begin from sraddha:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-

sango 'tha bhajana-kriya

tato 'nartha-nivrittih syat

tato nishtha rucis tatah

athasaktis tato bhavas

tatah premabhyudancati

sadhakanam ayampremnah

pradurbhave bhavet kramah (1) By hearing the sastras, paramarthika (transcendental suddha-sraddha) appears. The word sraddha here implies firm belief in the meaning of the bhakti-sastras such as Srimad Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, and so forth. (2) Upon the appearance of such sraddha, one again obtains sadhu-sanga and, in their company, begins to receive instructions regarding the methods for executing bhajana. (3) Thereafter, one takes up the practices of bhajana (bhajana-kriya) beginning with sri-guru-padasraya, and so on. (4) By constant engagement in bhajana, anarthas gradually disappear (anartha-nivritti). (5) This elimination of anarthas takes place in successive stages. As one becomes progressively freed from anarthas, he attains nishtha and freedom from all distractions (vikshepa). At that stage ekagrata (one-pointedness) and nairantaryamayi (incessant striving) arise in the pursuit of bhajana. (6) Thereafter, ruci (taste) or, in other words, an intense hankering (lalasa) for bhajana develops. (7) When ruci becomes very deep it is called asakti. The difference between nishtha and asakti is that nishtha involves application of the intelligence, whereas asakti is spontaneous. In the stage of nishtha, even if the mind is not attracted, by one's intelligence one remains devoted to the performance of bhajana.

However, when one comes to the stage of asakti, the sadhaka has no more dependence on any kind of reasoning by the faculty of the intelligence. At that stage he is deeply immersed in the performance of bhajana in a spontaneous manner. (8) After the stage of asakti, bhava or rati makes its appearance. (9) At the final stage prema manifests. This is the order of the stages leading to the appearance of prema within the heart of the sadhaka.

(Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu-bindu) We must understand all of these truths, and then adopt the correct process. At the same time we should not think that there are no devotees who are qualified to remember their siddha-deha. There are certainly pure devotees in this world, and we should not try to disturb them by criticizing them. They will not be disturbed, of course, but we will be. It will not profit us to try to drag them down artificially to our level. There may be thousands and thousands of devotees who are qualified for this perfection, and who are acting according to that perfection at the present moment. Our aim and objective should be the same as theirs, but we should not imitate them. We must be patient, and engage sincerely in sadhana and bhajana, then we will gain all spiritual perfections automatically.

Great Relish For Kirtana

Have you heard of nama-gane sada ruci? This is one of the symptoms of those who have achieved bhava-bhakti.

nama-gane sada ruci, laya krishna-nama

"Due to having great relish for the holy name, one is inclined to chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra constantly. "[Madhya-lila 23.32] Do you know who is the best kirtaniya in the entire world-from ancient times to present day? Do you know who sings the most powerful and sweet kirtanas? It is not necessarily the person who is expert at playing violin, harmonium, tabla, and vina. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami is the best kirtaniya; all our acaryas are the best kirtaniyas, and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Thakura and Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja are also the best kirtaniyas. Understand this deeply, and try to become kirtaniyas like our acaryas. Do not think that you are unqualified if you do not know how to play the harmonium or if your voice is not very flexible for singing ragas. Even if you have a very raspy voice, this is not an impediment.

Simply chant with feeling, "He Krishna, He Krishna." It is the spiritual qualification to describe the pastimes of Krishna that makes one the most high-class kirtaniya-not a very fine voice. A person with a beautiful voice can fall down at any time, and in fact he may already be fallen. Those who perform kirtana thinking, "Are the people in the audience inspired or not? Are they pleased with my kirtana?", are not actually doing kirtana. Kirtana is that process by which the transcendental sound of Krishna's name and glories enters the ears and purifies the heart. This is the actual meaning of kirtana. If we have to glorify a person, or if we have to give him rupees, dollars or francs before he will sing, then he is not truly a kirtaniya. Money and reputation cannot touch the real kirtaniya. We should try to be like that: melting others hearts, melting our own hearts, and always weeping for Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. The hari-katha of such a kirtaniya touches everyone's hearts, and anyone who is sincere is bound to follow him.

vaco vegammanasah krodha-vegam

jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam

etan vegan yo vishaheta dhirah

sarvam apimamprithivimsa sishyat

A wise and self-composed person who can subdue the impetus to speak, the agitation of the mind, the onset of anger, the vehemence of the tongue, the urge of the belly and the agitation of the genitals can instruct the entire world. In other words, all persons may become disciples of such a self-controlled person. (Sri Upadesamrita 1) Such a person is guru, and his hari-katha is the most powerful cure for our original disease, which is that we have forgotten Krishna.

(end of part 1)

March 29, 2006

Gaudiya Vaisnavism vs. Sahajiyaism (Part 2)

Part II - Sikshashtakam - The Bonafide process of Siddha Pranali'

The following is a lecture given by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja in Holland, the same year, on the Disappearance Day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Gadadhara Pandita.'

The glories of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura are so great that even Lord Brahma, with his four mouths, cannot completely describe them. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a transcendental personality, and we are not transcendental. How then can we even begin to touch his glory? Only a transcendental person can expound the glory of another.'

We have heard from our Gurudeva and other Vaishnavas, and we have also read in authentic books, that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was given the title 'Seventh Gosvami.' From the time of the Six Gosvamis up to his time no one else was ever designated as such. During his life (1838-1914), however, learned persons and devotees saw his remarkable activities and gave him this upana, title. It was Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura who once again illuminated the true principles of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. If he had not appeared when he did, perhaps all the teachings of pure Gaudiya Vaishnavism would have been forever drowned in an ocean of oblivion. That time was a dark period for Gaudiya Vaishnavism. The sahajiyas used to give what they called siddha-pranali, so-called siddha-deha, to anyone and everyone, without even knowing whether or not their so-called followers were actually devotees. The followers neither knew any Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, nor did they have any sadacara, yet they would go to their sahajiya-babaji gurus who pretended to give them their siddha-deha and siddha-pranali. They misunderstood Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu teachings, thinking that Gaudiya Vaishnavism means to travel to Vrindavana, live there, and have children with other's wives. They considered that by doing this they had become gopis. This was their conception of siddha-deha. "Come on, come on," their guru would say to them.'

"I'm giving you siddha-deha and siddha-pranali." Of course, he could not have actually given them siddha-deha. To whom did he pretend to give it? Thinking, "I am this body" his disciples did not even know the ABC's of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings. Such persons did not know that they are eternally part and parcel and servants of Krishna. They did not even know how to clean themselves after passing stool and urine, yet they thought they were given siddha-deha and siddha-pranali "you are a goopi." What are 'goopis?' Those who think that they are lovers or beloveds in this world.'

They think that they should find a lady, live with her and enjoy sex life.'

They think this is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's philosophy. In the name of Gaudiya Vaishnavism sahajiyas called Vaishnava jati would perform Hare Krishna kirtana, following the dead body during funeral processions, and then take a large payment from the deceased's rich relatives. However, in their kirtanas, the word 'Krishna' did not manifest. It was difficult for the audience to actually find the word "Krishna." The chanters sang, "Hare Kr-sna-a-a-a-a-a-a," in a very fancy melody, and the audience applauded, "O, very good, very good," and paid them some rupees. Although those chanters drank wine and ate meat and fish, they still thought that what they were doing was all right, and were still called Vaishnavas by unintelligent people.

Because of such disgraceful displays, learned and educated persons became ashamed and did not want to associate themselves with the words 'Gaudiya Vaishnavism.' Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was, in his time, the first person to preach the factual philosophy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to this learned society. By his preaching people came to know about true transcendental love-prema-bhakti, and it is for this reason that he was given the title 'Seventh Gosvami.' Just as King Bhagiratha brought the Ganges River to the earth-to India, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura brought the bhakti Ganga (Ganges) to this world. Because of him, so many people became inspired to follow Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

If he had not appeared, we would not have joined this mission. If Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja had not come to the West-if he had not gone to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and if Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had not come from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, then what would have been your fate? Your good fortune, therefore, is coming from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who preached the pure doctrines of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Some people say that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura did not take diksa initiation from Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, and that he did not take Babaji vesha (the dress of a Babaji from anyone. They say he simply gave Babaji vesha to himself. They also say that because Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura did not take sannyasa from anyone (he gave it to himself), therefore is also not in the bona fide line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It is due to lack of intelligence-due to ignorance, that they speak like this. They do not know the meaning of Bhagavata parampara or guru-parampara, and this is why Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura clearly explained the entire process for achieving spiritual perfection in his final literary work, Jaiva-dharma. In that book he clearly elucidated the qualifications for receiving siddha-deha, and explained how the bona fide guru reveals siddha-deha to a qualified disciple. Previously, in his book Bhajana-rahasya, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura clarified many deep siddhantas on the same subject. Those who actually want to enter into the realm of bhakti, therefore, should try to follow Bhajana-rahasya, Jaiva-dharma, and all his other books.'

In Bhajana-rahasya Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote that we should begin bhakti by trying to serve and realize the first sloka of Sri Sikshashtakam: ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam. Then we should follow and practice the second sloka: namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis. And then the third: trinad api sunicena taror api sahishnuna. If we factually practice these qualities we may enter the fourth sloka: na dhanamna janamna sundarim. We should be detached from all worldly desires and worldly tastes.'

Then, when we become pure, when we are always chanting and remembering Krishna without being disturbed by any obstacle, we can enter the fifth sloka: ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram.'

Entering this fifth sloka is the beginning of siddha-deha, at which time we will realize ourselves as eternal servants of Krishna in a specific relationship. All aspects of our eternal relationship with Krishna are already in our atma, just as the potency of a fully grown tree is present in the seed of that tree. With water, air and light the seed sprouts, and gradually leaves, branches, flowers, manjaris and finally fruits also manifest. The entire tree or creeper is there in its seed, but only when air, water and sunlight touch it, do all its features sprout-otherwise not.'

Similarly, the full potency of our pure bhakti is present in our atma. In this fifth sloka, the jiva-svarupa is revealed. The sixth sloka of Sri Sikshashtakam states:'

nayanamgalad-asru-dharaya

vadanamgadgada-ruddhaya gira

pulakair nicitamvapuh kada,

tava nama-grahane bhavishyati'

"O Prabhu! When will my eyes be filled with a stream of tears? When will my voice choke up? And when will the hairs of my body stand erect in ecstasy as I chant Your holy name." When a devotee realizes his atma and he understands that he is an eternal servant of Krishna, at that time he has no worldly attachments. It is then that the svarupa-sakti, as hladini and samvit, mercifully manifests in his heart. He then begins to weep, and, while chanting the holy name of Krishna, he rolls on the earth and sings, "Agha-damana (Krishna, the killer of the Agha demon), Yasodanandana. O, Nanda-sunoh (O, son of Nanda Maharaja), where are you?" The devotee may sometimes get a glimpse of Krishna and immediately run towards Him. And when Krishna disappears from his vision, he rolls on the ground in separation. If a person does not feel this type of separation from Krishna, his siddha-deha will not manifest. When one actually has feelings of separation, his siddha-deha will manifest, not before.

Those who artificially exhibit emotions of separation will go to hell-like the lakhs and lakhs of babajis in Vrindavana and adha-kunda who are simply giving birth to children and engaging in other malpractices. One of the brothers of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura used to think that his father, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, was his physical body. In fact, he thought of himself as the son of Kedarnatha Datta (Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's civil name), not Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. On the other hand, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura never thought in this way. He considered his father an associate of Sri Krishna, Srimati adharani, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He didn't consider him his material father, a person made of blood and flesh.'

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura actually followed the path of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Whatever his father spoke, he totally accepted and followed. Our goal is siddha-deha, but what is siddha-deha? What is siddha-pranali? Who started it, in what year did it begin, and from where did it originate? Srila Sanatana Gosvami and Srila Rupa Gosvami are called Gosvamis, not Babajis. No one addresses them as Rupa Babaji, Sanatana Babaji, or Srila Raghunatha Babaji. Who gave siddha-pranali to them? What is siddha-pranali? Siddha-pranali is sikshashtakam. One should first of all know that he is an eternal servant of Sri Krishna and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and he should therefore follow trinad api sunicena. He should become detached from worldly attractions and chant and remember Krishna twenty-four hours a day under the guidance of any very qualified Vaishnava.'

tan-nama-rüpa-caritadi-sukirtananu-

smrityoh kramena rasana-manasi niyojya

tishthan vraje tad-anuragi jananugami

kalamnayed akhilam ity upadesa-saram'

"The essence of all advice is that one should utilize one's full time-twenty-four hours a day-in nicely chanting and remembering the Lord's divine name, transcendental form, qualities and eternal pastimes, thereby gradually engaging one's tongue and mind. In this way one should reside in Vraja [Goloka Vrindavana dhama] and serve Krishna under the guidance of devotees. One should follow in the footsteps of the Lord's beloved devotees, who are deeply attached to His devotional service." This is real siddha-pranali. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami has explained this siddha-pranali in his prayer called Manah-siksha. All the slokas of his prayer are pranali,-not artificially imagining that, "Oh, you are a gopi.'

You are Lalita-gopi. You are Visakha-gopi." From where and from whom has this artificial siddha-deha come? There is no history. It is not in our culture, nor is it the teaching of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Real siddha-deha and siddha-pranali manifest when we follow the correct nine steps-from sraddha to nishtha etc. It comes by purely adopting the process of sravanam, kirtanam, vishnu-smaranam, pada-sevanam, arcanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakyam, atma-nivedanam. It also comes by: sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana mathura-vasa, sri-mürtira sraddhaya sevana'

"In the association of devotees one should chant the holy name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration." (Cc. Madhya 22.128 [bBT]) These are the processes, and we shall have to adopt them. Sri Krishna and Srimati Radhika will then mercifully give us siddha-deha.'

How Sri Narada Muni Received Siddha-Deha'

In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that Narada Muni received his mantra from Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanat-kumara. Later, when his mother died, he left her and went to the dense forest. There he bathed in a river, sat down silently under the shade of a banyan tree, chanted his mantra and meditated upon the Supersoul within his heart. After practicing this for some time Lord Vishnu momentarily manifested in his heart-and then disappeared. Narada wept bitterly in separation from Lord Vishnu, and then a voice from the sky called to him, "Narada, I will not give you darsana again as long as you are in this material body. You should continue chanting My name, remembering Me, and glorifying My pastimes all over the world. At the appropriate time, when death comes, you'll put your feet on the head of death. Following Lord Vishnu's instruction, Narada thus always chanted and remembered the Lord, and while playing on his vina he sang songs and poems glorifying the pastimes of Krishna. Narada bajaya vina radhika ramana namine. After many years death came. At that same moment siddha-deha also manifested, and in that siddha-deha he did not use an airplane or anything-nothing like Dhruva Maharaja. Upon receiving his transcendental body he became so strong that he could travel anywhere in the universe or beyond-without the help of an airplane. The process is not that one artificially thinks, "Give me some dakshina, at least five rupees, and I will be the Gurudeva of so many sishyas." With this temptation such false gurus make many disciples, give so-called siddha-deha, and all go to hell together. We should try to know all of the processes taught by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura: sravana dasa, varana dasa, smarana dasa (smaranavastha), bhavapana dasa (at the stage of bhava or svarupa-siddha), anusmriti and finally prema-sampatti dasa. It is in sampatti dasa that siddha-deha (vasthu-siddha) will manifest. In sravana dasa, one hears from his bona-fide guru about Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrita and the entire philosophy of Srila Rupa Gosvami. In sravana dasa there are many things to learn, such as who you are and what your name is-not the name of this material body, but of your transcendental body. The guru knows this.'

One who claims to be guru but who does not know all this, and by kalpana, by imagination, gives this type of information, is actually pretentious. The bona fide guru knows everything-your name, your relationship with Sri Krsna and Srimati adhika and the gopis, your place of residence-whether it is at adha-kunda or Jawat or Nandagaon or Varshana-the name of your father and mother, your service, and the nature of your beautiful form. The guru then reveals his sishya's particular service to adha-Krishna conjugal (agya), and his palya-dasi-bhava. There are eleven items in all. In sravana dasa, therefore, you will have to hear and understand about the process for perfection from Jaiva-dharma, * Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrita and all the books of Srila Rupa Gosvami. The process is not that one in the beginning stage goes to his guru and is told, "Oh, you are a very beautiful gopi, and your name is Lalita."

Although this is called siddha-pranali, we do not know who began this type of siddha-pranali. At the time of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura no one addressed him as Visvanatha Cakravarti Babaji. During his time the process of giving someone this bogus version of gopi-bhava was not practiced. To teach the actual process was the main objective of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's teachings can be summarized in two lines. Jiva doya krishna nama sarva dharma sara. This is also the sum and substance of all the teachings of all the Vedas, Vedanta, Upanishads, Bhagavata-gita, the Puranas, Srutis, Smritis, Pancaratra, etc. In essence there are two principles-jiva-doya and krishna-nama. The meaning of jiva-doya is 'mercy to conditioned souls,' and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has elaborately explained this. Successfully helping conditioned souls to turn their worldly mentality towards Krishna's service is the best doya, mercy. It is worth more than opening hundreds of thousands of hospitals and universities, or donating hundreds of thousands of dollars in charity. Jiva-doya is the most special gift, and only a realized soul can give it.'

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam

kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha'

"In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." Jiva-doya is attained only by chanting Krishna's holy name. Krishna's name is Krishna Himself, but we can chant suddha (pure) nama only in the association of the bona-fide guru and bona-fide Vaishnavas. Without this association we can neither chant the pure name nor engage in pure suddha-bhakti. What is suddha-bhakti? aganuga-bhakti is suddha-bhakti. We may think that vaidhi-bhakti is suddha-bhakti, but it is not, nor will it ever become so. Spontaneous devotion to Krishna is raganuga-bhakti, and when the practice of raganuga-bhakti fully matures, it is then called ragatmika-prema. When we have no ragatmika-prema, cultivation of that pure bhakti with all of our senses is called raganuga. When our hearts accept the same mood Srila Rupa Gosvami possesses in his heart-the mood of a palya-dasi (unpaid maidservant) of Srimati Radhika, it is called rupanuga-bhakti. We conditioned souls are eligible to become palya-dasi. We cannot become like Lalita or Visakha.'

Their position is beyond our limit of attainment. We can follow only Srila Rupa Gosvami or Rupa-manjari, Rati-manjari, Lavanga-manjari, and all the other manjaris. The sahajiya-babajis say, "Oh, you are Lalita. I am Lalita," but this is Mayavada philosophy, or monism. We should not be artificial nor should we imitate. Rather we must follow in the process taught by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, as further elaborately explained by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and his followers. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura foretold that in the near future many hundreds and thousands of Western devotees with sikha and tulasi-mala will meet with Indian devotees, and they will all chant, "Hari bol, hari bol. Gaura premanande, hari hari bol, and Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare." Thus, all over the world, this pure mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will spread. This idea was started by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He is the root of all our preaching, and therefore we are truly indebted to him. '

Edited by Syamarani dasi'

March 29, 2006

Krsna Das' motive in posting this article on Sampradaya Sun is puzzling. If he is trying to make a vain attempt to point out differences between acaryas . . . we encourage him to . . . understand that they are all teaching the same siddhanta.

“ Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was an ideal acarya. An acarya is an ideal teacher who knows the purpose of the revealed scriptures, behaves exactly according to their injunctions and teaches his students to adopt these principles also. As an ideal acarya, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu devised ways to capture all kinds of atheists and materialists. Every acarya has a specific means of propagating his spiritual movement with the aim of bringing men to Krsna consciousness. Therefore, the method of one acarya may be different from that of another, but the ultimate goal is never neglected. Srila Rupa Gosvami recommends:

tasmat kenapy upayena

manah krsne nivesayet

sarve vidhi-nisedha syur

etayor eva kinkarah

An acarya should devise a means by which people may somehow or other come to Krsna consciousness. First they should become Krsna conscious, and all the prescribed rules and regulations may later gradually be introduced. In our Krsna consciousness movement we follow this policy of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu...”

“...It is the concern of the acarya to show mercy to the fallen souls. In this connection, desa-kala-patra (the place, the time and the object) should be taken into consideration...”

Cc. Adi lila 7.37-38

nimbo pani · March 29, 2006

A Delhi businessman who wishes to remain anonymous (but whose narration has been checked and confirmed by Ravindra Svarupa prabhu, Prithu prabhu, and Mahamantra dasa)

It is one thing to debate controversial issues. Yet another to engage in smear tactics to win your argument. That was totally unecessary. How does this in any way, shape, or form encourage lively, healthy discussion amongst Vaishnavas?

Paraphrasing an (alleged) account from an anonymous source, (3rd hand? 5th hand?), taken out of context (assuming there WAS any context), and supposedly "verified" by RSwarupa and Prthu, both of whom have dark histories of engaging in smear tactics against "Gaudiya Math" Vaishnavas, and have even been caught lying, lends them (and their story) zero credibility as far as I'm concerned.

Instantly Narayana Maharaja took my arm and made many disparaging remarks against Srila Prabhupad. Among the things he said was, ‘Do you know that he [srila Prabhupada] was selling liquor?’ My blood was boiling that he would go so far to get me to take initiation from him that he would try to break my faith in Srila Prabhupada.

What are you trying to do, Krsna das, instigate wars between Vaishnava groups? During the 80's, I knew a (well-known) devotee who worked himself into a violent rage when he repeated, out of context, something that Srila Sridhara Maharaja had said. He threatened physical violence towards a great saint. And all because of what: hearsay, quotes taken out of context, unwillingness to understand and bridge the gaps...

Srila Narayana Maharaja would never say anything like that. He would never try to break one's faith in Srila Prabhupada. He uses Srila Prabhupada's books to give classes. He considers Srila Prabhupada his Siksa Guru. He already has a few thousand disciples. Does anyone really believe that he is so "desparate" to make another disciple that he would grab someone's arm and try to break someone's faith in Srila Prabhupada? That is simply outrageous. The people who propagate such malarky are offenders extraordinaire.

And here I thought that relations amongst the various sangas were improving. As long as dishonesty prevails, (and we know what Mother Bhumi has to say about that), there will never be harmony amongst Vaishnava groups. How sad. Vaishnavas are so rare. And if we can't get along with one another despite relative differences, then what chance do we have of spreading the Sankirtan Movement in a big way, as Srila Prabhupada had hoped.

March 29, 2006

It is one thing to debate controversial issues. Yet another to engage in smear tactics to win your argument. That was totally unecessary. How does this in any way, shape, or form encourage lively, healthy discussion amongst Vaishnavas?. . . What are you trying to do, Krsna das, instigate wars between Vaishnava groups?. . .

Srila Narayana Maharaja would never say anything like that. He would never try to break one's faith in Srila Prabhupada.. . . Does anyone really believe that he is so "desparate" to make another disciple that he would grab someone's arm and try to break someone's faith in Srila Prabhupada? That is simply outrageous. The people who propagate such malarky are offenders extraordinaire.. . . .

Krsna Das' article was posted on the Sampradaya Sun website. No small coincidence since its editors are personally inimical to Srila Narayana Maharaja and to many other Guadiya Vaisnavas. While not members of any gudiya institution per se, they harbor a grossly sectarian viewpoint which while they deny it, is stongly influenced by rtvk thinking, and have invented their own religion called "Sampradaya Acarya" which misrepresents guru-tattva in a monumental way with offensive sentimental mental speculation in the name of glorifying His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Yofu · March 30, 2006

Yawn.....the same old rubbish recycled.

Yofu · March 30, 2006

I've been around Gaudiya circles for almost 20 years, and nothing surprises me anymore. This diatribe against my gurudeva is nothing new.

When I took diska from my gurudeva in the early 90's the local western Vaisnava temple banned me from the temple and carried out a smear campaign against me and my gurudeva. This caused me a great deal of pain.

I now laugh when I think of some of the outrageous lies that were spread. The funniest lie, they spread, was that Srila Narayana Maharaja's disciples think that they are flowers in Vrndanvan. Yes...it true I'm a rose....

I've learned that many lies are spoken and spread by so-called devotees, so it seems, nothing has changed since my experiences in the early 90's.

Yofu · March 30, 2006

If someone posted such an article about Srila Prabhupada, it would be deleted, so one must assume that the admins on here actually condone the views expressed by Krishna dasa (obviously not his real name!).

I am disappointed that the admins have allowed this diatribe to go through, especially when they have deleted less flammatory posts.

Audarya-fellowship? Fellowship? Mmmmm....hardly!

Yofu · March 30, 2006

“In your foreign countries a party of

sahajiyas has appeared.”

This quote doesn't refer to Srila BV Narayana Maharaja, since Srila BP Puri Maharaja had a good and respectful relationship with him.

Here's an excerpt from one of Srila BP Puri Maharaja's disciples:

Sripad Madhavpriya brahmacari is a diksa disciple of Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja and is presently serving in Srila Narayana Maharaja's Sri Kesavaji Gaudiya Matha:]

I have been associating for some time with Srila Narayana Maharaja. When I had first asked my Guru Maharaja if I may take the association of Srila Narayana Maharaja he said, "Yes. Why not? You can go to each and every Gaudiya Matha. Wherever you like, you can associate with higher Vaisnavas in our guru-parampara, in the line of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. And what to say about Sri Narayana Maharaja; he is a pure Vaisnava and sincere guru and Vaisnava sevaka.

My Guru Maharaja stressed on the point that the important thing is to be in association with some high-class devotee. He used to say that if we are not in such association, we cannot advance. Therefore, wherever we can get that association, wherever we are getting good instruction, we should go that place, wherever it is. My Gurudeva was very clear on this point. I have also heard this from him so many times.

Also:

"Srila Narayan Maharaj is a bonifide preacher in our line. We are happy that he is going to the West, and devotees should follow him. He is a rasika Vaisnava."

The sahajiha quote, I believe, refers to devotees in any vaisnava groups in the west.

Many western devotees have taken diksa within the "traditional" gaudiya groups such as the babaji groups at Radha-kunda.

The sahajiha verse is often quoted by ritviks, which is bizzare since they believe every Gaudiya Math guru is bogus. It humourous how rikviks will quote from devotees they regard as bogus in other to further the rikvik view. </QUOTE>

Beggar · March 30, 2006

That Narayana Maharaja and his followers think that they are flowers in Vrdavana must be ignorantly extrapolated from the concept of a manajari. As those who are familiar with Tulasi plants know, a manjari is an immature type of flower or bud. The goal of Srila Rupa Goswami and his followers is to become a young girl maidservant or kinkari of Srimati Radharani. Since in relation to the gopis these divine girls are immature they are referred to as manjaris. The Gaudiya Vaisnavas including the followers of Srila Narayana Maharaja do not have the audacity to think of themselves as manjaris in the conditioned stage but rather earnestly pray for the laulyam or greed to attain such a postion. This greed will ultimately be attained by associating with advanced Rupanuga Vaisnavas, serving their lotus feet and following their instructions. This is fully in line with the teachings of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada.

March 30, 2006

I think it is OK to point out that Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja is speaking a message that is different from what others, such as Srila Sridhar Maharaj have taught. For instance, there is no doubt that Srila Sridhar Maharaj taught that you only need to get Harinama (Hare Krishna mantra initiation) to attain Vraja-prema whereas Narayana Maharaja has a different idea:

<blockquote>Narayana Maharaja Going Beyond Vaikuntha Chapter Seven:

“Without the gopala-mantra and the kama-gayatri, will our sadhana be complete with only the nama- sankirtana? No, because by nama-sankirtana alone we will not be able to chant suddha-nama, the pure name of Krishna.”

Narayana Maharaja Confidential Secrets of Bhajana, page 22:

“Everything is there, but don’t think that we can realize all this by chanting Krishna-nama alone. We must chant nama-mantra (gayatri) as well, if we want full understanding and realization of what is in the Hare Krishna mantra.”

Srila Sridhar Maharaj, from Sri Guru and His Grace:

“We accept the mantra (gayatri) only to help the nama-bhajan, the worship of the holy name. Otherwise it may not be necessary at all. It has been judged in such a way. The name alone can do everything for a person. It is full and complete. The (gayatri) mantra helps us to do away with the apahradhas, offenses, and the abhasa, or hazy conception. The (gayatri) mantra comes to help us only so far.”</blockquote>

But then as others have pointed out the hearsay story about the gentleman whose wife was initiated by Narayana Maharaja is simply a hearsay story. Useless gossip.

March 30, 2006

I think it is OK to point out that Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja is speaking a message that is different from what others, such as Srila Sridhar Maharaj have taught. For instance, there is no doubt that Srila Sridhar Maharaj taught that you only need to get Harinama (Hare Krishna mantra initiation) to attain Vraja-prema whereas Narayana Maharaja has a different idea. . . But then as others have pointed out the hearsay story about the gentleman whose wife was initiated by Narayana Maharaja is simply a hearsay story. Useless gossip.

You haven't understood Srila Sridhar Maharaja at all. His quote clearly indicates that we chant the gayatrai mantras to become free from anartha's. If you chant suddha name then "it may not be necessary at all" otherwise not. This matter was discussed in full in Hawaii:

The Absolute Necessity of Second Initiation

by Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

Hilo, Hawaii: January 13, 2003

[srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja spent the week of January 11-17 in Hilo, Hawaii, enlightening his audience of two hundred fifty on the topics of guru-tattva and the gradual development of devotion for Sri Krsna. Meanwhile, as sometimes occurs, certain individuals, in an attempt to disinterest others from attending Srila Narayana Maharaja's classes, were engaged in passing out copies of a paper. This time the paper was written on the subject of the relative necessity of harinama initiation (first initiation) and diksa (second initiation). The paper tried its level best to prove that Srila Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja and Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja have a different view on the subject than Srila Narayana Maharaja. If this were true, it would place Srila Narayana Maharaja outside the disciplic line of his predecessor acaryas. When Srila Narayana Maharaja became aware of this attempt to show a difference between them, he gave the following class and clearly showed that the three above-mentioned acaryas are exactly in the same line. They are all saying, in fact, that the acceptance of the diksa mantras is essential.]

[srila Narayana Maharaja:] In my classes I have been explaining the meaning of bhakti and I have explained how we can gradually achieve it, beginning from the smallest fraction of bhakti called sraddha. We discussed many points, among which was the necessity for guru-padasraya and diksa. In the meantime, a topic has arisen that I want to clarify. You should very carefully and seriously hear this very important subject matter. First Sripad Padmanabha Maharaja will present the argument and then I will reply it.

[sripad Padmanabha Maharaja:] There is a question concerning the relationship between gayatri-mantra (diksa) and harinama initiation. Some persons have presented quotes from Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja in order to present the idea, based upon their own understanding, that harinama is complete and sufficient in itself for the conditioned soul, and that initiation into the gayatri mantra is not actually required for him. I will read their quotations, and then Srila Maharaja will explain the conclusive philosophical understandings. First of all they quote Srila Prabhupada in a room conversation in 1973 in Paris, where he says, "Chanting the Hare-Krsna maha-mantra. Then, as he practices, he becomes more purified. Then second initiation – gayatri mantra. The first initiation, according to Jiva Gosvami, that is sufficient. Chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, that is sufficient. But still, to purify them more, the second initiation, gayatri, is given." That is one quote.

Then they quote Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja in his book Sri Guru and his Grace. There he says, "We accept the mantra only to help the nama bhajana, the worship of the holy name. Otherwise it may not be necessary at all. It has been judged in such a way. The name alone can do everything for a person; it is full and complete. The gayatri mantra helps us to do away with the aparadhas (offenses) and the abhasa or hazy conception. The gayatri mantra comes to help us only so far."

With these two quotations these persons have attempted to support their statement that it is not actually completely essential or necessary for us conditioned souls to accept the gayatri mantra – diksa – because harinama is sufficient. They have also suggested that Srila Narayana Maharaja is saying something contrary to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Sridhar Maharaja. I am also reading the two statements they have quoted from Srila Narayana Maharaja. The first is from his book, Going Beyond Vaikuntha: "Without the gopala-mantra and the kama-gayatri, will our sadhana be complete with only the nama-sankirtana? No, because by nama-sankirtana alone we will not be able to chant suddha-nama, the pure name of Krsna." The second quotation they cited is from a lecture given by Srila Narayana Maharaja on the topic of Sri Bhajana Rahasya: "Everything is there, but don't think that we can realize all this by chanting krsna-nama alone. We must chant harinama and gayatri-mantra as well. If we want full understanding and realization of what is in the Hare Krsna mantra, we must also chant the gayatri mantras.

I want to request Srila Narayana Maharaja to kindly give the proper philosophical conclusions, so that everyone can understand clearly the position of gayatri-mantra initiation and harinama initiation, and their relationship.

[srila Narayana Maharaja:] I think you have all understood the argument; now you should try very carefully to understand the reply so that you can reconcile all the statements. Someone has presented the idea that the acceptance of diksa is not essential, and he has indirectly indicated the verse:

diksa-purascarya-vidhi apeksa na kare

jihva-sparse a-candala sabare uddhare

["One does not have to undergo initiation or execute the activities required before initiation. One simply has to vibrate the holy name with his lips. Thus, even a man in the lowest class [candala] can be delivered."]

The holy name is sufficient. The holy name is very powerful and can fulfill all desires. The name will even give vraja-prema. What, then, is the need of taking initiation? The paper has quoted my statement, along with the statement of Prapujya-carana Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja and Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja; so I want to reconcile all statements.

It is true that diksa-purascarya (initiation and the purificatory activities performed before initiation) is not needed in all circumstances; but we should know something about the actual meaning of this verse. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada has written a book of rules and regulations in deity worship called Arcana Dipika, and there he has explained that harinama is bhagavata-svarupa, the actual form of Krsna and Radha, and for this reason it is stated in Sri Siksastakam, "Param vijayate sri krsna-sankirtana." By chanting and remembering Krsna's names, all kinds of perfection — like vraja-prema and even radha-dasya (becoming a maid servant of Srimati Radhika) — can be attained. In the first stage, however, when a devotee is uttering the holy name he is full with many aparadhas, and also anarthas such as laya (sleep), viksepa (distraction), apratipatti (indifference or disinterest in spiritual topics), and so on. It is guaranteed that such a person cannot utter the pure name. Rather, his chanting will be nama-aparadha. Chanting the pure name is only possible after the diksa-samskara.

Srila Jiva Gosvami explains diksa in his Bhakti-sandarbha (283):

divyam jnanam yato dadyat kuryat papasya sanksayam

tasmat dikseti sa prokta desikais tattva-kovidaih

["Diksa is the process by which one can awaken his transcendental knowledge and vanquish all reactions caused by sinful activity. A person expert in the study of the revealed scriptures knows this process as diksa." (quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta: Madhya 15. 108 purport)]

The gayatri-mantra gives all kinds of divya-jnana, transcendental knowledge, including the knowledge of krsna-tattva and jiva-tattva, and it also gives a relationship with Krsna. Nama alone will not give this relation to the person filled with anarthas. All of our acaryas, from top to bottom, have stated that in order to purify us from our sinful actions and to clear offenses (anartha-nrvrtti) so that we can develop the ability to chant the pure name, we must accept diksa-vidhana (the process of initiation). Di — ksa. Di means divya-jnana, or realized knowledge of our relationship with Krsna. Ksa is the washing away of all sins, aparadhas, and other impurities. For this, diksa-vidhana is essential. Without diksa-samskara, one's relationship with Krsna (sambandha-jnana) cannot manifest and one cannot chant suddha-nama. It is essential to accept diksa.

yatha kancanatam yati

kamsyam rasa-vidhanatah

tatha diksa-vidhanena

dvijatvam jayate nrnam

["As bell metal (a mixture of copper and tin) becomes gold by mixing with mercury, similarly, by the process of diksa, initiation, a person becomes a brahmana."( Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa)]

Bell metal turns into gold by the help of the element mercury in an al-chemical process. Similarly, by this element, the process of diksa, our chanting of the holy name will become pure; otherwise it is not possible.

If there is no necessity to accept diksa-mantra, why did Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada take second initiation from Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, and why did he give diksa initiation to all of his disciples? Parama-pujyapada Srila Sridhara Gosvami Maharaja also took diksa from him. If there is no necessity, why did Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura give diksa initiation, and why did his disciples accept it?

Not only that, Brahma received kama-gayatri and Gopal-mantra from Krsna Himself. Brahma then gave the diksa-mantra to Sri Narada Rsi, and Narada gave it to so many disciples. Narada not only gave harinama to Dhruva Maharaja; he gave him diksa by the mantra: om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took initiation from Sri Isvara Puripada, who first gave Him harinama, and to purify that chanting of nama, he gave Him Gopal-mantra. Gopal-mantra is transcendental and ever-existing, and it gives a relationship with Krsna as Gopijana-vallabha. We should consider all this evidence.

All the acaryas in our guru-parampara have accepted second initiation from a bona fide guru. Can those who say that harinama is sufficient for conditioned souls name any acarya in our guru-parampara who has not taken diksa initiation? Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, and the Six Gosvamis took second initiation, and Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada took it. Why did they take diksa initiation if it is not essential? You should know the gravity of this truth. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Advaita Acarya, Sri Gadadhara Pandita, Sri Isvara Puri, and Sri Madhavendra Puri have all taken diksa. Why, then, should we not take it? Why is it not essential? If it is not essential, then why did Sri Sanatana Gosvami write about it in his Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa? Why did Sri Gopal Bhatta Gosvami also write about it? Did he say it was useless? Those who say that diksa is not essential will not be able to answer these questions in hundreds and millions of years.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took initiation even though he is the Lord of lords — Radha and Krsna combined — and yet He went to Gaya and took initiation. He vividly explained this fact in a gathering of sannyasis in Kasi when those sannyasis asked Him, "O, You are a very young and qualified sannyasi. Why do you not hear Vedanta? Why do you engage in singing and dancing and rolling on the ground? A sannyasi should not dance and do all these things." Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied by telling them of the order of His guru, Sri Isvara Puripada:

Mahaprabhu said, "Guru mora murkha dekhi — My Guru Maharaja told me that because I am foolish and unintelligent, I am not qualified to study Vedanta. He said that instead I should always chant Hare Krsna and I should remember this verse:

harer nama harer nama

harer namaiva kevalam

kalau nasty eva nasty eva

nasty eva gatir anyatha

(Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-lila 17.21)

["In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari."]

But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu not only took harinama from His gurudeva; He also took second initiation through the Gopal-mantra. In our parampara, in order to purify one's chanting and to and give the chanter a relationship with Krsna who has kindly taken the form of His holy name, the Gopal-mantra is given along with harinama. Up until Caitanya Mahaprabhu's manifested pastimes only the Gopal-mantra was given. Later, Srila Dhyanacandra Gosvami and Srila Gopal-guru Gosvami gave the regulations we now follow. They gave brahma-gayatri, guru-mantra, guru-gayatri, gaura-mantra, gaura-gayatri, krsna-mantra (Gopal-mantra) and finally kama-gayatri. This is the process followed in our sampradaya as begun by Srila Gopal-guru Gosvami, who is a disciple of Vakresvara Pandita, who is an associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu quoted His gurudeva saying, "Krsna-mantra japa sada — ei mantra-sara. You must always chant the holy name of Krsna. This is the essence of all mantras, or Vedic hymns."

krsna-mantra haite habe samsara-mocana

krsna-nama haite pabe krsnera carana

["Simply by chanting the holy name of Krsna one can obtain freedom from material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra one will be able to see the lotus feet of the Lord."]

The offenseless chanting of the holy name does not depend on the initiation process. But that name must be the pure name, and how will it become so? It can only become pure through that diksa process; otherwise it is not possible. It is not that the holy name is not pure, but if a person is not a pure devotee he cannot chant the pure name. He can only chant syllables that sound like the name. He can only chant offenses to the name (nama-aparadha) or a shadow of the name (nama-abhasa). Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu chanted the pure name, and therefore He was able to tell His gurudeva:

kiba mantra dila, gosani, kiba tara bala

japite japite mantra karila pagala

["'My dear lord, what kind of mantra have you given Me? I have become mad simply by chanting this maha-mantra!'"(Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 7.81)]

Caitanya Mahaprabhu told the sannyasis, "You ask why I dance and sing and roll on the ground. Here is the reason: When My gurudeva initiated me, he gave me both the harinama mantra and the gopal mantra." Then He said, "japite japite mantra." If He had only received harinama, the maha-mantra, He would not have said the word "mantra"? Mantra especially refers to Gopal-mantra and kama-gayatri. He first received harinama and then gopal-mantra. "Japite japite mantra karila pagala — and this made Me mad. Krsna nama mantra — meaning gopal and maha mantra made Him "like a madman".

For those who always remember and meditate on the gopal-mantra and kama-gayatri, by the power of the mantra, rati (bhava-bhakti) will at once enter their hearts. It has been written in Caitanya-caritamrta: Antya-lila 4.192:

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana

sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

["At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krsna accepts him to be as good as Himself."]

First initiation is called harinama initiation only, and the second initiation is called diksa. Atma samarpana — at the time of diksa the disciple totally surrenders unto the feet of his gurudeva. Sei-kale. At that time Krsna gives the shelter of His lotus feet, and He makes that disciple atma-sama, very near and dear to Him.

According to the Vaisnava regulative principles, one must be initiated as a brahmana. As quoted in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa (2.6) from the Visnu-yamala, Lord Sankara says to his wife Parvati:

adiksitasya vamoru krtam sarvam nirarthakam

pasu-yonim avapnoti diksa-virahito janah

"O Vamaru — O beautiful Parvati. Regarding those who have not taken diksa, all their devotional activities, such as sadhana, bhajana, and puja, have all gone in vain. They are all useless. Such persons who are not properly initiated must again enter the many animals species."

In addition, it has been told that nama can give everything, including Krsna-prema, simply by touching the tongue. It is stated in Padyavali, a book compiled by Srila Rupa Gosvami:

akrstih krta-cetasam su-manasam uccatanam camhasam

acandalam amuka-loka-sulabho vasyas ca mukti-sriyah

no diksam na ca sat-kriyam na ca purascaryam manag iksate

mantro 'yam rasana-sprg eva phalati sri-krsna-namatmakah

["'The holy name of Lord Krsna is an attractive feature for many saintly, liberal people. It is the annihilator of all sinful reactions and is so powerful that, save for the dumb who cannot chant it, it is readily available to everyone, including the lowest type of man, the candala. The holy name of Krsna is the controller of the opulence of liberation, and it is identical with Krsna. When a person simply chants the holy name with his tongue, immediate effects are produced. Chanting the holy name does not depend on initiation, pious activities or the purascarya regulative principles generally observed before initiation. The holy name does not wait for any of these activities. It is self-sufficient.'"(quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 15.110]

Can this occur if one's chanting is not pure? This is the question that has been raised here. Can this occur without diksa? In the Hari-bhakti-vilasa (17.4-5, 7) it is stated:

vina yena na siddhah syan mantro varsa-satair api

krtena yena labhate sadhako vanchitam phalam

purascarana-sampanno mantro hi phala-dhayakah

atah puraskriyam kuryat mantra-vit siddhi-kanksaya

puraskriya hi mantranam pradhanam viryam ucyate

virya-hino yatha dehi sarva-karmasu na ksamah

purascarana-hino hi tatha mantrah prakirtitah

["Without performing the purascarya activities, one cannot become perfect even by chanting this mantra for hundreds of years. But one who has undergone the purascarya-vidhi process can attain success very easily. If one wishes to perfect his initiation, he must first undergo the purascarya activities. The purascarya process is the life force by which one is successful in chanting the mantra. Without the life force, one cannot do anything; similarly, without the life force of purascarya-vidhi, no mantra can be perfected." (quoted in Srila Prabhupada's purport to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 15.108)]

Srila Jiva Gosvami has quoted a verse, in order to further dissolve any misunderstanding in this regard. In his Bhakti-sandarbha (283-84), Srila Jiva Gosvami describes the importance of Deity worship and initiation (diksa) as follows:

avasyakatvam nasti, tad vinapi saranapattyadinam ekatarenapi purusartha-siddher abhihitatvat, tathapi sri-naradadi-vartmanusaradbhih sri-bhagavata saha sambandha-visesam diksa-vidhanena sri-guru-carana-sampaditam cikirsadbhih krtayam diksayam arcanam avasyam kriyetaiva.

yadyapi svarupato nasti, tathapi prayah svabhavato dehadi-sambandhena kadarya-silanam viksipta-cittanam jananam tat-tat-sankoci-karanaya srimad-rsi-prabhrtibhir atrarcana-marge kvacit kvacit kacit kacin maryada sthapitasti.

["It is Srimad-Bhagavatam's opinion that the process of Deity worship is not actually necessary, just as the specific prescriptions of the Pancaratra and other scriptures do not have to be followed. The Bhagavatam enjoins that even without practicing Deity worship one can achieve the complete success of human life by any of the other devotional processes, such as simply offering oneself at the Lord's feet for His protection. Nonetheless Vaisnavas, following the path of Sri Narada and his successors, endeavor to establish a personal relationship with the Lord by receiving the grace of a bona fide spiritual master through initiation, and in this tradition the devotees are obliged at the time of initiation to begin engaging in Deity worship.

"Although Deity worship is not essential, the material conditioning of most candidates for devotional service requires that they engage in this activity. When we consider their bodily and mental conditions, we find that the character of such candidates is impure and their minds are agitated. Therefore, to rectify this material conditioning the great sage Narada and others have at different times recommended various kinds of regulations for Deity worship." (quoted in Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 15.108 purport)]

Simply by the tongue touching the Krsna-mantra, that holy name gives all kinds of perfection, including krsna-dasya and radha dasya. But Srila Jiva Gosvami has written a very clear commentary to this verse, and you should note this down in your heart for continual remembrance. In his Bhakti-sandarbha (283) he has written:

dvijanam anupetanam svakarmadhyayanadisu

yathadhikaro nastiha syac copanayanad anu

tathatradiksitanam tu mantra-devarcanadisu

nadhikaro 'sty atah kuryad atmanam siva-samstutam

["Even though born in a brahmana family, one cannot engage in Vedic rituals without being initiated and having a sacred thread. Although born in a brahmana family, one becomes a brahmana only after initiation and the sacred thread ceremony. Unless one is initiated as a brahmana, one cannot worship the holy name properly." (quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 15.108)] [see Endnote]

It is true that simply by touching the tongue krsna-nama can give everything, but the material tongue, the tongue of the conditioned soul cannot touch the transcendental holy name.

atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih

sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah

["With the material senses one cannot understand the transcendental holy name of the Lord or His form, activities and pastimes. But when one actually engages in devotional service, utilizing the tongue, the Lord is revealed." Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234)]

Sri Narada Muni, and other previous acaryas like Brahma, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, and Sanat Kumar, have all taken diksa. One receives diksa and then he performs his sadhana bhajana and worships his istadeva (worshipful deity), Radha and Krsna. Srila Jiva Gosvami has written that without diksa there will be no relationship with Krsna — neither, dasya, sakya, vatsalya nor madhurya. It will never be possible without diksa. In our sampradaya, sambandha-jnana comes only by uttering "gopijana-vallabhaya"; otherwise it cannot come.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has written an explanation of this same verse, and therein he vividly explains that one may have given up all kinds of sadhana and pious activities. He may be chanting and remembering the holy names of Bhagavan and he may have determined that his Istadeva is Krsna. Still, if he has not taken initiation from a Vaisnava guru, thinking that it is not essential, he can never achieve Krsna. The only good result he achieves is that he will not go to hell. He cannot achieve the lotus feet of Krsna, in any life, until he is properly initiated. In a future life, by the fruit of his previous activities of bhajana, he will take birth in a very religious family and there he will have sadhu-sanga, guru padasraya, and then diksa. At that time he will make solid advancement in bhakti. This is the only way.

Also, Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami has written in the first verse of his Sri Manah-Siksa:

Gurau gosthe gostalayisu sujane bhusura-gane

sva-mantre sri -namni vraja-nava-yuva-dvandva-sarane

sada dambham hitva kuru ratim apurvam atitara-

maye svantar bhratas catubhir abhiyace dhrta-padah

["O my dear brother my foolish mind! Taking hold of your feet, I humbly pray to you with sweet words. Please give up all pride and quickly develop sublime and incessant rati for Sri Gurudeva, Sri Vraja-dhama, the residents of Vraja, the Vaisnavas, the brahmanas, my diksa-mantras, the holy names of the Supreme Lord, and the shelter of Kisora-Kisori, Sri Sri Radha-Krsna, the eternally youthful divine couple of Vraja."]

Why has he said "mantra" if diksa initiation is not necessary? Why he has not said only "Sri namni"? What is sva-mantra? There is some difference between mantra and harinama, and that is why he has told his mind, "You should develop sublime and unprecedented attachment for both. Take shelter of nama and mantra, and then your life will be successful." So there are two things – not one. Srila Raghunatha has written, '"Sada dambham hitva kuru ratim apurvam – O mind, you should give up your false pride and try to develop sublime and unprecedented attachment for both." His guru gave him mantra, and that is diksa.

We should now reconcile all these things.

[Endnote: The quote of Srila Prabhupada speaking in Paris in 1973, as quoted by Sripad Padmanabha Maharaja in the beginning of this lecture, refers to this verse of Srila Jiva Gosvami.]

Editorial Advisors: Pujapad Madhava Maharaja and Sripad Brajanath das

Editor: Syamarani dasi

Transcriber: Danvantari das

Typist: Anita dasi

March 30, 2006

Brahma Gayatri Bhasya

by Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridara Goswami Maharaja

"The gayatri mantra will excite us to be mindful

about Srimati Radharani's lotus feet, to obey her orders."

"Radha-dasyam, the service of Srimati Radharani, is the ultimate meaning to be extracted from the gayatri mantra."

The Mantra

om bhur bhuva sva tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo na pracodayat om

om - the seed mantra which contains everything within it; bhur - the physical world; bhuva - the mental world; sva - the intellectual world; tat - that, the three planes of experience; savituh - the soul; varenyam - worshipable, venerable; bhargo - the supersubjective area, the svarupa-sakti; devasya - who is beautiful and playful, Krsna, Reality the Beautiful; dhimahi - come meditate; dhiyah - of meditation, of service; yo - who; na - us; pracodayat - enthuses our capacity;

Translation

"Above the three planes of mundane experience, bhu, bhuvah, svah is the soul, savitur, who shows us everything just like the sun. Above the soul is the supersubjective plane which is varenyam, most venerated and worshipable. That worshipable plane of existence is called bhargo, brilliant and illuminating. The supersubjective area, bhargo, is the plane known as the svarupa-sakti which is the internal pleasure potency of deva, Krishna, Reality the Beautiful. That bhargo is His own divine potency Srimati Radharani. Let us meditate upon the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani, whose extended self and essential nature, mahabhava, is the svarupa-sakti, and who enthuses our capacity of devotional service. Let us surrender unto Her divine service."

Introduction

The meaning of the brahma gayatri must bring us to the conclusion of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The gayatri mantra and the Srimad-Bhagavatam are one and the same. It is the very gist of the Vedanta-sutra. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the elaborate commentary of gayatri:

artho 'yam brahma-sutranam bharatartha-vinirnay

gayatri-bhasya-rupo 'sau vedartha-parivrmhita

"The meaning of the Vedanta-sutra is present in Srimad-Bhagavatam. The full purport of the Mahabharata is also there. The commentary of the brahma-gayatri is also there and fully expanded with all Vedic knowledge." (Garuda Purana )

The meaning of the gayatri mantra must be in the line of Srimad-Bhagavatam. If we analyze how this is possible, we shall uncover the steps leading the gayatri mantra, to the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

What is the meaning of gayatri ? The word gayatri is a combination of two Sanskrit words: ganat (what is sung) and trayate (gives deliverance). This means, "A kind of song by which we can get our salvation, relief, emancipation. Gayatri is known as veda-mata, the mother of the Veda. If we examine the Vedic conclusion from it's most condensed aphorism to its most extensive expression, we shall find that it begins with omkara : the Vedic symbol OM. That truth is expressed as the gayatri mantra, then it appears in the form of the Vedas, and then as the Vedanta-sutra. Finally, the Vedic conclusion is given its fullest expression in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Since the meaning, the purpose of Vedic knowledge progresses in this line, the gayatri mantra must contain within it the meaning of Srimad-Bhagavatam ---that is, that the Krsna conception of Godhead is the highest. This must be the meaning of the gayatri mantra, but the problem is how to extract Srimad-Bhagavatam-----the Krsna conception------ from within the womb of gayatri. I heard that Jiva Goswami has given such an interpretation, but I could not find where it is written. I heard that he has given the meaning of gayatri leading to Krsna consciousness. Anyhow, the tendency awakened in me to draw the meaning to the Krsna conception.

The general meaning of gayatri is "that song which grants liberation." Liberation must have some positive meaning. Liberation means not freedom from the negative side, but positive attainment. This is the definition given in Srimad-Bhagavatam : muktir hitvanyatha rupam svarupena--- unless and until we attain the highest possible positive position, real mukti, real salvation, has not been effected. Mere withdrawal from the negative plane cannot be called liberation. Hegal has said that the object of our life is self-determination. We must determine our normal function in the organic whole---not mere emancipation in a positive function in the domain of service. This is considered to be the highest attainment of life. This is the real meaning of gayatri.

The word gayatri comes from two Sanskrit roots: ganat and trayate. Trayate means positive attainment to the final stage (sva-rupena vyavashitih ). And ganat means not mere sound, but musical sound. That musical sound which grants us the highest positive deliverance indicates the sankirtana of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the flute song of Sri Krsna.

Brahma-Gayatri-Bhasya

bhvades-tat savitur-vavarenya-vihitam ksetrajna-sevaya-arthakam

bhargo vai vrsabhanuja-atma-vibhava-eka-aradhana sri-puram

bhargo jyotir-acintya-lilana-sudha-eka-aradhana-sri-puram

bhargo dhama-taraga-khelana-sudha-eka-aradhana-sri-puram

bhargo dhama-sada nirasta kuhakam prajnana lila-puram

devasya-amrta-rupa-lila-rasa-dheraradha-dhi-prerina

devasya-amrta-rupa-lila-purusasyaradha-dhi-preyasina

devasya dyutisundara-eka-purusasyaradhaya-dhi-preyasina

gayatri-muralisÝa-kirtana-dhanam radhapadam dhimahi

gayatri-gaditam mahaprabhu-matam radhapadam dhimahi

dhir-aradhanam eva nanyad-iti-tad-radhapadam dhimahi

srila sri-bhaktiraksaka sridhara deva-gosvami maharaja

Purport

The purport of the brahma-gayatri is as follows: The first word is OM. Om is the seed mantra which contains everything within it. The next word is bhur. Bhur is where we are--Bhu-loka-- the world of our experience. The next word is buvah. Buvarloka is the world of mental acquisition. It is the support, the background of our experience. Our present position of experience is the effect of our mental acquisition. That we are here in the world of experience is not an accident; we have acquired this position by our previous karma. The physical sphere, this present world of experience, is only the product, the outcome of our previous mental impulses. And the subtle world of previous karma, the mental sphere, is known as Bhuvarloka.

The next word in the mantra is svah. Above Bhuvaloka is Sva-loka. The mental world (Bhuvarloka) means acceptance and rejection: what to do and what not to do--"I like this, I don't like that." Sva-loka, however, is the plane of decision, the world of intelligence (Buddiloka). Our intelligence tells us, "You may like this, but you don't do that, for then you will be the loser." That plane, the plane of reason, is known as Sva-loka. In this way, this material world is composed of three general layers, bhur, the physical world, bhuvah, the mental world, and svah, the intellectual world.

Of course, a more detailed analysis will reveal seven layers: Bhur, Bhuvah Svah, Maha, Jana, Tapa, and Satyaloka. This has been dealt with in detail by Sanatana Goswami in his Brhad-Bhagavatamrtam. Here, these seven strata have been summarized in three planes of existence: physical, mental, and intellectual. And these three planes of experience have been summarized in a word, tat.

The next word in the brahma-gayatri is savitur. Savitur generally means surya, the sun. And the sun means, figuratively, that which shows or illuminates; that by which we can see. The three gross and subtle strata within this world are shown to us by a particular thing, savitur. What it that? The soul. Actually, the world is not shown to us by the sun, but by the soul. What really gives us perception and allows us to see gross things? It is not actually the sun that helps us to see; we see with the help of the soul. This is found in Bhagavad-gita (yatha prakasayaty ekah krtsnam lokam imam ravih). The soul reveals this world to us just as the sun does. The sun can show color to our eyes, the ear can reveal the sound world, and the hand can reveal the touch world. But really in the center is the soul. It is the soul who gives light to this world, who gives us an understanding of the environment, the world of perception. All perception is possible only because of the soul. Here, the word savitur, which generally means sun, can only mean soul, like the sun, shows us everything.

All seven strata of our existence-represented by bhur, the physical plane, bhuvah, the mental plane, and svah, the intellectual plane-have here been reduced to one entity: tat-"that.That" is shown by the sun which in this context indicates the soul. Here soul means individual soul. The individual soul is the cause of his world. Not that the mind is in the world, but the world is in the mind. Berkeley has said that the world is in the mind. Here it is being expressed that everything is seen with the help of the sun. If there is no sun, everything is dark- nothing can be seen. So without light, nothing can be seen. And in a higher sense, light means the soul. The soul is the subject and the soul's object is the seven planes of experience within this world.

The next word in the gayatri mantra is varenyam. Varenyam means puja: worshipable, venerable. This indicates that although within this plane--the objective world--the is the subject, there is another domain which is to be venerated and worshipped by the soul. That is the Supersoul area.

That worshipable plane of existence is known as bhargo. Bhargo means the super subjective area, the area of the Supersoul. This is mentioned in the first verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam: dhamna svena sada nirasta-kuhakam satyam param dhimahi. Srila Vysadeva says that here he is going to deal with another world whose pristine glory is so great that by its own ray, all misconceptions are brushed aside. The subject is the soul, and its object is all these worlds of experience. And the super subject, is the venerable area which is superior to the subject, the soul-- that is the super subjective area.

The word bhargo means"more subtle than the soul," and "holding a more important position than the soul." So this means the Supersoul, the Paramatma. In general, of course, the word bhargo ordinarily means light. Just as an X-ray can show us what the ordinary eye cannot see, bhargo is svarupa-sakti: higher, more powerful light that can reveal the soul. And that energy--bhargo--belongs to whom? It belongs to deva. What is the meaning of the word deva? Deva means "who is beautiful an playful," that is, Sri Krsna: Reality the beautiful. He is not a nondifferentiated substance, but is full of lila, pastimes. Deva means pastimes and beauty combined and this is Krsna.

His domain is bhargo, brilliant, and it is varenyam, to venerated by the jiva soul. What is the nature of the svarupa-sakti? It is the vaibava, the extend body of Srimati Radharani. She holds the full service responsibility and the energy to serve Krsna. bhargo is no less than the vaibava, the extended body of Srimati Radharani, which contains everything for the service of Krsna. Bhargo represents Mahabava, the predominated moiety, and deva, Krsna, is Rasaraja, the predominating moiety.

In the gayatri mantra, we are requested, bhargo devasya dhimahi: "come meditate". What sort of meditation is possible in that plane of dedication? Not abstract meditation, but service cultivation, krsnanusilanam. Dhimahi means " to participate in the spontaneous flow, the current of devotion in Vrndavana." And what will be the result (dhiyo yo nah pracodayat)? The capacity of our cultivation will be increased. As we serve, a greater capacity and willingness to serve will be given to us in remuneration-- just as interest is added to capital in the bank(dasa kari' vetana more deha prema-dhana). In this way, our dedicating principle will be increased again and again. Dhimahi means aradhana, worship. It cannot but be explained in terms of aradhana, puja, seva-- worship, adoration, loving service. The word buddhi means that which we cultivate with the help of our intelligence. But here, dhi is a reference to that venerable intelligence which descends into this plane to help us cultivate service. So dhimahi does not mean abstract meditation, but devotional service. This is the underlying meaning of the gayatri mantra.

Gayatri, the song of deliverance, also means sankirtana. Kirtana is also sung, and it also improves us towards the highest goal. The sankirtana of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also reinstates us in out highest serving position. So brahma-gayatri in connection with Mahaprabhu comes to mean krsna-kirtana. Then it reaches Vrndavana and the flute-kirtana. And when we enter Vrndavana, we shall find that the sweet sound of Krsna's flute helps to engage all the Lords servants in their respective duties. When the flute is sounded, the gopis and others are adjusted in their respective duties. At night, the gopis, hearing the sound of the flute will run to the Yamuna, thinking, "Oh, Krsna's is there." And when Yasoda hears the song of Krsna's flute, she thinks, "My son is there. He is coming home soon." In this way, the sound of the flute engages all the servants of the Lord in their respective positions and inspires them to be mindful of their service.

In my Sanskrit commentary on the gayatri mantra, I have written dhiraradhanam eva nanyaditi tad radha-padam dhimahi : All other services are represented fully in Radhika. Like branches they are all part of her. Madhura rasa is the chief or mukhya-rasa, the combination of all rasas. Srimati Radharani is Mahabhava--she represents the entire serving attitude.

The flute-song of Sri Krsna, expressed as the gayatri mantra, is reminding us and engaging us in our service. And what is our service? Our service must be to surrender ourselves in the service of Srimati Radharani-to accept the suggestion of Radharani. The gayatri mantra will excite us to be mindful about Srimati Radharani's lotus feet, to obey her orders. She is mainly representing the whole service area. So to try to engage ourselves in her service, under her order- to accept her direction and to obey her- that is the service of Sri Radha. In this way, the meaning of the gayatri mantra has been drawn to radha-dasyam, self-determination (svarupena vyavasthitih ).

In the meantime, the partial representations in vatsalya and sakhya rasa are also part and parcel of the original mellow of conjugal love, madhura rasa. The vatsalya rasa devotees will serve Nanda and Yasoda, the sakhya rasa devotee will serve Sridama and Sudama, but ultimately, the whole system in one conception is included in Radharani.

Radha-dasyam, the service of Srimati Radharani, is the ultimate meaning to be extracted from the gayatri mantra. That is the supreme end of our life. It cannot but be so. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the ultimate or full-fledged theism to be extracted from the Vedas, Upanisads, and so many scriptures. All the revealed truth rises to its acme, to its highest position, in the conception given by Srimad-Bhagavatam. And Srimad-Bhagavatam teaches us that the highest realization, self-determination, is the service of Srimati Radharani-that under her guidance we may serve Sri Krsna. We aspire for a direct connection with her service.

What, then, is the inner meaning or purport of the word bhargo? Bhargo means the sum, or "who shows us by light." Radharani is the daughter of Vrsabhanu. I have selected the word bhanu. To represent her personal extended self, I have given the word vaibhava. Vaibhava means, "what comes out," or "extended self." Prabhava is the central representation and vaibhava is the outer extension. The very gist of svarupa-sakti is Srimati Radharani, and the whole svarupa-sakti is her extended self. The town of her beautiful service is the whole svarupa-sakti.

Just as rays of light extend from the sun, the whole internal potency is an extension of Mahabhava, Sri Radhika. She has developed herself into such a beautiful area of brilliance, of internal energy, and thereby she serves her Lord. All these necessary things have sprung from her. To help her in serving her Lord, they all come out. When the entire internal energy is condensed in a concise form, it is Mahabhava, Radharani. And when Radharani wants to serve, she extends herself in limitless different ways. And with some contribution from Baladeva and Yogamaya, the whole spiritual world, including Vrndavana, Mathura, and Vaikuntha, evolves to assist Srimati Radharani in the service of Sri Krsna.

In this way, I have drawn out radha-dasyam, the service of Srimati Radharani as the meaning of the gayatri mantra and have tried to represent it in the above Sanskrit verse.

March 30, 2006

Mantra: Circle within a Circle

Jiva Goswami has written that the name of Krsna is the principle thing in the gayatri mantra. Within the mantra, there are also so many other words, but the name is the most important. If the name of Krsna is taken away, and replaced with some other name, the whole thing will be rotten. This is the decision of Jiva Goswami. The holy name of Krsna is all in all. The holy name of Krsna is there in the gayatri mantra, and so many other words are couched there. But if Krsna's name is taken away and replaced with the name of Siva, then the whole thing will go to Siva. The holy name is the all-important factor.

The holy name of Krsna is so important that even the gayatri mantra may not be necessary. It is said na ca sat kriya, na dikse na ca purascarya manadilate mantrayam rasana spri hanato sri krsna namatmaka: "One need not undergo all the purificatory processes, or follow the six ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas for pious life; one need not even take initiation into the gayatri mantra. If one simply chants the holy name of Krsna without offense, everything will be successful." The holy name of Krsna is the most important consideration. The gayatri mantra may not even be necessary.

We accept the mantra only to help the nama-bhajana, the worship of the holy name. Otherwise, it may not be necessary at all. It has been judged in such a way. The name alone can do everything for a person. lt is full and complete. The mantra helps us to do away with the aparadhas, offenses, and the abhasa, or hazy conceptions in our bhajana. The mantra comes to help us only so far.

An example is given of larger and smaller circles. The holy name of Krsna is the larger circle. It extends from the highest to the lowest. The mantra circle is a smaller circle within the larger circle. The mantra cannot reach to the lowest point. The holy name can extend itself down to the lowest position. The mantra gives us entrance into liberation, and then the name carries us further. This is the nature of our connection with the mantra and the name.

The name extends to the lowest position, to the candalas and yavanas. Everyone can receive the name. But everyone is not eligible for the gayatri mantra. Only after one has reached a developed stage can the mantra be conferred upon him. And the mantra's jurisdiction will be finished when liberation is attained. In the Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi. 7. 73):

krsna-mantra haite habe samsara mocana

krsna-nama haite pabe krsnera carana

"The Krsna gayatri mantra liberates one from repeated birth and death in this world; the holy name of Krsna gives one shelter at the lotus feet of Krsna." The gayatri mantra helps us achieve liberation, and then the mantra retires. After giving us liberation, the mantra is finished. But the name will continue all along, from the lowest to the highest. In chanting the name, there is no mention of any petition--it is an address only. We should not chant with the mentality that, "I want this." We must simply chant the name spontaneously. That will encourage good will in us. So, because the function of the mantra is limited, but the name is all-important, the nama guru will be honored first, and next, the mantra guru, and then the other Vaisnavas.

Beggar · March 31, 2006

We are to harmonize with the environment. Srila Sridhar Maharaja has explained this is so many ways. Srila Narayana Maharaja's credentials as a bonafide Gaudiya Vaisnava in the line of Srila Sarasvati Thakur are impeccable. So why not harmonize with this Vaisnava? Why is there a still a clandestine war against Srila Narayana Maharaja by many claiming to be followers of Srila Sridhar Maharaja? Because they claim that Srila Narayana Maharaja is an offender to Srila Sridhar Maharaja. But why would an "offender" refuse to initiate during the time of Srila Sridhar Maharaja? Why would an offender arrainge to have Srila Sridhar Maharaja's composed bhajans sung in his sanga? Why would an offender give so much honor to Srila Sridhar Maharaja that he calls him his Siksa guru? If the teachings of Srila Sridhar Maharaja and Srila Narayana Maharaja clash then why would Srila Narayana Maharaja encourage his followers to read the books of Srila Sridhar Maharaja? The principle reason that we must harmonize is that these acarya's are message carriers of the past acaryas. When we find contradictions we are really finding irreconcilable differences amongst previous Gaudiya Acaryas, and that becomes our dull-headed, and foolish path of aparadha, offense. Unfortunately ignorance is no excuse. As Srila Sridhar Maharaja was fond of saying, "fools rush in where angels fear to tread".

March 31, 2006

We are to harmonize with the environment. Srila Sridhar Maharaja has explained this is so many ways. Srila Narayana Maharaja's credentials as a bonafide Gaudiya Vaisnava in the line of Srila Sarasvati Thakur are impeccable. So why not harmonize with this Vaisnava? Why is there a still a clandestine war against Srila Narayana Maharaja by many claiming to be followers of Srila Sridhar Maharaja? Because they claim that Srila Narayana Maharaja is an offender to Srila Sridhar Maharaja. But why would an "offender" refuse to initiate during the time of Srila Sridhar Maharaja? Why would an offender arrainge to have Srila Sridhar Maharaja's composed bhajans sung in his sanga? Why would an offender give so much honor to Srila Sridhar Maharaja that he calls him his Siksa guru? If the teachings of Srila Sridhar Maharaja and Srila Narayana Maharaja clash then why would Srila Narayana Maharaja encourage his followers to read the books of Srila Sridhar Maharaja? The principle reason that we must harmonize is that these acarya's are message carriers of the past acaryas. When we find contradictions we are really finding irreconcilable differences amongst previous Gaudiya Acaryas, and that becomes our dull-headed, and foolish path of aparadha, offense. Unfortunately ignorance is no excuse. As Srila Sridhar Maharaja was fond of saying, "fools rush in where angels fear to tread".

Maybe it is "Good PR" to speak respectfully of Srila Sridhar Maharaja nowadays.

As for all the "why" questions, here is another one.

Why is it that B.V. Narayana Maharaja never visited or spoke with Srila Sridhar Maharaj even one time between 1969 and 1988, when Srila Sridhar Maharaj left this world?

There has been some false propaganda spread here and there that B.V. Narayana Maharaja visited Srila Sridhar Maharaj every year at the time of the Gaura Purnima festival but since nobody ever saw B.V. Narayana Maharaja we have to consider the possiblity that he used to go there in an invisble or spiritual form. Someone once said that maybe he went there in his manjari swarup. God only knows if this is true.

March 31, 2006

This is the response to the indian business man rumor that Syamarani wrote in 2002 on VNN.

What is your Source Materiel

By Srimati Syamarani

Under ordinary circumstances, and even extraordinary circumstances, we are completely against the defamation of anyone, but given the severity of this case we thought it necessary to alert readers as to the questionable source of the above-mentioned statements that were posted and distributed throughout the world. If you are considering whether to believe the above statements or not, you may want to inquire into the identity of the "anonymous Delhi businessman".

Perhaps the reason for his anonymity is that those who know his reputation will doubt his statements. His uninitiated name is Veda Prakasa Agharwal, and after he took initiation from Gopal Krsna Maharaja, his name became Vedavyasa dasa. We have gathered information from the Delhi Indian community of devotees that he is a renowned Delhi businessman, but his reputation among his business associates is to be ruthless and dishonest. It is a well-known fact that he has a bad relationship with his father and wife, due to his immoral and unkind activities. When he came to ISKCON his nature of being overpowering and arrogant became painfully visible among his god-brothers. In fact, because of his harsh nature and his continually rebuking and humiliating other devotees, some of them were forced to leave ISKCON. His dominating nature is nevertheless tolerated because he is rich and he also collects big donations from others.

Vedavyasa's wife, who he deserted in his own house, used to come to parampujyapada Srila Narayana Maharaja without invitation from him. She came on her own, and she accepted harinama maha-mantra from him by her own will. No one forced her at all, but this was intolerable to Vedavyasa. He never considered what is Vedic and what is not Vedic, what is Vaisnava behavior and what is not, and he never considered what is an offence to the lotus feet of a Vaisnava. Thus, he threatened to expel his wife from his house if she did not return her beads, and he forcibly took her to Srila Maharaja in order to do so.

His tale is not new to us, for he has been relating it for years in his local ISKCON temple and misleading innocent devotees. Reputable people in the Indian community confirm that this man is a habitual liar, and he can say anything, even in front of the Deities. We've also heard from various sources that he's aspiring to become a GBC.

If readers wish to believe information from such sources, it is their decision. We simply felt it necessary to mention that this particular individual may not be the ideal source of information on such a delicate subject as the character of a pure devotee of Krishna. end of Srimati Syamaranis article.

March 31, 2006

It seems that Srila Prabhupada actually gave more credence to second Initiation than first. Here is his letter to Jadurani 09/04/72:

My dear Jadurani,

Regarding your questions, second initiation is real initiation. First initiation is the preliminary, just to make him prepared, just like primary and secondary education. The first initiation gives him chance to become purified, and when he is actually purified then he is recognized as a brahmana and that means real initiation.

theist · March 31, 2006

It seems that Srila Prabhupada actually gave more credence to second Initiation than first. Here is his letter to Jadurani 09/04/72:

My dear Jadurani,

Regarding your questions, second initiation is real initiation. First initiation is the preliminary, just to make him prepared, just like primary and secondary education. The first initiation gives him chance to become purified, and when he is actually purified then he is recognized as a brahmana and that means real initiation.

Placing all these forced interpretations on the words of elevated acaryas to make them harmonize with one's own guru's words will only bring confusion. For instance

"when he is actually purified then he is recognized as a brahmana and that means real initiation."

Now that says to me that being "actually purified" is "real initiation." We all know of second 'intiated' "disciples" who raped little boys so they obviously weren't actually purified and therefore I don't accept them as being really initiated. Such people wearing brahman strings may as well fly kites with them for all care, I ain't listening to them speak their phony Krsna-katha.

Teachers do differ on some points. Take your pick and take your chances.

Beggar · March 31, 2006

Maybe it is "Good PR" to speak respectfully of Srila Sridhar Maharaja nowadays.

Face it Srila Sridhar Maharaja's presence has been obvious in the Srila Narayana Maharaja's sanga since the early 90's. If you look a the pictures of the ISKCON (or Ex-ISKCON) devotees there in the 80's on Srila Sridhar Maharaja's veranda you'll see many of the same faces that are with Srila Narayana Maharaja today. For what ever reason those devotee's identified with Srila Sridhar Maharaja's vani but did not feel compelled to follow his formal diksa line into the present day, nor join the Math. They went for siksa which for them is and was to gain a deeper understanding into the teachings of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. They also took it to hear that one can have one diksa guru and many siksa gurus. This was also comfirmed by Srila Sridhar Maharaja. We want to go to the Sri Caitanya Saraswat Math but are told. "if you go there (Srila Narayana Maharaja) don't come here". We also hear statements such as, "there is sahajiya bhajan going on in almost all the maths, except Sri Caityanya Saraswat Math", so the sahajiya charges are leveled at one and all. Consequently Srila Sridhar Maharaja's apparent camp sticks to itself, exclusively and doesn't venture outside the gates. But Srila Sridhar Maharaja himself said [to paraphrase], "a three year old boy may be told, don't go outside the gate of your fathers house, there is danger. But if that same boy will not venture beyond the gate when he reaches maturity he will be a fool.” As followers of Srila Prabhupada we did not venture beyond the gate of ISKCON only to re-enlist in the primary education, yet it seems that is what is being asked. If the devotees of the Sri Caitanya Saraswat Math want to be insular and fear the greater Gaudiya Vaisnava association that is the perogative of their leader and leaders. It is not any different than what our Prabhupada did during his ISKCON lila and therefore it is certainly appropriate for devotees in the very beginning stage. Yet the result of all this is that the Math followers no longer feel that Srila Sridhar Maharaja's teachings should be spread to the general Gaudiya community unless those who receive those teachings become supporters of Srila Sridhar Maharaja's diksa line. The result of this is that practically the only time ISKCONites quote Srila Sridhar Maharaja it is in an attempt to bash Srila Narayana Maharaja. When Srila Sridhar Maharaja says, "pujala raga patha gauvave bhange, this is the very gist of Bhaktisiddhanta vani", why is this not relevant to the followers of Srila Narayana Maharaja ,Srila Bhaktivenda Prabhupada, Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Maharaja etc? Why do they have to join your mission to take it to heart? The result of this type of so called "exclusivity" is that the formal followers of Srila Sridhar Maharaja no longer reach out to other major sangas with a message that is relevant to anyone but the members of their own Math. It is now up to others to try to make available the teachings of Srila Sridhar Maharaja and entice others to be open minded enough to hear them by showing their universal benefit for everyone aspiring to follow the line of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

March 31, 2006

Yes here we have the typical propaganda we are used to, yet again.

But you didn't give an answer, how come NM never visited Srila Sridhar Maharaj during the last 20 years Srila Sridhar Maharaj was living in this world?

nimbo pani · March 31, 2006

One could easily conclude that you are the one engaging in "propaganda." In fact, that is exactly the way I take it. I have read Srila Sridhara Maharaja's books several times, and his mood was that of "harmonizing." You obviously do not share this mood.

Judging by your disrespectful, (if not down-right inimical) tone, I seriously doubt that any answer (or refutation) would meet your approval.

Sadhu-Sanga - Hearing and Talking About Higher Lilas

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