Saturday, August 30, 2008

Individual personality


Q: Can anyone become self realized?

A: Yes. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught this lesson to all the smartas, seminal brahmins and caste conscious persons, by accepting Hari Das Thakur as the Genuine Guru Acharya of the chanting of the holy name. Hari Das had no connection to the Brahmin Society and was considered an outcast by all most all of them. Mahaprabhu however praised Hari Das as being a true devotee of the lord. Krishna in his avatar as the holy name danced 24/7 on the tounge of Thakur Hari Das.

Q: How can we become self realized today?

A: There are many answers to this question but the first one is that you should find out a genuine guru. Submit relevant question and try to render some service as he requires. Gradually by hearing the siddhanta (philosophy of bhakti yoga and its conclusion) and rendering service you should be well on your way.

Q: How can I practice Bhakti in my everyday life?

A: You will have to pose that question to your guru. Times, places and circumstances change and require personal advice but I can answer in a general way.

If you like to paint, paint pictures of Krishna, if you like to talk then speak about Krishna. Perhaps you like to cook, then cook for Krishna.

Do what your doing now but learn to do it for Krishna's pleasure. Instead of eating rotten flesh, take wonderful tasty foods that have been cooked with love and devotion then offered to Krishna. Krishna will accept your devotion, then he leaves the foodstuffs for your maintenance.

Q: Where do I find a guru?

A: When you are truly sincere about self realization, he will find you. Krishna in your heart will give you the ability to recognize a genuine spiritual master. Be warned though...if your are not serious you will certainly be cheated. You may end up serving an pathetic idiot dressed like a sadhu, then cry like a baby later. Please be very sincere and Krishna will always help you.

I remember a conversation between my spiritual master and a few students when the topic of bogus gurus came up. He said: "They must be there because so many people desire to be cheated". The point of the discussion was that if you want something other than the truth then that is what you will get. Bogus gurus are a dime a dozen and most certainly you will find one that will tell you what you want to hear, but a genuine spiritual master is very rare in this world as is a genuine disciple.

Q: If you were to give me some general advice , what would it be ?

A: Try to see the individual personality of the spirit soul in every type of body, human, animals, trees insects etc. If you can practice your devotion with that vision then you will not commit crimes against other souls who's only fault is that they have a different looking body than yours. Along with that meditation try to visualize that the lord also resides within every ones heart as a witness.

Q: Are the souls within all bodies the same ?

A: They are all individual souls. They are eternal and part and parcel of Krishna but due to their individual desires and previous activities are embodied accordingly. Regardless of what body covers the soul the individual soul remains a spirit particle and will continue on his journey body after body until he gets the great opportunity (human birth) to associate in full consciousness (satvik-intelligence) with a self realized guru.


Q: What can I do to help maintain that kind of vision?

A: Prepare your own food using satvik ingredients( fresh vegetables,fruits, grains etc).

Show respect to everyone.

See all women as your mother.

Lust, Anger and Greed are huge obstacles on the path toward god realization. These general practices will help free us from their grip.

Stay in constant association with Sri Krishna and his pure devotees by hearing, chanting, reading, serving, meditation etc.

Always chant the holy name like a child crying for his mother. The mother is the only shelter for the baby. The baby is totally dependant on the mother. In the same way, as devotees we recognize that we are completely dependant on the mercy of Krishna.

Questions sent to me via eMail ..... AJD

First faint reflection

The Name of Krishna is identical with Godhead. But the Name of Krishna does not manifest Himself on mundane lips nor to the mundane ear. The Name Krishna appears in His Form of the Transcendental Sound on the spiritual lips of His devotees and is heard by the spiritual ear of the submissive soul by the Grace of Krishna. The Name Krishna is identical with the Possessor of the Name. The Name Krishna appears to the listening ear, as He is, only by degrees. As soon as the dormant soul catches the first faint reflection of His Light he is at once completely free from the bondage of ignorance and sin. It is the Name Who comes of His Own accord to our fettered soul. The bound jiva, or living entity, has no access to the Presence of Krishna on his own initiative. Krishna's Approach is heralded by the harbinger of Light whose first glimmerings on their appearance put an end to all misconception regarding the categorical difference between light and darkness . - Bhaktisiddhanta Sarsvati Goswami Maharaj

Friday, August 29, 2008

Antimaterial World

The transcendentalists and the materialists are two distinct classes of men. The transcendentalist gathers knowledge from authoritative scriptures like the Vedas. Vedic literature is received from authoritative sources which are in the line of transcendental disciplic succession. This disciplic succession (paramparā) is also mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gītā that hundreds of thousands of years ago the Gītā was spoken to the presiding deity of the sun, who delivered the knowledge to his son Manu, from whom the present generation of man has descended. Manu, in his turn, delivered this transcendental knowledge to his son King Ikṣvāku, who is the forefather of the dynasty in which the Personality of Godhead Śrī Rāma appeared. This long chain of disciplic succession was broken during the advent period of Lord Krsna (five thousand years ago), and for this reason Krsna restated the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, thereby making him the first disciple of this knowledge in this age. The transcendentalist of this age, therefore, is in the disciplic line that starts with Arjuna. Without troubling himself with materialistic research work, the transcendentalist acquires the truths concerning matter and antimatter in the most perfect way (through this disciplic succession) and thereby saves himself much botheration.

The gross materialists, however, do not believe in the antimaterial worlds of the Personality of Godhead. They are therefore unfortunate creatures, although sometimes very talented, educated and advanced otherwise. They are bewildered by the influence of the material manifestation and are devoid of knowledge of things antimaterial. It is a good sign, therefore, that the materialistic scientists are gradually progressing toward the region of the antimaterial world. It may even be possible for them to make sufficient progress to be able to know the details of this antimaterial world, where the Personality of Godhead resides as the predominating figure and where the living entities live with Him and serve Him. The living entities who serve the Godhead are equal in quality to Him, but at the same time they are predominated as servitors. In the antimaterial world there is no difference between the predominated and the predominator—the relationship is in perfection and without tinge of materialism. ACBSP

Thursday, August 28, 2008

sadhane bhavibe jaha -- siddha dehe paibe taha
pakvapakva matra ei vicara

What you meditate on in your spiritual practices is what you will attain in your spiritual body. The only difference is that one is an unripe state, the other is ripe.

Narottam Das Thakur ...Prema-bhakti-candrika

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Those fortunate seekers

Q: Is it necessary to be in the association of saintly persons (sadhu-sanga) at all times?

A: We must be in sadhu-sanga at every moment. I am weak. Without sadhu-sanga I cannot possibly save myself. If I remain far away from sadhu-sanga, then I will fall pray to the ill-mentality that “I am the master.” If we do not live in accordance with the instructions of the sadhu or the guru, then we will be plunged into great calamity. The moment we are without shelter, maya will capture us. Consequently, we will roam here and there in this material world as a servant of maya.

Q: How is one delivered from the cycle of material existence (samsara)?

A: Without the mercy of Bhagavan, no one can ever be delivered from material bondage. We are the eternally purchased slaves of Krsna. As soon as we forget this, we must become the slaves of maya. Only service to Bhagavan constitutes bhakti. The desire for sense gratification is not bhakti (abhakti); it is entanglement in material existence. The only way to be delivered from this disastrous material existence is to hear krsna-katha from Sri Guru and the Vaisnavas, accompanied by self-surrender, submissive inquiry and a service attitude. By hearing hari-katha with affection (priti), the tendency to get entangled in material existence will come to an end.

Q: Should one accept disciples?

A: Without becoming a suddha-bhakta* or a mukta (liberated soul), a person should not accept disciples. First, he should become a disciple himself by taking shelter of a bona fide guru, and he should also hear hari-katha from his lips. Then in his own life he should practise all he has heard from Sri Guru. Thereafter, by humbly performing kirtana – that is, repeating to others what he has heard – gradually he may also become a guru himself.

It is self-deception to think “I will intentionally remain laghu (insignificant) forever.” One must become guru..

This does not necessarily mean that one must accept disciples. Still, by the desire of Bhagavan, some suddha-bhaktas impart instructions for the welfare of the people in general. They are devoid of any selfish motive in doing so. Their purpose is to make those who are laghu (insignificant) become guru (significant); to make those averse to Bhagavan inclined towards Him; and to make everyone a devotee of Krsna.

Q: Is Krsna the wealth of the guru?

A: Srila Gurudeva is the proprietor of Bhagavan. Bhagavan Sri Krsna is the wealth of Sri Gurudeva, so only Sri Guru can give us Bhagavan. It is solely by the mercy of Sri Guru that one will attain Krsna’s mercy and have darsana of Him.

Q: What does “darsana of Bhagavan” mean?

A: To have darsana of Bhagavan means cent-per-cent engagement of the senses in the service of Godhead. In other words, it means to serve Bhagavan with all of one’s senses throughout the twenty-four hours of the day. To be thus engaged is in fact to be established in atma-dharma (the constitutional function of the soul) and is actual bhagavat-darsana. Internal and external sphurti (transcendental vision) of Krsna, which arises by Sri Guru’s mercy as well as by the influence of one’s bhajana, is indeed darsana of Krsna.

Q: Is it especially necessary to have antar-darsana (internal darsana)?

A: Certainly. To relinquish external vision – vision aimed at enjoying this world – along with the physical forms therein, it is especially necessary to have internal vision. Someone who does not have internal vision will surely have external vision, in which he sees everything as meant for his own enjoyment. Indeed, external vision means seeing maya, or illusion.

When someone is extremely eager to see the contents of the letter, he won’t waste his time staring at the external envelope. If we can perceive the whole universe as engaged in the service of Bhagavan, our external vision of it will be dispelled.

“Bhagavan pervades the whole universe; everyone’s heart is His place of residence. He constantly resides in the temple of my heart to bestow upon me the opportunity to serve Him.”

When this realization intensifies and becomes strong, we will see the whole world as His residence, just as we see our heart – atmavat manyate jagat. We will perceive the presence of our worshipable Lord everywhere. At that time there will be no question of having bahir-darsana, external vision; itara-darsana, separate vision from the interest of Krsna; laghu-darsana, insignificant vision; visva-darsana, objective vision of the phenomenal universe; and so forth. Only then will we perceive the whole world to be full of transcendental happiness.

Q: Can I protect myself?

A: Never. To think, “I will protect myself,” is a fiendish, non-devotee mentality. As soon as this type of ill-thought comes, one is endangered.

“Sri Krsna is my sole protector. What do I have to fear?” We should exclusively imbibe this exalted conception, just as Bhakta Prahlada Maharaja did. If we become indifferent to the narrations and instructions of Sri Bhagavan, then soon after, our reliance on Him will lessen. As a result of this, our various ill-thoughts and our false-egos would place us in a calamitous situation.

We will constantly busy ourselves in service to Bhagavan without wasting even a single moment. We have to serve, remaining exclusively in the association of sadhus. By constantly remaining in such sadhu-sanga, our aptitude for service will continuously be enhanced.

Bhagavan fulfils every desire of His surrendered bhaktas without fail, and He never rejects them – krsna sei satya kare, yei mage bhrtya [Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 15.166]. Only Sri Bhagavan has the ability to protect us by giving us shelter. Other than He, no one else has such power. With such resolute faith, we can become free from fear and anxiety, and become happy and successful. Krsna is the embodiment of auspiciousness; and therefore, if we have complete faith in His nature to bestow auspiciousness, we will certainly attain such auspiciousness. Words cannot express the kind of great auspiciousness that is obtained by surrendering fully at the lotus feet of Bhagavan.

Q: Who will be delivered?

A: It is only when we do not engage ourselves in service to Bhagavan that other thoughts, characteristic of the enjoying mentality, grasp us. The embodiment of compassion, Sri Krsna, is always ready to protect us from this danger, but how will we be protected if we do not entirely depend upon Him? As the guru, Krsna protects the jiva. Sri Guru is the embodiment of Krsna’s mercy. Sri Gurudeva, the representative of Sri Krsna, descends to this world to deliver the jiva from material existence and bring him back to Krsna. Only those fortunate seekers of the Truth who whole-heartedly accept the mercy of Sri Gurudeva can be delivered from this material existence and enter into the abode of transcendental peace and happiness.

Excerpted from the Srila Prabhupadera Upadesamrta
of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

Monday, August 25, 2008

This picture of Lord Jagannatha was taken in Puri during the annual Snana Yatra festival. Once a year the deities of Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra are taken out of the temple for a bathing ceremony. This occurs around two weeks before the Ratha Yatra festival.

Friday, August 22, 2008

One night Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to Gopala Bhatta in a dream and told him to go to the Gandaki River in Nepal and obtain some Shaligram-shilas to worship. Gopala Bhatta Gosvami then went personally to the source of the Gandaki River in Nepal and collected twelve Shaligram-shilas. One of the shalagram was distinctly a Damodara Shalagram. Gopala Bhatta took the shalagrams and placed them in a basket, which he hung on the branch of a tree that was located at the place of the rasa-lila. He worshiped them daily reverentially. Gopala Bhatta would worship these shalagrama-shilas in his place near Nidhivana.

Eventually a rich man came and donated dresses and ornaments for the Deities in the temples in Vrindavana. He also donated some dresses and ornaments for the shalagrama-shilas. Gopala Bhatta went to this man and said, “how can I dress my shalagrams with these dresses and ornaments.” He then thought, that he had been very unlucky not to be able to have the darshan and perform further service to Sri Caitanya. He then prayed to Lord Caitanya that you fulfill the desires of your devotees, please give me your bodily darshan, so I can worship you in this form. This happened on the appearance day of Lord Narasimhadeva.

The next morning he saw that a beautiful Deity of Krishna had manifested from the Damodara-shila. His face was like Sri Radha Govinda dev, His chest was like Sri Radha Gopinath, and His legs and feet were similar to Sri Radha Madana Mohan. Gopala Bhatta gave this attractive Deity the name Radha Raman.

Gopala Bhatta went to the Gandaki River in Nepal. During this time he went to a village near Haridwar named Devaban. He was invited into the house of a brahmana. The son of this brahmana, named Gopinatha, later came to Vrindavana. He was initiated by Gopala Bhatta and he was placed in charge of the Deity worship of Radha-Raman. He did not marry and remained a life-long celibate. Gopala Bhatta asked Gopinatha to get married, so his family could continue the worship of Radha-Raman. Gopinatha requested that he not get married and that his younger brother, named Sri Damodar Das, would continue the Deity worship. This family line from Sri Damodar Das has continued to worship the Deity of Radha-Raman in an unbroken chain, up to this day.

There are about 40 Gosvami families connected to the Radha-Raman temple.

Sri Sriman Madhva-Gaudeshwar-Vasihnav-achraya Padmanabha Gosvami Maharaj, a leading priest of the Sri Radharaman temple lineage of Goswamis, who trace their ancestry to Sri Gopala Bhatta, a close disciple of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. His grandfather Sarvabhaum Madhusudan Gosvami, who was known as a distinguished preacher and a Vaishnava scholar, met both Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Gosvami. He met Bhaktivinoda Thakur in 1906 and 1912, and Bhaktisiddhanta in 1911. He wrote in his diary on September 6, 1911: “Sri Vimala Prasad Siddhanta Saraswati (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja) today came at night, 9 pm. Ramananda Babaji was also present. Very intimate thoughts were viewed and discussed.” On September 7 he wrote: “At night we heard the voluminous writings by Sri Vimal Prasad, the writings very much appealed to us.” On the 22th of December in 1914 he sent the maha-prasada of Radha-Raman to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Gosvami, who at that time was doing the installation of Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s samadhi.

His holiness Padmanabh Goswami maharaj's grandfather met both Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja and A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. H.H Padmanabh Goswami’s father, Viswambhar Gosvami, was considered one of the main scholars of Vrindavan. Srila Prabhupad was very closed friend of Sri Vishambhar Goswami. When Srila Prabhupada came to Vrindavan in 1971, with a group of his disciples, the Vrindavan municipality honored Srila Prabhupada and his Western disciples with a formal reception at the town hall. Sri Vishambhar Goswami was the First Mayor of Vrindavan town. Sri Viswambhar Goswami gave the opening talk at this time in glorification of Srila Prabhupada.

Janmastami

Janmastami, Krsna’s birthday is also called Nanda-mahotsava, the festival of Nanda Maharaja. At that time Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His devotees dressed themselves as cowherd boys. Mahaprabhu carried a balance with pots of yogurt and wheeled a rod about.


Temples in Vrindavan India, where Sri Krishna appeared, witness extravagant and colourful celebrations. On this occasion. Raslila is performed to recreate incidents from the life of Krishna and to commemorate his love for Srimati Radharani. The Deity of baby Krishna is bathed at midnight and is placed in a cradle. Devotional discourse, songs and dances mark the celebration of this festive occasion all over the world.

Yogapitha (Mathura, India) is the exact spot where
Sri Krishna appeared 5000 years ago.

Braj Bhoomi

In Braj Bhoomi, everyone is either talking about the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Gopijanna Ballavah or thinking about them privately. In Braj Bhoomi, Krishna is the all and all. In Braj Bhoomi, the queen is Srimati Radharani. In Braj Bhoomi, every step is like a dance and everything said is sweet nectar for the ears and heart. In Braj Bhoomi, all the animals frolic happily with out fear. The birds sing their songs and squirrels make their joyful chatter. In Braj Bhoomi, peacocks display their feathers proudly and the cows and calves walk by absorbed in leela smaranam. In Brag Bhoomi, the trees and plants offer sweet fragrances and shade for the divine couple and their associates who are actively engaged in facilitating the leelas of the day.

A das

Bits and Pieces......... Bhaktisiddhanta


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

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

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

more

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Okra

Bhindi or Okra is a delicious main course vegetable dish filled with spices. Mother Yasoda and Saci Mata would always prepare this vegetable, one way or another, for the pleasure of the Lord and his associates.

Serves 2 to 3.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb okra
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Oil. ( Ghee, Mustard seed oil, Olive oil, Vegetable oil, Corn oil etc, it's your choice. Each type of oil will give this vegetable dish it's own unique flavor )
  • Pinch of asafetida (hing)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon coriander powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon red chilly powder (adjust to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
  • 1 tablespoon gram flour (besan) (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow bell pepper
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper

Method

Wash the okra and pat dry. Make sure to completely dry the okra as wet okra will be sticky when cutting. Cut off the both ends of the okra pieces and slice lengthwise in halves. Set aside.

Heat a heavy skillet or wok on medium-high heat. Add the Ghee. When the Ghee is heated, add the cumin seeds and asafetida (hing). When the cumin seeds crack, add the okra. Stir for a minute and reduce the heat to medium. Cover the okra for two to three minutes. Remove the cover and add the coriander powder, red chilly powder and turmeric. Next add the gram flour (besan) and continue to stir-fry until the okra is tender. Add the salt, mango powder and bell peppers.

Variations

Adding colorful bell pepper is a great garnish for the okra and adds flavor to the dish. You can substitute the bell pepper with sliced tomatoes as a garnish.

You can also slice the okra in 1/4 inch pieces and follow the same method above.

Tip - Add salt last to avoid the okra from becoming lacey.

A Moonbeam of Sheer Astonishment


FIRST PRANK
THE MEETING IN THE BOX

Sri Krishna stealthily gets into a box of clothes and ornaments which Mother Yashoda wants to send to Sri Radhika's as a gift. Abhimanyu, Radha's dull-witted husband, unknowingly carries the box to Her bedroom on Yasoda's request. Later, after the gopis gather around, the box is opened to the great amusement of Sri Radha and Her girlfriends.

SECOND PRANK
MEETING IN THE DISGUISE OF ABHIMANYU

Sri Krishna, coming in the disguise of Radha's husband Abhimanyu, succeeds in deceiving Jatila, Radharani's senile mother-in-law. Thus He obtains Jatila's permission to sport with Sri Radha in Her own house, after having the real Abhimanyu chastised and driven away by Jatila and her foolish daughter Kutila.

THIRD PRANK
MEETING IN THE DISGUISE OF A FEMALE DOCTOR

Old Jatila is suspicious that her Daughterh-in-law Radharani is somehow or other meeting secretly with Sri Krishna. Therefore she prohibits Sri Radha from going outside the house at all. With the help of Her girlfriend Visakha, Radha pretends to suffer from a deadly snakebite. Thereafter, Sri Krishna arrives in the disguise of Vidyavali , the daughter of Garga Rsi who is a doctor specializing in treatment of snakebites. Thus disguised as a young girl doctor, He manages to spend the night with Sri Radhika while pretending to cure Her.

FOURTH PRANK
MEETING IN THE DISGUISE OF A FEMALE SINGER

Sri Krishna, coming in the disguise of Kalavali, a girl singer, fails to propitiate the pouting huff of Radharani. Thereafter, He deceives old Jatila into the belief that He is a girl-cousin of Sri Radha. Thus, upon Jatila's strict order, the reluctant Sri Radha is obliged to accept His companionship for the night.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Source

One morning, Sanatana Goswami, saw a dream in which one brahmana was presenting the Srimad Bhagavatam to him. Suddenly he woke up, but seeing that no one was there, he felt sad. Later on, in the morning after he had finished his bath and performance of puja, one brahmana came to his house and presented him with the Bhagavata, instructing him to study it very thoroughly. Having received it in this way, he was beside himself with bliss, and from that day, considering the Bhagavata to be the essence of all scriptures, he began its thorough study.

“My only constant companion, my only friend, guru, wealth, that which has delivered me, my great fortune and the source of my good luck, the form through which I taste pleasure, my obeisances to you, Srimad Bhagavatam.”

Sri Krishna-lila stava

Monday, August 18, 2008

The mind of Srimati Radharani


After giving up the company of the gopis in Vrndavana, Sri Krsna, the son of Maharaja Nanda,engaged in His pastimes at Dvaraka. When Krsna went to Kuruksetra with His brother and sister and others from Dvaraka, He again met the inhabitants of Vrndavana. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalita, that is, Krsna Himself assuming the part of Srimati Radharani in order to understand Krsna.

Lord Jagannatha-deva is Krsna, and Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Srimati Radharani. Caitanya Mahaprabhu's leading Lord Jagannatha toward Gundica temple corresponded to Srimati Radharani's leading Krsna toward Vrndavana. Sri Ksetra, Jagannatha Puri, was taken as the kingdom of Dvaraka, the place where Krsna enjoys supreme opulence. However, He was being led by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Vrndavana, the simple village where all the inhabitants are filled with ecstatic love for Krsna. Sri Ksetra is a place of aisvarya-lila, just as Vrndavana is the place of madhurya-lila. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's following at the rear of the ratha indicated that Lord Jagannatha, Krsna, was forgetting the inhabitants of Vrndavana. Although Krsna neglected the inhabitants of Vrndavana, He could not forget them. Thus in His opulent Ratha-yatra, He was returning to Vrndavana. In the role of Srimati Radharani, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was examining whether the Lord still remembered the inhabitants of Vrndavana. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu fell behind the Ratha car, Jagannatha-deva, Krsna Himself, understood the mind of Srimati Radharani. Therefore, Jagannatha sometimes fell behind the dancing Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to indicate to Srimati Radharani that He had not forgotten. Thus Lord Jagannatha would wait on the ratha for their forward march. In this way Lord Jagannatha agreed that without the ecstasy of Srimati Radharani He could not feel satisfied. While Jagannatha was thus waiting, Gaurasundara, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in His ecstasy of Srimati Radharani, immediately came forward to Krsna. At such times, Lord Jagannatha would proceed ahead very slowly.

These competitive exchanges were all part of the love affair between Krsna and Srimati Radharani. In that competition between Lord Caitanya's ecstasy for Jagannatha and Jagannatha's ecstasy for Srimati Radharani, Caitanya Mahaprabhu emerged successful.

Caitanya-caritamrta, Madyam lila 13:70-119 ...... ACBSP

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Poison

If you feel that you are suffering it is probably so. The reasons for suffering could be many but generally speaking it is a reaction to previous activities either in this life or your last lives.

If in this life by your good sukriti (accumulated devotional merit) you come in connection with the genuine vaishnavas and due to ignorance make some aparadha (offense)your suffering will increase tremendously. If that is the case please continue reading.

Mahaprabhu explained how to atone for offenses to the Vaishnavas in answer to a Brahmin's question.

Listen, Brahmin, if someone eats poison then he must take ambrosia through the very same mouth. Then the poison will be digested and the body will become immortal by the power of the divine ambrosia. Now let me answer your question. Whatever blasphemies you have unknowingly made are exactly like poison which you have eaten. Now you must use the same mouth to constantly glorify Krishna's name and qualities, which are like ambrosia. You have used this mouth to insult the devotees, now use it to glorify them. Glorify the devotees as the best of humanity, glorify them in songs and poetry. I will destroy all the poison of blasphemy through the ambrosia of the ecstasies of Krishna's glories. You have all unknowingly committed offenses; this is the truth. If you should stop all kinds of offensive activity and simply engage in praising Krishna and his devotees, then you will be free from all the sins you have committed, however numerous they may be. You will not be able to achieve the same results by millions of atonements. (Chaitanya Bhagavat 3.3.449-458)

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur comments: "An offensive person will only attain auspiciousness if he uses the mouth through which he made his blasphemous comments to acknowledge his offense and then to glorify Krishna and his devotees. If you take poison it will disrupt the body's functioning, but you can remedy the situation by taking a medicine that destroys its effects. Similarly, the way to become free from the poisonous effects of Vaishnava-ninda is to first of all stop; then, rather than performing thousands of other ineffective atonement rituals, one should glorify the Vaishnava.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Necessity

In the Krishna conception of theism, there is a deep-rooted correlation between union with the Lord and separation from Him. Without separation, union cannot be deep-rooted. The pain of separation can enter into the depth of the heart much more than cheerfulness. Such apprehension increases our satisfaction. The greater our want, the greater our satisfaction.

This is especially true in love affairs. If there is no necessity of a thing, it has no value. This principle is found everywhere. A glass of water is ordinary, but according to the degree of its necessity, its value will increase. So the degree of necessity is most important. Necessity means separation. Necessity independent of fulfillment is separation, hunger....

The Palace

He who knows the glories of Vrndavana will understand this,and especially one who has received the mercy of Vrndavana will understand this. In his Sri Vrndavana-mahimamrta, Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati has written that Vrndavana is our everything, and not just the village of Vrndavana, but the entire Vraja-mandala. Especially Nandagrama, Varsana, Radha-kunda, Syama-kunda, Giriraja-Govardhana: they are all included within Vrndavana. Sri Krsna and His eternal associates have performed pastimes there that are thoroughly unique.

For understanding these things, the instructions of Bhagavad-gita serve as a foundation. Constructed upon this foundation is the palace of Srimad-Bhagavatam with its twelve floors. There are nine storeys or cantos lower, two storeys or cantos above, and in the middle is the tenth storey, or the Tenth Canto. Inside this there are ninety different kunjas, which are the chapters of the Tenth Canto. And in the center of this are five special chambers, which are the five chapters describing the Rasa dance, where Sri Radha and Krsna are enjoying amorous pastimes. It appears that Radhika is serving Krsna, but really Krsna is serving Her. As long as the foundation of the instructions of Bhagavad-Gita is not there, we will take a mundane understanding of these topics and everything will be ruined.

Excerped from the Nectar of Govinda-lila by Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayan Maharaj

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Happy Enthusiasm

At the base of Govardhana, the best of hills, is a glorious forest where the divine couple enjoy pastimes. In that forest are many pleasant trees, fragrant flowers, and melodious birds, and there is a lake of very clear fresh water. In some places maddened bumblebees hum melodiously in their honey-filled hives surrounded by aromatic flowers. In some places cuckoos sometimes warble sweetly, intoxicated by drinking the nectar in the forest of mango blossoms. In some places peacocks sometimes dance with happy enthusiasm, and in other places the peacocks sometimes mew with joy. In some other places parrots sometimes chatter loquaciously as they eat many splendid, palatable, sweet mangoes.

-Raghunath Goswami ...Sri Dana Keli Cintamini 158-160

Monday, August 11, 2008

Radha Damodar Mandir - Vrindavan
From left to right: Sri Sri Radha Vrndavan Candra, Lalita Sakhi, Sri Radha Damodhara, Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Radha Chalacikan

Dieties served by

From left to right: Sri Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, Sri Jayadev Goswami, Sri Bhugarbha Goswami
Sri Sri Radha Damodar

Sunday, August 10, 2008


Lord Nityananda is Balarama Himself, not an expansion. Srila Narottama das Thakura has sung that the Lord who appeared as the Son of Nanda Maharaja has now appeared as the son of Sacidevi; and the same Balarama has appeared as Nityananda.

Rupa Goswami - Rupa Manjari (1489-1564 CE)

Rupa Goswami developed his style in writing Ujjavla-nilamani after reading these verses (SB 10th Canto), or we can say that these verses of the Bhagavatam (especially those contained within the rasa chapters) were written in the style of Rupa Goswami's Ujjavla-nilamani.

Srimad-Bhagavatam is mula-pramana, the original root of all Vedic evidence. Therefore Rupa Goswami composed his poetry in pursuance of the Srimad-Bhagavatam's version. However, because Rupa Goswami is Rupa Manjari and is an eternal associate of Radha and Krsna, he is the root of all understanding. Thus, it is equally true to say that the Srimad-Bhagavatam follows the direction of Rupa Goswami.

Rupa Manjari is the foremost junior cowherd damsel who eternally serves Radha-Krishna under the guidance of the gopi, Lalita-devi.

Rupa Goswami wrote a number of books in Sanskrit on philosophy, poetics, drama and dramaturgy. The following is a list of some of the most well-known works of Rupa Goswami:

* Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu: ( The Ocean of Nectar of Divine Love) Bhakti-rasamarta-sindhu is considered to be one of the most important books in Gaudiya Vaishnavism. In this work, Rupa Goswami elaborately describes the gradations of bhakti from its lowest stage of sraddha (faith) up to its highest stage of maha-bhava (ultimate ecstasy in love of Godhead).

* Ujjvala-nilamani: ( The Sapphire of Divine Love) This work exclusively explains the conception of madhurya-rasa (divine conjugal love). Ujjvala-nilamani is considered to be a sequel to the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu.

* Laghu-bhagavatamrta: (A Summary of Nectar about Godhead) The Laghu-bhagavatamrta is a summary of Sanatana Goswami's book Brhat-bhagavatamrta. The book begins by explaining the intrinsic nature of Krishna and his incarnations and continues to deal entirely with the devotees of Krishna.

* Lalita-madhava & Vidagdha-madhava: This drama was originally written by Rupa as one book. However, it is said that Rupa had a vision of Satyabhama, one of Krishna's queens in Dvaraka, who told him to divide the book into two separate dramas. Thus, Lalita-madhava deals with Krishna's pastimes in Dvaraka and Vidagdha-madhava narrates Krishna's pastimes in Vrindavana. These plays were written between 1524 and 1529 CE)

* Stavamala: (The Flower Garland of Prayers) This is a compilation of short works by Rupa Goswami, some of which are often published as separate books.

* Sri Radha-krsna-ganoddesa-dipika: (A Lamp to see the Associates of Radha-Krsna) In this book, Rupa Goswami lists the associates of Radha and krishna and describes their characteristics. This work was written in 1550 CE.

* Danakeli-kaumudi: (The Lotus-like Tax Pastimes) This drama was written by Rupa Goswami in 1549 CE and narrates the 'tax-collecting pastime between Krishna and the Gopis of Vrindavana.

* Mathura-mahatmya: (The Glories of Mathura) The Mathura Mahatmya tells the glories of Mathura, in the form of a conversation between Varaha (the boar incarnation of Vishnu) and the Earth Goddess. Rupa Goswami explains various processes of devotional service by quoting statements from various vaishnav scriptures and establishes that Mathura vanquishes all one's sinful reactions and awards piety and liberation.

* Uddhava-sandesa: (News of Uddhava) In this work, Rupa Goswami narrates the story from the Bhagavata Purana of Krishna requesting his friend Uddhava to go to Vrindavana and pacify his friends and relations by reminding them of their pastimes with him.

* Hamsa-dutam: (The Swan messenger) The Hamsaduta tells the story how Lalita, the confident of Radha, sends a messenger in the form of a swan to Krishna in Dwaraka.

* Sri Krsna-janma-tithi-vidhi: This short work of Rupa Goswami's is a paddhati (manual on ritual worship) explaining the process of worshiping the deity of Krishna during the festival of Janmastami, the birthday of Krishna celebrated by Vaishnavas in August/September.

* Nataka-candrika: (The Illuminating Moon of Dramatics) This book explains the rules of Gaudiya Vaisnava dramaturgy.

* Upadesamrta: (The Nectar of Instruction) This is a short work containing eleven verses that gives instructions to aspirants on the path of devotion to Krishna. The Upadesamrta was originally a part of the Stavamala.

Gopa Kumar - Streams of Nectar

There, in Goloka, which the demigods, kings of the planets, and their associates could not approach, seeing a country glorious as the sunrise, where there were the ways and customs and human language of Bharata-varsa's Arya-varta, I became filled with wonder and I plunged in an ocean of bliss.

In a moment I saw cowherd men going here and there and elderly gopis picking flowers.Everyone there was extraordinary, different from any people I had seen before. It seemed that someone had stolen the treasure of their hearts.Simply by seeing them I became like them. Carefully composing myself, I approached them and asked them this question.

Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the words "became like them" means that Gopa-kumara also became very agitated.

O people served by great bliss beyond what the great paramahamsas can desire, O people to whom the loving devotees of the goddess of fortune's husband pray for mercy, please look, look with kindness on this poor person come to you for shelter. Tell him: Who is the king of this place? Where is His palace? By what path (does one go to Him)?

O fortunate ones, please be kind to me, who with plaintive words asks: O saintly ones, please give me a sign in answer.

Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that they did not answer Gopa-kumara's questions. He thinks they may be observing a vow of silence, so he asks that with a gesture of their hands they somehow answer his questions.

Please hear the words of troubled me. You must be overcome with love for that charming person.

Again and Again with plaintive words asking everyone I saw, I went to the different places in Vraja.Moving my eyes in all directions, far away I saw a palace filled with great sweetness.On that side, and also everywhere, I heard the beautiful singing of gopis, the sounds of them churning yogurt, and the tinkling of their ornaments.

Suppressing the bliss I felt in my heart, I approached an elderly man who was emotionally singing "Krsna! Krsna!" and crying. I carefully listened to the broken words he spoke. Simply by hearing the words "This is the palace of Krsna's father, the gopa-king Nanda" I fainted, overcome with happiness.

In a moment brought to consciousness by the kind elderly man, I ran ahead and came to the palace gate. There I saw millions and millions of wonders never seen, heard of, or imagined by anyone.

O best of the brahmanas, I could not understand whether all the people were filled with bliss or overcome with sorrow. Whether I heard the gopis songs I did not know whether they cried in the greatest happiness or the greatest sorrow.

As I looked at this place, which I had ascended higher and higher to reach, I thought "I am in the material world".

Then I understood: "I am above all material and spiritual worlds. I am above the material and spiritual worlds".

Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the word "loka" here means "the fourteen material worlds" and the words "aloka" and "ati-loka" mean "what is beyond the fourteen material worlds".

An elderly lady came. I bowed down before her and with sweet words asked: "Where does the son of Nanda enjoy pastimes today?"

Srila Sanatana Gosvami reminds us that this conversation was at the entrance to Nanda's palace.

The elderly lady said: He who gives life to us people of Vraja, in the morning went to the forest with His cows, friends, and elder brother to enjoy pastimes. Now, in the evening, He will return. Their eyes fixed on the path, all the people of Vraja now stand by the Yamuna's shore. Even the trees, eager to see Him, stretch their leaves and branches high. He will come by this path.

Sri Gopa-kumara said: It was as if I was suddenly bathed with great streams of nectar. With a single glance I saw the path she showed.

This stream of Nectar is from Srila Sanatan Goswami's famous literary work entitled "Brhat-Bhagavatamrta".

Sanatan's Humility

I have no prema. Nor do I engage sincerly in hearing and chanting, the practices that lead to prema.

I have not the self-discipline befitting a Vaishnava.

Nor do I have wisdom, nor, alas, pious works.

I am not even of good birth.

O Gopijanavallabha!

It is said that you bring fulfilment to those who are most unworthy,yet the hope for your mercy, which is pure and holy, and so deeply rooted within me that I cannot cut it out, and it brings me nothing but pain.

Note: Raghunatha dasa Goswami has glorified Sanatana Goswami as follows in his Vilapa Kusumanjali (6)

"I was unwilling to drink the nectar of devotional service possessed of renunciation, but Sanatana Goswami, out of his causeless mercy, made me drink it, even though I was unable to do so. Therefore he is an ocean of mercy. He is very much compassionate to fallen souls like me, and thus it is my duty to offer my respectful obeisances unto his lotus feet and take shelter of him."

The transcendental position of Sanatana Goswami is glorified in the Gaura-Ganodesha-Dipika of Sri Kavi Karnapura (181):

sa rupa-manjari-presiha
purasid rati-manjari
socyate nama-bhedena
lavanga-manjari budhaih

"Rupa Manjari's closest friend, who was known by the names Rati-Manjari and Lavanga Manjari, appeared in the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as Sri Sanatana Goswami."

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Thursday, August 7, 2008


SRI SIKSHASTAKAM by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

“Glory to the Sri Krishna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.”

“O my Lord, Your Holy Name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krishna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by chanting Your Holy Names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.”

“One should chant the Holy Name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the Holy Name of the Lord constantly.”

“O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.”

“O son of Maharaja Nanda (Krishna), I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms of Your Lotus Feet.”

“O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your Holy Name ? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name ?”

“O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering one moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.”

“I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.”

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

125 Years

**************************
The great scholar Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti outlines Sri krishna's activities in this way: the first three years and four months were spent in Gokula, then equal lengths of time in Vmdavana and Nandagram, eighteen years and four months in Mathura, and finally ninety-six years and eight months in Dvaraka totalling 125 years of manifest pastimes.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Those who constantly recollect in accordance with spiritual instructions the name, figure, attributes and pastimes of the form of Krsna appearing in the amorous rasa, whose loveliness vanquishes the god of mundane love, conqueror of all mundane hearts, are alone meditators of Krsna. Krsna, who is full of pastimes, always manifests Himself with His realm only in the pure receptive cognition of such persons. The pastimes of that manifested divine realm triumphantly dominates in every way all the majesty and beauty of the mundane world.

Brahma-Samhita Chapter 5 Text 42

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Prabhupada's analysis of governing systems and varnashram.

Shudras like communism, Vaishyas like capitalism, Kshatriyas like dictatorship and Brahmins like democracy.

The institution has too important a role to be left to the theologians.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Recapitulated the Eternal Truth

From 'Sri Chaitanya's Teachings' by HDG Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur.


These are answers to the questions put to the author by Pandit Shyamasundar Chakravarty, a famous leader of the Independence movement in India and also the then Chief Editor of Servant and Vasumati (eng). - Ed.


Q: -- Which is the genuine commentary of the Brahma-Sutra?
A: -- It is the Shrimad Bhagavatam, which was explained by Shri Suta Goswami before sixty-thousand sages at Naimisharanya, the famous holy place in Uttara Pradesha. There is a good deal of difference between the Vedantic Schools of Kashi and Naimisharanya. The followers of the Naimisharanya School are genuine Vedantins since they accept only the genuine commentary of the Brahma-Sutra, and not the other spurious ones.

Q: -- Do not the Pandits of the Kashi School accept the Shrimad Bhagavatam?
A: -- They look upon the Bhagavatam as only one particular book among others, a particular Purana among other Puranas. They do not adopt it solely. We think there is no need for any other book than the Bhagavatam. Only those other books are acceptable that say something in its favour; the deliberations that go against it, are not worth being called spiritual.

Q: -- Is there any deliberation going against the Bhagavatam?
A: -- There is no deliberation in the world which is not against the Bhagavatam. All the different currents of thoughts of jivas averse to God from time immemorial are against it.

Q: -- But has there been any man who has openly stood against the Bhagavata deliberations?
A: -- Examples of the antagonist against the Bhagavata ideology have been seen since Satya-yuga (golden age). Hiranyakashipu was one among them. Such antagonists are of two types, disguised and unconcealed. The disguised antagonists are greater enemies than the open ones. Swami Dayananda, founder of the Arya Samaj, and Kaviraj Gangadhar Sen were open antagonists of the Bhagavatam. But the manner in which the Kashi School is conducted indicates covert views against the Bhagavatam. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu convinced Swami Prakasananda Saraswati, the then head of the Kashi School, with his followers numbering several thousands, about the indisputable superiority of the doctrine of the Naimisharanya School, so that understanding the evil sectarianism of the Kashi School, he entered to the Naimisharanya School with his followers.

Q: -- Is there no truth in other schools than that of Naimisharanya?
A: -- In other schools, truth is covered under delusion, but in the very beginning of the Vedanta Commentary (Shrimad Bhgavatam) of the Naimisharanya School it has been said: [1] "We always contemplate on the Truth freed from delusions." The plural number 'we' denotes the followers of the Naimisharanya School of Shri Vyasadeva's sect. Here have been indicated the plurality of the contemplators, the non-duality (or singularity) of the Prime Truth and the perpetuality of the connecting link or act, viz., contemplation. This contemplation does not cover the different modes of the thoughts of men. That Prime Truth is incomprehensible and transcendental (i.e., non-empiric).

Q: -- How can the thing be incomprehensible which is capable of being contemplated on?
A: -- Our previous Guru, in the preceptorial line, Shri Rupa Goswami Prabhu, has said in his Shri Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu: [2] "What, transcending all courses of thought, appears in the heart brightened up with shuddha-sattva and assumes the highest excellence of tasty sweetness, is called Rasa." It is through the function of vishudha-sattva (the purest or transcendental sattva) or the highest Guru, that Vasudeva, (the Highest Truth) can be contemplated on. Sattva which is one of the three gunas with rajas and tamas is not 'vishuddha sattva'. Vishuddha-sattva is not something of this world. "The name of Vishuddha-sattva is Vasudeva. The Transcendental Purusa who manifests Himself in it is God Vasudeva. I contemplate on that Adhokshaja (Supra-empiric Entity) with my mind." [3] Shiva says this to Sati. The term "Adhokshaja' means what is beyond the scope of material senses. Godhead is He, Who has reserved the absolute right of not being exposed to present human senses.

Q: -- If God is such an Entity, why, then is the phrase 'with my mind' used in the Bhagavata quotation?
A: -- Bhagavatam says, "The mind, purified with Bhakti-yoga having been thoroughly concentrated, Shri Vyasadeva had a view of the Plenary God with Svarupa-Shakti or Self-Potency also with maya sheltered in a covered manner." [4] The worldly man's mind is the heart, which is the store-house of decisions and doubts, and the mind which is incessantly engaged in the services of Krishna, giving up the material determination of enjoyments and renunciations, is the pure mind, the sporting ground of the Primary Entity. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has said: "Others' hearts are minds, but My mind is Vrindavana, I know the mana (mind) and the vana (Vrindavana, place for Krishna's sports) as the same." Our previous Guru, Srila Narothama Thakura, also has said: "When will my mind be purified, having given up vishaya (sensual objects) and when, then, shall I be able to see Vrindavana?" 'Plenary Entity' indicates Omnipotent God. We cannot see Him with karma or jnana. With karma can be had what is available in the field of karma and not what is beyond it. What nirbheda (absolutely non-distinct) jnana, too, we cannot see Him, for in it the distinction of the seer, the see-able and the seeing is extinguished. God has said [5] "It is with Bhakti that one may know Me in the aspect of truth as regards My Entireness and Entity." He has also said to Shri Uddhava "I am available with ananya-bhakti (exclusive devotion) to Me alone." [6]

Q: -- What is Maya?
A: -- The derivative meaning of maya is what is measurable. Bhagavan is the Lord of maya; He cannot be measured. Where there is attempt to measure God, there is maya and not God. 'ma ' means 'not' and 'ya ' means 'what', i.e., 'what is not God', is maya. The 'maya' as said in the Shrimad Bhagavatam is not like the Satin in the Christian theology, a separate entity from God, altogether another entity. According to the Bhagavata school, maya is in Bhagavan (God) in the condemned state [7] in order to award condign punishment on the atomic sentience (i.e. jivas) controlled by maya. In the Gita God has said [8]: "Earth, water, fire, air, sky, the mind, intelligence and egoism - these constitute My separate inferior potency, whereas other than this is My superior potency constituting the jivas by which is supported the universe." This inferior potency is the maya potency. This inferior potency has been stupefying the jivas that are apathetic towards God since before the beginning of time and causing misunderstanding in them, sometimes assuming the form of 'twenty-four items of entity' of Kapila, (the originator of the Sankhya System), sometimes as the 'atom' of Kanada (of the Vaiseshika System), sometimes also as Jaimini's principle of 'elevation' (in the Purva Mimamsa System), sometimes again as the 'sixteen objects' of Gautama (in the Nyaya System), sometimes as 'superhuman power and absolute oneness with God' of Patanjali (of the Yoga System), and sometimes as the pretence of search after Brahman (of the Shankar School).

Q: -- Why does such an event happen?
A: -- Because the jivas have free will of their own.

Q: -- Then how can this be reconciled with the teaching of the Gita which says: "God stays in the heart of all the creatures and makes them whirl round, in a machine, as it were, by the agency of maya"? [9]
A: -- This instruction in the Gita rather supports the above statement. It is Shri Vishnu Who is God, the Controller of all beings. God gives the jivas the fruit according as they perform karma. Their nature acts under the direction of God according to their previous karma. Jiva is the doer and God is the Giver. God's authority is seen in the giving of the fruits and governance of the cause and effect. So God is the Giver of the fruit and the jivas, the enjoyers thereof.

Q: -- Why is there the independence of the jivas?
A: -- Jivas are the atomic parts of God, the vibhu-chit (Plenary Sentience). The property of the sea, viz., water, is present in an atomic degree in a drop, too. Vibhu (or Over Lord) God is totally independent; there is independence in anu-chit-jiva (i.e., atomic sentience), too, proportionally.

Q: -- Is the proper use or abuse of the independence of jivas instigated by God?
A: -- If it had been God-instigated, then that would have amounted to the service of God and not caused the Jiva's forgetfulness about Him.

Q: -- Then how can the conclusion be arrived at, viz., 'everything depends upon God's Will'? I am putting these questions not for the sake of discussion, I am asking them, because you are a great scholar and a great devotee at the same time. In the Hindi Gita of Shri Tilaka I read an abhanga (panegyric to God) by Tuka-Rama, the sense of which runs thus: "O God, if my karma brings me liberation, then what should I have to do with You?"
A: -- The Shrimad Bhagavatam has given a reply to this:[10] "He is an heir to liberation, O God, who, feeling Your Grace in every thing and enduring the troubles caused by his own karma, bows down to You with mind, speech and body i.e., whole-heartedly". He who has acquired fitness for being freed from the world, understands that if the blame is laid at the door of God, then, on account of the want of the tendency towards doing service to God, liberation is never available, but only that person can easily become the possessor of the position of liberation, who is fortunate in having the tendency for the chit -service aroused in him, and he can be more attracted towards God, considering all the troubles and difficulties as His Grace.

Q: -- Then, are the sins, that we commit, due to God's Grace?
A: -- No, they are not. The predilection for sins has been given to test us, in the same manner as money, paddy, a copy of the Shrimad Bhagavatam, etc., are placed before an infant at the time of the first-rice ceremony to see what it takes according to its innate tendency. Before the thread ceremony, too, the Acharya tests the tendency of the boy to be initiated. God's cruelty is what the human intellect apprehends when it is apathetic towards God. If one takes it to be a punishment, it is to be understood that such a one is wanting in a serving temper and in attraction for God. God is the shelter for all. He sends many obstacles and inconveniences to those who wish for shelter under Him, in order to test their ardour and steadiness. For example, when the Vaidya prescribes bitter and astringent medicines and distasteful diets, or the doctor opens the abscess with his lancet, if the patient, is displeased with them, on the ground that they are cruel and not his well-wishers, his decision is wrong, as he has taken his real friends to be enemies. The divine potency, maya, has kept tempting objects as exhibits for alluring me, just as the fishing hook or the net, or the rat-trap or the chain, is set to delude fish, rats, elephants, etc. The object is that I may thereby get more and more entangled in the worldly meshes. Misled by these deluding traps, sometimes I become a wanton performer of misdeeds, sometimes a philanthropist doing good deeds, sometimes again consider oneness with non-distinct Brahman as the good for me, feeling a high regard for the doctrines of Buddha, Shankaracharya or Kapila. Maya Devi has placed in order alluring things according to the diverse temperments of the persons who are deluded by the tenets of karma or jnana due to their having desires to things other than the Truth. Jiva will attain his true well-being, when he engages himself in the accounts relating to God; there is no other way thereto. God does not set up obstructions against anyone, and He is not the destroyer of chetana-dharma or sentience in him. It would have been an act of cruelty on His part, if He had placed obstacles against this sentience; He is only informing the sentient entities of what is the proper use of their sentience and what are its abuses.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has asked us not to act upon the instructions of the sage Jaimini about worldly elevations, nor upon those of Shri Dattatreya, Shankara, etc., about the culture of non-distinct Brahman; for that is not the proper use of our sentience or independence. Just work for doing service to God and never do a thing which is not meant for it. He has said all this for the true well-being of jivas who have got material perceptions for generating, rather uncovering, their sentience. No one is engaged in a piece of work being propelled by a desire for distress. The bereaved mother is hitting her chest hard with her hands and hurting her head against a piece of stone only to destroy her grief. A patient is belching out by disturbing his throat with his fingers, only to obtain a speedy relief. The Karmis being desirous of the fruit of their karma are making different performances only to get such speedy remedies. Their inner motive is to secure instantaneous relief. Being duped by matters pleasant for the time being they are running towards the mirage of maya. According to them, the method for the speedy end of worldly troubles is: 'I shall be the overlord of the world, become Indra of the heaven, or enjoy and distribute the various worldly enjoyments.' This is only apathy towards God. The culture of non-distinct Brahman is only another phase in our attempts to secure a speedy remedy. The fact is that we want some fees (i.e., the return of some good for our exertions) in some shape or another. We run for enjoyments when we think ourselves dissociated from God. Then we think that it is necessary to make the proper use of our canine teeth, to revel in the functions peculiar to youth, to bring round other people to civic order or social civilization, and so forth. Those attempts are only the results of our forgetfulness about God. These predilections are only meant for enjoyment, as God has said: "All acts are performed by the gunas of nature or maya, and being misled by egotism I thing [sic] myself as the doer. [11]
The jivatma is an entity beyond the gunas; he is above the Mayashakti, for he serves God. But the power of maya is far above. The aptitude or inclination of a jiva apathetic towards God is to be bound down by maya, to swallow the bait, and bathed in sweat from head to foot due to hard labour and wasting the invaluable life, to gather fuel for the enjoyment of the wives, sons, daughters, grandsons, great-grandsons, many of whom we shall not have any chance even to see, and leave it behind for their sake. I plant a palm-tree, the fruit of which will be enjoyed by others whom I shall never meet with and who will one day squander away all my hoarded wealth and property. All my efforts are to this end! There is a Shloka to the effect: "O Krishna, I have obeyed the wrong commands of karma (desires), etc., numberless and of any type, but yet they are nor [sic] kind to me, nor feel ashamed, and there is no cessation of these. Now I have got true intelligence, and having thrown them up have taken shelter with You with the prayer that I may be employed in Your service."
Those who are given to karma admit God indirectly; those of the jnana-marga wish for being one with God; but we do not cherish any such wrong desire. Our hope is to become the carriers of foot-wear for servants of Hari unlike those who adopt jnana. We do not claim to possess learning, nor intelligence; we mind only the truth received from the lotus-feet of Shri Gurudeva in the capacity of his servants; we do not lay down any new proposition. We say only what we have got to say in favour of the realisation of that one Truth.
What we hear from a true Guru for the first time seems to be revolting. We feel the rise of an inclination in us to make good what appears to be the inadequacy of the Guru's intelligence by means of our empiricism. But the current of thought prevalent in the external or material world cannot assail Shri Gurudeva, who is too heavy for them. He has been able to keep them at a distance of innumerable crores of miles. He is 'Guru' or the heaviest object, because his position is not shifting. At the outset we think that he sticks to his narrow conceptions on account of his ignorance of the external objects; so we want to widen the scope of his conceptions and ideals by telling him everything about the empiric world. Such an idea is due to the dullness of understanding of the school of empiricism. Our Gurudeva is free from such an idea. My Gurudeva is the servant of the Absolute Truth, not of partial truth.

Q: -- What is the meaning of the word 'anartha'?
A: -- What blockades 'artha' (chief necessity of beings), at the very pith of it, is 'anartha' (mischief). This 'anartha' has been converting us into a group of its servitors.

Q: -- When will this 'anartha' come to its end?
A: -- The things that we can measure with our akshas or senses, those which appear to the senses as good and are, according to the judgment of our senses, preyah or our wished-for objects in the form of duties, are akshaja or empiric. The service done to plants, to animals, to some people, and to the country, as also the desire for being regarded as intelligent and for acquiring the material fame as a Sadhu, these are services to the akshaja or sense matters. All the endeavours of the karmis, jnanis, yogis and men of other desires are all services to akshaja; and all this is apathy towards God Krishna.

Q: -- How can it be known that all this is apathy towards God Krishna?
A: -- Shri Vyasadeva has compiled the Satvata Samhita or Shrimad Bhagavatam for men not knowing it (viz., what is apathy to God). No one had any intention and effort for this knowledge. The non-devotee sects are ever ready to serve the things that are not 'Krishna'. Shri Vyasadeva, who was grace-incarnate, published the Satvata Samhita for those people who did not know all these matters. In this Satvata Samhita, (Shrimad Bhagavatam) the motiveless service of only Adhokshaja (i.e., Entity beyond the scope of empiric knowledge) has been dwelt on as the highest virtue, leaving off the service of all akshaja or empiric things.

Q: -- What is the thing known as 'Bhakti'?
A: -- 'Bhakti' is the eternal natural function of the soul; and it is this alone which is the eternal virtue of jivas in their svarupa or essential nature (i.e., when not covered by avidya or maya). There is no other virtue in jivas in their svarupa. The other functions are not the virtues of the jiva-svarupa; they are virtues of contrary natures. These are changeable and ephemeral. This Bhakti destroys grief, infatuation and fear' [12] It is from dvitiyabhinivesa or an ardent intentness for the second thing i.e., what is different from the One Entity viz. God that fear, grief, distraction, etc. grow. It is the conception of other entities than Krishna and His objects viz. devotees, which constitute the intentness for the second thing. "So long as people do not accept as the only shelter the safe and fearless lotus-like Feet of God, they labour under the fear lest their wealth, bodies, relations connected therewith, and friends should be lost, under the grief when they are lost, under desire to get them back, under a hankering thirst after them, etc. [13] Again when these reappear, the material attachment for anatma things (that are not related to the soul with the conception of 'I'-ness and 'mine'-ness) become prominent." This is the root-cause of Samsara.
The desire for authority arising out of the measuring tendency is an anti-devotional thing. Just as one attacked by intestinal worms cannot get nutrition of the body from any quantity of vitamin food consumed, so when the tendencies for karma and jnana prevail, the function of the soul is obstructed.

Q: -- With Vaishnavism some may be personally benefited; but what benefit does the world derive from it?
A: -- That is not the true position; it may be applicable for archana or ritual worship, and not to those who perform kirtana or recite the glories of God. The ritual worshipper does his rituals for his own personal good; but a reciter does service to the world, nay to all the creatures of the universe, to all beasts and birds, to men and gods, even to trees, creepers and rocks, too; that service is of the highest type.

Q: -- I do not find any liking of men for this.
A: -- It is meaningless if we expect many persons to come for it. The number of post-graduates is very limited. Lord Krishna has said, [14] "Among thousands of men, only one or a few endeavour for accomplishment in self-realisation and of these, too, even though accomplished, only one or so may have an insight into My nature." Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has dilated on it citing a Bhagavata Shloka: [15] "Even among crores of the accomplished and liberated even a single devotee of Lord Narayana is rare." Craftiness is the main thing in the world.

Q: -- What benefit has Vaishnavism done to the world?
A: -- Politics will not be able to do even one part of a crore parts, in thousands of eras, of the benefit that the Vaishnavas have done to the world. We are not advising others to be such narrow sectarians as the politicians are.

Q: -- How many people are there who know of Vaishnavism?
A: -- How many post-graduates are being turned out? How many Newtons have been born? Is it a wise principle to give up the culture of science because many Prof. J.C. Boses are not being produced?

Q: -- By what means can devotion to Krishna grow?
A: -- Devotion to the Supreme Lord Krishna is generated when one listens to the accounts of His Glories, etc., attentively with a serving mood from such guileless devotees of God as have nothing to do except incessantly chanting these accounts. [16] He is Vishnu Who is sustaining the entire universe with the function in which the sattva is the chief element. As He has been making the world chetana or alive to the concerns of Krishna He is known as Krishna Chaitanya. It is for generating chaitanya (alive-ness) in jivas that were without it that He adopted Sannyasa. But yet we have got chaitanya (i.e., been brought to sense). It is not the virtue of pure chaitanya to make other attempts than that of motiveless service. In the function of shuddha (pure) chetana there is no service to to [sic] be done to anartha (which is not the true artha or necessary, i.e. God); there is only the service to Artha. The Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Shudras, etc., are busy in thinking about the external things in nature; the knowers of Brahman (i.e. the true Brahmanas) have no such engagement; only service to Hari is their duty. And the Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, etc., should also make all endeavours in favour of that service of those Brahmajnas. It is the only duty of jivas to be engaged in the service of God.

Q: -- Is the Vaishnava Dharma acceptable to all?
A: -- It is only the Vaishnava Dharma that is the sole Dharma of all chit entities, it is the only Dharma of the jiva in his own essential nature. There is no need to call oneself a Christian, Moslem or even a Hindu; all should become Vaishnavas. All should accept the eternal dharma of jivas in their own true nature, all even birds and beasts, plants and stones; deities, demons and men, who need not have their present forms of existence, should be Vaishnavas. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu performed this deed; He converted all to Vaishnavism, whomsoever his Lordship met during His South Indian tour, even grass shrubs, creepers, birds, beasts, trees, stones, along the Jharikhanda route through Orissa and Bihar; He did not allow them to stay with their conceits as such against their true nature; all became Vaishnavas including Shaivas, Shaktas, heretic Hindus, Pathans, Bouddhas, Mayavadis, emancipationists, elevationists, yogis, tapasvis, literates, illiterates, those in good or bad health. His Lordship's only weapon was Krishna-kirtana. Besides, those who were becoming Vaishnavas, at the command of the Lord, were performing the function of Gurus with Kirtana and were converting as Vaishnavas those who came into contact with them. Shriman Mahaprabhu told them that every man in Bharata (India) should be doing others good and there is nothing so good as loud Sankirtana which helps all creatures attain the highest good possible, just as one who sustains a thousand people, is much better than one who sustains only oneself. There has not been, there will not be, such benefactors of the highest merit as Mahaprabhu and His devotees have been. The offer of other benefits is only a deception; it is rather a great harm, whereas the benefit done by Him and His followers is the truest and greatest eternal benefit. That is not a benefit lasting only for a few days, being only a timely benefit. His Lordship or His followers did not delude people by speaking of such benefits as would, after a short time, produce harm, by which some other party would be harmed, just as the benefit of one country connotes mischief to another, just as when I am benefited by driving in a coach the horses are harmed, had when I give another an advantage for the time being, I suffer a proportionate disadvantage. They have spoken of such a benefit, they have given such a thing, as is the highest benefit for all, for all times, for all conditions. This benefit is not for a particular country causing mischief to another; but it benefits the whole universe. Mahaprabhu's benefit does not produce any evil. For this, from His Grace no evil arises, and for this again His is the highest benevolence, and so are His devotees' too. These statements are the greatest truth, not mere gossip, nor imaginative poetry and literature.

Q: -- What is, then, Vishnu-seva?
A: -- Vishnu is the Adhokshaja Entity Whom I cannot measure with my senses or enjoy. But I am enjoyable by Him. The name of Shreya (real Truth) is beloved to Vishnu. To gratify His Senses is seva (service). The pretence of Vishnu-seva for maintaining the body is no true Vishnu-seva. In modern times endeavours are rampant to enjoy Vishnu in the name of Vishnu-seva; Vishnu is being treated as a servant, supplying our needs. Endeavour is made to enjoy Vishnu, when we think ourselves the enjoyers of the river water, the fruits of trees, the beauty of nature, the health-giving open air. I think that He will sleep on the same side (left or right as I wish,) as if He were a tenant choosing me for His dwelling place. I treat Him as my gardener who will supply me with nose-gays of flowers, so that I may enjoy their agreeable fragrance. Who is it then that do not want Bhakti? It is they who say, "I shall rule over the country, or I shall remain as a subject, tilling the ground, or I shall be a politician or warrior." It is they who say, "It is I who am the doer of everything."

Q: -- Shall we, then, give up all avocations and the daily round of our duties?
A: -- We shall do everything as Vaishnavas and not take up the path of karma. Our former Gurudeva Shri Rupa Goswami Prabhu has said: [17] "He, whose endeavours are all for doing service to Hari, with body, mind and speech, is called 'jivan-mukta' or 'liberated while living,' in whatever stage of life he may be." He has also said: [18] "When one is detached from worldly enjoyments, and with the acceptance of the objects favourable to Krishna's service is ardently attached to Him, one is said to have the proper abnegation."

Q: -- What is the duty of a Vaishnava?
A: -- It is said in the Pancharatra, [19] that those who want to have Bhakti should perform only such secular and Vedic deeds as are favourable to the service of Hari. It is also said in the Pancharatra, [20] that such acts as are ordained in the Shastras for the service of Hari are called by saintly persons as Bhakti with the performance of which is gradually generated the superior type of Bhakti. The doctrine of naishkarmya (cessation of karma) is this. Whatever we do should be done as favourable to the service of Hari. The desire of the salvationists is to get rid of all actions, to get rid of Hari's service.

Q: -- How can one do Hari-seva?
A: -- Hari-seva can be done in three ways by acts, by speech, and with the mind.

Q: -- What type of service is done by acts, the mind and the speech?
A: -- When asked by the father about what good study he had done, Shri Prahlada said [21] "The performance of the nine kinds of Bhakti directly offered to God Vishnu, hearing, chanting, remembering, serving, the Feet, worshipping, saluting with hymns, serving as a servitor, dealing with friendliness and surrendering the self, -- is to be regarded as the best form of study." Hiranyakashipu, astonished to bear [sic] about the idea of seva from his boy, said, "You are giving a new type of idea, which we of the school of empiricists do not know."

Q: -- Will not those who serve Hari serve jivas?
A: -- Hari is the Entire Entity; it is the servants of Hari who really serve jivas. Those who being fascinated with the external appearance of jivas think the service of the external body of Hari as the service of Hari or that of jivas are vivarta-vadins or advocates of the theory that the whole creation is a mere illusion; they do not serve the jivas; they serve only maya, the external Body of Hari. By serving maya thus, one benefits neither oneself nor another. If you impute poverty to Narayana, You serve only maya, neither Narayana, nor His servants, the jivas. The service of vivarta (illusion) is that of the mirage of maya, not of the real substance. The true substance is only Krishna; the jivas are the associated counterparts of His Entity. We shall serve Hari; we shall serve the Harijanas (i.e., devotees of Hari) and also those who cannot understand the true Harijanas, so that they may have a true understanding of the Harijans; we shall help them mentally and physically, too. We shall serve even those who are against the Harijanas, but that with indifference. Our best friends are the servants of God with whom we ally. I shall speak about the service of Hari to such friends of mine as are possessed of lesser power of understanding and have taken up the duties of Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Shudras, if they are not antagonistic. But we shall declare non-co-operation with them that have become antagonistic, such as the casteless, the Agnostics, the Epicureans and followers of Charvaka who regard their physical pleasures as the summum bonum of life, and such others.

Q: -- What do you mean by the term 'jiva-daya' or kindness to creatures? Is it not the offering of help with the supply of food, clothes, etc?
A: -- We shall offer such help to him who has got faith in God even after several births and has begun service of God. We should feed and clothe the needy and do them other benefits in order to make them serve Hari; otherwise, what is the need of nourishing a snake with milk and banana? That is no kindness, rather it would entrap men with maya or tempt them towards nihilism. The kindness that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has shown to jivas, absolves them eternally from all wants, from all inconveniences and from all the distresses known as tritapa. That kindness does not produce any evil and the jivas who have got it will not be victims of the evils of the world; they will rather be swimming in the nectarous sea of Love, eternally enjoying its sweetness.

Q: -- How is Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's grace different from other forms of kindness?
A: -- Unlike other forms of kindness, His Lordship's Grace is unproductive of evils. His Grace has been described by Shri Svarupa Damodara Goswami, His closest associate, as easily scattering away all evils, as clear and unmixed, as extending pure delight like a full-blown flower, as setting at rest all scriptural conflicts, as distributing true tasty sweetness of devotion, as causing of ecstatic mood of the mind like madness (in love of God), as giving the eternal bliss of devotion, as introducing a spirit of equality among the high and the low and as revealing the extreme limit of spiritual sweetness.' Shri Rupa Goswami considers His Lordship as Krishna Himself, bearing the Name Shri Krishna Chaitanya and a fair complexion, as the greatest benevolent Entity, distributing love of Krishna. Shri Krishna Dasa Kaviraja Goswami, (author of Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita), too, has said: "Deliberate with discrimation [sic] on the Grace of Shri Chaitanya Chandra and you will be amazed with the highest excellence."

Q: -- How can there be a discriminate deliberation thereof?
A: -- Kaviraja Goswami Prabhu has asked us to make a comparative study between Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Grace and all the so-called kindnesses that are incomplete and imperfect. Where there is not the gift of an eternal nature, there must be inadequacy, defect and deception. If somebody makes a comparative study with impartially, [sic] he will find that Shri Chaitanya Chandra's Grace is plenary kindness, whereas all the other kindnesses are limited and deceptive. The Incarnations of God, like the Matsya, Kurma, and Varaha Devas, not only They, but even God Krishna Himself, have distributed Grace among the devotees only; but they have killed the antagonists; whereas Mahaprabhu, instead of killing them, has shown them kindness; for example, He has not refrained from distributing His Grace, unproductive of any evil even among the Quazis and the Bouddhas. He has converted, as pure devotees, also the Ramayets who, though they profess to worship Shri Ramachandra, are really emancipationists.

Q: --- Are not the Ramayets true Vaishnavas?
A: -- The Ramayets belong to the Ramanandi Sects; they do not belong to the correct Ramanuja Sect. As most of them cherish a desire for emancipation, the Shuddha (pure) Vaishnavas count them among the Viddha (adulterated) Vaishnava class. Once Shrila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami took with him to Shri Mahaprabhu, at Puri, one Ramadasa, teacher of Kavya-prakasa (a famous work on rhetoric in Sanskrit). Though Ramadasa had a crouching humility and a spirit of doing service to Vaishnavas and Brahmanas, yet Mahaprabhu dealt with him with indifference and apathy, having noticed the desire for emancipation lurking in his heart.

Q: -- What do you think about the Bouddhas?
A: -- 'Bouddha' is another name for 'Vaishnava'; but the present-day men going by the name of 'Bouddhas' are wanting in the true knowledge about the soul. As the worshippers of Shri Rama are the Ramayets, so the worshippers of Buddha, an Incarnation of Vishnu, are Bouddhas. But as the Auls, Bauls, Gauranganagaris, Smartas, Caste-Goswami's etc., though professing to be the followers of Shri Gauranga, have fallen off from His teachings, so have the Bouddhas deviated from the path shown by Buddha Deva, though they called themselves Vaishnavas. When however, they follow the Shuddha Vaishnavas, their true intrinsic nature will be manifested, as it did in the case of the Bouddhas, on their obtaining the Grace of Shri Mahaprabhu. So when the men of the misled sects, like the Auls, Bauls, etc., give up their wrong beliefs and customs and worship Gaur-Krishna under the direction of the Shuddha Vaishnavas, then we shall recognise them as the devotees of Shri Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

Q: -- Do not the Smartas worship Vishnu?
A: -- The worship of Vishnu by the Smartas is another form of their worship of Ganesa, Surya, Shiva and Shakti. Vishnu is not worshipped thereby. The worship of Vishnu as one of the five deities, makes His highest Dignity, which is without any equal, similar to that of the other deities and His Lordship is counted as one of several deities which is a great spiritual offence. According to Shri Chaitanya Deva, one who looks on Shri Narayana as equal to the different gods like Brahma, Rudra, etc., surely becomes the lowest heretic (pashandi). He regards also him as a pashandi who counts one Krishna-nama and a crore of asvamedhas (horse-sacrifices). There is much deliberation of these matters in the Brahma Samhita, the most valuable treatise on the Vaishnava doctrine, found by His Lordship in South India. The worship of Vishnu as found in Panchopasana (worship of five deities) do not please Vishnu, and being only the worship of a deity and also heterodox it is highly improper.

Q: -- Why do you call it improper?
A: -- God Himself has said this in the Gita: "Those who worship other deities worship Me improperly." [22]

Q: -- Though improper, all the same, it is Krishna's worship.
A: -- It is Krishna Who is the only Super-Lord over the entire universe and beyond it of Vaikuntha (i.e., Transcendental Region). As such, no one can raise any obstacle against His Enjoyment. Everyone is offering Him worship, but it is given in an improper manner, and the worshipper gains nothing. Even they, too, who are worshipping Surya, Ganesa, Shakti, etc., are worshipping the reflectional potency of Krishna; because nothing has a separate existence from Him. But the reflection being worshipped, they do not get the true knowledge of intrinsic nature of their soul and the sambandha-jnana (essential knowledge about the relation between God and the jivas). When that sambandha-jnana is acquired, they will know that Krishna is the Sole Master, that every jiva is Krishna's eternal servitor and that Krishna-seva is the eternal function of jivas.

Q: -- What deliberation is there in the Brahma Samhita?
A: -- The Brahma Samhita has refuted Pancho-pasana. It is the eternal duty of all jivas to serve Krishna, the Lord of all Lords. All the other deities are His servitors. Their function is only to carry out Govinda's commands. They will never acquire liberation, who conceive of the deities as the different names and bodies of Vishnu instead of knowing them as His servitors. In five Shlokas of the Brahma Samhita have been described the natures of the five deities, named above: (1) "I (i.e., Brahma) adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, in pursuance of whose order the Sun-God, the King of the planets and the eye of this world, performs his journey mounting the wheel of Time." [23] (2) "I adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, Whose Lotus-like Feet are always held by Ganesa on the head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all the obstacles of the three worlds." [24] (3) "I adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, in accordance with whose will Durga, His external potency, conducts her function as the creating, preserving and destroying agent of the world" [25] (4) "I adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, Who transforms Himself as Sambhu for performing the work of destruction, just as milk is transformed into curd which is neither the same as, nor different from, milk" [26] (5) "I adore the Primaeval Lord Govinda, Who manifests Himself as Vishnu in the same manner as one burning candle communicates its light to another candle which, though existing separately, is of the same quality as the first. [27]

Q: -- What is the distinction between a Brahmana and a Vaishnava? A: -- The worshipper of Shri Vishnu with distinctive attributes and sentient playfulness is a Vaishnava, whereas the culturist of Attributeless Brahman is a Brahmana. The name of the knower of Brahman is Brahmana, and when he worships Bhagavan his name is Vaishnava. The fully manifested Truth is Bhagavan and the insufficiently manifested Truth is Brahman. Consequently it is a Brahmana with the knowledge of relativities who can be a Vaishnava by means of worship. The contrivance of the worship of Brahman by the professors of non-distinction in five forms with an attribution of attributes to Him on the basis of the theory of illusion does not refer to the Truth of the knowledge of singularity. These illusionists with the self-conceit as Brahmanas think Brahmanism confined to the religion for the attainment of worldly desires, whereas the virtue of the knower of Brahman is eternally innate in the essential condition of jivas. When a Brahmana is fortunate to get rid of the clutches of maya through Vishnu's Grace, he is able to become a pure Brahmana i.e., a Vaishnava. In his Bhakti-Sandarbha Shri Jiva Goswami has cited the following from the Garuda Purana: "A performer of sacrifices is better than a thousand Brahmanas; a scholar of Vedanta is better than a thousand performers of sacrifices; a devotee of Vishnu is superior to a crore of Vedanta scholars; whereas one, solely devoted to Vishnu is superior to a thousand Vaishnavas."

Q: -- Are the Vaishnavas, too, Brahmanas?
A: -- That the Vaishnavas, too are Brahmanas you have learnt in answer to the above question. Brahmanism is the lowest rang [sic] of the ladder of Vaishnavism which is far higher than the other. A Brahmana is the attendant to a Vaishnava. Just as the owner of a lakh of rupees possesses also a thousand rupees, so one who is a Vaishnava is certainly a Brahmana.

Q: -- Now-a-days very few think along this line. Whenever the term 'Vaishnava' is used, people generally interpret it in quite a different manner.
A: -- It is on account of the people's forgetfulness about these deliberations and of the fact that the highest seat of Vaishnavism has been looked down upon with a degree of contumely due to the want of necessary culture and sufficient propagation by means of proper custom and conduct, that, as willed by God, the institution of the Gaudiya Maths has come into existence. This intitution [sic] has undertaken the task of re-establishing the system of daiva-varnashrama (deistic form of castes and stages of life) for re-instating such persons in the proper functioning of true Brahmanas as have forgotten the principle of the dharma of jivas as servitors to Vaishnavas and have been consequently running after the function of Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, etc. Mahaprabhu Shri Chaitanya Deva has said: "He alone can function as a Guru (spiritual instructor) who is conversant with the knowledge of Krishna, whether he is born as a Brahmana or a Shudra, or is a Sannyasi or otherwise." An a-Brahmana (one who is not a true Brahmana) cannot be a Guru, the word 'Guru' implies a Brahmana. He who knows the truth about Krishna i.e., who is an adept in the full perception of the true knowledge of singularity is certainly not an a-Brahmana, as in him there is the knowledge about Brahman by implication. Shri Narada says: "If the symptoms indicating the varnas (castes) appear in persons born elsewhere, they should be regarded as belonging to the castes as shown by the symptoms." Shridhara Swamipada has said: "The ascertainment of castes as Brahmanas, etc., should be made from the presence or absence of the attributes like self-control, tranquility, etc., and not only from births." If these virtues are seen in a person not born in a Brahmana family, his varna is to be determined as Brahmana. Shri Advaita Acharya honoured his ancestors by offering Shradha-patra to Thakur Haridasa who had been born of a moslem family, telling him: "Crores of Brahmanas are fed by feeding you."

Q: -- But why is not such a custom now-a-days observed in your Vaishnava community?
A: -- Everything is going to be obsolete in course of time. How distorted have become the teachings that were given by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! Now-a-days, trade, lechery, hypocrisy, deceitfulness, etc., have been rampant in society in the name of Vaishnavism. Though Thakur Haridasa had come out of a moslem family, the devotees of God regarded him as the Guru of Brahmanas. As such, Yadunandan Acharya, Ramananda Basu and other persons born in very respectable families did not in the least feel diffident to become his disciples.

Q: -- By what you are propagating, many people will be rid of their prejudices and the Vaishnava world may be much benefited thereby.
A: -- It is from the teaching of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that the world can derive true benefit, for they are not tinged with the colour of narrow sectarianism.

Q: -- I am fully convinced and much delighted at your scholarship and genius.
A: -- Nothing of all this is mine. I only reproduce what I have learnt from Shri Gurudeva. I have only recapitulated the eternal Truth that has come down through the media of Shri Brahma-Narada-Vyasa-Shuka, etc.