THE GAUDIYA 1 JANUARY 2012

THE
GAUDIYA
Spiritual Monthly
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Vol. LV JANUARY 2012 No. 5
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All Glory to Sri Gaurasundar Whose single-minded devotees are
worshippable by the heavenly gods and goddesses; those devotees
who ever drink deep the super-excellent nectarine Bliss that
spontaneously flows from the Lotus Feet of Sri Gauranga (Chaitanya)
and thereby having maddenly intoxicated they laugh at Brahma and such
others so saying, Alas, they having possessed of such an exalted
position are deprived of enjoying the Bliss of the Lotus Feet of Sri
Gaurasundar; nay, they even feel pity upon those great Vaishnavas
who have not taken their sole-recourse at the loving-devotion of Sri
Gauranga and they fie unto the Brahmajnanis and Ashtanga-Yogis for
their erroneous perspective.
Srila Prabodhnanda Saraswati
THE GAUDIYA 2 JANUARY 2012
It woul d be
better for us if our
expl oi ted i nno-
vati ons do not
accom-pany us
during our accept-
ance of the
conception of the
Transcendence. Our present
consciousness and mind with all their
paraphernalia cannot possibly claim the
suzerainty of the Transcendence when
our poor ego is quite adaptable to and
contented wi th the dol l s of the
phenomena. We have got an enjoying
calibre when we tread on the worldly
path receiving the help of gross body and
flickering mind. We have noticed that
phenomena have direct connection with
the mind and its paraphernalia. The
mundane phenomena have got a
perishable value, whereas the distinctive
character of phenomena beyond our
conception, is not identical with our
present store of knowledge. The
phenomenal objects require modification
and our di fferent phi l osophi cal
specul ati ons requi re recti fi cati on,
whereas the transcendental Region
does not submit to such regulative
admonition and chastisement. We are
to approach the transcendental Truth
Who does not tolerate any aggressive
exploitation from any other quarter. The
summum bonum of all knowledge,
beatitude and unending time, should not
be mutilated for the sake of the safety of
our eternal entity, which is absolute
infinitesimal and not Absolute Infinity, as
the inflation of our quantitative eternal ego
is not expected to go beyond our own.
The imperfection of grossness and
subtlety should not claim to have their
location in that region, as Paravyoma is
never meant to accommodate the
speci al characteri sti cs of worl dl y
phenomena. The subject-matter of the
Vedanta is not an innovation, as the origin
was lying dormant in spirit, and the
Vedantic sound need not have had any
origination in this material world. The
transcendental Sound, though specified
to exhibit a differentiative character, is not
to be enjoyed by our enjoying senses.
We must necessarily convince
ourselves that the essence of Vedanta
philosophy should terminate in the
principle of devotion.
The last aphorism of the Vedanta
Sutras tends to the impression the
Sound will bring us to the Region
wherefrom a return journey along the
path of knowledge is not possible. It goes
to show a process l eadi ng to the
Transcendence, where no forei gn
invasion can be invited to form an
opposite party who can persuade a
sojourner to shift himself from the
transcendent termination. The place is
not meant for an idolent being to benumb
his unending progressive activity for
dissociating his connections with the
transitory dark and undesirable element.
By the constant chanti ng of the
Transcendental Name the aim of spiritual
aspiration will be fulfilled and no other
process can remedy the evil of accepting
the undeserving position of a worldly
enjoyer.
Pithy Precepts of Srila Prabhupd
THE GAUDIYA 3 JANUARY 2012
Thus Spake Srila chryadeva
The Bhakti cult of Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu is not the emotional
extravagance of the debauchee to
sensual life nor is it a facile Bhakti
movement running into emotionalism.
Srila Thakur Bhakti Vinode, one
of the greatest propounders of
Shuddha-Bhakti in this age, has
showed how we can be placed in the
right relation with Godhead by
reviving this dormant spirit of seva in
our heart by gradual steps from
Shraddha to Prema. Anybody who
has not the patience to submit to the
Krama-pantha of Bhakti-sadhana,
cannot be called a Vaishnava. Haste
in the path is only waste of energy, for
Bhakti cannot be attained by any
exoteric Sadhana. Bhakti cannot be
produced by any course of conduct
or any effort; for Bhakti is the highest
good and as such is eternal. With
nothing that is not eternal can be
devotional emotion therefore be
created it already exists in the
heart and the function of Sadhana-
bhakti is merely to manifest it in the
heart in an enjoyable form. We
should serve and waitthis is the
transcendental slogan Thakur Bhakti
Vinode has given to us. How this is
to be carried out in practice, was
shown to the world by Srila Bhakti
Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami
Thakur, our Sri Gurudev. And to
preach thi s great Truth, he
established many a Math and Temple
all over this country and outside it,
where the inmates and the servitors
mi ght be
initiated into a
s t r i c t l y
g r a d u a t e d
course of Bhakti-
sadhana without
indulging in any
sort of egoistic
propensi t i es.
Only by serving truth can our national
and i ndi vi dual character real l y
improve.
The ultimate object or end of man
is the attainment of happiness and
extinction of sorrow, only when God is
pleased can one secure the ultimate
exti ncti on of sorrows and the
attainment of both internal and external
happiness. God, the ultimate Reality,
is the infinite Bliss, though He may
show Himself in diverse forms.
Let us follow this path of eternal
truth as shown by our great religious
savants, then everything great and
worth begetting in our national life will
come, of itself. This is the only
Sanatana Aryapath followed by the
really great of all countries.
Sri Krishna, Truth Absolute,
becomes locked up in our heart of
hearts as soon as we wish
sincerely to recite His Name and
follow the path of former
Mahajanas giving up all ideas of
self-deception or of deceiving
others and want to live in amity
with all creation.
ddddd
THE GAUDIYA 4 JANUARY 2012
ALMANAC for the months of JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2012
13.01.2012 Fri Demise of Srimad Nayannanda Ds Bbji Maharj
14.01.2012 Sat Appearance of Srila Gopalabhatta Goswmi, Disappearance
of Srila Rmachandra Kavirj and Srila Jayadeva Goswmi
15.01.2012 Sun Appearance of Srila Lochan Ds Thkur
16.01.2012 Mon Demise of Srila Bhakti Vils Thkur
19.01.2012 Thu Shat Tila Ekdashi Fasting. Next day Prana between 6.25
and 10.a.m. Demise of Srila Gaddhar Ds Bbji Maharj
28.01.2012 Sat Vasanta Panchami. Advent of Sri Vishnu Priya Devi,
Appearance of Srila Pundarika Vidyanidhi, Srila Raghunath
Das Goswami, Srila Raghunandana Thakur, Disappearance
of Srila Viswanatha Chakravarty Thakur. Demise of Srimad
Bhakti Vivek Bharati Maharj. Saraswati Puja
30.01.2012 Mon Advent of Srila Advaita Achrya
01.02.2012 Wed Disappearance of Srila Madhvchrya
02.02.2012 Thu Disappearance of Srila Rmnujchrya
03.02.2012 Fri Bhaimi Ekdasi and the Advent of Lord Varha Deva
Fasting. Next day Prana between 9.12 and 10.00 a.m.
05.02.2012 Sun Sri Nityananda Trayodashi Advent of Lord Sri
Nityananda Fasting. Next day Prana between 6.20 and
10.00 a.m. Demise of Srila Nimnanda Prabhu
07.02.2012 Tue Appearance of Srila Narottam Das Thakur, Demise of
Srimad Bhakti Vaibhav Govind Maharaj. Maghi Poornima
12.02.2012 Sun Sri Vysa Puja, Appearance of Srila Prabhupd Bhakti
Siddhnta Saraswati Goswmi Thkur, the illustrious
Founder Acharya of Sri Chaitanya Math and its branches
Sri Gaudiya Maths. Disapearance of Srila Purushottam
Thkur
Sri Chaitanya, Beloved God of
Love Transcendent
Surrounded on all sides by
emerald green paddy fields, the
Ganges and the Jalangi flowing hard
by, far from the madding crowds strife
and strains, Sri Mayapur, the holy land
of birth of Sri Chaitanya Deva, stands
in the midst of absorbing silence of
meditation and worship in the heart of
Bengal, not very far from Calcutta. Sri
Chaitanya Deva, Beloved God of
Love Trnscendent appeared before
the eyes of men through His supra-
logical power with a message of Divine
Love and Peace to the world just after
sunset in the evening of the 23rd
Fal gun, 1407 Shaka Era
corresponding to the 18th February,
1486 of the Christian Era when there
was an eclipse of the moon.
THE GAUDIYA 5 JANUARY 2012
The Bhagavat: Its Philosophy,
Its Ethics and Its Theology
Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur
We love to read a book which we
never read before. We are anxious to
gather whatever information is contained
in it and with such acquirement our
curiosity stops. This mode of study
prevails amongst a great number of
readers, who are great men in their own
estimation as well as in the estimation of
those, who are of their own stamp. In fact,
most readers are mere repositories of
facts and statements made by other
people. But this is not study. The student
is to read the facts with a view to create,
and not with the object of fruitless retention.
Students like satellites should reflect
whatever light they receive from authors
and not imprison the facts and thoughts
just as the Magistrates imprison the
convict in the jail! Thought is progressive.
The authors thought must have progress
in the reader in the shape of correction or
development. He is the best critic, who
can show the further development of an
old thought; but a mere denouncer is the
enemy of progress and consequently of
Nature. Begin anew, says the critic,
because the old masonry does not answer
at present. Let the old author be buried
because his time is gone. These are
shallow expressions. Progress certainly
is the law of Nature and there must be
corrections and developments with the
progress of time. But progress means
going further or rising higher. Now, if we
are to follow our foolish critic, we are to go
back to our former terminus and make a
new race, and when we have run half the
race, another critic of his stamp will cry
out: Begi n
anew, because
the wrong road
has been
broken! In this
way our stupid
critics will never
allow us to go over the whole road and see
what is in the other terminus! Thus the
shallow critic and the fruitless reader are
the two great enemies of progress. We
must shun them.
The true critic, on the other hand,
advises us to preserve what we have
already obtained, and to adjust our race
from that point where we have arrived in
the heat of our progress. He will never
advise us to go back to the point whence
we started, as he fully knows that in the
case there will be a fruitless loss of our
valuable time and labour. He will direct the
adjustment of the angle of the race at the
point where we are. This is also the
characteristic of the useful student. He will
read an old author and will find out his exact
position in the progress of thought. He
will never propose to burn the book on the
ground that it contains thoughts, which are
useless. No thought is useless. Thoughts
are means by which we attain our objects.
The reader, who denounces a bad road is
even capabl e of i mprovement and
conversion into a good one. One thought
is a road leading to another. Thus the
reader will find that one thought which is
the objecct today will be the means of a
further object tomorrow. Thoughts will
necessarily continue to be an endless
THE GAUDIYA 6 JANUARY 2012
series of means and objects in the
progress of humani ty. The great
reformers will always assert that they have
come out not to destroy the old law but to
fulfil it. Valmiki, Vyasa, Plato, Jesus,
Mahomed, Confucius and Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu assert the fact ei ther
expressly or by their conduct.
The Bhagavat like all religious works
and philosophical performances and
writings of great men has suffered from
the imprudent conduct of useless readers
and stupid critics. The former have done
so much injury to the work that they have
surpassed the l atter i n thei r evi l
consequence. Men of brilliant thoughts
have passed by the work in quest of truth
and philosophy, but the prejudice which
they imbibed from its useless readers and
their conduct prevented them from making
a candid investigation. Not to say of other
people, the great genius of Raja Ram
Mohan Roy, the founder of the sect of
Brahmoism, did not think it worth his while
to study this ornament of the religious
library. He crossed the gate of the
Vedanta, as set up by the Mayavada
construction of the designing Shankar-
acharya, the chosen enemy of the Jains,
and chalked his way out to the unitarian
form of the Christian faith, converted into
an Indian appearance. Ram Mohan Roy
was an able man. He could not be
satisfied with the theory of illusion
contained in the Mayavada philosophy of
Shankar-acharya. His heart was full of
love to Nature. He saw through the eye of
his mind that he could not believe in his
identity with God. He ran furious from the
bounds of Shankara to those of the Koran.
There even he was not satisfied. He then
studied the pre-eminently beautiful
precepts and history of Jesus, first in the
English translations and at last in the
original Greek, and took shelter the holy
banners of the Jewish Reformer. But Ram
Mohan Roy was also a patriot. He wanted
to reform his country in the same way as
he reformed himself. He knew it fully that
truth does not belong exclusively to any
individual man or to any nation or particular
race. It belongs to God, and man whether
in the Poles or on the Equator, has a right
to claim it as the property of his Father. On
these grounds he claimed the truths
inculcated by the Western Saviour as also
the property of himself and his countrymen,
and thus he established the Samaja of the
Brahmos independently of what was in his
own country in the Beautiful Bhagavatam.
(This is gathered from that Ram Mohan
Roy told to the public in the preface to the
three dissertations, which he wrote about
the precepts of Jesus as compiled by him
from the Gospels and in answer to Dr.
Marshman, the Serampore Missionary.)
His noble deeds will certainly procure him
a high position in the history of reformers.
But then, to speak the truth, he would have
done more if he had commenced his work
of reformation from the point where the
last reformer in India left it. It is not our
business to go further on this subject.
Suffice it to say, that the Bhagavat did not
attract the genius of Ram Mohan Roy. His
thought, mighty though it was, unfortunately
branched like the Ranigunje line of the
Railway, from the barrent station of
Shankaracharya, and did not attempt to be
an extension from the Delhi Terminus of
the great Bhagavat reformer of Nadia. We
do not doubt that the progress of time will
correct the error, and by a further extension
the branch line will lose itself somewhere
in the main line of progress. We expect
these attempts in an abler reformer of the
followers of Ram Mohan Roy.
(to be contd......)
THE GAUDIYA 7 JANUARY 2012
THE HUMAN SOCIETY
Since time immemorial, the human
beings have evolved a highly developed
social system to facilitate the smooth
running of the life-cycle through inter
dependant and mutually complimentary
activities. Through skill development and
expertise in various fields, the human
endeavours innumerably extend to the
issues like agriculture, animal husbandry,
horticulture, trade, processing, transport-
ation, preservation, distribution, industry,
commerce, manufacturing, politics,
defence, engi neeri ng, technol ogy,
science, medicine, service, education
etc.,etc.As long as these human activities
remain based upon righteousness, they
provide peace, solace and prosperity to
the soci ety. On the contrary, i f
unri ghteousness, sel fi shness and
deception enter into them, then they result
in unrest, anxiety and suffering of the
human beings. Especially when the
rulers and the social leaders become
unrighteous, the human society shall
become a hotbed of distress, as the evils
of the highly situated people quickly
percolate down, upto the rock bottom of
the society. During the gloden age of
Satyayuga, al l the four pi l l ars of
righteousness, such as penance,
purity, kindness and truth were prevalent
in their entirety. As the cycle of ages
advanced, these righteous elements
began to recede. During the present age
Kaliyuga, only the last piller Truth is
remaining, enfeebled due to the onslought
of multiple evils. The righteousness alone
is the positive factor that distinguishes
between man and a brute. Due to the
dwindling of this positive aspect, most of
the present human population has
become reduced merely to just two
legged animals. Most of the worthy
human qual i ti es such as honesty,
generosi ty, sympathy, tol erance,
credibility, charity, gratitude, austerity,
modesty, frankness, mercy, hospitality,
patri oti sm, servi ce, non-vi ol ence,
compassion, discipline, restraint, self-
control, purity etc., have become almost
absent in the human dealings of recent
times. In the pure state of spiritual
existence, an individual soul is completely
free from all kinds of sins. What makes
the present day people to acquire devilish
traits of hellish wickedness? Due to
atheism people commit endless crimes
against the fellow human beings. On the
otherhand, the half-learned religionists
under the influence of selfish dogmas
perpetrate unprecedented violence and
destruction in the innocent human society.
This is the result of violent association,
violent life-style, violent dogmas and
devilish mentalities derived out of passion
and ignorance. The whole of this inhuman
affair becomes materialised due to the
total absence of holy association. This
eni gmati c phenomenon has been
explained by the revealed literature as,
the perversion of the human values due
BEWARE OF HUMAN BEINGS
POSSESSED BY THE GHOST OF NESCIENCE
Sripad B.S. Narayan Maharaj
THE GAUDIYA 8 JANUARY 2012
to the predominance of the ghost called
as nescience. Those who are possessed
by this devil of nescience not only become
dangerous to the society of the human
beings, also they become destructive
towards themselves. This entire material
world is beset with millions of miseries,
sufferings and catastrophies. In addition
to this, when the number of perverted
masses increases day by day, one can
imagine the unprecedented distress, the
human beings shall have to face in this
world, in addition to the natural factors like
old age, diseases, uncertainty of life etc.
THE TIGRESS OF OLD AGE
About two thousand years back, the
Roman people used to organise most
cruel and violent forms of public entertain-
ments in the huge amphitheatres or
arenas known as colosseum, where
gladiators armed with lethal weapons
would enter into the games of killing each
others,in front of kings and thousands of
onlooking spectators. Such fighting used
to be arranged between man and man,
beast and beast, and between man and
beast. Most often criminals or slaves
were condemned there, to face a starved
wild beast like lion, tiger, bear etc. and to
get killed in such encounters. These
barbaric games came to an end alongwith
the fall of Roman civilisation. Yet, the
beastly policy of might is rightis constantly
continuing in our present so-called
civilised world too, in one or other forms.
In the political, social, economical,
commerci al , ethni c, nati onal and
international levels, these discriminations
are perpetrated in a disguised manner, to
vicimise the innocent citizens. This will
continue, as long as the human beings
do not get rid of their possession by the
ghost of nescience (self forgetfulness).
For an ordinary human being, how terrific
and horrifying shall be the imagination of
becoming a helpless prey for the hungry
beasts of Roman amphitheatre! In
comparison to such an event, now we may
feel ourselves to be lucky and secure, as
we are quite away from such events, due
to the immunity provided to us by the
factors of displacement in space, time and
person. No sensible person may desire
to become a wretched prey to such hungry
beasts. The fact is that, inspite of our
apparent immunity from such a ghastly
situation, none of us really spared from
falling a victim to such a horrible plight.
The enlightening verses of the moral
literature say, that for all the mortals, the
duration of old age is comparable with
an encounter with a hungry tigress. In
the free state of pure spiritual existene,
an individual transcends the barriers of
time and old age, hence there is no
possibility of being attacked by such a
tigress. Whereas all the mortal beings
deluded due to the nescience (maya), as
a penalty for their forgetfulness of the
Supreme Lord, have to undergo this
bestial encounter during the old age, up
to the termination of life. Even the medical
science compares the period of old age
with the dreaded disease cancer. The
similarity between the both of them is that,
1) the fast destruction of the living body
cells, and 2) the scanty production of the
new living cells. During the young age, the
rate of anabolism is stronger than the rate
of catabolism, whereas during the old
age, it becomes vice versa. Srimad
Bhagavatam calls this jaraa (old age), the
daughter of time, as the sister of mrityu
(death). Ageing and inertia of this mundane
world are the two most painful factors for
the fallen mortal beings.
(to be contd.....)
THE GAUDIYA 9 JANUARY 2012
He is drunk with the vanity of worldly
success past, present and prospective,
unaware that he has no business at the
table on which a cruel Enchantress has
been perpetually serving a never-ending
series of dishes of viands that promise
most delicious enjoyment from a distance
but prove di sappoi nti ng on actual
experience. This veritable Tantaluss cup
is ever mocking the frantic efforts of the
degraded soul to appease what seems
to himself to be his unquenchable thirst.
The degraded soul cannot cut
himself off from all dealings with this
world. But he can wish to be undeceived.
As soon as such wish takes possession
of the soul he begins to look about for a
means of deliverance. At the initial stages
he trusts his own reason to rescue him
from the clutches of the delusive energy.
But the latter is far too powerful and holds
the struggling soul securely in her iron
grip. When the fallen soul realises the
impossibility of deliverance he considers
it wise to make whatever terms appear
to be obtainable from his enemy. But the
enemy is far too clever not to understand
his plight and takes full advantage of it by
imposing stricter vassalage on her
helpless victim. This is the end of all
efforts on the part of the fallen soul to
extricate himself by means of empiric
knowledge. He is thereby only more
deeply committed to the slavery of Nature
and a proportionate aggravation of his
ignorance and misery.
So thi s apparentl y i nnocent
civilization which is embraced with such
Vaishnavas are less intelligent, efficient, learned and tactful
Prabhupad Sri Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
(Contd. from December issue)
rapturous enthusiasm by the corrupt taste
of the fallen soul is not really so innocent
as it looks. So long as the soul is bent
upon exploiting the inventions of science
for the purpose of enjoyment he is bound
to reap the dire but fully justifiable
consequences of his self-elected folly. But
although it is a comparatively easy task
to denounce corrupt deal i ngs wi th
civilization it is very difficult to formulate
principles of correct behaviour towards the
world. This has been attempted from the
point of view of the fallen soul by the
empiric science of Ethics. That science
bases i ts recommendati ons on an
analysis of our mental activity. It assumes
that the mind cannot reach the Truth by
reason of defects corrigible by its own
effort. It, therefore, pursues the policy of
making the mind analyse its own nature
by looking inwards. Thought is employed
to explain itself. The result is the
multiplication of further thought on the
processes and contents of thought. The
web is only more intricately spun and the
ti red i ntel l ect emerges from the
endeavour, claiming to be wiser by its futile
quest because it can now confidently
declare that it is never possible by its own
efforts to attain to the knowledge of the
real state of affairs. It also is bound to
confess that all mental quest for the Truth
is nothing more than a very illuminating
movement in a vicious circle.
The net gain from ethical enquiries
has been an aggravation of the opportunist
attitude and a corresponding slackening
of our faith in the vey existence (?) of the
Absolute.
THE GAUDIYA 10 JANUARY 2012
The scriptures declare with one
voice that the energy of the soul proper
requires to be guided by the principle of
the Absolute Truth through a messenger
who is not embarrassed by transitory
foolish desires. It is not necessary either
to enjoy or discard the things of this world.
Our minds are incapable of accepting
anything of this world without discarding
many things or discarding anything
without accepting many things in its
stead. The so-called golden mean is not
golden at all but is really the path that is
ordinarily followed. It is the common-
place, unsatisfactory device that is
adopted by the bewildered soul in the
belief that it is likely to expose him to a
minimum of inconveniences. All these
methods are the products of the futile
attempts of the erring intellect to find a
solution of its difficulties by its own efforts.
They are also different faces of the
universal attempt to obtain a maximum
of worldly pleasures.
But one who has real experience of
the Truth must necessarily be able to rise
above any embarrassment by transitory
foolish desires. The Vaishnava has
realised the Truth Whom he serves. He
can guide himself towards this world in
the light of the service of the Truth. He
can control his senses most easily.
Those ering worldings who are slaves of
their passions mistake the self-control of
the devotee of Truth for want of dexterity
and efficience.
The Vai shnavas are perfectl y
dexterous and efficient as they conduct
themselves naturally and in the only
proper manner towards this world. Their
senses are neither held back from, nor
let loose on, the things of this world. They
use their senses for a purpose that is
known only to those that are not under
the thraldom of their senses.
The mischief is that persons who are
themselves busy to fulfil their own
sensuous gratification are often found
undertaking gratuitously the task of
gauzing the lofty uninterrupted knowledge
of the Vaishnavas. They see that the
exoteric attempts of a Vaishnava have no
shadow of an earthly ambition and are not
conduci ve to the sense-grati fyi ng
propaganda. This naturally repels them
as they donot find what they seek. But
though to look after the welfare of the soul
proper seems to an apparent sight-seer
not worthy of any display of intelligence
yet the esoteric side would lead him to
cross the apparent deplorable stage of the
pedant.
The seminary of spiritual learning that
has its eternal existence in the realm of
Godhead has been made manifest to our
view by the mercy of Sri Gaurasundar in
the form of the Acharya. The lay
Uni versi ti es of the worl d devote
themselves to the task of procuring
worldly facilities for their votaries by the
method of intellectual activities skilfully
devised for the purpose. They provide
elaborate courses of instruction in the
various branches of empiric knowledge
embodying the speculations of man
regarding this phenomenal world. They
are enabled to undertake the task through
that priceless gift of the Almighty viz.
sound. Articulated sound in the visualised
form of writing and in the audible form of
spoken l anguage enabl es man to
formulate, communicate and accumulate
a body of common opinions embodying
the experi ence of the race. The
Universities are the centres of specific
and systematic culture of this knowledge.
(to be contd.......)
THE GAUDIYA 11 JANUARY 2012
Para-Brahma & Maya
Sripad Vishweswara Das
The right conception of Brahma,
i nvol ves the fol l owi ng sel f-evi dent
postulates:
(1) The transcendental cannot be
judged by the human standard.
(2) Brahma i s the source of
everything.
(3) Brahma is beyond the thought
and conception of man equipped with
sentient knowledge of insentients and
what little can be conceived of Brahma
by the grace of the transcendental
preceptor has to be expressed in words
that do not submit to the test of sensuous
organs.
(4) Brahma ceases to be such, as
soon as he is grasped by any of individual
souls as a product of Nature.
(5) For the proper conception of
Brahma we should rely on Aptavakyas
(authoritative testimonies of self-realised
souls enabling us to understand the
indisputable truth) i.e., the Vedas and the
Upani shadas etc. and not upon
independent sensuous reasons.
(6) Brahma is not simply a passive
Being devoid of all attributes, but an
omnipotent, ever-active Existence,
revealing Himself out of His free will to
His devotees.
(7) Brahma though unmanifest to
sensuous understanding, eternally
manifests Himself in multifarious spiritual
forms and deludes mundane observers
by suitable energy.
(8) Brahma is an Absolute and
Unconditioned Being. It is foolish to try to
see only one aspect of the indivisible Truth
if the partial manifestation proves to be
mundane.
(9) Self-realised souols can impart
their knowledge of Brahman to ignorant
but sincere enquirers i.e., those who are
really inclined to accept the Truth as an
act of grace.
It must be stated at the outset that in
accepting these postulates as self-evident
on is not called upon to surrender ones
reasoning faculty nor to suspend it, nor to
reduce ones self to the position of a
passive recipient of ideas or assertions
called dogmas. The empiricist may gain
the charge of the commission of the
common l ogi cal fal l acy of Peti to
Principle or as it is commonly termed
begging the question by trying to prove
the unavoidable necessity of ignorance.
But considering the deep and abstruse
nature of the problem I am trying to tackle,
I may be pardoned for following a better
line of reasoning than his.
Assumi ng, therefore, that the
postulates set forth above are accepted
as underlying the universally accepted
idea of the Truth let me now proceed to a
specific consideration of the nature of
Brahma and with it that of Maya, basing
my views not on my individual opinion but
on the texts of the Scriptures, which are
the only source of the knowledge of the
Absolute.
In this connection, let it be observed
that in Sanskrit, Brahma is a neuter word
which is represented in English by the
pronoun it. But for the sake of avoiding
THE GAUDIYA 12 JANUARY 2012
evident misundrstanding I have used He
and its variations with reference to Brahma
and in the following note, I shall use them
frequently. Properly speaking Brahma is
not neuter but common in the non-
sensuous philosophical sense.
So much for the preamble. Let me
now come to the matter in hand.
I have already intimated that it is
utterly impossible for a man with his
limited knowledge to conceive Brahma.
Divine Nature is simply inconceivable. The
text from Brihadaranyakopanishad which
is to the point meant thus:
Wel l Gargi ! Standi ng on the
mundane platform nobody has ever seen
this imperishable Brahma, but He sees
all; nobody has ever made Him the object
of his hearing, but He has everything;
nobody has ever known Him, but He
knows all. There is no other observer than
He, no other hearer than He, no other
conceiver than He, no other knower than
He. Well Gargi! The infinite space is fully
surcharged with the presence of this
indestructible Brahma.*
Again in the Talavakaropanishad we
find:
Sticking to speculation he who
knows for certai n that Brahma i s
incomprehensible knows something of
Him; he on the other hand who fully
believes that he has known Brahma has
not known Him. Sages declare that
Brahma is unknowable through limited
sense-perception. It is only fools who
think that He is so knowable.g
The text from Kathopanishad and
Taittireeyopanishad respectively which
may be translated thus are also to the
point:
He is not attainable by any world
hardened through word, mind or eye.
How can He be realised by any one except
by those only who are on the same
plane?v
Failing to attain Whom our limited
words and thoughts recoil back on
themselves.n
Again Divine Nature is a complex
thing. It is verily a paradox to the worldly
judgment as all irreconciliables find their
reconciliation in Brahma. All contraries
and contradictions merge in Him into a
harmoni ous whol e. Thus we fi nd
respecti vel y i n Kathopani shad,
Swetaswataropani shad and
Ishopanishad of which here are the
English renderings:
Brahma is the most minute of all
minute things. Yet He is the most gigantic
of all gigantic things. He lives in the hearts
of all beings. He who is free from all over
sorrows and desi res can see that
supersensuous Brahma through the
grace of Brahma alone.k
*+. |+e +.+ -.+.+
u.+ u.+ -.++.-+ -.++.-+ .+
-.++. -+ + -.++.-+ u. +-..
u-e +.+.+. .+. ..+.+ i
g+-+.+ +-+ + + +-+ - = i
u.+ .-+. u.+.-+. ii
v - .-. - -=. ..+ ++. - -e+. i
-+.+ ++.+ + +-++ ii
n ++. .-. --+ ..+ -=. = i
k .-.+.- +. .+.-..-+ +.-+. +.+. i
+++ ++ .+.+. .+ .=...-.- ii
j... -. +.+. ++-e = -..++ i
= - - - +-+.-+ -. +.+ + .+ ii
(to be contd.....)
THE GAUDIYA 13 JANUARY 2012
Ambarish and Durvasa
Sri Kishori Mohan Pal
Young and old, all are familiar with
the name of Maharaj Ambarish, the world-
renowned devotee of Sri Hari. We, bound-
jivas as we are and fallen under the
clutches of Maya, suffer lots of misries in
this world knowing it to be our only resort
and, for deliverance from those miseries,
perform various sorts of good deeds; but
it is an irony of fate that the same
miseries trouble us again and again.
However, we can get rid of the bonds of
Karma (effect of the actions including
those of previous births) if we study and
follow the Bhaktas (devotees). Hence the
life of a pure devotee is the only object of
study for a Jiva.
Maharaj Ambari sh, al though a
monarch of the seven islands of the
universe considered his enjoyable position
to be quite unworthy. He engaged his
mind in the contemplation of Sri Hari, his
voice in uttering His words, his hands in
cleansing His temples, his ears in hearing
his glory, his body in the touch of a
devotees person, his nose in smelling the
Tulasi offered at His feet and his tongue
in the tasting of Sri Bhagavat Prasad. Not
only that, but he engaged his legs in
touring about places of pilgrimage, his
head in bowing down to Sri Vigraha, his
desires in the services of Sri Hari but not
in worldly enjoyments. Further, he placed
his firm faith in God having performed all
the observances of devotion practised by
Sri Prahlad and other devotees. He nicely
managed the administration of his
dominions through his representatives
accordi ng to the di recti ons of hi s
Brahmana advisers.
Although the intense devotees have
got no transitory duty to perform like the
maya-baddha jivas, or souls in the
clutches of the illusory power, still the
Maharaj used to perform Ashwamedha
Yajnas etc. worthy of a Kshatriya King,
simply for the satisfaction of Sri Hari. He
had got Vasishtha, Asita, Gautama and
other Brahmanas who were equipped with
the knowl edge of Brahma as hi s
representatives and he performed these
Yajnas on the banks of Saraswati away
from hi s Capi tal . By successful l y
performing the yajnas, he meant to preach
the greatness of the pilgrimages.
The Maharaj used to observe the
Dwadashi vrata (religious austerity
observed on every twelfth day of the lunar
fortnight). Once upon a time in the month
of Karti ka on the occasi on of the
performance of such a Vrata, he along with
his wife after bathing in the Yamuna,
worshipped Sri Hari in the Madhuvan.
Then after making gifts of cows to the
Brahmans and satisfying them with the
Prasad (favour in the shape of the
remai ns of the Lord s food) of Sri
Bhagavan he was about to take his meal
when the Rishi Durvasa appeared. The
Maharaj, the best of devotees, then
desi sted from taki ng hi s meal and
welcomed the guest quite befittingly. As
prayed for by the king, the Rishi gladly
accepted his invitattion and in order to
perform the religious duties of the moon,
went to the river Kalindi and applied
himself to the meditation of the Brahman.
Durvasa was very late in returning. The
THE GAUDIYA 14 JANUARY 2012
king had only half a moments time left for
breaking his fast. Maharaj Ambarisha then
consulted the Brahman devotees present
, as to how he mi ght observe the
performance of his spiritual duty in time
without offending his venerable guest. The
decision was that he should take only
water. No sooner had he sipped a few
drops than Durvasa appeared. The
devoted Maharaj then welcomed the Rishi
with joined hands. But the Rishi with his
psychic power learnt all and in a fit of rage
addressed the court, Lo! Here is a man
proud of his wealth. He seems not to be a
devotee of Vishnu but identifies himself
with the Godhead Himself; see how he
transgresses against his religious duties.
I am his guest, and he has himself taken
his meal before entertaining me. However,
let us see the sequel. Thus saying, the
Rishi, fired with anger, tore off a tuft of hair
from his head and created a fiery and
deathlike demon out of that for the
destruction of the Maharaja.
The demon, sword in hand, trod upon
the earth with violence in a burning mood.
The devoted Ambarish, although he found
himself face to face with death, did not
move an inch. The confirmed devotees
surrender their body, mind and soul and
all to God, and are careless of self-
protection, because they know that God
is the only protector, and destroyer of all
jivas. It is His divine will that saves a jiva
and it is His will that kills him. God protects
one who has surrendered himself to Him.
Now at this juncture, God sent His Chakra
to protect His devotee Ambarish. Then the
Sudarshan Chakra, a veritable shooting
disc of fire not only burnt down the demon
but advanced towards Durvasa who got
frightened and beat an ignominious retreat.
By the power of his Yoga the Rishi
sped round the whole earth, air, heaven
and the nether world without rest or
intermission, the Chakra chasing him
everywhere. Thus the Rishi to save
himself from the hands of the Chakra
went to Brahma the creative Deity of the
universe and sought for his help but
Brahma said, Darling, I am the servant
of God and not only myself but Mahadeva,
Daksha, Bhrigu and all the Projeshas,
Bhuteshas and Sureshas (gods of the
animate and inanimate worlds and gods
of suras) are simply carrying out the
mandates of God, with bowed heads and
working for the welfare of the Jivas. Even
this position of mine is not eternal. This
region of mine will disappear at the end
of the appointed lila of that great Lord. You
have revolted against His devotee; hence
I have no power to save you. Then
Durvasa went to his Gurudeva Shiva on
Kailas and took shelter with him in the
hope that he would save him. But
Shankara said, Darling I have no control
over the Supreme Being; on many
occasions out of pride on our part and
disregard for Him we were greatly
mistaken.......
(to be contd.....)
Samadhi Temple of Srila Prabhupad Bhakti
Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
THE GAUDIYA 15 JANUARY 2012
(Contd. from December issue)
Srila Raghunath Das Goswami
Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
The Lord commanded, but he did not
move till at last the Lord snatched him to
Himself and placed His feet on his head.
The pl ayful Ni tyananda ful l of
spontaneous mercy in a fit of delight said
to Raghunath, Thief, you always take to
your heels from a far and never come
near. I have captured you today and will
punish you. Feed my companions with
curd and chinrah (flattened rice). On
hearing these words Raghunaths mind
was filled with gladness. He at once
despatched his people to the neighbouring
villages who procured eatables which
were conveyed to the spot by the villagers.
Chinrah, milk, curd, sweetmeats, sugar
and plantain were brought in this manner
and placed on all sides of the Lord.
Worthy Brahmans and innumerable
people began to collect on receiving the
tidings of the great festivity. Articles of
food were secured from the villages as
well as hundreds of earthern pots. Half a
dozen vessel s of great si ze were
procured in which one of the Brahmins
soaked the chinrah for the Lord. The
chinrah was put into hot milk in some of
them. Half of it was treated with curd,
sugar and plantain. The other half was
treated with champa plantain, thickened
milk, sugar, ghee and camphor.
As the Lord now putting on loin cloth
took His seat on the terrace the Brahman
who had prepared the food placed before
Him seven earthen vessels having filled
them with these delicacies. On the dias
sat the personal companions of the Lord,
all those great personages forming
themselves into a circle. Ramdas,
Sundarananda Das, Gadadhar, Murari,
Kamal akar, Sadashi va, Purandar
Dhananjay, Jagadish, Parameswar Das,
Mahesh, Gauridas, Hode-Krishnadas,
Uddharan and all the other innumerable
personal followers took their seats on the
raised plotform. The Lord respectfully
made the Pandits, Bhattacharyas and all
the Brahmans who arrived there on
hearing the news of the festivity take their
seats on the dias. Two earthen pots were
placed before every one. In one of them
chinrah with milk and in the other chinrah
with curd were served. The rest of the
people sat below the dias. They were
also served in the same fashion. A number
of Brahmans finding no room on the dias
prepared their chinrah on the bank of
Ganges, while others with their portions
of chinrah got into the water finding no
unoccupied space on dry land.
At this stage Raghav Pandit arrived
with a variety of prasads other than
cooked rice and having first offered the
same to the Lord distributed them among
the devotees. He said that he had been
expecting the Lord in his house when he
had made ready offerings of food for Him
that prasad still remained untouched in his
house while the Lord was engaged in
festivities there. The Lord replied that He
would dine on those things which had
been brought to Him during the day and
at night accept the prasad that was in
readiness in his house, remarking that as
he was of the community of milkmen he
THE GAUDIYA 16 JANUARY 2012
felt delight in the pastime of feasting out
in the open in the company of a large
number of cow-herds. Then the Lord
made Raghav take his seat supplying him
with the two varieties of the preparation
of chinrah.
Then after the pots of the people had
been filled with chinrah the Lord in
meditation invoked the Supreme Lord to
be present there. As the Supreme Lord
appeared Nitai got up from His seat on
catching sight of Him and in His Company
inspected severally the chinrah that was
in the pots of all the persons. With many
remarks Nitai put into the mouth of the
Supreme Lord a handful of chinrah from
every pot. The Supreme Lord laughingly
took another handful and made Nitai eat
the same. All the Vaishnavas stood up
and watched the pastime as Nitai moved
about amidst all the groups. No one was
aware why Nitai was going round in that
manner. Very few persons had the good
fortune to obtain a sight of the Supreme
Lord. Thereafter Nityananda laughingly
resumed Hs seat and pl aci ng four
vessels of sun-dried chinrah to His right
and preparing a seat made the Supreme
Lord to be seated there. Then the two
Brothers began to eat the chinrah. The
sight filled Lord Nityananda with joy and
He manifested many signs of His mood
of overpowering love. He commanded all
the people to eat and chant the Name of
Hari. There arose an universal chant of
the Hol y Name that remi nded the
Vaishnavas of feasting out in Vrindaban.
Nityananda and the Supreme Lord are
merci ful and magnani mous. They
accepted all this to ensure the good
fortune of Raghunath.
Such is the inconceivable power of
the mercy of Nityananda that it could bring
the Supreme Lord Himself to feast out in
the open on the river-bank. Sri Ramdas
and others as cowherds were
overwhelmed with love and perceived the
high bank of the Yamuna on the side of
the Ganges.
(to be contd.....)
Sri Radha Kund in Sri Chaitanya Math Sri Mayapur
THE GAUDIYA 17 JANUARY 2012
The Spiritual Questions
Q1. Why should one believe in the
existence of God?
A. The question expresses the
doubt, regarding the transcendental
Reality, of a person who believes in the
absolute existencew of the phenomenal
world on the testimony of the senses. As
God is a super-sensuous or spiritual
Entity such a person naturally asks the
questi on why he, whose scope of
consciousness is limited to the senses,
should be under the obligation of believing
in the existence of God, if he is located
beyond the jurisdiction of his senses and
can, therefore, have apparently nothing
to do with him?
It is only when one begins to doubt
the substanti ve exi stence of the
phenomenal worl d that the mi nd
gradual l y turns towards the
transcendental. But more often the so-
called belief in God is a mere adoption of
a thoughtless fashion, without realisation
of the necessity or nature of such belief.
If God really exists and if the existence
of God is known to us it would still be
open to us to admi t or deny Hi s
existence. In order to establish the duty
and necessity of believing in His existence
it would be further necessary to prove
that it would be harmful to ourselves to
ignore His existence. The practical
denial of a Law of physical Nature
involves harmful physical and mental
consequences which stand effectively in
the ways of such denial.
The term belief denotes a purely
mental attitude of a hypothetical nature.
It properly describes the relation of our
changing apparent self to the changing
phenomena of this world. We do not
really know the nature of our own
substantive self who is the same at all
time. Neither do we know the real nature
of any obj ect of our sensuous
experience. But we believe in the
existence both of ourselves and of the
world. We also believe that we ought
to cherish such belief because the denial
of the existence of our aparent selves or
our apparent environment involves
apparentl y undesi rabl e moral and
physical consequences to ourselves.
We apparently experience neither kind
of consequence by denyi ng the
existence of God. There thus seems to
be niehter physical nor moral necessity
for believing in the existence of God at
all.
The moral as well as physical
necessity relates to our changing and
apparent self. The spiritual necessity of
believing in the existence of God belongs
to our real or eternal selves. For the soul
there is no function but to serve God
eternally and unceasingly. It is the natural
function of unobscured consciousness
which is the stuff of our real self. It is not
a case of hypothetical belief in a
hypothetical existence of a hypothetical
self. It is the natural, perennial function
of the real self by which and through
which the existence of the soul is perfect
consciousness is maintained. It is the
relation of the living, receptive, cognitive
faculty to the eternally self-manifesting
Sri Gaur Gunananda Brahmachari
THE GAUDIYA 18 JANUARY 2012
Truth. This is the nature of the cognitive
necessity of the function.
God is the only indivisible absolute
Existence. Everything else is derived
existence and dependent for its existence
on Him. The individual soul maintain her
natural exi stence as soul by the
continued conscious relationship of the
perpetually enlightened to the perpetual
Enlightener. It is not a case of ignorant,
hypothetical belief but perfect and real
knowledge, which is the product of the
really rational exercise of the cognitive
faculty in the form of the exclusive service
of the Truth.
Q.2. What are Chit-shakti, Tatastha-
shakti and Maya-shakti of the Almighty?
A. The Almighty is the Possessor of
infinite powers which are essentially
indivisible as belonging to the One
Supreme. The power of the Supreme
Lord viewed from the stand-point of the
individual soul presents a threefold aspect
vi z., (1) The Di vi ne Power i n Her
substantive or real form of Chit-shakti or
spiritual power, (2) In Her manifestation
as individual soul made of spiritual
essence but liable to succumb to the
attraction of Maya-Shakti or limiting,
unspiriutal, or deluding power, and (3) The
Maya-shakti mani fested as the
phenomenal world.
Sri Shyama Kund in Sri Chaitanya Math , Sridham Mayapur
THE GAUDIYA 19 JANUARY 2012
The Realising Relationship
Sri Nimananda Sevatirtha
Sri Krishna is the Goal and Method
of all investigation regarding Himself. The
investigation of Sri Krishna forms an
integral part of Himself. The process,
regarded from the detached point of view
of a spectator, involves three factors, viz.
subject of investigation, investigating
activity and investigator. These form the
natural di vi si ons of the subj ect of
consi derati on for the hypotheti cal
spectator.
Under Subject of investigation one
has to consi der the nature of the
substanti ve Real i ty and Hi s
manifestations. Under Process of
investigation it is necessary to take
cogni sance of the nature of the
Relationship that subsists between the
Subject regarded as Possessor of Power
and Power inhering in the Subject. Under
Investigator the issue that will demand his
attention is the nature of Power Herself
conscious of Her relationship with the
Subject as Her Posessor. Posessor,
Possessi on and Possessed, or
Predominator (Male), Predominated,
Agent (Female) and Their reciprocal
(Love) Relationship, should form the
natural and exhaustive divisions of any
truly comprehensive enquiry.
These are termed Vishaya (Subject),
Ashraya (Power) and Prayojana (Their
necessary mutual requi rement or
relationship); or, from the point of view of
the Possessed, as Sambandha (Subject
of relationship), Abhidheya (process) and
Prayojana (requirement).
The Subject is capable of further
elucidation.
Vi shaya, Possessor or Power,
Master, Lord of predominating Personality
is the One and self-sufficing Reality. He
is not different from His Power, although
the Latter is integrated with Him as
i nseparabl e Counterwhol e. The
Possessor of Power relates Himself to
Power, the process presenting a double
specification being related to both Power
and Possessor of Power. Sri Krishna is
Vishaya. Sri Radhika is Ashraya (Power).
Sri Baladeva is Abhidheya (Process).
Sri Krishna is Vishaya. He includes
Sri Radhika and Sri Baladeva. Sri Krishna
is thus simultaneously One and Tri-Une.
As Vishaya Sri Krishna is One without a
second. He is the Predominating Integer
i n the Supreme Tri -Une i ntegrated
Expression or Eternal Active Manifestation
of Himself.
Sri Krishna cannot be described
except in terms of His Eternal Active Self-
revealing Existence. Sri Krishna as
Predominating Integer in His Tri-Une
Expression, can also be described only
in a very imperfect manner.
As the Predominating Integer Sri
Krishna is the Supreme Lord of all
predominated entities. He is the Male or
the Predominating Aspect of the Absolute.
As Supreme Lord He is the only Male.
Sri Radhika Who is Ashraya or
predominated Power, is the reciprocal
Counter-whole or the Supreme and only
Female. She is the only complete and
self-sufficing Servant or eternal, exclusive
Sweet-heart of Sri Krishna, Who is Her
exclusive and only Male Lover. There is
another factor, viz. the cementing
THE GAUDIYA 20 JANUARY 2012
Process Who brings about the union of
the Divine Pair. This intermediate Power
possesses a dual personality as He (or
She) happens to be the Agent of either
Lover.
In His aspect as sole Agent of Sri
Krishna He is Sri Baladeva, the Alter
Ego, External or Official Self of Sri
Krishna and the Source of all secondary
manifestations of the Director of Power.
As sole Agent of Sri Radhika She is the
Source of all secondary manifestations
of the serving Potency. Sri Baladeva is
thus both Male and Female or the
Medium or Process bringing about the
coupled activities of the Divine Pair. He
is the Concatenation.
The Subject-matter of the Theistic
Conference cannot be approached
except by the guileless acceptance of
the causeless mercy of the Supreme
Lord. The Grace of Kri shna thus
becomes also a factor; and in fact the
most important subject, of our serious
consideraion in this connection. The
Grace of Krishna is identical with
Krishna. The acceptance of the Grace
of Krishna would not otherwise be
identical with acceptance of Himself. Sri
Gaursundar is this merciful Aspect of
this Absolute.
It is not Dyarchy to which the
assent of the reader is solicited. The
function of the One Actively Supreme
Lord wears this necessarily double
aspect.
Sri Krishna is full of all good
Qualities. But He cannot divest Himself
of the status of the Master. He is the
most loveable and generous Master, but
He can be nothing to those who do not
recognise His predominance. Krishna
tries often unsuccessfully to attract these
rebellious souls to Himself by the
manifestation of His Beauty. Those who
see Krishna but once are smitten by the
most exclusive loving devotion to His
Feet. But there are those who
deliberately keep their faces away from
Kri shna under the counsel of Hi s
deluding power. The Beauty of the
Supreme Lord fails to make its appeal
to such persons. Krishna can of course
compel even these persons to turn round
and see Him. But in Krishna Beauty
predominates over Power. Krishna also
represents the insufficiency of the
principle of Power with reference to the
complete needs of our souls. The soul
responds fully to the call of Love by the
Beautiful. But those who confound lust
with Love instinctively shrink from the
ordeal of the sight of Beauty of Krishna.
The Beauty of Krishna, therefore,
requires to be advertised by His mercy.
The appeal of mercy i s the most
irresistble and most fundamental of all
relationships of the individual soul with
Krishna. Sri Gaurasundar should,
therefore, be the primary, nay, the only
Subject of enquiry at everytime. The
mercy of Sri Gaurasundar can alone lead
us to Kri shna. The Mercy of Sri
Gaurasundar is identical with the Beauty
of Sri Krishna and Both are identical with
the Supreme Lord. This is emphasised
by clear texts of the spiritual Scriptures
which tell us that the Name, Form,
Quality, Activity and Individuality of His
servants, are identical with the Lord
Himself.
S
THE GAUDIYA 21 JANUARY 2012
|~4|+| ---
+||- ++= +|4 + +||- 4
= =:4|=| 4|4| + |+|4+ ||+4 +
Sri Bhagavnuvacha
Anshritah karmaphalam
kryam karma karoti yah |
sa sannysee cha yogi cha
na niragnirna chkriyah ||1||
4 = He, who, +||- = performs, +|4
+ = actions prescribed by the scriptures
as inescapable duty, +||- += = with-
out expectation of results, + = of his ac-
tions, = = he is, =:4|=| = called sanyasi
since he renounces the results of his actions,
4|4| = and he is yogi because his mind
does not dwell on the enjoyment of objects
of the senses, + |+|4 = but not one who
has given up the sacrificial fire, + |+ 4
= nor the one who has abandoned external
bodily activity.
He, who performs actions pre-
scribed by the scriptures as inescapable
duty, without expectation of results of his
actions, he is called Sanyasi since he
renounces the results of his actions. And
he is yogi because his mind does not
dwell on the enjoyment of objects of the
senses.
But not one who has given up sac-
ri fi ci al fi re, nor the one who has
||4= 4||| -4-
SRIMAD BHAGAVADGITA
|a4+|-|
| .4|4 CHAPTER-VI
4|+4| 4 DHYNA YOGA
(Contd. from December issue)
abondoned
external bodily
activity.
True asceticism consists not in re-
nouncing the sense objects or actions,
but in employing them in the serivice of
the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna with per-
fect dispassion.
Refer Bhagavatam XI.18.8. 1
4 =:4|=||- a|4|4 - ||a +|:
+ n=:4--= +-+| 4| 4| ~|- +|+ -
Yam sannysamiti prhur
yogam tam viddhi pndava |
na hyasannyastasamkalpo
yogee bhavati kashchana ||2||
+|: = O Pandava, 4 = that the
Panditas, a| = which they call, ;|- = as,
=:4|= = Sannyasa, 4|4 = is Nishkama
Karma Yoga. + + | + = No one,
=:4--=+-+ = who has not been able to
renounce his desires, ~|- = becomes, 4| 4|
= a Yogi.
O Pandava! That the Panditas
which they call as Sanyasa is Nishkama
Karma Yoga. No one who has not been
able to renounce his desires becomes
a Yogi.
The terms of Sanyasa and Yoga
are synonymous. The jiva can never be
a Sanyasi n or a Yogi unl ess he
renounces the fruits of his actions. It is
only the ignorant that regard them as
THE GAUDIYA 22 JANUARY 2012
otherwise. 2
|==n|+4|4 + +|4-
4|4|=:-4 --4 +|4- .
Arurukshormuneryogam
karma kranamuchyate |
yogrudhasya tasyaiva
shamah kranamuchyate ||3||
+ = For the sage who practises yoga,
| ==n| = whose only aim is the
performance of action for spiritual
purification, 4|4 = to get steadiness in
meditation, + = prescribed actions, .4-
= are said, +| = to be the cause of his
elevation to that stage, since they purify the
heart, --4 = for himself, 4|4|=:-4 = who
has attained steadiness in meditation, =
refraining from all the actions, .4- = is said
to be, +| = the cause of maintaining firm
steadiness because they interupt his
meditation.
For the sage who practises yoga,
whose only aim is the performance of
action for spiritual purification to get
steadiness in meditation, prescribed
actions are said to be cause of elevtion
to that stage since they purify the heart.
For himself, who has attained steadiness
in meditation,refraining from all actions
is said to be the cause of maintaining firm
steadiness because they interupt his
meditation.
Therefore, performance of action for
spiritual purification and eternal Bliss are
their respective means. 3
4+| | +|+4|v + +-+-|-
==+-+=:4|=| 4|4|=:--+|4-
Yad hi nendriyrtheshu
na karmasvanushajjate |
sarvvasamkalpasannysee
yogrudhstadochyate ||4||
4+| | = When a yogi, + +-|- =
has no attachment, ;|+4|v = to the objects
of senses, + + = = nor for action to attain
them, -+| = then, =4|=| = and has totally
abandoned, ==-+ = all desires for the
fruits there of, .4- = he is called, 4|4|=:
= adept in the perfection of Yoga.
When, a yogi, has no attachment
to the objects of senses nor for action
to attain them and has totally abandoned
all disires for the fruits there of, he is
called adept in the perfection of yoga. 4
Mind both friend and foe to jiva
.a+|-+|-|+ +|-|+=|+4-
|- n|-+| 4+|- |+|-+
Uddharedtmantmnam
ntmnamavasdayet |
tmaiva hytmano bandhur
tmaiva ripurtmanah ||5||
.a - = (One) Should uplift, |-|+ =
a jiva (which has fallen into the foul sink of
abject worldliness i.e. attachment to objects
of the senses), |-+| = by a mind which
is absolutely free from mundane affinities
and which is attached to the service of the
Supreme Lord, + =|+4- |-|+ = and
should not allow the jiva to sink in worldly
affinities, |- = The mind indeed under
different circumstances, 4+ | = is a friend,
|-+ = of jiva, |-| ) = and the mind
indeed also, |+ = is the enemy, |-+ =
of jiva.
One should uplift a jiva which has
fal l en i nto the foul si nk of abj ect
worldliness, i.e., attachment to objects
of the senses, by a mind which is
absolutely free from mundane affinities
and which is attached to the service of
the Supreme Lord, and should not allow
the jiva to sink in worldly affinities. The
THE GAUDIYA 23 JANUARY 2012
mi nd i nded under di fferent
circumstances is a friend of jiva and also
the mind indeed is the enemy of jiva.
Refer Amritabindu Upanishad 2;
Srimad Bhagavatm III.25.15; V.11.8;
XI.14.27. 5
4+|-|-+---4 4+|-|-+| |--
+|-+-- - --|- - .
Bandhurtmtmanastasya
yenaivtmtman jitah |
antmanastu shatrutve
vartettmaiva shatruvat ||6||
4+ |-+| = A jiva, by whom, |-| )
= the mind, |-- = is conquered, --4 |-+
= to him (to that jiva), |-| = the mind,
4+ = is a friend, |+|-+-- = (whereas) to
one who has not conquered the mind, |-|
) = the mind itself, - - = remains, - - =
in enemity, - - = like an enemy.
A j i va, by whom the mi nd i s
conquered, to him (to that jiva), the mind
is a friend; Whereas, to one who has not
conquered the mind, the mind itself
remains in enemity like an enemy. 6
Characteristics of a Yogrudha
|--|-+a|--4 +|-| =||-
|-|=n+n -v| |+|+|+4|
Jittmanah prashntasya
paramtm samhitah |
sheetoshnasukaduhkheshu
tath mnpamnayoh ||7||
|--|-+ = (He) has perfect control
over his mind i.e. fully engaged in the Divine
Service of the Supreme Lord, a|--4 = is
very calm and free from love and hatred,
|-|=n+n = is never perturbed by the
mundane opposites such as heat and cold,
happiness and misery etc., -v| = and,
|+|++|+4| = honour and dishonour, |-|
+ =||- = and his soul is deeply absorb-
ed in meditation on the Supreme Lord.
(to be contd....)
He has perfect control over his mind
i.e. fully engaged in the Divine Service of
the Supreme Lord, is very calm and free
from love and hatred, is never perturbed
by the mundane opposites such as heat
and cold, happiness and misery and
honour and dishonour and his soul is
deeply absorbed in meditation on the
Supreme Lord.
n| 4v| +|+ |+|| 4| 4|-
=||4- + | -- + v4|-- -|
4 -~ -||+ -v| = + |- +|4| -
4| |+||++ = - ~-||
Just as milk is transformed into
curd by the action of acids,
but yet the effect curd is
neither same as, nor different
from, its cause, viz., milk, so
I adore the Primeval Lord
Govinda of Whom
the state of Shambhu is
transformation
for the performance of the
work of destruction.
Sri Brahma Samhita