THE GAUDIYA 1 JUNE 2012

THE
GAUDIYA
Spiritual Monthly
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Vol. LV JUNE 2012 No. 10
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Glory, glory, ever glory to Sri Chaitanyachandra
Who is the very Embodiment of Transcendental Bliss
and the Effulgence of Whose Body is far-surpassing
than molten gold and Who came to bestow the most
gloriously shining esoteric Prema-Bhakti which was
not given hereto-before at any Age.
Srila Prabodhnanda Saraswati
THE GAUDIYA 2 JUNE 2012
After dis-carding
all these speculations
one should adopt the
Ultimate Prin-ciple
i denti cal wi th the
doctrine of Achintya-
bhedabheda which
p o s t u l a t e d
inconceivable simultaneous distinction and
non-difference. This makes one eligible
for being a true devotee.
The basic principle is that this world is
made up of jivas and the inanimate world is
constituted of matter. Of these, the jivas have
been mani fested by Hi s Tatastha
(Intermedi ary) Potency, and thi s
phenomenal world has been manifested by
His Bahiranga (apara) Potency. He is
consequently to be deemed the cause of
all causes. To explain it in another manner,
He regulates all of them by the Power of
His Will, although He is not an entity different
from the Marginal and Material (Tatastha and
a-chit) Potencies. By the transformation of
those di sti nct Potenci es have been
produced the three: Pradhana (substantive
material principle), Prakriti (material cause)
and Purusha (efficient cause). Hence
although as regards the subjective nature
of Potency, He is Pradhana, Prakriti and
Purusha, yet as the possessor of power He
is eternally distinct from all those separate
potencies.
This simultaneous distinction and non-
di fference has al so sprung from Hi s
inconceviable Power. The speculations of
other schools cannot be said to contain this
Truth that holds good in all positions. Shri
Jiva Goswami in his exposition of Brahma-
Samhita has shown that the attainment of
Love for Krishna by the practice of pure
devotion through the knowledge of the mutual
true relationship between Jiva, Jada and
Krishna is posited in Achintya-bheda-abheda
Vada. The Vedanta interpretted with the aid
of the Bhagavatam leads to the same
conclusion.
Disagreeing Characteristics: In the
different interpretation by the readers of the
Aphorisms, we find that the Absolute One
has the greatest magnitude in comparison
with the other items or reference, viz., Jivas
(Individual souls), Prakriti (Material Energy),
Kala (Time) and Karma (fruitive work).
Energy is not accepted along with the One
Fountainhead. Others have seen all sorts of
energies centred in that One. There are
Manifestive Natures of that One that are
opposed by a particular school of Absolutists
who deny all sorts of Potencies, inasmuch
as these are the outcome of temporal
senses. So the question of potency in the
Fountai n-head has been made a
controversial point. The phenomenal world
is a production of the Efficient and Material
Causes which are denied in the long run by
the analogy of Vivarta. So Devotion has not
been accepted as the medi um of
approaching the manifested Transcendental
Absolute. According to their secular view
no distinctive process should be asserted
in the Integral situation of the Greatest
Magnitude.
Other commentators dissenting from this
view have established Distinctive Monism
and Differentiated Synthetic Dualism by
polemical controversies.
Pithy Precepts of Srila Prabhupd
THE GAUDIYA 3 JUNE 2012
Thus Spake Srila chryadeva
It led those who stood against His
teachings headed by selfish priests and
dogmatics, scholars and students to oppose
the movement with vilolence. The Hindus
with a complaint approahced Chand Kazi, the
then Muslim Collector of Nadia to stop the
Samkirtana of Sri Nimai.
In a well-known passage of his famous
work, Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Kaviraj
Goswamii has graphically described the then
attitude of a section of the Hindus. Some of
the Hindus even went so far as to prefer
formal charges against the conduct of
Mahaprabhu before the Kazi, the agent of
the Moslem government, praying for his
outlawry in the interest of religion. The
charges brought against Mahaprabhu are
given in the passage of Sri Chaitanya
Charitamrita. These Hindus said in effect
The Kirtan propounded by Mahaprabhu was
a thing they had never heard of. The Kirtan
of Mahaprabhu was objectionable because
it was sung loudly to the accompaniment of
Mridanga and Karatal, constantly and by
many people together. It prevented their
sleep. It was against Hinduism as it admitted
the lowest class to the privilege of chanting
the Name of Krishna was admitted even by
Nimai to be Mahamantra and as such must
not be missed about, as according in the
Shastra of the Hindus the potency of a
mantra is impaired if it be heard by any
person. They urged with commendable
caution that the keeping up of nights by
Hindus at the worship Mangalachandi and
Vishahari at which dancing, singing and
music were very properly performed could
not constitute a precedent in favour of the
new fangled practices.
The Smartas
(the followers of
Smriti canoni-cals)
made these
allegations against
Avatari Sri Nimai,
the Savi our of
Kali-Yuga the only
Maintainer of the Yuga-dharma as Nimai was
guilty of endeavouring to introduce the un-
alloyed devotion to God denoted by Kirtan
which is the only eternal dharma of all jivas in
place of the dharma, concocted by the human
mind, that accorded with their ideas. These
protesting Hindus were under the impression
that the puerile creed which they had acquired
by right of inheritance was Hinduism. The
dancing, singing and musical performances
with which the vigils of Mangalachandi and
Vishahari were kept perfectly innocent
because by their means the desire of sensual
gratification and aversion to Hari increased.
Those orgies did not disturb them in the least
but their ears were deafened by the sound
of mridanga and cymbals. They were
particularly lavish in their praise of the
previous conduct of the very Nimai which they
declared was perfectly blameless because
it bore an external resemblance to their own
at least to an extent. But after His return from
Gaya where He began to preach openly the
dharma of the soul, His practices at once
appeared to them to be destructive of all
religion.
The religion which they chose to call
Hinduism consisted, in their opinion, in the
worship of Mangalachandi and Vishahari, in
the thirteen festival, of the twelve months; in
sraddhas (funeral ceremonies) for appearing
the ghosts of dead ancestors; i n the
THE GAUDIYA 4 JUNE 2012
ALMANAC for the months of JUNE & JULY 2012
15.06.2012 Fri Yogini Ekdashi Fasting. Next day Prana between
4.54 and 9.23 a.m. Demise of Srimad Bhakti Kankana
Tapasvi Maharj
19.06.2012 Tue Disappearance of Srila Gaddhara Pandit and Srila
Sacchidnanda Bhakti Vinode Thkur
20.06.2012 Wed The Cleaning Ceremony of Sri Gundich Temple at Puri
21.06.2012 Thu The Car-Festival of Lord Sri Jaganntha at Puri.
Disappearance of Srila Swarupa Dmodara Goswmi
and Srila Sivnanda Sen
25.06.2012 Mon Her Panchami, Sri Lakshmi Vijaja
29.06.2012 Fri The return Car-Festival of Lord Sri Jaganntha
30.06.2012 Sat Shayana Ekdashi Fasting. Next day Prana between
4.58 and 7.17 a.m. Appearance of Srimad Bhakti
Kankana Tapasvi Maharj
03.07.2012 Tue Beginning of Chturmsya Vrata. Sri Guru Poornima
Disappearance of Srila Santana Goswmi
04.07.2012 We Demise of Srimad Bhakti Vijnna Ashrama Maharj
05.07.2012 Thu Demise of Srimad Bhakti Hridaya Vana Deva
Goswmi Maharj
08.07.2012 Sun Disapparance of Srila Goplabhatta Goswmi
11.07.2012 Wed Disappearance of Srila Lokantha Goswmi
15.07.2012 Sun Vanjuli Mahdwdashi Fasting. Next day Prana
between 5.03 and 5.30 a.m.
performance of domestic duties after the
approved manner of uncomplaining beasts
of burdenmarrying and giving in marriage,
loyally practising the duties of eating,
sleeping, fearing, sexuality etc. till the very
moment of the exit from this world; for fear
of the next world by means of gifts,
contemplation, etc. procuring the reputation
for holiness and other honours from god-
less people of this world and also gaining
thereby heaven and other enjoyable lokas
(regions). It was Hinduism in order to earn
a living and become known as a religieux,
effecting a compromise between the verbal
namea mere thing of this world which is itself
the manifestation of the external, shadowy
Power of God and the eternally self-revealing
Holy Name of the God-head; to take as
occasion serves this grossly-distorted,
reflected image of the Name; or to suppose
that the Name is on a level with Dharma, Yajna
(Sacrifice), Vrata (vowed observance) etc.
and, therefore with all greater confidence to
nourish every manner of evil thought on the
basis of such perverse reliance on the Name.
THE GAUDIYA 5 JUNE 2012
Then we are to look to all living beings
in the same light in which we look to
oursel ves, i .e., we must convert our
selfishness into all possible disinterested
activity towards all around us. Love, charity,
well-doing and devotion to God will be our
only work. We then become the servants
of God by obeying His High and Holy
wishes. Here we begin to be Bhaktas and
we are susceptible of further improvement
in our spiritual nature, as we have described
above. All this is covered by the term
Abhidheya (|~+ 4), the second cardinal
point in the supreme religious work, the
Bhagavat. We have now before us, the first
two cardinal points in our religion, explained
somehow or other in the terms and thoughts
expressed by our Saviour who lived only
four centuries ago in the beautiful village of
Nadi a, si tuated on the banks of the
Bhagirathi. We must now proceed to the
last cardinal point termed by that great Re-
establisher a4|-+ or prospects.
What is the object of our spiritual
devolopment, our prayer, our devotion and
our union with God? The Bhagavat tells that
the object is not enjoyment or sorrow, but
continual progress in spiritual holiness and
symmetry. (Sri Rupa Goswami, one of the
disciples of Mahaprabhu Chaitanya says:
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In the common place books of the
Hindu religion in which the Raja and Tama
The Bhagavat: Its Philosophy,
Its Ethics and Its Theology
Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur
(Contd. from May issue) Gunas have been
descri bed as the
ways of relgion, we
have descriptions of
a local heaven and
a local hell; the Heaven as beautiful as
anything on earth and the Hell as ghastly as
any picture of evil. Besides this Heaven we
have many more places, where good souls
are sent up in the way of promotion! There
are 84 divisions of the hell itself, some more
dreadful than the one which Milton has
described in his Paradise Lost. These are
certainly poetical and were originally created
by the rulers of the country in order to check
evil deeds of the ignorant people, who are
not above to understand the conclusion of
philosophy. The religion of the Bhagavat is
free from such a poetry. Indeed, in some of
the chapters we meet with description of
these hells and heavens, and accounts of
curious tales, but we have been warned
somewhere in the book, not to accept them
as real facts, but as inventions to overawe
the wicked and to improve the simple and
the ignorant. The Bhagavat, certainly tells us
of a state of reward and punishment in future
according to deeds in our present situation.
All poetic inventions, besides this spiritual
fact, have been described as statements
borrowed from other works in the way of
preservation of old traditions in the book
which superseded them and put an end to
the necessity of their storage. If the whole
stock of Hindu Theological works which
preceded the Bhagavat were burnt like the
Alexandrian Library and the sacred Bhagavat
THE GAUDIYA 6 JUNE 2012
preserved as i t i s, not a part of the
philosophy of the Hindus except that of the
atheistic sects, would be lost. The Bhagavat
therefore, may be styled both as a religious
work and a compendium of all Hindu history
and philosophy.
The Bhagavat does not al l ow i ts
followers to ask anything from God except
eternal love towards Him. (In the third
Skandha of the Bhagavat Kapila tells his
mother:
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God offers all sorts of happiness to His
servants but they do not want them except
His Holy Service.) The kingdom of the world,
the beauties of the local heavens and the
sovereignty over the material world are
never the subjects of Vaishnav prayer. The
Vaishnav meekly and humbly says, Father,
Master, God, Friend and Husband of my
soul! Hallowed be Thy Name! I do not
approach You for anything which You have
already given me. I have sinned against
You and I now repent and solicit Your
pardon. Let Thy Holiness touch my soul
and make me free from grossness. Let my
spirit be devoted meekly to Your Holy
service in absolute love towards Thee. I
have called You as my master and let my
soul be strongly devoted to Your service. I
have called You my friend, and let my soul
be in reverential love towards You and not
in dread or fear! I have dallied You my
husband and let my spiritual nature be in
eternal union with You, for ever loving and
never dreading, or feeling disgust. Father!
let me have strength enough to go up to
You as the consort of my soul, so that we
may be one in eternal love! Peace to the
world.!!!
Of such a nature is the prayer of the
Bhagavat. One who can read the book will
find the highest form of prayer in the
expressi ons of Prahl ad towards the
universal and omnipresent Soul with powers
to convert all unholy strength into meek
submission or entire annihilation. This prayer
will show what is the end and object of
Vaishnavas Life. He does not expect to be
the king of a certain part of the universe after
his death, nor does he dread a local, fiery
and turbulent hell, the idea of which would
make the hairs of young Hamlet stand erect
like the forks of a porcupine! His idea of
salvation is not total annihilation of personal
existence as the Buddhists and the 24 Gods
of the Jains procured for themselves! The
Vaishnav is the meekest of all creatures
devoid of all ambition. He wants to serve
God spiritually after death as he has served
Him both in spirit and matter while in life.
His constitution is a spirit and his highest
object of life is divine and holy love.
There may be a philosophical doubt.
How the human soul could have a distinct
existence from the universal soul when the
gross part of the human constitution will be
no more? The Vaishnava cant answer it,
nor can any man on earth explain it. The
Vaishnav meekly answers, he feels the truth
but he cannot understand it. The Bhagavat
merely affirms that the Vaishnav soul when
free from gross matter will distinctly exist not
in time and space but spiritually in the eternal
spiritual kingdom of God where love is life,
and hope and charity and continual ecstacy
without change are its various exhibitions.
(to be contd.......)
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare |
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare |
THE GAUDIYA 7 JUNE 2012
An Analysis of Human Value in the present Demographic
Situation of The Nation The Perfect Human Traits
Sripad B.S. Narayan Maharaj
THE PERFECT HUMAN TRAITS
As per the spiritual standard of human
dignity, a human being should possess the
following 28 kinds of holy qualities, as
mentioned by Lord Krishna in Srimad
Bhagavatam. Accordingly a gentle person
should be 1. Kind hearted, 2. spiteless, 3.
forgiving, 4. truthful, 5. blemishless, 6.
equanimous, 7. generous towards all, 8.
unprovoked by lust, 9. controller of senses,
10. gentle, 11. clean and pure, 12. detached
from the world, 13. dispassionate, 14.
temperate in eating, 15. peaceful, 16. steady,
17. surrendered to Lord Krishna, 18. reticent,
19. always alert, 20. serene, 21. enduring,
22. conqueror of the sixfold demerits, 23.
not seeking for self-prestige, 24. giver of due
respect to all, 25. adept, 26. friendly, 27.
merciful and 28. scholastic. Whenever you
desire to decide some ones humanitarian
worth, you should compare his qualities with
the above l i st and gi ve hi m marks
accordingly, without any kind of selfish,
political, electoral and other kinds of bias.
Absence of the said virtues downgrades the
individuals in the scale of human dignity. As
a matter of fact, the present world is filled
with people of opposite or negative qualities.
That shows that, real human beings are rarely
found in this contemparary world. As per
Chandogya Upanishad, a worthy king named
Ashwapati ruled our country long ago, during
the Vedic period. Once a group of young
hermits visited the king to learn the science
of the Supreme from him. At that time the
king offered them various eatables and
requested them to accept it. Generally it is
understood that, as the king collects tax from
the citizens, the sins committed by the
people remain present in kings wealth. In
the case of king Ashwapati when the hermits
hesi tated to accept hi s food, the ki ng
declared that his wealth was completely free
from any kind of sin, and they can eat his
food without any kind of doubt. The king said
that, there existed not even a single thief, a
single miser, a single drunkard, a single fool
or even a single adulterer in his entire
kingdom. Everyone of his citizens were
virtuous, learned and performers of holy
activities. Such was the ideal maintenance
of his holy kingdom. In contrast to this event,
can any of our present politicians dare to
declare their own governance to be even
one percent holy that of the Ashwapatis
kingdom? They can very well declare
themselves as the rulers of 50% to 80%
degraded and degenerated national society.
Remember, only a 100% virtuous ruler alone
can strive to keep the nation sinless, clean
and worthy. What we find at present is that,
everyday ever new issues of corruptions,
scandals, terrors, accidents, pollutions,
persecutions etc., are adding to the already-
exi sti ng chai n of endl ess unsol ved
problems. Their only solution for all kinds of
old problems is the perpetration of fresh and
larger scandals, so that people will be
enabled to forget the previous pending
issues.
THE GAUDIYA 8 JUNE 2012
WICKED PEOPLE VERSUS WILD
BEASTS
Most often, the harmful and wicked
people are compared with the wild beasts
like tigers, lions, crocodiles, cobras etc.
Whether this kind of comparison is relevent
with the reality? Let us see what the ethical
literature says about it. It is said that, a
scorpion has poison in its tail, a bee has
poison in its sting, a snake has poison in
its fang, whereas an evil person has poison
in his entire physical body and mind.
Although the wild beasts are dangerous for
the human beings, all these beasts joining
together also can never destroy the entire
human race. On the other hand, even a
single human culprit with nefarious designs,
availing the help of modern technology can
outright destroy large sections of human
society within no time. Therefore, one
should know that, comparing the wicked
people with animals is gross injustice and
disrespect to those animals who perform
active service in the maintenance of the
natural ecology. The degraded people
rather acti vel y destroy the ecol ogi cal
balance and become a cause of genocide.
The book Panchatantra cautions people
against trusting of, a river, an armed
person, a beast with sharp nails, horned
animals, enticing women and royal (political)
persons. There remains higher degree of
unpredictability regarding human beings, in
comparison with the animals. If you are
rearing animals like cats, dogs, sheep,
cows etc., in your house, you know for
granted that, those animals will always
behave in a known manner within a certain
degree of variations. So also they never
go opposi te to thei r own behavi oural
patterns. Whereas, if you keep a servant in
your house, his traits may drastically vary
during different circumstances, without any
kind of prior notice. This shows that the
human wickedness can make the human
behaviour quite unpredictable to cause
extensive harm to others. The most important
observation of this issue is that, animals do
not need any special training to live like
animals, whereas the human beings very
much need wor t hy t r ai ni ng i n hol y
associations, to live and behave like real
human beings. Those who fail to avail holy
company may turn out to be i nhuman
brutes. All the secular organisations like
academi cs, bureaucracy, l egi sl atures,
judiciary, enforcement, psychiatry, medicare
etc. can never implement any kind of worthy
human values in the hearts of those who are
deprived of holy association. All those
godless institutions can simply make the
human beings as experts in, falsehood,
selfishness, opportunism etc. to prepare
them as clever devils. The devotional
scriptures say that, one may very well
embrace creatures like serpents, tigers and
aqueous animals and yet remain safe, but
association with non devoted fools and
fanatics happens to be much dangerous and
harmful.
OUR CONTEMPORARY WORLD
Among the 28 qualities of a holy soul,
the most important one is to surrender whole
heartedly to Lord Krishna. All other worthy
qualities are the derivatives of this chief trait.
What goodness can remain with those who
are not devoted to Lord Krishna? They are
just like trees without root. Perfect human
beings who possess these 28 excellences
are rare in this world. Even a single one
among these qualities can uplift the human
bei ngs from the fal l en condi ti on. An
extremely fortunate person alone may secure
the grace and guidance of such holy souls.
(to be contd.......)
THE GAUDIYA 9 JUNE 2012
The empiricists try to avoid the sin of
worshipping man by framing hypotheses
about the Absolute with the materials of their
experience which can but refer to man even
in its highest flight. A man cannot rise above
himself by his own efforts. He can always
be but himself. It is quite consistent for the
empiricist to hold that if there be a Godhead
Who is not human such Godhead can be
nothing to him as man. As man he can have
any relationship at all only with the human.
This is the ore of the empiric philosophy.
By it the man is conceived as the Divinity.
The method of hypothesis which is based
on experi ence empl oyed by man i n
formulating a theory of the Divine must
inevitably lead to the worship of man.
Anthropomorphism and hypothesis ever go
hand in hand. All speculation about the
Absolute is sure to bind us more closely
became more extensively, to the mundane
affinities. By such speculation an extended
human personality is no doubt attained but
this inevitably take us still further away from
the Absolute by involving us deeper into the
limited or material. The impersonalist
position is the Ultima Thule of empiric
philosophy and amounts in practice to
unreserved sl avery of the materi al .
Anthropomorphism is also a product of
empiricism of a less soaring philosophical
(?) height.
So the attribution of anthropomorphism
is suitably appilcable to the empiricists,
as the Absolutists are never seen to
subcribe to any mehtod of hypothesis.
It is the impersonalist empiricist who
affect to condemn the Vai shnavas as
anthropomorphists. The charge is really
applicable to themselves. The impersonal
empiricists would be quite within their rights
if they condemned their personalist brethren
as anthropomorphists although the latter
might with equal truth charge them with the
grosser sin of being worshippers of dead
matter or of even zero. The anthropo-
morphic position is indeed nearer the ideal
required by the cognitive principle than
impersonalist or symbolic empiricism. But
the anthropomorphic position itself is also
only a pervert symbol of the Reality. The
anthropomorphist cannot get rid of his defect
by the method of pushi ng hi s barren
speculation based on experience, which can
onl y l ead hi m to the sel f anni hi l ati ng
i mpersonal posi ti on, by means of
materialistic hypothesis that are perfectly
useless as they leave us entirely to the
guidance of our own erring experience. All
hypothesis necessarily involves the fallacy
of petitio principii. If the quest is for the
Absolute how can we ever find Him in the
limited, the one being wholly incompatible
with the other? There can be no more absurd
philosophy than the latitudinarian which strives
to place the Absolute and the limited in one
homogeneous category.
Such a pastime may gratify our passion
for wrong speculation and appeal to our
vanity, as the proper occupations of a sentient
being. It is claimed that it is the prerogative
of man to err. It is also supposed to be the
prerogative of man to spin an endless chain
of yarn about Nature, with the alleged object
of attaining through Nature of Natures God.
The Vaishnavas accept Anthropomorphism and Apotheosis
Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
(Contd. from May issue)
THE GAUDIYA 10 JUNE 2012
In these specul ati ons the empi ri c
philosopher always appears in the role of a
spectator who has no duti es towards
anything and who has the liberty of doing
anything that he likes. The empiricist claims
to be by his nature a perfectly free agent
possessing the power of choosing and
realising any destiny for himself in any
manner that he l i kes. Under the
circumstances he can function properly only
in an atmosphere of free initiative which
provides no room for any superior controlling
agency. The empiric idea of God is a
creation of such free mind, on the analogy
of the government of the world of its actual
experience. Such idea of Godhead is
naturally as various and changeable as any
other of his ideas. As the Absolute does
not appear to the empiric mind as likely to
be a super-sensuous, fixed and inelastic
entity He is imagined to be identical with the
whole of this present, living, ever-changing
reality which seems to contain the limitied
and the unl i mi ted, personal i ty and
impersonality, and is, therefore, never
identifiable with any of these specific
aspects more than with another. In this
sense everything is Godhead and nothing
is godhead. As soon as any definite
position is taken up by the mind, the
permicious dogma is born. But the mind
need not surrender itself to dogma at all.
The Absolute is the negation of all dogma.
Let the mind remain perfectly open and
respond fully and freely to every impulse
that fills the living Infinite. Such perfect
exposure of the unfettered mind to the forces
of Nature in which it has its being and by
which it is encompassed on every side,
appears to the mi nd rel yi ng on i ts
experience to be the only possible and
natural function of the individual.
Those who in deference to the above
ideal are disposed to avoid all definite
speculation about Godhead, must not be
confounded with the Vaishnavas. The
impersonalists and anti-dogmatists are not,
indeed, without a very definite ideal of their
own, namel y the i deal of fol l owi ng a
convi cti on of necessary hypotheti cal
ignorance in regard to the Reality. They
postulate for the mind a normal state which
resembles that of a frail and tiny bark, with
no compass or rudder to gui de i t,
helplessly exposed in mid-ocean to the
horrors of a fierce cyclone. It is supposed
to be the duty and privilege of the mind to
cheerfully acquiesce in this arrangement.
That mentality is condemned as weak and
timid that seeks to tear itself away from the
deeper joy of such fearless and living
communion with the Infinite on a footing of
perfect equality.
Let the mind it is contended only place
itself once and unreservedly into the
position of oneness with the Infinite and it is
bound at once to acquire the privilege of
the life of the infinite which refuses to be
imprisoned within the four walls of any
narrow dogma. The human personality can
only realise itself by thus merging in the
material Infinity. Any other hypothesis
regarding the nature of man is bound to
dwarf and degrade him. Let man only
believe in his own high (?) destiny and he
can never have a taste for any conduct or
ideal short of absolute and complete
identification of himself with the universal.
But the Vaishnavas never subscribe
to any method of hypothesis, however
captivating it may appear to the aspiring
worldling who is a slave of his earthly
passions and who naturally seeks an ideal
THE GAUDIYA 11 JUNE 2012
that seems to promise an infinite scope for
the play of such passions. All imaginable
combinations and permutations of the
desires and materials of our sensuous
experi ence are seen i n thei r true
perspecti ve as the crude di spl ay of
ignorance and triviality by clear loyal vision
of the passionless servant of God who is
instinctively repelled by the offer of self
gratification in any form. The blind forces of
physical Nature in their grandest aspect
cease to interest the pure soul as being
essentially alien to the needs of a self-
conscious particle of the All-loving, All-
knowing and All-powerful Personality. The
considerations that recommend the relation
of oneness with the power behind the
operations of phenomenal Nature as the
ideal of human conduct in order to be
enabled thereby more closely to enjoy the
joys and sorrows of this world in all their
varieties, also really amount to nothing short
of the abandonment of our self-conscious
individuality. I who can now feel myself to
be different from inanimate objects and
forces, want to give up my separate nature
in order to realise the unalloyed state of
inanition. I cannot realise absolute oneness
with matter so long as I retain my self-
consci ousness. Thi s i mpossi bi l i ty of
realising our ambitious worldly desires
without ceasing to be ourselves is the
tragedy of the empirically guided human life.
Man wants to identify himself completely with
dead matter. An impossible barrier in the
shape of self-consciousness ever keeps
him separate from it. But how can the spirit
ever be identical with matter, the dream of
the pseudo-Buddhi sts, whi ch i s the
i nevi tabl e l ogi cal summum bonum of
empi ri ci sm? The specul ati ons of Sri
Sankaracharya certainly expose the defective
logic of the aspirants after absorption into
matter but they fail to supply an ideal of
personality that is really different from theirs.
If we are different from matter what makes us
hanker for any dealings with it? Why cannot
our brai n devi se any functi on for us
independently of it? Why are we punished if
we try to disobey her laws?
The empiric sciences accordingly take
it for granted that the satisfaction of material
needs is justifiable for the simple reason that
it is unavoidable. The grosser material needs
are put up as supplementary and corrective
of extreme idealism which seems to ignore
the animal nature. The refined materialism
represented by extreme i deal i sm i s
understood by gross sensualists as the ally
of the grosser forms, that only lends an
additional charm to the latter. Idealism which
tries to divorce itself from the reality in the
shape of gross materi al i sm cannot be
seriously regarded by convinced materialists
as a practicable basis for useful conduct. This
is the logical plight of idealism when it tries
to decry animalism and wants to regulate
actual conduct. The useful or realistic
idealists, therefore, try to avoid this rupture
by proclaiming themselves to be the refined
supporters of every form of animal activity.
This realistic idealism claims to be more
honest asbeing more in accordance with
experience that the more abstract self-
contradictory forms of itself. It also supplies
the most effective criticism of the idealistic
position as a whole, from within the ranks of
its own followers.
The extreme forms of i deal i sm
correspond neither to worldly experience nor
to their own fundamentals regarding the
Absolute.
(to be contd.......)
THE GAUDIYA 12 JUNE 2012
(Contd. from May issue)
Sri Sri Advaitacharya
Sri Bhavabandhachhid Das
He came with his wife accompanied
by Ramai but sent information that he did
not turn up and hid himself in the house of
Nandan Acharya. He resolved within
himself, If my Lord taking me to Himself
places His feet on my head to-day I shall
realise that He is my Lover and truly He
has come. His desires were crowned with
success immediately. The Omniscient Lord
took him to His house and placed His feet
on his head. At this time he prayed for the
boon, May those who are mad with pride
for knowledge, wealth, pedigree, burn with
Tritapa and may all those who are
insignificant, humble, devoid of pride, no
matter whether they are women, Sudra or
ignorant, and make it their business to sing
the glory of their Beloved, never seeking
worldly honour, be rewarded with the gift
of devotion to the Lord and may very
humble people also dance with great joy at
the Name of Sri Hari. The Lord granted
his prayer before all present. The whole
Universe resounded with sounds of joy
which pervaded the spaces, emanating from
numerous voices. The Acharya Prabhu
who is one of their manifestations shared in
the innumerable leelas of Sri Gaursundar
and Sri Nityananda. At one time Acharya
Prabhu began to expound Yoga-Vashishtha
apparently with the object of establishing
the superiority of Mukti to Bhakti hiding
His real feelings on the subject. At this
Sriman Mahaprabhu showed his wrath and
began to actually beat him. This promoted
the flow of the great joy of those days. It
did not last long. Sri Gaursundar renounced
the world and became a Sanyasi. His first
begging was at the house of Sri Advaita
Acharya. He halted in his house for some
time being pleased to accept the service of
Sri Sachi Devi, and then left for Nilachal.
Sri Acharya Prabhu wanted to follow Him,
but Sri Gaura Hari dissuaded him and
engaged him in preaching the Absolute Truth
in Gauda (Bengal). The Lord of Sita acted
up to his orders. The devotees of Gaur Hari
used to go to Shrikshetra every year at the
time of the Car Festival and spent there
four-months in attending upon the Supreme
Lord. It was a solace to them all.
Thus they used to spend a few months
of the year at Nilachal during the Car Festival.
One day Acharya Prabhu invited Sriman
Mahaprabhu at his residence in Nilachal and
he thought within himself, If the Lord comes
alone today, I shall serve Him to my hearts
content without any anxiety. The Lord
Who fulfils the desires of the devotees, came
alone at noon! Immediately after His arrival,
it began to rain heavily with hail and storms.
So none other could turn up. Acharya
Prabhu with his consort served Sriman
Mahaprabhu with great delight and to their
hearts content, Sriman Mahaprabhu chanted
glory to Sri Advaita in numerous ways. He
in reply said All my energy emanates from
devotion to You. May You give me this boon.
You will not leave me any time.
In Shrikshetra one day the Supreme
Lord asked His dear devotees Srivas,
What sort of Vaishnava you think of
THE GAUDIYA 13 JUNE 2012
Advaita?Srivas replied, Like Shuka and
Prahlada. On hearing this the Lord became
very angry, gave a smart slap on the cheek
of Srivas and said, What do you say,
Srivas? Are you bold enough to compare
Advaita to Shuka and Prahlada? You uttered
cruel words to My nada. You aggrieve me
much. Saying this He took the lamp-stand
standing by and was about to beat him. Our
Acharya Prabhu was near at hand. He
instantly caught hold of Sriman Mahaprabhu
and prayed Hi m to pardon Sri vas.
Mahaprabhus wrath was mitigated. He took
his seat, began to chant the glory of Sri
Advaita firmly and said, Shuka and others
are his boys. All took their birth after him.
This Appearance of Mine is for him. Who
knows his glory? Srivas begged apology
falling at the feet of Sriman Mahaprabhu, and
said Lord, if You do not make it known,
who can know the glory of Sri Advaita?
Today, I am benefitted by Thy teachings.
Once after the Rathayatra or Car Festival of
Lord Jagannatha, Sri Advaita Acharya
worshi pped Sri man Mahaprabhu wi th
offerings of flower and tulasi; Mahaprabhu
too worshipped Advaita Prabhu with the
S
remnants of flower and tulasi left over at the
plate by chanting this mantra Whoever Thou
art He - Soasi soasi. Sri Advaita Acharya
had si x sons. Thei r names are: Sri
Achyutananda, Sri Krishna, Sri Gopal, Sri
Balaram, Sri Swarup and Sri Jagadish.
Among them only the first was a true devotee
of Sriman Mahaprabhu.
Sri Gaursundar appeared at the call of
Sri Advaita Prabhu. His work being finished
He left for His own Dham (transcendental
abode). His associates too disappeared.
At the due moment Sri Advaita Prabhu also
departed from this world.
The i deal of the servi ce of Sri
Raghunath Das Goswami is that of the self-
less hand-maids of Sri Radhika whose
servie of Sri Krishna is the only sufficient
service of the Supreme Lord. Sri Das
Goswami accordingly does not covet the
direct service of the Lord. He wants to be
serviceable to Sri Radhika. This is the real
nature and the positive significance of the
spirit of Sri Raghunath Das Goswamis
renunciation of activities that are not
acceptable to Sri Radhika.
(contd. from page No.18)
S
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare |
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare |
THE GAUDIYA 14 JUNE 2012
If we want to make a real attempt to
think rationally on the subject it would be
necessary in the first place to know what
those have really to say who have formed
their views by a careful study of the scriptures
verified by practice; although it must be
admitted at the same time that it is difficult to
find a person who strictly follows the spirit
and the letter of the shastras in actual
practice.
The account of the Shyamanta
Panchaka Tirtha and the nighbouring pool
is found in the Puranas. Bathing in the
Brahmakunda during an eclipse of the sun
is declared in the Mahabharata to have the
effect of conferring on the bather whatever
he desires. Periodical visits to the holy
tirthas have their communal value in the non-
sectarian sense as directing the mind to
great personalities of the past and providing
thereby a bond of fellowship with those who
once trod the same path of pi ous
observances. They further serve to keep
alive our faith in the holy scriptures. All this
would be good and reasonable if we could
be sure that it is worth our while to believe
in and follow the Shastras.
There are very few persons who are of
the opinion that the whole body of the
Shastras of this ancient land deserves to be
supported wholesale. Certain exceptions are
allowed even by persons who hold the most
decided views on the subject. But the
codification of the vast mass of the Shastras
on truly rational lines is no easy task and
would seem to be hardly practicable. To
name a few of the difficulties that stand in
the way of such an attempt, most of the
Shastras appear to agree about fundamentals;
they have to be understood by reference to
one another; it is neither feasible nor desirable
to proscribe a work that explains the practices
of any existing sect before the practices
themselves are reformed or suppressed.
Despi te these apparentl y i nsuperabl e
difficulties a codification of them was actually
carried out in the past by Sri Vyasadeva. His
great work the Mahabharata has been
universally recognised as the Encyclopaedia
of the religious beliefs and practices of India.
But Sri Vyasadeva was not a mere
mechanical compiler of the Shastras. The
Mahabharata, read between the lines, offers
a brilliantly successful theistic rehabilitation of
the religious opinions and practices of that
peri od. In thi s respect Sri Vyasadeva
resembles the French Encyclopaedists who
were animated with the opposite spirit. Sri
Vyasadeva also attempted a direct synthesis
by an impartial and exhaustive examination
of all the facts collected by his labours. This
synthesis is put in the middle of the body of
his great work and is known to all the world
as the Bhagavad Geeta. In the Geeta, Sri
Vyasadeva makes Sri Krishna explain to His
devotee, Arjuna, how all the different practices
and theories treated in the body of the work
possess simultaneously a wrong and a right
aspect and how the realisation of the right view
solves all opposition and inconsistency. The
Mahabharata is not a collection of a large
body of mutual l y hosti l e opi ni ons and
practices. Its version of them successfully
harmonised the differences that divided the
various sects.
(Contd. from May issue)
The Solar Eclipse at Kurukshetra
Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
THE GAUDIYA 15 JUNE 2012
The conclusion arrived at in the Geeta
may be summed up in a few words. The
right way of doing anything is to do it in order
to please Sri Krishna. It is not necessary
to trouble about any other thing except
pleasing Sri Krishna. This conclusion is
established by an exhaustive rational
exposition of all the current opinions and
practices. An act can be performed only
in one of two ways viz. (1) either in order to
please Sri Krishna, or (2) to please oneself.
If it be performed in order to please Krishna
it is spiritual or religious. If it be done inorder
to please oneself it is an worldly act or sin.
Complete submission to Krishna is the key
to the spiritual world. The Geeta stops at
this point. It does not proceed further to tell
us wherein the pleasure of Krishna actually
consists. It directs all those who are really
anxious to know to the good preceptor and
learn from him by the methods of humble
submission, loyal questioning and by actual
service.
From the above i t woul d not be
unreasonable to infer that Sri Vyasadeva
himself did not regard any of those practices
and theories that he had described in the
body of his great work as constituting the
religion proper. What he had done was
simply to warn the different schools against
leaving out or minimising the reference to
Krishna in anything they might undertake.
But the subject does not admit of any
compromise. The wrong view positively
shuts out the right view. In the great battle
of Kurukshetra Sri Krishna contrives the total
destruction of the forces of the different
pseudo-religious creeds who are opposed
to such uncondi ti onal submi ssi on to
Krishna. Sri Krishna Himself has thus
described His work at Kurukshetra,
Whenever, O Arjuna, religion, which is one,
declines and atheism comes to prevail I
make My appearance in this world of My Own
free will. I come down into this world in every
Age for the purpose of completely delivering
My devotees and for effecting the destruction
of evil doers.
To please Krishna and Him only is the
whole duty of man. If the Shastras are rightly
interpreted, says the Geeta, they would yield
this meaning as the only significance of all
prescribed rituals. It was on the battle-field
of Kurukshetra that Sri Krishna Himself taught
this eternal and only religion of all individual
souls to Arjuna and also, by the agency of
the five Pandava brothers who were His
servants, brought about the utter destruction
of the powerful adherents of all other rival
creeds.
The Mahabharata and the Geeta led up
to the Srimad Bhagavata which gives us from
the pen of Sri Vyasadeva the connected
history of the Avataras of Vishnu and the
transcendental activities of Vishnu and His
devotees. The central theme of this greatest
of all theistic works is the account of the
deeds of Sri Krishna in the Dvapara Age. The
method of treatment of the subject in the
Srimad Bhagavatam is strikingly different from
that of the Mahabharata. Sri Krishna is
undoubtedly the Hero of the Mahabharata.
But He appears there in the character of the
ideal statesman, warrior, king, the Terror of
all evil-doers, the friend of the good, the
Establisher of civic order and the Harmoniser
of religious discord. The beneficent motive
of these activities can be grasped, at any
rate to a certain extent, by the reason of man
although particular acts and ways may not
al ways meet wi th hi s approval . The
transcendental character of the activities of
the Divinity when He chooses to appear on
the plane of this material unvierse is more or
THE GAUDIYA 16 JUNE 2012
less latent in the Mahabharata. This reserve
was adopted by Sri Vyasadeva in order to
secure a hearing from those who are not
sufficiently spiritually enlightened to accept
without opposition the plain story of the
deeds of Sri Krishna. This reserve is thrown
off in the Srimad Bhagavata which presents
us wi th the unambi guous narrati ve of
Krishnas transcendental deeds in which His
pastimes in boyhood and early youth in the
(to be contd.......)
THE PATH OF PERMANENT WELL BEING
The constitutional identity of the individual living beings is that, they are
the eternal servants of the Supreme Lord. As long as they remain engaged in the
loving service of Lord Krishna, they remain free from the disease of nescience. As
soon as they turn averse to the Lord and think about their own selfish enjoyment,
Lords external potency Maya allures and punishes them through entanglement in
the mortal world. Thus the living beings forget their real nature under the spell of
nescience. The full fledged devotional service to Lord Krishna is the only remedy
that can cure this disease of worldliness. The all-benevolent Lord Sri Krishna
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu advised the masses as follows. O the fortunate people
born in the holy land of Bharata Varsha, get your lives fulfilled through devotional
cultivation, and help all the living beings of this world, to achieve spiritual
enlightenment. In the holy book Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Karabhajana Yogendra
says to King Nimi that, those who worship Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu through the grand sacrifice of Sri Krishna Nama Samkirtana are
the wisest people in this Kaliyuga. This alone is the ultimate path of eternal well
being to achieve permanent divine bliss of loving devotion, by transcending
the evils of mundane downfall. Therefore O brothers and sisters, hear about
Krishna, sing about Krishna, talk about Krishna, think about Krishna, serve
Lord Krishna, visit the temples of Krishna, read about Krishna, live for Krishna
and spread the awareness and devotion of Lord Krishna under the guidance of
Lord Sri Chaitanya, in association with the devotees of Lord Sri Sri Radha Krishna.
cowherd settlement of Vraja occupy the place
of honour. The highest form of the service of
the Lord is that of the cowherds and milkmaids
of Vraja who worship the youthful Son of the
chief of Vraja by the method of perfectly pure
unconventional, selfless love. Krishna Who
is All-love and All-holiness and accepts no
other service than that of the denizens of
Vraja.
THE GAUDIYA 17 JUNE 2012
(Contd. from May issue)
Srila Raghunath Das Goswami
Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
Raghunath, says Kaviraj Goswami,
possessed good qualities that knew no end.
It is never possible for any one to describe
them all. Raghunath acted up to the rules
enjoined by the Shastras for the life of perfect
renunciation with the most scrupulous fidelity.
The course of Raghunaths life is comparable
only to the line that is cut into the slab of hard
stone in the quality of its enduring firmness.
The life of Raghunath at Puri has been
recorded by Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami in
a few telling words. Seven and a half praharas
of hi s day were spent i n ki rtan and
recollection. There was left scare four
dandas, during night and day, for meal and
also on certain days, for sleep. The story of
his renunciation is a most wonderful narrative.
During the whole of his life he never allowed
his tongue to taste any enjoyable food. He
never wore any other clothing than patched
and tattered old kantha and rags. He carried
out with the utmost care the command of the
Lord. He ate what was barely sufficient for
maintaining life. He reproved himself for
eating too much. A person whose chitta is
cleansed by true knowledge is enable to
know the nature of the soul and thereby gains
everything. Then why do sinners, neglecting
such course for what purpose or for what
reason, care for nourishing their bodeis?
Acting on the above maxim of the
Bhagavat Raghunath was extremely careful
not to indulge the taste of good eating. The
remains of the cooked rice offered to Sri
Jagannathdeva, which was left unsold on the
hands of their vendors become rotten in
course of two or three days. They cast the
rotten rice to the Tailangi cows at the Lion
Gate of the Temple. Those cows would not
touch the rice by reason of the rotten smell.
Raghunath brought the rice home during night.
He washed it in a great quantity of water. He
could thus find a quantity of rice which still
had a solid core. Raghunath ate that portion
of it mixing with salt. On a certian day Swarup
found him eating the rice. He was moved to
a smile and begged to have a small quantity
of the same which he tasted with relish.
Swarup, as he ate the rice, made the remark
that Raghunath ate such nectarine food daily
all by himself without giving any of them a
share. He was, indeed, unpardonably
selfish. The Lord heard of this from Govinda.
One day the Lord appeared before
Raghunath. He found him at his meal and
said, All of you eat excellent food. Why dont
you give it to me? Saying this the Lord ate a
mouthful. As He was going to take more
Swarup caught Him by the Hand. Swarup
snatched the rice from the Hands of the Lord
remarking that it was not fit for Him. The Lord
said, I eat daily a great variety of Prasad. I
do not find such taste in any other Prasad.
The Lord performed Pastimes like these in
His Dealings with Raghunath. He was at heart
pleased at the spirit of renunciation of
Raghunath.
Raghunath passed sixteen years in the
confidential service of the Person on the
Supreme Lord. After the disappearance of
Swarup, Raghunath came to Vrindaban. He
made up his mind not to survive Swarup. But
he wished to meet Sri Rupa and Sanatana at
Vrindaban. It was his purpose thereafter to
effect his departure by throwing himself from
THE GAUDIYA 18 JUNE 2012
the mount Govardhan. When Das Goswami
greeted the feet of Sri Rupa and Sanatana at
Vrindavan the brothers became aware of Das
Goswamis resolve. They dissuaded him
from his resolve to leave the world. They
made him live with them as their third brother.
Sri Rupa and Sanatana l i stened
constantly from the lips of Raghunath about
all the Pastimes, His inner as well as outer
Activities of the Supreme Lord. Raghunath
lived for a long period at Vrindaban. He
survived Sri Rupa Goswami for a short time.
During his residence at Vrindaban, Das
Goswami continued the same kind of life that
he had been leading at Puri in the company
of Sri Swarup Damodara.
Raghunath now gave up cooked rice
and water on which he had been living. He
gave up speaking about any other subject.
He ate matha (butter milk) in measure of two
to three palas. He performed daily a
thousand prostrated obeisances, took the
hol y Name a l akh of ti mes and made
obeisances to two thousand Vaishnavas. He
served Radha-Krishna night and day in his
mind. He recited the Deeds of Mahaprabhu
for the space of one prahara every day.
Raghunath bathed in Radha-kunda, without
omission, three times during the day, in the
morning, at noon and at evening. He offered
his embrace to all Vaishnavas living in Vraja.
He passed seven and a half praharas in the
performance of devotional activities. He
slept for four dandas but that also was omitted
on certain days. Anyone who is fortunate
enough to have on opportunity of listening
to an account of Raghunaths method of
serving the Supreme Lord is bound to
experience a feeling of the most exquisite
astonishment.
Three famous works are attributed to
Sri Raghunath Das Goswami. They are (1)
Stavamala, (2) Sri Danacharita and (3)
Muktacharita. They are mentioned in a very
old shloka of an anonymous writer. They are
al so found i n Bhakti -Ratnakar by Sri
Ghanashyam Das. In Gaura Ganoddesha
Deepika Sri Kavikarnapur has identified Sri
Das Goswami Prabhu with Sri Rasamanjari
of Vraja-leela, with the remark that he is also
held by certain devotees to be identical with
Srimati Ratimanjari or Bhanumati. Sri
Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, the author of
Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, was the recipient
of the mercy of Sri Das Goswami from whose
lips he heard about the Activities of Sri
Chaitanya which he has recorded in his
biography of Mahaprabhu.
The spirit of recunciation which is so
prominent throughout the life of Das Goswami
hs a positive aspect which is likely to be
missed by those who are votaries of a life of
austerity as a result of so-called realisation
of teh miseries of the life of enjoyment.
Externally there is no doubt a great similarity
between the life of Das Goswami and that of
the practisers of renunciation of the type
inculcated by Sri Shankaracdharya in the
Mohamudgara. Asceticism of this latter type
is satisfied by the act of renunciation. If it is
asked why it renounces thenoral activities
ofthe world in favour of an abnormal mode of
life it can only meet the charge by the
assertion that detachment from the world is
the only efficient way of securing the fuller
and more vi gorous exerci es of one s
physical and mental powers and aptitudes.
If asceticism do not take up some such
position it becomes a form of cynicism. In
either case it shoud be impossible for such
an ascetic to understand the value or nature
of the positive activity of Sri Das Goswami
Prabhu.
(contd. on page 13)
THE GAUDIYA 19 JUNE 2012
s
Simultaneous Distinction and Identity
The Spi ri tual Rel i gi on i s eternal ,
universal and ever new. In the beginning of
cosmic creation, the spiritual reality was
revealed to the creator Brahma by the
Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. In the line of
di sci pl i c successi on thi s knowl edge
descends down to the aspirants, generation
after generations. Whenever there is a
decl i ne of ri ghteousness, the Lord
establishes the relilgion either by Himself
or by means of His devotees. Vedas are
the divine revelations which form the basic
evidence of the eternal religion. The divine
knowl edge contai ned i n the Vedas i s
transcendental, infallilble and absolute. It is
unaffected by the mundane time, place or
persons. The defective sense-perceptions
or imaginations have no room in the Vedas.
For the purpose of understanding the Vedic
Knowledge, one should transcend the
mundane platform of triple qualities. When
the intellect is purified by devotion to Lord
Krishna, one can understand the purport of
the Vedas. A person of defective intellect
misconstrues the Vedas, just as a person
wearing black spectacles sees, everything
bl ack. We come across many Vedi c
Scholars who can recite Vedas but very few
of them may have genuine devotion to Lord
Krishna. In Gita the Lord says that He is the
only person to be known by the study of all
the Vedas.
The abstruse knowledge of the Vedas
has been explained to the people by various
Acharyas who appear from time to time. Just
like expert physicians, these prophets
explain the Vedic doctrines as per the need
of the time, and according to the spiritual
maturity of their followers. The doctrines
preached by these great souls are termed
as per the conception of relation between
the individual souls and the Supreme Lord.
Acharya Shankara preached absol ute
identity between God and the jivas under
the name of monism. The subsequent
Acharyas established distinction between
God and the individuals. They also proved
that the individual souls are the eternal
servants of the Supreme Lord. Based on
the evidence of the Vedas some hold
monism as the valid doctrine, some others
hold dualism as the perfect interpretation
whereas the others assert the co-existence
of disctinction and identity. The views of
monism and dualilsm may apparently sound
mutually controversial, in the spiritual platform
they are harmonious to each other, as the
spiritual reality transcends mundane logic.
All these threefold theories are substantiated
by Vedic verses. As the Vedas contain
monism and dualism simultaneously, the third
doctri ne menti oned above i s more
reasonabl e than absol ute i denti ty or
absolute distinction. Lord Sri Chaitanya
complemented all the previous theories by
establishing the principle of Achintya
Bhedabheda or the doctri ne of
simultaneous distinction and identity. The
real fact is that, jivas are neither one with God,
nor totally different from God.
In the words of Svarupa Damodar
Goswami, we find that Lord Sri Chaitanyas
perfect doctri ne coul d put al l the
speculations and scriptural controversies to
complete rest. By the unreserved grace of
the Supreme Master, the unfathomable
Sripad Bhakti Saurabh Narayan Maharaj
THE GAUDIYA 20 JUNE 2012
spiritual secrets became easily intelligible
even to the childish people. The spiritual
religion could be clearly understood like a
midday sun in contrast with the darkness of
superstitions, witch crafts, fanaticism, blind
faith and temporary gains. The Lord
revealed that eternally youthful Lord Krishna
of Vrindaban is the only object of worship,
the milk maids of Vrindaban are the highest
ideal of devotees and Srimad Bhagavatam
is the greatest book depicting this divine
love Krishna Prema which is the ultimate
wealth of the living entities. Prior to Lord
Chaitanya, devotion was followed by the
scriptural inculcations. The Lord showed
that absol ute devoti on and absol ute
sweetness are inseparable from each other.
When all the impediments are abolished,
this loving devotion becomes spontaneous
and ever-increasing.
In the mundane platform, distinction
and identity cannot be simultaneous.
Therefore the empiric logic cannot enter
the field of divinity which is inconceivable.
The rel ati on between God and the
individuals is compared to the relationship
between a blazing fire and its tiny sparks
as well as between an ocean and the
particles of water. Among these related
principles, there is qualitative identity and
quantitative distinction.
The Supreme Lord is infinite whereas,
the individual jiva is infinitesimal. God is
only one whereas jivas are numberless.
God is the absolute controller but jiva is
always at His control. Due to the infinitesimal
si ze of the j i va soul , i ts knowl edge,
intelligence, ability, merit etc. too are
infinitesimal. Such insignificant jiva is never
equal to God. Only fools, lunatics and
intoxicated persons may equate jivas with
God. As the distinction between God and
individuals is most prominent, this distinction
is first pronounced in the doctrine of Lord
Chaitanya. The following are the points of
distinction chiefly mentioned in Srimad
Bhagavatam. 1. God i s One, j i vas are
numberless, 2. God is eternally free, jivas
come under bondage, 3. God is eternally
effulgent, jivas become dull by forgetting
themselves, 4. God is transcendental, jivas
are bound by the mundane qualities due to
mundane desires, 5. God is the possessor
of absolute spiritual qualities, jivas may earn
mundane qualities. 6. God is all pervading,
jivas are tiny and atomic, 7. God is unattached
and the witness of the acts of jivas, jivas are
entangled due to mundane desires, 8. God
is independent, jivas are dependant on Him,
9. God is superior to the jivas, the jivas are
always under His control.
In the beginning of creation, the Lord
bestowed the basic knowledge of Bhagavata
religion to Sri Brahma, which contains the
principle of Achintya Bhedabheda. Similarly,
this doctrine is reflected in Uddhava Gita, Sri
Brahmas teachings to Sri Narada in the
second canto fifth chapter, in the talks
between Vidura and Maitreya (Bh.III.10.11,12),
Sri Manu s prayer to the Lord
(Bh.VIII.1.9,10,12; VIII.3.3,9) in Shruti Gita
(Bh.X.87.30,31) etc. Gita 9th chapter 4th and
5th verses we find in the words of the Lord, I
remain in all the created objects with my
inconceivable power without getting modified
in any manner. Everything dwells in Me but I
personally do not dwell in any of them. Neither
any of these mundane objects dwell in my
spiritual form. I protect all the living entities
without being entangled with them. God has
clearly stated that, this world is His creation
and a temporary reality. The bewildered
monists could not understand the secret of
the world and outright discarded it as a
THE GAUDIYA 21 JUNE 2012
falsehood. This world is created by the
process known as the transformation of
energy. In the cosmic creation God does
not get mutilated just as the touch stone is
never changed in converting base metals
into gold. Swetaswatara upanishad mentions
about the i nfi ni te energi es of God.
Everythi ng i s mani fested by the
transformation of energy. As the Shankarite
Mayavadi s have di scarded the di vi ne
energy, they could not explain the mundane
creation and fancifully imagined this world
to be a pretext, falsehood etc. In the idea
of Mayavadis, jiva is a temporary principle
and impersonal Brahman is the only real
entity. But Gita says that jivas are eternal,
immortal and innumerable. When the sage
Veda Vyasa took recourse to the devotional
trance, he vi sual i sed the absol ute
personality of the Supreme Lord and jivas
as the spiritual particles of the Lord. When
the jivas move away from the Lord out of
enjoying tendency, the nearby Maya entraps
them and punishes them. The only way for
these jivas is to adopt devotional service to
the Lord and thereby they could attain their
eternal spiritual status of servant-hood to the
Supreme Lord.
Lord Sri Chaitanya taught the true import
of the revealed knowledge to Sarvabhauma
Bhattacharya at Puri, to Sanatana Goswami
and to Prakashananda Saraswati at Varanasi
etc. In the writings of the six Goswamis of
Vri ndaban we can fi nd the detai l ed
explanation of Achintya Bhedabheda doctrine
which elucidates the complete meaning of
the revealed scriptures.
S
Sri Yogapith Sri Mandir, the Birth Place of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Sridham Mayapur, Nadia Dt. West Bengal, India
THE GAUDIYA 22 JUNE 2012
|~4|+|
=4 |4|| +| +|+4 =
4|=+ - +|-4 |4 4n- .
Sri Bhagavnuvcha
Asamshayam mahbho
mano durnigraham chalam |
abhysena tu kaunteya
vairgyena cha grihyate ||35||
|~4|+ | = The Supreme Lord said,
|4|| = O mighty armed Arjuna, = 4 =
there is no doubt, + = that the mind, + |+ 4
= is difficult to control, = = and is fickle.
+|-4 = O son of Kunti, 4n- = (the mind)
can be controlled, 4|=+ - = by practice
i.e.incessant cultivation of remembrance of
the Holy Name, Form, Attributes, Pastimes
and the Abode of the Supreme Lord Sri
Krishna under the guidance of a bonafide
Guru, |4 = and also by asceticism i.e.
yukta vairgya or complete dispassion and
dissosiation from mundane senses and sense
objects and engaging them in the service of
Hrishikesha, the Lord of senses.
The Supreme Lord said, O Mighty
armed Arjuna, there is no doubt that the mind
is difficult to control and is fickle. O son of
Kunti, the mind can be controlled by practice
i.e.,incessant cultivation of remembrance of
the Holy Name, Form, Attributes, Pastimes
and the Abode of the Supreme Lord Sri
Krishna under
the guidance of a
bonafide Guru
and also by
acesticism i.e. yukta vairgya or complete
dispassion and dissociation from mundane
senses and sense objects and engaging them
in the service of Hrishikesha, the Lord of
senses.
Please refer Srimad Bhagavatam
X.51.60; Patanjali Sutra 12. 35
Lords opinion
To whom it is possible
and To whom it is not
=4-|-+| 4|4| +a|+ ;|- |-
4|-+| - 4--| +4| .|-- +|4- ..
Asamyattmano yogee
dushprpa iti me matih |
vashytman tu yatat
shakyoavptumupyatah ||36||
= My, |- = opinion, ;|- = is that,
4|4 = yoga, +a|-4 = is difficult to get,
=4- = by one who has not controlled
(as said in previous shloka), |-+| = the
mind, +4 = (but) it is possible, |-- =
to attain perfection, .+|4- = by suitable
means (as said in previous shloka), 4--| =
by one who strives for it, 4|-+| = and
has a controlled mind.
My opinion is that yoga is difficult to
get by one who has not controlled (as said
in previous shloka) the mind; but, it is
(Contd. from May issue)
||4= 4||| -4-
SRIMAD BHAGAVADGITA
|a4+|-|
| .4|4 CHAPTER-VI
4|+4| 4 DHYNA YOGA
THE GAUDIYA 23 JUNE 2012
possible to attain perfection by suitable
means (as said in the previous shloka) by
one who strives for it and has a controlled
mind. 36
-+ .|
4|- a4|+-| 4|4|||=-|+=
a|-4 4| 4= |=|a +| 4|- + 4|- .
Arjuna uvcha
Ayatih shraddhayopeto
yogchchalitamnasah |
aprpya yogasamsiddhim
km gatim Krishna gachchati ||37||
-+ .| = Arjuna said, + = Hey
Krishna, a4| .+- = he, who has faith in
scriptures, 4|- = but does not make
efforts, a|-4 = and without getting, = |=|a
= perfection, 4|4 = in the yoga, |+= =
has his mind, |=- = drifting, 4| 4|- = from
yoga, +| = what, 4|- = position, 4|- =
does he reach?
Arjuna said; Hey Krishna, he, who has
faith in scriptures, but does not make efforts
and without getting perfection in the yoga,
has his mind drifting from yoga, what
position does he reach? 37
+||:||~4|~||:||~| +4|-
a|-| |4|| |:| 4n +|v .
Kachchinnobhayavibhrashta-
schinnbhramiva nashyati |
apratishtho mahbho
vimudho brahmanah pathi || 38||
|4|| = O Mighty armed Krishna,
a|- = without any firm stand, |: =
confused, +|v 4n = in the path towards
Brahman, |~ = and fallen from, .~4 =
both (Karma marga and yoga marga, i.e.
engaging all his actions in the Service of the
Supreme Lord and remembering or
meditating on the Nama, Rupa, Attributes
etc., of the Lord), +||- = does the person,
+ +4|- = not perish, |:||~ ; = even like
a broken cloud?
O Mighty armed Krishna! without firm
stand, confused in the path towards Brahman
and fallen from both (Karma marga and Yoga
marga, i.e., engaging all his actions in the
service of the Supreme Lord and
remembering or meditating on the Nama,
Rupa, Attributes etc. of the Lord), does the
person not perish even like a broken cloud?
38
)- =4 + a-4-
-+4 =4-4|-4 a| + n++- .:
Etanme samshayam Krishna
chettumarhasyasheshatah |
tvadanyah samshayasysya
chett na hyupapadyate ||39||
+ = O Krishna, |= = it befits You,
-- = to remove (as You are the Omniscient
Supreme Lord), )- =4 = this gloom of
doubt, = of mine, - = totally, + -+4
= no one other than You (as others are not
Omniscient), .++- | = is fit, a| = to be
the remover of , -4 =4 = this doubt.
O Krishna, it befits You, to remove (as
You are the omniscient Supreme Lord) this
gloom of doubt of mine totally; no one other
than You (as others are not Omniscient) is fit
to be the remover of this doubt. 39
|~4|+|
+|v + +| |+|---4 |-
+ | +-4|+ -+||s 4 |- -|- 4|-
Sri Bhagavnuvcha
Prtha naiveha nmutra
vinshasthasya vidyate |
na hi kalynakritkashchid-
durgatim tta gachchati ||40||
(to be contd...)