(Extract from the Harikatha by Śrī Śyām Dās Baba Mahārāj on 15/12/18 Mayapur dhama)
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-sudha-panad
deha-daihika-vismrteh
tesam bhautika-dehe ’pi
sac-cid-ānanda-rūpata (Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta)
“Having drunk the nectar of devotion to Kṛṣṇa, those devotees forget their material bodies and relationships. Thus, even while living in material bodies, they assume the transcendental nature of eternity, knowledge, and bliss.”
The śloka mentioned above is very important. The śloka is from ‘Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta’ by Sanātana Gosvāmīpada.
Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda said, “If I seek the path leading to the ultimate goal then I must ignore the countless voices of the popular wisdom and hear only that of the realized souls.”
Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura also told that–In the name of hari–bhajana and hari-kathā, people are being cheated. Those who are running to listen here and there are automatically cheated. Why? They want to be cheated, that’s why they are being cheated. If sufficient sincerity is present inside of our hearts, then it is the duty of Baladev-Nityānanda to guide us properly, and in that case, there can be no question of any problem in bhajana.
Bounded souls are travelling around the 14 planetary systems and it is the duty of Nityānanda Prabhu to help them if they are at all sincere enough. It is the duty of Nityānanda to guide them up to a genuine śravaṇa-guru. By meeting a genuine sādhu, a bounded soul can feel some reaction and inspiration. And then after that the soul can perceive the necessity of taking shelter of the Lotus Feet of a genuine Sat Guru.
Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura said that a sincere soul must wait with full patience for a Sat Guru, one who is surely a tattva-vit guru, to come into their life.
What are tattva-vid and tattva-vadi? We should know these two terms. Tattva-vadi means those who can speak about tattva nicely but they have no realization. But tattva-vid means that they have direct realization of tattva. This kind of realized guru has the power to inculcate the feeling inside the heart of a genuine disciple. It is the duty of a Sat Guru to inculcate sevā-bhava inside the heart of a genuine disciple. Automatically after receiving dīkṣā, a disciple can feel power. They can develop sambhanda jñāna together with sevā mood.
Genuine bhakti is a kind of sweet intoxication because from that bhakti a devotee can get lost. He cannot remember even his own body and belongings. If we can have a chance to serve such a devotee then surely, we will be successful in our mission of developing pure devotion. Prema is a kind of contagious disease. But to serve such an elevated devotee we must came up to that level where he is situated. From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5th Canto we find King Rahugan explaining that – According to the degree of elevation or consciousness, we can find like-minded people suitable for us.
rajas-tamaḥ-prakṛtayaḥ sama-śīlā bhajanti vai
pitṛ-bhūta-prajeśādīn śriyaiśvarya-prajepsavaḥ (SB. 1.2.27)
Desirers of progeny and power along with wealth, having natures of rajas and tamas, corresponding natures of their deities, worship the Pitrs, Śiva, Brahmā and others.
A man under the influence of raja-guṇa is always searching for the place where raja-guṇa is in action. Similarly, a man under the influence of tama-guṇa is always searching for the place where tama-guṇa is in action. Also, those who are influenced by sattva-guṇa are always searching for the place where sattva-guṇa is in action. These three guṇas are under the control of Māyādevī. We are not that interested in the three modes of nature, but still, we must cross over this material ocean which is full of sattva-, raja- and tama-guṇa. Then from this platform we can start actual hari-bhajana.
Even if we are successful at cutting material bondage still there is no surety that we can start actual hari-bhajana. There is a vital point to be analysed and understood here. After coming out of Maya, what is our main target? If the case is that we become less interested in doing sevā for the Supreme Lord and his devotees then automatically we are at risk of becoming a Māyāvādī.
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) Brahmā stuti, we find one śloka by Pitamahā Brahmā:
ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas
tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ
patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32)
“Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord’s lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said, ‘O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your Lotus Feet.”
All those yogis and jñānis are always going to express their respective personal feelings which are not at all complete, because they are not interested in the sevā of the Absolute Truth. So, their realization can never be complete realization. Only those who come in contact with a pure devotee can start hari-bhajana. The Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta states:
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (C.c. Madhya 19.151)
“According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”
First of all, we have to understand the position into which we are put. Then we can make a decision about which direction we should go. Our personal endeavour cannot give us success without the mercy of guru-Vaiṣṇava.
In the Śrī Īśopaniṣad – Mantra 7, we find this śloka:
yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtāny
ātmaivābhūd vijānataḥ
tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka
ekatvam anupaśyataḥ (Śrī Īśopaniṣad – Mantra 7)
“One who always sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, in quality one with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for him?”
The need to get out of the influence of Maya is a priority. But if we spend our whole life on this cause then when can we start actual hari-bhajana? That is the main question.
rajas tamaś ca sattvena
sattvaṁ copaśamena ca
etat sarvaṁ gurau bhaktyā
puruṣo hy añjasā jayet (ŚB 7.15.25)
“One must conquer the modes of passion and ignorance by developing the mode of goodness, and then one must become detached from the mode of goodness by promoting oneself to the platform of śuddha-sattva. All this can be automatically done if one engages in the service of the spiritual master with faith and devotion. In this way, one can conquer the influence of the modes of nature.”
Through Sad-Guru and Vaiṣṇava sevā it is very easy to get out of the influence of Maya. Maya cannot touch a genuine devotee.
Here “puruṣo” means that irrespective of gender or of cast or creed, any jīvattma can progress successfully through sad-guru-sevā. Here “pure dehe vasati iti puruṣaḥ” means the jīvattma is sitting in a body which is like a pure temple. Even though it is made of the five material elements of this world (earth, fire, water, air, space) still two souls are living in that temple. These are the jīvattma and Paramatma. Their friendship is ever lasting. It is an eternal relationship. It can never be broken. But we are so foolish that we ignore this eternal relationship. In our lack of intelligence, we establish relationships with worldly objects and personalities that are all temporary and unstable in nature. Automatically we find ourselves in a continuous ocean of misery. We are all living our lives like beasts.
If a devotee goes on drinking kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa continuously, then automatically he can get lost in the ocean of transcendental bliss. This is true even to the extent that he will not remember his own body and body related things. Common people think that pure devotees’ bodies are made of the five elements of nature, but this is not correct because their bodies are transcendental (aprākṛta). Externally it can be seen that both pure devotees and common people are sleeping and eating, etc. But the body of a pure devotees cannot be compared with a material body.
What is the specialty of a Vaiṣṇava? If we take the example of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, he was a South Indian brāhmaṇa born in a very nice family. But somehow due to evil association he was having great problems in his life. Material kama can make anybody blind and unable to understand what is good and what is bad, what to do and what not to do.
asat-saṅga-tyāga, — ei vaiṣṇava -acara
‘strī-saṅge’ — eka asādhu, ‘kṛṣṇabhakta’ ara
(C.c.Madhya 22.87)
“A Vaiṣṇava should always avoid the association of ordinary people. Common people are very much materially attached, especially to women. Vaiṣṇava s should also avoid the company of those who are not devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”
‘sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya
(C.c. Madhya 22.54)
“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success. Even one fraction of a second of Sat-Sanga (one lava, which means one second divided by eleven) is more than sufficient to get the highest target of our bhajana life [kṛṣṇa-prema].”
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
(C.c. Madhya 19.151)
“According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”
In the course of traveling these fourteen worlds for an infinite period, if our luck is favourable enough to get the kṛpā of a genuine sādhu, then in that case we can get the full and final settlement of our life. But how can we understand who is genuine and who is not genuine? That is the main question. Externally it seems that all the same (wearing Tulasī-mālā, Neck-beads, chanting japa, etc.) So how can we identify, what is the specialty with genuine Vaiṣṇavas?
The following example will suitably clarify this point.
Externally it may be seen that the warden of a jail is staying in the same complex with the prisoners. But their experiences are comparable to the difference between heaven and hell. The jailer stays there as the supreme authority of the jail in order to control the prisoners. But the prisoners are in the jail to be punished.
Similarly, externally it can be seen that the pure Vaiṣṇavas are also staying in the same material world with the rest of us. Doesn’t this sufficiently clarify their excellent and honourable position in this material world?
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda was habituated to use all of his time for the non-stop sevā of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu – the Supreme Lord. He used to publish daily the ‘Nadiya Prakash’, weekly the ‘Gauḍīya Patrika’ and also fort night and monthly Magazines were published. Also, different kind of books in different languages, etc. At the same time, he used to organize different kind of exhibitions and shows to attract the common people with the intent of helping them improve their painful lives. He desired to give them the address of Eternity. It follows that he was merciful enough to send his preaching parties to different corners of the world to spread the divine message of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
The symptom of a pure Vaiṣṇava is that he is always engaged in eternal sevā. A siddha mahātmā can be recognized in that way. It seemed that Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was engaged in court affairs as a District-Magistrate, but when he went to bed to sleep, he was found to be engaged in eternal sevā. If we examine his life history thoroughly then we will find that his devotional mood was totally flowing through all his activities. Due to his heavy schedule, he was sometimes observed not wearing tilak and not wearing Tulasī-mālā. Common people misinterpreted this as an indication that he was a non-devotee.
These same misunderstandings happened in the cases of Śrīla Gaura-kiśora Das Babaji Mahārāj and Vamsi Das Babaji Mahārāj. This is why Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda was usually unwilling to give permission to anyone to go and visit those paramahāṁsas. His concern was the likeliness that the visitors would misunderstand the behaviour of such elevated personalities.
For instance, when the markets had closed, Śrīla Vamsi Das Babaji Mahārāj would often go to the marketplace to search for fallen and rotten vegetables. After collecting some potatoes or brinjals or some other items, he headed back and washed the vegetables to begin the bhoga preparation process. Sometimes, in order to see the mercy of Gaura-Nityānanda, he would use his bare hands to cook the subji in the frying pan. After the offering was done, he used to take prasādam in a dry coconut shell.
Śrīla Gaura Kiśora Das Babaji Mahārāj used to offer raw rice washed in Gaṅgā water sometimes taking the prasādam with salt and chili. At times he offered uncooked brinjal, but nevertheless he enjoyed it so much that he seemed to be tasting nectar.
purva purva bhāgavata-gana ei kaya
vaiṣṇavera kriya-mudra vijne na bujhaya
“All of the previous great devotees have said, “No one can understand the behaviour of a Vaiṣṇava .”
Nobody can understand a pure Vaiṣṇava. Even demigods misunderstand their activities. Externally, Śrīla Vamsi Das Babaji Mahārāj and Gaura Kiśora das Babaji Mahārāj had no disciples. It even appeared that they had no knowledge of śāstra. So common people could not understand them. Yet internally their hearts were deeply associating with the Supreme Lord.
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya
(C.c. Madhya 8.128)
“Whether one is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra-regardless of what he is-he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa.”
Once, Bhagavān das Babaji Mahārāj was chasing something by raising a stick with his hand. At that moment, a Zamindar (landlord) came to meet with Mahārāj and became frightened to see Mahārāj brandishing the stick. The Zamindar criticized Mahārāj in his mind. He thought, “A sādhu is not supposed to become angry. He is going to beat me.” So, the Zamindar left and subsequently relayed this incident to a friend who suggested to the Zamindar that there must be some misunderstanding. The friend told the Zamindar that he should go back and get Mahārāj’s holy darśana and try to discover some secret reason for the presence of the stick. They went together to see Śrīla Bhagavān Das Babaji Mahārāj. When they asked Mahārāj to clarify the reason he held a stick, Śrīla Babaji Mahārāj told them that he was occupied with trying to drive a goat away that had been eating up all the Tulsi trees in the Govinda Mandir in Vṛndāvana. Only then could they realize the workings of the heart of such a paramahāṁsa sādhu as Śrīla Bhagavān das Babaji Mahārāj.
In this way we see that it can prove quite dangerous to try to understand a Vaiṣṇava .
Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda told that only a practicing ācārya who is in the paramahāṁsa stage can act as an effective ācārya. It is only possible if the ācārya has direct feelings (realizations) about śabda-brahma and para-brahma. Then he can act as an effective ācārya. Otherwise, no one can act as an ācārya.
At the very least we should go up to the level of that kind of direct realization. Until then we cannot expect any tangible results from our hari-bhajana. When our inclination towards the Lotus Feet of Sat-Guru is perfect, we will gradually develop all other qualities. What can be the reason we are not able to proceed smoothly in our bhajana? We should understand this point clearly. Our material darśana and material conception will always create trouble for us as long as we remain focused on the external shape and design of any matter or any personality. This type of vision is very dangerous.
From Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in Ray Ramānanda-samvad we clearly see that a paramahāṁsa finds his Iṣṭa-deva everywhere.
sthāvara-jaṅgama dekhe, nā dekhe tāra mūrti
sarvatra haya nija iṣṭa-deva-sphūrti
(Cc. Madhya 8.274)
“The mahābhāgavata, the advanced devotee, certainly sees everything mobile and immobile, but he does not exactly see their forms. Rather, everywhere he immediately sees manifest the form of the Supreme Lord.”
Even in this material world, a devotee does not see materially manifested things; instead, he sees Govinda in everything.
At the end of the conversation, when Śrī Ray Ramānanda became very interested to learn the actual secret feature of Śrīman Mahāprabhu, then Śrīman Mahāprabhu was bound to confess that he himself is Rasa-Raja-Mahābhava, none other than Rasik Shekara Kṛṣṇa with the Mahā-Bhava mood of Śrīmati Radharani.
We will have to develop our fine and pure darśana power by the mercy of sudarśana–cakra. Without the mercy of sudarśana-cakra, maybe we can memorize some dry philosophy, but that is not the way. According to the percentage of our inclination and sevā mood unto the Lotus Feet of Sat-Guru–Vaiṣṇava, we can automatically develop our darśana power.
To be continued…..