All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru and Gauranga
Date ….16.06.2024
By Śrīla Shyam Das Baba
First of all, we should consider these following ślokas regarding guru-Vaiṣṇava tattva or bhagavat tattva and jīva tattva to reconcile our heart with the disparity already developed inside our heart regarding guru-Vaiṣṇava tattva or bhagavat tattva and jīva tattva —
yasya sākṣād bhagavati
jñāna-dīpa-prade gurau
martyāsad-dhīḥ śrutaṁ tasya
sarvaṁ kuñjara-śaucavat (ŚB 7.15.26)
The spiritual master should be considered to be directly the Supreme Lord Himself because He gives transcendental knowledge for enlightenment. Consequently, for one who maintains the material conception that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being, ultimately he becomes frustrated. His enlightenment and all his aprākṛta teachings in the way of śrauta-panthā becomes like the bathing of an elephant.
bhakti-yogena manasi
samyak praṇihite ’male
apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ
māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayām (ŚB 1.7.4)
According to the advice of Śrīla Nāradji Mahārāj He (Vyāsa Deva) tried his best to concentrate his mind together with all sense organs to develop absolute samādhi state through devotional service mood (bhakti yoga) without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Godhead together with His effulgence and His external energy (Durga), who was seen to bow down backside the Supreme Lord with full of shyness.
yayā sammohito jīva
ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam
paro ’pi manute ’narthaṁ
tat-kṛtaṁ cābhipadyate (ŚB 1.7.5)
By the influence of the śakti (external energy) all jīvas are taken into a bewildering condition due to the three moods of nature of Māyā (I mean they develop the mood of material enjoyment by avoiding the Supreme Lord), though jīvas are cinmoye vastu having no connection with Māyā at all, but still due to Māyā they are feeling pain and pleasure in this material world.
mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (Bg. 15.7)
The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Paramahamsa jagad Guru wrote one letter to one of his so called disciple that –“At present you are going to leave the way of ‘praṇipātena paripraśhnena and sevā,’ so what we can do for you except expressing some strong grief”.
From Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā we know the following śloka—
ajñaś cāśraddadhānaś ca
saṁśayātmā vinaśyati
nāyaṁ loko ’sti na paro
na sukhaṁ saṁśayātmanaḥ (Bg. 4.40)
But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.
That is why guru-Vaiṣṇavas they always express deep concern about us, though they have no personal anxiety at all. As per Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta we can find that there are basically two categories of jīva: nittya baddha and nittya mukta. Nittya mukta jīvas they have never seen maya, whereas those nittya baddha jīvas they never been out of Māyā. Why Bhagavan doing so? Such question is absurd. We have no right to put such a question because the Supreme Lord is always full of sporting mood and He is Himself ānanda moye, līlā moye, icchā moye and full of six opulence’s. He can reserve the right of doing anything and everything. This is not at all His discrimination, rather this can be accepted as the expression of His causeless mercy of His play with all jīvas throughout the infinity worlds. For a game to play need two teams or two parties, but one team must be against the other, and if not so – then the game can never be tasteful. We cannot expect any kind of dissatisfaction demand inside the heart of Bhagavan because He is pūrṇa vastu, but still we should remember that Bhagavan is decorated with infinity diversities — where all countless contra distinction (a distinction made by contrast) must be there.
Just like in a drama play of Rāmāyaṇa one must take the role of Rāvaṇa, whereas someone else can take the role of Rama. If there is no thief or no dacoits or hooligans then surely we cannot find any utility of policemen. Somebody can shout to protest that I don’t like to play the role of Rāvaṇa, I like to play the role of Rama, then it is absurd. Someone has to play the role of Rāvaṇa in the drama. Śrī Bhagavan is always full of sporting mood. To be frank we are puppets on a chain according to our past karma phal, because we have no control over that. If we can realize the fact that Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa is playing with Himself (according to advaya-jñāna-tattva) then and there all problems can be solved. Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura has written in Jaiva Dharma that willingly or unwillingly (knowingly or unknowingly) we are bound to participate in the eternal game going on between Bhagavan and jīvas. Anyway you are supposed to cooperate with Bhagavan in His game without any objection.
Due to Māyā we are accepting this game seriously to discover ourselves in great danger, because only and only we like to ensure our happiness at any cost. If the beautiful flower in the garden going to give me pleasure or if one very beautiful lady going to give me satisfaction of my eyes, or if some nice fruits there in the field for which I can feel some greed, then surely, I have no conception of kṛṣṇa-bhajana at all.
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate (Bg. 3.27)
The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of all activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.
In such case we should remember the prayer of Adi Kavi Brahmā—
tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk (ŚB 10.14.8)
My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.
Though baddha jīvas are eternally baddha (nittya baddha) still Bhagavan has given free will to them to go out of Māyā to enter into the eternal world to get eternal sevā of Bhagavan to lead ānanda moye jīvan forever. Actually, in the svarūpa of jīva taṭasthā bhāva is eternally inherited (it is the inherent nature of jīva), because the original source of jīva is tatastha śakti of Bhagavan. Free will given means the choice must be there with the jīva.
From Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta we know the following śloka—
kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha
ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha (Cc Madhya 20.117)
“Due to forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been aversive to Him from time immemorial. Therefore, the illusory energy [Māyā] gives her all kinds of misery in her material existence.
kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha-doṣe māyā haite bhaya
kṛṣṇonmukha bhakti haite māyā-mukta haya (Cc Madhya 24.136)
“Being aversive to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one jīva becomes conditioned and fearful due to the influence of Māyā. By executing devotional service of the Supreme Lord faithfully, jīva can become liberated from Māyā.
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-janma-mūla haya ‘sādhu-saṅga’
kṛṣṇa-prema janme, teṅho punaḥ mukhya aṅga (Cc Madhya 22.83)
“The root cause of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa is the perfect association of genuine devotees. Even to develop love for Kṛṣṇa, the association with devotees is still the most essential factor.
Since time immemorial jīvas are in Māyā, no particular time of commence (or beginning) can be indicated, so the term ‘anādi is used here. Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura has written in his Jaiva dharma chapter 16 that the conditioned souls are situated in five different stages of consciousness:
Covered consciousness, diminished consciousness, budding consciousness, bloomed consciousness, fully blossomed consciousness. From Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā we know the following śloka spoken by Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa that—
mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (Bg. 15.7)
The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
‘Mamaivāṁśo’ means taṭasthā śakti’s aṁśa and not at all svarūpa śakti aṁśa. According to Vedānta-sūtra we know that –
“śakti-śaktimator abhedah” – It means that here is no difference between the energy and the possessor of the energy.
So according to acintya bhedābheda tattva siddhanta vichar all those minute sparks (cit particles) or cinmoye jīvas are both different and none different from Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa, no doubt in it. Also, we know from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta the following ślokas—
jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’ ‘bhedābheda-prakāśa’
sūryāṁśa-kiraṇa, yaiche agni-jvālā-caya
svābhāvika kṛṣṇera tina-prakāra ‘śakti’ haya (Cc Madhya 20.108-109)
“It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa because she is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṇa and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṇa has three varieties of energy.
viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā
kṣetra-jñākhyā tathā parā
avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā
tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate (Cc Ādi 7.119)
“‘The potency of Lord Viṣṇu is summarized in three categories — namely, the spiritual potency, the living entities and ignorance. The spiritual potency is full of knowledge; the living entities, although belonging to the spiritual potency, are subject to bewilderment; and the third energy, which is full of ignorance, is always visible in fruitive activities.’
So here it is written that ‘jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — krsnera ‘nitya-dāsa’ and not kṛṣṇera nitya-bhakta’. Because svarūpa śakti of Bhagavan is not directly there inside jīva, but the potency of getting bhakti is surely there inside jīva, so by the help of genuine sādhu saṅga bhakti can be attainted. Surely fire is there inside a wooden piece or inside petrol, but needs to be introduced (to be added first) first. Forest fire takes place by the constant friction of two dry trees when the spark of fire comes out. Similarly, by the genuine association of sādhu-Vaiṣṇava–svarūpa śakti can appear inside the heart of somebody provided there is no touch of any aparādha. Due to the presence of svarūpa śakti that particular jīvattma can develop tadatmo bhāva (oneness) which can be understood by the aprākṛta activities of the jīva concerned. By churning water surely we cannot get cream, because there is no potency inside water, but by churning milk surely we can get cream, because the potency is there inside milk. Actually, cause and effect these two terms are the most vital things in the way of any scientific research.
Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura has written in the commentary of Brahma-saṁhitā 5/44 śloka that: the living entity is like a minute cit particle or like a spark of fire. As soon as she (jīva tattva being śakti tattva) as soon as she forgets Kṛṣṇa, then and there she is attracted by the illusionary energy of the Lord and is thrown into the material world. As soon as she falls down Durga Devi gives her a gross body made up of five elements of nature, together with five attributes and eleven senses (mind is the strongest of all and known as 11th number sense, so thereby subtle body becomes inherited their in the gross body) and then puts her inside into the wheel of karma chakra. She becomes just like a prisoner and experiences pain and pleasure to travel fourteen worlds up and down according to karma phal (like going to hell or heaven etc.). Durga also gives her a subtle body made of mind, intellect, citta and false ego in the gross body. By means of subtle body the living entity forsakes one gross body and takes on another. The living entity cannot get rid of the subtle body which is full of sinful and evil desires, until and unless she is liberated from Māyā and realizes her own svarūpa. After getting rid of the subtle body, she takes a bath in the water of viraja (which can be treated as the final cleaning) and can go up to the abode of Śrī Hari. Such are the duties performed by Devi Durga in accordance with the will of Śrī Govinda.
From Jaiva Dharma chapter 2/14-15 we can see that Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura has written that the living entity has two stages of existence. In the pure state it is fully a cit particle (without any contamination with Māyā) and untouched by matter or Māyā. Because it is a minute part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, there is no possibility of changing its own position. By nature, Śrī Kṛṣṇa can reserve Supreme consciousness eternally and never changing His own position (so He is known as Acyuta). He is truly great and complete in Himself and pure, and also eternally present. The living entity is a tiny part and parcel of Śrī Kṛṣṇa (as per the siddhānta vichar already shown there in the article before) and can reserve the right to become impure and unwise (because of its very minute existence). But constitutionally the living entity also can show its greatness as a devotee, completeness, pureness (purity) and eternal nature. As long as the livening entity is pure, it can be found in its constitutional position. Only when the living entity becomes contaminated due to its contact with Māyā then it falls down from its original position. And then it becomes impure, shelterless and becomes afflicted by pain and pleasure (or happiness and distress). As soon as the living entity forgets its own position as an eternal sevika (servant) of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, it falls down into material existence (or Māyā). As long as the living entity remains pure, it is proud of its constitutional position. It can proudly consider itself as a servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. As soon as it becomes contaminated due to contact with Māyā it can fall down out of false ego. The pure state of the living entity becomes covered up with gross and subtle bodies when it is in contact with Māyā.
pishachi paile yatha moti-channa hoie
maya badha jiver hoie sei bhāva udoya
(Prema Vivarta, by Śrī Jagadānanda Pandit)
Cultivation of pure bhakti or love of God is the constitutional duty of the living entity. This love in perverted form appears in the subtle body in the form of happiness, distress, attachment and detachment etc. When it is further covered then this perverted form of pure love appears in the gross body in the form of eating, drinking or enjoying sex pleasures etc. We can therefore understand that the eternal constitutional duties of a living entity are manifested only when it is situated in the pure state. Those characteristics that appear in the conditional state of a living entity are temporary, constitutional duties are eternal, complete and pure. Jīvas are given a jewel piece named ‘free will’, but Bhagavan never likes to interfere with the free will given to jīvas. But the ultimate remote control is there in the hand of Bhagavan, because He is well known as the giver of karma phal. Now question can come that – ‘Does a spiritual soul suffer in her conditional stage?’ Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura has written in his Tattva sutra 23 that the material body is a prison for the living entity. The spirit soul is never a limited object (because attma is prakash moye), but due to accepting a material body she suffers distress and inertia.
What is the meaning of eternally forgetfulness?
In answer to this question Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinod Thakur has written in Jaiva Dharma Chp.1/11 – 12 that the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is an eternal constitutional duty of the living entity. By forgetting its position, the living entity becomes controlled by Māyāand forgets Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Though we know that baddha jīvas are nittya baddha still because its forgetfulness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is ever since it came in to this material world, so no historical document can be found according to material time about the fall down of jīva, that’s why it is written this word – ‘anādi. Therefore, the words “eternally forgetful” has been used. From the time of the entities forgetfulness of the Lord and her entrance into the material world, her constitutional duty has become perverted.
Do living entities go through birth and death in their spiritual existence?
In answer to this question Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura has written in Harināma Cintāmaṇi Chapter 1 that birth is an act in the mood of passion, and death is an act in the mood of ignorance. The eternally existing spiritual essence śuddha-sattva has never been touched by birth or by death.
Is the Supreme Lord responsible for the misuse of the free will given to jīvas?
In answer to this question Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura has written in Tattva sūtra that—“It cannot be said the God gives distress, so the living entities suffering. It is due to misuse of free will they are suffering. The Supreme Lord is not to be blamed in any way. He, Bhagavan, he is not responsible for the distress the living entities suffer due to their transgressing the rules and regulations given by the Lord in different śāstras. Had the Supreme creator forced the living entities to accept anarthas then there could be some possibility of protesting against the Supreme Lord. There cannot be any kind of discrimination on the part of the Supreme Lord. However, if the living entities had used their free will to strengthen their spiritual attachment, then they would have increased their own glories. If they did not have free will, they would not have an opportunity to increase their own glories. We should know that by giving such wonderful free will (a big invaluable treasure) to the living entities, the Supreme Lord has displayed His mercy upon them and degradation caused by the misuse of free will is meant to rectify and deliver the living entities.
From Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā we know the following śloka by Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna that—
nādatte kasyacit pāpaṁ
na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ
ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ
tena muhyanti jantavaḥ (Bg. 5.15)
Neither does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful nor pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.
Frankly speaking — actually there is no real existence of material pain and pleasure. Attma is chinmoye, jñāna moye, ānanda moye and also prakash moye, just like sac-cit-ānanda moye vigraha Bhagavan. The constitutional quality of jīvattma is all the same like Bhagavan. So wherefrom the question of material suffering of cinmoye jīvattma can come at all? From the following ślokas taken from Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā we can get the supporting evidences in favor of the above siddhānta vichar—
dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati (Bg. 2.13)
As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.
mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata (Bg. 2.14)
O son of Kuntī, the no permanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
antavanta ime dehā
nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ
anāśino ’prameyasya
tasmād yudhyasva bhārata (Bg. 2.18)
The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.
ya enaṁ vetti hantāraṁ
yaś cainaṁ manyate hatam
ubhau tau na vijānīto
nāyaṁ hanti na hanyate (Bg. 2.19)
Neither he who thinks the living entity the slayer nor he who thinks it slain is in knowledge, for the self-slays not nor is slain.
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (Bg. 2.20)
For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
Actually, in the background of past present and future material pain ad pleasure felt by baddha jīva cannot find any stability, all temporary, nothing else. From the flowing ślokas of Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā we can see that –
dhyāyato viṣayān puṁsaḥ
saṅgas teṣūpajāyate
saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ
kāmāt krodho ’bhijāyate (Bg. 2.62)
While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.
krodhād bhāvati sammohaḥ
sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥ
smṛti-bhraṁśād buddhi-nāśo
buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati (Bg. 2.63)
From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.
ye hi saṁsparśa-jā bhogā
duḥkha-yonaya eva te
ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya
na teṣu ramate budhaḥ (Bg. 5.22)
An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kuntī, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.
What is painful for you, maybe that is a pleasure for me, or what is a pleasure for you, maybe that is painful for me. This is the status of matreal pain and pleasure — coming and going, I mean there is no stability. Those who are really wise they never run for sensual gratification or enjoyment. So it is already proved that pain and pleasure these two terms are completely fake terms.
Minus twenty-degree temperature is normal for those Siberian people but for you maybe this is a death trap. So please try to forget everything except the direct feeling of bhagavad sevā—which is more practical. If the beautiful flower in the garden giving me pleasure or the beautiful dress of the deities in the temple giving me satisfaction of my material mind or those ripe mangos in the tree outside the temple increasing my desire to enjoy those or any beautiful girl giving me pleasure of my material eyes then surely I am not all better than an animal—
Vasiṣṭha Muni said that—
āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca
sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām
dharmo hi teṣām adhiko viśeṣo
dharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ (Vaneparvat Mahābhārata)
Eating, sleeping, sex, and defence—these four principles are common to both human beings and animals. The most basic distinction between human life and animal life is “Jñāna” (Rationality)
Humans have the ability to inquire “Who am I? Who is God? What is this World? Why am I suffering?” which animals lack.
Those who are doing actual Haribhajan they never become a cause of anybody’s anxiety or pain. From Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Sanatan Śikṣā by Śrīman Mahāprabhu we can find the following śloka
ete na hy adbhutā vyādha
tavāhiṁsādayo guṇāḥ
hari-bhaktau pravṛttā ye
na te syuḥ para-tāpinaḥ (Cc Madhya 24.273)
“‘O hunter, good qualities like nonviolence etc., which you have developed, are not at all very astonishing, for those engaged in the Lord’s devotional service are never inclined to give pain to others because of envy.’
A genuine devotee his whole life is completely dedicated for the complete satisfaction of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa who is the sole enjoyer of each and everything. As and when I demand my share of sensual enjoyment, then and there I became a convict in the jail of Māyā Devi – this is the tragedy.
From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the following śloka can give us complete idea about advaya-jñāna-tattva—
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
bhagavān iti śabdyate (ŚB 1.2.11)
Those tattva vidas who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.
This advaya-jñāna-tattva implies that there is no other tattva at all except the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa (who is known as advaya-jñāna-tattva) which is supported by the first śloka of Brahma-saṁhitā 5th chapter –
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā 5.1)
Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
At all if any other separate tattva can be found – that is also according to acintya bedhābedha tattva, I mean simultaneously different and non-different from the advaya-jñāna-tattva. By chance if you can at all realise the most secret siddhānta vichar that Paratpara Akileshwara Svayam Rupa Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa is playing alone forever with Himself, then we can become fee of any doubts and suspicions or complicacy. The same what a famous Muslim poet Kavi Nazrul Islam has written in his poem–
‘E viswa loye virat sisu anmone kheli cho’
That means – “Oh the great all-pervading omniscient baby (the Absolute Personality of Godhead) you are playing forever with infinity world with some indifferent mood.
Also, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we can get the following śloka in favour of the above siddhānta vichar –
evaṁ pariṣvaṅga-karābhimarśa-
snigdhekṣaṇoddāma-vilāsa-hāsaiḥ
reme rameśo vraja-sundarībhir
yathārbhakaḥ sva-pratibimba-vibhramaḥ (ŚB 10.33.16)
In this way Lord Kṛṣṇa, the original Lord Nārāyaṇa, master of the goddess of fortune, took pleasure in the company of the young women of Vraja by embracing them, caressing them and glancing lovingly at them as He smiled His broad, playful smiles. It was just as if a child were playing with His own reflection.
Really if we can go through the tenth chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā then we can become very sure that except advaya tattva nothing else left aside. Our disbelieve in guru-Vaiṣṇava-Bhagavan and also our logical interpretation can ultimately throw us away from bhajan or at all cannot allow us to enter into Haribhajan. Because we know from Śrīmad Bhagavad Gita the following śloka—
ajñaś cāśraddadhānaś ca
saṁśayātmā vinaśyati
nāyaṁ loko ’sti na paro
na sukhaṁ saṁśayātmanaḥ (Bg. 4.40)
But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.
We know that ‘to err is human’ but still we must be very careful because we like to continue our bhajan life without any flaw. Anyway offence is very dangerous. From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11/16/11 śloka we know that Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa speaking about his diversified form of His vibhuti to Uddhava that—
guṇinām apy ahaṁ sūtraṁ
mahatāṁ ca mahān aham
sūkṣmāṇām apy ahaṁ jīvo
durjayānām ahaṁ manaḥ (ŚB 11.16.11)
Among things possessing qualities I am the primary manifestation of nature, and among great things I am the total material creation. Among subtle things I am the spirit soul (jīvattma), and of things that are difficult to conquer I am the mind.
Infinity diversities and contrasts are there in this advaya-jñāna-tattva which is the absolute tattva. Unity in diversity, and diversity in unity never going to make any disturbance in this advaya-jñāna-tattva, because the absolute Harmony is there in this tattva. Bhagavan is Ananta Rupi, so also Bhagavan can identify Himself as the infinite small cit particle jīvattma. From Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya līlā 4 Chapter 176 No. śloka we know that –
‘dvaite’ bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba — ‘manodharma’
‘ei bhāla, ei manda’, — ei saba ‘bhrama’ (Cc Antya 4.176)
“In the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental speculations. Therefore, saying ‘This is good’ and ‘That is bad’ is all a confusion.
Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Paramahaṁsa Jagd Guru said that— “Advaya-jñāna-tattva Brajendrānandana is the eternal truth which can never be changed. Due to dwitiya abinivesha (I mean when dual conception going to contaminate my heart and mind then I can get diverted from advaya-jñāna-tattva) jīvas are bound to be caught up by Māyā to invite their apparent maṅgala or amaṅgala (both the terms are fake) etc. according to the saṅkalpa and vikalpa mano dharma. Due to forgetting own svarūpa and Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s svarūpa–jīva is now put into a bewildering condition to discover herself as the enjoyer of this material world and always concentrating in akṣaya jñāna which can lead her up to different kind of fallacy regarding good and bad.
From Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā we know the following śloka –
nāsato vidyate bhāvo
nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ
ubhayor api dṛṣṭo ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ (Bg. 2.16)
The unreal has no existence, and the real never ceases to be; the reality of both has thus been perceived by the seers of the truth.
Śrīla Prabhupāda said that— “The nearest equivalent of the term ‘a-sat’ (Bengali) is non-permanent existence. It is possible to classify entities into really existent or ‘sat’ and not really existent or a-sat. The soul belongs to the category of real existence or ‘sat’. The mind and physical body are not real existence. In this world the deluded soul seeks all kinds of relationship with the body and not mind. But the soul can have no real relationship with either. This misguided affinity of the deluded soul towards non-substantive existence, is the cause of all suffering and evil that afflict everyone in this world. If it be our object to lessen physical and mental suffering it will be necessary to find a method for removing the delusion which is the cause of such suffering.
Pleasure and pain both are non-absolute i.e. relative existence (a-sat). Neither of them can really satisfy the soul. The soul is everlasting. Neither pleasure nor pain can be everlasting. On the contrary they are the co-ordinate faces of the deluded experience. The same is true of all similar other couples which are the offspring of the activities of the material mind. Right and wrong, good and bad are not substantially different from one another. But all of them are substantially and eternally different from the absolute existence or the sat.”
The same advice was given by Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava about baddha, about the mukta condition of jīva
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
baddho mukta iti vyākhyā
guṇato me na vastutaḥ
guṇasya māyā-mūlatvān
na me mokṣo na bandhanam ŚB 11.11.1
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Uddhava, due to the influence of the material modes of nature, which are under My control, the living entity is sometimes designated as conditioned and sometimes as liberated. In fact, however, the soul is never really bound up or liberated, and since I am the Supreme Lord of Māyā, which is the cause of the modes of nature, I also am never to be considered liberated or in bondage.
śoka-mohau sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ
dehāpattiś ca māyayā
svapno yathātmanaḥ khyātiḥ
saṁsṛtir na tu vāstavī ŚB 11.11.2
Just as a dream is merely a creation of one’s intelligence but has no actual substance, similarly, material lamentation, illusion, happiness, distress and the acceptance of the material body under the influence of Māyā are all creations of My illusory energy. In other words, material existence has no essential reality.
vidyāvidye mama tanū
viddhy uddhava śarīriṇām
mokṣa-bandha-karī ādye
māyayā me vinirmite ŚB 11.11.3
O Uddhava, both knowledge and ignorance, being products of Māyā, are expansions of My potency. Both knowledge and ignorance are beginningless and perpetually award liberation and bondage to embodied living beings.
ekasyaiva mamāṁśasya
jīvasyaiva mahā-mate
bandho ’syāvidyayānādir
vidyayā ca tathetaraḥ ŚB 11.11.4
O most intelligent Uddhava, the living entity, called jīva, is part and parcel of Me, but due to ignorance he has been suffering in material bondage since time immemorial. By knowledge, however, he can be liberated.
atha baddhasya muktasya
vailakṣaṇyaṁ vadāmi te
viruddha-dharmiṇos tāta
sthitayor eka-dharmiṇi ŚB 11.11.5
Thus, My dear Uddhava, in the same material body we find opposing characteristics, such as great happiness and misery. That is because both the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is eternally liberated, as well as the conditioned soul are within the body. I shall now speak to you about their different characteristics.
suparṇāv etau sadṛśau sakhāyau
yadṛcchayaitau kṛta-nīḍau ca vṛkṣe
ekas tayoḥ khādati pippalānnam
anyo niranno ’pi balena bhūyān ŚB 11.11.6
By chance, two birds have made a nest together in the same tree. The two birds are friends and are of a similar nature. One of them, however, is eating the fruits of the tree, whereas the other, who does not eat the fruits, is in a superior position due to His potency.
ātmānam anyaṁ ca sa veda vidvān
apippalādo na tu pippalādaḥ
yo ’vidyayā yuk sa tu nitya-baddho
vidyā-mayo yaḥ sa tu nitya-muktaḥ ŚB 11.11.7
The bird who does not eat the fruits of the tree is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who by His omniscience perfectly understands His own position and that of the conditioned living entity, represented by the eating bird. That living entity, on the other hand, does not understand himself or the Lord. He is covered by ignorance and is thus called eternally conditioned, whereas the Personality of Godhead, being full of perfect knowledge, is eternally liberated.
deha-stho ’pi na deha-stho
vidvān svapnād yathotthitaḥ
adeha-stho ’pi deha-sthaḥ
kumatiḥ svapna-dṛg yathā ŚB 11.11.8
One who is enlightened in self-realization, although living within the material body, sees himself as transcendental to the body, just as one who has arisen from a dream gives up identification with the dream body. A foolish person, however, although not identical with his material body but transcendental to it, thinks himself to be situated in the body, just as one who is dreaming sees himself as situated in an imaginary body.
indriyair indriyārtheṣu
guṇair api guṇeṣu ca
gṛhyamāṇeṣv ahaṁ kuryān
na vidvān yas tv avikriyaḥ ŚB 11.11.9
An enlightened person who is free from the contamination of material desire does not consider himself to be the performer of bodily activities; rather, he knows that in all such activities it is only the senses, born of the modes of nature, that are contacting sense objects born of the same modes of nature.
daivādhīne śarīre ’smin
guṇa-bhāvyena karmaṇā
vartamāno ’budhas tatra
kartāsmīti nibadhyate ŚB 11.11.10
An unintelligent person situated within the body created by his previous fruitive activities thinks, “I am the performer of action.” Bewildered by false ego, such a foolish person is therefore bound up by fruitive activities, which are in fact carried out by the modes of nature.
evaṁ viraktaḥ śayana
āsanāṭana-majjane
darśana-sparśana-ghrāṇa-
bhojana-śravaṇādiṣu
na tathā badhyate vidvān
tatra tatrādayan guṇān ŚB 11.11.11
An enlightened person fixed in detachment engages his body in lying down, sitting, walking, bathing, seeing, touching, smelling, eating, hearing and so on, but is never entangled by such activities. Indeed, remaining as a witness to all bodily functions, he merely engages his bodily senses with their objects and does not become entangled like an unintelligent person.
prakṛti-stho ’py asaṁsakto
yathā khaṁ savitānilaḥ
vaiśāradyekṣayāsaṅga-
śitayā chinna-saṁśayaḥ
pratibuddha iva svapnān
nānātvād vinivartate ŚB 11.11.12-13
Although the sky, or space, is the resting place of everything, the sky does not mix with anything, nor is it entangled. Similarly, the sun is not at all attached to the water in which it is reflected within innumerable reservoirs, and the mighty wind blowing everywhere is not affected by the innumerable aromas and atmospheres through which it passes. In the same way, a self-realized soul is completely detached from the material body and the material world around it. He is like a person who has awakened and arisen from a dream. With expert vision sharpened by detachment, the self-realized soul cuts all doubts to pieces through knowledge of the self and completely withdraws his consciousness from the expansion of material variety.
yasya syur vīta-saṅkalpāḥ
prāṇendriya-mano-dhiyām
vṛttayaḥ sa vinirmukto
deha-stho ’pi hi tad-guṇaiḥ ŚB 11.11.14
A person is considered to be completely liberated from the gross and subtle material bodies when all the functions of his vital energy, senses, mind and intelligence are performed without material desire. Such a person, although situated within the body, is not entangled.
yasyātmā hiṁsyate hiṁsrair
yena kiñcid yadṛcchayā
arcyate vā kvacit tatra
na vyatikriyate budhaḥ ŚB 11.11.15
Sometimes for no apparent reason one’s body is attacked by cruel people or violent animals. At other times and in other places, one will suddenly be offered great respect or worship. One who becomes neither angry when attacked nor satisfied when worshiped is actually intelligent.
Nectar and poison or devotee or and noon-devotee or baddha and mukta or day and night or good or bad or pious and impious or rich and poor all such contradictory terms are there to show the contrast between good and bad (both being unstable can be treated as fictitious terms), similarly Bhagavan also like to reserve all such contradictory points for the logical consideration of jīvas. Now the choice is left with jīva. If there is no night time then how we can realise (or appreciate) day time. If there is no dishonest people then how we can realise the glory of honest people! If there is no thief, no dacoit, no hooligan, no crime then there is no need of policemen. If there is nobody to break laws and orders of our society (or country) then there is no need of any court or judge or jail etc. In Nepali language you cannot find this word ‘thief’ because even in dream they cannot think somebody can steal something. Inside advaya-jñāna-tattva all those versatile or contradictory subject matters must be there without breaking at all the harmony of oneness. Actually, our life is one kind of musical instrument as was spoken by Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda (please consult Rāya Rāmānanda Samvad from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta) in front of Śrīman Mahprabhu. We must set the reed or tune of the musical instrument to reconcile exactly with the original song being sung by the Supreme Lord. Actually, our bhajan is nothing but to reconcile our centre point of life with the original common centre point of the Supreme Lord, to seek the complete satisfaction of the Supreme Lord without any smell of self-interest. But we should never forget that unconditional surrender is the most basic foundation of our bhajan life. From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we know the following śloka—
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati (ŚB 1.2.6)
The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to get the complete satisfaction of the self.
If Brahmā would not have done such a mistake of abducting those cowherd boys and calves then how we could learn from this līlā of Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Actually, according to the desire of Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa–Brahmā was bound to make such a mistake to fulfil the desire of those Braja gopikās (or mother cows) who all wanted to love Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their own boy. If Indra Mahārāj would not have done such a mistake of expressing audacity against Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then how we could get Goverdhan dharan līlā. By the desire of Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa Indra Mahārāj was bound to make mistake to fulfil the desires of all Brajavasis (including all go-mātās) to stay with Śrī Kṛṣṇa all day and night continuously without any breakage. If Jaya-Vijaya both the Vaikuṇṭha parsadas would not have done such a mistake of checking the free entrance of Chatursthana into Vaikuṇṭha then how we could get varaha-līlā or rama-līlā or kṛṣṇa-līlā!
If Arjuna the bosom friend of Śrī Kṛṣṇa would not have expressed such a great confusion regarding his duty of fighting (I mean the dilemma in which he was put into about — to fight or not to fight) then how we could get Gītā Upaniṣad advice from the Lotus mouth of Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa. We should consider all those above points over and again without any fail to realise the absolute desire of The Supreme Lord to harmonise ourselves with the eternal game being played by Him.
Also, astrological prediction is not at all meaningless, this is one kind of mathematical calculation of different star’s positions. So we can see those big big Astrologers or predictors they can speak in advanced about anything going to happen in the future. On being requested by somebody our Prabhupāda Bimal Prasad Sarasvatī in his boy hood predicted exactly the time of his death. That doesn’t mean that karma phal is all useless (false) etc. Some supernatural power can guide someone like Nostradamus or blind Baba Banga etc. to see the future. In our country (Bharat Varsha) so many big big astrological figures they already predicted so many things going to happen in future. Any jīva`s karma phal can be predicted according to the star position in the life of that jīvattma-provided the astrological calculation is perfect, but those Vaiṣṇavas are beyond any material estimation.
To live in a country of any king one has to obey all the rules and regulations set by him, otherwise there can be every possibility of getting punishment by the king and surely one cannot live in the country peacefully. Similarly to leave in the cosmic creation of the Supreme Lord one has to obey those rules and regulations set by the Supreme Lord, otherwise due to violation of those rules and regulations one has to get punishment in the form of material sufferings etc. In the way of Hari bhajan the first problem is that we are not sure about the target of our bhajan spoken (assured) by our guru-varga, so then how we can get inspiration in our bhajan? In this way hopelessness can touch our heart unknowingly due to some unknown aparādha also. Even after looking those great great previous mahājanas (our divine guru-varga) – and their absolute idealism still we cannot get any inspiration in Haribhajan due to some offence done before or recently. More or less, we are like business men, we like to see our profit and loss account even before starting our bhajan, otherwise we cannot trust our guru-varga and their promise about the divine success of our bhajan. So naturally we are deprived, then whom to blame!
Our beloved guru-varga Śrīla Sadānanda Svami has written the following–
“We want serious people, who have the true ability to search, to understand and to believe. Initially, all kinds of neurotic characters probably must turn up at your lectures – the faster they drop off the better. Bhakti is for those who are atmically disordered (in uncovered state attma is pure, but due to duel conception developed by the influence of Māyā, the purity becomes distorted) , for those who are in want of knowledge of the atma and the Paramātmā, because they cannot serve Bhagavan, for those who understand that all kinds of exploitation are nothing but delusion – not for those who are mentally disordered and people who first should consult a psychiatrist to become decent, normal people, so that they later could long for bhakti. […]”
In conclusion we can say that it is surely not enough just to be close to Temples, deities, holy books etc., rather it is the only way to surrender unto the lotus feet of tattva vit sādhu-guru-vaiṣṇava, to realize the Absolute Truth.
In the background of this infinity world (both prākṛta and aprākṛta) if we like to feel our infinite small existence then we can feel shy.
Gaura Hari Hari Bol