(Extract from the Harikathas of Shyam das Baba Mahārāj)
On the Divine Appearance Day of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī, my Gurudev, Śrīla Bhakti Pramoda Purī Gosvāmī Mahārāj, told me that on the tithi of Janmāṣṭamī it was the usual rule to read Caitanya Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta during the daytime. In this way, if we can get the mercy of Nityānanda and Gaurāṅga then we can get the full kṛpā of Kṛṣṇa. And in the nighttime around eleven, an advanced devotee would read or speak something about the Janma-Rahasya of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Prabhupāda was so careful in that matter because he knows that our hearts are contaminated with all material conceptions which we try to project on the Transcendental Realm. He was so careful that not the slightest disbelief would come to our hearts. Now our darśana is not perfect, our entire surroundings, mind, intelligence, body, all are material and conditioned. The jīva is put in this condition for an infinite period. We don’t know when this bondage started. That’s why it is not possible for us to understand what kṛṣṇa līlā is.
aprākṛta vastu nahe prākṛta-gocara
veda-purāṇete ei kahe nirantara
(C.c. Madhya līlā 9.195)
“Spiritual substance is never within the jurisdiction of the material conception. This is always the verdict of the Vedas and Purāṇas.”
If you apply your brain, mind, and sense organs, you cannot come out successful. Some people say,” We don’t believe in the Bhagavad-gītā. How is it possible that Kṛṣṇa could speak so much, 700 verses, in such a short time? We cannot believe that this is the direct speech of Kṛṣṇa. How is it possible? Just before the battle starts, how was He able to speak all this?” This is the opinion of materialistic people. They say that Bhagavad-gītā is the speech of Vyāsadeva. That is what they can believe. The fact that the Gītā is the direct speech of Kṛṣṇa, this they cannot believe. Also, some people think and argue when they hear Kṛṣṇa’s līlā, “How is it possible for Rādhārāṇī to come so quickly from Yāvat to Surya-kuṇḍa?” They ask, “How is it possible to travel a distance like that in such a short time?” Those who think like this they are all materialistic people with worldly conceptions. They don’t know that time, space and matter all are controlled by Kṛṣṇa.
Suppose there are only five minutes before the battle starts, but within that five minutes Kṛṣṇa can put infinite time? But they cannot believe it. As per Einstein, we know that time, space and matter are related to each other, but time, space and matter ultimately always follow Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa comes out from His room in the middle of the night, how is it possible for Him to reach Vṛndāvana so quickly? It is almost 65 km from Nandagram. These disbelievers are first class idiots. They want to put a scale to measure Kṛṣṇa. But rules and laws of the material world have no access in That Realm. Material space and time have no place in this World of Eternity. Material senses cannot approach That Realm. Who can set land-marks to limit dimensions or find plummets to fathom the depth of that Mighty Mysterious Existence? What can numbers state? What line can gauge the lengths and breadths of that Eternal World?
In Gambhīra-mandire in Purī, at the time of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, thousands of people are very easily coming and going to take darśana of Mahāprabhu. Kavi Karnapur asks the question, “How can this be possible? It is such a small place, but still thousands of people are fitting there. All Demigods, Siddhas, Charanas, Gandharvas, all came in different forms to take darśana of Mahāprabhu without any pushing.”
Kavi Karnapur says that this is vibhu-vastu, which is beyond our conception, beyond our measuring power. You cannot measure that Sphere of Transcendence. Expansion and retraction are there. Suppose that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī likes to go to Surya-kuṇḍa very quickly, then it is the duty of Yogamāyā to arrange everything accordingly. Time, matter space are not a matter of headache for Rādhārāṇī, for Kṛṣṇa or for the devotees. This simple principle they cannot understand. Time, space and matter, all are controlled by Yogamāyā, according to the desire of Kṛṣṇa. Those who cannot believe Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental līlā are all Māyāvādī. Be sure about that. Maybe he has tilak and kānti mālā, but inside he is contaminated by Māyāvāda philosophy.
Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda said, “As long as māyāvāda siddhānta is there in this world it is not possible to establish śuddha-bhakti properly.”
Actually, today is the ādivas tithi of Janmāṣṭamī. Ādivas means to stay with Kṛṣṇa, to stay near to Kṛṣṇa. Actually, those who are Māyāvādīs they are also celebrating Janmāṣṭamī tithi, even in a more enthusiastic way. But their worship is kapat (duplicitous), useless. What is the basic siddhānta of Māyāvāda? They never agree or confess that the svarūpa of Kṛṣṇa is eternal. They never believe it. If someone is having no belief in Śrī Guru, Vaiṣṇava, Bhagavān, dhāma, harināma, then be sure that he is contaminated with māyāvāda siddhānta.
Śrīla Prabhupāda is actually very sorry to say, that most of us are more or less contaminated with māyāvāda siddhānta. The reason is that we don’t believe one hundred percent in guru, Vaiṣṇava and Bhagavān. Māyāvādīs are also celebrating vyāsa pūjā, even more opulently than we do.
Śaṅkarācārya said that Vyāsadeva is misguided. If it would be like this, then why are Māyāvādīs going to celebrate vyāsa pūjā? If Vyāsadeva is wrong, then why worship Him?
If I tell you their conception about guru you will start to laugh. They accept guru, but their guru is temporary according to their vision. When they attain Brahman-bhava then there is no more belief in guru and they give up their guru. Up to that point they believe in guru, then guru is Brahman, you are Brahman, Brahman is Brahman, so who is going to worship whom? It is a very foolish conception. In front of any Vaiṣṇava, those Māyāvādīs cannot establish their siddhānta. In their sampradaya one conception is going on. They say that Śaṅkarācārya left his body and Vidyaranya Sarasvatī is the next incarnation of Śaṅkarācārya. That is what they say. For instance, if I give you one glass of water and you go and throw that water in the Ganges, then the water will be gone. You will no longer be able to get that water separately. Do you understand? That is their conception. It is very dangerous.
Gaura Hari Haribol