By Srila Shyam Das Baba
Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda said that –“The Supreme Lord can reserve the right of not being exposed to our sense organs.”
From Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.23) we know the following words:
nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo
na medhayā na bahunā śrutena
yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas
tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23)
“The Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, nor even by much hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself accepts. To such a person He manifests His own svarūpa.”
From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we know how Pitamah Brahmā was accepted by the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa to manifest His own svarūpa—in front of him–
jñānaṁ parama-guhyaṁ me
yad vijñāna-samanvitam
sarahasyaṁ tad-aṅgaṁ ca
gṛhāṇa gaditaṁ mayā (ŚB 2.9.31)
The Personality of Godhead said: Knowledge about Me as described in the scriptures is very confidential, and it has to be realized in conjunction with devotional service. The necessary paraphernalia for that process is being explained by Me. You may take it up carefully.
yāvān ahaṁ yathā-bhāvo
yad-rūpa-guṇa-karmakaḥ
tathaiva tattva-vijñānam
astu te mad-anugrahāt (ŚB 2.9.32)
All about Me, namely My actual eternal form and My transcendental existence, color, qualities and activities — let all be awakened within you by factual realization, out of My causeless mercy.
After getting the kṛpa of the Supreme Lord finally Brahmā was bound to express his absolute gratitude in front of Him in the following way—
athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-
prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi
jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno
na cānya eko ’pi ciraṁ vicinvan (ŚB 10.14.29)
My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your Lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your Personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.
We know it very well that India (Bhāratavarṣa) is the Land of spiritual cultivation and those sages after long deliberation have given us immense treasure of divine knowledge (divya jñāna). Throughout the length and breadth of Bhāratavarṣa everywhere you can find countless temples or shrines etc. Those Bharat vasis (those who are staying in Bhāratavarṣa) they are spiritually inspired by birth because this land is identified as karma-kṣetra (where Vedic injunctions can be found in applied form).
It is also said that Bhāratavarṣa is the library of the whole world, and just like the sun rises in the east, similarly in the whole world wherever-whatever knowledge regarding jñāna-vijñāna, darśana, mathematics or astrology or technology etc. everything originally came from Bharatvarsa.
It is the Land were many came or coming or will come in future to find the complete solution about the actual meaning of life. All most everywhere– in each and every house of those Bhāratavarṣis we can find tulasī, Gaṅgā, śālagrāma, Giriraj, or deities etc. are being worshiped by them three times in a day and also, we can find the recitation of those Holy books like Bhagavad-gītā, Mahābhārat, Ramayan etc. in their house. Surely we must confess that to grow up in such an environment is a great advantage. But the question is that, “Is it really enough to realize God?”
One may have all those opportunities, but as long as one cannot receive sambandha jñāna in the form of śabda-brahmā from a bona fide realized sādhu, till then there is no possibility to realize Bhagavat-tattva vijñāna. Only the proximity of any āśrama, temples, deities and sacred scriptures cannot give any guarantee of spiritual revelation. The most vital thing that we need is actual sādhu saṅgā, which is really rare in this world. It is only through the authorized channel of guru-parampara from where we can attain the quality of bhagavat–darśana. Gauḍīya Goṣṭhīpati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda—Paramahaṁsa Jagad Guru used to say that—“Gurudeva is the transcendental or transparent medium through which we can see what is what there in the aprākṛta jagad”. And sometimes he also used to say that—“Gaura vani is more important than Gaura Himself”. Because without taking shelter unto the Lotus feet of Caitanya vani nobody never can understand gaura svarūpa in true sense. That is why it is more important to hear from śuddha guru-Vaiṣṇava (authentic sources) to approach the proximity of that Absolute Truth.
Śrīman Mahāprabhu Himself came on this earth just in the form of a pure sādhu to teach us how to do actual hari-bhajana avoiding duplicity. He took birth in Śrī Dham Mayapur to expose all of his bhajan mudra (how to do bhajan each and every step) but still nobody could realize or recognize Him as the Supreme Lord.
sadopāsyaḥ śrīmān dhṛta-manuja-kāyaiḥ praṇayitāṁ
vahadbhir gīr-vāṇair giriśa-parameṣṭhi-prabhṛtibhiḥ
sva-bhaktebhyaḥ śuddhāṁ nija-bhajana-mudrām upadiśan
sa caitanyaḥ kiṁ me punar api dṛśor yāsyati padam (Prathama Caitanyastaka)
Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is always the most worshipable Deity of the demigods, including Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, who came in the guise of ordinary human being bearing absolute love for the Supreme Lord. He wanted to instruct His own pure devotional service to His own devotees. Ah! Will He again become an absolute object of my darśana?
In His manifested līlā He was seen all the time traveling here and there in the market or road etc. or at the bank of Gaṅgā, but who could recognize Him in true sense that is the main question. Even Kolavecha Śrīdhar His eternal pārṣada could not realize Him, then what to speak about Capal Gopal etc. those who have done great offence unto the Lotus Feet of Śrīman Mahāprabhu or His devotees.
Once Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura thought it necessary to speak harsh in front of Sadananda Svami (the first western disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda) to remove his misunderstanding about his taking birth in Germany, who expressed his sorrow in front of Śrīla Prabhupāda about his taking birth in Germany and not in Bhāratavarṣa the Land of spiritual cultivation, then Śrīla Prabhupāda said to him that he was actually very lucky that he had not adopted all this kind of traditional behavior, because that would be very difficult to remove.
Śrīla Prabhupāda also used to say that— “Nowadays in India, there is hardly any effort to cultivate an attachment for morality and devotional consciousness. I have travelled from the Himachala (the foothills of the Himalayas) to Kumarika (the southern most tip of India), and from Assam and East Bengal (now Bangladesh) to Dwaraka, Bombay and Goa—and everywhere I noticed a lack of interest in morality and devotion. People are getting many kinds of education and they are learning many techniques to improve their material lives, but everyone is indifferent to the real object of learning. Nārada Pañcarātra says:
ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kiṁ
nārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim
antar bahir yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kiṁ
nāntar bahir yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim
“If the Supreme Lord Hari is worshiped, without practicing any austerity, then what is the need for such practice? If by practicing austerity the Lord is not worshiped then what is the use of such practice? If without practicing any austerity one finds the Lord manifest in his heart and his surroundings, then what is the need for such practice? If by practicing austerity one does not find the Lord manifest in his heart and surroundings, then what is the use of such practice?”
In one letter Svami Sadananda Dasa (when he was still in India), he wrote to Vamandas 4 January, 1961
My dear, dear Vamandas,
May Kṛṣṇa give you strength! […] You must not feel too sad when poor people like this “Maharishi” catch the foul fish from the surface of the water, when the idiotic worship of the so-called Indian has gone so far that the poor souls are stupid enough to think and believe that a so-called mantra without shakti [can lead to Bhagavan], without any notion of who, what and how Bhagavan is, and who it is that is to be led to Him. They do not realise that this cannot be more than a curiosity, like when foreigners in India get souvenirs in the form of tiger claws and relics from the Taj Mahal.
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 Maya, the purity becomes distorted) , for those who are in want of knowledge of the atma and the Paramatma, 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 sadhu-guru-vaishṇava, to realize the Absolute Truth.
Gaura Hari Hari Bol