From THE HARMONIST VOL XXV. JANUARY, 1928, 441 Chailanya-Era. NO. 8.
EDITED BY Paramahansa Paribrajakacharyya Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj
As it is not possible for the novice to understand the Shastras that treat of the transcendental world, listening to the word of God from the lips of a devotee is, therefore, the necessary first requisite for one who wants to attain the service of God. As soon as such listening has been perfected the mind becomes purified and, by the grace of God, is enabled to serve Him by means of all the organs of sense.
There is no difference between service of God by means of the tongue and that by means of any other organ of sense.
The Shastric term for the spiritual teacher, Acharya, means literally one who practises the religion. No one can be a teacher of religion who does not act in accordance with the principles that he teaches. There is no English word that is the exact equivalent of ‘Acharya’, Sriman Mahaprabhu him- self has said that ‘no one is fit to teach religion who himself does not practise it.’ In fact, preaching is only possible after practice has been perfected. Religion is service of God. In such service theory and practice are identical. The one cannot be divorced from the other. In the service of the Lord there is diversity without difference. The devotees of God,—every one of them, simultaneously preach and practise the eternal religion viz. the service of the Lord. They are all of them the greatest and only benefactors of the world. Therefore, those who contend that preaching of the word of God is possible for those who are in the sinful state, are grossly misinformed as regards the declarations of the Scriptures.
Preaching of the word of God is the function of the Acharya who practises what he preaches. It is only when the conscious service of the Lord has been fully attained that one is fit to be styled an Acharya. One who is himself fully established in the state of grace can alone lend a helping hand in lifting his brethren who happen to be in the fallen condition. One who is fit to instruct others regarding the nature of Godhead must himself belong to the transcendental plane.
On the transcendental plane there can be nothing that is worldly. The person who moves on the spiritual plane is absolutely free from all mundane affinities. The methods of listening and preaching are given preference over other methods of practising devotion to God for the reason that they are specially suitable for fallen jivas due to the fact that the transcendental Reality is not directly perceptible to the physical senses. Of all the instruments for the acquisition of knowledge that are available to the fallen jiva the mind and the ear alone are capable of apprehending objects without coming into direct contact with them as is necessary in the case of the other senses.
It is this peculiarity that makes them fitted for the reception of the transcendental Reality which is not directly perceptible by the physical senses. The ear receives its communications through the medium of sound. Ordinary sounds which always refer to the objects of this world, convey information that is verifiable by the direct examination of the objects themselves by means of one, or more, or all of the other senses. These sounds originate and undergo dissolution in the material space. Such sounds are also different from the objects that are denoted by them. The sounds that refer to the objects of the transcendental world are quite different from ordinary sounds. The objects denoted by them are situated beyond the limits of this material world. It is, therefore, never possible to verify the information in the case of these, with the help of the other senses. There is also no difference between such sounds and the objects denoted by them, the two being identical. Such sounds as well as the objects denoted by them are eternal and unlimited. They are, therefore, quite different from ordinary sounds that have only a temporary and limited existence.
In fact, the word of God and ordinary words are in every way different from one another. This difference cannot be really grasped by those who are in the sinful state. But the difference is none the less real and it is owing to this radical difference between the two that it is never possible for a person in the sinful state to be a preacher of the word of God. The word of God is identical with God Himself and manifests itself of its own accord on the tongue of one who is absolutely free from sin and who submits himself entirely at the holy feet of the Supreme Lord. The service of God is the only true object of life. It becomes attainable to sinful jivas by a series of graded processes the first of which is the unconcious, accidental association with the devotees of God who appear in this world for the purpose of helping fallen jivas. Such association with the devotees of God enable fallen jivas as the next stage, to obtain the grace of God where by their minds become inclined to listen to the word of God from the holy lips of devotees.
No sooner they begin to listen to the word of God the consciousness of the transcendental Reality is aroused in them and there, after by means of constant listening they gradually attain the conscious service of the Godhead which is the real summum bonum of human existence.
Those who attain this goal are automatically freed from all mundane affinities as a necessary secondary result. Therefore, the supposition that it is possible for a person who is in the sinful state to preach the word of God, is opposed to all the conclusions of the Shastras.
In preaching the word of God the lip must necessarily be identical with life. The body of the devotee of God, by reason of his complete surrender to God, becomes itself spiritual as it then belongs to God. The whole life of the devotee is dedicated to the exclusive service of the transcendental Reality. It is absolutly free from all taint of worldliness.
Those who happen to be in the sinful state naturally enough fail to realise this transcendental purity of the-devotee of God. They may even suppose that he is no better than an erring mortal engaged in ordinary worldly persuits. In their ignorance they may also proceed to judge his life by the ordinary worldly standard and suppose that they detect the same difference between the lip and life of the devotee of God as they do in their own case or in that of pseudo-preachers of the word of God. But this is a really fatal blunder in as much as it is an offence against the devotees of God which can be forgiven only by those, against whom it is committed, such being the will of God Himself as manifested in the Scriptures.
Gaura Premanande HariHaribol