(By His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev Goswami)
Ramananda Raya was a married man, but he was recognized by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as a master of his senses to the extreme degree. Once a brahmana priest named Pradyumna Misra came to Mahaprabhu and told Him, “I would like to hear about Krishna from Your lips.” Mahaprabhu said, “I do not know anything about Krishna, but Ramananda Raya knows. Go to him and hear about Krishna. Take My name, and perhaps he will talk with you.”
Pradyumna Misra was hesitant, but he went and observed Ramananda Raya for some time and then returned and reported to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu asked him, “Have you heard about Krishna from Ramananda?” “No.” “Why?” “I saw him engaged in something objectionable. I watched for some time, and then returned here.” “What did you see?” Pradyumna Misra answered, “I saw Ramananda Raya training some young dancing girls!”
Girls who are generally devoted to the service of the Jagannath Deity from a young age are known as deva-dasis. They do not marry, and sometimes their character is not very good. Pradyumna Misra saw Ramananda Raya training deva-dasis in a very objectionable way. He was showing them how to go before the Jagannath Deity and dance and sing. He showed them how their posture should be, how they should gesture, and how their looks should be enticing. And for such training he would sometimes even touch their private parts. So Pradyumna Misra told Mahaprabhu, “Seeing Ramananda doing all these things, I had no regard for him, so for some time I saw him busily engaged in that matter, and then I went away.”
MASTER OF THE SENSES
Mahaprabhu told him, “Don’t underestimate Ramananda Raya. He is the master of his senses. There is not a tinge of craft in him. Even I feel trouble from sense disturbance within Me, but Ramananda has no such trouble. We have no direct experience that a stage can be attained where it is possible to be above mundane sense pleasure, but we have only heard through the scriptures that there is a stage when a man may transcend all these gross attachments.
“This is mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.33.39):
vikriditam vraja-vadhubhir idam ca visnoh
sraddhanvito ‘nusrnuyad atha varnayed yah
bhaktim param bhagavati pratilabhya kamam
hrd-rogam asv apahinoty acirena dhirah
“One who hears with firm faith the supramundane amorous affairs of Lord Krishna and the gopis, as described by a pure devotee of the Lord, soon becomes freed from mundane lust and achieves divine love of Krishna.
“One may be engaged bodily in such activities, while his heart is elsewhere. And there is only one who is of that type, Ramananda Raya. There are not big numbers of Ramanandas; there is only one Ramananda, who has acquired such a stage because he is well-versed in the kind of sentiment and realization which is necessary for the service of Krishna and the gopis. His heart is completely dedicated to the cause of Krishna; He has no selfish interest. He is always in Krishna consciousness, and whatever he does is for Krishna’s satisfaction, so don’t think ill of him. Go there again.”
MAD FOR KRISHNA
Then Pradyumna Misra again went to see Ramananda Raya, and Ramananda began their conversation by saying “Oh, on that day I could not oblige you. But again you have come to hear about Krishna. How fortunate I am!” In the morning, Ramananda Raya began to speak, and when the afternoon came, still he was madly talking about Krishna. He completely forgot about eating, bathing, or anything else. He was mad, incessantly speaking of Krishna. Then, when it was late, his servants came twice, thrice, to ask him to take bath and eat his dinner, and finally, he had to leave the talk and go. Then Pradyumna Misra returned to Mahaprabhu and said, “Yes, I have heard from Ramananda Raya, and my heart is full from hearing about Krishna from him.”
Mahaprabhu Himself had heard from Ramananda Raya, and He said, “Ramananda knows what is Krishna. What I taught to Rupa and Sanatana, I heard from Ramananda.” It is mentioned that Mahaprabhu took diksa, initiation, from Isvara Puri; for preaching purposes he took sannyasa, the renounced order, from Kesava Bharati; and for entrance into the transcendental pastimes of Krishna in Vrndavana, He took raga marga initiation from Ramananda Raya. Of course, Isvara Puri, Kesava Bharati, and Ramananda Raya never thought of themselves as the guru of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. But it was seen that Mahaprabhu treated Ramananda with some respect. It is mentioned in the Chaitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 8.204) that if one wants to enter into the spontaneous devotion of Krishna’s pastimes in Vraja, it is required that he take shelter of a confidential maidservant in conjugal mellow, madhurya rasa (sakhi vina ei lilaya anyera nahi gati).They are masters of that situation. The whole storehouse of this madhurya lila is in the hands of those maidservants. Only they can give it to others. In madhurya rasa, the guru is seen in the form and spirit of a sakhi, a maidservant of Radharani (guru rupa sakhi). Ramananda Raya was Visakha-sakhi, the right-hand personal attendant of Srimati Radharani.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gives us a hint of the necessity of approaching a confidential associate of Srimati Radharani when He says to Ramananda:
kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva vetta, sei ‘guru’ haya
“Why do you shrink away from instructing Me? I am learning so much from you. You are well-versed in the affairs of Krishna, so you are guru; therefore I am hearing from you. Whoever is the master of that store-house of Krishna-lila, and whoever can distribute it—he is guru; of this, there is no doubt.”
The famous talks between Ramananda Raya and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took place on the banks of the Godavari river. The name Godavari is significant, for it indicates that place where the highest fulfillment of our spiritual senses was given. The fullest engagement of all our senses was announced there on the banks of the Godavari: “Your senses are not to be rejected. If you can give up the spirit of exploitation and renunciation, then your senses will have their fulfillment with Krishna. Those tendencies bar your approach to Krishna. To properly approach Krishna, you will have to utilize your senses to the fullest extent.” That was dealt with on the banks of the Godavari.
THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF LIFE
There, in his famous conversations with Ramananda Raya, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu began the approach to pure devotional service in a general and comprehensive way. This is recorded in the Madhya-lila of Chaitanya-caritamrta (8.51-313). He asked Ramananda Raya, prabhu kahe, “pada sloka sadhyera nirnaya”: “What is the ultimate goal of life? I not only want to hear your statements, but also evidence from the scriptures.”
The answer came from Ramananda Raya: raya kahe, “sva-dharmacarane visnu-bhakti haya.” “Discharge your own duty, without expecting anything in return.” Sva dharma means varnasrama dharma, Vedic social stratification. “You are posted in your present position by your previous karma. According to your present position, you have to discharge your duties on one condition: you must do them without remuneration. If you go on with your duties in varnasrama dharma, without any mundane aim, you can achieve visnu-bhakti, devotion to God. This is confirmed in the Visnu Purana (3.8.9):
varnasramacara-vata
purusena parah puman
visnur aradhyate pantha
nanyat tat-tosa-karanam
“The only way to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, is to worship Him by properly executing one’s prescribed duties in the social system of varna and asrama.” Here, Ramananda Raya says that visnu-bhakti, adherence to the Lord who is permeating everything, is the object and ultimate destination of our life. This is the Vasudeva conception: everything is in Him, and He is everywhere. Ramananda explained that from our local interests, we must come to embrace the general interest, and that must reach the level of Visnu consciousness: visnu-bhakti. Our submission to Visnu, the internal spirit who is everywhere, is the object of life. We must connect with Him and live accordingly, not a phenomenal life, but a spiritual life pertaining to a deeper, more subtle plane.
DEVOTION MIXED WITH DESIRES
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “This is superficial; go deeper.” Of course, it may be thought that actual theistic life begins from here, giving up the special, local purpose, and acting for a universal purpose, as already ordered and programmed in the Vedas and Upanisads. But Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “This is superficial; go deeper.”
Then, Ramananda Raya said, krsne karmarpana—sarva-sadhya-sara: “To offer the results of one’s activities to Krishna is the essence of all perfection.” In varnasrama dharma, it is the fashion that people are generally engaged in external activities and do not care to give up the fruits of their action. Even if they do, they have no direct consciousness of Visnu or Krishna. They worship the goddess Durga, perform the sraddha funeral ceremony and execute so many other religious practices. Indirectly, it is ultimately connected with Visnu. They may or may not know how, but the link is there. That is the general conception of varnasrama, but here, Ramananda says that it will be better to have direct consciousness that Krishna is the authority. All the results of whatever we do within the varnasrama social system must be given to Krishna. If we perform all our physical, social, national and spiritual activities in Krishna consciousness, then we can approach the fulfillment of our goal in life.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said “This is superficial; go deeper.” Then Ramananda Raya revealed new light, quoting the Bhagavad-gita (18.66): sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, “Give up all your duties, and just surrender to Me.” We must be particular with the object of life, not the external activities of varnasrama. Less importance should be given to the form of our activity; whether I am a king, a brahmana intellectual, or a worker does not matter. We may think, “I have this sort of duty, I have that sort of duty,” but that does not matter very much. We must have no attachment for that. The king may leave his kingdom and take to a brahmanical life of renunciation and austerity. A sudra may give up his labor, become a beggar, and chant the name of Krishna. A brahmana may give up his performance of sacrifice and become a mendicant. So, we are to be particular about the aim of life, not the form of our duty. We must exclusively devote ourselves to the cause of the Lord, ignoring our present paraphernalia and duty.
KNOWLEDGE AND DEVOTION
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “This is also superficial; go ahead—deeper.” Then, Ramananda Raya explained jnana-misra bhakti, devotional service mixed with knowledge, by quoting from the Bhagavad-gita (18.54) where Krishna says:
brahma-bhutah prasannatma
na socati na kanksati
samah sarvesu bhutesu
mad-bhaktim labhate param
One who has come to the stage of identifying himself with spirit above matter has nothing to do with this mundane world. Any loss or gain in this mundane world is of no use to him. He is spirit; his prospect is in the world of soul, and he has nothing to do with this material world, whether it is laudable or blamable. He is already settled in the consciousness that he is soul proper and has nothing to do with matter, so within himself he feels satisfaction. He is atmarama: self-content; he neither mourns, nor aspires for anything. If something is lost, does he mourn? No. He thinks, “This is nothing; it is only matter.” And when something is gained, he is not overly cheerful, because it is only matter; it is unnecessary and unimportant. Now true devotional service can begin. His soul can begin living in the spiritual plane, with a pure serving attitude, unmixed with any mundane aspiration. When one attains the spiritual platform, he gets the opportunity to practice a higher type of service.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “This is also superficial. Such a person is only on the verge of devotional service; he has no substantial touch of devotion. He has not entered the domain of bhakti; he is just waiting in the marginal position, at the door. He may attain bhakti, but he has not yet achieved it. His negative forces are finished, but still, he is just at the door; he has not yet entered. He may enter; he may not enter. From there, if he gets anything, it will be pure, but he is still at the door.
BEYOND SPIRIT, “GO DEEPER”
Ramananda Raya then said, jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva: “It is a very difficult thing to cross the charm of knowledge.” We think, “I want to understand everything first, and then I shall act.” Calculation and an underlying suspicion is there. Before we act, we want to know everything fully; only then will we risk our capital. The ego, the “I” is very strong, and he wants to have an account of his loss and gain. He thinks, “I am the master. The key is in my hand, I want to test everything, I want to know it all. I know what is good for me.” So, we think ourselves masters, not servants, and from the position of a master we make our inquiry.
But this calculating mentality must be given up if we at all want to enter into the domain of the Lord, where everything is superior to us. No one there will care to come to us with an explanation, thinking that we are their master. They will not reassure us by saying, “Yes, there will be no loss; your gain will be big.” We may think, “I am an independent separate entity, so in my account there must be no loss. I must stand here with my head erect,” but that won’t do. We are to go there as slaves, not masters. That sort of mentality is necessary: we must bow down our heads, not that with our heads erect we will march over everything. But everything there is superior in quality to us.
DIVINE SLAVERY
So, we have to enter into that transcendental land, where even the earth, water, air, and whatever we will find, is made of higher materials than we ourselves are made of. They are all guru, and we are disciples. They are all masters, and we are servants; we have to enter the land where everything is our master. We will have to submit; that will be our real qualification. What we will be ordered to do, we will have to do. We are not to exercise our brain so much there. The brain has no room there; they are all brainier than we. Our brain is unnecessary there; only our hands are necessary. Menial labor is necessary there. Brain there is enough. We are to enter that land if we like. It is a land of slavery for us. So, we are to hatefully dismiss our brains, and taking only our hearts, we must approach and enter that land.
We should think, “I am as insignificant as a mosquito,” just as Lord Brahma did when he went to Dwaraka to visit Lord Krishna. And it is not only for the time being; not that one will accept a humble attitude, finish his work and then come back. No. We will have to accept such an insignificant position eternally. Of course, we may expect to be educated about Krishna consciousness: how it is good, how it is great, how it is useful to us. We will be allowed pariprasna, honest inquiry. In the transcendental realm, everyone is our friend. They will come to help us, to make us understand that devotional service is beautiful, and that Krishna consciousness is the best form of life. Our aspiration and purity of purpose is to be valued, not our external position. The recruiters from that side will consider our purity of purpose, not so much our present position and capacity.
And although apparently it seems that we are going to be slaves, the result is just the opposite. If you can accept such an attitude of surrender and slavery, then He who can never be conquered, will be conquered. Friends will come and help you; the sadhus will come and make you understand that we should become slaves, that Krishna likes His slaves very much. He is the master of slaves, and sometimes He wants to become the slave of His slaves (gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah). This is the key to success, and we can achieve the highest gain through this attitude.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Ramananda Raya, “Yes, this is true. The unconquerable is conquered by surrender. We can capture Him. I accept this as the beginning plane of divine love: by giving we can get as much as we risk. As much as we risk to give ourselves, so much we can demand from that unconquerable infinite.” Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “I accept this as the beginning of suddha-bhakti, pure devotional service. But go farther.”
THE SCIENCE OF RASA
Ramananda Raya explained that from there pure devotional service develops in a crude form, in a general way. And when it is more mature, it must take the shape of santa, neutrality; dasya, servitorship; sakhya, friendship; vatsalya, paternal affection; and madhurya rasa, conjugal love. In santa rasa, there is adherence, nistha; one thinks, “I cannot withdraw myself from this consciousness of continuous submission to the truth.
Neutrality develops into dasya rasa, the desire to do some service. When a devotee is not satisfied by only sitting, showing loyalty to the Supreme Authority, he wants to be utilized by Him. He awaits the Lord’s order, praying that the Lord may give him some engagement. When a devotee has such deep penetration that he wants to be utilized in any way by the Lord, that is known as dasya rasa, or devotion in the mood of service. Then there is sakhya rasa; devotional service in friendship.
GOD THE FRIEND
When, in dasya rasa, confidence is added to service, then it becomes a little superior. Generally old servants who are faithful become confidential servants, so when the confidential stage is added to service, it becomes sakhya rasa, or devotional service as a friend of the Lord. First there is nistha, adherence, submission; then the devotee wants to be utilized for His satisfaction; then there is confidential utilization; and then it comes to friendly service, sakhya rasa. In Vaikuntha, where Lord Narayana is served in calculative devotion, only santa rasa, dasya rasa, and half of sakhya rasa are seen. Full confidence is not possible there. Awe, reverence, splendor, grandeur, pomp, apprehension— all these vanish when we develop a more confidential relationship with the Supreme Lord. At that time, the object of our worship or love changes in another way. Then from Vaikuntha, we feel attraction for Ayodhya, the divine abode of Lord Ramacandra, where there is neutrality, servitorship, and friendship with Vibhisana and Sugriva. There, we can also trace vatsalya rasa, parental love of Godhead.
GOD THE SON
In vatsalya rasa, confidence has developed to the peculiar stage in which the servitors think themselves promoted to the post of protecting the object of their veneration. Filial affection is also service. Although it seems that the parents are masters of the situation, controlling the Lord as their son, sometimes chastising and punishing Him, this is a superficial view. If we can enter into the depth of their service, we shall find an incomparable love of a most peculiar type. On the surface, they are engaged in punishing and rebuking the Lord; underground, they are full of interest for the welfare of the object of their service. Vatsalya, or parental love of Godhead, is a peculiar type of divine love. We see a very light type of vatsalya in Ayodhya, so it is almost ignored.
MATHURA: THE KRISHNA CONCEPTION
Rupa Goswami leaped from Vaikuntha to Mathura in one stride. In his Upadesamrta (9), he writes: vaikunthaj janito vara madhu-puri tatrapi rasotsavad. “Mathura is superior to Vaikuntha because Lord Sri Krishna appeared there.” It is there that everything is shown in a clear and substantial way. In Mathura we find the Krishna conception of Godhead. In one stride he has come from Vaikuntha to the Krishna conception, but Sanatana Goswami has filled up the gap. In his book, Brhad-bhagavatamrta, he says that on the way to Mathura there is Ayodhya, the spiritual kingdom of Lord Rama, and there we find sakhya and vatsalya rasa.
But Rupa Goswami goes to Mathura at once. He says, “Come to Mathura; here you will find sakhya and vatsalya rasa clearly visible. He has shown how sakhya rasa service is present there. The devotees there are playing with Krishna, sometimes climbing on His shoulders, and perhaps sometimes even giving Him a slap. But although they may mix with Him in this way, their heart is full of a peculiar type of service attitude. That is the criterion; they may give up their lives a thousand times to take a thorn out of His sole. They can sacrifice themselves a thousand times for the slightest satisfaction of their friend. They consider Him a thousand times more valuable than their own life. In vatsalya rasa also, the criterion is similar. For the slightest interest of the object of their veneration they can give their lives millions of times. Such affection is found there.
And then, from vatsalya, it progresses to conjugal love (madhurya rasa), the all-comprehensive rasa which includes adherence (santa-nistha), service (dasya), friendly confidence (sakhya), and parental love (vatsalya rasa). But the wholesale dedication of every atom of our existence for Krishna’s satisfaction is found in madhurya rasa, which includes all other rasas..
(From book, The Search for Sri Krishna Reality the Beautiful, 13 chapter)