The mentalities of living in the dhama and enjoying the dhama

Letter by Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta

(Sri Gaudiya Matha, Calcutta,  July 29, 1935)

Yesterday morning we arrived at Calcutta Gaudiya Matha. I am glad to hear that your mother is living in the temple at Sri Mayapura. We are very happy to hear about the advancement of your bhajana. That is the perfection of education. Apart from those who worship Hari, all others are fools and killers of the self. We are extremely happy that you have understood this.

By residing in the holy dhama, we make progress in the worship of the Supreme Lord. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚. 𝐈𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 t𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐬.But you are a wise person and so you can understand the difference between the two words, sridhama-bhoga and Sri dhama-vasa. The devotees of the Lord who live in the dhama can elaborately explain the difference between dhama-seva and dhama- bhoga to service-inclined people. I will go there as soon as possible and discuss the topics of dhama-bhoga and dhama-seva in the Avidyaharana auditorium. I will be glad if everyone is present in that assembly.

The dhama-bhogis certainly know that the mentality of dhama-vasis, or residents of the dhama, is not the same as the mentality of ordinary fruitive workers who are averse to the Supreme Lord.

𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚-𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢t 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐁𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐮l𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚-𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞, 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐢 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢 are 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝.

When we go to live in the dhama, we are heartened with the hope that by living at dhama, we, as well as our relatives, will cultivate spiritual life so that our non- devotee-like material desires, desires to enjoy the fruits of karma, and aspirations to merge into the impersonal Brahman, will diminish as we increasingly understand the characteristics of devotional service. But after making a show of coming to such a place, if we fall into maya’s trap and revert to our former mentality, we will have to take leave from the kingdom of bhakti forever.

The mindsets of devotee householders and that of non-devotees are not the same. If those who engage in dhama-vasa maintain ignorance rather than obtaining transcendental knowledge and thus take a vow to commit offenses against the dhama then the followers of Srivasa’s mother-in-law and the brahmacari who sustained his life simply by drinking milk will increase. The creeper of devotional service will dry up or be torn apart by the trunk of an elephant and thus be transformed into desires for profit, adoration, and distinction. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐬. To externally pretend to live in the dhama while internally maintaining a desire to enjoy the dhama only befits the non-devotees who endeavour for religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation. If such an evil mentality of the pretenders living in the dhama erupts like a volcano, weak persons like us will stay hundreds of thousands of yojanas away from their association. Because, Gaurasundara has said,

niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya

pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya

sandarśanaṁ viṣayiṇām atha yoṣitāṁ ca

hā hanta hanta viṣa-bhakṣaṇato ’py asādhu

Alas, for a person who is seriously desiring to cross the material ocean and engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord without material motives, seeing a materialist engaged in sense gratification or seeing a woman who is similarly interested is more abominable than drinking poison willingly. (Sri Caitanya-candrodoya-nataka 8.23. quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. Madhya 11.8)

We cannot deviate from this teaching. The association of those who try to make householder life progressively stronger, being burnt by the poison of material enjoyment, is never sought after by residents of the dhama. Each resident of the Matha must strongly desire to serve the dhama and pray for the particles of dust from the feet of those who are attached to the worship of Hari and are thus members of Krishna’s family.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚 𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐚,  𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐬. 𝐀 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. The residents of the Matha will pick up bags for begging alms in order to reimburse they spent money of those who are pretenders living in the dhama. In addition, they have decided to give them the conveyance money for their journey to Amaravati’s Nandana-kanana forest. The possible fear of an abominable example of this propensity arose in the experienced heart of a small-timer like me a few years ago. But having had that experience, we wish to remain hundreds of thousands of yojanas away from such people.