Should one constantly chant or just do service? This eternal question on the lips of every sādhaka is answered by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda in this instructive pastime concerning some errant disciples of Jagannātha Dāsa Bābāji and Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. This article is extracted from the hari-kathā of Sarasvatī Ṭhākura originally spoken at Śrī Caitanya Maṭha on the evening of December 21st, 1927.
Sārvabhauma Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja held the position of guru of all the renunciates in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya. He excelled everyone in age and bhajana. Therefore, all renounced members of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya followed him. In Vraja-maṇḍala, all those in the renounced community who had taken shelter of Mahāprabhu followed his instructions. When Śrīman Mahāprabhu was established in Śrī Māyāpura, many vraja-vāsīs who were very advanced Vaiṣṇavas, following the order of Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, came to Gauḍa-maṇḍala for darśana of Śrī Mayapura-candra.(1)
At that time, Paramahaṁsa Śrīla Gaura Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja left Vraja-maṇḍala to come and reside in Gauḍa-maṇḍala. Having arrived in Navadvīpa Dhāma, Paramahaṁsa Bābājī Mahārāja never left it throughout his manifest presence. His determination to reside in the dhāma was unparalleled.
Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja used to visit Bhakti Bhavan (2) in Kolkata to be close to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. His own servant, Śrī Bihāri Dāsa Vraja-vāsī, would bring him on his shoulders. We had darśana of Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja many times at his bhajana-kuṭīra in Kuliyā.
No one could ever get away with any injustice in the presence of Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja. He used to administer appropriate punishment to everyone. Three persons who considered themselves to be his disciples and externally looked like bābājīs, had secretly engaged in dishonest work. Two other persons, who also looked like bābājīs, used to stay with Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja at his bhajana-kuṭīra. They simply complained that Bābājī Mahārāja did not allow them to engage in constant hari-bhajana – “He keeps us busy all day long, watering the gourds and pumpkin plants, fencing the land, and doing this and that. We came here to engage in hari-bhajana, leaving worldly affairs behind – yet, even after coming here, we continue with the same worldly activities as before! If one has to engage in the same household duties as before, even when one is close proximity to Bābājī Mahāśaya, then it’s better to return home and enjoy worldly pleasures. What’s the benefit of working in the fields as unpaid labour?”
One day, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura came to have darśana of Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja at his bhajana-kuṭīra in Nabadvipa. Upon seeing Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Bābājī Mahārāja, expressed great joy and said, “It’s very good that you’ve come today. Your honour, you should judge these criminals and arrange appropriate punishment for them! See, these three atheists in the robes of renunciates who are tarnishing the purity of that cloth! Can they be punished? You please tell me! Two of them always bring up my name and complain to whoever comes here – they say that I don’t let them chant hari-nāma. They claim to have come here only to chant hari-nāma near to Bābājī Mahārāja. They didn’t come here to water gourds and pumpkin plants, or to fix fences around the trees. By leaving aside their beads and watering, they will benefit. You please consider their complaints.”
Śrī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said to one of the three individuals, “You should tour the four dhāmas, then your tendency for enjoyment will go away.” Another individual he told, “Go to Śrīkṣetra and spend time near to Śrī Jagannāthadeva, constantly shedding tears while submitting words of your misfortune. Always remember Mahāprabhu’s daṇḍa-līlā (pastime of punishment) in regards to Choṭa Hari Dāsa, and follow the practice of Ṭhākura (Brahmā) Hari Dāsa by spending your days constantly taking shelter of the Name.”
Not wanting to accept any punishment, the third person built himself an ākhaḍā (āśrama) in Kuliyā at a place on the banks of the Gaṅgā, dressed as a ‘Vaiṣṇava’, and secretly indulged in illicit activities with another man’s wife. This atheist used to collect money to buy coconut oil for that woman and would blaspheme Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja.
After this incident, one day Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was going to the bhajana-kuṭīra of Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja. On the way, that atheist saw Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and said, “You should not go to Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī anymore. He has no actual hari-bhakti; he does not know anything about hari-bhajana. Come to me instead! We will relish līlā-kathā together.”
Completely ignoring that guru-drohī (3) who was an offender and a hypocritical, materialistic atheist, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura eventually brought all these matters to Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja. Bābājī Mahārāja said in a very grave voice, “If you see the face of that atheist, you should bathe in the Gaṅgā. He is not my disciple – he is an atheist, an offender, a monkey-renunciant. He has already gone to hell and there is no escape for him.”
Previously, on the order of Bābājī Mahārāja, Śrī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura also made arrangements for those other two deceitful chanters of hari-nāma. He called them and said, “If you desire auspiciousness, then leave aside your chanting beads, which have become the deity of laziness due to the influence of your propensity for karma. You must water the gourds, pumpkin plants and tie the fences – you have to work for the service of Hari. There is no other path to your good fortune except by watering those gourds, pumpkins, and trees! If you deviate from this path, the Name will never come from your mouth. You will not find the path to auspiciousness at any time. Watering squash and pumpkin plants and tying fences in the service of Hari is never equal to the pleasures that accompany worldly life or various household chores. Externally both may look the same, but one takes a man to hell and the other transforms the jīva into a traveller to Vaikuṇṭha. Even after going to Goloka Vaikuṇṭha, one will water the plants in Kṛṣṇa’s garden – laziness cannot be called hari-bhajana. Service to Hari and Hari’s devotee is called hari-bhajana. Those who, after chanting hari-nāma, become addicted to laziness, become either sense-enjoyers or impersonalists – they are never the performers of hari-bhajana or servants of Hari.”
After hearing all these instructions from the lips of Śrī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, they said, “If we mend the fences, water the gourds and pumpkin plants, and are busy all day with these activities, when will we have time to do hari-nāma?”
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura replied, “You don’t require beads in consideration of your activities. You should try to serve with your hands, and you should always chant the Name with your mouth. Then certainly the Name will always appear on your lips. At some point, you will indeed develop a taste for the Name while engaged in kṛṣṇa-sevā by serving the gourds and pumpkin plants. Now you have an inclination towards laziness – a taste for enjoyment. The external act of chanting the Name is merely a pretense of eagerness so that one can indulge in laziness. If you do not serve as per your actual capability and qualification, and you do not serve accordingly, you will never engage in hari-bhajana at any time. The path of auspiciousness will be closed once and for all. Therefore, from today you should always serve with your hands and chant hari-nāma with your mouth. If you neglect Bābājī Mahārāja’s instructions and follow your own desires, then difficulties will be inevitable for you. From today onward, be careful!”
NOTES:
- (1) This refers to the Deity of Mahāprabhu established at Yogapīṭha by Śrīla Bhaktivinoa Ṭhākura.
- (2) Bhakti Bhavan was the name of the house where Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and his family resided.
- (3) A guru-drohī is one who betrays the guru by willingly rejecting his instructions, regarding himself as more intelligent.