Phone Sanga (8)

Bhakta: "Are you sure that westerners are not qualified for sannyāsa?"

Advaitadas: "In Mādhurya Kādambini a symptom of a beginner is called utsāha, enthusiasm. This is not the same enthusiasm which is hailed by Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Upadeśāmṛta, because the latter is connected with dhairya, patience, and niścaya, determination. That is a much higher level. In the scale of reincarnation westerners are totally new to this Vedic culture. You see they are much more enthusiastic than an average Indian Vaiṣṇava, but this wears off, and it may not wear off in a few minutes, but it can take 10-15 years. We are so new to this that we think 15 years is an 'old' devotee, so we give such an 'old' western devotee sannyāsa and within a few years he is back out on the street again, because his was, still, merely utsāha. There is purity but it does not have deep roots. There is no saṁskāra of this life, what to speak of the previous life. That is why the Vedas only allow born brahmins to take sannyāsa - even low caste Indians are a risk, let alone a westerner."

Bhakta: "The Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta (1.54) says "The entire festival of the Lord's bliss is only a drop compared to the joy the sakhīs experience when they stare at the ocean of pastimes of Rādhā's hero (Kṛṣṇa)." So their joy is greater than the Lord's and everyone else's together?"

Advaitadas: "This is a glorification. The very name of this book says it all -mahimāmṛta - glorification. In the same book (2.15) it is said that "If someone will tell me to leave Vraja I will certainly kill him (hanmyavaśya), and if my Guru tells me to leave Vṛndāvan I will reject my Guru." Well, Narottama was told by his Guru to leave Vraja and he submissively left Vraja. Can you imagine? There are so many people - your relatives or the Indian Govt - who may tell you to leave Vraja - would you kill them for it? Some verses must be read with the heart rather than with the brain. They are cries of love. These are super-subjective statements and interpretations of love - AbsoluteTruth vs Absolute Fact. Rational analysis of this is like pushing a square peg into a round hole. In understanding these statements, change just one letter in the word 'literal' and come to 'liberal'. This is not undevotional or anti-devotional."

Bhakta: "How does the holy name enter the ears?"

Advaitadas: "The holy name is the sound form of the Lord. You associate with Kṛṣṇa in a sound form."

Bhakta: "So I associate with Rādhā when I chant Hare and with Kṛṣṇa when I chant Kṛṣṇa?"

Advaitadas: "In our concept (the one of Śrīla Raghunātha Dās Gosvāmī) the whole mantra is about Kṛṣṇa, but even if Hare meant Rādhā, there is the verse 'rādhā pūrṇa śakti - kṛṣṇa pūrṇa śaktimān; dui vastu bheda nāi' (CC) 'Rādhā is the supreme energy and Kṛṣṇa the supreme energetic. There is no difference between the two." Your conception will depend on the explanation the Guru gives of the mantra, but the presence of the Lord will always be there, regardless of the angle of vision. Nectar appears in the mouth while chanting, that is the proof - abhinna nāma nāmino -there is no difference between the Name and the Named. Only on the level of bhāva-bhakti you can see Them in the Names, but otherwise you can taste Them still. Even ordinary devotees often have the experience that they cannot stop chanting because it is so nice. A Guru-given interpretation of the words of the mahā mantra is required, as well as a peaceful concentrated mind. We chant in mañjarī bhāva, trying to save Śrī Swāminījī's life by chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa,  lest She dies of separation."

Bhakta: "Is relishing Kṛṣṇa's sweetness a side-effect of devotional service?"

Advaitadas: "We have to analyse the meaning of the word bhakti. It is sometimes translated as 'devotional service', implying that it needs to be some hard labour. Actually it means 'devotion', and Rūpa Gosvāmī has listed 64 items of it, of which just some of them are hard labour. Many items, like tasting (actually honouring) prasāda, seeing the deities, tasting Tulasī-leaves, smelling incense, are certainly not hard labor, but they are acts of worship just as well."

Bhakta: "Yes, but what about the verse hṛśīkena hṛśīkeśa sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate? (Serving Kṛṣṇa with the senses is called bhakti)?"

Advaitadas: "There are jñānendriya (knowledge-acquiring senses) and karmendriya (active senses). It is not that Kṛṣṇa can only be served with the active senses, and bhakti consists only of loading sankīrtan-vans and mopping the floor of the temple-building. Maharaja Ambarīṣa served Kṛṣṇa with his eyes by seeing the deity, through his nose by smelling offered Tulasī-leaves and through his tongue by tasting prasāda, na tu kāma kāmyaya - 'But not for his own gratification'. (SB 9.4.18-20). In Vilāpa Kusumāñjali (76) Tulasī Mañjarī prays just for the vision of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. In his explanations, Śrīla Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī quotes Swāminījī saying: “Tulasi! Aren’t you doing anything?” Tulasī – “Do we have to serve all the time? Now we cannot serve – You found Yourself a good decorator now! (In this verse Kṛṣṇa decorates Rādhikā) Let the ocean of our bliss surge as we watch Him perform this service!” Watching is an act of dedication. A non-devotee would not bother watching it, but a devotee is interested, and that is pleasing to Kṛṣṇa - anukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā. In the material context it is the same - if someone gazes at you with love and admiration, that will certainly please you. The only thing that counts is dedication."

Bhakta: "In Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta trees of wine are mentioned. Is this poetry, glorification or real time?"

Advaitadas: "I think it is all of this. Wine is liquid, not solid, but in the spiritual world that should not be impossible. Jesus walked over water in the material world, and when you freeze water it becomes solid (ice), too. Vai-kuṇṭha means there is no limitation."

Bhakta: "Are the assistents of the 8 sakhīs like Lalitā also celibate, like Rādhā's maidservants, or do they indulge with Kṛṣṇa?"

Advaitadas: "I don't know, and the identity of these sakhīs or mañjarīs is also not really clear to me. Some devotees have elaborated on the eight sakhīs' kuñjas at Rādhākuṇḍa and have ascribed eight assistants to each of the eight sakhīs and then these 64 assistants may have again 8 assistants. Such assistants are called upasakhīs, though, not mañjarīs. I once joked about it that such coronas of lotus-like kuñjas may extend up to Sūryakund or Kośī."

Bhakta: "Well, it is said in śāstra that all the universes fit into a single corner of Vrajamaṇḍala, so why not?"

Advaitadas: "Just joking. The point is that my Guru emphasised simplicity. Such endless coronas may be there, but we don't spy on the neighbors. We have enough to do ourselves - 8 - 64 - 512 - 4096 kuñjas, and so it may go on. Let it go on."

Bhakta: "Mañjarī bhāva is directly taught by Mahāprabhu?'

Advaitadas: "It is briefly described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and more elaborately by Śrīla Raghunāth Dās Gosvāmī, who had Mahāprabhu's Personal association for 16 long years in Puri. What actually took place in these years we don't know, but the Caitanya Caritāmṛta speaks of antaraṅga sevā, Raghunātha rendering intimate services to Svarūpa Dāmodāra there. Since Svarūpa Dāmodara's notebooks are lost we may never know what that actually means. But the Gosvāmīs are of course totally empowered and endorsed by Mahāprabhu, so we see Mañjarī Bhāva as His personal gift to us."

Bhakta: "If Kṛṣṇa's ornaments are beautified by His limbs then why should He wear ornaments at all?"

Advaitadas: "In Śrīla Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī's comments on Vilāpa Kusumāñjali Rādhikā asks Tulasī Mañjarī: "Why put lipstick on My lips if they are anyway so beautiful?' Tulasī replies that the lipstick will look good on an indigo background (Kṛṣṇa's cheeks). Similarly the red lac on Her feet looks good on Kṛṣṇa's head, etc. I do believe that the ornaments have some decorating effect in themselves, though. Besides, we must remember that these are not ordinary metals, stones and flowers -they are manifestations of the internal potency's sandhinī śakti, transcendental items. Just as the love of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs constantly enhance each other (hurāhurī), so it is with the beauty of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's limbs and Their ornaments. It is not that the ornaments will dim the splendour of Their limbs either.