Sādhu Caritra and more on veganism

Bimba fruits

Today I was approached by two devotees simultaneously on the question of sādhu caritra (hagiography of saints):

“Rādhe dādā! Do you know the story about Śrī Jīv Goswāmī from Śrīvās Angan, something like he was sitting in a closed room for 3 days and then some devotee came inside and saw that Goswāmī was in sārī.... a devotee asked him about it and Goswāmījī said: "What can i say? Rādhārānī gave me this vesh..." I heard it like this... do you know the details? Thanks.

Advaita Das

“No I never heard it, sorry. I know him personally by the way. Wonderful sādhu! There is a story about my Guru like that too. But it is always hard to know for sure if these things really happened. If these things like giving sārī did occur, we must remember this was given in the privacy of their quarters. They were not walking all over town with it.”

Bhakta: “Do you think devotees can add something from themselves to such stories?”

Advaita Das

“That is always possible, but even this I cannot claim for sure. It is glorification meant for the audience of his followers. That goes for most of these stories.”

Bhakta: “Does it mean that many stories from 'Saints of Vraja' etc. are not true?”

Advaita Das

“I am not sure if that really matters. It is of course impossible to corroborate such stories, but as long as there is no vaiṣṇava aparādh or apasiddhāntas in these stories there is no harm in believing them. Some of these stories are 100-200 years old - there were no video recorders at the time. The point of these stories is that you become encouraged in humility and vairāgya, as these mahātmās were.”

MORE ON VEGANISM -

Advaitadas – “Returning to the topics of veganism, I must think of the sentence in Bhagavad Gītā 3.13, bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma kāraṇāt - “Those who cook for themselves eat only sin”. Vegans do not care about Kṛṣṇa's pleasure - they cook for themselves only. Who would offer raw potatoes to Kṛṣṇa? Perhaps they could read chapter 3 of Govinda Līlāmṛta? They can see there what Kṛṣṇa likes to eat.”

Dāmodar Das

“They say it is very healthy.”

Advaita Das

“And they claim this is what Kṛṣṇa likes or they don't think about this at all??? In that case there is no more need for Śrī Rādhikā to travel to Nandagrām - mother Yasodā will just wash and grate some carrots for Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa likes that? Is there any evidence from śāstra that He likes that?

Dāmodar Das

They may quote the patraṁ puṣpaṁ verse (“If you offer to Me with devotion a leaf, flower, fruit and water”, Bhagavad Gītā 9.26)

Advaita Dās-

Hahahaha, that is funny! Then for Janmāṣṭamī you offer 108 dishes of raw food? 36 salads and 56 types of carrots? Bhagavad Gītā 9.26 includes puṣpaṁ – Kṛṣṇa also eats flowers then? Did any of the ācāryas, recent or ancient, eat this goat-food? If you are initiated by any of these authentic Gurus, are you not making nāmāparādha by disobeying Guru? Do not get me wrong, if a devotee is very sick he cannot eat certain things and he can offer adjusted dishes to the Lord. I have to do this myself too to some extent because of my stomach problems. But offering tasteless health food, in the illusion that you can increase your lifespan for even one minute, is ye pacanty ātma kāraṇāt, totally selfish cooking. It gets worse all the time – there are even vegan ‘devotees’ now who claim drinking milk is like eating meat. It is like accusing Nanda Mahārāja and his son Kṛṣṇa to be butchers.  The whole point is lost by the vegans - they cook for themselves, while Vaiṣṇavas are supposed to cook for Kṛṣṇa. Our health and lifespan is in His hands, not in ours - māre kṛṣṇa rākhe ke, rākhe kṛṣṇa māre ke? If Kṛṣṇa wants to kill us who will protect us, and if Kṛṣṇa wants to protect us then who can kill us? People who are bewildered by false ego think they are doing things themselves. Of course if we mainline a kilo of heroin we will be dead but otherwise, our lifestyle will not extend our lifespan. Veganism is totally out of paramparā, and a recent complete concoction.