Bhakta
-
“What
about Gaura Nārāyaṇa, a form of Mahāprabhu which appeared in a previous Kali
yuga but in which he had Nārāyan-features instead of Kṛṣṇa-features?”Advaitadās -
“Of this I have found no evidence in śāstra at all.”
Bhakta
– “It is said to be in Locandās Ṭhākur's Caitanya Maṅgala.”
Advaitadas
– “The only thing I saw there is that Nārāyaṇa appears in different forms in
previous yugas. That refers to Vāmana, Nrsimha and others. There is no
mentioning there of a Mahāprabhu with Nārāyaṇa-features. These features exist
within Mahāprabhu anyway - they were clearly perceived and described by
Vrindāvan Dās in Caitanya Bhāgavata.”
Bhakta
– “What is the relation between bhakti and dharma?”
Advaitadas
– “They have common decency in common. You cannot separate bhakti, including rāga bhakti, from dharma. Dharma is like the water and bhakti like the lotus that
grows from it. The lotus is aloof from the water but is still rooted in it.
Dharma and bhakti are linked via the offense ‘to commit sin on strength of the holy name’. In other words, some unscrupulous so-called rāga
devotees say that as rāgānugā bhakti
is beyond dharma, they can sin freely
and their ‘rāga bhajan’ will absolve
it. This is an offence to the holy name.“
Bhakta
– “What is the relationship between Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava religion and the other
religions?”
Advaitadas
– “Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda, in his commentary on the Bhāgavata, explains that
the paths of karma, jñāna and yoga get due attention in the Bhāgavata
only to create a contrast. The light of bhakti
shines more brightly in the darkness of the other paths. So it is also with Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇavism vis-à-vis other religions and it is shown in the words of Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Himself at the end of Bhagavad Gītā (18.66) – sarva dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja “Give up all
religion and surrender to Me alone.” That ‘light of bhakti shining more
brightly’ is especially so due to the all-attractiveness of Kṛṣṇa and the path
of rāgānugā bhakti, most particularly
the practice of manjarī bhāva.”
Another reason why so many things are there in śāstra is that one cannot just establish authority with a
one-liner. People all over the world adore scripture – it has to have some
volume, otherwise people will not take it seriously. One cannot just reveal
scripture with just one sentence, like “chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy”. Look at
Bhagavad Gītā – already in the first verse of chapter 3 Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa to
get to the point and yet Kṛṣṇa spoke on for another 16 chapters before finally
saying sarva dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ
śaraṇaṁ vraja “Give up all religion and surrender to Me alone.”