Encouragement

In regards to the siddha-praṇālī controversy I found this letter today from my senior Guru-brother Śrī Nirañjan Prasād Dās, dated May 20, 1999 -

Advaitadās: “On the one hand Bābā forbade me to study advanced literature on Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s intimate pastimes if I was too afflicted by lusty desires, and on the other hand he gave me elevated things like siddha praṇālī and Vilāpa Kusumāñjali at the very beginning of my sādhana path. How can I understand this apparent contradiction?”

Niranjan Prasād Dās: “There is no contradiction. I think it is but a loving anuśāsan (advise, command) of a loving father (well-wisher) towards his beloved son, like the words of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa uttered to His friend Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra –

klaibyam mā sma gama pārtha naitat tvayyupapadyate. 

kṣudraṁ hṛdaya daurbalyaṁ tyaktvottiṣṭa parantapah 

(Bhagavad Gītā 2.3) 

“O Arjuna, it’s not befitting you that you lose your prowess now. Give up this paltry weakness of heart and rise!”

In this new endeavor one must proceed, trampling all the anarthas (unwanted bad old habits) on the path of sādhana (spiritual practice). That was Bābā’s basic desire. He was doing this just for your benefit.”

Since he quoted the Gita verse 2.3, Nirañjan Bābu must have wanted to say that Bābā wanted to encourage me in this way. The text is inserted in page 13 of the file 'Satsanga with Niranjan Prasad Das' at the link-tab 'Opinions' on www.madangopal.com

Uttama adhikārī

Śrīla Raghunātha dās Gosvāmī's Prarthanasraya Caturdasakam, verse 3:

UDAÑCAT KĀRUṆYĀMṚTA VITARAṆAIR JĪVITA JAGAD

YUVADVANDVAṀ GANDHAIR GUṆA SUMANASĀṀ VĀSITA JANAM

KṚPĀṀ CEN MAYYEVAM KIRATI NA TADĀ TVAṀ KURU TATHĀ

YATHĀ ME ŚRĪ KUṆḌE SAKHI SAKALAM AṄGAṀ NIVASATI

udañcat - arisen; kāruṇya - compassion; amṛta - nectar; vitaraṇaih - by distributing; jīvita - enlivening; jagat - the world; yuva - youthful; dvandvaṁ - couple; gandhaiḥ - with fragrances; guṇa - attributes; sumanasāṁ - flowers; vāsita - scents; janam - people; kṛpāṁ - mercy; cet - if; mayi - to me; evaṁ - thus; kirati - does; na - not; tadā - then; tvaṁ - you; kuru - do; tathā - then; yathā - so that; me - my; śrī kuṇḍe - by Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa; sakhi - O friend!; sakalam - all; aṅgaṁ - body; nivasati - resides.


O sakhi (Rūpa Mañjari)! If this Youthful Couple, that enlivens the whole world by distributing the nectar of Their mercy and that scents all the people with the fragrance of Their flower-like attributes, do not bestow Their mercy on me, then please arrange for it that I can always stay at Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa!

Each verse of Śrīla Raghunātha dās Gosvāmī’s is laden with rasa and prema. He sees the Divine Pair pervading the whole universe. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa are everywhere for the uttama adhikārī. It is said in Śrīmad Bhāgavata (11.2.45):

sarva bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ 

bhūtani bhagavatyātmāṇyeṣa bhāgavatottamaḥ 

“The uttamādhikārī sees Kṛṣṇa, the Self of all selves, in every creature and sees every creature in the Lord, who is the Self of all selves.”

So though the conditioned souls themselves can actually not experience the nectar of Their mercy or smell the flowers of Their attributes, the uttamādhikārī sees it that way. Śrīla Raghunātha dās Gosvāmī described similar visions in his Viśākhānandada-stotram (49) – āvaikuṇṭham ajāṇḍāli vataṁsīkṛta sad-yaśaḥ “Rādhā’s true fame is the flower which decorates the ear of each person in all the universes, all the way up to Vaikuṇṭha.” And one of the 108 names he gave to Rādhikā is jagadānandi sad-yaśaḥ “Her true fame delights the whole world.”

Qualification for siddha praṇālī

Qualification for siddha praṇālī does not come by just being formally or socially initiated into the renounced order, since rāgānugā bhakti is not about social orders to begin with, it is all about ruci (taste). For example, in 1983, when I lived in a courtyard in Gokulānanda Ghat, Navadvip (not in Sādhu Bābā's ashram!), Jagat and me had a bābājī-guest staying in the garden-house for a while, who slept most of the day and night, and when awake spoke mostly on mundane matters like India's independence day. On the other hand, gṛhasthas like Bosāk Bābu, the founder of Vṛndāvana's Hārā-Bāri, or Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, my Gurudeva's father, who had 4 children and many disciples, used to get up at 3 a.m. and not speak with anybody, including wife and children, before finishing a strong bhajan until 8 a.m. So it is really all about anurāga, not about āśram. The Guru's personal judgement is the ultimate arbiter. If the Guru finds a householder fit he will give him siddha praṇālī, despite his many worldly responsibilities.

Inborn empirical world view

Though I am not a fan or ally of Kṛṣṇa-kīrti Dās, I did find this sentence on his blog siddhanta.com very much to the point:

"There are two problems most devotees in the West face: they have difficulty accepting the extent of their fallen nature, and their inborn empirical world view--inherited from their culture--naturally guides them to solutions that have no theistic premises. Devotees in the West, or who are Western by culture, are genuinely torn between the authority of the parampara and the authority of their culture's most capable, secular minds."

The addition "or who are western by culture" is interesting. It is unfortunate that Indians, and Asians in general, tend to give up their simple beliefs and start endless scientific analyses, seminars and whatnot, after migrating to Western countries, getting influenced by their western host-cultures. And "having difficulty accepting the extent of their fallen nature" is not exactly remedied by being in a society where everyone gets 'initiated' into the highest caste.

pramāda japa

Recently I heard a humble Vaiṣṇava admitting to driving his car with one hand and doing japa with the other. Since ignorance IS an excuse, let no one take personal offense at this comment: This is a most gut-wrenching example of pramāda japa, or inattentive japa. Japa is worship and meditation, and neither of these can be or should be done while steering a car through the traffic. In this way it is simply impossible to give the holy name of the Lord the attention and the worship it deserves, adding to it that one touches one's sacred beads to the steering wheel and gear-shift. Though strictly and officially speaking pramāda japa is not an offense to the chanting of the holy name, it obviously is (The 10th offense, śrute nāma-māhātmye'pi prīto'yaṁ rahitaḥ, "to be bereft of love of the holy name, despite having heard its glory", fits the best).

Suppose Śrī Gurudeva is coming to visit us in our home and we continue to watch TV, perhaps telling him to take a seat, telling one's spouse to offer him a glass of milk and occasionally saying something to him and half-listening to him, but at the same time continuing to watch the TV - this would certainly be offensive. Some attention may have been given to Śrī Gurudeva, but it is shared with attention to material things. So it is too with combining japa with any other activity, what to speak of driving a car!!! Instead, japa must be done sitting down in a lotus position in a solitary place, keeping one's japa mālā to one's heart, either murmuring or mentally repeating the syllables of the holy name. Sanātan Gosvāmī writes in his commentary to Haribhakti Vilāsa that murmuring (upaṁśu) is actual japa, while loud japa equals kīrtan and mental japa equals meditation.

Raghunātha Dās Gosvāmī's indigestion

The Bhakti Ratnākara describes in connection with Śrīla Raghunātha Dās Gosvāmī how siddha mahātmās show physical symptoms of their transcendental mental activities -

“Aha Śrīnivāsa! One day Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī mentally ate some offered sweet rice and thus got indigestion and overweight. No one could understand how he (such an austere person) could get obese like that. When Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī’s friend Śrī Viṭṭhalanātha, the son of Śrī Vallabha, heard this he called for two doctors who felt his pulse and confirmed time and again: “He has become obese due to overeating on sweet rice”. In astonishment Śrī Viṭṭhalanātha said: “It is impossible for him to eat sweet rice (let alone overeat). Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, however, confirmed “They speak the truth – I ate sweet rice within my mind.” Everyone was astonished to hear this. Such are the activities of Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī – what more can I say?”

This translation is added to my anthology of Bhakti Ratnākara-translations at the tab-link 'Literature' on www.madangopal.com, followed by my old translation of the story of the leaf-cup.

Rādhākuṇḍa for siddhas?

Anonymous reply:

I heard that Radhakund is for siddhas, not for sadhakas, still, many people say it is very auspicious to live there. In my experience if we are too close to any sacred place or even the Guru, we tend to take everything for granted. I myself have met devotees who came back from holy plcaes after years and gave up bhakti altogether, they were crazier than before they met KC. What is your opinion? Thanks.

My response:
I don't believe that Rādhākuṇḍa is only for the outright siddhas, but I do believe that a great number of its residents better had done some more harināma before settling there now in their current state. Yes, familiarity breeds contempt, that goes for both the Guru and the holy dhāma. And purity is the force. I also know many people, personal friends, who dropped out of KC altogether after spending years in the holy dhāma non-stop. That may be more due to aparādha than due to sins committed there out of immaturity. Here I mean Vaiṣṇava aparādha and Guru aparādha, though committing sins in the holy dhāma is certainly also an aparādha. Where there are so many Vaiṣṇavas (like in the holy dhāma) there is also much more chance of getting familiar and committing Vaiṣṇava aparādha.

Going 'crazy' in Vraja

I have received the following response to a blog from last February:

haribol dear advaita, i have been reading your blog last time and would have one question considering one remark that some devotees, who spend more time in vraj tend to go mad. could you please send me some thoughts on how you meant it? i do not know from when the log is but i hope that does not matter. i was asking some friends of mine about it but no one could give any question on it. many thanks! jay sri radhe

My response:
Dear J,
You refer to a discussion I had with one devotee who, just like me, spent a long time continuously in Vraja and has seen many people go the wrong way. The point of that remark is that Vraja is a very sacred place and many people come there and decide to stay there permanently, being sincerely attracted and sincerely wanting to live a full lifetime of bhajan there. People like that devotee and me, however, have experience - with ourselves and with others - that it is not so easy and cheap as it initially seems, that most of us are much more conditioned and fallen as we initially think ourselves to be, and then the trouble starts. For 'going mad' you can fill in 'falling in māyā' (though some did go nuts indeed) - they start running after sexual partners, start big construction projects, start a Guru-career, start gossiping about their fellow devotees, listening to rock music, smoking pot etc. I have seen this going on, and it is going on now too. This is all a change of purpose and leads to offences to the holy dhāma. For the vast majority of new devotees it is better to make short visits to the holy places and otherwise remain at home. When one is purified by harināma and the senses and the mind are purified, peaceful and strong one becomes qualified to live full-time in Vraja or Navadvīp or wherever. I hope this answers your question. Rādhe Rādhe.  Advaitadās.

Posted with permission of the correspondent.

Did Śrī Advaita Prabhu support, preach or practise Gaura-nāgarī bhāva?

In his booklet « Rasarāja Śrī Gaurāṅga » Gadādhara Prān Dās quotes the following verses from the Śrī-Śrī-Gaurāṅga-Pratyanga-Varṇanākhya-Stava-Rāja, which is ascribed to Advaita Ācārya. Here he is trying to prove that Śrī Advaita Prabhu is following the line of worship of the Gaura Nāgarīs, in which Śrīman Mahāprabhu acts like a Nāgara or a flirtatious lover of married girls in Navadvīpa. Here is what Gadādhara Prān makes of the Pratyanga Varṇana, verse 6:

ardha-candrollasad-bhāla-kasturī-tilakāṅkitam
bhaṅgura-bhrū-latā-keli-jita-kāma-śarāsanam

Gadādhara Prān’s translation: "Gaurasundara´s forehead is like a brilliant half-moon adorned with beautiful musk tilaka; yet below lurks His flirting eyebrow-bows which defeat the might of Kāma-deva´s flower arrows."

My translation: « His forehead resembles a half moon and is marked with musk tilak; it has fragile creeper-like eyebrows which defeat the playfulness of Cupid’s arrows. »

Note that the word ‘flirting’ which Gadādhar Prān mentions is not mentioned in the original Sanskrit text. We must remember that to compare a great person with Cupid is standard Vedic poetic embellishment. Even the most renounced Six Gosvāmīs have been compared to Cupid in the Bhakti Ratnākara. No girls of Nadīya in sight in this verse.

Verse 17:

koṭi-kandarpa-lāvaṇya-keli-līlā-manoramam 
sākṣāl-līlā-tanuṁ keli-tanuṁ śṛṅgāra-vigraham

Gadādhara Prān’s translation: "Śrī Gaurasundara´s prema keli is absolutely manohara!— like that of millions of Cupids; for He is the Abode of prema keli and a śṛṅgāra rasa vigraha."

Advaitadas: The kandarpa mentioned in the last line of verse 17 (the whole verse is wrongly numbered as nr. 17 by Gadādhara Prān)  affects Mahāprabhu’s lābaṇya, which means luster, and does not prove that he is a lover. The words manorama keli, enchanting pastimes, do not prove that He was a nāgara or lover either – any līlā can be manohara (enchanting). Only the word śṛṅgāra vigraha in the first line of verse 18 could apply to Him being a Nāgara, but, as was already explained, to compare a great and beautiful person with Cupid is standard Vedic poetic embellishment. Otherwise the rest of that line says that He is the embodiment of playfulness, which does not point at Him being a nagara either. Next Gadādhara Prān takes verse 26:

nija-bhāva-rasāsvāda-vivaśaikādaśendriyam
vidagdha-nāgarī-bhavya-kalā-keli-manoramam 26

Gadādhara Prān’s translation: "Although Mahāprabhu´s eleven senses are completely overwhelmed by His own bhāva, rūpa and rasa — His divine keli vilāsa with the clever and rasa-skilled Nadīya nāgarīs is simply enchanting!"

My translation: “His eleven senses are overwhelmed by the relish of His own feelings (where are the words rūpa and rasa in the text?). His playful and artful pastimes are to be conceived of (bhavya) by a clever female lover.”

This applies to the Rādhā-bhāva that Kṛṣṇa came to relish as Mahaprabhu, rather than any Nāgarī bhāva to be practiced by Him. I cannot find this sentence “His divine keli vilāsa with the clever and rasa-skilled Nadīya nāgarīs is simply enchanting!" in the verse. The word Nadīya Nāgarīs is not there, and the nāgarī which is mentioned is in the first case. If it was to be ‘with the nāgaris’ (plural, third case) the verse would have said ‘nāgarībhiḥ’.

gadādhara-prema-bhāva-kalākrānta-manorathaṁ
narahari-prema-rasāsvāda-vihvala-mānasam 27

Gadadhara Pran’s translation: "Gaurāṅga keenly desires to taste the sweetness of Gadādhara's prema bhāva and rasa keli skill. Moreover, Śrīman Narahari´s prema rasa enslaves Him."

My translation: “He wishes to be overcome (ākrānta) by Gadādhara’s loving feelings and His mind is overwhelmed by the relish of Narahari’s prema.”

Where is it mentioned here that Śrīman Mahāprabhu was practicing Nadīya Nāgarī bhāva?
Verse 28:

sarva-bhāgavatāhuta-kānta-bhāva-prakāśakam
prema-pradāna-lalita-dvi-bhujaṁ bhakta-vatsalam 28

Gadādhara Prān’s translation: "Bhakta-vatsala Śrī Gaurahari hankers to take up his splendid kānta bhāva with every bhāgavata associate. Using His graceful, two arms He embraces them to award (madhura) prema."

My translation: “Called or summoned (āhuta) by all the great devotees (sarva bhāgavata) He reveals the feelings of a lady-love.”

This verse clearly describes Mahāprabhu assuming the mood of Rādhā (rādhā-bhāva dyuti subalitaṁ naumi kṛṣṇa svarūpam). There is no mentioning of Mahāprabhu hankering to take up kānta-bhāva – where is that word ‘hankering’ in the verse? “ Gadādhara Prān Dās fails to translate the words ‘āhuta’ (called, summoned) and ‘prakāśaka’ (the revealer). There is also no one being ‘embraced’ in the second line of this verse. It simply says that Mahāprabhu is the lovely two-armed one (lalita dvi-bhujam) who bestows Prema (prema pradāna).”
And finally verse 32:

naṭa-rāja-śiro-ratnaṁ śrī-nāgara-śiromaṇim
aśeṣa-rasika-sphuryan-mauli-bhūṣaṇa-bhūṣaṇam 32

Gadādhara Prān’s translation: "Śrī Gaurāṅga is the Crown-jewel amongst all dancers, the Crown-jewel amongst all nāgaras (including Sri Krsna) — and thus the Ornament of ornaments amongst all rasika persons."

My translation: “He is the crownjewel and the king of dancers (nata) and the crownjewel of Nāgaras.”

Now this is the only hint given at Mahāprabhu being a Nāgara, but we must remember that the ācāryas, headed by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī (f.i. in his Caitanyāṣṭakams), often see Kṛṣṇa within Mahāprabhu, who is, after all Kṛṣṇa, so it may point at Kṛṣṇa instead. That counts for verses 17-18, quoted above, as well.

“He is the ornament of the ornament of all countless rasikas.” That can apply to relishing the mellows of any devotional sentiment and does not prove Mahaprabhu thought or acted as a Gaura Nāgarī. And all this is only in case this text was actually composed by Advaita Ācārya at all.

Updates of madangopal.com

On pages 18-19 of the biography of Sādhu Bābā a new paragraph is created, all about japa. In it are known teachings of Sādhu Bābā to which I added this famous one:

"One should not trade on the market with a bead-bag in the hand and one should not go on parikramā (when one visits a holy place) with one’s beads, because each time one sees a saint or a temple one has to bow down and touch one’s beads to the ground, and that is a great offence to the sacred chanting beads."

And this golden memory of Sādhu Bābā, also on page 18:

Krishnā Dās: "Bābā never bestowed the title Mahārāja, Bābājī or Mātājī to any of his disciples."

On page 2 an index has been added to facilitate browsing in this file too.

More golden sayings of Niranjan Prasād Dās added to his file 'Satsanga with Niranjan Prasād Dās' (link-tab 'Opinions'), page 2:

“To remember the Guru – that is human life. I have not seen Bhagavān – how will I remember Him? I have never seen Him, but I have got (seen) my Gurudeva.”

page 3: “(Considering how central Advaita Prabhu was to Bābā) See how much he loved you by giving you the name ‘Advaita’!”

This, and much more, at www.madangopal.com!

Explanation of 'Ignorance IS an excuse"

I have received the following reaction to my last blog and I am posting the essence of it here in case it is not properly understood:

“I can't seem to work out the implications of Vijay Krishna Goswami's thoughts. I can understand that varnashram would be difficult to practice in the western world in its strictest meaning. We can also do away with samskaras or ritualistics rites that are a part of the Hindu tradition....And while in the west for myself, I will wear the clothing preferences of the women in the west, which I consider decent. On the other hand, I am sure you are not advocating for Vaishnavas living in the western country to take to meat eating again nor to practice the permissive stance of many people in the west in regard to personal relationship. Therefore can you please explain a bit more of your thoughts about the quote of Vijay Krishna. I am thinking of the absolutes and relatives lines within this particular quote.”

My response:
“Hmm there is a misunderstanding here. I was not trying to make the point that WE Western Vaiṣṇavas should be assimilating with western culture (I myself live a combination of Indian and western lifestyles, wearing Indian clothes at home and western clothes outside). When in the opening text I spoke of westerners, I meant non-devotee westerners, and the point of the blog was that Western Vaiṣṇavas are trained to think that all 'karmis' they meet on the street while on 'sankirtan' are going to go to hell because they eat meat, drink alcohol, cohabit without marriage etc. (At least we were trained like that in the 1970s, I don’t know about nowadays) The point that Sādhu Bābā and his predecessor Vijay Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī make is that people are judged by God according to their own level of realization, their own culture and their own religious principles. Note that Vijay Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī said that they are not sinning unless and until they realized that it is wrong what they are doing.

“Whatever is thus considered decent is accepted, and unless and until it is understood and realized to be wrong and unjust it should certainly be followed.”

And we western Vaiṣṇava-converts are certainly aware of the wrongs of alcohol and meat-consumption. Ignorance is an excuse but western converts are no longer in ignorance….

Ignorance IS an excuse

Although most western devotees have been initially taught that all westerners go to hell because they don’t follow the Vedic principles and that ‘ignorance is no excuse’, when I told this to Sādhu Bābā he laughed and thought I had told him the joke of the year. Later, when studying the teachings of Vijay Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī, I understood why –

“Although not every human being has the same duties, obligations and ethics, there is morality according to country, society and time. Whatever is thus considered decent is accepted, and unless and until it is understood and realised to be wrong and unjust it should certainly be followed. Whatever I believe to be my duties and propriety that is my religious principle. If one doesn’t follow one’s fundamental religious principles one meets with woe and commits sin according to one’s local, social and temporal customs and ethics. Whatever obligation and ethics one believes in and accepts with a simple heart, that is one’s religious virtue and should certainly be followed. In some places the eating of fish and meat is established custom and at other places it is rejected as a sin as if it is poison.” Vijay Krishna Goswami, June 1891.

ebe yaśa ghuṣuk tribhuvana

In my archives I found some more nectarean examples of my beloved and revered Guru-brother Śrī Nirañjan Prasād Dās’ Guru bhakti. On a tape I recorded of him in March 2000 he said:

“I was not a young man when I met the sat-Guru – When I was 60 years old I had this amazing vision – I saw the Guru - Guru, Guru. Whatever I had heard before that was at once erased. I erased everything. He pulled me to his lap – behold the vision of the Guru!”

When I wrote Nirañjan Bābu about my misgivings about preaching Bābā’s glories, quoting a warning by Kavi Karṇapura in this regard, Nirañjan Bābu wrote back (November 12, 2002):

“I became ecstatic by learning that you will preach Baba’s glories and are already engaged thus. Why do you consider scriptural statements such as guror nama na grhniyat (“One should not utter the Guru’s name”)? There will be no fault in this, because you are not doing this for spreading your own fame – this is for the benefit of all living beings, for the whole world. Indeed, you will benefit yourself to the utmost too by preaching the glories of a saint!”

This brings back the memory of how Narottam Dāsa Thākur Mahāśay closed off his famous exaltation of the Guru: ebe yaśa ghuṣuk tribhuvana – “Now let all the three worlds proclaim your fame!” (If the macrocosm of the larger world wont then let at least the microcosm of my own mind and heart do so!)

The anecdotes have been added to the file "Satsanga with Niranjan Prasād Dās", under the link-tab 'Opinions' on www.madangopal.com

Bengalizing

I just found this post by Chanahari in Gaudiya-repercussions (Academic, controversial, eclectic) of one year ago. Never noticed this one until now: Apr 15 2005, 12:26 PM Post #2

"Advaitadas is the Westerner who reached maybe the most far away point both in effort and in faith in Bengalizing himself. I always wondered how can one so much immerge himself in a culture he is not native in (setting aside the topic whether it is needed or not in reaching Radha-Krishna...). If he is right, of course, then only Bengali and quasi-Bengali* Vaishnavas would reach the highest goal of GV, so there is no point in practicing Vaishnavism in the West at all - most of us can simply give up with any effort and fall back to the samsara, and just wait a few million lifetimes until by happenstance get a Bengali birth (maybe firstly as a monkey or a cow, and then as a woman, and then as a man ).
.....*Quasi-Bengali is, subjectively, one who lives with the Bengali cultural customs, eats the Bengali foods, wears the Bengali clothes, reads the Bengali literature (besides technical instructons), in full or nearly full exclusion of the Western correspondants, despite being not born in a Bengali family. "

This is very funny. (One wonders, of course, how much Chanahari actually knows about Bengali culture because you won't find much of it in Iskcon, not even in Māyāpur, and only a few western devotees have gone beyond such realms into the real Bengal). So let us analyse this 'Bengalizing' : Bengali cultural customs? If sadācāra or ritual purity is referred to, this is from the Vedic smṛti-scripture, and is not culturally Bengali. If fast and late eating is referred to (this is typically Bengali culture), no I don't indulge in that because I don't want to have an ulcer (last time I ate late with Bengalis was one month ago at Rādhākuṇḍa and I had the runs for two days, causing me to shift to a Brajabāsī place). Bengali cuisine is certainly the most delicious in the world, especially if prepared and offered by a Bengali brahmin! I wouldn't scrap it for a fortune!!! Bengali clothes? What is Bengali about a dhoti and a t-shirt? A dhoti is pan-Hindu/vedic and a t-shirt can be bought anywhere in the world. Bengali literature? OK, Caitanya Caritāmṛta and Advaita Prakāśa are favorites of mine, the others are all written in Sanskrit, not Bengali. Yes, I am fluent in Bengali but I only speak it when I am in the company of Bengalis and even then not always. I mostly speak English and Dutch actually.....

On the positive side, virtually all Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, modern or ancient (that have not fallen down) are Bengalis, Mahāprabhu and nearly all His associates appeared in Bengal, would that be coincidental? Indeed, the word Gauḍīya itself means Bengali.

I myself, however, loathe the Bengali chauvinism about being born or having to be born not only in Bengal but even in certain districts of Bengal. No one has uttered more sarcasm about this tribalism than yours truly, but I leave the last word to Śrī-Śrī Sādhu Bābā (yes, a Bengali brahmin!). When I asked him, in 1984, if a westerner could attain Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in this lifetime he enthusiastically roared 'ek śo bār!' (Bengali for 'you bet!'). I do insist it is a safe bet to take dīkṣā from a Bengali rather than an American Guru. History has vindicated me on this point. Personally I find it even astonishing that a person can still take dīkṣā from a westerner after all his predecessors have fallen down. It is like not believing you will one day die despite seeing all older people die before you. That the Guru's birth matters is of course elaborately insisted upon by Śrīla Sanātan Gosvami and Śrīla Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī in the opening chapter of Śrī-Śrī Hari-bhakti Vilāsa..............

Lokanātha's Guru

March 22, 2006
Sītānāth's Dol-Saptamī. I shoot a pic of Giridhārī on the wooden Brajabāsī-swing in 'my' gośālā at Rādhākuṇḍa.

Lokanātha Goswāmī's Guru
Vilasakunja.com, March 18, 2006:
Q: This view seems to me to be quite problematic. Why should he (Lokanath) not accept a diksa-guru? And how could he then give diksa to Narottama?
Madhavananda Das: "He may have felt it was not relevant, given his relationship with Mahaprabhu since his very childhood, and the infusion of all divine essence this relationship effected."

This is a bizarre theory for someone who, on Gaudiya Discussions, vehemently preached the need for everyone to take dīkṣā in the proper line. This is an echo of the theory of Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati's followers. Mahāprabhu, Lord Rāma, Lord Kṛṣṇa- everyone gave the proper example by taking dīkṣā, and then Lokanāth Goswāmi did not need it? Advaita Prakāśa (12.97-100) clearly states that he did. Why Lokanātha Goswāmi's Guru is not mentioned in the different Guru-praṇālīs is a wonder to me too, since there are scriptural claims on him by both the Adwaita Parivāra and the Gadādhar Parivāra.

Holi/Gaur pūrnimā 2006

(Tulasis in Yadunath's garden)

March 14, 2006
2006 Colour Holi/Gaurpurnima
It's cloudy and windy, so no weather to be soaked by Holi-liquids. So I stay inside and give Giridhārī His abhiṣekh with just raw milk. In the evening there's such a rainstorm that I doubt if I will make it to Rohini's house, but I do reach it.

Rohini supports Jai-kṛṣṇa Dās Bābā's suggestion that a manjari's cloud-coloured dress can be white too, like an autumn cloud. It's not like a widow's dress, because it can have embroidery and ornaments. An apt discussion on a full-moon night, when Rādhikā goes out dressed all in white.

March 15, 2006
Stool-Holi begins early, at 7.45 a.m., when Brijabasis, with bags of powder, begin coloring each other. Rohini's place isn't much safer than the gośālā though - at 11 a.m. scary bands of Brijabasis with black hands (stool or paint?) are roaming around the house. When I cook for Rohini I warn him against my bad cooking. He wisely replies that (Mahāprabhu told Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī) we shouldn't eat nicely. I'll remember that next time I have guests! I suppose that if I didn't bother too much about nice dressing (the other prohibition of Mahāprabhu) I wouldn't be so terrified of stool-Holi anymore!

Sridhara Swami says that forgetting God in the famous 'bhayam dvitīyābhiniveśatah'-verse (11.2.37): bhagavataḥ svarūpāsphūrtis tato viparyayo dehāsmīti means "Not having a vision of God's own form. Hence one thinks: I am the body."

An alternative reading says: īśa vimukhasya tan māyayā'smṛtiḥ svarūpāsphūrtiḥ, 'Forgetfulness of God means that one does not perceive ones own svarūpa..." Nothing about falling from Goloka here....

About the famous 'ye'nye'ravindākṣa' verse (10.2.32) he says tvayi asto nirasto'ta evāsan yo bhāvas tasmāt bhakter abhāvād.... "Having no devotion to You" kṛcchrena bahu janma tapasā paraṁ padaṁ mokṣa sannihitaṁ sat-kula tapaḥ śrutādi."After many births of penance he attains the supreme abode, nearness to liberation, birth in a good family, learning..." 'sannihita' means "close, near, at hand, proximate, prepared to, ready or", so he's not really merged in brahman yet. This shows that no jīva falls down from Brahman, this verse having been the only option that would allow such a theory.

Śiva Caturdaśī, prāṇa pratiṣṭha, respect and Sevā Kuñja

Due to difference of opinion most people did Śiva Pūjā and the vigil yesterday, so today it really peaceful at Gopeśvara Mahādeva Mandir. At the gate I buy a basket with a garland, roses, Bael-leaves, incense and some other items to offer. I am out within 5 minutes.

In a private darśan I ask Satya-nārāyan Dāsjī whether Kṛṣṇa will not be there in the deity because of corrupt management of its temple or organization, due to lack of prāṇa pratiṣṭha or lack of bhakti. He says prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā is just a show conducted for social acceptance of a temple. Kṛṣṇa is anyway everywhere, so why not in a non-installed deity? Kṛṣṇa is manifest in the deity according to the bhakti of the individual who comes for His darshan.

I ask him about the dilemma of having to respect older devotees who may be deeply flawed. He says it is hazardous to criticise elders in public (internet) for one will make many enemies, but in private one should certainly speak the truth about such a senior devotee, because it is one's duty to warn innocent would-be followers against him. About Upadeśāmṛta verse 6 he says that one should not dishonor a devotee because of faulty character but also not associate with him/her, just as one would die after drinking the Yamunā-water in its current polluted state, but must certainly respect her from a distance.

During the class he confirms that one cannot just get darśan of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa by hiding oneself in Sevā-kunja. This is a myth, hearsay. All the neighbors can look in from the first floor and they don't go blind or mad. I tell him I was living in such a first-floor adjacent room and I never saw anything (and mad I was already before that anyway!)

Women and social life

My Dutch friend Vāsu Ghoṣa tells me that women cannot live without social life. Men can. I remember the līlā of the sacrifice of Dakṣa. Satī was so eager to go there and socialize that she defied the prohibition of her husband Śiva and went there anyway. It cost her her life and that of her father.... (I do know there are some women who are less socially inclined but they are exceptions)

satsanga with Satya-nārāyan Dās

Today, during his Bhāgavata-pāṭha, Satya Nārāyan Bābā discussed Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā on Śrimad-Bhāgavata 1.9.26, where he says: kintu vairāgyaṁ cet sadaiva bhikṣavo bhaveyus tadā rāgas ced gṛhastha eva sadeti "A vairāgi should be vairāgī throughout life and a gṛhastha should be a gṛhastha throughout life if that is their true propensity." If vairāgya isn't there at age 50 one has either not properly followed gṛhastha dharma or one is simply not inclined towards vairāgya."

When I ask Satyanārāyan Bābā about the Haribhakti-vilāsa verse amārgastho sanmārgo vā gurur eva janārdanaḥ ("Whether on the path or off it, the Guru is always God"), he says that if the Guru is not on the path he cannot bestow siddhi, just as blind faith in a counterfeit medicine will not cure your disease. He reminds me of the verse I quoted earlier -

guror apy avaliptasya kāryākāryam ajānataḥ

utpatha pratipannasya parityāgo vidhīyate

"If the Guru is arrogant, does not know right from wrong and is devious he is to be fully rejected".

I ask him about the muktānām api siddhānām verse (Śrimad-Bhāgavata 6.14.5), if that means that those who merged into brahman can really proceed to bhakti. He says muktānām refers to jīvanmuktas (those liberated in this body), not to atyantika muktas, fully liberated souls. Kṛṣṇa may take a soul out of brahman, because individuality is eternal, even in brahma-līna. A drop of water remains a drop, also when it is part of an ocean.

Edited December 16, 2008

The advent of Śrī Advaita Ācārya

As Lord Sadāśiva, the transcendental deity from Vaikuṇṭha who is the fountainhead of all the forms of Śiva within the innumerable mundane universes saw the wicked age of Kali, or quarrel, destroying all godly qualities in man, He became filled with compassion. After many deliberations with goddess Yogamāyā He sat down on the shore of the Causal Ocean, where Lord Mahaviṣṇu lies in mystic slumber. That great, ever-joyful yogi sat down on a yoga-āsana and began to practice yoga there. After 700 years of penance the Universal Lord Mahāviṣṇu appeared to Him. Five-headed Śiva then offered many kinds of indescribable praises to Mahāviṣṇu, who replied: "My dear Sadāśiva! Why are You trying to please Me by performing such difficult austerities? You and I are one! We differ only in body!" Sadāśiva replied: "My dear Lord, unless You empower Me to save suffering mankind, how can I do it?" Then Mahāviṣṇu embraced Sadāśiva and thus They assumed one captivating, radiant golden form in which They would appear, roaring out 'kṛṣṇa! kṛṣṇa!'
Then a most amazing divine voice resounded in the sky, proclaiming: "Listen, O Mahāviṣṇu! First descend in the womb of Lābhā-devī in this form— later I will personally descend in Nadiya. You will then find Me in the abode of Śacī and Jagannātha. Balarāma and all the other devotees will also all take birth there to redeem the conditioned souls." Hearing this, Mahāviṣṇu became one with Siva and together they entered the womb of Lābhā-devī in Śāntipura.