In memoriam: Krishnā Dās

Today I received the sad news that my seniormost Guru-sister Krishnā Dās has passed away, on Tuesday, August 8th, 2006 at 5.25 a.m. local time due to diabetes. Her cremation took place on August 11th. She was born as the first of 7 children of Śrīpād Niranjan Prasād Dās in East Bengal, around the time it was partitioned from India and ceded to Pakistan, in 1947. Around 1960 the family moved to West Bengal, where they settled in Navadvīpa dhāma. Krishnā dās studied Sanskrit in Calcutta when her father met Srī Sādhu Bābā. She gave up her career prospects and joined Bābā in his then very austere āshram, becoming his first ever disciple in 1971. She started with menial services like washing pots, but gradually became Bābā's most trusted confidante, to the extent that Bābā authorised her to give dīkṣā on his behalf after his departure. She has faithfully done that for the last 20 years of her life. As a single woman she bore the heavy responsibility of managing Sādhu Bābā's āshram, organising all the festivals that are held there singlehandedly. As a life-long nun she is survived only by her 94-year old father (!)

Hidden motives

I read on another blog that bloggers blog to expose themselves almost narcistically for fame and prestige, to gather followers and admirers or even to seduce women. That is food for some deep introspection. My conscious motive was to get a link to the outside world, as I am physically quite isolated here. I suppose that even if bloggers, yours truly included, have vāsanās (subconscious motives) for fame, women and money, it is still worthwhile to read and write blogs because when one has a lot of knowledge it is one's duty to share the same with the wider world, and if one is unable or unwilling to travel the globe to preach one can still offer a contribution to a world which is suffering from ignorance. Also in the comments box and in its ensuing discussions, the proud blogger is able to learn lessons from his commentators......

rahasya kathā sankat

(Tarun and Advaitadas during kirtan in Spiringen templeroom)

It is hard for a lecturer to facilitate everyone - some members of the audience may not at all be ready for mañjarī bhāva and other types of confidential topics while others (including the lecturer) may be craving for this kathā. I found myself sometimes facing such a mixed audience, perhaps a bit like Śukadeva when he lectured to Mahārāja Parīkṣit's assembly. Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāja faced the same dilemma when composing Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Adi 4.231-232) :

e sab siddhānta gūḍha - kohite na juwāy; na kohile keho ihāra anta nāhi pāy. 

ataeva kohi kichu koriyā nigūḍha; bujhibe rasik bhakta nā bujhibe mūḍha.

"These topics are all confidential and should not be discussed, but on the other hand, if they are not discussed no one will know of them. That is why I will speak some confidential topics now - the rasik devotees will understand but the fools won't."

Of course one has to judge each individual audience, not that one reveals this to a large audience of ignorant novices and just one qualified rasik. In my case here, I decided to take the risk, like Kavirāja Gosvāmī did.

Correction Vilāpa Kusumānjali

(On the veranda of Śyāma Priya Kuñja, Spiringen, Switzerland - left to right - Mādhava Dās, Advaitadās, Kṛṣṇacandra, Tarun Govinda, Subal Sakhā)

The eka-niṣṭhatā mentioned in Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.291 is not a requirement for the rāgānugā- candidate, as is sometimes mistakenly thought, but a symptom of the Vrajavāsīs. This was wrongly translated by me in my 1990-1993 editions of Vilāpa Kusumāñjali, where this translation (combined with that of the following verse) appears in the commentary on verse 57, p.224:

"Those who become greedy after the mood of the Vrajavāsī-devotees, that are called the rāgātmikā-devotees, in a one-pointed manner and that give up all considerations of scriptural injunctions logical arguments after hearing about the sweetness of their loving feelings, are the proper candidates for rāgānugā-bhakti."

The correct translation of the two verses is:

"Anyone who desires to attain the feelings of the residents of Vraja, who are exclusively fixed in rāgātmikā-bhakti, qualifies for rāgānugā-bhakti. The hallmark of the birth of sacred greed after these feelings is that after hearing of the sweetness of their different emotions the conscience disregards scriptural rules or common sense."

I have added a new pdf-file to the "literature"-linktab to my website http://www.madangopal.com/, called Vilāpa Kusumāñjali corrections, with this correction as the first entry.

Brahmins dogs

I was reluctant to blog this, but as I saw a debate going on about cats and dogs on 'gaudiya-repercussions' I decided to add my opinion here.

There is an increasing number of western Vaiṣṇavas that start keeping dogs in their house, many of them claiming a quick-fix brahminhood, taking a second birth without having the first birth to start with, saying they are instead brahmins by quality. These qualities are mentioned in Bhagavad Gītā 18.42 as śama damas tapaḥ śaucam. śaucam means cleanliness, and keeping a dog inside the house is certainly not clean - loose mammals like cats and dogs contaminate the whole house, lock stock and barrel. And such devotees usually keep deities inside their house as well! In India not even the sweepers keep dogs in their houses, so why should then the 'qualified' brahmins here in the west do so? Is there then really such a gap between birth and quality after all? How completely opposite was the attitude and conduct of Śrīla Sanātan Gosvāmī - though he was the greatest sadācārī (devotional puritan) he rather burned his foot-soles on the hot beach-path of Puri than to touch the pūjārīs of the Jagannāth Temple. Of course, Śrīman Mahāprabhu delivered Śivānanda Sena's dog, but Caitanya Caritāmṛta mentions (Antya 1.28): prabhu pāśe bosiyāche kichu alpa dūre, that the dog sat at some distance from the Lord. He did not sit on His lap or lick His face, which I have seen happening with the above-mentioned devotees. Sādhu Bābā also had a dog for a short while, but she too was kept far away from the cooking pots, the kitchen and the āśram's quarters, nor have I seen Sādhu Bābā or anyone else touch her.

A pet-loving 'brahmin' then argued that 1) Kṛṣṇa keeps two dogs too (Vyaghra and Bhramarak), but of course these are transcendentally pure eternally liberated souls, and 2) that rāgānugā bhakti is beyond rules and regulations, but that is not the opinion of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī:

śravaṇotkīrtanādīni vaidhi bhaktyuditāni tu

yānyaṅgāni ca tānyatra vijñeyāni manīṣibhiḥ

(Bhakti-Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.296) 

"All limbs of vaidhi bhakti, such as hearing chanting etc. are also to be practised in rāgānugā bhakti. This is the verdict of the wise."

If anyone still argues that this inclusion only applies to hearing and chanting, then my question is 'when did the rāgānugā role-models Rūpa and Raghunātha keep dogs inside their kuṭīrs where they worshipped their dieties?'

Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda comments on this verse that only meditation on Dwārkā, mudra, nyāsa and worship of Kṛṣṇa's queens are exempt for rāgānugā sādhana.

Readings from Bhakti Sandarbha

Here in Spiringen I had the chance to read the Bhakti-Sandarbha rendering by Satya-nārāyan Dās. Here are some excerpts:

Paragraph 128 - The verses of Devahūti (SB 3.33.6-7), saying that the dog-eater who chants can perform Vedic yajñas, is not literal but only shows him being worshipable - tasmāt pūjyatva mātra tātparyam ityabhipretya. Śrīdhar Swāmī confirms it: anena pūjyatvaṁ lakṣyate.

Paragraph 152 vyādha hatasya pakṣinaḥ kukkura mukha gatasya tat palāyana vṛtyā bhagavan mandira parikramaṇa phala prāptya tādṛśatva prāptir iti -

"A bird died while in the mouth of a dog who ran around a temple and thus got liberated, since he accidentally did parikrama. "

Paragraph 153 - ādhunikānāṁ ca śruta śāstrānām apyaparādha doṣena śrī bhagavati śrī gurau tad bhaktādiṣu cāntarānādarādāv api sati bahis tad arcanādy arambhaḥ kauṭilyam

"Modern people make offences to the śāstras, inwardly disrespecting the Lord, Śrī Guru and their devotees, hypocritically worshiping them externally."

Paragraph 159 - sat sādhakasya manuṣya deha rirakṣisa jāyate sāpyupāsanā vṛddhi lobhena na tu deha mātra...

"The genuine sādhaka preserves the body for bhajan, not just for mere preservation. He is greedy to expand his worship. "

mūḍhānāṁ tu mūṣikādinam aparādhe'pi siddhis tathaiva yukta....atikramyodayat
"The mouse who ate the burning ghee-wick and thus died was an offender but he had no bad intention, so he transcended his offence at the time of death."

atha bhaktyādi kṛtābhimāna...."Pride of bhakti is caused by aparādha and results in Vaiṣṇava-aparādha."

tato'parādhābhāvāt tat kṣayārtham na tatravṛttyāpekṣā -

"Only one who is free from aparādha can chant the holy name at the time of death."

Paragraph 167 - S.B. 7.9.11 Śrīdhara Swāmī's comment - "Bhagavān is the original face and the living entity the reflection. The reflection is only beautified by decorating the original, not the reflection itself. Similarly the jīva is not gratified by pleasing himself but by pleasing Bhagavān."

Paragraph 168 - tatra caihikam niṣkāmatvaṁ bhaktyā jīvika pratiṣṭhādy upārjanam yat tad abhāvamayam api boddhavyam - viṣṇum yo nopajīvati iti gāruḍe śuddha bhakta lakṣaṇāt

"Pure bhakti means one does not perform it for a livelihood or for fame. The Garuḍa Purāṇa says one should not use Lord Viṣṇu for a livelihood."

Paragraph 172 helā tvaparādha rūpāpyabuddhi-pūrvaka kṛta ....vaiparityena badhyate

"If contempt is expressed unconsciously it does not obstruct bhakti because there is no insincerity. Those, however, who are proud of their petty knowledge and deliberately make offences have their bhakti curtailed."

Paragraph 173 - yat tu yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ sa bāhyābhyantara-śuciḥ ity ādau śraddadhānā api snānādikam ācaranti | tat khalu śrīman-nārada-vyāsādi-sat-paramparācāra-gauravād eva | anyathā tad-atikrame’py aparādhaḥ syāt | te ca tathā maryādāṁ lokasya kadarya-vṛttyādi-nirodhāyaiva sthāpitavanta iti jñeyam ||

"The fact that the famous verse says that whoever remembers Pundarikaksa is pure within and without does not mean one should not bathe. One must uphold the dignity of the sat parampara of Narada and Vyasa, otherwise one commits an offence."

yasmāc ca śaraṇāpattau vakṣyamāṇāni ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ ity ādīni liṅgāni | tathā vyavahāra-kārpaṇyādy-abhāvo’pi śraddhā-liṅgaṁ jñeyam | śāstraṁ hi tathaiva śraddhām utpādayati |
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate | teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham || [gītā 9.22]

About the process of surrender it is said: "One should accept what is favorable and reject what is unfavorable' etc. One should know that a symptom of faith is also the absence of mundane miserliness. Scripture also demonstrates this type of faith, as in Bhagavad Gītā 9.22 - "For eternally engaged devotees, who worship Me by thinking of Me exclusively, I carry what they lack and preserve what they have".

In other words, miserliness is a result of devotee's lack of faith that, when he has spent his last cent, Kṛṣṇa will not provide his next money."

The ill behaviour described in Bhagavad Gita-verse 9.30, 'api cet suduracaro' is sinning on strenght of the holy name, the 7th offence to the chanting of the holy name; the verse only serves to glorify bhakti (bhakti prasamsayam eva) and is not to be taken literally.

My own separate realisation: An initiated devotee is no more obliged to his pre-dīkṣā-teachers: dīkṣā-kāle bhakta kore ātma samarpana, sei kāle kṛṣṇa tāte kore ātma-sama' "At the time of dīkṣā the bhakta surrenders his very self - Kṛṣṇa then considers him equal to himself." (CC Antya 4.192) When meeting the sat Guru one should erase everything that preceded.

Gita quote 9.22 added December 27, 2012, originally posted on MSN spaces July 18, 2005

Origin of the siddha deha

This is the gist of a discussion I had with Kṛṣṇa Dās (Robert Gafrik PhD Slovakia) on the siddha deha:

Advaitadās: In connection with the origin of the siddha deha the following text is quoted from Prīti Sandarbha (10):

vaikuṇṭhasya bhagavato jyotir-aṁśa-bhūtā vaikuṇṭha-loka-śobha-rūpā yā anantā mūrtayas tatra vartante tāsām ekayā saha muktasyaikasya mūrtir bhagavatā kriyata iti vaikuṇṭasya mūrtir iva mūrtir yeṣām ity uktam

"In the spiritual world, the Supreme Lord has unlimited spiritual forms; they all are expansions of Himself illuminating that world. Of these mūrtis Bhagavān gives one mūrti to each liberated soul. Their mūrti is like the one of Lord Vaikuṇṭha."

The translation is mine, but I am getting my doubts about the word kriyata here. Some people say that this word means that Kṛṣṇa is creating a spiritual body for the soul here."

Kṛṣṇa Das: "The root kṛ  in Sanskrit can actually have any meaning, it does not mean just "create". It is akin to the English "do". One can express every activity with it. Kriyate in the passage does not mean that the spiritual body is created. The text itself says that mūrtayas tatra vartante, they are there eternally, tāsām (out of them) ekayā saha (with one) muktasya (of the liberated) ekasya (of the one) mūrtir (body) bhagavatā (by the Lord) kriyate (assign), i.e. the Lord awards one of the bodies that eternally reside in Vaikuṇṭha (in an inactive state) to the liberated one. vaikuṇṭasya mūrtir iva mūrtir yeṣām, the body that one is given is similar (iva) to that of Lord Vaikuṇṭha. Jīva Goswāmī wants to explain that one achieves bhagavat-tulyatvam at the stage of utkrānta-mukti (gone forth or out, gone over or beyond , passed , surpassed, trespassing , exceeding – Monier Williams) by quoting the Bhāgavata verse (3.15.14 vasanti yatra puruṣāḥ) there (utkrānta-mukti-daśāyāṁ tu teṣāṁ bhagavat-tulyatvam evāha). There is nothing like that that the spiritual body is created at some time. It is eternal. It is aprākṛta. The fact itself should make it clear that it can't be created. "

Advaitadās: "Thank you for that. The word kriyata is the key to the whole issue and as you said it can have any meaning. That makes it extra hard and intriguing. The word vartante means 'they stay there eternally' because it is in present tense and Jīva Gosvāmī said that present tense indicates eternity? And also your addition 'in an inactive state' is not clear to me from the mūla text. If we cannot come to a definite conclusion about the Prīti Sandarbha text, is there any other text in śāstra you could provide to prove your point that the siddha deha is not created?"

Kṛṣṇa Das: "As far as I know there is only the discussion in Prīti Sandarbha and the prayujyamāna-verse (SBhāgavata  1.6.28 or 29, according to edition) with commentaries that deal with the siddha deha. Apart from that there is a discussion about this issue in the 4th chapter of Vedanta-sūtras, where it is said that the liberated soul can exist with or without a body. It would be good to see commentaries of the ācāryas on the sūtras. I don't have them here now. If both meanings are possible one has to see the context. And I would say that the context rules out the interpretation that the body is created because in the previous sentence Jīva Gosvāmī says that mūrtayas tatra vartante. They are there and the Lord gives (kriyate) one such form to the devotee. This is a natural sequence. Otherwise one will have difficulty to explain why he says that the mūrtis are already there. Yes, vartante is in present tense; more precisely, it is something we would call present simple in English, and the tense mostly indicates that something happens or is always, ie. eternally. The verb vartante itself denotes existence. In addition, siddha-deha or spiritual body cannot be created because it is transcendental. We can say only about material things that they are created. The logic behind my phrase "in inactive state" is that we are limited by our language and our experience when we talk about transcendental things. These things are actually acintya but we need some explanation so we say that it is in an inactive state before one is awarded such a body. The verse from Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu (1.2.294-5) about siddha-deha does not mean that the body is created. My Guruji once told me that it descends into the mind of the devotee in a "shadow" form. It is eternal but makes itself manifest in the mind. The body has a beginning only from our material perspective."

Dīkṣā-paramparā

On Vilāsa-kuñja, Mādhavānanda Dās wrote an excellent article on the relativity of the dīkṣā-paramparā  Indeed, we in the first generation of Western Traditional Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism have over-emphasized it mainly because we were taught such over-emphasis by the senior Vaiṣṇavas we consulted at the time. At that time, in my zeal I hardly noticed that Sādhu Bābā did not really emphasize it all that much, though he did note that such a paramparā should be there. I found this entry in my Indian diary, December 1982:

"I try to incite Bābā to saying something about the value of an unbroken guru paramparā. Bābā reacts coolly. He does not seem to find it as important as I do, since I was educated in an institution without paramparā and just left that place half a year ago. After I insist several times he finally says: guru paramparā yadi ṭhik ṭhik nā thāke bhajane siddhi hobe na “If Guru-paramparā isn't exactly there you cannot have success in bhajan”.

I said it before and I will say it again - many devotees with an unbroken dīkṣā-paramparā, both Indian and Western, have fallen down and are falling down, so certainly taking dīkṣā in an unbroken paramparā is not a hocus-pocus-wave-the-magic-wand-and-u-r-instantly-siddha magic. It takes surrender to attain siddhi and nothing less than that. I also agree that those who insist that 'all-you-need-is-dīkṣā-paramparā' can be classified as kaniṣṭha adhikārīs - arcāyām eva haraye pūjāṁ yaḥ śraddhayehate....sa bhakta prākṛta smṛtaḥ (SB 11.2.47) Those who believe only in ritual (which dīkṣā basically is) worship of Hari are mundane devotees." So Sādhu Bābā said one should take dīkṣā,  Haribhakti Vilāsa and Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu say we should take dīkṣā, but there is obviously more to it than just that.

Concerning dīkṣā vs śikṣā-guru - one should recognise the dīkṣā-guru in the teachings of the śikṣā-guru and never worship the śikṣā-guru separately. Those who quote S.B. 11.9.31 to prove that one can have many gurus should read Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's comment on it:

"One must worship a single Guru who knows Me, as is said in the 3rd chapter of the 11th Canto: "Surrender to a Guru and ask him about the highest welfare." Even Śvetaketu and Bhṛgu did not take shelter of many Gurus. Surely the only worshipable Guru is the one who instructs in My mantra. One can, however, consult śikṣā-gurus to find out what is favorable and unfavorable to one's upāsanā. Hence only to strengthen one's knowledge this verse says that there are many śikṣā-gurus. Gentle people only take learned and wise men as śikṣā-gurus  There are many sages like Gautama who follow different opinions but I will only seek those teachers who are similar minded to me."

Link to Vilasakunja deleted 13-1-11, site went offline.

Transcript Nāṭaka

On request, here is a transcript of the new audio uploaded to www.madangopal.com (see linktab 'Sādhu Bābā audio there), in which Nirañjan Bābu and Sādhu Bābā read from his drama about Advaita Prabhu. The first 3 minutes describe how Sadāśiva petitioned Mahā-viṣṇu to save the helpless souls in the age of Kali (that made Them ultimately become Advaita Prabhu Together), the last 2 minutes describe a loving exchange between Advaita Prabhu and Haridās Thākur. The recording was not very clear and some words are not well audible, so the following translation is a rough sketch:


Niranjan Bābu, first minute:
“As the river of time rolled on, the age of Dwāpara came to an end. I dont know what is the plan of Fate now? I am very eager to know what will happen in the future. Who knows what will happen? There’s no need to worry or be unhappy. I saw Mahāviṣṇu reclining on the causal ocean while Sadāśiva was engrossed in meditation on its shore for 750 celestial years. Dressed in treebark, His head beautified by the crescent moon, terrifying snakes slithering around His armpits and flanked by His trident, He was meditating there with His head straight, worshipped by the Munis. How beautiful was the sight!”

Sādhu Bābā, next two minutes:
“The wheel of time cannot be stopped and is harsh. Nārāyan...Nārāyan... Who can stop the Great factor of Time? Wake up Lord, wake up! The age of Dwāpara has ended, King Kali is entering - he is very wicked and full of irreligion. All souls will have a bleak Fate now....(Sadāśiva) sits on the shore of the Causal Ocean in meditation, anticipating the arrival of King Kali. Your creation will be devoured by violence, vice and irreligion - what will be the remedy? Kali is merciless and hard as stone. What an awful fate...Your beautiful creation will be a abode of demons and will be filled with the pitiful cries of their innocent victims. There will be no more consolation of truthfulness in the three worlds. Anacaris (ill behaved people) will devour the world without thinking twice. How much can helpless and weak souls – men and women, their heads bowed down - tolerate this merciless thrashing? Will the clear light of virtue be polluted by the mud of sin? You promised (in Bhagavad Gītā 9.31) na me bhakta pranaśyati (“My devotee will never perish”)? Have you forgotten that, O Lord? That would be impossible for You. I am Sadāśiva – I will benefit helpless souls. I cannot tolerate Kali’s misbehaviour. You have the power of Mahāviṣṇu, I know. You wont break Your word. So rise, rise My Lord, O cause of the universe, O Paramātma of the Yogis! Give me the strength.... (Sādhu Bābā’s speech on this topic ends here on the tape..)

Then Niranjan Babu speaks for 1 minute on the relationship between Advaita Prabhu and Haridās Thākur, not well audible, but he basically describes how Haridās Thākur begs Advaita Prabhu for ruci for harināma japa and permission to seek a secluded place to relish harināma.

Sādhu Bābā, in the last 2 minutes, recites the rest of the dialogue:

“I am very happy to hear what you said. Whoever will do bhajan will speak like you. Unless you seek solitude you cannot do bhajan. Aha, are you so eager to enter solitude? Go then, I am very pleased. Its hard for me to bid you goodbye, but I know you must go.”
Haridās: “Dont touch me, Prabhu, dont touch me! I am a low and fallen Yavan.”
Advaita Prabhu: “If My caste is lost by touching you, then let it go, I dont care about that. I dont belong to any tradition, I am Sadāśiva. I have drunk the Kālakūt and Halāhala poisons (from the milk-ocean) and distributed nectar to the demigods – wouldnt I then be able to redeem even one human Yavan? And you are not a Yavan either, Haridās. You have attained the unstoppable japa of the holy name. Through you the glories of the holy name are revealed.....”
Haridās: “Prabhu, I have attained your blessing, the strength and your permission to accomplish my task – what more could I want?” (From here on the tape is quite inaudible. Hopefully in the future I will find out more)

108 gopī-beads?

I was wondering if there is any scriptural evidence for the widespread belief that the 108 beads of our japa-mālā represent 108 gopīs or 108 Upaniṣads. A Google search brought up many such claims, not only from Vaiṣṇavas but also from jñānīs, yogīs and academics, but none of them quoted any evidence. A scan of Haribhakti Vilāsa also brought up nothing. Is anybody able to quote any scriptural evidence?

11-13?

Today I received this message:

Sorry if I am not giving you additional but I think you are one of the authority on this topic. This question was posed on a forum today:

Radhe!!
Yesterday I had a talk with a nice devotee who is pretty familiar with (Ananta Das) Babaji Maharaja´s books. He told me hat he was very very disturbed about the fact that Krishna actually has sexual intercourse with many many gopis who are between 11 and 13 years and that He only thinks of this to whole day. He said that he is totally uncomfortable with believing in "this aspect" of his deity, since (his words) here in this world we go to jail for having intimate relationships with persons under the age of 18. And he said: "Don't come with the "all-is-transcendental"-argument...

Since I am totally in maya, I could not say anything. In fact, I was feeling uncomfortable too. Any help???


This is a very basic question. The answer is given nicely by A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmijī in his books - this is the exchange of the Supreme Lord with His internal transcendental pleasure potency, which externally looks like a sexual affair of teenagers. And I DO come with the 'its-all-transcendental' argument, because it IS. Another correction which is needed is: The gopis are not 11-13, mañjarīs are of that age, but sakhīs, with the exception of Anaṅga Mañjarī, are 14. Most girls in the west, regardless of the age of consent, are either coveting boys or are already engaged with them at the age of 14. Vedic culture has girls married at such a young age exactly for that reason. Our friend's friend has no idea of Vedic culture and no idea of Vaiṣṇava theology either, so it is better he takes shelter of a sat Guru who will show him the light before he starts reading the most intimate literature in connection with Kṛṣṇa. Without a proper foundation of siddhānta (philosophy) there can be no real understanding of rasa or līlā. Again, it makes me feel uncomfortable at publishing these intimate books....

Worship of the mālā

Today I found the following personal correspondence in my archives, that are really applicable to the recent japa discussions:

Advaitadas:
"On the one hand Bābā has tought us “It is forbidden to take one’s japa-mālā out on the road, to the market, to the bathing-places, to public gatherings, wearing shoes, talking to others or chewing betelnuts – it will be disrespectful to Śrī Harināma. In this way ruci for hari-nāma will never come, rather there will be an increase of ego and it will create a big offence at the lotus-feet of Śrī-Śrī Hari-nāma.”

Yet on the other hand Śrīman Mahāprabhu says in Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Antya 20) khāite śuite yathā tathā nāma loy, kāla deśa niyama nāi sarva-siddhi hoy – “Whether you are eating or reclining, wherever you take the name of Kṛṣṇa, regardless of time or place, you will attain all perfection.” How can we understand this apparent contradiction?” (Letter, October 4, 1996)

Niranjan Prasād Dās:
The verse khāite śuite yathā tathā nāma loy, kāla deśa niyama nāi sarva-siddhi hoy (C.C Ch.20) deals with Śrī Hari-nāma kīrtana, which is a public affair – anytime – anywhere – loudly or within oneself, but: japa on one’s mālā is a hidden thing, it must be done in solitude (nirjane, ekānta); it is the order of the scriptures, and above all, of Śrī Gurudeva. The scriptures (Haribhakti Vilāsa 17.58) say:

bhūta rākṣasa vetālāḥ siddha gandharva cāraṇāḥ

haranti prakaṭaṁ yasmāt tasmāt guptaṁ japet sudhīḥ

"The ghosts, Rākṣasas, Vetālās, Siddhas, Gandharvas and the cosmic wanderers take the (benefit of the) japa of the public chanter. Hence the wise must do japa in secret."

japānya-kāle mālāṁ tu pūjayitvā sugopayet –

In times other than japa-time one should worship the mālā and keep it hidden.” (Haribhakti Vilāsa 17.57) (Letter, December 4, 1996)

The discussion has been added to both the 'Art of Japa' and the 'Satsanga wth Niranjan Prasad Das' files under the linktab 'Opinions' on www.madangopal.com

Pramāda discussion

I recently had this e-mail discussion on inattentive practise, which I would like to share here:

Bhakta: “So far I know, there is in Śikṣāṣṭaka, nāmnām akāri bahudha... verse, which says of the nija sarva śakti invested in the holy name.”

Advaitadas: “That is true, but this does not mean it is devotional to think of other things while chanting. If you think of sex and you chant hare kṛṣṇa, it is obviously not pleasing to Kṛṣṇa. 100% attentiveness is hard for a beginner, but we should at least avoid circumstances ourselves that will cause or increase pramāda japa, like going out to the market or driving a car with our hand on a japa-mālā.

Bhakta: And it is well known that guṇa-rūpa-nāma are non-different from each other. So if we say of "pramāda japa", then it is worth mention the "pramāda līlā-smaraṇam", I think. Otherwise it comes one to think that līlā-smaraṇam is most powerful than nāma-smaraṇam.

Advaitadas: pramāda līlā smaraṇa is a contradiction in terms. When there is pramāda (inattentiveness) there can simply be no smaraṇa (remembrance) anymore. You can only think of one thing at a time, after all. Chanting with beads is a physical act, while the mind can be somewhere else. So there is a possibility of pramāda japa but not of pramāda smaraṇa.

Bhakta: “So far the beads are concerned, as I read in one recent post on your blog, then there is the method of counting on fingers, and I read that Mahāprabhu was counting nāma on his fingers, in that case there is no offence to the holy beads, so it can be outlined as a solution to that problem.”

Advaitadas: “Offenses to the holy beads occur when we bow to the ground to the deities or a sādhu while chanting japa – we hit the holy beads to the ground. Generally we are not to imitate Mahāprabhu. If we would use this argumentation we could also justify things like saffron sannyāsa with daṇḍas. Beads are described in the Hari-bhakti Vilāsa and are the regular tools for japa. I am not wholly against chanting on the fingers, though, provided there is a peaceful situation that allows concentration.”

The gist of the whole debate on japa has been uploaded to www.madangopal.com , linktab Articles, in a new file, "The Art of Japa".

Adjusting?

"Our process is to show Kṛṣṇa Consciousness as it is, not as others want to see it. By showing Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in this way, you are making the thing less important. It is not that we should change to accommodate the public, but that we should change the public to accommodate us."

Sripad A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmi, Bombay 28 December, 1971

This is a bold statement, which I applaud. It is very relevant in this day and age, where so many - especially western - devotees try to 'adjust' or 'modernise' Absolute Immutable Transcendence and make it "understandable/acceptable to 'intelligent' people (sic)."

"Kṛṣṇa is God - you are not." Is another bold statement of Swāmijī. You will have to adjust to Kṛṣṇa, He does not have to adjust to you. Why should He have to play Your game - does He owe you money or so?

Boring or inexhaustibly delicious?

Subal says in Jyotidham, 22 june 2006:

"Is the nitya leela an eternal repitition of the same day described in asta kala leela smarana books like the movie Groundhog Day? Sounds like it would get boring. I think an eternal leela would be eternally evolving."

Rev. Subal Das has been a devotee for about 14,000 days, so he must have chanted the maha-mantra some 14.000 x 1728 = 24,192,000 times, that is about 387 million names of Kṛṣṇa, yet he continues to chant hare kṛṣṇa and could continue to chant it trillions of times over. This is called transcendence or timelessness, as opposed to mundane ideas of evolution, exhaustion, time and space. The rūpa guṇa līlā of Śrī-Śrī-Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa (embodied by that hare kṛṣṇa mantra) is similarly inexhaustible, as we can find in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 1.1.19 -

vayaṁ tu na vitṛpyāma uttamaśloka vikrame
yacchṛṅvataṁ rasa-jñānam svādu svādu pade pade

"We for our part are never sated with the hearing of the pastimes of the Lord, who is praised with the best verses. They are delicious to hear at every step for the knowers of rasa."

Indeed, the fifth verse of that very Govinda Līlāmṛta reads:

"All glories to Śrī Govinda Līlāmṛta  the immortal nectar pastimes of Śrī Govinda, that defeats the nectar of the demigods, or the desire for liberation, constantly bestows a wonderful thirst to the ears, words and mind whenever it is drunk, that cures the disease of material life, yet produces delusions and blindness of loving intoxication, and gives inexhaustible relish, even if it is consumed again and again, nourishing even the body."

When Sādhu Bābā first gave me "Vilāpa Kusumāñjali" to read (a mere 104 verses, without purports) he told me each single verse could keep me mesmerized for eternity - "Dive deep into the ocean", he said, "you will find jewels on the bottom."

That is not to say that the Lila in the spiritual sky is necessarily static, indeed Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa can do as They please but even if They would always do the same thing, it will always be exciting, blissful and full of love.

Regrettably the link to Jyotidham is lost and no backup can be found of the original text by Subal there.

64 rounds

The problems with the hard and fast rule that devotees all have to chant 64 rounds are -

1. It is a huge bulk- often it becomes a drag to daily do such a mountain of sadhana, and when one gets upset with it that results in nāmāparādha (prīti rahita, having no love for the chanting).

2. The mind is fickle and is hard to concentrate for so many hours.

3. Humans are created in the mode of passion – rajasi pralayaṁ gatvā karma-saṅgiṣu jāyate (B.Gītā 14.15) karma-saṅgiṣu karmāsakta manuṣyeṣu (Viśvanātha ṭīkā) The body is passionate and restless and when one has such a huge quota to do one starts wandering around with one’s beads, combining japa with other things, thus making the offense of pramāda japa, inattentive chanting.

4. One may get into a mechanical daily routine (again the prīti rahita-aparādha)

5. Often one becomes proud of one's high quota of chanting, and
5.a. when pride comes in the whole sacrifice is lost or becomes little more than a pious activity.

6. One often simply lacks the ruci and thus the spiritual energy to chant 64 rounds.

7. Chanting one lakh of japa is completely impracticable for a busy householder or even for a sādhu who is busy serving the Guru, the deities, the Vaiṣṇavas or the cows in an āśram.

8. Quantity does not guarantee quality. It is not like karma yoga. Vallabhācārya teaches – na hi sādhana sampattyā hariḥ tuṣyati karmavat – ‘It is not a huge amount of sādhana that will please Hari, as if it is karma.’ bhaktānāṁ dainyam evaikaṁ hari-toṣana sādhana – ‘It is only the devotees’ humility that can satisfy Hari.’ This point is also made in Caitanya Caritāmṛta –

heno kṛṣṇa nāma yadi loy bahu bāra,
tabe yadi prema nohe nohe aśru-dhāra
tabe jāni aparādha tāhāte pracura;
kṛṣṇa nāma bīja tāte nā hoy aṅkura

“If one takes that Kṛṣṇa-nāma many times but there is no love and one sheds no tears, then I know that there is ample offence there, that blocks the sprouting of the seed of the Kṛṣṇa-nāma.”

Sādhu Bābā was not against chanting a high quota of japa, but he cautioned: mūla-kathā lakṣya bhraṣṭa hoiyā lakṣa nāme-o lakṣya pauñchāno jāy nā – “When one loses track of the essence one can chant 64 rounds but will still not attain that target.” With that he meant that one must continue to think of the mantra-devatā (Kṛṣṇa) while chanting the mantra, otherwise what is the use?

If one is able to sit down in peace and chant 64 rounds then that is great. Sādhu Bābā taught his followers:

japārthe śrī-śrī hari-nāmera mālā loiyā pathe ghāṭe hāṭe bājāre loka saṅgharṣe pādukā pāye, golpo juḍiyā tāmbūla carvaṇa korite korite colā niṣedha. tāhāte śrī śrī nāmera maryādā-hānī hoy nāme ruci to kasmin-kāle-o āse nā, baraṁ 'ahaṁ' abhimāna bṛddhi pāy evaṁ śrī-śrī nāmera caraṇe mahā aparādha ghaṭe –

“It is forbidden to take one’s japa-mālā out on the road, to the market, to the bathing-places, to public gatherings, wearing shoes, talking to others or chewing betel-nuts – it will be disrespectful to Śrī Harināma. In this way ruci for harināma will never come, rather there will be an increase of ego and it will create a big offence at the lotus-feet of Śrī Harināma.”

If one can still do 64 rounds, within such parameters, then what could be greater than that?

Leach?

A few days ago an anonymous person posted this remark on Audarya fellowship, addressed to Madhavananda Das:

"You, just like Jagat, Advaita, and Neal Demonic are all the same useless criticizers who can only leach off of Prabhupada's followers for support."

As far as I am concerned: I am sad at this perception of myself. I never grab people out of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami's goṣṭhi to drag them out of their faith, not even subtly or passively. Whoever was informed by me about conventional Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism approached me on his/her own accord with questions about Iskcon and/or Gaudiya Maṭh-controversies and I find it my duty to inform such sincere inquirers of the difference between the original Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava doctrine and theirs. I do not see myself as a competitor of A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmi or anyone for that matter. No one is forced to log onto my weblog, website or forums that I participate(d) in.

(The post has been removed now from Audarya, but it may be a good idea to keep my statement here anyway, as a matter of principle, to cover all such challenges in the past and the future)

No obsessions, no witchhunts

Mādhava, commenting on the last blog:

It is good that Advaitadas explains in his blog, especially to those who are searching for the path proper, the shortcomings in the theories of the likes of Subal, that the seekers would not dive into an ocean of acid, mistaking the bubbling phenomena for the waves of the prema-ocean. Of course being obsessed with such topics is unfavorable, but I am yet to see that happening in the Madangopal blog.

madangopal.com and madangopal.blogspot.com are guided by the teachings of Śrī-Śrī Sādhu Bābā and the 6 Gosvāmīs. In modern issues they will be guided, with the help of God, by common sense and clean conscience. They are not meant as an affront to any particular Vaiṣṇava camp and will be evenhanded, based on the above guidelines. Just now Subal happens to be the talk of the day, so more attention is given to him, but there will be no witch-hunt conducted on anyone here. When we differ in opinion from a major modern Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācārya this will be expressed in a polite, non-offensive manner, respecting the maryādā. Anyone who feels that the above statement of purpose is ever violated by me, should certainly and promptly remind me of that in the comments box. Rādhe Rādhe!

Other talks

Anonymous said...
Subal is pagal at best. I fail to understand why you draw attention to his absurd statements. Why don't you present Hari Katha instead of a topic like this? In the words of Srila Thakur Mahasaya:
Ana kathA nA bolibo, Ana kathA nA zunibo, sakali koribo paramArtha prArthanA koribo sadA, lAlasA abhISTa kathA, ihA vinA sakali anartha (PBC 101)
"I will not say or hear anything else, but I will live a completely spriritual life (devoted to Sri Krishna). I will always pray for this coveted topic, without which everything else is useless."

sudhA kaNikA vyAkhyA:"I constantly pray that I may always hanker for topics concerning my most beloved Sri-Sri Radha-Madhava, for anything other than those dearmost topics is simply harming my bhajan," For practitioners of raganuga bhajan, who are absorbed in lila rasa, anything other than topics of the beloved deity is a mishap.

Attention is given to this because many people are not so intelligent as your good self and may be misled by such people - I have seen it with other preachers of apasiddhānta - they take advantage of a huge amount of personal charisma to deviate people from the pure teachings of the Gosvāmīs. By the way, that same Narottama Dās Thākura Mahāśaya that you are quoting has filled that same Premabhakti Candrikā you are quoting with cautions and warnings against so many misconceptions and wrong practices, so that particular statement of his you are quoting has to be seen in context. With "other talks" he does not mean dismissing and refuting apasiddhāntas, since he has done that himself so often - and not only him, all śāstras are filled with such warnings and refutations - with "other talks" he means the Football Worldcup, the war in Iraq and what have you. These topics wont be discussed on madangopal.blogspot - that is a promise! Besides, thanks to this blogspot no one can accuse me of being a 'selfish bhajanānandī who only thinks of his own liberation'.

Tapo-bhūmi and bhoga-bhūmi

Osho: "In the East people have condemned the body, condemned matter, called matter 'illusory', maya--it does not really exist, it only appears to exist; it is made of the same stuff as dreams are made of. They denied the world, and that is the reason for the East remaining poor, sick, in starvation. Half of humanity has been accepting the inner world but denying the outer world. The other half of humanity has been accepting the material world and denying the inner world. Both are half, and no man who is half can be contented."You have to be whole: rich in the body, rich in science; rich in meditation, rich in consciousness. Only a whole person is a holy person, according to me."

Sādhu Bābā: "India's poverty is not the result of bad karma (the conduct and culture of India is far superior to that of westerners). It is a question of purpose: Here (in India) is tapo-bhūmi (a place meant for penance that leads to enlightenment) and over there (in the west) is bhoga-bhūmi (a place meant for enjoyment that leads to darkness)."

Sri Viśvanātha Cakravartī's comment on Srimad Bhāgavata 10.88.8 (the famous verse yasyāham anugṛhnāmi hariṣye tad dhanaṁ śanaiḥ, wherein Kṛṣṇa says that if He is truly kind upon His devotees he takes away their wealth so that his relatives will abandon him and he can truly dedicate his life to Him):

satyaṁ bhoḥ bhrātas tvaṁ na rasābhijño'si śrūyatāṁ yāminyāṁ satyām eva sūryodayaḥ śobhate grīṣme satyeva śītalāmbhaḥ sukhadaṁ śīte satyevoṣṇāmbhaḥ tamasyeva dīpaḥ śobhate na tu prakāśe. kṣuṭ-pīḍāyāṁ satyām evānnam ati svādu bhavati.

“Truly, brother, you don’t know anything about rasa! Only at (the end of the) night the sunrise is really beautiful, only in the hot summer coolness brings joy and only in the cold winter warmth gives joy. Only in darkness the lamp shines beautifully, not in the light, and only when one is hungry and thirsty, food and drink are relishable.”

(not from the above Sanskrit text, but another part of Viśvanātha’s 10.88.8 ṭīkā:)

“Because devotees are so dear to the Lord their suffering is never extreme. Karmic reactions are like being beaten by an enemy but the devotees’ suffering is like being beaten by the mother. One is like poison and the other like nectar. An affectionate father restricts his child’s play and sends him to school, that is his love, though the child may not appreciate it as such.”