Śrī Haridās Śāstrijī passed away
at the high age of 95. He was according to Sādhu Bābā the greatest scholar of
Braja. I had his blessed darśan several times between 1982 and 1988, when I purchased
some of his Hindi translations of the Goswāmīs’ granthas. Via his śiṣya Śrī Satya-Nārāyan
Paṇḍitjī and several friends of mine, who studied under him, I learned many
important siddhāntas, particularly on jīva tattva.
The following are his teachings
which impressed me most -
1. During pūjā all mantras
should be pronounced in the mind,
also idam puṣpam etc., since śāstra forbids speaking during arcanā - saliva may
come out.
2. The whole siddha mahātmā-culture
is wrong – saints are called siddha
out of hearsay or respect, but there's a definition to that too in Bhakti Rasāmṛta
Sindhu - avijñātākhila kleśa - he's free from the 5 kleśas – rāga (attachment) dveṣa (repulsion) abhiniveśa (material absorption) asmitā (bodily consciousness) and avidyā (ignorance). He has such
qualities naturally. All their activities are for Kṛṣṇa's pleasure - its not
just miracles that make the siddha - santata kṛṣṇaṁ saukhyam sādhya parāyaṇa.
3. There is no need for pañca tattva mantra before hare
kṛṣṇa mantra – Mahāprabhu said nāmnāmakāri
bahudhā nija sarva śaktis - the holy name has all energies. Just avoid the 10
nāmāparādhas.
4. One should not sit in a yogic āsana
when one is in distress.
Patanjali says: sthiraṁ sukham āsanaṁ
5.
Q: “This-and-this Guru says this-and-that, so he is totally bogus isn’t he?’
A:
Don’t put me in the situation that I have to criticize this or that person. I
will just tell you the truth and you will automatically understand which Guru
is right or wrong in which point. In this way Vaiṣṇava aparādha is avoided.
6.
Q: Why the Goswāmīs have samādhis when their bodies are anyway transcendental?
A:
The samādhis are meant to get bhakti from. If you serve them and respect them
they will grant bhakti.
7.
gājar (carrots) produce uṣṇa vṛtti (hot
effect) – it heats the body like garlic, in aphrodisiac manner.
8. One cannot live without society altogether - although society is just a network of
individuals who ultimately only care for themselves.
9.
Question: Mahāprabhu gave prema to whomever he embraced but Kṛṣṇa’s enemies like
Duryodhan never got prema.
Answer:
‘Those whom Mahāprabhu embraced were His own eternal associates. They already
had prema. He acted like in a drama, choosing his own actors. The demons were
also chosen by Kṛṣṇa, to act as actors, showing how one should not act.
10. While Prahlāda said in the 7th canto modeta sādhur api vṛścika
sarpa hatya ("Even the saints rejoice at the killing of a snake or a scorpion"), at the same time in the 12th canto Janamejaya was
condemned for killing all snakes to punish them for just one snake biting his
father Parīkṣit. The point being that one should only kill harmful creatures in
self defense. The snake that killed Parīkṣit was only Śṛṅgī’s instrument. A
great general who has killed many enemies in combat is worshipped when he comes
home but if he kills just one person for his own private benefit he is hanged.
Garuda eats snakes and snakes also provide a bed for Nārāyan. It is Garuda’s
natural food – jīvo jīvasya jīvanam (1st canto)
11.
Sanātan Goswāmīpād walked every day from Vṛndāvan to Govardhan, did parikramā there and then returned on
foot to Vṛndāvan. At the same time he served Madanmohan in the temple and wrote
all these books by hand. Not a leisure life.
12.
Descriptions of Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu coming down from far away to give His darśan to His
bhaktas, like Dhruva and Nārada, are given to encourage the bhaktas, like ‘Oh He
comes from so far away just to show Himself to me’, but actually the Lord never
goes anywhere. (His form does not exist in terms of time and space – tad
ātmānam sṛjāmyahaṁ)
13.
If one argues that for a westerner it is impossible to get Kṛṣṇa because of the
unfavorable environment then look at Prahlāda – he was the son of a demon, lived
in the house of a demon and went to a demon’s school and he was the most
excellent bhakta still.
14. śabda Brahma is that which
indicates the Lord. The word has the power to show the meaning and lead you to
the object. So all other languages are called prakrit used by common people who
are not educated in Sanskrit. These are all the shadows of the Sanskrit
language only, because that is the original language.
15.
Question - is it aparādha to pronounce
the holy names improperly?
Answer
- The mother responds to the child’s call although the child cannot pronounce
her name properly either.
16.
Laukika śraddhā means putting faith
in society. Society is created to fulfill common needs for eating, drinking,
sleep etc. - if you put faith in society, Kṛṣṇa says, you will never attain Me
but you will have to stay here.
17.
tasmāt bhāgavatān dharmān śikṣet
gurvātma daivata - it is imperative to learn Vaiṣṇavism after dīkṣā. 11.3.49.
18.
It is necessary to mention one’s Guru
while preaching because one must show authorization from authentic superiors,
that you are not talking out of the blue. All ācāryas have mentioned their Gurus in the beginning of their books.
It is also ungrateful not to mention Guru.
19.
dharma means that by which we are
protected, dharana.
20.
The mother is the first Guru because she gives you her first consciousness.
21.
The five Pāṇḍavas marrrying one girl is not vyabhicāra
(debauchery) – it was praiseworthy because they blindly obeyed the order of
their mother to share whatever they had won. Everyone accepted this marriage
with 5 men.
22.
ānukūlya – when people use
this word, it’s only for activities where you are supporting, actual ānukūlya
is something different and it’s very difficult to see that. Indeed, there is a lot of difference between
sahayoga (assistance) and ānukūlya. In sahayoga you support the other person in
whichever way you can. But you maintain your difference with the other person.
Out of compassion you want to share the burden of the person, but you have your
own identity, life and goals. In ānukūlya you are engaged in sevā. There is a tendency
to please and this happens only by being connected. You don’t maintain any
independent ego based on the body. You do only that pleases the master. In
order to please him the independent identity should be completely washed out. In
this there is no cheating - that is having something for the master and
something for your self. In sahayoga there is. Since you are interested only in
supporting the master in a limited way you have a lot for yourself too. ānukūlya
happens according to the injunction and follows the taste of the master. You
always try to please the master through your activity. bhajan
itself cannot be done 24h/day, kirtan
and japa all have a beginning and an end, but anukūlatā or favorableness can be
done 24 h/day.
