vyavahārika kārpaṇya and a compromise with vegans

In Bhakti Sandarbha (173) Śrī Jīva Goswāmī speaks about the absence of vyavahārika kārpaṇya in a devotee, who has faith that Kṛṣṇa will take care of him. Some translate this vyavahārika kārpaṇya as ‘materialistic miserliness’ (meaning: he hesitates to spend his money because he is afraid that he will go broke and Kṛṣṇa will not provide more funds), and others translate it as ‘acting pitifully like a beggar, hoping that people will come and support him’. I think both meanings to these words apply.

After this, Śrī Jīva Goswāmī quotes Kṛṣṇa’s famous assurance in Bhagavad-Gītā (9.22) -

Ananyaś cintayanto māṁ ye janaḥ paryupāsate

Teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmyaham

‘Whoever thinks exclusively of Me and fully worships Me, to those who are eternally connected with Me, I provide what they lack and preserve what they have.”

About acting pitifully, I remember that in the early 1980s I used to send letters from India to my concerned mother about all the hardship and diseases I suffered there, subtly hoping she would send some financial aid, prompting a rebuke from my elder brother that I should not criticize the lifestyle of persons that I am subtly begging from. I told this to Sādhu Bābā, who said that my brother was right. Sādhu Bābā taught that one should not beg, flatter, pretend to be a saint or perform a pitiful theatre to attract donations, but that IF money was offered spontaneously and with love or affection, it could be accepted with both hands.

MĀNASI SEVĀ COMPROMISE TO VEGANS

In the weeks I suffered from stomach flu I had to offer feasts mentally – either partially or wholly – to Giridhāri because I was either unable to prepare them or to digest them physically. Sādhu Bābā gave permission for mental devotional service on the condition that it would not replace physical service out of laziness. It may be the way vegans can actually get their way. On the past festival days I was unable to either buy or digest milk, so I physically offered Giridhāri His abhiṣekha with water while mentally turning the water into milk, yoghurt and ghee. If vegans could at least mentally offer a dairy pancāmṛta abhiṣekha to the deities it could be an acceptable compromise……..

Logic, bed-bringing, pāraṇa-cheating and vinata

Too often scriptural evidence is dismissed or overruled by rational logic in important philosophical discussions, such as fall from perfection, dormant love, free will, eligibility for rāgānugā bhakti and caste-distinctions. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī writes in his commentary on Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.17: 

tasmāc chāstrārtha-viśvāsa eva śraddheti labdhe śraddhā-tāratamyena śraddhāvatāṁ tāratamyam āha—śāstra iti dvābhyām | nipuṇaḥ pravīṇaḥ | śarvatheti tattva-vicāreṇa sādhana-vicāreṇa puruṣārtha-vicāreṇa ca dṛḍha-niścaya ity arthaḥ | yuktiś cātra śāstrānugataiva jñeyā | yuktiś ca kevalā naiva [bha.ra.si. 1.1.45] yukteḥ svātantrya-niṣedhāt | śrutes tu śabda-mūlatvāt [ve.sū. 2.1.28] iti nyāyāt | pūrvāparānurodhena ko nv artho’bhimato bhavet | ity ādyam ūhanaṁ tarkaḥ śuṣka-tarkaṁ tu varjayet || iti vaiṣṇava-tantrāc ca | evam-bhūto yaḥ prauḍha-śraddhaḥ sa evottamo’dhikārīty arthaḥ ||17||

“Conviction in the contents of the scriptures is called śraddhā or faith.  According to the degree of faith in the scriptures, there will be classifications of persons possessing that faith. That is now the topic of discussion for two verses. Śāstre yuktau nipunaḥ means “conversant with scripture and logic.” This person developed firm conviction (dṛdḥa-niścayaḥ) through studying thoroughly the principles of philosophy (tattva), the sādhana, and the goal (puruṣārtha). That is the meaning of sarvathā (in all ways). Logic (yukte) should here be understood as logic following the statements of scripture, because independent logic is condemned in verse 1.1.45: one cannot understand bhakti by dry logic (yuktis tu kevalā naiva). This is also understood from the Vedānta-sūtras 2.1.27: śrutes tu śabda-mūlatvāt: The Lord can be understood only through the scriptures.”

pūrvāparānurodhena ko nv artho ’bhimato bhavet 

ity ādyam ūhanaṁ tarkaḥ śuṣka-tarkaṁ tu varjayet

“A meaning should be accepted with reference to what precedes and follows. Such reasoning is the logic to be used. Dry logic should be rejected."   
(Vaiṣṇava Tantra)

In other words, one should not quote texts out of context because that may be a distorted form of scriptural ‘evidence’.

A person who is qualified as above, and has deep faith, is the uttamādhikārī.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī s Tattva Sandarbha, 9 – 

athaivaṁ sūcitānāṁ śrī-kṛṣṇa-tad-vācya-vācakatā-lakṣaṇa-sambandha-tad-bhajana-lakṣaṇa-vidheya-saparyāyābhidheya-tat-prema-lakṣaṇa-prayojanākhyānām arthānāṁ nirṇayāya tāvat pramāṇaṁ nirṇīyate | tatra puruṣasya bhramādi-doṣa-catuṣṭaya-duṣṭatvāt sutarām alaukikācintya-svabhāva-vastu-sparśāyogyatvāc ca tat-pratyakṣādīny api sa-doṣāṇi ||9||

“Four topics were suggested in the previous anuccheda: Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the subject (viṣaya), the connection between Him and the words describing Him (sambandha), service to Him as the recommended process (abhidheya or vidheya), and pure love tor Him as the ultimate goal (prayojana). Now to understand these we should first determine the means of acquiring valid knowledge. Human beings are bound to have four defects: they are subject to delusion, they make mistakes, they tend to cheat, and they have imperfect senses. Thus their direct perception, inference, and so forth are deficient, especially since these means of acquiring knowing cannot help them gain access to the inconceivable spiritual reality.” [9]

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī s Tattva Sandarbha, 10 – 

tatas tāni na pramāṇānīty anādi-siddha-sarva-puruṣa-paramparāsu sarva-laukikālaukika-jñāna-nidānatvād aprākṛta-vacana-lakṣaṇo veda evāsmākaṁ sarvātīta-sarvāśraya-sarvācintyāścarya-svabhāvaṁ vastu vividiṣatāṁ pramāṇam ||10||

“Consequently, for us who are inquisitive about that which is beyond everything, yet the support of everything—which is most inconceivable and wondrous in nature—direct perception, inference, and so on are not suitable means of gaining knowledge. For this purpose the only suitable means is the Vedas, the transcendental words that are existing without beginning. They are the source of all mundane and spiritual knowledge and have been passed down in paramparā.” [10]

***************

BED-BRINGING IN RĀGĀNUGĀ SĀDHANA –

Bhakta – “We try to imbibe the bhāva of the mañjarīs. There is one thing which kind of "disturbs" my inner mood when worshipping my Giridhāri. I know that we pray to Him for rādhā dāsyam and all is fine...But the things is that bringing Him to bed feels weird ...like a bit vātsalya bhāva coming up...I am not quite comfortable with this "bed-bringing"...How to "deal" with this...any ideas/inspiration? I felt better without bringing my Giridhāri to bed...

Advaita Das: śāstra says āgaccha śayana sthānam priyayā saha keśava
“O Keśava! Come to bed with your priyaji! (Haribhakti Vilasa 11.40)
How can He love Priyāji if we don't put Him to bed?

Bhakta – Thanks. So in this mood...and we think the mālā is Rādhikā.”

Advaita Das : “Yes, the gunjā-mālā should go to bed with Giridhāri. Some versions of this verse say priyābhiḥ which means a plural number of sweethearts sleep with Him. In either way, the gunjā mālā should sleep with Giridhāri.

************

PĀRAṆA-CHEATING

Bhakta: “Can we not break the fast of Nṛsiṁha Caturdaśī or Janmāṣṭamī on the time the Lord appeared in India, instead of our local time?’

Advaitadās – “If you did that, you would not have to fast at all on the American west coast. Midnight in India is morning time of the same day on the American west coast. Full day fasting is our birthday present to the Lord. It is the attitude of dedication that counts.”

************

VINATA

Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā : vainateyaś ca pakṣinam - 'Of birds I am the son of Vinatā (Garuḍa).' 
Vinatā is the mother of Garuḍa, who the winged carrier of Viṣṇu. vinata means humility. nata means bowing down and vi means completely. The Bengali word binoy (vinaya) comes from it. It means that only humility can carry away the Lord.

Omniscience of Bhagavān and questions on Mahābhārata

On the Lord’s omniscience Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on Bhagavad-Gita 7.26:

kiṁ ca māyāyāḥ svāśraya-vyāmohakatvābhāvād bahiraṅgā māyā | antaraṅgā yoga-māyā ca mama jñānaṁ nāvṛṇotīty āha vedāham iti

(Kṛṣṇa says:) “But My own knowledge is not covered by external māyā or the internal yoga-māyā, since I cannot be bewildered by that to which I give shelter. I know everything.”

The oldest Vaiṣṇava commentator, Śrīdhar Swāmī, comments similarly:

māyāśrayatvān mama | tasyāḥ svāśraya-vyāmohakatvābhāvād iti prasiddham

‘I am the shelter of māyā, and it is celebrated that there is no illusion in the shelter of illusion.”

Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.87.41 seems to say that even Kṛṣṇa does not know His own limits - na yayur antam anantatayā tvam api. But this is the purport of Śrīdhar Swāmī to that part of that verse:

anantatayā antābhāvena na hi śaśa viṣāṇa jñānaṁ sārvajñaṁ tad aprāptir vā śakti vaibhavaṁ vihanti antatvam evāha -

“If one is ignorant of something that does not exist, like a rabbit’s horns, then that does not detract from his omniscience. And if one fails to find such a non-entity that does not limit his omnipotence.”
This shows what is meant with ‘He does not know His own limits.” Kṛṣṇa appears as Ananta Śeṣa, who has 1,000 heads that constantly glorify…...Himself. Yet they find no end to those glories. This is how the text na yayur antam anantatayā tvam api in 10.87.41 must be seen.

MAHĀBHĀRAT QUESTIONS -

Q – It is said that Karṇa was named so because he was born from Kunti’s ear, the word karṇa meaning ‘ear’.

Advaitadās – “Karṇa being born from Kunti’s ear is a part of the Indonesian version of Mahābhārata only. Karṇa was named so because he cut off his own cover or shield at the request of Indra, not because he was born from Kunti's ear. The story is in the Vana parva of the Mahābhārata, ch.305-306.”

Q – It is sometimes said that when Arjun did tapasya to attain the Paśupat-weapon he defeated Shiva.

Advaitadās – “It is clearly described in all detail in Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, chapters 39 and 163, that Śiva defeated Arjuna instead of the other way around.”

Finally, it is sometimes said that the Rājasūya-sacrifice was held after the Kuruksetra war while it was held long before, when Yudhisthira got Indraprastha.

The tenth offence for bhajanānandīs and goṣṭhyānandīs.

Though the subdivision among Vaiṣṇavas in bhajanānandīs and goṣṭhyānandīs is a recent invention and is not mentioned in any of the Goswāmīs books, Sanātana Goswāmī's ṭīkā to the 10th offence to the holy name gives an interesting description of how false pride about the chanting of the holy name is manifest among different types of devotees. The offence is mentioned in Haribhakti Vilāsa 11.524 -

ahaṁ mamādi paramo nāmni so’py aparādha kṛt ||524||

kiṁ ca, nāmny eva viṣaye yo’haṁ-mamādi-paramaḥ. ahaṁ bahutara-nāma-kīrtaka itas tato nāma-kīrtanaṁ ca mat-pravartitam eva, mayā samo nāma-kīrtana-paro’nyaḥ kaḥ. madīya-jihvādhīnam eva nāmety-ādikam eva paramaṁ pradhānam. nāma-kīrtanaṁ ca kadācit sidhyati na vā yasya tathā-bhūto yaḥ, so’pīti. ata evādiṣṭaṁ bhagavatā— tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā. amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ ||524||

"To think 'I' and 'mine' to be the greatest in connection with the holy name is the 10th offence to the holy name" - aham bahutara nāma kīrtaka 'I am chanting more' (than you). You may hear this while associating with 'bhajanānandīs'. They will approach you and ask you 'How many rounds are you chanting?' 

Not that it is any of their business anyway, and it is not out of personal interest that they ask, but to establish themselves as greater devotees. One "bhajanānandī" approached Sādhu Bābā and asked him: 'āpni koto lākho nām koren' ('How many times 64 rounds you chant each day?'). Sādhu Bābā replied: 'bābā āmi kichu bhajan-tajan korinā, āmi śudhu ghumāi o khāi' - "Bābā I am not doing any bhajan at all - I am just eating and sleeping".

Among 'bhajanānandīs' the hallmark is how many rounds you do, though the biggest chanters often have a pretty appalling track record of misconduct, showing that quality, and not quantity of chanting is needed. They also tend to show off their great quantity of sādhana by walking around on the market with their bead-bags, showing an impressive row of counting beads on the outside, indicating how many rounds they have already completed. 

If we read on, we recognize the ego of some 'gosthyānandīs' next - itas tato nāma-kīrtanaṁ ca mat-pravartitam eva, mayā samo nāma-kīrtana-paro’nyaḥ kaḥ "Only I am spreading the chanting of the holy name all over the world, who is equal to me in dedication to nāma kīrtan?" Sounds familiar? Often more unpleasant ego is added to that, like "You are just doing bhajan, and thinking only of your own liberation", which is a false accusation because bhajan is done for Kṛṣṇa's pleasure only - Vaiṣṇavas reject liberation outright, but even if it were true, it is not humble to claim to be soooo selfless to  be preaching instead of doing bhajan.

Next Sanātana Goswāmī writes madīya-jihvādhīnam eva nāmety-ādikam eva paramaṁ pradhānam. "My tongue is the greatest chanter of the holy name  ("Chanting is under the control of my tongue. I am chanting the holy name myself"). Though Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmīpāda said ataḥ śrī kṛṣṇa nāmādi na bhavet grāhyam indriyaiḥ; sevonmukhe he jihvādau svayam eva sphuratyadaḥ "Thus the holy name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is not manifest through the material senses, it is only manifest in the tongue and other senses of those who have a service attitude." (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234).

Sanātan Goswāmī concludes: nāma-kīrtanaṁ ca kadācit sidhyati na vā yasya tathā-bhūto yaḥ, so’pīti. ata evādiṣṭaṁ bhagavatā— tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā. amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ ||524||

"For such a person it even rarely happens that he does kīrtan. The Lord has instructed 'Lower than a blade of grass, tolerant as a tree, not wanting honour, giving all honour to others - this is how the holy name of Lord Hari should always be glorified."

Otherwise the holy name will not bestow its desired fruit.

Husbands, throwing prasāda and welcome to the machine

Returning to the issue of the mañjarīs having husbands – Govinda-līlāmṛta 2.57 says the sakhīs come sva gehāt, from their homes at early morning 6 a.m., after Rādhikā returned home from Vṛndāvana, while the next verse, 2.58, speaks of the mañjarīs being immediately ready for Swāminī’s devotional service, without mentioning them coming from any home. This shows that they are not married.

Question – I have seen many Iskcon-utsavas wherein pūjārīs throw mahā-prasādam from the altar to temple crowds. Do any śāstras say that prasadām can be thrown? Some may cite Gaurānga’s throwing coconut pulp to a Puri dog as pramān??

Advaitadas - Mahāprabhu threw the coconut pulp at the dog because dogs are untouchable, not because prasād can be thrown about. It is like throwing Kṛṣṇa’s deities around. See my blog ‘brahmins dogs’. In 1979, during the annual birthday extravaganza of Bhagavān Dās in France, there was a massive prasādam-fight, in which tons of prasād was thrown around. Bhagavān Dās was, rightly so, incensed about it. But it is not that prasād cannot be given from the altar at all. You see in many temples in India dona’s (leaf cups) or kulla’s (clay cups) of mahā-prasāda are politely and gently handed down to devotees in the temple, not thrown about.

Question – “Nowadays devotees use bread machines and so.”

Advaitadas – “That is very bad. The benefit of the devotional service goes to the machine. The idea of bhakti is to work hard to please Kṛṣṇa. Nowadays also you see Hindus going on Govardhan parikrama by car or flat-bed riksha. The benefit goes to on one of course. The drivers do it for money and the lazy fat passengers do some sight-seeing instead of getting the reward of the sacrifice of walking many miles. Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmīpāda says dhana śiṣyādibhir dvārair yo bhakti - If you pay someone for rendering devotional service or have it done by disciples then it is not bhakti. (Bhakti rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.259) Nanda Mahārāja personally milks a cow to feed milk to Kṛṣṇa and mother Yaśodā personally supervises the kitchen of Nandagrām where Kṛṣṇa’s meals are prepared. They don’t lay back in a board room like the managers of today’s devotional institutions and leave the ‘menial services’ to novices. The best machines we can use are airplanes to bring us to Vraja.”

Question – “Then what about internet? That is also a machine and you sit on that all day.”

Advaitadas - You must earn your reward in bhakti by giving and sacrificing. A devotee can work very hard for Kṛṣṇa on the internet - preaching, uploading kathā and kīrtan. It is the effort which counts, that is not the same as a bread machine because rotis can and must be made by hand. patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (Bhagavad-gītā 9.26). Kīrtans cannot be uploaded to the internet by hand. What’s next? A drone which does ārti while the pūjārī watches TV? In the 1970s there was someone in LA who would chant the rounds of busy gṛhasthas against payment. Will anyone benefit from that – employer or employee?”

Sat-guru, humor in pāṭha and atonement for breaking Ekādaśī

Bhakta – “By definition a casual śiṣya is a śiṣya who is not serious. But if he is not serious then can he be called a śiṣya at all? We often say “bona-fide Guru” but if he is not bona-fide then is he even a Guru at all? If we say “Supreme Personality of Godhead”, does it suggest that there is also a Lower Personality of Godhead? What I wish to ask is: are these adjectives used as help in our understanding or do they come from Sanskrit texts too? Somehow I think that Sanskrit verses speak only of Guru, śiṣya and Godhead…”

Advaitadās – “It is true that generally there are no adjectives to words like Guru, śiṣya and bhagavān in Sanskrit, though Kṛṣṇa is called bhagavān swayam in S.B. 1.3.28. We have to understand from the context of the story if Guru is sat (genuine) or not. Śukrācārya opposed Bali Mahārāja’s Viṣṇu-worship, yet he is called Guru. Thursday in India is guru-vāra, named after him. Rāmacandra Puri offended his Guru and is yet considered śiṣya. The Pāṇḍavas killed their own Guru in Kurukṣetra, but surely they were in a Guru-śiṣya relationship. Of course, these are not standard circumstances.”

Bhakta – “I remember that once you spoke about having pāṭha (spiritual devotional lectures), and you said that the pāṭhaka (lecturer) must be very serious in his speech and not make jokes about transcendental matters, as the assembled devotees are Vaiṣṇavas who come to seek the truth and are not a public who come to seek fun. “

Advaitadās – “I cannot remember that I said anything against humor during pāṭha. I heard great pāṭhaks crack a joke during pāṭha, but it should not become like a slapstick-show, with non-stop jokes either. Because then the audience will come only to have a good laugh and that is not good. One joke in a pāṭh is good, no more. We are not going to a funeral though, either.”

Bhakta - You said: “Evidence for the re-appearance of the Guru in his selfsame form is ‘janme janme prabhu se’, ‘Śrī Gurudeva is my master birth after birth’, in Narottam Ṭhākur’s famous Guru-song. Logic is found also in Bhagavad-Gītā 8.6.” Please help me to connect these two in this context. How are these two statements connected?”

Advaitadās – “The connection between Narottama’s statement and the Bhagavad-Gītā verse 8.6 is that if one constantly remembers Guru (sadā tad-bhāva bhāvita, Gītā) one will attain him in the next life (tam tam evaiti, or janme janme prabhu se), as you have contemplated his personal features.”

*

When one has broken Ekādaśī one cannot atone for it by fasting the next day or the day after. The pāpa puruṣa is only present in grains on the astrologically determined day of Ekādaśī. Lord Nārāyaṇa gave the pāpa puruṣa, man of sin, his residence in food grains on Ekādaśī alone -

śrī-bhagavān uvāca—

uttiṣṭha pāpapuruṣa tyaja śokaṁ mudaṁ kuru

ekādaśyāṁ tithau yatra tava sthānaṁ vadāmi te

The Lord spoke: "Rise O pāpa puruṣa! Give up your sorrow and rejoice! I am telling you that the lunar day of Ekādaśī will be your abode." (Padma Purāṇa, Kriyā kaṇḍa, 22.45).

         So fasting on another day is useless and will also not bring the pious or devotional result bestowed on Ekādaśī. There is also no provision in śāstra for such alternative days of fasting. In fact there is no atonement system at all in bhakti mārga, as harināma provides cira niṣkrtah, the complete atonement. Atonement is an item of karma mārga, wherein one has to take ice cold baths in the middle of the winter to expiate sins. Drinking tea on Ekādaśī does not break the vrata. Sādhu Bābā drank tea on Ekādaśī. It is a leaf, not a bean or grain.

Free will

FREE WILL – HOW MUCH OF IT WE REALLY HAVE?

I found this excellent essay about free will on my laptop, I cannot remember who wrote it, I will acknowledge him/her when I found out -

We have the innate ability to desire, but not the free will to carry out that desire. Bhakti is about purification of desire by the destruction of avidyā (ignorance) and ahaṅkāra. We don’t have the free will to choose what path we go down in anything we do or experience. People take birth after birth deluded by avidyā and ahankāra until their desire is purified. Their desire shapes their actions, not by their own free will, but by the will of Paramatma in deciding what the jīva needs to experience to become free from aversion to God’s control. Often karma is seen as a simple action-reaction; if you do bad you are punished. The reality is that karma is designed to purify the desire of the jīva. It’s not about vengeance; it’s about changing aversion to acceptance of God’s control. As for free will, we need to understand what that means — it’s the concept of being able to act independently of some other controlling factor. The śāstra is quite clear that free will is an illusion. We simply don’t possess the knowledge or the ability to think or act independently.

ajno jantur anīśo‘yam ātmanaḥ sukha-duḥkhayoḥ

īśvara-prerito gacchet svargaṁ vāśv abhram eva ca

“The ignorant living entity is not God – his happiness and distress are prompted by the Supreme Controller and so he goes either to heaven or hell.” (Mahābhārata 3.31.27)

eṣa eva sādhu-karma kārayati taṁ yamebhyo lokebhya unninīṣate. eṣa evāsādhu karma kārayati taṁ yam adho ninīyate (Kauśitaki Upaniṣad 3.8)

“The Lord makes whomsoever he wishes to lead up from these worlds do good deeds and makes him whom he wishes to lead down from these worlds do bad deeds.”

It is said in the Vedānta sūtra and Govinda Bhāṣya 2.1.34-35 -

vaiṣamya-nairghṛṇye na sāpekṣatvāt tathā hi darśayati

“There is no partiality and cruelty in the Lord, because the pleasure and pain suffered by the living beings, has regard to their karmas - that is shown thus by śāstra.” (2.1.34)

na karmāvibhāgād iti cen nānāditvāt

“(The theory of karma cannot explain the inequality and cruelty seen in this universe, because when the creation first started) there was no distinction (of souls and consequently) of karmas.” This (objection however) is not valid, because there is no beginning of karma and the mundane creation.” (2.1.35)

In his Govinda Bhāṣya commentary, Baladeva quotes Bhaviṣya Purāṇa –

puṇya pāpādikaṁ viṣṇuṁ kārayet pūrvakarmaṇā

anāditvāt karmaṇaś ca na virodhaḥ kathañcana

"Lord Viṣṇu causes the living entities to engage in pious and sinful acts according to their previous karma but there is no contradiction because karmas are beginningless."

The idea of having no free will, of there being a destiny set in stone that cannot be altered, for everyone and the world, seems so counter-intuitive only because we are ignorant on how we function. It’s not easy to come to terms with the reality of having no control, of there being a controller over everything you do and think, and of what everyone else does and thinks. When we’re ready, all the truths of God’s ontological presence and control in our lives is gradually revealed to us. Usually through religious philosophy, and ultimately through Vedanta.

mayādhyakṣena prakṛtiḥ  sūyate sa-carācaram

“prakṛti (matter) works under my supervision, O son of Kunti.” (Bhagavad Gītā 9.10)

prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi  kriyamānāni sarvaśaḥ

yah paśyati tathātmānam  akartāraṁ sa paśyati

“All activities taking place, in all respects, are performed by material nature. He who sees that the ātmā is not the doer, he sees.” (Bhagavad Gītā 13.30)

na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāni lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ

na karma-phala-saṁyogam svabhāvas tu pravartate

“The jīva is not the doer nor is the cause of actions, nor is he connected to the reactions from actions (not the controller, doing or doer), nevertheless they take place because of the nature of the jīva.” (Bhagavad-Gītā 5.14)

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravarti comments - nāpi tat-kartṛtvena karmāṇy api, na ca karma-phalair bhogaiḥ saṁyogam api, kintu jīvasya svabhāvo’nādy-avidyaiva pravartate.  taṁ jīvaṁ kartṛtvādy-abhimānam ārohayitum iti bhāvaḥ

“He does not make the jīva do activities nor does He give the jīva the results of his activities. Rather the nature of the jīva in the form of his beginningless ignorance alone produces this. That ignorance makes the jīva assume the false identification as the doer.”

The statement “yathecchasi tathā kuru” (“Whatever you like, you can do”) in Bhagavad-Gītā 18.63 does not indicate free will. The Lord has already told Arjuna to act according to his adhikāra and svabhāva, 3 verses earlier. Therefore, the statement means, he must understand his adhikāra and act according to that adhikāra. If he does not, he will suffer and that too has been pointed out in previous verses -

svabhāva-jena kaunteya  nibaddhah svena karmana

kartuṁ necchasi yan mohāt  kariṣyasy avaśo‘pi tat

“Out of illusion you do not wish to act, but due to your nature which binds you to your actions you will act helplessly anyway.” (Bhagavad-Gītā 18.60)

Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtanam  hṛd-dese‘rjuna tiṣṭhati

bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni  yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

“The supreme controller is in the heart of all beings Arjuna, prompting the movements of all living beings, who are mounted on the machine of his deluding potency.” (Bhagavad Gita 18.61)

Free will seems another Christian insertion into Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava philosophy so popular with western rationalists. There is anādi karma (Vedānta-sūtra 2.1.35) and there is no question of free will when there is anādi-karma. The entry into bhakti is not due to free will.

As to Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa's ṭīkā to Bhagavad Gītā 18.14, there is a difference between free will and agency or being the doer of things (kartṛtva). If being the doer is not there, scriptural statements will become meaningless. The will of the jīva is not beyond its svarūpa. This is said in Brahma-sutra 2.3.39.

kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate

puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate

“Material nature is said to be the cause of all material activities and phenomena, while the living entity is the cause of its happiness and distress.” (Bhagavad-Gītā 13.20)

The line puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate in this verse does not refer to free will, as the results of activities are prompted by Bhagavan or the jīvas’ svabhāva. Vedānta Sūtra 2.3.39 and 40 says -

parāt tu tacchruteḥ

“Activities of the living beings come from (are prompted by) the Supreme. The scriptures declare it so.”

kṛta prayatnāpekṣas tu vihita pratiṣiddha avaiyarthyādibhyaḥ

“The Lord makes the soul act and the results are accordingly, so that injunctions and prohibitions of the scriptures may not become meaningless.”

The jīvātma has kartṛtva (power to act), but that kartṛtva is granted by God only. It is limited kartṛtva. An object in darkness cannot get into the sunlight unless the sunlight falls on it. Free will is like the will to see. The eyes can see - that much capacity is there. But the eyes can see only that which is within its field of vision. If the eyes are in darkness, they can only see darkness. They cannot see light. Bhagavān prompts the jīva according to his svabhāva, karma, saṁskāras etc. The jīva always has the capacity to will, feel and act, but what he wills, feels and does is restricted by his own karma, svabhāva and the Lord's sanctions. By free will, one who is under bahiraṅgā-śakti cannot come under antaraṅga and vice-versa. His free will under bahiraṅga śakti is restricted to acting within bahiraṅgā śakti.

Sanātan Goswāmī says there is freedom for the siddhas in Vaikuṇṭha, but that is freedom compared to this material world - freedom from the bahiraṅgā śakti, but not freedom to leave/fall from Vaikuṇṭha. The jīva is then under the antarāṅgā-śakti and it will be impossible for him to fall. The mamatva (possessiveness) has changed from a dead body to parama-saccidānanda-vastu. It will be impossible for mamatva to change again. siddhi is siddhi - otherwise it is not siddhi - perfection.

Thank you! And next life’s Guru

Saying “Thank you” is not Vedic. There is no real word for it in Sanskrit. The word ‘dhanyavāda’ being used in modern India for ‘thank you’ is introduced to facilitate westerners only, but can’t be found used in śāstra. People who are related in love or friendship do not say ‘thank you’ to each other. It is showing a distant relationship only. Of course, we do express gratitude, as Uddhava Mahāśaya did in Śrīmad Bhāgavata (11.29.6) after Śrī Kṛṣṇa spoke the Uddhava-gīta to him –

naivopayanty apacitiṁ kavayas taveśa

brahmāyuṣāpi kṛtam ṛddha-mudaḥ smarantaḥ

yo ’ntar bahis tanu-bhṛtām aśubhaṁ vidhunvann

ācārya-caittya-vapuṣā sva-gatiṁ vyanakti

“O my Lord! Intelligent persons can not fully express their indebtedness to you, even if they were endowed with the lifetime of Brahmā, because on remembering what you have done for them, their joy increases even more: appearing externally as Guru and internally as Paramātma, you reveal the supreme destination to them.”

Bhakta – „Some say this verse and the song „Caksu dān dilo ye, janme janme prabhu se‘ means that guru-tattva appears in another form in the next life to a śiṣya who did not attain perfection yet.“

Advaitadas – „The words ‚ye‘ and ‚se‘ refer to an individual person, not that anyone else becomes the Guru in the next life. That happens to casual śiṣyas, not to loving śiṣyas. For loving śiṣyas Śrī Gurudeva will re-appear as exactly the same person. How can it be otherwise? Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (8.6) – yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvan tyajantyante kalevaram. „Whatever bhāva you contemplate, when you leave your body....“ You meditated on a Guru with a certain form, features and characteristics your whole life and as a result you will get another Guru in the next life? Sadā tad-bhāva bhāvita. „Due to always contemplating that sentiment“, tam tam evaiti, „You will surely attain that‘. For a devotee who abandoned bhakti-mārga there will be no bhakti-guru next life, for a casual śiṣya it may be anyone, for a loving śiṣya Gurudeva will reappear in his selfsame form and for a siddha śiṣya Gurudeva appears as guru-rūpa sakhī only. Nikuñja yūnoḥ rati-keli-siddhyaiḥ yā yālibhir yuktir apekṣanīya.

--------------

Ashamed of never having seen anything yet? These are words of hope (āśā-vāṇī) -

asphūrtitaḥ kathāto'pi śrīmad-vṛndāvane vasa

“Even if one has no divine revelations, one should still engage in Kṛṣṇa-kathā, living in Śrī Vṛndāvana." (Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta 8.42)

---------------

Lamenting about one's tapasya

Bragging about one's tapasya

Both will dim Hari's satisfaction with them.

bhāvollāsa, dakṣa, gītā bhūṣaṇa and dhoṭis

THE BHĀVOLLĀSA-ISSUE –

Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 2.5.128 -

api ca –

sañcārī syāt samona vā kṛṣṇa-ratyāḥ suhṛd-ratiḥ

adhikā puṣyamāṇā ced bhāvollāsā itīryate

Translation: Addenda: If the rati of the associates of Kṛṣṇa’s beloved directed to that beloved is equal or less than their rati directed to Kṛṣṇa, the rati directed to that beloved is called sañcāri, nourishing the rati towards Kṛṣṇa.  If the rati of the beloved’s associates directed to that beloved is greater than that directed to Kṛṣṇa, and is constantly increasing, though it is still a sañcāri-bhāva, it is called bhāvollāsa-rati.

bhāvollāsa is only about madhura rati, evaṁ madhurākhye rase tu (Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s ṭīkās, Bhānu Swami forgot to translate that in the purport to Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 2.5.128). It is exceptional, so if there is greater love for the suhṛd (sakhī) than for Kṛṣṇa that is at least rādhā snehādhikā sakhi prema or mañjari prema. It can be seen as a sthāyibhāva because it appears in the sthāyibhāva-chapter of Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu. Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s comment on Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 13.104, na tasyāḥ sañcāritvaṁ nāpi tasyāḥ sthāyitvam iti bhāvaḥ, “It is neither a sancāri-bhāva nor a sthāyibhāva“, means it is exceptional. Ānanda Gopāl Goswāmī ascribing it to manjarī bhāva alone is a matter of subjective loving vision.

WHO IS DAKṢA?

In no way the word dakṣa, or expert, which is one quality ascribed to the priya-bhakta by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-Gītā (12.16), means ‚a devotee is expert in everything‘, in the sense of expertise in cooking or playing musical instruments. How can any external skill make one dear to Kṛṣṇa? It would mean that any great secular musician or cook would then be dear to Kṛṣṇa too? Let us look at the ācāryas‘ commentaries - Śrīdhar Swāmī comments on this word that it means analasaḥ, he/she is not lazy, Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa says it means sva-śāstrārtha vimarśa samarthaḥ, expert in discussing and understanding śāstra, while Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī does not comment at all on this word.

SĀDHANA OUTSIDE THE DHĀMA -

Doing sādhana outside the dhāma is like swimming against the current – it is not impossible, but it is very hard. Doing sādhana in the dhāma is like sitting on a raft, putting it in the current and happily floating along with it.

GĪTĀ BHŪṢAṆA REVISITED -

In January, 2008 I blogged twice on Gītā-bhūṣaṇa, Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣana’s commentary on Bhagavad-Gītā. I overlooked some nice comments at that time, which I am adding here. 

In verse 11.8 Kṛṣṇa gives Arjuna divya-cakṣu, divine eyes, to see His universal form, though rasikas consider that form inferior to Kṛṣṇa’s human form. Baladeva offers this comment – “You cannot see Me with a thousand heads, a form shining like a thousand suns at once, by your eyes which are accustomed only to My sweetness. Therefore, I give you celestial, heavenly eyes.  As I would put oil on My body in entering a swiftly moving stream, so I anoint your eyes suitably. See My majestic form (yogam aiśvaram) with those eyes. Yoga means “that which makes the mind concentrate (yujyate).” It should be understood, however, that though Kṛṣṇa gave celestial eyes to Arjuna, He did not give him a celestial mind. If He gave that type of mind to Arjuna, Arjuna would take pleasure in that celestial form.”

11.33 – Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna that all warriors he faces have already been killed by Him in advance – “Warriors such as Bhīṣma who cannot be conquered by the devas, have been defeated by Arjuna with ease! Such will be your fame. They have already been killed by Me, at the time of their offending Draupadī.” Later Baladeva comments that this includes Bhīṣma because he did not protest against the assault on Draupadī after the dice-game in Hastināpura.

DHOTI IN ŚĀSTRA -

I have something to add also to my first blog on Vaiṣṇava-dress, of March 16, 2012, where someone supposed the word dhoti is not in any śāstra. The word appears in Govinda Līlāmṛta 14.37 – vibhrac chrī dhaṭikāñcalaṁ ca “During Holi, Kṛṣṇa carried a lump of fragrant powder in the hem of His dhoṭī.” The word used in the verse is dhaṭi, but is pronounced nowadays as dhoti.

Dormant svarūpa and the Vedic Planetarium

DORMANT SVARŪPA

Tarun Govinda gave this nice tip in his blog recently, about the dormant svarūpa of the jīva –

"In Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, verse 1.3.54, we can read how aparādhas (offenses) can lead to the degradation of one´s own acquired bhāva. So, if aparādhas can effectively CHANGE an inner bhāva, it certainly proves that the bhāva is NOT eternally inherent in the jīva or lying there “dormant” waiting to be awakened.

bhāvo ’py abhāvam āyāti kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāparādhataḥ

ābhāsatāṁ ca śanakair nyūna-jātīyatām api ||54||

"By an offense against the dearest devotee of the Lord, even real bhāva will be destroyed, if the offense is grave. If the offense is medium, the bhāva will turn to bhāvābhāsa. If the offense is slight, the bhāva will become an inferior type.“

Jīva Gosvāmī’s Commentary –

abhāvaṁ dvividhasyaivāparādhasyādhikyena. evam ābhāsatāṁ madhyamatvena nyūna-jātīyatām alpatvena tatra nyūna-jātīyatvaṁ vakṣyamāṇānāṁ śānty-ādi-pañca-vidhānāṁ raty-ādy-aṣṭa-vidhānāṁ ca tāratamyena jñeyam.

„By two types of grave offenses—offense to the dearest devotee, or to Kṛṣṇa Himself —even real bhāva is destroyed. By medium offense, bhāva becomes bhāvābhāsa. By slight offense, the bhāva degrades in category. Becoming an inferior type means that there will be degradation in term of the five rasas and the eight stages from mahā-bhāva to rati. Thus, change in bhāva will take place according to the seriousness of the offense.“

Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s Commentary –

kṛṣṇasya preṣṭhaḥ atiśaya-priyas tasminn aparādhataḥ. yathā raghunāthasya pārṣado’pi dvivida-nāmā vānaras tasya lakṣmaṇa-sthāne’parādhasyādhikyena bhāvo’bhāvaṁ prāptaḥ. aparādhasya madhyamatvenābhāsatvam. alpatve nyūna-jātīyatvam. tac cojjvala-ratimān dāsyaṁ, dāsyavān śānty-ādikaṁ prāpnoti.

„Bhāva will be destroyed by aparādha to the dearest devotees of Kṛṣṇa. An example is Dvivida the monkey, a follower of Rāma. By aparādha to Lakṣmaṇa, his bhāva disappeared. By medium aparādha, bhāva becomes bhāvābhāsa. If the aparādha is slight, the bhāva changes type. Madhura-rati becomes dāsya-rati. Dāsya-rati becomes śānta-rati.“

THE TEMPLE OF THE VEDIC PLANETARIUM

Is ISKCON’s ongoing project of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in Mayapura going to benefit anyone else but a few Bengali building contracters? Bengal is one of the poorest states in India – do the local Muslims in Mayapur really care what the Vedic universe looks like? Do the local Hindus not already know this for thousands of years? ISKCON is preaching that the material world is a hell that we should get out of as soon as possible, yet they squander millions of dollars on displaying that same hellish material world through this planetarium, a posh palace in one of the poorest areas in the world. Kapila-deva says –

viṣayān abhisandhāya yaśa aiśvaryam eva vā

arcādāv arcayed yo māṁ pṛthag-bhāvaḥ sa rājasaḥ

„Seeking sense objects, fame and fortune, the rājasik devotee worships Me with a separate agenda through arcā (deity worship, or posh temples) and other means.“ (Śrīmad Bhāgavata 3.29.9)

The cosmos consists of a bunch of rocks floating in outer space and is duḥkhālayam aśaśvatam, the Bhagavad Gītā teaches us, a temporary and miserable place full of janma mṛtyu jarā vyādhi – birth, death, old age and disease. If you get released from prison would you like to carry a photo with you of the cell you spent the last ten years in? Why not spend just a few lakhs on a nice temple in Mayapur with a display of Kṛṣṇa’s and/or Gaur-Nitāi’s pastimes and spend the balance of millions of Dollars on helping poor Vaiṣṇava-widows, sādhus or cows instead? Next to our ashram in Navadvīpa is the Bhajanashram, where poor widows do kirtan all day for a few paisa and a cup of daal. Whenever anyone wanted to give Sādhu Bābā a big donation he asked them ‚have they taken care of the poor women next door yet?‘ All this money could be spent on other important devotional services too like cleaning the Yamunā and saving the holy Vraja-dhāma from further destruction by greedy property developers by buying up land in Vraja for making gardens instead of skyscrapers with luxury apartments. Electricity could be provided to the whole of Vraja 24/7 for all this money. None of this is mundane piety – it is all Vaiṣṇava sevā.

Women sannyāsa, Baladeva on bhoga and sakhīs‘ viśrambha

WOMEN SANNYĀSA -

Bhakta – „What does your lineage think of women-sannyāsa?“

Advaitadās – Though he did not give or take sannyāsa, Sādhu Bābā did encourage not only his male but also his female followers to be single. With husband and children a woman has no chance to do any sādhana for many years. The prostitute who was converted by Haridās Thākur was the first female Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīnī, shaving her head and wearing a single white garment.“

Bhakta – „They say that brahmacāriṇī is not in śāstra.“

Advaitadās – That is not so. Please see Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Goswāmī’s ‚Muktā Carita‘, verses 429 and 467. 

As for sannyāsa in general, in our family we have only 2 āśrams – brahmacārī and gṛhastha. A brahmacārī has all the benefits of the sannyāsa āśrama – freedom to move and keeping all time and funds for oneself, and even if there is an accident there will be no completely destructive infamy that the sannyāsī suffers if he falls down. There are no privileges or superior prestige offered to brahmacārīs, so there is no risk of taking sannyāsa for all the wrong reasons either.

BALADEVA ON BHOGA -

In reference to my blog of May 4, 2010, Selfless bhakti, which rejects the idea of some fanatics that devotees (should) not enjoy anything, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa comments on Vedānta Sūtra 4.4.14 –

bhāve vigraha-sattve jāgradvad bhogaḥ. pūrva-pakṣas tu bhoktavyasya rasāder bhagavat-prasādatvena spṛhaṇīyatvād eva na yuktaḥ. tṛptasyāpi harer bhaktecchayā bhogecchādayaḥ. muktasya tu tat-prasāde bhogye bhaktyaiva spṛhādaya iti bodhyam

“The word "bhāve" here means, "When there is a body". When there is a body the pleasure is like that in the waking state. Our opponent claims that the liberated soul does not desire to enjoy the delicious tastes and other pleasures mercifully offered to him by the Supreme Lord. Though the Lord is self-satisfied, he desires to enjoy by the desire of the devotee. The liberated soul, desiring to render devotional service, certainly does desire to enjoy the pleasures that the Lord in His kindness offers. He does this out of love for the Lord. In this way it should be understood.”

This explains the verse in Śrīmad Bhāgavata (3.15.17) describing the residents of Vaikuṇṭha flying in their airplanes with their lovely wives –

vaimānikāḥ sa-lalanāś caritāni śaśvad

gāyanti yatra śamala-kṣapaṇāni bhartuḥ

antar-jale’nuvikasan-madhu-mādhavīnāṁ

gandhena khaṇḍita-dhiyo’py anilaṁ kṣipantaḥ

"Flying their planes with their spouses and entering the water, the devotees constantly sing the glories of the lord which are devoid of all faults, while criticizing the wind, since it distracts their minds with its perfume of Mādhavī-blossoms filled with honey."

Part of the Commentary by Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda -

vaimānikā svara-viśeṣodbhāvanārthaṁ vimānād avatīrya sarovarasyāntarjale kaṇṭha-magna-jale ity arthaḥ. yad vā, taṭa-vartinīnām eva jala-saṁlagna-vṛkṣa-śākhām āruhya tāḥ sva-patrādibhir ācchādayantīnām antar-jala eva vikasantīnāṁ madhu-yukta-mādhavīnāṁ gandhena khaṇḍitāḥ bhagavac-caritāsvādanaikatānatve savighnīkṛtā dhīr yeṣāṁ tathā-bhūtā api gāyanty eva, na tu gānād viramantīty arthaḥ - 

"These devotees descend from their airplanes in order to produce special notes in their singing.  They sing while immersed in the lakes up to their throats.  Or, placing their consorts on the trees on the bank of the water, they cover them with leaves, and then have them enter the water. Their attention fixed only on the describing the Lord they may be disturbed by the fragrance of the blossoming Mādhavī-flowers filled with honey, but they continue to sing.  They do not give up singing."  


VIŚRAMBHA – THE TRUE NATURE OF SAKHĪ-BHĀVA

The relationship between Rādhā and her suhṛd / aṣṭasakhīs is one of viśrambha, total trust. There is no jealousy or rivalry at all. Like the Pāṇḍavas - they were not jealous of each other at all, though they shared one wife among the five of them. An example of Rādhā’s affection for a friend is given in Ujjvala-Nīlamaṇi (13.104):

sakhyāṁ sva-sneho, yathā—

śaila-mūrdhni hariṇā viharantī roma-kuḍmala-karmabita-mūrtiḥ

rādhikā salalitaṁ lalitāyāḥ paśya mārṣṭi lulitālakam āsyam

„One day on mount Govardhana, Śrī Rūpa Manjarī observed Śrī Rādhikā displaying extreme affection to Lalitā during the course of her dalliances with Kṛṣṇa. She said to one of Lalitā’s friends in praise of her great fortune: “O friend, just see how Rādhikā is cleaning the perspiration and rearranging the hair from Lalitā’s face even though she is simultaneously sporting with Kṛṣṇa.”

As many Kṛṣṇas as there are devotees, and tattoo-tattva.

As a reaction to my last blog one revered Vaiṣṇava asked me the following questions –

“This is a most intriguing point, where you said there is one paravyoma for every liberated soul. Could you please answer these questions to give more insight to this wonderful totally personalized view of spiritual reality? Could you provide several śāstra-references substantiating this point?”

Advaitadās – 

a. Please see Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta 2.5.52 -

yathā hi bhagavān ekaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇo bahu-mūrtibhiḥ

bahu-sthāneṣu varteta tathā tat-sevakā vayam

yathā—as; hi—certainly; bhagavān—the Supreme Lord; ekaḥ —one; śrī-kṛṣṇaḥ—Śrī Kṛṣṇa; bahu—with many; mūrtibhiḥ— forms; bahu—in many; sthāneṣu—places; varteta—can be present; tathā—so; tat-sevakāḥ—His servants; vayam—we.

“Just as the one Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa exists in many forms and many places, so also do we, His servants.”

b. Ānanda Gopāl Goswāmi often says in his commentaries to Vilāpa Kusumānjali that there are no sakhīs around while the manjarīs render their services. Tulsī Manjarī does all services alone, though they are sometimes ascribed to sakhīs in other granthas like Govinda Līlāmṛta and Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Gaṇoddeśa Dīpikā.

c. Kṛṣṇa is called  ananta-rūpa in Brahma Samhitā 5.35 – He has innumerable forms, not just one.

d. yukti, common sense, also dictates that it is not possible for innumerable liberated souls to serve just one Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.

Vaiṣṇava - If both Guru and disciple get liberated does this mean they will be in two different spiritual realms, alone with Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and the sakhīs and mañjarīs?

Advaitadās – “No. Vilāpa Kusumānjali 55 and 72 show Rūpa Manjarī and Tulasī Manjarī serving together. Whenever required, devotees will gather for service, and wherever required they'll serve alone.”

Vaiṣṇava - You once said something like each Guru, and his predecessor gurus/manjarīs, and his disciples are all members of one group serving Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa together in their own kunja with their yūtheśvarī (gopī-group leader) in their own spiritual realm. Is this correct? Where is this told? Please offer us any knowledge and śāstras you can to help us understand this amazing revelation about the spiritual reality. 

Advaitadās – Please see Dhyānacandra's Paddhati, text 87 -

sarva-laksana-sampanna bhāva-hāvādi-bhūṣitā

guru-prasāda-jananī guru-rūpā-priyānugā

gāndharvikā-sva-yūtha-sthā lalitādi-gaṇānvitā

“She has all pleasant characteristics and is adorned with feminine gestures that excite feelings of love. She is born from the mercy of her Guru, and she always follows her guru-rūpā-sakhī. She remains in Śrī Rādhā’s own party (yūtha) in the company of Lalitā’s group (gaṇa).”

Another Bhakta – „Is it not offensive to have tattoos of the Lord or His emblems? After all we pass stool with these images on our bodies.“

Advaita Das – „We pass stool with our Tulsi-neckbeads and tilak on too.“

Bhakta – „Yes, I know, but tattoos can be avoided.“

Advaita Das – „Yes I agree. I think tattoos are really low class, especially for women. It is not a Vaiṣṇava habit. We have brand-marks of śankha and cakra only. We are not sailors.“

Rādhe-rādhe dessert, more tripāda vibhuti, madhura rasa paribhāṣā, innumerable namesakes.

Rādhe rādhe-dessert –

Bhakta – „In the light of all the glorification of rādhā-nāma in the Goswāmīs‘ books, why don‘t Vaiṣṇavas do  rādhe rādhe kīrtan all the time?“

Advaitadas – „In most Vaiṣṇava groups rādhe rādhe kīrtan is usually done at the end of a regular harinām kīrtan. It is like a dessert after a meal. We eat roti-rice-daal and afterwards we get a small dessert like a rasagolla or a cup of sweet-rice. rādhe rādhe kīrtan is like that too – a precious dessert.“

Tripāda vibhūti revisited -

Neither the material world, nor the spiritual world can be measured in terms of space. The word tripāda vibhūti does not mean that the spiritual world is thrice as big as the material world. It means it has three qualities while the material world has only one quality, namely death. The three qualities of the spiritual world are - amṛta, immortality or nectar, kṣema, welfare, and abhaya, fearlessness. This is clearly stated in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 2.6.18 - 

pādeṣu sarva-bhūtāni puṁsaḥ sthiti-pado viduḥ

amṛtaṁ kṣemam abhayaṁ tri-mūrdhno’dhāyi mūrdhasu

In his Bhagavad Sandarbha (67), Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī says that death is the only one quality that makes the material world eka pada vibhuti - tad evam amartyam aiśvaryaṁ tri-pāt, martyam eka-pāt iti tasya catuṣpād-aiśvaryaṁ.

The madhura rasa paribhāṣā -

Bhakta – In Caitanya Caritāmṛta Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says cāri bhāva diyā nācāimu bhuvana – „I have come here to make the world dance in four bhāvas“ (dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and madhura). How is it then that most Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas claim that He came only to bestow manjarī bhāva?“

Advaitadās – This verse comes long after the anarpita-verse (Caitanya Caritāmṛta Adi 1.4), which is part of its maṅgalācaraṇa or auspicious invocation and which is also the paribhāṣā (bottom line) of the entire Caitanya Caritāmṛta, as the verse kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam is the paribhāṣā of Śrīmad Bhāgavata (1.3.28), overruling all subsequent contradicting statements. Here is the anarpita-verse in full -

anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau

samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam

hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ

sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śacī-nandanaḥ

"May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the rasa of amorous love."

Innumerable namesakes -

Bhakta – „How do I visualize my place in the Yogapīṭha (ritual diagram of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and Their eternal associates)?“

Advaitadās – The Yogapīṭha is not an army, that you identify all day with your batalion and stand on appeal all day for roll-call, just as you don‘t think all day ‚ I’m American‘ or ‚ I’m Bengali‘. Not every devotee has to get a unique name from Guru. What if he has 10,000 disciples? Millions of people are named John Brown, too. Most manjarīs are named Rati or Guṇa Manjarī, there’s innumerable ones. There’s a paravyoma for each liberated soul, where she may be the only manjarī. Similarly sādhaka-names are mostly the same. As I speak there are at least 5 Advaita-dāsas in Rādhākund alone. Mahāprabhu had so many Raghunāthas – so He named them according to caste – Vaidya, Bhaṭṭa and Dāsa. These upādhis (social designations) are used just for practical distinction.

The tatastha-‘region’

Dāmodar Das

The conception that the jīvas are from a taṭastha-region and choose between the spiritual and material world is false?”

Advaitadās

“This is nowhere in śāstra and makes no sense.”

Dāmodar Das

“They quote

jīvera svarūpa hoy kṛṣṇera nitya dāsa;

kṛṣṇera taṭastha śakti bhedābheda prakāśa.”

Advaitadās

“Where is a taṭastha REGION? South of Vladivostok? It says taṭastha ŚAKTI, not REGION. śakti means an ontological value,  not a location, like east of Amsterdam. What does the verse say?

jīvera svarūpa hoy kṛṣṇera nitya dāsa;

kṛṣṇera taṭastha śakti bhedābheda prakāśa –

“The true form of the spirit soul is being an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. He is Kṛṣṇa’s marginal energy, being both different and non-different from Him.”

Where is it mentioned it is a region or he made a choice?  Where is this mentioned anywhere else? In the six Sandarbhas? Śrīmad Bhāgavata? Bhagavad Gītā? Caitanya Caritāmṛta? Caitanya Caritāmṛta also says the jīva is anādi bahirmukha, disinclined towards Kṛṣṇa from beginningless time. How they explain the word ‘anādi' in the very same book?”

Dāmodar Das

“Do you have Bṛhad Āranyaka Upaniṣad? They say that text 4.3.9 there proves their theory. They translate it as: "The jīva has 2 places: the material region and the cit-region. And there is another place, a border-region called tatastha, which forms the contact of the material and spiritual regions. Being in that region, the jīva sees these both places.”

Advaitadās

That text is about consciousness, not about the jīva -

tasya vā etasya puruṣasya dve eva sthāne bhavataḥ: idaṁ ca para-loka-sthānaṁ ca; sandhyaṁ tṛtīyaṁ svapna-sthānam; tasmin sandhye sthāne tiṣṭhann, ubhe sthāne paśyati, idaṁ ca para-loka-sthānaṁ ca atha yathākramo’yaṁ para-lokasthāne bhavati, tam ākramam ākramya, ubhayān pāpmana ānandāṁś ca paśyati. sa yatra prasvapiti, asya lokasya sarvāvato mātrām apādāya, svayaṁ vihatya, svayaṁ nirmāya, svena bhāsā, svena jyotiṣā prasvapiti; atrāyam puruṣaḥ svayaṁ-jyotir bhavati.

“There are two states for that person, one here in this world, one in the other world, and a third in an intermediate state, the dream-place. When in that intermediate state, he sees both those states together, the one here in this world, and the other in the other world. Now whatever his admission to the other world may be, having gained that admission, he sees both the evils and the blessings. And wherever he dreams, then after having taken away with him the material from the whole world, destroying and building it up again, he dreams by his own light. In that state the person is self-illuminated.”

Otherwise the Upaniṣads would contradict Śruti and Vedānta, which unanimously say that ignorance and karma are beginningless.  These verses are speaking about the position of ātma in different states of existence i.e. waking, dream and birth and death. You can see this from the context. It is a dialogue between Janaka and Yajñavalkya. The king asks about ātma in 4.3.7. Yajñavalkya is explaining how ātma is different from all the modifications of the mind experienced in the waking and dream state: “He, remaining the same, wanders along the two worlds, as if thinking, as if moving. During sleep (in dream) he transcends this world and all the forms of death.” In 4.3.8 he explains about the transmigration of the ātma – “On being born that person, assuming his body, becomes united with all evils; when he departs and dies, he leaves all evils behind.” In 4.3.9 he combines what he said in 4.3.7 and 4.3.8. There is no talk of any spiritual world. Paraloka refers to next body or birth. In 4.3.18, another text they quote to prove the tatastha region-point, even the word svapna-sthāna, ‘dream-place’, is stated explicitly, “As a fish swims between two banks, the ātma experiences the waking and dream states.”

tad yathā mahā matsya ubhe kule' nusancārati pūrvaṁ ca paraṁ caivam

evāyam puruṣa etav ubhāv antav anusancārati svapnāntam ca buddhāntam ca

(Fall-vādī translation:) “Just as a large fish living in the river wanders from one bank to the other, so the jīva is of similar quality, and is equipped to wander in the Kāraṇa waters between the material and spiritual worlds (svapnānta and buddhānta).” Bṛhad-Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.3.18

Here again are the words svapnāntam, dreaming state and buddhāntam, wakeful state of consciousness. Where is there any mentioning of the Kārana ocean? It does not fit in the context at all. That whole section of the Upaniṣad, texts 8-18, is all about consciousness.“