Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Sītānāth's Utsav 2008 - Sādhu Bābā's āshram
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The advent of Śrī Advaita Ācārya, 2008
THE ADVENT OF ŚRĪ ADVAITA ĀCĀRYA -
From 'Adwaita Prakāśa'
Once, at the end of the night, Lābhā Ṭhākurāṇī had a wonderful dream in which she saw a form of Harihara (a joint form of Viṣṇu and Śiva) in the lotus flower of her heart. All directions were illuminated by the radiance that emanated from His body. He performed hari saṅkīrtana with a sweet voice — dancing and weeping with raised arms, he was unaware of the external world. He roared out hare kṛṣṇa so loudly that Yamarāja, the son of the sun (who punishes the sinners) came to Him and beheld His sweet form of Hara and Hari combined, which was as attractive as Hara-Gaurī (Śiva-Pārvatī). His captivating bodily luster defeated the splendour of millions of suns— who is able to describe such a form? Goosebumps erupted on His body as He sang the hare kṛṣṇa-names and tears flowed from His eyes like the current of the Gaṅgā. His body swayed of pure loving ecstasy and sometimes He increased the waves of prema by dancing.
Seeing this amazing form, the son of the sun offered prostrated obeisances and offered many kinds of indescribable praises. Folding his hands he sweetly spoke: "Listen, O Lord, this is the dark age of Kali— it is a matter of amazement that You will descend in this time and age. When they simply see You, the sinners will be saved and I will have no jurisdiction anymore. Therefore, my Lord, please be gone and thus solve the dilemma of this Your servant."
Hearing this plea, the Lord smiled slightly and told Yama: "O Dharmarāja! Be at ease— you are mistaking. Don't you care about the deep suffering of the sinners? Wise sādhus are suffering when others are suffering. If you say: 'All living entities must suffer the reactions to their activities— who has the power to sever the bondage of karma?', then I'll tell you: Covered by māyā or illusion, they do not know what is for their own welfare— they consider trifle external sensual happiness to be beneficial. A person attached to mundane (family-) life is like a sick man that suffers only more when he takes some bogus medicine. Especially the people of the Kali age are very wayward— they wallow in forest-fires of deep miseries. When My mind sees the intolerable suffering of the conditioned souls I cannot remain calm and I took the following resolve: This mahā mantra destroys all bondage to fruitive activities and generates pure loving devotion to Kṛṣṇa. By teaching the conditioned souls this transcendental harināma I will redeem and empower the sinners. For this reason I will now take birth. The sādhus will instead sing: "Blessed is the age of Kali!"
And I have another firm resolve: "I will surely cause the Original Personality of Godhead, Mahāprabhu, to descend, along with His eternal associates. This country will be inundated by a tidal wave of pure love of God. However, your jurisdiction will not be lost, for the blasphemers and atheists will not be saved." Hearing this, Yamarāja went to his own abode. After having this dream, Lābhā woke up and told her husband about her wonderful dream. When Kuvera Paṇḍita heard about the dream he was amazed.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Disneyland in tapobhūmi
I had some more thoughts on the culture-gap case Lila:
Vaiṣṇava missions in the west (perhaps due to competition) lower the threshold for admission and create a new layer of congregational grass-roots members, much like the caste Goswāmīs do in India. That is okay, but there is a big cultural difference. The new congregational/householder/grassroots devotees should not start selecting tapo-bhūmi (field of penance) Vraja as a holiday-destination for themselves and their rock 'n rolling teens. I saw in Raman Reti ('little Beverly Hills' or 'Disneyland in tapobhūmi') western teens roaring around on motorcycles, with earrings, bluejeans and mp3 players (most likely not playing kīrtan on the headphones), while Śrīman Mahāprabhu said sarva tyaji jīvera kartavya kāhā vāsa? "Where does a person who has given up everything reside?" To which Rāmānanda Rāya replied: vṛndāvana vraja-bhūmi yāhā līlā rāsa "In Vṛndāvana, Vraja-bhūmi, where the Rāsa-līlā took place". The founders of the big preaching missions in the west were themselves very cautious in allowing their disciples to live in Vraja, even in the austere 1970s, when the threshold of admission was much higher, let alone now.
Vaiṣṇava missions in the west (perhaps due to competition) lower the threshold for admission and create a new layer of congregational grass-roots members, much like the caste Goswāmīs do in India. That is okay, but there is a big cultural difference. The new congregational/householder/grassroots devotees should not start selecting tapo-bhūmi (field of penance) Vraja as a holiday-destination for themselves and their rock 'n rolling teens. I saw in Raman Reti ('little Beverly Hills' or 'Disneyland in tapobhūmi') western teens roaring around on motorcycles, with earrings, bluejeans and mp3 players (most likely not playing kīrtan on the headphones), while Śrīman Mahāprabhu said sarva tyaji jīvera kartavya kāhā vāsa? "Where does a person who has given up everything reside?" To which Rāmānanda Rāya replied: vṛndāvana vraja-bhūmi yāhā līlā rāsa "In Vṛndāvana, Vraja-bhūmi, where the Rāsa-līlā took place". The founders of the big preaching missions in the west were themselves very cautious in allowing their disciples to live in Vraja, even in the austere 1970s, when the threshold of admission was much higher, let alone now.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Līlā
I wish to make a brief comment on the recent killing of 17-year old Lila Salter from Australia in Vṛndāvana. I do not know her or her family and this is not a judgement of them. They have my heartfelt condolences and sympathy in this time of grief. Nothing justifies her senseless killing. I want to say in general, though, that western girls and women are often ill-prepared when they come to India as Vaiṣṇava converts. It is said that Lila went around uncovered and approached Indian men directly, trying to promote her Guru's books, as this is being done in the west. Indian morale has it, however, that even public women do not approach unrelated men in a direct manner. Surely her intentions were lofty, but it shows that westerners have a lot to learn about matters like modesty, though they often do have higher spiritual knowledge than many born Hindus or even Vaiṣṇavas. The solution lies in a combination of segregation and education. Western women need to be educated in modesty and Indian men need to be taught that western women's open attitudes doesn't make them prostitutes, though western women should first learn modesty. It's their (the Indian men's) country, after all! Segregation helps avoiding disaster scenarios like this. Sādhu Bābā told me personally that Indians marrying westerners would be a cross-cultural disaster, and it usually is. One doesn't become Indian, let alone brahmin, simply by putting on Indian robes. If westerners who are new to India can learn a lesson from this, Lila's tragic death will not have been in vain.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Thawing more...
3 february 2008
Today's Ekādaśī and to break out of the daily drag I decide not to cook at noon but to go on bike-parikramā of Girrāja instead. Internet connections prove to be better at noon too, I discover on the way. Though its both sunday (a day off in Delhi) and Ekādaśī (a puṇya tithi) it's not too crowded around Girrāja. I haven't been all around the mount for maybe a year, and its sad to see huge bungalow parks have been built at both Anyor (Vasundhara) and Jātipurā. Much of the building is being done by the Tirtha Vikas Trust from Delhi. Their role is somewhat ambiguous - on the one hand they do good work - by supporting Sudevi's goshalla, building a fence around Girrāja to protect it against tresspassers and building sitting places all around the parikramā - but they are also responsible for a lot of the unnecessary building, at the expense of Girrāja's natural beauty. Girrāja remains a magical place, still. Even a bike parikramā with Nike shoes on gives a celestial outcome in the mind.
4 february 2008
Another nice iṣṭagoṣṭhī with Dhanurdhara Swāmi (I spoke with him earlier in Vṛndāvana, last year). He asks me to speak on the kuṇḍa līlā for 5 minutes (it is 11 a.m, when Rādhā Kṛṣṇa meet at the Kund), and it becomes 15 minutes instead. I explain that Puṣpa-cayan līlā takes place at Rādhākund, not at Kusum Sarovara - They already left Kusum Sarovar in chapter 7 of Govinda Līlāmṛta and Puṣpa-cayan līlā is in chapter 9. They wouldn't go back to Kusum Sarovar after already arriving at Rādhākuṇḍa. Swāmijī asks where it is taking place at Rādhākund. I say Kṛṣṇa is not a machine - there are plenty of places for flower-gardens still in between the 8 sakhīs' kuñjas. I remind Swāmijī we sit with our backs to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's prasādam-hall at the Padma Mandir.
Swāmijī tells me of the last days of his Godbrother Swarūp Dāmodara Swāmī, who passed away absorbed in the mood of the sakhīs. It is written on his samādhi in Rādhākund's Gopāl Mandir.
In the afternoon I walk to Mukherāi, the village of Śrī Rādhikā's grandmother Mukharā. Unlike Vṛndāvana and Rādhākuṇḍa, this village has barely changed in the 20-odd years I haven't seen it - straw huts, heaps of cow-dung paddies and fields full of mustard flowers. Only the Bājanī Śilā (resounding stone) has moved from an open courtyard into a temple building, called Giridhareśvara.
Picked up from a Bhagavat Saptāha by Vaiṣṇava Pada Dasji -
4th canto - Earth is called Pṛthivī because she is the daughter of Pṛthu Mahārāja.
Kāla-kanyā, the daughter of time, is Jarā, a female word indicating old age.
The black man churned from the thighs of Vena is not an African negro, but a Niṣāda, a tribal Indian.
Arci committed Sati for Pṛthu (as Mādrī did for Paṇḍu)
Canto 6 - antare vairāgya bāhya koro loka vyavahāra is meant for gṛhasthas, not for tyāgīs. For tyāgīs the motto is "dress like a renunciant and act like a renunciant".
A materially qualified non devotee is like a naked man wearing a beautiful turban (vastra-hīna alaṅkāra) - looking ridiculous.
Today's Ekādaśī and to break out of the daily drag I decide not to cook at noon but to go on bike-parikramā of Girrāja instead. Internet connections prove to be better at noon too, I discover on the way. Though its both sunday (a day off in Delhi) and Ekādaśī (a puṇya tithi) it's not too crowded around Girrāja. I haven't been all around the mount for maybe a year, and its sad to see huge bungalow parks have been built at both Anyor (Vasundhara) and Jātipurā. Much of the building is being done by the Tirtha Vikas Trust from Delhi. Their role is somewhat ambiguous - on the one hand they do good work - by supporting Sudevi's goshalla, building a fence around Girrāja to protect it against tresspassers and building sitting places all around the parikramā - but they are also responsible for a lot of the unnecessary building, at the expense of Girrāja's natural beauty. Girrāja remains a magical place, still. Even a bike parikramā with Nike shoes on gives a celestial outcome in the mind.
4 february 2008
Another nice iṣṭagoṣṭhī with Dhanurdhara Swāmi (I spoke with him earlier in Vṛndāvana, last year). He asks me to speak on the kuṇḍa līlā for 5 minutes (it is 11 a.m, when Rādhā Kṛṣṇa meet at the Kund), and it becomes 15 minutes instead. I explain that Puṣpa-cayan līlā takes place at Rādhākund, not at Kusum Sarovara - They already left Kusum Sarovar in chapter 7 of Govinda Līlāmṛta and Puṣpa-cayan līlā is in chapter 9. They wouldn't go back to Kusum Sarovar after already arriving at Rādhākuṇḍa. Swāmijī asks where it is taking place at Rādhākund. I say Kṛṣṇa is not a machine - there are plenty of places for flower-gardens still in between the 8 sakhīs' kuñjas. I remind Swāmijī we sit with our backs to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's prasādam-hall at the Padma Mandir.
Swāmijī tells me of the last days of his Godbrother Swarūp Dāmodara Swāmī, who passed away absorbed in the mood of the sakhīs. It is written on his samādhi in Rādhākund's Gopāl Mandir.
In the afternoon I walk to Mukherāi, the village of Śrī Rādhikā's grandmother Mukharā. Unlike Vṛndāvana and Rādhākuṇḍa, this village has barely changed in the 20-odd years I haven't seen it - straw huts, heaps of cow-dung paddies and fields full of mustard flowers. Only the Bājanī Śilā (resounding stone) has moved from an open courtyard into a temple building, called Giridhareśvara.
Picked up from a Bhagavat Saptāha by Vaiṣṇava Pada Dasji -
4th canto - Earth is called Pṛthivī because she is the daughter of Pṛthu Mahārāja.
Kāla-kanyā, the daughter of time, is Jarā, a female word indicating old age.
The black man churned from the thighs of Vena is not an African negro, but a Niṣāda, a tribal Indian.
Arci committed Sati for Pṛthu (as Mādrī did for Paṇḍu)
Canto 6 - antare vairāgya bāhya koro loka vyavahāra is meant for gṛhasthas, not for tyāgīs. For tyāgīs the motto is "dress like a renunciant and act like a renunciant".
A materially qualified non devotee is like a naked man wearing a beautiful turban (vastra-hīna alaṅkāra) - looking ridiculous.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Personal attacks, God-given intelligence, Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi, sad dhiya
I still have a number of interesting notes I made on often not-published comments in my notebook.
December 2007 -PERSONAL ATTACKS are useless. They will not change the issues, moral or philosophical, we discuss, at all. Mistakes made by me years ago do not disqualify me from preaching for the rest of my life.
Advaitadas: 'You know, we did not fall from the spiritual world.'
Critic: "But someone told me that he heard from someone that you looked at a girl in 1971".
Advaitadas: "You know, you need not be a pure devotee to do raganuga bhakti".
Critic: "Yes, but someone told me that he heard from someone that you smoked a cigarette in1969."
Advaitadas: I confess, I did both of these things back then. Now -
1. If I sin, I will be responsible.
2. If I tell others not to sin, and they sin, they are responsible.
3. If I encourage sin, and others follow, I am responsible for that.
GOD GIVEN INTELLIGENCE-
(Reply to non-published anon comment on the misogyny issue: 'Advaitadas, apply your God-given intelligence to the acaryas' commentaries' - 22 December 2007)
AD: "Do Rupa and Sanatan not already have God-given intelligence? Rūpa Goswāmī himself declared hṛdi yasya preranayā... vande caitanya-devasya (BRS 1.1.2) "Caitanya deva inspired me within the heart" and Mahāprabhu told Sanātan Goswāmī (CC Madhya 24) yabe likhibā kṛṣṇa sphurabe tomāy - "When you write Kṛṣṇa will reveal it to you." God also gave us intelligence to create atom bombs, heroin and pedophile websites. You erred (bhrama) when you said you took me to task, not the śāstras. śāstras and their comments, however, contain no error (bhrama pramāda vipralipsa karaṇāpaṭava), so how can we trust you know it better than them? Isn't yours laukika śraddhā instead of śāstrīya śraddhā? God gave us intelligence to understand śāstra via the principle of bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakaṁ dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ (B.G. 10.10), "If you perform loving bhajan I give you the divine intelligence", not to squeeze a new, self-serving purport from it, or try to reconcile it with TV-talk show-opinions. Furthermore, Jīva Goswāmī says that of śabda (śāstra), anumāna (mental assumption) and pratyakṣa (sense perception) only śabda is reliable."
THAWING
The worst of the winter in Vraja is over. Give me 1,000 winters in Vraja for 1 summer -in the winter there is at least the shelter of blankets and clothes against the cold, but in summer there is no shelter from the heat whatsoever.
RĀDHĀ RASA SUDHĀNIDHI
Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi is a masterpiece, rich with sweet rasa and prema, but I always found it a pity that it nowhere mentions Rādhākuṇḍa, only Vṛndāvan. Actually, however, Bengali devotees, Sādhu Bābā included, habitually call all of Vraja ' Vṛndāvan' - so Rādhākund is included there. Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi consists of verses of glorification - it does not provide material for contiguous līlā smaraṇam, but all of the verses are extremely fit for guṇa smaraṇa, nāma-smaraṇa and mañjarī sevā smaraṇa. The fact that Prabodhānanda Saraswatīpāda's mañjarī swarūpa is not known is not a problem, because the mañjarī swarūpa of Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī is also disputed, and the authorship anyway doesn't matter that much. It is for our own mañjarī-inspiration that we read these books. Śrīla Ānanda Gopāl Goswāmī said about this that if a mango is sweet, who cares who planted it and where the orchard is.
SAD DHIYA
Those who think that just living in Vraja will bestow prema, no matter how, on the base of Rupa Goswami's yatra svalpo'pi sambandha sad-dhiyam bhāva janmane (BRS, "Even the slightest relationship with the 5 chief items of bhakti, of which living in Vraja is one, bestows bhāva in the sad-dhiya") should know that Jīva Goswāmī and Viśvanāth Cakravartī comment 'sad-dhiyaṁ niraparādha cittānām' - 'sad dhiya means those who are not offensive."
December 2007 -PERSONAL ATTACKS are useless. They will not change the issues, moral or philosophical, we discuss, at all. Mistakes made by me years ago do not disqualify me from preaching for the rest of my life.
Advaitadas: 'You know, we did not fall from the spiritual world.'
Critic: "But someone told me that he heard from someone that you looked at a girl in 1971".
Advaitadas: "You know, you need not be a pure devotee to do raganuga bhakti".
Critic: "Yes, but someone told me that he heard from someone that you smoked a cigarette in1969."
Advaitadas: I confess, I did both of these things back then. Now -
1. If I sin, I will be responsible.
2. If I tell others not to sin, and they sin, they are responsible.
3. If I encourage sin, and others follow, I am responsible for that.
GOD GIVEN INTELLIGENCE-
(Reply to non-published anon comment on the misogyny issue: 'Advaitadas, apply your God-given intelligence to the acaryas' commentaries' - 22 December 2007)
AD: "Do Rupa and Sanatan not already have God-given intelligence? Rūpa Goswāmī himself declared hṛdi yasya preranayā... vande caitanya-devasya (BRS 1.1.2) "Caitanya deva inspired me within the heart" and Mahāprabhu told Sanātan Goswāmī (CC Madhya 24) yabe likhibā kṛṣṇa sphurabe tomāy - "When you write Kṛṣṇa will reveal it to you." God also gave us intelligence to create atom bombs, heroin and pedophile websites. You erred (bhrama) when you said you took me to task, not the śāstras. śāstras and their comments, however, contain no error (bhrama pramāda vipralipsa karaṇāpaṭava), so how can we trust you know it better than them? Isn't yours laukika śraddhā instead of śāstrīya śraddhā? God gave us intelligence to understand śāstra via the principle of bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakaṁ dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ (B.G. 10.10), "If you perform loving bhajan I give you the divine intelligence", not to squeeze a new, self-serving purport from it, or try to reconcile it with TV-talk show-opinions. Furthermore, Jīva Goswāmī says that of śabda (śāstra), anumāna (mental assumption) and pratyakṣa (sense perception) only śabda is reliable."
THAWING
The worst of the winter in Vraja is over. Give me 1,000 winters in Vraja for 1 summer -in the winter there is at least the shelter of blankets and clothes against the cold, but in summer there is no shelter from the heat whatsoever.
RĀDHĀ RASA SUDHĀNIDHI
Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi is a masterpiece, rich with sweet rasa and prema, but I always found it a pity that it nowhere mentions Rādhākuṇḍa, only Vṛndāvan. Actually, however, Bengali devotees, Sādhu Bābā included, habitually call all of Vraja ' Vṛndāvan' - so Rādhākund is included there. Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi consists of verses of glorification - it does not provide material for contiguous līlā smaraṇam, but all of the verses are extremely fit for guṇa smaraṇa, nāma-smaraṇa and mañjarī sevā smaraṇa. The fact that Prabodhānanda Saraswatīpāda's mañjarī swarūpa is not known is not a problem, because the mañjarī swarūpa of Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī is also disputed, and the authorship anyway doesn't matter that much. It is for our own mañjarī-inspiration that we read these books. Śrīla Ānanda Gopāl Goswāmī said about this that if a mango is sweet, who cares who planted it and where the orchard is.
SAD DHIYA
Those who think that just living in Vraja will bestow prema, no matter how, on the base of Rupa Goswami's yatra svalpo'pi sambandha sad-dhiyam bhāva janmane (BRS, "Even the slightest relationship with the 5 chief items of bhakti, of which living in Vraja is one, bestows bhāva in the sad-dhiya") should know that Jīva Goswāmī and Viśvanāth Cakravartī comment 'sad-dhiyaṁ niraparādha cittānām' - 'sad dhiya means those who are not offensive."
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Almighty vs. the Inquisition
For making eyes at another man, Reṇukā was killed by her son Paraśurām, to teach complete obedience to the Guru (ājñāṁ gurūnāṁ hyavicāranīya, Raghu-vaṁśa, quoted in CC Madhya 10). Reṇukā was later revived, after the order to kill her was carried out and Paraśurām passed the test of surrender (SB 9.16.2-8).
Rāma abandoned Sītā to teach complete chastity of the wife. To set the standard and to avoid creating a precedent it was done without compromise, as Śrīman Mahāprabhu later did with Chota Haridās, too. Both Sītā and Haridās were innocent in prakat līlā and are the Lord's eternal associates in the nitya līlā. In other words, Sītā-devī is inseparably Rāma's hlādini śakti and Her 'abandonment' was a mere līlā for Them and a lesson for us. One should not have a mundane view of the transcendent Lord - kartum akartum anyathāpi kartum samartha sa eva īśvaraḥ - 'He who can do or not do as He pleases or even do otherwise - that alone is Īśvara'. naitat samacārejjātu manasāpi hyanīśvaraḥ (SB 10.33.30) "Not even within one's mind one should imitate the Īśvara".
Perhaps Rām cut off Śūrpānakhā's nose to show the resolve of the monogamous man (eka-patnī-vrata).
Interestingly, līlā puruṣottama Kṛṣṇa enjoyed pūrva-bhukta ramaṇīs (women previously enjoyed by others) like the gopīs and the 16,000 captives of Bhaumāsura.
Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda comments, by the way, that only the gopīs who attained spiritual bodies not stained by other men's enjoyment,were able to reach Him in the Rāsa-dance (S.D. 10.29.11) and that the 16,000 queens were expansions of the gopīs (Kārtik Māhātmya, quoted in SD 10.59.43). But maryādā puruṣottama Rāma rejected Sītā after She was kidnapped. (Asked for by Sītā, Agnideva made a false Sītā who was kidnapped by Rāvana. Sītā entered Agniloka and the māyā-Sītā entered the fire during the fire-proof - Kūrma Purāṇa, CC Madhya 9,210,211)
Speaking of Rāma, in Tulsīdāsa's Rāmāyan it is said that drums and women sound better if regularly beaten, but this is not OUR scripture. Our scripture is the Bhāgavata (śāstraṁ bhāgavataṁ pramāṇam amalam....śrī caitanya mahāprabhor matam idam) and the Bhāgavata says women should not be beaten (praharanti na vai strīṣu).
Having said all this - bhakti means that the Lord tells us what to do, not that we tell Him what He can and cannot do. The Almighty will not subject Himself to today's Inquisitions of Political Correctness.
Rāma abandoned Sītā to teach complete chastity of the wife. To set the standard and to avoid creating a precedent it was done without compromise, as Śrīman Mahāprabhu later did with Chota Haridās, too. Both Sītā and Haridās were innocent in prakat līlā and are the Lord's eternal associates in the nitya līlā. In other words, Sītā-devī is inseparably Rāma's hlādini śakti and Her 'abandonment' was a mere līlā for Them and a lesson for us. One should not have a mundane view of the transcendent Lord - kartum akartum anyathāpi kartum samartha sa eva īśvaraḥ - 'He who can do or not do as He pleases or even do otherwise - that alone is Īśvara'. naitat samacārejjātu manasāpi hyanīśvaraḥ (SB 10.33.30) "Not even within one's mind one should imitate the Īśvara".
Perhaps Rām cut off Śūrpānakhā's nose to show the resolve of the monogamous man (eka-patnī-vrata).
Interestingly, līlā puruṣottama Kṛṣṇa enjoyed pūrva-bhukta ramaṇīs (women previously enjoyed by others) like the gopīs and the 16,000 captives of Bhaumāsura.
Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda comments, by the way, that only the gopīs who attained spiritual bodies not stained by other men's enjoyment,were able to reach Him in the Rāsa-dance (S.D. 10.29.11) and that the 16,000 queens were expansions of the gopīs (Kārtik Māhātmya, quoted in SD 10.59.43). But maryādā puruṣottama Rāma rejected Sītā after She was kidnapped. (Asked for by Sītā, Agnideva made a false Sītā who was kidnapped by Rāvana. Sītā entered Agniloka and the māyā-Sītā entered the fire during the fire-proof - Kūrma Purāṇa, CC Madhya 9,210,211)
Speaking of Rāma, in Tulsīdāsa's Rāmāyan it is said that drums and women sound better if regularly beaten, but this is not OUR scripture. Our scripture is the Bhāgavata (śāstraṁ bhāgavataṁ pramāṇam amalam....śrī caitanya mahāprabhor matam idam) and the Bhāgavata says women should not be beaten (praharanti na vai strīṣu).
Having said all this - bhakti means that the Lord tells us what to do, not that we tell Him what He can and cannot do. The Almighty will not subject Himself to today's Inquisitions of Political Correctness.
Monday, January 14, 2008
The Bhāgavata on misogyny
Everything is there in the Bhāgavata, and so the concept of misogyny will be there too (the concept itself is not laukika śraddhā, though some of the conclusions and implementations drawn from it nowadays may be). The line patiṁ tvapatitam bhajet (7.11.28) contains it all - it shows both the woman's and the man's duty. The woman must (bhajet is imperative) serve the husband (pati means 'master'), and the man must not be fallen (tvapatitam), which certainly includes abusing his wife (misogyny). In a single line the Bhāgavata thus rejects both feminism (patiṁ bhajet) and misogyny (tvapatitam). The Bhāgavat further condemns misogyny in verse 4.17.20 - praharanti na vai strīṣu kṛtagaḥsvapi jantavaḥ - "Women are not beaten, even if they committed an offence."
Friday, January 04, 2008
Gītā Bhūṣaṇa (2)
13.22 Baladeva repeatedly says here that the karma and saṁskāras of the jīva are beginningless.14.27 "I alone am the shelter of the six eternal (śaśvatasya) qualities called ṣaḍ-aiśvarya (dharmasya), I alone am the shelter of My extraordinary (ekantikasya) rasa (sukhasya) arising from variegated pastimes."
16.1-3 Baladeva divides the attributes through varṇāśrama - the sannyāsī is fearless about how he will survive without work. The next two attributes along belong to the sannyāsī. The next three attributes belong to the gṛhastha. svādhyāya, study, is the only attribute of the brahmacārī, and tapas the only attribute of the vanaprastha. Next is the 12 qualities of the brāhmin, who is honest (arjava. The Iskcon-translation of arjava, 'simplicity', is not so clear). apaiśuna means not speaking bad about others in their absence. hrī means feeling ashamed to do illegal activities. acapala means no useless actions. teja to dhṛti are the three qualities of the kṣatriya, śauca (no cheating) and adroha 2 vaiśya-qualities, and nātimānī (not too proud, knowing one's place) the sole quality of the śūdra.
16.4 The asura wants to be known as pious (reputation or dambha), is proud of his lineage or knowledge (darpa), thinks he should be respected), is angry and uses rough language in front of others (pāruśya) - boy, that's me!
17.21 That is what Advaitadas-II rejected when he gave me the medicine. See blog of Dec.10, 2007.
18.14 Last year we had a few blogs about the jīva's doership. Here's a rare clue: "But if the jīva's actions depend on the Lord, his action becomes mere engagement by the Lord, in fullfilment of His goal. The jīva would be simply like a piece of wood, and the rules and prohibitions of śāstra would be useless. It would not be possible to initiate action by one's own intelligence, since it is seen that the jīva is simply made to act by the Lord." "The jiva is the substratum of the body, senses and prāṇa supplied by the Lord, and which operate by the powers bestowed by Him. Being the possessor of these bestowed powers, the jiva rules over his body and senses by his desires alone, for accomplishing his actions. The Lord, situated within the jīvas, giving His permission for their action, sets their actions in motion. The jīva, by his intelligence, can choose to act or not to act, without being forced either way by the Lord."
"But then at least the liberated jīva should not be the agent, because he no longer has a body, senses or prāṇa."
"No, that is not so, because liberated souls have spiritual senses and body, by which they accomplish their spiritual desires."
18.41 svabhāva prabhavaiḥ means, according to Baladeva, impressions from previous lives (svabhāva prāktana saṁskāra). That covers the guṇa-karma vibhāgaśaḥ line in Gītā 4.13.
18.48 By removing the smoke,which is a portion of the fire, the portion containing heat is used to eliminate the cold. Thus, after removing the fault in one's duties by offering the actions to the Lord, one should utilize the remaining portion, which generates jñāna, to realize the ātmā." I'm not sure if I get this one.
18.65 " But my doubt is not destroyed because even when You made a vow to return to Vraja after leaving for Mathurā, you did not keep it." Kṛṣṇa: "Therefore I say this after making an admission: you are dear to Me. If the resident of Mathurā, having an affectionate mind, does not cheat the one he loves, what then to speak of one he loves most?"
This makes no sense, because the resident of Mathurā did cheat the ones he loves (Kṛṣṇa never returned to Vraja).
18.66 Of the 6 types of surrender, anukūlasya sankalpa means 'accepting scriptural rules' and pratikūlya vivarjayet 'giving up unscriptural behaviour'.
18.78 One should not worry that this scripture is favoring war. It is not so. The instructions are manmana bhava mad bhakta (Think of Me and be My devotee") and sarva dharmān parityajya (give up all dharma and surrender to Me.")
Again, I probably missed many interesting things, this was merely a casual study.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Gīta Bhūṣaṇa
Book Review:Gītā Bhūṣaṇa, Bhagavad Gītā commentary
by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
Translated by Bhānu Swāmī
This book is philosophical, so it's a bit hard for me to digest. I have concentrated on the key verses and may well have missed a lot of great things in between. Baladeva quotes a lot from the Upaniṣads. The first 6 chapters he classifies as dealing more or less with niṣkāma karma-yoga, dedicated work for higher benefits, not per se bhakti.
2.14 mātra sparsas tu kaunteya (2.14) is explained in the framework of steadfastness in dharma, not as an act of bhakti, and verse 2.47 (karmaṇyevādhikāras te) reminds us that karma, not bhakti is the subject here.
The tika of 3.27 (ahaṅkāra vimūḍhātmā) refers to verses 18.14-16, which describe 5 factors of action, an intricate combination of doership by the jīva and the paramātmā. Overcome with impressions (vāsanās) of enjoying sense objects from beginningless time, the jīva is embraced by prakṛti, who is situated next to him, and who is the cause of his pleasure. Verse 13.21 describes prakṛti as the doer through the body and the senses, but prakṛti only comes into action by contact with the Lord. The Lord's doership can never be rejected.
3.33 Even a person who knows the punishment stated in the scriptures (jñānavān) acts according (sadṛśam) to his evil nature - his sinful impressions have been there since beginningless time. What to speak of those who don't even know the punishment?
3.37 Lust is very powerful, since it forces one to engage even in forbidden acts by making one lose one's sense of discrimination....the victory of lust and anger are one.
3.38 Knowledge covered slightly by lust can grasp something of truth, knowledge covered moderately cannot grasp the truth, and knowledge covered by lust cannot function and cannot even be perceived.
3.42 The sense objects are more powerful than the senses because they can attract them. The mind is superior to the sense objects because it is the root of the actions of the senses in pursuit of sense objects. The discerning and confirming intellect is superior to the mind which has doubt, because there must be verification of existence of enjoyment from sense objects before action takes place. The jīva, the enjoyer, is superior to the intellect, because it is the very means of enjoyment or experience.
4.6 pratyakṣaṁ ca harer janma na vikāra kathañcana - "Hari's birth, though visible, takes place without transformation of His svarūpa." (Smṛti). Thus one should recall His appearance in the delivery room with divine form, decorated with ornaments, etc.
4.40 ajña = ignorant like an animal. aśraddha = he knows śāstra but has no faith because he is quarrelsome. saṁśayātma knows śāstra and has faith but doubts he will make it.
Happiness is generated fom actions prescribed by śāstra.
5.9 Breathing represents the actions of the 5 major prāṇas. Opening and closing the eyes are done by the 5 secondary prāṇas. Sleeping is an action of the internal organ (antaḥ-karaṇa)
5.15
eṣa hyeva sādhu-karma kārayati taṁ yamebhyo lokebhyaḥ unninīṣate.
esa u evāsādhu karma kārayati taṁ yam adho ninīṣyate
(Kauśitakī Upaniṣad 3.8)
"The Lord engages souls in good work for their elevation and in bad work for their degradation."
ajño jantur aniśo'yam ātmanah sukha duḥkayoḥ
īśvara prerito gacchet svargaṁ narakam eva ca
"The ignorant is totally powerless about his joy or woes - impelled by the Lord he goes to heaven or hell." Isn't that unjust of the Lord? No, because karma is beginningless - na karmāvibhāgād iti cen nānāditvāt.
Bhānu Swāmī comments on 7.8 that the four levels of sound (see blog of febr.28, 2007) have their cakras too - parā = mūlādhāra, paśyanti = maṇipūraka and madhyama = anāhata. For vaikhari no cakra is mentioned.
5.11 Engaging the senses in enlightenment is only possible if they are very pure. Hence Kṛṣṇa uses the adjective 'kevalaiḥ'.
7.15 "Those who know the meaning of śāstra (kṛtinaḥ) but are evil (duṣ) do not surrender unto Me." Baladeva then quotes a great egghead-verse:
avidyāyāṁ antare vartamānaḥ svayaṁ dhīrāḥ paṇḍitaṁ manyamānāḥ
dandramyamānāḥ pariyanti mūḍhā andhenaiva nīyamāna yathāndhāḥ
(Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.5)
"Though internally they are ignorant they think they are learned. These fools wander about in confusion like blind men leading other blind men."
9.13 mahātmā here means ' broad-minded'
9.22 Another meaning than ' carrying food' is ' I take care My devotees attain Me (yoga)
and prevent their separation from Me (kṣemam)."
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta (2)
LB 5.223 glosses the words śaśvatasya dharmasya in Bhagavad Gītā 14.27 as 'bhagavad dharma', hearing and chanting according to Baladeva, and aikantikasya sukhasya as 'of one filled with prema bhakti rasa'. Devaki-devi is described as para prakṛti sūkṣma " subtle spiritual energy".
In 5.235, Rūpa Gosvāmī glosses the word sadhvasam in SB 2.9.9 as 'the residents of Vaikuṇṭha being free from the fear of falling". Another direct hit for the fall-vādīs.
In LB 5.247-283 Rūpa Gosvāmī quotes from the Sixth Canto of the Padma Purāṇa about the yogapīṭha, the mystical seat of Viṣṇu.
In 5.286, tripād vibhūti is shown indeed not to refer to size but to quality. "Vaikuṇṭha is called tripāda vibhūti because it possesses 3 parts of power. All the power of the material realm are called only one portion. It means that the powers of the material realm do not exist in Vaikuṇṭha."
The story of Brahmā seeing countless Brahmās in Kṛṣṇa's audience-room is narrated in LB 5.320-323.
LB 5.344 quotes SB 10.15.8. Kṛṣṇa used Balarāma as a substitute, for it's inappropriate to say that Lakṣmī desired Balarām's chest. Kṛṣṇa would not reveal His intimate affairs to Balarāma, He was speaking in sakhya-rasa. The story of Lakṣmī desiring Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa eventually granting Her a place on His chest as a golden line, is quoted from Padma Purāṇa in LB 5.351.
In LB 5.429-433 Rūpa Gosvāmī quotes various Purāṇas wherein Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are described in the present tense, and establishes the doctrine, later taken over by Jīva Goswāmī in the Sandarbhas, that present tense indicates eternity (vartamānasyanatvenoktis tan naitya vācika, 432)
In LB 5.450 Baladeva writes a long ṭīkā, quoting from various śāstras that Kṛṣṇa is the son of Yaśodā and Devakī. Later, in 455-460, Rūpa Gosvāmī confirms this with Bhāgavata-verses.
In LB 461-2, the famous vṛndāvanam parityajya verses, Baladeva argues that if Kṛṣṇa had really never left Vraja, there would be no separation for the Vrajavāsīs, no need for sending Uddhava to Vraja, or meeting in Kurukṣetra.
In LB 5.463 Rūpa Gosvāmī says that Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā in a manifest form, hiding the fact He was Nanda's son to delight the people of Mathurā.
In 5.467 Rūpa Gosvāmī says the Vrajavāsīs were separated for three months in prakaṭa līlā. A visphurti (semblance of an appearance) of Kṛṣṇa kept them alive.
In verse 468, Rūpa Gosvāmī mentions two kinds of meeting with Kṛṣṇa: āvirbhāva (sudden appearance through Uddhava's message f.i.) and āgati (actual return). To prove that Kṛṣṇa actually returned to Vraja, Rūpa Gosvāmī quotes the same Bhāgavata-ślokas as Jīva later did in the Sandarbhas. That madhūn in SB 1.11.36 doesn't refer to Vraja, but Mathurā, is explained by Rūpa Gosvāmī (5.480): Vraja is within Mathurā, and Kṛṣṇa had anyway no friends left in Mathurā, having taken them all to Dvārakā (SB 10.50.57).
In 5.482 Rūpa Gosvāmī also quotes the Padma Purāṇa-text, saying that Kṛṣṇa returned to Vraja. This too was later taken over by Jīva Goswāmī in the Sandarbhas.
In 5.491 Rūpa Gosvāmī proves from Skanda Purāṇa that the Lord and the siddhas (nitya- or sādhana) can not only merge into an aṁśī (original form, like Droṇa and Dharā merging into Nanda and Yaśodā), but also re-emerge from them.
Commenting on 5.501, a quotation from Brahma Saṁhitā 5.56, Baladeva says that there is no time in the spiritual sky, meaning 'in other abodes of the Lord the divisions of time are present, but not in Goloka.'
On 5.503-5 he comments that 'vaikuṇṭha' in the famous verse 'vaikuṇṭhācca garīyasi' means ' Gokula'. It is eternal, though situated in the material world.
On 519 Baladeva comments that knowledge of time is covered by the līlā-śakti of the Lord (one imagines time to be passing).
The second part of the book, describing the glories of the devotees, is very brief - just 46 verses - culminating in:
"O Arjuna! In the three worlds, the earth, where Vṛndāvana town is, is most fortunate. There the gopīs live, including My Rādhā."
I bought this book in Bengali in 1991, but its in my house in Holland, so I cannot cross-check the translation, but it seems yet another great presentation of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī's work by Śrīpād Bhānu Swāmī.
In 5.235, Rūpa Gosvāmī glosses the word sadhvasam in SB 2.9.9 as 'the residents of Vaikuṇṭha being free from the fear of falling". Another direct hit for the fall-vādīs.
In LB 5.247-283 Rūpa Gosvāmī quotes from the Sixth Canto of the Padma Purāṇa about the yogapīṭha, the mystical seat of Viṣṇu.
In 5.286, tripād vibhūti is shown indeed not to refer to size but to quality. "Vaikuṇṭha is called tripāda vibhūti because it possesses 3 parts of power. All the power of the material realm are called only one portion. It means that the powers of the material realm do not exist in Vaikuṇṭha."
The story of Brahmā seeing countless Brahmās in Kṛṣṇa's audience-room is narrated in LB 5.320-323.
LB 5.344 quotes SB 10.15.8. Kṛṣṇa used Balarāma as a substitute, for it's inappropriate to say that Lakṣmī desired Balarām's chest. Kṛṣṇa would not reveal His intimate affairs to Balarāma, He was speaking in sakhya-rasa. The story of Lakṣmī desiring Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa eventually granting Her a place on His chest as a golden line, is quoted from Padma Purāṇa in LB 5.351.
In LB 5.429-433 Rūpa Gosvāmī quotes various Purāṇas wherein Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are described in the present tense, and establishes the doctrine, later taken over by Jīva Goswāmī in the Sandarbhas, that present tense indicates eternity (vartamānasyanatvenoktis tan naitya vācika, 432)
In LB 5.450 Baladeva writes a long ṭīkā, quoting from various śāstras that Kṛṣṇa is the son of Yaśodā and Devakī. Later, in 455-460, Rūpa Gosvāmī confirms this with Bhāgavata-verses.
In LB 461-2, the famous vṛndāvanam parityajya verses, Baladeva argues that if Kṛṣṇa had really never left Vraja, there would be no separation for the Vrajavāsīs, no need for sending Uddhava to Vraja, or meeting in Kurukṣetra.
In LB 5.463 Rūpa Gosvāmī says that Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā in a manifest form, hiding the fact He was Nanda's son to delight the people of Mathurā.
In 5.467 Rūpa Gosvāmī says the Vrajavāsīs were separated for three months in prakaṭa līlā. A visphurti (semblance of an appearance) of Kṛṣṇa kept them alive.
In verse 468, Rūpa Gosvāmī mentions two kinds of meeting with Kṛṣṇa: āvirbhāva (sudden appearance through Uddhava's message f.i.) and āgati (actual return). To prove that Kṛṣṇa actually returned to Vraja, Rūpa Gosvāmī quotes the same Bhāgavata-ślokas as Jīva later did in the Sandarbhas. That madhūn in SB 1.11.36 doesn't refer to Vraja, but Mathurā, is explained by Rūpa Gosvāmī (5.480): Vraja is within Mathurā, and Kṛṣṇa had anyway no friends left in Mathurā, having taken them all to Dvārakā (SB 10.50.57).
In 5.482 Rūpa Gosvāmī also quotes the Padma Purāṇa-text, saying that Kṛṣṇa returned to Vraja. This too was later taken over by Jīva Goswāmī in the Sandarbhas.
In 5.491 Rūpa Gosvāmī proves from Skanda Purāṇa that the Lord and the siddhas (nitya- or sādhana) can not only merge into an aṁśī (original form, like Droṇa and Dharā merging into Nanda and Yaśodā), but also re-emerge from them.
Commenting on 5.501, a quotation from Brahma Saṁhitā 5.56, Baladeva says that there is no time in the spiritual sky, meaning 'in other abodes of the Lord the divisions of time are present, but not in Goloka.'
On 5.503-5 he comments that 'vaikuṇṭha' in the famous verse 'vaikuṇṭhācca garīyasi' means ' Gokula'. It is eternal, though situated in the material world.
On 519 Baladeva comments that knowledge of time is covered by the līlā-śakti of the Lord (one imagines time to be passing).
The second part of the book, describing the glories of the devotees, is very brief - just 46 verses - culminating in:
trailokya pṛthivī dhanyā yatra vṛndāvanaṁ purī
tatrāpi gopikāḥ pārtha tatra rādhābhidhā mama
"O Arjuna! In the three worlds, the earth, where Vṛndāvana town is, is most fortunate. There the gopīs live, including My Rādhā."
I bought this book in Bengali in 1991, but its in my house in Holland, so I cannot cross-check the translation, but it seems yet another great presentation of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī's work by Śrīpād Bhānu Swāmī.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta
Book Review:
Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī
With commentary by Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
Translated by Bhānu Swāmi
Rūpa Goswāmī wrote this book as a concise version of Sanātan Goswāmī's Bṛhat Bhāgavatāmṛta.
In verse 1.7 he says that we and the Madhvaites (the fact they are separately mentioned proves Gauḍīyas are not Madhvaites) both accept three proofs: pratyaksa, anumāna and śabda (scriptural evidence). These proofs are in relation to profane objects, not spiritual ones, because they are also subject to faults in the observer, such as bhrama. F.i. for śabda, Kapila's words conflict with those of others. After briefly establishing śabda above tarka (logic), Rūpa Goswāmī establishes Kṛṣṇa's original form (svayaṁ rūpa) as independent, quoting SB 10.44.14.
In his ṭīkā of verse 1.13, the famous īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ-verse, Baladeva explains that anādi here doesn't mean 'beginningless' and ādi not 'the head of others', for these meanings are already covered by 'sarva kāraṇa kāraṇam'. Instead, anādi here means 'not under anyone's control'.
In 2.31-32, Rūpa Goswāmī qualifies Sadāśiva as aṅga-bhūta (a Nārāyaṇa-vilāsa-form) of the original lord Kṛṣṇa. In verse 32 he quotes Brahma Saṁhitā 5.8, saying that Sadāśiva is a Viṣṇu-expansion of Kṛṣṇa whose consort is Ramā (Lakṣmī). In his ṭīkā of 2.32, Baladeva explains all the words indicating Shiva in Brahma Samhitā's creation-tale to mean Viṣṇu, thus reconciling the mystery of Shiva creating the world in that Kṛṣṇaite text.
In verse 3.17 Baladeva reveals that there are two Varāha-avatāras, one born from Brahmā's nostrils and one born from the subterranean waters, and Maitreya, in the Third Canto, put different events in one story since Varāha is one avatāra. Kapila also comes in two forms, one jīva and one an aṁśa of Vāsudeva.
In 3.73 Vāmana even appears three times in a day of Brahmā, taking three steps of land from three different persons.
In 3.83, the jīva Vyāsa merged into the Nārāyan form of Vyāsa.
In 4.53-54 Matsya and Kūrma reside on the hellish planets Mahātala and Rasātala and in 4.64 the material Vaikuṇṭha exists in Satyaloka. All avatāras have material and spiritual abodes. Kṛṣṇa is not really Upendra, Indra's younger brother - Indra only calls Him like that out of love. (premnā, Harivaṁśa 5.5). The six qualities of Bhagavān are fully manifest (parāvasthā) in Rāma, Kṛṣṇa and Nṛsiṁha. (Padma Purāṇa 5.16).
In 5.51 Baladeva quotes SB 10.88.25-26 to prove that one does not even fall from Vaikuṇṭha in the material world (Satyaloka), what to speak of the spiritual world? (Encouraging to read in an Iskcon publication).
In 5.73-75 Rūpa Goswāmī gives sweet interpretations of Kṛṣṇa's names - Mādhava - born from the Madhu-dynasty; Adhokṣaja (born from the cart's axle (akṣa) after being presumed killed by Pūtanā). I notice that Bhānu Swāmī does not use caps to indicate Kṛṣṇa. He writes 'he' and 'his' instead of ' He' and 'His'.
In 5.116 Rūpa Goswāmī again (as in siddhāntatas tvabhede'pi) admits that God is one, but with two aspects - the personal and impersonal.
This is about half the book, so to keep it readable I split the review into two parts.
Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī
With commentary by Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
Translated by Bhānu Swāmi
Rūpa Goswāmī wrote this book as a concise version of Sanātan Goswāmī's Bṛhat Bhāgavatāmṛta.
In verse 1.7 he says that we and the Madhvaites (the fact they are separately mentioned proves Gauḍīyas are not Madhvaites) both accept three proofs: pratyaksa, anumāna and śabda (scriptural evidence). These proofs are in relation to profane objects, not spiritual ones, because they are also subject to faults in the observer, such as bhrama. F.i. for śabda, Kapila's words conflict with those of others. After briefly establishing śabda above tarka (logic), Rūpa Goswāmī establishes Kṛṣṇa's original form (svayaṁ rūpa) as independent, quoting SB 10.44.14.
In his ṭīkā of verse 1.13, the famous īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ-verse, Baladeva explains that anādi here doesn't mean 'beginningless' and ādi not 'the head of others', for these meanings are already covered by 'sarva kāraṇa kāraṇam'. Instead, anādi here means 'not under anyone's control'.
In 2.31-32, Rūpa Goswāmī qualifies Sadāśiva as aṅga-bhūta (a Nārāyaṇa-vilāsa-form) of the original lord Kṛṣṇa. In verse 32 he quotes Brahma Saṁhitā 5.8, saying that Sadāśiva is a Viṣṇu-expansion of Kṛṣṇa whose consort is Ramā (Lakṣmī). In his ṭīkā of 2.32, Baladeva explains all the words indicating Shiva in Brahma Samhitā's creation-tale to mean Viṣṇu, thus reconciling the mystery of Shiva creating the world in that Kṛṣṇaite text.
In verse 3.17 Baladeva reveals that there are two Varāha-avatāras, one born from Brahmā's nostrils and one born from the subterranean waters, and Maitreya, in the Third Canto, put different events in one story since Varāha is one avatāra. Kapila also comes in two forms, one jīva and one an aṁśa of Vāsudeva.
In 3.73 Vāmana even appears three times in a day of Brahmā, taking three steps of land from three different persons.
In 3.83, the jīva Vyāsa merged into the Nārāyan form of Vyāsa.
In 4.53-54 Matsya and Kūrma reside on the hellish planets Mahātala and Rasātala and in 4.64 the material Vaikuṇṭha exists in Satyaloka. All avatāras have material and spiritual abodes. Kṛṣṇa is not really Upendra, Indra's younger brother - Indra only calls Him like that out of love. (premnā, Harivaṁśa 5.5). The six qualities of Bhagavān are fully manifest (parāvasthā) in Rāma, Kṛṣṇa and Nṛsiṁha. (Padma Purāṇa 5.16).
In 5.51 Baladeva quotes SB 10.88.25-26 to prove that one does not even fall from Vaikuṇṭha in the material world (Satyaloka), what to speak of the spiritual world? (Encouraging to read in an Iskcon publication).
In 5.73-75 Rūpa Goswāmī gives sweet interpretations of Kṛṣṇa's names - Mādhava - born from the Madhu-dynasty; Adhokṣaja (born from the cart's axle (akṣa) after being presumed killed by Pūtanā). I notice that Bhānu Swāmī does not use caps to indicate Kṛṣṇa. He writes 'he' and 'his' instead of ' He' and 'His'.
In 5.116 Rūpa Goswāmī again (as in siddhāntatas tvabhede'pi) admits that God is one, but with two aspects - the personal and impersonal.
This is about half the book, so to keep it readable I split the review into two parts.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Siddha Praṇālī for sannyāsīs and selfless giving
Rādhākund, December 8, 2007 -
Sakhīcaran, my backdoor neighbor, tells me that in the Nitāi-Gaur Rādhe-Śyām Sampradāya, Ekādaśa Bhāva is only given after bhekh (to sannyāsīs only) - they are strict like the IGM and Haridās Śāstrījī. I tell him that revelation is an alternative (especially since their Guru passed away right after their dīkṣā).
Advaitadas II also comes and gives me expensive medicines, but does not want any money (he's not rich). He says that Rūpa Goswāmī's dadāti pratighṛṇati does not refer to a precisely calculated exchange of gifts, but to spontaneous loving gestures. When I argue that Bhīṣma-deva lay on his bed of arrows until all accounts were settled and everyone was satisfied, he says that those were the general populace, not his near and dear ones. Take Kṛṣṇa Himself - He is really nasty - urinating on mother Yaśodā's floor, stealing butter, seducing other mens wives and then leaving Vraja never to return - still we tend to give everything to Him. Yet, Uddhava says (SB 11.29.6) that Kṛṣṇa cannot be repaid because He comes as the Guru. Speaking of Guru, the Guru and one's mother come on the other side of the scale - however much you may mistreat them, they will always love you. Perhaps this is why in India the word dhanyavāda (thanks) is not really used?
Sakhīcaran, my backdoor neighbor, tells me that in the Nitāi-Gaur Rādhe-Śyām Sampradāya, Ekādaśa Bhāva is only given after bhekh (to sannyāsīs only) - they are strict like the IGM and Haridās Śāstrījī. I tell him that revelation is an alternative (especially since their Guru passed away right after their dīkṣā).
Advaitadas II also comes and gives me expensive medicines, but does not want any money (he's not rich). He says that Rūpa Goswāmī's dadāti pratighṛṇati does not refer to a precisely calculated exchange of gifts, but to spontaneous loving gestures. When I argue that Bhīṣma-deva lay on his bed of arrows until all accounts were settled and everyone was satisfied, he says that those were the general populace, not his near and dear ones. Take Kṛṣṇa Himself - He is really nasty - urinating on mother Yaśodā's floor, stealing butter, seducing other mens wives and then leaving Vraja never to return - still we tend to give everything to Him. Yet, Uddhava says (SB 11.29.6) that Kṛṣṇa cannot be repaid because He comes as the Guru. Speaking of Guru, the Guru and one's mother come on the other side of the scale - however much you may mistreat them, they will always love you. Perhaps this is why in India the word dhanyavāda (thanks) is not really used?
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Congratulations
Congratulations to Mālatī Dāsī from Melbourne, Australia, for being the second kṛpā pātra of Śrī-Śrī Sādhu Bābā outside India. Her application for dīkṣā was approved last week by Tapan Dā, Tulsī Di and Namitā Di. dīkṣā may take place on Sītānāth's Utsav in Navadwīp next February. Family expansion at long last....
Monday, October 29, 2007
Natural Bhakti
(Skewed Indian scan)
Natural Bhakti
by Rām Dās
A book review
Yesterday I visited the Munghyr Mandir and had darshan of B.V. Sadhu Maharaja, who knew me though we only met once 22 years ago, and, as I expected, is a friendly, easy-going gentleman. He surprises me by saying that Balaramji is not his brother. I take prasad there on his invitation and meet Ram Das (Ronald Engert), from Germany, who gives me a 68-page booklet he wrote about Natural Bhakti. He is a liberal who objects to forced principles, and it shows in his booklet. He objects against guilt feelings created by breaking enforced rules, but forgets there is a danger that wanton westerners will misunderstand his objections and will think it allright to break the rules. Devotees who break the rules are simply not immune to severe reactions to their failures, that is seen everywhere. He claims that guilt feelings due to breaking the principles can lead to quitting bhakti, but I don't believe that. Bhakti is ahaituki (causeless) and apratihata (uninterruptable). It is more an excess of artificial penance that burns devotees out, or the sādhana and siddhānta is simply too high. Ramdas quotes many good verses from śāstra, proving that bhakti is independent (from rules), which is philosophically correct.
However, there are several warped conceptions in the booklet: he quotes Bhaktivinode's Jaiva Dharma, ch.20, in which he says that a rāgānugī need not follow the Śruti, Smṛti and Purāṇas, which is not correct (see BRS 1.2.296). On page 46 Rāmdas doubts the necessity of discussing the goal as long as we have not reached it, thinking it not humble. I disagree - one needs to know the goal in order to reach it and to be attracted to it. On page 53 Rāmdas claims that rāgānugā bhakti would be dependent on vaidhi bhakti if rules are involved. That is of course a product of all the mis-teachings about rāgānugā being 'without rules' and 'spontaneous'. Following rules is not the intrinsic characteristic of vaidhi bhakti, but aiśvarya bhāva is.
On page 54 Ramdas claims that 'In rāgānugā bhakti there is no need of defence or ideological combat' which is not true (rather, its a hot controversy itself!) and 'everyone can listen to this kathā', which is denied by Jīva Goswāmī in Bhakti Sandarbha and Gopal Campu. Rāmdās is also (still) a fall-vadi: He speaks of the siddha swarūpa as ' we once had' and on p.63 he says: "This is why we fell from Paradise: we ate from the tree of discernment of Good and Evil." This, and his problems with sin vs. guilt, shows he has a Christian background. On p.66 he says: ...they preach like 500 years ago, as if there had never been an age of enlightenment, fascism, a 1968-movement or globalisation." I fail to see how these things have contributed to a pure Vaiṣṇava understanding.
Apart from these points Rāmdās pushes all the right buttons, showing from śāstra that anarthas even exist in bhāva bhakti, one need not be a pure devotee to start rāgānugā, etc.
A book review
Yesterday I visited the Munghyr Mandir and had darshan of B.V. Sadhu Maharaja, who knew me though we only met once 22 years ago, and, as I expected, is a friendly, easy-going gentleman. He surprises me by saying that Balaramji is not his brother. I take prasad there on his invitation and meet Ram Das (Ronald Engert), from Germany, who gives me a 68-page booklet he wrote about Natural Bhakti. He is a liberal who objects to forced principles, and it shows in his booklet. He objects against guilt feelings created by breaking enforced rules, but forgets there is a danger that wanton westerners will misunderstand his objections and will think it allright to break the rules. Devotees who break the rules are simply not immune to severe reactions to their failures, that is seen everywhere. He claims that guilt feelings due to breaking the principles can lead to quitting bhakti, but I don't believe that. Bhakti is ahaituki (causeless) and apratihata (uninterruptable). It is more an excess of artificial penance that burns devotees out, or the sādhana and siddhānta is simply too high. Ramdas quotes many good verses from śāstra, proving that bhakti is independent (from rules), which is philosophically correct.
However, there are several warped conceptions in the booklet: he quotes Bhaktivinode's Jaiva Dharma, ch.20, in which he says that a rāgānugī need not follow the Śruti, Smṛti and Purāṇas, which is not correct (see BRS 1.2.296). On page 46 Rāmdas doubts the necessity of discussing the goal as long as we have not reached it, thinking it not humble. I disagree - one needs to know the goal in order to reach it and to be attracted to it. On page 53 Rāmdas claims that rāgānugā bhakti would be dependent on vaidhi bhakti if rules are involved. That is of course a product of all the mis-teachings about rāgānugā being 'without rules' and 'spontaneous'. Following rules is not the intrinsic characteristic of vaidhi bhakti, but aiśvarya bhāva is.
On page 54 Ramdas claims that 'In rāgānugā bhakti there is no need of defence or ideological combat' which is not true (rather, its a hot controversy itself!) and 'everyone can listen to this kathā', which is denied by Jīva Goswāmī in Bhakti Sandarbha and Gopal Campu. Rāmdās is also (still) a fall-vadi: He speaks of the siddha swarūpa as ' we once had' and on p.63 he says: "This is why we fell from Paradise: we ate from the tree of discernment of Good and Evil." This, and his problems with sin vs. guilt, shows he has a Christian background. On p.66 he says: ...they preach like 500 years ago, as if there had never been an age of enlightenment, fascism, a 1968-movement or globalisation." I fail to see how these things have contributed to a pure Vaiṣṇava understanding.
Apart from these points Rāmdās pushes all the right buttons, showing from śāstra that anarthas even exist in bhāva bhakti, one need not be a pure devotee to start rāgānugā, etc.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Rāsa Pūrṇimā at Sandīpani's
I sympathise with conservatives who say that children of flesh and blood cannot really portray Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's transcendental forms, but on the other hand Mahāprabhu recognised Kṛṣṇa in Pratāparudra's son, who had a Śyāma-complexion and yellow cloth, and He also spent time at Kānāi Nāṭśālā, the Bengali village where the whole community was engaged in such performances. I suppose Rāsa-līlā can do no harm in the neophyte stage. Many Rāsa-līlā critics spent their time making politics instead - better see some cute kids playing Kṛṣṇa, as long as we can't perceive the Real Thing yet.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Sat-saṅga with Guru-bhāis
October 19, 2007
With a friend I visit my Gurubhāi Dāmu-dā in Gopīnāth Bāgh and enjoy his usual hospitality. He says Golok went back to Navadwip after a 84 Krośa parikramā. Nimāi and Nāru are both here, Nāru has a Sādhu Bābā Āśram in Jñāna Gudrī. Dāmu-Dā's bo makes puris, bhāji begun and miṣṭi dāl. Yummy. Welcome change from all the restaurant-stuff. Sādhu Bābā's mahā-prasāda.
Dāmu-Dā's beautiful photo of the Tin Prabhu on the beach of Puri must be from 1972 or so, because Mukunda Prabhu looks about 12-13 on it.
Yesterday Tapan Dā confused me by saying we must also offer bhoga to Gopeśwara, Mahāprabhu and Sītānātha. He said Bābā introduced that during his last trip to Vṛndāvana in 1985, because without their mercy we cannot attain Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. He also said that there is no need for prāṇa pratiṣṭhā in our family. dīkṣā itself grants adhikāra for arcanā.
October 20, 2007
I walk to Jñāna Gudrī, from Raman Reti, takes 90 minutes in the heat. I don't find Nāru's Ashram there, but I do get darśan of Vaṁśī Vat and its beautiful new gate.
On the way I phone Tapan Dā, who says that Gopeśvara comes first in the new offering sequence (3) then Mahāprabhu (4) then Sītānāth (5) then Guru. There are no mūla mantras for the three and the dīkṣā mantras remain the same (2 only). When I complain that the offering will then start taking a long time he says the new offerings can be done briefly and mentally. I have yet to try it. Its hard to change after 25 years of practising it another way.
With a friend I visit my Gurubhāi Dāmu-dā in Gopīnāth Bāgh and enjoy his usual hospitality. He says Golok went back to Navadwip after a 84 Krośa parikramā. Nimāi and Nāru are both here, Nāru has a Sādhu Bābā Āśram in Jñāna Gudrī. Dāmu-Dā's bo makes puris, bhāji begun and miṣṭi dāl. Yummy. Welcome change from all the restaurant-stuff. Sādhu Bābā's mahā-prasāda.
Dāmu-Dā's beautiful photo of the Tin Prabhu on the beach of Puri must be from 1972 or so, because Mukunda Prabhu looks about 12-13 on it.
Yesterday Tapan Dā confused me by saying we must also offer bhoga to Gopeśwara, Mahāprabhu and Sītānātha. He said Bābā introduced that during his last trip to Vṛndāvana in 1985, because without their mercy we cannot attain Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. He also said that there is no need for prāṇa pratiṣṭhā in our family. dīkṣā itself grants adhikāra for arcanā.
October 20, 2007
I walk to Jñāna Gudrī, from Raman Reti, takes 90 minutes in the heat. I don't find Nāru's Ashram there, but I do get darśan of Vaṁśī Vat and its beautiful new gate.
On the way I phone Tapan Dā, who says that Gopeśvara comes first in the new offering sequence (3) then Mahāprabhu (4) then Sītānāth (5) then Guru. There are no mūla mantras for the three and the dīkṣā mantras remain the same (2 only). When I complain that the offering will then start taking a long time he says the new offerings can be done briefly and mentally. I have yet to try it. Its hard to change after 25 years of practising it another way.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Rooftop saṅga
Last night my Swiss friend Kṛṣṇacandra visited me, here's some of what we discussed:
Kṛṣṇacandra: "One should not take an oath to follow the 4 regulative principles. (Though they should be followed of course)"
Advaitadās: "Yes I agree. This vow is not demanded by any Indian Guru, though it is expected that one follows them. In Holland we say "belofte maakt schuld", a promise makes guilt. One gets chained with the hands to one's back with the sins we vowed against, almost like inviting the rules to be broken."
Kṛṣṇacandra: " Is it really better to live in the dhāma or can we also become Kṛṣṇa-conscious outside?"
Advaitadās: " You can also become Kṛṣṇa-conscious outside, but it's more difficult. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said that if you live on the bank of a river (the dhāma) you need just throw out a bucket to get water, but if you live elsewhere (outside the dhāma) you need to dig a deep well for water. So the sādhana needs to be more intense outside the dhama. Still, even if you live near the river you need to throw out a bucket to get water. So even in the dhāma one needs to do sādhana too. Whenever Sādhu Bābā came to Vṛndāvana he would not stay longer than 3-4 weeks, and even then he rarely went out of the family home. Maybe once to Bihārījī. When his disciples asked him " Why aren't we going anywhere?" he said "We are not tourists. The holy dhāma is right here, though your retina only perceives an ordinary house." Similarly, in modern times, we see the dhāma vanishing under so many building projects, but the real dhāma cannot be destroyed by any property developer. Not that I applaud all the building - it's a disgrace."
Kṛṣṇacandra: " You say that only an Indian should be Guru, but nowadays some Indian Gurukulas only hire female staff because all the male Indian staff will abuse the children."
Advaitadās: "My opinion on this is not black/white. I'm not saying you should take dīkṣā from any Pappu or Lalloo, but the fact remains that the failure-rate among Indian Gurus is much lower. There must be both birth and quality. There is an exodus going on to older GM Sannyāsīs and Rādhākund Bābājīs, not only for higher knowledge but also for security (against falling Americans). In India even the demons do worship. Kaṁsa and Rāvan worshipped Shiva. A friend of mine was in jail in Mathurā, and he told me that everyone there, even murderers and rapists, was doing pūjā. Compare the lifestyles of western teenagers with Indian ones. Big difference."
Kṛṣṇacandra: " What do you think of ausweihung (uninitiation)?"
Advaitadās: " Like signing divorce papers with the ex-Guru?"
Kṛṣṇacandra: "Yes."
Advaitadās: "Actually when you take (re-) initiation you surrender to the (new) Guru, it automatically cancels the old dīkṣā. My western Guru fell down after I took dīkṣā from Sādhu Bābā, I never met him again after he gave me 2nd initiation even. But if your ex-Guru is stil in good standing and you bump into him often, it may be more peaceful to settle a divorce from the personal poiint of view. There is no such a thing as un-initiation in śāstra, though."
Kṛṣṇacandra: "One should not take an oath to follow the 4 regulative principles. (Though they should be followed of course)"
Advaitadās: "Yes I agree. This vow is not demanded by any Indian Guru, though it is expected that one follows them. In Holland we say "belofte maakt schuld", a promise makes guilt. One gets chained with the hands to one's back with the sins we vowed against, almost like inviting the rules to be broken."
Kṛṣṇacandra: " Is it really better to live in the dhāma or can we also become Kṛṣṇa-conscious outside?"
Advaitadās: " You can also become Kṛṣṇa-conscious outside, but it's more difficult. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said that if you live on the bank of a river (the dhāma) you need just throw out a bucket to get water, but if you live elsewhere (outside the dhāma) you need to dig a deep well for water. So the sādhana needs to be more intense outside the dhama. Still, even if you live near the river you need to throw out a bucket to get water. So even in the dhāma one needs to do sādhana too. Whenever Sādhu Bābā came to Vṛndāvana he would not stay longer than 3-4 weeks, and even then he rarely went out of the family home. Maybe once to Bihārījī. When his disciples asked him " Why aren't we going anywhere?" he said "We are not tourists. The holy dhāma is right here, though your retina only perceives an ordinary house." Similarly, in modern times, we see the dhāma vanishing under so many building projects, but the real dhāma cannot be destroyed by any property developer. Not that I applaud all the building - it's a disgrace."
Kṛṣṇacandra: " You say that only an Indian should be Guru, but nowadays some Indian Gurukulas only hire female staff because all the male Indian staff will abuse the children."
Advaitadās: "My opinion on this is not black/white. I'm not saying you should take dīkṣā from any Pappu or Lalloo, but the fact remains that the failure-rate among Indian Gurus is much lower. There must be both birth and quality. There is an exodus going on to older GM Sannyāsīs and Rādhākund Bābājīs, not only for higher knowledge but also for security (against falling Americans). In India even the demons do worship. Kaṁsa and Rāvan worshipped Shiva. A friend of mine was in jail in Mathurā, and he told me that everyone there, even murderers and rapists, was doing pūjā. Compare the lifestyles of western teenagers with Indian ones. Big difference."
Kṛṣṇacandra: " What do you think of ausweihung (uninitiation)?"
Advaitadās: " Like signing divorce papers with the ex-Guru?"
Kṛṣṇacandra: "Yes."
Advaitadās: "Actually when you take (re-) initiation you surrender to the (new) Guru, it automatically cancels the old dīkṣā. My western Guru fell down after I took dīkṣā from Sādhu Bābā, I never met him again after he gave me 2nd initiation even. But if your ex-Guru is stil in good standing and you bump into him often, it may be more peaceful to settle a divorce from the personal poiint of view. There is no such a thing as un-initiation in śāstra, though."
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Phone saṅga with Tapan Dā.
By phone I ask Tapan Dā, now my senior-most Gurubhāi, several questions about sādhana and history.
AD: ' Is japa to be done per granthi (a multiple of 4 rounds) or any amount will do, like 11,13, 23 rounds?"
TD: " It is better to do japa per granthi - 4, 8, 12, 16 etc."
AD: 'Is there any copy of the drama Bābā wrote on Prabhu Sītānāth?"
TD: " Bābā did not write it, but he spoke it to Nirañjan Dādā, who wrote it down. I don't know if he still has it (his house was marooned in the big flood of Navadwīp in 2000)."
AD: "The ladies in Bābā's dynasty are said to be from Ārdha Kālī vaṁśa. What does that mean? The descendants of these dynasties are considered non-different from Mā Kālī or are they bhaktas of Kālī?"
TD: ' They are bhaktas of Kālī and are then integrated as Adwaita Vaṁśa Goswāminīs."
My Guru-brothers are so sarala (sweet, innocent, honest). Its beautiful, in the cauldron of pretence and deceit that the Gauḍīya Sampradāya so often is unfortunately. (Unlike me) they sacrifice so much time and their precious money to travel from far and wide to attend Bābā's utsavas, that actually last for just a few days!
AD: ' Is japa to be done per granthi (a multiple of 4 rounds) or any amount will do, like 11,13, 23 rounds?"
TD: " It is better to do japa per granthi - 4, 8, 12, 16 etc."
AD: 'Is there any copy of the drama Bābā wrote on Prabhu Sītānāth?"
TD: " Bābā did not write it, but he spoke it to Nirañjan Dādā, who wrote it down. I don't know if he still has it (his house was marooned in the big flood of Navadwīp in 2000)."
AD: "The ladies in Bābā's dynasty are said to be from Ārdha Kālī vaṁśa. What does that mean? The descendants of these dynasties are considered non-different from Mā Kālī or are they bhaktas of Kālī?"
TD: ' They are bhaktas of Kālī and are then integrated as Adwaita Vaṁśa Goswāminīs."
My Guru-brothers are so sarala (sweet, innocent, honest). Its beautiful, in the cauldron of pretence and deceit that the Gauḍīya Sampradāya so often is unfortunately. (Unlike me) they sacrifice so much time and their precious money to travel from far and wide to attend Bābā's utsavas, that actually last for just a few days!
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Phone sanga (10)
Bhakta: "What is the proper speed of chanting japa?"
AD: "I don't think śāstra gives any clue to that. I think the holy name itself is in control of that. I had times it took me just 4 minutes to do one round, and I had times when it took me 11 minutes. svayam eva sphuratyadah - it is self-manifest."
B: "How to best chant japa?"
Advaitadas: "japa means soft chanting. Falling asleep is tamo-guna, walking around is rajo-guna, and sitting is sattva-guna, the serene mode. (Western ankles are not used to sit on the floor, so) One should sit on a pillow, not too soft, not too hard, close the eyes, with a sober stomach and having had enough sleep (sleeping more than 6 hours need not be tamo-guna, that depends on the individual's needs), and not be distracted by walking or talking. Keep the back straight and head down."
Bhakta: "How much down? 45 degrees?"
AD: "Not that much, 30 or so. Sādhu Bābā told me that, I don't know why that is - perhaps it must be done out of humility. If you keep your eyes open then look at something attractive, like your favorite picture of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Doing japa alone is less distracting than in company.
AD: "I don't think śāstra gives any clue to that. I think the holy name itself is in control of that. I had times it took me just 4 minutes to do one round, and I had times when it took me 11 minutes. svayam eva sphuratyadah - it is self-manifest."
B: "How to best chant japa?"
Advaitadas: "japa means soft chanting. Falling asleep is tamo-guna, walking around is rajo-guna, and sitting is sattva-guna, the serene mode. (Western ankles are not used to sit on the floor, so) One should sit on a pillow, not too soft, not too hard, close the eyes, with a sober stomach and having had enough sleep (sleeping more than 6 hours need not be tamo-guna, that depends on the individual's needs), and not be distracted by walking or talking. Keep the back straight and head down."
Bhakta: "How much down? 45 degrees?"
AD: "Not that much, 30 or so. Sādhu Bābā told me that, I don't know why that is - perhaps it must be done out of humility. If you keep your eyes open then look at something attractive, like your favorite picture of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Doing japa alone is less distracting than in company.
All in all, it takes a long time to master - abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyena ca gṛhyate (Gītā 6.35) "It takes practise and renunciation to control the mind." Renunciation meaning one should follow the principles. A sober stomach is also important."
Bhakta: "What about the custom of chanting the pañca tattva mantra before each round?"
Advaitadas: "This is a fairly new custom. In Caitanya Caritāmṛta there are some verses like jaya jaya śrī caitanya jaya nityānanda jaya advaita-candra jaya gaurabhakta vṛnda, but the current pañca tattva mantras are not that old. pañca-tattvātmakam kṛṣṇam (CC Ādi 1.14) "Kṛṣṇa is embodied by the Pañca-tattva" When I asked my Guru about it he told me 'Just chant what I gave you, that is all' গুরু আমায় য়াই দিয়েছেন তাই আমার সব. That the pañca tattva mantra, which is not mentioned in any śāstra, protects from aparādha is a sheer myth. Judge a tree by its fruits - 95% of all devotees fall down, after neatly chanting 16x a day the Pañca-tattva Mantra. Also the idea that aparādha does not count in Māyāpur / Navadvīp is a sheer myth. Utter nonsense. Can you then gun down or torture a pure devotee in Navadvīp and Gaura-Nitāi will say "Jay Jay! Go on! Great! Do it again!"? Mahāprabhu Himself said he would never forgive Gopāl Cāpāl, in Navadvīp, and, though they were later saved by Nitāi, He wanted to kill Jagāi and Mādhāi. Plus, so many devotees stay in Bengal instead of in Vraja, thinking that they will be saved from aparādha, but I have seen so many of them falling away from the path, from Navadvīp/Māyāpur too....The pañca tattva mantra that is mostly used is highly asymmetric, the 2nd line being much longer than the first (śrī advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi gaura bhakta vṛnda) creating difficulty in kīrtana. Mind you, I'm not against chanting of Guru or Gaurāṅga in the kīrtana, but not because of the idea that there is no offence in them. Rather, because one must respect them - without their grace one cannot attain Kṛṣṇa. If the Pañca-tattva mantra really protected against aparādha everyone who chanted it would have prema by now."
Bhakta: "What about the custom of chanting the pañca tattva mantra before each round?"
Advaitadas: "This is a fairly new custom. In Caitanya Caritāmṛta there are some verses like jaya jaya śrī caitanya jaya nityānanda jaya advaita-candra jaya gaurabhakta vṛnda, but the current pañca tattva mantras are not that old. pañca-tattvātmakam kṛṣṇam (CC Ādi 1.14) "Kṛṣṇa is embodied by the Pañca-tattva" When I asked my Guru about it he told me 'Just chant what I gave you, that is all' গুরু আমায় য়াই দিয়েছেন তাই আমার সব. That the pañca tattva mantra, which is not mentioned in any śāstra, protects from aparādha is a sheer myth. Judge a tree by its fruits - 95% of all devotees fall down, after neatly chanting 16x a day the Pañca-tattva Mantra. Also the idea that aparādha does not count in Māyāpur / Navadvīp is a sheer myth. Utter nonsense. Can you then gun down or torture a pure devotee in Navadvīp and Gaura-Nitāi will say "Jay Jay! Go on! Great! Do it again!"? Mahāprabhu Himself said he would never forgive Gopāl Cāpāl, in Navadvīp, and, though they were later saved by Nitāi, He wanted to kill Jagāi and Mādhāi. Plus, so many devotees stay in Bengal instead of in Vraja, thinking that they will be saved from aparādha, but I have seen so many of them falling away from the path, from Navadvīp/Māyāpur too....The pañca tattva mantra that is mostly used is highly asymmetric, the 2nd line being much longer than the first (śrī advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi gaura bhakta vṛnda) creating difficulty in kīrtana. Mind you, I'm not against chanting of Guru or Gaurāṅga in the kīrtana, but not because of the idea that there is no offence in them. Rather, because one must respect them - without their grace one cannot attain Kṛṣṇa. If the Pañca-tattva mantra really protected against aparādha everyone who chanted it would have prema by now."
Bhakta: "Some say that Kṛṣṇa's birth-pastime only happens in the material world, because Kṛṣṇa is not born in the spiritual world."
Advaitadas: "I haven't seen that in śāstra, but why can He not be eternally born in Goloka too? If He enjoys to be born it will be a līlā of His anywhere. Same with killing demons. In Bhakti Sandarbha Jīva Gosvāmī says that in Goloka there are pratimās, images of demons that Kṛṣṇa kills. Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu pleasing Him by fighting Him is extra. He can fight here, there, wherever He likes and He can make the demons assume any form He likes. If kids in this world have unlimited choice in video games, why would Kṛṣṇa have less than that?"
Bhakta: "We understand why Gaura took Rādhā's feelings, but why Her complexion?"
Advaitadas: "He did not want to be recognised as Kṛṣṇa. There are several explanations given. This avatāra is the most human of all, so even His complexion is that human. Mahāprabhu is called channa avatāra, a hidden avatāra. Rūpa Gosvāmī writes in the apāram kasyāpi verse: "Being curious to relish all the limitless rasa of love of one of His beloveds (in Vraja, Śrī Rādhā) Kṛṣṇa stole Her luster and covered His own (blackish) splendor with it, revealing this new golden luster to everyone...." Rādhā-govinda Nāth writes in his comment on CC Antya 14.67: Rādhā is a solid gold vessel and Kṛṣṇa a gold-plated copper vessel. mādana mahābhāva is like nitric acid, which a solid gold vessel can easily handle, but a copper one cannot. Rādhā's complexion is a protective shield."(See my blog of October 23, 2005. Note: I do not consider Rādhā-govinda Nāth an infallible authority, but this point he made very nicely)
Bhakta: "So the rivals of Rādhārāṇī are there to increase Her eagerness for Kṛṣṇa?"
Advaitadas: "Yes, though ultimately she has nothing really to worry about - She is His inseparable śakti, and the role of Her rivals in aṣṭakālīya līlā books is very very limited. They hardly feature there. Its like American crime-movies - the good guy always wins, a single fist blow knocks out the opponent for the rest of the show so the good guy can win the whole situation over. So in the līlā it seems Rādhā's parents, husband and rivals are tremendous obstacles but throughout the day you see Her actually enjoying long periods of time with Kṛṣṇa. Rivals and relatives hardly come into the picture. The scenarios in Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi that Rādhārāṇī really spends the whole night without Kṛṣṇa, being deceived by Her rivals, seem hardly realistic to me. Of course, every līlā of Kṛṣṇa is real and eternal, but these descriptions seem to me more like examples of different feelings that can arise in Her in different circumstances - māna, khaṇḍitā, kalahāntaritā, vāsaka sajjikā etc. I can personally not imagine that She would ever really spend the whole night without Kṛṣṇa."
Bhakta: "There is a verse in Vṛndāvan Mahimāmṛta which says that the mañjarīs are like foam that emanates from the ocean- like feet of Rādhārāṇī, seemingly suggesting that they, or we, are svarūpa śakti. Others also say that jīva śakti comes from Rādhārāṇī's feet."
Advaitadas: "Mahima means glorification. This is not a tattva statement. There is no evidence that jīva śakti comes from Rādhārāṇī's feet. jīva śakti doesn't come from anywhere. It has always existed, parallel with svarūpa śakti and Kṛṣṇa. It has never been created as an historical event."
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