Origin of the siddha deha

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dīkṣā-paramparā

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

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

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

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

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

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

Transcript Nāṭaka

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


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

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

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

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

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

108 gopī-beads?

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

11-13?

Today I received this message:

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

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

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


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

Worship of the mālā

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

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

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

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

bhūta rākṣasa vetālāḥ siddha gandharva cāraṇāḥ

haranti prakaṭaṁ yasmāt tasmāt guptaṁ japet sudhīḥ

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

japānya-kāle mālāṁ tu pūjayitvā sugopayet –

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

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

Pramāda discussion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Adjusting?

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

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

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

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

Boring or inexhaustibly delicious?

Subal says in Jyotidham, 22 june 2006:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

64 rounds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leach?

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

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

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

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

No obsessions, no witchhunts

Mādhava, commenting on the last blog:

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

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

Other talks

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

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

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

Tapo-bhūmi and bhoga-bhūmi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Layers of the tradition

More Subala on Jyotidhama:

"I don't like the Chotta Haridas story. I wonder what layer of the tradition it comes from. I was a friend of Vishnujana Maharaj, and from what I hear, he took this story too strictly. I would edit this story out. Sure it may support renunciates, but why do we want to encourage persons to be renunciates? I've seen the damage done. That's why I say we need revised, edited, reimagined scriptures for today. "

He doesn't like it - understandably, because it may make him feel a bit uncomfortable since he himself took a vow of lifelong abstinence once upon a time, considering what was Chota Haridāsa's fate. And 'layer of the tradition'? - well that is another novel concept. I gather it is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's layer, what other layer is there? He will 'edit the story out' - wonder what will remain of the Absolute Reality of Nitya Līlā (yes, eternal pastimes) then in the end? And what means 're-imagined'? Are the original scriptures 'imagined' to start with?

Regrettably the link to Jyotidham is lost and so is the original text involving Subal.

Plagiarism, concurring realizations or devotional copying?

At Audarya (post 12 and beyond)* the issue of Nārāyaṇa Maharaja using Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī’s and Ananta Dās Bābājī’s Vilāpa Kusumāñjali-purports is being discussed. The question is, is it plagiarism, concurring divine realizations or devotional copying due to 100% agreement?

For instance, all three comments on Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.182 – by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, Mukunda Dās Gosvāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī - are verbatim the same (the famous story of the Brahmin burning his fingers on the mentally offered sweet-rice). Now certainly Mukunda and Viśvanātha were not illiterate and they had access to Jīva Gosvāmī’s ṭīkās, so the explanation that they had concurring, parallel transcendental realizations is, however devotionally it is meant, not realistic. As a matter of fact, many of Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s ṭīkās of Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu are verbatim copies of Jīva Gosvāmī’s, and mostly without acknowledging him. Senior followers of Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja already conceded that he took purports from Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī and Ananta Dās Bābājī, so the ‘concurring realizations’ explanation does not work. There are also Mukundāṣṭakams by Rūpa Gosvāmī and Raghunātha Dās Gosvāmī that are verbatim the same, of which some say they were concurring realizations. And the Caitanya Caritāmṛta purports of Bhaktivinode and Bhaktisiddhānta were not ‘parallel realized’ by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swāmi either, but simply translated by him. Just some thoughts......

* Unfortunately Audarya Fellowship folded and the link died, so it is deleted March 13, 2010

Stealing in the name of the Lord

“Stealing from the karmīs engages them in devotional service” is an abominable apasiddhānta which isn’t supported by śāstra and logic. A gift consciously and voluntarily given with love and devotion – only that engages the ‘karmīs’ in devotional service! Stealing by a ‘devotee’ is rather a sin for which the devotee will have to suffer reactions, period. In Caitanya Caritāmṛta we find the story of Gopīnāth Paṭṭanāyaka, who was corrupt and stole royal revenue. Due to his family ties with Rāmānanda Rāya, Kāśī Miśra got him [quite literally] off the hook with the king, which could be seen as proxy protection by Mahāprabhu, but only just. Still Mahāprabhu said that he should not steal. In Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Antya 9.88-92, Kāśī Miśra quotes Mahāprabhu to Mahārāja Pratāpa-rudra:

‘Gopīnāth lost control over his senses and misappropriates the king’s revenues for that. The king’s property is more sacred even than the property of a Brahmin, and this great sinner has stolen it for his own enjoyment. He should be punished by the king – that is the verdict of the śāstra. The king is very lenient and pious that he does not punish him. He does not pay his revenue to the king and now he is being punished he is crying out to Me for help – who can tolerate this?”

Later, when Gopīnāth got amnesty, everyone was relieved, but Mahāprabhu reiterated:

“You must follow this order of Mine – Do not misappropriate the king’s wealth. If anything is left after paying dues to the king then spend it on religious affairs. If you are corrupt you will perish in this life and the next.” (CC Antya 9.142-144)

There is nothing ‘transcendental to mundane morality’ in stealing by a Vaiṣṇava, as Śrīla Raghunātha Dās Gosvāmī warns in Manaḥ Śikṣā, verse 2 – na dharmaṁ nādharmaṁ – “Do not perform mundane virtue, but also no mundane sins!” Crime in devotional service is not ‘transcendental’, rather it is an offence to the chanting of the holy name called nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa buddhiḥ: “Sinning on strength of the holy name” thinking that the sin will be obliterated by chanting the holy name after, or even during the crime.

When I returned from the 1983 Ratha-Yatra Festival in Puri, I told Sādhu Bābā that the Orissa Railway Police took boys and men that were riding without ticket off the train and beat them up. Bābā said: “Very well – and when they are finished they can send them to me and I will beat them up again!” Bābā also forbade his merchant disciples to cheat in the marketplace.

adhikāra for Rāsa-Līlā

In response to Keśavānanda’s question in the previous blog's comments box, about adhikāra for hearing of the Lord's intimate pastimes:

My Guru Sādhu Bābā, Kṛṣṇa dās Madrasi Bābā, Rohiṇīndranāth Mitra and Madan-mohan Dās Bābājī, all great souls, told me, independently from each other, it is better not to read rasa śāstra when one is too lusty. I understood that is because when one is an emotionally and physically active lover one will identify with the līlā of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and that is an offence called ahaṅgropāsana, meditating on oneself as the deity.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says in Bhakti Sandarbha (276) that smaraṇa (even just of the holy name, let alone Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s intimate līlā) requires a pure heart – nāma smaranaṁ tu śuddhāntaḥ-karaṇatām āpekṣate. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī has also written (Bhakti Sandarbha 275): atha śaraṇāpattyādibhiḥ śuddhāntaḥkaraṇas cet....nāma saṅkīrtanāparityāgena smaranaṁ kuryāt "When the mind is purified by the process of surrender, one should practise the devotional item of recollection without giving up nāma saṅkīrtana." kintu rahasya-līlā tu pauruṣa-vikāravad indriyaiḥ……nopāsya “But the intimate pastimes should not be meditated upon by (those whose) senses are affected by masculine transformations.” (Bhakti Sandarbha 338)

When one is less heated one can read these books, and the topic will work as a medicine, as has been promised by the Bhāgavata in the final verse of the Rāsa līlā-narration (10.33.39). There are subtle desires, called vāsanā, cherished by people who actually control their outer senses. That can be there, OK, and one can still read rasa śāstra, but to be grossly active in sex and read rasa śāstra, is not something approved by the mahātmās I knew. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says in Gopāla Campū (pūrva 23.1): tad etad govinda vraja vijana kāntānuvacanaṁ dadhadbhir yogyasya śravasi paramāpyam na sadasi 'This confidential Rasa-lila topic is to be heard by qualified people who carry Govinda in their hearts, not in a public assembly."

As to your query why certain devotees fell down even after hearing and reading lots of Rāsa-līlā, that may not have been caused by that but by other factors - I do not believe, for a start, that westerners qualify for sannyāsa, and the past 40-year western Vaiṣṇava history has vindicated me in that. However, there can be other reasons as well - false show-bottle renunciation for pratiṣṭhā will not work in the long term (how long can one stand on one's toes before collapsing?), one gets proud of one's position, vaiṣṇava aparādha, who knows? Only God knows it.
Hope this helps.

svārasikī elaboration

Muralīdhara commented on my last blog:

Reverend Steve of the Marijuana Sacrament Church wrote somewhere that he recently gave up eating red meat, but that his wife was still enjoying it - which must make for some inconvience for them when it comes to planning what to cook for "honey" at meal time.

Seriously, of course svārasikī-elaboration on the existing theme of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa aṣṭakāliya parakīya līlā is just fine and very welcome, however, as Murali indicated with his description of Subal's level of ācāra, great purity is required to qualify to do so. Secondly one must be expert in kāvya, nāṭaka śāstra, alaṅkāra, rasa-siddhānta and what have you. Thirdly there are the parameters given by Śrīman Mahāprabhu - rasābhāsa hoy yadi siddhānta virodha - such compositions must be in good taste, not just aesthetically, but according to the terms of kāvya, alaṅkāra etc, and must be philosophically sound. It is unfortunately certain that Subala does not qualify in any of these categories, so it is better I don't give him an e-copy of Govinda Līlāmṛta just yet...

More Subal

Subal Das continues on jyotidham.com:

I have long wanted to read Govinda Lilamrita, which more fully describes the pastimes throughout the day. I just finished reading Advaita dasa’s translation last night. It was so disappointing. Radha is portrayed as extremely emotionally unstable. She’s always torn between loving Krishna and being angry at him and rejecting him, and there’s just far too much rejection for my taste.

Subal shows that he 1. Has no idea about prema tattva 2. Has a completely mundane view of transcendental matters. 3. Has no idea about the science of kāvya. Radha is of course mādanākhya mahābhava-vati, endowed with the highest mode of transcendental love of God. Her ‘emotional instability’ was later displayed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in his recent prakat līlā. It is the pinnacle of ecstatic love of God.

I might describe her as a drama queen, in need of life coaching, in need of Prozac, etc.

This is so offensive I wish I hadn’t read it but just for the sake of exposure I am posting it here.

I’m always thinking, “Come on, give the guy a break. You know that’s just the way he is and that he loves you the best. Look. He’s broken hearted. What more do you want?”

Rādhā’s transcendental rejection of Kṛṣṇa is of course a symptom of Her transcendental vāmya svabhāva, opposed nature, and this is what Kṛṣṇa relishes. So, indeed, give Him a break, let Him enjoy the way He wants to. That is what bhakti is all about – pleasing Kṛṣṇa  Perhaps Subal should first study the Ujjvala Nilamani so that he can get an idea of śṛṅgāra rasa, transcendental amorous mellows. Stressing the adjective ‘transcendental’ here…..

Then there’s the relationship between Kṛṣṇa and his mother. She’s always soaked by her tears and breast milk as she fondles him. And I thought Jewish mothers were a bit much.

This again is so offensive it beggars description. Subal in his 39 years of bhakti could not even grasp the basic principles of vātsalya bhāva, or perhaps he has no mundane vātsalya bhāva himself, since I believe he does not have any children himself.

There were certainly some good parts in the book that I would want to keep. However, what I would like is an electronic copy of the translation so that I could delete sections I don’t like and rewrite others. The book is in need of a major edit and rewrite. It would be even better if Advaitadasa did it.

No way, pal. Count me out, burn your own fingers on that.

I also have his translation of Raya Shekhara’s Astakala Lila Padavali which I can’t bring myself to read. In it Ray Shekhar mixes himself in the pastimes using his male practitioner name. It seems so inappropriate. So I’m looking for some good literature describing the erotic pastimes of Radha Kṛṣṇa that I, my wife and other Westerners can relate to. Post-modern feminine ideals are much different than 16-17th century Indian feminine ideals which I come out in the writings of that period. Some books are better than others.

This all confirms my regrets over publishing these intimate literatures at all. First Pītāmbar, then Jagat, now Subal – people with a completely mundane and thus inevitably offensive view of transcendental śṛṅgāra rasa  Let me exhaust myself by repeating this simple basic lesson – Rādhā Kṛṣṇa līlā is beyond time and space and is not a creation of some medieval Indians. To quote myself (madangopal.blogspot January 13, 2006:)

"I remember that, in 1988, when the late Rohiṇīndranāth Mitra of Keśī-ghāt found out that I had translated Govinda Līlāmṛta into English, he told me: "Very well done. And now you please put this book away." Then he went on reminding me how Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati did not want his followers to read Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi and the like. I remember in 1983 Sadhu Baba told me not to read rasika books if/when I was in a non-celibate state (he also told me not to go out of our ashram as Navadvip is full of sahajiyas). Nevertheless I continued to read, translate and distribute rasika kathā. Now self-confessed sahajiyas like Pītāmbar Dās and Jagadānanda Dās are reading and passing out these books to wholly unqualified people. I feel some burden of responsibility here; I was too liberal in the past. Now what to do? When you fired the gun you cannot call back the bullet anymore! Of course many people also express gratitude at my translation work and some people will benefit from it, but the harmful side-effect of that past 'mission' of mine is that people who do not realise the spiritual nature of Rādhā and Madangopāl's loving pastimes are reading them and are - deliberately or otherwise - misrepresenting them. I deeply regret that....

When Kṛṣṇa accepts the offering?

PATRAṀ PUṢPAṀ PHALAṀ TOYAṀ YO ME BHAKTYĀ PRAYACCHATI

TAD AHAṀ BHAKTYUPAHṚTAM AŚNĀMI PRAYATĀTMANAḤ

(Bhagavad Gītā 9.26)

“Whoever offers Me with love a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, if it is offered with devotion by a pure soul, I will eat it.”

The services of cooking and serving prasāda are for the oldest and most mature devotees, not for the youngest and least mature devotees, because they are not yet pure enough, either physically or spiritually. The purity of the donor, the server, the cook – everything goes into the consciousness of the eater. The older devotees may be too proud or too lazy to serve or cook, or may consider it ‘menial service’, but it isn’t. Śrīdhara Svāmī comments on Bhagavad Gītā 9.26 :

prayatātmanaḥ śuddha-cittasya niṣkāma-bhaktasya tat-patra-puṣpādikaṁ bhaktyā tena upahṛtaṁ samarpitam aham aśnāmi

(Kṛṣṇa says) “The word prayatātmanaḥ means a devotee who is pure-hearted and free from desires. What is offered by him I will eat.”

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on this verse:

kiṁ ca mad-bhaktasyāpy apavitra-śarīratve sati nāśnāmīty āha prayatātmanaḥ śuddha-śarīrasyeti rajaḥsvalādayo vyavṛttaḥ –

(Kṛṣṇa says) “I will not eat even from My devotees if their bodies are impure. Prayatātmanaḥ means with a pure body, not polluted by menstruation and so.” Too often western devotees cook for their deities with blue jeans on, that they may have worn while riding in buses or trains or while passing stool. Before cooking and offering one should shower and put on special clean clothing. In the Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Antya 6) it is mentioned that Raghunātha dās Gosvāmī decided to stop inviting Mahāprabhu for prasāda because the money that bought the prasāda came from mixed Vaiṣṇavas (his parents). Even that was considered a pollution, let alone the servers. In India the topmost devotees serve prasāda, not the newcomers, let alone polluted guests. The word prayata in the Gītā-verse means:

- piously disposed , intent on devotion , well prepared for a solemn rite, ritually pure (also applied to a vessel and a place) , selfsubdued , dutiful , careful , prudent
- a holy or pious person
- purity , holiness

(Monier Monier Williams Sanskrit dictionary)

Retraction on Vṛṣṇis

On page 14 of my essay ‘Qualification for raganuga bhakti’ on my website www.madangopal.com , linktab 'Articles', I rejected the following notion of Sripad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, in his book The Nectar of Devotion:

“Spontaneous love of Kṛṣṇa as exhibited by the Vṛṣṇis and the denizens of Vṛndāvana is eternally existing in them.”

“Persons desiring to follow in the footsteps of such eternal devotees of the Lord as the Vṛṣṇis and Vṛndāvana denizens are called rāgānugā-devotees, which means that they are trying to attain to the perfection of those devotees.”

I have, however, learned from Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu that Swāmiji was actually correct. BRS 1.2.275 (BRS 1.2.270-309 deal exclusively with rāgānugā bhakti) mentions the Vṛṣṇis in sambandhānuga rāgānugā bhakti, quoting SB 7.1.30:

sambandhād vṛṣṇayaḥ snehād yūyaṁ bhaktyā vayaṁ vibho

“The Yādavas attained Kṛṣṇa through their relationship with him.”

śrī-jīvaḥ: gopya iti—pūrva-rāgāvasthā jñeyaḥ evaṁ vṛṣṇādayo’pi 275

Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s ṭīkā: “So also with the Vṛṣṇis”

Again the same in verse 288 of the same chapter:

sambandha-rūpa govinde pitṛtvādy-abhimānita atropalakṣaṇatayā vṛṣṇīnāṁ vallava mataḥ yadaiśya-jñāna-śūnyatvād eṣāṁ rāge pradhānata

„It is not only the Vṛṣṇis but also the cowherds who have sambandha bhakti, on account of their parental self-esteem. On account of their predominance of rāga (as they consider Him his relative) they are devoid of the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa's aiśvarya."

And in verse 307

tathā hi śrūyate śāstre kaścit kurupuri-sthitaḥ
nanda-sūnor adhiṣṭhānaṁ tatra putratayā bhajan
nāradasyopadeśena siddho’bhūd vṛddha-vārdhakiḥ

"It is heard in scripture that an old man in Hastināpura attained perfection by considering Nanda’s son to be his son and being instructed in this by Nārada.”

The refutation is deleted from the essay.

Madhura Milana on the Arizona Freeway

Today this appeared on jyotidham.com, written by Subal Das:

"I am looking for some devotee scholars and poets who would like to collaborate with me to update the Radha Krishna devotional literature. The GV corpus was put together based on 16th century Indian asthetic theory. What would it look like with 21st century, Western asthetics? How can the philosophy be developed in such a way that post-modern critical thinkers and seekers can be devotees without having to compromise their intelligence? How can we take and adapt the best and leave the rest? This is a major undertaking."

Subal Das takes Jagat’s mission of ‘rationalizing’ and ‘modernizing’ the Gosvāmīs books even a step further. ‘without having to compromise their intelligence’ means what, that Rūpa, Sanātan, Jīva, Jayadeva, Viśvanātha and all the other nitya siddha ācāryas don’t have any intelligence? Or perhaps they fail to cater to people who have ‘intelligence’? Now we will see what Subal means with ‘intelligence’:

"One thing I think is needed is to make Radha Krishna and their friends older--like Radha is 20 and Krishna 21. We don't have 12 year old married women here. What's with this obcession with illicit love being higher than married love anyway? I'm talking about a major reimagining of the myth to make it more relevant today and in the future."

This is my proposal: Rādhā Kṛṣṇa meet on the Arizona Freeway, after making an appointment on MSN messenger or by cellphone. Kṛṣṇa is now called Blacky and wears blue jeans and a T shirt and Rādhā is now called Starry and wears a miniskirt. She is the cheerleader in the local high school of course, 20 years old and had a score of boyfriends before meeting up with Blacky, anxiously hiding from him that she already scored an STD from one of them. Subal (renamed Muscles)’s Manjari Svarūpa (bud-body) is now 17 years old, to adjust to modern times, and she had scores of boyfriends too, yeah from her high school of course.

BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS –“The GV corpus was put together based on 16th century Indian asthetic theory.”

Well. for starters the GV corpus was not ‘put together’ but revealed from within the heart by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (hṛdi yasya preraṇayā, BRS 1.1.2). But then Śrī Caitanya is just a 16th century Indian sādhu I suppose. Subal seems to forget that Rādhā-kṛṣṇa Līlā appeared in Purāṇas like the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, (Rāsa līlā in Bhāgavata Purana), if not 5000 years old then at least a lot older than 16th century, and even that is material calculation, since Narottama Dās Thākur says about those unintelligent 6 Gosvamis “rādhā-kṛṣṇa nitya līlā korilen prakāśa” – “They revealed (not ‘put together’) Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa ‘s nitya līlā - that’s right, nitya means eternal – neither 500 nor 5000 years old, just nitya. Perhaps Narottama wasn’t so intelligent either….

avatāras, asuras, rādhākund-śyāmakund

'Incarnation' is not the right translation for the word avatāra. It is Latin for 'in the flesh' and is thus a māyāvādī-translation because, according to Vaiṣṇava-siddhānta, God never goes in the flesh. The word avatāra is better translated as 'descent'. Instead it is us conditioned souls who are incarnations - incarnations of the individual souls.

'Demon' is often a way-too-heavy translation of the word asura, which means ungodly (a=un sura=godly). We must remember that asuras, the ungodly, are sinning out of ignorance (ityajñāna vimohitaḥ, B.Gītā 16.15)

Iskcon's Gopīnāth Dās (kīrtanīya) explains that one first bathes in Rādhākuṇḍa otherwise Kṛṣṇa will not accept you in Śyāmakuṇḍa then you bathe in Śyāmakuṇḍa and then again in Rādhākuṇḍa because only then Rādhārāṇī will really accept you.

Special service to the Guru

Yesterday, on vilasa kunja (public section!), Krishna Das wrote:

“Otherwise why would the acharyas say that simply service to guru is sufficient, one does not have to do anything else, that one can even give up one's bhajan? (e.g. Visvanath Cakravarti writes it somewhere in his commentary on Bhagavatam, but I cannot remember where exactly.)”

Here are some references to such exclusive Guru seva:

In Bhakti Sandarbha (237) Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmīpāda has written :

tatra yadyapi śaraṇāpattyaiva sarvaṁ siddhyati. śaraṇaṁ taṁ prapannā ye dhyāna yoga vivarjitāh. te vai mṛtyum atikramya yānti tad vaiṣṇavaṁ padam. iti gāruḍāt tathāpi vaiśiṣṭya lipsuḥ śaktaś cet tataḥ bhagavac chāstropadeṣṭṛṇāṁ bhagavan mantropadeṣṭṛṇāṁ vā śrī guru-caraṇānāṁ nityam eva viśeṣataḥ sevāṁ kuryāt. tat prasādo hi sva sva nānā pratikāra dustyājyānartha hānau parama bhāgavat prasāda siddhau ca mūlam.

"Although the sādhaka achieves all perfection by surrendering to the Lord's lotus feet, still if a person wants to attain special perfection, then he must always specially serve the Guru who instructs him in the scriptures as well as the Guru who initiates into the Lord's mantras. By his grace all one's personal anarthas, that are otherwise hard to give up through other means, are conquered. It is the greatest cause of receiving the grace of the Lord."

In Padma Purāṇa, in the Śrī Devahuti-stava, it is seen —

bhaktir yathā harau me'sti tad variṣṭhā gurau yadi;
mamāsti tena satyena sandarśayatu me hariḥ

"If I have more devotion for the Guru than for Śrī Hari Himself, then through this truth Lord Hari will surely reveal Himself to me."

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda’s comments on Śrīmad Bhāgavata 4.28.34 :

sutāt hitveti pativratā patyur iva guroḥ sevāyāṁ pravṛttaḥ śiṣyaḥ śravaṇa kīrtanādīnyapi bhogān tad utthāna premānandān api gṛhān tad ucita vivikta sthalam api naivāpekṣate. śrī guru sevayaiva sukhena sarva sādhya siddhyartham ityupadeśa vyañjitaḥ..........guru sevāyā eva vedena sarvādhikasyoktatvā

“A disciple deeply absorbed in the service of the Guru does not even depend on hearing and chanting, knowing that by guru-sevā he can easily attain complete perfection in devotion. Just as a devoted wife does not want any sense enjoyment and home comfort, a disciple completely absorbed in guru-sevā does not seek even premānanda arising out of hearing and chanting nor even seek secluded places suitable to his bhajana. The Vedas say that service to the Guru is the greatest.”

Hope this helps!

Encouragement

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

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

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

klaibyam mā sma gama pārtha naitat tvayyupapadyate. 

kṣudraṁ hṛdaya daurbalyaṁ tyaktvottiṣṭa parantapah 

(Bhagavad Gītā 2.3) 

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

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

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

Uttama adhikārī

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

UDAÑCAT KĀRUṆYĀMṚTA VITARAṆAIR JĪVITA JAGAD

YUVADVANDVAṀ GANDHAIR GUṆA SUMANASĀṀ VĀSITA JANAM

KṚPĀṀ CEN MAYYEVAM KIRATI NA TADĀ TVAṀ KURU TATHĀ

YATHĀ ME ŚRĪ KUṆḌE SAKHI SAKALAM AṄGAṀ NIVASATI

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


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

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

sarva bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ 

bhūtani bhagavatyātmāṇyeṣa bhāgavatottamaḥ 

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

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

Qualification for siddha praṇālī

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

Inborn empirical world view

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

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

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

pramāda japa

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

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

Raghunātha Dās Gosvāmī's indigestion

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

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

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

Rādhākuṇḍa for siddhas?

Anonymous reply:

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

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

Going 'crazy' in Vraja

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

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

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

Posted with permission of the correspondent.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Verse 17:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Updates of madangopal.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Explanation of 'Ignorance IS an excuse"

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

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

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

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

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

Ignorance IS an excuse

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

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

ebe yaśa ghuṣuk tribhuvana

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bengalizing

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

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

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

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

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

Lokanātha's Guru

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

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

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

Holi/Gaur pūrnimā 2006

(Tulasis in Yadunath's garden)

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

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

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

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

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

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