gaudiya math chennai / the gaudiya may 2011

8/6/2019 gaudiya math chennai / The Gaudiya May 2011

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MAY 2011 THE GAUDIYA1

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THE

GAUDIYASpiritual Monthly

Vol. LIV MAY 2011 No. 9

MANGALCHARANAM y{oNm| uz Nu wub t : @m zz|T tz :Nm| Y u\wuoz Nwm Nm|wo@@

Oh,how fortunate am I and how wonderful is Your Grace thatthe sportive yawning expansion of our (i.e., my) words (in this

Krishna Karnmritam) which repeatedly pours the ineffable flowof nectar into the ear-holes of those blessed devotees of Yours whoculture and intutively experience the fragrance of the waves of thetautological expressions replete with the sweetness of Your devotion,and into the ear-holes of the beautiful ladies with nice eyes, is nectar-like sweet Ears of Yours, viz., the Sportive Krishna, sunken, as itwere, in their minds and eyes.

EMo us| `\o: @u|: NwmzMo {S Xoz @@

--Sri Leelshuka Bilvamangala


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THE GAUDIYA MAY 2011

Pithy Precepts of Srila PrabhupdThese are never

required to be carriedto the region of thetranscendence wheredeficiency andtransitoriness shouldnever from a factor.The knowledge whichhas accrued throughthe medium of senses

is no doubt drawnfrom transformable objects of phenomena.So they can have no absolute valueaccording to the estimation of sensuouscritics. But such impressions can have somelien when the phenomenal existence isconsidered as an imperfect and pervertedreflection of the Original TranscendentalManifestation.

If we start through the syntheticprocess and from the mundane level, wesurely neutralise the variegated positions of

the phenomena and are naturally found topose as impersonalists in the long run. Butthat situation is likely to suffer a changewhen the manifestive Absolute Phases aretraced as the Eternal source of this eclipsedand imperfect vision of the phenomena. Themundane things stand in our visual rangeas an opaque screen preventing us fromhaving a full sight of the transcendentaltabula rasa.

Madhvas eternal associative Dualityalways maintains eternal devotional attitudewhich is the common basis of all the fourinculcators of Positive Truth. Maya ordelusive energy is to be abandoned oroverpowered by devotion which will giveeternal relief to conditioned individual soulor spirit. Individual spirit is never to indulgeitself in the imaginary inflation for becomingthe universal non-designative Spirit.Individuals are eternally atomic isolated

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numberless entities. They have eternalcongnitional, volitional and emotionalattributes in them. They are prone to beforgetful of the direction of service towardsthe Absolute, and such inattention has madethem non diligent towards their EternalMaster, the Fountainhead. In salvation theyare never to lose their eternal specialindividuality and this temporary captiveindividuation in the present sheath shouldnever be considered as permanentlyneglecting the eternal ontologicaltranscendental form. The individual soulsand matter and not temporary production,but they are emanated from Brahman andthey have reciprocal relations. The PersonalBody of Brahman known as Vishnu is thevery centre of all energies and attributes, bethey temporary or eternal. He is All-potentand His Service is the eternal function ofthe individual spirits. The worldly pretensionsofmaya are traced in the unusual desire ofelevationists and salvationists. The devoteeshave got no such pretensions like the fictitiousbelievers of enjoyment or the salvationistslike the Vedanta interpreter Shankara.Madhvas interpretation of the EfficientCause is not challenged by his opponents,but his conception of material cause of theworld has been misunderstood by theMayavadins to be different from the uniquesituation of Brahman. The phase of thematerial cause is not isolated from Brahmanbut the yieldings of the material cause shouldin no case be confused as identical withBrahman. The material cause has producedthis phenomenon to befool conditioned jivasor individual captive spirits, who have bytheir indolent mood behaved as enjoyers butthe real cause should be seen to haveemanated from Him through one of Hisconflicting potencies for that purpose whichis misunderstood by a hasty idealisticconception from outward reading.


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MAY 2011 THE GAUDIYA 3

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Thus Spake Srila chryadevaSri Chaitanya

M a h a p r a b h upreached this religionbased on Bhakti andPrema. Pure devotionshould not have,however, any of theobstructive influencesof knowledge;

p h i l o s o p h i c a lknowledge and mere disinclination(Vairgya) obstruct the course of Bhakti.But the knowledge of Gods Nature andWisdom regarding the nature of intimaterelation of man with God is regarded asunobstructive to Bhakti. Pure devotion isthat in which the devotee renounces alldesires, all formal worship, all knowledgeand work, but is attached to Krishna. Bhaktidoes not require for its fulfilment the

performance of any ritual process. Bhaktiis itself the emancipation. The reality of Godcan only be realised through Bhakti.

The most direct action to beperformed in the path of Bhakti is tolisten to and recite the Names andGlories of God. According to SriChaitanya Mahaprabhu, Bhakti is dividedinto two classes Vaidhi andRgnug.Vaidhi-Bhakti comes from the promptingof scriptural sources. The Rgnug-

Bhakti is distinct from Vaidhi-Bhakti.Affection of Radha for Krishna is toillustrate the highest and most intense formof this Love. The Bhva-Bhakti or Sdhya-Bhakti which is natural and devotionalecstasy cannot be produced by any courseof conduct or any effort. The true devotionalecstasy cannot be created; it already existsin the heart. It requires to be manifested.

Sri Krishna and His ServiceSri Krishna is the Supreme Lord of all

lords and the sole Ordainer of all events ofthe Universe, both mundane andtranscendental from Whom has emanatedevery animate and inanimate, mortal andimmortal being, Whom the Brahma Samhitahas described as the Supreme God, fullembodiment of Eternal existence, Unlimited-

knowledge or Jnna, and UnandulteratedJubilation (sat-chit-nanda) of having noorigin beyond Himself, being the PrimeOrigin of all entities, the Root Cause of allcauses, Sri Krishna, the Ultimate Reality isOne without a second. Sri Krishna, theAbsolute Integer, is distinct from His Shaktior counter-whole including her integratedand dissociable fractional parts in theirsynthetic and analytic manifestations. SriKrishna is the Predominating Absolute and

His Shakti is the Predominated Absolute.Thus He transcends our divergentconceptions about Him and far supersedesthe images of Him that we portray in ourmind, the resultant combination of our sense-perceptions. He believes our idea aboutHim if we take Him as the greatest hero andpolitical leader among Indian princes of acertain era. Neither does He confirm ouropinion about Him that He was in bygoneages a Kshatriya youth brought up among

rural people like cow-herds and milk-maids,enjoying some youthful pranks with themtransgressing the bounds of morality anddecency, nor does He aver to our belief thatHe was a mortal being like ourselves killedby a hunter with an arrow accidentally aimedat Him. Those that entertain such ideasabout Him are misled by the degeneratinginfluence ofmaya, His illusory energy.


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ALMANAC for the months of MAY & JUNE 201115.05.2011 Sun Concluding day of pouring water to Sri Slagrm and Tulasi -- Keshava

Vrata16.05.2011 Mon Sri Nrisimha Chaturdashi Fasting. Next day Prana between 4.59

and 9.21 a.m. Appearance of Srila Mdhavendra Puri and Srinivsachrya. Disappearance of Srila Parameswarids Thkur

17.05.2011 Tue Buddha Purnima20.05.2011 Fri Appearance of Srimad Nimnanda Prabhu

22.05.2011 Sun Disappearance of Srila Rmnanda Rya28.05.2011 Sat Apar Ekdashi Fasting. Next day Prana between 4.55 and 9.21a.m.29.05.2011 Sun Appearance of Srila Brindvan Ds Thkur30.05.2011 Mon Demise of Srimad Bhakti Sudhir Ychaka Maharj04.06.2011 Sat Demise of Simad Bhakti Vivek Bodhyana Maharj05.06.2011 Sun Demise of Srimad Bhakti Gaurava Giri Maharj11.06.2011 Sat Appearance of Sri Gangmta Goswmini, Sri Gangpuja. Dassar.

Disappearance of Srila Baladeva Vidybhushan Prabhu12.06.2011 Sun Pndav Nirjala Ekdashi Fasting. Next day Prana between 4.55

and 7.11 a.m.14.06.2011 Tue The Festival of the mixture of Parched rice, Curd and Milk done by

Srila Raghuntha Ds Goswmi at Sri Pnihti

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Now, the question arises that if SriKrishna is Sachidnanda Vigraha, is All-spiritual having nothing material about Himand is existing from time immemorial, how,then, is He born? Birth presupposes thatthe being born was not existent before andwill perish in course of time; and if SriKrishna was born and dead too like anordinary being, how can He be calledan Ever-existing, All-spiritual and All-

joyful Being? We are audacious enoughto put such questions only when we have a

spirit of scepticism which renders our mindstoo much hardened with materialism toconceive of things purely spiritual. Weshould make our unreserved submission tothe saintly persons who will condescend toimpart to us the true vision that theypossessed, so that we may see the truthdivested of the cover of the delusive potencyof maya and feel the transcendental

existence of Bhagavan. Our words and forthe matter of that, our languages, beingdivested of all grossness and as such cannotconvey their spiritual import to the minds ofreaders and listeners. We are thus misledby the recorded accounts of the birth, careerand departure of Sri Krishna and led tobelieve that they relate to those of one ofthe conditioned beings like ourselves whomight have had some outstandingcharacteristics in his physical, intellectual andpsychic features not ordinarily found in us.

Even in the midst of this perplexity,we are guidedif we are fortunate enoughto accept such guidance, by the holy textsof Satvata scriptures leading to Godsservice. Krishna Himself has said to Arjuna,Though I am unborn, I accept birth likethat of Jivas exercising My Prakriti orSwarupa-shakti with My pure suddha-sattva Murti. (Gita IV.6-8).


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SRI GURU PRESHTHATHE BELOVED OF SRI GURUSripad B.S.Narayan Maharaj

(Contd. from April issue)

All this has immensely proved thesuccess and augmentation of Sri GaudiyaMaths grand preaching program. The actof Calcutta Bagh Bazars Gaudiya MathTemple construction through generous

hearted Jagabandhu Bhakti Ranjan prabhu,the act of constructing Bhakti VijayaBhavan at Sri Chaitanya Math, SridhamMayapur, through Sri Bhakti Vijay SakhiCharan Roy Prabhu and arrangement oflighting throughelectrification of SriMayapur, the actof fixing variousdevotees in theservice of SriGuruji, in all these

activities there existthe prime partici-pation of SriA c h a r y a t r i k aPrabhu. Hence Iconclude that, let us sincerely and withoutany prejudice sing the glory of that Belovedof Sri Gurudeva, who is the Chief assistantin carrying out the hearty desires of SriGurudeva.

Extract from Gaudiya 10th year, 33rd

Number Page No. 524.On the 9th of Chaitra month 1338

Bengali era, (1932 A D) during the sessionof Sri Dham Pracharini Sabha presided bySrila Prabhupad, Tridandi Swami SrimadBhakti Pradip Tirtha Maharaj spoke aboutSri Kunjada, appreciating his ideals ofsuperhuman devotional services, andfelicitated Acharyatirka Prabhu, on behalf

of Sri Vishwa Vaishnava Raj Sabha.Goswami Maharaj spoke the followingwords.

Sri Bhagavata Ratna Prabhu, thebeloved person of Srila Prabhupada, isverily the beloved of each and everyGaudiya servitors heart. He is known as

Kunjda amongst us; as such, he is theprovider of Kunja (bower) of Hari Bhajanto all of us. Constructing Sri Gaudiya Mathtemple through Srila Jagabandhu

B h a k t i r a n j a nP r a b h u ,construction of SriChaitanya Matht e m p l e ,construction of SriGurujis apartment

Bhakti VijayaBhavan throughSriyukta SakhiCharan BhaktiVijaya Prabhu,

opening up of Sri Gaudiya Maths theisticexhibition; Sri Kunjada is verily at the rootof all these activities. Moreover, it isKunjada who has introduced SrilaPrabhupad to this world. Kunjada is alwaysengaged in appointing everyone in theservice of Srila Prabhupada, by forgivingall their defects. His degree of tolerance inrendering service, and his ideal manner ofsmilingly facing all kinds of tempestuouscalamities for the sake of Guru-Seva, allthese are not visible in this mortal world. Inthe fulfillment of the message of Srila BhakitSiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, AcharyatrikaPrabhu is the very personification ofdevotion or spiritual service.

NoteWherever Srila Prabhupad is

mentioned it refers Srila BhaktiSiddhanta Saraswati Goswami

Thakur only, Who is the illustrious

Founder Acharya of ParentOrganisation Sri Chaitanya Math,ofthe present Gaudiya Vaishnava

Movement throughout the world.


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(to be contd .....)

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The following is an extract from

Gaudiya12th year 31st Number, Page 478.

In a devotional gathering held at VillagePurulia, the birth place of Sripad Kunjada,presided over by Srila Prabhupad, theGaudiyaEditor Sri Sunderananda BhaktiVinode Prabhu gave the following speech.

Today I have stood in front of all ofyou, not for giving any lecture, but only tobeseech merciful benediction of Sri Guru andVaishanavas. Today I have had the fortuneof arriving to the place of my holy spiritualMasters beloved person. Therefore, nowI feel quite avaricious to beg for the grace ofthe Vaishanavas, with added enthusiasm.This morning we have heard that, fourteenyears ago also Srila Guruji along with manyof his fortunate disciples had visited thisplace. It was my misfortune that, during thattime I did not had spiritual awakening.Among those visitors Srimat AnantaVasudeva Prabhu also was there. I heardthrough him that, in the place of this present

new house to be inaugurated now, therestood a dilapidated thatched hut at that time.It is quite wonderful that, even by himselfremaining in a hay-covered hut, whateverdreams he had seen in his natural absorption,in his trance of spiritual service, have todaymaterialized into reality. During that time,when Srila Guruji and Vaishanavas arrivedhere and saw the situation, they realizedabout the magnanimous heart of the dwellerof that thatched hut, that made them quitedumb-founded. It made them deeplyponder over as to who is this great soul!Staying himself in a dilapidated hut, the onewho strived, dreamt and struggled to build apalatial skyscraper temple and luxuriousapartments for the dwelling of the Lord andthe devotees, for the service of the SpiritualMaster, for the propagation of LordChaitanyas divine message, for thecomfortable stay of the group of devotees a

temple situated in the heart of the Calcutta

City, who is that magnanimous soul? Whopossesses such a large heart? It is not amatter of wonder that, selfish-mindedhouseholders like us, intending to enhanceour worldly enjoyments may dream ofacquiring millions of Rupees, even whilesleeping on a torn bed. Even we may rushheaven to hell, to extend our lands andbuildings, which too is not a matter ofwonder; whereas, himself remaining in ashattered hut and happily tolerating hundredsof inconveniences, he conducted all out effortfor the construction of a superb palace forthe dwelling of the selfless devotees of theLord! Who can have such a generous andliberal heart in this selfish world? Almosthundred percent people of this world maynot understand, or may not accept thenecessity of any kind of house for the sakeof those who are humbly engaged in HariKirtana. They know that, all such enjoyableobjects are the only monopoly of the worldlyenjoyers; so also all kinds of sumptuous

eatables (harmful for the patients) arenecessary for the patients! The commonideology of the masses is that, only worldlyminded materialists are eligible to enjoyeverything of this world, and those whopretend to be renounced for earning kudosfrom all such materialists, are verily thereligious people! In contrast to these muchadvertised and well rooted commonmisconceptions, the one whose natural andcongenial tendency of serving Sri Hari-Guru-Vaishnavas became well developed in due

course of time, and resulted in attracting theattention of the religious world by radiatingthe glorious divine halo of the skyscraperGaudiya Math temple, who is thatextraordinary person? That is why I saidthat, I have stood here, just for receivingmercy and blessings from that great soul,about whom I know nothing.


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MAY 2011 THE GAUDIYA

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MAHBHRATASri M.C.Mahesh

Gandhari restrained herself with greateffort. She was trembling and perspiring inagony.

Gandhari screamed out in her agony:Where is the victor? I want to meet the

just and sagacious emperor of Truth.

Yudhishthira genuflected and touchedher feet.

Gandharis eyes were scorching withthe power of askesis and she turned herface away. But a part of this energy slippedthrough an opening in the scarf thatbandaged her eyes. This scorching energyfell hissing on Yudhishthiras toe nails. Theyshrivelled in the heat and were charredblack!

Next Bheema came and knelt in silent

genuflection.Why did you strike below

Duryodhanas navel? Did you not flout therules of combat then?

Your son was invincible in combat!If I had adhered to the rules of war, I wouldhave never scored a victory over him.

I let it pass. But can any human drinkblood? Was it necessary to disgrace myfallen son thus?

I smeared my lips with Duhshasanasblood, but did not taste even a drop of it!Only Karna who stood nearby knew aboutthis.

You could have spared Vikarna andkilled my other ninety-nine sons. He was arighteous person and would have been acrutch to support us in the twilight of ourlife.

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I was bound by my vows to do allthese shameful things.

Gandharis great anger was stillsmouldering, but she blessed Bheema.

The other Pandavas prostrated beforethe queen and sought her blessings.

When Draupadi knelt in obeisance, thestately matron was thoroughly shaken: No

one can comfort either you or me! We haveboth lost all our sons.

Gandhari now turned her angry eyeson Krishna: Can you see the numberlesscorpses that litter this field! I am witnessingeverything with my psychic vision.Duryodhanas wife is running hither andthither between the corpses of her dear lordand her son. All my umpteen daughters-in-law are sobbing and wailing in grief!

Gandhari knelt besides Duryodhanas

corpse and gently caressed his brow. Hewas cold and lifeless, and his long hair thatcascaded down his neck was now stiff andpale.

Gandhari worked herself up into a wildfrenzy and cursed Krishna: You could haveprevented this disaster from occurring. Youare a God and peace was certainly notbeyond your reach! Thirty-six years fromnow, the Yadavas will kill each other in afratricidal quarrel. Even as the Kuru women

are weeping now, the Yadava princesses willwail over the corpses of their kinsmen. Withtheir hair dishevelled and flowing all awry,they will bemoan their great losses!

There were two Yadava princes whodetested war and crueltyBalarama andUddhava, one of Krishnas cousins. It isseen in the epic that Gandharis curse didnot affect them, miraculously! Balarama left

(Contd. from Apil issue)


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this world when he was meditating on hisspiritual plexuses, and was not slain due tothe curse.

Krishna was still smiling asenigmatically as ever: The Yadavas are sopowerful that no race or tribe on earth cankill them in battle! They have to destroythemselves. Had they remained alive andstrong, their numbers would haveburgeoned and would have spawned all overthe earth. I would have had to annihilatethem before I departed from earth. You

have lightened My task by cursing Me!

The Pandavas looked pale when theyheard this prophecy of Krishnasdisappearance.

Krishna now stared at Gandhari: Didyou not yourself predict to Duryodhana whatthe outcome of the war would be, when hecame to ask you for blessings!

The sorrowing victor Yudhishthira madeall arrangements for cremating the dead. Heput the learned Dhaumya in charge ofexecuting the rites as enjoined in thescriptures. The saintly Vidura and theprescient Sanjaya were to take over theresponsibility of cremating all the deadbodies. The righteous and energetic Yuyutsuwas put in charge of assisting them. Theycollected all the necessary implements forthe funeral. Sandalwood and aloeswoodwere hewn down and the logs were draggedto Kurukshethra. The logs of wood weresmeared with clarified butter. The dead

were placed on these buttered stacks ofwood. The bodies of the dead werebesmeared with unguents, and perfumeswere sprayed on the corpses. The stacksof wood were set afire and the mortalremains of the warriors slowly began to burn.A thick spire of smoke curled up in the skies.The bodies were burnt to cinders even asthe priests chanted funeral hymns from the

Rig and Sama Vedas. The intonation and

cadence of the priests sounded like the shrillboom of death. The Pandavas and Draupadiwent to the banks of a nearby river andoffered libations of water for satiating thespirits of the dead. The Pandavas andDraupadi then performed the obsequial ritesfor all their kinsmen.

A sorrowing Kunti came sobbing toYudhishthira: Offer your libations to Karnaalso! He looked like the sun himself whenhe stood at the front of the Kuru army clad

in golden armour. As an archer he was almostuncanny in the way he shot!

Yudhishthira was puzzled: The priestshave offered their oblations to Karna. I ampersonally offering the oblations to mykinsmen.

Kunti spoke in a harrowing voice: Heis your honoured elder! The sun god madehim take birth using his etheric powers. As Iwas not wedded then, I had to cast himaway

Kunti narrated the tale of Karnas birthand adoption, and the chain of catastrophesthat ruined his life.

Seized by a poignant grief the gentleYudhishthira reminisced: Karna was abusingDraupadi lecherously during the game ofdice. The shameless princes Duryodhana andDuhshasana were leering at her. I was in afrenzy of anger then. When I looked atKarnas exquisitely chiselled feet, I wasreminded of your feet. All my anger vanished

in trice, as it were!Yudhishthiras anger flared up and he

cursed all of womenkind: You made mecontrive the death of my own elder. Eventhis war could have been averted if I hadknown this truth. May women never be ableto keep secrets in future!

Yudhishthira offered the funeral libationsfor Karna on the banks of a nearby river.

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He was sobbing uncontrollably and wasracked by a severe psychological pain.

The heavenly sage Narada camestrumming on his lute. He soothedYudhishthira and narrated to him all the painfilled events that made up Karnas life.

Narada concluded apocalyptically:Fate brought about the death of Karna.There were too many curses on him andthe very celestials destabilised his morale.Karna was also shackled by the umpteenvows he had himself made. The stratagemsof your charming Krishna were alsoresponsible for his downfall! You are notthe only cause of his untimely death.

The compassionate Yudhishthira couldstill not find any solace!

The mourners spent one month atKurukshethra observing austere vows.1(Inall the technically accurate translations ofthe epic, a part of the melodramaticlamentations that followed the funeralsoccurred at Hastinapura. For instance, thelibations of water offered to satiate thespirits of the warriors were the waters ofthe river Ganga! This narrative doesinjustice to the spirit of the epic, as the poetunequivocally remarks that the bodies werecremated at Kurukshetra. Along with thecorpses of the fallen chieftains even theirbroken chariots and splintered weaponswere consigned to flames. Therefore itmust be construed that all thesemelodramatic mournings also took place

on the battlefield.) The compassionatesages Narada and Vyasa stayed back andassuaged Yudhishthiras gnawing grief. Thesadness that overwhelmed Yudhishthiratime and again after the war is a leitmotifthat is often repeated in the epic. Krishnaalso consoled him and asked him not togrieve over the countless deaths. Hisbrothers jumped on the bandwagon and

gave the same advice. Last of all was thepoignant and moving entreaty of theravishingly beautiful Draupadi.

Attaining a semblance of peace,Yudhishthira accepted the offer of kingship.Among all their towns Indraprastha was themost beautiful, but tradition demanded thatYudhishthira rule from the traditional capitalof Hastinapura. He left for this quaint oldcity on a spacious chariot pulled by sixteenwhite bullocks. The stentorian giantBheema sat on the front of the chariot, gently

flicking the bullocks with his whip andprodding them on. The sky-bluecomplexioned Arjuna crested Yudhishthirawith an exquisite parasol woven in goldenbrocade. Nakula and Sahadeva fanned himwith fluffy yak-tails. Trailing the bullock-drawn chariot were the carriages of Satyakiand Yuyutsu, pulled by hardy ponies. Ridingon his flamboyant chariot that flew thepennon of an eagle came Krishna, lookingas charming as a blue-lily. His face had not

outgrown the innocence of a mischievousstripling!

The congregation entered the greatcourt-hall. On the dais were seated theblind couple, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari.Attending on them were their loyal servitorsSanjaya and Vidura. The decrepit andsorrow-laden dowager empress Kunti wasseated very near them. All the dukes andduchesses subservient to the imperial houseof Kuru were present. The other princes

were seen crowding round the sacrificialaltarYudhishthiras brothers, Krishna,Satyaki and Yuyutsu.

The sacrificial altar was facing thenorth-east. It was built by staking up hardbricks that had been baked in a kiln. Onthis rectangular enclosure were logs of woodsmeared with clarified butter. The ancientpriest Dhaumya ritually lit up the holy fire.


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Near the altar sat Yudhishthira and Draupadi

on a seat covered with tiger-skin. This seatwas called Sarvatobadhraand was meantto protect the worshipper on all sides. Theroyal couple offered libations of ghee in theritual fire. They now occupied their stunningthrones that were studded with gems andcrystals. Even as the priests chanted thehymns for consecration, Dhritarashtrapoured holy-water from his conchshell onYudhishthiras head. Even as the waterscame spattering down on Yudhishthiras

forehead, Krishna bathed him with thewaters of all the holy rivers that he hadcollected in his conchshell Panchajanya.The wise and austere Dhaumya fitted thegem bedecked coronet on Yudhishthirasbrow.

Yudhishthira asked anxiously after thecelebrations came to an end: Where isKripa?

The audience looked crestfallen: Heis still troubled by the fact that he waged an

unfair battle during the midnight massacre.The king answered compassionately:

He was our tutor once. Call him in!

The learned Kripacharya was inductedinto the royal assemblage of Hastinapura.

Next morning, the king went to meetKrishna who now looked as pellucid aslapis-lazuli. The golden gem Kaustubha wasseen swinging on a string of stunning crystals.Around it was draped the garland of wild-flowers and creepers. The jewel Kaustubha

juxtaposed aesthetically on the mole foundon Krishnas chest. The devotees ofKrishna worship even this mole and adoreit as Srivatsa!

Krishnas face transfigured into thegrace of a God when he spoke: After afew weeks, the sun will begin his apparent

journey towards the north. Very soon hewill be directly overhead the tropic of

Cancer. Bheeshma will give up his body

even before that, just when this Uttarayanacommences. It is meet that you pay yourrespects to him and ask him to instruct youon the principles of statecraft. He knows allthe nuances of moral and societal laws. Heis well-versed in the fundamentals of polity.Bheeshma will also instruct you on the tenetsof our ancient wisdom and dharma.

When he was a stripling he had hiseducation in the heavens. Brihaspati, the tutorof the celestials, taught him the principles of

statecraft. The one-eyed priestShukracharya instructed him in the art ofleading a moral life. Vashishta imparted tohim the knowledge of the Vedas and their sixauxiliary branches of learning, the Vedangas.The perennially youthful anchoriteMarkandeya initiated him into the mysteriesof life and death and the art of renunciation.And as you know, Parashurama taught himhow to wield the bow skilfully

With his death all this celestial knowledge

will pass away into nothingness. You should


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imbibe a fraction of it and keep the tradition

going.Daruka brought the stunning chariot

to Krishnas doorstep. Arjuna and Krishnaclimbed on to the chariot. Daruka lightlyflicked the horses with his whip and off theybroke into a cheerful gallop. The otherPandavas followed in trail, riding theirchariots drawn by horses of variegatedcolours. Riding two compact chariotspulled by lithe ponies, the warriors Satyakiand Yuyutsu followed behind. The horses

were prancing and lifting their forelegs,raising a cloud in their trail. The eldersfollowed in a horse-drawn caravan:Dhritarashtra, Sanjaya, Vidura and Kripa.The stately queens Kunti and Gandharifollowed in their exquisitely embellishedcaravans. The congregation reachedKurukshethra and clustered around thespot where the great patriarch lay on a bedof arrows. All the sages of earth and of theheavens were seen crowding around

Bheeshma.Krishna walked upto Bheeshma andknelt beside him: I cannot bear the paineven if a pin pricks me. I am astonished bythe fact that you have conquered death!

Bheeshma turned his head that hadbeen propped up by arrows: It is time toput to use the boon given by my fatherShantanu, and summon death. I hadpromised my step-mother Sathyavati that Iwould stay alive till a ruler is establishedfirmly on the Kuru throne. The righteous

Yudhishthira will rule for years to come!However, the sun must begin its apparent

journey towards the north.

Then very little time is left! Pleaseinstruct the new king in the art of ruling thekingdom.

You want me to teach Yudhishthirawhen you are beside me! Will this not beimpertinence?

I want you to acquire everlastingfame.

But I am fatigued by hunger and thirst.These arrows hurt me like terrible spikes!My memory is clouded since my body isracked by pain. I have forgotten everythingthat I learnt in the heavens.

With just one look of compassionKrishna resuscitated the fallen patriarch.Bheeshma turned his supine head andpraised the Lord.

The miracle just happensinstantaneously! Ask Yudhishthira to come.

He is feeling guilty that he caused yourdeath.

That is the path every Kshathriyatakes! He only did his bounden duty introuncing his evil foes.

Yudhishthira knelt beside his grandsire.For weeks on end Bheeshma discoursed tothe attentive prince.2(Bheeshmas discourseto Yudhishthira takes up about 22,000

Sanskrit couplets. This is nearly one-fourthof the length of the epic. Being unfamiliarwith a majority of these preachings, I haveskipped over the whole discourse in mytranscription of the epic. Too much ofdidacticism weakens the plot of the balladand also tends to frustrate the general reader.I have included just three of the manydidactic passages one finds in the epicYaksha Prashna, Sanatsujatiya andBhagavadgita. Among these three Yaksha

Prashna and Bhagavad Gita from a part ofthe intrinsic plot of the epic. These twocannot be skipped over, and I have dealtwith them in a fairly exhaustive manner. Thediscourse Sanatsujatiya was incorporatedfor purely scholastic reasons. It is here thatwe find a strangely innovate thinker whoinfluenced the medieval commentatorShankaracharya. The architectonic of


12/24



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Shankaras system of thought is partly

modelled on this work.) He taught him theduties of a king, the duties of the membersof the four castes, the laws governingsocietal institutions like marriage and lawsof inheritance and succession, the canonsand tenets of morality and the crux ofphilosophical systems like Sankhya andYoga. One sees in this discourse theimaginative hand of later interpolators. Asthe priests forged new doctrines expoundingthe fundamental tenets of a school of

philosophy like Sankhya, they interpolatedthese in the epic itself. It is thus that thisdidactic passage has burgeoned, spawningto a length of over 22,000 Sanskritcouplets! Vyasas Anushtup or eight-syllabled metre is far simpler than Valmikisembellished version of the sameAnushtupmetre. Therefore, one finds a lesser numberof interpolated passages in the Ramayana,though it was composed much earlier. Thesimpler structure of Vyasas rhythm proved

to be a fatal flawHis original epic is buriedamidst a mass of interpolations!

Bheeshma concluded the narrativeafter reciting the thousand names of LordVishnu. This Vishnu Sahasranamaportrays the Lord as the SUMMUMBONUM of all existence.

A tired Bheeshma turned to theflamboyant God Who produces the cosmicillusion: Can I now perceive yourVishwarupa in my transparent psyche?

The fallen patriarch witnessed thestunning grandeur of the all-encompassingcosmic form. The sun began its apparent

journey towards the north and Bheeshmawilled himself to die. He meditated on thefive psychic plexuses that are presided overby the elements of earth, water, fire, air andether. These are graded in the successionof increasing subtlety. Even as he did so,

his olfactory, palatal, visual, tactile and

psychic stimuli evaporated and got absorbedinto his life-essence. The arrow-heads thathad pierced his body fell and Bheeshma wasnow lying on a splinter of broken arrows.His wounds healed mysteriously and his skinwas whole and smooth again! Bheeshmanow meditated on the sixth plexus that islocated in the subtle-body of the individual.His mind, intellect and ego became pellucidin turn. All hopes and frustrations, all joysand sorrows, all vanities and caprices and

idiosyncrasies that taint ones psychevanished into a mist of unadulteratedconsciousness. He was now meditating onthe seventh and final plexus, that is picturisedsymbolically as a thousand-petalled lotusresiding on top of the head. This is ametacausal or a transphenomenal entity andBheeshmas life left for the empyreans above.

(to be contd.)


13/24


Acharya Yadunandan Adhikari

The very first stepping stone to enterinto the world of Absloute Truth is initiationin some form or other. Every great(spiritual) teacher has recognised this factin all ages. The Vedas are plainly emphaticabout it:

Rise up (from elevationism), awake

(from salvationism), enlighten (free fromignorance and misappliance) after accepting(boon) from the Absolute.

The sublime truth of the upanishadswas handed down through ages from thepreceptor to the devoted disciples.

Unto him alone is the Absoluterevealed by sages who has supreme faithin, and are devoted, equally, to thepreceptor and God-head. None else cangain it.

In a supremely serene tone the behestof the Vedas comes to us: With Samit(preparatory ingredients) in thy hand dostthou approach the true preceptoronethoroughly versed in the Vedas and givento the practice of them, for he has dedicatedhimself unto Brahmaindetermined orPersonal Absolute.

Lastly there is the authority of theGeeta. In a quite clear voice has thecomman of the Lord been communicated

to the humble discipleYou can knowabout the Absolute only from those whoare acquainted with the primal causes ofthings, provided you attend them withconfidence bonafide enquiry, and servingmood. Thus Sri Krishna spoke to Arjuna.

But egoism will stand up in sternopposition to such a spirit, or ignorance willpervert it. Base self-seekers are not

wantingready to turn it into a kind ofspiritual (?) profiteeering. So a rightunderstanding of the principle of spiritualinitiation is necessary for the regenerationof the individual soul. Initiation is (also) anoutstanding feature of Indian philosophyand religion. Our purpose is to have a

thorough and shifting enquiry into the matterfree from all national, local or social biasand consider the obstacles that hinder usfrom accepting it. Then we shall be able tounderstand the true character of thepreceptor as it ought to be.

Egoism is the worst hindrance.Egoistic philosophy in some form or otherprevails in every land. Its keynote is theexaggerated assertion of individualism asopposed to the authority of the sacredscriptures: although certain schools ofIndian philosophy like that of Mayavadinshave tried to veil such a spirit under a liphomage to the Vedas. But what can be atthe root of such an assertion? The truecharacter of egoism has been plainly shownin the Geeta.

Carried away by egoism do menoften perform dreadful, difficult penancesand acts, extorting admiration from othersand go against Shastras in their pride. Thisegoistic philosophy has given birth to

utiliterianism and has transformed itself intopantheism of various types. Its historyelsewhere is interesting. Descarte startedwith the dataI think, therefore I amand this thinking ego is the basis of allknowledge. In his deep disgust for the thenprevailing mode of religion speciallyCatholicism, did he discard everything fromhis philosophy that savoured of authority

How to Approach Absolute Knowledge


14/24

THE GAUDIYA MAY 2011 out

un

and started with the above data. But that iscarrying things to extreme. Let us examinethe data a little and notice its development.

Yes, one can assert the existence ofthe self and therefrom of all knowledgethrough its thining capacity.

But every man thinks in his own way.What guarantee is there that my thoughtsreflect the true nature of my soul or self?Then when variety of thought in differentpersons is inevitable how can I assert the

identity of self or soul in all beings? Andhow can I know its true nature as it is inessence? The high priest of modern westernphilosophy admits of his failure. Kant saysthat we cannot know a thing in itself. Allknowledge is possible only through suchcategories as time, space, etc. themselves,as they now are, are but refractions ofthought. In our land more clever thinkershave cut this Gordian knot in egoisticphilosophy rather drastically. In trying tofind out the true nature of the soul or self

through this process of thinking, they haveultimately denied any positive existence toit. And thus Mayavadins and his school havepractically become preachers of spiritualnihilism as Kant was an agnostic, ofnecessity. Then comes the question Isthe soul an isolated phenomenon in creation?If not what then must be its relation withthings or that which exists? And how canwe know that relation? This questionremaining unsolved, the problem of the

relation between spirit and matter hasremained an yawning gulf in the world ofWestern philosophy. The Shankara schoolhas made a short cut of this problem. Unableto find any positive existence of the self, theyhave denied absolute existence to anytingknowable. And all botherings as to the truerelation among things have been sedulouslysilenced.

Perversions of this egoistic trend ofthought prevail in India in their most rankand monstrous forms. For here philosophydoes not remain satisfied within itsspeculative region but imperatively requiresto be translated into action. And abusescrop up initially round the selection of thespiritual preceptor. This cult of ego-worshipis given either to the exaltation of passionand sentimentality or to the mutilation of thesenses as false asceticism. It has tried topollute and obscure pure theism in many

ways.We notice its influence also on modern

Indian literature and on the outlook of theeducated Indians of today.

Our present day literature is saturatedwith pantheistic ideas. In an over indulgentmood literatures, in this country, takeeverything as object for the gratification oftheir aesthetic sense. Even God Himselfdoes not escape the invasion of this attitudewhich is attributed to their anthropomorphic

strivings. Their shamelessness knows nobounds. Carried away by carnal, thoughexquisitely aesthetic propensities, they do notscruple to exploit the supersensuous beautyof the Divine Lila and degrade it into meansof gratification of their sensuous literarytastes. As for example certain poets inBengal have tried to drag down the divineevents of Vrajaleela into the mire of theirintensely sensual aesthetic revelry.Inherently materialistic in life and aim, they

cannot know that such unclicensedindulgence of poetic imagination constitutesthe most objectionable prostitution of the trueaesthetic faculty. Enslaved by nature, withthings of three demensions they cannot knowthe supersensuous. So is it not wise thatthey should know their limitations and remainsatisfied within them?

14

(to be continued)


15/24


m

Those who choose to disbelieve thedevotee on principle have to thank onlythemselves for the misfortune of missing theonly method of attaining the knowledge andservice of the Truth. Such is also the fateof those who are siply content to watch

approvingly from a distance without placingthemselves really at the disposal of thedevotee. Such people are no wiser thanthe fool in the fable who proposed to getinto water after he had learnt to swim, lesthe might be drowned. This is more speciallythe attitude of scepticism and is reallytantamont to wilful refusal to submit toanything under the hypocritical solicitude ofnot going against the Truth !

The right method would be to seekthe society of the real devotees of God withthe sincere desire of serving themunconditionally as a matter of pressing andimperative necessity for finding the Truth.The concrete and personal are as much apart and parcel of the Truth as the abstratand the impersonal. Our ignorance is theresult of undue devotion to an isolated and,therefore, delusive aspect of the Truth Whois One and indivisible. The empiricist withall his pedantic profession of preference forabstraction is really at the core of his heart

a votary of the phenomenal concrete in linewith himself as a being of flesh and blood.Let him, discarding all hypocrisy, transferhis allegiance to the devotee of God whocan put him into personal relationship withthe living world of undisorted Reality whereevery existence is consciously engaged inthe perfect service of the Truth Who is noother than the Supreme person Himself.

(Contd. from April issue) Abstract thought in its perfect form is but afaint, distant, reflected gleam of the Truthsurrounded by His servitors andparaphernalia who has His eternal dwellingin the realm that dispels all ignorance anduntruth as being wholly foreign to its nature.It is rarely that abstract thought is capable

of attaining this supreme elevation, thehighest point of its ascending effort, andthereby being enabled to realise the absolutenecessity of cultivating the service of thedevotee of God for obtaining entry into theactual world of Truth in which it can haveno access by means of its own resourcesbut into which it can enter easily in thecompany of one who is a denizen of thattranscendental realm and has been mercifullyauthorized by the Supreme Lord Himself toshow the way thither to all erring souls, who

would have otherwise no alternative but todepend in perpetual hopelessness on theirown misdirected, futile efforts.

The process of leading into thetranscendental realm on the part of thedevotee consists in making the willing soulto accept the life eternal by actually livingthe same. The sincerity of the servicerendered is tried to the utmost by everydevice of the deluding energy. So long asthe neophyte retains his taste for sensuous

enjoyment he cannot distinguish betweenreality and hallucination, between serviceand enjoyment. The devotee who is fullyestablished in the service of the Godhead isthereby placed above hallucination. Thetemptations of the flesh then lie fully exposedto his pure serving disposition and can nevermislead him. As soon as one puts himselfwholly under the guidance of the pure

Vaishnavas are CredulousPrabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur


16/24


h

16

devotee he finds himself in the marginal

position which is subject to the pull of thedelusive energy on the one hand and of thespiritual energy on the other. If at this criticalstage he casts his lot without reservationwith the latter he is gradually extricated fromthe weaknesses of the flesh.

The disposition to serve the Truth isas much a constituent part of our nature asthat of lording over the Truth. This is theimplication of our freedom of will. Reasonhelps us to make our choice between the

two. But the two never appearsimultaneously to the reason. If and whenour reason sets itself up as umpire it is bythis very attitude reduced to the necessityof having to choose between deceptivephases of the deluding energy. There is noscope nor necessity for such dominating useof our reason when the spiritual energy itselfis present. The function of the reason in thetranscendental realm is to seek to realisethe Truth in every alternative and not to pickand choose. It is the recipient of perpetuallyfresh enlightenment from everything in therealm where nothing hides anything that isnecessary for the service of the Truth Whodemands the perpetual and fullest servicefrom all His votaries. The reason is therethe learner and never the guide. Thebusiness of guiding, of choosing, of acceptingand rejecting, seems to belong to the reasononly in this phenomenal world.

As soon as we choose to give up allour present so-called equipments, which are

foreign to our real nature, and to receiveother faculties in their stread that are whollyunknown to us at present but which arenothing short of the very stuff or our realnature we are in a position to appreciatethe benefit of following unconditionally theunerring lead of the devotee of God. It maytake a long time for us to be fully establishedin this new attitude so as to imbibe a real

liking and firm conviction for it not for any

worldly utility but through the mere fact ofbeing acquainted with it. Reason is able torealise but is unable to explain our naturalliking for the Reality. Our liking for the Realityis spontaneous and cause-less. Can reasonexplain our present liking for this world? Thatis never the province of reason. The empiricphilosopher irraationally exaggerates the

jurisdiction of perverted reason. Reason inits normal condition is a humble servant andon the pane that is free from error is fully

cognisant of its subordinate function.The choice of course is made not by

reason but by the possessor of reason viz.,the soul. Reason cannot be responsible forthe choice of the soul. It is the function ofpure reason to always uphold and justify thechoice of the soul because it is the servantand not the master. The non-spiritual reasonplays the role of master in this world.


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The claim that Vaishnavism embodiesthe eternal and only function of the jiva soulin his eternal state of perfect rationalexistence may appear at first sight to beopposed to the experience of this world.Vaishnavism is no doubt represented by avast and varied literature in almost all the

languages of India and all persons are in aposition to appreciate more or less thedevotional fervour and aesthetic quality thatare the special characteistics of thisliterature. But in spite of the admittedsweetness, gentleness, beauty and fervourthat permeate every part of the Vasihnavaliterature and make it, in the opinion of manycompetent persons, perhaps the mostglorious heritage of India, there seems tobe lacking any historical evidence to provethat the community professing the Vaishnava

faith has been able to attain any signal,social, political or economic success. Onthe contrary there are not wanting hostilecritics who do not hesitate to regardVaishnavism in some of its forms as a maincause of the backwardness of India whichthey attribute to the influence of Vaishnavateachings and practices involving, in theiropinion, the virtual denial of the ordinaryprinciples of moral life as well as the mostelementary needs of advanced material

civilization. The apostles of Puritanism andActivism are not likely to accept a creedwhich may be suspected of a partiality forsexuality, passivism, childish ceremonial andcredulity and which declares all seculareffort whether moral, social, political orphilanthropic as utterly powerless for theamelioration of the lot of man, nay whichregards them as the root cause of all the

troubles that afflict this miserable world.Modern India has failed in achieving

any triking success in her efforts for thebetterment of the material condition of herpeople. In the resources of material wealthand political power India is the mostbankrupt of all among the modern nationsof the world. Is not this a proof thatsomething is wrong with her verycivilization? Does it not go a long way toprove that modern India is spiritually interiorto all the other countries?

Before we attempt an anwer to suchquestions it is necessary to pause and try torealise as clearly as possible the nature ofthe relationship if any, that may subsistbetween religion and material civilization.

The ordinary view on which thequestions mooted above are based is that

religion is the inside of worldly civilization,that the material civilization is the result ofa pure religion, that the decline of materialprosperity is a proof of the decay of religion.This connection between the two is soughtto be established by means of the principleof virtue, goodness or morality. Purereligion makes a man moral. Moralityconsists of those qualities that make theirpossessor successful in worldly affairs. Thepossession of virtue makes man superior tobrutes by making systematic and collectiveeffort possible. There can not be anycivilized society without virtue.

The view set forth above may be saidto represent with tolerable fairness thephilosophy of life underlying civilized life inevery Age. Virtue, therefore, must needsbe cultivated by social man in as much as itappears to form the very basis of human

Vaishnavism & CivilizationSri Narayan Das Bhakti Sudhakar


18/24


society. To the social and political man, it is

worth while to worship God if such worshipmake them virtuous. It is believed thatwithout faith in God it is not possible to havethat disinterestedness which is the essenceof virtue. Man is selfish by nature in thisworld. Religion in the pure form is believedto make him disinterested. Worldlyprosperity is the un-sought reward ofdisinterested virtue which never yields to theseductions of selfishness. Disinterestedvirtue can alone promote impartially the

well-being of everybody as it makes a manbrave, enterprising, patient, meek, steadyof purpose, unselfish, eager to know, toimprove and to help others to improve. Isthere any human being who does not covetthese qualities? What is universallyrecognised as desirable appears to benecessarily true. This therefore, seems tobe the practical and living side of religion.Faith in God makes a man virtuous for thesake of virtue. If a man attempts to bevirtuous from a consideration of its socialor worldly results he or she is bound to fail.By such reliance on ones own utilitarian

judgment, one is sure to be turned into anopportunist. But there can well be no worseform of association than a society of moralopportunists. It is the special merit of virtuethat worldly prosperity is not coveted bythe virtuous for its own sake. Religion isvalued because it is supposed to confer onan individual this innerstate of which hisor her worldly prosperity is the external

result.In this way by means of the principle

of morality a causal connection is sought tobe established between religion and worldlyprosperity. In accordance with the view setforth above material prosperity must needsgo hand in hand with spiritual well-being. Itthus becomes an easy task on this basis toprepare a comparative table of spiritual (to be continued)

values of individuals and communities of a

particular Age. By such test India of to-dayof course is found to occupy the very bottomposition. I am not sure that this test has beenconsistently rejected by any of the Indiansthemselves of this Age. It is subscribed to,in one form or another, in theirpronouncements by high personages who areclaimed to represent at the present day thespiritual life of India. The Non-Co-operators, Swarajists, Responsivists,Liberals or Moderates, the Minor as well as

the Major Communities, would be alikeuntrue to the basic principle of theirconstitution if they object to accept thiscausal connection of mind with matter bymeans of the principle of virtuous conductrendering by possible co-operation forgeneral material well-being.

Western Psychology boasts of itssuperiority to the Indian in having beenapparently able to establish by carefulobservation, introspection and experimentthe above invariable connection betweenmind and matter and thereby demonstratingthe superfluity of the assumption of theexistence of a soulapart from mind. Thesoul-theory of India is sought to beexplained away as a survival of primitive,crude, materialistic conception of the mentalprinciple. The notion of an immaterial mindas identical with the soul is claimed as theoriginal product and distinguishing mark ofmodern scientific thought. According to thisview the aggregate of our present mental

states is the soul ! It is this exclusive andultramentalism which passes as spiritualwith almost all current schools of western andeastern thought.

Western empiric Psychology issupported by the Indian transcendentalistsin its view that the mental has a closecorrespondence to the physical.


19/24


The Conception of SalvationSri Sunil

The message of salvation representsthe advanced stage in the evolution of theempiric quest of hypothetical truth. It hasno reference to the Absolute Who isdeclared by the Scriptures, as well as bythe unprejudiced rational instinct inherent inus, as wholly inaccessible to our presentlimited cognitive faculty. The Absolute

position is logically the only natural position.From the hypothetical position we can haveonly a negative surmise of the Absolute. Weshould not advertise this negative concoctionas the desirable ultimate goal. This shouldbe recognised as an abnormal counsel byall seekers of the Truth. It is only anunbalanced judgment that can retain anyinterest for a quest if he is told beforehandthat it is to lead to a void, after theadumbration of a long series of inconclusive

hypotheses, for being convinced (?) of theutter futility of such a quest. In other wordsthe failure of the quest should not be offeredto be accepted as a positive guiding of thegoal. This finding should not also beadvertised as a form of inconceivable felicity(?)

No person can ever want to bedelivered from his own self. All personswant to get rid of disease in odrer to regainthe natural state of health. No person should

relish the counsel of the doctor whorecommends the commission of suicide forgetting rid of a disease. Salvationismproposes to heal the disease of mortalityby the suppression of the mortal state andrecommends the state of void as thisdesideratum. It is not possible to createsuch a void, neither in the spiritual realm norin this mundane world. The very idea of

the void is a conception of the merecorrelation of the complementary aspects ofa hypothesis and is part and parcel of thesame. It is an aspect of the disease and isnever the healthy state. Where is the entitythat will enjoy (?) any felicity (?) in theinconceivable position that is simply devoidof all mundane content (?)

No person in his natural position everseeks to be delivered from the same.Salvation is a product of hypotheticalthinking that is natural to the diseased state.It does not require to be classed as aRevealed Doctrine.

It is necessary to take prominent noteof the fact that the natural state is not anymodification of the unnatural. Abnormalthinking is categorically different from normalthinking. Hypothetical thinking is a

necessary evil as long as we are not in thestate of health. Absolute thinking is bothinevitable and natural to the unconditionedhealthy existence. Even in the diseased stateit should be possible to understand that thedeliberate substitution (?) of one hypothesisfor another, the deliberate replacing (?) ofone ailment by another, is not equivalent torestoration to the state of health. Anyhypothetical state is only a changing form ofthe disease and should not be accepted or

offered as the equivalent of the really healthycondition.

Any idea of the natural state that wemay attempt to form in our conditioned stateneeds must be altogether misleading. Thisdefect will not be cured by the mere weightof opinion of the diseased persons in itsfavour. No empiricist can consistently assertthat the thoughtless or dishonest approbation


20/24


KYygvsswq e a fgszxaAvfkc f a*tewq

n

num

20

of empiric thinkers will endow any doctrine

with the absolute character. The attribute,that pretends that it cannot find anydistinction between the absolute and thehypothetical, deserves to be described ascultivated deliberate aversion against theTruth or, in the language of Theology, asthe only real Atheism. It will not do toestimate the absolute quality of a conceptionby counting the number of its followers inthe conditioned state. As a matter of factthe Absolute requires no witness to His

Existence and it is a profanation to supposethat any erring hypothesis made by thepuppy brain of man can be a conditionfor the valid existence of the Absolute.

The Salvationistic idea makes itsappearance in this world when the distractedhuman mind is prepared to entertain theprinciple of amelioration of the human lotas distinct from causeless love for the Truth

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as the basis of right conduct. The sine qua

non of the spiritual is that it has no genesisin any mundane condition, either diretly orindirectly. Salvationism always boasts ofits undoubted mundane origin and mundanepurpose. It sometimes seeks to support itspretension to revelation by the manipulationor fabrication of Scriptural evidence.Salvationism has accordingly been brandedby the vaishnavite schools as theconsummation of hypocrisy in the domainof religious life. This is actually borne out

by the form of the prayers of thesalvationists. These prayers always suggestthe remedy to be prescribed by the doctorwhose advice they pretend to seek.Thorough-going empiricism, logicallyrepresented by Buddhism, discords thescriptural support and relies fully on itself.In this respect Salvationism within theScriptural sphere is distinct from Buddhism.

(to be contd.......)


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MAY 2011 THE GAUDIYA

b

21

n

(Contd. from April issue)

XZoez oyoz un: @

: uu{ Y Nwnu uoz @@22@@Yaddricchlbhasamtushtho

dwandwteeto vimatsarah |samah siddhvasiddhau cha

kritvpi na nibadhyate || 22

ob: = Quite content, = withwhatever he gets,XZ = by chance i.e.,without effort, Eoyo: = and whotreanscended, = the pairs of opposites,un: = who is free from ill-will towardsanyone,: = treating as equal,u{= insuccess, Eu{ Y = as well as in failure,Nwn Eu = although fully engaged in actions, uoz = he is not bound (by samsara).

Quite content with whatever he getsby chance i.e., without effort and whotranscended the pairs of opposites, who isfree from ill-will towards any one, treatingas equal in success as well as in failure,although fully engaged in actions, he is notbound (by samsara). 22

To W O ruso Yzo: @rYo: N| T uyoz @@23@@Gata sangasya muktasya

jnnvasthita chetasah |yajnycharatah karma

samagram pravileeyate || 23

To W = Free from all mundaneattachments,O = the liberated (person),Yzo: = mind, Euso = engaged,r = in

pure intelegence i.e., engaging himself inunalloyed loving devotion to the SupremeLord Sri Krishna, EYo: r = by doingevery thing for the pleasure of the SupremeLord Sri Krishna,T = all,N| = hisprevious actions,uyoz= are destroyed.

Free from all mundane attachments, theliberated person, mind engaged in pureintelligence i.e., engaging himself in unalloyedloving Devotion to the Supreme Lord SriKrishna, by doing everything for the pleasureof the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, all hisprevious actions are destroyed.

Refer Srimad Bhagavatam IV.29.59.23

|m u|T{ m o@{ oz To N| u @@24@@

Brahmrpanam brahma havi-rbrahmgnau brahman hutam |

brahmaiva tena gantavyambrahma karma samdhin || 24

u: = The sacrificial ghee which isBrahman,o = is offered,m = by the

priest who is Brahman,|m= the offeringswhich are Brahman,T{ = into the firewhich is also Brahman,oz = by the personwho has the pure intelligence of viewing theobjects in relation to Brahman, who isconcentrating on Brahman,N| u= who is deeply absorbed in meditationseeking Brhaman and engaging in doingactions which please Brahman,{ To

y y T T{W{ \o:SRIMAD BHAGAVADGITA

yTyoYos|zD: CHAPTER-IV

ruTzT:JNNA VIBHGA YOGA


22/24


(contd. on page 24)

= ultimately obtains Brahman only.

The sacrificial ghee which is Brahman,is offered by the priest who is Brahman, theofferings which are Brahman, into the Firewhich is also Brahman, by the person whohas the pure intelligence of viewing theobjects in relation to Brahman, who isconcentrating on Brahman, who is deeplyabsorbed in meditation seeking Brahmanand engaging in doing actions which pleaseBrahman, ultimately obtains Brahman only.

Please refer also TaittareeyaUpanishad 2.5; Brihadaranyaka Upanishad3.9.28. 24

Different forms of Yajnas

t{zz r zuT: |oz @Tz r rz{z\uo @@25@@

Daivamevpare yajnamyoginah paryupsate |

brahmgnvapare yajnam yajnenaivopajuhvati || 25

Ez = Some,zuT: = Karma yogis,

|oz = perform,r = Yajna,t{ L = toplease minor gods such as Indra, Varuna andothers, to whom are delegated some specialpowers by My Mahamaya, Ez = someothers i.e., Jnana yogis,G\uo = pour,r= their ownself (in their pure intelligence) asGhee,rz L = by chanting the DivineMantra Omor Pranava,T{ = into theFire which represents Brahman.

The yajnas vary according to thespiritual maturity of different yogis.

Some Karma yogis perform Yajnas toplease minor gods such as Indra, Varuna andothers, to whom are delegated some specialpowers by My Maha-Maya. Some othersi.e., Jnana Yogis pour their ownself (in theirpure intelligence) as Ghee, by chanting theDivine Mantra Om or Pranava into the Firewhich represents Brahman. 25

zfityyulz uT \uo @tty u FuuT \uo @@26@@Shrotrdinindriynyanye

samyamgnishu juhvati |shabddee nvishaynya

indriygnishu juhvati || 26

Ez = The life-long celibates i.e.,Brahmacharis,\uo = perform havana,zfityu Fuum = by offering their sensessuch as ears etc. (as sacrificial ghee), EuT= in the fire of , = self control, Ez=

some others i.e., house holders,\uo = dohoma, ttyu= by offering theirsense-percepts such as sound, taste, smell,sight, touch etc., EuT= to the fire of ,Fu= senses i.e., they absorb themselves in thepractice of experiencing the sense-objectswithout attachment.

The life-long celibates, i.e.,Brahmacharis perform homa by offering theirsenses such as ears etc. (as sacrificial ghee)in the fire of self-control. Some others i.e.,

householders do homa by offering theirsense-percepts, such as, sound, taste, smell,sight, touch etc. to the fire of senses, i.e.,they absorb themselves in the practice ofexperiencing the sense objects withoutattachment. 26

|myuN|um mN|um Yz @En zTT{ \uo r tyuoz @@27@@

Sarvneendriyakarmniprnakarmni chapare |

tmasamyama yoggnau

juhvati jnna deepite || 27

Ez Y = Other yogis like Patanjali,\uo= do homa,|um = of all,Fu N|um = theactions of the ten senses,m N|um Y =(and) of the ten vital airs,ET{= in the fire of,En zT = pure and controlled self,r tyuoz = lit by the knowledge of Kaivalya.


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Other yogis like Patanjali, do homa of

all the actions of the ten senses, (and) of theten vital airs in the fire of pure and controlledself, lit by the knowledge of Kaivalya.

The vital airs (Prnas) Prna(goes outward i.e., exaling);Apna (goesdownwards i.e., expelling); Samna(assimilates food and drink); Udna (leadsupwards); Vyna (is pervading, regulatingthe otherPrnas);Nga(governs belching);Kurma (causes opening of the eyes);Krikara (causes sneezing and hunger);

Devadatta (causes yawning and sleep) andDhananjaya (pervading the whole body,lingers after death, causing decomposition).

(Gherandha Samhita 5.64)

Prna, located in the chest area, isassociated with breathing and speech.

Apna, located below the naval, is responsile for excretion and gives energy to the lowerorgans in the body, including intestines,genital and anus. Samna, located in thesolar plexus, is responsible for digestion and

assimilation of food. Udna, controls thehead region, swollowing, movement of limbsand erect posture. Vyna, pervading thewhole body, causes circulation of blood andcoordinates the activities of the otherPrnas. 27

r ozr zTr osz @ rr o: uoo: @@28@@

Dravyayajn stapoyajnyogayajn stathpare |

svdhyya jnnayajnscha yatayah samshritavrath || 28

(NzuYo) r: = Some are engageddoing charitable actions, (Nz uYo) ozr: =and some are performing austerities likeChndryana etc.,os Ez zTr: = andsome others are engaged in Astnga Yoga,NzY -r r = some others puteffort into engaging in knowledge by studying

the Vedas,Lozz| o: = all these yogisengaged in great endeavour,uoo: = andasceties of severe vows.

Some are engaged doing charitableactions; and some are performing austeritieslike Chndryana etc; and some others areengaged in Astnga Yoga; some others puteffort into engaging in knowledge by studyingthe Vedas, all these yogis engaged in greatendeavour and ascestics of severe vows.

Ez \uo m mzD osz @

mToy m m: @Ez uo: mmz \uo @@29@@

Apne juhvati prnamprnopnam tathpare |

prnpnagatee rudhvprnyma paryanh |

apare niyathh prnnprneshu juhvati || 29

Ez= Some others, Ez = in Apna,m= Prna,\uo = by stopping,os =(and) similarly,mz E= vice-versa,

mToy = and gradually stop themovements of both,m m: = practise

prnyma, Ez = others (desiring toconquer the senses), uo: = controlthe eating process, i.e., they eat little,mz= (and) offer their Prnas, m= to thefire of Pranas.

Some others in Apna, Prna bystopping and similarly vice-versa; andgradually stop the movements of both,practise Prnyma. Others (desiring to

conquer the senses) control the eatingprocess, i.e., they eat little and offer theirPrnas to the fire ofPrnas.

Refer also Srimad Bhagavatam XI.15.1

(to be contd.......)

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gaudiya math chennai / the gaudiya may 2011

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