gaudiya math chennai / the gaudiya september 2009 special

8/14/2019 gaudiya math chennai / The Gaudiya September 2009 special

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EDITORIAL

Founder Editor:NityaleelapravishtaSri Srimad Bhakti VilasTirtha Goswami Maharaj

Editor:H.H.TridandiswamiSri B.V.Madhusudan Maharaj

Associate Editors:H.H.TridandiswamiSri B.K.Harijan MaharajH.H.TridandiswamiSri B.P.Janardan MaharajProf. R.N.Sampath

Sub-Editors:Sri Gauranga PrasadBrahmachari

Manager:Sri Sujan KrishnaBrahmachari

B hakti is the very characteristicof the Jivatma . There can be noapart between the two. Unlikesweetness in the sugar. Without sweetnessthe sugar has no existence. Similarly very

Bhakti-Bhavam is the true nature of the

soul. But sometimes it stops functioningwhile intervened by maya, the illusoryenergy of Lord and misidentifies the bodyas soul. Anya-Bhavam (diversion of themind) comes because of the soul being soinsignificant to be very easily captive of maya. Water in its normal condition isliquid. Due to excessive heat evaporatesinto gas and with zero degree temperatureit takes the form of the ice respectively.Both are diverted forms of the water. Sameway originally living entities are servantsof the Almighty while they are infatuatedcovered by the gross and subtle Upadhisin the form of different bodies such asdemigod, human, bird, beast etc. Thereare eightyfour lakhs species of lives. Theignorant souls overlook His service wantto lord it over the material world, then

Bhakti Bhavam in the souls becomesdormant, misidentify with the bodies assouls. But they completely forget God,develop keen interest for the body and the

belongings. They become entangled intothe enjoyment of Vishaya (materialobjects) through the senses, performvarious activities and undergo the resultof their Karma , that may be good or bad.It is said that -- "sva karma phalabhuk

puman" . Here every one of us has to besuffered or enjoyed the result of previous

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THE SOUL'S CHARACTERISTIC


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karma performed in variousenvironments.

The greatest challenge for the Jivatma in its ultimate quest forattaining Bhakti to the Feet of LordKrishna is the powerful sway of Mayathat easily infatuates and diverts one'sefforts. It is said that -- "Bhaktinayati, Bhakti darshayati" . The

Jivatma is shown the path of Bhaktithat is capable of ripping apart the veilof maya and revealing the SupremeBeing to the sincere devotees.

We find in the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam that one of thegreat Bhakti Yogis ( Nava-yogindras )Antariksha in his response to thequestion put by the king Nimi saidthat the Lord's Maya is the cause of creation, preservation and dissolutionof the entire universe with all itsanimate and inanimate. To counterthis attraction towards worldly life

casued by maya one should strive togain knowledge of the Supreme Beingand one's own atma . This can beachieved by cultivating Bhakti to theFeet of Sri Krishna the SupremePersonality of God-head.

It is said that Vedic truths are verysubtle and their significance deep andhidden. Srimad Bhagavatam presentsit in perfect manner. Therefore,Srimad Bhagavatam is "VedarthaParibrimhita" . The learner and thepreceptor have to be well participantsin the devotional activities to the Feetof Sri Krishna. Then the Bhakti pavesthe way to the God.

The Karma Kanda and the JnanaKanda are the two suicidal methodsof worship as per the Bhakti School

of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In theGita Lord Sri Krishna teaches the pathof Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and pointsout that they are not separate entitiesbut merge with one another whenpractised in the right spirit. But thespecial emphasis on Bhakti makes itclear that though it is common for allbut it requires a simplicity, strictsincerity and above all the completeself surrender to the Lotus Feet of theLord. Bhakti is a spontaneous flowof love and affection to satisfy theDivine senses of Almighty Sri Krishnaonly. The statement of Gopikasrecorded in Srimad Bhagavatam, said-- "Neither we are yoginis nor are wethe householders but O Krishna ! Youare the very heart and soul of ours' ".Also the Lord's penchant for Hisdevotees like the Gopikas, is such thatHe calls them His very Atmas. Hegrants the wishes of the devout but is

willing to give Himself to those whothink attaining His service is the onlyGoal in life. He is thus allowedHimself to be bound by motherYashoda.

In Sri Krishna Avatara the Lordshows that it is not necessary to beproficient in Sastras or have theknowledge of upanishads at one'sfingertips to reach Him. Theunlearned Gopikas were able to attainHim through the single minded

Bhakti . At no cost would He let downHis devotees and He would go to anylength to protect them.

Attaining such full fledgeddevotion to the Feet of Krishna is thesoul's Goal.

--- B.V.Madhusudan

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OURSELVES

SRI KRISHNA JAYANTI

SEPTEMBER 2009 63

Sri Krishna Jananti wascelebrated at Sri Gaudiya Math,Chennai, with great eclat andfestivity. The celebrationscommenced on 1st August andcontinued up to 15th Augusthighlighting Jhulan Yatra, BaladevaAvirbhava, Sri Krishna Jayanti andNandotsava with the specialfeatures of Theistic Exhibitionreligious discourses, Bhajans,special puja, Mahaprasadamdistribution etc.

The Theistic Exhibition and SriKrishna Jayanti Celebrations wereinaugurated by Sri S.Ganesan,Former Chief SecurityCommissioner, Southern Railways,Vice President, Tamilnadu CricketAssociation.

Honourable Justice Sri PalaniVelu of Madras High Court visitedthe Math on 13th August. He wasduly received and honoured withMaha Prasadam.

14th August was the gloriousday, the Advent of the Lord SriKrishna and from dawn Bhajanstarted and with differentprogrammes continued till midnightwhen several thousands of devoteespoured into the Math. The Mathwas most pleasingly decorated withelectrical iluminations and flowers

deco-rations. The Temple Deitiesand Sanctum Sanctorum was mosttastefully decorated with flowers of several thousands of rupees offeredby several devotees. The fragranceof the incense surcharged theTemple atmosphere creating delightin the hearts of devotees.

Above all the Kirtan performedby Bhaktaswaraa Bhajan Mandalitook the devotees to the height of Divinity which was followed withBhagavata Discourse signifying theLord's Advent and finallyperforming of Special Puja, Bhajan,Aratrika of the Lord at midnight andthereafter Temple Parikrama anddistribution of Mahaprasadam toone and all were the special featuresof the day.

At 6.15 p.m. when SriK.V.Varada Rajan (SeniorCommercial Manager, FrieghtMarketing, Southern Railways)arrived, he was received by theSwamijis and elite of the city withdue honour. He was shown theexhibition stalls first and he wastaken to the Lord where he paidhomage and then was led to dias.

After the welcoming speech andgarlanding H.H. Swami B.V.Madhusudan Maharaj gave alengthy speech about Sri Krishna


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64 SEPTEMBER 2009

Jayanti. Then Sri K.V.Varada Rajangave his speech. The other guest SriN. Rajendra Prasad (Dy. E.O. TTDChennai) could not come due tosome unavoidable circumstances.Afterwards H.H. Swami B.K.HarijanMaharaj also spoke. Finally SriSuresh Ch. J. Shah gave vote of thanks. Thus the meeting ended.

After the meeting was over therewas Aratrika to the Deities.

In the meantime the special BhajanParty for the day Bhaktaswaraa BhajanMandali got ready for their devotionalBhajan performance. The Bhajan wasso soul-thrilling that whoever enteredthe Math sat at least a few minutes tohear their Bhajan. The Bhajancontinued upto 12.15 a.m. which wasfollowed by the Bhagavat discourseby H.H. Tridandi Sri B.V.Madhusudan Maharaj.

Here in the Temple exactly atmidnight at the time of Advent of theLord Special Abhishekam, Puja wereperformed. Afterwards severalvarieties of eatables were offered tothe Lord.

The eagerly waiting devoteeswere surcharged when the Templedoors were opened for specialAratrika to the Deities and SanctumSanctorum were so beautifullydecorated and everybody could feelthe Divine Grace of the Lord.

After the Aratrika and Parikrama,everybody were given Tirtha

Prasadam and Laddu Prasadam. Atabout 2.00 a.m. the function came toan end.

The next day, on Nandotsava dayfrom the very morning onwardshundreds of devotees thronged to theMath to receive their Mahaprasadam.Until late night Prasadam wasdistributed to one and all. Sri KrishnaJayanti was celebrated befittingly inall our other branches also. SriKrishna Jayanti programme wascovered by Doordarshan as well asother private T.V. channels.

Sri Radhashtami:Sri Radhashtami was also

celebrated with great eclat at MadrasSri Gaudiya Math on the noon of Friday, the 28th August 2009. SpecialPuja, Bhoga, Raga, and Aratrika wereoffered to the Deities amidstSamkirtana. There was a hugegathering of devotees who were fedwith sumptuous Mahaprasadam.

Sripad Madhusudan Maharaj gavea short discourse on Sri Radha Tattvabefore the Aratrika. The Srimurtiswere gaily decorated which wasmuch appreciated by one and all. Inthe evening also there was a discourseby Sripad Madhusudan Maharaj.

Reports received from otherbranches also state that Radhashtamiwas celebrated with the same eclatand devotees attended in largenumber.

MN


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MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEENDIRECT AND INDIRECT INJUNCTIONS

Srila Thakur Bhakti Vinode

W hat is the differencebetween ceremonialacts of materialisticpersons and the pure devotion of Vaidha bhaktas ? There is a great dealof difference between the two. Those

who have got indifference to materialobjects are entitled to Sany m sabelonging to the theory of knowledge. Those who have gotregard for Divine truth but have notattained complete aversion, whereason the other hand have not muchattachment to karma are entitled fordevotion (Bh.XI. 20.7,8). The socialwork, nine states (Bh.XI.22.47) of body, maintenance of body andobservance of ceremonial worksprescribed by his own dharma areincluded in the Sh mstras dealing withkarma as well as in the cult of devotion. Still the difference is thatin the Karma k mnda there are certainprovisions for service of many gods,desire for satisfaction of senses,honour to material objects, harm to

jiva s in some way or other, respectingthose who are born of high familyetc., which are contrary to devotionalcult. In the life of Vaidha bhakta sthe prominent sign is the service of Vishnu, taking delight in transcen-dental objects, serving Brahmana sand Vaishnava s who are endowedwith signs of Bhakti and nonenvious-ness such as kindness to all beings.

Now it is to be seen, what is therelation of Varn m shrama dharmawith Vaidhi bhakti ? The question iswhether Vaidhi Bhakti is to be adoptedby doing away with Varn m shramadharma or leaving it or by obeying

duly the principles of it, the path of Vaidhi Bhakti has to be taken forcultivation of devotion. The mainpurport of Varn m shrama dharma(Bh.I.5.32-36), as said before, is toobey the laws of health well, tocultivate and improve the faculty of mind, to cultivate the social good andlearn spiritual truth in order tocultivate devotion. Nobody can denythe necessity of Varn m shramadharma , so long man is confined tomaterial body. If done, the life of the

jiva s will go astray for want of learning the aforesaid four principlesand there will be no good. So youshould obey strictly the principles of Varn m shrama dharma as dueinjunction for improving thecondition of body, mind etc., forwelfare of society and attainment of spiritual life. But it is not that theobservance of Varn mshrama dharmais the sole necessity. Therefore withthe help of that dharma , you souldcultivate devotion. For the cultivationof devotion, the observance of Varn mshrama dharma has been foundnecessary. Now it is to be considered,whether there will be any time for

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cultivation of devotion (Bh.XI.27.6)as the observance of Varn mshramadharma is a long standing one andwhat will be the duty where conflictarises between the two? The firstanswer is that, if the body, mind,society and spiritual life are notprotected or nourished, how devotionwhich is the higher stage can bepractised? If death comes soon, if thedisease of mental disorder arises, or if

as a result of a social revolution thereis evil company and evil acts ensueand if without getting propereducation in spiritual truth, how belief which is the seed of devotion cansprout in heart? On the other hand,by leaving Varn mshrama dharma if arbitrariness is followed, then thebodily and mental effort will guidehim as to wantonness or wilfulness,and no sign of devotion will be visible.Always the Jiva s will be addicted toabominable works. So it is to beadmitted that Varn m shrama dharmawill be helpful to the cultivation of devotion (Gita XVIII.47) although theformer takes a long course to a certainextent. The cultivation of Vaidhibhakti will however shorten its course.The members of Varn mshrama dharmawill be converted to be the membersof devotion gradually. At firstobserving the rites of Varn mshramadharma , you will cultivate the fivekinds of devotion which have beeninstructed by your preceptor to the bestof your might. You will graduallyleave that portion of work of Varn m shrama dharma which iscontrary to devotion. At last in the life

of the Vaishnava s the Varn m

shramadharma will be sanctified by devotionand converted into S m ttvic bh mva andthen being servant of S mdhana Bhakti ,the dispute between karma and Bhaktiwill disappear. By gradualdevelopment of Bhakti, the life of

Br hmin will be light and it will admitthe spiritual equality of a devotedShudra life. The life of a Shudra willthen be enlightened by servitude to

God and also feeling of servitude tothe divine men. Thus he will gainsimilarity with a Br mhmin who feelshimself a humble servant of God.Then the purity of Vaishnavafriendship will brighten up the life of all four castes so much that it willappear that it is near about the doorof Divine life. If the obstacle of vanityin body is removed then the greatsimilarity amongst the jiva s will be

possible (Gita V.18).Just as the moral life withoutfaith in God, coming in contact withthe moral life having faith in God of Varn m shrama dharma becomesmerged in it faultlessly, so that morallife also coming in touch withdevotion is miraculously changed intoa life of Vaidha bhakta without anyof the previous fault. The worship of God by the persons belonging toVarn mshrama dharma was a policysimilar to the policy of otherreligionists. But when this isreflected in the devout life, theworship of God gets predominanceover other duties. The devotee alwaysconsiders all other policies of Varn mshrama dharma as servants to

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the worship of God. Although at firstsight, this change seems to be small,yet at the time when constancy growsmore, it gives that life an excellentshape. This is a marked distinctionbetween the life followingVarn mshrama dharma and the life of Vaidha bhakta .

It has been described in theSh mstras that all men are entitled todevotion. Devotion is the natural

virtue of man and for this all careshould be taken (Bh.VII.6.19). It isthereby admitted that all persons of four castes attached to Varna dharma ,or persons following four stages of life(i.e. Ashrama dharma ) are entitled todevotion. Even the low classes,coming under the category of men areentitled to devotion. Although this istrue yet the out-caste classes do notget proper facility obtaining devotion.Their birth, company, work andpropensity are so low, that their lifebeing engrossed only in gross matteris just an animal life. For filling theirbelly, they are always extremelyselfish, malicious and cruel. Theirheart is very hard. So the path of devotion is somewhat difficult forthem (Bh.VII.6.3,4). That they havegot right to enter into the cult of devotion can be seen by discussing thehistory of devotees such as Sri Harid msTh mkur, the fowler, - a disciple of SriN mrada, Jesus and St. Paul etc. But itwill also be seen that they could getthe path of devotion with extremedifficulty, even they could not getopportunity of protecting their devoutlife for a long time. It is true that

everyone has a right to devotion butthe person following the rights of Varn m shrama dharma has specialprivilege and authority. In spite of this, aversion to devotion is noticedin the life of many who professVarn mshrama dharma (Bh.XII.3.44).

It is the natural inclination of jivato climb the higher step from the stepin which he is at present situated. Butaccording to that nature he should not

climb the higher step hurriedly oruntimely. That is to say that first of all he will have to keep his feet firmin one step and then rise to the nextone. For this reason, the meritregarding constancy for step has beenexplained. When you will get right toset your foot on another step, youshould then only leave your previousconstancy. The desire to cling to onestep is a superstition arising out of earnestness in inferior convention.According to that superstition thelowest class disregards the moral lifewithout faith in God, the moralistwithout faith in God disregards themoralist believing in imaginary God,and the moralist with faith in personalGod disregards devotion and at lastthe Vaidhi bhakta disregards

R mg mtmika Bhakti . According to thissuperstition, many of the personsprofessing Varn mshrama dharma donot praise Vaidhi Bhakti(Bh.VII.9.10). But this cannot causeany harm to devotion, yet this onlyshows their misfortune. Personsseated on the higher steps naturallylong for the welfare of men lying inthe lower steps, but so long they are

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not fortunate, they have no desire toreach the higher step by leaving theirformer constancy.

The moral life with faith in Godlike Varnashrama dharma whentouched by devotion turns into adevoted life. But so long he does notdiscard his previous swarupa andaccepts the swarupa of a devotee'slife, whatever he does is termed askarma . Karma is not an indispensable

part of Bhakti. But when karma isassimilated with Bhakti the life of devotional performances is awakened.Then it is called Bhakti itself and notkarma . When firm belief with regardto God arises, the right of karmadisappears. Amongst the ingredientsof karma the evening prayers andworship are also karma (boundenduties) subservient to the policy of that dharma . But that is not so in the

case of devotion arising from faith inGod. When regard for God arises,then all works done out of attachmentto God are honoured according tosignificance. Then if in any place inthe evening, discussion about Harigoes on, the aspirant for devotion doesnot feel inclined to do evening prayersetc., by leaving it. He then makes uphis mind that when the significanceof doing evening prayers is present,what is the necessity of doing otherworks by leaving this.

Jn mna and Vair mgya are not thepart and parcel of Bhakti. Becausethese make the heart hard andtherefore they are contrary todevotion. Before entering intodevotion, they, in some cases, become

helpful to the cultivation of Bhaktiand in some cases they becomecompanion to a certain extent in thebeginning to see new entrant to Bhakti(Bhakti Ras mmrita Sindhu).

In the 'Hari Bhakti Vil msa 'various parts of Vaidhi Bhakti havebeen discussed. In the 'BhaktiSandarbha' these have been groupednicely under nine kinds of Bhakti. Inthe 'Sri Bhakti Ras mmrita Sindhu' 64kinds of Vaidhi Bhakti have beenshown. Amongst these five have beendescribed as the essential ones. Theseare the following:--- (1) Pleasure inserving Shrimurti , (2) Tasting thesweetness of the meanings of ShrimadBhagavatam with the devoted wittypersons. (3) Companionship withthose who belong affectionately to thesame class of devotion those who holdhigher merit than themselves. (4)

Singing of holy Name, (5) Living inVraja.The part of devotion, in which

an aspirant has more taste isespecially to be followed. But heshould be careful so that he may notshow hatred towards other parts. Indetermining the main principles of Vaidhi Bhakti , two things are to beadmitted viz. God is always to be

remembered by the jivas. (1) Thework which is favourable to the

remembrance of God is the first and foremost injunction to the aspirant.(2) Forgetfulness of God is the

greatest evil. The work which stands against remembrance is prohibition above all.

Keeping an eye upon these two

m

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aspects, aspirants by living theirtenacity to the rule can accept someprinciples at one time and give it upat other time.

Vaidha sadhakas are realaspirants. They have three states. 1.S mhdaka with firm belief. 2. S mdhakawith constancy. 3. S mdhaka who hasgot taste.

S mdhaka s with firm belief takeshelter to the feet of Guru and beinginitiated by him practise bhajana with

holy men. By practising bhajanawith holy men, their evil is removed(Bh.II.7.46). After the removal of evil, their belief becomes pure andgets constancy. Constancy graduallyturns into attachment and that takesthe name of 'Ruchi' (taste). This isthe limit of development of S mdhana

Bhakti . After 'ruchi' there comes' m sakti' (loving inclination orattachment) and then it turns into

bh m

va .

SEPTEMBER 2009 77

O

zeu Yy

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I bow down my head to the Beautiful LotusFeet of my Divine Master Who, out of His CauselessMercy, has blessed me with the Supreme Holy Name, the Divine Mantra, the service of the Son of Sachi, Srila Svarupa Rupa Sanatana Goswami Prabhus and Their followers, the Supreme Abode of Mathura, the Blissful Bowers of Sri Radha-Krishna, the Divine Sri Radha-Kunda and the Govardhana Hill, and implanted in my heart the desire for the loving service of Sri Sri Radha Govinda in Vrindavana.

Panegyric to the Spiritual Master


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SRI KRISHNA CHAITANYA IS GOD HIMSELF Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur

In regard to the proposition asto whether Sri Krishna-Chaitanya is GodheadHimself the only evidence that isadmissible is that of the Veda, theonly function of which is to proclaim

the Godhead to all jivas. The Veda,the Word of God, is identical withGod Himself. The Word existseternally in the form of thetranscendental sound that is alwaysrevealing God, i.e. Itself to those whoare privileged to hear. There is noother way of knowing God open tosinful jiva s. What they see, hear,taste, smell, think are relative andlimited and impermanent phenomenaknown as material objects. Thesceptics are right in holding that it isnot possible for any one by means of his (materialised) mind to have anyknowledge of the Absolute.Revelation is properly enoughobjected to on the ground that thelimited mind of the jiva isconstitutionally incapable of receiving the unlimited. Such is theunanimous testimony of allempiricists who are the presentleaders of thought in regard to thephenomena of this world. They arequite consistent in refusing tospeculate on the Absolute.

But the Word of God is as amatter of fact not heard by the organof hearing of sinful jivas. There arealso sinless persons whose ears

possess the power of catching thetranscendental sound and who haverecorded the Word of God for thebenefit of fallen jivas. The Word isthere in the books but its meaning isnot intelligible to us. All we can do is

to take it on trust provisinally and listen attentively. If we do this, saythe Scriptures, the meaning will indue course dawn upon ouremancipated understanding. But wemust not try to understand the Wordof God in the light of our worldlyknowledge. If we do so we are sureto misunderstand everythig. We mustagree to believe that the plain meaningof the Word is the true meaninghowever fantastic it may seem to usat first sight.

So there is a plain meaning of thewords of the Veda which is the onlytestimony we possess in regard to theproposition which we shall endeavourto establish. This is not dogmatism.It is not anybody's un-supportedopinions which the reader is asked toaccept blindly. It is the experience of a minority of the best people of thisworld which he is asked to believe tobe true as experience and to accord toit his serious considration. It will notgo against any of his beliefs orpractices because it refers to things of another world. It is worth listening toas this minority of the people claimthat it is the Absolute Truth which isordinarily believed to be either non-

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existent or unattainable.Once the right formula is known

we can verify its truth by application.If it can actually give us what itpromises we might admit its realexistence although we may not beallowed to reach it by our own efforts.We can also obtain thereby a view of the relative value of our ownsynthesis, if any, at least in regard tothis world which happens to be the

limit of our vision.But we claim a much largermeasure of indulgence from ourreaders than mere tolerance. Becausethere is no explicit Vedic evidence insupport of the proposition that wehave undertaken to prove with itshelp. We have, therefore, to dependalso on the candour and unbiased

judgment of the reader. There is noVedic text which says directly that SriKrishna Chaitanya is the GodheadHimself. The reader must notunderstand by Veda only the presentVedic Samhitas. By Veda he is tounderstand, as the rishis themselvesunderstood, something much wider.The Puranas, according to their ownauthority, explain and supplement theVeda and are, therefore, a part andparcel of the revealed literature. Onewho has taken the trouble of carefullystudying the Puranas knows very well

that they are not really opposed to oneanother and are graded into threedistinct groups. One of these groupstreat mainly of the transcendentalreality. The Srimad Bhagavatam isthe most elaborate work of this group.I have said that the Veda does notexplicitly state that Sri Krishna

Chaitanya is the Godhead Himself.This omission is, however, deliberate.In the Srimad Bhagavatam Prahladasays, 'Krishna, Thou maintainst in thismanner the realms (lokas) of men,tiryaks , rishi s, deva s, fishes, etc., etc.,and destroyest the enemies of theworld. Thou, Great Person, wiltThyself proclaim the dharma of thekirtan of the holy Name which isappropriate for the Kali Age by

concealing Thy identity. It is for thisreason that Thy Name is Triyuga(belonging to the three ages). Thouart so named because no Shastrasmake this 'Thy hidden appearance'known explicitly. In the Adi PuranaGod Himself says -- "This My Form,which I keep concealed, is eternal.Hiding My identity I Myself everprotect all the lokas by establishingthe dharma, assuming for the purposethe form of the devotee of Myself."

The above texts of the Puranas,and there are a few more, point to thepromulgation, in the Kali Age, of theKirtan of the Holy Name by GodHimself Who assumes for the purposethe form of the devotee of Godconcealing His Own identity. Underthe circumstances we cannot expectto find in the Veda anything more thanovert references to this particularappearance of God. In the Mundaka

Upanishad (3/3) we have thefollowing, --- 'When one beholds theLord of the world, the Person Who isthe source of the universe, of GoldenComplexion he attains to the state of purity and equanimity by virtue of thetranscendental knowledge whichwashes away all conceptions of good

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and evil that are the products of theun-spiritual worldly experience.'There is no other form of the SupremeLord possessing the goldencomplexion. The epithet Mahaprabhuwhich was for the first time appliedto Sri Chaitanya by His associatesappears as the designation of God inthe Svetaswatara Upanishad (3/12).

In the Veda the reference is to SriKrishna, as being the Godhead. The

Bhagavata Purana identifies SriChaitanya with Sri Krishna. Theexplicit identification is contained inthe following slokas of the Bhagavata,-- 'All persons possessed of good

judgment worship by the sacrifice of the samkirtana the Great Person inWhose mouth there are always thesetwo letters viz. ' Kri ' and ' shna ', whosebeauty is non-dark (i.e., yellow). Inthis manner they worship Him in thecompany of His anga s (limbs),upanga s (minor limbs), astra s(weapons) and parshada s (associates)by whom He is always surrounded'(Bh.XI.5.32). And again, -- 'This son(Krishna) of yours (Nanda) assumesthe hues of white, red and yellow inthe other three Ages. At present (i.e.,in Dvapara) He has assumed the darkcolour'.

This much as regards the directtestimony. The indirect evidence is

abundant and this is only natural asGod chooses deliberately to concealHis identity in this case. This indirecttestimony also appeals far morestrongly even than direct evidence, topeople in this speculative Age. SriKrishna Chaitanya taught the religionof un-conventional love for Sri

Krishna which forms the centralsubject of the Srimad Bhagavata.According to the Bhagavata there doesnot exist any higher religion than thelove which characterized the milk-maids of Vraja. No Avatara of theSupreme Lord, is capable of conferring this love of Vraja. Even SriKrishna Himself in His Leela of theDvapara Age did not bestow it on theundeserving. The unconditional love

for Sri Krishna of the milk-maids of Vraja would have remained for everun-attainable to the fallen jiva s but forthe cause-less mercy of Sri KrishnaChaitanya which made Him bestow iton those who did not deserve it. Inother words the supreme excellence of the Dvapara leela of Sri Krishna wouldhave been of no benefit to the sinfulworld but for the teaching of SriChaitanya which thus forms thenecessary supplement of the other. SriKrishna Chaitanya is, therefore, noneother than the Supreme Lord Himself concealed in the guise of His devoteeappearing in the Kali Age topromulgate the samkirtana of the holyName which is identical with the un-conventional love of Vraja. He is notthe Avatar of Sri Krishna. He is SriKrishna Himself. Because no Avataraof Krishna can confer the un-conventional love for Himself, -- it

being the highest, the fullest servicewhich is necessarily the exclusive dueof the Godhead Himself, the Sourceof all Avatara s. Such love cannot beinspired by any except Sri KrishnaHimself. Sri Krishna did not,however, exhibit this activity in HisDvapara lila as He chose to appear on

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that occasion in the undisguised formof the Godhead Himself, the Objectof the highest devotion of all jiva s.There is no limit to the power of God.But He has given perect freedom of choice to the jiva s and accepts onlytheir voluntary service. The fallen

jiva s owe their plight to their naturaldisinclination to serve the SupremeLord. The terrible cosequence of thisabuse of their freedom of choice was

that they failed to recognise theSupreme Lord when He actuallyappeared in their midst in this sinfulworld in His own eternal form andwithout disguise. The direct methodof the Dvapara lila thus failed toreclaim the sinners. Sri Krishna thenlaid aside His form as the Godheadand assumed the guise of the servantof God. Devotion to Himself was notvalued by sinful jiva because they hadlost all memory of it through sensuousexistence of countless ages. Godchose to appear in their midst as theTeacher of the eternal religion that hadbeen forgot and for this purposeassumed the exterior of the greatestof all His devotees viz. Sri Radhika,the premier milk-maid of Vraja. Noone can be a teacher of religion, saythe Shastras, who does not practise thesame himself. God is the SupremeTeacher of religion. His eternal form

as Teacher of the religion is that of the ideal devotee viz. Sri KrishnaChaitanya. God as Teacher is the mostdevoted of His servants, appearing asworhipper by concealling His identityas the Object of worship. The idealdevotee is respected by sinful jivas onaccount of his humility. He does not

claim their service for himself and thispleases their vanity and disarms theirhostility. By this clever ruse Godmakes sinful jiva s unconsciouslyforget their aversion to Himself (disguised as devotee). Hedemonstrates to them by His ownexample which melts the stoniest of hearts, that in the case of the jiva s theprivilege of rendering service to Godis infinitely higher than the privilegeof receiving any service and that theservice of God is superior to the unreallordship coveted by sinners overmaterial nature. The jiva soul is aninfinitessimally small fraction of thespiritual power of God. It has noaffinity with God's material power.The jiva soul is superior to matterbecause the spiritual power of God issuperior to His material power whichstands to the former in the relation of shadow to substance. This is quite

opposite to what their relation seemsto be to our perverted understanding.If the jiva soul wants to rule over thespiritual power of God to which it issubordinate by constitution it falls intothe clutches of the illusory, i.e.material power of God and becomessubject to all the miseries of a falseexistence. The jiva can never be God.But God is simultaneously great andsmall. In Sri Krishna Chaitanya the

small face of the Divinity which the jiva s can recognise is exposed to them.God in this manner shows to the jivathe jiva 's own ideal form which is alsoeternally part and parcel of Himself.The jiva can be great not by theassertion of his native littleness but byagreeing to serve the Great. This is

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the teaching by precept and exampleof Sri Krishna Chaitanya.

God as Teacher of religion is SriKrishna Chaitanya. As Sri KrishnaChaitanya He is the eternal world-Teacher Whose words are to belistened to and obeyed. Sri KrishnaChaitanya followed His own teachingin order to teach us how to followHim. By following Sri KrishnaChaitanya we would attain to the

loving service of the milk-maids of Vraja, and not by imitating thetranscendental gopis. This is thehighest form of service. The worshipof Sri Krishna by the milk-maids of Vraja cannot be realised in the sinfulstate. It can be realised only after allsin has left us. There is no way of attaining to this perfectly pure stateexcept by following the teachings of Sri Chaitanya as exemplified by thepractice of Himself and Hisassociates and specially the latter.This is the purpose of Sri Krishna's

appearance as Sri Krishna Chaitanyain the Kali Age.

No Avatara or prophet hasbestowed on sinful creatures the freeloving service of the Godhead. Thehighest they did was to teach sinful

jiva s the service of God that ischaracterized by distant reverence,the only form of service which is leastlikely to be grossly misunderstood inthe sinful state. But mere reverenceis not acceptable to Sri Krishna Whoalways dwells in the transcendentalrealm of Vaja, full of eternal blisswhere reverence itself is subordinatedto love. This loving service of Vrajais the gift of Sri Krishna Chaitanya toall the sinful jiva s of this world andHe guarantees it to all who sincerelyfollow His teaching. Theseconsiderations explaining as they dothe significance of the appearance of God in this world, as testified by theshastras, supply the indirect evidenceof the Divinity of Sri KrishnaChaitanya.

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He who hears and makes others hear the ever Blissful andsoul-charming Narratives of the Lord's Glorious Qualities andDeeds with His Chit-Potency, propitiates the Supreme Lord

Janardana, the Killer of worldliness of His devotees. What remainsto be unattained for him when the Lord is propitiated? All othermundane bliss then dwindles into insignificance. Hence, the

Supreme Lord, the Knower of his heart vouchsafes His LotusFeet unto him who worships Him with single-minded devotion.Who, the knower of the Acme of human life, except the brute of a man, will refrain from drinking a little with the palm of his ear-holes the Nectarine Narratives among the ancient lore, of theGlorious Qualities and Deeds of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna?

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THE VISHNUSWAMI SAMPRADAYASrimad Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Goswami Maharaj

B oth Sri Jiva Gosw mi inhis 'Bh gavataSandarbha' and SrilaKrishnad s Kavir j Gosw mi in his'Chaitanya Charit mrita' (Madhya.

XVIII.114) look to Sri Vishnusw mifor inspiration to establish theessential difference between God andindividual souls, and quote thefollowing verse from Vishnusw mi'sSarvajna Sukta, the commentary onthe Vedanta: "Hl dinya samvid- slishtah sacchid nanda Isvarahsvavidy samvrito jivah samklesa-nikar karah". "God is all-intelligence, all-existence, and all-bliss, in the embrace of Hl dini andSamvit (Shakti ) whereas Jiva isenveloped in his own avidya whichis the abode of all sufferings."Neither R mnuja nor Madhva issatisfactorily clear in introducingShaktis by way of explaining howGod creates Jiva s without beingHimself modified. R mnuja tacitlyassumes and mentions Shakti simplyby referring to some passages of theSvet svatara Upanishad to that effectin his writings. The GaudiyaVaishnavas have borrowed the

Hl dini and Samvit , tow of teh threeaspects of their conception of Parashakti from the above verse of Vishnusw mi's Sarvajnasukta. The

Sandhini aspects of Par shakti hasbeen taken from the Vishnu Purana towhich they refer in another place. TheGaudiyas are indebted toVishnusw mi in so far as the

conception of Par shakti anddifference between God and the Jivais concerned.

Vishnusw mi is the founderAch rya of the Rudra sect, tehmythical first Ach rya of which isbelieved to be Rudra. The Rudra orVishnusw mi sect is supposed to bethe earliest of four recognisedVaishnava sects, the others being: theRmnujiya, the Madhva and theNimb rkiya. Biographical dataconcerning him are too few to enableone to reconstruct any history of hislife and career. He does not seem tohave written many works except hisSarvajnasukta and a few others so faras our knowledge of his work goes.There is a manuscript of Tattva-Pradeepa in the library of theNimbarkiya headquarters atSalimabad. The authorship to Vishnuof this Tattva Pradipa has beenattributed to Vishnusw mi. It isSridhara Sw mi who tells us thatVishnuswami's commentary on theVedanta is styled Sarvajnasukta, fromwhich he quotes verses in hiscommentaries on the Vishnu Puranaand the Bh gavata. The earliest book

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containing the incidental reference toVishnuswami's philosophical systemis perhaps the 'SarvadarsanaSamgraha' of S yana-Madhva (14thcentury). In the course of explainingthe conception of the body as eternalthrough the efficacy of quicksilver,according to the Mercurial system(Rasesvara Darsana), the author of Sarvadarshana Samgraha says thefollowing, "This (This conception of

body) is not to be regarded asunprecedented, for the adherents of the doctrine of Vishnusw mi maintainthe eternity of the body of Vishnu ashalf-man and half-lion" (Narasimha).Thus it is said in the 'S kra Siddha'."I glorify the Man-lion set forth byVishnusw mi, whose only body isexistence." "If the objetion be raisedthat the body of the Man-lion whichappears as composite and coloured is

incompatible with real existence, if many be replied: how can the body of the Man-lion be otherwise than reallyexistent, proved as it is by three kindsof proof; (1) by the intuition of Sanakaand others; (2) by the Vedic texts suchas, "A thousand-heads has Purusha ";and (3) by the Puranic texts such as,"That wonderous child, lotus eyed,four-armed, armed with theconchshell, the club and otherweapons."

Real existence and other likepredicates are affirmed also bySrikanta Mishra, the devotee andadherent of Vishnusw mi. Let thosewho aspire to the highest end of personal souls, be assured that theeternity of the body which we are

setting forth is by no means a mereinnovation.

The date of the election of theauthor of 'Sarvadarshana Samgraha' tothe Gadi is believed to be 1331 A.D.From the above reference we cangather the following main historicalclues: (1) Vishnusw mi's doctrine wasprevalent earlier than the R sesvaraDarsana because the learned authormentions Vishnusw mi's conceptionof the eternity of God's body only toemphasize that it was earlier than thatof R seswara Darsana, (2) 'S kraSiddha' is a book of the samprad yadealing with the teaching of Vishnusw mi, (3) Srikanta Misra wasanother later doctor of the sect, (4)Nrisimha is the official Deity of thesect. Sridhara quotes another passagefrom Vishnusw mi's Sarvajnasuktareferring to Nrihari (Nrisimha). Fromthe nature of the very scanty referenceto Vishnusw mi by S yana and fromthe fact that he has exhaustivelydiscussed the other fifteen systemssuch as the R mnujiya, the Madhvaand so on, it seems that Vishnusw mibelonged to a very remote past or atleast, earlier than the origin of Rsesvarite practices and doctrine.The R sesvarites used to drinkP rada (mercury) and micaidentifying them with Hara and Gauri,with a view to increasing the longevityand maintaining youth. "It gives thefurther shore of metempsychosis: itis styled P rada because it isemployed for the highest end by thebest votaries." (For details vide

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Sarvadarshana Samgraha). Cowellhas drawn our attention to the fact thatthis practice of drinking mercury(P rada P na ) among a sect, hasbeen mentioned in ShankaraDigvijaya. If Shankara met with thepractice of the R sesvarites, they musthave flourished before his time and itmust have originated long beforeShanakra, whose date is circa 8thcentury. If this practice was

originated among the R sesvariteslong before Shankara we have toadmit then that Vishnusw mi musthave flourished several centuriesbefore Shankara. We have alreadyobserved that Bilvamangala who wasthe younger contemporary of Shankara belonged to theVishnusw mi sect after hisconversion to Vaishnavism. So thebelief that Vishnusw mi was theearliest of all Vaishnava Ach ryasseems to have some truth in it.

The Vallabhi samprad ya tracesits origin to Vishnusw mi's. So theyhave tried to give us an account of Vishnusw mi in Vallabha Digvijayaby Kanaiha L l and Samprad yaPradipa by Gad dhara, who was thedisciple of Vithala, son of Vallabha.Samprad ya Pradipa was written in1554 A.D. Vallabha Digvij ayaassigns the birth of Vishnusw mi to avery remote antiquity saying that hewas born in the Dr vida country afterthe completion of Janamejaya'ssacrifice, and Bilvamangala belongedto Vishnusw mi sect. "Samprad yaPradipa" echoes them. AnotherVallabhi book called Vaishnava

Vrittam la by one Srin tha Devesa,informs us that Vallabha's great-grand-father belonged to this sect.Leaving aside the exaggerated date of his birth in the beginning of the Kaliage, it may be accepted thatBilvamangala may have belonged tothis sect.

According to Vishnusw mi thereis only one reality called Vastu who isGod; so the system is called Advaita

but is not the same as Shankara'sabsolute or undifferentiated monismwhich does not admit activities buttacitly assumes some sort of forcewhich he calls m y to explain andtrace the world of the individuals.They place m y outside Brahman .So the Sankarites are not pure monistslike Ach rya Vishnusw mi. UnlikeShankara's Brahman , Vishnusw mi'sGod creates the world without beingmodified in His essential nature.

Brahman does not become a productfor giving rise to the world which,according to Vishnusw mi is theK rya of God and not that of m y ,Shankara's second entity. So it cannotbe illusory because it is the eternalfunction of God.

The world is regarded as theactivity of Vastu . (Vastunah k ryam

jagat ). The activity does notnecessarily mean that the cause ismodified which, on the other hand,remains the same in the course of modification. As gold remains suchthough ornaments change their shapein the course of modification, so Godis always the same whether before orafter His K rya . The action may be

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changeable but is as real as its cause.The temporary evolution of action isnot its absolute absence as we cannotdeny our existence in our sleepingstate. Creation is nothing else but themanifestation of the world, thecapacity for which is always in

Brahman . In other words the worldis always with in Brahman . Whetherit is manifested or unmanifested is notvital but is all the same if looked atfrom God's point of view. WheneverGod uses His Avirbh va-Shakti orpower of evolution there is creationwhich returns into Him and remainsin a dormant state whenever Hewithdraws His Shakti . So He is boththe material and efficient cause of Hisaction in the evolution of the world.

Jiva s, according toVishnusw mi, are constituent parts of the only one Vastu or substantialreality ( Vastun msa ). The individualsare of identical essence with God, soin this respect there is no realdifference, as there is only one Vastu .But they are atomic in size andconsequently are liable to beoverpowered by the force of Avidy while God is the Lord and regulator(Svavidya-samvrito jivah samklesa-nikar karah ). Here lies the differencebut not in regard to essential character,as both are of the same stuff or

essence. Sri Vishnusw mi employedthe analogy of sparks to their source,the fire, to indicate the relation of jivasto God. Yath gneh kshudravisphulinga vyuccharantyevam-evasmadatmanah sarv ni bhut nivyuccharanti.

In the scriptures Jiva s are

sometimes called Brahman . Thesepassages declare the individual to bedifferent from Brahman . They arecertainly so. The parts are very, verysmall in comparison to the whole. Inthe next place, they are called theactivity of Brahman . Jiva s, like thesparks are not something different incharacter from Brahman . So they arethe same qualitatively without beingidentical in every respect. Sparks,though issuing from fire, are differentfrom their source. Or again Jiva s likethe individual rays of the sun possessthe burning quality in an infinitesimaldegree which may be affected orclouded by something or some power,while God is like the great sun byvirtue of His qualities Sat , Chit and

Ananda in their infinite fullness whichburn all unwholesome qualities of m y if she happens to be aggressive.Here is a very great difference. Theinfinitesimal parts are liable to becomethe victims of a limiting power whichis however absolutely powerlessbefore God Himself. So Vishnusw midefines Jiva s as Svavidya Samvritoetc. God is always blissful(succhinnityanijacintya purna-nandaika vigraham : Sarva DarsanaSangraha R sesvaradarsana chapter)while Jiva s are place in the placed of miseries ( Samkleshanikar karah ) due

to their inclination and liability to beinclined to attachment to m y . Inshort, according to Vishnusw mi,there is only one Vastu , or Reality Whohas reserved His personality of beneficent qualities apart from the

Jiva s who issue from Him and arealways connected to remain as they

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are. So they are not a second entity,nor do they disturb His personalprivacy. The world being his activity,never ceases to exist, because He isever the inexhaustible fountain of never-ending energy. There is nothingunreal in the whole system which isnot in any way working independentlyor apart from Him. The parts arecomplete in themselves in their ownway, being energised by God. While

He is the complete whole, notdepending on the parts that make thewhole; but on the contrary, it is thewhole who makes and maintains theparts as they are.

By Mukti, Vishnusw mi meansthe devotion to God by assumingeternal body: Mukt api lilay vigraham kritv Bhagavantambhajante (quoted from Sarvajna Suktaby Sridharasw mi in his commentaryon the Bh gavata X.87.21). In otherwords, he keeps the absolutedistinction between god andindividuals all through after Moksha ,but according to Shankara, there isabsolute identity of the Brahman withthe freed. In short Shankara differsfrom Vishnusw mi in all respects.According to the former, Brahmandegrades itself into Isvara or Jiva inassociation with m y or avidy butVishnusw min's God never comesunder m y (Sa Iso Yadvase m y etc.

Isvarasyop dhivasvatamuktatam ).The Gaudiya Vaishnavas,

avoiding the difficulty that may arise,as to how Brahman , being the efficient

and material cause, remainsunmodified in his nature while givingrise to the world and Jiva s, make Himonly the efficient cause who energisesHis Shakti , which is immediately andmaterially responsible for the worldbeing evolved. The Jiva s, accordingto the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, owe theirexistence to His Tatastha or Jiva-shakti . In other words, the Jivas andthe result of the evolution of His two

Shakti s, Tatastha and Bahiranga ,which derive their energy, so to say,from Him, and this is His activity. Theevolution of his Shakti s does not meanany transformation of potential personGod. We do not get the early historyof the development of the conceptionof devotion to God in the earlierperiod of the sect but Bilvamangalarepresents to a very great extent, theconception of Divine Love wich mayhave developed in this sect beforehim, whose date, as we have observed,may be placed in the ninth century.The Gaudiya Vaishnavas aresupremely indebted to theVishnusw mi sect throughBilvamangala's Krishnakarn mrita,and also in respect of the philosophicalbackground of their views on God,God's Shakti , the difference betweenGod and Jiva s and so on. If we believethat 'Sridhara Swami' belonged to thissect, we have further ground to holdthat the Gaudiyas respected this sectmore than any, through Sridharawhom they regarded as the "worldteacher" (Jagat Guru).

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S ri Krishna ChaitanyaMahaprabhu discussedthe nature of theindividual soul and the Godhead andtheir inter-relationship. Seekers of God follow either the path of induction or deduction or both. In theprocess of an inductive investigationof the Absolute Truth, one relies onsense perception, drawing inferencesfrom the manifested phenomena.Owing to the changeable nature of theobjects of phenomena and thedefective nature of human senses, theprocess of inductive investgation orempiric method adopted in the searchof God may be compared with theattempt of an individual to collect allthe electric lights of a town in oneplace at the dead hours of the night inorder to see the sun on the firmament!The process is futile. Sri Chaitanyarejected this empiric method of accepting material help for therealisation of the TranscendentalReality. Those who are conscious of the defective nature of the physicaland mental senses, (owing to thelimitations and changeableness of relative time and limited space)follow the "revealed Method", whichinculcates that God reveals Himself in the shape of transcendental Word,identical with His Form, Attribiutes,Entourage and Pastimes, through an

unalloyed chain of preceptorialsuccessions, to the submissive auralreception of sincere and willinglisteners. This is called the process of Divine Descent or Avatara.

In Chaitanya's philosophy one

has to consider the nature of theobserved. i.e., the object of pursuit, asalso the nature of the observer, and therelation that exists between the two.

In theology, God is the object of pursuit, the individual souls are theobservers or seekers, and the eternalrelatonship between God and souls isthe eternal religion of all souls. Thisrelationship forms the subject matterof Sri Chaitanya's philosopy.

Regarding the nature of God, SriChaitanya holds that in Aryantheology there are three distinctconceptions of the Absolute. Themonists or non-dualists think that Godis Impersonal, Who has been termedas Brahman in the Upanishads, thecrest jewels of the Vedas. SriChaitanya explained ImpersonalBrahman as the negative Aspect of theAbsolute or Effulgence of theSupreme Personality of the Godhead.To empiricists, this Neuter-God or It-God is the syntheitic Abstract of theAbsolute Reality. From the diversitiesand manifoldness of the phenomenalworld, one is naturally inclined to asyntheitic approach to the Absolute,

PHILOSOPHY OF SRI KRISHNA CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU

Srimad Bhakti Hridaya Bon Deva Goswami Maharaj

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which is conceived as One unit. Justas the manifestness and all itsdiversities in the unit of hill are notconceived when looked at from a longdistance, so also the transcendentalDivine Person with all Hismanifestiveness as the AbsoluteWhole, is not realised from the angleof a microscopic vision of suchempiricists. Secondly, ImmanentAspect of God is known as

Paramatma --- the Indweller of everyentity, of the Yoga School. Whereas,according to the Bhakti Philosophy,the complete manifestation of theGodhead, as Bhagavan, is Histranscendental Person possessing all-glory, all-majesty, all-beauty, all-power, all-intelligence and all-freedom. Sri Chaitanya's conceptionof God is this Bhagavan.

Every individual sentient being

is endowed with the faculties of cognition, emotion and volition.Viewed through cognition alone,irrespective of the emotional andvolitional faculties of the unengrossedsoul, God's existence is realised as theAll-pervasive 'Great' -- the UndividedKnowledge, known as Brahman;approached through the soul'svolitional insight, the Divinity isrealised in every entity, asParamatma. Everything isaccommodated in the Great Brahman,and in every sentient and insentiententity the Divinity exists as theIndwelling Lord, called Paramatma.Both these are, according to SriChaitanya, partial and qualitative

approaches. But when one submitsunconditionally and unreservedly withone's all the three cognitional,emotional and volitional faculties. theSupreme Lord as Bhagavan manifestsHimself in His most beautiful Personin the purest heart of such a genuinedevotee. This conception of Bhagavanof the devotional school, as distinctfrom Brahman and Paramatma--theTranscendent and Immanent Aspects,

has again two distinct Forms--theMajestic and the Beatific. Hismajestic manifestation in thetranscendental Realm is calledNarayana, while His Beatific Aspectis Krishna. God in His MajesticAspect is worshipped with reverentialservices. Krishna, the Lord of non-material Love and Beauty, is theRecipient of confidential services inany one of the fivefold aspects of

Quiet-God, Master-God, Friend-God,Son-God and Consort-God. Krishna,the only object of divine pursuit is,according to Sri Chaitanya, theRecipient of loving services from HisEcstatic Energy. His Consortship isHis Highest Manifestation.

As regards the transcendentalnature of Krishna, Sri Chaitanya holdsthat he is the Divine Person. He hasno material Body. His Body is All-animate and Divine. He is not bornwith any body of flesh and blood. Heis not born of any sex-association likea mundane child. He manifests himself out of His own prerogative. He isneither a hero nor an allegoricalimagination, nor a historical person,

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thirdly, the Marginal Potency, whichgives rise to innumerable infinitesimalsouls, having the innate nature of either rendering loving service to Godin their devotional aptitude or lordingit over the phenomenal world in anenjoying mood or renouncing them ina spirit of abnegation.

Next, it may be mentioned herein a nutshell about what Sri Chaitanyaspeaks about the conception of the"Observer". The Jivas or individualsouls are the seekers of God. Thesesouls in their unalloyed and unfetteredstate of existence are the atomic orinfinitesimal separated parts of theInternal Self-conscious Potency of Krishna. As sentient beings, they havetheir proportionate share of thefaculties of cognition, emotion andvolition. The volitional faculty of anindividual soul indicates the free willin man. Those who are conscious of the limitations of the capacities of theirgross and subtle senses, which areapparently the only recipient of knowledge, based on inferences andgained from the manifestedphenomena, make the best of their freewill by surrendering themselvesentirely to the grace of the SupremeLord Sri Krishna. They are thensupported by His Internal Potency inthe shape of the Divine Master orGuru. This kind of eternal service withbody, mind and soul under allcircumstances is known as theunfettered or free state of existenceeven when one is living in this worldin his mortal coil. But those who

nor a voluptuous enjoyer like anyhuman being. Krishna is the onlyProprietor, and everything elsebelongs to Him. Krishna isinaccessible to sensuous attempts andinconceivable by human physical,mental or intellectual senses. He isaccessible to transcendentalknowledge and absolute submission.He is the Chief Emporium of allmellow principles of Divine Love. Heis the Efficient or Root Cause of allcauses of the sentient and insentientworlds. Krishna is the SupremeGodhead and the Internal Guide of all.He is unborn and yet has an eternalForm of His own. He is the highestamongst the Objects of worship.Krishna is eternal and beyond thescope of all measuring potencies.Krishna is the Friend of all and Heis the Embodiment of All-beings, All-knowledge and All-bliss. He is trueof speech and resolve. He is the trueexponent of religion and is satisfiedwith the taste of Self-delight.

Sri Chaitanya goes on further tosay that Krishna is All-powerful andHis Potencies are inseperable fromHim. He is idential with His InternalPlenary Potency. This PlenaryPotency has three Aspects, viz,. HisInternal Self-luminous ControllingPotency, from Whom emanates theeternal transcendental Realm whichis beyond the limits of mundane timeand space; secondly, His ExternalDeluding Potency from whichproceeds the material universe withits time, space, elements etc.; and

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entirely depend upon their ownlimited and deceptive knowlede,forget their real nature and abuse theirfree will by endeavouring to lord itover the phenomenal world. They areeither too optimistic and givethemselves to the enjoyment of theworld or they turn out to be pessimistsand take refuge in renunciation.Deluded by the External potency theyare thus enwrapped with the two

garments of the gross body of fleshand blood and the subtle body of themind. They are then hurled down intothis limited world of weal and woe,and be redeemed only by submissionto a true Spiritual Guru. This state of forgetfulness of the real and normalnature of a pure soul is known as thefallen souls. No amount of empiricknowledge or any other mechanicalprocedure can be sufficient to liberate

the fallen souls from the bondage of illusion.

According to the philosophy of Sri Chaitanya, on the plane of transcendence, things are identicalwith their names, forms, attributes,and actions. But in the phenomenalworld, objects are different from theirnames, forms, attributes and actions.Though there is a semblance betweenthings spiritual and material, they arenot identically the same. In theKingdom of God, the Supreme Lordis Absolute, because He reserves theabsolute right of not being exposedto or realisable by human senses orhuman reasoning, which are confinedwithin the four walls of time and

mundane space. The finite conceptioncan at best measure things of threedimensions and cannot go beyondthem. That which can go beyond theambit of three dimensions istranscendence, which ranges from thefourth to infinite dimensions. TheAbsolute Person transcends mundanelimits and does not submit to sensuousexperiences and mental speculations.

Sri Chaitanya has shown thedistinct functions of mind and soul. Inthe mundane plane, the mind as anagent of the soul is ever engaged intrying to enjoy the phenomena throughthe agencies of the ten organs of senseand action. Its activities are entirelyrestricted to the plane of limitations, ititself being of a fleeting nature. As aperverted ego, it assumes the role of the subject or enjoyer. It is after all asubtle form of matter and acquires itsinitiative faculty from the soul, whichis at present lying in a dormant statewithin the cage of the mind, just as apiece of red-hot iron acquires itsburning property from the fire withwhich it comes in contact. In itsenjoying or renouncing attitude, it iscaptured and enslaved by the EclipsingPotency of the All-powerful SupremeLord Sri Krishna, and suffers pains orenjoys pleasures during its sojourn inthe world.

But the soul is quite distinct fromand independent of the body and mind.She is a spiritual entity and her eternalfunction is unalloyed service ordevotion to God, of Whom she is anatomic separated part, yet inseparably

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associated with Him by the tie of divine love. Her eternal existence inher real nature is in the spiritual realm,though she may have her subtle andgross bodies in the material world.She neither accepts nor rejects,neither enjoys nor abnegates things of the phenomenal world. She is neitherthe subject nor an object of nature.When the soul wakes up from herpresent dormant state of existence bylistening to the Name of Krishna fromthe lips of a genuine Spiritual Master,she realises her true self to be aneternal servant and property of theonly Proprietor of all entities, God.The soul has no other function but torender reverential or loving service tothe Divine Autocrat. The soul is atpresent under the influence of themind and body owing to itsforgetfulness of its true normal nature,and the mind is now a dominatingfactor, which is the greatest foe of itsmaster, the soul. Senses are superiorto the body, mind is superior to thesenses, intelligence is superior tomind, and the soul is by far superiorto all of them. Once the normal andeternal function of the fettered soul isawakened, the mind and body becomehelpful

gaudiya math chennai / the gaudiya september 2009 special

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