Gaudiya Math Chennai / The Gaudiya April 2012

THE GAUDIYA 1 APRIL 2012
THE
GAUDIYA
Spiritual Monthly
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Vol. LV APRIL 2012 No. 8
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Glory, glory, ever glory to Sri Chaitanyachandra Who
is the most auspicious Object of all-auspicious of the
earth and having unalloyed devotion at Whose Feet one
is endowed with the esoteric super-excellent Prema
which is the object of highest pursuit (summum bonum)
in human life.
Srila Prabodhnanda Saraswati
V y a s a ,
when he had an
a d o r a t i v e
t emperament
and sat for
Samadhi with
his devotional
apti-tude, witnessed with his spiritual
eye, the full transcendental Form of the
Absolute incorporating the negative
energy of Nescience which has the
power to cover the senses of individual
spirits who have been apathetic to their
Master and indulged in their enjoying
mood, posing as lords with predilections
for embracing the triple mundane energy.
Though the border-land potency is more
powerful than the triple qualities of
transformable nature and prefers to wait
to serve at their command, still its
predilecting nature can at any moment
throw off the clutches of, and the affinity
for, the phenomena, if she comes to
know the desirability of her turning
towards her Master, the Eternal Fountain-
head, the transcendental Bhagavan
Krishna, which will give the permanent
release from her exploitive march of
courting the most undesirable position of
an enjoyer here. This fact of devotional
instruction had not been imparted before
to the undeserving humanity, but the kind-
hearted writer of the aphorisms in his
genui ne commentary Sri mad
Bhagavatam exposed the truth for the
benefit of deserving souls. He was like
a ki nd-hearted shepherd of the
congregation of individual souls who
were sheeps under his protection. He
managed to hand over the cattle to the
transcendental Cowherd to learn the
nature of worship and desirability of
flocking to Him. None was so kind to
mankind as He, to disclose the fact that
the object of service to any other phase
of Krishna would not be so profitable as
to aim at the object of unalloyed devotion
to Krishna Who will, by and by, help them
to cut off their connection and the
unusual affinity with the perishable
objects. The unalloyed soul will be
rescued from all apprehension arising
out of the apatheitc mood lying latent in
the individual soul. The devotional
engagement will enable us to compre-
hend the real position of self and no
tempting nature would be able to win
over the heart of the individual soul,
dissuading him from his spontaneous
transcendental loving service. The
individual soul will be set free by his
devotional practices to endure the
affliction of separation of tempting things
and will prefer to appreciate the only
desirable object and to court His sweet
pleasure, His sweet beatitude.
Common Basic Agreement: All
the interpretations of the Aphorisms
would show that the Fountainhead is
One without a Second. He is Positive
Knowledge and is not to be captivated
by mundane speculative method. He is
both Transcendent and Immanent. All
the commentators conjoin in subscribing
that the Immaterial Plane is an essential
need of the unalloyed Spiritual Entity.
Every vi ew has corroboated the
emancipatiing policy of Vedanta; so they
do not differ in the matter of its
renunciating principle. But the principle
of dissociation of temporal thought and
observation is dealt with in different
ways.
True Reconci l i ati on by the
Supreme Lord Himself: The Supreme
Lord Sri Kri shna Chai tanya has
furnished a true reconciliative principle
by which the cardinal points of difference
i n readi ng the Aphori sms are
harmonised.
Pithy Precepts of Srila Prabhupd
Thus Spake Srila chryadeva
Sri Iswar Puri, a disciple of Sri
Madhavendra Puri paid a long visit to
Navadwip. This Vaishnava Sanyasi
Iswara Puri , wi th hi s extreme
asceticism, intellectual gifts and ecstatic
devotion to God made an abiding
impression on the heart of Sri Nimai with
whom Sri Ni mai hel d rel i gi ous
discourse. This companion-ship gave
a decisive impetus to His devotional
sensibilities.
It was at the age of sixteen or
seventeen He went to Gaya with a host
of students to perform the obsequies of
His father. He conducted the ceremony
at the Brahmakunda and at
Chakraveda. The Foot-print of Vishnu
was and is still worshipped at the latter
place by innumerable priests. Their
recitation of the hymns in praise of the
Divine Feet of Vishnu made a profound
impression on Sri Nimai Pandit. That
very moment He chanced to meet
Iswara Puri to whom He said, My
pilgrimage to Gaya had borne fruit, the
moment I had the glimpse of your feet.
By offering cakes of rice at the Tirthas
the departed souls are saved. He alone
is saved to whom the cake is offered.
Whereas the moment I beheld you,
crores of My ancestors are instantly
freed from all bounds. Therefore, the
Tirthas are never equal to you, you are
higher than the Tirthas, and the fountain
source of all blessings. May you be
pleased to deliver Me from the ocean of
the world. I surrender My Body and Soul
to you now and here. Make Me drink
the mellow liquid of the ambrosia of the
Lotus Feet of Krishna. This is the gift, I
desire. But Puri said, O Pandit! the
very sight of Your handsome Personality
and immaculate character makes me
believe that You are God-head Himself.
To tell You is the Truth, the ecstatic Bliss
I deri ve from
your Darshana
is the same as I
feel i n the
Darshan of Sri
K r i s h n a .
B e i n g
persuaded by
Sri Nimai Pandit, Iswara Puri initiated
Him into the religion of the love of God.
Nimai Pandit stayed a few days at Gaya
during which His pure loving devotion
grew stronger and stronger which made
Him restless and extremely impatient for
a glimpse of Krishna. He could not
resist the absorbing influence of the
Nama Mantra which made Him smile,
weep, dance and sing and lost His
ordinary self-control. He asked his Guru,
By what mantra, my master, hast thou
initiated Me and what is this influence
that in the process of recital, has robbed
Me of My wits, causing Me to laugh,
dance and weep?
From Gaya Nimai returned to
Navadwip a new man. He entered into
deep silence. He was absorbed in the
Kirtana. How loudly He shouts: Hari bol,
Hari bol! Then, as the mood grew on
Him, He stood up with uplifted arms, with
eyes turned upwards. He danced while
the people gazed and gazed at His
illumined face. And again and again, He
wept and cried, Krishna! Krishna! Do
not hide Thy Face Divine from Me!
Nimais mother went through a period
of agony. She recalled the fact that
Vishwarupa, her elder son had left her
suddenly and become a Sanyasi. Is
my son Nimai became insane?
His religious nature was so strong
that the people of Nadia were astonished
at this change in Him. He was then no
more a contendi ng Nai yayi ka, a
wrangling Smarta and a criticising
ALMANAC for the months of APRIL & MAY 2012
16.04.2012 Mon Disappearance of Srila Brindvan Ds Thkur
17.04.2012 Tue Varuthini Ekdashi Fasting. Next day Prana
between 5.17 and 7.41 a.m.
21.04.2012 Sat Appearance of Srila Gaddhar Pandit Goswmi
24.04.2012 Tue Akshaya Tritiya, Chandana Ytra - Annointing
Sandal wood paste on the Divine Body of the Lord
for 21 days
26.04.2012 Thu Appearance of Srimat Shankarchrya. Demise of
Srimad Bhakti Vils Gabhastinemi Maharj
28.04.2012 Sat Jahnu Saptami. Demise of Srimad Bhakti Vijaya
Sgara Maharj
30.04.2012 Mon Advent of Sri Jhnav Devi, the Consort of Lord
Sri Nitynanda Prabhu and Sri Sit Devi, the
Consort of Lord Sri Rmachandra. Disappearance
of Srila Madhu Pandit
02.05.2012 Wed Mohini Ekdashi Fasting. Next day Prana
between 5.06 and 9.24 a.m.
05.05.2012 Sat Sri Nrisimha Chaturdashi Fasting. Next day
Prana between 5.04 and 9.24 a.m. Appearance
of Srila Mdhavendra Puri and Srinivsa chrya.
Disappearance of Srila Parameswarids Thkur
06.05.2012 Sun Buddha Purnima
08.05.2012 Tue Appearance of Srimad Nimnanda Prabhu
10.05.2012 Thu Disappearance of Srila Rmnanda Rya
14.05.2012 Mon Concluding of pouring water to Sri Slagrm and
Tulasi -- Keshava Vrata
rhetorician. His pure loving devotion
grew stronger which made Him restless
and extremely impatient for a glimpse of
Krishna. His first action on His return from
Gaya was to substitute spiritual teaching
for scholasticism and He tried to change
the angle of vision of His pupils and
roused them to a clear perception of the
value of that kind of learning which brings
mankind in personal contact with God.
Krishna is My all, He said. He fell
into fits, had trances and visions, and
went into mystic communion with
Krishna. Adwaita Acharya heard of His
trances and came to examine for
Himself the ecstatic fits of Nimai.
Adwaita Acharya was conquered by
Nimai and became an adhrent.
The Bhagavat: Its Philosophy,
Its Ethics and Its Theology
Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur
(Contd. from March issue)
The whole of this incomparable
work teaches us, according to our Great
Chaitanya, the three great truths which
compose the aboslute religion of man.
Our Nadia Reformer calls from them
Sambandha (), Abhidheya
(Euz) and Prayojana (z \) i.e.
the relation between the Creator and the
created, the duty of man to God and the
prospects of humanity. In these three
words is summed up the whole ocean
of human knowledge as far as it has
been explored up to this era of human
progress. These are the cardinal points
of religion and the whole Bhagavat is,
as we are taught by Chaitanya, an
explanation both by precepts and
example, of these three great points.
In all its twelve Skandhas or
divisions, the Bhagavat teaches us that
there is only one God without a second,
Who was full in Himself and is and will
remain the same. Time and space,
which prescribe conditions to created
objects are much below His Supreme
Spiritual nature, which is unconditioned
and absolute. Created objects are
subject to the influence of time and
space, which form the chief ingredients
of that principle in creation which
passes by the name of Maya. Maya is
a thing which is not easily understood
by us who are subject to it, but God
expl ai ns, as much as we can
understand in our present constitution,
this principle through our spiritual
perception. The hasty critic starts like
an unbroken horse at the name of Maya
and denounces it as a theory identical
with that of Bishop Berkley. Be patient
in your enquiry is our immediate reply.
In the mind of
God there were
ideas of all that
we perceive in
e t e r n a l
existence with him, or else God loses
the epithet of omniscient so learnedly
applied to Him. The imperfect part of
nature implying want proceeded also
from certain of those ideas, and what,
but a principle of Maya, eternally existing
in God subject to His Omnipotence,
could have a hand in the creation of the
world as it is? This is styled as the Maya
Shakti of the Omnipresent God. Cavil
as much as you can. This is a truth in
relation to the created universe. This
Maya intervenes between us and God
as long as we are not spiritual, and when
we are able to break off her bonds, we,
even in this mortal frame, learn to
commune in our spiritual nature with the
conditioned and the absolute. No, Maya
does not mean a false thing only, but it
means concealment of eternal truth as
well. The creation is not Maya itself but
is subject to that principle. Certainly, the
theory is idealistic but it has been
degraded into foolishness by wrong
explanations. The materialist laughs at
the ideal theory saying, how could his
body, water, air and earth be mere ideas
without entity, and he laughs rightly when
he takes Shankaracharyas book in his
hand as the butt end of his ridicule. (The
Padma Purana thus puts the following
expression into the mouth of Shiva, and
Chaitanya puts great stress on this text
in his denouncement of Shankaras
Maya-vada: <tXZ XZ { z
Y @ { Nuso tzu N{ mum @@>
(Maya philosophy is Buddhism in
disguise and I (God of Tamoguna) have
given expression to it in the shape of a
Brahmin meaning Shankaracharya.)
The true idealist must be a dualist also.
He must believe all that he perceives as
nature created by God full of spiritual
essence and relations, but he must not
believe that the outward appearance is
the truth. The Bhagavat teaches that all
that we healthily perceive is true, but its
material appearance is transient and
illusory. The scandal of the ideal theory
consists in its tendency to falsify nature,
but the theory as explained in the
Bhagavat makes nature true, if not
eternally true as God and His ideas.
What harm there can be if man believes
in nature as spiritually true and that the
physical relations and phases of society
are purely spiritual?
No, it is not merely changing a name
but it is a change in nature also. Nature
is eternally spiritual but the intervention
of Maya makes her gross and material.
Man, in his progress attempts to shake
off this gross idea, childish and foolish
in its nature and by subduing the
intervening principle of Maya, lives in
continual union with God in his spiritual
nature. The shaking off this bond is
salvation of the human nature. The man
who has got salvation will freely tell his
brother that if you want to see God, see
me, and if you want to be one with God,
you must follow me. The Bhagavat
teaches us this relation between man
and God, and we must all attain this
knowledge. This sublime truth is the
point where the materialist and the
idealist must meet like brothers of the
same school and this is the point to which
all philosophy tends.
This is called Sambandha Jnana
( r) of the Bhagavat, or in other
words, the knowledge of relation
between the conditioned and the
absolute. We must now attempt to
explain the second great principle
inculcated by the Bhagavat i.e. the
principle of duty. Man must spiritually
worship his God. There are three ways,
in which the Creator is worshipped by
the created.
+i-- -ai+--- ai+ i
mi- i-i- 4ii+i- - ii
All theologists agree in maintaining
that there is only one God without a
second, but they disagree in giving a
name to that God owing to the different
modes of worship, which they adopt
according to the constitution of their
mind. Some call Him by the name of
Brahman, some by the name of
Paramatma and others by the name of
Bhagavan. Those who worship God as
infinitely great in the principle of
admiration, call him by the name of
Brahman. This mode is called Jnana or
knowledge. Those who worship God as
the Universal Soul in the principle of
spiritual union with Him, give Him the
name of Paramatma. This is Yoga.
Those who worship God as all in all with
all their heart, body and strength, styles
Him as Bhagavan. This last principle is
Bhakti. The book that prescribes the
relation and worship of Bhagavan,
procures for itself the name of Bhagavat
and the worshipper is also called by the
same name. (The explanation is
gathered from what Chaitanya said to
Sanatana vi de Madhyakanda,
Chaitanya Charitamrita.)
Such i s Bhagavat whi ch i s
decidedly the Book for all classes of
theists.
(to be contd......)
O Lor d! Those who i n t hei r
hel pl ess st at e, at t he t i me of t hei r
deat h, ut t er Your Names describing t he
At t ri but es, Account s, et c. , of Your
Descent s, dest roying t he accumul at ed
sins of many birt hs at once, reach You
Who ar e t he naked ( uncover ed)
l uminous et ernal Trut h. I t ake absol ut e
shel t er in You.
Those who enjoy the ownership of
huge palatial buildings shall be born as
dogs to guard the same palaces. The
life of the mortals is so much transitory
and insignificant when compared to the
cosmic time. So also it is beset with
multiple dangers, absence of happiness,
constant unrest, endless dearth,
uncertainty, failure etc. Every human
endeavour in this mortal world for
achieving happiness invariably turns out
to be productive of added misery and
suffering. That is why the worthless
issues of godless secularism, godless
democracy, atheistic society, godless
education, greedy politics etc., are just
like the devilish death blows upon the
society that drift the entire nation to the
middle of the endless ocean of mundane
sufferings. Atheism and fanaticism are
the two catastrophic extremes that
destroy the well being of the society.
Athei sti c rul ers, fanati c l eaders,
corrupted politicians, greedy vote
banks, opportunistic traders, lazy
servants, unholy bureaucrats, ignorant
teachers, unjust law-makers etc., are the
people who enhance the distress of the
masses, due to their evil designs. A
strange phenomenon of this worldly
situation is that, every culprit and criminal
of this world presumes that, he is doing
the right thing, and he alone is striving to
achieve the true welfare of the masses.
ADAPT REAL RIGHTEOUSNESS
Every antinational, every antisocial,
every unethical person and all the
corrupted politicians strongly argue to
justify their own misdeeds as lawful and
virtuous. Most of the human beings of
this iron age are spiritually blind, mentally
BEWARE OF HUMAN BEINGS
POSSESSED BY THE GHOST OF NESCIENCE
Sripad B.S. Narayan Maharaj
corrupted, ethically bankrupt, socially
misfit, politically opportunistic, as such
generally a burden to mother earth. In
spite of all these negative trends, every
fool of this world aspires to be known as
most magnanimous; every deceiver likes
to be known as kind and merciful;
ignorant fools like to be known as wise;
every traitor wants to be known as
patriotic and every heartless person likes
to be known as most merciful one. We
are living in such an enigmatic world.
When a person honestly accepts his own
defects and repents for that, then alone
his upliftment will begin. Let the
hypocritic rulers accept their own
hypocrisy; let the cunning and cruel
peopl e feel sorry for thei r own
misbehaviours; let the foolish and
ignorant people accept their own defects
and si ncerel y stri ve to gai n true
knowledge; let the self-styled leaders
stop pretending as all-knowers and
sincerely aspire for the guidance from
holy souls; let the corrupted politicians
spend their grabbed wealth for the
benefit of the righteous citizens, let every
citizen of the nation accept all others as
his own brothers and sisters; let rich
people forget their own selfishness and
spend their wealth for the spiritual and
humanitarian benefits of the society; let
every student concentrate upon his
studies with dedication and friendly
attitude; let every householder provide
support and assistance to the other three
stages of the society; let every class of
the society perform their own legitimate
duties by discarding selfishness and
greed; let the society take due care of
each and everyone; let everyone live for
the upliftment of all other citizens; let the
ruling class stop their descriminative
mentality and adopt equitable dealing
with all the citizens; let the nations wealth
be spent for the sake of the people
without any bias and favouritism.
PASSION AND NESCIENCE
Although all the human beings
physically appear to be similar to
eachother, the mere appearance is not
enough to constitute a true human being.
Without the development of the virtuous
human nature, one can be called only a
two legged animal. Regular reformation
and continuous upgradation is needed
for the manifestation of ideal human
character. There was a Greek
philosopher (during 360 BC) known as
Diogenes of Sinope, who used to search
for true human beings in open markets
during daytime, holding a burning lantern
in his hands, to show the rarity of real
human being in the society. The sixteen
kinds of sacramental reformations
(Shodasha Samskaras), as per the
Vedic injunctions are essential to
formulate the finest of the human
character. These purificatory rites begin
with the inception of the human life in the
womb of the mother. This is quite similar
to the purification of the seeds, even
before you start the process of
agricultural cultivation. Even a small
defect in the seeds shall destroy the
entire result of the year-long cultivation.
The human life that disregards this
sacramental aspect happen to be no
better than weeds among the plants and
beasts among animals. Now you can
understand as to why our poor globe is
crowded and infested with all kinds of
bestial and weedish population that has
i ntruded i nto al l fi el ds of human
existence, to destroy the peace of the
world. First of all, noble thoughts can
never crop us in the minds of unreformed
and misguided people. Even if some
kind of good mood appears in their
minds, their negative life style and
worthless environment shall never allow
them to put it into practice. Regarding
these evils Sri Arjuna questions Lord
Krishna that, when a criminal person
conducts sinful acts, although he may
sometimes feel reluctant to perform
them by the prompting of his inner heart,
yet he does such crimes, as if forcibly
compelled by some brutal force, why it
is so? Lord Krishna says in reply that,
the malicious lust and anger born out of
the nature of passion is the greatest
enemy of he humanity, as it constantly
provokes the fallen people to commit
barberic crimes, without being satiated
in anyway. Those who are desirous of
wellbeing should never fall a prey to this
devilish passion. People of brutal nature
are observed to be always encircled with
various components of violence.
Association with violent customs, violent
culture, violent thoughts, violent food,
violent instigation, violent brain-wash,
violent facilities and violent assistance
etc, tend to mould people as violent
beasts, who can inflict unprecedented
violence upon one and all. When these
perpetrators of violence get political
patronage and monetary assistance,
one can imagine their drastic impact
upon the society of gentle citizens. This
is the tragic situation prevailing in the
world at present.
HUMAN BEINGS GENUINE
AND FAKE
When an individual jiva-soul attains
spiritual enlightenment by transcending
the peril of nescience, its eight fold
characteristic traits become manifested.
(to be contd......)
Vaishnavas never derive any
inference or conclusion from the
transitory, manifested world.
The Vaishnavas far from accepting
anthropomorphism and apotheosis
never derive any inference or conclusion
of the Absolute from the transitory,
manifested world. The Absolute is the
method as well as the goal of the
activities of the Vaishnavas. This very
starting point of the eternal religion
should fully disprove the charge.
It is neessary to try to clear up
certain misconceptions that are almost
universally entertained regarding the
nature of the Absolute. For example, it
is argued that the Absolute is incapable
of any definition, that the Absolute can
be approached and realised only by
faith in which reason has no part, that
the cult of the Absolute is identical with
dogmati sm whi ch admi ts of no
challenge or rationalistic explanation,
etc. etc. There are also schools of
thought who sneer at the very idea of the
Absolute as the product of an abnormal
mentality. This is the attitude of all those
who believe in the doctrine of material
progress and the real value of admitted
ignorance and so-called duties inspired
by such ignorance. By these persons
the Absolutists are regarded as idle
dreamers and an obstacle in the way of
all positively useful activities. Faith in
the absol ute i s supposed to be
responsible for all the superstitions,
fanaticisms, idlenesses and corruptions
of the world.
It is, indeed, too true that vicious
conduct often avoids detection and
secures facilities for its insidious
activities by passing itself off as service
That the Vaishnavas accept
Anthropomorphism and Apotheosis
Prabhupad Sri Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
of the Absolute. The positivists who thus
insist on a life of worldly usefulness may
plead the necessity of guarding against
the claims of charlatans that can neither
be proved nor disproved by the ordinary
resources of the human intelect. They
argue that even if the Absolute at all
exists He can have no direct relationship
with man. Man should not be allowed to
neglect sufficiently intelligible duties and
obligations under the pretext of a
deference to the unprovable unknown.
But the rankest materi al i sti c
positivist need not resolve to avoid all
discussion of the nature of the Absolute
Whose existence he cannot also by any
means, disprove. The Vaishnavas have
a good deal to say by way to explanation
regarding their faith in the Absolute
without asking peole to take them at their
word or accept any thing of this subject
without being convinced of its Absolute
Truth.
They always follow the
Absolute Truth
and give a patient hearing of things
of fourth to infinite dimensions.
It is, therefore, necessary to explain
at the outset what the Vaishnavas really
mean by the Absolute.
The Vaishnavas assert that it is our
duty to try to know and follow the Absolute
Truth. It is in the first place possible for
us to know the Absolute. This knowledge
all of us may not possess at present. It
may be that very few of us possess any
knowledge of the conditions of existence
outside three dimensions to which we
have been born. It may also seem that
we are doomed to this existence on the
plane of three dimensions by the very
constitutions of our faculties and organs
of sense, which may also seem to
preclude all possibility of attaining to the
knowledge of things from the fourth to
infinite dimensions, all of which are
necessarily accommodated within the
Absolute.
But the Vaishnavas say that it is
possible for us to know the Absolute if
we approach Him in the right way. They
themselves always give a patient hearing
about things from the fourth to infinite
dimensions. This is the only method of
following the Absolute Truth at the
beginning. The Absolute explains
Himself to our souls who are part and
parcel of the Absolute when we, that is
our souls, are willing to follow i.e., give a
patient hearing to the voice of the
Absolute, Who is always speaking to us
from within and without.
The source of all the information of
the Vaishnavas regarding the Absolute
is the Absolute Himself appearing in the
form of the transcendental self-revealing
sound, speaking to the heart, on the lips
of the devotee. The Absolute can,
therefore, be defined for our purposes as
the transcendental Sound Who explains
Himself. This makes such Sound
altogether different from other sounds
and cuts at the root of the asperison that
the transcendental i sts are
anthropomorphic, because as a matter
of fact they base all their conclusions on
the positive, active Absolute Who has the
undoubted power of making Himself
known to an individual willing to know Him
as the only Master to be served by means
of all his faculties for the purpose of
sincerely rendering such service.
The contention that the Absolute
need not exercise His choice in assuming
the form of the transcendental sound to
the exclusion of other forms in making His
appearance in this world, is also unsound
in as much as it overlooks the available
capacity of our own present equipments.
If the Absolute chooses to appear to the
sense of hearing He thereby follows only
the ordinary method by which we are
accustomed to recei ve al l
communication regarding objects that
are not directly exposed to our senses.
This cannot be a ground for denying His
Appearance in this form on the ground
of its being an extraordinary or unusual
mode. Moreover He being the Absolute
has the option of reserving the right of
appearing in any form He likes. If He
does not avail of His power of appearing
in a form that would be wholly dissimilar
from the one i n whi ch we are
accustomed to recei ve every
communication regarding all objects
separated from our senses by space and
time, should such dispensation be
objected to on the ground that it is not
sufficiently abnormal to be Absolute?
The choice for us need not lie
between the opposites of atheism and
are credulity, the phenomenal and the
abnormal. The Truth is none of these.
The phenomenal is not outside the Truth.
It is also an aspect of the Truth, not the
substantive nor the true aspect but even
in its distortion and unsubstantiality
possessi ng a respecti ve
correspondence to the True. It is
emphasised by the Vaishnavas that this
world is the reflected, perverted image
of the Absolute realm; and that it is our
business to conduct ourselves towards
the phenomenal world in such a way that
we may not confound the shadow with
the substantive Absolute. But at the
same time if we are to have any access
to the Absolute at all, the conditions of
this world should be able to represent
Him to us in figures of this world which
alone are open to our limited vision.
(to be contd.......)
It reminds one of the old story of an
aged Brahmin who desired to lead a life
of ease at the fag end of his career, after
handing over his all to his son. He
became infirm and invalid, so much so
that like a child he meant to while away
his time by living upon the most palatable
dishes. For this reason, his daughter-
in-law naturally felt much disgusted and
made her husband also apathetic to him.
She rings into her husband in this strain
: Oh, what ill-luck it is that I have been
wedded to one under whose roof I
cannot fully feed my children although I
toil night and day. Questioned by the
husband the reason thereof, says she:
Dont you know why? You seem not to
know anything! You have kept your old
father in the house. I have to labour hard
to supply his endless demands; besides
that, whenever any dainties are offered
to the children, the old mans mouth
waters and he hankers after them
although they are far too insufficient for
the boys to spare. I am to suffer all these
troubles. I will leave your home and go
away to my fathers house.
Out-bursts of feelings and effusions
of utterances like these had a baneful
effect upon the mind of the husband who,
being thus initiated with the preachings
of this preceptor of a wife, with a mind
to remove all obstacles from the way of
his servitude to her, constructed a hut
for his fathers residence by the side of
the way leading out of his house. At this
the mother-in-law grew wiser enough to
pass her days in ministering to the
comforts of her grand-children thereby
inviting no grudge and incurring no
displeasure from the daughter-in-law.
In this way, by constant adulation of the
latter, the mother-in-law lost all regard
for her husband. Nobody now cared for
the old man save and except that, if not
altogether, forgotten, he is offered
handfuls of boiled rice after all the
members have finished their meal.
As the old mans son was one day
going out to his place of business, the
father cri ed out, Oh dear
Phanibhushan, I have had no meal and
no-body takes care of me.
Phanibhushan foamed with indignation
and said, How inauspicious! You have
called me from behind! As I am to attend
my business I have finished my meal;
and as to the boys, they, too, have done
so along with me! But why are you so
impatient when you are stopping at
home? The father replied, Oh darling!
I have been fasting since last night.
While going away the son muttered from
a distance, Very well, I shall see to that
and hear you after my return. Tell me at
my convenience.
Sometime after when the maid-
servant was passing alongside the hut,
the old man called and addressed her,
Oh maid, please tell the housewife to
give me some food as I have been
without any since last night. He, who is
looked upon with indifference by the
head of the family, is not cared for by the
servants thereof. Those who are familiar
with the story of Shakespeares King
Lear will bear ample testimony to the
truth of the remark. In the case of a son,
it is, indeed, a horrible picture of
ingratitude. So the maid-servant replied,
Oh ill-luck! leaving aside my work am I
to look after you? That an old man is
often found in his dotage is true. You
say you had no meal yesterday? Then
how had I to cleanse your dishes last
afternoon? Muttering thus the maid-
servant took to her heels.
After meal the old man had to wash
Ways of the World
Sri Kishori Mohan Pal
his dishes himself in the ditch by the side
of his hut. Erelong when the housewife
(the old mans wife) came out-doors on
some business, the old man catching
sight of her, cautiously said, Oh
mistress! You did not give me any meal
last night. I feel the pangs of hunger now.
What can I do? To err is human! You
will have your meal in time. Ah! I am tired
of carrying your dishes here, was the
rejoinder of the wife. The old man: What
can I do, mistess? The daughter-in-law
i s rel uctant to al l ow me i ndoors,
otherwise I would have gone into the
house. No, no, why should you take that
much trouble? My service is at your
disposal. You will get your meal ready-
made and there will be no trouble. You
will have it in time. With these words
the wife retired.
As the day advanced the old man
became restless with hunger till by
reason of the acute pain his heart was
about to break. Then with a heart full of
sorrow and with earnest entreatise he
heaved a deep sigh crying, Oh!
Madhusudan (God). The old man might
have had a well-spent past; hence, it is
said Madhusudan (God) in the guise of
an old Brahmin with a stick in His hand
appeared before him and shouted, Oh
brother Yadu! (such was his name) are
you here? After a long time I have come
to see you. Brother Yadu, suppressing
his cries a little, came out and not
recognising the guest, looked vacantly
towards him and said, Welcome
brother! here I am. The newly arrived
Brahmin said, Well, I see you have lost
your vision. Will you be able to recognise
me if reminded? I think your memory has
not failed. I am your old friend,
Madhusudan. Quite so, brother! I have
lost my head, said the host. The guest
then said, Well, why do you weep? Are
you fasting today? What is the matter
with you? The host opened his heart
and narrated everything to the guest.
Then God in disguise, handing over a
few mohurs to his old friend, said, Look
here, brother! dont spend any of these.
I will take them back when I want them
again. But I ask you to count them loudly
when-ever you find any of your inmates
coming out or going into the house and
then to conceal them to yourself. In so
doing, you will find an end of your
miseries. Being very busy, I retire now.
When I come back home you will find
me every now and then. With these
words the Lord disappeared.
Now, the time for the test is come.
Finding the maid-servant coming
towards him the old man began to count,
one, two, three, etc. On hearing the
sound the maid took the hint and all on
a sudden fell down at his feet and said;
Baba Thakur, I bow to thee. What ill
luck it is that with all the pressure of work
on my back I dont find time to give even
a salute to you daily! Just give me the
dust of your feet or I shall go to hell. A
little later the house-wife came, heard
the sound of counting one, two, three
etc. and muttered, O, I see the Karta
(head of family) has got money not silver
but gold. I committed a great mistake
in disregarding him. Without a single
word she ran into the house and
returning with an oil pot in her hand said,
Oh Karta, how is it that death has
forgotten me! Wholly engrossed in
family affairs I have completely over-
looked your service and ministering to
your comforts. No, I shall not do that. I
have a future before me. What shall I
gain (in future) by serving the whole
family? I say, Oh Karta, come, let me
rub the oil over your person. I find your
hairs have grown gray for want of oil.
With these words the faithful wife began
to serve her husband. Then after bath a
dishful of rice and curry arrived before
the Brahmin who laughed in his sleeve
and said within himself, O, brother
Madhusudan, I appl aud your

intelligence. Then came the turn of the
daughter-in-law who on catching the
sound of counting said, O maid, I see
you are very obstinate. My father-in-law
does not like any disturbance. Hence
he lives separate. But why dont you look
after him? I am undone. I see huge
sweepings at his door. I am tired of
repeatedly telling you all this. With these
words she brought a broomstick herself,
cleared the sweepings, ordered the
maid to clean the room and in the
afternoon sent her boy with a dishful of
fruits and sweets for the lunch of the
father-in-law.
The grand-father of the boy felt much
pleasure to think of the ways of his friend
Madhu, while doing full justice to the dish
served to him. In the evening the house-
wife took care to light the room and then
feed the Brahmin sumptuously. The next
morning when Phanibhushan was going
out, the old man played the trick and
began to count, one, two, three, four
etc. O! I see, father has reserved
something to himself! They are gold-
likeay, they are so many mohars! Papa,
have you got your meal? No, darling,
how can I have my meal now? How is
that? Your are old enough and you
require early meal. Very sad indeed! I
must tell mother. Because I cannot stay
at home and look after you, you are
neglected! No, no, I must not bear this.
More things there are in the story.
Now if we pause here and think over the
matter, what do we find? We find that
money is the root of all intimacy of this
world. Bereft of money even the mother
disregards her son.
In this world we consider this our
gross body to be our self and in relation
to that we say my house, my wife, my
son etc., and the result is that one meets
with the same fate as what has been
narrated above. When one is in distress,
nobody likes to call him his own because
he will not be of any service to his
physical body and hence people
become angry with him. This world is
governed by money, and mammon
worshi p i s the order of the day.
Foolishness can go no further than when
we pass our days in counting upon any
one as our own by the relationship of
money. The Srimad Bhagavatam has
thus admonished us:
-i-ia +m ii-+
-| +=ii+ i ;| i
a|ia eiaa + +ii-
si+ia e 4io ii
He who counts upon this gross
body as his self, those of his wife and
children as his relations, earthen
materials as signifying godhead Himself,
water as the object of pilgrimage, but
does not count Gods devotee as his
relations, as objects of worship or
pilgrimage, is considered to be an ass
among the bulls i.e. the most foolish
creature.
We always forget that this body is
not eternal and that our connection with
things related to it will terminate in time.
Hence if, instead of being in quest of
things eternal, we search after those that
are transitory, no-body will approve of our
intelligence. We boast of our intelligence
and entertain doubts as to the existence
of Godhead. But where will it stand
when any malady brings about a disorder
of the brain? God is eternal and the jivas
are His eternal servants. Bhakti
(devotion) or service to God is the eternal
religion of the jivas. If out of our pride of
intelligence we deviate and fall away
from this eternal religion, nobody will
praise our judgement. <<y: o m oz o
u:z >> i.e. without wasting a moment
intelligent people should at once strive
after absolute good i.e. complete
devotion to God but should not waste
their time in the worship of transient
duties competent to satisfy the transitory
mundane desires of men. Those who
are really acquainted with the Divine
Truth cannot be henotheists because the
worship of many gods is meant for the
good of this earthly body or for things
mundane which is not the Absolute Truth.
Those forms of worship are but Karma
(activity for worldly ends) and are
instrumental in bringing about our worldly
bondage from birth to birth. Karma
whether good or bad cannot lead us to
the Absolute Truth.
Our former Acharya Srila Kaviraj
Goswami Thakur has said in his eminent
book Sri Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita that
(+mi= i+ - i+) all the good
and bad karmas are but bars to the
attainment of devotion to Krishna. One
feels astonished to hear this statement.
Indeed, it is a new thing to be told that
these so-called religious activities are
Y
after all a bar to bhakti. All the worldly
people belong to the category of the
Karmins (in favour of fruitive actions)
because they are born and bred up in
that atmosphere and hence the
teachings thereof have been ingrained
in the marrow of their bones. Therefore,
they feel astonished when they hear
anything to the contrary.
Although there may be pretnsions
of bhakti in the society of the karmins,
pure devotion is unknown to them and
hence the knowledge of Absolute Truth
is quite new to them. It may appear
something new at the outset but one
desirous of unmixed good should try to
learn the Divine Truth gradually and thus
make himself immune from the thought
currents of the karmins.
Sri Rupa Siksha
Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
But in the ignorant state also the
dormant soul is not wholly irresponsible
for the continuation of his ignorance. The
dormant soul can also accept or reject
the grace of Sri Guru and Krishna that
appears to him in the unconscious
state. The sub-conscious acceptance
of Divine Grace in the dormant state is
the only pre-requisite for the attainment
of spiritual enlightenment. This is the
meaning of the declaration of the
Scriptures that any form of friendly
association with the devotees of Krishna
is the cause as well as the effect of
spiritual awakening. Or, it may also be
stated thus, sub-conscious association
with Sadhus alone can lead us to realise
the nature and necessity of conscious
association with them, which is identical
with the service of Sri Krishna, the eternal
spiritual function of all individual souls.
The seed of the creeper of spiritual
function is obtained by the fortunate
dormant soul as the result of sub-
conscious friendly association with
serving souls, by the Grace of Krishna
and Sri Guru. This is the beginning of
conscious service.
The principle of devotion is a
transcendental form of activity inherent
in the soul in the state of Grace. This
principle grows by exercise. By its
means the soul is quickly relieved of all
mundane activity. This is the crossing
of the neutral stream. The soul now finds
herself on the further shore of the stream
that separates the spiritual realm from
the mundane. She feels a new joy by
being relieved of the burden of the world.
The light from the spiritual world has
come to her. But she cannot yet actually
percei ve ei ther the obj ects or
relationships of the new world. She feels
relieved of all necessity for mundane
activities but finds no other form of
activity to take their place. This is the
sphere of the undifferentiated Brahman
or the realistion of God-head as the
Great Unknown.
But the soul finds no function to
perform in the sphere of the Brahman.
She cannot, therefore, stay there for long
unless she has a principle on which she
can take her stand. This principle is
nothing else than the merciful guidance
of Sri Guru from whom she has received
the new enlightenment. If the Guru can
supply the soul with the spiritual function
for which she does not yet possess the
active aptitude she is not only enabled
to maintain herself in this apparently
baseless position but to go forward
towards the concrete realm of the
Absolute viz., Vaikuntha.
The Sphere of the Brahman has
been described in glowing terms in the
Scriptures. Self-realised souls on
gaining the fringe of the transcendental
realm have failed to find suitable
language to express the joy of their new
experience. There is no exaggeration
in the praises of the Scriptures that refer
to the sphere of the Brahman, regarded
from the mundane point of view. But the
texts in regard to the Brahman have been
misunderstood and misapplied by
persons who have no experience of the
nature of the light issuing from the
spi ri tual real m that greets and
intoxicates the traveller to the realm of
the Absolute with an inexpressible
anticipatory joy for the Unknown. The
sphere of the Brahman has accordingly
been misrepresented as the goal,
instead of being the beginning, of the
spiritual journey, and the experience of
the soul on attainment of the realm of light
as merging with the undefinable God-
head. The sphere of the Brahman has
accordingly been represented in the
system of the Universe by means of a
void separating the mundane worlds
surrounded by the moat of the neutral
stream of Viraja from the Absolute Realm
proper or Vaikuntha.
The creeper of devotional function
has to grow under the fostering care of
the spiritual guide in order to be enabled
to attain to the concrete realm of
Vaikuntha, the kingdom of Sri Narayan,
Who reigns there in all His Glory and
Majesty. The soul now finds definite
occupation that connects her with the
Supreme Lord and His happy, loyal
servants who are not only free from all
the i mperfecti ons of a cramped
existence but have an unlimited scope
of concrete spiritual activity directed to
the service of the Supreme Lord.
Vaikuntha is represented by a
hemisphere situated on the further side
of the void of the sphere of the Brahman.
The hemisphere is divided into an infinity
of spheres where an infinity of the
manifestations of the benign Majesty of
the Supreme Lord are served by a
corresponding variety of approriate
moods, by servants possessing suitable
dispositions.
But the service rendered to the
Maj esty of the Supreme Lord i n
Vaikuntha, although free from all taint of
unwholesomeness, is lacking in the
elements of intimacy and confidence
resulting from spontaneous love that
dares everything for the sake of the
Beloved. This is the reason that has led
Vaikuntha to be represented by a
hemisphere to indicate that the superior
hal f of spi ri tual servi ce i s there
suppossed by the prominent display of
the Majesty of the Lord.
The visualised hemisphere of
Vaikuntha is surmounted by the full
sphere of Goloka, Krishnas own Realm.
Goloka in its turn is divided into the two
regions of predominating Beauty and
predominating Mercy. These twin
regions are simultaneously distinct and
identical. They are the double aspect of
the One. The difference between Them
consists in the fact that Mercy is more
accessible than Beauty. Or it would be
truer to say that Beauty becomes
accessible through Mercy and Mercy in
its turn becomes realisable when it is
seen to be identical with Beauty. This
simultaneous distinction and non-
dsitinction which underlies all Divine
spiritual manifestation cannot be
really grasped by the limited intellect
of the aggressively aspiring disloyal
soul.
Participation in the intimate and
perfectly confident service of Sri Krishna
in Sri Vrindaban by the spiritual milk-
maids of that happy realm, is the
birthright of all individaul souls. They are
deprived of this supreme privilege by the
tactless assertion of their particular
predilections in the unserving way. The
merciful Aspect of the Absolute can
alone wean the individual soul from this
tendency towards perversi ty by
admitting him, against the cardinal
principles of rationality, to a glimpse of
the realm of Beauty, Sri Vrindaban, as
being identical with Swetadwip, the
realm of Mercy co-sphered in the
highest realm of perect loving service of
the Divine Pair, Sri Sri Radha Govinda.
To us all this may seem to be nothing
more than an al l egory, al though
possessing a most fascinating charm.
It is in this way that the poets and
literateurs have been content to regard
and use the information manifested to
us by the Bhagavat. But a very little
reflection in a truly detached mood
shoul d suffi ce to convi nce any
reasonable person that the allegory
possesses the further qual i ty of
shattering all the day-dreams of every
school of philosophy spun by the vain
Srila Raghunath Das Goswami
Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
If a Vairagi entertains the desire of
gratifying his palate, he misses the great
object of renunciation and comes under
the bondage of worldly hankering into
the bargain. The duty of a Vairagi
consists in the performance of the
Samkirtan of the Name at all time and
filling his stomach with grass, leaves of
trees, fruits and roots. He who runs
hither and thither for the gratification
of his palate, being addicted to good
eating and sexuality, never attains
Krishna.
Another day Raghunath laid his
request at the feet of Swarup to
enlighten him about the mode of life that
it was proper for him to lead, I have not
ever the remotest idea why I have been
made to renounce home. May the Lord
instruct me as to what I am to do.
Raghunath never spoke even a single
word to the Lord directly. He submitted
what he had to say for himself through
Swarup and Govinda. One day Swarup
laid at the feet of the Lord the request of
Raghunath, He has not the remotest
idea of his duty. He wishes to learn from
the holy lips of the Lord Himself as to what
he is to do.
The Supreme Lord with a smile said
to Raghunath, I have made Swarup your
preceptor. Learn from him the true
principles of the method and object of
spiritual endeavour. He know more of
them than even Myself. Yet if you cherish
any trust for My command you may feel
assured by what I am telling you. Do not
listen to worldly talk, nor use your
lips for such talk. Do not eat nor
dress well. Take the Name of
Krishna at all time, desiring no
honour for yourself and rendering
honour to all. Serve in the mind
Radha and Krishna in Vraja. This is
My instruction in brief. You will get the
details of it from Swarup.
After hearing this Raghunath
greeted the Feet of the Lord. The
Supreme Lord bestowed on him the
mercy of His embrace and once again
commended him to the charges of
Swarup. In the company of Swarup
Raghunath engaged in the inner service
of the Lord.
By this time the devotees from
Gauda (Bengal) arrived at Puri. The
Lord welcomed them all as in the
previous year. In thier company the Lord
swept the Gundicha, dined out in the
open and danced in the Car Festival.
The mind of Raghunath Das was filled
with great wonder on beholding these
devoti oal performances. Then
ingenuity of the human mind. This ought
to make us pause a little before we
pronounce any adverse judgment. After
all this world, including our apparent
selves, may be itself the dreaded
allegory that is keeping us from theTruth
and Reality. It will no doubt involve the
most acute searching of the heart to
admit unreservedly what after all is bound
to appear to us i n our present
circumstances as merely a hypothetical
conclusion of the intellect.
The only way by which we can get
rid of this killing indecision is to really seek
for further enlightenment in the true spirit
of humility. It is only reasonable to look
for this also from the quarter from which
the original impulse is eternally pouring
in upon us.
S
Raghunath Das cul ti vated the
acquaintance of all the devotees.
Adwaita Acharya bestowed on him his
mercy in manifold measure. Shivananda
Sen related to him how his father had sent
ten persons to take him back and had
written a letter to him on the subject.
Those men had come up with his party
at Jhakra from where they went back on
not finding him with them.
The devotees returned to Gauda
(Bengal) after a stay of four months at
Puri. Informed of this the father of
Raghunath sent a man to Shivananda to
enquire about his son. The conversation
between this person and Shivananda
Sen has been preserved in the immortal
work of Kaviraj Goswami. The man
asked Shivananda Sen, Did you find any
Vaishnava with the Supreme Lord, who
is the son of Govardhan, by name,
Raghunath? Di d you make the
acquaintance of any such person at
Neelachal? Sivananda said, He is with
Lord. He is most famous. There is no
one at Puri who does not know him. The
Lord has made him over to Swarup. He
is as dear to the devotees of the Lord as
their own lives. He chants the Name
night and day. He never quits the Feet of
the Lord even for a moment. He is most
averse to the world and has no thought
for food or clothing. He keeps up life by
eating something now and then. When it
is near midnight he takes his stand at the
Lion Gate after seeing the ceremony of
flower-offering to Jagannath. If anybody
chooses to give him anything he eats
something. He fasts or chews raw fruit
or grain as the occasion serves.
The man conveyed these tidings to
Govardhan. Raghunaths father and
mother were filled with grief on receiving
this detailed information. They sent men
and money for their child. Two servants
and one Brahmin with four hundred coins
accordingly came to Shivananda.
Shivananda said that it would not be
(to be contd...)
practicable for them to reach Puri by
themselves and told them to accompany
him when he went there next. He sent
them back with the assurance that he
would take them with him when he next
set out for Puri with his party.
The very words spoken by
Shivananda Sen to the messenger sent
to him by Govardhan Mazumdar were
heard and carefully recorded in verse by
his gifted son Karnapur, the famous
Poet. The Poet s words are
Shivananda said Yadunandan Acharya
of most deliciously sweet appearance
is the object of affection of Sri Vasudeva
Dutta (of Kanchanapalli). Raghunath
Das is the disciple of Yadunanda
Acharya. With his good qualities he is
more than our own life to all of us and by
means of the excessive mercy of Sri
Chaitanya he is always most gentle, the
beloved of Swarup Goswami and a
uni que treasure of the real m of
renunciation. Of those who live at
Neelachal who does not know him?
........... Who by delighting the minds of
all became the soil of some rare fortune
which ripened into maturity without
culture, in whom the incomparable tree
of the Love of Chaianya bore fruit at the
time of planting its seed. Karnapur has
given in verse the exact words that
Shivananda spoke to the messenger of
Govardhan Mazumdar.
Shivananda in due course set out
for Neelachal next year.
The twin syllables Ha-ri are the
provision for the lifes journey, the
remedy for the disease of worldliness,
and the Sweet Resort for the cessation
of grief and deep anguish.
Bhavishyat Purana
mmsz uz \ @
t :Qz Num uunq @@
Characteristics of a wise man
The human being is the geatest of
all Gods creations, because not only is
the human being provided with the
intelligence and the power of reasoning
but also soul consciousness, which can
enable the human being to get over the
cycle of birth and death and attain God
Realisation.
Therefore the human being has
three options before him after getting the
human birth. He can cultivate the Divine
qualities in him, or the human qualities
in him or the animal qualities in him. But
cultivating the Divine qualities in him, he
will start going to Temples for Darshan
and have satsanga. He will read
Religious books, and Chant Gods
Sacred Names and hear glories of the
Lord etc.,
One who is content to live like a
human being will cultivate the human
qualities in him, like compassion to all
Gods creations, politeness, being of a
charitable disposition and helping his
fellow human beings when in distress
etc. Only those who had lived with
human qualities, will later on cultivate
Divine qualities.
The maj ori ty of the worl d s
population live in the this category,
because they have been accustomed to
live in such conditions for millions of birth
in the lower species like animals etc.
But thought is capable of being
really aware of its insufficiency. Its
inadequacy cannot, however, be
supplied by itself, although it can be
ignored and denied by the exercise of
its prerogative of being dishonest. So
those animal qualities are predominant
in them and so they are unable to get
out of it. They only long for creature
comforts and they do not want to live with
human qualities, although they have
obtained the coveted human birth.
Man boasts that he is the greatest
of all Gods creations. Actually the
human being is the most helpless and
pitiable of all Gods creations. Why so?
Even though he is provided with
intelligence and power of reasoning
almost 99.99% of the worlds population
are living only to enjoy the peal of the fruit
and not the fruit. Living for the body and
not the soul. They are not living upto
Gods expectations. The purpose of
human birth is to get God Realisation.
Those who are wise will start thinking
in the following manner to obtain purpose
and meaning to the human birth. After
they are born, and are in childhood, they
will naturally see thier parents going to
work to earn money for their families
livelihood and their brothers and sisters
getting educated to get a decent job etc.
So they al so feel they must get
educated and so start going to college
after passing the required examinations
etc. Once they are about twenty years
old it should be natural for them to think,
what is the purpose of this human life,
after they see their elders dying. There
seems to be no purpose in this human
birth. How could it be so? They wil start
thinking, when even imperfect man
himself is inventing things all with a
purpose, it is highly impossible that God
has created the human being without any
purpose. They will also start thinking in
the following manner also.
They will start thinking in all our
activities in life we are only giving
importance to the contents and not the
cover. When we get a letter, we read
the letter and preserve it, while the cover
is thrown off. When mother goes to the
Sri Gopal Das
provision store and gets grains etc., the
contents are preserved in the store room
and the covers thrown away. When a
birthday present is received all the covers
enveloping the contents are thrown away
and the contents preserved. When a thief
picks a purse from somebody, he is not
worried whether the purse is made of
plastic or leather. He only wants to know
how much money is in the purse. So
when that is so, how is it that when the all
important life itself is concerned we want
to live only for the sake of the cover, the
human body, and not the contents the
essence in the body, the all powerful soul.
When such ideas pre-occupies
their mind, and when they start feeling
that they should live to find out the
purpose of the human birth and mould
their lives accordingly, they will get a
Gurudev, who will clear all their doubts.
After that all their activities in life will be
to attain the goal viz. God Realisation.
It is imperative that every human
being should start living with such
positive thoughts in their mind and bring
purpose and meaning to this human
birth and strive to get God Relisation.
S
When the mind of yogin is wholly
absorbed in deep meditation by such
practices of yoga detached from all worldly
affinities and when he realizes the true nature
of his own self and Paramatma by his pure
intelligence, he feels self delighted. 20
=n|-4|-+ 4a:|a4|n-||+4
|a 4 + |4 |-v-|=|- -- -+
Sukamtyantikam yattad-
buddhigrhyamateendriyam |
vetti yatra va chaivyam
sthitashchalati tattvatah ||21||
4 = In that state, |a = (the yogi)
experiences, |-4|-+ = intense and
continuous, = n = bliss, 4- 4- = that which,
-||+4 = is beyond the indriyas and is
transcendental, 4 |n = but can be realizable,
4 |a = by pure intelligence, |-v- = in a calm
and tranquil unalloyed state, + ) 4
=|- = where from he does not budge even
an inch.
In that state the yogi experiences intense
and continuous bliss that which is beyond the
indriyas and is transcendental, but can be
realizable by pure intelligence in a calm and
tranquil unalloyed state where from he does
not budge even an inch. 21
4 =| |+ =|~ 4- +||++ --
4|-+ |-v-| + + n + 4 =||+ ||-4- --
Yam labdhv chparam
lbham manyate ndhikam tatah |
yasmin sthito na duhkhena
unpi vichlyate ||22||
4 =| = Getting which i.e. the bliss,
+ 4- = (he) does not consider, + =
||4= 4||| -4-
SRIMAD BHAGAVADGITA
|a4+|-|
| .4|4 CHAPTER-VI
4|+4| 4 DHYNA YOGA
of any other, =|~
= gain, |++ = as
superior, -- = to this, |-v- = and is secured
and firmly established, 4|-+ = in that bliss, +
||-4- = (and) he is not disturbed, 4=||+ =
even by greatest, + n + = calamity.
Getting which i.e. the bliss, he does not
consider of any other gain as superior to this
and is secured and firmly established in that
bliss and He is not disturbed even by greatest
calamity. 22
- ||sn=4|4 |4|4 4|4=||-
= |+4 + 4| =4| 4| 4| .|+| -=| -.
Tam vidydduhkhasamyoga
viyogam yogasanjitam |
sa nishchayena yoktavyo
yogoanirvinnachetas ||23||
||- = Should know, - = that, |4|4
= state of separation, = 4| 4 = from association,
+ n = with misary, =||- = which is called as,
4|4 = yoga. = = That, 4|4 = yoga, 4|=4 =
should be practised, |+| |+|4+ -=| =
with a heart resolute determination and
forbearing free from sorrow.
The yogi should know that state of
separation from association with misery which
is called yoga. That yoga shold be practised
with a heart resolute determination and
forbearing, free from sorrow. 23
=+-+a~|+||--4+-| =|+-
+=|+44| ||+4-4 =-- -
++=+:a| +|-4|-4|
|-= -v + + -| + |+||+|+ |-4 - -
Samkalpaprabhavnkamm-
styaktv sarvvnasheshatah |
manasaivendriyagrmam
viniyamya samantatah ||24||
Shanaisshanairuparamed-
buddhy dhritigriheetay |
tmasamstham manah kritv
na kinchidapi chintayet ||25||
-4+-| = (A yogi) Giving up, - =
Wholly without exception, =| + = all, +||+
= desires, a~||- = born, =-+ = of mind,
||+4-4 = regulates, +=| ) = by his
controlled mind, ;|+44| = all his senses,
=-- = from sense percepts.
+ + = (and) Gradually, .+- =
attains complete dispassion, 4 a4| = with the
help of pure intelligence, +|-4|-4| = held
firm by resolution, + -| = keeping, + = the
mind, |-=-v = rooted in his own self i.e.
he is not the body with mind, and senses but
he is divine eternal servitor of the Supreme
Lord, + |-4- |+||+|+ = will not think
anything else other than fixing his mind in
meditating on the Transcendental Name, Form
and Attributes of the Supreme Lord.
A yogi giving up wholly without exception
all desires born of mind, regulates by his
controlled mind all his senses from sense
percepts. (And) Gradually attains complete
dispassion with the help of pure intelligence,
held firm by resolution, keeping the mind
rooted in his own self i.e. he is not the body
with the mind, and senses, but he is divine,
eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord, will not
think anything else other than fixing his mind
in meditating on the Transcendental Name,
Form and Attributes of the Supreme Lord.
24,25
4-| 4-| |+|=|- +||=|-v
-----| |+4-4-+|-4 +4- -.
Yato yato nishchalati
manashchamchalamasthiram |
tatastato niyamyaitad-
tmanyeva vasham nayet ||26||
4- 4- = Whenever, + = the mind,
= = being wavering, |-v = and
unsteady, |+|=|- = as often as it roams over
sense objects (like a horse to roam
unrestrained over the pasture lands of sense -
objects), |+4-4 = controlling, )-- = that
unbridled mind, -- -- = from there,
+4 - = one should bring it under control, |-|+
) = of the real self.
Wherever (whenever) the mind being
wavering and unsteady as often as it roams
over sense objects (like a horse to roam
unrestrained over the pasture lands of sense-
objects), controlling that unbridled mind from
them, one should bring it under control of the
real self. 26
a|-+= n+ 4||4+ =na
.+|- |--= 4n~-+- -
Prashntamanasam hyenam
yoginam sukhamuttamam |
upaiti shntarajasam
brahma bhutamakalmasham ||27||
.a n = The highest bliss, .+ |- | =
comes indeed, )+ = to this, 4||4+ = yogi,
+= = whose mind, a|- = is very tranquil,
+- = who is freed from rga, dvesha,
-= = whose rajas i.e. passionate nature,
|- = curbed, 4n~- = in the communion
with the Supreme Lord.
The highest bliss comes indeed to this
yogi, whose mind is very tranquil, who is freed
from raga, dvesha, whose rajas i.e.
passionate nature is curbed, in the comminion
with the Supreme Lord. 27
(to be contd....)

Gaudiya Math Chennai / The Gaudiya April 2012

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Gaudiya Math Chennai / The Gaudiya April 2012

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THE GAUDIYA 1 APRIL 2012

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