Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology

Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology by Srila Bhakti Saranga Gosvami Maharaj

The Hindu Scriptures teach us, according to Sri Krishna Chaitanya, nine principle doctrines:

1) Hari (the Almighty) is One without a second.
2) He is full of infinite power.
3) He is the ocean of Rasa (beauty and sweetness).
4) The individual souls, the living beings, are His separated parts.
5) Certain souls are engrossed in Maya, the illusory energy of the Lord.
6) Certain other souls are released from the bondage of Maya.
7) All spiritual and material phenomena are connected to the Lord but distinct from Him.
8) Bhakti, or devotion to God, is the only means of attaining the final and highest objective of life, the attainment of spiritual existence.
9) Prema, or holy love for Krishna, is alone the final and highest objective of life.

This Theistic vision is not attainable by the theories of mundane science. It is, however, not opposed to a truly rational conclusion or understanding. It satisfies, fully, the needs of our real moral sense. It floods our life with peace, joy and hope, freeing us from all evils and solving the mystery of pain, vice and death.

There can be no real intellectual assent to the truths of Theism without giving our whole higher selves to God in the fullest trust, love and obedience. Then only are we really convinced, when we actually realise the imperative necessity for ourselves and for all animation of attaining the spiritual service of Krishna, who is all-love. The process of Bhakti (devotion) then is no longer a mundane theory or a set of mundane propositions but instead something that brings about the complete dedication of all we do and think and say to the constant service of Transcendence.

We should begin to allot some time and energy to learn of the Absolute Truth, revealed by the scriptures through the living scripture, by which I mean the sadhu (saintly devotee of God). The more we practice associating with saints, the more we can detect our hallucinations in our current conceptions of God; and our faith will rise higher and higher till it reaches the Divine Holy Feet of Krishna.

When this faith in Krishna is kindled in the doubting heart and we really seek to be enlightened in perfect humility, Krishna sends to us a good preceptor to guide us in the path of the Absolute. I am engaged today in carrying out the precepts of my Divine Master, Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. I am trying in my humble way to explain religion as I have heard from his holy lips. Hearing about true religion is the one needful thing for both the theists and the atheists.

Religion means the spiritual process by which our souls are re-united to the Absolute Lord by the bond of his eternal willing service, which is the proper function of each individual soul. Religion establishes our relationship with God. It provides a means to go deeper into the profundity of the Divine. And it leads to our attaining holy love – the supreme purpose of spritual pursuits. Religion is harmonious and universal. God is one without a second, and His religion also is one for humanity as a whole, though exoterically or morphologically it may vary in certain external circumstances. The esoterical or morphological aspect of all true religion is one and the same, viz., Divine Love. And that religion which warrants the highest loving devotion to God is the best of all and should be followed by all intelligent human beings.

Philosophically, our eternal self is something other than the physical body made of earth, water, fire, air and ether, and the subtle body made of mind, intelligence and perverted ego. The soul is a spiritual entity quite distinct from the physical body and the astral body made of matter – either in gross or subtle forms. The soul is the proprietor of these two properties, the gross and subtle bodies, which are perishable. The soul is neither born nor does it die. The soul has everlasting existence. It is exempt from liability to extinction. Under the influence of Maya, the illusory energy of God, which manifests itself in the shape of this mundane world, the soul is again and again vested with a corporeal frame and each conditioned soul passes after death into a series of new existences in heaven and hell or in the bodies of men, beasts, birds, insects, or plants on earth, where it is rewarded or punished for all the deeds committed in a former life. The soul may soar so high as to become a divine being fully conscious of his own true nature as an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord in the spiritual kingdom, or it may descend so low as to appear no better than sticks and stones.

The destiny of each individual soul is thus made or marred by himselft. As spiritual beings, all individual souls possess the faculty of free will divinely bestowed upon them. They can abuse this gift of God or they can make the best use of it. The Supreme Lord does not interfere with His gift, viz., the soul’s freedom of choice.

All individual souls though intrinsically of the same nature with God are but infinitessimal Absolutes when compared with the Infinite Absolute Personality and are therefore servants of God.

Just as the rays of the sun are always associated with the sun, so also, as associated parts of the Absolute-Sun, all individual souls are expected to exist with the Eternal Existent Lord, to know the Omniscient Lord and to enjoy Infinite Bliss by eternally rendering loving service to Him. But, for the transgression of deviation away from Him through misuse of their free will, the external potency of God, Maya, suppresses them by way of showing a diversity of existence, in the same way as rays of sunlight streaming away from the sun get their normal aspect of brightness diminished and suppressed when they are reflecting upon dark material things.

The natural function of rendering eternal service to God which is common to all souls lies hidden under the cover of manifold miseries when they want to lord it over the universe instead of serving the Supreme Lord.

To explain further, just as the luminous substance of the sun appears as 1) the solar disk, 2) the individual rays, and 3) the reflection; so also the inconceivable power of the Absolute-Sun manifests Himself in three ways: 1) the Internal Potency; 2) the Intermediate Potency, and 3) the External Potency. The Intermediate Potency resolves into individual souls like us, which correspond to the individual rays of sunlight. The External Potency or Maya corresponds to the reflection (as when light reflects upon the surface of the sea). And the Internal Potency corresponds to the solar disk, the Spiritual Sun itself – the kingdom of God. The orb of the sun contains the individual rays, yet the rays are found to be scattered away from the sun; similarly the individual souls, though ultimately contained within the same Reservoir of Light (God) are scattered away by reason of their being averse to the service of God from beginningless time.

Religion seeks to reestablish our relationship with our eternal Lord, and our living service to Him, by attaining Divine Love, which is the panacea for all evils in this world.

From the book Spiritual Successors of the Six Gosvamis, by Muralidhar das.

Download the book in pdf format here.

Discourse on the Absolute

Discourse on the Absolute

by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja

(A conversation with V. Venkanta Subbaya of Ongol.
Shorthanded by Anil Kanta Ganguli, B.A.)

On the 5th August, 1935

We require solution for the various problems of our life. But we are liable to be interrupted and troubled by foreign relations by polemical discussions and also to meet different contending ideas and thoughts from outside. So we require Divine instruction for our purpose. We are assured by the song of the Supreme Lord Sree Krishna, "Sarvadharman parityajya Mamekam sharanam vraja, Aham twam sarva papebhyoh mokshyeeshyamee na suchah, i.e. Depend on Me. You will not have to repent for such submission. Whatever you have acquired up to this time, leave aside and come up to Me, I will dictate to you what course you should adopt". But in case we do not feel assured by this and thinking we are going to be deceived by such insinuative dictations of Shree Krishna, try to follow some other source of instruction, Shree Krishna has already sung another song to avoid that, "Yehpyanyadevata bhakta jajante shraddhayanvita, tehpi Mameb Kaunteya jajanti abidhipurbakam". The Lord says, "If you take the initiative to suggest a course you are liable to be instructed by such sources which will prove to be ineffective in the long run beacuse I am immanent in the universe and there is no possibility of avoiding Me. I am the source of all existence. I am full of knowledge, I am endowed with infinity of bliss". We can have no better instruction from elsewhere, which can give a more dependable and complete idea of the thing. The whole thing, the exact entity, could not be found if we took a different course from Shree Krishna as Shree Krishna is the Fountainhead of all energies; all sorts of energies - even the opposite and conflicting energies - are stored in Him. He is "Akhilarasamritamurti". We have heard His song, "Ye yatha Mam prapadyante tamstathaiva bhajamyaham, Mama bartmanubartante manushya Parthah sarbashah". We are actuated by the influence of rasa. We require pleasant sensation. But we should see that our particular predilection is directed to a definite purpose. Shree Krishna is the emporium of everything. In Geeta we have clearly marked the exact situation of the human soul and the phenomenal existence of His Prakriti. "Bhumiraponalo vayu kham mano buddhirebacha, ahamkara itiyamg Me vinna prakritirastadha; apareyamitastvanyam prakritim biddhi Me param jibabhutam mahabaho yayedam dharyate jagat". We have seen that there are two prakritis - para and apara. Jivas are known as para prakriti but jivas, being infinitessimally small, can come under the clutch of apara prakriti - can be overpowered by the deluding potency. Jivas can also disassociate themselves from this undesirable situation. How can this be? We have heard another song, "Daivi hyesha gunamayee Mama maya duratyaya, Mameva ye prapadyante mayametam taranti te". We have got the solution as how to get rid of this shackle in "Mameva ye prapadyante". By the use of the word "mam" we see the object is singular - the personaltiy is fixed. The Lord sings, "I can set you free from the clutches of the present activity of measuring things through the senses. I can show Myself fully to you when there will no necessity of exercising your senses. I have set the engine of the three 'gunas' for the purpose of entrapping the less intelligent people. But when they listen to My dictation they see that they can easily manage to get rid of this trouble by submitting to Me, to Me alone." There is no other alternative of getting rid of our measuring temperament. We are now equipped with senses which are incapable of leading us to the Truth. We are liable to be deluded by the influence of Maya, and Maya is but a trap. If we want to avoid that trap, we are to submit to Him unconditionally. So 'prapatti' is the essential thing which means full submission. We can exercise our senses but such exploitations will not do any good to us in the long run unless we submit to Him leaving aside whatever we have acquired up to this time. We are simply to surrender to Him. When we simply depend on Him, He will give us such facilities as to enable us to make better progress. We are assured that we need not take the empirical course through our senses. Though we have inclination of acquiring knowledge through our senses, our attempts are often frusrated. Our empirical activities often fail to make much progress for we see that whatever we have acquired by our empiricism requires more addition or subtraction when we pass though the rolling of time. We think we have acquired a good deal of knowledge at our thitrtieth year, but that knowledge is found to be inadequate as soon as we reach the fourtieth year. Again if we have to live for then years more, we will have to revise our knowledge again. In this way living for any number of years will not serve our purpose, it will not make us wise, i.e., all sorts of empirical knowledge are quite useless for the purpose of gaining the whole truth. We should, therefore, be 'prapanna'. We should simply submit, and that submission should be attended with everything we have acquired. Whatever we have acquired must be given up considering that we will be helped by Him. But if we have no such confidence in Him, we cannot part with our acquired things.

We will be making a sad mistake if we conjecture that the Lord, in the long run, may have nothing to conferr on us, and that by giving up what we have acquired we will get into trouble. We forget that He is the Absolute, He is the emporium of everything. We need not be doubtful of His assurances that He will never fail us. We have got a free will which we can exercise. But we are not expected to imagine that we are independent. We are bound to accept that we are dependants. If we make a sifting enquiry into the phenomenal objects, we won't get anything which can give us that sort of relief which the Fountainhead of all things - that very Center - can give us. So Geeta tells us that submission to the Supreme Authority, Sree Krishna, is the only thing wanted; and by such submission our desired ends will be fully and duly fulfilled. The question is how in spite of the measuring temperament which stands against our purpose, that submission is to be effected.

(Thus Sambandha or Relationship is dealt with. Next time we will discuss what process we have to adopt to get our end).

On the 6th August, 1935.

After Sambandha comes Abhidheya i.e. how to reach our coveted place, what sort of adoption is required for the purpose of achieving our objects. That is Abhidheya, and Abhidheyas there are thousands. They are classed by somebody to be 64, by some 9, and by some 5. Though they are multifarious aspects of adoption by which we can love the All-love - the Absolute - these adoptions are classified in 64 or 9 or 5 divisions. Of the 64 divisions, 5 are the principal things, and with these 5 divisions we are to deal. These are - 1. Bhagabat shraban, Bhagabat kirttan, Bhagabat smaran, 2. Sree Hari's anghri-sevanam, 3. Mathurabas, 4. company of sadhus and 5. Sree Harinam sankirttan.

Mathurabas means to have our eternal abode in Mathura, the place where all knowledge is permanent. Sree Harinam sankirtan is chanting the Transcendental Name. Archan is done in 5, 16 and 64 upacharas for which purpose we are given some Archa in the form of Vigraha, Painting, Figure or Icon, and we have to worship with this Archa with some mantras. All material things are spiritualised by the influence of dedication. When we dedicate worldly things to the Object of our worship, we need not think that they have got any material value to be enjoyed by us. All sorts of mundane temporary associations have to be eliminated before anything can be offered to the Object of worship. This is called 'bhutashuddhi'. The Object of worship being spiritual, spiritual things are to be offered by a spiritual actor through spiritual activity. Material things are not welcomed by the spirit and we should not bring any material things before Him. If we do so, we would be considering Godhead as one of Nature's products, but that is not the case. He should not be considered as an object of phenomena. All the objects of phenomena serve our purpose - but Godhead is not an object to serve us. He is the only Object of adoration - of worship - and all services are to be offered to Him. We need not demand anything from Him, as we issue cheques or notes on demand to be cashed in our Banks, for our purpose. He is not our servitor. It is we who are His eternal servitors, and we are to offer our services to Him without expectation of getting anything in return. If we demand anything in lieu of our services that would be considered as a bartering system. When we go to a benia shop we get some articles for which we pay some price. That sort of transaction should not be done with the Absolute. With non-Absolutes we can have such transactions; but we should not carry on such transactions with the Absolute. Banikbritti is not necessary. We should be always offering our services to Him and not receiving any service from Him. We are not to expect Godhead to serve us in any capacity. He needs not come to us as parents. We find such demands "Dhanam dehi, rupam dehi, jayam dehi, dwisho jahi etc.", are made by a class of people who style themselves as shakteyas. Our prayers should not be to that end. We should not pray, "Give us this day our daily bread". We must not ask Godhead to attend to our call. Throughout the whole world we find such wrong ideas. Devotion should be our principal aim, and not karma or jnana. There is another injunction in the Sermon on the Mount, "Don't take God's name in vain". Yes, we should not take God's name for the purpose of our own use. If we want to serve Godhead and implore Him to receive our services, we won't be infringing any such rules dictated by Christ. He has forbidden us to take God's name in vain. That is true. We should not ask Him for anything just as we ask our order-suppliers to furnish things for our use. We are simply to submit. He is the best Judge to look after us. We do not know how good will come to us. We cannot examine the merits and demerits of things by our present acquisitions. It is not possible. We should always be ready to submit to Him unconditionally. All other ideas except this are not regarded as bhakti by true religionists. In Geeta we find three divisions. The first six chapters are for karmins, the last six chapters for jnanins, and the intermediate six chapters for bhaktas. So the middle portion is the principal thing of the book. The karmakanda and jnanakanda are not the real factors of the book - are not its necessary paraphernalia. So bhakti or devotion to Godhead should be the principal object of all religions. Bhakti should be considered as nitya, that is permanent and constant. "The Supreme Lord is unconquerable. Our strenuous efforts or empirical knowledge cannot give us the facility of bringing Him within our sense perceptions. The devotees have no faith in either of these processes, yet they can by their devotion manage to accomodate Him within their hearts. We are to throw off all exertions for acquiring knowledge leaving aside all our exploitations of knowledge. We should not be unmindful of giving up all that are not wanted. We need not pose ourselves as intellectual giants. But we should always be energetic in our devotional purpose. We are not to have any confidence in the two systems of karma and jnana, or accept the the results derived by these two methods. We should be devotees. Aural reception should be sufficient for our purpose. We should hear from the lips of the adepts who are constantly busy in offering their services to the Absolute. They have the loving tendency for the love of the All-Love.

The Absolute, the Infinity, is ever-ready to receive His servitors and His servitors have no other engagement but to serve Him. Devotees do not think that they have any other course to be adapted. They need not have any other engagements. They are always engaged in pleasing their Master. There cannot be any difference of interest between the Master and His servitor, or when the Master is wanting one thing the servitor is supplying another thing. This cannot be called service. Whatever is wanted by the Master, that should be supplied by the servitor. We should always be ready to serve according to the whims and predilections of the Master. This is devotion. We should not offer anything according to our taste which may not have His approval. He is the Fountainhead of all potency. He is the Predominating Agent and we are the predominating agents. We have no other duty but to attend to the wishes of the Master. Our duty should be to serve Him as spouse and not as husband. The Master should not be the spouse. Westerners are always busy to serve their wives. They are, more or less, strainas or naripujakas. They have a rule in their society that no one should have more than one wife. But the Supreme Autocrat should not be resticted in that way. Sree Ram Chandra has been restricted to only one wife, whereas Sree Krishna has got millions. We need not restrict Him. He is the Proprietor of everything and everything is within His range. We need not put Him under the clutch of restriction as if He is Nature's product and nature is not one of His products. We should always abide by the rules of civic discipline otherwise some restlessness or disturbance may arise in society. We are to remember such maxims as "Do to others what others should do unto you" in the transactions with our friends. Whereas the Absolute has got everything as Proprietor and all properties are meant for His service only and not for the service of any other else. Since we are dependants, we should be restricted in every way, but we need not for this reason try to restrict the Master. We have got some independence, but that independence should not be indulged in such a way as to restrict the Master. We are allowed some definite things for our purpose, whereas He has the sway over all. So we must not think Him as one of His created beings. When the Absolute wants something, we are morally bound to offer our services to Him - to attend to His needs. If He thinks that He is the Husband, all should be His wives. The soul should attire her body according to the taste of her husband - she should apparel herself in such a way as to please her Master. We are not to think that Godhead should be a predominated agent to serve our pupose. We need not lord it over Him. We are not allowed to do so. We are incapable of doing so. Being infinitessimally small, we have not the power to have Him as dependent. We ought not to think that He should be our parent and serve us, as we find our parents doing from the beginning of our lives. We should serve and worship Bala Krishna - Child Krishna as His parents. "Srutimapare Smritimitare Bharatamanye bhajantu bhababheeta ahamiha Nandam bande yasyalinde Param-Brahma". "I need not go through the Vedas, I need not read the Dharmashastras and Mahabharata for the amelioration of my troubles. Let persons who are too much afraid of worldly troubles read Vedas and so on. I am not afraid of all these. I do not think that the pessimistic trend of my mind should engage me in reading these books. These are lifeless transactions. I want a living thing. I see that Nanda, as father, has got the privilege of nurturing and forstering Child Krishna from the very beginning. So it is better for me that I should have Nanda as my preceptor instead of all these shastras. The Child Krishna is found to be crawling on the corridor of Nanda's house. I am also going to worship Him as His parent's servitor. Therefore, the parent servitor should be my preceptor. I should not ask Him to be my friend, but instead, I should befriend Him, i.e., I should render my services to Him as a friend. I should also like to be termed as His confidential friend and not a reverential friend. Flatterers use to flatter their masters posing themselves as friends. I should not be His flattering friend. I should like to be His confidential friend. I won't hesitate to offer Him any food which I have already tasted before to see whether it is relishing or not. If I find the food to be nice, then only shall I place it before the Supreme Lord, whereas, our reverential friend would not allow such conduct which is quite contrary to ideas of the reverential worshipers of the Lord. Even Sree Ramanuja followed the rules of reverential worship. But Sree Krishna Chaitanya has told us what we should be His confidential friends instead of posing ourselves as friends in a reverential mood. The reverential mood rather puts a sort of screen before us. Shanta rati is the neutral mood. The Absolute has the right of receiving the different services rendered by His servitors. "Ye yatha Mam prapadyante tamstathaib bhajamyaham". The Lord says He is ever ready to receive services from His servitors.

Ordinary people do not understand what religion is. Most people are injuring the cause of service excepting the scool of Devotion. Jnanins want to merge in the personality of Godhead. Buddhists think that they can get rid of all miseries by annihilating themselves. Henotheists think that they will in the long run, reach a state where there is no manifestive or designative feature. Devotees call such people non-devotees, atheists, sceptics, etc. There are karmins or karmabirs who are doing many things. They declare that they have got a definite object for which they work, otherwise they would be called frantic or mad people. They are all wage-earners, contractors and do their work in order to get something in return. Agnostics on the other hand do not trouble themselves with such things; they want to lose themselves, they want to commit suicide. These people are not devotees. The idea of a devotee is quite different from the ordinatry idea of men in general. The devotional school is always looking after the interest of the Absolute. They do not class themselves as karmakhandins or jnankhandis - they do not join these two parties. They are quite different.

We all should be Mathura people. We should have conception of spiritual Mathura instead of mundane Mathura which is the place of enjoyment of people of a very low grade. Our sahajia brothers think that they can have access to Mathura by paying the railway fare. "Namashrestham manumapi Sachiputramatra swarupam, rupam tasyagrajamurupurim Mathurim gostha batim". It is by surrendering ourselves to the Preceptor's Feet that we can have an abode in Mathura. Otherwise we cannot get an entrance into the transcendental region. We should approach the Guru who will confer on us the eight things i.e., Name, Mantra, etc. The Nama is the Transcendental Sound and Mantras are incantations. The Nama is identical with the Namee. The Mantra is required in order to reach that situation in which the Name can be properly chanted. The son of Sachi is the Supreme Lord Himself. Damodar Swarup is the head of the Gaudiyas or the transcendental servitors of Sree Krishna Chaitanya. Rupa and Sanatana were sent to Mathura by Sree Krishna Chaitanya to diffuse transcendental knowledge there. There are several Puris which can give salvation, and among them Mathura is the acme. Gosthabati - where Sree Krishna is feeding His cows. (The sound "Go" has various meanings as - knowledge, senses, the animal cow, etc.). The next thing is Radhakunda which is a tank where Krishna got rid of the sin He incurred by killing a cow named Aristanemi. He killed Arestotelianism or the rationalistic process of reasoning of this imperfect world. When Krishna wanted to join hands with Radhika, Aristanemi came forward to disturb Him, becacuse Radhika was thought by many people to be the wife of a milkman named Abhimanyu. This Aristanemi was the incarnation of mundane knowledge, and Krishna killed him for which act he expiated by taking a dip in the Radhakunda. This kunda is the mental speculation of Radha. The eternal land of our abode should be Radhakunda. By the border of Radhakunda we should have our groves. There are millions of groves by the banks of Radhakunda.

This world is a perverted reflection of the original which is our real home. Instead of passing our time here, we want to go back to our eternal abode. We are now very busy to have pleasant sensations through our senses from the phenomenal objects. We should make it a point of eradicating the root cause which has brought us to this world of delusion, apparent pleasures, miseries and troubles. It is the mind. Mind is the root of all evils and the root of all pleasure-seeking inclinations. So the mind should be killed first i.e., it should not be allowed to take initiative in anything. Now the mind is controlling our senses and the soul is lying in a dormant condition. The soul has delegated its power of transacting with the external world to the mind, and the mind has five ministers to help in the administration of the phenomenal world. But the mind is not a dutiful agent of the soul. It always tries to injure the interest of the soul. The soul has come down here and, while doing so, it has incorporated two envelopes, one subtle and the other gross. But the soul is now in a drowsy condition. It cannot exactly compel the mind to look to its interest. At this crisis, the ever-merciful Lord Sree Krishna sends his messengers with the Transcendetal Sound. This Transcendental Sound is received though the ears. The Transcendental Sound is meant to regulate the five senses which are engaged in a wrong way to foster the cause of the mind and to injure the cause of the eternal soul. So aural reception is the first thing we should seek from the Agent, the deputed Messenger from the transcendental plane. The Transcendental Sound is transmitted through the lips of the Messenger in the shape of Mantra and in the shape of Nama. The very Name or the Nomenclature of the Transcendence can regulate the senses. "Go on chanting the Nama, constantly repeat the Transcendental Nomenclature, and you will find that energy is being injected into you. But this Nama should come to you from a good source, from a transcendental source, and not from any mundane source." The name should not be confused with the other sounds of this world. The Transcendental Sound regulates the senses and does not submit to the senses for scrutiny. When the Supreme Lord met Sreee Rupa at Allahabad, He first of all transmitted something into the entity of Sree Rupa which empowered him to receive the Transcendental Sounds from Him, and then He imparted those Transcendental Sounds to Sree Rupa with all explanations.

Mantra is the Nama in the dative case.

The Supreme Lord, being Adhokshaja, does not allow anybody to see Him. But people are impatient to see Him first, and that is a wrong process.

There cannot be more than one Guru. Guru is the only one without a second.

"Adau shraddha tatah sadhusangohatha bhajankriya, tatah anarthanibrittih syattato nishta ruchistatah". We should first of all make a sifting enquiry throughout the world to single out the proper person from whom we can get the process for our adoption. We shoul have full reliance or confidence (shradha) in Him. He will dictate to us what sort of engagement or bhajan we should perform for the welfare of our souls. As a result of this engagement or bhajankriya, we will be set free from all sorts of troubles and all our acquisitions and empiric activities will be regulated. That is, all undesirable elements which have crept into along with our activities will be eliminated. This is called "anarthanibritti". Then comes nistha. We should resolve that we will not deviate from our only object which is to serve the Absolute, to be constantly attached to Him. We should have some sort of predilection or taste for our bhajankriya, the continuity of which should not be disturbed. When we transcend 'sadhanbhakti', we are placed in 'bhababhakti' region where we will find that 'rati' is the cardinal point, the principal thing. When we were passing through 'sadhanbhakti', 'Shraddha' was the index. Here, in 'bhababhakti', 'rati' is the index. Rati has five different aspects, shanta, dasya, sakhya, batsalya and madhur. Rati is the medulla oblongata or the substratum which lies between sadhanbhakti and bhababhakti. Rati is supplied by four different ingredients known as vibhava, anubhav, sattvika, and sanchari. Vibhav includes alambana and udipana. In alambana we findvishaya and ashraya.. There is activity of vishaya for ashraya and of ashraya for vishaya. The Vishaya is one without a second, but ashrayas there are many. Krishna is the only Vishaya, and Karshnas are the ashrayas. Rati is associated with Vishaya and is developed by the influence of uddipana.. When we designate ourselves as ashrayas, we have only one Vishaya who is always looking to confer mercy on us, i.e., proper engagement for us, and at the same time we should have the same aptitude for having the connection of Vishaya. Anubhab is regulated bhab, just following vibhab. Then comes sattvika and sanchari. The former is 8 in number and the latter 33 in number. Sattvika indicated ecstasy. The extatic or entheasmic features of sattva are displayed, developed and nutured by the 33 sancahribhavas. So rati is associated with the 4 ingredients vibhav, anubhab, sattvika and sanchari. When they are mixed up, we find a palatable drink rasa. Rasa is formed by the composition of these four ingredients with the rati. Then we come to prema-bhakti, where rasa is indicatory. In bhaba-bhakti rati is the cardinal point. The Vishaya and the ashraya both drink this rasa. We have now come to prayojana tattva. Ashrayas taste Krishna-rasa and Krishna tastes ashraya-rasa.. The development of bhabahbhakti leads to prema-bhakti, and in prema-bhakti we find rasa. People need not confuse chit rasa with jara rasa. Chit rasa is tasted in a region where no imperfection can possibly reach. Jara rasa, as we find in stories like Nala-damayanti etc., should not be carried to that region. The domain of rasa is Bhagabata. The book is dedicated to rasikas and bhabukas and not to anybody else. Krishna-prema is the only prayojana or need. This is the final stage.

There are some people who with their hallucinative ideas think that bhoga should be the final goal, and there are some perverse people who think that tyaga should be the final destination. But these things are not congenial for our propagatory works. We are not to confine ourselves to the ideas of bhoga or tyaga. Parama dharma is not temporary religion asssociated with the retention of temporary things. We must not think that parama dharma is on the same line with itaradharma. Parama dharma or sanatana dharma is meant for our eternal purpose. Our soul being eternal, this sanatana dharma is to be adopted, but not the pseudo-sanatana dharma advocated by the karmins and jnanins. So we should be very careful not to accept agnosticism or the pantheists. We should also be careful not to accept the enjoying mood of the karmakandins who are very busy to have us as suppliers of their gluttonous desires. So true devotion should be defined first. In order to do so, the second shloka of the Bhagabat reading "Dharmah projjhgita etc." has come to us. Projjita means from which all pretentions have been uprooted. Persons who have already transcended the mundane regions are known as sadhus, and the religion of the sadhus is inculcated in the Bhagabat. Matsarata is the combination of the five obstacles viz., kama, krodha, lobha and mada. By indulging in these passions we become matsar i.e. jealous. Sadhus are free from jealousy. Bastava Bastu means positive entity. We should have access to the positive entity and not the negative side of the dreamy representations of the objects. By the reverential study of the Bhagabat the threeforld tapas (miseries) viz., adhyatmik, adhidaivik andadhibhoutik, are completely eliminated.

Krishna-prema-rasa should be our desired end. We should be rasika bhabukas and not devoid of rasa.

(This article was originally published in The Harmonist Magazine. It is not edited by Sri Guru Vandana, except for minor orthographical changes.)
Rays of the Harmonist 6-2 No.11 Karttika 2002

Why we do not like to Love Krsna? Love Krsna

Why we do not like to Love Krsna?

by Srila Bhaktivedanta Trivikrama Maharaja
[Mathura, India: October 1996]

We want to do what pleases us most. The liking for that activity is called ruci. Why do we not like to love Krsna? Why do we not like to serve Him? This is the point of our discussion today. We like that which gives us pleasure through our senses; but Krsna is such that He cannot be known by our senses. He is transcendental, and therefore He transcends our senses. Our senses cannot know Him nor can they reach Him. Through our senses, we cannot taste if He is sweet or not.

Because our senses can taste worldly things we either become attracted to those things or we reject them. We never try to attain something that is not pleasing to our senses. We do not like Krsna because we cannot perceive Him with our senses. Our eyes cannot see Him, our ears cannot hear His flute-playing, our nose cannot smell His flavor, and our tongues cannot speak His name or qualities. Because it is all beyond our senses and we are not tasting His attractiveness, we have no affection for Him. If we could taste Him, we could love Him. As long as we cannot taste His sweetness, we are not attracted to Him and we cannot know if He is good or bad.

With our ears we hear from others that Krsna is very attractive and sweet, and that He is the best. Such hearing is devoid of realization, so we can either choose to believe what we hear or not. Those who believe it may attain Him after striving for Him, but those who do not believe it will never attain Him at any time. Is this not the truth? Therefore, what do those people who seriously want to attain Him have to do?

tasmad gurum prapadyeta
jijnasuh sreya uttamam
sabde pare ca nisnatam
brahmany upasamasrayam

"Any person who seriously desires to achieve actual happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of a spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of sastra by deliberation and argument and thus be able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken complete shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, are to be understood as bona fide spiritual masters." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.55)

If we want to know the best subject, Krsna, we should surrender to a person with complete knowledge of Him who is appointed to teach that subject. That person is Gurudeva. Gurudeva can explain Krsna to us because he is very near to Him and because he is serving Him. Gurudeva is Krsna's very intimate potency. Unless and until we accept Gurudeva's shelter, we cannot know the sweetness of Krsna. This is the reason why we do not like Him, or have no ruci for Him.

maya-mugdha jivera nahi svatah krsna-jnana
jivere krpaya kaila krsna veda-purana

"The conditioned soul cannot revive his Krsna consciousness by his own effort. But out of causeless mercy, Sri Krsna compiled the Vedic literature and its supplement, the Puranas." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Mad. 20.122)

At our stage, we are so overpowered by maya that we have no knowledge of Krsna. Who is Krsna? We cannot explain. We have no idea of who He is. The human being overpowered by maya has no knowledge of Krsna or God. He cannot see Krsna. He can see an airplane and how it works, and he can describe this to others. But he cannot explain who Krsna is because he has no knowledge of Him.

Why are we wise to material matters, but not transcendental matters? Krsna, prema and bhakti all are transcendental. Unless and until we take shelter of that person who is transcendental, we cannot know anything of the transcendental realm. Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigaccet, "One must approach a bona fide guru to learn that transcendental knowledge." (Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12) Our scriptures give this instruction. One who wants to know Krsna should go to a person who knows Him. That person is Gurudeva, the Divine Master.

You may say that one who endeavors with a sincere heart will receive everything, just as Ekalavya did. Although Dronacarya did not accept Ekalavya as his student, Ekalavya had a picture of Dronacarya in front of which he endeavored to perform the art of archery. Ekalavya was so successful that he possessed sabda bhedi bana, the skill of accurately shooting an arrow simply by hearing the sound of his target. Someone may quote the example of Ekalavya to ask why we can't attain knowledge of Krsna. "If we try, surely we will get it, so what is the need of surrendering to a guru? Krsna is not purchased by just some people; He is for all. He is not partial. Why will He not bless me? I will surely get His blessings if I try to get them." This sort of questioning is present in our knowledge.

But why did Ekalavya succeed in his archery and we have not in the matter of attaining God? Why? The answer is that archery is a material science. By a material process we can attain material knowledge. But spiritualism is not materialism, and Krsna cannot be attained by a material process. He is spiritual and the process to attain Him must also be spiritual, but we have no knowledge of spirit.

The education we received in school or college pertained to material subjects, not spiritual ones. They impart knowledge indirectly, not directly. They say that something exists that is spiritual but what that thing is, they cannot say. The physicians or the surgeons operate on this body but do not find the spirit. Until now, no instrument has been devised that can find it, that can know that spirit. However, everyone is bound to accept that when the spirit leaves the body, the body does not function. The presence of spirit is the main cause of the body's functioning.

The body is inert and material. It is always material. It is not sometimes spiritual and sometimes material. For example, I can move this stick. Has it become spirit just because it is moving? No. It is always material and inanimate. It has no sense, no feeling, no movement, etc. This body is just like that. But we think we are moving because of the presence of matter. No, the body moves because of the presence of spirit. What is that spirit? From where does it originate? Where does it reside? Our Vedas educate one in that spiritualism, sanatana-dharma.

Spiritual culture is present in India but not in other parts of the world. Therefore, people come to India to learn spiritual science. The Vedas, the Upanisads, all are present here. But we are sorry to say that we are ignorant of our own sciences. This is described by one Bengali poet, Michael Madhusudana Datta, who went to England for an education, for higher knowledge, and became a Christian. At the end of his life he wrote this lamentation:

he bharat bhandare tave vividaratan ta save avadani paradhame
lobhe kodi bhavan paradesi dikha dikhi duhka 'nyasu.

"What is not present in India? The best is here, but I am such a fool, I went to a Western country for a higher education."

So we are also foolish like that, going to England, America and Russia to get a higher education even though people from those countries admit that they are getting the best knowledge from India. We are so overwhelmed by maya, however, that we disrespect and disobey our superiors, our rsis and our scriptures, and we say that our scriptures are a myth. This true history is now called mythology. We consider it unnecessary to read our scriptures, thinking them good for nothing, and we educate our little boys accordingly. In this way they are becoming atheistic.

nilakasera kauna khane, porira sab korche khela parijate phul bone
mithya aulik kalpana. kam-dhenu svarna lata chalanaya bhulbo na.

"In which part of the blue sky are the angels playing? In the forest of parijata flowers. This is untrue and imaginary. 'There are wish-fulfilling cows and golden vines ' I will never forget these cheating statements."

One Bengali lady poet named Man Kumari, said: "That there are angels in the blue sky is completely false. In what part of the sky are they present? It is said that they are playing there, but this is false. We have not seen them with our eyes; therefore they are not present." Her thinking is like this: "I am blind. I have no power to see, and therefore everybody is blind." She concludes that angels do not exist. She says, nilakasera kauna khane, porira sab korche khela. "In which part of the sky are they playing?" Parijata phul bone, "They are playing in the forest of parijata flowers. This is all false and imaginary; it is not true." Kam-dhenu svarna lata "Wish-fulfilling cows and golden vines? These statements are false."

Regarding the kama-dhenu, a wish-fulfilling cow, a description is given in the Mahabharata about a fight to secure that kama-dhenu from the father of Parasurama and Jamu. But Man Kumari says they are all false and that our scriptures are full of false explanations and statements. Such education is imparted to our boys, and so they have no regard for our sastras. She says, "There is no svarna lata the creepers are not made of gold."

In Vrndavana the plants are called kalpataru. Whatever you want from them, they can give. They say this is false. The earth and the sand of Vrndavana is made of precious gems, cintamani. Whatever you pray to them for, they can bestow. The water of Vrndavana is amrta, nectar. If you drink it, you will not die, you will never again take birth from a womb. Such are the statements about Vrndavana. But because we cannot perceive these realities with our senses, we conclude they are false and can never be true. Can a seven-year-old boy lift Govardhana hill? We think it is a falsehood. Because we are overpowered by maya, we do not know who Krsna is. We think that because we cannot perceive God with our eyes and other senses He is shapeless. Such is our thinking.

In the Upanisads it is stated:

yato va imani bhutani jayante yena jatani jivanti
yat prayanty abhisam-visanti tad brahma tad vijijnasasva

"You should understand brahma to be He from whom all living beings are born, by whose help they live and progress throughout life, and in whom they again enter." (Taittiriya Upanisad 3.1)

This is a description and definition of brahma. All these creations, animals and beasts are created out of brahma. In this creation, of which He is the creator, we see that human beings and other beings have a shape. How, then, is it possible for God to have no shape? That a child, a son, has a shape proves that his father and mother have shape. Unless they have shape, the child could not have shape. Mustard oil comes by pressing mustard seeds. This proves that mustard seeds contain mustard oil. If you press rubbish no oil will come out, because the potency to produce oil is not present in that rubbish. That everything comes from brahma and that there are various shapes in this creation, proves that all shapes are present in the Creator.

This is not only accepted in our sanatana-dharma, but in every dharma, as in the Christian religion. The Bible says: "God created man in His own image." What does this mean? Your form is not shapeless. In Christianity there are two schools of thought. One admits God has a shape, and the other does not. This is also stated in the Muslim religion where we see that there are also two differing views. Their scripture says, ina allaha khalaka main surat hi. "Allah created human beings in His own image."

Therefore, God is not shapeless. He has shape. Furthermore, He has every shape perceivable by our senses. He is omnipotent, the possessor of all power. We cannot imagine the extent of His power. We could never imagine a seven-year-old boy being able to lift Govardhana Hill. Only Krsna can do this. He also killed the demon Putana, whose breasts were smeared with poison. Krsna sucked and Putana died. But if we had sucked her breasts, we would have died. Putana had killed so many children in this way and she wanted to kill Krsna like this, also. But Krsna is not like other babies. He is the Creator, the source of all creation, but Putana could not understand this. If Krsna appears before us like an ordinary boy, we will not recognise Him as the Supreme Lord, the Almighty, because our senses cannot understand Him.

How, then, can He be understood? Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet, "To learn that transcendental subject matter, one must approach a spiritual master." (Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12)

Dhruva went to the forest and cried, "O Madhusudana, come to me and fulfill my desire. I want to sit on my father's throne." To attain this, he gave up everything, even eating. With much endeavor he performed great austerities. Although Narayana was satisfied with Dhruva, He could not appear before him. He called his son Narada and said, "Narada, go and see how Dhruva is suffering."

Why did Narayana Himself not go to him? Narada could have said, "You go; he is calling You", but instead he went personally to Dhruva. Why was it necessary for Narada to go to Dhruva when Dhruva was actually calling for Narayana?

The reason is that if Narayana had gone to Dhruva, he would not be able to understand who He was. To enable him to understand, Narada was sent there as that Divine Master, that agent of God's purpose, Gurudeva, who can bestow all knowledge about the reality of God. Unless and until we accept that agent, we cannot know and understand Sri Krsna, nor can we have ruci for Him.

premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti
yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam
govindam adi-puru am tam aham bhaj mi

"I perform bhajana of the primeval purusa, Sri Govinda, who is Syamasundara Krsna. His form has inconceivably unique qualities, and His suddha-bhaktas perpetually see Him in their hearts with the eye of devotion anointed with the salve of love. (Brahma-samhita 5.38)

With these material eyes He is not visible. But the eyes must be smeared with that anjana, or salve. That salve is called prema. Therefore, devotional eyes are necessary. The highest stage of devotion is called prema. That sum of all knowledge is known through the subject matter of prema. Unless and until we apply that premanjana, it is not possible to know Him, to love Him or to get a sweet taste, ruci, for Him.

This prema, however, is not easily attained. We have to progress through different stages.

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-
sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat
tato nistha rucis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas
tatah premabhyudancati
sadhakanam ayam premnah
pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service.

By executing devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material attachment, he attains steadiness in self-realization, and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. This taste leads one further forward to have attachment for Krsna consciousness, which is matured in bhava, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love for Krsna. Real love for Krsna is called prema, the highest perfectional stage of life." (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.4.15-16)

Since many stages are there, one must graduate from many classes. The first is sraddha. What is sraddha?

sraddha'-sabde--visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is confident, firm faith that by rendering transcendental loving service to Krsna, one automatically performs all subsidiary activities. Such faith is favorable to the discharge of devotional service." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 22.62)

If one serves Krsna, all will be served. But we do not even believe in the very first stage. We think, "What is the value of serving Krsna in the temple when there are human beings suffering due to lack of food and clothing? What is the need of pouring milk on Govardhana Hill? Daily so much milk goes down the drain; there is such a waste of food. What is the necessity of pouring ghee on the fire? Why waste so many flowers? All these things are useless. If we offered them to the poor, it would be more practical." This is the thinking of people who have no faith, no sraddha. But such thinking has no value. Krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya, "by serving Krsna, everyone is served." Tasmin tuste jagat tustah, "When one pleases Him, everyone is pleased." But nowadays one prefers to give pleasure to the poor instead of giving pleasure to God. Their thinking is opposite to this conclusion of sastra, as is the doctrine they preach.

These ideas also prevail in the political sphere. People are thinking, "It is not necessary to worship God and there is no need of our religion. There is no God." It is a godless society. If we ask them where this phenomenal world comes from, they answer, "From nature". But when we ask, "Where, then, does nature come from?" there is silence. However, Krsna has said: mama yonir mahad-brahma tasmin garbham dadamy aham. "My prakrti, or material nature, is the womb which I impregnate with the jivas." (Bhagavad-gita 14.3)

bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna prakrtir astadha

"My material external energy has eight divisions: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego." (Bhagavad-gita 7.4)

apareyam itas tv anyam
prakrtim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho
yayedam dharyate jagat

"O Maha-baho, you should know that my external energy, which consists of eight divisions, is inferior. There is another potency of mine known as the jiva-svarupa, which is superior and which accepts this material world for the purpose of enjoying the fruits of karma." (Bhagavad-gita 7.5)

Krsna says, "Everything has been created by Me."

pitaham asya jagato
mata dhata pitamahah
vedyam pavitram omkara
rk sama yajur eva ca

"I am the mother, the father, the maintainer and the grandsire of the universe. I am the object of knowledge and the purifier. I am the syllable om. I am also the Rg, Sama and Yajur Vedas." (Bhagavad-gita 9.17)

sarva-yonisu kaunteya
murtayah sambhavanti yah
tasam brahma mahad yonir
aham bija-pradah pita

"O Kaunteya, the mahad brahma, great material nature, is the mother from whose womb all species of life are born, and I am the seed-giving father." (Bhagavad-gita 14.4)

Everything is created by Him. Pita He is the father of all beings. By serving Him, everything connected with Him is satisfied. Everything has a connection with Him. He is the shelter of all. Nothing can rest without His shelter. Tasmin tuste jagat tustah, "When one pleases Him, everyone is pleased."

yatha taror mula-nisecanena
trpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopasakhah
pranopaharac ca yathendriyanam
tathaiva sarvarhanam acyutejya

"By giving water to the root of a tree one satisfies its branches, twigs and leaves, and by supplying food to the stomach one satisfies all the senses of the body. Similarly, by engaging in the transcendental service of the Supreme Lord one automatically satisfies all the demigods and all other living entities." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.31.14)

By watering the root of a tree, every part of the tree will be served. The root will distribute water to every part of the tree, according to its necessity. Our senses are functioning: our eyes are seeing, our ears are hearing, our hands are working, etc. What should we do to nourish them? Should we feed them separately by giving some butter and bread to the eyes and ears? No. That is not the proper process. Through the mouth we supply the stomach with food and the stomach distributes it throughout the body as necessary. Tathaiva sarvarhanam acyutejya, "In the same way, only by worshipping Sri Bhagavan is everyone worshipped."

I will serve Acyuta, who is the root. By serving the root everyone is served. This is stated in the Vedas and Puranas. We endeavour to serve everyone with our hearts and souls, but the result is opposite to what we expect. The more we try, the more opposite is the result. We think that by such service we will become increasingly happy, but instead we become more unhappy. Why? Because the process is wrong.

In ancient days everyone worshipped God. Everyone tried to satisfy Him by their actions. But nowadays everyone thinks: "It is unnecessary to serve God. Instead serving of God, we should worship and satisfy the depressed and the poor." We are now pursuing such thought, but Krsna says: "If you love Me, everyone will be served." This is the teaching of sastra.

avajananti mam mudha
manusim tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-mahesvaram

"When I appear in My human-like form, foolish people with mundane intelligence disrespect me, because they cannot comprehend My nature as the Supreme Lord of all beings." (Bhagavad-gita 9.11)

This is the statement of Krsna. Avajananti mudha. "Those who are overwhelmed by maya have no proper knowledge. They regard Me as a mere man." "Krsna is a cowherd boy," they think. They do not know who He is. Sri Krsna says, "What of them, even Brahma could not understand Me. In My lila in Vraja, Brahma saw Me with the cowboys and thought,'This is My creation. I created Nanda Maharaja, and Krsna is his son.'" Later, Krsna revealed Himself to Brahma, and upon receiving such mercy Brahma prayed:

sri-brahmovaca
naumidya te 'bhra-vapuse tadid-ambaraya
gunjavatamsa-paripiccha-lasan-mukhaya
vanya-sraje kavala-vetra-visana-venu-
laksma-sriye mrdu-pade pasupangajaya

"Lord Brahma said: "My dear Lord, You are the only worshipable Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore I offer my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. O son of the king of the cowherds, Your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud, Your garment is brilliant like lightning, and the beauty of Your face is enhanced by Your gunja earrings and the peacock feather on Your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn and a flute, You stand beautifully with a morsel of food in Your hand." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.1)

"O Lord You are worshipped by everybody. You are my worshipable object. I am not worshiped by You." Uncountable times Brahmaji became perplexed before Krsna. This place where Brahmaji became bewildered is still present in Vrndavana and we shall go there. This pastime is not a myth, although our schools and colleges teach that it is. It is in fact the truth. This sort of education destroys our faith and should be revised and replaced with the traditional method of the olden days. We should not give up the education of our ancient Vedas and Puranas.

Now we receive education according to Western teachings: "Eat, drink and be merry". We think that if we dress in a coat and in trousers and speak English, we will be a high-class man. New ideas are introduced: "Why should we control marriages? Marriage should be performed anywhere and with anyone we like." Everything has been destroyed and European and Western styles have been introduced. And we say: "See, we are like you, we are following you. We have become so free, we have become your slaves."

This tendency not to submit to and learn our Vedic knowledge and culture, is the main reason why we do not have sraddha and thus why we do not in turn develop a liking for Krsna. This should be considered. Hare Krsna.

lecture delivered at Sri Kesavaji Gaudiya Matha in Mathura, October 1996 by Srila Bhaktivedanta Trivikrama Maharaja