© 1999 VNN
|
EDITORIAL May 14, 1999 VNN3867 See Related VNN Stories Whence We Came BY TARUN KRSNA DAS EDITORIAL, May 14 (VNN) — My godbrother Bhaktyaloka Paramadvaiti Mhrj and I do have our differences. He has accepted the sannyas vow twice. I have vowed not to take sannyas twice. Nearly thrice. He prefers flying, I prefer peddling. He prefers trying, I prefer meddling. He does, I doze. In many ways, we do differ. But so far tattva is concerned, he has recently composed and submitted an article entitled: The Origin of the Jiva, which we all should examine carefully, nay scrutinizingly. 80% of this paper is actually a quote from our param-guru, Srila Sarasvati Thakur. His book Brahmana and Vaisnava has been recently reprinted. The section entitled: Harijana Khanda, Chapter 2, page 86 contains the quote directly dealing with Jiva-tattva. The founder-acharya of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupad knew he was dealing with disciples on so many different levels. If we randomly select several of his statements it sometimes may appear he's giving us contrary or ambiguous instructions. For example, circa 1971-72 in LA, Srila Prabhupada was describing the voracious tongue. "The tongue has 2 businesses: talking and tasting. So if we can control our tongue by simply talking Hare Krsna and tasting Krsna's Prasadam we are guaranteed to go back home, Back to Godhead. A short time after he told us: "When you are ready to give up eating and sleeping, then you can come to live with me in Vrndavan!" According to the level of the audience, naturally Srila Prabhupada would say different things just appropriate for that particular time and circumstance. Srila Prabhupada told Brahmananda to eat more. Later on, he told that self-same Brahmananda to eat less. Brahmananda protested. Before you told me to eat more; now you advise me to eat less. Srila Prabhupada said: you believed me then, believe me now. Similarly, Srila Prabhupada described jiva-tattva according to the hearers present. The patitavadis, fall-vadis like to cite one letter from Srila Prabhupada to Madhudvisa. If we dare to cite not only the first paragraph but rather carefully examine the entire Madhudvisa letter we see clearly how Srila Prabhupada totally supports what his gurudev writes in Brahmana and Vaisnava, this recently reprinted book. And, of course, in his last major rendition, Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi-lila, wherein Srila Prabhupada reveals Krsnadas Kaviraj's masterpiece to the English speaking world, he clearly translates and states that we all, we jivas all are generated from tatastha sakti, not from Vaikuntha nor Vrndavan. Some say it doesn't matter: it's not where you come from; its where you're going that counts. Such superficial statements deserve demolition. If I plan to go to where I came from, an infallible plane, how could I have fallen from that infallible plane in the first place? (in fall ible)(not able to fall) In some faulty state of mind? If so, how was that faulty state of mind allowed endurance there? Where did my bad ideas come from? asat-sanga? New kids on the cintamani block? Are there bad neighborhoods up there? Goloka ghettos? Spiritual slums? Sankirtan shantytowns? If it doesn't pan out, why dig there? Why invest? No gold. Only mica schist, fool's gold. Seek your fortune elsewhere. In his famous song Hari Hari Viphale, our bonafide acharya Srila Narottam das Thakur has written: golokera prema-dhana harinama sankirtana. The Holy Name has descended from Goloka Vrndavan. If Goloka is whence jivas fall, doesn't that make the Maha-Mantra fallible as well? In which case what's the use of chanting It? it? (It- infallible, it- fallible) Patitavad is just another misconception carried by uninformed devotees unable to accept the wholistically infallible transcendental nature of Krsna and His Abode. avajananti mam mudha Fools deride Me when I descend manusim tanum asritam in human form. They do not know param bhavam ajananto My transcendental nature and mamabhuta mahesvaram Supreme dominion over all. param brahma param dhama Krsna and His Abode are both pavitram paramam bhavan param. (Gita 9.11, 10.12) Furthermore, just the idea of cowherd boys and cowherd girls blooping, every so often dropping out of service to Baladev and Radhika, like some delinquent high school thugs: what misconceived idea could possibly be more offensive and erroneous than that? This wreaks of some innate imperfection and debility within yogamaya herself and within those under her influence all along, the whole time they resided, reside and/or shall reside there. By definition this means they were never perfect, ergo they were never there in the first place. Back to square one. Like the famous baseball skit by Abbott and Costello, Who's on First? Who's on First, What's on Second and I Don't Know is on Third. I don't know, Third base. I don't know, Third base. Third base represents where we came from. The false guru doesn't know. Thus Abbott says, I don't know, over and over again, until we believe his lack of knowledge, I don't know, to be the knowledge itself!!! Bud Abbott represents the ecclesiastical guru who doesn't know tattva. Bud is short for baddha, nitya baddha, eternally conditioned. Abbott means Abbot, the head of a monastery, an ecclesiastical guru rejected by Srila Jiva Gosvami and Srila Prabhupad in Adi-lila. Lou Costello represents the aspiring disciple, sisya, submissively inquiring from the straight man, the blind man, the eternally conditioned guru, Bud, baddha-jiva, conditioned just like himself. Prabhupad said: If the blind lead the blind, they all fall into a ditch. Bud claims to be ksetrajna, the knower of the field, in this case the baseball field made up of 9 players. His 9 answers to Lou's 9 questions are hilariously absurd. This is precisely the level of logic employed by the fall-vadis, patitavadis. Does Sri Krsna have Sri Baladev and Srimati Radhika take periodic inventory? "Hey Baladev, hey Radhika, how many blooped this week? this month? 500? 5000? Take a head count. Or make that a lotus feet count. Then divide by two." (no amputees up there) "But if they have already blooped, then are their feet still lotus? Or locust? Or lupus? Or just plain lost? Quick. Make separate columns for each category." (Haha heehee hoho) Those who still imagine that jivas fall from Vaikuntha or Vrndavan must also imagine such inventory-type conversations taking place between Sri Baladev, Sri Krsna and Srimati Radhika. Those who passed this 1995 GBC resolution declaring the jiva to have fallen from Vaikuntha or Vrndavan are comparable to Doctor Frog. "Is the Ocean of Devotion (bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu) evaporable and pollutable like my salty ocean? Is it 2 times, 3 times, 4 times as large?" atmavat manyate jagat. Kundali and SatyaNarayan were given a bum rap. Their book: "In Vaikuntha Not Even the Leaves Fall", displays sastric quotes at every step. Nevertheless, instead of accepting the proper siddhanta, one year later the GBC came out with OOPS = Our Original Position. No wonder why both Kundali and SatyaNarayan left. Prabhupad said: 'tis folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss.' Oops is what we say when we make a mistake. Oops is also the title of a famous Bill Cosby skit on his 1966 album: I Started Out as a Child. Wherever and whenever we accept oops as siddhanta, what could be more obvious? The contents of OOPS we shall deal with in another essay. For now, suffice it to say the book's acronym, OOPS, speaks for itself. In summary, thinking Vaikuntha and Vrndavan to be penetrable by maha-maya causes the whole philosophy to cave in. Fallible soldiers up there also. Much too much crass calculation coupled with insipid intelligence. Here's an easy to accept remedy: reading our grandpa's words in his newly reprinted book: Brahmana and Vaisnava. Thank you. ys, TKdas ps: In the future please do not put Srila Prabhupad's picture on the cover of any illogical book like OOPS. Put your own picture there. This way we know whom to hold accountable for the content. May we suggest a four-in-one photo, size places or seated, as you wish. pps: Here is my personal email: torndas@yahoo.com Just in case any of you 4, 3 years later, still claim to believe in anything you wrote on any single page of your Abbott and Costello level book entitled OOPS. See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this story | Contact VNN about this story | Send this story to a friend
NEWS DESK | EDITORIALS | TOP |
