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EDITORIAL September 28, 1999 VNN4815 Comment on this story Secretary Or Secret-Ari? BY TARUN KRSNA DAS EDITORIAL, Sep 28 (VNN) — Sanskrit argot is so nice, so complete, the most perfect language. Its words and message ring true, even today, whether we notice or not. A bonafide guru's secretary may be loyal and pure; we certainly hope so. Or he may turn out to be a secret-ari or sacred-ari, enemy of that which is private and sacred. We've seen examples of both. Each jivatma has minute independence, freewill, so only time can tell. Notwithstanding the norm, in this case, I hope Sanskrit, the wellspring of all mother tongues, may herein mercifully make an exception. (not ring true) We have all heard the expression, "We Agree to Disagree." That's when 2 or more devotees agree to live together or share a friendship or business partnership although they have very different points of view. But here we have a case of just the opposite, "We Disagree to Agree." How to understand this? In his VNN article #4625 dated 31Aug 99, one bonafide guru's secretary has written "Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj On Gayatri." The secretary has failed to include his name. His article is self-contradictory at a glance, so I can't blame him. If I contradicted myself in the name of my guru, I wouldn't attach my name to such an article either. That much we DO agree on. The masked secretary has written, "Apropos the Editorial at Aug 15(VNN) by Tarun Das Krishna Das... The name Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupad gave me is Tarun Krsna das. Retorting, the sannyas name should not be split. Its not Bhakti Ballabh, its Bhaktivallabha. Ballabh is neither Banglabhasa-sabda nor Panjabi, its Sanskrit. This 'splitting' by sisyas is symptomatic of something we'll go into in greater detail in a future essay. In addition, if the last syllable's last consonant is aspirated, as in bha, the final short 'a' should be included. The undercover secretary claims that by entitling my essay COUNTERFEIT KRSNA, COUNTERFEIT FLUTE, I was implying tacit approval by his guru. I, Tarun, was NOT implying tacit approval by anyone. Nothing of the sort! I was simply quoting, repeating what His Divine grace said to me and others present several times. That's all. Naturally, I, Tarun Krsna das, take full responsibility for every word in whatever essay I write. The unknown secretary or secret-ari was not present when the following verbal exchange took place. He was busy serving his guru elsewhere within the same edifice. He was not privy to this talk. Nevertheless, such expression was made. Here's how. While exiting his room into the kitchen, I approached His Divine Grace with a statement meant to lead into a question. No sooner did I begin to say to His Divine Grace Bhaktivallabha Tirtha Mhrj "There is a new book just released in which the Gayatri mantras are printed and explained for all to see" than His Divine Grace interrupted me clearly saying to all present, "It is counterfeit." With reference to any such book, His Divine Grace proceeded to use the word "COUNTERFEIT" 6 times, even explaining the meaning of the word "COUNTERFEIT" to us with a federal monetary example within a span of 137 seconds. 6 times within 137 seconds! I could easily count the seconds because there was a clock atop the refrigerator just 2 meters away. Anyway, who's going to believe me? I'm just a vagabond roaming the streets of Utopia, Queens performing library madhukari. Better you read the last 3 of 7 paragraphs of the phantom secretary's story yourself below... 5) "The view of His Divine Grace is merely reiterative of what has been laid down by scriptural injunction and by most revered Vaisnavas, which is to say that the Gayatri mantra is not meant for general dissemination but is restricted and regulated within initiated devotees ONLY. 6) "Furthermore, true religious sanction accords only when the MANTRA is given by a lay BONAFIDE GURU to disciple in accordance with the preceptorial channel. 7) "The foregoing presents the classical view as mandated by most Revered Om Vishnupad Nityalila Pravishta Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Thakur Prabhupad, which also simultaneously places restriction to impartation of Brahma Gayatri even amongst initiates." Perfect ending. Gran Finale, grandest finale if I ever heard or read one. Anything contrary to paragraph 6, that is, "when the MANTRA not given by BONAFIDE GURU to disciple", immediately falls into the category of... that word Gurudev repeated 6 times in 137 seconds, 6 times until we got it clear. This is exactly, precisely what I was trying to convey in my 2 articles, but His Divine Grace has done it with fewer words, id est, far superior succinctness and eloquence. Actually, Srila Gurudev said it all in one word. One word. Terse to the 'T'. Far be it from me to compete with His Divine Grace. Please DO examine these last 3 paragraphs carefully. Next, refer back to the first. Compare. Is this not a pristine instance of disagreeing only to later on agree? Muffling Gurudev's words is not appurtenant to being his confidant. Secretary or Secret-ari? Next time exercise more caution. Here, His Divine Grace is being extremely polite. The sadhu may at times be polite, so as not to disturb. But the sadhu's real business entails cutting to pieces as quickly as possibly our labyrinthine knots of ignorance and misconceptions. His Divine Grace certainly did this when he employed the word COUNTERFEIT with reference to the unrestricted, unregulated dissemination of said book. COUNTERFEIT. 6 times in 137 seconds. This is the meaning of sadhusanga, I vigorously recommend this pure vaisnava's sanga to you all. ps This book is very beautifully printed and filled with much divine nectar, but its distribution must be inflexibly limited by my dear sannyasi godbrothers at Gosai publishers, as per the order of our most revered Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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