01/26/98 - 1536

Letter to Prahladananda Swami

USA (VNN) - by Upananda dasa (see also VNN stories # 1512, 1527, 1532)

I feel obliged to write a reply to the letter of His Holiness Prahladananda Swami as I am taking siksha from Srila Narayana Maharaja since about one year and have never felt any loss of Krishna consciousness or danger of becoming sahajiya. But one thing is there which I must admit I never felt in my whole career of Krishna consciousness which is a very warm ecstatic wave of ecstasy which overwhelms the whole body as if almost falling in ‘love’ again. The principle reason that these sort of feelings appeared after the dissappearance of my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, I beleieve is that my heart was not sufficiently purified. Srila Prabhupada set me on the path of bhakti which obviously for me meant alot of vidhi or regulative adherence. I do not really wish to express openly but as this whole instigation against Narayana Maharaja has upset my person more than anything, excepting the strange departure of His Divine Grace Gour Govinda Maharaja I will say openly what I feel.

In fact, it was in the precence of HDG Gour Govinda Maharaja that I first developed this emotional level of Krishna consciusness which had never been there before. I had spent years chanting and reading but rarely identified with any devotee in ecstatic love and it is not that I now identify myself as one such devotee but it seems that Shree Krishna is giving me something more than just knowing that Krishna consciousness is the absolute truth , beyond anything else even close to the truth. In fact, it is my opinion that HDG Gour Govinda Swami came to bring devotees up a little higher. ( I can hear the protests now,” What do you mean, Srila Prabhupada gave us everything! There is nothing higher than Srila Prabhupada!”)

Srila Prabhupada said, “ The initiating and instructing spiritual masters are equal and identical manifestations of Krishna, although they have different (my italics) dealings.”CC A1.34. I felt that Srila Prabhupada was helping me further on the path of bhakti through HDG Gour Govinda Maharaja and indeed I could see how my devotional service took a dip after Srila Prabhupada had left. Externally I was going all over the world, Africa (8 years), Japan, China, Fiji, Australia, India and parts in-between distributing books and the holy name, but internally there was a lull I believe in advancement, at least as far as I could detect. During those years of separation from Srila Prabhupada many of my god-brothers slipped
into oblivion or fell flat. It was Srila Prabhupada himself who said he was traveling around the world consistently just to insure the faith of his disciples and see that they did not fall down. Recently my vartma-pradarshaka guru, Upendra dasa, left his body . He was such an inspiration for me and many others and yet when I talked to him on the phone aroung 1988 he that that, he had come, “full circle”, meaning that wherever he was when he had first come to Srila Prabhupada he was back there again. Of course, many others remained strict to the principles and faithful to Srila Prabhupada as their one guru but I felt that their avoidance of other very senior Vaisnavas such as HDG Gour Govinda , for instance, was something like living in the forest and not able to see the trees. Some of them had vast knowledge of Sanskrit and a wealth of knowledge and yet why they never saw anything in Gour Govinda Swami who in my opinion was a link or another step towards raganuga or prema.

Now, the question of raganuga seems to conjur up more unfavorable opinions than favorable and yet this is exactly what Krishna das Kaviraja expressed as the purpose of the Lord. rasa AsvAdite Ami kaile avatarA, prema-rAsa AsvAdiba vividha prakAra, “ I have appeared in this world to teach mellows. I shall taste the mellows of pure love in various ways.” Again Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, rAga-mArga bhakta-bhakti dare ye prakAre tAhA SikhAiba lila-Acarana-dvAre, “I shall teach devotional service, which springs from spontaneous love of the devotees by demonstating it myself with My pastimes.” CC A4.264-5

We remember Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gour Govinda telling us how Krishna Bhagavan asked that we , the conditioned souls, surrender unto Him and yet to give an example and to set the absolute standard, He took the role of a devotee of Himself. There is also another deep internal reason which was brought out by HDG Gour Govinda which can be read in his book, Embankment of Separation, but principally the Lord taught us by example and precept as His devotee, Gouranga Mahaprabhu. The preaching of Krishna-sankirtana was augmented at the same time ( with one act the Lord accomplishes many purposes).

In the same chapter of the CC Adi Lila Srila Prabhupada comments, “ Lord Chaitanya is Sri Krishna Himself, the absolute enjoyer of the love of the gopis. He assumes the role of a gopi to taste the predominated happiness of transcendental mellows. He appeared in that mode, but simultanieously He propagated the religious process for this age in a most facinating way.” verse 226 purport.

We know the Lord says in the last chapter of the Bhagavad-gita that there is no devotee more dear than he who preaches His glories , but at the same time the sankirtana movement is external to His internal purpose. In the CC again , same chapter four, verse 102 it is stated avataI prabhu pracArila sankirtana eho bAhiya hetu, pUrve kariyAchi sUcana, “The Lord came to propaagate sankirtana. That is the external purpose as I have already indicated. í

These different purposes clash if the real secret is not known of the Lord’s descent or if unauthorized speculative inventions twist the teachings and purpose to suit materialistic tendencies. Srila Prabhupada in a purport to verse 105 says that Swarupa Damodhara who is in reality Lalita devi knew the inner purpose of the Lord and “by his grace only all the devotees of Lord Chaitanya could know the real purpose of the Lord.

Indeed we should aspire for the rati or prema that Lord Chaitanya felt for Krishna. We cannot ever immitate the Lord but the greed for such is the only qualification for ragamarga. By hearing such topics from devotees on that exalted plane such hankering for it can quickly develope and if we do not deveope it then really how can we give it to others ??? When Srila Prabhupada was asked how we could please him, he remarked in one conversation that if we just love Krishna he would be pleased with us. He wanted one such moon more than anything else. Are we to avoid any such topics of rasa like a disease of meningitus when we are all supposed to get there ultimately. Viswanatha Chakrabharti explains very nicely in his Madhurya kadambini the superiority of prema achieved by ragamarga and not that such a path disregards the principles of practical devtional service. Raghunatha Dasa was so strict in his principles, bowing down so many times a day and chanting so much a day and yet he is our prayojana acharya. He demonstrated and preached the glories of Radha and Radhakunda.

If Srila Prabhupada had been with us throughout would he not have nutured our Krishna consciousness more and more. Can he not now from Goloka work through other such elevated devotees to help us and Srila Narayana Maharaja indicated to him in their last meeting? Our vaidhi bhakti is meant to elevate us to taste the mellows of Radha and Krishna’s love affairs. Isn’t that what it is all about? The world loves these stupid ‘soap operas’ and tabloid stories of the lusty affairs of men and women, so it is a natural habit but perverted. We are all meant for relishing conjugal affairs at a certain stage and we should know that and that will make our preaching real and powerful because we actually know what we are talking about although there is cetainly merit in repeating what realized souls have said.

Srila Prabhupada says, “Neophytes will be able to understand these affairs only after being elevated by regulated devotional service under the expert guidance of the spiritual master. Then they too will be competent to hear of the ove affairs of Radha and Krishna.(underlining mine). “ and then, “By understanding the conjugal love of Radha and Krishna one is freed from the grip of attraction to material so-called love of a man and a woman.”CC A 4.35 purport.

So , although it is true that Lord Chaitanya came to preach sankirtana it was not His real mission as Kaviraja Goswami states in verses four and five of chapter four, CC,” prema-nAma pracArita ei avatAra- The Lord descends to propagate the chanting of the holy names and spread love of God.” satya ei hetu, kintu eho bahiranga Ara eka hetu, Suna, Achhe antaraNga- “Although true, this is but the external reason for the Lord’s incarnation.”

In the purport to verse 16 of the same chapter our lord and master, Srila Prabhupada states, “ In this regard exchanges of mellows are called rAga-bhakti or devotional service to the Lord in transcendental rapture. Lord Shi Krishna wants to make known to all the conditioned souls that He is more attracted by rAga-bhakti than vidhi-bhakti or devotional service under scheduled regulations.”

There are so many reference to conjugal rasa in our books and to think that bhakti devi is going to knock on our door and tell us its time to go ahead and hear about the love affairs of Radha and Krishna is a little presumptuous. That desire or hankering should sprout if our chanting is going on nicely year after year.

Although all of the Lord’s pastimes are sweet and nectarine Viswanatha Chakrabharti says in his SArArtha DarSini:” This rasa-lila, being fully imbued with madhura rasa, is eminently distinguished even from the Lord’s other pastimes. Like a jewel, a mantra or a powerful medicine, this rAsa-lla is endowed with such indisputable, astonishing potency that be hearing it, all persons in the human form become devoted to the Supreme Lord. Therefore, all varieties of devotees who hear th descriptions of these pastimes will become successful and obtain supreme pleasure.” By hearing properly with great faith and devotion from the right source, not even in the mind imitating such exalted sport one can destroy the evil of lust, hrd-roga.

If we decide to wait until all anarthas are gone while still possessing good faith then we may well be depriving ourselves of the tons of literature compiled by the Goswamis, Visvanatha Chakrabharti and Bhaktivinode Thakur. We may as well join other sampradayas who do not take part in the glory of Lord Chaitanya’s real mission. In the Madhya Lila, 8.70 greed or laulyam is priased over any pious activities posted for millions of births. If greed is not there, no amount of vaidhi bhakti can guarantee its arrival.

We can continue our mission of Krishna consciousness perfectly by merging the two fileds of raga and vaidhi. The practises are basically the same for both. Not everyone will want to hear from rasika vaisnavas. That is alright. But it should not be legislated that no one can go hear from anyone who is a bona fide representative of Lord Chaitanya. Srila Narayana Maharaja remarked in Australia that at least those who are hearing should hear from a madhyam-adhikari whose is free from anarthas although we all know by now that uttama-adhikaris are best.

I think if some broadminded souls could show the others that in time our Krishna consciousness must contain both groups of devotees then we can reunite under one flag so to speak. No one wants the preaching to stop in either camp, but neither do we want vidhi bhakti to the exclusion of raga-bhakti, if we understand the meaning of the Lord’s descent as Gauravatar. If a person of the stature of Narayana Maharaja is without a doubt sahajiya then it would without a doubt show up in his life. We saw how many of our Iskcon gurus preached boldly and yet because their minds were polluted with mundane sex desire the cover of preaching and holier-than-thou faded into oblivion. Maharaja’s word and example are there for everyone to see for the last 77 years. As Srila Prabhupada said in a letter to him in 1967,May,” Because in all Gaudiya mathas I think you are the real guru-sevaka”

We do not have to leave Iskcon for any reason or ban devotees for going outside to get what they feel is prime association as long as we are able to appreciate the saintly qualities of such Vaisnavas and allow them to preach in Srila Prabhupada’s institution for the benefit of one and all. If that day comes then there is no doubt in my mind that Kali will shake in his boots for fear of the powerful preaching that will ensue.