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EDITORIAL May 31, 1999 VNN3999 See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this story The Key To Spiritual Understanding BY AGRAHYA DAS EDITORIAL, May 31 (VNN) — Sriman Kulasekhara Prabhu raises some reasonable questions which I will try to answer here. First I will reply to certain of the questions, then support my statements with shastric quotations and logic. I would like to offer this in the mood of creating understanding and harmony, and pray that neither Kulasekhara Prabhu nor any other sincere follower of Srila Prabhupada take offense from my words. I will begin by reiterating a point Srila Narayana Maharaja has often made in his preaching. He has made it his mission not to recruit new followers or establish a new mission, but to specifically help disciples and followers of Srila Prabhupada, as personally requested by Srila Prabhupada during his final pastimes. Thus we often find Srila Narayana Maharaja making the point that everything, all the deep siddhantas, even the highest confidential understandings, are in Srila Prabhupada's books. They are like treasure chests full of transcendental gems, but one needs the proper key to unlock them. That key is the association of unalloyed devotees who are cognizant of rasa, those who are more advanced than us. This is a very important point I will elaborate on later. First Kulasekhara Prabhu has asked, "Don't Srila Prabhupada's purports, lectures, etc. accomplish this [revealing the meaning of the book Bhagavata]?" Most certainly they do this. Our previous acaryas have also written books, albeit not in English, which reveal the meaning of the book Bhagavata. Despite all this, Srila Prabhupada emphasized, and Srila Rupa Goswami emphasized, that we should regularly hear the deep meanings of each verse of the Bhagavatam in the association of pure devotees. Srila Prabhupada's books have a special quality for us in that he specifically wrote them for us to read and carefully understand. But he also wanted us to remain in the association of pure devotees, and he wanted us to regularly come to hear from him directly, at least once a year. Unfortunately, this latter instruction was often contraverted or subverted, and "remain in the association of pure devotees" was converted to "remain only in this institution." Srila Prabhupada's statement "Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate after my departure" was translated to "Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate to keep this institution together." But here I refer to Srila Prabhupada's instructions as he gave them, especially in his books, not as others have modified them both before and after his entrance into Krishna's nitya-lila. Then he has asked, "Didn't Srila Prabhupada teach that there is no difference between the person Bhagavata and the book Bhagavata?" I have understood from Srila Prabhupada's books that there is no difference between the two on the absolute plane. Thus "nityam bhagavata-sevaya" means both "regularly serving the book Bhagavata [by hearing it every day]" and "regularly rendering service unto the person Bhagavata." It is this second type of Bhagavata-seva that has been systematically de-emphasized. In Srila Prabhupada's final days, he wanted all of his disciples to come to him in Vrindavan, but we were instead told, "service in separation is higher." Although there is no difference on the absolute plane between the two Bhagavatas, the person Bhagavata is in one sense more accessible. By rendering service to the pure devotee, by taking the dust of the feet of the pure devotees, by taking the water that has washed their feet, by taking their remnants - both remnants of foodstuff and remnants of Hari-katha - we are able to more fully enter into the mysteries of the book Bhagavata. This is not my idea but what has been put forth by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami. Next, he sums it up, "Srila Prabhupada said "Everything is in my books", and for those who still follow Srila Prabhupada's instructions, he is still very much with them. So I am confused as to what Srila Narayan Maharaj is indicating in his statement." This brings us to the question of how we can associate with Srila Prabhupada, and on what level. I was always taught that of the two, vani and vapuh, vani is more essential. This is true in the sense that one may be physically close to one's guru without imbibing the essence of his instructions. Yet the example that was given to me by my leaders was that of vani being like dal and capatis, and vapuh being like sweets. Perhaps Srila Prabhupada himself gave this example or perhaps someone else gave it, but I have found a fuller understanding in Srila Prabhupada's books. Specifically he says that the association of pure devotees is essential, and that if there is no opportunity to get such association and guidance, one should serve the instructions of the spiritual master. (Purport Adi 1.34-35 "vande gurun isa-bhaktan...") There is also the question of what is vani. One devotee said recently "we don't care about shastra, Srila Prabhupada has given us the siddhanta." I claim that if we have not realized the conclusions, we cannot say we have gotten the siddhanta from Srila Prabhupada's books. Certainly we will realize some things, but can we say that we are now professors just because we are able to repeat statements from Srila Prabhupada's books? I don't think so. Therefore we can say that vani is something more than the words spoken by our Gurudeva - vani itself has form, which are the printed and spoken words and even actions, but vani has substance as well. Without taking the essence, the sum and substance, of Srila Prabhupada's vani we cannot in any but a limited sense say that we are associating with his vani. It is not a cheap thing. There are certainly examples of acaryas in our line who have gotten association of others. Who will question that Srila Krishnadas Kaviraja received guidance directly from Nityananda Prabhu Himself? Or that Bilvamangala Thakur's siksa-guru was Krishna Himself? But who among us is a liberated soul like Srila Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami or Lilasuka? Who can say that we are able to associate with Srila Prabhupada in the way that Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami associated with Nityananda Prabhu? We can never doubt that by associating with Srila Prabhupada and rendering him service one will achieve perfection; but it is our ability to take his association that is in doubt. Then Kulasekhara Prabhu asks "What is the difference if Srila Prabhupad's disciples associate with him from Goloka, and Narayan Maharaj's disciples associate with him from Australia, or wherever he happens to be? Is it that one has to be in the physical presence of an advanced devotee in order to get mercy and enlightenment? Does one have to have personal association of an advanced living devotee at all times?" What is discussed above, to what depth we are able to take the association of Srila Prabhupada and other nitya-siddha devotees in Goloka Vrindavan, is relevant here. There is no doubt that when I read Srila Prabhupada's books I feel his presence. When I discuss his instructions, his mission and his preaching with my Godbrothers and Godsisters I most definitely feel his presence. Most of all I feel his presence, the presence of the person I know almost exclusively from his books, in the association of Srila Narayana Maharaja. This last is my subjective evaluation, though I share it with many others. In Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's instructions on bhakti we find that we should, as far as possible, always associate intimately with pure devotees, and equally we should reject the association of materialistic persons who are opposed to bhakti. So the answer is not "one cannot get any mercy and enlightenment outside of the immediate physical presence" but we should always desire the association of pure devotees, those who are more advanced than us and who can help us. Again, we are discussing the absolute platform from our limited subjective viewpoint. Thus every disciple sees in his or her Gurudeva the direct manifestation of Krishna's mercy, and to the disciple it thus seems only natural that "all others should honor my Gurudeva in the same way." Therefore we sometimes find devotees promoting the association of a particular sadhu in an imperative way: "You must associate with my Gurudeva or you will not make any advancement!" But it is actually true according to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Rupa Goswami that we should seek out the service and instructions of one who is able to help us, one who is more advanced than us, who is expert in pure devotional service and whose heart is devoid of the propensity to criticize others. Some persons, operating according to "atmavan manyate jagat," (the whole world thinks like me) have attempted to give the impression that when Srila Narayana Maharaja is promoting the association of pure devotees he is only promoting himself. But actually Maharaja is speaking strictly according to parampara, and we can accept his instructions in a way that will be beneficial to us. Perhaps a more crucial and pointed question is this: "And why is Narayan Maharaj able to "unlock this very powerful lock and key", whereas Srila Prabhupada is not able to?" Actually no one has said Srila Prabhupada is not able to help us. The problem lies in our ability to associate with him, and to what degree we are able to benefit from his association. Is the form in which we are now able to associate with him sufficient to keep us strong? Are we finding ourselves becoming more immersed in the nectar of Krishna's name? Are we finding ourselves becoming more attached to Krishna and proportionately finding that our material attachments are decreasing? But I can also speak for myself. My association with Srila Prabhupada was exclusively through his books. Over the years I heard many wrong things, and I can only take limited credit that somehow I have maintained a focus on understanding Srila Prabhupada through his books. I have read all of his books 2 or 3 times each and have always tried very hard to understand the essence by hearing from him submissively. Despite all this I have misunderstood many things, or superficially understood other things. Hearing what Srila Narayana Maharaja is preaching I could validate it based on what I had read in Srila Prabhupada's books. In fact, I felt as if the person who had written those books was present before me and speaking to me. Having gotten some guidance from Srila Narayana Maharaja for the past two years, I can say that as I continue (with renewed enthusiasm) to study and discuss and preach from Srila Prabhupada's books, I am discovering many "gems" I had previously overlooked. Again, the point here is not that there is no value in reading Srila Prabhupada's books. It is simply that if we follow the conclusions given in those books we should not avoid the association of certain Vaishnavas based on sectarian consideration. If there is an opportunity to associate with pure devotees we should take it, and we should have great faith that because we have heard carefully from our Gurudeva Srila Prabhupada we have an excellent basis from which to judge what is right and what is not. Kulasekhara Prabhu goes on: "Another point that confused me in relation to His Grace [Sripad Narayana Maharaja] was that I understood that re-initiation was bogus and that he has re-initiated some of Srila Prabhupad's disciples. Srila Prabhupada taught us that one takes initiation from a diksa guru only once, whereas one may have many siksa gurus." I know many disciples of Srila Prabhupada who take the instructions and association of Srila Narayana Maharaja. I do not know any of them who have been "re-initiated." Srila Narayana Maharaja has sometimes, by request of individuals, given them a name in addition to an existing one. Some people have promoted this as "re-initiation" when in fact it is not. Let us consider some examples. One disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada was given the name "Bhaktisiddhanta das" after the disappearance of his guru. His name appears this way on the papers of incorporation for the League of Devotees. Later, he was known as "Bhaktivedanta Prabhu" because some Godbrothers considered it inappropriate to take the same name as the spiritual master. None of the people who clamor that "name giving equals initiation" have yet dared to claim that Abhay Caranaravinda was re-initiated when we was called Bhaktisiddhanta das, Bhaktivedanta Prabhu, or Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja (his sannyasa name). There are certainly other examples but for myself I consider this one quite adequate. I would end this topic by requesting that if there is in fact a re-initiation this should be by the account of the guru who has re-initiated someone or the disciple - not by the account of a third party with questionable motives. There is another level at which we understand the way in which many devotees have taken shelter of Srila Narayana Maharaja, and that is according to akhanda-guru-tattva. As stated in Srila Prabhupada's 1936 Vyasa-puja address in Bombay, there is no question of my guru and your guru. The bonafide guru is a manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead for the purpose of guiding the conditioned soul. When we have had the association of a bonafide spiritual master and after his departure find the association of another bonafide Vaishnava who is competent to guide us as siksa-guru, we see our spiritual master in him. Some statements by Srila Prabhupada lead me to believe that he did in fact see Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada in his sannyasa-guru, Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Maharaja. After the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada I tried very hard to see him in various personalities but had very limited success. Upon meeting Srila Narayana Maharaja I felt very strongly and without reservation, "My Gurudeva has come back for me." At the same time he is a different personality and has different individual characteristics, but I have full faith in his guidance as I have full faith in Srila Prabhupada's guidance. Again we venture into subjective appreciations of the Absolute Reality, so I will end there. I began this paper by promising support for various statements I have made. One very significant statement by Srila Prabhupada concerns siksa and diksa gurus. This is found in the purport to Adi lila chapter 1 verse 35: A devotee must have only one initiating spiritual master because in the scriptures acceptance of more than one is always forbidden. There is no limit, however, to the number of instructing spiritual masters one may accept. Generally, a spiritual master who constantly instructs a disciple in spiritual science becomes his initiating spiritual master later on. Then Srila Prabhupada goes on to speak about serving the vani or instructions of the spiritual master, specifically in his physical absence: The service of the spiritual master is essential. If there is no chance to serve the spiritual master directly, a devotee should serve him by remembering his instructions. There is no difference between the spiritual master's instructions and the spiritual master himself. In his absence, therefore, his words of direction should be the pride of the disciple. If one thinks that he is above consulting anyone else, including a spiritual master, he is at once an offender at the lotus feet of the Lord. Such an offender can never go back to Godhead. [Purport, Cc. Adi 1.35] Here are two very strong statements which need to be harmonized. Srila Prabhupada has stated in the purport to the previous verse: The initiating and instructing spiritual masters are equal and identical manifestations of Krishna, although they have different dealings. Their function is to guide the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead. In this last quotation Srila Prabhupada warns us not to think ourselves above consulting with a spiritual master. The implication is clearly that one would consult a qualified instructing spiritual master, despite having the spiritual master's instructions to follow and serve. Srila Prabhupada gave us Nectar of Devotion, a summary study of Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu by Srila Rupa Goswami. It used to be that there were regular classes on this book. As Srila Prabhupada gave us Krishna book in summary form but went back to the 10th Canto to give us a more careful treatment, so there are many fine points which can be gained by studying Srila Prabhupada's summary study (Nectar of Devotion) along with the straightforward Sanskrit of Srila Rupa Goswami and the Sanskrit commentaries of Srila Jiva Goswami and Srila Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur. I emphasize "straightforward" because the points I would like to make here are not based on subtle meanings or abstruse interpretation. They are based on direct meanings of the Sanskrit as guided by the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Narayana Maharaja. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave 5 processes of bhakti as prominent above all others: sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana mathura-vasana, sri murtira sraddhaya sevana Association of devotees, chanting the names of Sri Krishna, serving the Bhagavatam, residing in Mathura-mandala, and serving the Sri-vigraha Deity form of the Lord with great faith. Srila Rupa Goswami has elaborated on these somewhat in Bhakti-rasamrita- sindhu. Two of the five are particularly relevant to the discussion here: 1. sadhu-sanga svajatiyasaye snigdhe, sadhu-sange svato vare Here there are 3 types of sadhu-sanga being described, also 3 qualities of sadhu-sanga. sva-jatiyasaye means to associate with those whose aspiration is in the same direction. In other words, those whose goal is to achieve prema-bhakti in the association of the residents of Goloka Vrindavan, not those who aspire for liberation or even liberation into Vaikuntha. It also means to associate with those who are on the same level and who are going in the same direction as us. snigdhe means to associate with those who are affectionate, who have our best interest in mind. Sadhus are interested in helping us, they are not out to exploit or control us. snigdhe also means to associate with those for whom we have affection and compassion, meaning those to whom we might preach and offer encouragement. It is a fact in spiritual life that the more you give the more you get. svato vare means to associate with those who are superior, those who are able to help us. Thus if we want to follow the teaching of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we should associate with our peers, we should associate with those whom we can help, but also we must associate with those who can help us. 3. bhagavata-sravana srimad-bhagavata-padarthanam rasikaih saha To hear the deep meanings of each sloka of Srimad-Bhagavatam in the association of rasika devotees, this is the meaning of Bhagavata-sravana. Srila Prabhupada has translated rasikaih saha as "in the association of pure devotees." But someone may lose the distinction as he has also said that all the devotees in the Krishna Consciousness movement are pure devotees. We also find the word "rasika" in the third verse of the Bhagavatam: muhur aho, rasika bhuvi bhavukah. We should ask ourselves, "What was Srila Prabhupada's qualification for giving us the purports to the Bhagavatam?" Was it because of his scholarship? No. He sometimes humbly claimed, "My only credit is that I have given Krishna's instructions without changing anything." Should we accept that this was in fact the only qualification? Certainly not. I recently heard a recording from November 1977, immediately after Srila Prabhupada's departure. One disciple was saying, "Anyone who is able to repeat Srila Prabhupada's instructions without changing anything can accomplish what he did." This immediately struck me not only as devastatingly wrong, but an obvious precedent to what followed later, the havoc in our Guru Maharaja's mission that some people still blame on Srila B.R. Sridhara Maharaja. Srila Prabhupada is an uttama-adhikari, a first-class devotee. He is also a maha-bhagavata, the type of person who, by taking the dust of his feet, one becomes purified of all anarthas. He is also a rasika Vaishnava, one who knows the science of rasa, and thus he is fully competent to guide us to Goloka Vrindavana. In our Gaudiya Vaishnava line the qualifications of a bonafide guru are high indeed. A madhyama-adhikari may certainly initiate and give guidance but ultimately the disciple will need the shelter and instructions of an uttama-adhikari like Srila Prabhupada. All this and more is described in Nectar of Instruction. I have compiled a list of various papers dealing with these and other topics at the following URL: http://hgsoft.com/bvnm/cannonfire.html It is my intention here to promote understanding and harmony. I feel that of all disciples of Srila Prabhupada, and of all the siksa and diksa disciples of Srila Narayana Maharaja, I am least qualified. But I have tried to answer honestly according to what I have learned. Please forgive me if I have offended you in any way. Vaishnava dasanudas, Agrahya das http://hgsoft.com/agrahya Related VNN Stories | Comment on this story | Contact VNN about this story | Send this story to a friend
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