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Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja – Maui, Hawaii, May 24, 2000<\/p>\nSrimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja – Maui, Hawaii, May 24, 2000<\/p>\n
Come with me. Let us join Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in our minds as He went from Puri to South India to search for His brother, Visvarupa. This was only a pretext, however. Actually, Mahaprabhu wanted to make all of South India, and the entire world, pure devotees. He wanted them to all chant and remember Krsna, and be happy forever.<\/p>\n
Without chanting, no one can be happy in this world.\u00a0 You should know this. Mahaprabhu told everyone who came to Him, \u201cYare dekha tare kaho krsna upadesa, amara ajnaya guru hana tara ei desa. I am telling you, and you should also tell anyone you meet: \u2018Chant \u201cHare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.\u201d\u2019 Then, in turn, that person will tell others. By my order you should preach this to others.\u201d Very soon all of South India began to chant, and all became Vaisnavas.<\/p>\n
This was the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and in this way His message very quickly went all over the world.\u00a0 I have also come here only to tell you how you can be truly happy.\u00a0 Chant Hare Krsna.\u00a0 This is a very easy process to become happy, and I am inviting you all to follow. Those who are not yet following will benefit by following.<\/p>\n
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu thus went to the sacred river Godavari, and there He thought, \u201cOh, here is the Yamuna.\u201d He saw a beautiful forest there and thought, \u201cThis is the very beautiful forest of Vrndavana.\u201d When He saw some rocks and mountains He thought, \u201cOh, you are Giriraja Govardhana.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was thus absorbed in love and affection for Lord Krsna.\u00a0 He forgot everything external and was absorbed in dancing.\u00a0 Sometimes He was rolling on the earth crying, \u201cO My beloved Krsna, where are You? Where are You?\u201d Sometimes He laughed, and sometimes He sang, \u201cKrsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna\u00a0 Krsna Krsna He. Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna He. Rama Raghava, Rama Raghava, Rama Raghava raksa mam. Krsna Kesava, Krsna Kesava, Krsna Kesava pahi mam.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then crossed the Godavari River to take bath.\u00a0 It was morning, and He arrived at a very lonely place near the bathing ghata.\u00a0 In the meantime, a governor of that area named Raya Ramananda came with many associates and thousands of Vedic brahmanas who were reciting Vedic mantras, announcing with a big drum that he was coming.\u00a0 Ramananda Raya took bath there, and then he noticed that a very brilliant, effulgent young sannyasi was nearby, sitting in trance. He was very much attracted and, after taking bath, he left all his attendants, soldiers, and everyone else, and went alone to the place where Caitanya Mahaprabhu was sitting.\u00a0 There he offered obeisances.<\/p>\n
Mahaprabhu looked at him and asked, \u201cAre you Raya Ramananda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I am that very same wretched person,\u201d Raya Ramananda replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in Jagannatha Puri,\u201d Mahaprabhu told him, \u201cA very learned person, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, was very kind to me. He told Me that if I would be going to South India, I must meet Raya Ramananda. He said, \u2018Even though he is a governor, like a viceroy or representative of the king in that area, he is a greatly learned and high-class devotee.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya had also told Mahaprabhu, \u201cAt first I could not believe him, and I used to joke with him, saying, \u2018Oh, you are a Vaisnava. Vaisnavas are nothing. They are blind followers.\u2019 But then I realized that he is an exalted personality, and I pray that if You are going in that direction You must meet him. You will see what a high class of a devotee he is.\u00a0 Please be merciful to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why I have come, Mahaprabhu then told Raya Ramananda, \u201cOnly to associate with you. Otherwise there was no reason for Me to come here. I want to hear hari-katha from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raya Ramananda replied, \u201cBecause you have come here, I know that Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya is my well-wisher. He has sent You. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is so kind to send You to me. I beg that You stay here for six or seven days, not only for one or two days. Be merciful. Please sprinkle Your mercy upon me.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this way they glorified each other, and this is the etiquette of Vaisnava devotees.\u00a0 Nowadays you have forgotten this etiquette, and that is why you are falling down. We should try to honor each other.\u00a0 We should honor all devotees.\u00a0 Those who are not pure devotees will simply tell each about their mundane problems: \u201cMy husband has left me.\u201d \u201cMy wife has left me.\u201d \u201cShould I marry or not?\u00a0 This is very big problem.\u201d \u201cI am unsuccessful in what I began.\u201d \u201cI am in the process of divorce.\u201d \u201cMy business has stopped; what should I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
We speak only about these problems. This is not Vaisnava etiquette.\u00a0 A Vaisnava has no problem at all.\u00a0 He is always happy, and he can make even hippies happy. I remember that Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja made thousands upon thousands of hippies happy. He changed them, and they became devotees.\u00a0 They became really happy.<\/p>\n
While Mahaprabhu was speaking with Raya Ramananda, a brahmana came and invited Mahaprabhu to his house to take lunch prasada. He was a real brahmana and Vaisnava, and Mahaprabhu therefore wanted to go there and take prasada.\u00a0 He requested Raya Ramananda, \u201cYou must certainly meet me in the evening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both waited in anticipation of their evening meeting. Raya Ramananda changed his royal garments, donned only a very simple dhoti, and arrived with only one associate. He had no royal umbrella, no palanquin, and no bodyguard.\u00a0 Alone, he offered prostrated obeisances to Mahaprabhu. They sat together for the whole night, and then for so many days. Their krsna-katha continued in a regulated way, from evening to morning, with no sleep and no interruptions.<\/p>\n
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu told Raya Ramananda, \u201cI know you are a very high-class devotee.\u00a0 You are so learned, you know all the scriptures, and you are a master of Srimad-Bhagavatam. I will therefore ask you some questions, and I request that you reply by giving examples from those scriptures. I will not give your replies any importance if you do not give evidence from the scriptures.\u201d<\/p>\n
We should always know what constitutes real evidence.\u00a0 So many persons tell so many things, but this is not evidence. Evidence comes from the Vedas and Upanisads, and also from the words of any high-class devotee who has none of the four defects: bhrama (the tendency to commit mistakes), pramada (the tendency to be illusioned), vipralipsa (the tendency to cheat) and karanapatava (imperfect senses). His words can be taken as evidence.\u00a0 In addition, the sastras which are in accordance with the Vedas, like Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, the books of the Six Gosvamis, and the four acaryas of the four Vaisnava sampradayas, are all evidence.\u00a0 The strongest and purest evidence, however, is the words of Srimad-Bhagavatam. So Sriman Mahaprabhu told Raya Ramananda, \u201cIf you offer evidence from the Vedas, Upanisads, and Bhagavatam, I will surely accept.\u201d<\/p>\n
His first question was, \u201cWhat is sadhya (the goal of life) and what is sadhana (the means to attain that goal)?\u201d<\/p>\n
In the morning class I told you that all living entities have come out from the glance of Karanodakasayi Visnu. They cannot be created, for they are eternal, but they are coming from the light, the sight, of Karanodakasayi Visnu. You should know what that light is. The dim reflection of that light is a combination of the semblance of cit-sakti, the semblance of the tatastha, or marginal, energy, plus vibhinamsa-tattva, plus maya-sakti. The mixture of these four is called Sambhu-linga. It is from there that the jivas are coming. Sambhu-linga is a semblance of Sadasiva-tattva (a form of Visnu-tattva). And maya (the deluding material energy) must also be present, for without maya there can be no creation at all. All this mixing becomes Sambhu-tattva, or Sambhu-linga, and by this the creation comes. The creation of what?\u00a0 This gross material body and subtle material body. The soul is not created, but these two are created. We should know all these truths \u2013 that the living entities are not created, but rather they are an eternal potency. It is not possible to give more explanation than this at this time. We will have to realize all this by chanting harinama.<\/p>\n
When your chanting of the holy name becomes pure, when the holy name you chant is actually the name of God Himself and not an offence to the holy name or a semblance of the name, when that name becomes transcendental, then you will realize all truths. By mental exercise you will never be able to realize anything.<\/p>\n
By chanting you will realize krsna-tattva, maya-tattva, bhakti-tattva, jiva-tattva, and everything else. Then, after that, at some point, you will have to forget all material considerations and you will have to know that Krsna is your bosom friend, your son, or your most beloved.<\/p>\n
Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja, your Prabhupada, came to tell you that Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But he told me to tell you all that you should now forget that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and now that time has come. He wants me to tell you that you should now think of Krsna as a bosom friend, or a beloved, or a son, and He is your everything.\u00a0 In this way our bhakti, devotion to Him should increase.<\/p>\n
Now we come again to our subject. Can you read Mahaprabhu’s first question to Raya Ramananda according to Srila Svami Maharaja’s translation?<\/p>\n
Prema-prayojana dasa:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ordered Ramananda Raya to recite a verse from the scriptures concerning sadhya, the ultimate goal of life.<\/p>\n Srila Gurudeva:<\/strong>\u00a0I am explaining what Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja, your Gurudeva, has explained. I am not in a different line from him. I follow him.<\/p>\n What did Raya Ramananda reply?\u00a0 He explained sadhya, the goal. He did not merely explain sadhana, the means to attain the goal.<\/p>\n Sripad Madhava Maharaja:<\/strong>\u00a0Mahaprabhu asked Ramananda Raya about the goal of life. He did not first ask about sadhana, the means. He wanted to establish the goal first.<\/p>\n Ramananda Raya replied:<\/p>\n varnasramacara-vata This means, \u201cIt is imperative to follow varnasrama-dharma. There are four varnas and four asramas.\u00a0 Brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas, and sudras are the four varnas, or occupational duties.\u00a0 The four asramas, or spiritual orders, are brahmacarya (celibate student), grhastha (householder), vanaprastha (beginner renunciant) and sannyasa (one in the renounced order).\u00a0 You may be in any varna or any asrama, but it is essential to maintain varnasrama-dharma. In this way you can please Visnu, and there is no other means.\u201d<\/p>\n Hearing this answer, Mahaprabhu said that varnasrama is external. Why? Why did Mahaprabhu not accept it as the goal of life? This is because there is no explanation about the soul. Varnasrama-dharma is required only to maintain our social system.\u00a0 In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated: \u201cSa vai pumsam paro dharmo.\u201d The best religion for the soul is uninterrupted and one-pointed devotion to Visnu. By this the soul and the Supersoul will both be pleased.\u00a0 But here, in the case of varnasrama, there is no proof that the soul and the Supersoul will be pleased. It is like karma-misra bhakti (bhakti mixed with the desire to enjoy the results of fruitive activities), not svarupa-siddha bhakti (activities constituted purely of bhakti, such as hearing, chanting, and remembering Krsna or Visnu). Therefore, Mahaprabhu said it is external. It is not pure bhakti, and He therefore rejected it as the pure goal. Now Ramananda Raya is going ahead. Now we shall hear from Srila Gurudeva.<\/p>\n Srila Gurudeva:<\/strong>\u00a0Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Thakura, and also my Gurudeva, and also my siksa-guru Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja, all wanted to establish daivi-varnasrama. If you are not following the daivi-varnasrama process, then you are an animal \u2013 not only an animal, but a very ignorant donkey. You can see the dogs and hogs, and their wives. One day they accept a wife, and the next day they give her up, divorcing, and again and again taking new wives. They want that their names be entered in the Guinness book of records for the number of times they do this. Only animals can act in this way.\u00a0 Therefore, the first principle of human life is the practice of chastity with one’s wife or husband; not changing. This is part of varnasrama-dharma.<\/p>\n In this varnasrama-dharma it is recommended that one worships Visnu. What is our object?\u00a0 The process is worship of Visnu, but what is the aim of that worship? We want to be happy in this world, and most persons\u2019 conception is that Visnu will give a boon so that we will be happy. Above this is salvation, freedom from attachment, and merging with Visnu. This is peoples\u2019 conception of God\u2019s boon, but actually this is like a curse, not a boon. Neither should we try to merge with Krsna, nor should we try to do anything for becoming happy by sense gratification in this world, which is temporary.<\/p>\n In this country, America, there is an itching disease called eczema. In this condition we scratch, and this scratching seems to be very pleasant. But it is a disease after all, and after some time it will become very painful.<\/p>\n This world is such. Worldly life is like an itch, a disease. By worshiping Lord Visnu we can give this up and be happy for some time, but again that itch will come. Similarly, varnasrama-dharma is external. There is no service of the soul; only external service for the body.<\/p>\n Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura have tried to establish this varnasrama-dharma. Why? By following it we will at least be human beings; otherwise we are animals.\u00a0 First we should be human, because humanity is a platform for bhakti.\u00a0 First we should make a platform, and then we can hear hari-katha.<\/p>\n In order to make gradual spiritual advancement, varnasrama is somewhat favorable, but not fully. Therefore, Mahaprabhu is telling Ramananda Raya to go further. Is there any doubt in this? Our aim is not to follow varnasrama-dharma.\u00a0 Srila Svami Maharaja told his disciples to create varnasrama-dharma in Gita Nagari, New Vrndavana, New Mayapura and so many other places. He wanted to establish this, but only as a platform. Where are most of these projects now? They are gone. Now there is mostly barren land, and that barren land is weeping \u2013 nothing substantial is there.<\/p>\n Prema-prayojana dasa:\u00a0<\/strong>(reading from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter 8:)\u00a0 \u201cThe Lord replied, \u2018This is external. You had better tell me of some other means.\u2019\u00a0 Ramananda replied, \u2018Krsne karmarpana \u2013 to offer the results of one\u2019s activities to Krsna is the essence of all perfection.\u2019 In this regard he quoted a verse from Bhagavad-gita.\u201d<\/p>\n Syamarani dasi:\u00a0<\/strong>Srila Raya Ramananda quoted Bhagavad-gita: \u201cAll that you do, all that you give away, and all that you offer in sacrifice should be done for Me.\u201d Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also rejected this proposal to be the goal, considering it external, because everything we do is for our own satisfaction.\u00a0 Whatever activity I do in this world has a karmic reaction. Even if it is a pious action and I get a pious reaction, I still have to suffer in this world.\u00a0 If I give someone a lot of money, in my next life I’ll be rich. However, in that next life I still have to take birth in a womb and accept old age, disease and death. The motive is my own personal sense gratification.<\/p>\n Mahaprabhu rejected this as not being the perfection. He again told Ramananda Raya to go further, and Raya Ramananda then offered the conclusion of the Bhagavad-gita. \u201cSarva dharma parityajya \u2013 Give up all varieties of so-called religious activities, and surrender everything to Me. In return I will free you from all fear and all sinful reactions.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahaprabhu rejected this as the goal. It is better than animal life, better than having nothing to do with Krsna, so why did Lord Caitanya reject it? Again, it was external, because it was related to the body. \u201cI want Krsna to free me from fear,\u201d so I have a personal motivation.\u00a0 I’m not trying to please Krsna, but I want Krsna\u2019s protection for my body, and for my mental and intellectual comfort.<\/p>\n This is like a business proposition.\u00a0 If I do something for Krsna, then He will do something for me. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu rejected it as not being the goal. Real devotion means there is no material cause and no material interruption.<\/p>\n Srila Gurudeva:<\/strong>\u00a0In Srimad-Bhagavatam there are so many examples of this. One example is the story of King Hariscandra. He was a very powerful ksatriya king in varnasrama-dharma, and he used to worship Lord Visnu. He was very truthful, he never told a lie, he never accepted any untruth, and he was very generous to all creatures. One day Visvamitra, a high-class surrendered devotee, came in a dream to Hariscandra and told him, “You are very generous, a truthful speaker, a very good king, and you always worship Visnu. I know that if I ask anything from you, you will definitely give it. So I want something from you.\u201d In the dream Visvamitra told the king that he wanted his whole kingdom, and the king said, \u201cYes, I am giving it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n After that dream was over, the king forgot all about it. In the morning, Visvamitra himself came to Hariscandra and asked him if he remembered the previous night’s dream.<\/p>\n Hariscandra said, \u201cI don’t remember anything. What was that? Oh, you asked for my kingdom and I gave it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Visvamitra said, \u201cSo you should give it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Hariscandra replied, \u201cBut that was in a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cActually, it was not a dream,\u201d Visvamitra said. \u201cI really came to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Hariscandra knew the mystic abilities of powerful sages and believed him. So he said, Hariscandra called his treasurer and told him to give ten thousand gold coins to Visvamitra. Visvamitra smiled and told him, \u201cYou are a liar. You gave me your entire kingdom, and now your treasury is mine also. So how can you tell the treasurer to give gold to me?\u00a0 It is already mine.\u201d Hariscandra agreed, and therefore wanted to take a loan from someone in the kingdom. But Visvamitra said, \u201cNow all the citizens are also mine, and you may not take a loan from anyone in my kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n Next, Hariscandra decided to sell himself. But Visvamitra said, \u201cIn my kingdom you cannot sell even yourself.\u201d The King then became perplexed about what to do, thinking that he had done wrong. He asked Visvamitra, \u201cWhat should I do? Please give me some suggestions.\u201d Visvamitra told him, \u201cGo to Kasi, which is situated on the trident of Sankara. It is not in this world. There you can sell yourself, and then you can pay me.\u00a0 But you must always remember that you have to pay me.\u201d<\/p>\n Hariscandra went to Kasi with his wife and son, on foot, because all his chariots, and everything else, now belonged to Visvamitra. After many days he reached Kasi and began calling out to the people that they could purchase him. A low-class person, the guard of the cremation grounds, told him that he would buy him and that he would have to do duty at the cremation grounds. Hariscandra accepted this, because there was no one else to purchase him, but the guard gave only five thousand golden coins.<\/p>\n He needed more, and therefore he sold his wife, Sadya, and son, Rohitasya. A very cruel brahmana gave five thousand coins and took them both. If you sell a cow, then you are no longer its owner. Similarly, now Hariscandra was not the king, nor the husband of his wife, nor was he any longer the father of his child.\u00a0 He had some false ego, however, considering that he used to be, or still was, a king, and that he was still the husband of Sadya and the father of Rohitasya.<\/p>\n After a while, it happened that a snake came and bit his son and he died. It was\u00a0midnight, during the rainy season. Very cold winds were blowing and very heavy rain was falling. The brahmana told Sadya, \u201cTake this dead body away from here. I cannot allow you to remain here with this dead body. I have no pity on you.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking her child’s body in her arms and weeping, she went to the cremation ground. At that time Hariscandra was the guard of that impure place.\u00a0 In the darkness he couldn\u2019t recognize his wife or son. He asked discompassionately, \u201cWho is here weeping? First you must give the tax for cremation, and then you can use this facility.\u201d<\/p>\n At that moment lightening flashed, and he could that the woman before him was indeed Sadhya. He was bewildered, not knowing if he should identify himself as her husband (now that he had already sold her and her son), or himself as the father of the dead boy, or himself as king, or himself as the crematorium guard.<\/p>\n Just then Visvamitra appeared with Yamaraja, or Dharmaraja; and Lord Narayana also came. They brought Hariscandra\u2019s son back to life and told him to take any boon. Visvamitra told him that in his life as a king he had been misguided by illusion.\u00a0 He said, \u201cIn this world no one can speak the truth. Your name is not Hariscandra. This is the name of your gross body. And what is this body made of? It is merely a combination of blood and flesh, urine and stool. You don’t know that your soul is the eternal servant of Lord Krsna.\u00a0 If you are thinking, \u2018I am the father, husband, king, etc.,\u2019 how are you speaking the truth?<\/p>\n \u201cYou should know that you are part and parcel of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You are not part of this world. So forget all false conceptions.\u00a0 Try to serve Krsna and chant His names.\u201d Hariscandra accepted all this, but he had one request:\u00a0 \u201cPlease don’t give such a hard test to the jivas in Kali-yuga. They will never be able to pass your test. They will always fail.\u201d<\/p>\n Hariscandra was doing what we want to do, varnasrama-dharma, and he was following and worshiping Lord Visnu more seriously than we can. But he did not have any idea that we are transcendental, or that we are eternal servants of Krsna. This is our main problem.\u00a0 If you are thinking, \u201cI am the doer,\u201d or even thinking, \u201cI am giving something to Krsna,\u201d this is not pure bhakti.\u00a0 That is why it has been said in Bhagavad-gita (18.66):<\/p>\n sarva\u00a0 dharman\u00a0 parityajya mam\u00a0 ekam saranam vraja What is the meaning of this sloka?<\/p>\n Sripad Madhava Maharaja:\u00a0<\/strong>Ramananda Raya is now giving the suggestion from Bhagavad-gita, wherein Krsna has instructed Arjuna: \u201cO Arjuna, give up all temporary dharma and all activities and conceptions which are in relationship to the temporary material body and mind. Surrender yourself and take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\u00a0 By doing so you will be freed from all sinful reactions. Do not be afraid.\u201d Unless one has accepted these six limbs of saranagati before he renders his devotional service, his service will be an imitation, like a drama. The first thing is surrender. This surrender is not bhakti, but it is the prerequisite to enter the bhakti realm.<\/p>\n Srila Gurudeva:\u00a0<\/strong>I have heard a story about Jesus Christ. Once there were many persons assembled, and taking stones in their hands, they wanted to kill a guilty person. This person had a very bad character.\u00a0 He had been attracted to a lady, he caught hold of her, and he did some bad things. So, many persons were assembled and they wanted to kill him with the stones.<\/p>\n At that moment Jesus Christ came there and told them, \u201cOh, listen to me first.\u00a0 I want you to kill this person with your stones.\u00a0 I also have a stone, so we will all throw these stones at him together and kill him.\u00a0 But first hear me. Only those of you who are not guilty of the same crime are allowed to stone him.\u00a0 Whoever is personally guilty of any bad activities, whoever has done as this person has, may not do so.\u201d All of them stopped.\u00a0 No one there was pure in heart and free from the guilt of this same crime.<\/p>\n Although we see some mercy in this instance, we should try to know that this mercy is not real mercy. The Supreme Personality has created all creatures \u2013 trees, insects, fish, cows, and every other living being. In every body there is a soul. It is a misconception to think that the soul is only in the human body, and we should therefore only serve the human race.<\/p>\n What were Florence Nightingale and Mother Theresa doing? They were serving all the diseased and poor people, even those with leprosy. However, they gave them beef, meat, fish, and wine, and they thought there was no harm in that. They did not know that fish also have life, cows also have life, and all others have life \u2013 just like human beings.<\/p>\n We are not authorized to kill any living being in any species of life, because they are all sons and daughters of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who never wants them to be killed. The cow is like a mother. She gives milk without considering caste and creed. She gives milk to everyone, whether such persons are Mohammadan, Indian, American, or anyone else. We can therefore think of her as a mother who gives her breast-milk. If one takes a new calf and kills him for her meat, what is this? Is this mercy?\u00a0 I went to Vatican City and I became happy to see a great monument there. There were hundreds of thousands of pilgrims there, all paying their respects, and I also wanted to pay respects: \u201cO Jesus Christ, how glorious you are.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, seeing some very beautiful and soft calves of only two or three days old I asked, \u201cWhy are there so many calves here?\u201d \u201cYou don’t know? The pope will take their flesh today. He will invite so many of his friends, and they will eat all of them.\u201d I then began to hate that land, and said, \u201cI should not spend another moment here.\u00a0 I should go away. These people are as cruel as butchers. They have no pity or mercy upon these cows and calves, nor upon anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n What are eggs? If you want to take eggs, you can take an egg from your mother’s womb. That is also a kind of egg. So, we should not take all these things. Rather, we should know that the soul is everywhere \u2013 not only in the human body. Therefore, service only to humankind is not service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\u00a0 It is essential to know this.<\/p>\n Mahaprabhu therefore rejected the consideration of \u201cSarva dharman parityajya\u2026\u201d as the goal, what to speak of all these other things.<\/p>\n Gaura premanande!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\npurusena parah puman
\nvisnur aradhyate pantha
\nnanyat tat-tosa-karanam
\nSri-Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila, 8.58<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYes, I take a vow that I am giving you the kingdom. This whole kingdom is now yours.\u201d Visvamitra then told him to give some daksina, a donation of money. In India, if one donates anything, he gives some coins as well to consummate the donation; and therefore Visvamitra asked him to give him some daksina.<\/p>\n
\naham tvam sarva papebhyo moksyaisyami ma sucah<\/p>\n
\nThis seems to be a very transcendental and excellent suggestion, but upon hearing this Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave the response: \u201cO my dear Ramananda Raya, this is external. I also reject this. Tell me something more.\u201d The eternal occupation of the soul is to render loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in a relationship with Him. Saranagati, surrender, is mainly the rejection of things which are temporary and unfavorable for spiritual development.\u00a0 In saranagati we have not yet realized out relationship with the Supreme Lord, with possessiveness and with love and affection. Therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also rejected this conception as being the goal of life.
\nIn and of itself, surrender to the Supreme Lord is not directly bhakti. It is not the positive and eternal, perfect activity of the soul. Rather, it is considered to be the doorway to bhakti.\u00a0 If you want to enter any building, first you have to come to a door. You cannot walk through the wall. If anyone is hearing, chanting, remembering, and serving Krsna, but they have not first surrendered themselves completely, saying \u201cO Krsna, I am Yours. I depend fully on You. I accept everything which is favorable for bhakti and reject all things which are unfavorable. You are my protector, You are my maintainer. I will always be meek and humble, and will have no interest separate from Your interest,\u201d his activities will not be called pure devotional service.<\/p>\n