A lesson from Jayadvaita of what NOT to do-taught to us by SP

Hare Krsna-Below is a very nice conversation exchange with Srila Prabhupada whereby Jaydvaita reveals his in-ability to understand what is perfection. He obviously has not understood still up to the present what Prabhupada means, otherwise he would not have without authority changed thousands of the words of his spiritual master. There are also some other points about concocted kirtans and personal relationships with ones spiritual master, another point Jayadvaita still does not understand. The first principle is to obey the guru, which he obviously has not, after which all spiritual knowledge is lost. We should learn from these early examples of what to do and what not to do.

Hare Krsna

damaghosa das

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April 8 1975 Mayapur

Jayādvaita: …names of Kṛṣṇa as the spiritual master or the ācāryas have chanted them, but sometimes I’ll hear that our devotees will be chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name in different ways that I haven’t heard, in kīrtana.

Prabhupāda: I do not follow what you say.

Jayādvaita: Just like sometimes we’ll hear our men. They’ll be chanting… Like yesterday I heard that someone was chanting, “Nitāi-Gaura, Nitāi-Gaura, Nitāi-Nitāi-Gaura.” Like that, I’ll hear different mantras. Someone is chanting: “Rādhe, Rādhe, Rādhe, Rādhe,” like that, at kīrtana.

Prabhupāda: Well, that is not done by the ācāryas. But there is no harm chanting “Rādhe.” But sometimes it is degraded to make something new, invention. Therefore better to stick to “Hare Kṛṣṇa” and to “Śrī-Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhupāda-Nityānanda.” Otherwise… Just like the sahajiyās, they have invented: “Nitāi-Gaura Rādhe Śyāma, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Rāma.” These things will come gradually. But they are not approved. They are called chara kīrtana (?), means “concocted kīrtana.” But there is no harm chanting “Rādhe, Nitāi-Gaura.” So better stick to this Pañca-tattva, and mahā-mantra. Just like “Nitāi Gaura Rādhe Śyāma, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Rāma.” There is “Nitāi-Gaura, Rādhe Śyāma,” but it is not approved. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. We have to follow the mahājana. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta you’ll find “Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya Prabhu-Nityānanda, Śrī-Advaita Gadādhara…,” never “Nitāi Gaura, Rādhe Śyāma.” So why should we do that?

Jayapatāka: The concocter of the “Nitāi Gaura Rādhe Śyāma,” previously he was a follower of Bhaktisiddhānta, but then he was rejected, and then he started his own camp.

Prabhupāda: No, yes, he was meeting Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. So… What is called? Carana dāsa Bābājī.

Satsvarūpa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, sometimes during ārati, many bona fide bhajanas are sung, but not much Hare Kṛṣṇa. Is that not a good tendency, that maybe just two or three minutes of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and many other bhajanas?

Prabhupāda: No. We should stick to Hare Kṛṣṇa. Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya Prabhu-Nityānanda, jīva jāgo jīva jāgo…, these are authorized. But Hare Kṛṣṇa is the mahā-mantra. What is sung by mahājana, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, that can be sung. [break]

Jayapatāka: …you say is back to Godhead. But when one is situated in pure, transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa, then that’s, then wherever he may be, that’s back to Godhead. Isn’t it?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Jayapatāka: So then we should desire not to go back to Vaikuṇṭha but to go back to…, to be situated in our pure service to Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Pure devotee does not aspire anything, simply to be engaged in loving service of the Lord, wherever it may be. It doesn’t matter. [break]

Jayādvaita: …they know everything and they’re perfect in everything. But sometimes, from our material viewpoint, we see some discrepancies. Just like we think that...

Prabhupāda: Because material viewpoint. The viewpoint is wrong; therefore you find discrepancies.

Jayādvaita: So we should think that we have the defect.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Ācārya is explained, bhakti-saṁsanaḥ: “One who’s preaching the cult of devotional service, he’s ācārya.” Then why should you find any discrepancy?

Jayādvaita: Because we see… For instance, sometimes the ācārya may seem to forget something or not to know something, so from our point of view, if someone has forgotten, that is…

Prabhupāda: No, no, no. Then…

Jayādvaita: …an imperfection.

Prabhupāda: That is not the… Then you do not understand. Ācārya is not God, omniscient. He is servant of God. His business is to preach bhakti cult. That is ācārya.

Jayādvaita: And that is the perfection.

Prabhupāda: That is the perfection. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

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Who is a liberated soul and who is progressing nicely along the path of bhakti?–SP kindly explains

SB 3.29.14 purport-… One who is not affected by the three modes of material nature is called a liberated soul, or brahma-bhūta soul. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg. 18.54] is the stage of liberation. : “I am not this body.” This is applicable only to the person who constantly engages in the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa and is thus in the transcendental stage; he is above the influence of the three modes of material nature.

 

SB 3.29.16-The devotee should regularly see My statues in the temple, touch My lotus feet and offer worshipable paraphernalia and prayer. He should see in the spirit of renunciation, from the mode of goodness, and see every living entity as spiritual.

 

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Family attachment vs attachment to Lord Krsna’s Seva

June 24 1976 Vrndavana lecture

…. So gṛheṣu saktasya. Generally, people become too much attached to family life. I sometimes say that in the Western countries the young boys, they come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, their only one great asset is they are not family-wise attached. That is very good qualification. Someway or other, they have become. Therefore their attachment to Kṛṣṇa becoming staunch.In India they have got organized family attachment. They are not interested. They are after money now. That I have experienced. Yes.

So family attachment is the greatest impediment in the matter of advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but if the whole family is Kṛṣṇa conscious, that is very nice. Just like Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. He was a family man, but all of the, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, his wife, his children—and the best children is our Guru Mahārāja, best child… So he has sung by his experience, ye dina gṛhe bhajana dekhi gṛhete goloka bhaya. If family-wise, everyone is engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service, that is very nice. That is not ordinary family. That attachment is not ordinary attachment. But generally people are attached materially. That is condemned here. Śeṣaṁ gṛheṣu saktasya pramattasya apayāti hi. They are called pramatta. Everyone is thinking that “My family, my wife, my children, my nation, my community, that is everything. What is Kṛṣṇa?” This is the greatest illusion imposed by māyā. But nobody will able to give you protection.

dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv

ātma-sainyeṣv asatsv api

teṣāṁ pramatto nidhanaṁ

paśyann api na paśyati

[SB 2.1.4]

Everything will be finished. Nobody can give us any protection except Kṛṣṇa. If we want to be freed from the clutches of māyā-janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi [Bg. 13.9]—we must take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa through the spiritual master and live with devotees who have engaged themselves for the same purpose. It is called… What is that exact word? Sakhi or something. Now I am forgetting. But in the same category we must live and execute our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then these impediments, gṛheṣu saktasya pramattasya. Anyone who is…, all the karmīs, they are attached to this family life, but family life is good provided there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Gṛhe vā vanete thāke, hā gaurāṅga bole dāke. It doesn’t matter, either he is in family life or he’s in sannyāsī life, if he’s a devotee, then his life is successful.  Thank you very much. (end)

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these 2 verses are for those of us who may mistakenly still think we are in the mode of goodness

SB3.29.22-One who worships the Deity of Godhead in the temples but does not know that the Supreme Lord, as Paramātmā, is situated in every living entity’s heart, must be in ignorance and is compared to one who offers oblations into ashes.

PURPORT-It is stated clearly herein that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His plenary expansion of Supersoul, is present in all living entities. The living entities have 8,400,000 different kinds of bodies, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is living in every body both as the individual soul and as the Supersoul. Since the individual soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, in that sense the Lord is living in every body, and, as Supersoul, the Lord is also present as a witness. In both cases the presence of God in every living entity is essential. Therefore persons who profess to belong to some religious sect but who do not feel the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every living entity, and everywhere else, are in the mode of ignorance.

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Deity worship and realization-is it a myth for some of us?

SB 3.29.25-Performing his prescribed duties, one should worship the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead until one realizes My presence in his own heart and in the hearts of other living entities as well.

PURPORT-Worship of the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is prescribed herewith even for persons who are simply discharging their prescribed duties. There are prescribed duties for the different social classes of men—the brāhmaṇas, the vaiśyas, the kṣatriyas and the śūdras—and for the different āśramas—brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. One should worship the Deity of the Lord until one appreciates the presence of the Lord in every living entity. In other words, one should not be satisfied simply by discharging his duties properly; he must realize his relationship and the relationship of all other living entities with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If he does not understand this, then even though he discharges his prescribed duties properly, it is to be understood that he is simply laboring without profit.

The word sva-karma-kṛt in this verse is very significant. Sva-karma-kṛt is one who engages in discharging his prescribed duties. It is not that one who has become a devotee of the Lord or who engages in devotional service should give up his prescribed duties. No one should be lazy under the plea of devotional service. One has to execute devotional service according to his prescribed duties. Sva-karma-kṛt means that one should discharge the duties prescribed for him without neglect.

 

SB 3.29.26-As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a differential outlook.

PURPORT-There are bodily differentiations among all varieties of living entities, but a devotee should not distinguish between one living entity and another on such a basis; a devotee’s outlook should be that both the soul and Supersoul are equally present in all varieties of living entities.

 

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Srila Prabhupada and the SB explains pure devotion and devotion in ignorance

Hare Krsna-Below are 4 very very nice verses from SB which explain how to advance our understanding and awareness of the Supreme Lord. We must know that God and a living entity are present in every living thing and show the proper respect to each of them. Srila Prabhupada explains that distributing Krsna Prasadam to these entities is real compassion without which doing, we will remain on the materialistic platform of devotion. These verses and especially the purports go along nicely with the previous article entitled 81 kinds of impure devotional service.

Hare Krsna

damaghosa das

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SB 3.29.21-I am present in every living entity as the Supersoul. If someone neglects or disregards that Supersoul everywhere and engages himself in the worship of the Deity in the temple, that is simply imitation.

PURPORT-In purified consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one sees the presence of Kṛṣṇa everywhere. If, therefore, one only engages in Deity worship in the temple and does not consider other living entities, then he is in the lowest grade of devotional service. One who worships the Deity in the temple and does not show respect to others is a devotee on the material platform, in the lowest stage of devotional service. A devotee should try to understand everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa and try to serve everything in that spirit. To serve everything means to engage everything in the service of Kṛṣṇa. If a person is innocent and does not know his relationship with Kṛṣṇa, an advanced devotee should try to engage him in the service of Kṛṣṇa. One who is advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can engage not only the living being but everything in the service of Kṛṣṇa.

SB3.29.22-One who worships the Deity of Godhead in the temples but does not know that the Supreme Lord, as Paramātmā, is situated in every living entity’s heart, must be in ignorance and is compared to one who offers oblations into ashes.

PURPORT-It is stated clearly herein that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His plenary expansion of Supersoul, is present in all living entities. The living entities have 8,400,000 different kinds of bodies, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is living in every body both as the individual soul and as the Supersoul. Since the individual soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, in that sense the Lord is living in every body, and, as Supersoul, the Lord is also present as a witness. In both cases the presence of God in every living entity is essential. Therefore persons who profess to belong to some religious sect but who do not feel the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every living entity, and everywhere else, are in the mode of ignorance.

If, without this preliminary knowledge of the Lord’s omnipresence, one simply attaches himself to the rituals in a temple, church or mosque, it is as if he were offering butter into ashes rather than into the fire.One offers sacrifices by pouring clarified butter into a fire and chanting Vedic mantras, but even if there are Vedic mantras and all conditions are favorable, if the clarified butter is poured on ashes, then such a sacrifice will be useless. In other words, a devotee should not ignore any living entity. The devotee must know that in every living entity, however insignificant he may be, even in an ant, God is present, and therefore every living entity should be kindly treated and should not be subjected to any violence. In modern civilized society, slaughterhouses are regularly maintained and supported by a certain type of religious principle. But without knowledge of the presence of God in every living entity, any so-called advancement of human civilization, either spiritual or material, is to be understood as being in the mode of ignorance.

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81 types of (impure) devotion…and more

Hare Krsna-Below is a few verse sequence given in Srimad Bhagavatam in which Lord Kapila Dev kindly and briefly explains to His mother the different types of devotion in the material modes of nature-and ending in pure devotional service.

At the end we have included another description of motivated devotion coming from the Purana.

Some may find this very interesting.

Hare Krsna

damaghosa das

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SB 3.29.7-Lord Kapila, the Personality of Godhead, replied: O noble lady, there are multifarious paths of devotional service in terms of the different qualities of the executor.

PURPORT-Pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is one because in pure devotional service there is no demand from the devotee to be fulfilled by the Lord. But generally people take to devotional service with a purpose. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, people who are not purified take to devotional service with four purposes. A person who is distressed because of material conditions becomes a devotee of the Lord and approaches the Lord for mitigation of his distress. A person in need of money approaches the Lord to ask for some improvement in his monetary condition. Others, who are not in distress or in need of monetary assistance but are seeking knowledge in order to understand the Absolute Truth, also take to devotional service, and they inquire into the nature of the Supreme Lord. This is very nicely described in Bhagavad-gītā (7.16). Actually the path of devotional service is one without a second, but according to the devotees’ condition, devotional service appears in multifarious varieties, as will be nicely explained in the following verses.

SB 3.29.8-Devotional service executed by a person who is envious, proud, violent and angry, and who is a separatist, is considered to be in the mode of darkness.

PURPORT-It has already been stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto, Second Chapter, that the highest, most glorious religion is the attainment of causeless, unmotivated devotional service. In pure devotional service, the only motive should be to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is not actually a motive; that is the pure condition of the living entity. In the conditioned stage, when one engages in devotional service, he should follow the instruction of the bona fide spiritual master in full surrender. The spiritual master is the manifested representation of the Supreme Lord because he receives and presents the instructions of the Lord, as they are, by disciplic succession. It is described in Bhagavad-gītā that the teachings therein should be received by disciplic succession, otherwise there is adulteration. To act under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master with a motive to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead is pure devotional service.But if one has a motive for personal sense gratification, his devotional service is manifested differently. Such a man may be violent, proud, envious and angry, and his interests are separate from the Lord’s.

One who approaches the Supreme Lord to render devotional service, but who is proud of his personality, envious of others or vengeful, is in the mode of anger. He thinks that he is the best devotee. Devotional service executed in this way is not pure; it is mixed and is of the lowest grade, tāmasaḥ. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura advises that a Vaiṣṇava who is not of good character should be avoided. A Vaiṣṇava is one who has taken the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the ultimate goal of life, but if one is not pure and still has motives, then he is not a Vaiṣṇava of the first order of good character. One may offer his respects to such a Vaiṣṇava because he has accepted the Supreme Lord as the ultimate goal of life, but one should not keep company with a Vaiṣṇava who is in the mode of ignorance.

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Caracas Feb 19 1975 room conversation

Professor: How can I get with my imperfect senses the perfection brought by the master?

Prabhupāda: The same example. Just like the mother has seen the father, and the mother says not only to her son but other gentleman that “Here is the father of the son.” So the other gentleman who has not seen the father but on the verification by the mother, he accepts the real thing. Hearing from the perfect is also perfect. If I get the chance of hearing from the perfect, then I may not be perfect, but because I have heard from the perfect, what I say, that is perfect.

Professor (Hṛdayānanda): He’s saying that he accepts that we can receive perfect knowledge, but then because I am imperfect I make an imperfect interpretation.

Prabhupāda: No, you are not allowed interpretation. As soon as you interpret, you become imperfect. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Don’t interpret. Before this, all these rascals were simply interpreting and spoiling the whole thing. So this is the fact.

Professor: So what you really are asking for is blind faith.

Prabhupāda: Not blind faith. Perfect man is perfect. Unless you understand that he is perfect, don’t hear from him. That is blind. Without knowing that he is perfect, if you hear, that is your imperfectness. Why should you try to hear from a person whom you do not know perfectly well that he is perfect?

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Does what we offer to the Lord- remain bhoga or become Prasadam?

Hare Krsna- After many years of chanting Hare Krsna and trying to render some service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, thru His bona fide representative, it can become easy to fall into that trap of becomming slack in even the most basic of devotional principles-like chanting and offering bhoga. Below Srila Prabhuapada gives us a clear instruction to be….very careful.

damaghosa das

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May 6 1973 LA lecture

Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā: yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg. 9.26]. Kṛṣṇa says that “A little flower, little water, little fruit, that’s all, if somebody offers Me with devotion and love, then I eat.” Kṛṣṇa is not hungry. Kṛṣṇa is not hungry. He is self-satisfied, pūrṇa. But if His devotee offers Him something with love and affection, then He accepts. So do not think that “We have made such nice, sumptuous plate for Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa must eat.” No. There is no such thing, “must.” You cannot make Kṛṣṇa must. That is not possible. So Kṛṣṇa will see how much you have love for Him. Then He will accept. Otherwise He’ll reject. Therefore, it is forbidden, those who are nondevotee, those who are not initiated, those who are not chanting regularly, their offering to Kṛṣṇa will not be accepted. We must be very careful. We must know our position, whether I am sincerely following the principles of devotional service. Then Kṛṣṇa will accept. Yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. The real thing is bhakti. So either you offer Kṛṣṇa prayers or you offer foodstuff, everything must be along with bhakti, devotion, love. Then Kṛṣṇa will accept.

Who and where is our authority for daily work??

Hare Krsna-below is a very instructive conversation with Srila Prabhupada about how householders should live “outside” a temple and conduct their affairs. Good time of year to make some good resolutions for behavioral changes as Vaisnavas.

damaghosa das

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 BG 9.12 purport-There are many devotees who assume themselves to be in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service but at heart do not accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, as the Absolute Truth. For them, the fruit of devotional service-going back to Godhead-will never be tasted. Similarly, those who are engaged in fruitive, pious activities and who are ultimately hoping to be liberated from this material entanglement will never be successful either because they deride the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. In other words, persons who mock Kṛṣṇa are to be understood to be demonic or atheistic. As described in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, such demonic miscreants never surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore their mental speculations to arrive at the Absolute Truth bring them to the false conclusion that the ordinary living entity and Kṛṣṇa are one and the same.

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Below here we now have a very instructive exchange of questions and answers…..One should always be in a questioning mood to the spiritual master…otherwise we are brain dead…Athato brahma jijnasu…human life is meant to inquire….. And this questioning mentality takes place after one has favorably served the guru.

Hawaii Feb 3 1975

Rāmeśvara: Many devotees who have moved outside of the temple are feeling that if they just continue to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, they can go back to the spiritual world, but they are not giving up their independence.

Prabhupāda: So? What is your philosophy?

Rāmeśvara: Well, it seems somewhat hypocritical because chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa means you are praying to Kṛṣṇa to please be engaged eternally in His service and to become completely dependent on Him. So we try to explain like that. And to follow all the teachings and instructions, attending maṅgala āratik and morning and evening class.

Prabhupāda: So they are doing that or not?

Guru-kṛpa: No. They are not even following regulative principles.

Prabhupāda: Then?

Rāmeśvara: They think just by chanting, they will go back to the spiritual world. That is enough.

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