{"id":9933,"date":"2011-09-30T07:51:47","date_gmt":"2011-09-30T06:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=9933"},"modified":"2011-10-23T00:08:12","modified_gmt":"2011-10-22T23:08:12","slug":"response-to-varnashrama-and-harinam-sankirtan-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=9933","title":{"rendered":"Response to “Varnashrama and Harinam Sankirtan” article"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Aindra Das<\/strong><\/p>\n

Varnasrama-dharma
\nRoom Conversation<\/p>\n

Devotee: I\u2019m wondering about Srila Prabhupada\u2019s whole endeavor and focus \u2013 how much endeavor it was to present Krishna consciousness purely, not kaitava-dharma. He wanted to give Srimad-Bhagavatam. Still, after a few years, after the \u201970s, we can see that he started to speak more about varnasrama-dharma and give it more emphasis. In the beginning devotees were asking, \u201cSrila Prabhupada, aren\u2019t we transcendental to it?\u201d And Prabhupada said, \u201cAre we? If they are Vaishnavas \u2013 why are they falling down?\u201d He wanted to establish a foundation for people to get more peace of mind, a more favorable position to engage in Krishna consciousness. That\u2019s what it seems like from what I\u2019ve been reading from Prabhupada. So, how to understand this?<\/p>\n

Aindra Prabhu: I have my own observations and take on that, which also requires that we address two aspects of a devotee\u2019s life, particularly a preacher\u2019s life. If someone ordains himself as a preacher, then he has a prime responsibility and he has . . . let\u2019s not say a secondary, but a corollary responsibility.<\/p>\n

The first and foremost responsibility of any preacher is to himself be fully self-realized in order to be fully empowered to infuse bhakti-sakti in the hearts of the people he\u2019s associating with or endeavoring to preach to. If that is lacking, then we question whether or not we are Vaishnavas. It is not just that someone hears a little philosophy and then he parrots the philosophy at a college or whatever, that such is the actual substance that impresses anyone. He may be able to bamboozle someone intellectually, but he may not succeed in actually inculcating the essence of prema in the heart of that person in order to generate in him genuine pure devotional sraddha.<\/p>\n

Varnasrama is meant for those who have no pure devotional sraddha. Pure devotional sraddha \u2013 not bhava, not prema, but pure devotional sraddha. It is the basis of pure devotion. Because in his writings, Bhaktivinoda Thakur delineates \u2013 rather scientifically \u2013 the distinction between pure devotional sraddha, chaya-sraddha-abhasa, and pratibimba-sraddha-abhasa. There\u2019s a semblance of sraddha that many devotees may think is real sraddha but is actually not. Pure devotional sraddha, according to Bhaktivinoda Thakur, is synonymous with saranagati. And saranagati begins with accepting those things that are favorable for the cultivation of uttama-bhakti. Anyabhilashita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavritam [Cc Madhya 19.167]. The main focal point of a devotee\u2019s life is anukulyena krishnanu-silanam. So to accept the svarupa-laksana of pure devotion is the most essential. The svarupa-laksana is anukulyena krishnanu-silanam — that which is to be accepted. And to reject those things which are unfavorable. What does that mean? Anyabhilashita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavritam.<\/p>\n

To become fixed up in uttama-bhakti in order to actually realize the purport of bhagavata, or the import of bhagavata-dharma, the devotee has to actually be considerably focused. What does that mean? Sraddha-sabdhe \u2013 visvasa sudridha niscaya [Cc Madhya 22.62] Sudridha. Dridha-vrata.<\/p>\n

yesham tv anta-gatam papam<\/p>\n

jananam punya-karmanam<\/p>\n

te dvandva-moha-nirmukta<\/p>\n

bhajante mam dridha-vratah<\/p>\n[BG 7.28]\n

satatam kirtayanto mam<\/p>\n

yatantas ca dridha-vratah<\/p>\n[BG 9.14]\n

So, that firm determination. And not just any dridha-vrata but sudridha -vrata \u2013 you know, sudridha niscaya . . . krishne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krita haya krishna [Cc Madhya 22.62]: that all my necessities of life \u2013 my prime, most important necessities \u2013 will be fulfilled simply by doing krishna-bhakti. And krishna-bhakti means suddha-bhakti, not misra-bhakti. So we need to recognize in our own lives that anything other than preaching the principles of pure devotional service is subsidiary. It is not the essence. These are conditional dharmas.<\/p>\n

Many devotees have become bewildered by these instructions from Srila Prabhupada, thinking that the establishment of varnasrama-dharma is of utmost importance. But actually, the establishment of varnasrama-dharma was mostly . . . if you go through all of the recordings of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s conversations with religionists and scientists, economists and what not, you\u2019ll hear how he again and again harped on the necessity for there to be a head on human society, that others will be able to function properly only if there\u2019s a head to guide them. He was preaching against a class-less society, or communism, which is not class-less but basically is sudra society with a few administrators reaping at the expenses of everyone else, which proves that the concept is a virtual impossibility. So in this way, Prabhupada mostly focused his preaching to such kinds of people in the direction of \u201csub-religious\u201d principles, because varnasrama is a sub-religious principle; it is not a real religious principle.<\/p>\n

Even here in Vrindavana, there were some morning walks when Prabhupada was discussing his idea of instituting varnasrama. His main purpose that I can understand \u2013 although, as you pointed out, he said that if they\u2019re Vaishnavas, why are they falling down? \u2013 his main purpose was to set an example in the microcosm for the benefit of the macrocosm. That was his main intention.<\/p>\n

Of course, in Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, as far as I remember, he mentions that varnasrama is only necessary \u2013 it is not necessary, but it is only necessary \u2013 to the extent that there are residues of the bodily conception of life. There are those amongst us in this Society who are determined to remain attached to their bodily conception of life. And they will determinately attach themselves to the upadhi of being a brahmacari, or the upadhi of being a sannyasi, parading around in their masquerade costumes, identifying with the particular role they are endeavoring to model for the benefit of others. But many, in spite of the fact that they were role-modeling as sannyasis or good little brahmacaris or grihasthas with redoubled preaching strength, fell away.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that Srila Prabhupada didn\u2019t introduce varnasrama, in the sense that certain individuals were accepting positions in various asramas practically from the very onset. By 1968, there was the idea among devotees of grihasthas, brahmacaris, and sannyasis. So they had their safety net to fall back on, in terms of human existence. Varnasrama is the beginning of human life, but did that stop them from falling down? Do you understand my point? Just the fact that someone is pigeon-holed as a brahmacari, grihastha, vanaprastha, or sannyasi doesn\u2019t guarantee that he is not going to become distracted from his pursuit of the ultimate goal of life.<\/p>\n

As a matter of fact, my personal observation is that over the years, seeing how so many fell away in spite of the fact that they were big this, that, or the other varnasrama-wise, the reason they fell down is because they were not sufficiently encouraged to pursue the paro-dharma. They were already distracted, thinking that they had to involve themselves with conditional dharmas more than what was perhaps actually required, and thereby lost valuable time. In other words, the preaching didn\u2019t sufficiently impress upon them the need to progress. I\u2019m not saying \u201cPrabhupada\u2019s preaching,\u201d although what others preached to us came from what Prabhupada was preaching. But anyone who wants to glean the essence of Krishna consciousness can do so by hearing from Srila Prabhupada. And many of the leaders in our movement became absorbed in conditional pursuits in terms of their idea that we had to set up varnasrama within our society, that we had to somehow or other, even though Prabhupada had said that to establish varnasrama in the context of the present demoniac leadership infrastructure of so-called civilization is a virtual impossibility, although quite necessary to rectify the ills of human society. It is not possible! Prabhupada said clearly that it was not possible. And he also offered the solution.<\/p>\n

I say that if it\u2019s the solution for the macrocosm, then it\u2019s also a solution for the microcosm. It should be seen as the solution for the microcosm even before we apply it to the macrocosm. And that is to increase the piety, to force people to become pious, because it\u2019s for the people and by the people. But people are not pious; they\u2019re a bunch of small dogs, animals, getting together and electing one big animal and glorifying him until they are ready to pull him off the throne. The blue jackal syndrome. But how to make them pious? How to increase their spiritual intelligence so that they can see things in proper perspective, see the distinction between the pure devotional ideal, or the Vedic ideal, and the present demoniac mundane wrangling, exploitative kind of government that is going on now?<\/p>\n

Prabhupada told us that the solution to the problem is to perform mass harinama sankirtana and distribute books. But he specifically mentioned mass harinama sankirtana all over the world. Because the atmosphere that is surcharged with the influence of the Holy Name, with the sound of the Holy Name, and even the ethereal element in the atmosphere, is purified so much so that even after the sankirtana party has gone back to the temple, if people enter into the atmosphere where the sankirtana party was, they become purified of sinful reactions and gain piety. And not just any kind of piety, but bhakti-unmukhi-sukriti. They become more and more eligible to get sraddha, even pure devotional sraddha. Or at least sraddha-abhasa, which is somehow connected with Krishna consciousness. Then it\u2019s possible for them to recognize the need for superior Krishna conscious leadership in human society and vote God conscious leadership into office.<\/p>\n

But devotees, hearing that Prabhupada had this desire to re-implement varnasrama in human society by setting up little varnasrama communities as an example for the rest of the world to follow, in their confusion they became, let\u2019s say, neglectful of the basic elementary process, which Srila Prabhupada instructed was necessary for varnasrama to ever be possible. And that\u2019s to perform harinama sankirtana!<\/p>\n

So all over the movement, especially after Prabhupada left, harinama sankirtana waned like anything, practically to the point where no one goes out on harinama sankirtana, except in a couple of places in the world, especially compared to the way it was when Prabhupada was here: devotees going out daily on harinama sankirtana, having maha-sankirtana processions in the thick of it on Friday and Saturday nights, on the week-ends.<\/p>\n

In other words, the cart was put before the horse. It\u2019s much harder for a horse to push a cart than it is for a horse to draw a cart. So the horse should go before the cart. Unless we become sufficiently purified from our attachments to all upadhis, sarvopadhi vinirmuktam, including the conceptions of oneself, the bodily conception, which would make it necessary for you to think in terms of entertaining varnasrama dharma even in the slightest. Unless we become purified of all these upadhis, we\u2019re not going to be able to be invested with the sakti, the spiritual realization, the cognizance of who we really are on the spiritual platform. Sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate (BG 14.26). How? Not by practicing varnasrama duties and all these things, but by bhakti-yogena sevate. Mam ca yo \u2019vyabhicarena bhakti-yogena sevate means without deviating from that principle. Then sa gunan samatityaitan, attaining the transcendental platform, is possible.<\/p>\n

In other words, there is no solution to anyone\u2019s problems. Varnasrama is not the solution to anyone\u2019s problems. It will never be the solution to the soul\u2019s problems. Varnasrama is only a stepping-stone to the extent that varnasrama actually fosters suddha-bhakti. If the suddha-bhakti principles are not being followed, then varnasrama is an anartha. Whether varnasrama or no varnasrama, the real substance has to be there for anything to be viable and real. And in Kali-yuga \u2013 I hate to sound like a fanatic; I don\u2019t want people to brand me as being some kind of an old-timer, old-fashioned. But I dare say that Kali-yuga has hardly started, and for the whole 432,000 years of Kali-yuga \u2013 not just for the first 4,500 years, taking it up to about the time when Lord Caitanya and his associates were chanting and dancing at Srivasa-angam and busting out and taking it to the streets, but for the whole Kali-yuga \u2013 harinama sankirtana is the yuga-dharma. And not just for the whole yuga, but for every living entity who\u2019s appearing on Earth. . . .<\/p>\n

A large contingency of devotees harp on cow protection because Srila Prabhupada harped on cow protection also. So many times we\u2019ve heard Prabhupada telling how the cow is giving us milk, milk gives finer brain substance for understanding subtle spiritual . . . what subtle? It\u2019s not so subtle! In the matter of fact, it\u2019s blatantly obvious, and it is staring us in the face. Finer brain substance means what? Milk of the cow gives finer brain substance for understanding. Understanding means understanding what? Finer brain substance means su-medhasah. Understanding means yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah (SB 11.5.32). So then we have to see: in Kali-yuga, it\u2019s not possible to satisfy Krishna without satisfying the Kali-yuga-yajna-purusha, who happens to be Lord Caitanya, who is satisfied how? By the performance of the yuga-dharma, harinama sankirtana. So we can sit and armchair-philosophize about varnasrama-dharma all we want and think that we\u2019re doing something wonderful in the matter of setting up our little microcosm among the devotees. But I say, To hell with varnasrama-dharma!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no time for cultivating varnasrama-dharma. People who think that there is time for cultivating varnasrama-dharma simply have not understood the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. Maybe they can busy themselves with cultivating varnasrama-dharma, but someone who is actually serious about pursuing the path of suddha-bhakti, who has actually understood the philosophy, realizes that this human form of life is very short. And I have to get from A to C in this one lifetime; it\u2019s going to take focused, single-minded intelligence. Ekeha kuru nandana (BG 2.41). Krishna says, ekeha, one-pointed. And for those who have other things, then bahu-sakha, many branches. This conditional dharma, that conditional dharma . . . whatever. But according to Bhaktivinoda Thakur, someone who wants to actually achieve the terrace of prema should concern himself with the regulative principles of varnasrama-dharma as little as possible and focus his life\u2019s energies on performing the yuga-dharma, by which you can hope to get anywhere.<\/p>\n

And yuga-dharma means paro-dharma, which means fostering para-bhakti, or raganuga-bhakti, because that\u2019s what Mahaprabhu came to give by inaugurating the sankirtana movement. The sankirtana movement is a movement meant to spread Vraja-prema, to open the storehouse of Vraja-bhakti and distribute Vraja-bhakti to the most fallen conditioned souls. So that has to be taken into consideration. Sankirtana-yajna is not just anything, any kind of sankirtana. First of all, it\u2019s harinama sankirtana \u2013 and not just any kind of harinama sankirtana. It\u2019s sankirtana of the maha-mantra, because maha-mantra is the tarak-brahma-kirtana-mantra for this age of Kali. There were other mantras, which were the tarak-brahma-kirtana-mantras for other ages. But this Hare-Krishna-maha-mantra happens to be a Radha-Krishna-yugala-vipralambha-mayi, Radha-Krishna-yugala-mantra. The Nimbarkas have Radhe Krishna, Radhe Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Radhe Radhe\/ Radhe Syama, Radhe Syama, Syama Syama, Radhe Radhe. This is also a Radha-Krishna-yugala-mantra, but it is sambhoga-mayi. Ours is vipralambha-mayi, which leads to Vraja.<\/p>\n

According to Dhyanacandra in Sri Sri Gaura-govinda-arcana-smarana-padyati, the perfection, or you can say fruit, of chanting the maha-mantra is the attainment of Vraja-dhama. Maha-mantra sankirtana is for the purpose of augmenting raga-bhakti, spontaneous devotion, following in the footsteps of the Vraja-vasis, whose devotion is immaculate. It is completely pure, free from any contamination of aisvarya-jnana or mundane karmas or any such things \u2013 contamination with the desire for self-satisfaction that you find in realms attained by conditional bhakti.<\/p>\n

It is in our guru-parampara, and Srila Prabhupada very clearly stressed unconditional devotion, unalloyed devotion. That means kevala-bhakti. That is our real legacy. When Prabhupada said that half of his work was done, so then everyone went, \u201cHuh?\u201d What was the other half, which was not done? So, half of his work was done \u2013 but what was his work? To establish the Krishna consciousness movement. To establish the sankirtana movement. Half of his work was done, but we seem to forget that he said that we should maintain what he did. We should not just turn toward the fifty percent which was not done, which some people foolishly have opted to do. They think, \u201cWell, what Prabhupada gave, he already did. That\u2019s already done. Now we have to focus on what he didn\u2019t do in order to accomplish the fifty percent.\u201d But what was the fifty percent? He expressed that the fifty percent was to establish varnasrama-dharma in the world. So we have already discussed how Prabhupada said it could be done. It could be done by performing harinama sankirtana. Not by going around trying to convince demons that they should be engaged in varnasrama-dharma, establish it by replacing the leadership. As long as the leaders \u2013 rakshasas living off the blood of human society \u2013 are creating a consumer society and trying to keep everyone in ignorance so that they can sell them their unnecessary so-called necessities, you cannot even begin to think in terms of establishing varnasrama-dharma.<\/p>\n

So where is the question of fulfilling Srila Prabhupada\u2019s fifty percent unless we actually seriously take the formula he advocated for accomplishing that, and that\u2019s to put the horse before the cart and do your harinama sankirtana, get absorbed in harinama sankirtana by which you yourself will be able to get the higher taste so that you can give up your lower taste so that you won\u2019t have to concern yourself with thinking in terms of this upadhi or that upadhi? You\u2019ll actually be above the influence of the three modes of material nature; you\u2019ll actually be above varnasrama as a pure Vaishnava, because you have ruci, harinama ruci, suddha nama ruci. You don\u2019t get suddha nama ruci by not doing harinama sankirtana, please. You understand my point?<\/p>\n

Does it make sense to you? Otherwise it\u2019s just show bottle. You forget the actual medicine, the actual nourishment. It\u2019s a big mistake. The Krishna consciousness movement has been grossly misled, either by ignorant people, shallow people (superficial people who just can\u2019t really get to the essence of what the whole thing is supposed to be all about), or by diabolical people who are purposely, conscientiously trying to undermine the progress of the Krishna consciousness movement from within. Don\u2019t think that that can\u2019t be going on. But at least it shouldn\u2019t go on in our individual life. If we want to become empowered, we have to first of all recognize what is the truth, so that we can present the truth. If we don\u2019t even recognize it, then how are we going to represent the sampradaya? The sampradaya is not a bunch of baboons screwing things up for the spiritual master. Sampradaya means people who are actually absorbed in what the sampradaya is teaching. And what the sampradaya is teaching means the whole gamut of teachings. Varnasrama is a very insignificant aspect of the sampradaya\u2019s teachings.<\/p>\n

Devotee: People who are over-emphasizing this varnasrama are just reflecting their own lack of sraddha.<\/p>\n

Yes, exactly. Of course, Prabhupada harped on varnasrama at a certain point, and that didn\u2019t indicate his lack of sraddha. But for the most part, devotees who are focusing on that . . . just like for some time there was this, what is it called, social development. This is not the International Society for Social Development, please. And it\u2019s not the International Society for varnasrama-dharma. It is the International society for Krishna consciousness. Or in another way you can say that it is not Lord Caitanya\u2019s social development movement, it\u2019s not His varnasrama movement, it\u2019s not his cow protection movement, not His baby-making movement, not His International meet-mart movement as we see around the Vrindavana-yatra time and again.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not really even Lord Caitanya\u2019s book distribution movement. Book distribution is sankirtana in that it promotes the yuga-dharma harinama sankirtana. The essence of all the sastras is the chanting of the Holy Name. That\u2019s the essential message of all the scriptures. The scriptures were made for Kali-yuga rejects like us, who have short memories. They were written down. In previous yugas, they didn\u2019t need to write anything down. There may be one or two who might have written things down, but practically all the brahmacaris were sruti-dhara \u2013 they could remember. Most of us brahmacaris in Kali-yuga have hardly any memory at all. There\u2019s a few good ones, but we can hardly think that Vyasadeva wrote down the literatures for the people of Kali-yuga without considering the necessity of promoting the currently manifest yuga-dharma. It\u2019s not that Vyasadeva didn\u2019t know what the yuga-dharma was going to be.<\/p>\n

One should engage in the yuga-dharma. And if for some reason one can\u2019t directly engage in nama-sankirtana, then at least he can distribute a few books to encourage other people to come forward to join Mahaprabhu\u2019s sankirtana movement so that they can have the opportunity to engage in the yuga-dharma. I really don\u2019t call this shuffling-your-feet-around at mangala-aratik, hardly even getting off the ground and mumbling a few mantras, as sankirtana. I mean, how much Hare-Krishna maha-mantra kirtana is done during the mangala-aratik or the guru-puja kirtana anyway?<\/p>\n

In most Western temples, nobody comes back for the sandhya-aratik in the evening. They\u2019re out making money or distributing books or whatever they\u2019re doing, but they\u2019re not coming to the temple. So basically, all you have is two kirtanas in the morning program for about twenty-five minutes each. And that\u2019s all of your life\u2019s energies that you are going to offer for the performance of yuga-dharma? And everything else is . . . it\u2019d better be somehow or other connected, supporting temple management. But what\u2019s temple management? What\u2019s the meaning of temple management if the manager doesn\u2019t recognize that the temple is supposed to be a place for people to congregate to perform congregational chanting of the Holy Names? Sweeping the floor \u2013 why? So that there is a clean place to come perform nama-sankirtana. Worshipping the Deity – why? We\u2019re feeding the Deity nicely, decorating Him nicely, making sure that the Deity is not inconvenienced, that at least He is a little comfortable \u2013 but why? So that He will stay with us to place His favorable glances on our performances of the yuga-dharma nama-sankirtana.<\/p>\n

Because harinama sankirtana is the yuga-dharma. Any other service that doesn\u2019t recognize the subordination to the yuga-dharma can hardly be called service. Rather, it is an anartha.<\/p>\n

Devotee: Amazing. In the name of service, one is getting distracted. So, the best thing I can do is to just work to increase my own focus on nama-sankirtana, right?<\/p>\n

Yeah, and encourage other people. See, the thing \u2013 and one thing our movement is greatly lacking \u2013 is the higher taste, which makes people happy. It\u2019s because they\u2019re not getting a higher taste that they\u2019re not happy. And because they\u2019re not happy, there is so much bickering, so much institutional and inter-institutional quarrel and strife, because they\u2019re not getting the higher taste. They prefer to busy themselves with all these cyber-wars and all this kind of garbage that is supposed to be so important to philosophically battle each other. Why not philosophically try to understand that if we\u2019re not performing the yuga-dharma, we\u2019re missing the point.<\/p>\n

Instead, we must actually surrender \u2013 saranagati \u2013 on the basis of faith in the purposes of Lord Caitanya\u2019s advent to inaugurate the sankirtana movement of the Holy Name. It\u2019s not such a difficult thing to understand if anyone has read any of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books.<\/p>\n

Devotee: The problem is that people are not reading Prabhupada\u2019s books now.<\/p>\n

Maybe. They may not be reading Prabhupada\u2019s books. But even people who supposedly do read Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books \u2013 they see what they want to see. They don\u2019t actually read with the necessary receptivity of the disciple. Two things are important: a potent guru and a receptive disciple. It\u2019s filtering through \u2013 they have their own, in-built knowledge filters. They don\u2019t have the adhikara, so they don\u2019t recognize things. The adhikara begins with pure devotional sraddha. Likely, if they didn\u2019t have the adhikara in the beginning, when they started reading the books, it\u2019s due to the fact that many of them are coming into the fold of sat-guru\u2019s association for the first time. So they\u2019re chanting aparadha-nama. They are not even on the platform of . . . so how much can they see? How much are their clouds of illusion dissipating? They didn\u2019t have sufficient previous association in previous lifetimes; they\u2019re starting at square one. So you can\u2019t really blame them. They\u2019re on the progressive path. In the next lifetime, they\u2019ll get a better situation and maybe have more su-medhasah to understand the point. So due to lack of sufficient accumulation of bhakti-unmukhi-sukriti from previous lifetimes, their sraddha is weak.<\/p>\n

Devotee: I\u2019m coming back to the same point of the main svarupa; it does say that as far as you don\u2019t have a preacher who practically has pure sraddha, pure devotional service, to preach pure devotional service at all . . .<\/p>\n

According to Bhaktivinoda Thakur in Caitanya Sikshamrita, there is jiva-doya \u2013 nama-ruci, jiva-doya, and Vaishnava-seva. These three things are important. Nama-ruci is absolutely required. Jiva-doya can be manifest on three levels, but without having nama-ruci, one can hardly be actually doing jiva-doya. Nama-ruci means suddha-nama-ruci; that\u2019s real ruci. So when suddha-nama-ruci is there, when one is chanting that suddha-nama, you cannot have suddha-nama-ruci unless you\u2019re chanting suddha-nama. So if someone is chanting suddha-nama, then his chanting can actually do good to others. If someone is chanting abhasa-nama, then you do a semblance of good to others. If someone is chanting aparadha-nama, he hardly does any good for others at all. By aparadha-nama, you can fill their bellies; even aparadha-nama will make it rain and make grains grow and solve people\u2019s chapatti problems. You will get bhukti \u2013 filled belly, gratified, powered by the offended name. So you\u2019re doing that kind of semblance of good.<\/p>\n

And the other semblance of good is that you\u2019re freeing the people who hear the abhasa-nama, the abhasa or Vaishnava-abhasa would-be chanting, from sinful reactions so that they gradually become elevated from the tama-guna and raja-guna to the sattva-guna. Then, as they are freed from sinful reactions to the extent that they are situated in the sattva-guna, to that extent, knowledge can be illuminated and they can begin to understand the difference between matter and spirit. But they don\u2019t get bhakti.<\/p>\n

The only real good anyone can do for anyone is to infuse bhakti into their hearts by chanting suddha-nama. So those who are chanting suddha-nama are on three levels, and as such, corresponding to those three levels there are three levels of jiva-doya. The devotee at the stage of ruci, suddha-nama-ruci, chanting suddha-nama, is considered a sadhaka. He is not a siddha \u2013 he is still a sadhaka \u2013 but because he is chanting the pure name, he can plant the seed of pure devotional sraddha within the heart of an ordinary man and gradually help him to come to the platform of ruci by doing anartha-nivritti, etc. But on a higher level are those who are actually siddha, who attain the bhava platform. They can immediately generate nama-ruci within the heart of an ordinary man. In other words, they can purify that soul considerably by the power of their chanting and gradually bring them up to his position.<\/p>\n

Bhaktivinoda Thakur says that those who are actually premaka Vaishnavas, their power is not limited and they can immediately, just by glancing, just by good wishes or just by vaca \u2013 pronouncing benediction upon someone \u2013 they can immediately bring him to the prema platform. So if we want to do any good for anyone, at least we have to be on the platform of chanting suddha-nama as pure devotee sadhakas. A green mango may not be a ripe mango, but at least it\u2019s a mango; it\u2019s the real thing! The ends and the means have to be the same. If you\u2019re not engaged in pure devotional practices, you\u2019re not going to perfect those pure devotional practices to come to the position of pure devotion in perfection. It\u2019s very simple. If you\u2019re engaging in bhakti-abhasa on the basis of sraddha-abhasa, you\u2019re not going to come to the platform of genuine rati. You\u2019re going to come to the position of rati-abhasa.<\/p>\n

So how important it is \u2013 how very few years we have \u2013 to accomplish anything. We have to really focus on doing whatever is required to actually get nama-ruci so that we can even hope to begin to do the real jiva-doya. Everyone is harping on para-upakara, para-upakara, para-upakara \u2013 you know, gosthi-anandi, para-upakara \u2013 but there is no para-upakara unless there is para-bhakti. Para-bhakti means raga-bhakti. There may be upakara, doing something for others. But para-upakara means to act as an agent of the predecessor acaryas in disciplic succession to give the people what the sampradaya is actually set up to give them \u2013 the transparent via media! Transparent via media means that you have the eligibility or the adhikara, the qualification, to allow the actual message to come through without putting your little knowledge filter on it or keeping people in the dark as to what is the actual siddhanta of the Gaudiya-sampradaya. So at least we have to help people come to the position of understanding what is the prayojana, the goal. There\u2019s no need of understanding the abhideya-tattva unless you\u2019ve already ascertained what is the goal.<\/p>\n

So devotees have to become well versed if they want to be actual preachers. They, themselves, have to be well acquainted with the essence of Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, both in theory and in realization. In other words, there is no substitute for becoming a realized soul. And this\u2014becoming fully self-realized souls\u2014is our first business, putting the horse before the cart in our own lives. At least on the ruci platform it\u2019s possible to recognize our natural intrinsic spiritual inclination toward a particular rasa and be engaged in the pursuit of that bhava. Without pursuing that bhava, how do you expect to get there? First you have to know where you\u2019re going. It doesn\u2019t just automatically happen. Know where you\u2019re going and practice accordingly. Otherwise, there\u2019s no question of being able to suss out what is favorable or what is unfavorable, because one man\u2019s food is another man\u2019s poison.<\/p>\n

So we have to be a little thoughtful about what we\u2019re doing with our human form of life. Our most important duty to the guru parampara is to become fully self-realized so that we can have the fitness to help others become fully self-realized. Because what is the use, what is the meaning? Here\u2019s a very nice movement for having ample facility for eating, sleeping, mating, and defending? There\u2019s enough of that going on. Why should I come to this movement for eating, sleeping, mating, and defending? I was doing fine eating, sleeping, mating, defending out there in the material world. I came to this movement to get something solid, something real, to solve my spiritual dilemma in the matter of my not being able to ascertain the purpose of my life, the purpose of my existence, my being in anxiety on account of not knowing who I am. My abject forgetfulness of Krishna.<\/p>\n

Remembrance of Krishna doesn\u2019t mean that you keep a little Krishna on the side over here on the mantle and in the other corner have a big fat color TV. That\u2019s not remembering Krishna. It may be a semblance of remembering Krishna, but really remembering Krishna means samadhi. That\u2019s real remembrance. And work means working towards accomplishment of samadhi, not just doing any damned thing working. Working, working, working like a workaholic. Samadhi means complete absorption and not just practical samadhi in the sense of absorbing the external body in Krishna sense objects, but absorbing the mind. Complete absorption is not complete unless the mind, the intellect, the consciousness \u2013 the whole lock, stock, and barrel taken together is absorbed in Krishna. Samadhi now \u2013 work later! The real work \u2013 jiva-doya. The real jiva-doya, not the semblance of jiva-doya. Distribute a few books so that people actually get the chance to hear Srila Prabhupada\u2019s preaching, which is coming from the self-realized platform.<\/p>\n

But when they come through the doors of the Krishna consciousness movement, elements within the movement distort the message in this way or that way or the other, completely confusing people and making them wonder whether they have understood what is or is not in the books. Their so-called preacher cannot even figure it out himself. He\u2019s trying to cram some nonsense down someone else\u2019s throat in the name of the Krishna consciousness movement and is not allowing them to see what is the actual siddhanta.<\/p>\n

Devotee: A very big disaster.<\/p>\n

Yes, it is a disaster. It\u2019s a fiasco. It\u2019s not like that everywhere, but an awful lot of everywhere is subject to that kind of environmental condition within the context of the Krishna consciousness movement due to immaturity, or due to miserliness, like Dhenukasura\u2019s. Dhenukasura \u2013 neither he could taste tala fruits nor would he allow anyone else to taste them. But our real business is to taste the tala fruit of Vraja-prema and raga-marga bhakti loke korite pracarana. Pracarana means to preach. But to preach what? To preach raga-marga-bhakti loke to the world. Loke means to the world, to the people. Loke means to everyone, and not just to the select few. We may have to judge how much an individual can handle. But the idea is that when you\u2019re called, if you are chosen, you can do real jiva-doya and fulfill Lord Caitanya\u2019s mission \u2013 to elevate people to the platform of raga-bhakti. That\u2019s why Lord Caitanya came to this world. The Gosvamis of Vrindavana as well. And their representatives also. But instead, we\u2019ve been satisfied to preach varnasrama-dharma, missing the point, thinking that realization is for another lifetime or something, and disallowing others . . . Dhenukasura syndrome.<\/p>\n

Devotee: Is that what Prabhupada meant when he said that all this is boiling the milk?<\/p>\n

Yes, exactly. Boiling the milk. Very deeply understand the philosophy from all angles of vision. Then focus on the conclusion and help others get that focus. That\u2019s preaching. Not just being satisfied with preaching the rudimentaries but helping others get a higher taste, inspiring them to pursue the goal. That\u2019s preaching. And to take to the process by which they can most easily attain the goal, which is harinama sankirtana coupled with bhagavata-sravana and prasada distribution. Book distribution means bhagavata-sravana kirtana. Five angas are most important: dhama-vasa, bhagavata-sravana kirtana, nama sankirtana, sri murti seva, and sadhu-sanga (but real sadhu-sanga, not just any damned thing that wears kanthi-mala and tilaka).<\/p>\n

You can find the philosophy in the books. Everyone has the right to exercise his own intelligence. But some fall under the sway of so-called preachers who think they have to keep everyone under their thumb; they are too wimpy to use their own intelligence, unduly surrendering it to someone else without actually weighing the consequences. But anyone who has a little bit of intelligence certainly can ascertain the actual essence of the scriptures that he is reading. It is not so difficult. Even before someone takes initiation, it\u2019s not impossible to do considerable anartha-nivritti. Anartha-nivritti is not just had by not doing bhajana, please.<\/p>\n

Devotee: I was thinking in terms of this knowledge filter you mentioned before, not having the proper adhikara. Then we only get the book on sankirtana and they see what they want to see . . . unless someone comes and inculcates them . . .<\/p>\n

And even then, they have to be willing to accept it\u2014and live by it in order to actually realize the value of the thing. They have to have enough faith. It\u2019s not that someone can come along and put something in our eyes, but if you want to be an owl . . . as soon as he is gone somewhere else, then immediately your eyes are closed again.<\/p>\n

Anyway, that\u2019s my angle on it. One boy asked Srila Prabhupada, \u201cSrila Prabhupada, I have read in your books that it\u2019s possible for a man in Vedic society to have more than one wife.\u201d And Prabhupada answered, \u201cOh, is that what you\u2019re reading my books for?\u201d I love that anecdote because it is a classic example. You can find so many things, but you can also find the essence.<\/p>\n

So there are two kinds of devotees. There\u2019s sara-grahi; sara means essence, which he\u2019s drinking. Then there\u2019s bhara-grahi, ass-like devotees, carrying around heaps and piles of anarthas. Bhaktivinoda Thakur recommends that we should, if we haven\u2019t already, become sara-grahi. And we should encourage others become sara-grahi. That will help improve the situation. The more essence drinkers there are around us, the better quality of sadhu-sanga we\u2019re going to have. Otherwise it\u2019s sadhu-sanga-less, not real sadhu-sanga. Real sadhu-sanga means real sadhu. And real sadhu means pure devotee. Not that when Srila Prabhupada said that all of his disciples were pure devotees did he mean that any damned fool who supposedly took some kind of farcical initiation was a pure devotee. It meant, \u201cAll of my disciples.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what constitutes \u201cdisciple\u201d? Then you will understand what is pure devotee. It\u2019s funny how people misconstrue things. \u201cAll of my disciples are pure devotees.\u201d Who is so audacious as that to claim to actually be his disciple? You know, I have been struggling for the last thirty-five years to try to become even some kind of a disciple. And a real disciple is an accomplished disciple, not just blathering in the woods. Real sadhu-sanga means associating with real pure devotees, at least at the lower order of a pure devotee, sadhaka, who is actually chanting suddha-nama, who has profound taste for pure devotional practices, governed by guru, sastra, and sadhu. At least that.<\/p>\n

After all, life is very short. To be honest with you \u2013 although it may sound sacrilegious \u2013 first I\u2019d like to give a damn whether varnasrama ever got established. What I want to see is inspired harinama sankirtana. My understanding is that it is the penance for all ills. harinama sankirtana, prasadam distribution, and philosophy for the classes. That doesn\u2019t mean that harinama sankirtana is not for the classes. harinama sankirtana is for the masses which includes the classes, please. You know, some people have this concept that, \u201charinama sankirtana, oh that\u2019s for the masses. We are the philosophers of Krnsa consciousness; that\u2019s not for us.\u201d Especially harinama sankirtana is for the rasika Vaishnavas. They are the ones who would appreciate harinama sankirtana the most, because they are absorbed in the relishing of rasa. So they can actually understand what kirtana-rasa is. Philosophers can try to anthropologically analyze the thing, but the masses don\u2019t know what hit them. The real relishers of harinama sankirtana are the most elevated devotees. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re supposed to be trying to become. We\u2019re supposed to be trying to become uttama-adhikaris, which includes cultivating the vision of an uttama-adhikari. Then we can actually do something. Otherwise, they, the disciples, will not be able to easily advance to their ultimate goal of life under our insufficient guidance, as Srila Prabhupada mentioned in The Nectar of Instruction. We want to do good for others. But first do good to yourself. The doctor heals . . .<\/p>\n

Devotee: It seems that many people think it\u2019s easy and convenient to preach Krishna consciousness practically.<\/p>\n

But they didn\u2019t actually practice. It\u2019s easier to pat themselves on the back, giving themselves credits for doing what Prabhupada wanted us to do. It\u2019s a preaching movement. But what constitutes preaching, please? Preaching means to inculcate, to infuse inspiration for devotional service, bhakti \u2013 means suddha-bhakti, to actually impregnate the heart with bhakti-sakti. That\u2019s actual preaching. If we\u2019re doing anything less than that, then we can\u2019t satisfy ourselves that we\u2019re ISKCON preachers.<\/p>\n

Devotee: One has to be really fortunate to get to the right conclusion.<\/p>\n

Yes \u2013 bhagyavan-jiva. You don\u2019t get to the right conclusion unless you actually come into the fold of the sampradaya. But the sampradaya doesn\u2019t mean people who are distorting the image. It\u2019s not that all the deformities are the sampradaya any more than stools and dead bodies falling into the Ganga are the Ganga. You get something substantial by bathing in the Ganga. But we don\u2019t bathe in the stools. We don\u2019t bathe in the dead bodies. Those things are brushed aside in order to get the essence. So if we can\u2019t even understand the difference between the Ganga and the dead bodies and stools floating, then how are we going to know whether or not we\u2019re actually contacting the sampradaya?<\/p>\n

The institution is like the car. And the sampradaya is like the owner of the car. If the car becomes dysfunctional because certain constituents of its make-up no longer facilitate its purpose in conveying us from one place to another, then the owner has to dump the thing and get some other, either a new car or another form of transportation. It is the substance that has to be transported \u2013 with the assistance of the institution.<\/p>\n

Sampradaya is the substance \u2013 it\u2019s the school of thought, the essential teachings. That\u2019s what distinguishes one sampradaya from another. One luminary in a particular disciplic line may have proper light on certain teachings, which will be seen as sampradaya. So there is the Gaudiya sampradaya, there is the Ramanuja sampradaya, there is . . . Ramanuja was the vehicle through which those teachings manifest to the world. Similarly, any institution or group of people or individual within the institution, any constituent of the institution, can act only as a vehicle \u2013 an agent or an instrument, in other words \u2013 to carry the essential substance, the essential teachings, from the sampradaya for the benefit of others. Therefore the members of the institution have to be properly lined up with the purpose of the sampradaya. Otherwise, everything breaks down.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not that Lord Caitanya\u2019s purpose is not going to be fulfilled. He commended that His name would be heard in every town and village all over the world. How often we\u2019ve heard Prabhupada say that we take His statement lightly, don\u2019t consider the whole thing very deeply. Not that we take the credit. Prabhupada gives us the example that Krishna tells Arjuna that all the soldiers at Kurksetra are already put to death by Him. Arjuna was only an instrument in the fight. And if Krishna wants to give the credit to someone, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean He wants to give the credit to us. He has no objection to giving the credit to us if we will comply with the requirements to merit being given that credit. But if we fall short for not being a transparent via-medium, if the image becomes distorted and apa-sampradaya manifests due to apa-siddhanta coming across, then the vision of Lord Caitanya is not going to be checked by us, any more than the Ganges is going to be checked by a big boulder. Just as the Ganges seeks the path of least resistance, similarly the sampradaya seeks the path of least resistance. What is the resistance? All of our material attachments, our anarthas \u2013 whatever is obstructing the actual truth from manifesting.<\/p>\n

Devotee: We have the option to choose the truth. Otherwise . . .<\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s the proper use of our free will. We\u2019re given the opportunity to act as a servant of Krishna but if we want to continue to serve maya, then so much apa-siddhanta will come, dabbling out of our mouthing-off mouth, mouthing various bogus misrepresentations of the philosophy in the name of the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. So either maya or Krishna. The choice is always there. You can either serve to represent what is actually Krishna consciousness or you can serve the misrepresentations. Regardless, you\u2019ll also be part of the perfect arrangement of Krishna, because there are some people who require to be cheated in this lifetime in order to become frustrated enough to take it seriously in the next lifetime.<\/p>\n

So everything is a perfect arrangement. You\u2019re either this part of the perfect arrangement or that part of the perfect arrangement. But it\u2019s all Krishna\u2019s perfect arrangement. It\u2019s just a question of which aspect of that arrangement we want to serve. But by serving one aspect, you get one result, and by serving another aspect, you get another result. So if you want to present watered-down philosophy so as to somehow or other either boast your own self-esteem, satisfying yourself that you\u2019re doing something wonderful, because after all, \u201cWe\u2019re the next acaryas, so we also have rights to change things according to our conceptions of what we see to be pertinent to time and circumstance.\u201d So we take license, nivritti, to water things down, and people don\u2019t get the real thing\u2014at least, they don\u2019t get it from us. They might, by their own good fortune, run into another agent \u2013 hari, guru, Vaishnava, Bhagavata-gita, something \u2013 read something in another book which makes them understand that whatever is being preached over here is bogus.<\/p>\n

So you can teach them all about varnasrama-dharma! [laughter] Teach them that it\u2019s only important insofar as it may help to keep peace in human society. But the real peace formula is:<\/p>\n

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam<\/p>\n

sarva-loka-mahesvaram<\/p>\n

suhridam sarva-bhutanam<\/p>\n

jnatva mam santim ricchati<\/p>\n

(BG 5.29)<\/p>\n

His friendliness towards the living entities is most dynamically and dramatically manifest in the form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the most munificent avatara, who came to inaugurate the process of nama sankirtana as the expression of his highest friendliness toward the living entities in this age of Kali, because that\u2019s nama sankirtana. That\u2019s actually his way of propagating the prema-dharma. Everything else starts to make sense when you see everything is subordinate or subservient to the yuga-dharma in this age of Kali.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like if I have an infection and I want to cure the infection so that I can be healthy so I can live a normal, happy life, then it\u2019s not going to work, it\u2019s not going to happen, if I only take one tablet a week or one tablet every month or two. I need to take sufficient dosage, sufficiently frequent dosage, in order for the medicine to have its superlative effect. Certainly, it\u2019s not enough just to do lip service to some token compliance with the sankirtana principle once in a blue moon. It should be a regular dosage.<\/p>\n

The temple programs \u2013 coming to see the mangala-aratik, the Deity \u2013 are to force us . . . you know, the force of the rule: everyone must come to mangala-aratik means that everyone must come to do sankirtana before the Deity. It\u2019s not like the Deity is important and the sankirtana is non-important. Both are important, but of the two, the more important is the sankirtana. Deity worship is the yuga-dharma for a previous yuga. But now in Kali-yuga, sankirtana has taken the helm so to speak. So if someone is living in the temple and coming for the morning program \u2013 to the extent that they\u2019re putting their energy into it, instead of just coming and standing around moping, wondering why they\u2019re there (then maybe they won\u2019t get the same out of it as if they were actually enthusiastically chanting and dancing in the sankirtana) \u2013 that\u2019s when the fun starts. That\u2019s actually when you start making advancement. When you start spontaneously going out and performing harinama sankirtana not because you\u2019re forced by the rule but because you know that it\u2019s pleasing to Lord Caitanya and you want to please Lord Caitanya. And you know that it\u2019s pleasing to your guru. If it\u2019s not pleasing to your guru, then he is not your guru \u2013 as simple as that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aindra Das<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following is a full transcript of this room conversation which Yudhistir Govinda das only partly shared with us in his article. <\/a>So I was wondering if you could kindly post this transcript of the full conversation in the comments section. It would be nice for the devotees to be able to read the whole conversation in its entirety.
\n–Varun Gogna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}