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Published December 1958, in Gaudiya
Patrika,
the Magazine of the Gaudiya Vedanta
Samiti.
1. I am sitting
alone in Vrndavana-dhama. In this mood I am getting many
realizations. I have my wife, sons, daughters, grandsons,
everything, But I have no money so they are a fruitless glory. Krsna
has shown me the naked form of material nature, By his strength it
has all become tasteless to me today. yasyaham anugrhnami harisye
tad-dhanam sanaih "I gradually take away all the wealth of those
upon whom I am merciful." How was I able to understand this mercy of
the All-merciful?
2. Everyone has
abandoned me, seeing me as penniless, Wife, relatives, friends,
brothers, everyone. This is misery, but it gives me a laugh. I sit
alone and laugh. In this maya-samsara, whom do I really love? Where
have all my loving father and mother gone to now? And where are all
my elders, who were my own folk? Who will give me news of them, tell
me who? All that is left of this family life is a list of names.
3. Like the froth
on the sea water mixes again in the sea, Maya's samsara's play is
just like that. No one is mother or father, or personal relative,
Just like the sea-foam they remain but a short time, Just as the
froth on sea water mixes again in the sea, The body made of five
elements meets with destruction. How many bodies does the embodied
soul take in this way; His relatives are all simply related to this
temporal body.
4. But everyone is
your relative, brother? on the spiritual platform. This relationship
is not tinged with the smell of maya. The Supreme Lord is the soul
of everyone, In relation to Him, everyone in the universe is the
same. All your relatives, brother! All the billions of jivas. When
seen in relation to Krsna they are all in harmony. Forgetting Krsna,
the jiva desires for sense gratification, And as a result he is
firmly grasped by maya.
5. As a result of
past activities he takes on different types of body. Absorbed in
that dress he remains forgetful of Sri Hari. Therefore maya gives
him so many kinds of miseries And although he bobs up and down in
this ocean of misery, he still thinks that he is happy. Lying on a
bed, suffering greatly, having been sick a long time "I am very well
today," he says laughing. I get a laugh out of his "feeling very
well" This is the way the soul conditioned by maya feels "well"
6. How many plans
they have to remain "well" But time and time again nature destroys
them. daivi hy esa gunamayi that is the Supreme Lord's maya. Try to
understand exactly the meaning of their "feeling well"; No one is
well in the whole world, but still they are saying In this way maya
cheats the conditioned soul. But, ignoring that he is being cheated,
he remains absorbed in maya; And although maya kicks him, he will
not give up his mistaken conception.
7. Again and again
making plans, and again and again they are destroyed. Sometimes he
falls on the dry earth and sometimes in the mud. In this way the
universe is filled with wandering jiva souls who finally by the
grace of Guru and Krsna get bhakti -- the eternal wealth. Gaining
that wealth if they can give up all other so-called wealth, Then
very easily he crosses over the ocean of samsara. There on the other
side is unparalled spiritual variegatedness. There he enjoys in
eternal happiness and peace.
8. The mad say,
"There everything is formless, Without special feature like a kind
of nothing." He is actually the storehouse of spiritual tastes --
raso vai sah The intelligent knowers of tastes serves him becoming
his subordinate Santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya are those tastes and
The best of all, madhurya, is the essence of them all. But in the
spiritual world all these tastes are relishable, Whereas the
material tastes are just shadow reflections and are all
contemptible.
9. One who worships
Krsna is clever But one who worships maya is a pauper. Becoming a
pauper one engages in temporary pastimes Without knowledge of the
true relationships of things he simply becomes bound up in maya's
knot. Arjuna and Duryodhana both fought in the same war, But Arjuna
was the best devotee and Duryodhana died. on one battlefield both
dear and detestable One who is intelligent will be able to
understand.
10. One who fights
the war of life knowing his true relationship, He will remain alive
while all others will perish. One who does not know his
relationship, and takes up some other path, He will never attain
love of god, and his whole life is useless. First understand
properly your relationship with Krsna And then keeping that
relationship, go and fight with maya. Other than this all the heroes
of jnana and karma Never attained liberation, they were all
uncertain.
11. In name only
they were great sober and unaffected men, They were all unpeaceful.
Desiring liberation, sense gratification or mystic powers, all had
uncontrolled senses. The uncontrolled senses don't answer to the
potency of yoga. How many yogis and munis there were, and always the
senses remained independent. Without service of the master of the
senses there can be no sense control. They all return to material
activities after a short term of peace. By the process of yoga, no
one ever attains sense control. This is explained extensively in the
Vedas and Puranas.
12. Visvamitra sat
on the yogic asana But he desired the pure beauty Sakuntala. In this
way the yogis fall down, what to speak of the jnanis And the karmis
are all just asses, suffering in all respects. The one to whom Krsna
is merciful and gives His instruction, Becomes equally as fortunate
as Arjuna. But one who fights for his own happiness' sake He, like
Duryodhana, dies along with his family.
13. One who always
fights on behalf of Krsna, Wealth, power, knowledge are all within
his grasp. Understand properly the Gita's message You will attain
Krsna's service and will worship Sri Hari, The devotees are endowed
with all qualities, So what are "non-violence" or "freedom from
anger" to them?
14. Sri Hari
teaches the living entities by means of his devotees, one such
helper is Partha. Arjuna acted just like a conditioned soul Like one
bewildered was the Pandava brother Violence to his relatives and
then enjoyment of the Kingdom Could this be happiness? Arjuna showed
lamentation. This though, was all dehatma-buddhih identification
with the body one who is a ksatriya gives up such family affection
on the battlefield.
15. Krsna, seeing
his illusion, chastised him Therefore Arjuna accepted the position
of disciple Becoming a disciple he listened to the Bhagavad-gita.
All his ignorance dissipated as well as his material bondage. His
material bondage was cut, but he was not dressed as a sannyasi. The
householders understand the Gita's meaning this way. The perfection
of mantras, karisye vacanam tava Therefore the war that he fought
brought him an increase in fame.
16. The Vaisnavas
have no desire, they all chant japa on their beads. So what kind of
Vaisnava is this Arjuna in the middle of samsara? The Vaisnava freed
from duality simply chants japa on his beads, So say those who are
eating the mind's bananas. The Vaisnava is without desire, and
amicable by nature But he is not a forceless weakling as people
foolishly think. In two great Indian wars, two great personalities;
Leaders amongst the Vaisnavas and were victorious.
17. Because of
desire for the satisfaction of his own senses he would not fight.
But he is one who is known by everyone as a Vaisnava. Those who do
not see the real Vaisnavas say that a Vaisnava is inactive. But the
Vaisnava is always active in the service of the Lord. The lifeless
kanistha-adhikaris don't perform any service. For profit adoration
and prestige they stay in their lonely place, Nityananda prabhu, who
is worshipable by the Vaisnavas Suffered blows, but still
distributed love of God one after the other.
18. Gaura Hari came
with the cakra in His hand and gave punishment, After that the
Vaisnava haters were subdued. The Lord sets example Himself to teach
the jivas So one who performs nirjana bhajana simply cheats himself.
The world has now become full of Jagais and Madhais The Nityananda
Vamsa has increased its following of disciples. But eating,
sleeping, wearing the dress, but remaining unconcerned It is not
proper for the Vaisnavas to remain so uncompassionate.
19. Srila
Cakravarti Thakura says in his Madhurya Kadambini Just see his
conclusion and what is his judgement. Devotional service is
causeless and self-manifesting But the Eternally Perfect Substance
is always covered over. The madhyama-adhikari therefore being
compassionate Gives mercy to the innocent souls by awakening
devotion in them. The Supreme Lord acts according to the will of the
Vaisnavas, Therefore by the mercy of the Vaisnavas the bewildered
can be awakened.
20. The Vaisnavas
can awaken the sleeping world By their mercy the sinful can all
become devotees. Therefore they do not perform nirjana bhajana, That
is the world cheating process of the kanistha-adhikari All the big
big famous vaishnavas were in assembly And Padri Saheb came in to
meet them He asked some questions about Krsna's lila in Vrndavana
But that association of venerable Vaisnavas was not able to
enlighten him as to the real truth.
21. The
kanistha-adhikaris do not understand these scriptures In the false
pride of being alone they simply hunt for chapatis and dal. Our
spiritual master said these are all kanistha Now I can understand
the truth of what he said. One well versed in the scripture and who
has strong faith Is an uttama-adhikari and can deliver the whole
world. He is the deliverer of the most fallen and is famous through
the world. Now, save this fallen one and thus become really famed.
22. In the Kali-yuga
the jivas are all fallen and the lowest of mankind. Seeing they do
not see the different activities The Supreme Lord Gaurasundara is
the most magnanimous And His instructions are all full of nectar.
One who has taken his birth in the land of Bharata Should engage in
welfare activities according to His instructions. The Supreme Lord's
lila was to relish mellows in the nirajana But it is not the play of
Vaisnavas to imitate these activities.
23. This
transcendental service cannot actually be tasted by those who are
not Vaisnavas. In the material body one cannot relish this
transcendental nectar. One who has the material concept that the
body is his self Cannot relish spiritual mellows. But those who have
conceptions of the Vaisnavas in terms of birth etc. Are very bold
when it comes to relishing the lilas of the Lord. Like the clerk in
the post office, one caste goswami. The babajis all pay their
obeisances to him a lot.
24. The Gosai
Thakura has false pride in his birth Which Nityananda Prabhu cut
into pieces. I see all these things going on in Vrndavana Therefore
I can understand that there is some work to be done here The
prakrta-sahajiyas all commit adultery Taking someone else's wife
they go to relish transcendental lila. This is not Vrndavana as
always think like this my dear mind Remember the Lotus feet of the
six gosvamis.
25. The six
gosvamis came and preached religious life They saved the process of
devotional service on the order of Lord Caitanya. They are all
eternally perfect associates of the Lord and always remember Radha
and Krsna Remembering them all the conditioned souls sins are
cleared away But if he tries to imitate them taking on their dress
and characteristics He becomes the plaything of maya and does not
cross over the material ocean Always preach! From jiva's door to
door Your life will be successful as a result of your preaching.
26. Sri Dayita dasa
prabhu gave this instruction "Chant Hare Krsna loudly, this is my
initiation: Kirtana is not just drums and karatalas The sound of
kirtana is not this modern system Anything favourable for devotional
service is all Madhava And the only enjoyer of the three worlds is
Yadava Maya's pride and joy, the radio sound Destroy them all by
forceful kirtana.
27. Maya's is all
these newspapers Preach that throughout the whole world. Sitting
alone in your room shouting, you may increase your bile's secretion
But in ten million births Sri Hari won't be pleased. Sri Hari is no
one's father's property Come out of your cage, stop making objection
Everything belongs to Sri Hari and Sri Hari belongs to everyone.
Chant the Hare Krsna mantra loudly By the performance of such
sankirtana there will come remembrance automatically Then there will
be nirjana bhajana manifested in the heart spontaneously.
Srila A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada |
