CONTENTS:
- THE DIVINE ARRANGEMENT OF CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU
- QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
- SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
- GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
1. THE DIVINE ARRANGEMENT OF CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU
There is another consideration especially when this devotional service is practiced in such a way. One can follow raganuga bhakti but where? Far away from everything in a remote place where you are just alone, by yourself or just a few other like-minded individuals not in the city where so many people are there. Is there any need to go anywhere else? Srila Prabhupada gave us the perfect process so let’s just follow that. The rest will automatically happen this is the divine arrangement of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He will take care. I will narrate an interesting happening. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had a great devotee his name was Sri Saranga Thakura, he used to take care of the deities of RadhaKrishna in one of the islands in Navadwip, Modradrumadvipa. Every day from there he used to come and take part in Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan at night, Mahaprabhu’s congregational chanting at Srivas Thakur’s house and then in the morning he used to go and take care of the deities.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told him one day, “You have become so old so you give initiation to somebody and get an assistant to help you.” Mahaprabhu insisted and he was trying to avoid that question and say that he was not qualified and then he said that he could not find anyone qualified to be his disciple and finally he became so exasperated due to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s persuasion that he said, “Tomorrow whoever I see first I will give him initiation.” Mahaprabhu said, “Fine.” Early in the morning he went to Ganga. In those days they used to make rafts with banana plants, the stem of the banana floats and they used to put it together and it floats in the river. On that was a dead body of a young boy, a beautiful boy whose head was just shaved, wearing silk and Brahmin thread but he was bitten by a snake. When someone dies from snake bite his body is not burnt but actually put in a raft and made to float in the river.
So, he said the first person I met but he was dead so he thought this is how he would avoid this commitment that he made to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He chanted the mantra in the ear of the boy and then he described what actually happened. He was from a village and from a Brahmana family and that day he got initiated and in the evening, he got bitten by a snake and his body was kept on that raft to float and Saranga Thakur as he gave the mantra in his ear and his name Morari and was known as Saranga Murari Thakura. These are the amazing happenings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His devotees. Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. How many questions are there today?
2. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: Maharaja you were explaining we just need to follow the process of Vaidhi bhakti and it will automatically become Raganuga bhakti. I wanted to ask something about this book…. which is a step by process by which to enter Vrindavan so does that book be open to everybody or is it closed, how does it fit?
A: The thing is there are books on raganuga bhakti as I have said it can be practised but not in a large institutional way. These are the internal developments and that should be done in a rather isolated and secluded place. For example, did our Acharyas display ecstatic symptoms? Why didn’t they do that? Because that is something very personal, that reminds me; once one snake charmer was singing the glory of Lord Shiva. Hearing that glorification of Lord Shiva, Haridas Thakur started to dance in ecstasy and seeing that everybody was impressed seeing the ecstatic symptoms. There was a Brahmana and he thought by displaying these symptoms he is getting so much recognition so he also started to do this. It is not something that should be imitated and the possibility can be there of imitations when these symptoms are displayed.
Q: Thank you so much. My first question is on the Nimbaraka sampradaya. Yesterday you spoke of Keshava Kashmiri and how he surrendered and ….. Gopal mantra …… a clear aspect of surrender and opposed to that we have Vallabha Acharya….. please say a few words to elaborate on this and the reason for this is especially in the UK there is quite a large following of…?
A: Although Keshava Kasmiri was from nimbaraka sampradaya but he was not the Acharya of that sampradaya so when he became a follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu it did not make any turmoil or had an effect on the nimbaraka sampradaya as such. Whereas with Vallabha Acharya its different, he was actually a follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu but he was a very exalted personality. He was patronised by the king so you can well imagine, he was a devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It was described that he was an incarnation of Sukadev Goswami so in our sampradaya he is perfectly situated. He took initiation from Gadadhar but Vallabha Acharya’s followers, his sons were great patrons of the Goswamis. Jiva Goswami arranged for the books to be transported from Bengal to Vrindavan written by the Goswamis because Vrindavan was a forest and Bengal was a place where things were happening. He decided to send those books to Bengal through Srinivas Acharya, Govinda das Thakur and Syamananda. It was Vallabha Acharya’s sons who made all the transporting arrangements. So, we can see how closely they were connected to the Vaishnavas.
The trouble actually started when Chaitanya Charitamrita came out and in Chaitanya Charitamrita there is a description of how different locations Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chastised Vallabha Acharya and his grandsons and others would not really accept this because in their eyes, he was so exalted and they could not tolerate their Acharya was being chastised that is why they started to even call Vallabha Acharya as Mahaprabhu. They severed all connections and they have Gopal deity which was discovered by Madhavendra Puri in Vrindavan but they are worshipping that deity as Sri Nathji but they don’t accept that it was Madhavendra Puri who actually retrieved the deity. They don’t have any history so that is the problem. The point is if we go to the ultimate consideration if the Lord chastises someone what’s wrong in that? The problem is when they do not accept Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His relationship with Vallabha Acharya then this creates this problem.
Q: Next question was about Keshava Bharati in Chaitanya Charitamrita there is a …… giving the sanyas mantra?
A: Keshava Bharati didn’t want to give Him the mantra. Mahaprabhu recited the mantra and Keshava Bharati repeated it.
Q: You mentioned today…….Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not accept one of the …..titles?
A: He maintained Krishna Chaitanya which is actually a brahmachari name but He didn’t accept the Bharati titles.
Q: When we read Bhagavad Gita, through Prabhupada’s purports it makes us feel as if Prabhupada has such knowledge that it becomes obvious that……..clearly behind that Brahma sutras……sometimes we hear……………in my mind I realise how elevated Srila Prabhupada was to make that…….?
A: That’s the different in having the revelation from a pure devotee. From Prabhupada what we are actually getting is a revelation of the spiritual realm whereas others give some intellectual understanding which were not really in proper spiritual domain. They were giving their interpretation which is concocted. One great Indian scholar was saying when Krishna comes to the material nature, He becomes affected by the modes of material natures and that is why He acts this way. See the difference. The whole understanding is spoilt. It is not knowledge but ignorance.
Q: You mentioned that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took the sins of Jagai and Madhai and in Bhagavad Gita Krishna says sarva papebyo so my question is with the spiritual master, what is the theory with regards to the sins of the disciples in the same way that any sinful reaction is created by the wife or husband and what should be our meditation in terms of being cautious?
A: Well on the part of the spiritual master he should feel well I am prepared to accept anything in the service of Krishna in order to help this individual. The disciple should feel let’s not burden the spiritual master with our sinful reactions.
Q: This question is on Raganuga Bhakti I heard your lectures in Mayapur……Nectar of devotion, we follow Srila Prabhupada….lived his life and exemplified…… unclear…..?
A: You don’t have to go anywhere else Prabhupada gave us everything and even if it is a matter of intellectual understanding don’t, we have everything in Chaitanya Charitamrita and it has been further elaborated in Nectar of Devotion. The trouble starts when you don’t read Srila Prabhupada’s books and try to explore outside, try to get it cheap.
Q: You mentioned this morning that Gaya is the best place to offer pinda for forefathers does this also apply to devotees?
A: Then why did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu go and do that Himself if it’s not meant for devotees. Yes. Mahaprabhu went Himself to offer pinda for His forefathers.
Q: When Krishna was in Rasa dance and Radharani went away He could have maintained His expansions and still left with Her but He chose to leave?
A: As I mentioned earlier that these pastimes are like a drama, a play on a stage. Krishna acts in the most perfect way. Why Krishna didn’t do that? Just forget it. A very famous director makes a movie; the question is why didn’t he do it the way I want do we say that or we just go to the movie theatre of course we don’t watch movies in the movie theatre. Don’t you just get absorbed if you really want to enjoy the drama then don’t question? Does anyone question why did Shakespeare write Macbeth the way he did? I did not. What to speak of the way Krishna presents His pastimes? Krishna could have done so many things. Let’s put it this way, if Krishna maintained all His expansions by dancing with them and left with Radharani would Radharani’s glory be established? Simple point in order to establish the unique position of Srimati Radharani Krishna did that.
Q: I find the culture that is represented in Chaitanya Charitamrita to be very attractive and I believe a lot of things that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did as you have mentioned was so that we would learn from the actions that He was performing. I think personally I have found being a part of ISKCON that sometimes I can’t correlate to the culture that was presented that time to the culture that is being followed today in many areas like education, performance of last rites and today if one discusses shrad one gets looked down upon, He left His mother and wife after taking sanyas but today remarriage after divorce is even accepted. These points to me I have confusion about?
A: As you mentioned times are changing. Can you imagine how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had to leave His elderly mother and young wife and took sanyas? Can you imagine Ramachandra letting Sita going through fire test? If you try to do that now what will happen? At that time, it was alright because the social structure was like that. What to talk if the Supreme Personality of Godhead was doing. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu left His mother and wife and took sanyas there was difficulty apart from the separation. Nowadays things are changing. One thing I do in India when some young boy joins, I ask them whether they have any liability towards their family and I make it a point to send some money to their family because some families are depending on the young men who are earning so we need to take care of them as well. Nowadays so many devotees at a young age are taking sanyas leaving their family.
3. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
From Prabhupada what we are actually getting is a revelation of the spiritual realm whereas others give some intellectual understanding which were not really in proper spiritual domain. Srila Prabhupada gave us the perfect process so let’s just follow that. You don’t have to go anywhere else Prabhupada gave us everything!
4. GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
- The disciple should feel let’s not burden the spiritual master with our sinful reactions;
- The trouble starts when you don’t read Srila Prabhupada’s books and try to explore outside, try to get it cheap;
- Krishna acts in the most perfect way. Why Krishna didn’t do that? Just forget it; and
- Of course we don’t watch movies in the movie theatre.
(The content of this E-Magazine is based on a Lecture given by HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja on given at Drakensburg Retreat, South Africa on 21 January 2017.)
(Compiled and Edited by Hemavati Radhika Devi Dasi)