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— { DIVINE ASPIRATION } —
CHAPTER EIGHT:
A MOMENT’S PRECIOUS GRACE
Our Guru Maharaj, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, used to say that divine slavery, slavery to Krishna, is the most dignified position for a human being; it is the highest dignity of the human race. It is just the opposite to slavery in the material world. Slavery to a human being is reckoned as bad, but slavery to the Absolute Beauty is just the opposite. And the slaves of Krishna, the fully surrendered souls, never want to get out of that slavery; far from it, they will dismiss every other prospect, even liberation. They will say: “No, we don’t want liberation; we are well where we are.”
INFINITE HANKERING
Srila Rupa Goswami has given this sloka:
klesaghni subhada moksa
laghuta-krt sudurllabha
sandrananda-visesatma
sri-krsnakarsini cha sa
(Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, Purva 1.17)
“Uttama-bhakti, the purest devotion, is the vanquisher of all sin and ignorance, and the bestower of all auspiciousness. Liberation is insignificant in the presence of such devotion, which is very rarely attained. It is the embodiment of the deepest ecstasy and the attractor of Sri Krishna Himself.”
Here it says, moksa-laghuta-krt sudurlabha: even after the stage of mukti, liberation, has been reached, such pure devotion—slavery to Krishna—is not easily attained. After liberation from all misconception, it is still very hard to get the service of Him or Her, of Krishna or Radharani, to achieve a position in the transcendental service-world. Suddha-bhakti, pure devotion, is sudurlabha, very difficult to attain. But, sandrananda visesatma: even the slightest touch of it will fill you with high pleasure and ecstasy. And, sri krsnakarsini cha sa: the final effect of devotion proper is that it will draw Krishna to your heart. Such devotion is Krishna’s own potency, and it is the root of service (bhakti krsna-sakti, seva mula). Your earnest and exclusive hankering for Him can draw Him, Sri Krishna, Reality the Beautiful Himself, to your heart.
Student: How can a person exclusively desire to serve Krishna when so many other desires are coming to him, as if bombarding him? What should he do? One may know, at least, what should be the highest standard or ideal to strive for; but in such circumstances, it seems so difficult to be fixed in the pure service aspiration.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: If you can manage to enter the positive, then the negative will remain far away. This is the basic principle. As much as we can make progress towards the positive, automatically the negative will have to leave us. The positive is sadhu-sanga, sadhu-sastra-sanga, association with saints and scriptures. No other thing is needed, only this simple thing: our association with the sadhu. And association with the sadhu means with surrender. So surrender to the positive, and, according to the degree of surrender and confidence in what the sadhu and sastra say, the negative, the apparently irresistible demands of material desire, will automatically be withdrawn.
Within the positive, there is gradation: devotion to Narayan (vaikuntha-bhakti), Ramachandra, Dvarakesh, and then Krishna in Vrindavan. Progress through selection and elimination will continue there. Always this should be our earnest prayer:
virachaya mayi dandam dinabandho dayam va
gatir iha na bhavattah kachid anya mamasti
nipatatu sata-koti nirbharam va navambhas
tad api kila payodah stuyate chatakena
(Srila Rupa Goswami)
“O Friend of the most needy, whether You chastise me or reward me, in the whole wide world I have no other shelter but You. Whether the thunderbolt strikes or torrents of fresh waters shower down, the Chataka bird, who drinks only the pure falling rainwater, perpetually goes on singing the glories of the raincloud.”
Krishna is the friend of the fallen: dinabandhu dayam va. He may do anything and everything at His sweet will. Rupa Goswami prays, “You may make or mar, but I have no alternative but to want Your grace. Everything is tasteless to me, my Lord; please accept me, give me some sort of menial service to Your holy feet.” This is what is needed: our earnest and deep prayer towards Him for His grace, for His service, and to have no other alternative. We must be like the Chataka bird who never takes any water, however pure, which has fallen on the earth, but only that from above. With her face to the sky, she waits, praying: “pratik jala, pratik jala—a drop of water, a drop of water.” And water may come so profusely from the sky as to drown her, or a thunderbolt may come and finish her; whatever may come, whatever may happen, she has no other alternative but to pray: “O Lord, give a drop of Your grace. That grace is infinite. For You to give a drop is nothing, yet it may save the whole world. So I have no other alternative.” We must have such saranagati, surrender, and such hankering.
A RARE CHANCE
We can get much help from His associates, the devotees, the Lord’s own. They are really our friends because in their association, our hankering may be increased. And, sajati-yasaye snigdhe sadhau sangah svato vare (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, 1.2.90): good association for us will be with a sadhu who is of the same line and also is superior to ourselves. In sadhu-sanga, it is recommended that the sadhu be in the same line, of the same type of hankering and aspiration, as well as hold a superior position in devotion. We should think, “I shall try to throw myself at his disposal, and that will help me to the greatest extent.”
This human life is rare, and it is transient; at any moment I may die. At any moment I may be finished here, and this chance may not occur again. This human life, with its special opportunity and some favourable environment, may not come again. So it is important to perceive the value of our time. We must be particularly conscious of the great value of our present moment.
In Srimad Bhagavatam, Pariksit Maharaj asked Sukadev Goswami: “I have only one more week to live. In this short time, please give me some instruction so that I may be saved.”
Sukadev replied: “Oh, one week—that is enough!”
From Sukadev Goswami came this statement—a wonderful thing! He explained: “O King, we have passed so much time, so many lives, in this world. From time immemorial our existence has not been utilised. But only one second, if properly utilised, is sufficient, Maharaj. So, try to utilise your time for the best possible purpose. There are so many mountains, so many trees, and they have long lives: what of that? If one is inattentive to one’s own interest, a long life is of no value. But if we can properly understand our situation and our necessity, then only one moment, properly utilised, will produce immense growth in us, and immensely fruitful results.”
Then Sukadev gave the history of Khatvanga Maharaj and how he utilised the one moment he had left to live. Khatvanga Maharaj asked the Gods: “Will you tell me how long I have to live?”
They replied: “Only one moment.”
“Oh, then you all go. You cannot give me my desired result. Who can give me that?”
The Gods answered: “Only Narayan can fulfil your desire.”
And Khatvanga Maharaj said: “Then all of you leave me, go!”
And without any reservation, he surrendered to the feet of the Lord; he engaged himself in His service and achieved his desired end:
khatvango nama rajarsir,
jnatveyatam ihayusah
muhurtat sarvam utsrjya,
gatavan abhayam harim
(Srimad Bhagavatam, 2.1.13)
“The saintly King Khatvanga, after being informed that the duration of his life would be only a moment more, at once freed himself from all material activities and took shelter of the supreme safety, the Personality of Godhead.”
The Lord is specifically mentioned in this verse as Hari: gatavan abhayam harim. Who is Hari? He is abhayam. When we get Him, then all apprehension, all fear and every undesirable thing will be vanquished forever. “Hari” means sach-chid-ananda—eternal existence, perfect consciousness and the fulfilment of life in ecstatic joy. Maharaj Khatvanga achieved all this within one moment!
Student: Maharaj, I am very afraid to write anything about Krishna consciousness because I have so many material desires. At the same time, when I go out and speak to people about Krishna and the sweetness of Krishna, I see how much they enjoy it. So I am thinking, even though I have no qualification, I should continue to write or to preach. Is this correct?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: It is laudable that you want to do good to others. Mahaprabhu has given a general instruction:
yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa
amara ajnaya guru hana tara’ ei desa
(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 7.128)
“Wherever you go, whomever you meet, talk with them only about Krishna. Deliver this news to anyone and everyone, and new light will come to you, which in turn you are to distribute to others. In this way you will have a dynamic and progressive life, and there will be no shortage of higher backing. If you obey My command, then you will find that I am there, backing you in this work.”
This is Mahaprabhu’s general advice. Such distribution is the only necessity in this world, where all are entering the jaws of death at every moment. Mahaprabhu wants His followers to be agents, preaching Krishna’s devotion to the public, speaking about the special prospect of the land of Krishna, about Vrindavan.
So, it is laudable that you want to do good for others in this way; but at the same time, before doing so you must properly try to understand what is ‘good’ and then distribute that. This is no less important. It is very good to treat a patient, but you must know at least what the treatment is. Then you can treat the patient. That will be beneficial. How will one who is not properly adjusted venture to adjust others? First know your place, what is your proper adjustment in relation to the whole, and in that position your duty will be revealed to you.
PROPER USE OF ENERGY
At the time of the second Great War, a picture of a soldier’s uniform was posted on the wall of the Writers Building in Calcutta. At the bottom of the poster it was written: “Put on this uniform, and the uniform will tell you what to do.” This was the advice. So first we must have proper adjustment, we must find our proper position, and then the insinuation of our duty will come to us.
This is the first stage; it is known as sambandha-jnana—to know who you are. Next is abhideya, the ‘means to the end’, the conception of my goal, my destination. How am I to attain that? What are the steps? Our path must go in this way, otherwise the whole attempt will be unsystematic, haphazard. We should understand what is the proper utilisation of our energy and act accordingly. This is necessary for systematic and substantial progress towards the goal; otherwise, anyone can do anything as he likes, and he will have to reap the results of his deeds accordingly.
First, sambandha-jnana: one approaches the fundamental question, “Who am I? Where am I at present, and where should I be? What should be my position?” It is just as before going on a journey I must consult the map to see where I am and where I will have to go. Understanding one’s position, one’s orientation in relation to the destination, is “putting on the uniform.” The uniform will tell me, “This is your duty,” and I shall have to do that. I shall be ready to do whatever is required of me for my real progress.
HAPPY ASPIRATION
It is not that we should think, “I must be great! I shall be an Alexander, I shall be a Hanuman.” Rather, if you want to be a simple cowherd boy, if you want to have the company of Krishna in that way, you will think, “It is so wonderful to become a cowherd boy, to have the duty of a cowherd boy!” Rabindranath Tagore composed one song in which he says, “I don’t want to be a famous leader, but rather I want to be a cowherd boy in Vrindavan, in the jungle. That is a very happy ideal to me, much more so than being a great leader of the world. It is a simple thing, a cowherd boy under the guidance of Krishna! That aspiration is very friendly to me.” Such simple ambition is really something great. We pray that the ghost of worldly ambition will leave us forever. To desire the company of the Lord is a simple but very high aspiration.
It is also possible that in a lower stage, from a position in this world, a person will dedicate his activities to the Lord and approach Him that way. This is also accepted, but it is of a lower stage, approaching the Lord through the performance of one’s own work. It is described in Bhagavad-gita:
yatah pravrttir bhutanam,
yena sarvam idam tatam
sva-karmana tam abhyarchya,
siddhim vindati manavah
(Bhagavad-gita, 18.46)
“Man can achieve perfection by performing the appropriate duties prescribed for him according to his qualification. By the execution of such duties, he worships the Supreme Lord, who is the Source of all beings and is all-pervading.”
As a result of my past karma, I find myself floating somewhere in the material ocean, amongst the three modes of nature. If I try to offer whatever materials I find around me to the Infinite, I may make progress towards Him from my lower position.
yat karosi yad asnasi
yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurusva mad arpanam
(Bhagavad-gita, 9:27)
“O Kaunteya, whatever your action, whether scriptural or general, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you donate in charity, and any vow you keep—do everything as an offering unto Me.”
To connect all of one’s activities with the Lord by offering them to Him and to go on with one’s duty, one who cannot understand higher devotion may begin his march toward the Absolute from his present position.
NECTAR IN THE GOLDEN POT
The sloka at the conclusion of Bhagavad-gita tells us:
sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksaysyami ma suchah
(Bhagavad-gita, 18:66)
“Totally abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender exclusively unto Me. I will deliver you from all kinds of sinful reactions, so do not fear.”
This is the conclusion of Bhagavad-gita, the clarion call to surrender. In his commentary on Sri Gita, Sri Bala Gangadhara Tilak noted: “In this last sloka, Bhagavan Sri Krishnachandra has served nectar in a golden pot. ‘Wherever you are, leave your duty, your post and immediately come to Me. If you come to Me, complete fulfilment will come to you. It does not matter where you are posted at present. You may be a soldier, you may be a priest, you may be a dacoit, anyone! But if you leave your position and come to My feet, your aspiration will be perfectly fulfilled.’”
THE CALL OF GAURANGA
This is Mahaprabhu’s call, the call of Gauranga. With a flood of tears, Gauranga is dancing and begging the people, “Take the Name of Krishna!”
When Mahaprabhu decided to take sannyas, His devotees did not know that He was going away, that He was leaving Nabadwip forever. But the night before He left, He attracted many of the devotees to come to see Him for the last time. Intuitively, they were drawn to Him, and they crowded together at His house. Everyone brought Him a garland. Mahaprabhu was giving all His devotees those garlands from around His own neck and ordering them: “When you go from here, speak only of Krishna.”
apana galara mala sabakara diya
ajna kare prabhu-sabe krsna gao giya
ki sayana ki bhojane kiba jagarane
aharnisa chinta krsna bolaha vadane
(Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 28.25, 28)
“I advise all of you, My friends, with this garland: take the Name of Krishna! While eating, while taking rest, while waking, always take the Name of Krishna. This is My last advice, My earnest entreaty to you all: take the Name of Krishna. Whatever you may be engaged in, always think of Krishna and call His Name aloud. This is My last appeal to you all. Just try to utilize all your time taking the Name of Krishna. By any means, try to the utmost to come to Krishna. There is no other necessity. This is My heartfelt appeal to you, O My friends.”
DON’T CHEAT ME
In our time we have seen that our Guru Maharaj Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur also preached with so much force, so much urgency. Once he was present at a mahotsav, a big festival, in Mayapur. When the celebration was over, Guru Maharaj was sitting in a canvas chair on the verandah of his room; many people were coming before him, offering him obeisances and then leaving for their homes. I was always very eager to hear him, and I was present at that time. He was saying, “Don’t cheat me, you people.” I thought, “Why does he say that? Where is the question of cheating him? Everyone was invited to this festival; they came, and now they are leaving. What is his point about cheating?” But the next thing he said was, “You all came with the understanding that you will engage yourselves in the service of Krishna, and so I have entered into some relationship with you. And now, after attending this ceremony, only as a show, you are going home to engage yourselves in worldly affairs. But your assurance to me was that you would all serve Krishna.” In this way he showed some disappointment.
Then he continued, “You may say, ‘Oh, there will only be a little delay, I have got some important business, and after finishing that, I shall come back and join you as soon as possible.’ But I say, no, no! Even if you tell me there is a fire, and after extinguishing the fire you will return, then I will say that is also not necessary. There is no necessity of extinguishing the fire. It may burn the whole world—it does not do any harm to you. You do not lose anything; rather, you will be saved if that burnt world leaves your mind. All your inner necessities are met only at the holy feet of Krishna. None can satisfy your inner hankering but Krishna, akhila rasamrta-murti, the reservoir of all sweetness, all the rasa. Everything sweet you are aspiring for, or that you may ever aspire for is in His holy feet. And let this world be dissolved to zero. It can’t have any effect on you. Rather, if the whole thing disappears, if it is burnt to ashes, you may be saved from that misconception.”
THE GREATEST MERCY
But it is not so easy to burn the world of your present enjoying conception to ashes. Like a witch it is trapping you.
The solution lies in the service of Gauranga, Mahaprabhu. As much as we can give ourselves to the holy feet of Sri Gauranga, automatically we shall find we are in the service of Radharani. She is the highest negative potency, which can draw the maximum rasa from the positive, Krishna, Reality the Beautiful. Rasa-raj and maha-bhava: Krishna is rasa-raj, full of infinite ecstasy, and Radharani, maha-bhava, draws out that ecstasy for Herself and for the world. In Chaitanya-charitamrita, Ramananda Raya answers Mahaprabhu:
sukha-rupa krsna kare sukha asvadana
bhakta-gane sukha dite ‘hladini’—karana
(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 8.158)
“Lord Krishna tastes all kinds of transcendental happiness, although He Himself is happiness personified. The pleasure relished by His pure devotees is also manifested by His pleasure potency (hladini-sakti).”
Radharani represents a particular potency known as hladini. She is the main extracting machine of that rasa from Krishna, and She distributes it to the world outside. The highest quality of rasa, of ecstasy, is drawn by Her, from that dynamo of all rasa, Krishna, and distributed to others outside. It is due only to Her that others may hope to have the taste of any of that transcendental juice.
As much as we surrender to Sri Gauranga, as much as we are percolated by His energy, His instruction, automatically we shall find that we are placed in that highest position, in Her divine service. Otherwise, such a thing is very, very difficult to attain by direct approach. Many sorts of misgivings will come and pollute us. But if under proper guidance we go through the instructions of Sri Gauranga, then our approach to that highest position of service will be the easiest, and our gain will be of the maximum degree and of the very purest character.
Gauranga, is the Ocean of Mercy, and Kulia, where Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math now stands, is called aparadha-bhanjana-pat, the place where Gauranga, gave general absolution to all the sinners. Anyone who came for His mercy here was granted it:
kuliya-gramete asi sri-krsna-chaitanya
hena nahi, ya’ re prabhu na karila dhanya
(Chaitanya-bhagavata, Antya 3.541)
Student: Was it here in this area, in Kulia, that Jagai and Madhai were forgiven?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: No, that was on the other side of the Ganges. Some say that Jagai and Madhai were absolved just near here, at Haritala; but we are to understand from Bhaktivinoda Thakur that it was on the other side, in Mayapur.
Student: So, how is this part of Nabadwip called Kulia, the very special place, aparadha-bhanjana-pat? Did Mahaprabhu have some special pastimes here?
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: As I have mentioned, this is where Mahaprabhu was most liberal in His mercy, forgiving all the sinners. When Mahaprabhu came back from Puri after five years of sannyas, He first came here. And He stayed at the house of Vidya Vachaspati, the elder brother of Sarvabhauma Pandit and formal guru of Sanatan Goswami in Vidyanagar. At that time there was such a rush of people coming to see Mahaprabhu from both sides of the Ganges that the whole Ganges appeared full of human heads.
MAD TO SEE
One author has described the scene at the time of Mahaprabhu’s return to Nabadwip in this way: the whole Ganges was “filled up with human heads.” When I read this, at first I thought, “Such a description must not be literal; it is a little hyperbolic.” But later, when in my own life I saw (Mahatma) Gandhi, when I experienced the crowds that used to follow him, then it came to my mind, “If Gandhi can draw so many men to see him, then what to speak of Mahaprabhu?” There was such love, so great an intensity of love, that at that time everyone came madly to see that great Nimai Pandit.
His scholarship was so extraordinary and His figure so extremely beautiful. Still so many tantric pandits had been against Him. So He left Nabadwip in order to preach. And the people cried, “Nimai Pandit, we have lost our Nimai Pandit!” The whole of Nabadwip was dark without His presence. Then suddenly, “That Nimai Pandit has come back to us! He is with us, in our midst!” People were mad to see Him; the whole area was drawn irresistibly towards Him. So that author has described that the Ganges was “all human heads.”
Mahaprabhu came to this place, Kulia, and here all the previous sinners, all who had criticised Him, who had done any mischief, came to be absolved, thinking, “Nimai Pandit is not a man, a human being.” They came to Him for their confession and to get absolved of their sins.
After this, Mahaprabhu went to His mother’s house and for a second just stood at the gate. Vishnupriya came and fell at His feet, and at once He withdrew, giving the wooden sandals to her to worship. Then He left. After this He went to see Rupa and Sanatan and then returned to Puri via Shantipur. Later He went to Vrindavan; finally He came back to Jagannath Puri and lived there continuously for eighteen years.
After five years of His sannyas, when Mahaprabhu came back just once to visit Nabadwip, He came to this place; at that time, He was the most liberal in giving His highest mercy to all, the most desirable service of the sweetest type, such as found in Vrindavan. After this, He left Nabadwip, never to return.
Student: You have given such a high standard for us to follow.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: If you feel that, then I think you are fortunate. And if I am able to sincerely know such things, to have a touch of such a high and divine knowledge, if I am able to receive these things from my Guru Maharaj, then I also consider myself very fortunate.
• • •
• (1) The Worship of the Pure Heart
• (2) Connection with the Centre
• (3) The Greatness of the Vaishnava
• (4) Gradations of Theism
• (5) Outer Form, Inner Substance
• (6) The Pull of the Transcendental World
• (7) The Test of Taste
• (8) A Moment’s Precious Grace
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“What
is there to be afraid of? Those who have surrendered themselves to the lotus feet of Guru, they are not afraid of death. We are soldiers of Gurudev, and soldiers are not afraid of death.” |
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