— { SERMONS OF THE GUARDIAN OF DEVOTION, II } —

CHAPTER EIGHT
APPROACHING THE HIGHER WORLD

Devotee: Guru Maharaj, what is the reason the Brahmanas of Jagannath Puri don’t allow Westerners to enter the Temple?

Srila Guru Maharaj: This is rather a case of physical purity. They strictly observe the physical purity. They don’t allow even the Mridanga into the Temple. According to them, if it is analyzed it is impure since it is made from the skin of a cow.

Also, there was a pandit of the Smarta Sampradaya, who had a peculiar religious conception; wherever he went, he always kept the wooden sandals of his guru tied about his chest. Once he wanted to enter the Temple at Pandarapur, but he was refused. The Brahmanas there told him, “They may be your guru’s sandals; no doubt, they may be pure to you in your relationship, but we nonetheless consider them sandals, so you must leave them outside.”

Such Brahmanas strictly reject the physical impurity, with some mental modification. That is their custom. So both the mental and physical habits of the Mlechha and Yavana (non-Vedic races and sects) are impure, that is, closely connected with himsa or animal-killing, etc., and generally their lifestyles are uncontrolled and boisterous in many other ways. They are not regulated according to the Vedic Scriptures. Considering all this, those Brahmanas won’t allow them entry to the Temple.

Even Gandhi wanted to enter the Puri Temple with some of his outcaste or lower caste followers, but they were prohibited. Gandhi also stayed out. He wanted to enter along with the outcastes of society. Despite his great influence over the country, he was refused entrance. Without his knowledge, Gandhi’s wife entered to have the darshan of Lord Jagannath. When he came to know of it, he severely chastised her for entering without him.

So Gandhi was more of a patriot than a devotee. He thought his lordship over his wife was permanent and absolute, not to be modified even by devotion for Lord Jagannath. But according to us, his wife did right. How permanent is the relationship between husband and wife? For the main part it is only a bodily relationship. And what is the relationship with the Lord—the Husband of husbands, the Master of the whole world? What is the nasty husband in this world in comparison with the Lord of the whole universe? For a national cause, or the cause of his political creed, Gandhi wanted to check his wife’s going to the Temple, as though God were within the jurisdiction of politics.

Haridas Thakur never entered the Jagannath Temple, nor did Rupa and Sanatan. Not only that, but Sanatan GoswamI even avoided the main streets where the servitors of the Jagannath Temple would usually pass. He did not walk there, giving respect to the current laws and by-laws (of the Pandas, the Brahmanas, whose edicts were above the jurisdiction of the king). Furthermore, Sanatan Goswami wrote in Hari-bhakti-vilasa that the devotees should try to follow all the rules and regulations he had listed therein, and any further practices that were not mentioned should be ascertained by noting the current practices in the Temple of Jagannath. He was so catholic in his faith in Mahaprabhu. In other words, whatever transpired there in the presence of Mahaprabhu should be taken by us as approved by Him, so we won’t dare to interfere with that. He is above law. His Will is law—law comes from His Sweet Will. This principle we must not forget.

DESIGNED AND DESTINED BY THE ABSOLUTE

Everything is not only designed, but also destined by Him. The whole universe is designed and destined according to His Sweet Will. His position is so high and unchallengeable; and it is Absolute Good. Rules and regulations are created only to take us to the Absolute Good, but the Absolute Good is not under those rules or any law. The Absolute is independent, above everything. Krishna-lila is the nearest approach to the Absolute Good Himself. He is whimsical. If we realise that much, that is the best conception. To place any restriction over the Absolute Good is to commit suicide. Do you follow?

Devotee: Yes…

Srila Guru Maharaj: …because it is not only good, but Absolute Good. Our intellect cannot comprehend it.

Once Swami Maharaj and myself had a talk here. Then after going from here to that blue house where Swami Maharaj stayed for three weeks, his disciple Achyutananda asked him, “What sort of talk did you have with Sridhar Maharaj?” Swami Maharaj replied to him, “If you hear that, you will faint.” What does ‘faint’ mean? It means, “It is beyond the reach of your consciousness—unintelligible to you in your present stage of realisation.”

Once Ramanujacharya wanted to modify the rules and regulations that are practised in the Jagannath Temple. While contemplating in this way, he slept on a bedstead, and when he awoke he found that his body along with the bedstead was cast to Sri Kurmam of Ganjam District, in South India, some hundreds of miles away from the Jagannath Temple.

He suddenly awoke. “Where am I?” He thought, “You gave me inspiration by instructing me in a dream to modify the existing rules and regulations that are being practised in the Temples, and now why do You oppose me? I wanted to modify the current practices of rules and regulations at the Jagannath Temple.” Then he again dreamt of the Lord telling him, “No, don’t modify here! Go elsewhere. You got the dream for the sake of other Temples, not here. Go and preach your regulations in all other Temples save and except this Temple.”

Pundarik Vidyanidhi is considered to be the incarnation of Srimati Radharani’s father, here in Gaura-lila. He thought, “What are these Pandas? They are awkward people—they do not know what is pure or impure. Indiscriminately they use starched cloth for dressing the Jagannath Deity.” At night he found that Jagannath and Balaram, two Brothers, had come to his bedside and were slapping him on both cheeks. In the morning he found that his cheeks were swollen. Others asked him, “Why are your cheeks so swollen?” He had to recount the incident. In effect, the Lord was saying, “This is not the place to suggest any change in the regulation that is going on under My direction—don’t interfere!”

So there is some special grant and there are some special rules for that place. He is Absolute, unquestionable. Our enquiries need only be for the purpose of understanding something of the inevitability of how everything enters into the Absolute Good. Any law ever conceived of ultimately enters into the Absolute Goodness. Mostly, this is a matter beyond our conceptions.

Patita-pavana Jagannatha Sarvesvara, Vrdavanachandra Sarva-rasera Akara. When enumerating one hundred and twenty Names of Krishna (Sri-Krsna-Vimsottara-sata-Nama), Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur mentions at the end, Patita-pavana: Jagannath has come to save the fallen; and Krishna’s special quality is that He is the Emporium of all Rasas: Vrndavanachandra Sarvarasera Akara—the very Source of all types of ecstasy, Personified. That is Krishna. Mahaprabhu is also Patita-pavana. He passed the major portion of His life there in Jagannath Puri. Patita-pavana means ‘Saviour of the fallen.’ Everything has its speciality. As a doctor may prescribe medicine with a free diet except for restrictions on only two or three items, similarly in the case of the Temple of Lord Jagannath we also see great liberality, with the exception of a few items.

When I first began to appreciate Mahaprabhu and came to this line, I thought that if Mahaprabhu is the Incarnation of God, then why didn’t He overthrow the non-Vedic rule? Why did he tolerate the non-Vedic rule here in India? He could have overthrown it easily. That was a question. But gradually I came to realise that this was a very trifling matter. The ruling power or political life has nothing to do with spiritual life.

Queen Kunti rather welcomed adversity. She prayed, “Keep me always in a dangerous position. That will be convenient for me to pray for Your Grace. And ordinary worldly favourable circumstances will encourage me to ignore Your valuable Grace. So always keep me in adversity.” That was her prayer. So the political environment, social environment—all other campaigns have no value. According to the result of our karma we shall be placed in a particular environment, and we must start our spiritual life from wherever we are placed; we must begin our work of conquering all those samskaras that comprise the mental encasement we are living in.

CROSSING THE WALLS OF MISUNDERSTANDING

Tat te ‘nukampam susamiksamanah. We should not only live in our present position without complaint, but moreover, we shall have to consider it as really necessary for our upliftment. In this way, we have to accept whatever adversities that come to us as the Grace of the Lord. We must cope, with this positive angle of vision of goodness:

“This is my real necessity. There is no error in the calculation of the Lord. This test has been extended to me for my benefit. To stand, to face and cross this opposition is my chance to have my progress in life. This test has been given by Krishna to facilitate my progressive life.” In the Bhagavatam we are advised to face all adverse circumstances in such an optimistic way. Then very easily and swiftly we shall cross these walls of misunderstanding, this Maya, and we will be liberated, and more—we will have participation in Krishna consciousness, the life of dedication.

DISTINGUISHING FORM AND SUBSTANCE

Devotee: Maharaj, I have a question. I have heard two things. One, that Vaishnav sannyas is the devotional line; and I have also heard that it is a formality of Varnasrama-dharma. What is it really?

Srila Guru Maharaj: The outer touch of sannyas is within the Varsnasrama-dharma (socio-religious system), but it also has its positive side. Both negative and positive sides are to be considered. Danda means ‘punishment’ as well as ‘staff’. The three dandas represent thought, word and deed. On the negative side, the three dandas of the symbolic triple staff, or tridanda, that the Vaishnav sannyasi accepts indicate that he should not use his thought, word and deed for any mundane or exploitative aim and object. But the positive side is that he will punish his thought, word and deed—to engage them in the Service of Krishna, Narayan.

Then the function becomes Vaishnavism. Those who do not believe in the positive side of life may accept sannyas only as abstinence from using their thought, word and deed for any mundane purpose. They will prefer mauna, silence. But the Vaishnav sannyasi will prefer Krishna-kirtan, singing the Glories of the Lord. They have the positive side.

So to check these three aspects of life from mingling with the incidents of this mundane world is only one side. But the other side is to use them for the spiritual object. That is Vaishnav sannyas.

Devotee: Doesn’t a brahmachari or a grihastha also utilise his thought, word and deed for the spiritual objective?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Of course; but the renounced order or order of sannyas is a special emblem, a reminder. It doesn’t follow that one who has not taken sannyas will not engage his faculties in Spiritual Service. A grihastha Paramahamsa who is a Parsada-bhakta (Associate-servitor) is also possible, without sannyas. He may not necessarily have a sacred thread either.

The necessity is only to remind us of that life. That is healthy. The sacred thread, the red cloth, the danda—they always caution us: “Think that you have dedicated your life for the spiritual objective; you are meant only for this, so be alert. Don’t misuse your red cloth, your sacred thread, the Tulasi-mala, etc.” They will remind us always. They have their utility.

A siddha-mahatma (perfected great soul) may not have red cloth. Sanatan Goswami and others wore ordinary white cloth. They accepted the minimum necessity of garments. No red cloth, no danda, no sacred thread. Pure life is possible without those things. But for the beginners these things will be helpful, so they are introduced into the society of the Vaishnav school, in the lower plane. And sometimes the higher also come to accept these lower emblems, as, for example, Mahaprabhu took sannyas.

Such an emblem or the dress of a world Acharya is also there to help the public to give proper respect to the wearer. If he is in ordinary dress, the people won’t show any respect or give any attention to his words and teachings. If a policeman or soldier is in his uniform, people will show some respect to the police or the military. But a military man or policeman may patrol in plain dress also, and do even higher service. Still, the uniform is necessary to regulate the society.

So this is something like a uniform. The society should learn to take them as the Teachers, the holy men, and feel, “We should deal with them very gently, for our future benefit.” The society will also reap that benefit; and that holy man will also gain some instruction: “Oh, I should not mix with anyone and everyone. It should be seen that my practices keep up the standard, the model of the Teachers.” Otherwise, independent of such symbols a man can culture his spiritual life, without taking the role of a brahmachari, grihastha, vanaprastha or sannyasi. Internally, he can improve his heart.

Devotee: Maharaj, how does one understand, or deal with, the falldown of a sannyasi or brahmachari? What is the correct understanding?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Generally we shall take it that there was some offence for which he could not keep the standard of life that was expected of him by his Guru Maharaj. That should be the general way of thinking about them. Some previous offence is taking its course and not allowing him to go on smoothly in the way of his realisation. It suddenly appeared and checked him. In particular cases it may be Vaishnav-aparadha or offence against a Vaishnav, and sometimes in general cases previous bad karma may have come and stood in the way of his progress.

THE VIGILANT EYE OF THE GUARDIAN

We must always be cautious with our free choice. A minor requires the vigilant eye of the major guardian; in our immature stage our free will is surrounded by many deviations. Thus, in our lower stage it will be safe to be constantly under the guidance of a bona fide guardian until we attain promotion to the major stage. This is necessary.

INITIATION AND KARMA

Devotee: So, Guru Maharaj, if one has initiation and his karma has been removed, how is it possible for his previous karma to check him?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Do you think that by initiation all karma is finished at once? That is not claimed anywhere. The disciples are given a chance—admission. When a doctor has accepted a patient, it does not mean that he is immediately cured; he must follow the direction of the doctor—take proper diet and medicine—then he may expect that he will be cured shortly. To call the doctor and have his prescription does not mean that the patient is fully cured. This is not practical thinking. Why hover in the theoretical, imaginary world?

Devotee: I was told in a religious mission I joined that at the time of initiation all previous karma is taken away. It’s not like that?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Such a statement is only meant in the context that when you have called for a good doctor and accepted his treatment, your cure is guaranteed. Otherwise, we see that so many veterans are going down. If the Guru is so great as to be able to create a great revolution in the world, and he has given mantra to the disciples he has accepted, yet many of them are also falling back—why?

The initiation is a recommendation. It is not final. Cure is guaranteed under the treatment of a good doctor. But if as a patient you don’t care to accept his guidance and secretly indulge in an evil diet, of what value is your doctor? When you have a good doctor your cure is almost guaranteed. But you have to follow him. And also it is possible that if you are becoming a little ill and your doctor comes to know that ‘my patient has taken this bad diet’ or ‘he did not use my medicine’—then the doctor will again take up the case more seriously, and he will cure you. We may receive such help from the Guru and Vaishnav, but our free choice is never snatched away.

REAL TASTE FOR THE TRUTH

Until and unless we find in our heart a real taste for the Truth, we are not safe. First, over the surface, spiritual life begins with sraddha, faith, and underground with sukriti, or special merit. Next is sadhu-sanga, our company with the sadhu. Within that is our surrender to Guru. Then bhajan, our serving life in various forms such as sravan, kirtan, prasada-sevan, or hearing, chanting, honouring the Lord’s remnants, etc., begins. Then anartha-nivrtti—our attraction for objects other than Krishna, objects other than God, diminishes. Then nistha—continued attempt for the Service, and not for otherwise. Then ruchi, taste, will be created.

Real taste for the truth will be created, that is, awakened in our heart. We are safe then, but not before that. When spontaneous taste for the truth is awakened within us, we are safe. We can make fair progress from that time. Prior to that we must remain under the guardian. Taste will take me: “I have acquired the taste of sweetness, so automatically I shall run towards that which is very sweet.” Until and unless we find that the Truth is sweet, Krishna is sweet, we are not safe in our approach towards Him. So many distractions may take us hither and thither.

THE GURU PRINCIPLE

Devotee: Maharaj, is the Guru also under the law of karma?

Srila Guru Maharaj: He is not under the law of karma. Guru, as I have mentioned before from the examples of the sadhus and the Scriptures, is generally of three kinds: one comes from Vaikuntha, or the land of wholesale truth. He comes here as an agent to take the souls up. Another Guru has one step here, another step there, and he carries persons from here to there. The last type of Guru has two feet here, but his eyes are fixed there, and he takes persons along with him to that Plane.

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CONTENTS

Foreword

PART ONE
• (1) Invite Vasudeva to the Throne of Your Heart
• (2) The Eye to See the Dham
• (3) Bhajan—Real and Apparent
• (4) Heralding the Twilight
• (5) The Krishna Sun
• (6) Perspectives on the Absolute
• (7) A Holy Day

PART TWO
• (8) Approaching the Higher World
• (9) The Divine Agent
• (10) Supersubjective Reality
• (11) Loving Surrender
• (12) Earnestness

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