TLC – The Teachings of Lord Caitanya—Part 13 VIHE

Giriraj Swami:

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda (3)

So are there any questions about the items not included in the category of devotional service, like fulfilling obligations to the demigods or the family members, developing, cultivating knowledge, or developing renunciation?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, there are different obligations according to varnashrama, and the devotee may not disturb the social system if he can still make progress in Krishna consciousness in the same position. Therefore, generally Lord Chaitanya advises sthāne sthitāḥ—remain in your position—sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ—hear the discussions of the glories of the Lord and engage in the service of the Lord with the body, mind, and words. In Bhagavad-gītā, Srila Prabhupada writes that if one makes the family members Krishna conscious, the family members meet in the morning and in the evening and chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, discuss Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, worship the deity, and take Krishna prasādam. That is the best method for making the family happy, for keeping the family happy, and if one can engage in Krishna consciousness within the family situation, then there is no need for the renounced order, but if one cannot practice Krishna consciousness in the family situation, then one should be prepared to give up the family situation because one should be prepared to sacrifice everything for the sake of Krishna.

Like Srila Prabhupada—he tried to stay in the family and engage the family in Krishna consciousness, but at some point, he felt that the family could not be engaged more, and that to make progress in Krishna consciousness, he should leave the family. So he left them because one’s material duties and obligations are never finished. So Srila Prabhupada gave the example that if someone dies and if someone else asks, “Who will look after the family?” Then the answer will be that, “God will look after the family. God will look after the family if I die, then why not now?” And sannyasa is considered civil suicide—civilly or socially – the sannyasi is considered to be dead.

Then Srila Prabhupada said, “If we say that we shall renounce gradually, then that will never happen,” so he left. But at the same time he gave the other example because he stayed with them for so many years, trying to fulfill the duties of grihastha ashram, but at some stage we may have to leave.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, you are saying that just as we have obligations to material persons who help us materially, we may also have spiritual obligations to persons who help us spiritually. Well, if we accept someone as śikṣā-guru, then we have to follow the instructions of the person. Otherwise, what is the meaning of śikṣā-guru?

Devotee: I mean if [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Our obligation is to serve Krishna with whole heart, that’s the way to discharge all obligations. I mean if we are capable, we can try to preach to them, and get them back or at least remember them and send them some prasāda, for instance. The basic point is to serve Krishna, water the root.

Devotee: Maharaja, you see that there are instances where shraddha ceremonies performed in Vaishnava families to one’s forefathers amongst Vaishnavas, so in that situation is there any more extra benefit by that activity being done than one just engaging in devotional service. I think Advaita Prabhu performed shraddha and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also performed in Gaya. So Vaishnavas do perform shraddha, so is there any more benefit for the forefathers when Vaishnavas do that?

Giriraj Swami: There are two types of shraddha ceremonies – smārta-shraddha ceremony and vaiṣṇava-shraddha ceremony. The vaiṣṇava-shraddha ceremony involves hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, prasādam distribution which is certainly beneficial for the departed soul.

Devotee: [Unintelligible] 

Giriraj Swami: You mean if somebody invites you?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: If it is favorable for preaching, we can do it.

Devotee: And there is the other benefit.

Giriraj Swami: They will benefit, certainly they will benefit. They will be very good sons to their dear parents if you do that. So now we shall begin the discussion on rāgānugā-bhakti. I am not qualified to discuss the subject so I pray to the Vaishnavas and previous acharyas to guide us.

In order to understand rāgānugā-bhakti, we should understand rāgātmikā-bhakti because rāgānugā-bhakti follows in the wake of rāgātmikā-bhakti. And in order to understand rāgātmikā-bhakti, we should understand rāga. what is rāga? Rāga is defined as intense attachment or thirst for some object and complete absorption in it. The discussion of rāgānugā-bhakti is derived from several verses in the Seventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The first two verses appear in Canto Seven, Chapter One, Text Thirty and Thirty-one.

TEXT

kāmād dveṣād bhayāt snehād

yathā bhaktyeśvare manaḥ

āveśya tad-aghaṁ hitvā

bahavas tad-gatiṁ gatāḥ

COMMENT

Here the word āveśya means absorption that simply by being absorbed in the Lord, one gets liberation. The absorption may be kāmad—from lust. dveṣād—from hatred, bhayāt—from fear, snehād—from affection, yathā as well as bhaktya—by devotion.

TEXT

gopyaḥ kāmād bhayāt kaṁso

dveṣāc caidyādayo nṛpāḥ

sambandhād vṛṣṇayaḥ snehād

yūyaṁ bhaktyā vayaṁ vibho

TRANSLATION

The gopīs by their lusty desires, Kaṁsa by his fear, Śiśupāla and other kings by envy, the Yadus by their familial relationship with Kṛṣṇa, you Pāṇḍavas by your great affection for Kṛṣṇa, and we, the general devotees, by our devotional service, have obtained the mercy of Kṛṣṇa 

COMMENT

Rupa Gosvami has divided rāga-bhakti into two categories—one is called kāmarūpa and the other is called sambandha-rūpa. Kāma literally means lust, but in the case of the gopīs, it is not lust, but it is pure love of Godhead, prema. Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami explains the difference between love and lust. That in lust one desires his own sense gratification, whereas in love he desires the sense gratification of the beloved. So the gopīs’ kāma is not actually material lust, it is actually pure love for the pleasure of Krishna—gopyaḥ kāmād. Bhayāt kaṁso—so Kamsa was always afraid of Krishna; because fear is not favorable, so fear cannot be accepted as a way of bhakti.

Similarly, dveṣāc or envy, Sisupala was envious, but dveṣāc or envy is not favorable. So envy cannot be accepted as a way of bhakti.

Then sambandhād vṛṣṇayaḥ—the kinship of the Vṛṣṇis or the Yadus is accepted also as one of the divisions of rāgātmikā-bhakti, and then here bhakti referring to Narada and others is not accepted because the bhakti of Narada is vaidhī-bhakti as we know from the life of Narada. So fear and envy are eliminated because they are not favorable, and vaidhī-bhakti is eliminated because in vaidhī-bhakti, the absorption in the beloved object is not so intense because the person is thinking about the rules and regulations.

Just like if I have to serve some master, and I’m always thinking about the rules and regulations, how to serve the master. So my attention will not be fully absorbed in the master. My attention will be diverted to the rules and regulations and procedures and the fear of the master or the fear of making some mistakes in the service. And Narada himself says it.

TEXT 27

By devotional service, bhakti-yoga, one cannot achieve such intense absorption in thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as one can through enmity toward Him. That is my opinion.

COMMENT

So of course one explanation of Narada’s statement is that Narada is a humble Vaishnava, which is certainly true but the other explanation is that the intense absorption in thoughts of Krishna of Kamsa and Sisupala was more intense than the absorption of general devotees in vaidhī-bhakti. That is not true in the case of devotees in rāga-bhakti, but in any case, it’s better to be a devotee than a demon.

In the purport, Srila Prabhupada says that here Narada indirectly praises the devotional service of the residents of Vrindavan because the residents of Vrindavan have the greatest absorption in thoughts of Krishna, more than the devotees of Narayana in Vaikuntha like Narada. But anyway the real idea is that Krishna is so kind that even if one is absorbed in inimical thoughts of Him, He’ll give them liberation. So why should not one serve with love and devotion such a wonderful personality who gives liberation even to demons? Think about it, that’s the actual idea. That is why we should engage in devotional service.

In vaidhī-bhakti the person is thinking of the injunctions of the scriptures and the rules and regulations, but the intense absorption either of the gopīs or Kamsa or Sisupala or the Vṛṣṇis does not depend on scriptural rules and regulations, and therefore the absorption is more intense. There is no extraneous consideration, but they spontaneously love Krishna or they spontaneously fear Krishna, or spontaneously they are absorbed in envy of Krishna. We’ll just read one or two more verses. So Lord Chaitanya says in Text 151:

TEXT

iṣṭe ‘gāḍha-tṛṣṇā’ — rāgera svarūpa-lakṣaṇa

The primary characteristic of spontaneous love is deep attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

iṣṭe ‘āviṣṭatā’ — ei taṭastha-lakṣaṇa—absorption in Him is a marginal characteristic.

In other words the primary characteristic is a deep attachment and because of the attachment, one is absorbed in intense thoughts. Just like one is attached to money, some greedy person is attached to money. So he is always absorbed in the thoughts of money. So they are very attached to Krishna, somehow or other, and therefore they’re always absorbed in thought of Him.

TEXT 152

rāgamayī-bhaktira haya ‘rāgātmikā’ nāma

tāhā śuni’ lubdha haya kona bhāgyavān ragamaya bhaktirahaya

TRANSLATION

If someone hears about the intense love of the residents of Vrindavan and he desires such type of love for Krishna, he is considered most fortunate.

COMMENT

If we recall the description of the beginning of bhakti, that the beginning of bhakti is faith, Lord Chaitanya says, “If someone develops faith, he is most fortunate and faith becomes the basis of further advancement.” But here in rāgānugā-bhakti, the basis of further advancement is lobha or transcendental covetousness that I want to have the same type of love for Krishna as the Vrindavan residents. And when one develops such transcendental covetousness or greed, his desire does not depend on scriptural injunctions.

Lord Chaitanya says in Text 153:

TRANSLATION

If one follows in the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana out of such transcendental covetousness, he does not care for the injunctions or reasoning of śāstra. That is the way of spontaneous love.

COMMENT

By performing regulative devotional service, one gradually becomes purified and when he becomes purified, his dormant love for Krishna is awakened. But the love for Krishna may be of different sorts; there is love in the mood of a servant, in the mood of a friend, in the mood of a parent, in the mood of a lover. So when after performing regulated devotional service for some time, the devotee develops some spontaneous attraction to some particular type of service, in some particular relationship, then that becomes the qualification for the practice of rāgānugā-bhakti. Then Text 155 explains how the greed is aroused:

tat-tad-bhāvādi-mādhurye

śrute dhīr yad apekṣate

nātra śāstraṁ na yuktiṁ ca

tal lobhotpatti-lakṣaṇam

TRANSLATION

 ‘When an advanced, realized devotee hears about the affairs of the devotees of Vṛndāvana — in the various rasas, he becomes inclined in that way and his intelligence becomes attracted. He begins to covet that particular type of devotion.’

COMMENT

So what is greed, actually? What is greed? When one sees something and he wants to get it, that is greed. Just like suppose somebody goes into the marketplace and he sees rabri, do you know rabri? No rabri in Africa, it may not be there in Africa.

Devotee: You cook down milk and you keep scraping off the skin and you put the skin on the side of the vessel that you are putting in. You cook the milk right down to almost a tiny bit less and then you mix that skin back into the liquid essence of the milk.

Giriraj Swami: Do you add sugar in the milk?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: You understand? Nobody should leave Vrindavan without tasting rabri, it’s part of the experience, part of the experience of Vraja. I would suggest that on Sunday after the iṣṭagoṣṭhī when they distribute little prasāda to the devotees, they should distribute rabri. We did it the first Sunday.

Devotee: We have forgotten.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, so I go into the market and I see rabri or rasagullā or gulābjāmun, and I decide that I must have this thing somehow or other, I must have this thing by any means. That is greed. Now if I look into my pocket, and I see that, Oh there is no money or not enough money; I can’t have it—that is not greed, but if I decide, I must have it anyway, beg, borrow, or steal but I must get it—that is greed. So if I think that, This mādhurya-bhakti or vraja-bhakti is so high and I’m so low, without any qualification, I cannot get it—that is not greed. But if I think that I may be a fool, I may be a rascal, I may be a nonsense, but still I will get this, somehow or other I will get this—that is greed.

Just like some person, some man sees a beautiful woman and he decides I must have her. If he thinks she is so beautiful, she is so aristocratic, she is so wealthy, I can never have her—that is not greed. If he thinks, She is so beautiful, I’m ugly. She is so rich, I’m poor, I cannot have her—that is not greed, but if one thinks, Whatever I may be, I must have her somehow or other, I will get her—that is greed. And that is the qualification for rāgānugā-bhakti. And what is the thing that the devotee wants? Not Krishna, of course. It’s the same thing – Krishna will be achieved but the goal is not Krishna, the goal is actually the type of love for Krishna that the residents of Vrindavan have. Of course, all of the residents of Vrindavan have deep love for Krishna, but the greed that the devotee has will not be for vraja-bhakti in general, but it will be specific for the service of Krishna of the gopīs or the service of Krishna like Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda or the service of Krishna of the cowherd boys. It is specific and then one becomes intensely absorbed in such thoughts. Kamsa and Sisupala were intensely absorbed in thoughts of Krishna, and what did they get?

Devotee: Liberation

Giriraj Swami: Liberation. What kind of liberation?

Devotee: Merging

Giriraj Swami: Yes, merging. So if we are absorbed in thoughts of Krishna, we can get impersonal liberation, if we have greed for Krishna. So the rāgānugā-bhakta doesn’t have greed for Krishna, but he has greed for the love that the devotees of Vrindavan have for Krishna. And there they meditate—their constant absorption or meditation is on the love of the residents of Vrindavan and the service of the residents of the Vrindavan. Which love or which service the devotee particularly covets.

Devotee: What determines [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Very good question. Every living entity has the seed of some eternal relationship with Krishna, and the seed is situated within the heart, and the seed may contain vraja-bhakti or Vaikuntha-bhakti or mādhurya-rasa or vātsalya-rasa.

So in the beginning everyone will water the seed with the same water and practically also if we are growing flowers, we use the same water to water all of the types of flowers and all of the types of seeds, and after watering the seed for some time and protecting the seed and so on, then the seed will sprout and when the seed sprouts, we see what type of seed was under the ground because we see what type of plant is coming from the seed. Where does the seed come from? The seed is eternal, eternally present. Who can quote the verse? Start at the beginning and speak louder.

Devotee: 

nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya         [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 22.107]

TRANSLATION

Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.

Giriraj Swami: Is it eternally present. It has no beginning and no end, it is eternally present, but it has to be brought out and the way that it is brought out is by sādhana-bhakti and especially chanting and hearing.

Devotee: Is that greed? Just a further development of the love, the affection, whatever attraction that the devotees in other rasas [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Well, we could say that greed is greed, but the process of rāgānugā-bhakti is different because the greed is awakened spontaneously, the greed is awakened spontaneously for service which is also spontaneous. And vaidhī-bhakti is based on the injunctions of the shastra. From the shastras, we learn that Narayana is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we should serve Him. But in vraja-bhakti they are not thinking that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So they are serving Him out of natural attraction or spontaneous love, and therefore it’s not based on the scriptures, it’s based on spontaneous attraction because the scriptures teach us to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they’re not thinking that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although they go to the scriptures—when someone develops greed, he goes to the scriptures because the scriptures contain descriptions of the loving affairs of Krishna and the Vrindavan residents, and the scriptures also give us direction how to fulfill our greed. So they go through the scriptures but not because they are supposed to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but because they want to love Krishna in a particular mellow and the scripture, specifically Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which is full of rasa. They’ll go to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to read about the loving affairs between Krishna and the devotees of Vrindavan whose mood of service he covets. And then also, he won’t read especially the whole Tenth Canto. He’ll just read the pastimes in the Tenth Canto that concerns the loving affairs between Krsna and the particular type of devotee whose mood he covets.

So if he is attracted to mādhurya-bhakti then he’ll like to read the songs of the gopīs or all of the pastimes of Krishna with the gopīs. If he is attracted to vātsalya-rasa, then he’ll read about the pastimes of Yasoda and Krishna especially.

Devotee: The one in the mirror. . . The attraction wouldn’t be as great but whatever the nature of his eternal love for Krishna is would similarly show itself at some point, and he will feel impelled in that direction.

Giriraj Swami: You are talking about outside Vrindavan? Yeah, but it’s based. . . But by definition, Vaikuntha-bhakti is based on awareness that Narayana is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and therefore the attraction is not free from the considerations of the Lord’s opulences. So there is a distinct difference. Yeah that’s quite clear. Yeah but there is a distinct difference, but of course if someone is a devotee of Rama, then he’ll be attracted to talks of Rama. In other words, he’ll go along, he’ll go through all stages, ruci (taste), āsakti (attachment) then bhāva and prema, but spontaneous greed which is independent of scriptural reasoning will not be there.

Devotee: So I’m just asking if that greed is just a greater drive than the heart of the love of a devotee?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, because it’s not based on extraneous considerations.

Devotee: But is it just the same thing which is so much stronger that he just forgets about those things or is it something else?

Giriraj Swami: You are asking whether the greed of a devotee for vraja-bhakti is qualitatively different from the greed of the devotee for Vaikuntha-bhakti? There are some differences.

See here the word that Srila Prabhupada translates as absorption is tṛṣṇā, which is sometimes translated as thirst. And so one point of view is that by being attached to the object one has the thirst to enjoy it, and the other explanation is that having tasted the object, one becomes attached to it. So if we take the point of view that the attachment comes from the experience then because the experience is qualitatively different, then the thirst would also be different, but it’s generally the same terms are used in relation to Vaikuntha-bhakti because of the. . . Anyway we’ll stick to this.

Now okay, we come back to the example of the devotee who wants rabri. And. So okay, he decided I want rabri, I must get rabri somehow or other. Then he inquires how to get rabri then someone will say that you have to get a cow, and you keep the cow, then you milk the cow, you have to put some ghee or something on the nipples of the cow, and you have to draw the milk out and catch it in a bucket, then there may be grains of dust or straw, so you have to take out all the foreign objects from the milk, then you have to put the milk on the fire and boil the milk, and then when the layer of cream comes to the top, you have to take it off and so on as described by the authorities.

So here one follows the procedures mentioned in the scriptures but not out of some sense of duty or obligation, but because one has greed to get something and the scriptures tell the way to get it. So rāgānugā Vaishnavas, they also read the scriptures, but they especially go to the parts about the particular form of the Lord that they want to serve in relation to the particular devotees whose type of service they [covet].

Devotee: When can this type of cultivation of focusing on a particular feeling begin?

Giriraj Swami: The question is when can the focusing on a particular type of affection for Krishna begins?

Well, if one has greed then he will naturally want to read or hear about those particular pastimes of Krishna. Yeah, but basically, Srila Prabhupada has written that that such feelings cannot arise until one passes through anartha-nivṛtti. But we can have some resemblance of greed like ābhāsa of greed and that will help us. Ābhāsa just like nāma-ābhāsa, Haridasa Thakura described nāma-ābhāsa that before the sun actually rises on the horizon, there is so much light from the sun that it fills the sky and illuminates the landscape. So by the light of the sun even before the sun rises over the horizon, all the bad people hide, they don’t do bad things because there is light, and the good citizens begin their regular activities. So ābhāsa is also very valuable—nāma-ābhāsa or greed ābhāsa.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Rati-ābhāsa but not rasa-ābhāsa. Indulekha?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: She asked that when we are watering the seed, how can we tell if some attraction indicates our real relationship with Krishna or just some mental conception. Now in the same Chapter Narada Muni tells Maharaja Yudhisthira that somehow or other we should fix the mind on Krishna. So even if the attraction is in the mind, and it may not actually indicate our eternal constitutional position, still there is no harm because we are thinking about Krishna and somehow or other, we want to think of Krishna, that’s the whole idea. Just like in the very beginning of the movement, one girl asked Srila Prabhupada, “Does Krishna have only 16,108 wives in the spiritual world?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Oh, you want to become Krishna’s wife? You can pray like that.” So no harm.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: I just said there is no harm in reading certain passages of Prabhupada’s books in preference to others. And I said there is no harm in praying to have some relationship. Now what you said is something else. What you refer to is actually sahajiyā. The real question is what’s the difference between sahajiyā-bhāva and rāgānugā-bhakti?

Of course real rāgānugā-bhakti begins in an advanced stage of āsakti then when one really enters rāgānugā-bhakti, but there could be some greed in the earlier stages. So what is the difference? Bhaktivinoda Thakura has given the answer that one’s svarūpa or eternal spiritual form comes out at the stage of āsakti going into bhāva. And if one tries to bring out svarūpa in the lower stages before this can actually come out, that is sahajiyā. So if we imagine, suppose we are hearing Krishna’s pastimes, and we imagine that we are some devotee in Krishna’s pastimes, and we imagine that we are doing this or that service for Krishna that is sahajiyā.

What I said or Srila Prabhupada said did not involve imagination. It simply involves praying to Krishna. So there is no harm, no sahajiyā. Similarly, if one reads, say one is attracted to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, he likes the Seventh Canto; and someone is attracted to Lord Rama, he likes the Ninth Canto; and similarly someone is attracted to Krishna in Vrindavan, he will read the Tenth Canto – no harm, no sahajiyā there.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Very good question, I didn’t explain it. Very good question. Yes, here in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami quotes Text 270 that rāgātmikā-bhakti is vividly expressed in the residents of Vrindavan, and rāgānugā-bhakti is devotional service that follows in the wake of the service in Vrindavan. Then, the next verse in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu says that there are two types of rāgātmikā-bhakti—one is kāmātmikā and the other is sambandha, which Srila Prabhupada translates as sensual attraction and relationship in The Nectar of Devotion. Now kāmātmikā-bhakti means the desire; rāgānugā-bhakti that follows kāmātmikā-bhakti or is called kāmānugā-bhakti. So the gopīs of Vrindavan have desire to satisfy the senses of Krishna; and sambandha-bhakti become means just like Mother Yasoda is thinking, I’m the mother of Krishna, or Nanda Maharaja is thinking, I am the father of Krishna, or Uddhava was thinking, I am the cousin of Krishna, they have some relationship.

Now of course, the material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. So there is some resemblance. So in the material world, the lust – here it’s lust—or the attraction, say of a man for a woman or a woman for a man that has something to it beyond the relationship of a mother and child, or friend and friend, or servant and man, you understand?