NOD – VIHE Nectar of Devotion—Part 10

Giriraj Swami: In the list of ten negative prohibitions, what is the first one?

Devotee: The devotee associates with non-devotees?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, to give up the company of non-devotees. Now, we come to Chapter Eight, “Offenses to Be Avoided.” This is actually an elaboration on number nineteen, which is not to commit sevā-aparādha or nāma-aparādha. So, Jiva Gosvami and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, in their commentaries on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, have listed the offenses from the scriptures. And Srila Prabhupada has also cited the same references to give the detailed list of offenses.

Now, of the two, sevā-aparādha and nāma-aparādha, nāma-aparādha is much more serious. If one commits sevā-aparādha. . . Of course, no one should ever commit offenses deliberately. But accidentally, if one commits offenses in deity worship, but if he chants the holy name without offense, then he will be relieved of the offenses in deity worship. But if he commits offenses against the holy name, then there is some special consideration.

So, we will discuss especially the offenses against the holy name. On page fifty-eight in the verse book, we have the exact quotation from Padma Purāṇa.

“The first offense is to blaspheme great personalities who are engaged in distributing the holy name of the Lord. One cannot distribute the holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra unless he is empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore one should not criticize or blaspheme a devotee who is thus engaged.

“To blaspheme the great saintly persons who are engaged in preaching the glories of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is the worst offense at the lotus feet of the holy name. One should not criticize a preacher of the glories of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. The nāma-prabhu, who is identical with Kṛṣṇa, will never tolerate such blasphemous activities, even from one who passes as a great devotee.”

So, one devotee once asked Srila Prabhupada whether the offense only operates in relation to pure devotees, and Srila Prabhupada said, “No, the offense of sādhu-nindā or vaiṣṇava-aparādha operates in relation to all devotees.” Bhaktivinoda Thakura has discussed the definition of sadhu here for sādhu-nindā, or satām. Satām also means devotee. He says that if one has the primary characteristic of surrender to Krishna and to the process of chanting, he is considered a devotee. Although the scriptures mention twenty-six qualities of a devotee, even if the devotee does not have all twenty-six qualities manifest, but if he has the principal characteristic of surrender to Krishna and to the holy name, he is to be considered a devotee, and he should not be blasphemed.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has mentioned various grounds on which people blaspheme devotees. Someone may blaspheme a devotee on the basis of his birth, on the basis of his physical body, on the basis of sins that he committed in the past, and even on the basis of traces of sin that still remain. But Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that if one has the principal characteristic of surrender to Krishna, he should not be criticized on account of any such grounds. And if one does so, he commits offense against the holy name.

Now, how to get relieved from the offense? Who knows? Vishakha?

Vishakha: [Unintelligible 00:06:10]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, one should go to the person who he offended, admit one’s offense, and beg for forgiveness. And if the Vaishnava is still angry, then the person should be prepared to render all sorts of services to the Vaishnava in order to pacify him. Now, to go to the person and fall at the Vaishnava’s feet and ask for forgiveness requires some humility. And if the offender does not have the humility to do so, but rather tries to justify his offenses by finding further faults in the Vaishnava and thus try to justify his offense, he becomes more implicated in offense. Even if the Vaishnava has some faults, still if the person is Vaishnava, he should not be blasphemed. And if we try to justify the blasphemy by finding faults, then we are committing more offenses.

Of course, as we discussed yesterday, there are non-devotees who may be accepted by others as devotees. For example, Mayavadis are not accepted as devotees, pretenders are not accepted as devotees. And if the preacher in the course of preaching criticizes non-devotees, as he must, and if ignorant persons who consider the non-devotees to be devotees criticize the preacher for criticizing the non-devotees, then he should also be avoided, just as we avoid non-devotees. So, if someone considers a non-devotee to be a devotee, and if therefore, he criticizes a devotee for preaching against a non-devotee or for not associating with a non-devotee, he should also be avoided. We should hate the sin, and not the sinner.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that the root cause of sādhu-nindā or vaiṣṇava-aparādha is association with non-devotees. So, that’s a specific reason why we should not associate with non-devotees. Because if we associate with non-devotees, definitely, they will criticize or find fault or blaspheme devotees. So, we should avoid intimate association with non-devotees. If they’re innocent, we can preach to them. But otherwise, we should avoid them.

Devotee: If we see somebody who say, falls down for criticizing other devotees, and then we recognize that or just say, “Oh, he was too critical of the devotee.” So, we are also criticizing him for being critical. But is there a clinical or non-malicious way to do that, that doesn’t incur offense? In other words, is it a malicious feeling [Unintelligible 00:12:25]?

Giriraj Swami: There are many factors. Of course, if one has a malicious mood, then he is certainly offensive. But even if someone doesn’t have a malicious mood, he may be involved in some offense by transgression of Vaishnava etiquette, like Damodara Pandita. There was one widow brahmani, and she had a son who used to come and meet Lord Chaitanya. And Lord Chaitanya was very affectionate to the boy, and the boy naturally became very attached to Lord Chaitanya. So, Damodara Pandita advised Lord Chaitanya that, “She is a young lady and beautiful also, and if you are too affectionate to her son, people may criticize you.” Now, Srila Prabhupada comments that although Damodara Pandita was supposed to be trying to protect Lord Chaitanya from criticism, but actually, he himself was guilty of criticism of Lord Chaitanya. And therefore, Lord Chaitanya sent him away to Navadvipa.

So, we cannot say that Damodara Pandita had any malicious intention, but because he tried to correct Lord Chaitanya, or in one sense, he actually criticized Lord Chaitanya, there was some problem. But because his intentions were not bad, obviously, the offense was not as bad as someone whose intentions are bad. Someone out of naivety may commit an offense also.

“The seventh offense is described as follows: To think that since the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra can counteract all sinful reactions, one may therefore go on with his sinful activities and at the same time chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra to neutralize them is the greatest offense at the lotus feet of hari-nāma.”

Actually, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains that the offenses against the holy name include offenses in devotional service in general. And the holy name, being the principal limb of devotional service, is taken as representative of all the limbs. So, if someone thinks that because he is chanting Hare Krishna or because he is engaging in devotional service that he can engage in sinful activities and not have to suffer the reaction, he is involved in the same offense.

And of course, Srila Prabhupada always gives the example of confession, that people go to the church to confess, but then after confessing, they begin sinning again. So, someone thinks, I can go to the church and become free from the sinful reaction. And so, when I come out of the church, I can engage in the same activity again, and then go back on the weekend and get relieved. It doesn’t work.

There was one Christian priest in Italy or some country in Europe, in a small town. So, people used to come to him to confess. And the town was so small that gradually, he began to recognize the voices of all the people that came to confess. And he found that the same people were coming again and again to confess for the same sin. Then, he intelligently thought, What is the use? They’re coming and confessing and sinning and confessing and sinning. What is the use? Then he met the devotees and read some of Srila Prabhupada’s books, and then he understood the difference between confession as a means of atonement, and pure devotional service. Then he took to Krishna consciousness. So, what is the difference? Yes, that other forms of atonement may free the person of the sinful reaction, but not the desire to sin. Whereas pure devotional service frees the person of the very desire to sin and the ignorance, which is the basis of sin.

The eighth offense is stated thus:

dharma-vrata-tyāga-hutādi-sarva-
śubha-kriyā-sāmyam api pramādaḥ

“It is offensive to consider the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra to be a religious ritualistic ceremony. Performing religious ceremonies, following vows and practicing renunciation and sacrifice are all materialistic auspicious activities. The chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra must not be compared to such materialistic religiosity.”

In other words, there are pious activities to become free from sinful reactions or to acquire pious credits in the field of karma. So, we should not think of the chanting of the holy name in the same way as the performing of fruitive activity, either to become free from sin or to increase one’s pious credits. Or in general, one should not use the holy name for any personal material benefit.

One time, Mrs. Kanaiyalal Munshi, who became the president of Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan after the death of her husband. . . You might have read about them in connection with Prabhupada’s preaching in Jhansi. So, he was a big man, he was governor, and he also became chairman of Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan. And then after him, she became. So, she organized one function, how the problems of India and the world can be solved through Bhagavad-gītā, or through sanātana-dharma. And before the meeting, Srila Prabhupada and some of the other speakers were invited by her just to meet before the program.

So, one of the persons approached Srila Prabhupada and said that he was having prayer meetings and having the people chant Hare Krishna also, and telling them that by chanting Hare Krishna and praying, they could be cured of their diseases. So, he said to Srila Prabhupada, “I’m gathering people together, and you are also gathering people together. I’m getting people to chant the holy names of Krishna, and you are also getting people to chant the holy names. So, we should combine together.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No. What you are proposing is against our principles. The holy name is Krishna Himself, and we are the servants of the holy name and Krishna. We do not try to engage the holy name in our service, to cure us of our diseases.”

So, the same point, we should not think of the holy name as some auspicious material performance to get material benefit. So, we can see. The other day, someone made the point that the other religions are not on the platform of pure devotional service. They may have some bhakti, but not uttamā-bhakti, they’re mixed. So, here we see, for example, in the Christian religion, and we find the same thing practically in every religion, that they have confession as a form of atonement, which comes in the category of karma, and they also have prayer meetings where the people call out to Jesus Christ and accept him as their savior, and then they throw away their crutches, and they walk again. So, they also use devotion to Jesus Christ to get material benefit, not pure.

The ninth offense is described as follows:

aśraddadhāne vimukhe ‘py aśṛṇvati
yaś copadeśaḥ śiva-nāmāparādhaḥ

“It is an offense to preach the glories of the holy name among persons who have no intelligence or no faith in the subject matter. Such people should be given the chance to hear the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, but in the beginning, they should not be instructed about the glories or the spiritual significance of the holy name.”

One time, Srila Prabhupada was preaching to one professor in Sweden, and he was arguing, he was not submissive, he was arguing. Then, at some stage, one of the devotees started to preach to the professor about the glories of the holy name, and Srila Prabhupada interrupted him and he said, “The professor had not accepted the authority of the scriptures, he did not have faith in the scriptures. So, we cannot preach to him about the glories of the holy name. By trying to preach him about the glories of the holy name, you are committing offense.”

So, when we preach, first, we have to establish faith in the scriptures. How to establish faith in the scriptures? We have to convince the person that he has defects. Every conditioned soul has four defects, and therefore, he cannot get perfect knowledge. If he wants perfect knowledge, he has to approach a perfect authority. And who could be a more perfect authority than God, or Krishna, whose knowledge is given to us in Bhagavad-gītā and other scriptures.

So, when the person has faith in the scriptures, then he may accept the description of the glories of the holy name from the scriptures. But if he does not have faith in the scriptures, we should not preach about the glories of the holy name. Otherwise, the person will probably become offensive. He’ll be doubtful and become offensive. But we can ask them to chant. Because by chanting, they can become purified and come to the stage of faith. But before they actually have faith, we should not preach the glories of hari-nāma.

The tenth offense is as follows:

“If one has heard the glories of the transcendental holy name of the Lord but nevertheless continues in a materialistic concept of life, thinking, “I am this body and everything belonging to this body is mine [ahaṁ mameti],” and does not show respect and love for the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, that is an offense.”

Actually, Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that inattention is the root of all offenses. The holy name is like the sun, and offenses—aparādhas and anarthas—are like clouds and mist. They can be burned up by the heat and light of the sun, according to the intensity of the sun. So, if we chant with attention, then the effect of the chanting will be intense, and it will burn away all the anarthas and aparādhas. But if we chant without attention, then the anarthas and the aparādhas continue, they may even increase. So, that’s why the main principle is to chant with attention. And as long as we identify with the body, are attached to the body, identify with the possessions, then we’ll be thinking of so many other things when we chant, and we won’t chant with attention.

So, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu says that if one commits an offense against Krishna. . . Well, what it actually says is if one commits sevā-aparādha, he can take shelter of Krishna. If one commits sin, he can take shelter of Krishna and be relieved, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. And if one commits offense against Krishna, then he can take shelter of the holy name. But if one commits offense against the holy name, then he has no other recourse.

And the last note about offenses against the holy name. Of course, say, we blaspheme some Vaishnava, then we should go to the Vaishnava and beg forgiveness. The negative side is we should not blaspheme the Vaishnavas. The positive side is we should appreciate the Vaishnavas and glorify them. We should not blaspheme the Vedic literature. So, the positive injunction is that we should study the Vedic literatures and glorify them. So, all of the offenses, which are on the negative side, have some counteraction, which is on the positive side. So, we think about each one, we can know what we have to do. And taking the positive action is the best counteraction against the negative action.

So now, we will skip over to. . . Actually, the last number, twenty, which is the tenth of the negative prohibitions, is blasphemy.

Now, Lord Chaitanya has advised tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ, “One should be humble and tolerant.” Now, considering Lord Chaitanya’s instruction, how should we deal with blasphemy if we hear blasphemy of the Lord or some devotee? And how can we reconcile such action with the instruction of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? Bhakta Massimo?

Bhakta Massimo: We should be tolerant [Unintelligible 00:32:36].

Giriraj Swami: But Lord Chaitanya says tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā, “We should be humble and tolerant.” So, how do you know that Lord Chaitanya doesn’t want us to tolerate offenses against the Lord or a devotee?

Bhakta Massimo: [Unintelligible 00:33:04].

Giriraj Swami: And? What did Lord Chaitanya do?

Bhakta Massimo: [Unintelligible 00:33:18]. [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: That is the thing, that in relation to oneself, one should be humble and tolerant. But if there is blasphemy or offense against another devotee or Krishna, we should not tolerate. It is an offense to tolerate.

Bhakta Massimo: Maharaja, Lord Chaitanya also said [Unintelligible 00:33:51].

Giriraj Swami: I will explain when we come to bhāva. [laughter]

Devotee: So, here it’s stated that if somebody sees another devotee being blasphemed, then they can become angry in such a situation.

Giriraj Swami: Must become.

Devotee: They must become angry. For instance, in the previous class, Narottama dasa Thakura was saying that if one becomes angry, then it prevents one from remembering Krishna. So, my question is, the anger that one manifests, is it a controlled anger, or is it a loose anger?

Giriraj Swami: Well, it should be a transcendental anger.

Devotee: Could it be transcendentally ferocious? [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: It could be, it could be. Like Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva’s anger. [laughter] Actually, Bhaktivinoda Thakura mentions that if one commits vaiṣṇava-aparādha, he incurs the anger of Krishna.

Devotee: In the case of when Jiva Gosvami defeated the scholar that wanted to have a discussion with Rupa Gosvami, it wouldn’t be considered that it was defending Rupa Gosvami.

Giriraj Swami: Exactly. When Jiva Gosvami defeated the scholar who wanted to establish himself as the champion in India over Sanatana Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami, he was doing so in the mood of a disciple, defending his spiritual master, or in the mood of a devotee. Yes, that’s true. Therefore, it’s not a fault in Jiva Goswami, it’s not at all a fault in Jiva Goswami. Only the sahajiyās consider it a fault, the Vaishnavas don’t consider it a fault. Okay. Now, if one happens to hear someone blaspheme the Lord or another Vaishnava, what should one do?

Devotee: One should slash that person verbally? [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: Verbally, he said verbally.

Devotee: Actually, I read one page that you can also take the recourse of cutting out his tongue. [laughter] And if you cannot do that, you should give up your life, and if you cannot do that, you should leave that place.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, one should defeat the person by argument, otherwise give up his life, or kill the other person and give up his life, or leave the place. But generally, we should either defeat the person in argument or leave the place.

Devotee: Maharaja, I read somewhere that Srila Prabhupada said you cannot take your own life if you are a brahman, because that would be killing a brahman.

Giriraj Swami: Oh yes, that is true.

Devotee: He said we should just leave.

Giriraj Swami: That is true. And there are many instructions about vaiṣṇava-aparādha and sādhu-nindā in the story of when Lord Chaitanya took prasāda at the house of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. And there is a discussion after Amogha, who is the son-in-law of Sarvabhauma, blasphemes Lord Chaitanya on what to do. So, they considered whether he should be killed, and then they concluded that because he was a brahman, he should not be killed.

Okay. Now, we’ll just briefly go to vijñapti. What is vijñapti?

Devotee: Prayer submission.

Giriraj Swami: Submission of prayers. And what are the three types?

Devotee: Samprārthanātmikā, dainya-bodhikā, and lālasā-mayī.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. And what is samprārthanā?

Devotee: That is the prayer of a new [Unintelligible 00:39:06].

Giriraj Swami: The technical definition, or the more precise definition of samprārthanā is that one dedicates oneself to the Lord. One surrenders to the Lord with body, mind, words, and everything. Who can quote one song by Bhaktivinoda Thakura in the mood of samprārthanā? Janaki?

Janaki: Mānasa deho. . .

Giriraj Swami: Yes, mānasa, deho, geho, jo kichu mor, exactly. Then dainya-bodhikā, what is the definition? Yes, to admit one’s worthlessness before the Lord, to admit one’s wretchedness before the Lord. And what is lālasā-mayī? One’s perfectional stage. In other words, one desires some perfectional stage. Lālasā means intense desire, or longing, or yearning. So, in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Rupa Gosvami gives two examples. One, Narada says, “My dear Lord, when shall that day come when You will ask me to fan Your body, and according to Your pleasure, You will say, ‘You just fan Me in this way’?” And so, in one, he is longing for some specific service to the Lord. And in the other, he is yearning for the attainment of ecstatic love for the Lord. Both are lālasā-mayī.

So, now in prārthanā, we find that Narottama dasa Thakura has made all three types of prayers, although most are lālasā-mayī, but even in the list of contents, you find the divisions of different types of prayers. So, song number two is samprārthanātmikā, and I’ll read the essential verse of samprārthanātmikā from song number two:

“Hearing from the devotees’ mouths that You are very merciful to the fallen and miserable, I joyfully take shelter of You. If You neglect me, I have no place to go.” So, samprārthanātmikā means surrendering, taking shelter, and dedicating one’s life, one’s body, one’s mind, one’s words, one’s possessions to the service of the Lord.

Then, the number three song is dainya-bodhikā, the author describes his fallen condition. Well, there are five songs in the same mood of dainya-bodhikā. So, who can name a famous song by Narottama dasa in the mood of dainya-bodhikā? Yes, Hari Hari biphale, a very good example.

hari hari! biphale janama gońāinu

manuṣya-janama pāiyā, rādhā-kṛṣṇa nā bhajiyā,

jāniyā śuniyā biṣa khāinu

“O Lord Hari I have spent my life uselessly. Although I have obtained a human birth and have not worshiped Radha and Krishna, I have knowingly drunk poison.”

Giriraj Swami: Then lālasā-mayī, who can name a famous song by Narottama? Yeah, Tulasi Prayer is also another example of lālasā-mayī. Any other? Sri Rupa Manjari Pada, how?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:44:19]

Giriraj Swami: Rupa Manjari is the leader of all mañjarīs. So, he desired the service of a mañjarī. And so, he wanted Rupa Manjari’s mercy, shelter.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:44:56]

Giriraj Swami: Well, we find the two types. Even the first song, ‘gaurāńga’ bolite habe pulaka-śarīra, that is also hankering for some perfection, “When will that opportune moment come to us, when there will be shivering of the body as soon as we chant Lord Gauranga’s name? While chanting Hare Krsna, when will there be tears in the eyes?”

Bhaktivinoda Thakura also has a similar song. “When will that day come?” And then, there are many songs where Narottama dasa prays for some specific service to the divine couple. There is some element of that, it’s also samprārthanā, surrendering to the guru. Even rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa mora jugala-kiśora, which ISKCON devotees sing, is that. Actually, Jiva Gosvami comments that lālasā-mayī prayers for some specific service to the Lord actually come in the category of rāgānugā-bhakti. But Rupa Gosvami has briefly mentioned it in the section on vaidhī-bhakti.

Okay, I’ll give you four more questions. So, over the weekend, you read and do the assignment for Chapters Ten and Eleven. Then, Tuesday night, there will be no homework assignment, only preparation for the exam on Wednesday, which will cover up to Chapter Eleven.

Yes, okay, here are the questions.

What are the different definitions of ātma-nivedanam? As you are reading, you’ll come to the item ātma-nivedanam. So, what are the different definitions of ātma-nivedanam?

Then, there is one item, serving Tulasi-devi. So, what are the various ways in which we can serve Tulasi-devi?

Then, there is one item, expecting the Lord’s mercy, which basically explains that when a devotee is in some difficulty, he should expect the Lord’s mercy. And there is some explanation by Srila Prabhupada. So, you should think of some difficult situation that you went through, and explain how you could have seen the situation in the best way, according to the principle of expecting the Lord’s mercy. Understand?

There is one item, expecting the Lord’s mercy, that explains how a devotee should respond when he is in difficulty or in pain. So, you should write a paragraph about some difficult experience, or some painful experience that you had, and how you should have seen it, or how you could have seen it, according to this principle. How you should have.

And the last question, I’ll give you the quote. Explain the following statement in your own words. I won’t give the quotation, but it’s the first paragraph on page ninety-five, the first paragraph in Chapter Eleven. It explains two different ideas of servitorship. Page ninety-five in The Nectar of Devotion, it’s the beginning of Chapter Eleven: “Servitorship.” So, the first paragraph, this is a little difficult question, the first paragraph explains two different conceptions of servitorship. So, you should explain what the two different conceptions of servitorship are. In one sense, it’s not so difficult but in another sense, it is.

Okay, you can hand in your homework.