Visvarupa-mahotsava

Giriraj Swami: Today is another special day called Visvarupa Mahotsava, which is the celebration of the older brother of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, named Visvarupa, taking sannyasa. Yesterday we discussed the dynamics of meeting and separation, and sannyasa is another occasion that involves meeting and separation because the sannyasi leaves home and his family to embrace the larger family of all humanity or all living entities, and so it creates a situation of separation for the family members. In the case of Visvarupa, he was extremely attractive. From a young age, or from the very beginning of his life, he was attracted to Krishna and the devotional scriptures, his form was extremely beautiful, and his personal qualities were all sublime, and he brought great joy to all of the residents of Navadvipa. In particular, he would regularly visit the residence of Advaita Acharya and take part in the spiritual discourses given by Advaita Acharya, and sometimes he would also speak.

But there were two factors that combined to impel Visvarupa to take sannyasa. The first was that Navadvipa, although a great center of learning, was populated by different varieties of atheists or offenders who did not appreciate the devotees, who do not appreciate the devotional scriptures or the devotional explanation of the scriptures. So he and all the other Vaishnavas were very distressed by the materialism that was rampant in Navadvipa. The materialists would ridicule the Vaishnavas, they would come up with so many arguments against the saṅkīrtana movement. And Visvarupa was thinking, What is the use of living in such a place? Better to take sannyasa and travel to the holy places.

The other factor that contributed to his accepting sannyasa at a relatively early age was that his parents, as all good Hindu parents, wanted to get him married and he thought that, I don’t really want to enter grihastha ashram, I want to dedicate my life to Krishna. And he said that even at home with his parents, divine parents, Jagannatha Mishra and Sachi Mata, even at home, he hardly knew any of the other rooms in the house, he only knew the temple room, he was so focused. So when his parents started to, you could say, make arrangements for his marriage, and in any case, feeling very miserable in the materialistic atmosphere of Navadvipa, he left home which created a terrible sense of separation for everyone, including Lord Chaitanya. 

It is said that Lord Chaitanya as a child was very restless, like Krishna He would always engage in mischievous activities and pranks. And only in the presence of His older brother Visvarupa would He become humble and docile and submissive. So everyone was struck by feelings of separation when he left home, of course, Jagannatha Mishra and Sachi Mata felt it acutely, Lord Chaitanya felt it acutely, Advaita Acharya felt it, all the Vaishnavas felt it. They also entered the same mood, what is the use of remaining here? Especially without Visvarupa, we should all go to the forest. But in that situation, Lord Chaitanya gave solace to His parents, and in a way to all the Vaishnavas. But later when Lord Chaitanya manifested Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and was giving boons to all the devotees, fulfilling all their desires of blessing them with love of Godhead, He would not give that boon to Mother Sachi. And everyone was astonished that He is giving this boon to everyone else and not Sachi, who carried Him within her womb, and nourished, and nurtured Him, and protected Him from the very beginning. He said, “No, I will not give to my mother because she is an offender, she has offended of Vaishnava, and I never will give love of Godhead to anyone who offends a Vaishnava.” 

Everyone was astonished. How could Mother Sachi commit an offense? What offense did she commit? And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied that when Visvarupa took sannyasa, Sachi blamed Advaita Acharya that because Visvarupa was regularly visiting his home and hearing devotional discourses he got inspired and took sannyasa. So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Only if Advaita Acharya forgives her will I bless her.” So then news went to Advaita Acharya, he fell at her feet that, “You are the mother of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you are worshipable for me.” And she fell at his feet, and the two of them were glorifying each other, and feeling very humble in the presence of the other, and in this way, she was relieved from her offense. 

So this date of Visvarupa’s sannyasa, of course, the sannyasa came slightly later because after leaving home he went to the holy place and took sannyasa, is celebrated as Visvarupa Mahotsava, it is a full moon day, pūrṇimā. And it was on this date that Srila Prabhupada took sannyasa, and in the case of Srila Prabhupada, of course, one could say there were various factors but the critical factor was that he was having dreams that his guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, was calling him to follow him, in other words, to leave home and take sannyasa and preach. And this was experienced by Srila Prabhupada when he woke up as a very horrible feeling that, “How can I leave home, and leave all of the facilities at home, and become a mendicant?” I mean if any of us were to imagine that fate, that we would have to leave home and become a mendicant, it would probably shake us to the core. So Srila Prabhupada was having these dreams and then one godbrother of his, very loyal godbrother who was faithful to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he advised Srila Prabhupada that, “You must take sannyasa; without accepting sannyasa no one can preach.” 

Of course, in a way that is true, but in another way, it is not true because recently we celebrated Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s appearance day and he did so much preaching as a householder, but although he was a householder he used every minute he possibly could in devotional service to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada explains that he would come home from work about, I think, seven and he would take some dinner and then he would retire for the night. And at midnight, he would get up and engage in devotional service, write books, he wrote about a hundred books and so many things. And Srila Prabhupada said five hours of sleep is enough, and then the rest of the time he engaged in devotional service. And so he emphasized, Srila Prabhupada in this talk, he emphasized that everyone can preach. Anyone can preach, everyone can preach, it is not that one has to be a sannyasi; even as a grihastha one can preach. And he gave the example of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. But in this case, Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother advised him that without taking sannyasa no one can preach, and as a specific instruction to Srila Prabhupada, he accepted that as true, and so he took sannyasa.

So now we will play a recording of Srila Prabhupada discussing his acceptance of sannyasa. The occasion that inspired Srila Prabhupada to speak on this topic was when he heard that his godbrother Srila Bhakti Prajnan Keshava Maharaja had left this world. And so on that occasion, and this was in 1968, the movement was still quite young, so he had, as he describes it, a condolence meeting for Srila Bhakti Prajnan Keshava Gosvami Maharaja with the members of his society. And in that meeting, they passed a resolution of condolence, and Srila Prabhupada composed a verse in Sanskrit expressing his appreciation for his godbrothers as he said forcing him to take sannyasa or being the instrument through which his guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, forced him to take sannyasa. So we will hear the recording, it lasts about twelve minutes, and then we will still have a few minutes so we could discuss or if you missed anything I could read the transcript of that recording and comment on it. So, are we ready? 

Devotee: Yes, [Unintelligible 00:17:38].

Giriraj Swami: Okay, so listen carefully. 

Recording of Srila Prabhupada: This is lecture by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, recorded on October 21, 1968 in Seattle. 

Giriraj Swami: Can we dim the lights? Not too much.

[Recording being played]

Giriraj Swami: Rasikendra Prabhu has a photograph taken on the occasion of Srila Prabhupada’s sannyasa, and in the center is His Holiness Bhakti Prajnan Keshava Gosvami Maharaja, and he took sannyasa with another Vaishnava named Muni Maharaja, he became Muni Maharaja. So they are on the two sides and Keshava Maharaja is in the middle. 

So, I hope you were able to understand the recording. But there are many important points: one is that Srila Prabhupada felt that his guru Maharaja was acting through his godbrother Keshava Maharaja. In other words, it is not that after the spiritual master leaves, or is not present physically, that we have no more access to his guidance but he can guide us in many ways, and one way is through other disciples of the spiritual master. Another instruction is that Srila Prabhupada was feeling great separation from his godbrother who had acted as an instrument for a spiritual master. And another important point is that he engaged his own disciples, very young disciples, in subscribing to his feelings of bereavement and expressing their bereavement on the occasion of Srila Keshava Maharaja’s departure. As Srila Prabhupada says, he entered the abode of Krishna. 

So, there are many instructions. In the verse, vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga, that line actually comes from a verse, resembles a verse from Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya written in appreciation of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga, that He has come to teach vairāgya-vidyā that means knowledge and renunciation, or the knowledge of Krishna which gives rise naturally to renunciation, nija-bhakti-yoga, and as Prabhupada said, “That is possible only through bhakti-yoga.” And in fact, this the next line also resembles a line by Raghunatha dasa Gosvami in which he appreciated his spiritual master Yadunandan-ācārya. He says that, “I was unwilling to drink the nectar, or take the medicine of renunciation.” And Srila Prabhupada recalled as a child he had practical experience, he didn’t want to take his medicine but his mother would force him. So in the same way, he didn’t want to take the medicine of renunciation, but this godbrother forced him, or his guru Maharaja forced him through this godbrother. And then again that point, why was he unwilling? Because andha, because he was blind, he was blind to the beautiful future in Krishna consciousness, as he describes, and he was thinking materially. That, “If I give up all these things I will be the loser.” But he says no, he was not the loser, but he gained many times over. And gave that very simple example, that he had three children at home, and now he has three hundred children. 

And so this is a question that we all face almost all the time, are we going to surrender to Krishna or are we going to try to hold on to what we have or what we think we have? Almost every moment we are faced with such questions. Morning comes, should I get up? Should I sleep a little more? Just the whole day we pass faced with decisions, am I going to surrender to Krishna or am I going to try to get a little extra sense gratification or material facility? But again, we do have the principle of yukta-vairāgya, using everything in Krishna’s service. So sometimes we may, for the sake of keeping the body fit, have to take some extra rest, or deal with material possessions in a way that they can be preserved for the use in devotional service. But anāsaktasya viṣayān, we should do it without attachment. And again, it is a basic principle in bhakti-yoga, and mentioned at the beginning of The Nectar of Devotion, that one should not be disturbed by tribulation and loss or gain. It is against the regulative principles to be disturbed. We get disturbed, that is another thing, but we shouldn’t be disturbed to the point that we forget our duty or fail to perform our duty. But we tolerate, tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata, we tolerate, and we can continue with our duty in Krishna consciousness.

So, Hare Krishna. It is exactly 8:30. Oh! Well, according to that clock which is the official temple clock, we have three minutes. So, any questions or comments? Yes, Vinod Bihari. 

Devotee: Maharaja, sannyasa actually means karmaṇā manasā, giving up the results of all activities to Krishna. So, is it necessary, by sannyasa is it necessary for one to give up the family as such? Can you not be a sannyasi even being in the family?

Giriraj Swami: Yes. In principle, one does not need to leave the family. I don’t know if I should mention in such detail, but I did have an interesting talk with His Holiness Devamrita Swami in which he discussed the wisdom of taking sannyasa at the age of fifty. And the wisdom is that at the age of fifty a person’s physical health has not deteriorated that much, and as the years go by and one’s health deteriorates more it becomes harder to get out of the family, and the responsibilities within the family or the duties within the family relating to one’s body, or one’s wife’s body, or vice versa, husband’s body, can increase. Now, that may seem like something that we should do. We should stay in the family until the end and take care of our wife until she dies, or take care of our husband until he dies, and there could be some truth in that. But then what about after the death of one or the other? Then there are the grandchildren, nothing against the grandchildren either, but then where is Krishna? Where is preaching? Where is repaying our debt to Srila Prabhupada and the paramparā? If Srila Prabhupada hadn’t taken sannyasa and come to us, where would we be? We wouldn’t be anywhere, and I shudder to think where we would be.

So sannyasa is necessary that sat-nyās, giving up something for the sake of sat, for the Supreme, for the service of the supreme. And so many, not many, but many of our acharyas have taken sannyasa. And again, it is like they give up the limited family of their home or their town and embrace the larger family of all humanity, of all living entities.

Devotee: Why is it is forbidden in Kali-yuga to take sannyasa?

Giriraj Swami: It is forbidden in Kali-yuga to take sannyasa because in Kali-yuga, generally, people are not qualified, and so it is hard for them to maintain sannyasa. And therefore, some, like it is in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, he was kshetra-sannyasi, he lived with his wife within a holy place, Jagannatha Puri. And Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura comments as quoted by Srila Prabhupada, that kshetra-sannyasa is the preferred vanaprastha situation in Kali-yuga. So that is also possible, kshetra-sannyasa, to live with one’s wife in a holy place, or a temple, and together engage fully in the service of the Lord. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s wife was such a staunch devotee that when their son-in-law, Amogha, committed offenses against Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, accused him of overeating, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s wife like cursed him, indirectly. She prayed, “Let my daughter become a widow.” In other words, she was so staunch, so upset that, “Let my daughter become a widow,” it is better to be a widow than to be married to an offender like that. So that shows that his wife had a high degree of devotion to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and was quite detached from mundane family relations.

So, yes, if one is fortunate to have a wife who is like-minded, or the other way around also, and both the husband and wife are in the mood to dedicate themselves together to devotional service then you could say there is no need to take sannyasa. But you can.

Yes, Nivedita. 

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:44:24].

Giriraj Swami: Pass the microphone, please. 

Devotee: Maharaja, initially there were rishi munis. They would have families and then. [Unintelligible 00:44:45] So, were they sannyasis or they were just rishis??

Giriraj Swami: No, there are grihastha couples who act as spiritual masters, even Krishna and Balarama, they went to study in the gurukula, the ashram of Sandīpanī Muni and his wife. So there is no restriction that one has to be a sannyasi to be a guru. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene. . . you may be, because Ramananda Raya, he was a grihastha, and also he was considered to be a sudra because he was in government service. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in a high-class brahman family and was a sannyasi. But when they met, Lord Chaitanya asked Srila Ramananda Raya to take the part of the guru, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took the part of the student inquiring. So Ramananda Raya said, “How can I be in that position? You are a brahman, you are a sannyasi. I am a householder; I am a government servant.” And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene, that it doesn’t matter if you are a brahman or a sudra or a sannyasi, but if you know the science of Krishna, kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei guru haya, you can act as a spiritual master. 

So there are many cases as you rightly cited of couples who acted as a guru. In fact, one of the seven mothers, Guroḥ patnī, is the wife of the guru, the guru has wife, can have a wife, and she is also a mother to the students, and together they raise the boys in Krishna consciousness. But in those cases, the students would come, but in Kali-yuga people are so fallen they don’t come, we have to go out, and for going out vanaprastha or sannyasa or whatever.

Yes.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:48:19] to instruct him on the highest aspects of devotional service. Now [Unintelligible 00:48:41] there seems to be a tremendous renewal of our [Unintelligible 00:48:45] it appears that for somebody to be classified as a sudra [Unintelligible 00:49:02]. So it seems to be a formidable challenge ahead of us, how devotees under [Unintelligible 00:49:21] very very difficult task. Any thoughts of how it could be done [Unintelligible 00:49:36] establishing, implementing varnashrama.

Giriraj Swami: The varnashrama that Srila Prabhupada wanted to implement was really farm communities, and then you have real vaishyas, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam. So that was really what he wanted when he made that statement, 50 percent of his work is undone. He was on his way to Gita-nagari to establish varnashrama in the context of the self-sufficient farm community. It is a very complex issue when we deal with devotees because in principle a Vaishnava is beyond varnashrama-dharma. And when Srila Prabhupada was talking about the varnashrama college in Vrindavan, one disciple brought up the point that Vaishnavas are beyond varnashrama-dharma. And Prabhupada said, “Well, not all are Vaishnavas,” means on that platform of transcendence, otherwise, why are they falling down? So the fact that they are falling down indicates that they are not really on that advanced platform of Vaishnava, which means that they are still somewhat conditioned by the modes or attached to their conditioning. And so he wanted them to be engaged according to their propensity because generally someone is more happy or satisfied when engaged according to his propensity.

In Juhu, after the police commissioner refused permission for us to build the temple, Srila Prabhupada was in Vrindavan and he got the news. So he wanted devotees to come with him, extend their stay in India and come with him to Bombay to protest this refusal. And so some devotees, Balavanta Prabhu, Amarendra Prabhu, they were actually meeting political leaders, and so on. But then a lot of devotees for a lot of the time didn’t really have any specific service. So Srila Prabhupada said that we should spend the day in the temple, and alternately do kirtan, japa, and read books and discuss. So after a couple of days, Srila Prabhupada asked Tamal Krishna Goswami how the programs were going in the temple, and Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “Well, frankly, Srila Prabhupada, many of the devotees fall asleep during the discussions.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “All right, if they are not brahmans that is all right then they can work in the garden but then everyone should be engaged.” So that is in a way, varnashrama that you should be engaged according to your qualities, your propensity. But if someone is actually on the Vaishnava platform, and transcendentally situated, he can do any work. If we read about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s associates, they came from all different activities. Kolavecha Sridhar, one of the greatest devotees of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he used to sell plantain leaves and different parts of the banana tree. 

So the main thing is the consciousness. Our godbrother Jayananda Prabhu, was a very advanced devotee. Srila Prabhupada indicated that he went back to Godhead, but he was ready to do any work; build the Ratha-yatra carts. You could say well, that is a sudra work, like a carpenter. His Holiness Niranjana Swami was a carpenter before he joined; Jesus Christ was a carpenter. So we could say well, that is sudra work. And when we first came to India, to Bombay, there was a press conference and so someone wrote an article criticizing Srila Prabhupada and the devotees. And in the article, or the editorial, or the letter to the editor, the author cited one of the devotees named Gopal, who was a construction worker before he joined, saying that a construction worker is a sudra and now he is supposed to be a brahman. How can a construction worker become a brahman? And Srila Prabhupada told us how to reply, he didn’t have the reply sent in his name, but he gave us the points. And one of the points was that in the western countries people appreciate manual labor, it is not like India, and they believe in the dignity of work. Now, people go to India, it could be anywhere, and they are sort of maybe startled by how dirty it is. We have such a high philosophy, and cleanliness is next to godliness, but it is so dirty because everyone is too high to pick up the trash, they are too high and holy. But that is not Krishna consciousness, that is something else. It is not even really varnashrama-dharma; it is just a degradation of varnashrama-dharma.

So, as devotees, we should be ready to do anything and everything. Srila Prabhupada gave the example that when he was working in Dr. Bose’s chemical factory, the workers went on strike. So Dr. Bose said, “Okay, we will do the packing ourselves.” And so Srila Prabhupada and Dr. Bose were packing the products and shipping them themselves, and because they were ready to do anything they were able to break the strike. So Srila Prabhupada said that we should be like that for Krishna, we should be ready to do anything for Krishna. I think staunch or stubborn, he might have used the word stubborn, we should be very stubborn servants of Krishna and be ready to do anything.

Yes, Brahma Samhita. 

Devotee: I guess one thing came out into my mind during this discussion. I think that in my humble opinion [Unintelligible 00:59:55], I think that [Unintelligible 01:00:00] how do you know the difference? And making an excuse like that? [Unintelligible 01:00:46] because I have done things [Unintelligible 01:00:51].

Giriraj Swami: That is a very mature consideration, how do you know whether you are able to meet a particular type of challenge? Because if you try to meet it artificially you are not really up to it, then there could be more problems. There was one disciple of Srila Prabhupada who took sannyasa. Well, that was another thing, he took sannyasa after being married, but then on top of it, Srila Prabhupada needed a GBC for India, and he was visiting in India, and Prabhupada asked him if he would be the GBC, and he agreed. And then one night he disappeared, and it was too much for him. It turned out he went to Mathura and caught the train to Delhi and went back to America, it was just too much for him. And Srila Prabhupada commented that out of sentiment he had accepted the service. Now, it is hard to know exactly what Srila Prabhupada meant but I did consider it, that out of sentiment he agreed but he didn’t accurately assess his ability to do it, or maybe out of sentiment he accepted it but then he didn’t develop the expertise that he required to be able to do it. But Prabhupada wasn’t very harsh in his judgment of him, he just said, out of sentiment he accepted.

But one thing is that as long as we stay in our comfort zones we can’t really grow or progress, that is like a basic principle for anyone in any field. So we have to venture outside of our comfort zone. We have to accept new challenges which means that we are not already equipped but we have to develop the equipment. And yes, but what is a good amount of challenge? Or what is too much of a challenge that is beyond our capacity? That is a very important question, and by sincere introspection, by chanting and hearing, by consulting with advanced devotees, we can get an answer. Otherwise, like you said, we can sort of lapse into a lazy mode where we are not pushing ourselves to go beyond what is easy and comfortable for us, which is also quite bad for our spiritual life. So balance is always a very important consideration, not too much and not too little, but some challenge should be there. And when you accept the challenge, and you are successful then you can accept another challenge. And in the case of Srila Prabhupada’s sannyasa, he was getting encouragement from his guru Maharaja, from his esteemed godbrother. 

Yes, very good question.

When I was a new devotee, I mean very new, I think, anyway, within the first year in Boston, somehow I got this idea that I might really fall, just completely polluted. And so one of my guides at the time was Jadurani, who was the wife of Satsvarupa who was the temple president, and so I told her, I didn’t even feel like I should go in the temple room because I was so contaminated, and she said, “That is maya, ‘Oh, I am too fallen to see the deities, I am too fallen to associate with the devotees,’ it is just maya.” So, it is good to check with others, to get their confirmation or disconfirmation.

Oh, yes, one last question, Sarvabhauma Prabhu.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:07:16].

Giriraj Swami: Well, yes, coming back to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s instruction, 

kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya

yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya

It doesn’t matter what you are if you know the science of Krishna you can be a guru. And so Sarvabhauma Prabhu is saying it seems that there is more sannyasis than grihasthas who are acting as gurus, whereas it seems that in the past times there were more grihasthas, and he is saying maybe we should encourage grihasthas more. Well, that is possible, I know some grihasthas, they are just. . . I have encouraged some, and for some reason they are reluctant. Recently I met Hridayananda dasa Gosvami in Los Angeles, and he made an interesting point about family attachment being an impediment to preaching, which does not mean that every householder will be under the influence of family attachment. There are certainly examples, but he was saying in a way that your attachment is like your money, so you have so much money and if you invest so much in your family, say spend so much on your family, then you have that much less to spend on Krishna. 

So he was saying our emotions are also like that. Of course, a pure devotee has unlimited love, but for an ordinary devotee, let’s say, he has only so much. And if he has invested a lot of that emotion or attachment into his family then he will have less when he meets the fallen souls to try to encourage them in devotional service. He said that ideally when a person meets a conditioned soul, he should be able to give himself fully to that person. That person should feel that, “Well, this Vaishnava is giving himself fully to me.” And then, of course, it does depend on that new person to what extent he will take it up, but there should be no holding back on the side of the preacher in giving whatever he can possibly give to that person; no holding back because in the back of his mind he is thinking, “Oh man, how long is this discussion going to go on? I have to get back to. . .” 

Even sannyasis might have time constraints, but the idea is that we should give ourselves fully to the people that we are preaching to. And it is possible that some family attachment, material attachment, could limit us in our ability to really give ourselves fully to the people who we are trying to encourage and engage. But then that is not just for householders, it is not for all householders. There are devotees, you are with them, and you feel like “Wow!” Like you are so special. Of course, I must say that someone who is like that, I feel, is Vaisesika Prabhu. He is a grihastha, his wife is also very advanced, the two of them are a wonderful team, and with Vaisesika Prabhu, he makes you feel so special, it makes you feel like you are the most important thing in the world to him and nothing else matters. So I think they are an excellent example of a householder couple who are doing everything like acharya, like Bhaktivinoda Thakura, I mean he is doing everything. Very exemplary and inspiring way.

All right, thank you very much.

Srila Prabhupada, ki jaya!