Śrīmad Bhāgavata Puranam
“The
Buddhists are called atheists because they have no respect for the Vedas,
but those who defy the Vedic conclusions, as above mentioned, under the
pretense of being followers of the Vedas are verily more dangerous than
the Buddhists.
“Śrī Vyāsadeva very kindly compiled the
Vedic knowledge in his Vedānta-sūtra, but if one hears the commentation
of the Māyāvāda school (as represented by the Śaṅkara
sampradāya) certainly he will be misled on the path of spiritual
realization.
“The theory of emanations is the
beginning subject of the Vedānta-sūtra. All the cosmic manifestations
are emanations from the Absolute Personality of Godhead by His inconceivable
different energies. The example of the touchstone is applicable to the theory
of emanation. The touchstone can convert an unlimited quantity of iron into
gold, and still the touchstone remains as it is. Similarly, the Supreme Lord
can produce all manifested worlds by His inconceivable energies, and yet He is
full and unchanged. He is pūrṇa
[complete], and although an unlimited number of pūrṇas
emanate from Him, He is still pūrṇa.
“The theory of illusion of the Māyāvāda
school is advocated on the ground that the theory of emanation will cause a
transformation of the Absolute Truth. If that is the case, Vyāsadeva is wrong.
To avoid this, they have skillfully brought in the theory of illusion. But the
world or the cosmic creation is not false, as maintained by the Māyāvāda
school. It simply has no permanent existence. A nonpermanent thing cannot be
called false altogether. But the conception that the material body is the self
is certainly wrong.
“Praṇava
[om], or the oṁkāra
in the Vedas, is the primeval hymn. This transcendental sound is
identical with the form of the Lord. All the Vedic hymns are based on this praṇava
oṁkāra.
Tat tvam asi is but a side word in the Vedic literatures, and therefore
this word cannot be the primeval hymn of the Vedas. Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya
has given more stress on the side word tat tvam asi than on the primeval
principle oṁkāra.”
The Lord thus spoke on the Vedānta-sūtra
and defied all the propaganda of the Māyāvāda school.*
The Bhaṭṭācārya tried to defend himself and his
Māyāvāda school by jugglery of logic and grammar, but the Lord defeated him by
His forceful arguments. He affirmed that we are all related with the
Personality of Godhead eternally and that devotional service is our eternal
function in exchanging the dealings of our relations. The result of such
exchanges is to attain premā, or love of Godhead. When love of Godhead
is attained, love for all other beings automatically follows because the Lord
is the sum total of all living beings.
The Lord said that but for these three
items — namely, eternal relation with God, exchange of dealings with Him and
the attainment of love for Him — all that is instructed in the Vedas is
superfluous and concocted.
The Lord further added that the
Māyāvāda philosophy taught by Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya
is an imaginary explanation of the Vedas, but it had to be taught by him
(Śaṅkarācārya) because he was ordered to
teach it by the Personality of Godhead. In the Padma Purāṇa
it is stated that the Personality of Godhead ordered His Lordship Śiva to
deviate the human race from Him (the Personality of Godhead). The Personality
of Godhead was to be so covered so that people would be encouraged to generate
more and more population. His Lordship Śiva said to Devī: “In the Kali-yuga, I
shall preach the Māyāvāda philosophy, which is nothing but clouded Buddhism, in
the garb of a brāhmaṇa.”
After hearing all these speeches of the
Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Bhaṭṭācārya
was struck with wonder and awe and regarded Him in dead silence. The Lord then
encouraged him with assurance that there was no cause to wonder. “I say that devotional
service unto the Personality of Godhead is the highest goal of human life.”
He then quoted a śloka from the Bhāgavatam (1.7.10),and assured
him that even the liberated souls who are absorbed in the spirit and spiritual
realization also take to the devotional service of the Lord Hari because the
Personality of Godhead has such transcendental qualities that He attracts the heart
of the liberated soul too.
Then the Bhaṭṭācārya
desired to listen to the explanation of the “ātmārāma” śloka from
the Bhāgavatam (1.7.10). The Lord first of all asked Bhaṭṭācārya
to explain it, and after that He would explain it. The Bhaṭṭācārya
then explained the śloka in a scholarly way with special reference to
logic. He explained the śloka in nine different ways chiefly based on
logic because he was the most renowned scholar of logic of the time.
The Lord, after hearing the Bhaṭṭācārya,
thanked him for the scholarly presentation of the śloka, and then, at
the request of the Bhaṭṭācārya, the Lord
explained the śloka in sixty-four different ways without touching the
nine explanations given by the Bhaṭṭācārya.
Thus after hearing the explanation of
the ātmārāma śloka from the Lord, the Bhaṭṭācārya
was convinced that such a scholarly presentation is impossible for an earthly creature.*
Before this, Śrī Gopīnātha Ācārya had tried to convince him of the divinity of
the Lord, but at the time he could not so accept Him. But the Bhaṭṭācārya
was astounded by the Lord’s exposition of the Vedānta-sūtra and
explanations of the ātmārāma śloka, and thus he began to think that he
had committed a great offense at the lotus feet of the Lord by not recognizing
Him to be Kṛṣṇa
Himself. He then surrendered unto Him, repenting for his past dealings with
Him, and the Lord was kind enough to accept the Bhaṭṭācārya.
Out of His causeless mercy, the Lord manifested before him first as four-handed
Nārāyaṇa and then again as two-handed Lord Kṛṣṇa
with a flute in His hand.
The Bhaṭṭācārya
at once fell down at the lotus feet of the Lord and composed many suitable ślokas
in praise of the Lord by His grace. He composed one hundred ślokas in
praise of the Lord. The Lord then embraced him, and out of transcendental
ecstasy the Bhaṭṭācārya lost
consciousness of the physical state of life. Tears, trembling, throbbing of the
heart, perspiration, emotional waves, dancing, singing, crying and all the
eight symptoms of trance were manifested in the body of the Bhaṭṭācārya.
Śrī Gopīnātha Ācārya became very glad and astonished by this marvelous
conversion of his brother-in-law by the grace of the Lord.
Out of the hundred celebrated ślokas
composed by the Bhaṭṭācārya in praise
of the Lord, the following two are most important, and these two ślokas
explain the mission of the Lord in gist.
1. Let me surrender unto the
Personality of Godhead who has appeared now as Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He
is the ocean of all mercy and has now come down to teach us material
detachment, learning and devotional service to Himself.
2. Since pure devotional service of the
Lord has been lost in the oblivion of time, the Lord has appeared to renovate
the principles, and therefore I offer my obeisances unto His lotus feet.
The Lord explained the word mukti
to be equivalent to the word Viṣṇu, or the
Personality of Godhead. To attain mukti, or liberation from the bondage
of material existence, is to attain to the service of the Lord.
The Lord then proceeded towards South
India for some time and converted all He met on the way to become devotees of
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Such devotees also converted many others to the cult of devotional service, or
to the Bhāgavata-dharma of the Lord, and thus He reached the bank of the
Godāvarī, where He met Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya, the governor of Madras on behalf
of Mahārāja Pratāparudra, the King of Orissa. His talks with Rāmānanda Rāya are
very important for higher realization of transcendental knowledge, and the
conversation itself forms a small booklet. We shall, however, give herewith a
summary of the conversation.
Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was a self-realized
soul, although outwardly he belonged to a caste lower than the brāhmaṇa
in social status. He was not in the renounced order of life, and besides that
he was a high government servant in the state. Still, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
accepted him as a liberated soul on the strength of the high order of his
realization of transcendental knowledge. Similarly, the Lord accepted Śrīla
Haridāsa Ṭhākura, a
veteran devotee of the Lord coming from a Mohammedan family. And there are many
other great devotees of the Lord who came from different communities, sects and
castes. The Lord’s only criterion was the standard of devotional service of the
particular person. He was not concerned with the outward dress of a man; He was
concerned only with the inner soul and its activities. Therefore all the
missionary activities of the Lord are to be understood to be on the spiritual
plane, and as such the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, or the cult of Bhāgavata-dharma,
has nothing to do with mundane affairs, sociology, politics, economic
development or any such sphere of life. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the purely
transcendental urge of the soul.
When He met Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya on the
bank of the Godāvarī, the varṇāśrama-dharma
followed by the Hindus was mentioned by the Lord. Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya said
that by following the principles of varṇāśrama-dharma,
the system of four castes and four orders of human life, everyone could realize
Transcendence. In the opinion of the Lord, the system of varṇāśrama-dharma
is superficial only, and it has very little to do with the highest realization
of spiritual values. The highest perfection of life is to get detached from the
material attachment and proportionately realize the transcendental loving
service of the Lord. The Personality of Godhead recognizes a living being who
is progressing in that line. Devotional service, therefore, is the culmination
of the culture of all knowledge. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appeared for the deliverance of all fallen
souls, He advised the deliverance of all living entities as follows. The
Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead, from whom all living entities have
emanated, must be worshiped by all their respective engagements, because
everything that we see is also the expansion of His energy. That is the way of
real perfection, and it is approved by all bona fide ācāryas past and
present. The system of varṇāśrama
is more or less based on moral and ethical principles. There is very little
realization of the Transcendence as such, and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
rejected it as superficial and asked Rāmānanda Rāya to go further into the
matter.
Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya then suggested
renunciation of fruitive actions unto the Lord. The Bhagavad-gītā (9.27)
advises in this connection: “Whatever you do, whatever you eat and whatever you
give, as well as whatever you perform in penance, offer to Me alone.” This
dedication on the part of the worker suggests that the Personality of Godhead
is a step higher than the impersonal conception of the varṇāśrama
system, but still the relation of the living being and the Lord is not distinct
in that way. The Lord therefore rejected this proposition and asked Rāmānanda
Rāya to go further.
Rāya then suggested renunciation of the
varṇāśrama-dharma
and acceptance of devotional service. The Lord did not approve of this
suggestion also for the reason that all of a sudden one should not renounce his
position, for that may not bring in the desired result.
It was further suggested by Rāya that
attainment of spiritual realization freed from the material conception of life
is the topmost achievement for a living being. The Lord rejected this
suggestion also because on the plea of such spiritual realization much havoc
has been wrought by unscrupulous persons; therefore all of a sudden this is not
possible. The Rāya then suggested sincere association of self-realized souls
and hearing submissively the transcendental message of the pastimes of the
Personality of Godhead. This suggestion was welcomed by the Lord. This
suggestion was made following in the footsteps of Brahmājī, who said that the
Personality of Godhead is known as ajita, or the one who cannot be
conquered or approached by anyone. But such ajita also becomes jita
(conquered) by one method, which is very simple and easy. The simple method is
that one has to give up the arrogant attitude of declaring oneself to be God
Himself. One must be very meek and submissive and try to live peacefully by
lending the ear to the speeches of the transcendentally self-realized soul who
speaks on the message of Bhāgavata-dharma, or the religion of glorifying
the Supreme Lord and His devotees. To glorify a great man is a natural instinct
for living beings, but they have not learned to glorify the Lord. Perfection of
life is attained simply by glorifying the Lord in association with a
self-realized devotee of the Lord.*
The self-realized devotee is he who surrenders unto the Lord fully and who does
not have attachment for material prosperity. Material prosperity and sense
enjoyment and their advancement are all activities of ignorance in human
society. Peace and friendship are impossible for a society detached from the
association of God and His devotees. It is imperative, therefore, that one
sincerely seek the association of pure devotees and hear them patiently and
submissively from any position of life. The position of a person in the higher
or lower status of life does not hamper one in the path of self-realization.
The only thing one has to do is to hear from a self-realized soul with a
routine program. The teacher may also deliver lectures from the Vedic
literatures, following in the footsteps of the bygone ācāryas who
realized the Absolute Truth. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended this
simple method of self-realization generally known as Bhāgavata-dharma. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is the perfect guide for this purpose.
Above these topics discussed by the
Lord and Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya, there were still more elevated spiritual talks
between the two great personalities, and we purposely withhold those topics for
the present because one has to come to the spiritual plane before further talks
with Rāmānanda Rāya can be heard. We have presented further talks of Śrīla
Rāmānanda Rāya with the Lord in another book (Teachings of Lord Caitanya).
At the conclusion of this meeting, Śrī
Rāmānanda Rāya was advised by the Lord to retire from service and come to Purī
so that they could live together and relish a transcendental relationship. Some
time later, Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya retired from the government service and took a
pension from the King. He returned to his residence in Purī, where he was one
of the most confidential devotees of the Lord. There was another gentleman at
Purī of the name Śikhi Māhiti, who was also a confidant like Rāmānanda Rāya.
The Lord used to hold confidential talks on spiritual values with three or four
companions at Purī, and He passed eighteen years in that way in spiritual
trance. His talks were recorded by His private secretary Śrī Dāmodara Gosvāmī,
one of the four most intimate devotees.
The Lord extensively traveled all over
the southern part of India. The great saint of Mahārāṣṭra
known as Saint Tukārāma was also initiated by the Lord. Saint Tukārāma, after
initiation by the Lord, overflooded the whole of the Mahārāṣṭra
Province with the saṅkīrtana
movement, and the transcendental flow is still rolling on in the southwestern
part of the great Indian peninsula.
The Lord excavated from South India two
very important old literatures, namely the Brahma-saṁhitā* and Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta,
and these two valuable books are authorized studies for the person in the
devotional line. The Lord then returned to Purī after His South Indian tour.
On His return to Purī, all the anxious
devotees of the Lord got back their life, and the Lord remained there with
continued pastimes of His transcendental realizations. The most important
incident during that time was His granting audience to King Pratāparudra. King
Pratāparudra was a great devotee of the Lord, and he considered himself to be
one of the servants of the Lord entrusted with sweeping the temple. This
submissive attitude of the King was very much appreciated by Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu. The King requested both Bhaṭṭācārya
and Rāya to arrange his meeting with the Lord. When, however, the Lord was
petitioned by His two stalwart devotees, He flatly refused to grant the
request, even though it was put forward by personal associates like Rāmānanda
Rāya and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. The Lord
maintained that it is dangerous for a sannyāsī to be in intimate touch
with worldly money-conscious men and with women. The Lord was an ideal sannyāsī.
No woman could approach the Lord even to offer respects. Women’s seats were
accommodated far away from the Lord. As an ideal teacher and ācārya, He
was very strict in the routine work of a sannyāsī. Apart from being a
divine incarnation, the Lord was an ideal character as a human being. His
behavior with other persons was also above suspicion. In His dealing as ācārya,
He was harder than the thunderbolt and softer than the rose. One of His
associates, Junior Haridāsa, committed a great mistake by lustfully glancing at
a young woman. The Lord as Supersoul could detect this lust in the mind of
Junior Haridāsa, who was at once banished from the Lord’s association and was
never accepted again, even though the Lord was implored to excuse Haridāsa for
the mistake. Junior Haridāsa afterwards committed suicide due to being
disassociated from the company of the Lord, and the news of suicide was duly
related to the Lord. Even at that time the Lord was not forgetful of the
offense, and He said that Haridāsa had rightly met with the proper punishment.
On the principles of the renounced
order of life and discipline, the Lord knew no compromise, and therefore even
though He knew that the King was a great devotee, He refused to see the King,
only because the King was a dollar-and-cent man. By this example the Lord
wanted to emphasize the proper behavior for a transcendentalist. A
transcendentalist has nothing to do with women and money. He must always
refrain from such intimate relations. The King was, however, favored by the
Lord by the expert arrangement of the devotees. This means that the beloved
devotee of the Lord can favor a neophyte more liberally than the Lord. Pure
devotees, therefore, never commit an offense at the feet of another pure
devotee. An offense at the lotus feet of the Lord is sometimes excused by the
merciful Lord, but an offense at the feet of a devotee is very dangerous for
one who actually wants to make progress in devotional service.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to
H H Sri Swami Srila Prabhupada ji and
Bhaktivedanta dot Org for this
devotional collection)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the
spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial blog)
नारायणस्तोत्रम्
पातकरजनीसंहर करुणालय मामुद्धर ॥ नारायण ॥ ११॥
अघबकक्षयकंसारे केशव कृष्ण मुरारे ॥ नारायण ॥ १२॥
हाटकनिभपीताम्बर अभयं कुरु मे मावर ॥ नारायण ॥ १३॥
दशरथराजकुमार दानवमदसंहार ॥ नारायण ॥ १४॥
गोवर्धनगिरिरमण गोपीमानसहरण ॥ नारायण ॥ १५॥
अघबकक्षयकंसारे केशव कृष्ण मुरारे ॥ नारायण ॥ १२॥
हाटकनिभपीताम्बर अभयं कुरु मे मावर ॥ नारायण ॥ १३॥
दशरथराजकुमार दानवमदसंहार ॥ नारायण ॥ १४॥
गोवर्धनगिरिरमण गोपीमानसहरण ॥ नारायण ॥ १५॥
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