10/13/2005
"Recently, visitors to the Supreme Court had an opportunity to see the newly appointed Chief Justice Roberts in action. The arguments being heard turned on Oregon’s assisted suicide law. The law was established in 1997 by a 60% margin. The federal government has sought to intervene on the grounds that the Controlled Substances Act gives the Federal Government exclusive jurisdiction to regulate what the assisted suicide law permits." Read full article.
Replies: 1 Comment
Posted by liberated yogi @ 10/15/2005 01:33 PM PST
CC Antya 2.172: Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha,
always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
following in their footsteps.
Instructions from this Chapter
Summarizing this chapter, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that
one should derive from it the following lessons.
(1) Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
is an incarnation of mercy, He nevertheless gave up the company of one of
His personal associates, namely Junior Haridāsa, for if He had not done so,
pseudo devotees would have taken advantage of Junior Haridāsa's fault by
using it as an excuse to live as devotees and at the same time have illicit
sexual connections. Such activities would have demoralized the cult of Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and as a result, devotees would surely have gone to a
hellish life in the name of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
(2) By chastising Junior Haridāsa, the Lord set the standard for ācāryas,
or the heads of institutions propagating the Caitanya cult, and for all actual devotees.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to maintain the highest standard.
(3) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed that a pure devotee should be simple
and free from sinful activities, for thus one can be His bona fide servant.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught His followers how to observe the renounced order strictly.
(4) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to prove that His devotees are exalted and that their
character is ideal. He kindly accepts His faithful devotees and teaches them how much
tribulation and disturbance can be produced by even a slight deviation from the strict
principles of devotional life.
(5) By chastising Junior Haridāsa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu exhibited His mercy toward him,
thus showing how elevated was Junior Haridāsa's devotion for Him. Because of this
transcendental relationship, the Lord corrected even a slight offense committed by His
pure devotee. Therefore one who wants to be a pure devotee of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
should give up all material sense gratification; otherwise, the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu are very difficult to attain.
(6) If one dies in such a celebrated holy place as Prayāga, Mathurā or Vṛndāvana, one
can be relieved of the reactions to sinful life and then attain the shelter of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.
(7) Although a pure or faithful devotee may fall down, he nevertheless ultimately gets the
chance to go back home, back to Godhead, by the mercy of the Lord.
CC Antya 2.171: Please hear the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu with faith and confidence.
Do not argue, for arguments will produce a contrary result.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the ocean of mercy. Who can understand Him? When He chastises His
dear devotees, He certainly does so to reestablish the principles of religion or duty.
PURPORT
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says in this connection that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu,
the ocean of mercy, chastised Junior Haridāsa, although Junior Haridāsa was His dear devotee,
to establish that one in the devotional line, engaged in pure devotional service, should not
be a hypocrite. For a person engaged in devotional service in the renounced order, having
intimate relationships with women is certainly hypocrisy. This chastisement was given to
Junior Haridāsa as an example to future sahajiyās who might adopt the dress of the renounced
order to imitate Rūpa Gosvāmī and other bona fide sannyāsīs but secretly have illicit connections
with women. To teach such men, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chastised His dear devotee Haridāsa for
a slight deviation from the regulative principles. Śrīmatī Mādhavī-devī was a highly elevated
devotee; therefore approaching her to ask for some rice to serve Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was
certainly not very offensive. Nevertheless, just to preserve the regulative principles for the
future, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu enforced the hard-and-fast rule that no one in the renounced
order should intimately mix with women. Had Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu not chastised Junior Haridāsa
for this slight deviation, so-called devotees of the Lord would have exploited the example of
Junior Haridāsa to continue their habit of illicit connections with women unrestrictedly. Indeed,
they still preach that such behavior is allowed for a Vaiṣṇava. But it is strictly not allowed.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the teacher of the entire world, and therefore He enforced this
exemplary punishment to establish that illicit sexual connections are never allowed by Vaiṣṇava
philosophy. This was His purpose in chastising Junior Haridāsa. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is in fact
the most magnanimous incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He strictly prohibited
illicit sex. chapter 2, text 143
text 144
CC Antya 2.144: After all the devotees saw this example, a mentality of fear grew among them.
Therefore they all stopped talking with women, even in dreams.
CC Antya 2.148: Immediately after committing suicide in this way, he went in his spiritual body
to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and received the mercy of the Lord. However, he still remained invisible.
CC Antya 2.157: "We cannot see his material form," they said, "but still we hear his sweet singing.
Therefore he must have become a ghost."Svarūpa Dāmodara, however, protested, "This is a false guess.
CC Antya 2.159: "Haridāsa cannot have been degraded; he must have attained liberation. This is a
pastime of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's. You will all understand it later."
CC Antya 2.165: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard these details, He smiled in a pleased mood and
said, "If with sensual intentions one looks at women, this is the only process of atonement."
CC Antya 2.166: Then all the devotees, headed by Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, concluded that because
Haridāsa had committed suicide at the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Yamunā, he must have
ultimately attained shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
PURPORT
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura remarks that after one adopts the renounced order and accepts the dress
of either a sannyāsī or a bābājī, if he entertains the idea of sense gratification, especially in
relationship with a woman, the only atonement is to commit suicide at the confluence of the Ganges
and Yamunā. Only by such atonement can his sinful life be purified. If such a person is thus
punished, it is possible for him to attain the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Without such
punishment, however, the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is very difficult to regain.
CC Antya 2.169: It also demonstrates the glories of holy places and shows how the Lord accepts His
faithful devotee. Thus the Lord fulfilled five or seven purposes by performing one pastime.
CC Antya 2.171: Please hear the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu with faith and confidence. do not argue, for arguments will produce a contrary result.
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