HIS PRECEPTS
We now proceed to explain His precepts to those who are
not acquainted with them. This little book and the commentaries contain
such of His holy principles as are prominent.
Vedic truths
Sri Chaitanya teaches us in the first place that the
rational attributes of men are not capable of approaching the Divine
sphere of spirit. Yukti, as He styles reason, is quite incompetent
in such a matter. Ruchi as He styles the religious sentiment in
man, even in a very small quantity, has the power to comprehend it. It is
inspiration which can alone give light to spiritual matters. Inspirations
coming down from Heaven through purified and blessed souls have exhibited
themselves in the form of the Vedas. The Vedas together with
their explanatory notes, the Puranas, are, therefore, the only
evidence in matters of spirit and are eternal in nature. Vedic
truths should, therefore, be accepted as the only truth in higher matter.
Reason, while sincerely helping the inspired truth, may be accepted as
auxiliary evidence. The Vedas teach us, according to Sri Chaitanya,
nine principal doctrines that is :-
(1) Hari (the Almighty) is one without a second.
(2) He is always vested with infinite power.
(3) He is ocean of Rasa,
(4) The soul is His Vibhinnamsa or separated part.
(5) Certain souls are engrossed by Prakriti or His illusory
energy.
(6) Certain souls are released from the grasp of Prakriti.
(7) All spiritual and material phenomena are Bhedabheda prakas
of Hari, the Almighty.
(8) Bhakti is the only means of attaining the final object of
spiritual existence.
(9) Prem in Krishna is alone the final object of spiritual
existence.
Krishna is One without a Second
We must explain these points one by one :
1. Hari, the Supreme Being, is one without a second. In
Aryan theology, the creative principle of the Deity is personified in
Brahma and the destructive principle in Siva. Indra is the
head of some lower elements of administration. Hence, they are not the
Almighty Himself but are different representations of different
attributes. They have obtained their powers from an original Fountainhead.
Hence, they are subordinate beings in the service of Hari or
Bhagavan. Then again, there are three distinct philosophical ideas
of the Deity, i.e. (i) the idea of the negative Brahman of the
pantheistic school,(ii) the idea of a Universal Soul
Paramatma of theYoga school and (iii) the idea of a
Personal Deity with all His Magesty, Might, (Glory, Beauty, Wisdom and
Supremacy combined in the Person. The ideas of brahman and
Paramatma are, therefore included in the idea of Bhagavan.
Spiritually, therefore, Bhagavan is Hari. the Supreme Being. Human
ideas are either mental or spiritual. The mental idea is defective, as it
has relation to the created principle of matter. The spiritual idea is
certainly the nearest approach to the Supreme Being. Then again, the
spiritual idea of Bhagavan is of two sorts. In one sort, the Person
of the Deity is overpowered by His Own Majesty, and in the other, personal
Beauty overpowers all His Majesty. The first idea is represented in the
great Narayana of Vaikuntka, Who is the Lord of lords and
God of gods. The second is represented in the All-Beautiful Krishna with
Radhika, the representative of His Hladini or superior ecstatic
energy. Krishna appears as Man amongest men and is again generally
accepted as God above gods. Krishna attracts, loves and produces ecstasy
in all souls. His Person and Personal Attachments are all purely spiritual
and have no relation to the material world. The material senses of man
cannot approach Him. It is the spirit in man which can see H im direct and
commune with Him. The soul fettered in matter has, from its own
degradation, lost its right to see Krishna and His spiritual lila
in the spiritual world, but Krishna out of His Own Supreme Power and
prerogative may appear with all His Vrindavan lila before the eyes
of all men. The rational man can hardly conceive and believe Krishna and
His lila. As his spiritual essence improves, he sees Him and loves
Him with all his heart. In our small compass, "we can hardly treat this
subject fully and exhaustively. We, therefore, leave this point to our
readers with these words : "Give up the shackles of matter slowly.
Cultivate your spirit inwardly. Give up prejudices which you have acquired
from the so-called rational thinkers who deny the existence of spirit. Be
humble in yourself and learn to respect those who work towards spiritual
attainments. Do these with your heart, mind and strength in the company of
spiritual people alone and you will see Krishna in no time. Krishna is not
a n imaginary Being, nor have you a right to think that He is a material
phenomenon, fancied to be the Supreme Being by the fools. Krishna is not
understood by the process of distinguishing the subjective from the
objective, nor He is to be accepted as an imposition on the people set up
by designing men. Krishna is eternal, spiritually true, reflected on the
human soul when relieved of all pressure of gross matter, and is the
subject of love which proceeds from the soul. Accept Him as such and you
will see Him in your soul's eye. Words fail to describe that
Transcendental Being. The highest, best and most spiritual ideal of the
Divinity is in Krishna. To bring arguments against Him is simply to
deceive one's self and deprive himself of the blessings that God
has kept in store for man. Hence, all descriptions of His Name,
Person, Attributes and Lila should be accepted spiritually, giving
up the material portion which words must necessarily convey.
Infinite Powers of God
2. Hari is always vested with infinite powers. By
infinite powers must be meant, powers which know no bounds either in space
or in time, as his powers alone created space and time. His powers are
identified with His Person. In material objects, there is a difference
between the person and its powers, between the thing and its attributes,
its name, its form and action; but it is a spiritual truth, that in spirit
the thing is identical with its name, form, attributes and action. This
truth cannot be subjected to dry reason which deals with gross matter
alone. Krishna is Supreme Will in Himself and He exercises His supreme
power at His pleasure which submits to no law, because all law has
proceeded from His Will and Power. Power is known from its exercise. In
this world we have experience of only three of the attributes of His
Power. We see the material phenomena and we understand that His power has
the attributes to create matter. This attribute is styled in the
Vedas as Maya sa kti. We see man and we understand that the
Supreme Power has the attribute to produce limited and imperfect souls.
The Sastras call that attribute as jiva sakti. We conceive
of One Who is Spiritual and Supreme in His realm of eternal spirits. We
understand that His power has an attribute to exhibit perfectly spiritual
existences. The Vedas call that attribute by the name of Atma-sakti
or Chit sakti. All these attributes together form One Supreme Power
which the Vedas call as Para-sakti. In fact Power
(shakti) is not distinguishable from the Person of that Being.
Still the powers are separately exhibited in their separate actions. This
is styled 'Achintya-Bhedabheda Prakas' or inconceivable
simultaneous existence of distinction and non distinction. Hari, being
Will above law, exercises His infinite power while He Himself remains
unaffected. This is not understood, but felt in the soul as an intuitive
truth.
Ocean of Rasa
3. He is the ocean of rasa. Rasa has been defined
to be that ecstatic principle which cornprehends sthayi bhav, vibhav,
anubhav, sattvik and sanchari. Vibhav is divided into
alamban and uddipan Alamban is subdivided into
vishaya and asraya. Asraya is that person who has in himself
the principle of sthayi bha,. and vishaya is that person to
whom the sthayi bhav directs itself. Sthayi bhav has been
explained to be Rati or tendency of the pure spiritual heart. By a
connection of asraya and vishaya, the sthayi-bhav
arrives at its stage of action. When it obtains its active stage, certain
signs are exhibited in the person which are called the anubhavas.
These are thirteen in number. Eight other bhavas exhibiting in the
mind are styled sattvikbhavas such as tears, shivering, etc.
Thirty-three other bhavas such as harsha, vishada, etc.
have been sho wn to be sanchari bhava. These combined in soul form
the rasa. This process of exhibition of rasa relates to
exhibition of rasa in man still enthralled in matter. But
rasa itself is an eternal principle identified with the Supreme
Hari. Hari is the ocean of rasa, and in the human soul a drop of
the ocean could only be conceived. Rasa naturally is spiritual, but
in man subjected to Maya, the progenitor of matter, it has been
identified in a perverted state with the sensual pleasure of man. In
connection with material objects, the soul losing itself in mind and the
mind acting through senses, enjoying the perverted rasa in five
different ob]ects of the five senses. This is the soul's going abroad with
avidya or ignorance of the spiritual self. When the soul looks
inward, it obtains its spiritual rasa and the perverted rasa
wanes off in proportion to the development of the spiritual rasa.
In spiritual rasa, the soul s, in their relation to each other and
all, in their relation to the All Beautiful, have their unfettered action
in Vrindavan, rising above material time and space. Hari of Infinite
Supreme Free Will has eternal ecstasy in His Spiritual Power or Chit
sakti. The hladini attribute of chit-sakti gives Him
infinite pleasure. The samvit attribute of chit sakti
(spiritual wisdom) produces all bhavas, relations and
affections. The sandhini attribute of chit sakti produces
all existence (other than the free will) including the Dhamas
(abodes), individualities and other substances in connection with the
action of the spiritual rasa. All these exhibitions are from
chit sakti or the spiritual power. The mayik or material
creation including time, space and gross objects has no place in
chit-jagat or the spiritual world which is all the same as
Vrindavan. Maya-sakti is a perverted reflection of the chit
sakti. Hence, t he particularities in the mayik (material)
world have semblance with the particularities in chit jagat or
spiritual universe, but are not substantially the same. The
chit-jagat is the model of the mayik jagat, but they are not
identical. We must guard ourselves against the idea that man has imagined
chit-jagat from an experience of the mayik jagat. This idea
is pantheistic and it may also be styled atheistic. Reason, not
spiritualized, has a tendency to create such a doubt, but one who has a
wish to enjoy spiritual love must give it up as misleading. The eternal
rasa of Krishna exists spiritually in chit jagat. To us who
are in the nether world, there is a screen which intervenes between our
eyes and the great spiritual scene of Krishna lila. "When by the
grace of Krishna that screen is drawn up we have the privilege to see it
and again, when it pleases the Almighty to drop the screen, the great
Vrindavan lila disappears. Taste the subject and your conviction
will be the same as mine. Brethren, do not give up such an important
subject without due and liberal examination!
Jiva Soul
4. The soul is His vibhinnamsa or separated part.
By soul are meant all sorts of souls whether animal, human or celestial.
It must be understood that Mahaprabhu believed in the very liberal theory
of transmigration of the soul. Certain readers may reject the idea on the
ground that certain forms of faith do not support that theory. It is not
liberal to reject a theory, because it is in antagonism with the dogmas of
certain sectarian creeds. Indeed, it is a matter which reason cannot dare
to meddle with. Candidly examining, we do not see any strong reason to
disbelieve the theory of transmigration. On the other hand, our
un-prejudiced mind is inclined to stand for it. The belief that the human
soul has only one trial in life is evidently illiberal, unjust and
contrary to the belief that God is All Good. When our spiritual sentiment
supports the theory, and the Vedas, the receptacles of inspirations, have
taught us the fact of continual existence of the soul in different stages
in creation, we cannot but give up the idea of disbelieving in the theory
of transmigration of the soul. However educated and scientific a man may
be, be is always liable to a creeping error. That which holds good
regarding a man holds good also regarding a nation or a sect.
The soul, according to Sri Chaitanya is an atomic part of
the Divine Soul. It is a sort of God's power to produce beings who are
spiritual in essence but liable to be enthralled by 'Maya', when
they forget their position as eternal servants of the Deity. God here is
compared with the sun and the souls are said to be the atomic portions of
that sun's rays unable to stand freely, unless they are protected by
another competent attribute of God's power. By the word part is not meant
to be portions cut out of a piece of stone by the axe, but is meant to be
like one lamp lighted from another, or gold produced from an alchemist’s
stone as believed by the ancients. The souls are also compared with
separate atomic emanations of the burning fire. Each soul has drawn from
its Fountainhead a proportionate share of the attributes and consequently
a small proportion of the free will. These souls are naturally located
between the chit jagat, and mayik jagat. Those who chose to
serve t heir God were protected from fall by the interference of the
hladini attribute of the Supreme chit sakti. They have been
admitted as eternal servants of the Deity in various ways. They know not
the troubles of maya and the karma-chakra or the rotative
principles of mayik action and its result. Those who wanted to
enjoy were grasped by maya from the other side. They are in
maya’s karma-chakra, ending only when they again see their original
position as servants of the Deity. These souls, whether liberated from
maya or enthralled by her, are separate responsible beings
depending on the Deity. Hari is the Lord of maya, who serves Him at
His pleasure. The soul or jiva is so constructed as to be liable to
be enthralled by maya in consequence of want of power when
unassisted by the hladini-sakti of the Deity. Hence, there is a
natural and inherent distinction between God and jiva which no
pantheistic maneuver can annihilate. P lease avoid this misleading
question, "When were these jivas created and enthralled?" The
mayik time has no existence in spiritual history, because it has
its commencement after the enthrallment of jivas in matter, and you
cannot, therefore, employ mayik chronology in matters like
these.
Prakriti
5. Certain souls are engrossed by prakriti or
illusory energy. Prakriti, God's maya, pradhan, prapancha
and avidya are different names of the same principle on account of
its different phases and attributes. Maya is not an independent
sakti from the supreme svarup-shakti. She is simply a
reflected and outward phase of the Supreme Power, serving God in executing
His penal orders on those who became ungrateful to Him. In fact
maya is in charge of God's house of correction. Those jivas
who, in abusing their free will forgot that they were eternal servants of
the Deity and thought of enjoying for themselves, were grasped by
maya for their penal servitude and correction. Maya has
three attributes satva, rajas and tamas. Those attributes
are just like chains used to tie up the ungrateful souls. Maya then
applied a double case on the spiritual form of the soul. The double case
is described by the words linga and sthul. The mayik
existence has twenty-four substances:-the five elements : the earth, the
water, the fire, the air and the firmament; the five properties : the
sound, the touch, the sight, the taste and the smell; and ten Indrias
i.e., the five senses ; the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue and the
touch and five working organs such as hands, legs etc. These twenty
form the sthul or outer case. The mana, the buddhi,
the chitta and the ahamkar, i.e., the mind, the
understanding, the attention and the perverted ego compose the linga
deha or the inner case. Then after encasing the spiritual form of the
soul, Maya employs the fallen souls to work. Mayik work is
composed of karma, akarma and vikarma. Karma is
conventionally good action done to obtain punya or virtue, such as
performance of duties enjoined by the varnasram dharma of the
smartas. Akarma is omission to do duty . Vikarma is sin or
crime. Karma procures heavenly elevations up to the Brahmalok.
Akarma gives an unpleasant state on earth. Vikarma, hurls down
souls to hell. The fallen souls travel from body to body with their
linga-deha doing karma or vikarma, rising up
to the heavens and again coming down at the exhaustion of their virtues,
going down to hell and after suffering punishment again rising up to the
platform of work. Thus the state of the fallen souls is deplorable in the
extreme. There, they ,enjoy and suffer massacre and murder and go on in
this state, sometimes smiling as princes and sometimes crying as
sufferers. The world is, therefore, a prison or a house of correction, and
not a place for enjoyment as some people assert.
Release of Souls
6. Certain souls are released from the grasp of
prakriti. Jivas are travelling in the path of mayik
existence from time out of mind experiencing all sorts of pleasure and
pain. How to get rid of this unpleasant state of existence? No
dharma (performance of duty) yoga (development of powers of
the sthul and the lingo) samkhya. (or the division of
substances under their categories) and simple knowledge (that one is a
spiritual being) and vairagya (abnegation, giving up all enjoyments
in the world ) are the proper means by which one can actually get what he
wants. When a man comes in contact with a vaishnava whose heart has been
melted by Hari bhatki-rasa, it is then that he loves to imbibe the
sweet principle of bhakti by following his holy footsteps by
constant study of Krishna-bhakti. He slowly washes off his mayik
condition and in the end obtaining his true nature he enjoys the
sweetest unalloyed rasa w hich is the ultimatum of the soul.
Satsanga or the company of the spiritual people is the only means
to obtain the ultimate object of man. Bhakti is a principle which
comes from soul to soul, and like electricity or magnetism in gross
matter, it conducts itself from one congenial soul to another. The
principle of bhakti is sincere and entire dependence on the Deity
in every act of life. The principle of duty is no part of Bhakti,
as it acts as gratitude for favor obtained and it works like an obligation
which is contrary to natural love. The principle of morality in the mortal
world, though good in its own way, does scarcely give spiritual
consequence in the end. Faith in the Supreme Beauty of the Deity, a desire
for the eternal unselfish service of that Being and a consequent repulsion
of every other thought of pleasure or self-aggrandizement are the three
principles which constitute sraddha or actual hankering after
Bhakti. Bhakti by nature is ananya or exclu sive. Is it
chance then which brings Bhakti? No, sukriti or good work is
the prime moving principle. Good work is of two classes: one class,
passing as morals includes those works which bring virtue and
aggrandizement; the other class of good work includes all acts which have
a tendency to bring spiritual culture. This latter class of good work or
sukriti brings one in contact with a sincere vaishnava, from whom
the man at first imbibes sraddha or faith in spirit and, being then
capable of receiving Bhakti, obtains a flash of that principle from
the vaishnava who is the actual Guru of the man.
Achintya Bhedabheda Principle
7. All spiritual and material phenomena are achintya
bhedabheda-prakas of Harii the Almighty. Metaphysical discussions are
perfectly useless. The Vedas go sometimes to establish that jiva is
distinct from the Deity, and sometimes that jiva is the same as the
Deity. In fact the Vedas always tell the truth. Jiva is
simultaneosly distinct from and identical with God. This is not understood
by the rationalist. Hence, it must be said that in exercise of His powers
beyond human comprehension, God is distinct from jiva and the
world, and again identical with them at all times. The Vedanta teaches us
the sakti parinamvada and not the erroneous vivartavada of
Sankaracharya. Sankar's teachings are explained in different ways. Some
say that the world and jiva have emanated from God, and others
establish that jiva and the world are but developments of the
Godhead. Sankar, in order to avoid brahma parinam, i.e.,
transformation of the Godhead into the world, establishes that Vyasa
teaches us vivartavada which is this: that God undergoes no change
whatever, but it is maya which covers a part of the Deity, (just as
a pot encloses a part of the firmament) creates the world; or that God is
reflected on avidya or ignorance, while in fact nothing else than
God has yet come to existence. These are worthless and abstruse arguments.
It is plain that the Vedanta teaches us that God is unchangeable
and is never subject to modifications. His power alone creates jiva
and the material world by its own parinam (modification). The
example is in the action of the alchemist's stone, the power of which
comes in the form of gold while the stone remains unchanged. Thus chit
sakti goes in the form of the chit jagat with all its
particularities of eternal rasa, and jiva sakti goes
in the form of innumerable jivas, some staying in vaikuntha
as parshadas or angels and others moving in this world in various
shapes and forms and under very different circumstances. Maya sakti
creates numerous worlds for the habitations and entertainment of the
fallen souls. Vivartavda is no doubt in error and is quite opposed
to the teachings of the Vedas. Now 'Sakti parinamvada' alone is
true and supports facts that spiritual love is eternal. If
vivartavada were true the natural consequence would be to declare
spiritual love to be a temporary principle.
Bhakti
8. Bhakti is the only means of attaining the final
object of spiritual existence. Karma as it is, cannot directly and
immediately produce spiritual result. When it does, it does by means of
Bhakti. Hence Bhakti is independent, and karma and
jnana are dependent principles. Jnana or the knowledge that
man is a spiritual being cannot directly bring the ultimate object. When
it does it does with the assistance of Bhakti. Bhakti therefore is
the only means to obtain the ultimatum. Bhakti is thus defined:-
Bhakti is cultivation of a friendly sentiment for Krishna, free
from all desires other than those for its own improvements, unalloyed by
such other ingredients as karma and jnana, etc. It will be
seen that Bhakti is itself both a feeling and an action.
Bhakti has three stages vis., sadhana bhakti, bhava-bhakti
and prema bhakti. Sadhana bhakti is that stage of culture when the
feel ing has not yet been roused. In bhava bhakti the feeling
awakes, and in prema bhakti the feeling is fully set to action.
Bhakti is a spiritual feeling towards the spiritual Object of love.
Sadhana bhakti is of two sorts, one is called the vaidhi-sadhana
bhakti and the other is Raganuga Sadhana bhakti. The
word 'vaidhi' is from vidhi or rule. Where bhakti is
to be roused by the rule of the Sastras, there the vaidhi bhakti
works as long as the feeling is not roused. Where one out of
natural tendency loves Krishna, there is a principle called raga
which is no other than a strong desire to serve the Lord of the heart. One
who is tempted by the beauty of this process to follow Him, has a tendency
to cultivate his feeling for Krishna. This is raganuga sadhana-bhakti.
This latter class of sadhana is stronger than the
vaidhi-sadhana.
Forms of Bhakti
Cultivation of the friendly feeling for Krishna is
performed in nine different forms: -
1. To hear of the spiritual Name, Form Attribute and Lila of
Krishna.
2. To utter and sing all those.
3. To meditate on and reiterate all those.
4. Service of His Holy Feet.
5. Worship.
6. Bowing down.
7. Doing all that pleases Him.
8. Friendship.
9. Resignation.
Sri Murti Worship vs. Idolatry
Of all these forms, kirtan or singing the Name
etc., of Krishna is the best. Humble knowledge is necessary in
these forms of worship and fruitless discussions must be avoided. There
are some who start at the theory of worshipping Sri Murti. "Oh."
they say, "it is idolatry to worship Sri Murti. Sri Murti is an
idol framed by an artist and introduced by no other than Beelzebub
himself. Worshipping such an object -would rouse the jealousy of God and
limit His Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence!" We would tell them,
"Brethren ! candidly understand the question and do not allow yourself to
be misled by sectarian dogmas. God is not jealous, as He is without a
second. Beelzebub or Satan is no other than an object of imagination or
the subject of an allegory. An allegorical or imaginary being should not
be allowed to act as an obstacle to bhakti. Those who believe God
to be impersonal simply identify Him with some power or attribute in
nature, though, i n fact, He is above nature, her laws and rules. His holy
wish is law, and it would be sacrilege to confine His unlimited excellence
by identifying Him with such attributes as omnipotence, omnipresence and
omniscience- attributes which may exist in created objects such as time,
space etc. His excellence consists in having in Him mutually
contradicting powers and attributes ruled by His Supernatural Self. He is
identical with His All-Beautiful Person, having such powers as
Omnipresence, Omniscience and Omnipotence the like of which cannot be
found elsewhere. His holy and perfect Person exists eternally in the
spiritual world and at the same time existing in every created object and
place in all its fullness. This idea excels all other ideas of the Deity.
Mahaprabhu rejects idolatry as well, but considers Sri Murti
worship to be the only unexceptionable means of spiritual culture. It has
been shown that God is Personal and All-Beautiful, Sages like Vyasa and
others have seen that Beauty in their so uls' eyes. They have left us
descriptions. Of course, word carries grossness of matter. But truth still
is perceivable in those descriptions. According to those descriptions, one
delineates a Sri Murti and sees the great God of our heart there
with intense pleasure. Brethren ! is that wrong or sinful ? Those who say
that God has no form either material or spiritual and again imagine a
false form for worship are certainly idolatrous. But those who see the
spiritual form of the Deity in their souls' eyes, carry that impression as
far as possible to the mind, and then frame an Emblem for the satisfaction
of the material eye for continual study of the higher feeling are by no
means idolatrous. While seeing a Sri Murti, do not even see the
image itself but see the spiritual model of the Image and you are a pure
theist. Idolatry and Sri Murti worship are two different things ;
but my brethren, you simply confound one with the other out of hastiness.
To tell the truth, Sri Murti worship i s the only true worship of
the Deity, without which you cannot sufficiently cultivate your religious
feelings. The world attracts you through your senses as long as you do not
see God in the objects of your senses; you live in an awkward position
which scarcely helps you in procuring you your spiritual elevation. Place
a Sri Murti in your house. Think that God Almighty is the Guardian
of the house. The food that you take is His prasadam. The flower
and scents are also His prasadam. The eye, the ear, the nose, the
touch and the tongue-all have a spiritual culture. You du it with a holy
heart and God will know it and Judge you by your sincerity. Satan and
Beelzebub will have nothing to do with you in that matter. All sorts of
worship are based on the principle of Sri Murti. Look into the
history of religion and you will come to this noble truth. The Semitic
idea, of a patriarchal God both in the pre-Christian period of Judaism and
post Christian period of Christianity and Mohammedani sm, is nothing but a
limited idea of Sri Murti. The monarchic idea of a Jove amongst the
Greeks and of an Indra amongst the Aryan karma kandis is also a
distant view of the same principle The idea of a force and jyotirmaya
brahman of the meditators and a formless energy of the shaktas
is also a very faint view of the Sri Murti. In fact the principle
of Sri Murti is the truth itself differently exhibited in different
people according to their different phases of thought. Even Jaimini and
Comte who are not prepared to accept a creating god have prescribed
certain phases of the Sri Murti, simply because they have been
impelled by some inward action from the soul! Then again, we meet with
people who have adopted the Cross, the salgram sila, the
lingam and suchlike emblems as indicators of the inward idea of
Sri Murti. Furthermore, if the Divine compassion, love and
justice could be portrayed by the pencil and expressed by the chisel, why
should not the personal beauty of the Deity embracing all other attributes
be portrayed in poetry or in picture or expressed by the chisel for the
benefit of man ? If words could impress thoughts, the watch could indicate
time and sign could tell us a history, why should not the picture or
figure bring associations of higher thoughts and feeling with regard to
the transcendental beauty of the Divine personage ?
Sri Murti worshippers are divided into two
classes, the ideal and the physical. Those of the physical school are
entitled, from their circumstances of life and state of the mind to
establish temple institutions. Those who are, by circumstances and
position, entitled to worship the Sri Murti in mind have with due
deference to the temple institutions, a tendency to worship usually by
sravana and kirtana and their church is universal and
independent of caste and color. Mahaprabhu prefers this latter class and
shows worship in His Shikskastakam printed as an appendix to this
book. Worship then without intermission, with a feeling of resignation.
and in a very short time you will be blessed with prema.
Prema
9. Prema (love for God) is the final object of
spiritual existence. The karma-margis declare that enjoyment in
this world and in the heavens hereafter is all that a man requires.
Karma or action is of two sorts, i.e. Karma done with a view
to obtain a material result and Karma done with a view to please
God. With the Karma-margis, both sorts of Karma have the
object of procuring enjoyment. God is worshipped simply to grant
enjoyment. Here is the line of demarcation between bhakti and
karma. Bhakti aims at procuring the principle of priti or
prema bhakti as the final result of all action., while karma
aims at self-enjoyment as the ultimatum of action. The
jnana-margis, on the other hand, cultivate jnana or
spiritual knowledge to obtain mukti or salvation as the final aim
of such cultivation. Mukti is defined to be of two sorts. In one
sort of mukti, total absorption of the soul in God is effected,
i.e., the annihilation of the separate existence of the soul from
God. In the other sort of mukti, the soul stands eternally separate
from God and when salvation ensues, the soul goes to chit-jagat,
obtaining salokya or residence in the chit region of the
Deity, samipya or residence close by the Deity, sarupya or
attainment of spiritual form like that of God Himself, and sarshti
or attainment of powers similar to the powers of God. The latter class of
mukti is inevitable, when it pleases the Almighty to grant us that
state. But then, after obtaining that mukti, we serve God with
priti or pure love. The first sort of mukti is rejected by
the bhaktas as not worth taking, in consequence of its tendency to
annihilate the highest principle of love. The second class of mukti
cannot be the ultimate object as it acts like an intermediate condition of
the soul, priti there acting as the ultimatum. Mukti
therefore, must be treated as an intermediate result of our spiritual
disenthralment. Besides that, a hankering after mukti spoils the
action of spiritual cultivation, being a strong desire for something else
than the improvement of Bhakti. It has a tint of selfishness which
is not in keeping with the unselfish principle of pure bhakti. We
must therefore, cultivate bhakti, being always free from the two
contending principles, i.e. a desire for bhukti or selfish
enjoyment and a desire for mukti or salvation. We must depend on
Krishna to give us mukti or not as it pleases Him. We must pray for
continual development of our religious sentiment Bhakti alone.
Priti or pure love is the final object of our own existence.
Phases of Prema
Rati, as explained above is the unit of principle of
pure spiritual love for Krishna. Mixed up with ullas (zeal) it
becomes priti. Priti creates exclusive love in Krishna, and
repulsion for things and persons other than Krishna and His connections.
When the idea that Krishna is my own is added to priti, it becomes
prema. Here commences the idea, that God is my own Lord and I am
His servant. Add confidence to prema and it becomes pranaya.
Here arises the relation of friendship with Krishna. In pranaya the
idea of respect loses its hold. Add to pranaya the idea that
Krishna is my exclusive and dearest object of love, and it curiously turns
out into mana. Krishna with all His greatness and power exhibits a
sort of submission to it. Excessive melting of the heart being added,
prema turns out to be sneha. Here ensues the relation of a
son and parents, between Krishna and the worshipper. In this stage, too,
mu ch weeping for Krishna, want of satiety with communion and desire to
watch the interest of Krishna naturally occur. Desire added to sneha
is raga. In this stage, a moment's separation is unbearable.
Here commences the relation of husband and wife between Krishna and the
worshipper. Distress attending upon want of mutual interview is happiness.
Raga again, seeing its object as new at every moment and being
itself new at every moment, converts itself into anuraga. In this
stage, reciprocal subjection and a strong desire to accompany the lover
everywhere are the principal features. Anuraga, infinitely rising
in an astonishing state amounting, as if, to madness, becomes
mahabhav. This is indescribable ! From Rati to
mahabhava, the whole principle is what we have called
sthayibhava. Added to vibhava, awubhava, sattvik, and
sanchari, the sthayibhava becomes Krishna-prema rasa,
the eternal Ecstasy or Beatitude.
Perverted Rasa
We have a perverted picture of this noble rasa in
human life, as human life in the thraldom of maya is but perverted
reflection of the spiritual life. When the soul alone acts towards its
proper object, the Spiritual Hero Krishna, the rasa is pure; when
the mind and the senses act upon a wrong object, rasa is degraded
and becomes hate-able. The preverted rasa gives clue to the idea of
the noble spiritual rasa to man in general, hence, these arguments
and descriptions have been attempted in words, which correspond with words
directly meaning the features of the perverted rasa. We ask our
readers to take care to make a nice distinction between Spirit and gross
matter, otherwise a fall is inevitable.
Scope of Reason
One who studies the Name, Forms, Attributes and the
Lila of Krishna as described in the Srimad Bhagavatam with a
sincere heart, mind and strength, in the company of one who has realized
the Spirit, is expected to know it by the influence of bhakti. One
who is apt to rationalize everything closely, does scarcely acquire the
truth in matters of Spirit, as by law of God, reason in its present state
can never reach the sphere of the Spirit.
It is needless to go further on this subject. Those who
will have the opportunity to go as far as we have stated, will make a
further enquiry from their heart, and the All-Beautiful Lord will then
help them to realize the spirit, and to rise higher and higher in its
realm. But as long as the mind is confounded with Spirit, there is no way
to rise beyond matter and its relations. The great mistake that most of
the western philosophers have generally made, is to identify the mind, the
perverted ego (ahamkar) with the soul or Spirit. We are sorry for
that.
Constitution of Man
To summarize, man in his present state has three different principles
in him (i) one sthul principle or gross matter composing his body,
(ii) the linga principle or sublimated matter appearing in
the form of mind; attention, rationality and the perverted ego by
which one confounds oneself with the material world. This state has been
caused by the influence of maya or the illusory energy, with the
object of correcting the soul in his wrong intention to enjoy in
consequence of forgetfulness of his nature as God's servant. (iii)
Man in fact is solely independent of maya and her connections. The
only way to get rid of the present difficulty is the influence of pure
bhakti imbibed from a true bhakta. Bhakti as a means,
elevates the man up to the All-Beautiful Krishna, and again as an end,
maintains him with eternal Krishna prema.
Duties of Man
While located in the mayik world, man must live
peacefully with object of cultivating the Spirit. In his society; he must
lead a pure life, avoid sins and do as much good as he can to his brother
man. He must be himself humble, bearing difficulties of life with heroism,
must not brag of any goodness or grandeur he has, and must treat every one
with respect due to him. Marriage with a view to peaceful and virtuous
life, and with a view to procreate servants of the Lord, is a good
institution for a vaishnava. Spiritual cultivation is the main
object of life. Do everything that helps it, and abstain from doing
anything which thwarts the cultivation of the Spirit. Have a strong faith
that Krishna alone protects you and none else. Admit Him as
your only Guardian. Do everything, which you know that Krishna wishes you
to do, and never think that you do a thing independent of the holy wish of
Krishna. Do all that you do with humility. Always remember that you are a
s ojourner in this world and you must be prepared for your own home. Do
your duties and cultivate bhakti, as a means, to obtain the great
end of life, Krishna priti. Employ your body, mind and spirit in
the service of the Deity. In all your actions, worship your Great
Lord.
Life and Teachings of Mahaprabhu Summarized
Thus, we have laid before our English knowing readers a
summary of Mahaprabhu's life and precepts. If it be
necessary, we shall try to supply more information treating
these subjects in English in a short time.
Our gentle readers will now find that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu preached
pure monotheism and chased out idolatry. "We have shown that He
makes a nice distinction between Sri Murti worship and idolatry. He
tells us that idolatry is the worship of things and persons that are not
God Himself. When the Sannyasis of Benares addressed Him as the God
Almighty, Mahaprabhu told them that it was the -worst of sins to address a
jiva as God. And again He has several times denounced the worship
of a form or image other than the true image of God (after which man was
created). Its representative emblems are to be used in worship as offering
the true image of the Deity. God is One without a second. "There is none
to vie with Him"-is the motto of Mahaprabhu's religion.
It will also be seen, that Mahaprabhu showed in His
character and preached to the world, the purest morality as an
accompaniment of spiritual improvement. Morality, as a matter of course,
will grace the character of a bhakta. If it is not seen in the
character of one who presents himself as a Krishna-bhakta, his
sincerity may be doubted.
There are four classes of thoughts, viz.,
atheistic, pantheistic, indifferent and theistic. Sri Chaitanya's
religion rejects the first three as inimical to religion. He preaches pure
theism alone, and advises men to avoid the three others.
He preaches that varnasram-dharma, including the
institution of caste, is simply a social institution introduced by the
rishis to do good to man in society. They should be allowed to
decorate the Aryans as long as they do not oppose spiritual improvement.
By sending Pradyumna Misra, a rigid Brahmin, to Ramananda Rai for
spiritualization, He has shown that one who is aware of
Kriskna-tattva may be a Guru, be he a sudra, brahmin
or sannyasi.
He preaches equality of men in the enjoyment of the
spiritual aggrandizement. He preaches universal fraternity amongst men and
special brotherhood amongst vaishnavas, who are, according to him
the best pioneers of spiritual improvement. He preaches that human thought
should never be allowed to be shackled with sectarian views. He tells us
that a man should earn money in a right way and sincere dealings with
others and their masters, but should not immorally gain it. When Gopinath
Pattanaik, one of the brothers of Ramananda Rai, was being punished by the
Raja for immoral gains, Sri Chaitanya warned all who attended upon Him to
be moral in their worldly dealings.
In His Own early life, He has taught the
grihasthas to give all sorts of help to the needy and the helpless,
and has shown that it is necessary for one who has power to do it, to help
the education of the people, specially the Brahmins who are expected to
study the higher subjects of human knowledge.
The religion preached by Mahaprabhu is universal and not
exclusive. The most learned and the most ignorant are both entitled to
embrace it. The learned people will accept it with a knowledge of
sambandha tattva as explained in the categories. The ignorant have
the same privilege by simply uttering the Name of the Deity and mixing in
the company of pure vaishnavas. The principle of kirtana
invites as the future church of the world, all classes of men without
distinction of caste or clan to the highest cultivation of the Spirit.
This church; it appears, will extend all over the world and take the place
of all sectarian churches, which exclude outsiders from the precincts of
the mosque, church or the temple.
Sri Chaitanya. as a Teacher, has taught men both by
precepts and by His holy life. There is scarcely a spot in His life which
may be made the subject of criticism. His sannyas, His severity to
junior Haridas and suchlike other acts have been questioned as wrong by
certain persons, but as far as we understand, we think, as all other
independent men would think, that those men have been led by a hasty
conclusion or party spirit.
Sri Chaitanya was an undaunted Hero in the execution of
His resolution. When He was told by some malicious Brahmins that the
Emperor had been sending an army against Him, He said He wished that the
reigning Prince should take cognizance of what He was doing. He was
amiable to every body and stern in the discharge of His duty. Brahmananda
Bharati, a religious brother of Kesav Bharati, His Guru appeared to
Him in a tiger's skin. He would not bow down to him until he gave up the
skin-dress and wore a linen kaupin and bahirvas. He said
that the person before Him was not the Bharati. How is it that His
Guru should put on an animal's skin? The sannyasis should
not support the killing of beasts for the sake of their use. Bharati
understood that Sri Chaitanya did not like that and changed his apparel;
and Sri Chaitanya bowed down to him in showing His respect to His Guru's
brother!
Sri Chaitanya pressed on His disciples to enter into the
spirit of the sastras without confining in the words themselves.
Pandit Devananda did not understand the spirit of bhakti while
reading the Bhagavata, but when he understood the spirit, Sri
Chaitanya embraced him and pardoned him for all that the Pandit had done
before.
Sri Chaitanya was a jolly Being throughout His life.
Though descended from the Eastern Bengal people, He joked with them while
a Young Boy in such a manner that they became angry with Him. While
Vallabha Bhatta (a Pandit of great renown) brought an improved commentary
of the Bhagavata to show Him, and said that he would not submit to
Swami (Sridhar Swami), the Lord said, it was an unchaste woman who
alone disregarded her swami (husband). This was a taunt which
mortified the Pandit, and dissuaded him from uttering disrespectful
expression about Sridhar Swami, the commentator of the
Bhagavata.
We leave it to our readers to decide how to deal with
Mahaprabhu. The vaishnavas have accepted Him as the great Lord
Krishna Himself. Some have considered Him as a bhakta avatar. It is
at the request of some vaishnavas that we have composed the
Smarana Mangal verses in the form of a prayer for daily recitation
at the time of worship. Those who are not prepared to go with them may
accept Nimai Pandit as a noble and holy Teacher. That is all we want our
readers to believe. Readers! if you are inclined, after a study of these
pages, to identify Sri Chaitanya with Krishna we would beg you not to
accept Him as God-incarnate, for we think that God need not be in a carnal
coil like the fallen men. His Supreme Power can bring Him down to the
nether world with all His glory and particularities without the assistance
of the lower energy, maya, who has created the material coil. If we
believe otherwise, we would commit the sin of lowering His Spiritual
Power.
We make no objection if we do not believe His miracles,
as miracles alone never demonstrate Godhead. Demons like Bavana and others
have also worked miracles which do not prove that they were Gods. It is
unlimited prema and its overwhelming influence which would be seen
in none but God Himself.
Noble readers! pardon us for intruding on you with these
pages. As servants of Sri Chaitanya it was our duty to propagate His
Supreme Teachings, and in doing a duty, we are entitled to pardon for any
trouble we have given you. We are natives of Bengal, and in couching our
words in a foreign language, we might have been liable to mistakes for
which you will please forgive us.
In conclusion, we beg to say, that we should be glad to
reply to any questions, which our brethren would like to address us on
these important subjects. We feel great interest in trying to help our
friends to seek in the way to Spiritual Love.
The Lord's Shikshastakam
cheto darpana marjanam
bhava maha davagni
nirvapanam
sreya kairava chandrikavitaranam
vidhya vahu
jivanam
anandam budhi vardhanam
pratti padam purnamritam
vadanam
savatma snapanam param
vijayate srikrishna
Sankirtanam
May the chanting of the Holy Name of Sri Krishna be
glorified, which (i) sweeps of all the dirts from the mirrors of our
hearts, (ii} extinguishes the great forest fire of suffering from the
cycle of births and deaths. (iii) sheds moonlight upon the lily of eternal
Good. (iv) is the very Life of bride of Real Learning, (v) swells the
Ocean of Ecstatic Bliss, (vi) gives the full taste of Pure Nectar at every
utterance of the Holy Name and ( vii ) bathes i.e. purifies and refreshes
the whole self including body mind and soul in Divine Bliss. (1)
nam namkari vahudha nija sarva shakti
statrarpita
niyamitah smarane na kalah
etad rishi tava kripa bhagavan
mamapi
durdaivam idrisam ihajani nanuragah
0 Almighty Supreme Lord , Thou hast out of thy Infinite
Mercy, given to the world a multiplicity of Thy Names, endowed Each of the
Names with all Thy Potencies and made no restrictions as to the time,
place etc., of their recitations and remembrance. But alas! such is my
luck that I have no love for chanting thy names (2)
trinad api sunicena
taror api sahisnuna
amanina
manadena
kirtaniya sada harih
He, who is humbler than a blade of grass, is more
forbearing than a tree and honors others, yet without any desire of
honoring himself, is ever worthy of chanting the Holy Name. (3)
na dhanam na janam na sundaram
kavitam va jagadisha
kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatada bhaktir ahaituki
tvaya
No riches, no friends or relatives, no beautiful muses do I pray Thee
for, but may my heart ever cling to Thee, 0 Supreme Lord, out of selfless
devotion and love, whenever and wherever I may he born.(4)
ayi nanda tanuja kinkaram
patitam mam vishame
bhavamvudhai
kripaya tava padapankaja
sthita vuli adrosa,
vichintaya
0 Son of Nanda! graciously count me Thy servant, as a
particle of dust of Thy Lotus Feet, fallen as I am in the terrible ocean
of this world. (5)
nayanam galad asrudharaya
vadanam gada gada rudvaya
gira
pulaka nirvitam vapu kada
tava namagrhane
bhavisyate
"When will my eyes, 0 Lord, at the chanting of Thy Name,
be filled with flowing tears, my voice become choked and the hair of my
body stand up in ecstasy?(6)
yugayitam nimeshena
chakshusha
pravrishayitam
sunyayitam janat sarvam
govinda vira hena
me
The Separation from my Beloved Govinda makes an instant,
i.e., the twinkling of an eye, seem to me to be an aeon, my eyes
are turned into the rainy season itself and the whole world appears to me
a void. (7)
ashlisya va pada ratam pinastu mam
adarshanan
marmahatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidhahatu lampado
mat prana
natha stu sa eva naparah
Whether Krishna, my Beloved, hugs me in His sweet embrace
or tramples me under His Feet, or torments me by keeping Himself away from
me, gratifying His Amours in whatever manner He likes. He and none else is
the Lord of my life. (8)