Appreciating śrī guru and Vaiṣṇavas • Proving oneself through sādhana-bhajana • Developing humility and freedom from envy • The transcendent existence of the Vaiṣṇavas • The power of steady practice • Without tolerance, there is no auspiciousness • The importance of yukta-vairāgya
śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayataḥ
Śrī Amūlya-ratana Gaṇa
P.O. Jaramundy
(Sāotāla Paragaṇā) Bihar
28/8/1974
Snehāspadāsu—
Mā Umā! … The debt owed to śrī guru and the Vaiṣṇavas for their unlimited compassion and supramundane affection can never be repaid. If a person performs hari-bhajana, he gains an appreciation for that debt and his life becomes blessed. The living entity can prove his eligibility only if he performs bhagavad-bhajana. Only if the living entity can love the supreme object of love, Śrī Bhagavān, does his life meet with success. If one gains an inclination to perform sādhana-bhajana, one develops confidence in amānī-mānada-dharma (the dharma of relinquishing pride and honouring others). When one considers oneself unworthy and degraded, the condition of humility appears. The qualification for a particle of the mercy of guru and Vaiṣṇavas comes only by this. It is natural for everyone who thirsts for bhakti to gain more and more eagerness and enthusiasm upon seeing the service of others or their pining for bhakti-dharma. In the dharma of service, there is patience (dhairya) and excitation (uddīpanā), but there is no place for envy and violence. As envy is useless on the path of bhakti, it has been wholly rejected. Sādhakas and sādhikās who are inclined to perform bhajana only become blessed if they attain the delight of service. …
Vaiṣṇavas reside only in the transcendental Vṛndāvana. No matter where they are, even if they are seemingly situated within the material world, wherever they are is the highest attainable abode of Śrī Vraja-dhāma. Therefore, Śrīla Narottama Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has sung: “jathāya vaiṣṇava-gaṇa, sei-sthāna vṛndāvana, sei-sthāne ānanda aśeṣa – wherever the Vaiṣṇavas are, that place is Vṛndāvana, and in that place is unlimited joy.” Sādhus, who see all as equal, remain overwhelmed by transcendental emotion and see and accept any circumstance and any environment as favourable for their bhajana. Such a state of being is attained only by extraordinary good fortune. It is then that one is delivered from mundane reclusiveness and duplicity.
What you have conveyed of your sorrows brings to mind a worldly proverb: “The operation was successful, but the patient died.” By chanting śrī nāma as prescribed, performing worship of the deity, studying scripture, and hearing hari-kathā from the mouths of sādhus, all the living entity’s anarthas are dispelled. But because that has not happened in your case, you think that you “lack sincerity”. Abhyāsa-yoga (the yoga of practice) is not mastered in a short time; it is something that takes time. For that reason, one must be steady and unperturbed and possess Himalaya-like fortitude. Dependence on Śrī Bhagavān’s mercy has been described as the special characteristic in the domain of surrender. Only by abhyāsa-yoga does steadiness of heart and soul come in chanting gāyatrī at the junctions of the day and performing one’s japa. One then has realization of the meanings of the gāyatrī-mantras. A person who can understand his own faults and shortcomings endeavours to rectify them within a very short time. Auspiciousness occurs only when one closely studies the words emanating from the holy mouths of guru and Vaiṣṇavas. This is what has been delineated in the sūtra of Vedānta [4.1.1] “āvṛttir-asakṛt upadeśāt”. This has also been echoed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [10.33.39], the natural commentary on Vedānta-sūtra, in the verse: “śraddhānvito ’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ … hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ – one who faithfully hears and later describes such pastimes … has the heart disease of lust quickly dispelled and becomes peaceful.” One who stays in the shelter and under the guidance of śrī guru and Vaiṣṇavas has no fear; one who thinks he knows everything ends up becoming an atheist. We must always pray to the residents of śrī dhāma for mercy. Their dedication to service is exemplary. Only by the power of their mercy does one attain realization of the transcendental dhāma and of Dhāmeśvara, the Lord of that dhāma. …
For living entities who are attached to material pleasures, detachment is an exceedingly difficult matter. Those foolish individuals who are engrossed in identifying the body as the self require instruction and saintly association. Even Brahmā and the demigods, when confronted with adversity, seek the shelter of Śrī Bhagavān, the one true friend of all souls. Only in this human form is the living entity capable of searching for bhagavat-tattva (the truth of God), via direct and indirect inquiries. For this reason, the scriptures describe the human form as the foundation of bhajana.
Compelled by desires, the living being accepts the guidance of the demigods, who fulfil desires, and therefore he has to suffer the threefold miseries. It is from there that malice, envy and the like arise. In the absence of Śrī Caitanya’s teachings, the intolerant living entity wants to find peace by adopting the tendencies of enjoyers and renunciates. If we do not have tolerance, our auspiciousness will never arise. Wanting auspiciousness for himself and others is characteristic of a sādhu. Selfishness makes the living entity intolerant. Everything created by Bhagavān is an ingredient for Śrī Bhagavān’s service. If we do not develop this understanding, we have no possibility of attaining auspiciousness. The living entities who indulge in mundane enjoyment end up deprived and destroyed because they think the world is for them to enjoy. Without becoming tolerant like a tree, hari-bhajana is not possible. That is why Śrīman Mahāprabhu taught the tṛṇād api sunīcena verse.
By accepting those commodities that are essential for maintaining one’s life, one’s mind does not become disturbed. “Yathā-yogya bhoga, nāhi tathā roga, anāsakta sei, ki āra kahabo[1] – Where only those sense objects necessary to maintain the body are accepted, there is no disease [or pitfall]. What else can be said about such detachment?” This is yukta-vairāgya, as approved by exalted personalities. Devoid of bhakti and compelled by arrogance, mankind wishes to dominate all that exists. That can never be the superior path. The restless individual, becoming subjugated by the five sense-objects, nurtures hope for peace and happiness, but that is precisely what topples him into ultimate suffering. Having attained freedom from the urges of body and mind, it is best to strive for self-realization. If one indulges in the comforts of the mundane body and home, one cannot accept sense objects in a detached manner and engage in the service of Bhagavān. That is why we find the instruction: “yathā-yogya viṣaya bhuñja anāsakta haiyā[2] – accept without attachment whatever sense objects are necessary for your maintenance.” Iti—
Wishing your eternal welfare,
Śrī Bhaktivedānta Vāmana
[1] Duṣṭa Mana Tumi Kisera Vaiṣṇava (11) by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda
[2] Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 16.238)
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