The corruptive power of ulterior motives • Two types of donors: one motivated, the other sincere and selfless • The worst fate for the sādhaka is to be cheated of guru and Vaiṣṇavas’ mercy • Wholehearted service versus the logic of Padmā
śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayataḥ
Śrī Nīlācala Gauḍīya Maṭha
Gourbatsahi, Swargadwar (Purī)
24/9/1976
Snehāspadāsu—
Mā Umā! Even a modest donation for service is not negligible but ample and cause to be proud. There are those who make a show of offering financial support and donations, hoping for some gain, adoration, or prestige. Their tactic of sacrifice is referred to as [or illustrated by the proverbs] “Byāṅger Ādhuli[1]” and “Karmīr Kāṇākaḍi[2]”. Any devious desires (anyābhilāṣa) that remain in the heart make way for prākṛta-karma-jaḍa-vāda (the materialistic dogma of fruitive work), and that is definitely not favourable for rendering service [to Kṛṣṇa]. Inner inclination and intention must be taken into consideration. That is why Śrīman Mahāprabhu said: “viṣayīra anna khāile malin haya mana, malin mana haile nahe kṛṣṇera smaraṇa[3] – if one eats food cooked by those engrossed in material enjoyment, one’s mind becomes contaminated, and once the mind is contaminated, one will not remember Kṛṣṇa.” The reason “svacchanda vana-jāta śāka – wild forest greens” are recommended is because no one’s consciousness enters into them. Therefore, they are nirguṇa (beyond the modes of material nature) and the real means of subsistence.
There are many donors who immediately after giving just a small donation to the Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha mission or to our Śrī Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti have compelled management to put up nameplates for display to the public, even prior to the completion of the temple and residences. Which category these donations fall into has been surely ascertained by Śrī Hari, guru, and Vaiṣṇavas. The strong ethics they propound and their clear statements have been published in more than one article and collection of letters. The tattva-siddhānta of the negative aspects of charity has been established therein.
Then again, “tomāra dhana tomāya diye tomāra haye rai – I give Your wealth to You and I too come to belong to You.” This attitude has also been preserved alongside that [negative aspect]. One donor, when asked to acquire the land for Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha in Baghbazar, said: “Vinoda Bābū, I have given you the plate, and I will give you the meal too.” In other words, in addition to donating the land, he accepted responsibility for constructing the temple and other facilities, thereby gaining the blessings of śrī guru and Vaiṣṇavas. If one cannot become sincere and free from worldly attachments, one cannot become a sevaka or sevikā at heart. Donations of wealth certainly constitute service. That is why Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has said, “An intelligent person will seek the ultimate good through his vital energy, wealth, intelligence and words, for this is the success of life.” In the Eleventh Canto [11.38], it is stated: “mamārcā-sthāpane śraddhā svataḥ saṁhatya codyamaḥ, udyānopavanākṛīḍa-pura-mandira-karmāṇi – expressing love and attachment for the establishment of My deity form entails concerted efforts, both individually and collectively, in constructing flower gardens, orchards, playgrounds, fields, residential areas, temples and so on, as well as sincerely cleaning them, coating the grounds with cow dung, watering the vegetation and painting maṇḍala designs. One should serve the house of the Lord thus.”
It is only from mutual connection and proper knowledge of the relationship between the āśraya (refuge) and the āśrita (refugee) that qualification and eagerness for the path of bhajana increases. Besides the grace of guru and Vaiṣṇavas, there is no other alternative arrangement to progress on our path in life; there cannot be. To be cheated of their grace and to deviate from bhajana is the same thing. This alone is the ultimate misfortune, the worst fate for the sādhaka or sādhikā. Guru and Vaiṣṇavas’ multitude of transcendental qualities and supramundane status are beyond the comprehension of material knowledge and awareness. In that context, it is said: “yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ[4] – the Supreme Lord is attained only by one He accepts.” This is the only measure of qualification. Both Bhagavān and His bhakta are affectionate to those who take shelter of them. There is no doubt about that.
The inclination to serve is the exclusive ornament or decoration of the surrendered soul. To utilize one’s all-in-all in service is called full ātma-samarpaṇa (offering of the self). A truly surrendered soul, or one who has fully offered himself, has no other focus and no ulterior desires or fancies. In that state, there can be no commercial interest or business of materialistic giving and taking. If one thinks to keep track of a percentage for oneself, one succumbs to the logic of Padmā[5]. That is not an attitude of service and will end up being but a limb of mundane karma. “I am less than an insect or bacteria. I am vile and sinful.” If this sort of notion appears, then there is a possibility of auspiciousness. And if, instead, one’s motives are to gain prestige and advertise one’s good fortune, that same activity will act as a poison. By the causeless mercy of guru and Vaiṣṇavas, even the impossible is made possible: “kākere garuḍa kare aiche dayāmaya[6] – they are so merciful that they can turn a crow into Garuḍa.”
I understand that your mother’s health is not good. Please convey to her my request that she stay at home in this advanced age and perform kīrtana and smaraṇa of śrī nāma. Tell her to stay in Chunchura and meditate on the śrī maṭha’s deities: Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gopīnātha-jīu, and Jagannātha-deva. Tell her to sing this song of the mahājanas: “ājñā dilā more, ei vraje bosi’ harināma karo gāna[7] – [guru] instructed me to sit here in this land of Vraja and sing the name of Hari.” I know that she does not want to give you all any trouble. Nevertheless, you should all take responsibility for taking care of her at all times. In both realms, social and spiritual, she is your śikṣā-guru. She should stay at home and continually serve Śrī Gopāla-deva, from which she will reap the fruit of visiting the dhāmas of Mathurā-Vṛndāvana, Navadvīpa, and Purī. Because of her sickness, it is proper that she avoid contact with people. Do explain all these things to her properly.
I have shown the ornaments, eating plates, fabric, and outfits you sent as gifts for the deities to the sevakas here, and they were very delighted, wishing you all spiritual good fortune and praising you. There surely is a hole in Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s nose, even if it cannot be seen with material eyes. There will not be any inconvenience in that regard. The nose-ring your mother has wanted to offer can be affixed and Śrīmatī will surely accept it. Iti—
Your eternal well-wisher,
Śrī Bhaktivedānta Vāmana
[Footnotes]
[1] A frog once lived in a pond. One day he happened to dig up an eight-anna coin. As soon as the frog found the coin, he said to himself vainly: “Who is wealthier than I? This time when the king’s elephant comes to drink water, I will stop him and not let him to drink.” Saying this, the frog went and sat on the coin on the steps of the pond. Just then, the mahout brought the elephant down to the pond. The frog quickly leapt off his coin, landing at the elephant’s feet, underneath which he perished the very next moment.
In this world, the resources of those who pride themselves as great heroes of fruitive work are as trivial as the frog’s penny. The karmī’s prowess can be pulverized at any moment by the wheel of material existence, as that prowess is but an effect of the material energy. Gītā (3.27) has thus stated: “prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ, ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate – out of false pride, the living entity indulges in the egotism of ‘I am the doer’ and thinks that he has accomplished the functions that are in fact produced by the modes of material nature.” Such conceited people imagine that they are masters of the pleasures of this world and want to exert their reign upon the Earth. They cannot understand that at any moment the goddess of material nature can smash their huge mansion of pride to the ground. The Earth does not care if you are independent or dependent. Someone who is king today becomes a beggar on the wayside tomorrow; and likewise, the person who is a beggar today, tomorrow becomes intoxicated with the conceit of destructible opulences.
[2] Karmīs are of two types: su-karmī and ku-karmī. The su-karmī engages in pious work and waits for the results; and the ku-karmī does evil work because he wants quick profit. When, with use, the su-karmī’s coins get cracks in them, the ku-karmī gathers them up. These cracked coins, called “kāṇākaḍi” (defunct), have no value; they cannot be used in the market. The ku-karmī thinks he is a boss with so many coins, that he has lots of money, lots of possessions, lots of women in his collection. He has his storehouse loaded up with such defunct things, as useless as piles of dirt. If a person does not utilize his kanaka (gold), his kāminī (romantic interests), and his pratiṣṭhā (prestige) in Kṛṣṇa’s service, then all the items in his storehouse are kāṇākaḍi and he is a ku-karmī.
(Excerpts from the Upākhyāne Upadeśa of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura)
[3] Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Antya-līlā 6.278)
[4] Kaṭha Upaniṣad (23)
[5] Padmā, or Queen Padmāvatī, was the wife of Ugrasena and mother of Kaṁsa. Her infamous logic, as found in Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛtam (1.6.73–75), assumes that money can compensate regarding matters of the heart: One day, Śrī Kṛṣṇa was utterly heartbroken in separation from the Vrajavāsis when Grandmother Padmāvatī, in rather poor taste, attempts to console Him as follows: “Why are You grieving? Listen to my advice. You two brothers lived in Vraja in that cowherd Nanda’s house for eleven years. The Yadu King (Ugrasena) will have Garga Muni calculate every last speck of whatever goods You consumed during that time – whether or not they gave You something for taking care of their cows – and will repay that cowherd king double the amount they are owed, I swear.”
[6] Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 12.182)
[7] Śaraṇāgati, Gurudeva! Baḓo Kṛpā Kori’ (1) by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
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