PERFECTION AT HOME

A Novel Contribution to the Fallen Humanity

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada



The following is a copy of a hand written unpublished paper intended for the old BTG, pre-Iskcon written by Srila Prabhupad,the original of which is still in HDG Srila Prabhupada's rooms in Vrindavan.





Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the supreme merciful incarnation of Godhead, is the supreme benefactor of all human races in their most fallen conditions by the stringent laws of nature.

The modernised set-up of human civilisation is a perpetual struggle against the grim laws of nature in a befooled manner. There was a big mirror hanging on the wall and a small charpion bird saw its shadow on the mirror. It thought that another charpion is sitting just opposite to him and wanted to strike by its own beak. The shadow charpion also seemed to be biting the befooled charpion and a struggle began. The befooled creature continually tried to go to the other side of the mirror wall but unfortunately it never succeeded. We saw this perpetual struggle of the befooled charpion day after day but it never came to the senses that that mirror is a stumbling block to meet. The struggle continued and thus we came to the conclusion of animal life. That is the distinction of animal life from human life. In the animal life of ignorance the charpion cannot know the situation of the mirror but out of its strong desire to overcome it, it continued the struggle. A human being who knows the mirror as it is made and therefore he could not make such baffled attempt.

The befooled civilised men are therefore trying to overcome the stringent laws of nature and such foolish attempts have been delineated in the following words. Foolish persons, who are captivated by the bewildering situation of the material nature, do desire to lord it over the resourceful and beautiful nature. It is just like the small charpion mentioned above perpetually trying to go to the other side of the mirror through the glass. Such foolish persons must be baffled in their hopes because they have neglected to know the Personality of Godhead with His multifarious potencies. Amongst the hopefuls there are different grades of men. Some of them are karmis or the fruitive workers who want to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Some of the are Jnanis who cherish a wishful desire to become one with the Lord and there are bhaktas or so-called devotees who also want to fulfil their material desires by worshipping the Personality of Godhead. But all of them, because of their non-fixed conclusion about the goal of life, surely all of them will be baffled in their respectful attempts made in such a befooled manner.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has given hope to all the above mentioned befooled persons by his way of teachings. He does not disturb any one in his position of a karmi, jnani or so-called bhakta. He does not even disturb others, who are not in the categories of the above-mentioned persons, in their respectful positions.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu advises all persons to hear only the message of the Personality of Godhead in a submissive manner and aural reception. The only restrictions that he implores upon his audience is that the audience must give up the idea of culturing a false knowledge in order to become one with the Supreme. This mentality is the stumbling block of the superlative degree on the path of realisation of the Supreme Truth

. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu met Srila Ramananda Rai. Both of them talked on the supreme goal of life. The Lord questioned as an enquirer and the learned official replied it on the evidence of revealed scriptures. The revealed scriptures were the medium of understanding both

the enquiries and the replies.

In the beginning, Srila Ramananda Rai submitted the importance of the varnasrama dharma or the system of regulative life in order of four scientific castes system and the four orders of social life but independent of devotional service. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu rejected this as useless because both the principles of caste system as well as the order of social life are now disturbed. Nobody can revive them to the original position for so many reasons and therefore He rejected them as useless attempts for self realisation.

The next proposal was explained by Srila Ramananda Rai on the plan of karma yoga. Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rejected also this proposal because He knew that the foolish persons in this age misunderstand the purpose of karma yoga and they accept ordinary fruitive work as karma yoga. Nobody can perform any work without a desire to enjoy the fruit and therefore desireless work or naiskarma karma is as much impossible as the Varnasrama dharma. So this was also rejected as a useless attempt.

Similarly when Srila Ramananda Rai proposed about sannyas or renunciation of worldly life it was also rejected by the Lord as an impossible game. The so-called sannyasi dress themselves with red garment to earn a livelihood by easy means but actually they are worldly men of filthy mind. Such filthy sannyasis of the modern age accumulate large sums of money by the plea of establishing temples and deities and foolish persons are persuaded to contribute on it. Sometimes they so construct some temples unauthorisedly but on the plea of constructing such temple they implore many foolish men to contribute upon it. Everyone of the contributors is concerned to become the prime donor of the temple but ultimately all of them are befooled and the sannyasi accumulates a big bank balance by such befooling methods.

The Avidyananda Sannyasi and company do some pretence to practical devotional acts but at heart they want to merge into the identity of the Absolute Truth. This attempt to be merged into the Absolute is just the opposite action of devotional service. Such pretentious religion is completely rejected by the pure devotees of the Bhagwat School. Transcendental loving service of the Personality of Godhead is an eternal affair of the devotee. It is not a means for merging into the Absolute as it is imagined by the Avidyananda Sannyasis. The upanahana is for eternity. Therefore the object of worship, the process of worship and the worshipper, all of them exist eternally in spite of the childish disturbances of men like the Avidyananda Sannyasis. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to stop this.

Similarly He rejected the attempt of becoming with the Lord by culture of devotional service mixed with empiric knowledge

. When Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu rejected all these pseudo religions or spiritual cultural methods, He had within His mind about the ability of the present generation. The present generation or the men in the Kaliyuga are hopelessly spiritually emaciated persons. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the supreme merciful incarnation of Godhead gave special facility to these emaciated population, a right of perfection, which was unattainable even by personalities like Brahma in other ages. The highest perfection of human life is to attain the stage of loving service for the Supreme Lord. Brahmananda or the transcendental bliss derived from an attempt for merging into the absolute is compared to a fig in the presence of the ocean of transcendental bliss derived from the loving service of the Personality of Godhead.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is considered to be the most magnanimous incarnation of Godhead because He wanted to award the highest perfection of spiritual bliss to the emaciated persons of this age who have no spiritual qualification. He therefore approved of this method of spiritual realisation as it was spoken by Shri Brahmajee. This is as follows: Jnane, Prayasam, Udapashya, Namanka. Eba. Jivanti, Sat, Mukharitam, Bhavadigya, Vartam, Sthane, Sthira, Sruti, Gatum, Tanu, Bang, etc.

The only qualification that is necessary for attaining this topmost spiritual blissful stage, is to first and foremost give up the idea of merging into the identity of the Absolute. This dangerous idea will never qualify a man to enter into the transcendental loving service of the Lord which is the highest spiritual blissful life. The living entity is an infinitesimal particle of the Supreme Spirit, like a drop of water of the vast ocean. To merge into the ocean by a drop of water is no difficult task but to keep one's identity even as a drop and attain the strength of the ocean or even more than that is far more glorious than to become merged into the whole. The secret of this blissful life in unknown to the man of

poor fund of knowledge.

Therefore they think that to become merged into the Absolute is the highest perfection. In the Bhagwat Geeta it has been clearly mentioned that persons who are addicted to this impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth suffer more troubles than those who concentrate their devotional activities in the personal feature of the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the only qualification that is necessary for one desiring to enter into the Kingdom of God is that one must completely be reluctant to this method of salvation.

When this is rejected one naturally becomes the meek and submissive. And by submissive aural reception of the powerful spiritual messages from the self-realised sources awaken one to his original spiritual consciousness. The original spiritual consciousness which is the inborn quality of every living being remains in dormant condition even in the primitive form of human being. Even the savage and uncivilised men in the jungle who are not trained up in the artificial conventions of civilised nations bow down to the order of the Supreme Powerful. As such they worship the emblems of theism in the form of thunder bolt, big ocean, big mountain and gigantic natural phenomenon. The dormant obedience for the Supreme is artificially stumbled by the convention of so-called civilised men. This is done for bad association of the people in general and also of the avidyananda Sannyasis who declare themselves as so many gods suffering from the pangs of material miseries from day to day. This habit of posing oneself as the Supreme Lord has done tremendous harm to the people in general and gradually they have become atheists of the first order at the risk of continuing the duration of material existence in the species of animal and non-faithful life. The disobedient demons or unbelievers in the Supreme Authority of the Lord are punished in the following manner as it is mentioned in the Bhagwat Geeta. It is said like this (Chap. 16, verses 19-20)

The disobedient asuras who are envious of the exhalted position of the Supreme Lord are called the Naradhamas (the lowest of mankind) and Mudhas (one who has no information of the spiritual realm). We have already discussed the practices of the Naradhamas and Mudhas in our article "The Lowest of the Mankind". We don't wish therefore to go into further description of these notorious creatures. But one many note herein the Naradhama and Mudhas are treated by the laws of the Supreme Lord. The Naradhamas and the Mudhas who don't surrender unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord and still desire for salvation are sent to the lowest regions of hell instead of getting liberation from the material

existences.

Many sannyasis who are known as very learned men are sometimes seen taking part in rotten politics, "the last shelter of the scoundrels" because in spite of their erudition and hard penances, they had no faith in the Person of the Supreme Lord. Due to impersonal conception of this spiritual culture they cannot have any practice in the realm of transcendental service. As such they fall down even from their exhalted position by the law of nature and take pleasure in the wranglings of dirty politics. As such they are sent into the cells of prison walls and instead of becoming one with impersonal Brahman they become one with the so many criminal prisoners.

In that way the Mudhas and Naradhamas don't get the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord and are forced to take birth in the species of demoniac life. That is the progress of life in the wrong direction attained by the Mudhas and the Naradhamas.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wants us only not to become one of the Mudhas or Naradhamas. there are as many Mudhas and Naradhamas in the midst of the sannyasis as there are in the midst of householders. Similarly, according to the opinion of the Lord, there are as many Mahatmas in the midst of the householders as there are in the midst of the renounced order of life. He is not very eager to turn anybody into a sannyasi from the life of a householder, neither He is anxious to pick up spiritualists from the community of a particular class, community, nation or society. He is for everyone and all, even for the birds and beasts of the jungle. Some Mudha class of men consider that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saved the Hindu religion from the onslaught of the Mohammedans and His appearance at a suitable time for the sense gratification of Hindu designated people was quite appropriate(?). But Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu didn't appear either to save the Hindu Community or to declare against the Mohammedan Community. He appeared for the supreme benefit of the complete set of living entities never mind in whatever form or quality he may be. He wanted to teach the real source of spiritual life as He was to propagate the Real Religion inborn quality of the living being. He asserted that every living being is eternally a transcendental servitor of the Supreme Lord and as such the whole and cent per cent energy of the living being must be employed in the Lord's service only. Any fraction of deviation from this principle of eternal relation with the Supreme Lord is proportionately a covering of the nescience and a living being completely freed from all designations is substantially purified to render transcendental service to the Lord.

Therefore, according to Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, one who is sufficiently conversant in the science of Krishna or the all attractive feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may he be a brahmin, sudra, sannyasi or householder - can act as the spiritual master for deliverance of the fallen people. He himself played as a disciple of His devotee Shree Ramananda Rai, who was acting as a governor and sudra householder, to learn the sublime principles of spiritual bliss. He made Srila Haridas Thakur, who happened to appear himself in the family of a Mohammedan, to act as the dean of the faculty of the science of chanting the Holy Name. He deputed Srila Rupa and Sanatana Goswami to explain the science of devotional service although they were householders and government servants. These Goswamis were not caste or inflated Goswamis, but they were Goswamis by actions without undergoing any ceremonial changes. They were Goswamins even when they were playing the part of a householder. They didn't require to be Sannyasins in the order of renounced life.

Considering all the above different phases of preaching activities of Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, it is evident that one has to learn the art only in the approved manner and nobody has to change his position of worldly life. The process of submissive hearing from the sources of realised souls will help one in every way. That will inject the powerful medicine for curing one's material diseases and that will make one able to receive the message of Godhead from the innermost region of one's own self.

As a matter of fact Back to Godhead is the helping medium to convey the self-realised messages of liberated souls. This paper does not manufacture any idea or pretentious religiosity by mental concoction. Those who are carried by the process of mental concoction can never develop one's inborn quality viz unadulterated love of Godhead. Man's only business during life is to awaken the divine nature or love of Godhead. The divine nature is misused in the material plane by love of flickering objects of material gain, fame and stability.

All material creeds under the names of socialism, communism, communalism, nationalism, altruism, bolshevism, Leninism, Gandhism, Marxism, Hinduism, Mohammedanism, Christianity or any other hundred and thousands of isms are different manifestations of the divine nature adulterated with materialism. Divine nature is spiritualism and is completely free from all the above-mentioned materialisms and it is pure and simple love of Godhead.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wants to divert the misplaced different channels of love into the original form and we shall gradually publish His most instructive teachings in the pages of Back to Godhead. Nobody is better spiritually realised soul than Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

We shall therefore request the people in general, religionists, modern philosophers and all other enlightened men and women to take advantage of this opportunity and try to attain perfection of life at home.

Comments

Popular Posts