HE WAS A MAHABHAGAVAT, THEREFORE HE CANNOT MAKE ANY MISTAKE (?)

Part 4 – Conclusion

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bhrama, pramāda, vipralipsā, karaṇāpāṭava

īśvarera vākye nāhi doṣa ei saba                                                  

(Cc/Adi/7/107)

 

"Those material defects of nature like—illusion, misconception, cheating propensity or sensory inefficiency etc. do not exist in the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (or his pure devotees).”

 

All those are the natural defects with human beings, so we know the following proverb— “To err is human”, but a real sādhu is beyond the limitation of Māyā, so we cannot expect any kind of siddhānta virod or rasābhāsa from such a real sādhu, who is completely in line of Guru-parampara or śrauta-panthā.

 

As this section was fully dedicated to reply to one question, the conclusive answer for that question is: You are right, a mahā-bhāgavata can never make any mistake. A mahā-bhāgavata is fully decorated with all the qualities of Kṛṣṇa Himself. If any mistake is done at all, it is only for the excellent purpose of some lila of Bhagavān—as it was the case with Parīkṣit Mahārāj. But be careful not to be put into confusion: (i) the ‘mistake’ of Parīkṣit Mahārāj was done against a brāhmaṇa (there was no Vaiṣṇava aparādha involved—in any case it is impossible for a mahā-bhāgavata to offend a Vaiṣṇava), and (ii) the result of the ‘mistake’ of Parīkṣit Mahārāj was the opportunity for Śukadeva Gosvāmī to narrate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, whereas the mistakes we are discussing in this article resulted in a generational endless propagation of offences against Gaudiya Math and Gaudiya Math sādhus—the very heart of Kṛṣṇa. There is no comparison between these two cases.

 

Now, it is up to you what to do with this information. Śrīla Baba Mahārāj warns us all the time that— “It is a question of our life and death. Be careful. We are not sitting here to joke with you. This is a question of survival of our real self. We are not sitting for making politics—we have no time. It's a question of life and death. So, we cannot make any wrong decision. If you make any wrong decision, you can get lost in this infinite world. For infinite period if you can run, there's no end to this material creation. In this condition, what is your duty—you will have to decide. You will have to decide what to do, what not to do. One single mistake in your life decision can spoil your total life. Be careful. One small mistake. It seems nothing, no mistake, but one small mistake can destroy your whole life. So, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura many times used to say: ‘Don't make any mistake about identifying a pure Vaiṣṇava or identifying a cheater.’ If you make mistake and accept a cheater as guru, then it is a big problem—you can get lost. On the other hand, if you consider a pure devotee as a non-devotee, then it is also a big problem. It goes both ways.”

 

vittam eva kalau nṝṇāṁ

janmācāra-guṇodayaḥ

dharma-nyāya-vyavasthāyāṁ

kāraṇaṁ balam eva hi                                             (ŚB 12.2.2)

“In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.”

 

liṅgam evāśrama-khyātāv

anyonyāpatti-kāraṇam

avṛttyā nyāya-daurbalyaṁ

pāṇḍitye cāpalaṁ vacaḥ                                         (ŚB 12.2.4)

 

"A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar."

 

Don’t be bewildered by external signs of devotion, such as huge name, fame, money, position, properties, opulence, followers, or massive approval of common people. Always remember that Śrīla Gaura Kishora das Babaji Mahārāj was a topmost paramahaṁsa avadhūta devotee, but almost nobody was able to identify his absolute position because he was not enjoying all of these blessings of Māyādevi.

 

To conclude, we would like to quote a very beautiful statement of Śrīla Baba Mahārāj, which gives us a gist of everything that was addressed in this whole section: "Establishment of math mandirs and number of disciples is not the evidence to substantiate the Vaiṣṇavism of somebody. The degree of Vaiṣṇavism of anybody is only pivoted on a single point—siddhānta-vichar. What is that siddhānta-vichar? How much love, respect, affinity, and dedication one has for sādhu, guru, Vaiṣṇava, Bhagavān, Hari-nāma—How much taste I’m getting. This is the only pivoted point on the basis of which you can arrest a non-devotee. This is the thermometer. This thermometer is more than sufficient to detect the heart of any Vaiṣṇava—or to detect the heart of any non-Vaiṣṇava (a Vaiṣṇava-aparādhi)."

 

Gaura Hari Haribol