‘Nirapeksha’ nahile ‘dharma’ na jaya rakshane – Part 1

All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga 

‘Nirapekṣa’ nahile ‘dharma’ nā jāya rakṣaṇe (Part 1)

(Without being established on the neutral platform one cannot protect dharma)

Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmīpāda has written the following śloka as a warning note to stop our fall down from the desire of material pratiṣṭhā—

pratiṣṭhāśa dhṛṣṭā śvapaca-ramaṇī me hṛdi naṭet

kathaṁ sādhu premā spṛśati śucir etan nanu manaḥ

sadā tvaṁ sevasva prabhu-dayita-sāmantam atulaṁ

yathā tvāṁ niṣkāśya tvaritam iha taṁ veśayati saḥ

(Manah-siksa - Verse 7)

Translation: "O mind! As long as the shameless untouchable woman who is the personified form of the desire of pratiṣṭhā dancing inside my heart, in this condition how pure sādhu premā (premā of Śrī Rādhā-Govinda) can touch my heart? If you like to solve this problem, then continuously try to serve those divine pārṣada battalions of Śrīman Mahāprabhu (those who all are very dear to Him). Then He will immediately help you develop pure sādhu premā inside your heart by driving out that chānḍālinī (untouchable horrible woman)."

Gauḍīya Goṣṭhipati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Paramahaṃsa Jagat Guru said that— “To arrest the current perverted reflection of this fanatic world is the seemingly unpleasant duty of Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha”. 

Absolute Truth can never enjoy popularity, so naturally people like to avoid undergoing such heavy treatment on them, but because without undergoing such heavy treatment and operation nobody never can ever get respite from this most fearful Māyā. Knowingly or unknowingly we are bound to become victims of Māyā (the illusory energy of The Supreme Lord) though we can proclaim ourselves as sādhus (I mean out of Māyā or free from Māyā). To get victory over Māyā is just next to impossible.

From Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā (7.14) we know the following declaration by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself— 

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā

mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te 

Translation: "This Māyā is My śakti only, therefore naturally it is next to impossible for those weak (powerless) jīvas to transgress her. Only those who accept prapatti or take complete shelter of My Bhagavat-svarūpa,  can become successful to cross over this ocean of Māyā, which means Māyā can never be transgressed by karma, jñāna or prapatti (complete shelter) unto any other demigod except Myself."                             

(‘Rasika-rañjana marmānuvada’ by Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura on Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā)

Also from mahājana-kīrtana we can see the same siddhānta vicāra—

ihāre (māyāre) koriyā jaya chhāḍāno nā jāya

sādhu-guru kṛpā binā nā dekhi upāya 

(from the kīrtana – ‘ki rupe pāibo sevā mui durācāra’ )

Translation: "This Māyā can never be conquered by any amount of personal effort. The only way open is to achieve the causeless mercy of  sādhu-guru-vaiṣṇavas, except that there is no way out at all."

Specially it is the resolution of Māyā-devī that she cannot allow us to become niṣkapaṭa.

From Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Antya 3.23) we know the most important verse that—

tomā sama ‘nirapekṣa’ nāhi mora gaṇe

‘nirapekṣa’ nahile ‘dharma’ nā yāya rakṣaṇe 

Translation: "You are the most neutral personality among all of My associates. Without being established on the neutral platform one cannot even protect personal dharma (here the term ‘dharma’ is used in general purpose like saṃsāra-dharma, loka-dharma,  veda-dharma, etc. & surely not the Bhāgavata-dharma which is the absolute ātma-dharma)."

Without being established on the neutral platform—one cannot protect dharma (I mean even general dharma cannot be protected, then what to speak about the absolute Bhāgavata Dharma).

Only those who are able to get completely established in ātma-dharma—they can see the whole creation in relation to the Supreme Lord, so they can develop extraordinary enduring power.

From Śrī Iśopaniṣat we can see the following śloka—

yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtāny ātmaivābhūd vijānataḥ

tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvam anupaśyataḥ  (Śrī Īśopaniṣat, Śruti-7)

Translation: "From the time when the  feeling of oneness between all the bhūtas (living entities) and personal ātma can be discovered then how it is possible to develop infatuation & illusion for those panditas, having equal vision." 

Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura has written in one of his articles named ‘bhaktira prati aparādha’ that—

The symptoms of offense unto the lotus feet of Śrī Bhakti Devī already shown by Śrīman Mahāprabhu to all devotees (all of His followers) by keeping Mukunda in front of us, which we can find in Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata—

kṣaṇe dante tṛṇa laya, kṣaṇe jāṭhi māreo ‘khaḍa’-’jāṭhiyā beṭā nā dekhibe more

Translation: “Sometimes he takes a straw in his teeth to show humbleness and sometimes beating Me with a stick. This brat who holds both a straw and a stick (I mean who is having both the contradictory moods like serving mood & beating mood together) cannot see Me.”   

(Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 10.185)

prabhu bale, – o beṭā yakhana yathā yāyasei mata kathā kahi’ tathāi miśāya 

Translation: “Prabhu says – ‘Wherever this brat goes, he mixes freely with the people there and moulds his own speech in favor the opinion of those people (whomever he mixes with)."

(188)

vāśiṣṭha paḍaye yabe advaitera saṅgebhakti-kori (yoge) nāce gāya tṛṇa kari’ dante 

Translation: "When he goes in the association of advaitins, he reads the yoga-vāśiṣṭha.  On the other hand, when he goes to the association of devotees, then there also he sings and dances out of bhakti in bhakti-yoga, taking a straw between his teeth (signifying humility)."

(189)

anya sampradāye giyā yakhana sāmbhāyanāhi māne bhakti, jāṭhi māraye sadāya

Translation: "When he enters another sampradāya [the māyāvādī-sampradāya], he without accepting bhakti to be eternal, attacks the devotees in a war of dry arguments (as if beating those devotees with a stick)!'”.    

(190) 

bhakti-sthāne uhāra haila aparādhaeteke uhāra haila daraśana-bādha

Translation: “So, he has committed an offence unto Śrī Bhakti-devī, therefore his offence has obstructed & deprived him of My darśana.”    

(192)

(explanation by Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda in his commentary—Gauḍīya-bhāṣya)

Śrī Mukunda Datta is an intimate associate of Bhagavān (Śrī Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu). Therefore these words spoken by Prabhu (the Lord) in relation to him are all mysterious (surely having some inner meaning). Though we know that the heart of Mahāprabhu is extremely deep (fathomless). Time to time whatever He has spoken, there is an instruction hidden in that. The instruction is this—it is not that by simply accepting dīkśā and practicing the limbs of bhakti, Kṛṣṇa gets satisfied. Prabhu can only be satisfied with someone who has ananya-śraddhā (one-pointed faith) in ananya-bhakti (one-pointed bhakti). Anyone in whose heart this type of śraddhā has taken birth, such a person can have a rigid inclination towards śuddha-bhakti. Such personalities do not go or reside at such a place which is devoid of the topics of śuddha-bhakti. Wherever śuddha-bhakti is the subject of discussion, those personalities—they with full taste (or interest) can reside at such places. The nature of a pure devotee consists of simplicity (saralatā), rigidity (dṛḍhatā) and one-pointedness (ekāntatā). They never like to discuss such topics which are averse to śuddha-bhakti just for the satisfaction of the public-masses. Pure devotees are always nirāpekṣa (absolutely neutral & not at all related to any mundane object— exclusively inclined towards Bhagavān).”

How exclusive and absolute is the vicāra of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that we cannot even imagine in dream, really this is beyond human comprehension.

From the following Śrī Caitanya-aṣṭakam we can see the following verse—

sadopāsyaḥ śrīmān dhṛta-manuja-kāyaiḥ pranayitām 

vahadbhir gīrvāṇair giriśa-parameṣṭhi- prabhṛtibhih 

sva-bhaktebhyaḥ śuddhām nija-bhajana-mudrām upadiśan 

sa caitanyah kim me punar api dṛśor yāsyati padam (1) 

That Supreme Lord (Śrīman Mahāprabhu) who is eternally worshipable for all demigods like Brahmā, Śaṅkara, etc. by the help of divine prayers, appears in this material world just like a human figure. He specially wanted to expose all the secrecy of bhajana modes by the help of his own ācarana to establish the art of śuddha bhakti among all of his followers. 

When will Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu—who is perpetually worshipable for demigods such as Śiva and Brahmā who have assumed human form (as Advaita Ācārya and Haridāsa Thakura) and who nurture great love for Him; who is supremely radiant; and who instructs His devotees on the practice of pure bhajana—again become visible to me?

So all of His activities like speaking, moving, eating, taking bath, sleeping, chastising, loving, advising, etc. all must have some deep inner meaning. The most spectacular and strange behavior of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is that—whenever whatever lesson or sikśā (be it delightful or painful), He wanted to give to us, He always used to keep his near and dear one (or eternal pārṣāda) to establish that particular siddhānta-vicāra. Please go through the following different līlās exhibited by Śrīman Mahāprabhu with His pārṣada (near & dear one).

1. Chota Haridāsa who was His eternal pārṣada was given heavy punishment by Him to give us a very serious lesson about genuine Hari-bhajana by avoiding any kind of yoṣit-saṅga. Being unable to get kṛpa of Śrīman Mahaprabhu, ultimately, when Chota Haridasa left body at the confluence of Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Sarasvatī at Prayāga (Allāhabād), then Śrīman Mahaprabhu said that— 

   
   

   śuni prabhu hāsi kahe  suprasanna citta

   ‘prakṛti darśana’ kaile ei prayaṣcitta  

   (Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Antya 2.165) 

   
   

   Translation: "On hearing that Chota Haridāsa left body by sinking into the Trivenī confluence at Prayāga, from Śrīvāsa, Śrīman Mahāprabhu smilingly with an absolutely satisfied heart said,— “Such a kind of expiation is very fitting for anyone who has engaged in women association (prākṛti-saṅga or strī-saṅga).”

   
   

   Again He further said the following verse—

   
   

   niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya

   pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya

   sandarśanaṁ viṣayiṇām atha yoṣitāṁ ca

   hā hanta hanta viṣa-bhakṣaṇato ’py asādhu

   
   

   Translation: "Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu with a strong lamenting mood said—Alas! Those niskiñcana (those who are only having Kṛṣṇa as their absolute property), the personalities who genuinely want to do actual bhajana and want to completely cross over this material ocean—for such personalities, even consuming poison is better than the association of viṣayīs (those people averse to Kṛṣṇa, having dirty enjoying mood—yoṣit-saṅgīs) & women."

   
   

   As per gauḍīya siddhānta vicāra we know that—

   
   

   asat-saṅga-tyāga, — ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra

   ‘strī-saṅgī’ — eka asādhu, ‘kṛṣṇābhakta’ āra

   
   

   Translation: "Those who are directly involved in women association or those who are doing their association and those who all are aversive to Kṛṣṇa (Kṛṣṇa-abhakta)—they are all asat-saṅga."

   
   

   ‘Yoṣit’ this term is actually applicable for anybody those who are running with enjoying mood, I mean any object or anybody for which a man (or woman) feeling a mood of enjoyment can be considered as yoṣit-saṅga. Kāminī-yoṣit, kāñcana-yoṣit or lābha-pujā-pratiṣṭhā-yoṣit—all those are different categories of yoṣit-saṅga, even if a rose in a garden going to give me pleasure then this will become yoṣit-saṅga for me. Śrīman Mahāprabhu always wanted to teach us to avoid this kind of enjoying mood, rather He wanted to indicate us that in this material world whatever object can be there, all are for the exclusive sevā of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord only. 

   
   

   Śrīla Prabhupāda said that— “Somehow Pururava, Saubharī Ṛṣi, Ajāmila, Yayāti, etc. they all could attain maṅgala in their respective life, because though surely they were weak in nature but not at least kapaṭa bhāva was there with anyone of them. Any kapaṭa man (or woman) can never attain  maṅgala. Weakness and kapaṭa bhāva—both are completely different from each other”. 

   
   

   Weakness can be cured up somehow someday by the help of genuine sat-saṅga, but a kapaṭa can never get maṅgala, because he never likes to be exposed, rather he is always busy to suppress his own faults. 

   
   

2. Kāla-Kṛṣṇa Dāsa was clean bowled by Māyā in course of his South India preaching tour with Śrīman Mahāprabhu, so ultimately he was rejected by Him, though Śrīman Nityānanda Prabhu wanted to protect him somehow. 

   
   

3. The great king Gajapati—Pratāparudra, who was a great sevāka of Śrī Jagannātha Deva (or Śrīmān Mahāprabhu), but  still he was rejected externally by Śrīmān Mahāprabhu of giving  darśana to him to show us the strict absolute behaviour of a sannyāsī. 

   
   

4. How Vallabhācārya was rejected (or ignored or insulted) by Śrīman Mahāprabhu to cut his false ego or audacity. 

   
   

5. How Jagadānanda Paṇḍita, the eternal pārṣada of Śrīman Mahāprabhu was rebuked heavily by Him (Śrīman Mahāprabhu) in front of Śrī Sanātana Prabhu for the audacity expressed by him in advising Sanātana (who is the most brilliant & excellent paṇḍita and senior devotee) to go back to Śrī Dhāma Vṛndāvana without any delay just after the Ratha Yātrā festival. 

   
   

6. How the most exclusive sevā of māyāvāda-preaching was done by His (the supreme lord’s) own eternal parsada and friend by Śrīla Śiva Śaṅkara Śambhu, who is known as the topmost Vaiṣṇava as per Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. 

   
   

7. How the most exclusive dangerous sevā of consuming (or drinking) kālakūta-halāhala poison was done by Bhagavān Śrīla Śiva Śaṅkara Śambhu by the inspiration of the Supreme Lord. We know the following śloka from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam about the exclusive glorification of Śiva Śaṅkara—

   
   

   nimna-gānāṁ yathā gaṅgā devānām acyuto yathā

   vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ purāṇānām idam tathā            

   (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.13.16) 

   
   

   Translation: "Just as the Gaṅgā is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among all worshipable deities and Lord Śambhu [Śiva] the greatest of Vaiṣṇavas, similarly Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the greatest of all Purāṇas."

   
   

Similarly by keeping Śrī Tarun Kṛṣṇa Prabhu (who is my dearmost sevāka) in front of you all,  I was bound to arrange a very serious lesson for you all about how to avoid material pratiṣṭhā to protect & preserve our bhajana power.

In this way it is very clear that how exclusively I always want to prove my neutral position (or equal-vision) for all of you, whereas he is always glorifying me in a very exclusive way. This is a matter of great joy that he is really lucky enough to receive such a loveful punishment by me. Somehow he is trying his best to tide over the critical situation by digesting all those heavy treatment by me. It is my request to you all that just try to wait and watch the expected devotional improvement of Śrī Tarun Kṛṣṇa Prabhu, if at all he can digest my loveful heavy treatment. Just we can remember the heavy treatment received by Śrī Vāmana Dāsa Jī by Śrīla Sadānanda Svāmī Jī, who was his spiritual master (Śrī Gurudeva). 

If I like to keep anyone as my representative in this material world then how can I tolerate even any minor defect to be allowed in him, because I like to discover absolute perfection in him.

This most practical treatment by me exclusively going to prove the direct advice by The Prabhupāda that— “A flattering personality can never become a preaching personality”, which is highly appreciated and approved by me—Bābā Śrī Śyāma Dāsa.