No 7 – The thunderbolt launched to crush down the anti Gaudiya Math Mission and their baseless allegations against The Prabhupada and Sri Gaudiya Math

In search of the Absolute Truth which is only available in Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭh

(No 7 – The thunderbolt launched to crush down the anti Gauḍīya Maṭh Mission and their baseless allegations against The Prabhupāda and Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭh)

Doubts regarding Brāhmaṇa thread allowed by him (The Prabhupāda)

  

By sampradāya-saṁrakṣaka Śrī Śyām Dās Babajī Mahārāja

Regarding doubts in Brāhmaṇa tread allowed by The Prabhupāda there should not be any complain, because there can be found countless documents or evidences in favor of this Siddhānta vicāra. We are going to quote some evidences from different śāstras like from Mahābhārat Śalyoparva 188/10 where Bhṛgu Muni said that—

na viśeṣo 'sti varṇānāṁ sarvaṁ brāhmaṇam idaṁ jagat

brāhmaṇāḥ pūrva-sṛṣṭaṁ hi karmabhir varṇatāṁ gatam

(Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva 188.10)

[Bhṛgu Muni said] Previously there was only one varṇa. Because everyone was born of Brahmā, everyone was a brāhmaṇa. However, later on different castes were categorized according to their activities and nature.

yasya yat lakṣaṇaṁ proktaṁ

puṁso varṇābhivyañjakam

yad anyatrāpi dṛśyeta

tat tenaiva vinirdiśet               (ŚB 7.11.35)

If one shows the symptoms of a brāhmaṇa or a kṣatriya or a vaiśya or a śūdra, as directed above, even if someone appeared to be in a different class, so according to nature and activities he should be accepted not only by watching the hereditary flow in which he belongs to.

From Śrīmad Bhagavad-Gītā we know the very famous advice (śloka) given by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna—

cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ

guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ

tasya kartāram api māṁ

viddhy akartāram avyayam                  (Bg. 4.13)

According to the three modes of material nature and the activities visible in them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer (not involved in it directly, being unchangeable).

The Prabhupāda has given the following case history of Satyakāma Jābāla from Upaniṣad/Mahābhārat to prove that Brāhmanism is not a hereditary factor, rather it depends upon the nature and activities of the person concerned.

The story of Satyakāma Jābāla from Upākhyāne Upadeśa

There was once a widow named Jābālā, who had a young son. One day, her son said to her, “Mother! I will go and live in the house of my guru as a brahmacārī. What is my gotra?” Hearing her son’s question, Jābālā replied, “My dear son! I don’t know your gotra. In my youth, I conceived of you while serving many people. Therefore, I do not know the gotra that you have taken birth in. Just tell your guru that my name is Jābālā and your name is Satyakāma”. Satyakāma went to his guru, sage Gautama, and expressed his desire to stay in his gurukula. One day, sage Gautama asked about Satyakāma about his gotra. Satyakāma replied, “Gurudeva, I do not know my gotra. I asked my mother. She said that in her youth, she served many people before I was born. My mother’s name is Jābālā and my name is Satyakāma.” Upon hearing such simple and innocent words from the mouth of this young boy, sage Gautama became very satisfied and said, “One who is not a brāhmaṇa can never say the truth in such a simple and straightforward way. Please go and bring some wood for a fire sacrifice. I will offer your upanayana-saṁskāra. May you never be deviated from the truth.” Sage Gautama then proceeded with Satyakāma’s upanayana-saṁskāra ceremony. He then gave Satyakāma the service of taking four hundred weak and skinny cows from his cowshed and going out to herd them. Satyakāma obediently took the cows out and while leaving with the cows, said, “I will not return until I make a thousand cows out of these weak four hundred cows.” In due course of time, due to Satyakāma’s care and service, the cows began to multiply in number to one thousand. At that time one bull, who was possessed by the demigod Vāyu, called Satyakāma and said, “Oh gentle boy! Our count has now reached one thousand. Now you please take us to the house of your guru”. The bull then taught Satyakāma one quarter of knowledge of the Absolute Truth. He also said to Satyakāma that the demigod of fire, Agni, would teach him the second quarter of the knowledge of the Absolute Truth. The following day, Satyakāma set out on a journey to the house of his guru along with the thousand cows. In the evening, Satyakāma settled all the cows to rest, and lit a fire. Then, the demigod of fire taught Satyakāma the second quarter of knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Then, he informed Satyakāma that the sun god, in the form of a duck, would teach him the third quarter of knowledge of the Absolute Truth. The following day, in the evening, Satyakāma tied the cows and sat down facing the east near a fire torch. Then the demigod of the sun planet, in the form of a duck, came there and taught him the third quarter of knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Next, the sun god told him that the demigod of consciousness, in a form of an aquatic bird called “Madgu”, would teach him the final quarter of knowledge of the Absolute Truth. The next day, Satyakāma again set out to continue his journey to his guru’s house. In the evening, he lit a fire and sat down as before. The demigod of consciousness, in the form of ‘Madgu’ bird, appeared there and began to teach him the final quarter of knowledge of the Absolute Truth. In this way, Satyakāma became a knower of the Absolute Truth. Finally, he reached his guru’s house. Sage Gautama could realize that Satyakāma had received transcendental knowledge because of his non-duplicitous service. He could also understand that Satyakāma heard the transcendental knowledge from others. Gautama asked Satyakāma, “Who imparted the knowledge of the Absolute Truth to you?” Satyakāma replied, “Somebody other than a human being has taught me until now. Even though they had instructed me for my perfection, please kindly instruct me again. I have heard that knowledge instructed by an ācārya brings perfection.”

Hearing these words of Satyakāma, the ācārya became very pleased and again instructed the same knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Hearing the instructions of his guru with faith, Satyakāma became an ācārya himself. A sage named Upakauśalā began learning the knowledge of the Absolute Truth from Satyakāma.

There are many lessons to learn from this anecdote of Jābālā and Satyakāma. Śruti śāstras say that one who is simple, guileless, and who always speaks the truth is called a brāhmaṇa. Even though Satyakāma was son of a maid servant, who served many persons in her youth, sage Gautama seeing Satyakāma as simple and guileless, accepted him as a person of brāhmaṇical order and gave him brāhminical initiation as well as the rights to serve guru and attain knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Therefore, it is not that the son of brāhmaṇa should be accepted as brāhmaṇa. Persons taking birth in any lineage or unknown gotra can be known as a brāhmaṇa by virtue of their work and quality. A person should not be considered a brāhmaṇa by birth. Instead, by serving a mahābhāgavata devotee, one attains the qualities of a brāhmaṇa. It is the duty of every guileless person to follow the ideals of service to guru set by Satyakāma.

Without caring for his own happiness and comfort in the slightest way, Satyakāma herded the cows of his spiritual master and increased their number with much enthusiasm. “I have come to the house of a guru to realize Absolute Truth. So I will just sit and do meditation”—Satyakāma did not have the foolishness to think like this. He was trying to fulfill the vow of how the number of the cows of his spiritual master can be increased in a fair way. With guileless service to guru, he could realize the truth about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The demigods became satisfied due to such guileless service to his guru and imparted to him all the truths regarding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Still, without being proud, he again approached his spiritual master and heard the whole subject matter directly from the lotus mouth of his Gurudeva.

Through this, Satyakāma has taught us that we need to hear the topics of the Lord directly from a self-realized guru. Only such a simple, guileless, humblehearted person, who is constantly engaged in the service of a spiritual master, can do welfare to others. By becoming an ācārya himself, he can turn himself into a speaker of the message of his spiritual master. In this world, the eternal uncontaminated message of Godhead is transmitted through the disciplic succession of spiritual master and disciple by the hearing process.

Also from Mahābhārat Vanaparva 180/32 in the commentary of this śloka by Nīlakaṇṭha we can find the following śruti vākya quoted by him.

na caitad-vidmo brāhmaṇāḥ smo vayam abrāhmaṇā veti

(Mahābhārat, Vana Parva 179.33)

We don’t know whether we were brāhmaṇas or non-brāhmaṇas.

śūdre tu yad bhavel-lakṣma dvije tac ca na vidyate

na vai śūdro bhavec chūdro brāhmaṇo na ca brāhmaṇaḥ 

(Mahābhārata (Vana-parva, chapter 177, verse 20)

“If someone born a śūdra possesses the characteristics of a brāhmaṇa and someone born a brāhmaṇa does not, that śūdra should not be known as a śūdra, and that brāhmaṇa should not be known as a brāhmaṇa.”

From Mahābhārat śalya parva 14/3/5-8 quoted from smṛti (Umā Śaṅkara saṁvāda)

etan me saṁśayaṁ deva vada bhūta-pate'nagha trayo varṇāḥ prakṛtyehā kathaṁ brāhmaṇyam āpnuyūḥ sthito brāhmaṇa-dharmeṇa brāhmaṇyam-upajīvati kṣatriyo vātha vaiśyo vā brahma-bhūyaṁ sa gacchati 

[Umā said] "O Śiva, master of the bhūtas. O sinless one, through what kind of personal characteristics can the three classes of men kṣatriya, vaiśya, and śūdra become brāhmaṇas? Is it possible for them to become brāhmaṇas? Please enlighten my doubts on this subject." Śiva said, "If a kṣatriya or vaiśya is established in brāhmaṇical behavior, and spends his whole life in brāhmaṇical conduct, it is seen that such a person has attained brāhmaṇical status." (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva 14.3.5-8)

From Chāndogya Upaniṣad this śloka quoted by Mādhavācārya in his commentary—

ārjavaṁ brāhmaṇe sākṣāt śūdro'nārjava-lakṣaṇaḥ gautamas tv iti vijñāya satyakāmam upanayat 

Except that, also we can see from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam that 81 sons of Śrī Ṛṣabhadeva—they where declared as Brāhmaṇas.

Pāramārthik Brāhmaṇism is always approved in all authentic śāstras, so then what problem arising in it? You can go through the following article named ‘Śrī Vaiṣṇavera Varṇāśrama' (the Varṇāśrama of Śrī Vaiṣṇavas) – written by Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur—

Śrī Vaiṣṇavera Varṇāśrama ('The Varṇāśrama of a Pure Vaiṣṇava') by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura Śrī Vaiṣṇavera Varṇāśrama ('The Varṇāśrama of a Pure Vaiṣṇava') was first published in Sajjana Toṣaṇī, Vol. 11. Issue 10 in 1900. In this article, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains how pure Vaiṣṇavas are transcendental to varṇa and āśrama because all of their activities are meant for cultivating kṛṣṇa-bhakti.

Varṇa and Āśrama: Social Order

The four varṇas of the Āryan people of Bhārata-varṣa are situated within four āśramas. These divisions of āśrama have originated with the divisions along with varṇa. Varṇa-dharma is preserved by being categorised by any one of the four āśramas namely, brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and bhikṣu. Those that possess a varṇa and have an identity, only need an āśrama. Varṇa-dharma and āśrama-dharma belong to the social order. Those who hope for some stability and benefit from social varṇa and āśrama have a duty to protect sanātana-dharma by following the ancient rules and prohibitions in all respects. People within society have two kinds of inclinations, both of which are directed towards the welfare of society. Social Āryans have created rules, prohibitions, etc. for the purpose of preventing any kind of discord arising within society. Apart from fulfilling their principle purposes, all the rules and regulations that have been practiced also lead to the secondary aims of attaining Svarga and gaining puṇya etc. Those men who have an inclination towards karma follow rules given in śāstra pertaining to yajñas and other types of karma, offering tarpaṇa to the pitṛs, the practice of saṁskāras, vratas, residing in a holy place, bathing in sacred waters etc. And those who are inclined towards jñāna engage in the worship of the Devas and brāhmaṇas, offer respect to their elders, the cultivation of proper conduct to attain knowledge etc. and are focussed upon dharma and the śāstra. Amongst those with these two kinds of inclination, those who desire ātma–sukha (gratification for the self), brahmatva (to become Brahman) etc. in pursuing the four goals of life (dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa), and act with the desire to attain them all, are at the forefront of society. While remaining within society, the dry jñānī sampradāya consumes the food of the brāhmaṇas and in this way, they help fulfill the aim of society. The yogī sampradāya, by reducing their individual self-deprivation, makes the worldly jīvas aware that the attainment of happiness is possible in this way, and the propensity of attaining satisfaction from tyāga is increased. Philosophers from other sampradāyas, based upon their own methods, invite persons who are endeavouring for happiness, and upon obtaining happiness due to the result of such activities, they bestow auspiciousness to society.

The Goal of a Pure Vaiṣṇava: Bhagavat Bhakti over Social Status

Although a pure Vaiṣṇava’s conduct has some similarity with a person following varṇa-dharma, they do not consider it to be their aim to nourish society, nor to bestow auspiciousness upon it. They do not fill the sky of their hearts with such thoughts that by their actions, society will either be nourished or harmed. A pure Vaiṣṇava is never busy in establishing himself amongst the fourfold varṇas and fourfold āśramas. He feels no hesitation towards anybody whose activities crosses the boundaries of the regulations of varṇa, or does not respect the rules of āśrama. This is because all his activities are dedicated to the sole aim of increasing bhagavat-bhakti. A pure Vaiṣṇava does not feel pride or shame due to his being a brāhmaṇa, or a mleccha–caṇḍāla or being a gṛhastha or a bhikṣu. If a pure Vaiṣṇava attains hell or heaven in order to achieve bhagavat-bhakti, it is all the same. The prema which he has for attaining Bhagavān, or the prema from being in separation from Bhagavān is never reduced. A pure Vaiṣṇava does not hanker for anything. He has no scarcity of anything. Due to the deficiency of those who desire Brahman, they are enticed by the excellence of unachievable things. When they achieve that, the splendor of the form of Brahman which is always desired by them, becomes inferior. One who desires Brahman is constantly disturbed by the entanglements of māyā. A pure Vaiṣṇava is not agitated by that. Although the appearance and all the activities of a pure devotee seem to be similar to those who desire māyika results, factually they are very different. Sometimes, considering pure Vaiṣṇavas and inferior Vaiṣṇavas to be the same, many people ask pure Vaiṣṇavas their varṇa, and just like those persons within society, they attempt to categorise them in one of the four āśramas. Such attempts are simply befitting a non-Vaiṣṇava and are merely a social endeavour. If one has darśana of the divine appearance pastimes of Śrī Gaurāṅga, who is the saviour of the fallen, and the world’s only Supreme Guru, then all doubts will be dispelled. In the Veda-śāstra of divine knowledge, it is written: bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi dṛṣṭa evātmanīśvare (“The knot within the heart is pierced and all doubts are cut to pieces. One’s karma is destroyed when one sees the Lord as supreme.” – Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.21)

Overcoming Doubts & Karma

If we have darśana of the character of Bhagavān, then all our doubts are cut asunder. All our karma is destroyed, the knot of our heart is pierced and one realises the truth. Although a brāhmaṇa may have gone through the ten saṁskāras, be devoted to proper conduct, and have direct darśana of Brahman, he cannot become free from doubts unless he observes the divine character of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, the supreme transcendentalist. Whoever has darśana of the supreme transcendental character of Śrī Caitanya knows that a pure devotee is not a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra, neither is he a brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vanaprastha or a bhikṣu. He is separate from all these and is the servant of the servant of Gopī-jana-vallabha. He has no other independent identity. Such māyika considerations that he is Brahman or aṇu (smallest of the smallest) never touch him. When he realises the nature of the temporary logic concerning ghaṭākāśa, mahākāśa, rajju-sarpa, pratibimba etc.* then these no longer have any necessity for him. I feel pained to mention the non-Vaiṣṇava conduct of some people nowadays who have given such abominable, contradictory meanings to the word ‘Śrī Vaiṣṇava” (pure devotee) in order to make them socially acceptable. They have merely tried to make themselves socially acceptable by polluting the form of the pure Vaiṣṇavas by imposing temporary māyika identities upon them.

• Translator’s Note: Ghaṭākāśa and mahākāśa refers to analogy given by the māyāvādīs of the ‘sky within a pot’ (the jīva) and the ‘great sky’ (Brahman) – in other words, there is no difference between the sky encased within a pot and the great sky. Rajju-sarpa refers to the so-called logic of mistaking a rope to be a snake, inferring that the jīva erroneously considers himself to be individual when in fact he is Brahman. Pratibimba (reflection) refers to the māyāvāda concept that the jīvātmā is simply a reflection of Brahman.

The Devolution of Pure Vaiṣṇavism

Just some time after the closing of the divine pastimes of Śrī Śrī Gaurāṅga Deva, various communities such as the bāulas, sahajiyās, kartābhajās etc. as well as the smārtas, brāhmaṇas, and empiricists, in the guise of helping the pure Vaiṣṇavas, further tarnished their status. Still now there is no scarcity of those types of descendants. Gradually the population of such sections has further increased. By trying to make Hari Dāsa Ṭhākura a brāhmaṇa, and trying to embellish Śrī Īśvara Purī as a śūdra or a brāhmaṇa by varṇa, the non-Vaiṣṇava social aim is merely to establish the pure devotee’s incapacity or capacity to teach others based on whether he belongs to another varṇa apart from brāhmaṇa. All such aims have not helped in increasing bhakti, hence for the devotee Vaiṣṇavas, all such activities are not respected. The pure devotee should always remember that he is the servant of the servant of Śrī Gopī-vallabha and he is never completely independent. Independence is not possible in him because by selling his independent propensity in the form of tādīyatva (accepting oneself as belonging to Kṛṣṇa), he has attained servitude to Kṛṣṇa. If all such considerations are awakened in the memory of a jīva who identifies as a Vaiṣṇava, yet the aforementioned prejudices become embedded in his heart, then his artificial independent propensity has been sold to Kṛṣṇa merely by cunningness. Factually his nature as tādīyatva has been sold to māyā, and becoming a servant of māyā, he becomes busily engaged in establishing himself. An artificial servant of Kṛṣṇa is situated far away from a pure Vaiṣṇava. Instead of the cultivation of prema-bhakti, he is merely extinguishing the temporary miseries arising from the cultivation of kāma (lust). Only for such categories of men, socially-oriented people have made arrangements for all these rules and prohibitions.

(Śrī Vaiṣṇavera Varṇāśrama – ‘The Varṇāśrama of a Pure Vaiṣṇava’, was first published in Sajjana Toṣaṇī, Vol. 11. Issue 10 in 1900, and translated into English by Sanātana Dāsa)

Gaura Hari Hari Bol