No Enmity, Only Solution – Part 6

The Symbol of Faith
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All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru-Gauranga

No Enmity, Only Solution – Part 6

By sampradāya-saṁrakṣaka Śrī Śyām Dās Babajī Mahārāj

Date: 12.07.2025

What is the svarūpa of Gauḍīya Maṭha and what Gauḍīya Maṭha doing?

Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Paramahaṁsa Jagadguru said that: “Śrī Caitanya Maṭha is the original source of all ‘cetana vastu’ which is equal to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Deva Himself and all Gauḍīya Maṭhas serving Him and His eternal sevākas those who are residing there eternally.” The following śloka written by Śrīla Rupa Gosvāmīpad can establish the dignity of Gauḍīya Maṭha where the same prema sevā of The Supreme Lord always going on like in the Yogapīṭha Mandir at Śrī Dham Vṛndāvana.

dīvyad-vṛndāraṇya-kalpa-drumādhaḥ-

śrīmad-ratnāgāra-siṁhāsana-sthau

śrīmad-rādhā-śrīla-govinda-devau

preṣṭhālībhiḥ sevyamānau smarāmi (C.c. Ādi 1.16)

In a temple of jewels in Vṛndāvana, underneath a desire tree, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda, served by Their most confidential associates, sit upon an effulgent throne. I offer my humble obeisances unto Them.

The absolute intimate premasevā place of Śrī Śrī Radha Govind Deva is manifested there at Yogapīṭha Śrī Mandir by all those Braja gopikās. The other name of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is “Gaudi”, so those absolute followers of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī are known as Gauḍīyas or we can safely say that Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha is the only place on this earth where the absolute premasevā mode of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is being followed by our Gauḍīya guru-varga to seek the complete satisfaction of Śrī Shyamasundar. Also, we can say that Gauḍīya Maṭha is the only place where we can find the same unique absolute nāma-saṅkīrtana yajña agni flame which was enlightened by the sankīrtana piṭhā Śrīmān Mahāprabhu at Śrīvas Angan. This is the absolute place where we can get the same (intact) teachings of Śrīmān Mahāprabhu through the absolute Bhāgavata guru-paramparā. Paramahaṁsa Gurudeva Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Pramode Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja has written in ‘Gauḍīyapatrika’ that Śrīla Prabhupāda and Gauḍīya Maṭha are one and the same (according to the absolute idealism established by Śrīmān Mahāprabhu Himself). Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭhas are following Śrī Caitanya Maṭha. When and where this submission is ignored then and there surely the question of submission unto the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Deva is also ignored or violated, then in that case the honour of Gauḍīyas and their Gauḍīyaism can get lost. Śrīla Prabhupāda used to say that: “In Caitanya Maṭha Śrī Caitanya Deva is worshiped, in Gauḍīya Maṭhas those Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava devotees of Śrī Caitanya Deva are worshipped. Those Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas are the absolute followers of Śrī Caitanya Deva. Gauḍīya Maṭhas are also the followers of Śrī Caitanya Deva”. So, without Śrī Caitanya ānugatya the dignity of those Gauḍīyas as ‘Gauḍīya’ cannot be maintained, similarly without submission unto the lotus feet of those Gauḍīyas the submission unto the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Deva cannot be approved.

"Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha cannot have and actually does not have anything in common with those, who duplicitously join Gauḍīya Maṭha with a motive to misuse Divine Knowledge for the service of their own selfish ends. Feigned dīkṣā and obtainment of Divine Knowledge are never one and the same. Śrī Caitanya and His sincere Devotees are eternally present in Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha. All those owlish persons who are incapable of seeing the light are called māyāvadis, karmis and wayward non-devotees.”

—from the letter by Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī, October 20,1920

The Gauḍīya Maṭha: Its message and Activities

(From The Harmonist VOL XXV – Gauḍīya Maṭha: its message and activities)

Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Gosvāmī Prabhupāda

By the grace of the Lord of the Gauḍīyas the message of the Gauḍīya Maṭha is today not unknown to anyone in the whole of Gauḍa Desh—and not in Gauḍa Desh only, but over Naimisharanya, Ayodhya, Prayag, Kasi, Śrī Brindaban, Maṭhura on one side and also over Dakshinatya and everywhere throughout the tracts of Orissa on the other, has been well proclaimed the message of the Gauḍīya Maṭha, the principal branch of the Śrī Caitanya Maṭha which is the root implanted in the soil of the Advent of Śrīman Mahāprahhu, —Śrī Mayapur Navadvīpa dhāma. Over Gauḍa-maṇḍala, Kṣetra-maṇḍala and Braja-maṇḍala the message of the Gauḍīya Maṭha has gone forth.

The truth (satya) is propagated in a two-fold way viz. positively or by the method of direct support and negatively or by the method of opposition. The truth cannot be made sufficiently known by the positive method alone. Propaganda by the method of opposition more than the presentation of the positive aspect brings about more brilliantly in this world the appearance and glorification of the truth.

In the Satya-yuga, Hiraṇyakaśipu more than Prahlāda, by the adoption of the method of negative propaganda, proclaimed greatly the glory of Narasiṃha. In the Tretā-yuga, Rāvaṇa more than Hanumān proclaimed the greatness of Śrī Rāmacandra to the world. In Dvāpara more than the Pāṇḍava, Yādava and other devotees, Kaṁsa, Jarāsandha, Śiśupāla and the rest as antagonists proclaimed the greatness of ŚrīKṛṣṇa. In the Kali-yuga, Jagāi, Mādhāi, Chand Kazi, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī —the professor of Māyāvāda, Ramchandra Khan—the hater of Viṣṇu and Vaiṣṇavas, Ramchandra Puri and in after times, the various hypocrite sects, more than the bhaktas of Gaur, have proclaimed the greatness of Gaur and Nityānanda to the world by adopting the hostile method. The truth is in all ages propagated in this way by the positive and negative methods. The true message of the Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha has spread and is spreading in the world in this manner.

It may be asked: 'What does the Gauḍīya Maṭha do?

Is the Gauḍīya Maṭha merely one other association like the thousands of sects that are to be found in this world? Or is the Gauḍīya Maṭha one among the other welfare-societies of the world? Or, is the Gauḍīya Maṭha one of the many mischievous organisations that carry on their activities in this world? What work does the Gauḍīya Maṭha do for the benefit of the world? Is the Gauḍīya Maṭha affectionate like a mother, a protector like a father or a helper like a brother? What good, does the Gauḍīya Maṭha do to the world, what well-being of society does it desire, what very inconsiderable service does it render to mankind that the world, the civilized world, or the whole of mankind, should listen to its message?’ Many such questions may arise in our minds.

The Gauḍīya Maṭha is not an association like the thousands of sects. The Gauḍīya Maṭha is not desirous of the welfare or non-welfare of the world like other benefit-or-mischief-making societies. The Gauḍīya Maṭha does not do work that is beneficial or harmful in terms of worldly enjoyments. The Gauḍīya Maṭha is neither affectionate nor cruel like a worldly mother, neither protector nor destroyer like a worldly father, neither helper nor enemy like a worldly brother. What then is this Gauḍīya Maṭha that the world should listen to its words?

There need be no want of harmony between the Gauḍīya Maṭha and the whole world, as the only disharmony is caused by one little word. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that harmony between itself and the whole world can be established by means of one word, viz. that the duty of all jīvas consists in the exclusive service of the Adhokṣaja (the transcendent). The majority of the people of this world says that the service of the Akṣaja (the phenomenal), is the duty of every one of the jīvas. Even when this is not actually said by word of mouth, in practice it is this that is always done. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that that which is the object of our activities (sādhya) should itself be the only means (sādhana) for the attainment of the object. In the opinion of the majority of men of the world sādhya and sādhana are different, one from the other. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that words like ‘unity’, ‘universal love’ etc. so long as one continues to be under the influence of the physical and mental dharma, are mere sounds like such words as ākāśa-kusum (aerial flower) etc. Harmony is possible only when one has obtained a firm footing in the dharma (function) of the soul.

This distinction requires to be made perfectly clear. The service of the Adhokṣaja means the service of the transcendental Godhead. That which helps or hinders the gratification of the body or the mind is not the service of the Adhokṣaja, it is the service of the Akṣaja. The body is pleased by the enjoyment of free air, by gazing at the open sky. The troublesome mind is gratified if it is allowed to roam at will like an unbridled horse, to revel in the beauties of Nature to gather as it lists honey from the many-tinted flowerage of the groves of poesy. The contrary of this the neutralizations point of view is based upon repugnance of all gratification. Neither of these is service of the Adhokṣaja—both are service of the Akṣaja.

Harm producing kindness, and actual kindness

The majority of the people of the world, although they profess to be positivists, fail to see, although it must be quite patent, the greatest of all the phenomena. They at any rate forget it in practice even when they appear to know. The greatest of the positivists like Charvaka, although he could not but have observed this greatest of all the phenomena, failed to take notice of it; —that great phenomenon is generally known by the name of: death.

If the memory of this great event is retained in our minds, we would assuredly be solicitous for the ‘amṛta’ (deathlessness). The śruti says we are all children of the ‘amṛta”—heirs of the ‘amṛta’ –‘Listen ye, all children of the amṛta.’

śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya putraḥ

Listen ye, children of the amṛta. (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 2.5)

In this world there are found two kinds of endeavour for obtaining this ‘amṛta’. Like unto the sons of kings of the epochs recorded in history some try to ascend the throne of their father by treason against the father; on the other hand, loyal sons in seeking to be heirs of a kind-hearted and affectionate father look upon constant service as being both the means and the end. The Gauḍīya Maṭha understands the last-named as being the appropriate and eternal method. Why is it appropriate? Because:

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ

hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi

vidhunoti suhṛt satam (ŚB 1.2.17)

‘Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the tidings of Whom whosoever listens to or sings is sanctified, the Benefactor of all holy persons, appearing in the hearts of all who listen to the accounts of Himself destroys the evil propensities of their hearts to the very root’.

This seed of sin or sinful desire or ignorance is the cause of the worldly sojourn of the jīva. Why is the method eternal? Because:

bhejire munayo ’thāgre bhagavantam adhokṣajam (ŚB 1.2.25)

‘In the beginning the ‘Munis’ ‘sages’ worshipped the Adhokṣaja Bhagabana (the transcendental God in His plenitude) in this way’.

That type of kindness which does not give rise to ‘evil’ is termed. As for example if a sick man is allowed to eat tamarind or a drunkard is helped to proceed to a liquor shop kindness is indeed shown, but in the sequel, it turns out to be productive of harm to the person who is the recipient of kindness. If the sick man is placed under medical treat, meant against his will and inclination, if the drunkard is protected from his evil course, non-harm-producing kindness is shown. Preventing floods and famines, nursing the sick, pleasing or displeasing anybody, or stultifying the faculty of consciousness of any one—every one of these is an instance of harm producing kindness.

Man cannot understand it till he realises his true position. By such acts the jīva is not really benefited. Cutting the root of misery is doing real good to others; the treatment that allows the gangrene of sensual desires to remain does no real good to the patient, neither is it a proof of great wisdom out of spite to the gangrene of sensual desires to hang the sick-man holding out the prospect of annihilation as complete and permanent cure.

svayaṁ niḥśreyasaṁ vidvān

na vakty ajñāya karma hi

na rāti rogiṇo ’pathyaṁ

vāñchato ’pi bhiṣaktamaḥ (ŚB 6.9.50)

“Just as the best physician, even if the patient evinces a desire for unwholesome food, does not allow it; in like manner he who is himself aware of 'the highest good' never advises an ignorant person to do work for his own interest.”

Back to God and back to home is the message of Gauḍīya Maṭha

The śruti says:

avidyāyaṃ bahudhā vartamānā vayaṃ kṛtārthā ityabhimanyanti bālāḥ |

yatkarmiṇo na pravedayanti rāgāttenāturāḥ kṣīṇalokāścyavante || 9 ||

(Mundaka Upaniṣad 1.2.9)

‘Ignorant persons being themselves in the midst of manifold ‘errors’ think thus, ‘we have gained what we want’. Because they work for their own interest, they have no experience of the real truth by reason of their attachment to such work. With extreme solicitude they gain little as the result of their activities. After a time, they fall from that position.’

The śruti further says:

avidyāyāmantare vartamānāḥ svayaṁ dhīrāḥ paṇḍitaṃ manyamānāḥ |

jaṅghanyamānāḥ pariyanti mūḍhā andhenaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ || 8 ||

(Mundaka Upaniṣad 1.2.8)

‘Those who remaining in the midst of ignorance consider themselves to be conscientious and enlightened such perverted and ignorant men come to grief like the blind man led by the blind.’

Most people of the world forgetful of their own Home under the spell of the enchantress are running headlong in the opposite direction—in this performance again their intoxication, eagerness, concentration and firm determination are so intense that they have indeed very little opportunity to think about Home. But the voice of the Gauḍīya Maṭha, the flying, red tinted banner of the Gauḍīya Maṭha arresting the ear and the eye of all persons is ever proclaiming:

kṛṣṇa bolo, sange calo, ei -matrabhikṣa cai

‘Say ‘Kṛṣṇa’, come along; this is the only alms we beg.’

‘Back to God and back to home is the message of Gauḍīya Maṭha.’

“To arrest the pervertedly current tide and to redirect it towards the Eternal Source is the seemingly unpleasant duty of the Gauḍīya Maṭha.”

The Gauḍīya Maṭha says:

All men of the world without exception are our kin and all birds and beasts, grass and shrubs are our kindred; whatsoever conscious being wheresoever existing belongs to our Supreme Lord; we shall conduct our kindred from out of the spells of the enchantress towards Home. We shall not be showing for the time being sweet sympathy for them by enabling those who have fallen into the snares of the enchantress to get more deeply entangled. Even if under the spell of the enchantress they fill heaven and earth with their loud protestations against our endeavours we will still proclaim the message of the amṛta to them. Even if it be contrary to the current of thoughts of the religious or religiously minded people as that term is understood by the world, or appear strange or wonderful to them, we will still for ever practise and proclaim those religious works, the sanātana-dharma, made by God, the tidings of which are unknown to any of the Rishis, gods, siddhas and men, the dharma which although it happens to be hidden, pure, difficult to understand alone enables us to attain the 'amṛta', the dharma that is the supreme dharma of the jīva, the dharma to which all jīvas without exception have a claim, the dharma to which everyone in the universe may become the heir. That dharma is the object as well as the method of our endeavours.

The current that is sweeping the world, the flood on which it is adrift, the famine by which it is distressed, the want, fear, sorrow, delusion by which it is mastered, oppressed and tortured can be prevented, can be pulled up by the root, by the method of moving Homeward and by self-surrender at the holy feet of the sorrowless and fearless ‘amṛta.’ So long as we shall stay in the foreign land the greater the distance and the speed with which we shall continue to run towards foreign lands and away from the direction of Home—so long and to the same extent sorrow, fear and delusion will not leave us; they will on the contrary mock us like the delusive deer by their further and steady increase.

‘Bhakti’ is like fire

The śruti says:

Dvitiyad vai bhayam bhavati (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad)

‘Fear must result from the perception of a second entity different from Godhead.'

Death cannot be abolished from this mundane world. By no amount of efforts of the united jīvas of the whole universe the three-fold misery can be banished to the Andamans. No one can extinguish the fire of Rāvaṇa’s funeral pyre, it is the water well cooled by contact with the Feet of Śrī Ramacandra that alone has the power to quench it. Once the world is fairly embarked on the high tide of the Holy Name the insignificant worldly flood retires forthwith; if the alms in the shape of the glorification of the songs of Hari become easily procurable, the little famines will leave us for good as a mere attendant result.

With the appearance of sorrow-delusion-fear-killing bhakti (devotional faith), avidya (nescience) the root of every form of misery of the jīva is destroyed and the soul is well satisfied. Bhakti is like fire. Nothing else can purify gold in the manner that fire can. Without ‘bhakti yoga’ (association of bhakti) other forms of effort are meaningless like the attempt to refine gold by the application of tamarind, earth or ashes.

To imagine ‘arthabaḍa‘ in regard to the Holy name, or, in other words, to imagine that the glorification of the Name is mere exaggeration of praise is that Godless intellectual attitude which gives rise to our belief in other tangible forms of effort. We think that the work of glorification, preaching etc. of the Name of Hari is not conducive to the general good. Or again we may think sometimes that the glorification and preaching of the Name is on a level with other kinds of effort. The first is ‘arthabaḍa ‘in regard to the Name, the second is the ‘aparādha’ ‘offence’ of believing the Name as being equal to other good works. To have faith in the Holy Name is so very rare that we may leave it out of consideration; if we had faith even in ‘nāmābhāsa’ (the most dimly perceived Name) we would have never said that succouring the victims of floods is better than kīrtana and prachar (singing and preaching God), freeing the country from famines, opening of hospitals are better than preaching devotion to God. Hundreds of famines can be got rid of, not by ‘nāmābhāsa’ but, even by the nāmāparādha (offensive taking of the Name). The ‘mukti’ that is not obtained in crores of births by ‘brahma-jñāna’ ‘knowledge of Brahman’ can be had by one single ‘nāmābhāsa’. This is no exaggeration; this alone is the only true message.

Śrī Gaursundar, the Saviour-of-Kali-juga ‘Avatar’ (the source of incarnations) by means of the ‘Namācārya’ (the teacher of the Name by his own personal example) Śrī Ṭhākura Haridas has borne testimony to it. Adopting the Jaina view aggravated by the bad logic of purveyors of vulgar news neither Caitanyadeva nor any of His devotees was ever in a hurry to prevent flood or famine or to found hospitals, nor did they give any other advice to anyone except telling all men at all times and places:

nama vinu kali-kale nāhi ara dharma (Cc.1.7.74)

“In the Kali-yuga there is no other dharma except uttering the Name of Kṛṣṇa.

khāite śuite yathā tathā nāma laya

kāla-deśa-niyama nāhi, sarva siddhi haya (Cc. 3.20.18)

"Taking the Name in whatever place whether eating or sleeping, irrespective of time, place, person —all is fulfilled.”

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa (Cc. 2.7.128)

“Whomsoever thou meets’, instruct him about Kṛṣṇa, by My Command being Guru save this land.”

ucca sankīrtanaa tate karila pracara

sthira-cara jivera saba khandaila samsara (Cc. 3.3.76)

“Thou did’st proclaim the high sankīrtanan and cancel the worldly course of jīvas moving or motionless.”

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya janma yāra

janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra (Cc. 1.9.41)

“Ye that are born as men in the land of Bharata, attaining the significance of human life do good unto others. “

There is no other dharma of the jīva except kīrtana (singing God)

To the extent that one disbelieves in bhakti, understood as kīrtana or the Holy Name, in other words, those who think that all wants cannot be fulfilled by kīrtana - to that extent are such people ‘nāstika’ (an atheist, a nonbeliever).

The degree of help one gives in the propagation of bhakti understood by kīrtana is the sole measure of one’s belief in God. On the other hand, a man is nāstika, a disbeliever to the extent that he obstructs kīrtana. As the Name has to be taken every moment, even while eating or sleeping. As bhakti understood by kīrtana is the only dharma of the jīva. Because there is no other dharma except this, where is then time for getting rid of flood or famine or founding hospitals? Those who claim to be positivists are forgetful of the greatest of all facts: death. Those who are in fallen condition, like the blind man led by the blind, under the spell of the enchantress, loiter about like travellers without an objective. Such people have time for work but no time for hari-kīrtana (singing the Names and glories Hari). All other efforts with the exception of hari-kīrtana are the cause of samsara, also known as ‘the worldly sojourn’, the road leading not to the East but in the opposite direction; on the other hand, all-time hari-kīrtana is turning us away from every other direction to face the East, or journey home-ward.

The Gauḍīya Maṭha is the missionary of this all-time kīrtana. The Gauḍīya Maṭha does not ask to destroy all efforts of the world but to deflect their course. The Gauḍīya Maṭha begs every one of us to offer all we have to Kṛṣṇa. The ‘dhum dhain’ or pomp and display of the Gauḍīya Maṭha is for the sole purpose of making all efforts of the world ‘kṛṣṇapara’, that means ‘having Kṛṣṇa as their goal’. The offering to Kṛṣṇa comes first and after the offering has been made bhakti begins. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says ‘make the offering to Kṛṣṇa first and after that has been done profess to be a ‘bhakta’, a devotee’.

The Gauḍīya Maṭha says—do not imitate the kīrtana-kari (one who does kīrtana). Dhang ‘burlesque’ is the other name of ‘anukaraṇa - imitation.’ By arraying oneself in the trappings of a cheap imitation, a parody, people can be deceived but no good is done either to oneself or to others. It is those who follow the ‘kīrtana-kari’ that are really their own benefactors or properly alive to self-interest, and also benefactors of others or mindful of others’ interests. They are not blinded by considerations of undue personal advantages nor do they cheat others; and are, therefore, truly disinterested. It is by kīrtana alone that the claims of self-interest, interests of others and disinterestedness are simultaneously satisfied.

‘Bhoga’ ‘enjoyment’ or ‘mukti’ (freedom from misery, impersonal liberation) in the shape of prevention of famines etc. is gained by ‘nāmāparādha’, by offensively taking the Name or by ‘nāmābhāsa‘, by uttering the Name with a dim consciousness. But the Gauḍīya Maṭha endeavours to give away freely that by which crores of times greater eternal good is produced, that ‘Śrī Nāma - Holy Name’, whereby the lotus of the eternal well-being of the jīva blossoms forth. They are earnestly trying to give away freely Kṛṣṇa Himself.

We are moving away from Home

In this world there are many persons who spread unwholesome doctrines after advertising their intention to give good advice, but most men are deceived by the idea that the actually pleasurable experience of the moment is the ‘good.’ In Sanātana-śikṣā (instructions to sanātana) it is stated:

‘ke āmi’, ‘kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya’

Ihā nāhi jāni — ‘kemane hita haya’ (C.c. Madhya 20.102)

“Who am I, why do the threefold misery afflict me? I do not know how good can be.”

In answer to the question of ‘how can there be good?’ with the message of the ‘good’ that Gaurasundar, the Expounder of the ‘sanātana-dharma‘, the eternal religion delivered to us regarding the only means of obtaining that ‘good’ if it once reached our ears we would not have considered bhakti denoted by kīrtana as weak and other methods as strong. Turning our face away from the direction in which the treasure would be easily found we would not have hurried towards the South for the bite of wasps, towards the West for the terrors of the Yaksha (the demon that guards worldly riches), towards the North for offering our lives to the fangs of the black snake.

Our Home is Eastward, we are running with all speed away from the East towards other points of the compass; and when the people of the East call out to us to turn back, deluded by the mirage we say ‘We will not listen to you, see what beautiful lakes full of the cleanest water lie yonder before our very eyes.’ Talking thus and being by degrees enamoured of that which only appears to our senses we are ever moving away from Home towards foreign lands. In those circumstances the doings of the Gauḍīya Maṭha sometimes seem to us and to those who are like-minded with ourselves as being contrary to our ideas. This is likely and need not cause any surprise; but all this notwithstanding the Gauḍīya Maṭha bearing its message, with its bright flag flying, emblazoning on it the words that attract our ears and eyes.

Simultaneous practice and preaching are necessary:

neha yat karma dharmāya

na virāgāya kalpate

na tīrtha-pada-sevāyai

jīvann api mṛto hi saḥ

evaṁ nṛṇāṁ kriyā-yogāḥ

sarve saṁsṛti-hetavaḥ

ta evātma-vināśāya

kalpante kalpitāḥ pare

yad atra kriyate karma

bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam

jñānaṁ yat tad adhīnaṁ hi

bhakti-yoga-samanvitam (SB. 3.23.56, 1.5.34-35)

‘The work that is not done for the sake of ‘dharma,’ the ‘dharma’ that is not performed for the purpose of ‘virag – renunciation’, the ‘vairāgya - renunciation’ that is not practised for the service of Viṣṇu, such work, ‘dharma’ or ‘vairāgya’ whosoever practises is dead in life, ‘The naimittika‘conditional - kāmya-karmas’ ‘fruitive works’ are the cause of ‘sansar-bandhana‘ ‘the bondage of the world’ or ‘yoni-brahmaṇa’ ‘birth journeys’ ; but those very works, if they are done for God-head have the power to destroy un-Godliness. The ‘bhagavat jñānam’ ‘Divine knowledge’ associated with ‘bhakti’ ‘devotion’ denoted by śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam etc. (listening to, singing, etc.) is assuredly the unswerving fruit of work that are performed in this world for pleasing God.’

It is this that is the subject of the propaganda of the Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha. The Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha by its practice proclaims that without the gratification of the senses of God-head by the gratification of the senses of the jīva no real good can accrue either to oneself or to others. By invocation of ‘mukti’ ‘annihilation’ in deprecation of the pleasures of the senses of the jīva, God is not served. There are many hypocrite sects who counter-fight bhakti by assuming the paraphernalia of the false devotee but are not aware that bhakti is an impulse of the soul. Of these some for the purpose of filling their bellies, some for lame, or some again by imitating some other purpose serve to delude the people.

The Gauḍīya Maṭha says: in the name of dharma it is not proper to practise trade. Not using Hari to serve our own pleasures, our duty is only to serve ‘Śrī Hari.’ The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that imitating the devotee of Hari or putting on the dress of Narad as in a theatrical performance is far from walking after the devotee of Hari or following Narad. The delightful tune, time, cadence alone do not constitute the hari-kīrtana of the Gauḍīya Maṭha; those are found, even in the performances of the gramophone or of harlots. Cetanata consciousness is necessary, the fiery life is necessary, simultaneous practice and preaching is necessary. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that he who does not possess a pure character is not fit even to be styled man not to speak of being regarded as religious. The Gauḍīya Maṭha keeps at a distance from the five Kali-sthānas, the abodes of quarrel.

The ‘Kali-sthānas‘ according to a text of the Bhagabata are the following—(1) dissipating games such as cards, dice etc.; trade or the profession of a trader in the name of dharma; (2) indulgence in luxuries such as betel, tobacco, wines etc.; (3) improper association with woman or unusual addiction to one’s own wife; (4) animal slaughter; not to proclaim the truth to people but to deceive them by untruth; not to preach hari-kathā ‘the word of God’ to jīva; in lieu of hari-kathā to give other kinds of advice; (5) by cheating people or by accepting money that is earned by their labour from people in general to apply such wealth to the maintenance of wife and children or increasing the scope of one’s own enjoyment; not to employ everything the body, mind and speech of the jīva-life, wealth and intellect—in the service of Śrī Viṣṇu who is the Proprietor of all things and the Supreme Lord of all wealth.

The śāstra says, of all things the human body is the dearest to God; the human body is the giver of the ‘paramārtha’, the highest good and is very difficult to obtain; and, therefore, while this body lasts, without being immersed in any other thing; not deceiving ourselves by thinking that any other method except sorrow-, stupor- and fear-killing bhakti is productive of good, it is our duty unceasingly to practise devotion. Other forms of devotion to God are weak, the devotion denoted by kīrtana is strong. Once the protection of the ‘strong bhakti’ is secured it gives to jīvas the highest good with little effort on their part. Therefore, by preaching kīrtana at all times to induce, by right of the highest kinship, the whole of the jīva to turn Homeward is true universal love, true help of others, true kindness and the true duty of life. The Gauḍīya Maṭha embracing all without exception the inhabitants of the universe, in sadness calling upon all to turn their face towards God to be preachers of this bhakti denoted by kīrtana, says: