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THOSE VAISHNAVAS ARE BEYOND
ANY MATERIAL LIMITATION
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01
The Prabhupāda
The truth about Śrīla Uddharana Ṭhākura
Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu is the proprietor of all tad-rupa-vaibhava [nondifferent expansions]. When Śrī Gaurasundara sent Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu to the kingdom of Gauda to spread the magnanimous religion of love of God, Srila Uddharana Ṭhākura was the main pillar among Śrī Nityānanda's followers.
Although he was born in a lower, vaiśya family, since he was a transcendental personality he cannot be identified as belonging to that family or caste. In other words, Ṭhākura Mahāśaya was not a goldsmith or trader of gold.
Uddharana was a friend of Śrī Baladeva in Vraja. He was not an ordinary cowherd but an eternal companion of Śrī Baladeva and a seller of spiritual milk. Out of our great good fortune we have come to that place in this world where that friend of Vraja arrived. Remembering him stimulates our devotion.
The relationship between Lord Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas:
There is no difference between Lord Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas. They are related to one another as eternal master and eternal servant, and one is the object of worship while the other is the shelter, or worshiper. Whatever we understand about devotees like Śrīvāsa we will also have to understand about Sri Uddharana Ṭhākura. We are often deceived into committing offenses when we try to measure the devotees of the Supreme Lord, who are His eternally perfected associates and fully transcendental, against our material understanding or the knowledge we can gain through our senses. Thus we say that the Lord's devotees are, like us, forced to enjoy the fruits of their karma. We conditioned souls sometimes take birth in a family of gold-traders because of our karma, so we think Srila Uddharana Ṭhākura is like a member of our family - as if we too are all small Uddharana Ṭhākuras.
The fate of those who consider a Vaiṣṇava as belonging to a particular caste:
If a person born in a gold-trader's family worships Hari with undivided attention by following in Śrīla Uddharana Ṭhākura's footsteps, then he too becomes eligible to receive from the whole world the respect befitting a Vaiṣṇava like Uddharana Ṭhākura. But if one is born in a goldsmith's house and doesn't worship Lord Hari, then even if he were to be born in a higher, brāhmaṇa family, he would be an ordinary human being compelled to enjoy the fruits of his karma. In this case he would not be fit to receive the respect due a Vaiṣṇava like Uddharana Ṭhākura. If such a person mistakenly demands such respect, then, because he considers the Lord's transcendental devotees as belonging to a particular class, he will be addressed as "hellish" by the śāstras and saintly persons. Those who are unalloyed servants of Śrī Gaurasundara and who actually worship only Lord Hari are intimate companions of Sri Nityānanda Prabhu and belong to the actual Gauranga family.
The scriptural evidence, from Śrī Vyāsadeva:
It is written in Sri Padma Purana:
arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhir
visnor va vaisnanavanam kali-mala-mathane pada-tirthe 'mbu-buddhih
sri-visnor namni mantre sakala-kalusa-he sabda-samanya-buddhir
visnau sarvesvarese tad-itara-sama-dhir yasya va naraki sah
sudram va bhagavad-bhaktam nisadam sva-pacam tatha
viksate jati-samanyat sa yati narakam dhruvam
"One who considers the Deity in the temple to be made of wood or stone, who thinks of the spiritual master in the disciplic succession as an ordinary man, or the Vaiṣṇava to be coming from some caste; or the water which washes the feet of the pure devotee or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to be ordinary water, although such water has the potency to destroy all evils of the age of Kali; or to consider the holy name of the Supreme Lord or mantras dedicated to Him which are able to destroy all sin to be ordinary sounds; or to consider the Supreme Lord of all, Lord Viṣṇu, to be equal with other demigods, is considered to possess a hellish mentality. A person who thinks in this way is certainly a resident of hell."
"One who considers a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who was born in a family of śudras, nisadas or candalas to belong to that particular caste certainly goes to hell."
There is no greater offense than considering a Vaiṣṇava equal to a non-Vaiṣṇava. Those who consider Śrīla Uddharana Ṭhākura as belonging to a goldsmith's family like themselves by thinking themselves born in the family of Śrīla Uddharana Ṭhākura, and who consider the worshipable Salagrama-sila to be simply a stone, will certainly go to hell according to the śāstra's prescription.
The consideration of the characteristics of guru-tattva:
There is no difference in tattva between the friends of the Supreme Lord and the four-armed Lord Nārāyaṇa; there is only a distinction in pastimes and transcendental mellows. The spiritual master is nondifferent from Lord Nityānanda. My spiritual master is directly Nityānanda Prabhu. To my spiritual maser, his spiritual master is also nondifferent from Lord Nityānanda. The spiritual master of my spiritual master's spiritual master also has a spiritual master who is nondifferent from Nityānanda Prabhu to him. All you Vaiṣṇavas are part of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu's spiritual variegatedness and expansions of His transcendental mood. This does not mean that my spiritual master has ever said from his own mouth that "I am Nityānanda." Rather, he is always a servant of Śrī Gaurasundara. He considers himself a servant meant to fulfill Śrī Gauracandra's mission. But if out of grave misfortune I ever hear that my spiritual master is not identical with Sri Nityānanda, and then I will certainly understand that my spiritual master has rejected me as a great offender. May I never see the face of that atheist, even in a dream, who says my spiritual master is someone other than Nityānanda.
One cannot comprehend the transcendental Vaiṣṇava Ṭhākura empirically:
As a result of misdeeds committed in previous lifetimes, a human being takes birth in a lower family. But this does not mean that Srila Uddharana Prabhu appeared in a lower family because of previous sinful activities. Śrīla Uddharana Prabhu is not a mundane gold-trader, an ordinary human being, or a product of matter. If we try to measure Ṭhākura Mahāśaya, we will simply be deceived."
(Śrīla Uddharana Ṭhākura —
His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
Place: Śrīmad Uddharana Ṭhākura's birthplace, Saptagrama
Time: Sunday, 1st February, 1925, during Gauda-mandala parikrama)
02
ISKCON Prabhupāda
Prabhupāda: Australian, that's nice. Learn this art and preaching. There is good potency in your country. They're also not poverty. Kṛṣṇa says, imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). Rājarṣi means very rich, kings. He never said, "All the bhaṅgīs understood it. All the wretched class understood it." He never taught. It is meant for the leaders of the society, opulent kings and leaders. It is meant for them. Poverty-stricken man cannot under . . . but there is no bar, there is no hindrance. But this is especially meant for the opulent person. Otherwise, why Kṛṣṇa says, imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ? And He instructed first to the sun-god. He is not ordinary person. He instructed later on to Arjuna. He is not ordinary person. Because one important person learns the science, he'll preach it all over the world. Caitanya Mahāprabhu's direct disciples, they are not ordinary persons. So unless one is materially not ordinary, he cannot preach. All the Gosvāmīs, they were coming from respectable . . . and why Gauḍīya Maṭha came? These are third-class men, no position in their past life.
Amogha: Most of them just came from the villages.
Prabhupāda: That's all. Uneducated, half-educated, poor, poverty-stricken. They could not do anything. Some of our Godbrothers, I have beat them . . . (indistinct) . . . Swami. In his previous life he had a big, big business organization. So therefore he has been able to organize like this. They admit it. They are coming from some third-class status of life. This is not trite; this is fact.
Gurudāsa: Also, in Vṛndāvana we are here to stay, no matter what the people say.
Dr. Kapoor: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Sob jagay te amader birodh. (We are facing opposition everywhere.) But we stay. Birodh tarpare matlab, lok bhangano . . . (indistinct) . . . kintu, yai hok theke ache. Gurubhairai yakhan . . . (indistinct) . . . oi asol, basic princlple ta holo himsa. Ei amader ekhane te esob holo, na holo . . . (indistinct) . . . Baro baro Maharaj ra sob, ar ei ekta cuno puti lok . . . (indistinct) . . . amader Madhav Maharaj to sunechi advertise koren double M.A. (Opposition, malice agenda . . . (indistinct) . . . anyways, that's alright. But when Godbrothers are . . . (indistinct) . . . but the main, basic principle is envy. That we couldn't make it happen like this . . . (indistinct) . . . they are such big big Mahārājas, and here is this tiny little fellow . . . (indistinct) . . . I heard that our Madhava Maharaja advertises himself to be a double M.A.)
Dr. Kapoor: Ācchā. He is not a . . . (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Dr. Kapoor: He is not a . . . (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: You do not know?
Dr. Kapoor: No, I don't know. I think he is a graduate. Huh? He's not even a graduate? (Prabhupāda chuckles) I was told that he was a graduate long ago, you see, when I used to go to Calcutta, the Gauḍīya Maṭh there.
Prabhupāda: Anyway . . .
Dr. Kapoor: And Bon Mahārāja also has told he is a graduate. What is he?
Prabhupāda: What is he?
Dr. Kapoor: Bon Mahārāja, graduate? He is Karachi graduate.
Prabhupāda: No, I don't think so. Anyway, so Falanite ata sota, bikr belay kac kola (Bengali proverb). (Shows off alot but when it is a question of working, then they are nothing.) Bon Mahārāja, eiye, ye boi likhechen, (Bon Mahārāja has written a book,) very important.
Dr. Kapoor: Boi likhechen, onek guli boi likhechen, tar madhye likhechen 'ami Bhagavan darshan peyechi, ei lila darshan korechi, sei lila darshan korechi. Sei sob likhechen. (He has written a book, he has written many books. He has written in that book that, "I have got the darshan of the Lord, I have seen this pastime, that pastime." He has written all this.)
Prabhupāda: Ācchā. Etato keu lekhe na. (No one has written this.)"
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03
Śrī Śhyām Das Bābā
Those Vaiṣṇavas are beyond any material limitation
Some scriptural evidences are given below to avoid committing vaiṣṇava-aparādha—
yadi mora putra haya, haya vā kiṅkara
`vaiṣṇavāparādhī’ muñi nā dekhoṅ gocara
(CB Madhya 19/1750)
“I cannot look at the face of a vaiṣṇava-aparādhī, even if he happens to be My son or servant.
jananīra lakṣye śikṣā-guru bhagavān
karāyena vaiṣṇavāparādha sāvadhāna (CB Madhya 22/54)
The Supreme Lord, the instructing spiritual master of all, cautioned everyone about vaiṣṇava-aparādha by using His mother as an example.
śūlapāṇi-sama yadi vaiṣṇavere ninde
tathāpiha nāśa pāya, —kahe śāstra-vṛnde
(CB Madhya 22/55)
Even if someone on the level of Lord Śiva blasphemes a devotee, he will soon be destroyed. This is the verdict of all scriptures.
ihā nā māniyā ye sujana-nindā kare
janme janme se pāpiṣṭha daiva-doṣe mare
(CB Madhya 22/56)
Sinful people who ignore this fact and blaspheme devotees suffer the punishment of providence birth after birth.
caitanya-siṁhera ājñā kariyā laṅghana
nā bujhi’ vaiṣṇava ninde pāibe bandhana
(CB Madhya 22/120)
Anyone who transgresses the order of the lion-like Lord Caitanya by blaspheming Vaiṣṇavas will suffer the bondage of material existence.
vaiṣṇavera nindā karibeka yāra gaṇa
tāra rakṣā-sāmarthya nāhika kona jana
(CB Madhya 22/128)
A Vaiṣṇava is unable to protect any of his followers who engage in blasphemy of Vaiṣṇavas.
vaiṣṇava-nindaka-gaṇa yāhāra āśraya
āpanei eḍāite tāhāra saṁśaya (CB Madhya 22/129)
The deliverance of even a person whose followers engage in blasphemy of Vaiṣṇavas is doubtful.
Bhagavān can never excuse them-- those who criticize or insult guru-Vaiṣṇava. Poor-Rich conception or educated–uneducated conception not at all applicable for guru-Vaiṣṇavas. Also, Vaiṣṇavas are never belonging to any particular caste or by social status they can never be identified. Even if this kind of basic conception is not there in me, then how I can become a world class preacher? Sama darśana (equal vision) is the most basic backing in the way of vaiṣṇava-darśana or vaikuntha-darśana. I myself never want to become a world class cheater, so I can never enjoy popularity, that I know, but as per Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda to seek the satisfaction of public (or to collect public vote) or to seek the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord is not one and the same. The first one is non-bhakti mood, whereas the second one is called bhakti. Who can justify such unusual remarks by our most honorable Svami Mahārāja (please look at the second column, all those comments by Śrīla Svami Mahārāja)?
Śrīman Mahāprabhu wanted to teach us how to give extreme honor to Śrī Guru-Vaiṣṇava and how to protect their divine dignity by giving topmost honor to Śrīla Namācārya Śrīla Haridas Ṭhākura (though externally he was from Muslim family) and by rejecting Vallabha Ācārya for his negative mood of expression towards the commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam written by Śrīla Śrīdhar Svamipad. From Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta we know the following siddhānta vichar of Śrīman Mahāprabhu The Supreme Lord—
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya (Cc. Madhya 8.128)
“Whether one is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra, regardless of what he is, he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa.”
The great exalted Vaiṣṇava Śrīla Bhakti Daiyta Mādhava Gosvāmī Maharaj was the only shelter or support in your helpless life of dangerous sickness for whom you got back a new life. Then how it is possible for you to forget him so easily? Surely Śrīla Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Maharaj was not informed at all about all those dirty remarks or criticism past by Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaj about his Gurudeva and guru-varga, otherwise it would not have been possible for him to glorify Śrīla Svami Maharaj that way (big way) in his book named ‘My Beloved Masters’. If we are failure to unveil the mystery lying behind the screen, then anybody can express doubt about our most honorable Śrīla Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Maharaj, that how it was possible for him to glorify Śrīla Svami Maharaj even after knowing all those bad remarks passed by Śrīla Svami Maharaj about his own Gurudeva and guru-varga. From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we can get the following example established by Ma Sati Devi during the time of criticism of Vaiṣṇava Raj Syambu (her husband) by Daksa Prajapati, ultimately she left her body by the help of Yoga agni, because of hearing vaiṣṇava ninda.
From the article ‘Śrīla Uddharan Ṭhākura’ written by Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda we can have the Gauḍīya siddhānta vichar established by him (please look at the first column).
Also, Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinod Ṭhākura expressed his great concern about such kind of humiliation of Śrī Guru-Vaiṣṇavas by those ignorant people, so he wanted to establish daiva varṇāśrama dharma through Śrīla Prabhupāda before leaving this material world. Also Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted to leave his body when he heard some insulting remarks passed by one so called pāṇḍā at Śrī Rādhā Kunda Braja Dham about Śrīla Ragunath Das Gosvāmīpad. We have no right to say that Śrīla Vamsi das Babaji Maharaj belongs to a fisherman’s family, or Śrīla Gaura Kisore das Babaji belongs to a vaiśya family.
Gaura Hari Hari Bol
