Letter 1 - Only Mahājanas can deliver one from Aparādha,...

Only mahājanas can deliver one from aparādha • Material currency can never procure the supramundane • One can only attain service of the transcendental word through simplicity • Without surrender, knowledge of scriptures is only scholarly arrogance

श्री श्री गुरु-गौराङ्गौ जयतः

śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayataḥ

Śrī Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭha, Tegharipara, P.O. Navadvīpa (Nadia) 14/6/1968

Śrī vaiṣṇava-caraṇe daṇḍavan-nati pūrvikeyam—
(Offering prostrated obeisances at the feet of the Vaiṣṇavas)

Śrīpāda Rasika-rañjana Prabho! I promptly received your letters dated 12/4/68 and 28/4/68. These days I have become rather prone to laziness. At the same time, physical illness and various fateful difficulties have only served to fuel this. The truth is that since Śrī Dhāma Navadvīpa parikramā, many have been kind enough to think of such a wretch as me and write me letters, but I have not had the social decency to respond by letter to even one of them. For this, I find myself deeply sad and particularly ashamed before the Vaiṣṇavas. In your case, I repeatedly acknowledge my fault in this regard.

I cannot quite understand what offence you made in not being able to see me before you returned to your district after Navadvīpa parikramā. Who is to decide whether or not an offence was even committed? Who has the capacity to decide that a Vaiṣṇava has made an offence? “Vaiṣṇava’s offence” –this pairing of words is erroneous. It is as contradictory as “a gold stone bowl” or “mango preserve that is made of jackfruit”. And how offences are cleared is also a mystery to me. If you say that a cleansing like that of the Guṇḍicā temple is needed, then what would that be like? Only one personality in our guru-varga has introduced himself as having the kind of qualification needed to clean the Guṇḍicā of the heart. He was saccidānanda oṃ viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. He revealed himself to be the sweeper of nāma-haṭṭa, the marketplace of the holy name. All such mahājanas [of this calibre] are capable of delivering the living entities from the mire of aparādha that is asat-tṛṣṇā (hankering for material enjoyment), hṛdaya-daurbalya (weakness of heart), kuṭināṭī (duplicity), and lābha-pūjā-pratiṣṭhāśā (the hopes for profit, adoration, and distinction). They are real benefactors, the intimate associates of the foremost of all glorious benefactors, Śrī Gaurasundara. They are śrī gaura-śakti-svarūpa, the embodiments of Śrī Gaura’s potency.

By buying those granthas for you, I have created a huge anartha.^[1] Can granthas (the incarnation of the transcendental Parabrahma as word) be procured in exchange for currency? Can a transcendental “amūlya sampat (invaluable treasure)” be acquired by material currency? “Aprākṛta vastu nahe prākṛta gocara^[2] –transcendental substance is imperceptible to the mundane.” This is the best testament in this regard. When the Mahārāja of Kasim Bazaar attempted to procure a piece of land in Navadvīpa, Śrīla Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja chastised that king, saying: “How much wealth and riches does Mahārāja have that he can afford even one grain of sand in transcendental Navadvīpa-dhāma, which is made of cintāmaṇi?” But I can believe the notion that you have become worthy of the invaluable treasure that is those granthas by the strength of bhajana-sādhana, by your own Vaiṣṇava virtues. It is by the virtue of your natural simplicity, a state of being that comes from a Vaiṣṇava brāhmaṇa’s inherent disposition, that you have the opportunity to serve the vāṇī-vigraha (the Lord’s form as word). What you have written is true: “Without the causeless mercy of śrī guru and Vaiṣṇavas, it is an extremely difficult task to extract the essence of the scriptures and granthas.” This eternally truthful statement is also applicable to me. Despite living in the maṭha for a long time, studying many books, chanting lakhs of harināma, and making a pretext of much service, I am like the incompetent boatman stuck at his own ghat along the Gaṅgā.

I have seen and heard a Bhatiali^[3] -style song of the Gaṅgā boatmen that comes to mind:

मन-माझि ले तोर बैठा ले, आमि आर बाइते पारलाम ना
ओ गुहिन् गाङ्गेर नाइया, बाइते बाइते जनम गेलो बाइया

mana-mājhi le tora baiṭhā le, āmi āra bāite pāralāma nā
o guhin gāṅgera nāiyā, bāite bāite janama gelo bāiyā

Mind, boatman, take your oar. Take it! I cannot row anymore. O boatman of the deep river, rowing and rowing, life has flowed past.

Though we know various statements of scripture and the mahājanas such as “ataḥ śrī kṛṣṇa nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam-indriyaiḥ, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ^[4] –that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s name, and so forth, cannot be grasped by the senses; they only manifest themselves upon the tongue that is inclined towards service”, “nāyamātmā pravacanena labhyaḥ^[5] –the Lord cannot be attained by erudition” and other similar statements, there is [on our part] a lack of submission. The authors of scripture have set to writing statements like “vidyā-made dhana-made vaiṣṇava nā cine^[6] –deluded by knowledge and wealth, a person fails to recognize a Vaiṣṇava” and “paṇḍita kulīna, dhanīr baḍa abhimāna^[7] –scholars, aristocrats, and the wealthy are vastly arrogant” specifically for arrogant persons such as me who think they are scholars. 

Furthermore, they have provided instructions on how to study the scriptural texts:

जाह भागवत पडो वैष्णवेर स्थाने एकान्त आश्रय करो चैतन्य-चरणे
चैतन्येर भक्त-गणेर् नित्य करो सङ्ग तबे त जानिबा सिद्धान्त-समुद्र-तरङ्ग

jāha bhāgavata paḍo vaiṣṇavera sthāne ekānta āśraya karo caitanya-caraṇe
caitanyera bhakta-gaṇer nitya karo saṅga tabe ta jānibā siddhānta-samudra-taraṅga^[8]

Go, read Bhāgavatam with a Vaiṣnava. Take exclusive shelter of Caitanya’s feet. Forever keep the company of Caitanya’s devotees. Then you will fathom the waves of the ocean of spiritual truths.

Hence, in each and every case, surrender, inquiry, and service are indispensable tendencies or common factors for those who wish to reap an increase of bhakti.

My “nasal trouble” has gotten better. Śurpanakhā’s nose was cut off and my nose was broken. Anyway, I figure that having a broken nose is better than having your nose cut off [meaning “having little shame”] or having both your nose and ears cut off [meaning “being totally shameless”]. If your nose and ears are cut off [“if you have no shame at all”], then people rub your nose on the ground [as punishment]. However, if one’s nose is broken, then people sneer. Also, many tend to scrunch their noses when they see snub-nosed people. Anyway, with my broken nose (nāka), the surgeons didn’t deny (nākaca) my pleas, so I won’t be distressed for long (nākāni-cubāni khāoyā), and they didn’t harass (nākāla) me. I had thought that after breaking my nose perhaps my nasally voice would change significantly, but alas! it just got twice as bad. At present, my fear is that people will hear my nasally voice, my donkey melodies, and think I am a nākeśvarī and kill me. A nākeśvarī is a cheetah. I could put on my tilaka and be sitting there and someone could think I am a cheetah. Or, those against putting on tilaka could dispatch me to the abode of death.^[9]

Śrīpāda Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja came to this region after parikramā. After 10–12 days, he returned to Mathurā. Now he has taken full responsibility for the Mathurā maṭha and is living there in good health. Śrīpāda Trivikrama Mahārāja stays in Siromani and comes to stay at the Kolkata and Chunchura maṭhas from time to time. Viṣṇudaivata Mahārāja is doing his bhajana at Hulor Ghat, at Āśrama Mahārāja’s maṭha. From time to time, he comes to the maṭha. Iti—

Servant of the servant of the Vaiṣṇavas, Śrī Bhaktivedānta Vāmana

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Rasika-rañjana Prabhu remembers: “I had once given pūjyapāda Mahārāja one hundred rupees to buy some granthas. He brought me Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Tenth Canto, Śrī Harināma-cintāmaṇi, Dāmodarāṣṭakam, and several other books from Kolkata that I cannot now recall. I thought, “These books surely cost more than a hundred rupees.” I wrote him to find out the actual cost. His loving response is above.”

[2]:

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta⁽ Madhya-līlā^9.194)

[3]:

Bhatiali songs are Bengali folk songs, traditionally sung by boatmen, laden with existential pathos.

[4]:

Bhakti^- rasāmṛta^- sindhu^(1.2.234)

[5]:

Kaṭha Upaniṣad^(2.23), Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad^(3.2.3)

[6]:

Śrī Caitanya^- bhāgavata⁽ Madhya^- khaṇḍa^9.240–241)

[7]:

Śrī Caitanya^- caritāmṛta⁽ Antya^- līlā^4.68)

[8]:

Śrī Caitanya^- caritāmṛta⁽ Antya^- līlā^5.131–132)

[9]:

During Śrīla Guru Mahārāja’s manifest presence, one of our god-brothers who was living in the maṭha in Navadvīpa, although young, was partially blind. He had saved a plate of prasāda for pūjyapāda Vāmana Mahārāja, who was to honour prasāda and then go somewhere for some specific task. This god-brother was guarding it from dogs. The fence around the maṭha had not been fully completed, so from time to time, dogs would come. Meanwhile, Vāmana Mahārāja came and started taking prasāda. This partially blind god-brother asked, “Who is it? Vāmana Mahārāja?” Mahārāja was eating and absorbed in some thought, so he did not hear anything. The god-brother, however, decided that surely a dog had come. In anger, he found a piece of firewood and swung it. It hit Maharāja in the nose and a terrible stream of blood gushed out. That god-brother heard an “ooff!” sound and could understand that he had done something awful. Everyone become busy treating Mahārāja’s nose. Guru Mahārāja [Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja] then had that god-brother’s eyes treated. Śrīla Vāmana Mahārāja suffered for many days. In a letter, I asked about his nose, and to this day, when I read his response, I cannot control my laughter.–Rasika-rañjana prabhu