“To Become a Vaishnava Proper is Almost Impossible.” Srila B. R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. 1980s. Navadwip Dham, India

_English

Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

To Become a Vaishnava Proper
is Almost Impossible

It Is Only A Matter Of Grace

“We can’t see our own soul — that is our position. Engrossed in this gross matter of exploitation not even we can know what is our mind — what stuff it is made of; then what is the judgment faculty within us — buddhi — independent of this world; then the soul; then SuperSoul area. Living in this mundane world dreaming that I have got the God of my dreams… it is a farce!”

“Sahajiya are the worst enemy because by imitating not only their own self is going to hell but they are attracting so many towards that.”

Question: “Which is worse, someone who falls down and becomes disconnected or one who becomes sahajiya?”

Srila Sridhar Maharaj: A poor man is better or a dacoit is better? A man had money but then he lost his money. Another man he is imitating that he has got money by committing a wrong thing. If one is disconnected he may be reconnected soon. Sahajiya means either he had real connection with the truth, disconnected then chose the wrong path or already he is engaged in the wrong path. Who will be in the better position? Not to get the real thing or to get some wrong thing — which will be better? Who is in the possession of the wrong thing Bhagavad Gita mentions that to be in tama-guna, the lowest position — one thinks A to be B. And raja-guna that is doubt: whether this is real or that is real — can’t ascertain what is true. And one who thinks that, “No, A is B or B is A” — this is the worst kind of error. Misguided, sahajiya means misguided, they are accepting matter as consciousness.

viṣayi tabu bhālo māyāvādi saṅga nāhi māgi kono khālo

I have got no money and another says — he has got really no money — some false papers and he says this is money [counterfeit]. He is in more distress: he is engaged in falsehood. And this man is not engaged, no engagement. The engagement he had is gone. But this man has taken one thing for another thing — matter for Divine — that is worse. To become sahajiya is worse — mal-possession — engrossed attention captured by the wrong conception. One man earlier had some conception but for some time he is disconnected, again he may get connection — easily. But this man is pre-possessed, to convince him of the truth is more difficult, because his mind is possessed by something — that prejudice.

I heard in my childhood in school, the teacher said that in America there is a school of music and if anyone has got some knowledge of music he will be charged double. And a man who has got no knowledge of music he will only have to pay a single charge. Because he does not know anything he may be taught in an easy way. And one who has got some knowledge of music — double charge. Because what he has gathered in the line of music that should be done away with and then he should be taken in a proper way. So double charge — to make him forget his previous prejudices — so double charge. It is something like that.

No bhakti, no devotion, that is one case and in the name of devotion some non-devotional thing has captured — imitation — that is worse. That is committing offenses. Prabhupada Srila Saraswati Thakur said it is to ridicule the devotees, Mahaprabhu, Rupa, Sanatan. It is to ridicule them. What is prema and what is kama: both are at opposite ends. To accept kama in the name of prema. That is not only heinous, injurious for him but it is to destroy the good name of the Vaishnava in public.

Bhaktivinode Thakur says, dekho bhāi kāme preme veda naya — similar — tabu kāma preme nāhi haya — still the lust is not love. Tumite bolite kāma: you have accepted lust in place of love and if you give the stamp that this is prema — rakta vaṅśa mayo kāma, this is concerned with flesh and blood, prema cidānanda dhāma, and love is on the highest position of the spiritual existence.

So opposites: this Sumeru… South Pole and North Pole — the opposite. One concerned with this body and another SuperSoul. There is a great gulf between: the ocean of dedication. At the top of dedication there is that sort of gopi-prema: wherever there is Krishna, it is there. And this is an imitation to that — treachery in the name.

Koṭi mukta ‘durlabha’ madhye eka kṛṣṇa-bhakta: these things are to be considered. It is possible in the highest position of the spiritual existence, that conscious area — spiritual. And not any concern with flesh and blood — body — not concerned with the body. This is the most heinous: one will play the part of Krishna and the other lady will play the part of gopi, they will unite and in that fashion they will… this is inconceivable! An ordinary pure type of man, a moral man, will hate this, what to speak of the higher devotees. An ordinary moral man will hate these sort of things.

The steps are shown to us:

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo ’tha bhajana-kriyā
tato ’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā ruchis tataḥ

athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañchati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ

What is anartha? Anartha nivritti, nishtha, ruchi, asakti, bhava, prema. These are the steps. And from another standpoint:

vaikuṇṭhera pṛthivy-ādi sakala cinmaya
māyika bhūtera tathi janma nāhi haya

I repeatedly tell this. From where are we born? We are the offspring of tatastha-shakti, marginal potency. And we are to go through swarupa-shakti, that which is higher than us, that soil is of higher stuff than I myself am made of. All superior: earth, air, water, tree, mud, everything to be found there, they are all superior to me. So I am to enter there. It is not a small thing, easy thing — a childish thing.

It is not in the hand of the person who will go there — enter there. All dependent upon the grace of the superior — Vaishnava-kripa — Guru-kripa, Vaishnava-kripa. We are to walk there on our head not by leg. All Guru: the soil is guru, the paraphernalia is guru — means superior. I am made of lower stuff and that is all higher stuff. And it is impossible, so up to mukti, liberation, that may be easy, but then to go further that must be drawn by there grace and not as a matter of right anyone can enter the realm. Only through wholesale, cent percent grace of the child of that soil, that camp, can take me there. Like a bondsman, an agent of that soil must be the guarantor for me. For his risk I can go. He will take the risk of taking me there. So Vaishnava-Guru, they will take the risk, at their risk they can take me there — the child of the soil. So Vaishnava-kripa, Guru-kripa, Bhagavat-kripa — without their grace — no right, all grace, that can take me there. From our side no right. I am a child of the marginal potency. Everything, the whole stuff of that plane is made of higher stuff than my own position. It is all ‘person’ and they are superior persons. How a person can walk on the head of the person? Only for their interest. It is inconceivable and impossible. To accept this principle that is most difficult what to speak of entering there.

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante, jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ

To have this conception, that is also very rarely found.

muktānām api siddhānāṁ nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ
sudurlabhaḥ praśāntātmā koṭiṣv api mahā-mune

It is easy to think but it is hard to attain, to get. No right can be established there: not as a matter of right we can go. So the rights seeker, they will be totally frustrated. All risk no gain. But if somehow we can attain, we can reach there — all gain, no risk. So to become a Vaishnava proper is almost impossible. It is only a matter of grace from that land. They can go. Nothing to do from our side.

So complete surrender: full, complete identification with Their interest. Complete self-forgetfulness. And the identification with the interest of that layer, that plane, that also should be substantial, then we can hope to be taken to that soil.

vaikuṇṭhera pṛthivy-ādi sakala cinmaya
māyika bhūtera tathi janma nāhi haya

A devotee of Uddhava’s caliber says, he prays, that if I can be a creeper here, I shall consider it to be my fortune to the highest extent. In Vrindavan the creeper is such a valuable thing that Uddhava is aspiring after that position. Whom the Lord says, “You are the most favorite devotee of Mine, even I love you more than My own self.” And that Uddhava is aspiring after that birth that I can be… this is not hyperbolic. If there is any reality in this, then how are we to prepare? He is aspiring to be a shrub or a blade of grass and I shall have to walk over that place. I shall have to walk over the head of Uddhava. So such a higher conception that thing may have — ha, ridicules! Sahajiya.

Sahajiya: by imitation here in the flesh and blood, they will achieve that. They are the worst enemy because by imitating not only their own self is going to hell but they are attracting so many towards that. Not conscious of the fact: what is what. So they have got their position in the society like that — hate. The general society has got hate for them, those babajis.

We have to put faith in our Guru Maharaja... after wandering through the whole of Braja Mandal he came and striking his forehead he told, “It is my misfortune that I could not find a single Vaishnava in this Braja Mandal.” That was his utterance. “It is my misfortune.” He pressed his hand to his forehead: “It is my misfortune that I could not find a single Vaishnava in this great holy place of Braja Mandal.” That was his statement.

And also after he performed Braja Mandal Parikrama who has got recognition as the best of the sahajiya Vaishnavas, the head, he told, “He is a kanistha adhikari. He may be considered as a beginner: admission in the infant class.” Who is considered unanimously to be a siddha-babaji. He has attained the highest position among the babajis. But Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur told he has got admission into the primary class — in Patrika [a magazine] in writing he told that — in Gaudiya Patrika. And we are trained accordingly and consciously not blind faith. He explained to us what is what. And we try to follow his direction. And we have also come to such conclusion. Step by step we are to climb to the highest peak.

karmibhyaḥ parito hareḥ priyatayā vyaktiṁ yayur jñāninas
tebhyo jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ premaika-niṣṭhās tataḥ…

Bhakti-parama—Narada; premaika-nistha—Uddhava.

…tebhyas tāḥ paśu-pāla-paṅkaja-dṛśas tābhyo ’pi sā rādhikā
preṣṭhā tadvad iyaṁ tadīya-sarasī tāṁ nāśrayet kaḥ kṛtī

These shall be our guiding mantram.

It is all mental concoction — imitation. Imitation, that is orse, that is hateful — filthy. In the name of that higher love if we represent this fleshy connection with the body. And the mind that cultivates that thing, that is the most hateful thing. Avoid, we shall try to avoid with the utmost will and energy.

The scientific survey of the land is possible to our soul’s eye. That Kaviraja Goswami’s: vaikuṇṭhera pṛthivy-ādi sakala cinmaya, and we must understand that. That is true: after brahmaloka [the brahmajyoti], Viroja, brahmaloka: what is Viroja? What is brahmaloka? We are in such a material position we cannot understand this lower process also.

indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ
manasas tu parā buddhir yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ

We can’t follow what is our soul. This world, we perceive it through our senses, that is higher, the mind receives through the senses, worldly experience, over mind there is the faculty of judgment within us, over that there is soul proper and then there is the SuperSoul, brahmaloka, Vaikuntha, Viroja, so many things — layers. We cannot find out our own soul — what it is — what is the characteristic of our own soul! We are far away from that conception, in a hopeless position and we say that the highest conception of the Paramatma World is in our fist? Foolish thing!

Where is my real identification in the spiritual position then that soul will have to go higher and higher crossing the more valuable planes he is to go up. It is a farce!

In conclusion, the sahajiya imitationists should be considered as the enemy. The enemy means like that Quisiling of Norway. As with Vibhishan, his own brother was Ravana, the enemy who sprung up from the womb — his own family.

Imitation is bad. Imitation of the ordinary thing is rather better than imitation of the highest thing. That the highest thing is being exploited in such a low manner should be condemned with extreme hatred.

We can’t see our own soul — that is our position. Engrossed in this gross matter of exploitation not even we can know what is our mind — what stuff it is made of; then what is justice, the judgment faculty within us — buddhi — independent of this world; then the soul; then SuperSoul area. Living in this mundane world dreaming that I have got the God of my dreams — it is a farce!