Assorted writings (1926-1935)

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Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura’s

Assorted Writings 1926-1935

Initiation into Spiritual Life

Written in December, 1928, and published in The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)

The ceremony of diksha or initiation is that by which the spiritual Preceptor admits one to the status of a neophyte on the path of spiritual endeavour. The ceremony tends to confer spiritual enlightenment by abrogating sinfulness. Its actual effect depends on the degree of willing co-operation on the part of the disciple and is, therefore, not the same in all cases. It does not preclude the possibility of reversion on the novice to the non-spiritual state, if he slackens in his effort or misbehaves. Initiation puts a person on the true track and also imparts an initial impulse to go ahead. It cannot, however, keep one going for good unless one chooses to put forth his own voluntary effort. The nature of the initial impulse also varies in accordance with the condition of the recipient. But although the mercy of the good preceptor enables us to have a glimpse of the Absolute and of the path of His attainment, the seed that is thus sown requires very careful tending under the direction of the preceptor, if it is to germinate and grow into the fruit-and-shade-giving tree. Unless our soul of his own accord chooses to serve Krishna after obtaining a working idea of his real nature, he cannot long retain the Spiritual Vision. The soul is never compelled by Krishna to serve Him.

But initiation is never altogether futile. It changes the outlook of the disciple on life. If he sins after initiation, he may fall into greater depths of degradation than the uninitiated. But although even after initiation temporary set-backs may occur, they do not ordinarily prevent the final deliverance. The faintest glimmering of the real knowledge of the Absolute has sufficient power to change radically and for good the whole of our mental and physical constitution and this glimmering is incapable of being totally extinguished except in extraordinarily unfortunate cases.

It is undoubtedly practicable for the initiated, if only he is willing, to follow the directions of the preceptor that lead by slow degrees to the Absolute. The good preceptor is verily the savior of fallen souls. It is, however, very rarely that a person with modern culture feels inclined to submit to the guidance of another specially in spiritual matters. But the very person submits readily enough to the direction of a physician for being cured of his bodily ailments. Because these latter cannot be ignored without consequences that are patent to everybody. The evil that results from our neglect of the ailments of the soul is of a nature that paralyses and deludes our understanding and prevents the recognitions of itself. Its gravity is not recognized as it does not apparently stand in the way of our worldly activities with the same directness as the other. The average cultured man is, therefore, at liberty to ask questions without realizing any pressing necessity of submitting to the treatment of spiritual maladies at the hands of a really competent physician.

The questions that are frequently asked are as these: ‘Why should it be at all necessary to submit to any particular person or to subscribe to any particular ceremony for the purpose of realizing

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the Absolute Who by His nature in unconditioned? Why should Krishna require our formal declaration of submission to Himself? Would it not be more generous and logical to permit us to live a life of freedom in accordance with the principles of our perverted nature which is also His creation. Admitting that it is our duty to serve Krishna, why should we have to be introduced to Him by a third party? Why is it impossible for one to serve Sri Krishna directly?’ It would no doubt be highly convenient and helpful to be instructed by a good preceptor who is well-versed in the Scriptures in understanding the same. But one should never submit to another to an extent that may furnish a rascal with an opportunity of really doing harm. The bad preceptor is a familiar character. It is inexplicable how those gurus who live in open sin contrive nevertheless to retain the unquestioning allegiance of the cultured portion of their disciples.

Such being the case, can we blame any person who hesitates to submit unconditionally to a preceptor, whether he is good or bad? It is of course necessary to be quite sure of the bonafide of a person before we accept him even tentatively as our spiritual guide. A preceptor should be a person who appears likely to possess those qualities that will enable him it improve our spiritual condition.

Those and similar thoughts are likely to occur to most persons who have received an English education, when they are asked to accept the help of any particular person as his spiritual preceptor. The literature, science and art of the West, body forth the principle of the liberty of the individual and denounce the mentality that leads one to surrender to however superior a person his right of choosing his own course. They inculcate the necessity and high value of having faith in oneself.

But the good preceptor claims our sincere and complete allegiance. The good disciple makes a complete surrender of himself at the feet of the preceptor. But the submission of the disciple is neither irrational or blind. It is complete on condition that the preceptor himself continues to be altogether good. The disciple retains the right of renouncing his allegiance to the preceptor the moment he is satisfied that the preceptor is a fallible creature like himself. Nor does a good preceptor accept any one as his disciple unless the latter is prepared to submit to him freely. A good preceptor is in duty bound to renounce a disciple who is not sincerely willing to follow his instructions fully. If a preceptor accepts as his disciple one who refuses to be wholly guided by him, or if a disciple submits to a preceptor who is not wholly good, such preceptor and such disciple are, both of them, doomed to fall from their spiritual state.

No one is a good preceptor who has not realised the Absolute. One who has realised the Absolute is saved from the necessity of walking on the worldly path. The good preceptor who lives the spiritual life is, therefore, bound to be wholly good. He should be wholly free from any desire for anything of this world whether good or bad. The categories of good and bad do not exist in the Absolute. In the Absolute everything is good. We can have no idea in our present state of this absolute goodness. Submission to the Absolute is not real unless it is also itself absolute. It is on the plane of the Absolute that the disciple is required to submit completely to the good preceptor. On the material plane there can be no such thing as complete submission. The pretence of complete submission to the bad preceptor is responsible for the corruptions that are found in the relationship of the ordinary worldly guru and his equally worldly-minded disciples.

All honest thinkers will realise the logical propriety of the position set forth above. But most persons will be disposed to believe that a good preceptor in the above sense may not be found in this world. This is really so. Both the good preceptor and his disciple belong to the spiritual realm. But spiritual discipleship is nevertheless capable of being realised by persons who belong to this world. Otherwise there wold be no religion at all in the world. But because the spiritual life happens to be realizable in this world it does not follow that it is the worldly existence which is capable of being improved into the spiritual. As a matter of fact the one is perfectly

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incompatible with the other. They are categorically different from one another. The good preceptor although he appears to belong to this world is not really of this world. No one who belongs to this world can deliver us from worldliness. The good preceptor is a denizen of the spiritual world who has been enabled by the will of God to appear in this world in order to enable us to realise the spiritual existence.

The much vaunted individual liberty is a figment of the diseased imagination. We are bound willingly or unwillingly to submit to the laws of God in the material as well as in the spiritual world. The hankering for freedom in defiance of His laws is the cause of all our miseries. The total abjuration of all hankering for such freedom is the condition of admission to the spiritual realm. In this world we desire this freedom but are compelled against our will to submit to the inexorable laws of physical nature. This is the unnatural state. Such unwilling for forced submission does not admit us into the spiritual realm. In this world the moral principle, indeed claims our willing submission. But even morality also is a curtailment of freedom necessitated by the peculiar circumstances of this world. The soul who does not belong to this world is in a state of open or court rebellion against submission to an alien domination. It is by his very constitution capable of submitting willingly only to the Absolute.

The good preceptor asks the struggling soul to submit not to the laws of this world which will only rivet its chains but to the higher law of the spiritual realm. The pretence of submission to the laws of the spiritual realm without the intention of really carrying them out into practice is often mistaken for genuine submission by reason of the absence of fullness of conviction. In this world the fully convinced state is non-existent. We are, therefore, compelled in all cases to act on make-believes viz. the so-called working hypotheses. The good preceptor tells us to change this method of activity which we have learnt from our experience of this world. He invites us first of all to be really and fully informed of the nature and laws of the other world which happens to be eternally and categorically different from this phenomenal world. If we do not sincerely submit to be instructed in the alphabets of the life eternal but go on perversely asserting however unconsciously our present processes and so-called convictions against the instructions of the preceptor in the period of novitiate we are bound to remain where we are. This also will amount to the practical rejection of all advice because the two worlds have nothing in common though at the same time we naturally fail to understand this believing all the time in accordance with our accustomed methods that we are at any rate partially following the preceptor. But as a matter of fact when we reserve the right of choice we really follow ourselves, because even when we seem to agree to follow the preceptor it is because he appears to be in agreement with ourselves. But as the two worlds have absolutely nothing in common we are only under a delusion when we suppose that we really understand the method or the object of the preceptor or in other words reserve the right of assertion of the apparent self. Faith in the scriptures can alone help us in this otherwise unpracticable endeavour. We believe in the preceptor with the help of the shastras when we understand neither. As soon as we are fully convinced of the necessity of submitting unambiguously to the good preceptor it is then and only then that he is enabled to show us the way into the spiritual world in accordance with the method laid down in the shastras of that purpose which he can apply properly and without perpetrating a fatal blunder in as much as he himself happens to belong to the realm of the spirit.

The crux of the matter lies not in the external nature of the ceremony of initiation as it appears to us because that is bound to be unintelligible to us being an affair of the other world, but in the conviction of the necessity and the successful choice of a really good preceptor. We can attain to the conviction of the necessity of the help of a good preceptor by the exercise of our unbiased reason in the light of our ordinary experience. When once this conviction has been truly formed Sri Krishna Himself helps us in finding the really good preceptor in two ways. In the first place he instructs us as regards the character and functions of a good preceptor through the revealed Shastras. In the second place He Himself sends to us the good preceptor himself at the moment when we are at all likely to benefit by his instructions. The good preceptor also comes to us

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when we reject him. In such cases also it is certainly Krishna Who sends him to us for no reason what-so-ever. Krishna has revealed from eternity the tidings of the spiritual realm in the form of transcendental sounds that have been handed down in the records of the spiritual Scriptures all over the world. The spiritual Scriptures help all those who are prepared to exercise this reason for the purpose of finding not the relative but the Absolute Truth to find out the proper instructor in accordance with their directions. The only good preceptor is he who can make us really understand the spiritual scriptures and they enable us realise the necessity and the nature of submission to the processes laid down in them. But there is still every chance of foul play. A very clever man or a magician may pass himself off as a person who can properly explain the Scriptures by means of his greater knowledge or deceptive arts. It is very important, therefore, that we should be on our guard against such tricks. The Scholar as well as the magician pretend to explain the Scriptures only in terms of the object or happenings of this world. But the Scriptures themselves declare that they do not tell us at all of the thing of this world. Those who are liable to be deluded by the arts of pervert yogis who persuade themselves into believing that the spiritual is identical with the perversion, distortion or defiance of the laws of physical nature. The laws of physical nature are not unreal. They govern the relation of all relative existences(.) In our present state it is therefore, always possible for another who possesses the power or the knowledge to demonstrate the merely tentative character of what we choose to regard as our deepest convictions by exposing their insufficiency or inapplicability. But such surprises as they belong to the realm of the phenomenal, have nothing to do with the Absolute. Those who have an unspiritual partiality for scholarship or for magic fall into the clutches of the pseudo-religionists. The serious plight of these victims of their own perversity will be realised from the fact that no one can be delivered from the state of ignorance by the method of compulsion. It is not possible to save the man who refuses on principle to listen to the voice of reason. The empiric pedants are no exception to this rule.

The plain meaning of the Shastras should, therefore, be our only guide in the search of the good preceptor when we actually feel the need of his guidance. The Scriptures have defined the good preceptor as one who himself leads the spiritual life. It is not any worldly qualifications that make the good preceptor. It is by unreserved submission to such a preceptor that we can be helped to reenter into the realm that is our real home but which unfortunately is veritable terra incognita to almost all of us at present and also impossible of access to one body and mind alike which is the result of the disease of abuse of our faculty of free reason and the consequent accumulation of a killing load of worldly experiences which we have learnt to regard as the very stuff of our existence.

Thakura Bhaktivinoda

Published by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in "The Harmonist", December 1931, vol. XXIX No.6

We avail of the opportunity offered by the Anniversary Celebrations of the advent of Thakuraa Bhaktivinoda to reflect on the right method of obtaining those benefits that have been made accessible to humanity by the grace of this great devotee of Krsna. Thakura Bhaktivinoda has been specifically kind to those unfortunate persons who are engrossed in mental speculation of all kinds. This is the prevalent malady of the present Age. The other acaryas who appeared before Thakura Bhaktivinoda did not address their discourses so directly to the empiric thinkers. They had been more merciful to those who are naturally disposed to listen to discourses on the Absolute without being dissuaded by the specious arguments of avowed opponents of Godhead.

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Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda has taken the trouble of meeting the perverse arguments of mental speculationists by the superior transcendental logic of the Absolute Truth. It is thus possible for the average modern readers to profit by the perusal of his writings. That day is not far distant when the priceless volumes penned by Thakura Bhaktivinoda will be reverently translated, by the recipients of his grace, into all the languages of the world.

The writings of Thakura Bhaktivinoda provide the golden bridge by which the mental speculationist can safely cross the raging waters of fruitless empiric controversies that trouble the peace of those who choose to trust in their guidance for finding the Truth. As soon as the sympathetic reader is in a position to appreciate the sterling quality of Thakura Bhaktivinoda's philosophy the entire vista of the revealed literatures of the world will automatically open out to his reclaimed vision.

There have, however, already arisen serious misunderstandings regarding the proper interpretation of the life and teachings of Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda. Those who suppose they understand the meaning of his message without securing the guiding grace of the Acarya are disposed to unduly favour the methods of empiric study of his writings. There are persons who have got by heart almost everything that he wrote without being able to catch the least particle of his meaning. Such study cannot benefit those who are not prepared to act up to the instructions lucidly conveyed by his words. There is no honest chance of missing the warnings of Thakura Bhaktivinoda. Those, therefore, who are misled by the perusal of his writings are led astray by their own obstinate perversity in sticking to the empiric course which they prefer to cherish against his explicit warnings. Let these unfortunate persons look more carefully into their own hearts for the cause of their misfortunes.

The personal service of the pure devotee is essential for understanding the spiritual meaning of the words of Thakura Bhaktivinoda. The Editor of this Journal, originally started by Thakura Bhaktivinoda, has been trying to draw the attention of all followers of Thakura Bhaktivinoda to this all-important point of his teachings. It is not necessary to try to place ourselves on a footing of equality with Thakura Bhaktivinoda. We are not likely to benefit by any mechanical imitation of any practices of Thakura Bhaktivinoda on the opportunist principle that they may be convenient for us to adopt. The Guru is not an erring mortal whose activities can be understood by the fallible reason of unreclaimed humanity. There is an eternally impassable line of demarcation between the Saviour and the saved. Those who are really saved can alone know this.Thakura Bhaktivinoda belongs to the category of the spiritual world-teachers who eternally occupy the superior position.

The present Editor has all along felt it his paramount duty to try to clear up the meaning of the life and teachings of Thakura Bhaktivinoda by the method of submissive listening to the Transcendental Sound from the lips of the pure devotee. The Guru who realises the transcendental meaning of all sounds, is in a position to serve the Absolute by the direction of the Absolute conveyed through every sound. The Transcendental Sound is Godhead, the mundane sound is non-Godhead. All sound has got these opposite aptitudes. All sound reveals its Divine face to the devotee and only presents its deluding aspect to the empiric pedant. The devotee talks apparently the same language as the deluded empiric pedant who had got by heart the vocabulary of the Scriptures. But notwithstanding apparent identity of performance, the one has no access to the reality while the other is absolutely free from all delusion.

Those who repeat the teachings of Thakura Bhaktivinoda from memory do not necessarily understand the meaning of the words they mechanically repeat. Those who can pass an empiric examination regarding the contents of his writings are not necessarily also self-realised souls. They may not at all know the real meaning of the words they have learnt by the method of empiric study.Take for example the Name "Krsna". Every reader of Thakura Bhaktivinoda's works must be aware that the Name manifests Himself on the lips of His serving devotees

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although He is inaccessible to our mundane senses. It is one thing to pass the examination by reproducing this true conclusion from the writings of Thakura Bhaktivinoda and quite another matter to realise the Nature of the Holy Name of Krsna by the process conveyed by the words.

Thakura Bhaktivinoda did not want us to go to the clever mechanical reciter of the mundane sound for obtaining access to the Transcendental Name of Krsna. Such a person may be fully equipped with all the written arguments in explanation of the nature of the Divine Name. But if we listen to all these arguments from the dead source the words will only increase our delusion. The very same words coming from the lips of the devotee will have the diametrically opposite effect. Our empiric judgment can never grasp the difference between the two performances. The devotee is always right. The non-devotee in the shape of the empiric pedant is always and necessarily wrong. In the one case there is always present the Substantive Truth and nothing but the Substantive Truth. In the other case there is present the apparent or misleading hypothesis and nothing but un-truth. The wording may have the same external appearance in both cases. The identical verses of the Scriptures may be recited by the devotee and the non-devotee, may be apparently misquoted by the non-devotee but the corresponding values of the two processes remain always categorically different. The devotee is right even when he apparently misquotes, the non-devotee is wrong even when he quotes correctly the very words, chapter and verse of the Scriptures.

It is not empiric wisdom that is the object of quest of the devotee. Those who read the scriptures for gathering empiric wisdom will be pursuing the wild goose chase. There are not a few dupes of their empiric Scriptural erudition. These dupes have their admiring under-dupes. But the mutual admiration society of dupes does not escape, by the mere weight of their number, the misfortunes due to the deliberate pursuit of the wrong course in accordance with the suggestions of our lower selves.

What are the Scriptures? They are nothing but the record by the pure devotees of the Divine Message appearing on the lips of the pure devotees. The Message conveyed by the devotees is the same in all ages. The words of the devotees are ever identical with the Scriptures. Any meaning of the Scriptures that belittles the function of the devotee who is the original communicant of the Divine Message contradicts its own claim to be heard. Those who think that the Sanskrit language in its lexicographical sense is the language of the Divinity are as deluded as those who hold that the Divine Message is communicable through any other spoken dialects. All languages simultaneously express and hide the Absolute. The mundane face of all languages hides the Truth. The Transcendental face of all sound expresses nothing but the Absolute. The pure devotee is the speaker of the Transcendental language. The Transcendental Sound makes His appearance on the lips of His pure devotee. This is the direct, unambiguous appearance of Divinity. On the lips of non-devotees the Absolute always appears in His deluding aspect. To the pure devotee the Absolute reveals Himself under all circumstances. To the conditioned soul, if he is disposed to listen in a truly submissive spirit, the language of the pure devotee can alone impart the knowledge of the Absolute. The conditioned soul mistakes the deluding for the real aspect when he chooses to lend his ear to the non-devotee. This is the reason why the conditioned soul is warned to avoid all association with non-devotees.

Thakura Bhaktivinoda is acknowledged by all his sincere followers as possessing the above powers of the pure devotee of Godhead. His words have to be received from the lips of a pure devotee. If his words are listened from the lips of a non-devotee they will certainly deceive. If his works are studied in the light of one's own worldly experience their meaning will refuse to disclose itself to such readers. His works belong to the class of the eternal revealed literature of the world and must be approached for their right understanding through their exposition by the pure devotee. If no help from the pure devotee is sought the works of Thakura Bhaktivinoda will be grossly misunderstood by their readers. The attentive reader of those works will find that he

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is always directed to throw himself upon the mercy of the pure devotee if he is not to remain unwarrantably self-satisfied by the deluding results of his wrong method of study.

The writings of Thakura Bhaktivinoda are valuable because they demolish all empiric objections against accepting the only method of approaching the Absolute in the right way. They cannot and were never intended to give access to the Absolute without help from the pure devotee of Krsna. They direct the sincere enquirer of the Truth, as all the revealed scriptures do, to the pure devotee of Krsna to learn about Him by submitting to listen with an open mind to the Transcendental Sound appearing on His lips. Before we open any of the books penned by Thakura Bhaktivinoda we should do well to reflect a little on the attitude, with which as the indispensable pre-requisite, to approach its study. It is by neglecting to remember this fundamental principle that the empiric pedants find themselves so hopelessly puzzled in their vain endeavour to reconcile the statements of the different texts of the Scriptures. The same difficulty is already in process of overtaking many of the so-called followers of Thakura Bhaktivinoda and for the same reason.

The person to whom the Acarya is pleased to transmit his power is alone in a position to convey the Divine Message. This constitutes the underlying principle of the line of succession of the spiritual teachers. The Acarya thus authorised has no other duty than that of delivering intact the message received from all his predecessors. There is no difference between the pronouncements of one Acarya and another. All of them are perfect mediums for the appearance of the Divinity in the Form of the Transcendental Name Who is identical with His Form, Quality, Activity and Paraphernalia.

The Divinity is Absolute Knowledge. Absolute Knowledge has the character of indivisible Unity. One particle of the Absolute Knowledge is capable of revealing all the potency of the Divinity. Those who want to understand the contents of the volumes penned by the piece-meal acquisitive method applicable to deluding knowledge available to the mind on the mundane plane, are bound to be self-deceived. Those who are sincere seekers of the Truth are alone eligible to find Him, in and through the proper method of His quest.

In order to be put on the track of the Absolute, listening to the words of the pure devotee is absolutely necessary. The spoken word of the Absolute is the Absolute. It is only the Absolute Who can give Himself away to the constituents of His power. The Absolute appears to the listening ear of the conditioned soul in the form of the Name on the lips of the sadhu. This is the key to the whole position. The words of Thakura Bhaktivinoda direct the empiric pedant to discard his wrong method and inclination on the threshold of the real quest of the Absolute. If the pedant still chooses to carry his errors into the Realm of the Absolute Truth he only marches by a deceptive bye-path into the regions of darker ignorance by his arrogant study of the scriptures. The method offered by Thakura Bhaktivinoda is identical with the object of the quest. The method is not really grasped except by the grace of the pure devotee. The arguments, indeed, are these. But they can only corroborate, but can never be a substitute for, the word from the living source of the Truth who is no other than the pure devotee of Krsna, the concrete Personal Absolute.

Thakura Bhaktivinoda's greatest gift to the world consists in this; that he has brought about the appearance of those pure devotees who are, at present, carrying on the movement of unalloyed devotion to the Feet of Shree Krsna by their own wholetime spiritual service of the Divinity. The purity of the soul is only analogously describable by the resources of the mundane language. The highest ideal of empiric morality is no better than the grossest wickedness to the Transcendental perfect purity of the bonafide devotee of the Absolute. The word 'morality' itself is a mischievous misnomer when it is applied to any quality of the conditioned soul. The hypocritical contentment with a negative attitude is part and parcel of the principle of undiluted immorality.

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Those who pretend to recognise the Divine Mission of Thakura Bhaktivinoda without aspiring to the unconditional service of those pure souls who really follow the teachings of the Thakura by the method enjoined by the scriptures and explained by Thakura Bhaktivinoda in a way that is so eminently suited to the requirements of the sophisticated mentality of the present Age, only deceive themselves and their willing victims by their hypocritical professions and performances. These persons must not be confounded with the bona-fide members of the flock.

Thakura Bhaktivinoda has predicted the consummation of religious unity of the world by the appearance of the only universal church which bears the eternal designation of the Brahma Sampradaya. He has given mankind the blessed assurance that all Theistic churches will shortly merge in the one eternal spiritual community by the grace of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya. The spiritual community is not circumscribed by the conditions of time and space, race and nationality. Mankind had been looking forward to this far-off Divine Event through the Long Ages. Thakura Bhaktivinoda has made the conception available in its practicable spiritual form to the open minded empiricist who is prepared to undergo the process of enlightenment. The key stone of the Arch has been laid which will afford the needed shelter to all awakened animation under its ample encircling arms. Those who would thoughtlessly allow their hollow pride of race, pseudo-knowledge or pseudo-virtue to stand in the way of this long hoped for consummation, would have to thank only themselves for not being incorporated in the spiritual society of all pure souls.

These plain words need not be misrepresented, by arrogant persons who are full of the vanity of empiric ignorance, as the pronouncements of aggressive sectarianism. The aggressive pronouncement of the concrete Truth is the crying necessity of the moment for silencing the aggressive propaganda of specific untruths that is being carried on all over the world by the preachers of empiric contrivances for the amelioration of the hard lot of conditioned souls. The empiric propaganda clothes itself in the language of negative abstraction for deluding those who are engrossed in the selfish pursuit of worldly enjoyment.

But there is a positive and concrete function of the pure soul which should not be perversely confounded with any utilitarian form of worldly activity. Mankind stands in need of that positive spiritual function of which the hypocritical impersonalists are in absolute ignorance. The positive function of the soul harmonises the claims of extreme selfishness with those of extreme self-abnegation in the society of pure souls even in this mundane world. In its concrete realisable form the function is perfectly inaccessible to the empiric understanding. Its imperfect and misleading conception alone is available by the study of the Scriptures to the conditioned soul that is not helped by the causeless grace of the pure devotees of Godhead.

The Forgetfulness Of the Humanists

Published in "The Harmonist", September 19th, 1934 - Vol XXI No.2

The Fountainhead of all eternal and temporal manifestations is confined in Sri Krsna alone. The non-absolute phases are emanations from a particular potency whose analytical distributions are known as gunas or qualities. In the factor of time, they are branched as past, present and future and their material representations have three characteristics viz. evolution, sustenance and dissolution. The Fountainhead is Absolute and His borderland emanations are absolute

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infinitesimals, though they are recognised in the same qualities. Their quantitative reference is then considered as apart from the Absolute, but swayed by a quality and their special characteristic is that the infinitesimal bearing should not be confused with the Infinitude.

The resources of manifestive nature have their common origin in the absolute existence of the Fountainhead. The delegation of the power of the Absolute Infinity is traced in the spirit and the matter. The family of qualitative temporal representations possesses numerous isolated entities and so the absolute infinitesimals are grouped together in magnatudinal difference form the Fountainhead.

The present human figure or the figure of a member of the Zoo or of one of the family of the phytographic species has got a restrictive and depending position and it is liable to change in the shape of growth and deterioration. The internal nature of the absolute-infinitesimals is spirit and takes the initiative; whereas, the difference of quality cannot show the power of taking initiative, similar to that of living entities.

The two potencies possessed by the Fountainhead are known as spiritual and material. The frame of the living should never be confused with the life itself. so there is a broad distinction of aspects between the two families of spirit and matter. The predominating phase is exercised in the material atmosphere which is liable to be controlled by animation. The animal world differs from materialistic structure, though it is endowed with a material association in its outward appearance.

We may often distinguish between a living body and a dead one. The generative advent has a smaller beginning to undergo development and growth and the elimination of the life principle from the structure itself has got different denominations.

In the Semitic thought we do not find any metensomatosistic speculation; so they are prone to consider the spirit as a composition of chanced incident, and this material combination as the starting point of the souls. So these thoughts are opposed to the theory inculcated by the conception of seelanwanderung or metempsychosis. The spiritistic view is quite different from the idea of material congregation which is wrongly considered as the composition of the eternal soul. On the other hand, the non-Semitic thoughts make a departure from the Semitic ideas of non-transmigrating accidental composition.

The explanation of the different methods of the two bearings - the tabernacle and the inner temporal animating entity - can lead us to a differing element in the transcendental entity beyond our sensuous conception when we bring into consideration the true eternal position of the absolute infinitesimals, by following the analogy of wrapping the entity by two kinds of garments covering the same as incorporations. The covers, though foreign, are amalgamated to create a confusion of their natural isolated position.

Portions of matter, in the factor of time, are liable to change. But the substratum - the spirit - is not obliged to undergo transformation like the foreign parts attached to the same by conventional practices. The very theory is explained in other words by the encountering attitude of a different potentia of the Fountainhead to effect the conversions by means of temporary decorations. The exercising function of the spirit is more or less impeded by the counteracting agency of a different potency of the Absolute. So the susceptibility of being attacked is an inevitable element in the spirit infinitesimal which is different from the spiritual Infinite.

Conversion in or mixing with the temporary material dust should not and cannot disable or disfigure the Spirit Infinity, as the value of spirits infinitesimals should not and could not be identical with the Fountainhead and His emanation, just like a particular pencil of ray should not be misconceived as the glowing disc from which the rays come. The Absolute Fountainhead of

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spirit should not be considered to slumber like absolute infinitesimals who are subject to the other potentia of the Absolute.

The nature of the spirits of borderland potency of the Fountainhead need not be affirmed with the objective knowledge of the mixed up conception. The nature of the Absolute Infinite should not be standardised in the same line as His infinitesimals. The spirits are observed in two different stages; whereas the eternal Fountainhead of all spirits has no bifurcation. The Absolute Infinite cannot be expected to be accommodated in the finite reference of phenomena which have limiting merits.

The Fountainhead alone has the reservation of Ubiquity; whereas all ubiquitous aspects are wanting in infinitesimals. So isolation and association of infinitesimals with the Infinite should not be recognised as two different entities. Pleasure and pain are of the same temporary stay and they are counted differently in their gradatory condition.

The eternal and temporal potencies have got their two realms, and on the border of the two, the border-land potentia can easily be traced. The members of the border-land potency can claim one of the two potencies at a time which are double-winged places of their habitation. The mundane phenomena have got a temporal situation; whereas, the eternal manifestations of the Transcendence are not subject to the atmosphere of inadequacy, limit and imperfection of phenomena.

The border-land potency can be traced to exhibit her neutral position which is normal and does not espouse at that time the cause of temporal or eternal manifestation of the Fountainhead. The members of this potency are apt to be forgetful of their eternal situation, when they have stronger affinity to live in this temporal region as lords and by their inherent free-will want not to submit to their eternal functions of the transcendence.

The forgetful demeanor posed by a member of the border-land potency cannot welcome the guidance of the eternal blissful wisdom of a devotee. The misguiding and tempting objects of phenomena often dictate the necessity, in the heart of a weak, cringing forgetful spirit, of his wonted participation in the enjoyment of this material sphere.

The eternal acquisition of the members of the border-land potency cannot be dissociated from their persons. The impersonalist has got a non-differentiative impression of all spirits into one. If an erroneous argument is offered by a silly person of his having been endowed with the susceptibilities of forgetfulness of his eternal function, and therefore, because the Fountainhead is to be blamed for delegating to him inadequate power, he should not have been held responsible for the incomplete investiture on him alone with complete freedom, then this polemic character of the Semitic school can easily be met by an acquaintance of prepossession of spiritual independent element inherent in the border-land potency to entangle themselves in undesirable situation. Free will of an absolute infinitesimal cannot be denied as a limited quality like the material characteristic of phenomenal nature.

The absolute infinitesimal has got his free will, and by his free will he can either pose himself as a forgetful agent or he can awaken himself for his original eternal function of remembering his own eternal exploits. The Fountainhead does never wish to delude nor oblige His parts - the infinitesimal spirits by devoiding them of such free will but allows them the freedom inherent in them.

The conditioned souls, out of their own discretion, rush into moods quite apathetic for not serving the Fountainhead when He Himself sends His message of delivering them through His messengers who act as spiritual guides to the wrong-doers. Both the Semitic and the non-Semitic people live in the impersonality of the Absolute; whereas, the clear eyes of the devotees

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can see the personality of Godhead as the Fountainhead of many conflicting and contending energies that foster the whims of different parties. Proneness to forgetfulness is afforded by the free will of non-devotees who are found to adopt wrong processes as their guiding principles.

The Correct Angle of Vision

Reproduction of a conversation with Major Rana N. J. Bahadur at Armadale, Darjeeling on June 14th, 1935, originally published in "The Harmonist" on June 27, 1935, Vol. XXXI, No.21.

Question: I cannot understand this world.

Answer: It is camp life. This world is not our original abode. It is meant for certain purposes. After that we are to proceed to our original home. This world is not a desirable place. It is not good to be enticed to stay here for a long time, forgetting our original abode. We stay there with Godhead. We are the eternal servants of Godhead. When we decide to lord it over the universe we are allowed these facilities for temporary purposes. They do not serve our eternal purposes. It would be better to seek for a place where we can find the real peace. Here we are always liable to be disturbed. By these disturbances Providence wants to teach us that world is not our eternal habitation, but that all real peace is to be found in Him. Being thus troubled we would naturally like to go back to the original place. Life in this world should be conducted peacefully instead of in the spirit of retaliation. We should learn to suffer all these things by submitting to His Holy Wishes. If we do so we may have that very peace here. It is because we are ambitious to dominate that we are brought here. Conditions here are so that they dovetail the whole position. If we require more than we are allowed, we are in trouble. We should better go back into our own position, to our only Friend. He is the only Resort of all our needs and desires. But if we take the burden upon ourselves to run into wrong we run into troubles in the shape of our daily transactions. We should not be so tempted. The aesthetic culturer's offers are meant to delude us when they lead us to think this world to be a comfortable place. All real improvement should lead to Godhead. It should give us all useful things by which to get rid of these temptations. As we are men we should lend our ears to know about the better situation of the transcendental world where the best aspects of the Reality are exhibited. Here we suffer from the difficulties of our eclipsed vision. It is, therefore, better to look after that region where all sorts of manifestive Nature are in vogue.

The servitors of Godhead will always look to our interest. Here our friends sometimes like us and sometimes they turn against us. But here there is opportunity of hearing about our original home from the lips of persons who are quite familiar with the same. If we neglect the opportunity we shall repent in the long run. Their words will lift us and change our mentality. All sorts of puzzling questions will be solved if only we give our lending ear to those persons who have very little to do with this world. Our situations in this world are liable to change like fogs and mists. As intelligent men our prudent nature should manage sometimes to hear of the transcendental world and the manifestive nature, instead of being unaccountably diffident. Such incredulous attitude will not give us the opportunity.

This external body will be changed and also our present situations. But we have got a transcendental frame. As soon as we will learn that the transcendental frame is working in us, this mortal coil will cease to trouble. The people of the West think that the mind is the soul. We differ from them. There exists an ample Indian literature in support of the view that the soul is the proprietor of the mind. The mind is the proxy of the soul to deal with the external world in

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five different relations as husband and spouse, master and servant, parent and child, as friend and as neutral. The soul is now enwrapped by some other foreign agency. Body is different from apparel. The soul is enwrapped by the gross and subtle material bodies. They are meant for the use of the soul for a certain period. When the true activity is latented the mind acts with the impetus of the senses alone, covering the soul by the material molecular substances. But the soul is the real entity.

The senses are the working things, some of them for external and some for internal use. Grossness has an attraction for the ordinary run of people. It is meant for such people. Even the so-called philosophers are found to subscribe to the slogan that the gross material body should have the preference in all religious affairs of this world (sariram adhyam kalu dharma sadhanam). They are very busy with the gross and subtle material things, ignoring the very health of the soul. The material things will change. This change sometimes gives us facilities and sometimes hinders our progress. But the soul does not change and cannot be destroyed, although he is susceptible of being covered up by the subtle or abstract form of material grossness in the shape of our passing mentality which is a gift of Maya. She has given us the senses to measure the pleasing things for selfish aggrandisement. Religious people think they need not gratify the senses which are meant to delude only. As for instance we are liable to be deluded if we suppose the air of the atmosphere to be meant for our enjoyment or for the purpose of giving us temporary pleasures. That very opportunity will be taken away to let us know that is is not meant for our good.

We are liable to be troubled by these impeding agents. Their number will show us that they are more numerous than the things that can give us bliss, the only thing that should be sought. The whole ecstatic centre is in Godhead. All pleasing sensation of this world, if properly judged, is found to hold for temporal purposes only, in order to have our fruits later on. It is the training plane. On this plane we are liable to suppose that everything is meant to serve us. But the real truth is that we are to serve Godhead in the five different capacities. It is only when we deem it fit to come down to this world to lord it over other finite entities for our enjoyment that our real position happens to be forgot to some extent. This contingency arises when we want to deprive our Lord. That tendency was innate with us. It led us to prefer this temporal region by our own desire. These entanglements will be slowly removed when the true suggestions will come to us on our meeting with persons who are cognisant of our interest.

Optimistic people are apt to avoid such apparently pessimistic thoughts. They prefer to run into the troubles. But we should have the only Resort in the Absolute. Aural reception is the only track that we should follow. We should be prepared to hear how we can live a peaceful life and aspire after eternal bliss from the Absolute who can give it. Unless we submit to Him there is no possibility of getting to the Eternal Region. If we do otherwise we would be multiplying speculations that will only be checks. Instead of posing as the predominating agent we should pose as predominated agents in order to serve Godhead Who is the Source of all manifestive things; and all activities should tend to Him without hoping for any commercial return. We are Philistians averse to theological thought. We are for making money, earning fame and enjoying pleasures. This is the natural inclination here. All this non-Absolute propaganda is due to aversion to the service of the Absolute. We should, therefore, lend our ear to the descriptions of Transcendence in order to be able to understand how to get the true fruit of the soul instead of being misled by the mind. The mind is the proxy of the soul. He is always on the look-out for aggrandising his own interest at the expense of the principal if the latter thinks to pass his days in indolence, when he will be naturally deluded by the mind. The slumbering soul requires to be roused up. The best use of our intelligence, foresight, desirability, should be to make progress towards the eternal life. Temporal pleasures are bound to trouble us in the long run.

Question: What is the difference between shanti and ananda (peace and bliss)?

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Answer: Answer: Impersonalists think that Godhead should offer a neuter race. Buddha thought cessation of perception at the end. Sankaracharya argued that Godhead should have no form at all, that there should not be any sexological question in regard to Him, that everyone should go back to the Absolute, that there should be no difference between the individual soul and Godhead, the three situations of the Observed, observer and observation being merged into one viz., the Brahma who is full of joy and at the same time void of joy, there being no distinction between the two. The third school is the devotional school. According to this school whatever we find here such as trees, rivers, hills, etc., are all present in the transcendental world. Here we have only screened entities and sometimes miss the sparks of the Reality.

Question: Why does the study of Philosophy not give me peace now?

Answer: Answer: Because we choose to stick to the miserable situation and do not pay attention to Godhead.

Associates of Sri Caitanya From Krsna-Kathamrita

APPEARANCE OF THE DIVINE

The appearance of Godhead in this world implies the co-appearance of all His Divine paraphernalia. Godhead must not be conceived as in any way separable from His entourage. Godhead shorn of any of His paraphernalia is a delusion. In the same way the appearance of divine paraphernalia involves the appearance of the divinity. The two are distinct yet inseparable forms of the one Supreme.

Sri Caitanya is the Divine Personality Himself. His associates share His divine nature. Sri Krsna Caitanya is an extended subject. All the six divine forms have to be worshipped if is the intention to worship Sri Caitanya.

The guru is one of His constituents. It is necessary to receive initiation from him. It is also necessary to be instructed by Him. As teacher, the guru has two forms. He guides from within. He also appears as a guide and instructor existing outside his disciples. Initiation is received from one person only. Instructions may be had form many gurus. Sri Kaviraja Goswami himself was instructed by the famous six Goswamins.

GUIDE TO THE ABSOLUTE

The Guru is the embodiment of the manifestation of the divinity to the pure receptive spiritual essence of the disciple. The guru is the real and original recipient of the Truth. He communicates his knowledge to the disciple. The disciple is too small a particle to be able by himself to receive the whole truth. He is enabled tot receive Him through the power of the guru. The guru as it were, takes the disciple by the hand and guides his every step on the plane of the Absolute. It is perpetual tutelage on the part of the disciple. This fact may be expressed in another way. The cognitive faculty of the individual soul can have no ground to stand upon

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unless the Divinity Himself condescends to be the legs as well as the ground on which he is to stand to function at all. This function of the divinity is performed by the guru. As a matter of fact the Divinity actually reveals Him only to Himself. The individual soul is a separable constituent of the guru. It is only when he happens to be associated by his own free choice with the guru in a completely dependent manner that he can be on the plane of the guru's service of the Divinity. He may or may not choose to be associated. The guru may or may not chose to admit him to his association. When there is active willing assent to such association on the part of both then it is possible for the individual souls to attain to the service of the Divinity in the really conscious form.

ALONE FIT TO INSTRUCT

Every one who is cognizant of the true nature of Krsna is alone fit to instruct another in the knowledge of Krsna The Divine paraphernalia area the gurus of all individual souls. In this sense all the six divine categories are identical with the guru. It can be so by reason of the fact that on the plane of the Absolute there is no separative difference. On that perfectly wholesome plane there is distinction without difference. But there is also the distinctive function of the guru which must be considered as also simultaneously distinct from that of any of the other categories. One who neglects to seek the special favor of the guru and to enter into the relation of disciple ship with the spiritual guide will miss entry to the spiritual plane. Nityananda is the Primary Manifestive Constituent of the Divinity. Nityananda alone possesses the distinctive function of the guru. In Nityananda the function is embodied. Nityananda is the servant-God. He serves Sri Gaurasundar by the distinctive method of reverential servitude. He is identical with Sri Balarama of krsna-lila. Sri Balarma is not the chum of Krsna, but His respected elder brother. It is intimate relationship characterized by becoming reserved on one side and of respectful deference on the other. Individual souls are under the directions of Nityananda. They receive their service of Sri Gaurasundara i.e. of Krsna, at His hands. Nityananda is not a jiva. He is Divinity. He is the ultimate source of the jiva. The jiva is a potency of Nityananda. No jiva can be the medium of the service of the Absolute to another jiva. The Absolute alone may communicate. His service to the separable constituents of Himself. This is the real nature of the function of the guru.

NEVER TOUCHED BY MAYA

But all jivas are not liable to be eclipsed by the deluding potency. Those who are so liable are again distinct from the eternally free jivas. The eternally free jivas are inseparable associates of Nityananda. They are integrated part and parcels of Himself. They never fall into the clutches of maya. When Nityananda manifests His appearance on the mundane plane His inseparable constituents also appear in His company. They sometimes manifest their functions on this lower place in a visible form on the errands of Nityananda. They are Vaisnavas whose subordination to Nityananda is natural and ingrained in their nature. It is not necessary for such souls to undergo the process of enlightenment for being restored to the spiritual plane. Unless this fact is born in the mind the conditioned soul may be tempted to undervalue the constant guidance of the guru on the hypocritical plea of following in the footsteps of the eternally free pure devotees. Those, therefore, who suppose that deliverance from the bondage of this world should be practicable without the constant guidance of the spiritual preceptor, confound the conditioned state with the free.

The guidance of the guru is no curtailment of one's spiritual freedom. Those who are eternally free also follow his guidance by the spontaneous undeviating impulse of their perfectly pure nature. Guidance of the guru is the only divine guidance. Only atheists who are by their choice

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opposed to the service of Godhead, can be consistent opponents of the obligation to serve the guru in the same unconditional way as one should be prepared to serve Godhead Himself. There is no difference between the two functions. If the claim of the one is denied it necessarily involves the denial of the claim of the other. Nityananda and His companions form one of the five groups of the associates of Sri Krsna Caitanya, whose distinctive function is that of the guru.

SRIMATE RADHIKA

But Nityananda does not directly instruct in the confidential service of Krsna. Srimate Radhika is the guru of the inner circle of the servants of Krsna. Srimati, however, accepts the offer of service of only those souls who are specially favored by Nityananda and are deemed by Him to be fit for Her service. There is, therefore a most intimate relationship between the function of Nityananda and that of Srimati which is at once supplementary and inclusive of the former.

The guru admits to the service of Krsna. The next divine category is the bhakta or devotee. In this case also as in that of the guru, service of the divinity, which is the distinctive function of the bhakta, is not confined to him only. The servants have been divided into two classes viz., (1) servants other than consorts and (2) consorts. The guru has distinctive function as master. The servant has no distinctive function as master. This distinguishes the guru from the bhakta. The bhakta is also Godhead in the distinctive form of this servant to whom the guru manifests the divinity. The mercy of the bhakta enables the dissociable soul to receive the mercy of the guru. The guru and the bhakta are the inseparable divine counterparts of one another. The guru and the bhakta are thus two distinct entities forming the five categories. The avataras (descending divinities) are the third category. They have their distinctive functions in the maintenance and deliverance of jivas inclined to divine service. They have distinctive functions as master. The difference between the avataras and the divinity as master consists in this that the avataras are derivatives from the divinity possessing the plenary divine nature. The relation between the two is analogous to that between the original self-existing source-light and other shining lamps that have been lighted from the source. There is no substantive or magnitudinal difference between the two. But there is distinctiveness in function. The avataras have distinctive natures of their own. But the divinity is their common source possessing all their distinctive functions in a synthesis which distinguishes Him from the avataras without suffering any diminution of His divinity by the eternal parallel coexistence of the distinctive activities and personalities of the avataras as divinities.

Another divine category is the group of the divine manifestations. The manifestations are divine forms who are either identical with that of the divinity or of a distinctive nature. Krsna can appear simultaneously in the same form or in different forms to different persons and also simultaneously retain His own form. All these other forms are His own manifestations.

The fifth divine category is divine power. Divine power is the Predominated Moiety of the divinity who is Predominating, Whole. Sri Radhika is the predominated Counter-Whole of Sri Krsna. Sri Radhika has Her duplicates and constituents who are also of the nature of plenary powers of the divinity. She also directly serves Sri Krsna in an infinity of ways in Her countless distinctive plenary and secondary forms.

NECESSITY TO SERVE THROUGH AN ASSOCIATE OF MAHAPRABHU

The associates of Sri Krsna Caitanya are made up of the five divine categories. If any one of these categories be left out the Truth who is indivisibly one, refuses to present Himself to the

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arrogant aptitude of the pedant who does not fully submit to be enlightened by grace regarding the necessity of serving the divinity in and through the distinctions.

The pedant is disposed to be skeptical by reason of a lurking belief that it is the look-out of the divinity to make Himself known to Him. But the jiva is a dissociable particle of the divine essence with the onus of choosing for himself from among the alternatives of a serving, a neutral and disobedient career, his own relationship to the divinity. He cannot escape the privilege of exercising his responsibility except by conscious self-deception or by hypocrisy.

MARGINAL POTENCY

The dissociable individual soul is distinct from the divine categories. He is a particle of the marginal potency of the divinity. Sri Nityananda who is identical with Balarama is the ultimate source of the jiva. The conditioned souls is a particle of the marginal potency, who has been sent into this world by the wil of the Purusa, viz., Visnu reposing in the Causal Ocean, who is a plenary part of Nityananda exercising the divine function of crrator of all mundane existence including the conditioned state without Himself belonging to the mundane plane."

Assuming the Responsibility Of Being Guru We have taken upon ourselves the responsibility of welcoming this grave charge. All the audience have accepted ordinary seats, I alone have been provided with a lofty seat. All are being told in effect 'Do have a look at a big animal from the Zoo-gardens. What arrogance! So foolish! So wicked! Have you ever seen such a big brute? Garlands of flowers have been put round his neck! What laudations! What bombastic long-drawn, and hyperbolic adjectives! And how complacently too he is listening to the praise of his own achievements, how intently, and with his own ears! He also evidently feels delighted in mind! Is he not acting in plain violation of the teaching of Mahaprabhu? Can such a big brute, so selfish and insolent, be ever reclaimed from brutishness?'

I happen to be one of the greatest of fools. No one offers me good advice on account of my arrogance. Inasmuch as nobody condescends to instruct me I placed my case before Mahaprabhu Himself. The thought occurred to me that I would make over the charge of myself to Him and see what He would advise me to do. Then Shri Chaitanyadeva said to me:

"Whom-so-ever thou meet'st, instruct him regarding Krishna, By My command being Guru deliver this land; In this thou wilt not be obstructed by the current of the world; Thou wilt have My company once again at this place."

In these verses is to be found the proper explanation of the apparent inconsistency noticed above.

He whose only teaching is humility greater than that of a blade of grass, said "By My command being Guru save this land!" In this instance Mahaprabhu Himself has given the command. His command being 'Perform the duty of the Guru, even as I do it Myself. Also convey this command to whom-so-ever you chance to meet.' Chaitanyadeva says, 'Tell them these very words viz, by My command being Guru save this land. Deliver the people from their foolishness.' Now who-so- ever happens to hear these words would naturally protest with palms

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joined - 'But I am really a great sinner; how can I be Guru? You are Godhead Himself, the Teacher of the world. You can be Guru.' To this Mahaprabhu replies:

"In this thou will not be obstructed by the current of the world; Thou wilt have My company once again at this place."

'Do not practice the craft of a Guru for the purpose of injuring others through malice. Do not adopt the trade of a Guru in order to get immersed in the slough of this world. But if you can, indeed, be My guileless servant you will be endowed with My power - then you need not fear.'

I have no fear. My Gurudeva has heard this from his Gurudeva. And it is for this reason that my Gurudeva has accepted even such a great sinner as myself and has told me: 'By My command being Guru save this land.' It is only those who have never heard these words of Gaursundar who say 'How odd! to listen to one's own praise!' While the Guru is instructing his disciple in the eleventh Skandha of the Bhagavatam what a great sin, in their opinion, is he not perpetuating! What is the Acharya to do when he has to explain the Shloka 'Acharya Mam Vijaniyat: Never disregard the Acharya; never entertain the idea that the Acharya is your equal in any sense.' These are the words of Shri Krishna Himself by which the jiva is to be benefited. Is the Guru to take himself off, to desert his seat the seat of the Acharya - from which these words are to be explained? That office his Gurudeva has conferred on him. If he does not act up to its requirements he is doomed to perdition by reason of his offense against the holy Name in the shape of disrespect towards the Guru. He has to do it in spite of the fact that such procedure is apparently open to the charge of egoism. When the Guru imparts the mantram to the disciple should he not tell him by this mantram to worship the Guru? Should he say instead, 'Give the Guru a few strokes of the shoe or the horse-whip?' The Guru is never to be decried. The Guru is the abode of all the gods. Should the Gurudeva abstain from communicating these words to his disciple while reading the Bhagavatam to him? 'To him alone who possesses guileless spiritual devotion, similar to the transcendental devotion that is due to Krishna Himself, to the Gurudeva, the holy mysteries are manifested.' Is the Gurudeva not to tell these things to his disciples? 'Athau Gurupuja: the worship of the Guru has precedence over all others. The Guru is to be served just as Krishna is served. The Guru is to be worshipped in a particular way. Is the Guru to desert his seat without telling all these things to the disciple? In the angle there is always the defect in the shape of absence of the fullness, the evenness of level, of 180 degrees or of 360 degrees. But in the plain surface, in 360 degrees, there is no such defect. That in the emancipated state no defect is possible, this simple truth ordinary foolish people entirely fail to grasp.

As the saying goes, 'having started on the dance it is no use to draw close the veil.' I am doing the duty of the Guru, but if I preach that no one should shout 'Jai' to me, that is to say, if I say in a round about way, 'sing Jai to me,' it would be nothing short of duplicity. Our Gurudeva has not taught us such insincerity. Mahaprabhu has not taught such insincerity. I have to serve God in the straightforward way. The word of God has come down to the Gurudeva; I have to obey it in all sincerity. I will not disrespect the Guru at the instance of any foolish or malicious sectarians.

Especially as Shri Gurudeva has directed me saying, 'By My command being Guru save this land.' This command has my Gurudeva preached. My Gurudeva in his turn has conveyed the command to me. I will not be guilty of any insincerity in carrying out that command. In this matter I will not accept the ideal of ignorant, insincere, pseudo-ascetic sectarianism. I will not learn insincerity. The worldly-minded, the malicious, the pseudo-renunciationists, the selfish cannot understand how the devotees of God, spurning at everything of this world by command of God, never, not even for a second, deviate from the service of God through all the twenty-four hours.

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Hypocritical sectarians, pseudo-Vaishnava sects, those sects that cherish internally the longing for earthly fame, naturally enough think 'what a shame it is for one to listen to the eulogies of disciples occupying the seat of the Guru.' But every Vaishnava regards everyone of the Vaishnavas as the object of his veneration. When Thakur Haridas exhibits the attitude of humility Mahaprabhu says - 'You are the greatest of the world, the crest-jewel of the world. Be agreeable, let us have our meal together.' He carried in His arms the body of Thakur Haridas which is eternally existent, self-conscious and full of spiritual bliss. In the community that follows Shri Rupa, the qualities of desiring no honor for oneself and of readiness to duly honor others are fully present. Those who detect any disparity are, like the owl, blind while the sun shines. They commit an offense by such conduct.

If I disobey the law which has come down to me through the chain of preceptorial succession, the offense due to omission to carry out the command of the Guru will sever me from the lotus-feet of Shri Gurudeva. If in order to carry out the command of the Vaishnava Guru I have to be arrogant, to be brutish, to suffer eternal perdition, I am prepared to welcome such eternal damnation and even sign a pact to that effect. I will not listen to the words of other malicious persons in lieu of the command of the Gurudeva. I will dissipate with indomitable courage and conviction the currents of thought of all the rest of the world, relying on the strength derived from the lotus-feet of Shri Gurudeva. I confess to this arrogance. By sprinkling a particle of the pollen of the lotus-feet of my Preceptor scores of people like you will be saved. There is no such learning in this world, no such sound reasoning in all the fourteen worlds, in no man-gods, that can weigh more than a solitary particle of the dust of the lotus-feet of my Gurudeva. Gurudeva in whom I have implicit trust can never spite me. I am by no means prepared to listen to the words of any one who wants to hurt me or to accept such a malicious person as my preceptor.

One Caste Essay published by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in the weekly magazine "Gaudiya"

In the ancient times there only one caste lived in India called hamsa. They were yogis, devotees of the Lord, or knowers of Brahman engaged in studying the Vedas. Among the hamsas, those who on the strength of devotional service, yoga or impersonal knowledge distinguished themselves over their respective groups were accepted by the hamsas as paramahamsas. Among the ordinary impersonalists and yogis of India, the topics of the bhagavata paramahamsas are particularly mentioned in a few places. The differences between bhagavata paramahamsas with impersonal knowledge and yogic paramahamsas is clearly explained by Sri Jiva Goswami when he discusses Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan as the advaita- jnana, or non-dual Absolute Truth.

The word Brahman refers to the greatness and nourishment of unbroken knowledge or supreme consciousness, unalloyed consciousness, pure consciousness, and eternal consciousness.

Srimad Anandatirtha Purnaprajna Madhvacarya Bhagavan has fully unfolded the difference between Brahman and the living entities in the hearts of his followers. He ascertained that in the constitutional position of the living entities, they are situated in unbroken knowledge. Since the living entities are constitutionally marginal, sometimes they identify themselves as under the subordination of unbroken knowledge, sometimes they misidentify themselves as brahman or knowers of dualistic knowledge and sometimes they misidentify themselves as matter, which is opposite to brahman.

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As soon as the living entities give up the subordination of matter they realize themselves as Vaisnavas. At that time, due their spiritual nature, material desires and material conceptions of life cannot attract them.

The living entities' lack of knowledge about the Absolute Truth makes them ignorant of Brahman. Sometimes they accept Brahman as an inferior object and try to establish themselves as Brahman. Being desirous of material enjoyment, they sometimes determine to accept the illusory energy of the Lord as Brahman.

Those who do not know the truth neglect their spiritual master, with the help of material knowledge, follow the ascending path.

They live within this world and unnecessarily praise themselves as knowers of Brahman. The hamsas, however, know perfectly well that Brahman, which is devoid of form and variegatedness, is a partial manifestation of the Supreme Lord.

Some of the hamsas know the localized aspect of the Absolute Truth as Paramatma and thus disassociate themselves from the activities of this material world, which is created by the illusory energy of the Lord. The perfection of this disassociation qualifies them to meditate on the Supersoul as yogis. It is not very difficult to attain spiritual knowledge or devotional service to Visnu from the respective positions of either persons who have realized Brahman or yogis who have attained perfection; rather it is their gradual progress. The position of the devotees of the Lord, or that of bhagavata paramahamsas, is the highest perfectional platform for both impersonal hamsas and yogi hamsas. When a devotee, or bhagavata paramahamsa, descends to the lower levels, he should not be considered either a pseudo impersonalist or a pseudo yogi. The bhagavata paramahamsa is the highest yogi and supreme knower of Brahman. One should not consider him inferior to either the impersonalists or yogis.

When the hamsas give up impersonal knowledge and endeavor to distinguish themselves from other hamsas while following their Grihya-sutras, or social codes of conduct, then according to their qualities and activities the four varnas and four ashrams are created. In Satya yuga there was only one varna called hamsa.

Later, after 1,728,000 years passed, the varnashram system was inaugurated among the hamsas. These divisions were effected according to ones occupation, qualities, symptoms, and possibility of future utility, According to the differences in the processes of one's goal, perfection, and intelligence, there can be tow types of varnashram. It has been a current practice in this country that the ascertainment of Varna according to seminal consideration is based on future utility. Moreover, one's occupation, nature, and symptoms have always nourished the seminal system. When we discuss the topics of Kavasa mentioned in the Aitareya Upanisad and the topics of Jabala mentioned in the Chandogya Upanisad then we will properly understand seminal consideration. Sri Mahabharata, Hari-vamsa and the 18 Puranas had mentioned both processes of varnashram.

It is not that the system of varnashram according to seminal considerations which began in Treta Yuga, will continue forever and should be kept intact, though its purpose is lost -the truthful hamsas of India do not accept this-. The statements of the Vedas such as the Kalpa-sastras and the Grhya- sutras of Gobhila, Katyayana, and others that a brahmana should undergo the sacred thread ceremony at the age of eight is only a proposal.

Although all hamsas are equal, those who wish to follow the Grhya- sutras and their descendants are to be considered prospective brahmanas. A twice born brahmana is required to undergo social purificatory processes. Those who disagree or are unqualified for such

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samskaras, in other words, those who do not exhibit any inclination for Brahman, such people among the hamsas are non- brahmanas devoid of samskaras, or simply seminal descendants.

A twice born must follow the rules and regulation of the Grhya- sutras. According to familial tradition, those who followed were accepted as twice born. Those hamsas who due to envious nature or laziness were addressed as sudras by the brahmanas could not become twice born. When the descendants of such people will be in favor of undergoing social reformation, then they will not be bereft of the opportunity from being reinstated in their respective occupation, quality, and nature.

Among the hamsas, the occupations, natures, and symptoms of the yogis, the worshipers, and the knowers of Brahman have always been there, are there, and will be there. In ancient times, when the varnashram system was not prominent, the hamsas alone attained the platform the bhagavata paramahamsas. There were also many paramahamsas found amongst the yogis, who were less inclined towards cultivation of the Absolute Truth, and amongst the impersonalists who were engaged in mental speculation. But when the impersonal conception among the hamsas of the world gradually sank in the deep water of forgetfulness, then atheism began to expand, the words of the spiritual master were reduced to chaos, and disregard for the truths of the Vedas covered the hearts of some hamsas like fog. Being deceived by their own material knowledge, they began to disrespect the Absolute Truth. In this way, the hamsas were divided into four varnas.

Organized Religion Sri Krsna manifest His eternal birth the pure cognitive essence of the serving soul who is located above all mundane limitations, King Kamsa is the typical aggressive empiricist, ever on the lookout for the appearance of the truth for the purpose of suppressing Him before He has time to develop. This is no exaggeration of the real connotation of the consistent empiric position. The materialist has a natural repugnance for the transcendent. He is disposed to link that faith in the incomprehensible is the parent of dogmatism and hypocrisy in the guise of religion. He is also equally under the delusion that there is no real dividing line between the material and the spiritual, he is strengthened in his delusion by the interpretation of scriptures by persons who are like-minded with himself. This includes all the lexicographic interpreters.

The lexicographical interpretation is upheld by Kamsa as the real scientific explanation of the scriptures, and is perfectly in keeping with his dread of and aversion for the transcendental. These lexicographical interpreters are employed by Kamsa in putting down the first suspected appearance of any genuine faith in the transcendental. King Kamsa knows very well that if the faith in the transcendental is once allowed to grow it is sure to upset all his empiric prospects.

There is historical ground for such misgivings. Accordingly if the empiric domination is to be preserved in tact it would be necessary not to lose a moment to put down the transcendental heresy the instant it threatens to make its appearance in earnest. King Kamsa, acting on this traditional fear is never slow to take the scientific precaution of deputing empiric teachers of the scriptures, backed by the resources of dictionary and grammar and all empiric subtleties to put down, by the show of specious arguments based on hypothetical principles, the true interpretation of the eternal religion revealed by the scriptures.

Kamsa is strongly persuaded that faith in the transcendental can be effectively put down by empiricism if prompt and decisive measures are adopted at the very outset. He attributes the

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failure of atheism in the past to the neglect of the adoption of such measures before the theistic fallacy has had time to spread among the fanatical masses.

But Kamsa is found to count without his host. When Krsna is born He is found to be able to upset all sinister designs against those who are apprised by Himself of His advent. the apparently causeless faith displayed by persons irrespective of age, sex and condition may confound all rabid empiricist who are on principle adverse to the Absolute Truth Whose appearance is utterly incompatible with the domination of empiricism.

But no adverse efforts of the empiricists, whose rule seems till then to be perfectly well-established over the minds of the deluded souls of this world can dissuade any person from exclusively in following the Truth when He actually manifests His birth in the pure cognitive essence of the soul.

Putana is the slayer of all infants. The baby, when he or she comes out of the mother's womb, falls at once into the hands of the pseudo-teachers of religion. These teachers are successful in forestalling the attempts of the good preceptor whose help is never sought by the atheists of this world at the baptisms of their babies. This is ensured by the arrangements of all established churches of the world. They have been successful only in supplying watchful Putanas for effecting the spiritual destruction of persons from the moment of their birth with the cooperation of their worldly parents. No human contrivance can prevent these Putanas from obtaining possession of the pulpits. This is due to the general prevalence of atheistic disposition in the people of this world.

The church that has the best chance of survival in this damned world is that of atheism under the convenient guise of theism. The churches have always proved the staunchest upholders of the grossest form of worldliness from which even the worst of non-ecclesiastical criminals are found to recoil.

It is not from any deliberate opposition to the ordained clergy that these observations are made. The original purpose of the established churches of the world may not always be objectionable. But no stable religious arrangement for instructing the masses has yet been successful. The Supreme Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in pursuance of the teachings of the scriptures enjoins all absence of conventionalism for the teachers of the eternal religion. It does not follow that the mechanical adoption of the unconventional life by any person will make him a fit teacher of religion. Regulation is necessary for controlling the inherent worldliness of conditional souls.

But no mechanical regulation has any value, even for such a purpose. The bona-fide teacher of religion is neither any product of nor the favourer of, any mechanical system. In his hands no system has likewise, the chance of degenerating into a lifeless arrangement. The mere pursuit of fixed doctrines and fixed liturgies cannot hold a person to the true spirit of doctrine or liturgy.

The idea of an organised church in an intelligible form, indeed, marks the close of the living spiritual movement. The great ecclesiastical establishments are the dikes and the dams to retain the current that cannot be held by any such contrivances. They, indeed, indicate a desire on the part of the masses to exploit a spiritual movement for their own purpose. They also unmistakably indicate the end of the absolute and unconventional guidance of the bona-fide spiritual teacher. The people of this world understand preventive systems, they have no idea at all of the unprevented positive eternal life. Neither can there be any earthy contrivance for the permanent preservation of the life eternal on this mundane plane on the popular scale.

Those are, therefore, greatly mistaken who are disposed to look forward to the amelioration of the worldly state in any worldly sense from the worldly success of any really spiritual movement. It is these worldly expectants who become the patrons of the mischievous race of the

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pseudo-teachers of religion, the Putanas, whose congenial function is to stifle the theistic disposition at the very moment of its suspected appearance. But the real theistic disposition can never be stifled by the efforts of those Putanas. The Putanas have power only over the atheist. It is a thankless but salutary task which they perform for the benefit of their unwilling victims.

But as soon as theistic disposition proper makes its appearance in the pure cognitive essence, of the awakened soul, the Putanas are decisively silenced at the very earliest stage of their encounter with new-born Krsna. The would-be slayer is herself slain. This is the reward of the negative services that the Putanas unwittingly render to the cause of theism by strangling all hypocritical demonstrations against their own hypocrisy.

But Putana does not at all like to receive her reward in only form which involves the total destruction of her wrong personality. King Kamsa also does not like to lose the services of the most trusted of his agents. The effective silencing of the whole race of pseudo-teachers of religion is the first clear indication of the appearance of the Absolute on the mundane plane. The bona-fide teacher of the Absolute, heralds the Advent of Krsna by his uncompromising campaign against the pseudo-teachers of religion.

Sri Navadwip Panjika Sri Navadwip Panjika begins, "For the welfare of everyone Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhupada has written his Sri Hari-namamrta grammar with the objective of cultivating Harinam, so in the same way Sri Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami has written Sri Navadwip Panjika accordingly using different names of Visnu for the months (Masa), fortnights (Paksas), and days (Varam), to cultivate Sri Harinam Kirtan."

According to Navadwip Panjika the year is called "Candra Varsa" cyclic year of the moon, which goes from Krsna Pratipat after the Gaura Purnima to the next Gaura Purnima, this is a moon cycle of one year Candra Varsa. ...

These months are similarly divided starting from the Pratipat of Krsna Paksa through to the Purnima, full moon, this period is considered one month. The months are as follows 1/. Visnu, Caitra (March-April) 2/. Madhusudhana, Vaisakha (April-May) 3/. Trivikrama, Jyestha (May-June) 4/. Vamana, Ashadha (June-July) 5/. Sridhara, Sravan (July-August) 6/. (H)Rishikesh, Bhadrapad (August-September) 7/. Padmanabha, Aswina (September-October) 8/. Damodar, Kartika (October-November) 9/.Keshava, Mrgasirsa (November-December) 10/. Narayana, Pusya (December-January) 11/. Madhava, Magha (January-February) and 12/. Govinda, Phalguna (February-March), these twelve months are considered to consist as one Gaurabda. After every two years and eight months there is also another month which is added called Purushottama Adika Masa. This additional month starts from the sukla pratipat to the Amavasya, some materialistic persons call this month "Malmas" and during this month they refrain from any works, karmanas. However the pure Vaisnavas respect this month as being a sacred and thus engage in all activities of devotional service during this month.

The days of the week are also given various names of Visnu, Sarva vasudev is Ravi var (Sunday), Sarva shivasankarshan is Som var (Monday), Sthanu Pradyumna is Mangal var (Tuesday), Yuta Aniruddha is Budh var (Wednesday), Adikaranadasai is Brhaspati var (Thursday), Nidhi Garvadasai is Sukra var (Friday), Abboy ksirodaksai is Sani var (Saturday).

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The fortnights are also renamed as radyumna Krsna the dark fortnight (Krsna Paksa), and Aniruddha Gaur, the light fortnight, Sukla Paksa).

The names of the tithis according to the ames of Visnu are as follows; Pratipat - Brahma, Dwitiya - Sripati, Tritiya - Visnu, Caturthi - Kapil, Pancami - Sridhar, Sasthi - Prabhu, Saptami - Damodar, Astami - rishikesha, Navami - Govinda, Dasami - Madhusudhana, Ekadasi - Yudhar, Dwadasi - Gadi, Trayodasi - Sankhi, Caturdasi - Padmi, Purnima and Amavasya - Chakri.

Names of the Nakshatras 1/. Aswin, Dhata, /. Bharani, Krsna, 3/. Krittika, Visma, 4/. Rohini, Vishnu, 5/. Mrgasira, Basatkar, 6/. rdra, Vutavabya Vabatprabhu, 7/. Punavasu, Vutvrt, 8/. Pusya, Vutkrt, 9/. Aslesa, Vaba, 10/. Magha, Vutatma, 11/. Purva Phalguni, Vutavabana, 12/. Uttara Phalguni, Abbyakta, 13/. Hasta, Pundarikaksa, 14/. Citra, Vismakarma, 15/. Swati, Sacisraba, 16/. Vishakha, Sadvhava, 17/. Anuradha, Vaban, 18/. Jyestha, Varta, 19/. Mula, Prabhava, 20/. Purvashadha, Prabhu, 21/. Uttarashadha, Iswara, 22/. Sravana, Apramayo 23/. Dhanistha, Hrsikesh, 24/. Satabhisakam, Padmanabha, 25/.Purvabhadrapada, Amarprabhu, 26/. Uttarabhadrapada, Aghraya, 27/. Revathi, asvata.

In the Visnudharmattar and Haiasirsha Pancaratra the following names for the sojourn of the sun is named respectively as Balabhadra when the sun is in its northern course or Uttarayana, and Krsna when it is in its Daksinayana or southern course.

The names of the seasons or Rtus are; Vasant (Spring) is Madhava, Grisma (Summer) is Pundarikaksa, Varsa ( ? ) is Vogasai, Sarad (Autumn) is Padmanabha, Hemanata ( ? ) is Hrshikesh, and Shiit (Winter) is Devatrivikram.

This Panjika is also designed for use with Upavas, Parva, and Utsava, or fasting, festivals, rites and feasts according to Vaisnava Smriti Sri Hari Bhakti Vilas. The directions sanctioned in this Panjika give the reasons for and method as to why devotees fast on certain days such as Ekadasi, Mahadwadasi, and the appearance and disappearance days of great Vaisnavas, and Gurus. If it is any great Vaisnavas appearance day is followed by Mahadwadasi, it is the duty of the devotee to fast on the following day, the Dwadasi and not on the Ekadasi. However if the appearance day falls on an Ekadasi where there is no Mahadwadasi following, then the fasting should be done on the Ekadasi and parana on the day of Dwadasi. When there is no Mahadwadasi in the appearance of Vaisnava auspicious occasions, it has been mentioned in Hari Bhakti Vilas that fasting is carried out on the Ekadasi whereasthe actual worship, Pujas, and offerings of bhoga to Deities of Visnu are to be offered on the Dwadasi. This subject is clearly understandable when reference is made as an example to Sri Vaman Dwadasi, (as mentioned in the Panjika). Throughout this book the directives of Sri Hari Bhakti Vilas have been followed. On grasping the teachings of Gaudiya Vaisnavas Acaryas mentioned herein we fast on the holy days of the appearance day of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Baladeva prabhu, and Sri Nityananda prabhu hinged on the tithi based observance. Accordingly the requirements are described for the observances in this Panjika. Fortunately,now some other panjikas have statred to following our proceedures. DETERMINATION FASTING COMPARTMENTS BASED ON THE JUDGEMENT ON PENETRATION AND OVERLAPPING.

Penetration or overlapping is classified as prepenetration and postpenetration. Prepenetration is again classified as Suryodhayabidhwa (sunrise penetration); Arundayabidhwa (sunray appearance penetration or bidhwa); and Madhya Ratibidhwa (midnight penetration or bidhwa). Although midnight penetration has taken its place in the Nimbarka sampradaya, respected pujyapad, Srila Sanatana Goswami in his Hari Bhakti Vilas has shown in his notes that there is no valid reason for acceptance of that. Amongst the remaining two predhwas, Arunodayabidhwa should be considered in connection with the Ekadasi fasting compartment (vasar) or Harivasar. Since the first step of Dwadasi is included in the room, or compartment of Ekadasi, it is also to

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be considered or defined as Harivasar. Except (beside) Harivasar it is said that on the appearances of God, Hari, only the sunrise bidhwa and not the sunray bidhwa is to be given up.

This is a general principal to abandon impure penetration or overlapping.

According to the opinion of some unwise persons avoidence of bidhwa in all cases means avoidance of Arunodaya bidhwa. That this is completely incorrect can be proven by the statements of Sri Hari Bhakti Vilas and the directives of Srila Sanatan Goswami regarding the determination of Janmastami.

It has been explained in 12 vilas, shloka 120 of Sri Hari Bhakti Vilas:- ..atha sampernalaksane biddhalaksanam .

"That the complete observation is the most intelligent, and of most importance." pratipat pravrtaya sarva udayadudayo rave, sampurna eiti vikhataa harivasar vargita (HBV. 12. 315.)

"Accordingly on the pratipat there should be sampurna, complete avoidance of the previous tithi, be it Amavasya or Purnima at the time of the sunrise in this way avoiding Harivasar."

Described in the Skanda Purana that Pratipad tithis are considered complete if it covers six "dandas" from one sunrise to the next sunrise. Even this is not applicable to Ekadasi. If it stays 2 Muhurthas before sunrise, then Ekadasi is called complete. Form this it is clear that except Ekadasi, in other tithis if that is, if the previous tithi enters during sunrise, then this one is called bidhwa or penetrated. As regards to Ekadasi, if Dasami enters during sunray bidhwa, during 2 Muhurthas or 4 dandas = 1hour and 36 mins' of sunrise, then it would be considered Arunodaya bidhwa (prebidhwa). Prebidhwa Nanda (Ekadasi through Sravan nakshatra, has to be rejected. In the same way Janmastami, if Rohini is already connected. We are requested to abandon due to prebidhwa. (HBV..15.361).

In the footnote of the above mentioned verse, Srila Sanatana Goswami has advised very clearly that IT IS NOT CORRECT to abandon Janmasthami if the penetration by the Saptami comes during the Arunodaya the same way as Ekadasi is done away with if penetrated by Dasami during Arunodaya. The reason for this is that all other tithis other than Ekadasi are complete if started at the sunrise, and thus their penetration during sunrise is to be ignored. It has to be remembered with great care that a tithi without penetration is complete and pure in its self. Its ? to look at a complete tithi as a penetrated one. The Gaudiya Vaisnava Acarya Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana prabhu has written about this very clearly in Prameyar Ratnavali 816 Prameya 9th verse. .

Only Ekadasi observation is to be given up in care of Arunodaya; all others including Janmasthami are to be avoided if only penetrated by sunrise penetration. Sri Srimad Prabhupada108 Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Thakur, who is the founder of Sri Caitanya and other Mathas has described in Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya lila 24.337 stanza. "Abandon Ekadasi with Arunodaya bidhwa and other rites with Surjyodaya bidhwa and observe all other Abidhwa vratas (unpenetrated rites). The former causes sin and the later brings devotion to the Supreme Lord." .

There are eight Mahadwadasis, among them (Unmavisnu), Unmilani, Vyanjuli, Trisprisha and Paksavardini these are all called Tithi ghatita, or that there cause is tithi based. Jaya, Vijaya, Jayanti, and Papanashini these four are caused due to the nakshatra being still active after the Ekadasi touches the next day (morning).

If any Ekadasi tithi exceed the following morning or Pratakal then the next day is called Unmilani Mahadwadasi. If Ekadasi tithi is not complete and Dwadasi is extended to the

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Tryodasi then this is called Vyanjuli Mahadwadasi. If any Ekadasi tithi stretches through Dwadasi night to Tryodasi then this is called Trisprisha Mahadwadasi (Triple touched). If Ekadasiundergoes some extension and falls on the Amavasya or Purnima then it is called Paksavardhini Mahdwadasi.

Then we have the nakshatra based observances. If sukla (Gaura) Dwadasi is having as its nakshatra Punarvasu then this is called Jaya Ekadasi. If it is attached to Sravan nakshatra then it is called Vijaya, attached to Rohini nakshatra it is called Jayanti Ekadasi and attached to Pusya (Pausa) nakshatra then it is called Papanasini Ekadasi.

If the Tithi or Nakshatra's maan or quality is the whole night then it is full 60 danda. From the beginning of sunrise on Ekadasi to the next sunrise is 64 dandas. If Dwadasi remains up to sunset on the Punarvasu, Rohini and Pusya nakshatras it is automatically then to be called Mahadwadasi. If Dwadasi continues upto midday with Sravan naskshatra this is to be called Vijay Mahadwadasi.

English translation by Manoj Mitra

The Treasure of Bhakti Obeisance to the most Magnanimous, the Giver of the Love of Krsna, the Own Self of Krsna, the Lord bearing the Name Krsna-Caitanya and possessed of the Form of golden hue! I submit myself to Sri Krsna-Caitanya, that merciful Person of wonderful deeds Who by the nectar of the treasure of His Own Love intoxicated the world, delirious with ignorance, by freeing it from the malady of nescience.

Lord Sri Caitanya said:

Listen, Rupa, to the charactersitics of the rasa (matured mellowness) of Bhakti. I shall speak in a condensed form, for rasa is not susceptible of elaborate description since rasa can only be understood through insight and deep realisation. The ocean of the mellow of Bhakti is profound and devoid of bounding shores. I shall speak one particle of the same (Bhakti), in order to make you taste it.

In this world the number of jivas (souls) is infinite. They form the content of this world by their wanderings birth after birth through 8,400,000 different kinds of physical bodies (human bodies, animals, trees, etc.)

The specific nature of the jiva is infinitessimal in magnitude like the hundredth part of the tip of a hair. The jivas are divided into two distinct groups, viz., (1) stationary and (2) moving. The moving jivas are again divided into those who live on the land, in water and in the air.

Mankind is a very small part of the total number of jivas that live on the land. Among men are also to be found the Mlechchas (Europeans), Pulindas, Baudhas (Oriental people), Aboriginies, etc. Among those who practice the religion of the Veda (Hindus), one half profess to follow the Veda but in fact only follow with their lips. They commit many sins forbidden by the Veda and do not really care for that religion. Then again, among those who really act in accordance with that religion, most persons are addicted to fruitive activities. They do work (karma) to produce fruit that they can enjoy. It is hardly possible to find even a single seeker of knowledge (jnanin)

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among 100,000 people working to make good karma. Further, there is hardly even one person who is truly Mukta (liberated) amongst 100,000 people seeking liberation.

It is hardly possible to find a single Bhakta (devotee) of Krsna among 100,000 liberated persons. The Bhakta of Krsna is free from all selfish hankerings and is, therefore, of a really peaceful and equipoised disposition (shanta), while those who desire to do work (karma) to create enjoyment, or who desire liberation or mystic powers through yoga, are all discontented (ashanta).

It is rarely that any fortunate jiva, in the course of his wanderings in this mundane world, may obtain a chance to come to know Bhakti. That is, it is rare for someone to obtain the seed of the creeper of Bhakti, which is only found by the favour of Guru and Krsna.

Bhakti grows like a creeper growing from a tiny seed. By becoming a gardener the jiva sows the seed and splashes the seed with nourishing water, in the form of hearing the Name of Krsna and chanting the Name. The creeper of Bhakti springs to shoot and grows, piercing through this mundane sphere. The growing creeper goes through the stream of Viraja (unmanifest formless state outside this universe), then goes through the illuminated plane of Brahma (white light of Spiritual bliss), until at last the creeper finally attains for herself a home in the soil of the infinite sphere called Paravyoma. The creeper contiues to grow in that Paravyoma atmosphere and reaches the limits of the higher sphere of Goloka-Vrndavana where she climbs and clings to the Purpose-Tree at the Feet of Krsna.

Prema (Divine Love), the fruit of the creeper of Bhakti, grows on the creeper only when she attains to the Feet of Krsna. All this time the gardener continues to splash the creeper with the water of hearing and chanting the Holy Name of Krsna.

At this stage there is a also a second function towards the creeper, besides watering it. As the creeper begins to grow after being watered for some time, hostile animals make their appearance and tear the leaves, or the tender leaves begin to dry up because of excessive heat, etc. In these circumstances offence against the Vaisnavas (real devotees) is the entity corresponding to the vicious animals. It is such offence against the Vaisnavas that causes all those various sorts of damage, or in other words it is the negligence of the gardener who has failed to erect fences or to devise other protective methods to protect the creeper, and who has not given special care so that there may be no possibility for the creeper to be trampled by the mad elephant of offence to the Vaisnavas. Offence against the Vaisnavas is identical with offence against the Holy Name - it is one of the ten categories of offences against the Holy Name.

There is yet another possible disturbance at this stage. As the creeper of Bhakti begins to grow, if there is luxuriant growth of the secondary branches then such growth also does mischief. The secondary branches are desire for enjoyment, longing for liberation, addiction to forbidden conduct, over-attention to small points of conscience, cruelty or slaughter of living things, desire of pecuniary gain and a desire for one's own worldly honour or fame. If special care is not practiced these secondary branches are apt to grow vigorously to the detriment of the principal stem of the creeper, with the result that the main stem is stunted and cannot grow. Therefore, it is the duty of the gardener to prune these secondary branches from the moment of their appearance, while one is busy with the primary task of hearing and chanting. If this is done the principal stem, continuing to grow, attains to Vrndavana the land of Krsna.

The fruit of Prema then ripens and drops on the ground. The gardener now tastes its mellow flavour. By the help of the creeper the gardener is also enabled to reach the Purpose-Tree. The gardener can now serve in Vrndavana at the foot of the Purpose-Tree and savor the taste of the luscious juice of the fruit of Love. This Prema is the supreme desideratum, the final fruit of all activity of the soul. The four-fold objects of human endeavor namely dharma (virtue), artha

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(worldly possession), kama (objects of worldly desire) and moksa (liberation) are as insignificant as a straw lying by the wayside in comparison with Krsna-Prema.

The realisation of coveted powers and excellences (siddhis), or of the equable state of overflowing oneness with the bliss of Brahma-realisation (on attainment of complete withdrawal of the mind from all external efforts, as a result of practicing pious activities enjoined in the scriptures), can dazzle the imagination of a man by their glaring features. But these dazzling realisations are only dazzling until the man has savoured the smallest portion of the fragrance of the medicine of Love. Pure Love can subdue even the Lord Himself, and He is the subduer of Madhu, the great demon who is at the core of the pattern of consciousness (yantra) we perceive as the mental state of "intoxication". A person must be free from mundane intoxications which lead him to try to enjoy as a master of siddhis (siddhi-yoga) or the bliss of oneness with unmanifest Brahma (liberation) before Love can appear on the pathways of the heart.

Bhakti is declared to be service of the Lord of the senses (God) by means of one's senses. It is free from all physical and mental elements. It is absolutely free from all mundane dirt by reason of its being entirely directed to God -- (Narada Pancaratra)

Lord Sri Caitanya contined:

As soon as the tidings of My Excellences enter the listener's ear his mind exhibits a constant inseparability from Me which is comparable to the state of a body of pure water of the Ganges on its entry into the ocean. This is the only sure characteristic of devotion which is free from all mundane tendencies. The devoted soul is inseparable from Me.

The devotees never accept the gifts of residence in Vaikuntha (the unlimited realm), or the opulence and honour of a form resembling My Majestic Self, or proximity to My Presence, or complete merging in Me. All of these prospective attainments I offer to them, but they do not accept these attainments. They have no desire to have these attainments, and this is so because there is nothing covetable by them save and except My Transcendental Service.

This is Devotion that is Pure and Perfect. It is by means of such Devotion that the individual soul attains to unalloyed Love for Me, thereby transcending the limiting potency that is covering over the jiva (soul) with layers of mundane desires and feelings.

If the mind harbours the least desire either for mundane enjoyment, or for liberation from the desire for enjoyment, Love for Godhead is not aroused even by the most diligent pursuit of service according to the practices enjoined in the scriptures.

So long as the ugly spectre of desire for mundane enjoyment or mundane emancipation continues to haunt the chambers of the heart, how can the bliss of devotion arise therein?

This form of Bhakti is fit to be cultured. Being duly cultured it gives rise to Rati (the natural tendency of the soul towards Krsna, or the basic principal of Love). Condensed Rati is Prema. By the process of gradual augmentation Prema becomes Sneha, Mana, Pranaya, Anuraga, Bhava and Mahabhava. A good analogy is furnished by the series of processes in the refining of raw juice of sugarcane. First there is juice, then molasses, raw sugar, residual sugar, refined sugar, white sugar and icing sugar. These are varieties of the basic principle (Sthayibhava) in the operations of the mellow liquid (Rasa) of the Service of Krsna. If the basic principle is conjoined with higher principles known as Vaibhava, Anubhava, Satvika and Vyabhachari then the operations of the liquid mellow of the service of Krsna exhibits the most exquisite nectarean taste. Just as the treatment of curd with sugar, ghee, pepper and camphor produces a most tasty composition.

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There are five varieties of Rasa corresponding to the different types of devotees. The five varieties of Rasa are Shanta (feeling of peacefulness), Dasya (feeling that "I am a servitor of Krsna"), Sakhya (feeling that "I am a friend of Krsna"), Vatsalya (feeling that "Krsna is a child and I am Krsna's parental guardian") and Madhura (mood that "Krsna is my beloved"). There are also seven secondary types of Rasa known as Hasya (humourous mood), Adbhuta (astonishment), Veera (chivalrous mood), Karuna (compassionate mood), Raudra (angry mood), Bhayanaka (mood of awe and dread) and Vibhasta (ghastliness). The five principal kinds of Rasa are permanent and constantly permeate the mind of the devotee, whereas the seven secondary moods are not constantly present within the mind of the devotee.

Shanta-rasa is exemplified by the conduct of the nine yogis called the Yogendras, and also in the case of the yogi Sanaka and his young brothers. Dasya-rasa, the mood of a servitor of Krsna, is seen everywhere in the case of numberless devotees of Krsna. Among the Sakhya-rasa group are the young cowherd boys who are associates of Krsna such as Sridama, as well as Krsna's cousins Bhima, Arjuna, etc. The devotees in the mood of Vatsalya-rasa includes the parents and all the older relatives of Krsna. In Madhura-rasa the principal Bhaktas (devotees) are the Milk-Maids in Vraja and also the Royal Consorts and Laksmis whose great number baffles all calculation.

Then again Krsna-Rati is twofold, viz., (1) adulterated with the perception of His Majesty and (2) unalloyed. In the two royal cities of Mathura and Dvaraka and in the Vaikuntha worlds the mood of Divine Majesty predominates. In Gokula-Rati, love for Krsna is in a mood devoid of the consciousness of His Divine Majesty. Love exhibits shyness if the sense of Majesty becomes prominent. It is the distinctive characteristic of unalloyed Gokula-Rati that the Goddess of Devotion directing service in that realm does not pay any mind to the Majesty of Godhead, even if Majesty is manifested to Her. In Shanta-Rasa and Dasya-Rasa the realisation of Divine Majesty on rare occasions serves as a helpful excitant. In Sakhya-rasa and Madhura-Rasa it always acts as a deterrent. Krsna acted in a formal role when he met his parents Vasudeva and Devaki and he bowed down and greeted their feet. The realisation of Divine Majesty filled the minds of both His parents with astonishment (one of the secondary Rasas - Adbhuta). Arjuna was terrified on beholding the Cosmic Form of Krsna. He craved His forgiveness for his arrogance in behaving as His chum. Rukmini was overwhelmed with fear when Krsna told her jokingly that He would leave her.

But the Source of Unalloyed Love knows nothing of Divine Majesty. If She meets with any exhibition of Majesty, She simply ignores all relationship on Her part with such Entity.

In Shanta-Rasa there is found exclusive attachment to Krsna due to the realisation of one's spiritual nature. Krsna Himself says, "Equinamity (Sama) results from the inclination of constant attachment to Me". The specific effect of Shanta-Rasa is noticeable in this, that the Shanta-devotee discards every other longing except for Krsna. Hence no one can have real equanimity of disposition except the devotee of Krsna. The devotee of Krsna regards paradise and liberation as hell. The two characteristics of the Shanta-devotee are constant attachment to Krsna and renunciation of all other longing. These two characteristics permeate all the devotees of Krsna just as sound permeates and penetrates all mundane elements.

It is the nature of the Shanta-devotee to be devoid of any personal tie of love with Krsna. In the heart of the peaceful Shanta-devotee, the realisation of Krsna as the Supremely Great Being (Para-Brahma) and the Supreme Soul (Paramatman) is strong. In Shanta-Rasa there is only the realisation of the spiritual nature of one's relationship with Krsna; whereas in Dasya-Rasa there is the greater realisation of the Nature of Krsna as the Master possessing Full Divine Majesty. In Dasya (service of the Master) mood there is exuberance of the realisation of God as the Possessor of controlling power and great dignity. The servitor by his humble ministration gives constant pleasure to Krsna.

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In Dasya (servitor mood) there are the two characteristics of Shanta with the further addition of the specific activity of servitude. Therefore, Dasya possesses this two-fold quality. In Sakhya (friendship) there are the qualities of both Santa and Dasya, but whereas in the Dasya mood the servitude is full of the sense of inferiority and high respect for Krsna, in Sakhya (friendship) it is characterised by full confidence. The chums of Krsna climb to His shoulders, make Him climb theirs, engage in the sport of wrestling with Him, serve Krsna and make Krsna serve them in His turn. Sakhya is marked by the predominance of confidential relations devoid of the sense of respect and of one's inferiority to Him. Hence Sakhya-Rasa possesses the three-fold quality. There is a greater measure of the personal sentiment, a sense of regarding Krsna as one's own. It is this last trait that makes Godhead submit to Sakhya-Rasa, as for instance when Krsna agreed to drive the chariot of His cousin Arjuna when Arjuna was fighting on the battlefield at Kurukshetra.

In Vatsalya-Rasa (Parental mood of Devotion) there are the qualities of Shanta and the ministration of Dasya. There are also the qualities of Sakhya consisting of the absence of restraint, and of awe and respect, as well as an absence of fear of punishment and scolding - which is due to the sentiment of kinship. Additionally, there are the activities bearing the designation of "tending" (palana). There is the sentiment of regarding oneself as the guardian of Krsna, Who is regarded as the Ward. By this fourfold characteristic Vatsalya-Rasa is as delicious as nectar. Krsna Himself is immersed in that nectarean bliss in the company of His devotee. Those jnanins (meditators) such as Suka, Sanaka and Sanatan who are aware of the Nature of Krsna as Divinity possessed of controlling Power, declare that Krsna also possesses the quality of subservience to His devotee.

In Madhura-Rasa there is constant attachment to Krsna, extreme servitude, the absence of diffidence of the chum, the increased sentiment for Krsna that is felt when one is tending one's Child, and finally serving Krsna by means of one's own body as Consort. Hence Madhura-Rasa exhibits five distinct qualities. An analogy is supplied by the case of the five mundane elements (space, air, fire, water, earth). The quality of each element commencing with space (akasha) is carried to the next in the series and added to its own distinctive quality till the last of the elements, viz., the earth, is generated and seen to be possessing the distinctive qualities of the preceding four elements in addition to its own specific qualities. In the same manner, all the Bhavas combine in Madhura. For this reason, Madhura-Rasa has greater tastefulness which makes it so exquisitely delicious.

The Lord said to Sri Rupa Goswami that He had given him the mere outline of Bhakti-Rasa. Sri Caitanya advised Sri Rupa Goswami to ponder this and to amplify and expand upon it in his writings. It is by the practice of constant meditation that Krsna manifests Himself to the heart. By the Grace of Krsna even an ignorant person is enabled to realise the nature of the Ocean of Rasa.