Nityaananda! Gauraanga! Hare Krishna! Does the zoom (change of font size on the fly) font button work both in the gnochm and xchm in Linux? I am sure your feedback will be quite useful for the Linux users of NITAAI Veda. Thanks.
Daaso'smi, BRS Swami Gaurangapada.
Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krsna!
Yes Maharaja the gnochm has a very simple search. The xchm has bookmarks. One thing that would be nice in these readers is if they could re-open at last page browsed, like pdf.
It is excellent though, that we can have so many books in one small machine, and with zoom the reading quality is good. I am certain with this portability, Nitaai Veda will be used much more by me. Thx.
y.s.
Nityaananda! Gauraanga! Hare Krishna! We cannot fix the script errors because we have no control over the chm generation. But maybe the original could be modified to eliminate the script errors though it will not be possible unless you can tell us which node in the tree is giving errors. Can you search in the gnochm viewer?
Daaso'smi, BRS Swami Gaurangapada.
Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krsna!
The xchm viewer seems not to display the full tree. There must be some script error, that would be easy fixed if someone was in the know. The links in the main gita activate for the gita as it is...and all color coding is active. Its very nice looking. And user friendly.
The gnochm viewer is perfect with all trees active (all books), but over all less functional and more basic looking.
y.s.
Nityaananda! Gauraanga! Hare Krishna! Try to install IE7 on the Linux if possible somehow. Maybe then the rollovers would work though I am not sure. The NITAAI Veda chm file uses the IE browser on the PC.
Daaso'smi, BRS Swami Gaurangapada.
Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krsna!
The rollovers do not work. On first glance this linux seems to be neater and possibly better search facility than xp Nitaai Veda.
Its excellent to hear that dell will bring out this new machine...good for the avid lovers of Nitaai Veda 
To take Nitaai Veda on the go...is fabulous mercy of God. In town it will also be a talking point, as the small pc is not so common here...sharing Nitaai Veda will be fun!
y.s.
Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krsna!
The links to the linux viewer on Gurudeva's Nitaai Veda are very good. I have just installed the xchm viewer.
on the eeepc click,
ctrl alt t
then type after the prompt,
sudo apt-get install xchm
afterwards to open the the xchm viewer simply type: ctrl alt t , and when the window opens type, xchm
I spent about ten hours hours figuring this out, and was about to give up...then I petioned Lord Nitaai...please... 
Hari Hari!
y.s.
Nityaananda! Gauraanga! Hare Krishna! That's excellent work Nava. Do rollover menus work on the NITAAI Veda pages? And the Chm Search? The upcoming 8.9" Dell E (1 kg) with the 1.6 GHz Atom processor in August for only US $299 seems to be very good alternative to the costlier EeePC for the NITAAI Veda on the move.
Doing with a single E what takes ASUS three, Dell's mini netbook looks to be on track for an August kill sprEee. We've already seen Dell's launch timeline and specs, of course, and this morning we've got the hushed whispers of DigiTimes' "market sources" again claiming that the Compal manufactured Dell 8.9-inchers will launch in August for $299. For that price, assuming everything we've heard so far is correct, you'll get an instant-on Linux distro running atop Intel's 1.6GHz Atom processor, a 1,024 x 600 display, 3x USB, a wee SSD, integrated webcam, WiFi, and more in a 0.82-1.22-inch thick sled weighing about 2.2-pounds. With the netbook market now thoroughly saturated, we expect the Dell launch to mark the beginning of an industry shakeout. Any bets on who will survive? (From Engadget.com)
Daaso'smi, BRS Swami Gaurangapada.
Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krsna!
Dear devotees,
I finally got Nitaai Veda working on my eeePC Linux. I used gnochm viewer which is very basic (but the full tree is active). Intructions here:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=22941
the eeepc linux is very basic in many ways, but saying that linux will take time for me to understand. The eepc makes a perfect portable book, so that Nitaai Veda is at hand all the time! I would recommend the Windows version eeePC (it is more costly though), as setting up the linux has been very time consuming.
On the above forum there is a kchm viewer, it maintans the color, unlike the gnochm, but the full tree was cut short.
I will tinker some more and try and find the best viewer in due course.
y.s. Nava.
Thakur Bhaktivinode�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 Sri Krishna by their own wholetime spiritual service of the Divinity.
This statement by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada gives full credit for the modern day Nitaai Gaura Hare Krishna movement to the most holy advent of Shrila Sacchidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura in this modern age. It is only due to his causelessly merciful appearance that great Acharyas appeared after him.
I pray and request that the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust will seriously consider this prophecy and lecture by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada and take up the translation and publication of the holy books of Shrila Sacchidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura also, along with Shrila Swami Prabhupada's books, in the various languages of the world. This was desired by Shrila Swami Prabhupada himself. He wanted Shrila Sacchidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura's books to be translated into many languages.
I have many realizations about the nice posts which are being posted on our Forum and would like to comment on each one of them. But somehow I do not get the time to pen them down. Maybe in the future, if I can quickly explain to a devotee with me and he can type them down. Or another option is I record them in video as soon as I am inspired about a topic and I set them to be auto-uploaded to blip.tv. Someone will have to check the new videos on our blip page and post them on the forums as a reply in the relevant topic or as a new topic with the embed code for silverlight wmv video which is common for all videos (just changing the url). Sometimes I get so overburdened by various services, then even though I record it, I am not able to immediately post it on the forums. Whenever possible, the videos would have to be also transcribed later so that the text is searchable and subject matter reaches a bigger audience via text. The Add Webcam Comment button is ok it does not record such good quality video and audio and it stores them on Riffly servers.
Daaso'smi, BRS Swami Gaurangapada.
Respected Swamiji and all Vaisnavas,
Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!
Jaya Visnupada Srila Prabhupada!
Jaya Swami Gaurangpada!
All glories to the guru parampara!
All glories to the Vaisnavas!
In the Nectar of Instruction, Rupa Gosvami says that the first thing that sadhakas must avoid is useless talking, called prajalpa. Bhaktivinode Thakura explains this in detail
An Excerpt from Sri Bhaktyaloka
Talking with one another is called jalpana or prajalpa. Nowadays in this world godlessness is so prominent that conversing with others means godless talk. Therefore it is not profitable for a practicing devotee to engage in jalpana. There can, however, be many kinds of jalpana in the cultivation of devotional service. They are all auspicious for the devotees. Srila Rupa Gosvami has written in his Karpanya-panjika-stotra:
tathapy asmin kadacid vamadhisau nama-jalpini avadya-vrnda-nistari namabhasau prasidatam
Devotees recite the purport of this verse in the following words:
tathapi e dina-jane yadi nama-uccarane namabhasa karila jivane sarva-dosa-nivarana duhun-nama-sanjalpana prasade prasida dui jane
“While chanting the holy name of the Lord, if a wretched person in his lifetime achieves namabhasa, or a glimpse of offenseless chanting, then all his faults are destroyed and Their Lordships become pleased with him.”
Kirtana, offering prayers, and reciting the scriptures are all jalpana; but when these are performed with a favorable mood and devoid of material desire, then they are all cultivation of Krsna consciousness. Therefore the conclusion is this: All prajalpas that are unfavorable to Krsna’s service are adverse to devotional service. The practitioner should carefully give up prajalpa. There is no fault in the activities of the mahajanas. The mahajanas have respectfully engaged in prajalpa (favorable to devotional service), and this is our only duty. Sometimes puffed-up devotees advise that all types of prajalpa should be given up. But we are followers of Srila Rupa Gosvami; being followers of Rupa Gosvami we will always stick to the path shown by the sadhus who are following his instructions. In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, as quoted from the Skanda Purana, it is said:
sa mrgyah sreyasam hetuh panthah santapa-varjitah anavapta-sramam purve yena santah pratisthire
“One should strictly follow the easy path that the previous mahajanas have accepted. That path bestows great auspiciousness and is devoid of all misery.”
Our mahajana’s path is that which was shown by Srila Vyasadeva, Sukadeva Gosvami, Prahlada Maharaja, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and His associates. We are not to leave aside that path to follow the instructions of new puffed-up devotees. All the mahajanas have respected that prajalpa which nourishes devotion to Hari. We will discuss this in the appropriate place.
Godless prajalpas are impediments to devotional service. They are of many types. Useless talks, arguments, gossip, debates, fault-finding in others, speaking falsehoods, blaspheming devotees, and worldly talk are all called prajalpa.
Useless talk is extremely detrimental. Practicing devotees should discuss topics of Lord Hari in the association of other devotees and remember Hari’s name, form, qualities, and pastimes in a secluded place without uselessly wasting time. In the Bhagavad-gita (10.8-9) it is said:
aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah mac-citta mad-gata-prana bodhayantah parasparam kathayantas ca mam nityam tusyanti ca ramanti ca
“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts. The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.”
Also in the Gita (9.14) it says:
satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vratah namasyantas ca mam bhaktya nitya-yukta upasate
“Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.”
In this way the practicing devotee should cultivate unalloyed devotion. If they spend their days and nights uselessly talking with materialists, then the Lord’s instruction, “always chanting My glories,” will not be followed. In newspapers there is so much useless talk. For the practicing devotee to read newspapers is a great loss. But if there are topics about pure devotees described in the newspaper, then that can be read. After finishing their meal, mundane people normally smoke and engage in useless talk with other godless people. It is certainly difficult for them to become followers of Srila Rupa Gosvami. Reading novels is the same. But if one gets a novel with a story like that of Puranjana in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, then reading that is not an impediment, rather it is beneficial.
Argument is a prajalpa that is adverse to devotional service. All the arguments of the followers of nyaya and vaisesika are simply godless quarrels. They do not yield any result other than wasting the mind’s strength and increasing one’s restlessness. In the Vedas (Katha Upanisad 1.2.9) it is said: naisa tarkena matir apaneya “This intelligence cannot be attained by argument.” The living entity’s proper discretion is eternally established in his natural intelligence. That discretion naturally flows towards the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. But by arguing about directions, places, mistakes, and illusions, the heart becomes tough. Then natural discretion no longer remains. By accepting the Vedic Dasamula instructions and arguing accordingly, one’s mind does not become wicked. What is good, what is bad-when such deliberations are based on the Vedas, that is no longer prajalpa. That is why in the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 25.153) Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given the instruction:
ataeva bhagavata karaha vicara
“Study Srimad-Bhagavatam very scrutinizingly.”
Discussions to establish the knowledge of one’s relationship with the Lord are not prajalpa. Those who conquer the assembly by useless arguments do not reach any conclusion; therefore it is certainly one’s duty to give up such logician’s association. This is confirmed in the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 12.183) by Sri Vasudeva Sarvabhauma, who said:
tarkika-srgala-sange bheu-bheu kari sei mukhe ebe sada kahi ‘krsna’ ‘hari’
“In the association of the jackals known as logicians, I simply continued to bark a resounding ‘bheu bheu.’ Now, from the same mouth I am chanting the holy names ‘Krsna’ and ‘Hari.’”
Those who are accustomed to discuss spiritual matters should remember the words of the Varanasi sannyasi as found in the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 25.43):
paramartha-vicara gela, kari matra ‘vada’ kahan mukti paba, kahan krsnera prasada
“The atheists, headed by the Mayavadi philosophers, do not care for liberation or Krsna’s mercy. They simply continue to put forward false arguments and counter-theories to atheistic philosophy, not considering or engaging in spiritual matters.”
Useless arguments arise from envy or pride, aversion or attachment to sense gratification, or foolishness or self-pride. Quarrelsome people also become intoxicated by useless arguments. While discussing topics of the Lord and His devotees the practicing devotee should always be careful to avoid useless arguments.
Talking without reason about other people is extremely adverse to devotional service. Many people talk about others to establish their own reputation. Being envious, some people are accustomed to discuss others’ character. The minds of those who are busy in such topics can never be fixed on the lotus feet of Krsna. Talking about others should be rejected in all respects. But in the practice of devotional service there are many favorable topics that are faultless, even though they are about others. In order to completely renounce talking about others, one needs to live in the forest. The two different types of practicing devotees are the householders and the renunciates. Because the renunciates have no business whatsoever with sense enjoyment, they can give up talking about others in all respects. But because a householder is engaged in earning, saving, protecting, and maintaining the family, he cannot completely give up talking about others. It is best for him to live in a Krsna conscious family. When all ones material activities are related with Krsna, then even his unavoidable talk about others becomes sinless and a part of devotional practice in relation to Krsna. He should not talk about others in a way that is detrimental to anyone. He should talk about others only whatever little is necessary in his Krsna conscious family. He should not talk about others without reason. Moreover, when a guru enlightens his disciple on some topic, then unless he occasionally talks about others, his instruction may not be clear. When previous mahajanas have talked about others in this way, there is merit in such talk, not fault. As Sukadeva Gosvami said in Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.1.3-4):
nidraya hriyate naktam vyavayena ca va vayah diva carthehaya rajan kutumba-bharanena va dehapatya-kalatradisv atma-sainyesv asatsv api tesam pramatto nidhanam pasyann api na pasyati
“The lifetime of such an envious householder is passed at night either in sleeping or in sex indulgence, and in the daytime either in making money or maintaining family members. Persons devoid of atma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see their inevitable destruction.”
Although Sukadeva Gosvami talks about the materialists in order to instruct his disciple, he is not considered a prajalpi. Therefore such activities should be considered beneficial. Again, in order to instruct His own disciples, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu spoke about pseudo-renunciates in the following words from the Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 2.117, 120, 124):
prabhu kahe, – “vairagi kare prakrti sambhasana dekhite na paron ami tahara vadana ksudra-jiva saba markata-vairagya kariya indriya carana bule ‘prakrti’ sambhasiya” prabhu kahe, – “mora vasa nahe mora mana prakrti-sambhasi vairagi na kare darsana
“The Lord replied, “I cannot tolerate seeing the face of a person who has accepted the renounced order of life but who still talks intimately with a woman. There are many persons with little in their possession who accept the renounced order of life like monkeys. They go here and there engaging in sense gratification and speaking intimately with women. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “My mind is not under My control. It does not like to see anyone in the renounced order who talks intimately with women.”
Unless one speaks in this way while instructing and while concluding a subject, there is no benefit for oneself or others. Therefore when the previous acharyas have personally set example and taught others, how will we be benefitted by acting contrary to their instruction? And if one discusses in this way the improper behavior current in a religious sect or amongst the general public, then such talk is not adverse to devotional service. Even if one sometimes talks about a particular person, there is no fault. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.14.29) Maitreya Muni, the foremost devotee, spoke about Vena Maharaja in this way:
maitreya uvaca ittham viparyaya-matih papiyan utpatham gatah anuniyamanas tad-yacnam na cakre bhrasta-mangalah
“The great sage Maitreya continued: Thus the King, who became unintelligent due to his sinful life and deviation from the right path, became actually bereft of all good fortune. He could not accept the requests of the great sages, which the sages put before him with great respect, and therefore he was condemned.”
Sri Maitreya Rsi needed to speak about others in this way; he spoke to his audience to instruct them. This is not prajalpa. The practicing devotee normally discusses ancient history in the association of devotees. Occasionally they talk about nondevotees. Such talk is always auspicious and favorable to devotional service. But those who talk about others while influenced by devotional impediments like envy, hatred, pride, or distinction are offenders at the feet of Bhaktidevi.
Debate arises only from a desire for conquest. It is extremely abominable. Fault-finding arises only from imposing one’s own bad habits on others. This should be given up in all respects. Speaking falsehoods is another form of useless talk. Worldly talk is completely rejected by renounced devotees. Householders may accept some worldly talk that is favorable to devotional service. If topics like archeology, zoology, astrology, and geography are devoid of God consciousness, they should be rejected. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.12.49-50) Sri Sukadeva Gosvami has said:
mrsa giras ta hy asatir asat-katha na kathyate yad bhagavan adhoksajah tad eva satyam tad u haiva mangalam tad eva punyam bhagavad-gunodayam tad eva ramyam ruciram navam navam tad eva sasvan manaso mahotsavam tad eva sokarnava-sosanam nrnam yad uttamahsloka-yaso ‘nugiyate
“Words that do not describe the transcendental Personality of Godhead but instead deal with temporary matters are simply false and useless. Only those words that manifest the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Lord are actually truthful, auspicious and pious. Those words describing the glories of the all-famous Personality of Godhead are attractive, relishable and ever fresh. Indeed, such words are a perpetual festival for the mind, and they dry up the ocean of misery.”
Speech in the form of blaspheming sadhus is the source of great inauspiciousness. If one wants to attain devotion to Lord Hari, then he should make a vow like this: “In this life I will never blaspheme sadhus.” Devotees are sadhus. By blaspheming them, all one’s virtues are destroyed. By blaspheming the supremely pure Lord Mahadeva, Prajapati Daksa, the best of ascetics, met with severe inauspiciousness. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.4.46):
ayuh sriyam yaso dharmam lokan asisa eva ca hanti sreyamsi sarvani pumso mahad-atikramah
“My dear King, when a man persecutes great souls, all his benedictions of longevity, beauty, fame, religion, blessings and promotion to higher planets will be destroyed.”
The conclusion of this essay is this: Whatever prajalpa is not favorable for devotional service should be carefully given up by Vaisnavas who are cultivating Bhakti. Amongst these instructions, the instruction to tolerate the urge to speak mentioned in the first verse-vaco vegam-is only a conditional urge. By giving up prajalpa, the urge to speak is permanently regulated. In order to pass one’s life without sin, one should not speak anything more than whatever little is necessary. One need discuss only whatever is auspicious for oneself and others. If one wants to discuss topics of others, it will simply be useless speech. Therefore in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.28.2) Lord Krsna instructed Uddhava as follows:
para-svabhava-karmani yah prasamsati nindati sa asu bhrasyate svarthad asaty abhinivesatah
“Whoever indulges in praising or criticizing the qualities and behavior of others will quickly become deviated from his own best interest by his entanglement in illusory dualities.”
Aspiring to be your servant,
Srinath
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Excerpts from a lecture delivered by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura on January 28th, 1931, in Mayapura Dhama, India.
A Golden Opportunity to Serve Collectively
Today I have an opportunity to worship my Sri Gurudeva (Srila Gaurakishora Dasa Babaji). Last year, also, I had the good fortune of worshiping him, and today that auspicious occasion has come again. By the mercy of Bhagavan, I had the fortune of being able to serve Srila Gurudeva for another year. If Srila Gurudeva had wanted to deprive me of service to him, I would not have survived this past year. Since I have been granted this one year, I must again, today, contemplate whether I have properly taken advantage of that opportunity and served him accordingly.
Srila Gurudeva said that we shall collectively engage in the service of Bhagavan. He used the word “we” which means he was not referring to one person alone. Many persons egotistically profess, “I am Bhagavan’s exclusive servant” or “I have been selected to perform a particular service to Him because no one else is qualified to do it.” But Srila Gurudeva’s words issue from a heart melted with loving compassion: “Come! Let us forget our tendency to block each other’s spiritual progress; this is violence. Service to Bhagavan is superior to all else.”
By saying “superior to all else” he is not implying, “No one can do this service but me; I will not allow anyone else to do it.” My Srila Gurupadapadma’s nature contains no such violence.
Humbly Praying for Help
“Bahubhirmilitva yat kirtanam tadaiva sankirtanam – sankirtana means congregational chanting.”
Glorification and prayers are included in sankirtana. From an external perspective, one who offers stuti (Vedic prayers) holds a lower position than the object of the prayers. A third party however, can best understand the glories of a person by hearing his prayers.
Sri Gaurasundara explained that to genuinely call out for Bhagavan, one has to more humble than a blade of grass (trnad api sunicena). We cannot cry out for someone until we have accepted our own insignificance in relation to that person. We beg for assistance when we are forced to acknowledge our helplessness. Whenever we find ourselves incapable of completing a task on our own, we are left with no choice but to seek another’s help. Alone I cannot complete a task that requires five people to accomplish.
Sri Gaurasundara has instructed us to genuinely cry out for Bhagavan, which means He has urged us to solicit Sri Bhagavan for help. This we have heard from Srila Gurudeva. However if I cry out to Him with the intention of involving Him in service to me, or if I petition Him for the purpose of accomplishing any task, my cries lack the real humility of trnad api sunicena. Real humility is never found in an external show of humility, which is actually mere duplicity. Calling out to Bhagavan in the mood of being His master, expecting Him to obey like a servant, is ineffective. He does not hear such a call because He is supremely independent and fully conscious. Consequently, He is not controlled by anyone. Until a person’s egoism establishes roots in sincere, non-duplicitous humility, his prayers will not reach Bhagavan, who is fully independent.
A person who is more humble than a blade of grass may cry out to Bhagavan, but unless he is endowed with the qualities of patience and tolerance, his calling out will still not bare fruit. If we show impatience by hankering after our own interests, our behavior is in direct opposition to the mood of trnad api sunicena. If we are fully confident that Bhagavan is the Complete Being, and that our calling out to Him will never result in scarcity, we will not experience any dearth of patience. But if I become greedy, intolerant and restless, and if I remain adamant that I will accomplish my task on the strength of my own ability and competence, I will not be able to call out to Bhagavan in the true sense.
If we are excessively vain, we cannot properly call out to Him. And also if we try to annihilate our real self-interest, then we will not be able to cry out to Bhagavan properly. Often, I think that I am obliging Him by my prayers, and therefore I engage in other activities in which I don’t need to ask for His help. This mentality also indicates the absence of tolerance.
We therefore require a guardian to save us from such tendencies until we become qualified to sincerely pray in the mood of trnad api sunicena. His shelter and support are necessary to shield us from such unfavourable inclinations. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura says: “asraya laiya bhaje, tanre krsna nahi tyaje, ara sabe mare akarana – one who performs bhajana under the shelter of personalities who are the abode of love for Krsna, is not neglected by Krsna; everyone else lives in vain.”
We are Incompetent to Proceed Without a Bona Fide Guru
Serving the lotus feet of Srila Gurudeva is our foremost necessity. In this world, we even need a guru to perform karma (material activities), to acquire jnana (knowledge) or to fulfill any anyabhilasa (desires not connected to serving Krsna). The guidance of such worldly gurus engenders insignificant results, which are the antithesis of the results bestowed by the lotus feet of a bona fide guru. Srila Gurudeva is the source of our genuine welfare. The very moment we become bereft of his mercy, diverse worldly desires manifest in our hearts. And if the vartma-pradarsaka guru, who is the first to tell us about spiritual life, does not tell us how we should take shelter of the lot us feet of Srila Gurudeva, we may end up losing the gem in hand.
Nama-bhajana (chanting Krsna’s names) is the sole method of performing bhajana, and it is the only method Srila Gurudeva confers upon us. Consequently, our responsibility is to worship his lotus feet at the beginning of each year, that is, every guru-puja. Srila Rupa Gosvami says:
guru-padasrayas tasmat krsna-diksadi-siksanam visrambhena guroh seva sadhu-vartmanuvartanam
[The first four limbs of sadhana-bhakti are: to accept the shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide guru, to take diksa and receive instructions on service to Krsna from him, to serve him with intimacy and affection and to follow the path of the sadhus, under his guidance.”
(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.74-75)]
In a realm that is concealed and mystifying, it is impossible to proceed by depending on one’s own multitude of competencies. Just as it is impossible to foresee the future or making plans for the future on the strength of one’s own ability, similarly, mundane conceptions cannot help one penetrate or attain the supra-mundane realm. My senses have experience something of the time that has already passed, and therefore I have knowledge of it, but I remain ignorant about the future. In the same way, our current senses are incapable of informing us about that realm that is complete and inconceivable. Our eyes can only see a few miles into the distance, and our ears can only hear words spoken nearby.
If we depend on our own competence to proceed in such a realm, we will never reach the far end, the Ultimate Reality. Such an attempt is likened to Ravana’s efforts to build a stairway to heaven. Construction may begin, but it will eventually crumble to the ground. It cannot exist in a void where no support is present. Similarly we desire to ascend to that unknown realm, and we try to do so on the strength of our own competence, but we always fail. Furthermore, if we consider an ordinary mortal who is laghu (spiritually impotent and not at all grave) to be guru (weighty with potency), we face failure.
We will have to recognize who is guru and who is laghu. A guru is engaged in service to that Complete Entity whom all real gurus honor as their sole object of worship. This does not refer to a guru (teacher) of sitar or physical exercises. Such a guru cannot save one from the clutches of death.
gurur na sa syat sva-jano na sa syat pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat daivam na tat syan na patis ca sa syan na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum
[“That guru is not a guru, that father is not a father, that mother is not a mother, that demigod is not a demigod and that relative is not a relative who cannot protect us from the clutches of death, cannot bestow eternal life upon us and cannot protect us from ignorance, because of which we are deeply engrossed in this material world.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.18)]
Ignorance is the sole reason a person falls into the clutches of death; a person with knowledge does not. All the education in the world is immediately dispensable for one who becomes mad or paralyzed or who meets with death. Unless we are searching for the ultimate truth, we tend to become unconscious, or devoid of real consciousness.
When we are impelled to enjoy our senses, like the tongue, hands, legs, arms and genitals, we are enchanted and then deceived. It is therefore imperative upon us to remember Srila Gurupadapadma at the beginning of each year, each month, each day and at every moment, for he can protect us from all such deception.
Remember Sri Guru Every Day, Every Moment
Our Gurudeva’s forms are manifold. If he did not manifest himself in various ways, then who else would protect us? That person whom my Gurudeva has accepted as his own i s my savior. I do not want to see the faces of vile persons who criticize my Gurudeva or who support those who criticize him. They are the cause of all inauspiciousness.
The very instant I deviate from or forget the lotus feet of Srila Gurudeva, who is continuously attracting me to his lotus feet, at that very moment I am unquestionably deprived of the Truth. Upon such deviation, I became engrossed in contemplating countless scarcities. I hurry to bathe in a holy place, and I become busy protecting myself from the cold. In this way I chase after activities other than service to Srila Gurudeva.
My Gurudeva constantly protects me from dvitiya-abhinivesa, becoming absorbed in activities separate from the interest of Bhagavan. If I do not remember my Gurudeva at the beginning of each year, each month, each day, and at every moment, I will surely fall further away from the path of bhakti. Consequently, I myself will wish to be recognized as guru, and the sinister contemplation of how others will worship me will invade my mind.
This alone is dvitiya-abhinivesa. We have not assembled here to perform guru-puja just for today, but to begin performance of it at every moment, forever.
Sri Gaurasundara is Krsna Himself who came to this Earth as jagad-guru, the spiritual master of the whole world, and spoke Siksastaka. May the mahanta-gurus (exalted, manifest gurus) and all great Vaisnavas who are surrendered to their lotus feet, impart all aspects of the teachings of Siksastaka to us. May they deliver us from our calamitous situation.
My Gurudeva Appears to Me Everywhere
Our spiritual masters (asraya-jatiya guru-varga) are the abodes of love. They appear to us in different forms to bestow their mercy upon us. They are reflected in all objects and in every entity. Indeed, they are the special manifestations of Srila Gurudeva, he who imparts divya-jnana, transcendental knowledge. The object of love, Krsna (visaya-jatiya), is one half of the equation, and the abode of love, Sri Guru (asraya-jatiya), is the other half. Their combination results in a complete whole through vilasa vaicitrya (wonderfully variegated pastimes). Sri Krsna is the complete manifestation of the object of love, and Srila Gurudeva is the complete perception of the abode of love. When the transcendental reflection of asraya-jatiya tattva falls upon any conscious being, he is to be understood as a manifestation of my Gurudeva. Gurudeva is that person whose behavior at every moment instructs us that our entire life is meant for serving Bhagavan. That very Gurudeva is reflected in the heart of every living being and is situated in every entity as asraya-jatiya tattva.
cuta-priyala-panasasana-kovidara jambv-arka-bilva-bakulamra-kadamba-nipah ye ‘nye parart ha-bhavaka yamunopakulah samsantu krsna-padavim rahitatmanam nah
[“O mango, priyala, jackfruit, asana and kovidara trees! O trees of jambu, arka, bilva and bakula! O amra, kadamba and nipa trees, as well as all other plants and trees growing along Yamuna’s shores whose lives are devoted to benefiting others, we have lost our minds in the agony of separation from Sri Krsna, so please tell us where He has gone.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.30.9)]
Sri Krsna disappeared from the rasa-sthali (the place of the rasa-lila), and the gopis, who are eternally liberated souls, approached each and every living entity in search of Him. Did the gopis simply depend upon the knowledge acquired through their senses to find Him? We receive the opportunity to hear about these subjects from our Gurudeva. The variegated transcendental pastimes of Nanda-Govinda, Yasoda-Govinda, Sridama-Sudama-Govinda, Citraka-Patraka-Govinda, Vamsi-Govinda, Go-Govinda and Kadamba-Govinda are accounts of the rasa-laden pastimes of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda.
If a person is blessed with the darsana of Sri Guru in his heart, or if he makes a place in his mind where Sri Guru can wander, then such pastimes are revealed in his heart. The one and only way to attain service to the Complete Being is to worship that person who, by his every activity, encourages us to serve the Complete Being. Our Gurudeva’s image, reflected in many different ways, constantly manifests newer and newer lessons for us.
My Gurudeva manifests in various repositories and, upon seeing their attitude of service to Bhagavan, I pray that I may spend thousands and thousands of lifetimes serving Sri Hari in their association, and that my aversion to serving Him, which has prevailed for millions of lifetimes, is finally destroyed.
Everyone is Advancing Except Me
Once I went to Mangala-giri in South India to establish the sacred impressions of Sriman Mahaprabhu’s footprints. A devotee amongst us raised this doubt: “When I first came to the matha (temple), I noted the character of the matha residents and their attachment o serving Bhagavan. This impressed and inspired me and I cherished a high aspiration to be like them. But now, the standard I once envisioned attaining has lessened considerably. I am engrossed in various mundane thoughts such as thinking about the many brahmacaris who have turned to their homes and entered household life.”
In reply I said, “I cannot say that they have left hari-bhajana just because they have returned to their homes. In fact I see each and every one of those brahmacaris as amazing Vaisnavas and that their Vaisnava qualities and devotion for the Lord have increased manifold. What a wicked atheist I used to be, but my wickedness substantially abated in their association. I see that I am averse to Bhagavan, but they a ll are engaged in hari-bhajana. By the mercy of Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, I have come to know this verse:
vaisnavera nindyakarma na pade kane sabe krsna bhaje tinha ai matra jane
[“Gossip about Vaisnavas indulging in abominable activities should never enter my ears. I should only see that all persons are serving Krsna.”]
From my perspective, everybody is advancing in hari-bhajana, and this universe, which was created by Bhagavan, is prospering in every respect. Everyone except me is receiving spiritual benefit. You have become restless without due reason, and because you are intensely eager to serve Bhagavan you want the devotees who left to also be increasingly keen to engage in hari-bhajana. They are, however, engaged in hari-bhajana. Still you are dissatisfied and want their exuberance to serve their beloved Lord to increase a million-fold. My heart, on the contrary, is meager and unable to accommodate the magnitude of their bhajana of Sri Hari. They exemplified living according to an astonishingly high ideal. The only person who is incapable of performing hari-bhajana is me, because I busy myself with finding faults in others. How, then, can I ever make progress?”
Enthusiastic to Find Faults
Who finds faults in the Vaisnavas? Those who depend on their senses to acquire knowledge. Their senses – the eyes, ears, nose and so forth – are their sole support; hence external objects deceive them. In other words, those who are averse to hari-bhajana find faults with the Vaisnavas. When a person tells me that someone has stopped chanting his harinama, I think, “He must have become highly elevated at heart as a result of so much chanting. This is why he has left the path of bhajana, which is the sole source of one’s welfare, and become engaged in other activities. Only a rich man is so content that he does not care to earn more.”
In Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavan says: “na me bhaktah pranasyati – My devotees never perish or face misfortune.”
api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak sadhur eva sa mantavyah samyag vyavasito hi sah
[“If even a man of abominable character worships Me with single-pointed focus, he is still to be considered a sadhu because he is rightly situated in bhakti.”
(Bhagavad-gita 9.30)]
ksipram bhavati dharmatma sasvac-chantim nigacchati kaunteya pratijanihi name bhaktah pranasyati
[“He quickly becomes virtuous and attains eternal peace. O Kaunteya, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.”
(Bhagavad-gita 9.31)]
Can anyone who is one-pointed and unflinching in his performance of hari-bhajana ever become degraded? They have doubtlessly attained full auspiciousness. Our attitude, however, is defective, and this is why we do not attain our own auspiciousness.
para-svabhava-karmani na prasamsen na garhayet visvam ekamakam pasyan prakrtya purusena ca
[“Sri Bhagavan said: Do not criticize or praise the conditioned nature and activities of others. View this world as a combination of material nature and souls who have an enjoying propensity, both based on the one Ultimate Reality.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.28.1)]
If I depend on my sense-perception for information I will remain deprived of service to the Lord, who is beyond the perception of the senses (adhoksaja), and of Srila Gurudeva. I have not attained my own welfare, but still I meditate on the auspicious behavior of others, and although I myself am full of shortcomings, I am enthusiastic to find faults in others. If I ever began to really focus on my own welfare, would I have time to observe another’s imperfections?
krsneti yasya giri tam manasadriyeta diksasti cet pranatibhis ca bhajantam isam susrusaya bhajana-vijnam ananyam anya- nindadi sunya-hrdam ipsita-sanga-labdhya
[“One who chants Krsna’s name just once is a neophyte devotee (kanistha-adhikari). One should consider him to be his family member and silently respect him. One who, fully understanding the principle of diksa, has accepted initiation from a qualified guru and performs bhajana of Bhagavan in accordance with Vaisnava conventions is an intermediate devotee (madhyama-adhikari). One should respect such a devotee who is endowed with the correct understanding of reality and illusion by offering him pranama and so forth. One who is adept in the science of bhajana as described in Srimad-Bhagavatam and other Vaisnava scriptures, and who performs exclusive bhajana of Sri Krsna, is a maha-bhagavata devotee. Due to his undeviating absorption in Krsna, the pure heart of such a devotee is free from faults such as the tendency to criticize others. He is expert in bhajana, meaning that he mentally renders service manasa-seva) to Sri Radha-Krsna’s pastimes which take place during the eight segments of the day (asta-kaliya-lila). Knowing him to be a topmost devotee whose heart is established in the particular mood of service to Sri Radha-Krsna for which one aspires, and who is affectionately disposed towards oneself, one should honour him by offering dandavat-pranama, making relevant inquiry and rendering service with great love.”
(Upadesamrta, verse 5)]
Our lives are short. Last year we gathered here to worship Srila Gurudeva. Since then, those who received the mercy of Bhagavan have departed from this world. However, for the purpose of finding faults in others and to show an example of the absence of trnad api sunicena, we are in this material world absorbed in sense gratification.
The slightest tendency to find faults in others is completely absent in Srila Gurudeva. At the same time, his sole function is to kindly point out our hundreds and thousands of faults, which are the cause of our misfortune. May we not lose sight of this quality of Srila Gurudeva.
If I live for one more year, then I will absorb myself in the service of Gurudeva at every moment from today onward and give up my tendency to criticize others. I will not say, “I am valorous, scholarly and a gifted speaker; he is foolish, ignorant and cannot express anything.” On the strength of exclusive absorption in hari-katha, I will not foster an attitude of aversion to Bhagavan, and thus I will become truly benefited.
Sadhaka and Siddha are Not the Same
asa-bharair-amrta-sindhu-mayaih kathamcit kalo mayatigamitah kila sampratam hi tamce krpam mayi vidhasyaci n aiva kim me; pranairvrajena ca varoru vakarinapi
[“O Varoru (girl with beautiful thighs), I am passing my time with the sole hope of being able to serve You. If You withhold Your mercy, what value to me are this life, the land of Vraja, and Sri Krsna, the enemy of Baka?”
(Vilapa-kusumanjali, verse 102)]
Some people ask me, “Why don’t you give siddha-pranali (the identity of one’s eternal relationship with Krsna)?” However, I cannot understand how a sadhaka and a siddha can be on the same level. How can one in the stage of sadhana that is full of anarthas (unwanted material contamination) cultivate the activities of sadhana that is free from anarthas or that of siddhi (the stage of perfection)? If someone is siddha, self-realized, and he mercifully reveals his svarupa to me, then only can I come to know his eternal constitutional form.
In madhura-rasa Srila Gurudeva is Varsabhanavi (Sri Radha). According to a person’s eternal nature, he will see that same Sri Gurudeva as a certain absolute reality (vastu). One in the mood of a parent sees him as Nanda-Yasoda; one in the mood of a friend sees him as Sridama-Sudama and one in the mood of a servitor sees him as Citraka-Patraka.
The truth of who is visaya (the lover, the devotee) and who is asraya (the beloved, Krishna) appears in the heart of one who remains engaged in service to Srila Gurudeva. This truth does not manifest in the heart by an artificial means. When the tendency to serve arises in a fortunate soul, this truth automatically appears in his heart. We are not obliged to serve anyone other than our Gurudeva. The nature of nitya-lila (Krsna’s eternal pastimes with His devotees), which even Sesa, Siva, Brahma and others cannot conceive of, will never be realized by one whose consciousness is polluted with mundane conceptions.
I offer my obeisances unto the lotus feet of you all, my guru-varga (respected elders).
[From: The Harmonist. No 15. Kartika 2005]
In your service,
Trying to be of some use to devotees,
Srinath
Respected Swamiji and all Vaisnavas,
Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!
Jaya Visnupada Srila Prabhupada!
Jaya Swami Gaurangpada!
All glories to the guru parampara!
All glories to the Vaisnavas!
I came across this writing by Sarasvati Thakura on Bhaktivinode Thakura. It struck me as very profound and revealing. He says that in the near future, the writings of Bhaktivinode Thakura will be translated into all the languages of the world by those recipients of his mercy. As of now, those words are now becoming a reality thanks to the grace of Swamiji and many other devotees who are actively preaching the teachings of Bhaktivinode Thakura. I pray that in the near future the whole world becomes the recipient of the causeless mercy of his servants.
This I believe is very very important subject matter.
Srila Prabhupada Instructs His Disciples Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
We avail of the opportunity offered by the Anniversary Celebrations of the advent of Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Krishna. Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Acharyas who appeared before Thakur Bhaktivinode 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.
Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode will be reverently translated, by the recipients of his grace, into all the languages of the world.
The writings of Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode’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 Thakur Bhaktivinode. Those who suppose they understand the meaning of his message without securing the guiding grace of the Acarya are disposed to unduly favor 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode. 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode. The Editor of this Journal, originally started by Thakur Bhaktivinode, has been trying to draw the attention of all followers of Thakur Bhaktivinode to this all-important point of his teachings. It is not necessary to try to place ourselves on a footing of equality with Thakur Bhaktivinode. We are not likely to benefit by any mechanical imitation of any practices of Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Savior and the saved. Those who are really saved can alone know this.Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode by the method of submissive listening to the Transcendental Sound from the lips of the pure devotee. The Guru who realizes 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode 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-realized souls. They may not at all know the real meaning of the words they have learned by the method of empiric study. Take for example the Name “Krishna”. Every reader of Thakur Bhaktivinode’s works must be aware that the Name manifests Himself on the lips of His serving devotees 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode and quite another matter to realize the Nature of the Holy Name of Krishna by the process conveyed by the words.
Thakur Bhaktivinode did not want us to go to the clever mechanical reciter of the mundane sound for obtaining access to the Transcendental Name of Krishna. 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.
Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode will be grossly misunderstood by their readers. The attentive reader of those works will find that he 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Krishna. They direct the sincere enquirer of the Truth, as all the revealed scriptures do, to the pure devotee of Krishna 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 endeavor 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode and for the same reason.
The person to whom the Acharya 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 Acharya thus authorized 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 Acharya 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Krishna, the concrete Personal Absolute.
Thakur Bhaktivinode’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 Sri Krishna 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 bona fide 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.
Those who pretend to recognize the Divine Mission of Thakur Bhaktivinode without aspiring to the unconditional service of those pure souls who really follow the teachings of the Thakur by the method enjoined by the scriptures and explained by Thakur Bhaktivinode 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.
Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 Krishna Chaitanya. 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. Thakur Bhaktivinode 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 harmonizes 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 realizable 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.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, The Harmonist, December 1931, vol. XXIX No.6
In your service,
Trying to be of some use to the Vaisnavas,
Srinath
