20240806 Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta 1.6. Determining the Sādhana

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

First Shower — Sixth Stream

Determining the Sādhana

Vivartavāda (Theory of the illusion of the Supreme)

TEXT: When the position of vivarta is observed, then this misery is seen in the living entity. When will this intelligence of vivarta be removed? When the conception of “I am a servant of Kṛṣṇa” is strengthened after receiving good instruction from a bona fide spiritual master, then this intelligence of vivarta will no longer exist.

Note:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.12.24

evaṁ gurūpāsanayaika-bhaktyā
vidyā-kuṭhāreṇa śitena dhīraḥ
vivṛścya jīvāśayam apramattaḥ
sampadya cātmānam atha tyajāstram

TEXT: With steady intelligence you should develop unalloyed devotional service by careful worship of the spiritual master, and with the sharpened ax of transcendental knowledge you should cut off the subtle material covering of the soul. Upon realizing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you should then give up that ax of analytic knowledge.

TEXT: Therefore, while giving up the search of salvation, if devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is performed, then this intelligence of vivarta will easily be removed. In search of salvation, the practice of sva-dharma is not achieved, only indirect practice is done.

Jayapataka Swami: So somehow if the living entity thinks that he is the body due to false ego and the thought of vivarta-vāda, then he has to suffer and enjoy through the body. The sufferings are ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika, and ādhidaivika. Suffering from the body, suffering from other living entities and suffering from the divine entities, demigods like heat, cold, etc. So, most people identify with the body. So that is why worshiping Durgā, Śiva, people want material situation. So we are trying to get the people to understand that no situation in the material world is ideal. Therefore, we should worship Kṛṣṇa in His different forms.

Note:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.10.4

yas ta āśiṣa āśāste
na sa bhṛtyaḥ sa vai vaṇik

On the other hand, one who desires some material benefit in exchange for devotional service cannot be Your pure devotee. Indeed, he is no better than a merchant who wants profit in exchange for service.

Therefore, bhakti is sādhana. Inexperienced people keep devotion at a distance and promote either karma or knowledge as sādhana*.

Note:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.7.51–52

nālaṁ dvijatvaṁ devatvam
ṛṣitvaṁ vāsurātmajāḥ
prīṇanāya mukundasya
na vṛttaṁ na bahu-jñatā

na dānaṁ na tapo nejyā
na śaucaṁ na vratāni ca
prīyate ’malayā bhaktyā
harir anyad viḍambanam

“My dear friends, O sons of the demons, you cannot please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by becoming perfect brāhmaṇas, demigods or great saints or by becoming perfectly good in etiquette or vast learning. None of these qualifications can awaken the pleasure of the Lord. Nor by charity, austerity, sacrifice, cleanliness or vows can one satisfy the Lord. The Lord is pleased only if one has unflinching, unalloyed devotion to Him. Without sincere devotional service, everything is simply a show.”

Karma and knowledge in small quantity, in secondary form can be sādhana, but they can never be primary sādhana.

Jayapataka Swami: If one serves the Lord to get some material benefit, that is not pleasing to the Lord. Unalloyed devotion is pleasing to the Lord and He appreciates that. Materialistic people worship the Lord for some other reason, and therefore they don’t stay completely under the shelter of the Lord. Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, They give the mercy of the Lord so freely without any consideration. Naturally when one develops pure devotion and they chant the holy names, then they are always associated with Kṛṣṇa. So in this way, Nitai Gaura are more merciful. So there is one standard here which is pure bhakti. But people who are not achieving pure bhakti, they are not very close to the Lord. But by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, they can come very close. Haribol!

Note:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.47.24

dāna-vrata-tapo-homa
japa-svādhyāya-saṁyamaiḥ
śreyobhir vividhaiś cānyaiḥ
kṛṣṇe bhaktir hi sādhyate

“Devotional service unto Lord Kṛṣṇa is attained by charity, strict vows, austerities and fire sacrifices, by japa, study of Vedic texts, observance of regulative principles and, indeed, by the performance of many other auspicious practices.”

The Lord has instructed Sanātana Gosvāmī:

kṛṣṇa-bhakti haya abhidheya-pradhāna
bhakti-mukha-nirīkṣaka karma-yoga-jñāna
ei saba sādhanera ati tuccha bala
kṛṣṇa-bhakti vinā tāhā dite nāre phala

kevala jñāna ‘mukti’ dite nāre bhakti vine
kṛṣṇonmukhe sei mukti haya vinā jñāne
kṛṣṇa-nitya-dāsa’ — jīva tāhā bhuli’ gela
ei doṣe māyā tāra galāya bāndhila

tāte kṛṣṇa bhaje, kare gurura sevana
māyā-jāla chuṭe, pāya kṛṣṇera caraṇa
cāri varṇāśramī yadi kṛṣṇa nāhi bhaje
svakarma karite se raurave paḍi’ maje

jñānī jīvan-mukta-daśā pāinu kari’ māne
vastutaḥ buddhi ‘śuddha’ nahe kṛṣṇa-bhakti vine

“Devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is the chief function of the living entity. There are different methods for the liberation of the conditioned soul – kαrmα, jñānα, yogα and bhαkti – but all are dependent on bhαhti. But for devotional service, all other methods for spiritual self-realization are weak and insignificant. Unless one comes to the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, jñānα and yogα cannot give the desired results. Speculative knowledge alone, without devotional service, is not able to give liberation. On the other hand, even without knowledge one can obtain liberation if one engages in the Lord’s devotional service. The living entity is bound around the neck by the chain of māyā because he has forgotten that he is eternally a servant of Kṛṣṇa. If the conditioned soul engages in the service of the Lord and simultaneously carries out the orders of his spiritual master and serves him, he can get out of the clutches of māyā and become eligible for shelter at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. The followers of the varṇāśrama institution accept the regulative principles of the four social orders and four spiritual orders. However, if one carries out the regulative principles of the orders but does not render transcendental service to Kṛṣṇa, he falls into the hellish condition of material life. There are many philosophical speculators belonging to the Māyāvāda school who consider themselves liberated and call themselves Nārāyaṇa. However, their intelligence is not purified unless they engage in Kṛṣṇa’s devotional service. (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 22. 17–29).

Jayapataka Swami: So, we should engage in devotional service and living here in Navadvīpa, where the nine practices of devotional service are represented. So Rādhārāṇī made this Navadvīpa dhāma and each island represents one of the nine practices of devotional service. There are so many activities that one does, but if one does them to please Kṛṣṇa, then it is alright. So, then we become very attached to serving Kṛṣṇa and we become detached from māyā. So, devotional service is something that we do naturally. In the 8^th chapter of the Ādi-līlā, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that Lord Caitanya, He gave the opportunity to men and women to engage in devotional service.

On the Bangladesh situation: [audio break] since things have normalized a bit after the night. One of our outposts in Khulna area, Meherpur, Bangladesh, they rented a flat in the second floor with Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā Deities. They lit that place on fire and the Deities were burnt also. But they are not installed Deities. It is not a formal temple, it was an outpost. That is the bad incident that we faced. If you please offer your prayers to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva for the protection of the devotees and the temples in Bangladesh.

This month we are coming up, you get a free ticket back to Godhead, by distributing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam on Bhādra-Pūrṇimā. So it is said you should worship the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam on a golden throne and donate it to someone on the Pūrṇimā. If you want to get a set of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you can call His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami Mahārāja, you can say you are giving it to me. How much is a set of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam?

Nāma-niṣṭhā dāsa from Mangaluru is here and there is a new temple there that he wants to inaugurate on Balarāma Pūrṇimā. He gives online programs in 12 languages.

Kṛṣṇe matir astu!