20240925 Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta 2.1. Division of Secondary Rules

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

Second Shower — Consideration of secondary rules

First Stream — Division of secondary rules

Bhakti is primary; karma and jñāna are secondary practices.

That bhakti is the only scriptural way i.e. the means for the living entity to attain love, that is the abhidheya of the scriptures, is demonstrated in the first shower. It has also been considered that karma and jñāna are not the direct or the main abhidheya. There is also some need for karma and jñāna. Karma and jñāna are called the secondary means, and the main means of hearing and so on is the main rule. Karma and jñāna, though secondary, have to be termed abhidheya for the living entities bound by matter.*

Jayapatākā Swami: So abhideya means presence of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And the new [audio break] and the new audio break is supported by karma and jñāna. [audio break]

Note:

yogās trayo mayā proktā
nṝṇāṁ śreyo-vidhitsayā
jñānaṁ karma ca bhaktiś ca
nopāyo ‘nyo ‘sti kutracit

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Uddhava, because I desire that human beings may achieve perfection, I have presented three paths of advancement — the path of knowledge, the path of work and the path of devotion. Besides these three there is absolutely no other means of elevation.

Jayapatākā Swami: By bhakti we can achieve love of Kṛṣṇa. Knowledge and [audio break] enable us advance. But the main thing is bhakti towards Lord Kṛṣṇa. So by practicing bhakti one develops affection and love for Lord Kṛṣṇa. [audio break]

Jñāna-karma is the secondary abhidheya and bhakti is the primary abhidheya. Jñāna-karma are the means to get bhakti and bhakti is the means to attain love. This relationship will be discussed gradually. If the body, mind and society is managed in a way that is favorable for bhakti, then the karma and jñāna are in the quality of abhidheya, or it is seen in the scriptures that karma and jñāna are especially criticized for their fault of materialism. First, by showing the elaboration of the secondary rules, we will consider the main conclusions.

Secondary rules are of three types —

1) Individual person’s rules,

2) Social rules,

3) Rules for the next life.

Jayapatākā Swami: Actually, unless one audio break love for Kṛṣṇa, unless one has developed in bhakti, they have to take the next life. So, how to act in such a way that the next life is auspicious, so that are the rules for the next life. So the society that is not so Kṛṣṇa conscious is not conducive. If the society rules help to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness that is very good. Individually one may have [audio break] So one’s own ethics or rules should be conducive for one’s spiritual advancement and conducive for spiritual life, conducive for bhakti-yoga.

Individual person’s rules

There are two types of Individual person’s rules, i.e. rules for the body and rules for the mind. So that the human body can be nourished and be at ease, all the systems that have been made with such an intention are called rules related to the body.*

Jayapatākā Swami: Just like one [audio break] has to eat vegetarian food or only take food that is offered. So these are rules related to the body. So some doctors say to people, take high protein, each meat. Some say take proteins, take supplements, take sandeśa, big austerity!

Note:

Bhagavad-gītā 6.16–18, 29

nāty-aśnatas tu yogo ‘sti
na caikāntam anaśnataḥ
na cāti-svapna-śīlasya
jāgrato naiva cārjuna

yuktāhāra-vihārasya
yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu
yukta-svapnāvabodhasya
yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā

yadā viniyataṁ cittam
ātmany evāvatiṣṭhate
nispṛhaḥ sarva-kāmebhyo
yukta ity ucyate tadā

sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaṁ
sarva-bhūtāni cātmani
īkṣate yoga-yuktātmā
sarvatra sama-darśanaḥ

There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough. He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system. When the yogī, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in transcendence – devoid of all material desires – he is said to be well established in yoga. A true yogī observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized person sees Me, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere.

Jayapatākā Swami: So when people think of yoga they think of the special āsanas. Actually, the highest yoga is bhakti-yoga. My speech therapist said I should not shout. That causes my vocal cords to get inflamed. So she told me that, I get excited. So, bhakti-yoga is the best yoga. Śravaṇam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam, pāda-sevanam, arcanam, vandanam, dāśyam, sakhyam, ātma-nivedanam. These nine practices are the most important. They are directly connected to Kṛṣṇa.

There are all kinds of rules such as moderate drinking, moderate eating, regulated sleeping, exercise, etc., and in case of pain due to disease, all the treatment provided in Āyurveda scriptures are all rules related to body. Humans cannot lead a comfortable life if they do not follow the rules of physical fitness.

Jayapatākā Swami: Every morning for an hour I have physical exercise. I am not able to walk yet. So we have to see how the different parts of the body may work.

If the rules for the mind are not followed, then the mind’s realization power, conceptional power, imagination and thinking power and judgment power, not being fully nourished will not be able to perform their own work properly. Science, art etc. also do not progress. The dark superstitions of the mind do not perish. Pure knowledge about the subject is also not gained. The intellect cannot be freed from material thought and engaged in the thought of God. Finally, sinful thoughts and godlessness always subjugate the mind and make man like an animal. Therefore, individual person’s rules is absolutely necessary to make human life successful.

Jayapatākā Swami: So this is the second individual persons’ rules. The first thing is the body’s rules and the second is the mind’s rules. The mind is also important. Especially you can purify your mind by reading Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. So by developing the mind so that we can have proper imagination, judgement, etc. So if we don’t develop the mind, then it becomes like an animal. Then we think only about sense gratification, we don’t think about God. Most of the people in the world, they don’t think much about God. If they pray to God, they pray for some material benediction. Actually, many people come to me and say they want blessings. But what blessings do they want? Either spiritual blessing or material blessing. Lord Caitanya, He would give the blessing, Kṛṣṇe matir astu. That, may you be Kṛṣṇa conscious. Or Kṛṣṇe matir ruhu – means the person is already Kṛṣṇa conscious and we want him or her to remain Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Social Rules

Humans live in society and arrange social rules with the intention of making the society better and sinless. Marriage is one of the best rules among social rules. If there was no marriage law, human society could not have developed so much.

Jayapatākā Swami: So marriage is a social rule. I have been saying better to be a good gṛhastha than a bad brahmacārī. So in the human society there is a rule for marriage and Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he says that human society will not have developed so much without marriage. But in the modern world in some countries people don’t get married, they just live together. They live together for two years and in some countries like Argentina, the wife gets all the rights of the marriage. That means so many people don’t get married, they have to [audio break] So if you live long enough together then certain rights go to both of them. So, I think in India up to now the rule has been to get married. In the Middle East the Muslims follow the rule that they can have four wives. I asked, “Why many people do not have two, three, four wives?” They said, “It is too expensive to maintain so many wives! It is high enough to maintain one, what to speak of more!” So we find in the Vedas that people with four wives are mainly kṣatriyas. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Like animals, human beings also used to roam about according to their taste. In some countries there was no marriage law at first. Due to many social disturbances in those countries, later marriage rules came into vogue. While abandoning activities that is done as per one’s desires, a man lays the foundation of family life by accepting one wife with the consent of all, keeping the Supreme Lord as a witness. The name for this is marriage. If there were sons and daughters, they are taken care of by educating them and giving them means to lead the way of life. The present human beings in the world established the rules of the development of the world through establishing mutual brotherhood, preventing hardships, making a living by collecting money fairly, always observing the truth, suppressing falsehood, etc.

Jayapatākā Swami: The system of marriage is gradually developed in the human society. So in this way the responsibility of training and caring for the children, girls and boys goes to the parents. Sometimes if there is no marriage, then children are neglected. So, that is called varṇa-saṅkara – unwanted children. I had a neighbor who said that his mother said, he was an accident! You know how that was very discouraging for him. His mother told him, “We did not want you, you just came as an accident.” So this aspect of human life is very important. To have children, who are loved and cared for. Naturally, the generations would be grateful for their parents’ sacrifice.