Transcendental Religion
His Divine Grace
BHAKTISIDDHANTA SARASVATI THAKURA PRABHUPADA
Place: Sri Caitanya Matha, Sridhama Mayapur
Time: Tuesday, 24th February, 1925
The nondevotional endeavors against service to Lord Krishna:
The son of the King of Vraja is the transcendental cupid, and to satisfy the desires of this Kamadeva there are innumerable forms of transcendental variety. The moment one forgets his service attitude he forgets advaya-jnana and becomes influenced by mundane duality. At that time the living beings consider themselves God, sometimes become impersonal monists by misunderstanding aham brahmasmi, and sometimes maintain the sinful desire to enjoy opulence like Narayana while remaining members of the society of material enjoyers. The conditioned souls who are averse to and forgetful of the Lord's service sometimes consider themselves "Krishna" while proudly advertising themselves as baulas, kartabhajas, nedas, sahajiyas, atibadis, and chudadharis. They also consider mundane women gopis, and think those women are for their own enjoyment. Sometimes, instead of serving Krishna, they pose as the object of service. Sometimes they try to enjoy Gauranga by posing as gauranagaris. Sometimes they follow the principles of unauthorized varnasrama-dharma. At that time their main duty is to simply please the minds of their wives.
Their hearts become filled with statements like "If I do not protect the creation, how will the creation continue?" Sometimes they rush to bathe at Ganga-sagara to attain the planet of the forefathers. Sometimes they give cows, money, and cloth in charity. Sometimes they visit holy places or observe severe austerities of various kinds. Sometimes they take shelter of Sage Patanjali. Sometimes they meditate so they can become liberated from their bondage. Sometimes they enroll in the society of material enjoyers and dry renunciants by falling from the duty of satisfying the transcendental cupid's desires. In this way they endeavor in various wrong ways. Sometimes, to cheat people, they advertise themselves as great devotees, as if they are not members of the society of material enjoyers or dry renunciants. By such preaching they try to pose as God in the guise of a pseudodevotee in order to accumulate stool in the form of money, women, and mundane fame.
The sweet glories of pure service to Krishna, free from karma, jnana, and so on:
The saints say, "Do not become enchanted by the two witches of desire for material enjoyment and liberation. Do not embrace them." Our bathing at Ganga-sagara for our temporary husband is useless. If our hearts are enlightened by our duty to the feet of our supreme husband, Lord Krishna - if we are so fortunate - we will run to the rasa arena as maidservants of Krishna's dear gopis, leaving aside our household duties as soon as we hear Krishna's flute. As we go to the rasa-sthali our material male and female bodies will dissolve and mix with the five gross material elements.
The sakhibhekis cheat themselves and others by decorating their material male bodies as if they are sakhis who desire to enjoy with Krishna. They could avoid such a sinful mentality if the light from Krishnacandra's toenails entered their hearts. Sixty thousand sages from the Dandakaranya forest became attracted by Lord Ramacandra's beauty. Later, when they gave up their male bodies, they took birth in the homes of the transcendental gopis.
Instruction to all to worship Krishna under the subordination of the gopis:
O gentlemen! If you desire your own benefit, then give up all duplicity. Give up putting on false garb, displaying false sentiments, and practicing insincere or pseudodevotion. Give up worshiping women and the life of the henpecked. Dedicate your life to eternally serving Srimati Radharani in the eternal service of Sri Rupa Manjari. As the daughter of Vrsabhanu serves Hari, as Her companions worship Krishna with heart and soul, and as the manjaris constantly engage in the service of the daughter of Vrsabhanu, surrounded by Her eight principal gopis, so all of you should serve Krishna as the objects of His enjoyment and try to satisfy the lusty desires of that transcendental cupid.
Krishna alone is everyone's eternal, transcendental husband:
When women like Rudrani (or Brahmanni, Indrani, Varunani Svaha, Tara, Urvasi, or Bharati) are overwhelmed by material conceptions they think, "The name of my perishable husband is Rudra (or Brahma, Indra, such-and-such demigod, or such-and-such human)." But if they are inclined to serve Lord Hari they also understand that Lord Hari is the only husband and Srimati Radharani alone His dearmost. To serve Srimati and Her companions is actually eternal service at the feet of the eternal husband, Lord Krishna.
Serving Krishna alone with all one possesses is real liberation, or deliverance, and doing the opposite is bondage:
If one offers whatever one has in his possession to the Supreme Lord, only then is he liberated. If he is instead miserly in his offering, it means he is a conditioned soul, or averse to Lord Hari.
tomara kanaka, bhogera janaka,
kanakera dvare sevaka madhava;
kaminira kama, nahe tava dhama,
tahara malika kevala yadava.
vaisnavai pratistha, ta'te kara nistha
taha na bhajile labhibe raurava
"When you claim wealth as your own, it creates in you ever-increasing desires for material enjoyment. Your riches should be used for serving Madhava, the Lord of all wealth. Neither is it your place to indulge in lust for women, whose only true proprietor is Lord Yadava."
"Please become determined to attain that steady, solid platform on which a Vaisnava stands. If you neglect to worship the Lord from this position, you will ultimately fall into a hellish existence."
(Dusta-mana)
To enjoy women as if one is, like Krishna, the enjoyer-husband is prohibited:
Instead of thinking of his death-bound wife as meant for his enjoyment, Jadhu Thakura engaged her in worshiping Lord Hari. Cintamani told Bilvamangala, "If you had become as attached to the Supreme Lord as you are to my flesh - if you would have given up attachment for a material object and used that energy to develop attachment to the transcendental cupid, you would have been greatly benefited."
Please realize the purport of Cintamani's invaluable instruction and give up the mood of being an enjoyer male or enjoyed female. When Bilvamangala's attachment to material Cintamani, and his desire to enjoy her, disappeared, his desire to serve the transcendental Cintamani awakened and immediately the Supreme Lord revealed Himself to Bilvamangala as the transcendental Cintamani.
"I will enjoy Krishna" - what a sinful mentality! The enjoyer, Krishna, is not something for us to enjoy. He is not Nagara Gauranga so that anyone can enjoy Him. When living beings have this mentality we should know they are at their highest level of aversion to Hari. Somagiri appeared as the spiritual master and destroyed Sihlana Misra's propensity to enjoy matter. In other words, he removed his attitude of trying to enjoy Krishna. Thus Misra became known as Bilvamangala.
With one's possessions and gold - one should use everything in Krishna's service:
As we should be engaged in Krishna's service, so too should wealth, or gold. One should not enjoy the material world with one's wealth; nor should we try to practice false renunciation just to win some mundane fame. Instead of thinking your wealth an ingredient for material enjoyment, consider it an ingredient for Krishna's service. Then it will no longer be material. Rather, it will transform into something spiritual. Sarvam khalv idam brahma: "The Supreme is present in everything." So the wealth one uses to worship Hari is transcendental wealth. This transcendental wealth is a help for one who is worshiping Hari and Hari's devotees. To give up as material things that are favorable for Hari's service is false renunciation, or the desire to accumulate material fame. All of you should use everything in Krishna's service. And be careful. In the name of Hari's service, don't desire wealth or women or fame, and don't take shelter of prohibited activities like grasping for profit and adoration. Stay away from duplicity. These endeavors are nothing but aversion to Hari. The liberated souls who are inclined to Hari's service constantly serve Him with everything they possess. He who gives everything to please Krishna is a liberated soul.
Serving Sri Radha-Govinda as a maidservant of the gopis on the path of raga:
The eight-chaptered Sri Gita Govinda, by Sri Jayadeva, Jagannatha Vallabha Nataka, by Srila Ramaraya, Vidagdha Madhava, by Srila Rupa, the songs of Sri Candidasa and Vidyapati, Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi, by Srila Prabodhanandapada, Vilapa Kusumanjali, by Srila Raghunatha, Govinda-lilamrta, by Srila Kaviraja, Krsna Bhavanamrta, by Srila Cakravarti - you have the right to read these books about the transcendental mellow of madhurya-rasa only when you are completely free from your currents of thought centered on material enjoyment of the mundane world. The treasury of such opulence is open for all of you, and all of you will actually become owners of that treasury when you become inclined to serve Krishna without duplicity. At that time, you will have the right to one of the five eternally perfect constitutional relationships. Until one is liberated, no one is qualified to serve Krishna. Krishna is the property of Srimati Radharani alone. Without serving Radharani, one can never become qualified to serve Krishna. So become extremely eager to be an eternal maidservant of the maidservant of Srimati Radharani, who is spontaneously and eternally absorbed in madhurya-rati. This much I can say.