śrī śrī guru gaurāṅga jayataḥ!
Year 11, Issue 10
Posted: 29 October 2018
Dedicated to
nitya-līlā praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda
Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Inspired by and under the guidance of
nitya-līlā praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Material Advancement Through Kīrtana
When we are engaged in śrī kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana, we entirely rid ourselves of the tendency to try to secure worldly aggrandizement. Under the influence of the moonlight of kṛṣṇa-kīrtana, the lotus of true welfare blooms. The greatest scholarship is found in a devotee who is absorbed in chanting śrī nāma. Through such chanting the flow of the tasty sweetness of cit(sentience) becomes available within the heart. When it does, the current of thoughts of the eternal world fully liberate the practitioner from greed to acquire transient pleasures. That greed is like roughness or undesirable turbulence within the heart, and when it is set to rest, one understands that māyāvāda (absolute monism) is not worthy of being adopted.
Everyone is competent to perform śrī kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana. Just as Kṛṣṇa hasall potencies, His names, too, have all potencies. There are no rules to be observed in śrī nāma-saṅkīrtana. To be fit for most mantra practices, one is required to take three baths every day, and in some cases one must be born in a family where certain rules are followed from birth. In contrast, saṅkīrtana may be practiced in the company of those born in even the lowest caste. We are not to consider a man’s mental or physical properties in respect to his performance of kṛṣṇa-kīrtana, for this practice is a function of the soul. One may take harināma even when the body is impure, even while one is in the water closet, even if one is a sinner, as long as one is not insincere. True harināma cannot be uttered by a man who desires to secure worldly advantages through his chanting, which is technically called ‘sinful intellect through the power of nāma’ (C.f. the seventh nāmāparādha).
An unwise fellow like that is not competent to worship God in His mūrti(deity) form. But in this era, Kali prevails. A born brāhmaṇa will often tell his son: “Even if you have not acquired much learning, you can live well as a priest.” He forgets that the functions performed by a priest require the greatest learning. People like him conceive of their high-born bodies, which consist of blood, flesh, skin and so on, to be sacred and, as such, they cannot realize the existence of God in His mūrti. Rather they see Him as an idol made of mud, stone, wood, or brass, and fashioned by some artisan. This idolatry of theirs may be removed, if only they listen to the instructions given by truly holy saints.
Again, it is he who thinks, “I am a learned man”, who becomes an idolater, and fails to worship God. If a man’s education goes against his service to God, his education was in vain. That class of educated man becomes an idolater and adores only pride. Just as a simple-minded follower of karma-kāṇḍa is unable to offer service to Hari, a very learned follower of jñāna-kāṇḍa may become a victim of tamo-guṇa (the most inert of the three principles of nature) which causes vanity and delusion. This has been pointed out in the Śruti (Īṣopaṇiṣad 9) which says: “He who adores avidyā(ignorance) enters the dark region of tamaḥ (inertia); but one who has a great attachment for vidyā (material knowledge) enters even further into the darkest regions.”
Adapted from The Gauḍīya, Volume 8, Number 8
by the Rays of The Harmonist Team
