By Hansadutta
das
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Texts 16 and 17
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The mendicant sits with a blazing
fire in front of him and the scorching sun on his back; at night he
sits with his knees held to his chin; he goes about begging alms with
the palms of his
hands and sleeps under a different tree every night, yet still he has
not
gotten free form the fetters of desire. One may go on pilgrimage to the
mouth
of the Ganges, observe vows and give in charity, however, if one is
devoid
of knowledge, then, according to all schools of thought, he will not
obtain
liberation, even in a hundred lives.
In these two verses Shripad Shankaracharya points out
that although one may perform penance and austerity and practice
renunciation, unless one has received transcendental knowledge from a
bona fide source, he will not be able to get free from the cycle of
birth and death. Real freedom depends on real knowledge, just as it is
said, "The truth shall make you free."
Even though a person may be recognized as a scholar, philosopher,
scientist or a big political leader, unless he comes in touch with a
bona fide representative of the Lord, there is no possibility of
understanding the Absolute Truth. Real knowledge can only be attained
through the process known as the guru-parampara (disciplic
succession of spiritual masters, or acharyas). In Bhagavad-gita
(4.1-3) Krishna says:
I originally explained this knowledge to the
sun-god Vivasvan, Vivasvan then explained it to Manu, and Manu
explained it to Iksvaku. In this way, the knowledge has been handed or
transmitted from
one spiritual master to another. But, in due course of time, this
knowledge was lost, as the disciplic succession was broken. Therefore I
am again instructing that same knowledge to you because you are My
devotee and My friend.
Again, Krishna says to Arjuna:
One should try to approach a bona fide
spiritual master, inquire from him submissively, render him all kinds
of service. The
self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you, because he has seen
the
truth. (Bhagavad-gita 4.34)
We cannot get free from material sufferings simply by
performing rituals, penances, austerities or by renouncing everything.
In fact, the only guaranteed method is absolute submission at the lotus
feet
of a bona fide spiritual master. This is explained in
Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.1.13-14), where it is said:
To concentrate the mind, one must observe a
life of celibacy and not fall down. One must undergo the austerity of
voluntarily
giving up sense enjoyment. One must then control the mind and the
senses,
give charity, be truthful, be clean, and be non-violent, follow the
regulative
principles, and regularly chant the hold name of the Lord. Thus, a
sober
and faithful person, who knows the religious principles, is temporarily
purified of all sins performed with his body, mind and words. These
sins
are like dried leaves of a creeper beneath a bamboo tree which may be
burned
by fire, although their roots remain to grow at the first opportunity.
The point of these verses is that sinful reactions are the root of our
suffering. Sinful desires, sinful acts and sinful reactions result in
various types of material misery. We can counteract such sinful deeds
and reactions by doing pious activity of various kinds, such as giving
in charity, performing penance, performing austerity, being renounced,
being truthful and being clean. Although such pious acts counteract
impious acts, they do not actually uproot the cause of sin, which is
ignorance--ignorance of our eternal relationship with Krishna.
Therefore such sins are compared to dried leaves which have fallen from
a creeper. The leaves may be burned, but the roots of a creeper
continue to exist, and they will go on producing more leaves, which
will result in more sinful reactions.
In this way, the process of atonement, which is
recommended in most religious communities for counteracting sinful
deeds, is compared to the bathing of an elephant who goes to the river
and bathes very nicely, spraying water all over his body, then comes
out of the water and picks up a trunk full of dust, spraying it all
over his body. We find in some religious communities that the sinful
person is encouraged to go to a priest to confess his sins, and then
perform some penance by giving something in charity and reciting some
prayers; but because the root of his sin remains, such confession and
atonement are ultimately useless. Therefore in Srimad-Bhagavatam
there is no such encouragement for performing pious deeds to counteract
impious deeds. Srimad-Bhagavatam is for the liberated
soul. Srimad-Bhagavatam recommends only one thing: to
give up all kinds of activities, both pious and impious, and accept
devotional activities, which are known as bhakti-yoga (Krishna
consciousness).
We cannot begin devotional activities independently.
Devotional activities can only be performed under the guidance of a
pure devotee. We find it recommended again and again that one has to
find a maha bhagavata (pure devotee). One has to find a pure
devotee of the Lord and satisfy him by any means, and that alone can
lead to success. In Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya
7.19.151) it is said:
brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krishna-prasade paya bhakti-lata bija
After having wandered in the cycle of
birth and death throughout the universe in all the 8,400,00 species of
life,
if a person is fortunate, he comes to meet a pure devotee of the Lord
who
sows the seed of devotion, the seed of bhakti within his heart.
Without getting the seed of devotional service, there is no possibility
of liberation, even though one may rise up to the platform of
impersonal Brahman realization or Paramatma realization. Unless one
actually receives the seed of devotional service, his liberation will
be incomplete, and he will again be attracted to material activities in
due course of time. Because the living entity is eternally connected
with Krishna as a subordinate or servant, unless he gets service he
shall feel disappointed and frustrated. For want of positive devotional
activities, he shall again accept material activities in the name of
humanitarianism, altruism or some other kind of "ism," trying to
improve the standard of material life.
It is further explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.1.1):
Only a rare person who has adopted complete,
unalloyed devotional service to Krishna can uproot the weeds of sinful
actions with no possibility that they will grow up again. He can do
this simply by discharging devotional service, just as the sun
immediately dissipates fog by its rays.
Sometimes we have experienced that fog is hanging over an area in the
early morning hours, but as soon as the sun's rays come in touch with
the fog, it then vanishes. Similarly, the ignorance and bewilderment of
material life is immediately dissipated as soon as a person is engaged
in the devotional service of Krishna. No other process can actually
give us this result. Other processes may temporarily give us relief by
atonement, but not permanent relief.
It is further stated:
My dear King, if a sinful person engages in
the service of a bona fide devotee of the Lord, and thus learns how to
dedicate his life unto the lotus feet of Krishna, he can be completely
purified. One cannot be purified merely by undergoing austerity,
penance, brahmacharya, and other methods of atonement, which I
have previously described. ( Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.16 )
My dear King, as a pot containing liquor cannot be purified even
if it is washed in the waters of many rivers, non-devotees cannot be
purified by the process of atonement even if they perform them very
well. ( Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.18)
Generally, everyone accepts religion for attaining some
material benefit. Recently, people have become interested in yoga
practice, but we rarely find a person who accepts religion or yoga
principles for the purpose of altogether giving up material life. We
find that everyone is trying to use religion and yoga
principles
for improving their material life--for getting wealth, wife, and
children,
or for improving their health. These are not actually the aims of
religion
or yoga. The real aim is simply to satisfy Vishnu, because that
is
our constitutional position. The living entity is eternally subordinate
to Vishnu, and the cause of his suffering in material life is his
attitude of defiance towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
That is the sum and substance of material existence--to
defy the authority of the Supreme. Whereas the sum and substance of
spiritual life is to submit to the authority of the Supreme. The
conditioned soul has a disease which is known as envy, and envy
produces lust, anger, and greed. That envy is originally directed
against Krishna.
Krishna is a person, just as you are a person
and I am a person. Everywhere throughout the creation we will find
persons
or personalities. We can see that even animals have personality. In
their
case it is very much covered, but there definitely is the personal
quality.
As long as the living entity avoids surrender to the
Supreme Person, he is subjected to the reactions of his sinful
activity. What constitutes sinful activity? Anything which does not
culminate in service to Krishna. If a businessman doesn't ultimately
satisfy the government by paying taxes out of his profit, then he is
considered to be a criminal. Just as the government has its laws and
orders, under which the citizens have to conduct themselves, similarly
the state of the universe, or the state of the kingdom of God, has
laws, and we have to abide by them; to disregard God and His laws is
sin.
Sinful activity results in material misery or suffering.
Everyone is subjected to four miseries: birth, death, old age, and
disease. Then there are various other miseries, but these four are
basic for everyone and are unavoidable. Therefore, simply performing
pious activity, or good deeds, is not enough to give us relief from
material sufferings.
Devotional service--not simply penance, austerity,
nor even knowledge--is the actual platform of spiritual life. Even
knowledge,
when it is not backed up by devotional service, cannot really give us
relief
from material existence. There are many learned men who are not
actually
situated in devotional service. They can quote shastras, and
they
can speak philosophy very well, but they have no attitude of service to
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ultimately, they acquire knowledge
and
perform penance and austerity to benefit their own desires. They want
to
be recognized as great yogis, philosophers or religionists.
Devotional service is beyond all these things; therefore, it is
sublime, because no
material qualification is necessary to perform devotional service. Even
a
child, who has no knowledge and no capacity to perform penance or
austerity,
can be completely engaged in devotional service. It is absorption in
Krishna's
service which frees us from the influence of material nature.
Our attention must always be absorbed in something. We
cannot stop thinking, feeling or willing. We are always engaged or
active. Krishna says, "No one can stop acting even for a moment. What
good can repression accomplish?" Actions are not to be stopped. We
cannot stop and become zero or impersonal; but all our thinking,
feeling, willing--our entire being--should be absorbed in devotional
service, rather than material activity. That is the secret of Krishna
consciousness.
In this verse, we find that although a person
may be very austere and live under a different tree every night, bear
bitter
cold in winter, wearing just a loincloth, and scorching heat in summer,
unless there is devotional service he won't be liberated even if he
goes
on like that for hundreds of lifetimes. "No one can become a yogi,
" Krishna says, "unless he gives up the desire for sense enjoyment." (
Bhagavad-gita 6.16 ) Unless we can develop the higher desire to
satisfy
Krishna, we shall remain bound by our material desires. Desire cannot
be
stopped, but it can be changed; the quality of our desire can change.
Action
cannot be stopped, but the quality of our action can be changed.
Whatever our tendency to work may be, it is not to be stopped; but only
purified
by acting on behalf of Krishna.
Such activity begins when we get the mercy of a devotee
of the Lord. He can show us. He can guide us in our practical affairs,
and in this way the work or activity which is now the source of our
disappointment and entanglement can become the source of our liberation
and satisfaction. Nothing changes except the angle of vision. Just as a
criminal
may be a mechanic or a good locksmith, picking locks and entering into
rooms
and stealing, but the same activity and talent can also be used in an
honest
way. This is the idea behind devotional service.
People, being very often frustrated in material
life, think of giving up everything and going into seclusion, silence
and
inactivity. They think that is what constitutes spiritual life.
Actually, that is just another side of material life. A man is not
satisfied after endeavoring
for wealth, prestige and comfort, so now he thinks, "I shall be
satisfied
by avoiding all kinds of activity, association and personal identity. I
shall
become impersonal, void, and merge and vanish into oblivion. In this
way
I shall get relief from my frustration." These are the two sides of
material existence--enjoyment and renunciation. We try to enjoy, then
we fail. We try
to renounce, then again we get bored. We try to enjoy again, again we
get
frustrated, again we renounce, again become bored. In this way,
everyone is
going back and forth, back and forth, like a pendulum swinging from one
end
to the other. This side of the pendulum or that side. . .it is still
the
same pendulum.
That is the present situation in America. They have
reached the pinnacle of material success, but finding it all vacant and
disappointing, they are now swinging the other way by becoming hippies,
lying in the gutter, or living out some pseudo-religious idea. When
they become frustrated or bored with that, they will again swing the
other way. We have seen it in the '60's. The beatniks, flower children
and hippies gave
up everything and wandered in the streets of Haight-Ashbury, Greenwich
Village
and other places. They stayed there for a few years, but now they have
swung
the other way. They have become businessmen of various types. They have
become family men. They have nice jobs. In the future they will swing
again
the other way. We have to give up this swinging back and forth and
accept
devotional life, a life of Krishna consciousness.
We get devotional life when we come in touch
with a pure devotee of the Lord. He gives us the seed of devotional
service,
and that opens up the door to liberation, or freedom from the cycle of
birth
and death. What is that seed? That seed is this maha-mantra:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare
Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. When you get a valuable seed, you have to
create a favorable condition by planting it and regularly pouring water
on it. Then the seed will fructify and begin to grow. The watering
process for the seed of devotional service is also this chanting of
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare
Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. In this way, following the rules and
regulations of bhakti-yoga, the devotee regularly waters the
seed of devotion, and it grows up and out of this material universe
into the spiritual sky, and comes up to Krishnaloka, the planet of
Krishna. There the devotional creeper takes shelter under the feet of
Krishna and produces the fruit of love of God, which is the most
desirable achievement of this human form of life.
Anyone can practice Krishna consciousness, anywhere, at
any time. It does not require a particular place or type of education,
or any other requirement. It simply requires this willingness to
put oneself under the guidance of a pure devotee of the Lord and follow
his
instructions very faithfully. Then everything will come in due course
of
time. Hare Krishna.
