Chapter Three of the book The Origin of Ratha-yātrā, by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja

 

We should know that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is one without a second. He is the same God for the Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and all others. There are no different Gods – He is the same God, Allah, and Christ. Just as there is one sun and one moon for the entire world, similarly, there are no different Gods for different people. How can God be divided? There cannot be more than one God; otherwise, all the gods will quarrel over territory and position. There is only one God, but He appears according to the vision of the devotee.

This can be understood by citing the analogy of the moon. It appears that there are fifteen different moons. The moon gradually increases in size for fifteen days, eventually becoming a full moon. After that, it decreases in size again, becoming a new moon on the last day of the month. The “moons” are not different; the names of the moon’s phases are different: full moon, new moon, quarter moon, and so on. Similarly, there is only one God, but He appears to be many because people have seemingly divided Him by their different languages and understandings.

Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has many manifestations, such as Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Nārāyaṇa, and they are all the same. Even the person Christians call “God” is the same, for He is also one of Kṛṣṇa’s manifestations, as are Allah and Jehovah. These are all names of God’s manifestations. Some of these manifestations are more complete and have more power, and some have less power. The full moon, the new moon, and the stages in between all belong to the same moon, but we see differences according to our angle of vision. The moon is always full, but we perceive it as waxing or waning when it is invisible to varying degrees.

In the same way, Kṛṣṇa is one without a second. He has innumerable manifestations, but they are all Kṛṣṇa. We are also parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa. We are not Kṛṣṇa, but at the same time, we are non-different from Him. Both principles are there: difference and non-difference. We can use the analogies of the sun, its rays, and the fire and its heat; they are also different and nondifferent. This is an astonishing truth, which Caitanya Mahāprabhu has explained thoroughly.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is one without a second. Sometimes He manifests in this world personally, and sometimes He sends His associates to give pure knowledge. All the souls here in this world are eternal servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Whether or not we accept it, this is the true conception. We have forgotten Him from the beginning of the creation of this world, so He sometimes descends and performs very sweet and powerful pastimes so that all conditioned souls will be attracted to Him and engage in His service. He sometimes descends as Kṛṣṇa, sometimes as Rāma, and sometimes as Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā.

We cannot realise Kṛṣṇa if our hearts are full of lust, worldly desires, and unwanted habits. He cannot come into our hearts under these circumstances; so these impurities must first be given up. There is no place for doubt in devotion. No one has any confusion or doubt about whether the sun exists, so why should there be any doubt about the existence of the creator of millions of suns? He can create millions and millions of worlds in a moment, and He can also destroy them. Sometimes He comes here, only to save us and to engage us all in His service. Other than serving Him, there is no way to be happy in this or any other world. There is only one God, and ignoring Him is the cause of our unhappiness.

We can be happy if we engage in Kṛṣṇa’s service. Don’t be afraid that serving Him will be like serving someone in this world. There is immense happiness in serving Him, even more so than serving your wife, husband, children, father, etc. There is a very relishable love and affection in His service. There is so much love and affection in Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental abode – oceans of love and affection. In this world, the master gains and the servant has to lose something, but it is not like that there.

First, we should know that we are Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servants, but we have forgotten Him, which is the cause of all our suffering and sorrow (birth and death). We should have very firm faith in this. Don’t doubt that we are spirit souls, parts and parcels of Godhead, that we are His eternal servants, and that we are suffering now because of forgetting Him. We can realise His mercy if we chant His name, surrender to Him, and give up all doubts as Arjuna did.

Jagannātha-deva, Baladeva Prabhu, and Subhadrā have descended from their transcendental abode. We will gradually try to explain the true identity (svarūpa) of Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā – who they are and how they came to this world.

Today is the day of guṇḍicā-mandira-mārjana, the cleansing of the Guṇḍicā Temple. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta states that the temple of Jagannātha (Nīlācala) represents Dvārakā, while the Guṇḍicā temple is called Sundarācala and represents Vṛndāvana. All the gopīs, such as Lalitā, Viśākhā, and Śrīmatī Rādhikā, are there in Vṛndāvana, and so are Nanda Bābā, Yaśodā, and all the other Vrajavāsīs. Vasudeva, Devakī, Baladeva, Subhadrā, and all the other Dvārakāvāsīs reside in Dvārakā. While Kṛṣṇa resides in Dvārakā, He always remembers the Vrajavāsīs – His father Nanda Bābā, His mother Yaśodā, His cows, calves, friends, and especially His beloved gopīs. He sometimes becomes so distraught in separation from them that He arranges to go to Vṛndāvana to meet them.

One day before the Ratha-yātrā Festival, Mahāprabhu leads all the devotees to the Guṇḍicā Mandira to clean it. On the next day, Jagannātha goes to Guṇḍicā Mandira along with Baladeva, Subhadrā, and His devotees for ten days, after which they all return. Just as Jagannātha goes to Guṇḍicā Mandira after it is cleaned, so He may come into your heart if you make it very pure and clean.

This festival of guṇḍicā-mārjana has been performed every year since Satya-yuga. In Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, we see that previously, before the participation of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the servants of the King used to clean that temple. But, they would not clean it properly because they were paid. They could not give Jagannātha much pleasure because they had no devotion. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, therefore, told the King through his priest Kāśī Miśra, “I would like the service of cleaning the temple and the surrounding area to be given to us.” He told Kāśī Miśra, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, and others, “Please get permission from the King so that this year I Myself will serve the Guṇḍicā Mandira along with My associates. We will sweep and clean it ourselves. There is no need to send any servants of the King; no need at all. We only need some brooms and pitchers.” Hundreds and thousands of pitchers and brooms were obtained, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s associates arrived. Thousands of Bengali and Orissan devotees accompanied Caitanya Mahāprabhu with dancing and kīrtana. They had about fifteen mṛdaṅgas and many karatālas. Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally gave them all garlands and candana, and then, dancing in line formation, they all began to sing. They all went to Guṇḍicā Mandira, singing and dancing, and holding their brooms and pitchers.

The King became very happy. He wanted to meet Caitanya Mahāprabhu and serve Him, but although he was a very high-class devotee, he had the name and position of a king. He had great wealth and reputation and was always surrounded by armies, commanders, etc. Following the regulations of the sannyāsa order, Caitanya Mahāprabhu never wanted a sense enjoyer (viṣayī) such as a king to come to Him. He considered it a disturbance, because He would be bound to hear mundane talk (viṣayī-kathā). We will be alarmed and fearful if a snake comes near us, even if its poison has been removed. Similarly, a devotee fears association with a sense enjoyer because it will disturb his sādhana-bhajana. However, we are like sense enjoyers because we are hankering for wealth, reputation, and position.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Svayam Bhagavān Himself. He is nondifferent from Jagannātha, but He was playing the role of a devotee, so he sent a representative to tell the King, “I want to go and clean the entire temple personally.” The King then said to Kāśī Miśra, who was his superintendent, minister, priest, and spiritual master, “His devotees can take whatever utensils and other paraphernalia He wants.”

Mahāprabhu had thus called His associates, such as Svarūpa Dāmodara, Rāya Rāmānanda, Gadādhara Paṇḍita, and others. Advaita Ācārya and Nityānanda Prabhu were also there, along with all the Gauḍīya bhaktas. There were thousands and thousands of devotees, and on the evening before the festival, Mahāprabhu had told them all, “You should each bring a big broom made of coconut tree fibres, and each of you should also bring a clay pitcher.”

On the next day, at about seven in the morning, devotees assembled from all over India and the world – not only one or two hundred thousand, but about one million. First, Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted flower garlands and candana Himself, and then He gave them to all the devotees. They all wanted to offer praṇāma to Him, but instead, He very humbly offered praṇāma to all of them. Nityānanda Prabhu wanted to touch His feet, but He very humbly touched Nityānanda’s feet. He had no false ego, thinking, “I am a guru; everyone should respect me. Why should I respect others?” Actually, people who think like that are not pure devotees. A guru respects others. His symptoms are:

tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

Śikṣāṣṭaka (3)

[“One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honour yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.”]

He is humble, even more so than a blade of grass, and very tolerant, more so than a tree. Even if a tree is dry, it will never request, “Water! Water! Water!” If someone cuts the branches of a tree, it will not protest, “Oh, spare me! Don’t cut me!” It will never speak like that. Mango trees give very sweet mangoes, even if one throws stones at the tree to make the mangoes fall. Trees’ bark, seeds, fruits, leaves, and sap are always for others, not themselves. Kṛṣṇa tells us we should be like the trees. In other words, our lives should be for others, not for ourselves, and our lives should be especially for Kṛṣṇa. If one lives only for himself, he is lower in consciousness than the trees.

The devotees with Mahāprabhu were touching each other’s feet and at the same time performing kīrtana. Each holding a broom and a pitcher, they performed nagara-saṅkīrtana the entire distance from the Jagannātha Temple to Guṇḍicā. The hundreds of thousands of devotees brought water from the very large pond known as Indradyumna-sarovara, and as they did so, they said, “Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” to each other as they gave and received the clay pitchers. They were filling their clay pots with water, carrying the pots on their heads or in other ways, and giving them to others, saying, “Hare Kṛṣṇa!” to others on the way. Then, taking back the empty pots, they again said, “Hare Kṛṣṇa!” In this way, they were running back and forth very quickly. Similarly, while the devotees were sweeping, they were saying, “Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” Everything was going on only with the chanting of the names, “Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” and no other sound could be heard. If a clay pot were broken because of the haste, there would be sounds of “O Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” and new clay pots would be brought from a shop at once.

In this way, everyone was engaged in cleaning the courtyard of the Guṇḍicā Mandira. Water was thrown everywhere, and all the areas were cleared so that torrents of water flowed from the drain like the current of a river. Mahāprabhu cleaned everywhere, high and low, throwing water everywhere; thus, everything became as clean as His own heart. This is known as guṇḍicā-mandira-mārjana.

Your heart is like a throne (siṁhāsana), and you will have to clean it if you want to keep Kṛṣṇa and Rādhikā there. First, clean it, and then They will come. Who will clean it? Nityānanda Prabhu may do so, and gurudeva may do so, but you must do something. Guru will help you; he has the power to do so, and is very merciful, but you will also have to do something. You must follow his orders. Be like Arjuna, who told Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.7): “śiṣyas te ’haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam – I have offered myself at Your lotus feet. I will follow Your order and obey all Your instructions.” Kṛṣṇa then ordered him to fight, and he was successful.

Similarly, the guru can help you if you follow and obey him, but if you disobey, that is an offence, and your desire to serve Kṛṣṇa will disappear. Try to obey. For example, gurudeva says, “You should chant every day. You should chant not less than sixteen rounds and chant your guru-gāyatrī and all other gāyatrī-mantras daily.” A disciple may say, “Gurudeva, I’m very weak. I cannot chant the gāyatrī-mantra. When I chant, I get a headache. I become sick, and my mind becomes upset. What should I do?” Gurudeva will reply, “You should continue to chant, and your headache, sickness, and all other disturbances will disappear. But you will have to do it.” Then, if you do not obey, what can he do?

Although Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) Himself, He was cleaning the temple. Merely sweeping with a broom will not do, for a broom can never touch our hearts. To demonstrate this, Mahāprabhu told His associates, “We should chant and remember, performing kīrtana along with the sweeping. Then it will have some effect.” If you are cleaning your house in your household life, while you sweep, you can sing, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti, Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” Whatever job you do, chant these names with your heart, and then your heart will be “swept.” It will become pure and clear (neat and clean).

Caitanya Mahāprabhu and all His associates began to perform kīrtana with many mṛdaṅgas, kholas, and karatālas. The temple compound was so large that over two million devotees could fit there, and they swept and cleaned everywhere. Mahāprabhu personally took His uttarīya-veśa (sannyāsa upper cloth), and He cleaned the stubborn spots. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 12.1, 99, 104) has stated:

śrī-guṇḍicā-mandiram ātma-vṛndaiḥ
sammārjayan kṣālanataḥ sa gauraḥ
sva-citta-vac chītalam ujjvalaṁ ca
kṛṣṇopaveśaupayikaṁ cakāra

[“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu washed and cleansed the Guṇḍicā Temple with His devotees and associates. In this way He made it as cool and bright as His own heart, and thus He made the temple a befitting place for Śrī Kṛṣṇa to sit.”]

śrī-haste karena siṁhāsanera mārjana
prabhu āge jala āni’ deya bhakta-gaṇa

[“Then Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to wash the sitting place of Lord Jagannātha with His own hands, and all the devotees began to bring water to the Lord.”]

nija-vastre kaila prabhu gṛha sammārjana
mahāprabhu nija-vastre mājila siṁhāsana

[“The Lord mopped the rooms with His own clothes, and He polished the throne with them also.”]

We should give up all our worldly positions and ego that dictate, “I am so intelligent; I have so much power; I am the superintendent; I am the monarch of all; I am a guru.” Advaita Ācārya was Mahā-Viṣṇu Himself, but he was very humble and polite, and he also cleaned the temple.

All the devotees were sweeping, as was Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself. First, they swept away very big stones, stone chips, and pieces of grass. If you want to make a seat in your heart for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, your heart must be like Vṛndāvana, and if you do not make your heart very pure and transcendental like Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa cannot come. If you have any worldly desires, they will be like thorns pricking Kṛṣṇa’s body. These thorns are lust, anger, greed, envy, attachment to worldly things, quarrelling, and criticising. If you want bhakti, don’t criticise anyone. Be tolerant and follow this verse:

tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

Śikṣāṣṭaka (3)

[“One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honour yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.”]

You can never chant if you do not have these four qualities because the holy name is transcendental. You cannot chant with your tongue or see Kṛṣṇa with your eyes.

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.234)

[“Therefore material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṇa really is.”]

You should think, “I am serving Kṛṣṇa by chanting – this is my service. O Kṛṣṇa, please purify me.” If you surrender and offer yourself unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, He will mercifully come and dance on your tongue.

There are three stages of chanting: nāmāparādha, nāmābhāsa, and śuddha-nāma. When you practise with your tongue and by your endeavour, this is nāmāparādha. When you chant with some śraddhā (faith), then it will be nāmābhāsa, and if your chanting is pure, then Kṛṣṇa Himself will dance on your tongue. We should try to pray to Kṛṣṇa, “I offer myself unto Your lotus feet, giving up all worldly desires. I have no beloved except You. You are mine.” Be like the gopīs, and then Kṛṣṇa may come.

When the stones were cleared away, the thousands of devotees, along with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Advaita Ācārya, and Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara, swept again. Mahāprabhu told them, “I want to see who has swept up the biggest pile of dust. Everyone should collect their pile in their clothes, and I will examine them; otherwise, some may cheat the others by only pretending to sweep, but not really doing so.” In the end, everyone saw that Mahāprabhu had swept up much more than all the others combined. Sometimes Mahāprabhu would give a very sweet lesson to those who were only pretending, instead of actually sweeping. He would say to them, “Oh, you have done so much. You should teach others.” Hearing these joking words, all the devotees would laugh.

The devotees swept three times, and this has a deep meaning. We have committed so many offences; we are in so much ignorance, and we have so many unwanted habits. We should very boldly and strongly give up activities that are not favourable for kṛṣṇa-bhakti. We should very boldly reject the things and company of people that are not favourable for bhakti. We should wholly reject any wish, desire, or result that is not favourable for pleasing Kṛṣṇa or a pure devotee and guru.

You should reject anyone who criticises high-class devotees. You can defeat his arguments, and if you are like Hanumān, you can burn all of Laṅkā and cut out his tongue. If you are not of Hanumān’s calibre, block your ears and leave that place where criticism occurs. Always try to accept only the things, the society, and the association that are favourable for bhakti. Do not desire or expect praise for yourself. Have no wish to be honoured by others, but always give honour to all devotees according to their standard of bhakti.

The heart of a devotee chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa should be pure. Why should a brahmacārī or sannyāsī who has been worshipping, chanting, and serving his gurudeva for twenty years have the desire to marry and amass wealth? And why does he leave aside his sannyāsa or brahmacārī saffron cloth and get a girlfriend or even a boyfriend? This is not an advancement towards Kṛṣṇa. It may be that he has neglected pure devotees and has no faith in his gurudeva’s words, or his gurudeva is fallen.

A devotee who is chanting the holy name purely from the beginning will be like Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. Dāsa Gosvāmī left everything and never again accepted worldly enjoyment. Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja left worldly life and his wife and children, and he never returned to them again. If brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs accept worldly life again, it means they have no faith in Kṛṣṇa’s name. Kṛṣṇa has invested His whole power, mercy, opulence, and so forth in His name. Brahmā can create the world only by the mercy of this name, by his chanting of this name. Śaṅkara, too, can only perform any task by chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name. Neither of them can do anything without the help of the holy name.

We have no faith that Kṛṣṇa’s name can maintain our lives. From the beginning, we have no taste and have committed many offences. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is therefore telling us, “You must purify your hearts, if you want to be devotees and realise Kṛṣṇa, and if you want Kṛṣṇa to be seated in your hearts.” But you have no power to do it. You cannot purify your hearts, so who will purify them? You can do it if you are under the guidance of Mahāprabhu, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Advaita Ācārya, Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara, and Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda. Otherwise, your doubts will never go away, you will commit offences, and you will remain attached to unwanted habits. So many desires to taste worldly enjoyment will come to you, and you cannot check them.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu is, therefore, instructing us. He Himself swept, along with His devotees, to teach us. That is why His devotees swept a first time, a second time, and a third time. The first time they swept, they removed big stones, chips, and grasses; the second time, they removed very fine dust; and the third time, they removed still finer dust.

When all the dust was removed, black tar spots remained, which cannot be removed simply by sweeping. For this, you will have to try much harder. You will have to use a very sharp instrument, and then you will have to wash off the spots with a cleaner, like kerosene or alcohol. These spots are our offences and will not disappear by sweeping alone. These spots are deceit (kuṭīnāṭī) and desires for profit (lābha), adoration (pūjā), and fame (pratiṣṭhā). Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 19.159) has explained this, and Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja has given the translation:

‘niṣiddhācāra’, ‘kuṭīnāṭī’, ‘jīva-hiṁsana’
‘lābha’, ‘pūjā’, ‘pratiṣṭhādi’ yata upaśākhā-gaṇa

[“Some unnecessary creepers growing with the bhakti creeper are the creepers of behaviour unacceptable for those trying to attain perfection, diplomatic behaviour, animal-killing, mundane profiteering, mundane adoration and mundane importance. All these are unwanted creepers.”]

Nowadays, many people have no proper respect for Vaiṣṇavas. They tell them, “Oh, you cannot enter our temple.” Juniors are not giving proper respect to seniors, and seniors are not giving proper respect, love, and affection to juniors. This is the problem, and the root of it is offences to the holy name. Many devotees have no regard for the holy name. They have no strong faith in chanting, which is why so many senior devotees are going away, and junior devotees are coming, becoming senior, and then also going away. These are the problems nowadays. You can easily give up your children, wives, husbands, relatives, and even wealth. But it is very hard to give up the desire for praise, and it is hard to follow this verse:

tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

Śikṣāṣṭaka (3)

[“One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honour yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.”]

Thinking oneself to be even lower and more worthless than insignificant grass that is trampled beneath everyone’s feet, being more tolerant than a tree, being prideless, and offering respect to all others according to their respective positions, one should continuously chant the holy name of Śrī Hari.

This means “sweeping the heart,” and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted this. At this stage, you will honour even a creeper and a tree, what to speak of devotees. You will see Kṛṣṇa in everyone and everywhere, and then you can honour everyone properly. We should try to sweep in our hearts today, on this sacred day of guṇḍicā-mandira-mārjana.

We should try to understand what niṣiddhācāra (prohibited activities) are. For example, if you are a brahmacārī or sannyāsī, be far away from lust.

asat-saṅga-tyāga, — ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra
‘strī-saṅgī’ — eka asādhu, ‘kṛṣṇābhakta’ āra

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.87)

[“A Vaiṣṇava should always avoid the association of ordinary people. Common people are very much materially attached, especially to women. Vaiṣṇavas should also avoid the company of those who are not devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”]

Try to follow this, whether you are a family man or in the renounced order. Do not associate with Māyāvādīs who do not believe in the personal form of Kṛṣṇa or Godhead. To such persons, everything is God, meaning everything is zero. Also, do not associate with those who are lusty – one should remain very far away from such people. Do not tell lies, do not be duplicitous, do not be politicians, and do not be hypocrites. These are basic principles.

Kuṭīnāṭī: ku means “evil,” ṭī means “the,” nā means “no” or “that which is prohibited,” and ṭī means “particular.” Kuṭīnāṭī means activities that are like those of Pūtanā. The word pūtanā means impure, and she was the first demon killed by Kṛṣṇa; He killed impurity first of all. First, be pure by body, mind, and soul, chant and remember, and always serve Vaiṣṇavas and give them proper respect.

Jīva-hiṁsana: don’t kill anything, even a creeper. This is also a basic principle. Jīva-hiṁsana means violence, but in this connection, violence does not only mean killing with the hands or by a weapon. It also means killing by the tongue, mind, or heart. Do not be envious. If you want to be pure devotees, remove envy from your hearts and don’t criticise any Vaiṣṇava, for this is also hiṁsā.

These spots will not be removed merely by sweeping, nor will they disappear simply by washing them with water. Rather, they will only become stronger and more prominent. In other words, these spots are not very easy to remove. They manifest as offences at the lotus feet of Vaiṣṇavas and the guru and neglect of the guru. Among the ten kinds of nāmāparādha, the first is the offence to pure devotees. The aspiring devotee must remove all these spots quickly, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore took His own outer garment and washed everything up, down, here, there, and everywhere. He did not leave even one corner unclean.

Thousands and thousands of devotees continually took water from Indradyumna Sarovara. They placed the water-pots in the hands of Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara, Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda, Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Advaita Ācārya, and Śrīman Mahāprabhu Himself. Nowadays, those who consider themselves gurus will give orders to others and do nothing themselves. They think they should only taste delicious mahā-prasāda and enjoy opulent surroundings; they may even have chairs made of gold. Such false gurus cannot remain; rather, they go to hell.

This way, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu cleared away all unwanted mentalities and behaviours. In the first and second verses of his Upadeśāmṛta, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī also discusses the unwanted habits to be swept away. Without such sweeping, pure bhakti cannot be attained even in millions of births. In the first verse, Rūpa Gosvāmī states:

vāco vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ
jihvā-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ
sarvām apīmāṁ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt

[“A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind’s demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world.”]

There are six kinds of vegas (urges); the root is the tongue, which has no backbone. If you cannot control the tongue, all the other five urges will control you; and if you control it, everything else is controlled. The tongue has two functions, the first of which is speaking. If this function is not controlled, you may say something wrong to another person, creating a big problem for you – you may even be ruined forever.

Draupadī, the wife of the Pāṇḍavas, once said something that was actually correct, but the circumstances in which she said it were inappropriate. She told Duryodhana, “Your father is blind, and you are also blind. Like father, like son.” Duryodhana was offended, and as a result, the great Mahābhārata War was fought, and millions of people were killed. Similarly, the Rāmāyaṇa War was fought only because of Sītā’s tongue. She chastised Lakṣmaṇa, and this ultimately led to a war in which so many were killed. You should therefore try to control your tongue; do not speak what should not be spoken.

The second function of the tongue is eating. If you eat meat, fish, and other prohibited items, or if you take drugs, they will also harm you, and you cannot control your mind or your heart. On the other hand, everything will be controlled if you take only mahā-prasāda and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa….

In the second verse of Upadeśāmṛta, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states:

atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca
prajalpo niyamāgrahaḥ
jana-saṅgaś ca laulyaṁ ca
ṣaḍbhir bhaktir vinaśyati

[“One’s devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) over-endeavouring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements.”]

Both Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja have written commentaries on how to be free from these habits, and we can clean our hearts by reading these commentaries. It is stated in Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja’s purport (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 12.135)):

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains that even though one may become free from the desire for fruitive activity, sometimes the subtle desire for fruitive activity again comes into being within the heart. One often thinks of conducting business to improve devotional activity. However, the contamination is so strong that it may later develop into misunderstanding, described as kuṭīnāṭī (faultfinding) and pratiṣṭhāśā (the desire for name, fame and a high position), jīva-hiṁsā (envy of other living entities), niṣiddhācāra (accepting things forbidden in the śāstra), kāma (desire for material gain), and pūjā (hankering for popularity). The word kuṭīnāṭī means “duplicity.” As an example of pratiṣṭhāśā, one may attempt to imitate Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura by living in a solitary place.

Some Western devotees once went to Purī. They were not allowed to take darśana of Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā in the temple. But, they could go to Ṭoṭā Gopīnātha Temple, Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s samādhi, and Siddha-bakula. One of those devotees gave over a thousand dollars to an Indian pūjārī at Siddha-bakula and said, “Give me the mālā kept here, the beads on which Haridāsa Ṭhākura was chanting.” The man took the thousand dollars, stole the mālā, and gave it to that “devotee” who then thought, “Oh, when I chant on this mālā, I will be liberated and I will have bhakti.” Imitation will not do, however. That person was offensive. Nowadays, many people want a large mālā weighing five kilos or more. They cannot chant properly, but still they collect big tulasī neckbeads with “Rādhe, Rādhe” written on them. This will not do; rather, false ego will increase by this. Try to chant and remember purely, and associate with devotees. It is stated in the same purport:

One’s real desire may be for name and fame. In other words, one thinks that fools will accept one to be as good as Haridāsa Ṭhākura just because one lives in a holy place. These are all material desires. A neophyte devotee will be attacked by other material desires, namely, desires for women and money. In this way, the heart is again filled with dirty things and becomes harder and harder, like that of a materialist. Gradually, one desires to become a reputed devotee or an avatāra (incarnation).

Nowadays, there are so many “incarnations” like this. They have no belief in God, but they want to be gurus, and after some days, they fall down. This disease of false gurus and gods is spreading like the plague, and now there are so many “gods,” both in India and the West. We have been duplicitous since birth, but now we must become very simple and always honour devotees.

Also, be free from lobha (the greed for worldly things). Be free from thinking, “I must have this thing,” or “My relatives and neighbours have very good cars, but I don’t.” Be simple like Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, who followed the instructions given to him by Caitanya Mahāprabhu:

grāmya-kathā nā śunibe, grāmya-vārtā nā kahibe
bhāla nā khāibe āra bhāla nā paribe

amānī mānada hañā kṛṣṇa-nāma sadā la’be
vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇa-sevā mānase karibe

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Antya-līlā 6.236–7)

[“Do not talk like people in general, or hear what they say. You should not eat very palatable food, nor should you dress very nicely. Do not expect honour, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and within your mind render service to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana.”]

Follow Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, and others like them. Be simple like Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates. Mahāprabhu personally removed all the spots from the siṁhāsana on which Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā would sit – He did not leave it for someone else to do. This means that we should try to make our hearts like a siṁhāsana where Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā will sit, where Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa will sit, and where Mahāprabhu will sit.

This opportunity will not come if there are dirty thoughts and aspirations in our hearts. They will never come. Take your ears in your hands* and promise, “From today, I will practise properly.” Kṛṣṇa will provide for you if you are always chanting and remembering. He will look after you, and sometimes He may come to you as a servant, bringing paraphernalia for you on His head. There are many examples as evidence of this, so do not worry about how to maintain yourselves. The only problem should be how to purify yourselves and attain love and affection for Kṛṣṇa.

While Caitanya Mahāprabhu was cleaning, a very young Gauḍīya bhakta took a pitcher of water, poured the water on Mahāprabhu’s feet, and drank some of it. Mahāprabhu then appeared very angry and said, “What are you doing? Nonsense! Jagannātha is coming here. Jagannātha is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, and we are cleaning here, preparing for Him to come. I am an ordinary person, a man, and yet this person is washing My feet and taking that water to drink. This offence is very bad for Me, and for him.”

If you wash the feet of an ordinary person in Kṛṣṇa’s temple, it is a very big offence. Of course, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Jagannātha Himself, but He is instructing others. A bona fide guru will never proudly think, “Very good! My disciple comes and places flowers on my feet, pours water on them, washes them, sprinkles that water on others, and then drinks it.” A pure Vaiṣṇava or guru never considers, “I am an advanced devotee.” Even Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, has said:

na prema-gandho ’sti darāpi me harau
krandāmi saubhāgya-bharaṁ prakāśitum
vaṁśī-vilāsy-ānana-lokanaṁ vinā
bibharmi yat prāṇa-pataṅgakān vṛthā

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 2.45)

[“My dear friends, I have not the slightest tinge of love of Godhead within My heart. When you see Me crying in separation, I am just falsely exhibiting a demonstration of My great fortune. Indeed, not seeing the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa playing His flute, I continue to live My life like an insect, without purpose.”]

“I have not even a scent of bhakti to Kṛṣṇa. I am more wretched than anyone.” Rādhikā Herself says, “Oh, the forest deer are superior to me. They can go near Kṛṣṇa and beg His love and affection as a beloved, but we cannot go there. The rivers are also so much more fortunate than we gopīs. Kṛṣṇa goes to the Yamunā to bathe, and she can embrace Kṛṣṇa; she can give Him a lotus flower from her hand-like waves. She can give her whole heart to Kṛṣṇa and tell Him, ‘O my beloved.’ When Kṛṣṇa plays on His flute, she becomes stunned and stops flowing. She is much greater than we are, for we cannot do as she does.

“And what is the condition of the calves and cows? The cows are grazing, but when they hear the sweet sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, they raise their ears to hear and drink in that flute’s sweet nectar. Their calves also drink the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s flute through their ears. While they drink the milk from their mothers’ udders, they hear the flute, and at that time they forget the milk altogether; they neither swallow it nor spit it out, and it simply remains in their mouths. Oh, we are not like this.”

Mahāprabhu similarly laments, “The fish are superior to me. If they are taken from water, they will die at once, but I am not dying, although I have no darśana of Kṛṣṇa. How wretched I am!”

Nowadays, many devotees think, “Gurudeva simply gave us chanting beads, and by this we became more than God and we began to control the whole world.” The next day, however, we see that nothing is there – no tulasī beads, no chanting beads; nothing. And now they have again become mice.**

Mahāprabhu performed this pastime to teach us devotional principles, so He called Svarūpa Dāmodara and told him, “Svarūpa Dāmodara Prabhu! Just see the behaviour of your Gauḍīya bhakta. He is insulting Me in front of Ṭhākurajī. You have not instructed him how to be a pure devotee. See how he is behaving! He is in the temple of Jagannātha, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and although I am an ordinary person, he is pouring water on My feet and drinking it. This is very offensive to Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā, and I am very upset about this.”

Svarūpa Dāmodara then slapped the young devotee and dragged him outside as a gesture. Actually, he was very happy with him. Outside the temple, when he was beyond Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s view, he told that devotee, “You have done very well. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Jagannātha Himself, but He wants to teach others that we should not behave like this towards ordinary persons. You have done nothing wrong. You have done the right thing. Wait here, and I will call for you again.” Then, when he was called, that Bengali devotee told Mahāprabhu, “I have done wrong.” He begged for forgiveness, and Mahāprabhu forgot the matter.

No one should tell anyone else to worship him. One should not love anyone or weep for anyone in front of the deity. You can only do praṇāma to your pure gurudeva, not anyone else. Wherever the deities are present, we should not try to control anyone; that will be an offence. We can learn all the rules and regulations of deity worship by reading the book Arcana-dīpikā.

Nowadays, gurus are coming like kan-gurus. All are gurus, but none are gurus. They are everywhere, like the germs of a plague. They are cheaters, not gurus. They are not Bhagavān. In India, you can very easily find so many “Gods,” so many “Supreme Personalities of Godheads.” One thinks he is Śaṅkara, another thinks that he is Gaṇeśa, and someone else thinks he is Sarasvatī. Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew this day would come.

Try to enter the real process of bhakti. Hear from the proper person, take his words into your heart and try to follow him. Then you can sweep your heart and also become a pure devotee. First, you will enter the stage of kaniṣṭha-adhikāra, then madhyama-adhikāra, and then you will be a devotee. Otherwise, you are like a shadow devotee (fallen). Kṛṣṇa has given you good intelligence. You should realise whether or not someone is a pure devotee, and if he is, then you can hear from him. A sādhu is a very elevated devotee who embodies the verse:

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11)

[“When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṇa favourably, as Kṛṣṇa desires.”]

The cultivation of activities that are meant exclusively for the pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or in other words, the uninterrupted flow of service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, performed through all endeavours of the body, mind, and speech, and through the expression of various spiritual sentiments (bhāvas), which is not covered by jñāna (knowledge aimed at impersonal liberation) and karma (reward-seeking activity) and which is devoid of all desires other than the aspiration to bring happiness to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is called uttama-bhakti (pure devotional service).

Such a sādhu or guru has no worldly desires. His devotion is always like a stream of sweet honey, which flows like an unbroken current when it is poured.

Similarly, see whether your own activities by body, words, mind, and by heart or mood are to please Kṛṣṇa or not. Suppose you are taking mahā-prasāda. Why are you taking it? Is it to please Kṛṣṇa or not? If you are not taking it to please Kṛṣṇa, it is like karma. If you go to sleep for yourself, it is karma, not bhakti. However, if you go to sleep thinking, “I will take some rest, and from early morning I will serve Kṛṣṇa. I will be always chanting, remembering, worshipping, and serving here and there,” then even your sleeping is for Kṛṣṇa.

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

Bhagavad-gītā (9.27)

[“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.”]

After some time, whatever you do will be to please Kṛṣṇa and your pure gurudeva. If someone follows this principle and always acts to please Kṛṣṇa, you can accept him as your guru; otherwise, don’t. If you were ignorant and you selected a guru who does not perform all his activities to please Kṛṣṇa, Guru, and Vaiṣṇavas, then reject that person. Reject him wholly. Choose another guru very carefully and take initiation; otherwise, you cannot have pure devotion and love for Kṛṣṇa.

If you were initiated by a guru who was sincere at one time, but who fell down later on, reject him at once. Then you may enter the proper line and accept the self-realised devotees who are actually following anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādyanāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. Whatever they do, they do to please Kṛṣṇa, Guru, and Vaiṣṇavas. They will be in the line of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, and Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. If a person professing to be a guru is not actually in that line, he should at once be rejected. Bali Mahārāja rejected his gurudeva (Śukrācārya). Bharata Mahārāja rejected his mother, Prahlāda Mahārāja rejected his father, the gopīs rejected their husbands, and Vibhīṣaṇa rejected his brother Rāvaṇa. There are abundant examples of this.

If the guru is chanting and is somewhat in this line, but he cannot give you prema-bhakti, then request him, “Please permit me to associate with a self-realised devotee.” If he does not permit you to do so, he is not a pure Vaiṣṇava and should also be rejected. However, if he gives the order, “You should go, and I will also go,” he is then a Vaiṣṇava. You should respect him, and also go to associate with that high-class devotee. This is the proper process, and it was followed by Śrī Śyāmānanda Prabhu, Śrī Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, Śrī Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and so many others. If you follow śāstra and your superiors, you will come to the stage of madhyama-adhikāra. This is actually the meaning of guṇḍicā-mandira-mārjana.

It is better to honour real Vaiṣṇavas than to only worship the deities. Worship the deity, but serve the Vaiṣṇavas at the same time. Gradually try to come from the kaniṣṭha stage to the madhyama stage. We are entering kaniṣṭha, but we are not even kaniṣṭha yet, because we do not have full faith in the deity. When we realise siddhānta, the established truths of Vaiṣṇava philosophy, in the association of pure Vaiṣṇavas, we will gradually become madhyama-adhikārī. This is the object of today’s function. By this, the seed of the bhakti-creeper that your gurudeva has given to you will sprout, and it will then develop into the shape of a creeper that will ultimately lead you to Goloka Vṛndāvana. This is the real process.

When all the spots are removed, your status will be of the nature of pure devotion. Whatever we do, we should do as a service to Kṛṣṇa, for His pleasure, but this is insufficient. There should be no worldly desire at all in that service. If one takes initiation from a bona fide guru, and chants, remembers, and reads books, but thinks, “I want to be wealthy, I want to have a very well-qualified son, and a very beautiful home and wife,” his bhakti will not be pure. Rather, it will be completely ruined. Even the desire for liberation is not pure bhakti. It is bhakti, but not pure uttama-bhakti. It is called āropa-siddha–bhakti, or sometimes saṅga-siddha-bhakti. His bhakti will be mixed with karma, jñāna, yoga, or anything else.

More than ninety-five percent of those who call themselves bhaktas don’t actually follow uttama-bhakti or pure bhakti. They follow only āropa-siddha-bhakti and saṅga-siddha-bhakti. What is āropa-siddha-bhakti? Making a garden or establishing gurukulas and gośālās is not really bhakti, but it may create impressions (saṁskāras) in the heart if the fruits are given to Kṛṣṇa. If there is a gurukula, there is an opportunity that the boys will be given impressions from childhood for later development in bhakti. We see, however, that the students very rarely get these impressions. Many are ruined and are without character; they do not obey their fathers and mothers; they are not humble, and they do not honour devotees. Many are desperate. If that impression of bhakti had come, it would have been very good for them. It is only to give this impression that high-class devotees or gurus establish such institutions.

If we make a garden, we can take the fruits to the deities and pure devotees, but if the fruit is not given to them, the result will be very bad. Actual bhakti is that activity in which there is chanting and remembering only to please Kṛṣṇa. In the past, many devotees collected vast wealth for their temples. They collected vast amounts of money in a few days, but what became of them? They left Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja wanted them to become qualified devotees.

It is not sufficient merely to sweep or wash off all the varieties of unwanted habits, such as aparādhas. Something affirmative should be there – a strong taste for harināma and hearing hari-kathā. It is not enough just to clean your heart. What will remain if you simply do that? Nothing. There should be something positive. There is no harm if you have no taste for chanting harināma, but you should have a taste for hearing hari-kathā. If you do not, then hear again and again, and give proper respect to the pure devotees from whom you are hearing.

satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.25.25)

[“In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.”]

The speaker should be satām, a pure devotee. Do not maintain your own false idea that an ordinary person or devotee is a mahā-bhāgavata. Who has the qualification to realise who is a mahā-bhāgavata? Śrīla Vaṁśī dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, a disciple of Śrīla Gaura-kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, was an exalted uttama-mahā-bhāgavata, but he used to pretend he was smoking marijuana. He sometimes put dry fish bones here and there around his hut so people would think he ate fish. He considered, “Those who are materially inclined should remain far away from me so I can be alone to chant Kṛṣṇa’s name and remember Him.”

Śrīla Gaura-kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja was on friendly terms with Śrīla Vaṁśī dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, and Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura honoured him so much. Our Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Mahārāja, used to take his darśana, and at that time Bābājī Mahārāja gave him many deep teachings. Guru Mahārāja told us, “Sometimes he spoke such high philosophy that I could not understand him.” If a devotee is ignorant and not even a kaniṣṭha Vaiṣṇava, how can he know who is actually a mahā-bhāgavata? He will choose an unqualified person as a “mahā-bhāgavata.” The next day, he will see how that person has fallen down.

You should see what your superior’s idea is regarding who is a madhyama-adhikārī or who is an uttama-adhikārī, and you can also realise this if you follow Kṛṣṇa consciousness and establish yourself on the platform of the advanced stage of madhyama-adhikāra. It is an offence at the lotus feet of the real mahā-bhāgavata if you do not give him proper respect, and instead give great respect to a third-class, bogus person calling him “mahā-bhāgavata.”

* This is an Indian expression. In India, when one expresses regret because of guilt, they hold their earlobes as they apologise.

** In this connection there is an instructive story called punar mūṣiko bhava, “Again Become a Mouse.” A mouse was very much harassed by a cat, and therefore the mouse approached a saintly person to request to become a cat. When the mouse became a cat, he was harassed by a dog, and then when he became a dog, he was harassed by a tiger. But when he became a tiger, he stared at the saintly person, and when the saintly person asked him, “What do you want?” the tiger said, “I want to eat you.” Then the saintly person cursed him, saying, “May you again become a mouse.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.10.13, purport)

Source(s): Purebhakti.com

Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org.in and/or Bhaktiart.net
Unless indicated differently, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)