Chapter 2: The Eye to See the Dhama

The Eye of Faith

In an ordinary country there is a capital. The capital is where the existence and position of the king is more intense than in the general section of the country. Similarly, the Lord is everywhere, and His concentrated existence is found in the Dhām or the Holy Abode. With fully developed vision, we can feel the special characteristic of the Dhām. We shall find His presence everywhere, but with particular intensity in the Dhām. With the awakening of our real eye, we should be able to feel and appreciate according to this criterion. There is no question of a Dhām for those who have no eye to see. There is also a hierarchy in the Dhām. All are in serving attitude whether birds, beasts, worms, insects — everything — all are contributing to the Reality. Their feeling of heart, their gesture, posture or movement — everything contributes exclusively to the Pastimes of the Lord.

Dhāmera svarūpa sphuribe nayane: in one song, Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur aspires for that pure vision of the Dhām. Otherwise, it may appear quite ordinary to us, like a jungle. The purity of Ganges water is only perceived by those who have proper faith or śraddhā. Otherwise, to others eyes it is ordinary water. The same applies to the Deity, or Śrī Mūrti. One may think that the Śrī Mūrti of Lord Jagannāth in Purī appears to be a somewhat awkward figure. His arms seem incomplete, His feet are not visible, His eyes are enormous. Yet Mahāprabhu stood before Him for hours, shedding tears. No one could move Him from that place. What did Mahāprabhu see in that figure, and what is He to our eyes? So according to the depth of vision of our inner eye, we can come to that plane of the Dhām, the Deity, and the purifying Ganges water. Śraddhāmayo ’yaṁ puruṣo (Bg: 17.3). “The nature of a person is modeled on faith.” Of what value is a mirror without an eye? In a looking-glass we should find the reflection, but if the eye is absent, what will the subject see in the glass? So the eye to see — faith — is necessary. According to the śraddhā, the specific character of the Dhām as distinct from all other places will come into view, disclosing its real form. Everything depends on śraddhā, faith.

Faith is the only effective link. If we wish to have any link with the sun or the moon, ordinary instruments won’t do, but some plenary medium like electricity, etc., can help to connect us. We must approach via a plane similar to the object. Similarly, we can approach the infinite only with the help of śraddhā. We cannot hope to have any connection with that finest plane of fundamental existence of this world with the help of the eye, nose or ear, or even by intelligence or reason. If we want to have any connection with the finest plane that is underlying this creation, it is possible only through faith (śraddhāmayo ’yaṁ puruṣo).

Then, the question of credibility arises: faith may be blind. But as long as the qualification of ‘blind’ faith exists, ‘seeing’ faith must also be possible! Blind faith is diseased faith, but we must connect by real or healthy faith. Then again, our experience must be confined to our own limitations; so how much faith can we accumulate?

Infinite Faith in the Infinite

When we try to establish a connection with the infinite, there are infinite possibilities. But how much faith can finite things like us have? How much can we imagine? Imagination must also have a limit, yet the infinite exists, beyond even the limit of any imagination. The infinite is so spacious and broad that even our imagination fails. How much can we imagine? We are born and bred in a cell; our experience is limited and our imagination is also limited. So imagination cannot be extended to take on an infinite character. We must be conscious that we are going to establish our relationship with the infinite, where the greatest imagination is only a point. Imagination cannot devour the infinite, so imagination must not be allowed to obstruct us. How much can we imagine? Something very meager in comparison with the infinite. We must not allow ourselves to be slaves to our imagination. The infinite is so broad. We cannot have any conception of it; we cannot imagine it. It is beyond. So we must not cower under blind faith; there may exist infinitely more than we can imagine. Only genuine faith can help us in that direction, toward the infinite. And even when we have some conception, it is said that the key to make Himself known to us is in His hand. When He opens the door, we can enter. The key is not within our hand. We can see only as much as He likes us to. He is adhokṣaja — transcendental. We first have to accept this before we can approach Him or even expect to know Him. We must prepare ourselves with this attitude of accepting Him as adhokṣaja.

If He does not allow us to enter into His Domain, should we deny His existence? He is free to do as He pleases; what can He lose? It is we who are the losers. So we should submissively acknowledge the adhokṣaja realm above us. Superseding Śaṅkar Āchārya’s philosophy, Śrī Rāmānuja introduced this adhokṣaja principle.

The Supersubjective Realm

Because we cannot enter that realm as a subject or making it an object of our investigation, we deny the existence of such a thing. What does this mean? Fools may be satisfied with such an imaginary tendency, but really there is such a domain, and when He wants to take us within His jurisdiction, we can have some experience of it. This is adhokṣaja. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam warns us with this expression: adhokṣaja. He is adhokṣaja — transcendental, supramental. We cannot enter that domain as a subject. Even if we approach Him as investigators, we can know Him only as much as He allows us to. Still, we have to admit that there is such a realm, the Supersubjective Realm. We are subject, and that is Supersubject. The jīva, chaitanya, the soul, is not the final existence. Socrates said that the soul is immortal and can live independent of matter. He realised that the soul is a unit independent of matter; it is not a product of matter. Yet, the soul is not the final substance. Compared to matter, the soul is spiritual, but at the same time he may be considered like matter in comparison to his Knower, the Supersoul, Paramātma, and so on. The subjective realm progresses onward, more and more. There, all are our masters. We cannot be master there; we can only be servants. If we want to enter into the highest position, we shall accept the position of the slave of the slave. Only then can we get the chance of entering into that domain. It is not unreasonable.

Some may think that matter, gas, sky, and finally ether is the limit of existence; or, beyond ether, electricity is the limit. But beyond that is the soul, as Socrates said. There, soul is existence, transcending matter in all its phases. So, also, that soul is only a particle on the gross side of the Absolute. There is finer existence as Supersoul, and onwards. Just as in the material creation there are so many stages such as earth or stone, wood, gold, etc., there is similarly a gradation in spiritual substance. Generally, two — in the lower part Vaikuṇṭha, and the highest sphere is Goloka or the land of love.

The Play of the Sweet Absolute

The spiritual existence may also be divided into three basic classes: sat-chit-ānanda. Above the subjective existence of chetana or chit, the jīva-soul, there is a higher fundamental, categorically different element of ānandam, or happiness, ecstasy. That is not only chit, not only subjective, but fulfilment of the subject as ānandam, full in itself, or more specifically in Himself. And this is the main element to be found in Goloka. Knowledge is rather subservient there. Knowledge — jñān, anubhūti — perception, experience, even of the transcendental, is subservient, subdued, and the automatic flow of ānandam, beauty, and harmony is the real characteristic of the Goloka section. Jñān does not play any part there (jñāna-śūnyā-bhakti). It is something like intuition.

The movement there is intuitive and full of ecstasy. There is no movement by calculation; it is all by intuition (sambandha-jñān). How and wherefrom the direction comes, they do not care to know. They are but instruments in the hands of that ānandamaya-vilās or ecstatic play. This is Goloka, and we are told that if we have faith, we shall take the trouble of making a journey toward that plane. Faith should be the guide, impelled by our intense desire (lobha, laulyam). Our attraction and feeling of necessity for it takes precedence: “Yes, I want that.” Then, we begin. Just as Hegel said, “The idea precedes the action.” So, in śraddhā, we feel, “Yes, I want that thing.” Then we shall take the trouble of approaching it. So we are told that the highest position is such, that is, intuitive labour of love in the Divine Pastimes (vilās). And that is the conception of the highest quarter, where one can find the best happiness, or ecstasy. One who has attraction for that will take the trouble of accepting it and going to that place; that is given by Bhāgavatam and Mahāprabhu.

The Land of Beauty

Satyam is the land of the conception of existence, śivam is the land of good, and sundaram is the land of beauty. Śivam means maṅgalam, that is, that which is safe from mortality — unassailable existence. There is existence in mortality; the material energy also exists. But there is a land where there is no death, and that is considered to be śivam or maṅgalam. And sundaram is the positive life of attraction. One aspires to live such a life. Sundaram is a life worth living. There is such a land in the highest quarter. Mahāprabhu and Bhāgavatam called us for that: “Here is a soil, and you are a child of that soil. If you analyse yourself deeply, you will find that you are a child of that soil. You are not created for this land where you are always suffering from uncertainty and apprehension. Apprehension and uncertainty are always troubling you; you must cross beyond them, go up, and you will find śivam — no apprehension, but the positive life. If you really like to have it, you will have to enter into the area of Goloka, the land of beauty and love. No consideration of calculation, no necessity of calculation or anything else. There, no fraud or deception can ever be dreamed of, so calculation and reasoning have no place at all. Automatically, all is good, all is fulfilment. It is the general conception.”

Then, for satisfaction’s sake, Yogamāyā has designed things in such a way that Kṛṣṇa’s associates are afraid of losing Him, and Kṛṣṇa also misses Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, or Mother Yaśodā, etc. This is designed to maintain the Pastimes there, and not out of necessity. It is not out of necessity, but it is the way of life: as a fashion it is maintained, and not for want.

aher iva gatiḥ premṇaḥ svabhāva-kuṭilā bhavet
ato hetor ahetoś cha yūnor māna udañchati

“The nature of love is curved like a snake; therefore, two kinds of quarrelsome pride arise between Lover and Beloved: justified and groundless.”

Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī gives this example. By nature, the serpent goes by a zigzag or curved movement. So, in the land of prema (divine love), māna, abhimāna (lover’s quarrel, ego) and so on, are all in the nature of dealings there, but not out of necessity or want. That is the way of vilās, or Pastimes.

Devotee: On Śrīmatī Lalitā Devī’s Appearance Day, you were saying how Lalitā Devī goes out to the streets of Vṛndāvan, with a pen and paper —

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj:  — canvassing right and left, “Come and join my camp! I shall give you engagement in the service of Rādhā and Govinda.” And that is infinite.

Devotee: So Mahārāj, can one who is aspiring for devotional service identify himself with the thought of becoming enrolled in that particular camp?

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj: Of course, otherwise why does that exist? That is the Infinite. There’s no rule of limitation that says all the vacancies are filled. It is not finite.

Devotee: But whether it is audacity —

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj: Audacity, impertinence —

Devotee: Yes — to go and ask to be engaged in madhura-līlā, divine Pastimes in consorthood?

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj: It will be unavoidable. Necessity does not care for anything. There is no loss in necessity. When anyone finds the aspiration in himself, he will helplessly or unconsciously appeal, “Please enlist my name.” He can’t resist.

Devotee: This question was troubling me very much. It is inconceivable how the great associates of the Lord actually want to take others to such engagement.

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj: There’s no dearth of facility on that side. Mahāprabhu says,

tuyā dayā aichena parama udārā
atiśaya manda nātha bhāga hāmārā

“Whatever may be lacking is on My part. There is no defect on Your side.” The Āchārya Ṭhākur Bhakti Vinod has given us this interpretation:

nāmnām-akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ

“O Lord, Your Holy Name bestows all good fortune unto the soul, and thus you have extended into the world Your many Names — Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, etc. You have offered all Your transcendental potency in Your Holy Name, without enjoining any (scriptural or philosophical) hard and fast rules and regulations concerning time, place, or circumstance to be observed in chanting it. Dear Lord, You have so graciously made Your Holy Name available to the ordinary souls, and yet my misfortune, my offensiveness, does not allow love for that gracious Name to be born in my heart.”

Therefore, Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur says, “I don’t find any taste for You in my heart — it is hard like rock. There is unlimited grace on Your side, but I am so mean, so low, and You are so High.”

Overwhelming Grace — the Birth of Fortune

But this feeling cannot arise without being in the relativity of that superior world. Without that, such thoughts cannot arise. When really in the relativity of that world, the thought of overwhelming grace also arises. One feels that grace, although he feels unqualified in himself. And that is the beginning. Fortune begins there. Necessity is the mother of invention. Śraddhā has come, showing such a great prospect to the devotee, and he is very eager to attain that prospect — but he fails. That failure is also in one sense participating in a particular position. He’s already in the relativity of the Infinite; otherwise, he could not have made such a statement. It is infinite! Whatever degree of attainment he may reach, he’ll still be unsatisfied — because that is infinite. Na prema-gandho ’sti darāpi me harau: “Is there such an attainment in me? No. I do not possess it, because it is impossible to possess Him.” Yet, possession is there in the negative sense: “I am so negative.”

This is the nature of the Negative’s possession of the Positive, and so, She can attract the Positive. The more the negative characteristic is found in a particular place, the more the positive is attracted there. That is the underlying truth. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī says, “I am in the highest need of Kṛṣṇa.” So much feeling of necessity in Kṛṣṇa’s absence is not to be found anywhere as in Her heart. And that satisfies Kṛṣṇa. Setting aside all other demands, He wants to come and satisfy the demand of that heart where want for Him is of the highest degree. Is it not natural? Dedication. We are units or aspects of the Moiety of dedication, and not of fulfilment. Fulfilment is a stagnant thing. It is a qualification in the limited world. But in the unlimited, such an attitude can’t stand. This is the nature there. Kṣudhā.

Devotee: Kṣudhā means unquenchable thirst?

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj: Yes; unquenchable thirst, so the tiniest drop of nectar will be tasted as very, very sweet. Inundating. Once in Madras, one gentleman put a question to me: “Your highest ideal is Chaitanyadev? Isn’t His conception dangerous? Always mad with want of something, crying and rubbing His face against the wall, such intense madness for want of Kṛṣṇa — that is a dangerous thing to us! We would be rather afraid to make that the ideal for our life.”

bāhye viṣa-jvālā haya bhitare ānanda-maya
kṛṣṇa-premāra adbhuta charita

“The amazing characteristic of love for Kṛṣṇa is found in the symptoms of burning anguish without and ecstasy within.”

The Joy of Hankering for the Truth

Extreme hankering for the truth is in itself ānandam. “I want only the truth, nothing else”: that is ānandam. It is unpossessed by any unessential thing. And by nature, the highest fulfilment is found in the negative aspect; the intense feeling of negativity is the highest attainment in its fullest position. Fulfilment of life is in the necessity of the negative Potency.

Devotee: Mahārāj, does that negativity mean humility?

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj: Yes, it begins from humility. As Śrī Chaitanyadev has taught us, one should consider himself lower than a straw and be more tolerant than a tree and never expect honour for oneself, but always offer it to others.

Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur has explained that we are actually lower than a straw because in our present existence we are vikṛta, or deranged. But a straw is at least passive and maintaining its natural position. We have lost our proper function and become of negative value; we are lacking the positive value of a straw because we are adverse.

We are going against our own interest with our intelligence. We have intelligence, but it is misguided, opposed to the proper order of things. The straw is poised, it cannot move, but we can move in a wrong way. So we are actually in a more heinous position than a straw. We use our assets willingly to misguide ourselves, but the straw maintains its fixed position without deviation.

In the worldly sense we may hold a position superior to that of grass or a tree, but what of that? All our credits are being misused for our selfishness. So we are lower than straw. We are armed, but armed for suicide. A madman should not possess a dagger. He is dangerous. He could stab himself at any moment — he’s mad.

The tolerance of the tree may also be seen in the same light. The tree must forbear his former actions, but we must be alert not only to the former but also to the present actions. In the present time also we may commit some wrong, so our position is more dangerous than a tree’s. The tree is only reaping the result of its previous action, but our need is to guard ourselves against our present malactivity, so we require more forbearance than that of a tree. We should think, “I must be more cautious than the tree in my attitude of forbearance. My position is more dangerous because my special attainment is going against me.”