Chapter 2: The Direction to Your Wealth
Śri Chaitanyadeva is both Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa combined. He is Krsna in the mood of Rādhā, searching for Himself He is both the positive and the negative aspects of the Absolute combined. The Śaṅkara school and other impersonalists claim that when the positive and negative combine, the result is a kind of equilibrium. But according to the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, the combination is dynamic. His nature becomes that of searching for Himself — searching for His own positive self, in the mood of the negative. In that search, He distributes Himself to others. The negative attracts the positive, and the positive is thus distributed to the public. This is the essence of Śrī Chaitanyadeva. The intimate associates of the Lord have revealed such a conception, and we shall be able to conceive it according to the intensity and degree of our faith.
Faith is the only instrument for the finite to measure the infinite. To survey the infinite, all other methods are futile. Faith is the most spacious substance within us.
It can cover a long, long distance. In the infinite, what faith can we have in faith? We fear blind faith. Yet, in the infinite, the impossible becomes possible. Everything is possible, but only faith has the possibility of connecting us with the infinite, while all other methods are useless.
Śraddhā, faith, can go a long distance. And we shall be able to feel and conceive that faith is not merely imaginary. It has its tangible position, a most efficient position within us. When we can disconnect from all phases of perceptual experience, we can live in faith alone. When all the wealth of our experience deceives us and makes treachery with us, our faith will save us.
The whole world of our experience will vanish one day, with the final wholesale dissolution (janma-mṛtyujarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam, Bg. 13.9), but faith will remain, faithfully attending us. That is the innate thing with our soul. And with the wholesale dissolution of our body, mind, and senses, the whole world of our experience will go where? No one knows. The sun, the moon, the ether, the air — everything wall vanish in wholesale dissolution. Only faith will live, even at that stage. Faith is eternal substance within us, and we are told that with the favourable circumstances of faith we can go back to God, back to home. Back to home sweet home! Such highest prospect is given to us who are in this world of mortality, which is a burial ground and cremation ground. Here, everything is bound to be buried.
«The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
All that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour;
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.»
— Gray’s Elegy
This is the world of experience — everything leads but to the grave. But faith is not treacherous. It will remain within, with the soul, and grant hope, prospect, and sustenance. And what kind of sustenance? Home comfort. Back to God, back to home. When there is the proposal of such an alternative, who would be such a fool to run after the experiences of this ‘civilized’ atomic world? Experience and science are all the jaws of death.
Faith is nothing vague.
yā niśa sarva-bhūtānam, tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī
yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni, sā niśā paśyato muneḥ
Some persons are awake in the world of experience. Their day is the world of experience and their night is the soul’s world, God’s world. And another class of men are wakeful in the soul’s world and are sleeping in this world of experience. This world is darkness to them, and they are quite awake in the world of faith. They find that the world of faith is a permanent world.
The soul, however tiny, has a substantial position in eternity; it is an eternal factor in that world of faith. There, we shall find: «Whatever I see is eternal. Nothing will be effaced at any time. I am a member of the world of reality, and through faith I can reach such a subtle plane that never dies or changes. There is such a subtle, higher plane, and my soul is a member of that plane. The soul is wakeful there and is asleep in this world of experience, having no connection with it. And the man of the world of experience with flesh and blood, he is wakeful here, whereas that real world — the soul world — is like dark night to him.»
In our present condition it may seem almost non-existent, but such a plane is the substantial eternal reality. Its existence supersedes all. All may vanish, but faith stands forever. Faith is the particular potency of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
sukha-rūpa kṛṣṇa kare sukha āsvādana
bhakta-gaṇe sukha dite ‘hlādinī’ — kāraṇa
Ecstasy personified is Kṛṣna Himself, and He feels, tastes and enjoys Himself; but only through faith is it possible to transmit and distribute that ecstasy and joy to others. Faith is the very nature of the hlādinī-śakti, the ecstasy potency, which is represented in full by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. It can transmit total Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the devotees outside. Faith is the halo of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, by the light of which others may understand Kṛṣṇa. When the negative combines with the positive, realisation of Their function is distributed to all other negative parts. The central, ‘mother’ negative can expand and transmit such faith and joy. Śraddhā, faith, is a special substance about which we must enquire. It is not merely abstract.
We are wakeful in this material world, but there are others who are completely awake in that plane of faith, while this world of matter, this tangible world of enjoyment and exploitation, is underground to them; it is far, far away from their conception. They are deeply engaged in the world* of service, through śraddhā, faith (yā niśā sarva-bhutānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī).
To them, even to see Kṛṣṇa is a type of enjoyment. They think, «No, we won’t disturb His sweet will; whenever He likes to, He may call for us, and then we shall have a chance to see Him — otherwise not.» If for my personal satisfaction I desire to see Kṛṣṇa, «O Kṛṣṇa, come and stand before me so that I can see You and satisfy my eyes or inner hankering,» this is a kind of imposition by our exploiting nature. A devotee does not want this. Actual devotees do not allow these thoughts to enter their minds, but they maintain the mood, «Whenever He wishes to, He will call for me, and then I shall have a chance to see Him.»
Mādhavendra Pun maintained his body by eating only what automatically came to him without begging from others; otherwise, he would fast. One day Kṛṣṇa Himself came and supplied some food and He asked, «Why, Purī, don’t you go and beg for food? Why do you act in this way, sometimes fasting?» Hearing of this incident, we may think that Mādhavendra Purī was greatly fortunate — Kṛṣṇa Himself came and supplied food to him. But we find higher devotion in Śrīla Sanātana Goswāmī.
When Śrīmatī Rādharāṇī came and supplied foodstuffs to Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī for cooking paramānna, milk-rice, Śrīla Sanātana Goswāmi was very disturbed at heart.
«What is this Rupa? Did you aspire after something for me?»
«Yes, I did, my lord, my Gurudeva. I thought that it I could obtain some milk and rice I would be able to prepare some paramānna which is very dear to you. Then I would invite you to take that prasāda.»
«Oh, you have done a great wrong! This is so tasteful, I have never found such tasteful things in this world. Therefore, it must have some extraordinary origin. Who gave you the necessary ingredients you wanted for this preparation?»
Śrīla Rupa Goswāmī replied, «A girl came and gave it to me in the name of her family guardians.» Śrīla Sanātana Goswāmī wanted to know who the girl was, but she was nowhere to be found in the nearby village. Sanātana Goswāmī could understand that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī Herself had come and supplied those ingredients.
«We are searching after Her in order to serve Her, and She came and served us? What is this? Just the opposite! My dear brother, what have you done? You wanted something for me and that was supplied by Her? We want Her so that we may serve Her, but She came and served us, and went away. This is a great misfortune.» He was greatly dissatisfied and left that place with these thoughts.
Rūpa Goswāmī could not take that prasādam. He thought, «I invited my Guru Śrīla Sanātana Goswāmī in order to serve and satisfy him, but quite the opposite result came. He has left dissatisfied.» He ran after Sanātana Goswāmī to try and satisfy him.
So, we see that Kṛṣṇa Himself brought foodstuffs to Mādhavendra Purī, and that may be considered a very great fortune; yet, in this instance with Śrīla Rūpa and Śrīla Sanātana Goswāmī, a similar event occured but was considered a grave misfortune. In the higher type of devotion there is never any desire that Kṛṣṇa or His Associates will come to serve and supply us, or that He will show Himself to us. To impose our whim on Him is not actual service. Whatever He likes to do He may do. And whatever may be necessary from us, we shall consider ourselves fortunate if we are given the chance to supply it. Exhaustively eliminating all our desires in the extreme, we are to place ourselves fully at the disposal of the command of the Supreme Lord, who is never to carry out any order or wish of ours.
By nature, He is eager to supply everything to His devotees (yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham; Bg. 9.22). But the higher devotees do not like that Kṛṣṇa will supply them with anything, or that He will render service to them. Such is the purity of their devotion. Through their faith, they think, «He is my Lord. I don’t want to have His darśana merely to satisfy my lower faculty of perceiving that He exists.»’ To consider, «If I can see Him, I shall be satisfied that He exists,» is a very low standard of faith. We have no capacity to see Him. To make Him our object, keeping ourselves the subject, is a low standard of faith. But higher, intense faith fully proves that He is; that wonderful cause of everything — He is present.
A certain section claims, like the philosopher Chāvvāka, that, «No, no, there is no God or higher substance. Whatever we see on the surface is everything.» But deeper faith says that the cause is He from whom everything emanates, He by whom everything is maintained, and He into whom everything finally enters:
yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante, yena jātāni,
yat prayanty abhisamviśanti, tad vijijñāsasva,
tad eva brahma
Merely the effect is not everything, but the cause has its existence. And what is the nature of the cause? Some identify Him as Brahman, some as Paramātman, and some as Bhagavān. God is the destiner and designer of everything — He has created everything, and He is j controlling everything. Everything is automatically existing with Him, as a particular potency of His.
Give up everything; try only to have faith, and everything wall be found. Everything is there (sakala chāḍiyā bhāi, śraddhādevīra guṇa gāi). Do not demand for any proof, because that is meanness. To search after proof as to whether He ‘is’ or ‘is not’ is meanness. With deep faith, automatically it is known, «Yes, He is.»
yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra, savañ cha mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi, sa cha me na praṇaśyati
«For one who sees Me in everything and everything in Me, I do not remain unseen and he also is not unnoticed by Me: he never sways in his thought of Me.»
Everything is in Him, and He is also everywhere. This is the characteristic of He for whom we are searching.
Oṁkāra, the monosyllable Oṁ, is the seed of theism. Oṁ means «Yes.» Always, wherever we cast our glance to search, in one word the answer is yes. «Yes, what you are searching for, You are searching for happiness, pleasure, joy, fulfillment. You are in want, and in one word, — ’yes,’ fulfillment is there.»
Oṁ takes the form of Gāyatrī, then Veda and Vedānta Sūtra; then it takes the shape of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the līlā, the divine pastimes, of the Lord. After they had the opportunity of participating in the Rāsa-līlā of Kṛṣṇa, the Śruti, the Upaniṣads, remarked, «Oh, we could not conceive this much. We could not inform the public about rasa, ecstasy, of such a high type. Raso vai saḥ — He is rasa, ānandam, ecstasy. It plays in such a way? We could not understand so much, and we could not give it out to the public. So, our Lord, we beg Your forgiveness. In the full play of your joyous pastimes, the magnitude of Your ecstatic nature is inconceivable. Please forgive us, we failed to reveal to the public that the highest joy is of such fulfillment in the extreme; so much so, that kāma, lustiness, the most nasty thing in the mortal world, is found here to be the most beautiful, and of the highest type of charm. Even the union of men and women, which is normally to be hated and rejected — we find that this ecstatic joy includes even that. We could not understand, our Lord. Rather, the conception we presented is dry in comparison to this joyous life.»
Thus, we should be careful to appreciate genuine faith. We should approach the devotees for faith. They are like many pillars of faith. We are told that electricity can flow everywhere, but practically, we must be connected with the dynamo. Dynamos can show electrical power, and similarly, there are many devotees, past and present, in whom we can find real Godliness. They stand like pillars of faith, in their dealings and example. If we approach Christ, his ideal and sacrifice will encourage faith in us. If we examine the history of Prahlāda, we will come to understand what a great devotee he is. Our hearts will become filled to the brim: «Here is faith — here is the presence of the Almighty.»
When we pay heed to the devotees, with their help we are raised to a particularly high standard of faith. We are in a safe position when we turn our attention towards the devotees. They are like so many pillars standing and proving His presence. Summarily neglecting the enjoyable objects of this world, they stand with their heads erect, proving and declaring their experience of the Supreme Entity.
Faith in the devotees, the Vaiṣṇavas, grants us the most substantial help. Such a position is not flickering, but firm. One who has faith in the Vaiṣṇavas achieves devotion of a tangible character. Otherwise, with only abstract faith in the Lord, without faith in the devotees, we are but beginners, in the stage of kaniṣṭha-adhikāra. This is an unreliable platform. Our devotion reaches a reliable standard when we can find devotion in the devotees, and recognise their importance. The devotees are above even śāstra, the scriptures. The tangible stage when our real faith in them develops is the middle stage, madhyama-adhikāra. In that stage, the opposition of the non-devotees may sometimes seem to partially hide the Lord in our consciousness, like an eclipse.
But these barriers within are dissolved when direct contact with the Supreme awakens. In the highest stage, uttama-adhikāra, one can trace the Supreme Entity everywhere and in every movement (yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra, Bg. 6.30; sarva-bhuteṣu yaḥ paśyed bhagavadbhāvam ātmanaḥ, Bhā: 11.2.45). It is His will, He is there, in His līlā. He may play hide and seek with His devotees. Sometimes He may be clearly visible to them, sometimes He may hide, and the devotees cry, «Oh, where are You, my Lord? I don’t feel Your presence, I can’t see You. How can I stand? How can I lead my life? Without You, I can’t live. You are so charming and so joyous and the giver of so much fulfillment; I can’t live without Your relationship.’’ In this way, they begin to wail and cry.
Everything is dependent upon Him alone. If we attempt to trace the cause of everything, we will find that the cause is something which in turn has its cause which also has its cause, and so on. But when we find His personal beauty and charm, we wall realise, «Yes, this is the final objective that we and the whole world are searching for.» There is a Bengali song — «O mountain, O Himālayas, O Alps, O Sumeru, what are you searching for, with your head erect? Have you seen the creator of this world, and have you attained the fulfillment of your life? Have you seen Him?» In this way, the devotee feels in his heart that everything is searching for the Lord who is the fulfillment of life itself. In the phenomenal world of birth and death, there is nothing tangible that should attract our attention. Our inner heart’s search is for sat — the eternal, chit — consciousness that satisfies our perception, and ānandam — the satisfaction of our hankering after beauty and love. When love awakens, the function of the brain retires. We will understand that love is the fulfillment of life. This is a special phase of our life. Wherever we may be, we are automatically always searching, searching, searching . . . searching for that ‘Yes,’ ‘Oṁ.’ Oṁ means, a big ‘Yes.’ What you are searching for — it is. What your inner heart is hankering after — that is existing.
Your search must progress from the apparent to the inner substance. The Lord of your search is there. Thus, Oṁkāra takes us to Gāyatrī, then the Veda, Vedānta, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which describes the
But that search for Kṛṣṇa should not be hypocritical. The sincere seeker will receive help and direction from the real devotees. With the help of the scriptures and the devotees, and with sincerity within you, go on searching after Kṛṣṇa, everywhere. Whoever you meet, talk about Kṛṣṇa, and don’t talk of anything that is a prey to death. Wife, children, money — everything will evaporate at the next moment, so don’t think about them any longer. But in every step of your life, do everything only for the Eternal Joy.
Kṛṣṇa is not your concoction. He can be known through sādhu and śāstra, not this mundane world of your enjoyment. Nor can you find Kṛṣṇa in abhorrance — renunciation, but
Kṛṣṇa is with the sādhu, the pure saint; Kṛṣṇa is the fulfillment of the positive enquiry of the heart.
Those who are carried away by the charm of the external world cannot understand their inner temperment; they are unfortunate (na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ, durāśayā ye bahir artha-māninaḥ, Bhā: 7.5.31). The main necessity is to keep company with the sādhu who has real faith in Kṛṣṇa. Such a sādhu, is very, very rare in this world, but if you want to achieve the highest good, make that ideal the crown of your head — in any way possible, take the help of that association.
‘sādhu-saṅga’ ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya
«A moment’s association with the sādhu awards all success, and this is the verdict of all the scriptures.»
kiṁ pramattasya bahubhir, parokṣair hāyanair iha
varaṁ muhurtaṁ viditaṁ, ghaṭate śreyase yataḥ
«Imperceptibly, many, many years pass uselessly in the life of a person intoxicated by mundane pleasures. Better if only for a moment he realises that he is losing valuable time, for he may thus become serious to attain his eternal benefit.»
Here, Śukadeva Goswāmī says that one moment is sufficient to solve the whole problem of life, if it is properly utilised in sādhu-saṅga. At all costs, try to utilise the opportunity of sādhu-saṅga, the association of the agent of Kṛṣṇa. What is the necessity of living for ages and ages if we are unconscious of our own interest? One moment properly utilised is sufficient to solve the whole problem of our life, for which we are eternally wandering about in this plane. We must be wakeful to our personal interest, not negligent.
Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu came to direct us to our real interest within: «You do not know your own heart.
You are a foreigner to your own heart and its demand. There is a wealth within your heart — try to find it: eliminate the foreign things, and you will find your heart to be a temple of Kṛṣṇa. With the help of a proper guide, search your own heart and you will find Kṛṣṇa there. This is not a foreign thing to you. Every heart is a temple of the Lord. It is your property, it is your home. Back to God, back to home.