Chapter 6: The Highest Conception of Conduct

One day, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thākura was chanting the Lord’s names and wandering in the sky, at his sweet will. Suddenly he found that he was just near Yamālaya where Yama, the lord of death, holds court for judging the sinners of this world. He also found there Brahmā, Nārada, Śiva, and others, discussing with Yamarāja the meaning of two ślokas spoken by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā (9.30,31); but they could not solve the problem of discerning the proper meaning of the ślokas.

api chet sudurāchāro, bhajdte mām ananya-bhāk
sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ, samyag vyavasito hi saḥ

«Externally, a person may be seen to commit many sins, but if he is exclusively given to My devotion, he should be considered most pure — a saint. Whatever he does, he does cent-per-cent rightly.»

kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā, śaśvach chantiṁ nigachchati
kaunteya pratijānīhi, na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati

«Very soon, he will become religious in his behaviour, and he will be seen to acquire real peace in his life. O son of Kuntī, confidently declare to the public that my devotee never meets ruination.»

But one who is engaged in the Lord’s exclusive devotion, ananya-bhajana, has been defined by the Lord in His own words, sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: «My exclusive devotee is he who gives up all phases of duties (sarva-dharmān) and surrenders to My feet, accepting only his duty to Me.» How, then, having already surpassed all phases of duties and surrendered to the Lord, can that exclusive devotee (ananya-bhāk) further be seen to become a ‘dutiful’ or externally ‘pious man’ (kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā)? This is an anomaly.

Yamarāja, Brahmā, Nārada, etc., discussed this point, but could not arrive at any solution. How can one become «righteous in the near future» when he has already abandoned all kinds of duties, either righteous or unrighteous, in order to exclusively surrender to the feet of the Supreme Lord?

Finding no solution, they sent for Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura who, they noticed, was moving in the sky and taking the name of the Lord: «He is a pure devotee  — and not an ordinary devotee — he has deep knowledge of the scriptures, so let him come and explain these verses of Bhagavad-gītā.»

And so, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was invited, and he went there. He gave the meaning. Api chet sudurā-chāro, bhajate mām ananya-bhāk — despite his outer practices, the exclusive devotee (ananya-bhāk) is to be accepted (mantavyaḥ) as a cent-per-cent saint (sādhu). Therefore, the conclusion is that he who can realise this, he who declares that an exclusive devotee of Kṛṣṇa, regardless of his outer practices, is cent-per-cent saintly — he will soon become dharmātmā, virtuous and religious. His statement and conclusion is cent-per-cent correct, and his conduct will soon become very pure and he, too, will have the chance of accepting the path towards eternal truth.

«So Arjuna, you take advantage of this and boldly declare to the public that My devotee who gives himself wholly unto Me can never come to ruination. Even if he may be seen to be outwardly doing something wrong — he will be saved. His successful life is assured. By this declaration, you will get the benefit of becoming righteous and have the chance of attaining eternal spiritual peace. Whoever can understand this and has the courage to declare that My exclusive devotee is never subject to ruination — he, in turn, gets his chance to come to this path of exclusive devotion, and he will attain eternal peace.»

He will attain everything because he has the proper appreciation for exclusive devotion. Everything is for the Lord, and not for any other part. In the Absolute, everything is ‘for itself.’ ‘The Absolute is for itself.’ Whether we obey or disobey the laws of provincial or separate interest, we must without fail obey the rule that everything is for Him. This is the main rule, and all others are subsidiary. We may or may not carry on our duties, but we must carry on our duty towards the centre; this is the all-important factor in every case. Thus, one who can appreciate this and boldly assert it to the public must have substantial appreciation for this conception, and he is sure to survive and improve his future condition very soon. «He will attain the path of eternal peace, and that is the service of Myself, Kṛṣṇa.» This is the underlying meaning.

The highest quality in every part of the whole is that everyone must be dedicated towards the centre, even crossing his dutifulness in respect to any other environmental position. And one who can feel, appreciate, and assert this — he will also soon achieve such a position. His inner heart can appreciate, and that is something of a realisation on that path; it will very soon take effect, and the public wall see, «Oh, he is also entering this path of ananya-bhajana, the exclusive adherence to the call of the Absolute Centre, and that is all-in-all.»

«Dharma means morals, duties, including duties to father, mother, country, society, humanity, etc. But if one neglects all these and keeps a straight relationship towards Me, he will be considered free of any fault. He is in the line of sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. He is doing right, and one who can simply appreciate this will also very soon be converted to the same class.» This is the whole purport.

In the standard or most general interpretation, the beginner in devotional service may have so many bad tendencies in his behaviour, but when he matures these must disappear. Nonetheless, undesirable behaviour may sometimes be seen to persist, at least externally.

The more we are particular about the conduct of others, the more we lose our own time and energy.

Instead of benefitting us, such a practice is reactionary. If I try to find fault with anyone, especially a devotee, the fault will come back to me. By chewing the poison in his body, that poison will come to me. Avoid such association. Try to find the good in others — that will help you.

There was a system in our Maṭh at the time of our Guru Mahārāja: he ordered one devotee to praise another — especially one that the devotee disliked. Thus, the devotee would be forced to find the goodness in the other devotee who he didn’t particularly like, and thereby be benefitted. Eliminating what was bad in his conception of the other person, he was to search for what good he could find, and thereby be benefitted.

There need be no culture with any bad thing, anywhere, especially in the devotees. Kṛṣṇa has taken charge of His surrendered souls (ananya-bhāk). Thus, whatever good or bad may be present in them is His responsibility. Any badness or evil in a devotee may disappear at any time by His will, otherwise Kṛṣṇa may have that tendency continue in order to serve some purpose of His. We must have this vision. We must not dare to criticise those who are directly under the charge of Kṛṣṇa, or we shall accrue great difficulty. We should try to find the good in them, for that will help us a great deal. This is not a theoretical matter, but a most practical consideration.

Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī has given the example that the sacred Ganges water may externally appear to be filthy, but that outward filthiness of mud, bubbles and foam cannot change the purifying capacity of the Ganges water; similarly, the devotee himself, the pure soul or ātmā, is the purifying agent — the purest and most normal factor in the world. Whatever may be externally seen in his character is like the mud, bubbles and foam that is found in the Ganges water. The purifying capacity of the Ganges water is separate, and cannot be disturbed by any foam or dirt mixed with the water. The spiritual capacity does not depend in any way on the apparent material capacity. A Vaiṣṇava may sometimes be seen to be a little greedy, a little angry; or physically he may be blind or deaf or lame — but the saintly character of the Vaiṣṇava is independent of the mental or physical characteristics.

During Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu’s tour of South India, there was the case of Vāsudeva-vipra, at Kurmakṣetra. He was a leper, but at the same time he was a great devotee. His physical behaviour was also uniquely exemplary: if any worms fell from his open sores to the ground, he would pick them up and replace them in the sores so the worms would not die. He was a thorough devotee. Mahāprabhu embraced him, and by the touch of His embrace, the leprosy disappeared.

Also, Srīla Sanātana Goswāmī contracted sores all over his body due to the contact of bad water in the jungle, when he was returning from Vṛndāvana to Purī. Mahāprabhu used to welcome him by embracing him, but Sanātana would try to withdraw. He objected, «Don’t touch me! This is the body of a sinful man.» The sores were oozing and emitting a bad odour, but Mahāprabhu embraced him forcibly. Sanātana had decided, «I shall either leave this place or I shall invite death by falling under the wheel of the cart of Lord Jagannātha.» But as the Lord in the heart of all, Mahāprabhu knew Sanātana’s mind. He chastised him, and embraced him, forcibly. All the sores disappeared, and Sanātana’s body immediately became like gold.

Mahāprabhu said, «Sanātana, you are a Vaiṣṇava. Your body is not defective. Aprākṛta-deha tomāra ‘prākṛta’ kabhu naya. Kṛṣṇa is testing Me. I am a sannyāsī, and He is examining whether there is any partiality in My dealings with a Vaiṣṇava simply because of his externally having so many sores. He is examining whether I will shrink from the association of such a Vaiṣṇava and cast him aside. But your body is already pure, and only for the purpose of testing the public, Kṛṣṇa has created this; and if I cannot see this, I will have failed His test and will have been deceived by Kṛṣiia. It is a mere show, it is nothing; your body is pure because you are a Vaiṣṇava, a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. This impurity is only an appearance in order to serve Kṛṣria’s divine purpose. Wherever there is Vaiṣṇavatā, true saintly devotedness, there can never be any contamination. Only to test my devotion has Kṛṣṇa sent you to Me in this condition.» So Mahāprabhu embraced him and demonstrated that he was absolutely pure.

Whether externally pure or impure, the whole principle is that our exclusive devotion for Kṛṣṇa is the only necessity. In the ordinary sense, the Gopīs are also sinners. They crossed the laws of society and the śastras, so they are sinners.’ But they hold the highest position of purity by their exclusive devotedness to Kṛṣṇa and no other. They cannot help but to serve Kṛṣṇa cent-per-cent, even at the risk of crossing the entire code of morality. They are considered to be the highest devotional ideal.

But that sort of devotion is not so cheap that everyone will go on with their activities in this world, taking advantage of such ideals. That won’t do. The real measure of devotion must be there, not that anyone may do anything passing in the name of pure devotion, like the prākṛta-sahajiyās. That can’t be allowed.