BY: ROCANA DASA
Oct 29, CANADA (SUN) — Studying Srila Prabhupada's lectures and conversations with ISKCON leaders.
Today's Talks is inspired by Srila Prabhupada's lecture on Caitanya-caritamrta Adi lila 1.3, March 24,1975 in Mayapur. As we see by the date, this was one of a series of Caitanya-caritamrta lectures given during the Mayapur Festival period. There were a great many devotees in attendance that year. You can listen to the audio or read the transcript here.
As Krsna bhaktas following in the line of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu through Srila Prabhupada, we understand that the Caitanya-caritamrta is the topmost presentation of our philosophy. Here, Srila Prabhupada is speaking on a very important verse wherein Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's position is asserted. Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Truth, and now, through Srila Prabhupada and the Caitanya-caritamrta, we can know who is God.
In the Bhagavad-gita, and as emphasized and expanded upon in the Caitanya-caritamrta, we are instructed in the principle that all the Acaryas have accepted Krsna as being para-tattva, and Srila Prabhupada explains that we are concerned, more than anything else, about who our authorities are. That is the Vedic system, and the authorities are explained as being the Acaryas. Acaryavan puruso veda… one has to follow the path of the Acaryas. So no one should accept anyone's authority if he's not in the parampara. Now we are assuming that we're in the parampara, and those who are in ISKCON are assuming that their Spiritual Masters or leaders are firmly fixed and situated in the parampara. They're presenting themselves as authorities and are therefore representing the Acaryas.
Here, Srila Prabhupada says that according to our Vedic system, if you say something very emphatically, you must prove it by Vedic evidences. Otherwise you can go on talking but no one will hear. Now we have been commenting of late in the Obeisances to Dandavats series on a phenomenon we are observing in ISKCON wherein many authorities appear not to be very concerned with following the Acaryas. First of all, they make no clear distinction as to who the Supreme Acaryas are. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krsna lists the Acaryas we should follow. Srila Prabhupada lists the 32 Sampradaya Acaryas we should follow going back to Lord Brahma, and of course he places his name at the end of that list.
Today, there's an assumption and an actual practice in ISKCON where gurus are putting their names, or disciples are putting their guru's name, at the end of this List of 32. They apparently do so without giving any real thought as to whether or not they're actually Acaryas. Whether or not one of these personalities should be their diksa guru, that's up to the disciple to determine for themselves, and on the basis of their own determination they may commit if they wish. But that does not mean that what Srila Prabhupada is saying here, about the authority of Acaryas to be used when making emphatic statements, applies to these diksa gurus.
We know that in the short period of ISKCON history, a lot of our contemporary authorities have made statements very emphatically that they can't back up with Vedic evidence. That, or they concoct some vague references that have not been commented upon clearly or purported by our Acaryas. This applies not only to the Zonal Acarya system, but also to the matter of re-initiation when gurus have fallen down. That ISKCON policy is very weak when it comes to offering Vedic evidence.
Srila Prabhupada goes on to say that Kaviraja Goswami, the author of Caitanya-caritamrta, is a very advanced devotee and scholar, not an ordinary human being. He's been empowered by Madan Mohan, therefore he can write such advanced literatures. Nobody should try to write Vedic literatures unless they are similarly advanced.
I've recently commented in this regard about the fact that within our movement, Hridayananda das Goswami has given purports to and extended Srila Prabhupada's writings to the end of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. In fact, he has written purports on the most confidential parts of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and everyone accepts him as being empowered, like a great authority. I have also said many times that in my opinion, much of the writing that is produced in ISKCON, like the many biographies and the Lilamrta, are not clearly defined by ISKCON as not being Vedic literatures - that they're simply stories and opinions, and they should not be taken as absolute. But of course, this clarification is not made by the ISKCON authorities, regardless of the fact that these literatures are not, by definition, bona fide. They should not be quoted, they should not be used as source material in lectures, and they should not be blindly accepted as truth. And yet they are.
Srila Prabhupada goes on to say that Rupa Goswami has condemned anyone who concocts anything, and he explains the phenomenon of the sahijya movement, and that people are imitating advanced devotees, falling down on the ground and crying, and so on. He states that after Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's disappearance, many apa-sampradayas sprang up, and we should be very much careful that our Sampradaya does not end up this way.
Now it may not be that at this stage, only 30 years after Srila Prabhupada's manifest disappearance, that people are actually falling down and asking for a bede, but then again, we've had one Zonal Acarya do something of that nature, namely Jayatirtha. The main point is that these apa-sampradayas have evolved over time. It's not that as soon as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu left, they immediately came into being, operating in the same manner as those Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur criticized just 150 years ago. Rather, they evolved slowly, beginning from one small deviation, one small change in the philosophy. From that seed, the next generation, and the next generation continued to digress from Lord Caitanya's pure movement, and within a hundred years, or a few generations, you had a full-blown apa-sampradaya.
As I've been saying recently, the preaching styles of many ISKCON authorities who are claiming to be followers of Srila Prabhupada and the Sampradaya have changed dramatically from the methodology, mood, and style that Srila Prabhupada set down as the standard. These so-called authorities are not carefully referencing sastra, and they're not preaching like our Sampradaya Acaryas. Instead, they're telling elaborate stories, and dramatizing stories that entertain their audiences. And the next generation, their disciples and followers, will take this as a license for them to go do more of the same. Before long, we'll see the very same phenomenon take place as apa-sampradayas develop and grow.
It's inevitable that this is going to take place, but it's our business to see to it that it doesn't happen on our watch. This is especially true for those of us who are survivors of Srila Prabhupada's original, pure ISKCON preaching movement. His direct disciples have a much clearer idea of what Srila Prabhupada's original, un-tampered with legacy looked like, before the Sampradaya Acarya's books were changed, before his movement was seriously changed. And at this point, we all still have access to the original source material.
Srila Prabhupada goes on to explain that the human form of life is very valuable and there are many types of humans. Included among them are the Aryans, which includes the Europeans. Being an Aryan today means that you've had more of an opportunity to understand the Vedas, simply because they've been readily accessible in the developed world. What to speak of those who have actually come in contact with Srila Prabhupada and the Sampradaya, who have read Srila Prabhupada's books… such persons are infinitely more fortunate than anyone else. So anyone in that situation should be far more concerned about blowing such a rare opportunity, which is basically what Srila Prabhupada is saying here.
Srila Prabhupada then explains that everyone is caught up in their false ego, their identities, but they're not identifying themselves as who they really are. You're not a German, an Indian, or an American. And according to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, you're not a sannyasi or a grihasta, either. You're not all these designations, even the ones that are Vedic definitions according to varnasrama… you're not those either. You are, as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu preaches, gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah -- "I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the gopi-bhartuh, Krsna, who maintains the gopis." Srila Prabhupada explains that once you're into these designations, then you're into making big big plans, giving big big talks, and making a big big name for yourself. And on the basis, you feel very important and privileged, because you're better than everyone else.
But we have to be careful as devotees because this is one of the pitfalls, or trade-off's, especially if you're serving in an institutional context. "I am a guru", "I am a GBC", "I am a sannyasi", "I am very important, I have to go to these meetings and make some big big plans". You begin to envision yourself in this way, but it's a trap. You're basically deviating from the most important and essential designation - that of being the servant of the servant of the servant of the Gopi damsels of Vraja.
I've heard so many devotees saying, 'Well, I'm serving the Vaisnavas…", but without offering any definition of who is a Vaisnava, who it is they're actually serving. We're supposed to be serving Srila Prabhupada and we know for sure that he's a Vaisnava and an Acarya. But to serve somebody who's not serving the Acarya -- even though they may call themselves a devotee or they may be initiated - this is not serving the Acaryas, Krsna, or ultimately, serving the Gopis. You have to clearly define, if I'm serving this person, what is their position in relationship to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His servants? Only then can you really be sure that you're actually "serving the Vaisnavas."
One of the safest and most important things is to see everything in reference to the Acaryas, and the Acarya is Srila Prabhupada and those who are actually Acaryas in our disciplic succession. Srila Prabhupada points out that even Arjuna was caught up in his false identify, and that Krsna said ‘You're speaking big big words, but you're a fool.'
The Goswamis, Rupa and Sanatana, when they first met Lord Caitanya they said, 'We're fools, we don't know what our real identity is.' And Srila Prabhupada says that politicians take advantage of this, and the so-called swamis and yogis, they take advantage of these nonsensical theories, which are based on the bodily conception. So much is said these days about, 'Oh, you're an ISKCON devotee in good standing'. But isn't that a designation? Doesn't that distinguish you from someone else, who's not ‘in good standing'? And who decides who's in good standing? You're made to believe that this is a spiritual designation, but it's not. Even being a GBC, brahmacari, or sannyasi -- they're not spiritual designations according to our philosophy. Srila Prabhupada also says you should not be attached to nice things -- nice house, nice car, business, bank account, wife, children, OR disciples. You cannot be attached to these things.
Srila Prabhupada ends the lecture by going back to the theme that you have to accept authority, and if you don't you're a fool and rascal. He explains that he does not change anything. He uses the analogy about 'old wine in new bottles'. What Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is saying, Krsna is saying, and what Lord Caitanya is saying, he himself is saying. We never speak anything that is not spoken by Krsna, that is not supported by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Srila Prabhupada says, 'I have spread the movement throughout the world based on that principle. I've come to America, I did not change anything, did not altar anything. I just spoke exactly as Krsna spoke it, and as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu supported and spoke it, or his followers. So this is the process, as Srila Prabhupada was giving it back in 1975, in Mayapur, and as we should be following today. Yet this is not so easy. Srila Prabhupada says it's very easy, very simple, but as we've also heard, simple for the simple… It's easy for those who are simply willing to follow, but just simply following is very difficult. We've seen that so many times as things have been changed. And why? Why is everyone who's an authority nowadays trying to carve out their own unique, separate identity, separate from Srila Prabhupada's… their own unique style, way of preaching, their unique way of dressing or chanting? The answer is, because it's not so easy to simply follow. But that is the task before us, nonetheless.
