Vyasa Puja Offering
BY: R.A. SADHUDASA ANUDASA
Feb 24, 2011 — SRIDHAM MAYAPUR, WEST BENGAL (SUN) —
Dearest Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.
Today is 22nd February 2011, and we commemorate the Vyasa-puja celebration of your Gurudeva Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupada. In your famous Vyasa-puja offering of 1936 to your dearest Gurudeva (The Harmonist, Vol. XXXII, No.12-13, of March 4th 1936) you offered a beautiful poem, and eight pages of philosophical exposition of the truth about Guru (guru-tattva). While addressing the fundamental principle of Gurudeva as something of universal application, you also delineated the personal transcendental qualities of your Prabhupada. Thus intermingling the two principles that conform the eternal moieties of the Absolute Truth—Rasa and Tattva—you further enlightened the four kinds of pious persons assembled at the gathering.
On the Vyasa-puja of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta in March of 2006, we personally presented to you the first reprint of your Prabhupada's collection of English magazines entitled The Harmonist As it Is. Such offering remained besides you in your room at Sri Vrindavana for a full year, as a sign that you were very happy with it. What kind of praise, or even a very small personal seva, could I offer to my parama-prabhupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Thakura, if it wouldn't be through you?
As the fallen souls of Kali-yuga needed much assistance, you gave to all not only yourself but also your own Prabhupada—including all others in our parampara following Sri Rupa Goswami Prabhupada. Therefore you will be also known as Maha-Prabhupada. Furthermore, by offering humankind your perfect personal example while living through the four ashramas, you are the most dear and complete guru—after Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself—thus being recognized as Mahaprabhu-pada by having distributed Gaura's message all over the world. You appeared in Kolkata in a vaishya family tradition, and your God brothers born in brahmana families couldn't see—as do now the most introspective of your disciples—that your varna reveals Sri Krishna's own in Sri Vrindavana.
As you informed Mother Jadurani devi dasi on a letter dated 4th September 1972, that you'll always be present in your picture, I humbly submit this Vyasa-puja offering to your picture within my home, heart, and mind's altars.
I do not know if any of my God brothers have shown you a different translation and purport, to the one you have already offered in Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 24.135, which correspond to Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.37. This is a good example of how, by misplacing the principles of rasa and tattva, one may incur in rasa-abhasa and apa-siddhanta:
Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 24.137:
As spoken by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu while describing the atmarama verse:
bhayam dvitiyabhiniveshatah syad
ishad apetasya viparyayo ‘smritih
tan-mayayato budha abhajet tam
bhaktyaikayesham guru-devatatma
YOUR SYNONYMS, SRILA PRABHUPADA:
bhayam—fear; dvitiya-abhiniveshatah—from the misconception of being a product of material energy; syat—arises; ishat—from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna; apetasya—of one who has withdrawn (the conditioned soul) ; viparyayah—reversal of position; asmritih—no conception of his relationship with the Supreme Lord; tat-mayaya—because of the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord; atah—therefore; budhah—one who is wise; abhajet—must worship; tam—Him; bhaktya—by devotional service; ekaya—not diverted to karma and jnana; isham—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; guru—as the spiritual master; devata—worshipable Lord; atma—Supersoul.
YOUR TRANSLATION, SRILA PRABHUPADA:
"When the living entity is attracted by the material energy, which is separate from Krishna, he is overpowered by fear. Because he is separated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the material energy, his conception of life is reversed. In other words, instead of being the eternal servant of Krishna, he becomes Krishna's competitor. This is called viparyayo ‘smritih. To nullify this mistake, one who is actually learned and advanced worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead as his spiritual master, worshipful Deity and source of life. He thus worships the Lord by the process of unalloyed devotional service."
YOUR PURPORT, SRILA PRABHUPADA:
"This verse is quoted from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.37)."
I submit next your students' translation and purport, as it is has been published by your Bhaktivedanta Book Trust:
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.37:
SYNONYMS BY YOUR STUDENTS:
bhayam—fear; dvitiya—in something seeming to be other than the Lord; abhiniveshatah—because of absorption; syat—it will arise; ishat—from the Supreme Lord; apetasya—for one who has turned away; viparyayah—misidentification; asmritih—forgetfulness; tat—of the Lord; mayaya—by the illusory energy; atah—therefore; budhah—an intelligent person; abhajet—should worship fully; tam—Him; bhaktya—with devotion; ekaya—unalloyed; isham—the Lord; guru-devata-atma—one who sees his own spiritual master as his lord and very soul.
TRANSLATION BY YOUR STUDENTS:
"Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This bewildering, fearful condition is effected by the potency for illusion, called maya. Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul. "
In your Bhagavad-Gita As It Is Srila Prabhupada, your conclusions are supported by all your learned God brothers, your Gurudeva Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, all the four Vaishnava Sampradayas, and the Gaudiya Vaishnava parampara:
"The living entity in his original position is pure spirit. He is just like the atomic particle of the Supreme Spirit. Thus Lord Krishna may be compared to the sun, and the living entities to sunshine. Because the living entities are the marginal energy of Krishna, they have the tendency to be in contact either with the material energy or with the spiritual energy. In other words, the living entity is SITUATED between the two energies of the Lord, and because he belongs to the superior energy of the Lord, he has a particle of independence. By proper use of that independence he comes under the direct order of Krishna. Thus he attains his normal condition in the pleasure-giving potency (Bg.18.78)."
The totally different translation and purport from yours in the same verse of SB.11.2.37 are like the two sides of the same coin—totally opposed, however innerly related. Here there is an example from your own purports:
"The conclusion is that no one falls from the spiritual world, or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode" (SB. 3.16.26).
"O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate." This is an explanation of how the living entity falls down into this material world. In the spiritual world there is NO DUALITY, NOR THERE IS HATE. The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself into many. In order to enjoy bliss more and more, the Supreme Lord expands Himself in different categories. As mentioned in the Varaha Purana, He expands Himself in vishnu-tattva (the svamsha expansion) and in His marginal potency (the vibhinnamsha, or the living entity). These expanded living entities are innumerable, just as the minute molecules of sunshine are innumerable expansions of the sun. The vibhinnamsha expansions, the marginal potencies of the Lord, are the living entities. When the living entities desire to enjoy themselves, they develop a consciousness of DUALITY and come to HATE THE SERVICE of the Lord. In this way the living entities fall into the material world." (SB 4.28.53).
The apparent ambiguity of your purports above—or the opposing translation and purport from the already given by yours in SB.11.2.37—is harmonized when following Mahaprabhu's tenets of achintya-bhedabheda-tattva. To such extent one may come to understand that the spark-like jivas only fall down from the personal engagement with the Lord exclusively from His bhauma-lila—which is not different from the spiritual world—or while engaged in activities within the material world. Otherwise, paraphrasing you Srila Prabhupada: "The conclusion is that no one falls from the spiritual world, or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode. This conclusion is so, since there is no duality over there, and nobody there comes to hate Krishna's service."
To the spiritually awake, tattva is the faint background of all amorous rasika relationships. Whereas to the spiritually immature, tattva is the only way to substantiate and properly develop rasa—or the loving relationships between the Lord and His devotees. To become aware, or to awake one's spiritual body, one has to have a conception of his relationship with the Supreme Lord, which has to be established above the shanta-rasa constitutional relationship with the Lord—thus forgetting one's impersonal identity (tattva) due to a higher taste (rasa).
One cannot allow oneself to tolerate a different philosophical conclusion from yours, the previous acharyas, your intimate God brothers, or from the shastras' conclusions. However, one should scrutinize a thing, to then adjust opposing conclusions under the principle of achintya-bhedabheda-tattva, or Oneness in Diversity—nonetheless, this can be done perfectly only from the paramahamsa stage. As aspirant Vaishnavas on the other side, we must know the spiritual laws that conform the transformation of energies of the Lord (parinamavada), to then develop proper power of discrimination while still remaining in this material world.
It is one's power of discrimination—developed under the proper spiritual guidance of guru-shastra-sadhu—that gradually awakes one's spiritual body.
Sri Chaitanya showed the best examples about proper power of discrimination. He showed how to relate with seniority according to the truth of Vedic tradition and etiquette, even though a senior person may not be spiritually qualified. Sri Chaitanya emanated His personal impartial or impersonal mood in shanta-rasa while reciprocating with His "senior" Sri Ramachandra Puri, since he was an impersonalist. The Lord did not acted hypocritically towards his spiritual uncle either, since He never criticized him, thus avoiding duplicity. Therefore the Lord applied transcendental diplomacy, by following Vedic rituals that are completely freed from duplicity.
Remaining as a spiritual spark-like conditioned jiva, Sri Ramachandra Puri enacted his negative free will by choosing not to awake his constitutionally dormant spiritual body—thus neglected the personal association and engagement in the service of the Lord. As an impersonalist, Sri Ramachandra Puri continued thinking that he was equal to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, thus subconsciously continued serving the Lord as one of His constitutional (vibhinamsha) expansions in the stage of shanta-rasa. After neglecting to upgrade his constitutional position of offering personal service above the basic stages of shanta-rasa exclusively, he fell down from Sri Chaitanya personal association.
You mentioned Srila Prabhupada that: "The relationship of the living entity is fixed eternally, it cannot be forgotten, as we see from the behavior of Arjuna. Although Arjuna has seen the opulence in the universal form, he cannot forget his friendly relationship with Krishna (Bg.11.43)" Therefore, I should always remember your statement in SB.1.18.16: "So there are many instances in the transcendental histories of the world of an impersonalist who has latter become a devotee. But a devotee has never become an impersonalist. This very fact proves that on the transcendental steps, the step occupied by a devotee is higher than the step occupied by an impersonalist."
Although the Lord is totally impartial to the non-devotees (Bg.4.11), He becomes totally partial towards His dear devotees (Bg. 16.68-69). Sri Chaitanya was forced to exteriorize His rage and rejection towards Sri Mukunda Data for his mixing with Mayavadis, though He did so while pursuing a loving personal exchange. Similarly Sri Chaitanya chastised Sri Advaita Acharya for preaching impersonal philosophy (Cc. Adi-lila 17.65-68), since the latter was willing to draw such loving rage from the Lord. The connotation of these pastimes is that aspiring Vaishnavas should always develop loving sentiment (rasa) towards their seniors, provided such sentiments are intrinsically based on philosophical grounds (tattva), and totally devoid of political correctness or duplicity—otherwise it is just sentimentalism.
I'll look forward and deeper to see you soon again Prabhupada. Even exposed to all sort of hindrances, I regularly try to carry your picture within my mind—almost as a daily initiation ceremony, and daily Vyasa-puja offering.
R. A. Sadhudasa Anudasa
