© 2000 VNN
|
EDITORIAL May 30, 2000 VNN5971 Comment on this story Gambling & Cheaters: 'Bet On Krsna' BY SWAMI B.V. TRIPURARI  EDITORIAL, May 30 (VNN) — "Gambling is a form of cheating through which one hopes to avoid an honest day's work. It is also representative of Krsna, the supreme cheater. If we are lucky he will cheat us out of hearth and home. Bet on Krsna."Q&A Discussion with Swami B.V. Tripurari. Q. Did Mahaprabhu or any of the Gosvamis worship their own Ganesa deities?
A. It is mentioned in the Varaha Purana that one should not worship Visnu before worshiping Ganesa. So although he is the Lord of the common people (gana-isa), he has some connection with higher spiritual life as well. He is the son of Siva, a Vaisnava, and his deity is Bhagavan Narasimha, who removes all inauspiciousness on the path of bhakti. Gaudiya Vaisnavas have great respect for him. When a rat ate some of the final pages of Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura's Gita commentary, he considered it the will of Ganesa, whose carrier is a rat. Thus he ended his commentary in deference to what he perceived to be Ganesa's will. If you want to worship Ganesa, do so in light of his relation to Krsna. Q. If we follow in the footsteps of the Gopis, shouldn't Katyayani-puja be included in our daily sadhana? A. No. This is not the teachings of the Gosvamis. The gopis, who performed puja of Katyayani, had attained the stage of svarupa-siddhi and thus they had taken birth in the Vraja-lila. You have not attained that stage. Furthermore, they wanted to marry Krsna, whereas Rupanugas cultivate parakiya-bhava as manjaris. Moreover, in the Gopi vastra-harana-lila Katyayani never appeared to fulfill the desires of the gopis after they had perfectly executed their vrata. The purport of this is that Katyayani cannot give what they desired. This is what she wanted to teach us. It is not the worship of Katyayani or any demigod or goddess, nor that of any avatar of Krsna that affords Krsna prema in gopi-bhava. This bhava is attained only by the eagerness to attain it that follows in the footsteps of the Gosvamis in terms of both their sadhaka and siddha-dehas. In this regard there is some scope for the worship of Yoga-maya, who is sometimes considered to be a spiritual manifestation of Katyayani in Vraja. Q. How far does 'no gambling' go? Is the stock market gambling? A. The word used in Srimad Bhagavatam is 'dyutam,' gambling. This is to be avoided. However, Krsna also says in Bhagavad Gita, 'Of cheaters I am gambling.' So gambling is a form of cheating through which one hopes to avoid an honest day's work. It is also representative of Krsna, the supreme cheater. If we are lucky he will cheat us out of hearth and home. Bet on Krsna. Depending on how you approach the stock market, one can either be investing in it, or engaging in a form of gambling through it. Other than gambling, one should be careful about hoarding money. Better to invest it in the bank of Vaisnava seva. Q. I read in Srimad Bhagavatam that the prostitutes of Dvaraka arrived on their chariots to see Krsna entering the city after his long journey. The purport states that all the residents of Dvaraka descend from the spiritual world. Does this mean there are prostitutes in the spiritual world? A When Prabhupada says all of the residents of Dvaraka descended from the spiritual world he is referring to the nitya-parikaras, the eternal associates of Krsna. There may be others in Dvaraka who are not. Yes, there may be prostitutes in Vaikuntha, but they are pure devotees. By strict Vedic standards, Srimati Radharani and the gopis themselves could be called prostitutes. Q. There are yogis and sufi mystics like Rumi and Kabir who describe erotic love of God and great spiritual ecstasy. They seem to be monotheistic. Do they have a connection to the Gaudiya tradition? A. They are not monotheistic. They are monists. Although they speak of love and spiritual emotion their conclusion is monistic. In my book 'Rasa: Love Relationships in Transcendence' I mention that although a number of spiritual traditions speak of spiritual emotion, their goal in the end is impersonal, no other. The type of saints you mention do not acknowledge nirguna nama, etc. That is, they do not acknowledge the ontological position in ultimate reality of God's name, form, qualities, lilas, etc. They employ the idea of spiritual emotion, bhakti, worship, chanting, etc. as a means to an impersonal end. Q. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati chose which acaryas would be in his siksa-guru-parampara, those he felt were important. But isn't that subjective? Why can't each devotee create their own list, adding or subtracting names that seem important to them? A. The spirit of siksa-parampara is merely that one cannot deny the spiritual influence of one whom he may not be initiated by, a siksa guru whom he has been in association with. Otherwise we shall follow the line of Bhaktisiddhanta, if we are to follow the siksa-guru-parampara and consider ourselves Bhaktivinoda-parivara. There are two tracks on which the parampara runs, bhagavata and pancaratra. The pancaratra line involves diksa, the imparting of the mantra, etc. Everyone must have a diksa-guru. However, other than this line we see in the parampara that often, although great souls were initiated by one devotee in the pancaratra line, they have been influenced more by a siksa guru who is of greater spiritual influence in their lives. Sanatana Gosvami, Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, Baladeva Vidyabhusana, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and others are examples. Bijay Kumara of Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Jaiva Dharma, while initiated in Nadiya by one guru, received important instructions on bhajana and siddha-pranali later from a siksa-guru in Puri. In my own case, I received diksa from Om Visnupada A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, but via his instructions I was subsequently greatly influenced by Om Visnupada B.R. Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja. So both of them are on my altar, as are Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji and Bhaktivinoda Thakura, even though these two great souls were not linked via diksa (although Bhaktivinoda Thakura accepted vesa from Babaji Maharaja at the end of his life). Both of them played an important role in the life of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Looking at the Guadiya lineage in general, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati wrote his song Sri Guru Parampara, in which he has pointed out the bhagavata and siksa link between great devotees in the Gaudiya line. This is the idea. Q. If we were originally in the spiritual world as devotees of Lord Sri Krsna, what prompted us to leave his loving association and come to this material world full of sufferings? A. We were not previously enlightened. We are souls who are constituted of God's intermediate sakti. This sakti emanates from Maha Visnu. Through this sakti the one oversoul of the world becomes many. The world thus manifests as a combination of consciousness and matter, and it is arranged with respect to karma, which has no beginning (anadi) but can come to an end. Out of love for the jiva souls, God overrides the principle of karma, showing mercy, and thus causing the jiva's liberation. Karma represent the principle of justice. God shows deference to this to an extent, and thus the world manifests. If he did not, he would be criticized for being unjust. Still he overrides this justice showing his mercy. Without justice to override there is not opportunity for mercy. If we choose to take advantage of God's grace, we can know perfection. Q. What is the significance of Sri Visnupriya devi, consort of Mahaprabhu? We don't hear much about her life. Is it true the Lord forbade her even his darsana? A. Visnupriya devi suffered more than any of the followers of Mahaprabhu in her separation from him. Only she was left behind by his acceptance of sannyasa, and this at the age of only 14. Yet she accepted this position for our sake. Had she not given her permission for Gaurangadeva's sannyasa, he would not have accepted it. Had he not done so, we would be bereft of his gift. This is mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam, 'tyaktva su-dustyaja-surepsita-rajya-laksmim dharmistha arya-vacasa yad agad aranyam maya mrgam dayitayepsitam anvadhavad.' Gaurahari gave up Visnupriya devi who is laksmi and thus desirable by all (surepsita). He did this on the pretext of honoring a brahmana's curse (arya-vacasa), in which he was prohibited from having a happy family life. Thus he took sannyasa, symbolically represented as entering the forest (agad aranyam). In doing so, he searched out all those ensnared in the net of maya (maya mrgam), and he eventually entered the mood of Radha in search of her prema (dayitayepsitam anvadhavad). Thus we are all indebted to Visnupriya devi, who is the wealth of the life of Nadiya's young prince. She loves Gaura Narayana as a perfect wife, and the two are wedded to the yuga-dharma of Kali-yuga, nama-sankirtana, which gives access to the highest ideal of Radha's love for Krsna. Q. The twelve secondary rasas described by Rupa Gosvami have never been clear to me. What is the categorical difference between the secondary rasas and the vyabhicari-bhavas described in the second ocean of Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu? Are they both transitory emotions experienced by devotees in the course of exchanges with Krsna? A. There are five primary emotions and only seven secondary emotions that have the capacity to rise to the category of rasa. The difference between the seven secondary emotions of this potential and the numerous vyabhicari or sancari-bhavas is their capacity to dominate, rendering them more than transitory (sancari). They cause the primary rasa to recede into the background for some time, taking precedence themselves to the extent that they are considered secondary rasas. Whereas the sancari-bhavas cannot do this. They merely augment the dominant emotion. Q. I want to understand spiritual love but when I read rasa-lila I identify with Krsna because he is a male like me and when I imagine the gopis I just naturally think of beautiful women. A. You will be able to understand spiritual romanticism when you no longer discriminate between male and female on the material level. Sukadeva Gosvami is an example of such a person. Q. Is there spiritual similarity in good relationships? A. There should be spiritual similarity. This will cause the relationship to flourish. Rupa Gosvami says 'sajatiya-asahaya.' We should associate with those who are sajatiya, those of the same spiritual interest as our own. Q. What should our real attitude toward others be? It is said that by serving Krsna we can satisfy everyone. Does that mean if we neglect our fellow beings our spiritual progress will be halted? A. One should see all living beings as dear to Krsna. Making an effort to enlighten them in this regard is real service to humanity. However, if someone is not ready to hear about this, still they should not be neglected. Worship of the deity that does not include kindness to all beings is not acceptable to Krsna. Q. I understand Lord Dattatreya preached impersonal philosophy. What is the difference between Krsna and Dattatreya?. If one were to meet Dattatreya face to face would that be a realization of the personal or impersonal feature? A. Like Buddha, Dattatreya is overtly an agnostic in that his teachings do not rest on the scriptural canon, whereas suddha-bhakti does. Rupa Gosvami has indicated that worship of Dattatreya is not suddha-bhakti, but rather a disturbance to it that leads to agnosticism. So those interested in Krsna-prema should not worship Dattatreya in pursuit of their ideal. If one realizes the import of the teachings of Dattatreya, he does not attain Krsna-prema. Still, if one somehow has darsana of Dattatreya, he is fortunate. At that time he should ask him for Krsna-prema, and Dattatreya will point that person in the right direction. Questions or comments may be sent to Q&A http://swami.org, or email sadhusanga@swami.org. [Reprinted with permission from Sanga 5/16/00 http://swami.org] About the Author  Other Stories by this AuthorComment on this story Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
NEWS DESK | EDITORIALS | TOP |
