Waves of Devotion

One of the best summaries of comparative religion, at least in the tradition to which I adhere, is the recounted discussion between Rāmānanda Rāya, the great Vaiṣṇava scholar, and Śrī Caitanya found in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. It begins when Śrī Caitanya asks Rāmānanda Rāya, the most learned devotee at the time, to recite a verse from the revealed scriptures concerning the ultimate goal of life. He responds by citing verse after verse, progressively describing higher and higher attainments in religious life, until Śrī Caitanya is finally satisfied that the apex of spiritual attainment has been cited.

What follows is a brief outline of this ladder of religious ascent as described by Rāmānanda Rāya. I will use the following template to describe each step.

1. Paraphrase of the verse Rāmānanda Rāya’s cited to answer Śrī Caitanya’s question
2. Explanation of why the verse was cited
3. Quote of Śrī Caitanya’s response to the verse cited
4. Explanation of Śrī Caitanya’s response

The Ladder of Religious or Spiritual Attainment

Level 1: Sva-dharmācaraṇe: Executing one’s duties properly

1. There is no other way to worship and satisfy God than by adhering strictly to one’s social and occupational duties. (Viṣṇu Purāṇa8.9)
2. We all have social and occupational duties. Most people accept that there are social standards for what constitutes a good parent, son or daughter, spouse, and so on. Today we also see that people expect standards of appropriate behavior from people in different occupations, from the President of the United States down to an honest worker. To adhere to one’s occupational or social duty according to the proper standard outlined in śāstra is to follow God’s desire for order and purification and thus worshipping or satisfying Him.
3. This is external. Say something more (eho bāhya, āge kaha āra).
4. Properly following one’s duties is certainly praiseworthy, but ultimate spiritual attainment means something more. It is a direct manifestation of the soul, which is unfettered service to God. One can certainly satisfy God by his duty and advance in spiritual life, but as one’s duty is still prescribed according to one’s embodied nature, it remains connected to the body and the three modes of material nature. In that sense, prescribed duties are external to the soul and certainly not the highest attainment. Śrī Caitanya therefore requests something more.

Level 2: Kṛṣṇe karmārpaṇa: Offering the results of one’s activities to Krishna

1. All the results of whatever one is doing, from eating, sacrifice, and charity to austerity, should be offered to Krishna. (Bg. 9.27)
2. When one realizes that God is the basis and sustainer of all, one becomes conscious that our ultimate service is to Him, even as we still adhere to our “local” responsibilities or duties. Therefore, higher than just performing one’s duty is to consciously offer and dedicate one’s activities to God.
3. This is external. Say something more (eho bāhya, āge kaha āra).
4. Although one is consciously offering one’s activities to God, the basis of those activities is still born of one’s nature and material situation. Again, although laudable, it is still not the highest attainment. Śrī Caitanya thus requests something further.

Level 3: Svadharma-tyāga: To renounce one’s social and occupational duties (sannyāsa)

1. Give up one’s religious and occupational duties to fully dedicate oneself to God. (Bg. 18.66)
2. Higher than offering one’s material activities to Krishna is renouncing them and fully dedicating oneself to God’s will.
3. This is external. Say something more (eho bāhya, āge kaha āra)
4. Although one is no longer bound by social and occupational activities, which are dictated by one’s bodily situation, renunciation is still external to the soul, which is, in essence, dedication to God, not negation of the material world. Śrī Caitanya continues to ask for something more.

Level 4: Jñāna-miśrā bhakti: Devotion mixed with empirical knowledge

1. Perform devotional service from the platform of the deep cultivation of knowledge that detaches one completely from the material world. (Bg. 18.54)
2. Higher than coming to devotional service by the renunciation of karma or one’s duty, is coming to devotional service after one has already achieved bhakti. Here bhakti refers to a thorough realization of the soul’s difference from the body as a result of the cultivation of empirical knowledge.
3. This is external. Say something more (eho bāhya, āge kaha āra).
4. Quite astoundingly, Śrī Caitanya rejects this. Although one is now detached from the material world, the thrust of one’s devotional service is still tinged with a focus on renunciation. As materialistic thoughts, positive or negative, mix something with devotion, jñāna-miśrā bhakti is still external to the pure nature of the soul. Not satisfied, Śrī Caitanya asks Rāmānanda Rāya to go on.

Level 5: Jñāna-śūnyā bhakti: Devotional service unfettered by any other consideration such as jñāna.

1. Give up the unnecessary focus on the empirical cultivation of knowledge and surrender fully to just chanting and hearing about the name, form, qualities, and pastimes of Krishna under the guidance of a pure devotee. (Bhāg.14.3)
2. At this level of spiritual attainment, one’s devotion is completely free from the contamination of jñāna and karma. Therefore, both in consciousness and practice, there is nothing external to the soul.
3. This is alright, but still speak something more (eho haya, āge kaha āra).
4. Although Rāmānanda Rāya has finally cited a verse expressing pure devotional service that Śrī Caitanya has approved, until one achieves prema-bhakti, ecstatic love of Godhead, one’s attainment is not complete. Śrī Caitanya therefore requests Rāmānanda Rāya to go further.

When I start a Monday Morning Greeting I don’t have a complete idea how it will go, but I am conscious that it must fit into my general format of less than two pages, and I am pretty good about that. This one has already gone on past that. I am also close to the deadline where it must be completed. I will therefore end with a short summary of the rest of the concepts and verses cited by Rāmānanda Rāya until the highest attainment is finally referenced to Śrī Caitanya’s satisfaction.

Composite Summary of the Rest of the Levels of Attainment

Next Rāmānanda Rāya cites several verses describing prema bhakti, ecstatic love of God. Although Śrī Caitanya also very much appreciates the citations given about prema-bhakti, He still requests him to go further because love is ultimately expressed through a particular relationship. Rāmānanda Rāya thus progressively describes the glories of the various relationships or rasas one can have with the divine, but only when he has cited six references that beautifully illustrate the force of mādhurya-rasa, becoming a lover of Krishna, does Śrī Caitanya become satisfied. He finally declares that this is certainly the limit of perfection (sādhyāvadhi suniścaya).

Śrī Caitanya is somehow still eager for more and how the dialogue continues is certainly quite astounding in terms of the theological conceptions of Krishna consciousness. I, however, must unfortunately stop here, but I do highly recommend the complete study of this astonishing discussion on comparative religion.[1]

[1] The full discussion between Śrī Caitanya and Rāmānanda Rāya is found in Madhya-līlā, Chapter 8, of the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

“In former times there were many ignorant fools like you who did not conquer the six enemies that steal away the wealth of the body. These fools were very proud thinking, ‘I have conquered all enemies in all ten directions.’ But if a person is victorious over the six enemies and is equipoised toward all living entities, for him there are no enemies. Enemies are merely imagined by one in ignorance.” (Bhāg. 7.8.10, emphasis my own)

These are the words of the young saintly Prahlāda to his powerful demonic father, Hiraṇyakaśipu. Today, when I read this verse, I was particularly struck by the last line. It claims rather emphatically that enemies are not real, just envisaged. I pondered the point. How can that be? People have enemies all the time. After some time a resolution came.

We generally think of the term “enemy” as a person who hates us, but the term here has a broader meaning. It refers simply to one who opposes our goal. That became clear when I checked Śrīla Prabhupāda’s English translation of the Sanskrit word for enemy, pare, which is also glossed as “opposing elements”. The resolution was thus clear. If an enemy means one who opposes our aim, and the aim of life is self-realization, then we have no enemies because by the law of karma everything that comes to us, even the enmity of others, is meant to bring us closer to God. To see another as enemy, opposing our welfare, is thus imagined only in ignorance. Here are some examples to make this clear:

Vidura was harshly insulted and unceremoniously banished from the palace by its ruler, his evil-minded nephew Duryodhana. He was deeply hurt. Rather than see Duryodhana as the enemy, however, Vidura saw within his nephew’s cruelty the hand of God giving him a message. Advanced in years, he was being advised to renounce home and leave for pilgrimage. Being saintly and wise Vidura understood that despite the hate in people’s hearts, ultimately there are no enemies, including his nephew. He knew that everyone, whether good or bad, is carrying a message from God for our own spiritual development.

When Mahārāja Parīkṣit was informed that a bull had been beaten by a low-class rogue, he immediately left his palace to find and punish the culprit. When he found the stricken bull barely left standing on one leg, he inquired who had beaten him. To his surprise, however, the bull refused to identify the perpetrator. By his answer, or lack thereof, he immediately recognized the bull’s identity and declared, “You are dharma!” Mahārāja Parīkṣit understood the bull’s position for the foundation of dharma is to see God’s hand in everything and the height of that vision is to not even view one’s oppressor as one’s enemy.

This same point was made to me about twenty-five years ago in a very personal way during a casual visit with my friend Bhūrijana Prabhu in Vṛndāvana. He knew that for the sake of cooperation and loyalty those in institutions sometimes have to tolerate people who abuse their authority due to immaturity. Knowing my situation, he therefore suspected that I may have a cause to be resentful and wanted to try something that perhaps could be helpful for me. He then asked me to visualize the face of the person whom I felt I had cause to be most angry with and express my feelings towards him. He even egged me on to rouse my anger. After a few minutes he then told me to replace that person’s face in my mind with my own. My feelings subsided and I got the message. Only the ignorant have enemies, for by the law of karma, we are ultimately the cause of the enmity that is coming towards us.

An unusual thought suddenly came to my mind while writing this: this concept is probably most succinctly expressed by Pogo, the namesake of a famous comic strip that I read in the 60s. I will leave you to ponder his famous words:

We have met the enemy and he is us.

Monday Morning Greetings began, at least the idea to regularly write and share my realizations, about twenty years ago during my yearly holy name retreat in Govardhana during Kārttika. At that time, the inspiration came to write and share the realizations I was getting about entering the holy name. I have the inspiration this week to return to the roots of Monday Morning Greetings by again sharing my contemplations on the holy name.

Like a wave

The holy name is like a wave and our mind is like a surfer. Just as a surfer struggles to stay on a great wave, we may similarly struggle to ride or focus on the holy name. And just as a surfer gets great joy if he rides the wave through to completion, we also get great joy if we ride the wave of even one mantra by hearing each syllable attentively, without falling into the ocean of inattentive thoughts.

Is the mantra chanting you?

Sacinandana Swami once related to me that while he was staying in Varṣāṇā on a japa retreat, a sādhu spontaneously appeared and asked him: “Are you chanting the mantra, or is the mantra chanting you?” I forgot the exact point that Sacinananda Maharaja was making by relating this example, but recently during my present japa retreat I began to again ponder the sādhu’s words. In that regard, I posed a question to myself: If the holy name is Krishna, does that mean that we produce or manifest Krishna by our own voiced effort and how can that be?

Krishna, who is merciful, manifests in the holy name for whomever chants His name sincerely. So yes, in that sense we are chanting the mantra. Real chanting, however, begins when we hear and observe the holy name flowing spontaneously from our heart through our lips by the mercy of the holy name. In this way, the mantra, descending from the spiritual world, is chanting us. Wanting to have more of that feeling while chanting, I became more inspired during this Kārttika to put more concentration into hearing the name than chanting the name. Of course, by hearing carefully, one automatically chants attentively.

Boredom and bhakti

When we meditate on the holy name, we should just repeat the same syllables and not indulge the mind in other thoughts. How boring! But that’s how we feel if we are conditioned to rely on only our thoughts to keep us enlivened in the recitation of the name, because all frivolous thoughts are negated except the holy name in the practice of japa. If, however, we rely on our feelings to absorb us in devotion, such as humility and gratitude, then one will never be bored, for devotion is the one state of mind that remains ever fresh and dynamic. Chant attentively, but with a heart.

It’s taste, not time.

I once visited the home of a student who had given up chanting completely. I asked her to begin again by just chanting for fifteen minutes a day, two or three rounds. Her New York-esque affirmative answer was both humorous, honest, and revealing: “Yeah, half a sit-com.”[1] In other words, usually the time we waste on frivolous media could be used to increase our chanting of the holy name, so our lack of commitment to the holy name is usually more about taste than time. Give a set time and place for chanting. Concentrate. Taste will gradually come. There can be no greater mercy than having a taste for the things that are best for us.

Time flies when you are having a good time.

We vow to chant a prescribed number or rounds. Without commitment we descend to the mental platform where we do things only out of our like and dislike, not whether the activity is actually good for us or not. To succeed in any endeavor, we thus need some discipline. A word of caution, however. If you put your faith too much in the rule to chant, that the benefit you get from chanting is only when you complete your obligation, your mind will be concentrated more on finishing your rounds than worshipping the holy name. Chanting then becomes boring, because thoughts of the future bring on the oppression of time. Time exists in the future, time exists in the past, but time doesn’t exist now. Be careful to concentrate on the holy name, merge into the eternal now and free yourself from the oppression of relative time. Time flies when you are having a good time.

Chanting is real love

There are three desires that manifest in pure love: the desire to be with someone, the desire to have a relationship with them, and, most importantly, the desire to serve them. God appears in the holy name, so by chanting the holy name we can be with Krishna, develop a relationship with Krishna, and serve Krishna. All we need to do is remember the sacredness and dynamisms of chanting God’s name, that He has actually appears before us. How wonderful!

As I finish writing, I am sitting in my room at Govardhana on the morning of the Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disappearance day. I am facing the sacred mountain, which is less than a hundred yards away, thinking of the gifts Śrīla Prabhupāda has given us, especially the holy name.

[1] Sit-com means a half hour situation comedy on television.

I can imagine who most of you think this article is about, but I am not talking about an elephant, but a donkey, and this is not a political statement.[1] I just finished lecturing here in Vṛndāvana on Chapter Fifteen of The Tenth Canto entitled “The Killing of Dhenuka (the Ass Demon)” and I became very inspired by the concept expressed in the story of what makes the biggest ass, or the most grossly ignorant person.

In the Śrī Caitanya-Śikṣāmṛta Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura reveals the very intriguing point that each of the demons that Krishna kills in krishna-līlā represent a different anartha (unwanted quality), and thus, among other things, hearing these pastimes with faith has a subtle psychological effect to remove the particular anartha that each demon represents. Dhenukāsura specifically represents the anartha of ignorance, or gross materialism, and subsequently, he is personally killed by Krishna’s brother Balarama, who represents guru. Why does Dhenukāsura specifically represent the greatest ignorance?

Dhenukāsura is intensely guarding the Tāla forest, where he is residing, to prevent anyone from tasting the very lush tāla fruits lying on the ground. Now here’s the catch: Donkeys only eat grass. The lush fruits were therefore just rotting on the ground. This attitude, “I can’t enjoy something, so no one else should” thus represents the greatest ignorance. Let’s go through what I see as a step-by-step logical progression of why this level of envy is the grossest ignorance.

The basis of ignorance is when the blissful, eternal soul thinks it’s the temporary, suffering body.

The cause of such identification is the desire to be the enjoyer and controller rather than the servant of Krishna, which is our very essence.

The crux of material desire, or enjoyment, is thus the desire for superiority.

This desire to be the Supreme enjoyer naturally also manifests in envy or hate of others, for one’s relish of superiority is tempered if others seem better than us.

Therefore, the grossest manifestation of ignorance is to prevent others from enjoying simply out of such spite or envy, instead of servings others, which is the very nature of the soul.

After writing this a doubt came. My readers are quite spiritual people. They are definitely not like this. What is the message for them? Actually, the message here is most relevant. Although we may have too much integrity to be overtly spiteful, the desire for superiority and consequent envy is subtly in us all. To advance spiritually it must be rooted out at its core. That is the subtle message conveyed by the killing of Dhenukāsura.

If you doubt this is your problem, just mark your internal or overt response the next time someone points out your fault or tells you that you are wrong. How vehemently do you defend yourself no matter what? If that is not a fear of one’s superiority being diminished and consequently the seed of envy, then what is?

Note, that when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu brought Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī in His assembly as a new devotee and had him reluctantly read his non-paralleled poetical compositions describing the beauty of Krishna, He deliberately looked at His most senior disciples to test their reaction. [2] Of course, they only glorified and blessed Śrī Rūpa, but Śrī Caitanya’s message was clear. We are born into this world overcome with the dualities of desire and hate.[3] The potential for envy thus lurks at the highest level, what to speak of within us.

If we seriously introspect can we deny that envy sometimes unwittingly arises in our hearts? A clear choice is offered: Reject such thoughts, acknowledge that person’s glories, and, if possible, at the next opportunity serve them rather than risk becoming the world’s greatest ass

[1] For those that are not aware of American politics the symbol of the Republican party is the elephant and the symbol of the Democratic party is the donkey.

[2] “Just to examine Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and Rāmānanda Rāya, the Lord began to praise the transcendental qualities of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī before them.” (Cc. Antya-līlā 1.106)

[3] “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.” (Bg. 7.27)