Nomenclature of the Absolute

It is necessary first of all to know His standpoint. He spoke on devotional lines. Devotion is not a mental exploitation in which the words which are used take us to a region which is beyond our sensuous scope. But we can see things in that line of devotion only when its language is an adaptation of what we use in connection with what we meet with in this world. On that score we should not equate the words meant for transcendence with the same category meant for mundane things.

In the first place He has not departed from the ideas and hymns of the Vedas, the Shrutis and the Upanishads. He had no ambition to talk anything not supported by the revealed Scriptures. He said that the Transcendental Sound has to come in order to regulate the senses which at present are merely working to get some fruit for us through our actions; but whatever results may come out of our outward acts will be only for our individual purposes; our friends are not profited thereby. So some zealous activities are found among our friends which are concerned with fruitive results. The Transcendental Sound regulates the senses which are always troubling us to secure some riches for ourselves which are not shared by others, and so we have to expect some hostility from friends and foes as well. But He says that the Transcendental Sound Will bring Love, an amplitude of love, uniting us with the Absolute. Though We are likely to be unsteady we should not allow ourselves to be disturbed by sense-satisfying performances. He says that love is the principal subject to be roused up, that love which now lies within us in a dormant condition. We are attracted and deluded by outer features of things which tempt us in a greater or lesser degree and captivate our senses. Such things though appearing enjoyable at the moment seem to trouble us in the long run. What we recognize is perfect peace and real severance from painful sensation. Our predilection is always for what is pleasing to our senses. There are deluding aspects which often hide from us the sight of the inner face. We should be cautious not to accept what is presented by the senses. The senses require regulation. Everything is shifting. We can trace nothing here that is permanent in the world. Time changes everything. The Absolute never changes. This should be realized.

We should hear everything about the Absolute; otherwise we will confuse Him with ordinary things, with perishable things. Our empiric activities will not allow us a permanent standing ground that will not be changed. Our standpoint of the thirtieth year proves false in our fiftieth year. Our growing experience adds more knowledge to our stored-up conceptions. These sometimes undergo a change. This convinces us that what we consider as Truth is really uncertain and as it is meant for the time being only it will not serve us all along.

Man claims a supreme position among the sentient objects who have transactions with the worldly phenomena, entertaining the future hope of a continuity of such conditions even after the transformation of the present tabernacle. Rationalism is associated with man, and according to our needs we entertain hopes of using our discretion in the fittest way as far as possible. We know we are dependent on entities without whom our rational activities cannot find real display. Dependence is an inseparable element in us, though our ego is always exercising a power inherent in us for dispelling all discomforts of the mundane atmosphere. We are endowed with senses and the senses have no other predilections than to secure felicities in every transaction. When we take up an individual case, we find that gratification of our senses is the principal characteristic in our person. And this attitude of many among us often promotes a further desire to seek our own gratification from our co-sharers. When we actually put ourselves in difficulty in search of sensuous pleasures and expect others to help us we should be able to contribute towards social harmony by some effort. If we do not desire to encroach upon our friends and co-sharers we cannot live, but the obligatory social regulations to control our senses dominate our decisions on civic principles. We find ourselves quite restricted in our movements, though non-restriction is felt as a desirable factor for happy life. We now depend upon the Absolute to guide us to a harmonious solution of this position. The pressure of our needs makes us discuss the merits and demerits of the situation in which we are to take cognizance of the very fountain-head of all phenomenal representations. When we are not satisfied with the conception that this universal demonstrative aspect is a holy shelter to supply our needs, we revert to our previous ratiocination for the hidden treasure behind the exoteric manifestations. But the Esoteric Fountain-Head comes up before our vision, always setting Himself free from being handicapped in the phenomenal region. So we are compelled to consider the situation of the Eternal Blissful Knowledge transcending all regions of mental speculations. This Oversoul claims to incorporate pure uncontaminated souls on His Harmonious Plane. Our mental speculations may trouble us by asking why the principal Transcendental object should not incorporate an all-pervading conception of both non-matter and matter, the conception of parts and the whole, and the inclusion of the two ends of specification. On the other hands the very mental speculation would lead us to rank pantheistic speculation where all sorts of phenomenal exclusions are the principal factors. As individuation is a necessary element in me, and as I find such individual situations to be the objects of our reciprocal activities, and as they are numerous and the various positions, experienced in our present phenomenal range, are found to be rapturous, there should be a uniting tie to cement the positions and we often jump into impersonation and dissociative ideas of relativities for a solution. The Personality of the Absolute can then only pacify the unsympathetic jealousy innate in the view of mundane persons. This would thereby lead to that Highest Magnitude Who is free from all mundane restrictions of temporary aspects and locations in a particular limited space. Again, the phenomenal restrictive views should not be imposed on the Personality of a thoroughly Independent Integer. So the Personality of Godhead is to be approached instead of being considered as an accused in the dock for answering our sensuous inspection. We should allow Him to retain Everything His Own. This method of approach is known as unalloyed theism.

The Supreme Lord Shri Krishna Chaitanya has asked all sections of the people of this world not to tamper or mutilate the Absolute Truth by their crippled attempts at regulating Him, but to approach Him with an absolutely clean and sincere heart in which will be revealed His Own Phase. He can show different Manifestive aspects of His Own consistent with the eligibility of the approachers.

The Supreme Lord has mercifully disclosed the Name of the real object of pure theism as Shri Krishna. The conception of an impersonal God, void of all attributes or all possession of different potentialities is included in Shri Krishna, as being one of His partial Phases where all sorts of sensuous attributes are eliminated.

What Shri Krishna Chaitanya means by Theism He has demonstrated clearly to the people. We find that He has brought home to us the conception of different sorts of Transcendental and Unalloyed services that can be rendered to the Supreme Absolute Shri Krishna as well as a special feature of service which was hitherto quite unknown to theists. And that special aspect of service was given by Him to the people everywhere. The conception of Theism before His disclosure was confined to reverential and lawful principles only. Shri Krishna Chaitanya has taught us that we may approach Shri Krishna with our unconditional services in all sorts of aspects. And He has shown us the comparative excellence of the most confidential relationship between Godhead and human souls. Up to His time, we were quite familiar with the idea of approaching Shri Krishna by our other devotional principle only. We were simply worshipping Him, leaving aside the most attractive aspect in rendering our services to the Lord. We were thinking that the services to the object of our worship should be performed by the upper part of the body and the lower part of our transcendental eternal body cannot possibly offer any acceptable service to the Beloved Whose secondary conception of Omnipotence and Omniscience etc., only were prominent to the theists. We were neglecting that we have got a transcendental entity called 'Soul', however infinitesimal, inside our external frame; or inside our astral body. So, up to that time we were confounding ourselves with a philosophy which meant mental speculation only, always restricted by external views of the world and avoiding the cognisance of our unalloyed ego who is meant for rendering eternal service to the Transcendental Object, as the Sentient Being, I meant the eternal Over-Soul. So the level of Theism that we had reached up to that time was not elevated enough and we were denied service of the Lord in higher aspects, I mean serving Godhead as our closer and more confidential Friend, Godhead as our Son and Godhead as our Consort. Thus we were keeping this transitory relationship with only perishable objects here. But our Theism should not delimit our vision and make us ignore the confidential services which can be offered by a free human soul to Shri Krishna. Hitherto we were not positive as regards the Position and the Entity of the Oversoul, that He alone should be the Object of our devotion in all aspects of Shri Krishna.

We find that unless the Supreme Absolute Krishna kindly graces us as the willing Recipient of our services, we cannot do for Him all sorts of Confidential service, and in any other Aspects of Krishna i.e., in Matsya, Koorma, Varaha, Nrisingha, Vamana, Rama, etc., our reverential activities are rather limited to a certain extent. Here in this perverted world we can offer our confidential services in all the five rasas (relishing relationship). Shri Krishna and no other is the Centre, the very Fountain-head of all Divine Aspects Whom we could serve with all the aspects of our confidential services. Shri Krishna is 'Akhila-Rasamritamoorti', that is the Fountain-head of all Rasas. And we can approach Him in any one of His five different reciprocal aspects. In engaging all our activities in Him by our transcendent soul's body, we can offer Him our eternal services in five different aspects; whereas, in other Forms of the Entity of Godhead we are debarred from offering our confidential service.

For instance, in the case of Ramachandra, we cannot offer our services in all the five different aspects. He cannot stand as our Consort, because Seeta might prove that Her devoted husband Ramachandra would be crossing His limits and His ethical Principles, if He did so; and moreover Seeta would never allow any other soul the privilege of rendering that sort of service to Ramachandra. We find the best example in the case of the Dandakaranya Rishis who approached Ramachandra; Ramachandra would not accept them because they had male forms and He was devoted to only one wife; in other words, for fear of violating ethical principles He could not accept that sort of service from them. Ramachandra could accept the services of His subjects, could accept the services of His servant Anjaneya, could accept the services of Lakshmana and the service of others in some aspect other than consorthood; whereas Shri Krishna is eternally lovable and can very easily be called the Bahu-Vallabha. He can accommodate hundreds of His dependents as His consorts whereas Ramachandra can welcome only four dependents, I mean, His parents, His brother-friends, His servants and the neutral subjects of His Realm who render unalloyed service to Ramachandra. All others, except Seeta, are debarred from offering any confidential services to Ramachandra in the capacity of consorts.

But in Shri Krishna, we find that there is no such restriction. Every soul can offer all sorts of unalloyed services to Shri Krishna. Moreover we find that Shri Krishna welcomes everybody. He does not deny anyone. Though He does not allow anybody to keep that sort of mundane relationship among His temporary pseudo-servants, He admits every servant if he has got such capacity to approach Him in any of the loftiest moods and positions. Shri Krishna Himself would always wish His devotees to accept Him as the Consort. No souls are hindered from making progress towards the confidential services to the Over-soul in that capacity provided the Lord is convinced that, being ever subservient to His Predominated Counter-Whole, they can offer that sort of service to Him. So Shri Krishna never checks any sort of confidential services that we in our unconditioned stage are bent upon offering Him. The thing is that, in His other aspects we are barred from offering such services as are not acceptable to Him because we do confine ourselves in alloyed mentality or in mental speculations.

If we give up worshipping with our mental speculations, if our independent soul can have a wider and larger scope, we can easily approach that transcendental Being with all our earnest and sincere endeavour. He does not deny any body, neither does He allow anybody to keep that sort of engagement which is meant for some other Aspects of Him, inasmuch as He is the One Who is ever engrossing our soul. So we should scrutinise most minutely whether we should at all utilise and engage some limbs for our personal benefits and some portion of our transcendental body for Godhead! But the real truth is that all our engagements - the whole of our occupation - may be engaged for Shri Krishna, whereas in other Aspects of Godhead we do not have the rarest fortune of performing all these things in the best way possible.

Shri Krishna Chaitanya has not taught us any anthropomorphic idea. Ordinary people might think that they may indulge in this sort of carrying ideas of this world produced by Nature to that Transcendental Realm, but such anthropomorphic ideas are never enjoined or entertained by Shri Krishna Chaitanya. All that we must know is that Godhead is the Full, Complete and Perfect Being and that He should in His Person have no partial and crippled aspects. We must not be thinking that all that we have here in this world with us - all that might be feasible or practicable and ethical here - we should carry along with us to a region where such imperfect acquisitions are not wanted. We have no such ambition.

Shri Krishna Chaitanya told us that self-determination is first of all necessary; otherwise we would be confusing the mind with the soul. Mind is quite different from the soul. The thing is that mind is the conductor of the Physical World. Mind gets the impression of nature through the medium of senses and through the working of our body, that is through the former's inter-mingling with external things which are made of matter.

Though we are used to meddle with those things yet when we take theism for our consideration, that is when we enquire what the actual Figure of Godhead is, we find in the Chatushloki Bhagavatam that the Absolute Fountainhead said to Brahma, the Creator: "If I am to bestow My mercy on anybody, I must expose Myself to him fully. Persons who have wrong aspirations and speculations of mind will be debarred from having any unobscured perception of the actual Size, the Figure and the Colour that I have. They will be simply missing Me if I do not confer on them My mercy". So Shri Krishna Chaitanya has disparaged all mundane thinkers who are busy with high-class philosophies or are sticking to their mundane ethical principles, as well as those persons who are engaged in their altruistic enterprises.

In substance however we find in our Acharya's writings: "Nobody should misconstrue that we are talking of a wholly different Object Who is not Ramachandra when we talk of Shri Krishna. By the talk of Shri Krishna we do not mean that we are differentiating Shri Krishna from Shri Ramachandra. Shri Ramachandra and Shri Krishna are not substantially different Objects. They are identical. But as we find in this perverted region that one man considers himself as the father of somebody or the son of somebody or the physician of somebody, similarly in Transcendental Realm also we find manifold Aspects of the same Absolute.

So let nobody imagine that we are talking of wholly different objects when we mention the Avatars. Vasudeva is the same as Lakshmi-Narayana: Lakshmi-Narayana is identical with Seeta-Rama. Seeta-Rama is the same as Krishna. We do not find any differences among Them. There should not be any controversy in this matter, and there cannot be any scope to draw distinction between Shri Krishna and Shri Rama save in the planes of respective Rasas. We want to appreciate the respective positions of the One Absolute.

We have no ambition to shift our position. But we are to do everything for the confidential services of the Over-soul; and this is safe too. We find a particular worship but we find that all our activities are not engaged hundred percent in Ramachandra. We find another particular worship and in this worship a part of our activities may be kept apart for our selfish personal use, and only some portion of our activities may go to that very adorable object. Such worship is not perfectly disinterested. We often find that a man claims himself to be the master of several dependent things here believing this - 'I have got many servants', 'I have got a big estate', 'I have great learning' and so forth. If one is inclined to confine oneself to a particular Aspect, then it would be rather incompatible with human nature, as he will have nothing to do with the other Aspects of the same Object.

We need not keep anything for our engagement beyond the Absolute; otherwise we must go under some other name than that of 'Devotees'. For instance, if we serve a horse, we would be called a 'groom', if we treat others with medicine, we would be called a physician. These are different denominations we have here. But these designations are meant for individual beings like us, and we are often found engaged in various objects other than the Absolute.

Shri Krishna is the Fountain-head of all these manifestations. Therefore, there must not be any such gross ethical idea that He should be crippled or restricted to receive some particular sort of service only. We must not be doing so. We are to approach the Whole Being the one Entire Absolute, the very Fountainhead. He is Satchidananda 'Akhilarasarita-moorty' and cannot be disliked by any perfectly healthy thought. We should not associate ourselves with some other form which may give us self-centered happiness merely. That sort of engagement would be rather detrimental to our Final Cause or Goal. We find that the Fountainhead is possessed of all qualifications with all sorts of aspects; but a particular shape may often be seen in our engagements.

So Shri Krishna Chaitanya has explained and shown to us the Whole Object. And if we resolve that we are simply to follow Him, we shall then be called higher theists. That theism cannot be restricted and found in a particular aspect only, just as we find in this world. If we can get rid of all our mental speculations, we would be relieved of this mundane conception of the universe with the help of the medium of Transcendental Words. If we confound them with similar words of the mundane lexicon we would be erring; because we cannot at one and the same time use All-pervading Transcendental expressions fully for earthly purposes. The Transcendental Word, Sound, or Concept is identical with that Great Personal Absolute or the Fountainhead.

We would be known to have advanced well in our theistic aspiration for that Fullest Form, if only the awful and majestic attributes other than All-blissful-ness or All-ecstatic Beauty were taken out from that One Integer. So when we approach Shri Krishna we find that all sorts of Aspects are fully in Him and we can offer all sorts of confidential services to Him with our transcendental and eternal body. We can offer ourselves with all the closest intimacy to Him in all ways.

We must not think that restricting ourselves in a particular aspect only, would entail a quarrel with some one else dealing with some other school of thought or philosophy or some other religious controversies; there can be little scope for that since our whole-time attention, hundred percent, should be devoted to Him and His Counter-Whole. This is the general outline of the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna Chaitanya's Teachings.

Lord Krishna Chaitanya is the combined personality of the predominating and predominated Moieties of the Absolute. We, individual souls, are endowed with a mixed aptitude. Our consciousness possesses a two-fold potentiality. It takes cognisance of the material categories. It is open to the influence of the spiritual as distinguished from the mundane. Lord Chaitanya is our only support and the source of our animation. He is the only Object of our worship. As a matter of fact every activity of ours owes its possibility and existence to His initiative and works as a corollary of his activities. Lord Chaitanya displays the pastime of seeking Himself. All through His Manifestation He is found most anxiously devoted to the exclusive quest of the Absolute Godhead, His predominating Moiety, viz., Krishna. We, His eternal proteges, are conditioned to follow His lead in this matter. If we do so we shall be doing the right thing. By doing so we would obtain the knowledge of the realm of the Absolute. We would no longer have to remain penned within the narrow material scope of three dimensions. But we are hampered by our mixed aptitude. We have the option of meddling with the material as well as the spiritual. As soon as we indulge this mixed aptitude by mistaking it to be our real function we are obstructed by the process. We find ourselves forth-with subjected more or less to the handicaps of insurmountable disqualifications. These disqualifications have been analysed and classified into four groups. They are liabilities to (1) blunder (2) inadvertence, (3) deception and (4) grossness of the senses. These are very serious defects. They make it impossible for us to obtain even a glimpse of the transcendental. Hence there arises the imperative necessity of seeking the help of those who are free from those defects.

Our present sense-function does not give us any knowledge of the whole Truth. On the contrary it always keeps us away from the Full, the Eternal, the Blissful. We are prevented from all access to uninterrupted existence, uninterrupted knowledge and uninterrupted bliss. These constitute the Reality to be gained by the exercise of our present facilities. We obtain instead the so-called knowledge of the things of this world. We perceive only matter. We can imagine the condition of material negation. But neither of these is the Reality proper. We cannot avoid the consideration of distinctions. But it is not possible to entartain [sic] any proposition regarding distinctive entities except under the operation of the four-fold defects mentioned above. It is, however, incumbent on us to try to be perfectly free from those defects. The method based on sense-experience is useless for this end. It can never free us from those defects.

Those who live on the resources of the mind express themselves in language. The vocabulary used by them is more or less defective and mutually conflicting. The experience of the moment is different from true experience. We try to gain admission in the realm of true experience. We desire to make progress in such experience. It is our purpose thereby to gain the love of the Real Entity. This is the supreme goal.

We are now interested in the acquisition of all kinds of worldly facilities. We find it useful to study those sciences that deal with objects that we wish to acquire. But we need not remain confined to such investigation. We are fit to be attracted also by the science of supermundane reality. We are attracted by One who is Existence, Knowledge and Bliss. He attracts us in different degrees. He has given us the fitness to be attracted in different measures. We are subject to His attraction. We can endeavour to attain to realisation of the science of reality to the extent of His attraction. There are many persons who are not exclusively engrossed in the acquisition of worldly facilities. Many wish to progress in the direction of the supreme function, the supreme facility, the supreme object of desire, the supreme position which frees us from all illusion. Different persons try to do so in different degrees. The language of a person is affected by the progress that he makes. It progresses towards the spiritual realm in the proportion of his advance. Soch [sic] a person can respond to questions regarding the supreme goal in the proper spirit. We formulated a number of questions on the subject. We approached those persons who are spiritually inclined with those questions. We hoped for reasonable response from them.

Persons who are possessed of mixed aptitude are always subject to the fourfold defects. Such is the condition of all those persons who set store by worldly facility. The quest after Krishna is free from the fourfold defect. Persons with the mixed aptitude can know nothing of such quest. We also know this. But we nevertheless cherish the inclination to approach them. We want to be enlightened in our quest of the truth by the positive as well as negative method. We had sought this contact with the spiritually inclined as we know that we shall be gainers by such contact. Such contact helps in our quest of Krishna which is based on the analytic and synthetic methods. It is our greatest desire to succeed in the quest.

We know that such procedure has also its difficulties. The mixed aptitude is really opposed to the quest of the truth. It is opposed to absolute emancipation, to the supreme function, the supreme need and the supreme goal. Its nature as well as its language is equally opposed to the quest of the truth. They are found to try to baffle our purpose. We know this. We also knew that all this notwithstanding, there is no objection to seek contact with an entity that is so hostile to our purpose. He intended to accept that portion from it which is our due.

There are non-spiritual Puranas, non-spiritual Pancharatras and non-spiritual philosophical systems and non-spiritual Darshana Shastras. All these are full of varieties of injunctions in the midst of narratives of useful and harmful activities. But they also contain much instruction for the propagation of real good and suppression of evil. The great sages of old times also studied those works. They were not thereby prevented from attaining the object of their desire. We have felt assured by the knowledge of this fact.

Our purpose is to search for Krishna. We have to consider in this connection two subjects, viz., (1) 'Krishna' and (2) 'His Search'.

The word 'Krishna' has an ordinary meaning which is intelligible to all of us. This meaning is supported by History and the conditioned intellect of man. This meaning leaves us ignorant of the truth. We shall not accept this meaning. On the contrary we shall know the real, indivisible Truth Himself. There is a meaning which can enlighten us regarding the Truth. The ordinary meaning of the word 'Krishna' is an entity which is different from Krishna. It is something that is enveloped by the deluding energy of Krishna. It is an object which is comprehensible to the other gross senses besides the ear. It is a product of our sensuous perception. We shall not defile the word Krishna by accepting this meaning.

All the different languages derived from Brahmi, Kharausti, Shanki and Puskarasadi, etc. are the sources of the knowledge which men have gained through the senses of these words. They are guided by the secondary meaning. They are more or less different to the primary meaning of those words. Such desire to attain any visible object of this world by means of such words should be considered as opposed to the supreme goal. There are different words in the different languages to signify the real Truth. These words are the products of intellectual speculation. They point to the Truth. But all those terms are subject to knowledge gained through the senses. Therefore they are entities limited by three dimensions. None of those terms can attain to the level of the transcendental entity.

The word 'Krishna' points to the real Truth. The real truth is not identical with the secondary meaning Himself. The word Krishna is not used to convey any allegorical sense. The word 'Krishna' uttered by the soul desirous of the supreme goal cannot accommodate the meaning that is productive of ignorance. The meaning or words is narrowed by the eye, the nose, the tongue, the skin and the mind. This narrow meaning expresses other than Brahman (the great undefined nourishing Principle), Paramatma (the supreme Soul) or Bhagavan (the supreme Person possessed of all power). The word "Krishna" points to no such narrow meaning. Such words as 'adhokshaja' (transcendental) aprakrita (non-mundane) and atindriya (supersensuous) etc., are the products of negative speculation. By their means it is possible to draw a picture that exists only in the imagination of man. Such performances are different from the real Truth. They retain the power of producing ignorance, which makes them different from the Truth. The adulterated quality of physical space affects such words. They are hereby separated from the real Entity. They contribute to the elaboration of that entity by the conceptions of the relative and the numerical. The Brihadaranyaka speaks of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of the complete whole. But those processes do not destroy the unity of the whole.

All diversity exists by the divisions of object and subject. Mental speculation is based on preference for absence of all distinction. Mental speculation fulfills its purpose by this distinctive achievement. There is no possibility of the elimination of the triple limiting envelope by its means. The truth of the Divinity has His existence in the indivisible cognitive principle. Therefore he does not obstruct the enlightening process of words. The modes of investigation represented by the schools that worship Rudra and Brahma respectively, express a gross kind of difference from the mode of the Vaishnavas. Such procedure is obstructive of indivisible knowledge. It is necessary to consider these speculations with thoroughness and with a dispassionate mind. If we do not do so there will arise a variety of obstacles, in regard to object of meditation, the meditator and the process of meditation. It is necessary to try to remove these obstacles. It is necessary to get rid of them permanently. It is not reasonable to depend on eclipsed knowledge for the purpose of temporary relief. The sun moves in the course in space in due order of time. If the sun is worshipped the object of our worship is an obstacle to our indivisible knowledge. It is not possible to acquaint a person with the nature of the word 'Krishna' by means of language that is conditioned by the triple quality of the phenomenal world. The Name Krishna is identical with the possessor of the Name, the word Krishna is identical with the object expressed by the same. Yet the two are also inconceivably distinct from one another. It is necessary to be able to realise the true nature of this inconceivable simultaneous difference and non-difference. Till we are in a position to realise it, our weak speculation can never enable us to understand the distinctiveness of the inconceivable.

The word 'quest' signifies a movement which finally merges into the significance of progressive realisation. Till then the object of 'quest' is allowed to drift away on the tide of unchecked imagination. It does not become available for the practice of the process of real quest. It is necessary for attaining such apprehension that the seeker of the Truth feels himself under His protection. When this is so the process of quest no longer goes astray from indivisible knowledge who is Vasudeva. Then also the process of quest loses its difference from the activity of realisation. The process of quest involves the clear apprehension of relationship with the object of search. It is this which in the subsequent stage becomes known as Bhakti of the stage of endeavour. It is Bhakti which supplies us with the clue to the love of Hari. Love of Hari is the complete, constant and exclusive activity of realisation. Love of Hari is realised as the one thing needful.

There are many obstacles in the way of the search of the Truth. Those obstacles serve to eclipse the real nature of the seer of the truth, of the search, and of the object of search. It is the enlightening potency of words which alone is able to destroy all those obstacles. Therefore it is only when the ephemeral manifestation of the deluding potency of words is resolved into their enlightening function that it does not allow the individual soul to become severed from the indivisible knowledge, the supremely true Entity. It also does not promote the perversion of the oneness of the cognitive principle. On the contrary it tears up by the root the blunder of the speculative theory of undifferentiated cognition. Shri Chaitanyadeva is this one-ness of the subject and object of the indivisible knowledge. Nityananda is the manifestation of this oneness. He is the manifesting aspect of the indivisible knowledge Himself. These two are like the Sun and the Moon. They reveal the cognitive potency of the spiritual soul. Bhakti bestows the quality of oneness and love of Krishna. These two potencies of bestowing oneness and producing the pleasure of the indivisible knowledge are located in Shri Chaitanya.

In this world we construct various structures by means of our cognitive and active sense-organs. Among these sense-organs the organ of speech is the parent of the hearing of sound. The organ of speech may not be wholly established in the line of the heard transcendental Sound. In such a case there will appear conflict with the heard Divine Sound, which leads astray the other four senses. This is to be distinguished from words free from all limitation which remove the obstructive filth that blocks the path of the auricular cavity. It dissipates the limited perceptual word. By such operation the path of transcendental hearing is not prejudicially affected. There is a ten-fold process of rectifying the defects of the physical body produced by semen in the mother's womb. This satisfies the speculative function of the mind. By such purifactory process our sensuous knowledge is enriched. It may produce indifference to indivisible transcendental knowledge. In such a case it mistakes entities possessing relationship with Godhead for things of this phenomenal world. Under such misapprehension it may renounce such entities by the deluding power of the real entity leading them away from the truth and making them place more reliance upon the nonspiritual reflection of the realm of true cognition.

In the demonstration of teaching, there are two parties, viz., the 'teacher' and the 'taught'. We find a reciprocal relation between the aforesaid two. The position of the taught has a special signifinance [sic] in that he has to pay his attention to the words and observe the deeds of the teacher as well as perceive the true goal of his attempts. If he is found to be negligent to receive anything from the teacher, he will simply miss the real bearings of the taught. His function as a recipient would vary according to the nature, capacity and degree of whole-hearted attention. When his nature is under consideration we find that he must own himself as a follower of an elevationist or a salvationist or a devotee. By availing himself of the teachings he is expected to make up for his inadequacies by rectifying this wrong notions and assimilating the essence of the knowledge he is going to receive. He can regulate his mentality by any addition to or deduction from his store of intuition.

The teachings of a teacher are, therefore, meant for enriching, regulating and inviting the impulse of reception of the taught in order to enable the latter to make further progress. If he has an irreverent mood, he will prove himself to be a callous and non-susceptible agent. If he proves himself quite worthy of receiving the teachings and enriching himself, he would be deemed fit for undertaking further mental training. But some amount of diffidence may hamper him in his putiful [sic] advance.

The theme of teaching has different phases. The teaching that merely elevates the mental power of the audience will no doubt differ from that which seeks to lift us above the phenomenal existence by the process of meditation and shakes off the three mundane positions of the observer, observation and observed. The devotional teachings need not follow any of the two methods that have victimised both elevationists and salvationists. So the teachings of a devotee should neither help any aspiration of these two classes nor advocate their cause. Devotional teaching has already disclosed the fact that any knowledge secured from finite objects could not possibly lead to the Absolute position in a realm where no temporal phenomena are seen to be working. Such dealing with the existence of a field of fourth to infinate demensions [sic] should not be restricted to be brought under intra-mundane speculations. Devotional teaching never subscribes to the policy of altruistic misapprehension for living peacefully in a plane of shifting phenomena. The devotional method does not, however, deviate at all from altruism when it shows a transcendental temperament of the cognisance of the Absolute. The altruistic views of pedants of the atheistic school cannot protect the futile predicament of intra-sentient beings who are very busy to show their predominating influence over devotional thought. Devotional teaching should never confine its theme to the restricted horizon of elevationists and so-called transcendentalists who are ambitious to restrict their activities in every way by annihilating their egoistic intra-mundane attempts.

As regards the position of a true teacher we have observed that he is never expected to be the possessor of mere mental speculations concerned with phenomena or noumena. The teacher should be unprejudiced and should not be challenged for any seeming fault of his in thought, word or deed. The teacher of some particular department of phenomena or noumena should never be recognised as participating in any teaching of transcendental observation. The unprejudiced nature of a true preceptor who has no other function but to remain eternally under the banner of the Absolute is to impart the ever-existing unshaky position of the Absolute knowledge enriched with Ever-Blissful enthusiasm.

The All-Blissful Ever-Existing Absolute has emanated the rays of knowledge which can disclose the true transcendental position of the Fountain-head. So the taught should invoke Him to delegate such power to him in order to enable his progressive march in the region of the Absolute Personality where the significance of the First Person has preponderance over the transcendental manifestations of Infinitude. The Fountainhead of Infinitude, the Fountainhead of Infinite Wealths, viz., All-Majesty, All-Prowess, All-Godness, All-Beauty, All-Knowledge and All-Dissociations with flesh and mind, grants the prayers of different actors on this stage of the world who take initiative in the temporal region of space and time. The personality of Godhead has awarded full facility to them in their sojourn of limited knowledge in proportion to their amount of knowledge, eligibility and praying capacity. When we turn to the various activities of seekers of different limited treasures, we observe that those prayer-mongers who want to dove-tail themselves with the object of their prayer are also endowed in proportion to their capacity for enabling them to discover such partial manifestation of the Personal Absolute. So our much-coveted treasures will store for us our respective goals in proportion to our acquisitions. But a true devotee is not satisfied with having the boons from an empiricist whose impoverished knowledge is found to seek for the satisfaction of personal selfish wants merely. And those who are content to pose their location in Infinity are found to enervate themselves in a frenzied mood, while a devotee is always found to disapprove of their intoxicated demeanour in engaging themselves in the futile chase of temporal soapbubbles. So we do not find any frenzied disposition in a devotee like that in an elevationist or a salvationist.

The essential devotional activities of an unalloyed soul become entirely nugatory in the mentalities of atheists and are often enshrouded with the intellectual activities of agnostics and sceptics, as the latter are always found to hinge their flexibilities of speculation on their imperfect and restricted sensuous knowledge only. A true devotee can be able to see easily the alloyed activities or the so-called knowledge which passes by the name of nescience helping its victims in their march towards a fabricated manifestation of a temporal plane known as 'paradise'. This may be termed the second group where the frenzied ignorance of the aforesaid group is eliminated. Next when we come to examine the third group who are trying to dismiss all intra-mundane thoughts they are seen as located in a peculiarly hallucinating non-manifestative sphere of their self and we may undoubtedly say that this is a self-deception tantamount to an Alnascarian disposition. The owner of the astral and physical bodies has been, by the abuse of his free-will, obligated to remain in a sleeping condition when he has delegated his powers, during his conspicuous activities in the mundane world, to the two different covers which claim to be owned by him.

A true devotee never submits to any high-sounding reasonings of Elevationists or Salvationists when he is truly realising his own self as a conciliatory ancillary fragment of a particular manifesting Energy, the position of which is on the geometrical line between the mundane phenomena and the transcendental manifestations. So a devotee is not expected to indulge in the method of the so-called speculative philosophers of the world. The oft-disfigured sublime views and the eternal theme of the Vedanta do not go to prove any hallucinative imposition of different sexological questions to be associated with the Ever-Existing Blissful Knowledge. No variety of the knowledge of Finitude must intoxicate and cripple the transcendental march of the presumptuous owner of this world of three dimensions.

Whenever any inclination is observed in a sojourner for a conception of the Absolute, these sexological questions check his activities, but when his activities are scrutinised they are found to be in a particular chamber of a neuter aspect or a male or female aspect of that Object. The Personality of [sic] the Absolute Ecstatic Knowledge can only be had if the true discernment of the real self shakes off by his free will all finite temporal conceptions.

Being fully empowered through the mercy of the All-Blissful, the owner of all intra-mundane speculations can easily shake off the chains of the habit of measuring transformable things. An unalloyed soul can only get rid of his deluding conceptions of physico-mental shields. The eternal devotee is emancipated from non-realistic ideas by the causeless help of the Absolute, or in other words, is set free by his love for the latter. No clutches or prisoner's restrictions should be imposed on him like those that are necessary to be put on Elevationists and Salvationists. He has now got the unconditional mercy from the Supreme Fountainhead and he need not be compelled to be classed as a prisoner of the physico-mental.

So Shri Krishna Chaitanya has disclosed the Transcendental Manifestation which can be approached only by a theist who is confident of his realisation of the Ever-Existing Ecstatic Absolute Transcendent, as he has absolutely no reliance on the seeming activities of a temporal mundane observer, observation and observed. The theist can then approach Shri Krishna as Arjuna did when the latter played his part in the Great Mahabharata War. The elevationist and salvationist warriors had been combating with their physical and mental powers in order to predominate over each other. But the Song of Shri Krishna relieved them from all such gross and subtle undertakings. The War of the Mahabharata has shown us the contending positions of physical and mental heroes busily engaged in this region of mundane speculations. The Mahabharata has disclosed the fact of different positions of elevationists and salvationists, viz., their positions, deeds, and their final goals.

We have got the true comparative idea in the literary expression of the word "Excellent" i.e., one who has excelled all the rest of the members generally of his community. There can be no question when the final result is designated by the word "excellent". We need not again put that to a controversy. A transcendental harmonising plane would tell us, through transcendental Sounds, that the manifestations in the regions of three dimensions are not to be confused with those in the Manifestive Region of Shri Vaikuntha which in the preamble cannot welcome any challenge of an empiricist when the region itself is endowed with spirit and not with deformed and mutable matter. So, as devotees we have no discussion with an empiricist or a challenger in a mundane measurement, and the position of a devotee need not, therefore, be degraded to the position of an elevationist or a salvationist.

When we finish the perusal of the Mahabharata which includes the "Mokshadharma", "Sanatsujatiyam" and the "Bhagavat Gita", we can safely be entrusted with dealing with the transcendental book which is revered by both Bhagavatas and Sattwata Pancharatrikas. The best scripture of the Bhagavatas (devotees) is the Bhagavatam which is a narrative offered by Shri Suta Goswami to Shri Shaunaka and a legion of sages who sat for such a valuable teaching in Naimisaranya. The present Book of Shrimad Bhagavatam has incorporated all true Pancharatrika views and is known as the true commentary of the Aphorisms of Badarayana that go on to show the connecting link and consistency of apparently conflicting Mantras of the Vedas.

The physical aspect of the Vedas would lead people to base their exploits upon the Physico-mental endowments of the Vedas but not upon the permanent and unalloyed knowledge of the Absolute. In order to give men relief from the clutches of physico-mental exploiters some impersonalists have jumped into the pacification of mundane meddlings which the Bhagavatam does not advocate. We see therefore that Bhagavatas incorporate all Pancharatrikas.

The supreme Lord Shri Krishna Chaitanya has encouraged His followers to learn Bhagavatam in an unalloyed mood. Though the Excellent Teachings of the Full Manifested Transcendent Absolute have been narrated through the medium of words, still a devotee may often engage himself in the outward manifestations which might be dissuading agents for entangling him in the temporal world. So the seeming realisation of Archa (Transcendental Image) of the Icongraphised Transcendentalism need not betray a real 'sadhaka'; nor should the symbolised Transcendental words bring the same into a controversial position.

The most important and crucial point of the Shrutis has been ignored by the Impersonalists. So they could not make any progress when they impirically perused and interpreted the Mantras of the Vedas. The Super-Excellent Teacher by His Super-Excellent Teachings has given the best and greatest facilities to His disciples who will, in no time, turn out to be serving Agents of the Super-Excelent, [sic] Transcendental Teacher, Who is Himself identical with the concept of the Supreme Godhead. By the word "Super-Excellent" the graduation in the Transcendental Region has been found to reach the climax.

In the conversation of Ramananda and the Supreme Lord, we find the Predominated Aspect of the Transcendental Absolute was giving replies to the interrogatories of the Supreme Lord. The true comparative studies of the different positions of devotees could only be made by submitting unconditionally our ownership of intellectual and physical store to the very Fountain-head. We shall then be classed as occupying different stages of devotion. We shall then find that the song of Shri Krishna Ye Yathaa Maim Prapadante ^[1] could not be mutilated by our mandane [sic] speculationists in their degraded unethical views of approaching Him. We are told of five different Rasas by the erudite professors of Aesthetics in our perusal of Transcendental literature by our spiritual senses which have no ambition whatsoever to meddle with mundane reciprocal situations. The Transcendental Supreme Fountainhead of Absolute Knowledge - Shri Krishna Chaitanya - has disclosed the different moods of predominating "Rasamaya" and predominated "Rasikas". So the Transcendental Super-Excellence of His Teachings would never be available to mundane sages or impersonalists until they absolutely submit to the ending exhortation of the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna in the Gita. ^[2]

In courting, therefore, the Love of Shri Krishna Chaitanya we must not be busy with equipping ourselves with troublesome acquisitions of imperfect manifestations, but simply undergo an operation to remove our cataract by the beneficial spike of all His good Teachings. We need not be troubling ourselves with the physical enquiries in order to enable ourselves to indulge in Anthropomorphism or to have recourse to Apotheosis. The unconditional surrender to Shri Krishna or Shri Krishna Chaitanya and to His true functioning of our handicapped organs of senses and enable us to scrutinise the aspects of the different subjects of our knowledge. As true and sincere devotees our spiritual culture would never allow us to indulge in our mental activities as we do in Economics, History, Geography, Chemistry, Physics, Inconagraphy, Archaeology, Chiromancy and Palmistry, different branches of the Vedas, altruism, utilitarianism and other allied subjects. It we take any one or the whole group of the above subjects for examining Shri Krishna Chaitanya, all our labour would be fruitless and take us not an inch nearer to the Supreme Lord. It is Transcendental finite ego to approach the Transcendental Blissful Infinite.

We should be ready to receive the Transcendental Sounds instead of the mundane sounds that are found in the Lexicons. Ordinary sound is examined by the other senses also. We reserve the right of examining every mundane sound that enters our ear with the aid of the four other senses. If the latter do not admit its validity, it is summarily rejected. These senses are not fit to scrutinize the validity of Transcendental Sounds. Our previous experience will show which sounds should be examined. If they aim at anything of this world, we should have every opportunity of examining them by our other senses. Our previous experience will decide whether they are to be welcomed.

But when the Transcendental Sound makes His appearance, we must not put ourselves into the challenging mood and suppose that there is any other face. The two sounds are quite distinct from one another. The mundane sound is meant for entities which have figure, odour, taste, etc. Heat, for example can be perceived by the sound produced. But it is the seeming feature which need not tally with the actual snbstratum. [sic] So, there is a distinct difference between the two sounds.

All Transcendental Sounds go to show One Object, the Absolute. Wherever there is any deviation, that is liable to vanish. Absolute Sound has got His peculiar phase and should be welcomed at all costs. We are vitally interested in that thing. The very description of Transcendental Sound will tell us that the Sound is identical with the Object, Qualities and Activities and is entirely distinct from Mundane sounds and that the Transcendental Sound is equipped with all cogent potencies that will regulate all other senses.

Mundane sound is invigorating to the senses and enables us to come in contact with the world. When our attempt is for the Absolute, we run no risk. When we want the sound to come to us, we ignore the Absolute, we do not receive the Transcendental Sound. The Transcendental Sound is strictly restricted to the Thing. So the Absolute is to be determined when we determine our self. Any distorted view will not allow us to approach the Absolute.

First of all, we should examine our self. If we think we are mind and the external body, the Transcendental Sound will have no effect on us. It would be a mundane sound. The sound himself would tell us that the external body is a garment of the inner astral body and both of them are the two wrappers of the soul who, in his dormant condition, incorporates these two which do not determine his own real nature. The external body is perishable; the internal body is transformable. Our mind in the morning, is different from our mind at noon and so on. It is changed with the rolling of time.

We cannot rely on the mind and our mental speculation. All of us are busy in making our mind control everything relating to ourselves. This does not admit the conception of the Absolute. The mental conceptions are all changeable. The property must not be confounded with the proprietor. Our external body is our property. It is perishable and there is no certainty of its retention. In Egypt, the body was preserved. The process was thought necessary for the reawaking of the soul. The materialists see the externality of things. They observe that the combination of material particles produces animation. So, the external is scrutinised by the materialistic sciences.

But the idea propounded by intellectual people is that knowledge is eclipsed and obscured by the interception of ignorance (vivartavada i.e., wrong conception of things which deludes us in regard to the Truth). The background of time and space intercepts our visual range. Chinmatra or perfect knowledge is required in order to know what we are. This view is different from that of the materialists who want to establish all knowledge as identical with the background of our conceptions. One party thinks that the spirit comes out of these things by a process analogous to that of effervescence. The other party holds that knowledge is impeded by the material molecules that form the opaque mass which disturbs and prevents us from examining the entity. This gives rise to the conception of Immanence. There is an inner face in regard to which we are liable to be deluded by the operation of the external face.

In the first place, we should undertake to determine the nature of the self. We should know that we are eternal. Had our life been of a few days duration, our prospects would be very dark, indeed. It is the idea of the Semites that this is the only life we have. According to them, the conception of metempsychosis is a hallucination to dissuade us from the immediate necessity of learning the Absolute Truth.

The empiric truth is to be carefully distinguished from the Absolute. It is analogous to the distinction between the glow-worm and fire or between the mirage and water. The outward feature is not to be trusted. Lime-water outwardly resembles milk. The apparent face is not identical with the Immanence, the soul or the substratum. In determining the self it is necessary to find our real position. Are we products of material things? Are we the Oversoul? This problem requires to be solved as we shall leave the external body after a time.

When the question of 'Time' is brought forward we find that, we are eternal. When we attend to the problem of 'Knowledge' we find that our mixed ignorance cannot give us any relief. The soul should be blissful. We do not require unpleasant things. The external body and astral body do not serve our purpose. If they were our sole concern life would be troublesome and we would necessarily be pessimists. There is an optimistic view to oppose pessimism. If both are discarded we would know what we are. It would result in our considering that we are part and parcel of the Absolute liable to foreign invasion. Incorporation with the world requires to be severed for the realisation of our permanent situation.

Shri Krishna Chaitanya has told us that we are part and parcel of the "Tatastha - Shakti" (Marginal Potency) of the Absolute Who has got numerous potencies. These potencies are classifiable into departments. The human soul is situated in an intermediate position as distinct from the Bahiranga-Shakti (External Potency) which is perishable and that Antaranga-Shakti (Internal Potency) which is eternal. The external potency offers the reflected intercepted view of the Activities of the Absolute. This supplements the system of Vishistadvaita (Distinctive Monism) or rather that system is given some additional knowledge by the introduction of the Tatastha-Shakti (Marginal Potency).

We are not substratum. Had we been part and parcel of Godhead there would be no misery. As we are realists we cannot think that we should turn idealist, that we should suppose everything to be simply a deluding feature and that observed objects are nothing but delusions and that we should consider ourselves to be the Oversoul. But it is not so. We are not the substance. We are potency. The position of the Jiva is a part of the Tatastha-shakti (Marginal Potency) that can enjoy, cease to enjoy and go back to his original position. In the devotional mood he can offer his services to the Absolute instead of picking up servants from this world which is the plight of the deceptive brain. These are but baits and traps and will not lead us to the Absolute. We are not part and parcel of the substantive entity Godhead but of His Tatastha-Shakti to serve the Absolute. The determination of the self will lead us to that very thing.

We should attain first to this, that we are in need of receiving the Divine boon, our own boon of the self. As we are now in the human frame, we can have the opportunity of knowing the face of transcendence. Inanimate beings are not known as sentient. They are deprived of the function of audition of the transcendental Sounds. We cannot communicate to them all that we are in need of in future. But since we have got a human life, we are in a predicament that allows us to hear through the medium of transcendental Sound a good response to our desire for the best thing that one could crave.

We have experienced finitude in our previous birth and in this life too by our empirical activities. We have come across many things and we have come to the conclusion that we should seek for the best; and, in order to do so, we are called upon to pay sufficient attention to our own acquisition, eternal acquisition; and this is based on the opportunity offered to us.

When we think that we are conditioned souls we always look at the outer side of our existence, that is, the external body we have; and then we come to inspect the inner aspect which we call our astral body; and both these come and go, so that they have no eternal references associated with us. But as our souls are eternal, we cannot consider that the futile external body as well as the internal temporal body are identical with the soul. They are incorporated later on by abuse of our independent will. When we abuse that free will, or when we show our diffidence to serve the Absolute, the Over-soul, we think we are to dominate our Nature and Natural Phenomena. But these things, so to say, have only a temporal level. The eternal self should never be considered as identical with the mind who is but an agent of the soul to meddle temporarily with the external world. We are but part and parcel of the Over-soul, that is, of Paramatma. We are all human souls. We must not become confused by the simile of the breaking of the jar, compared to the material bodys, and we should not come to the conclusion that we have no other situation but to be identical with the Over-soul. For that is not the case. We are measurable cavities like that of the pot. Simply by the breaking of the external frame, we cannot think that we will be turned immeasurable. We are decidedly always measurable things. This measurement or the very platform of finitude is quite sufficient for us not to consider ourselves to be the Oversoul. A finitude cannot consider that the very finiteness can ever claim that he is the Infinite. So, Shri Krishna Chaitanya has told us that in your entity you are no other than Karshnas, or Vaishnavas. You have no other eternal function than to serve Shri Krishna.

We require a solution for the various problems of our life. We are liable to be interrupted and troubled by foreign relations and potential discussions and also to meet different contending ideas and thoughts from outside. So we require Divine instruction for our purpose. We are assured by the song of the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna, "Sarvadharmaan parityajya" etc. ^[3] The essence of this declaration is 'Depend on Me'. "You will not have to repent for such submission. Whatever you have acquired up to this time, leave aside and come up to Me; I will dictate to you what course you should adopt". But lest we should not feel assured by this, and lest we should think that we are going to be deceived by such persuasive dictation and so try to follow some other source of instruction, Shri Krishna has already sung another song to assure us: Yehpyanya-devataa bhaktaa yajante ^[4]. The Lord says, "If you take the initiative to suggest a course you are liable to be instructed by such sources which will prove to be ineffective in the long run because I am immanent in the universe and there is no possibility of avoiding Me. I am the source of all existence. I am full of knowledge, I am endowed with the infinity of bliss". We can have no better instruction from elsewhere, which can give a more dependable and complete idea of the real goal. The whole thing, the exact entity, could not be realized if we took a course different from what Shri Krishna has dictated. Shri Krishna is the Fountainhead of all energies; all sorts of energies - even the opposite and conflicting energies - are stored in Him. He is "Akhilarasamritamoorty". We have heard His song, Ye yathaa Mam prapadante. ^[5] We are actuated by the influence of Rasa, We require pleasant sensation. But we should see that our particular predilection is directed to a definite purpose. Shri Krishna is the emporium of everything. In the Gita we are given a clearly marked and exact situation of the human soul and its relation to the phenomenal existence of His Prakriti. We have seen that there are two prakritis Para and Apara. Jivas are known as Para Prakriti. But Jivas, being infintesimally small, can come under the clutch of Apara Prakriti - can be overpowered by the deluding potency. Jivas can also dissociate themselves from this undesirable situation. How can this be? We have got the solution as to how to get rid of this shackle in the shloka Mameva ye prapadyante" etc. ^[6] By the use of the word "Mam" we see the object is singular - the personality is fixed. The Lord sings, "I can set you free from the clutches of the present activity of measuring things through the senses. I can show Myself fully to you when there will be no necessity of exercising your senses. I have set the engine of the three 'gunas' for the purpose of entrapping the less intelligent people. But when they listen to My dictation they see that they can easily manage to get rid of this trouble by submitting to Me, to Me alone." There is no other alternative for getting rid of our measuring temperament. We are now equipped with senses which are incapable of leading us to the Truth. We are liable to be deluded by the influence of Maya, and Maya is but a trap. If we want to avoid that trap, we are to submit to Him unconditionally. So 'Prapatti' is the essential thing which means full submission. We can exercise our senses but such exploits will not do any good to us in the long run unless we submit to Him leaving aside whatever we have acquired up to this time. We are simply to surrender to Him. When we simply depend on Him, He will give us such facilities as will enable us to make quick progress. We are assured that we need not take the empirical course through our senses. Though we have the inclination to acquire knowledge through our senses, our attempts are often frustrated. Our empirical activities often fail to make much progress, for we see that whatever we have acquired by our empiricism calls for more and more additions or subtractions when we pass along the rolling tide of time. We think we have acquired a good deal of knowledge in our thirtieth year, but soon we find that knowledge inadequate when we reach the fortieth year. Again if we live for ten years more, we will have to revise our knowledge again. In this way living for any number of years will not serve our purpose, it will not make us wise. We come to the inevitable conclusion that all sorts of empirical knowledge is quite useless for the purpose of gaining the whole truth. We should, therefore, be 'prapanna'. We should simply submit, and that submission should be attended with everything we have acquired. Whatever we have acquired must be given up considering that we will be helped by Him. But if we have no such confidence in Him, we cannot part with our acquired things. We will be making a sad mistake if we conjecture that the Lord, in the long run, may have nothing to confer on us, and that by giving up what we have acquired we will get into trouble. We forget that He is the Absolute. He is the emporium of everything. We need not be doubtful of His assurance that He will never fail us. We have got a free will which we can exercise. But we are not expected to imagine that we are independent. We are bound to accept that we are dependants. If we make a careful enquiry into the nature of phenomenal objects and sift them, we will fail to get anything which can give us that sort of satisfaction, relief and poise which the Fountain-head of all things can give us. So the Gita tells us that submission to the Supreme Authority, Shri Krishna, is the only thing wanted; and by such submission our desired ends will be fully and duly fulfilled. The question is how in spite of the measuring temperament which stands against our purpose that submission is to be effected.

After Sambandha comes Abhidheya which signifies how to reach our coveted place, what course one should adopt for the purpose of achieving our objects. That is Abhidheya, and Abhidheyas are a good deal in number. They are classed by some authorities as 64, by some as 9, and by some others as 5. Though there are multifarious courses to adopt by means of which we can love the All-love, the Absolute, these methods are classified into 64 or 9 or 5 divisions. Of the 64 divisions, 5 are the principal ones, and with these five divisions we are to deal. These are: (1) Bhagavata shravan, Bhatgavata Kirtana, Bhagavata Smaran, (2) Shri Hari's Anghri-Sevanam, (3) Mathuravas, (4) Satsanga, company of sadhus and (5) Shri Harinama Sankirtana.

Mathuravas implies having our eternal abode in Mathura, the holy place where all knowledge is permanent. Shri Harinama Sankirtana is chanting ceaselessly the Transcendental Name. Archan is done in 5, 16, and 64 upacharas for which purpose we are given some Archa in the form of Vigraha, (Painting, Figure or Icon) and we have to worship this Archa with some mantras. All material things are spiritualised by the influence of dedication. When we dedicate worldly things to the Object of our worship, we need not think that they have got any material value to be enjoyed by us. All sorts of mundane temporary associations have to be eliminated before anything can be offered to the Object of worship. This is called Bhutashuddhi. The Object of worship being spiritual, spiritual things are to be offered by a spiritual actor through spiritual activity. Material things are not welcome by the spirit and we should not bring any material thing before Him. If we do so, we would be considering Godhead as one of Nature's products, but that is not the case. He should not be considered as an object in the ordinary phenomena. All the objects of worldly phenomena serve our purpose, but Godhead is not an Object meant to serve us. He is the only Object of adoration, or worship, and all services are to be offered to Him. We should not demand anything from Him, even as we obtain cheques or notes which can be cashed at need in our Banks, for our purpose. He is not our servitor. It is we who are His eternal servitors, and we are to offer our service to Him without expectation of getting anything in return. If we demand anything in lieu of our services that would be considered as a bartering deal. When we got to a bania shop we get some articles for which we pay some price. That sort of transaction is out of place with the Absolute. With the non-Absolute we can have such transaction; but it is ridiculous to import such transactions in our association with the Absolute. Banik-vritti is not necessary. We should be always offering our services to Him and not receiving any service from Him. We are not to expect Godhead to serve us in any capacity. He need not come to us as worldly parents do. We find that such demands as Dhanam dehi, rupam dehi, jayam dehi, dvisho jahi etc." are made often by a class of people who style themselves as Shakteyas. Our prayers should not be to that end. We should not pray: "Give us this day our daily bread." We must not expect Godhead to attend to our call. Throughout the whole world we find such wrong ideas. Devotion should be our principal aim, and not karma or jnana. There is another injunction in the Sermon on the Mount, "Don't take God's name in vain". Yes, we should not take God's Name for the purpose of gaining some end. If we merely wish to serve Godhead and implore Him to receive our services, that would in no way infringe any such rules as were dictated by Christ. He has forbidden us to take God's Name in vain. That is true. We should not ask Him for anything just as we ask our suppliers to furnish things for our use. We have simply to submit. He is the best judge how to look after us. We do not know how good will come to us. We cannot examine the merits and demerits of things by our present acquisitions. It is not possible. We should always be ready to submit to Him unconditionally. All other ideas except this are not regarded as Bhakti by true religionists. In the Gita we find three divisions. The first six chapters are for karmins, the last six chapters are for the Jnaanins and the intermediate six chapters are for bhaktas. So the middle portion is the principal part of the book. The Karmakanda and Jnanankanda are not the real essence of the book, they are but its accessory paraphernalia and not its heart. So bhakti or devotion to Godhead should be the principal object of all religions. Bhakti should be considered nitya, that is permanent and constant. "The Supreme Lord is unconquerable." Our strenuous efforts or empirical knowledge cannot give us the facility of bringing Him within our sense-perception. The devotees have no faith in either of these processes, yet they can, by their devotion, manage to accommodate Him within their hearts. We are to throw off all exertions for acquiring knowledge, and leave aside all our explorations of knowledge. We should not mind giving up all that is not wanted. We need not pose ourselves as intellectual giants. But we should always be energetic in our devotional purpose. We are not to have any confidence in the two systems of karma and jnana, or accept the results derived by these two methods. We should be devotees. Aural reception should be sufficient for our purpose. We should hear from the lips of the adepts who are constantly busy in offering their services to the Absolute. They have the power to guide us into channels leading to the love of the All-Love.

The Absolute is ever ready to receive His servitors, and His servitors have no other engagement but to serve Him. Devotees do not think that they have any other course to be adopted. They need not have any other engagements. They are always engaged in pleasing their Master. There cannot be any difference of interest between the Master and His servitor, nor does it happen that when the Master is wanting one thing the servitor is supplying another thing. Whatever is wanted by the Master that should be supplied by the servitor, that constitutes real service. We should always be ready to serve according to the whims and predilections of the Master. This is devotion. It is not for us to offer to the Master anything according to our own taste, which may not have His approval. He is the Fountainhead of all potency. He is the Predominating Agent and we are the predominated agents. We have no other duty but to attend to the wishes of the master. Our duty should be to serve Him as a devoted spouse and not as husband. The Master should not be the spouse. The devotion to a single wife such as we find in society is not be applied always to the Transcendental. Sri Ramachandra has been restricted to one wife, whereas in the case of Shri Krishna there are millions of Gopis; but this love is on a Transcendental plane where Shri Krishna, the Supreme Autocrat rules over all souls. We need not restrict Him. He is the Proprietor of everything and everything is within His range. We need not put Him under the clutch of restriction as if He is Nature's product and not nature one of His products. We should always abide by the rules of civic discipline otherwise some restlessness or disturbance may arise in society. We are to remember such maxims as, "Do unto others what you wish others to do unto you" in the transactions with our friends. But the case is different in our relation to the Absolute. The Absolute lays claim to everything as Proprietor and therefore all properties are meant for His service only and not for the service of any one else. Since we are dependants, we should be restricted in every way, but we need not for this reason try to put restrictions on the Master. We have got some independence, but that independence should not be indulged in such a way as to restrict the Master. We are allowed some definite things for our purpose, whereas He has sway over all. So we must not think of Him as we do about His created beings. When the Absolute wants something, we are morally bound to offer our services to Him and to attend to His needs. If He thinks that He is the Husband, all should be His wives. The soul should attire her body according to the taste of her Husband; she should apparel herself in such a way as to please her Master. We are not to think that Godhead should be a predominated agent to serve our purpose. We cannot lord it over Him, We are not allowed to do so. We are incapable of doing so. Being infinitessimally small, we have not the power to have Him as our dependent. We ought not to think that He should be our parent and serve us, as we find our worldly parents doing from the beginning of our lives. We should serve and worship Bala Krishna, Child Krishna, as His parents. "I need not go through the Vedas, I need not read the dharmashastras and Mahabharata for the amelioration of my troubles. Let persons who are too much afraid of worldly troubles read Vedas and so on. I am not at all afraid of all these. I do not think that the pessimistic trend of my mind should engage me in reading these books. These are lifeless transactions. I want a living thing. I see that Nanda, as father, has got the privilege of nurturing and fostering Child Krishna from the very beginning. So it is better for me that I should have Nanda as my preceptor instead of all these Shastras." The Child Krishna is found to be crawling in the corridor of Nanda's house. I am also going to worship Him as His parent servitor. Therefore, the parent servitor should be my preceptor. I should not ask Him to be my friend, but instead, I should befriend Him, i.e., I should render my services to Him as a friend. I should also like to be termed as His confidential friend and not a reverential friend. Flatterers are used to flattering their masters posing themselves as friends. I should not be His flattering friend. I should like to be His confidential friend. I won't hesitate to offer Him any food which I have already tasted before to see whether it is relishable or not. If I find the food to be nice, then only shall I place it before the Supreme Lord, whereas our reverential friend would not allow such conduct which is quite contrary to ideas of the reverential worshippers of the Lord. Even Shri Ramanuja followed the rules of reverential worship. But Shri Krishna Chaitanya has told us that we should be His confidential friends instead of posing ourselves as friends in a reverential mood. The reverential mood puts a sort of screen before us. Shaanta-rati is the neutral mood. The Absolute has the right of receiving the different services rendered by His servitors. The Lord says, "He is ever ready to receive service from His servitors in whatever manner it is offered.'

Ordinary people do not understand what religion is. Most people injure the cause of service, excepting the school of Devotion. Jnanins want to merge in the Personality of Godhead. Buddhists think that they can get rid of all miseries by annihilating themselves. Henotheists think that they will, in the long run, reach a state where there is no manifestive or designative feature. Devotees call such people non-devotees, atheists, sceptics, etc. There are Karmins or Karma-virs who are capable of doing many things. They declare they have got a definite object for which they work, otherwise they would be called frantic or mad people. They are all wage-earners or contractors, and do their work in order to get something in return. Agnostics on the other hand do not trouble themselves with such things; they want to lose themselves, they want to commit suicide. These people are not devotees. The idea of a devotee is quite different from the ordinary idea of men in general. The devotional school is always looking after the interest of the Absolute. They do not class themselves as Karmakandins or Jananakandins - they do not join these two parties. They are quite different.

We all should aspire to be Mathura people. We should have a proper conception of spiritual Mathura instead of the mundane Mathura which is the place of enjoyment of people with very low aspirations. Our Sahajiyaa brothers think that they can have access to Mathura by paying the railway fare. It is by surrendering ourselves to the Preceptor's Feet that we can have an abode in Mathura. Otherwise we cannot get an entrance into the transcendental region. We should approach the Guru Who will confer on us the eight things i.e., Name, Mantra, etc. The Name is the Transcendental Sound and Mantras are incantations. The Name is identical with the Namee. The Mantra is required in order to reach that situation in which the Name can be properly chanted. The son of Shachi is the Supreme Lord Himself. Damodar Swarup is the head of the Gaudiyas who are the transcendental servitors of Shri Krishna Chaitanya. Rupa and Sanatana were sent to Mathura by Shri Krishna Chaitanya to diffuse transcendental knowledge there. There are several Puris which can give salvation and among them Mathura is the most supreme. Gosthavati signifies the place where Shri Krishna was feeding His cows. (The sound "Go" has various meanings such as - Knowledge, the senses, the animal cow, etc.). Another holy spot is Radhakunda is a tank where Shri Krishna got rid of the sin He had incurred by killing a cow named Aristanemi. He killed Aristotelianism or the rationalistic process of reasoning of this imperfect world. When Krishna wanted to join hands with Radhika, Aristanemi came forward to disturb Him, because Radhika was thought by many people to be the wife of a milkman named Abhimanyu. This Aristanemi was the incarnation of mundane knowledge, and Krishna killed him, for that act He expiated by taking a dip in the Radhakunda. This kunda is the mental speculation of Radha. The eternal land of our abode should be Radhakunda. By the border of Radhakunda we should have our groves. There are millions of groves on the banks of Radhakunda.

This world is a perverted reflection of the original which is our real home. Instead of passing our time here, we want to go back to our eternal abode. We are now very busily engaged in pursuing pleasant sensations gained by our senses from the Phenomenal objects. We should make it a point to eradicate the root cause which has brought us to this world of delusion, apparent pleasures, miseries and troubles. The mind is the root of all evils and the root of all pleasure-seeking inclinations. So the mind should be subjugated first i.e., it should not be allowed to take initiative in anything. Ordinarily the mind controls our senses and the soul is lying in a dormant condition. The soul has delegated its power of transacting with the external world to the mind, and the mind has five ministers to help in the administration of the phenomenal world. But the mind is not a dutiful agent of the soul. It always tries to injure the interest of the soul. The soul has come down here and, while doing so, it has incorporated two envelopes, one subtle and the other gross. Consequently the soul is now in a drowsy condition. It cannot exactly compel the mind to look after its interest. At this crisis, the ever-merciful Lord Shri Krishna sends His messengers with the Transcendental Sound. This Transcendental Sound is meant to regulate the five senses which are engaged in a wrong way to foster the cause of the mind and to injure the cause of the eternal soul. So aural reception is the first thing we should seek from the Agent, the deputed Messenger from the transcendental plane. The transcendental Sound is transmitted through the lips of the Messenger in the shape of a Mantra and in the shape of the Name. The very Name of the Transcendent can regulate the senses. "Go on chanting the Name, constantly repeat the Transcendental Nomenclature, and you will find that energy is being injected into you. But this Name should come to you from a good source, from a transcendental source, and not from any mundane source. The name should not be confused with the other sounds of this world. The Transcendental Sound regulates the senses and does not submit to the senses for scrutiny. When the Supreme Lord Shri Chaitanya Deva met Shri Rupa at Allahabad, He first of all transmitted something into the entity of Shri Rupa which empowered him to receive the Transcendental Sounds from Him, and then He imparted those Transcendental Sounds to him with all explanations.

Mantra is the Name in the dative case. The Supreme Lord, being Adhokshaja, does not allow anybody to see Him. But people are impatient to see Him first, and that is a wrong process.

There cannot be more than one Guru. Guru is only one without a second. We should first of all make a searching enquiry throughout the world to single out the proper person from whom we can get the process for our adoption. We should rely on him fully and have our confidence (Shradha) in Him. He will dictate to us what sort of engagement or bhajan we should perform for the welfare of our souls. As a result of this engagement or Bhajanakriya, we will be set free from all sorts of troubles and all our acquisitions and empiric activities will be regulated. That is, all undesirable elements which have crept into our activities will be eliminated. This is called anartha-nivrithi. Then comes Nishthaa. We should resolve that we will not deviate from our only object which is to serve the Absolute, to be constantly attached to Him. We should have some sort of predilection or taste for our bhajanakriya, the continuity of which should not be disturbed. When we transcend Saadhan-bhakti, we are placed in the Bhaava-bhakti region where we will find that 'rati' is the cardinal point, the principal thing. When we were passing through Saadhan-bhakti, Shraddhaa was the index; here, in Bhaavabhakti, rati is the index. Rati has five different aspects, shaanta, daasya, sakhya, vaatsalya and madhura. Rati is the Medulla Oblongata or the substratum which lies between Saadhan-bhakti and bhaava-bhakti. Rati is supplied by four different ingredients known as vibhaava, anubhaava, saatvika, and saanchaari. Vibhaava includes aalambana and uddipana. In aalambana we find vishaya and aashraya. There is activity of vishaya for aashraya and of aashraya for vishaya. The Vishaya is one without second, but aashrayas there are many. Krishna is the only Vishaya, and Karshnas (devotees) are the ashrayas. Rati is associated with Vishaya and is developed by the influence of uddipana. When we designate ourselves as ashrayas, we have only one Vishaya Who is always eager to confer mercy on us, i.e., assign a proper engagement for us; at the same time we should have the same inclination to have connection with Vishaya. Anubhava is regulated bhava, just following vibhava. Then comes sattvika and sanchari. The former are eight in number and the latter thirty-three in number. Sattvika indicates ecstasy. The ecstatic or enlivened features of Sattvika are displayed, developed and nurtured by the 33 sanchari bhavas. So rati is associated with 4 ingredients vibhava, anubhava, sattvika and sanchari. When they are mixed up, we find a palatable drink, rasa. Rasa is formed by the composition of these four ingredients with rati. Then we come to prema-bhakti, where rasa is indicatory. In bhava-bhakti rati is the cardinal point. The Vishaya and the ashraya both drink this rasa. We have now come to prayojana-tattva. Ashrayas taste Krishna-rasa and Krishna tastes Ashraya-rasa. The development of bhava-bhakti leads to prema-bhakti, and in prema-bhakti we find rasa. People need not confuse chit-rasa with jara-rasa. Chit-rasa is tasted in a region where no imperfection can possibly reach. Jara-rasa, such as we find in stories like Nala-damayanti etc., should not be carried to that region. The domain of rasa is Bhagavata. The book is dedicated to rasikas and bhavukas and not to anybody else. Krishna-prema is the only prayojana or need. This is the final stage.

There are some people who with their hallucinative ideas think that bhoga should be the final goal, and there are some perverse people who think that tyaaga should be the final destination. But these ideals are not congenial for our propagatory work. We are not to confine ourselves to the ideas of bhogaor tyaaga. Parama-dharma is not temporary religion associated with the retention of temporary things. We must not think that Parama-dharma is on the same line with Itara-dharma. Parama-Dharma or Sanatana-dharma is meant for our eternal purpose. Our soul being eternal, this Sanatana-dharma is to be adopted, but not the pseudo-sanatana Dharma advocated by the karmins and jnanins. We should be very careful not to accept the agnosticism of the pantheists. We should also be careful not to accept the enjoying mood of the karma-kandins who are very eager to have us as followers of their gluttonous desires. So true devotion should be defined first. In order to do so, the second shloka of the Bhagavata reading "Dharmah projjhita- etc." has come to us. Projjhita means 'from which all pretensions have been uprooted'. Persons who have already transcended the mundane regions are known as sadhus, and the religion of the sadhus is inculcated in the Bhagavata. Matsarata is the combination of the five obstacles viz., Kaama, Krodha, Lobha, Mada and Moha. By indulging in these passions we acquire matsarata (jealousy). Sadhus are free from jealousy. Vaastava -- Vastu means positive entity. We should have access to the positive entity and not the negative side of the dreamy representations of the objects. By the reverential study of the Bhagavata the threefold tapas (miseries) viz., aadhyaatmik, aadhidvik and aadhibhoutik, are completely eliminated.

Krishna-prema-rasa should be our desired end. We should be rasikas and bhaavukas and never become devoid of rasa.

If you are forgetful about rendering your service to Shri Krishna you will be denied the entire benefit and you will be compelled to walk the stage of this conditioned life. So the true duty of the mind is to associate itself with the Divine through the senses. We are now involved in our passionate senses and these senses are flying in different directions and are not concentrated on One. So there is deviation from the Absolute. By that deviation, we find hundreds of things appearing before us. They tempt us and we engage ourselves in rendering our services to them. When we are assured that the only duty of the soul is to render service to the Over-Soul and that the other incorporations are but temporal, we then decide that we should emerge clearly from out of these different engagements of the world that are placed before us. We come to understand that we are part and parcel of the Fountainhead, the Over-Soul, and though we are not the Substance itself we are fractional parts of one of the potencies. We are given to understand that in the transcendental region no foreign thing should be included and in this world we do not find the unalloyed position of transcendence. We get a mistaken idea when we consider ourselves to be part and parcel of this universe just adjuncts of this phenomenon in which we are now experiencing our conditioned life. We are now, rather enwrapped by the two wrappers; and these two wrappers are made up of matter and obstructing subtlety. So we run the risk of subscribing to the view of identifying ourselves with material phenomena, or, if we are more keen we find that we have got an astral body. We can be drawn to the Absolute from the limited concrete world and we can build up on these purified ideas of matter. So our duty should not be confined to the foreign wrappers associated with the foreign things only - I mean the material body which has got sense and these other equipments - and consider these equipments as meant to move towards abstract ideas from the concrete. But these ideas vary according to our fitness in empirical activity. These changes in phenomena apply to the external and internal bodies but not to the soul.

But we have got our own position in the intermediate land, that is, the land between 'Chit' and 'Achit'; and we call that plane 'Tatastha.' Some human souls are conditioned and some are liberated. Liberation is nothing but going back to the original position, that is offering our services to the Eternal Being, as we are eternal objects. If we want that we should come under the temporal clutch we may do so by enjoying this world which gives us happiness; but the normal condition of this world is full of miseries as all experienced men have observed. That very thing itself is puzzling. Why have we come to this place? It is so because we have exercised our free will to play on a particular level and we have been abusing our free will to turn 'Kartas.' In other words, we have taken an initiative to enjoy this world and we have thereby submitted to the trap, or rather to the laws, of Karma. We should think that we have had everything at our own risk, and only when we come to know from good counsel that the external body is misused by the association of this world and our internal body is misused by mental speculation or by meddling with these external phenomena, do we realise that our own entity is lying in a dormant condition inside that, and that if the interest of the soul is once generated in us, we will find that service of the Absolute is the eternal function of the soul and the only duty.

In our conditioned life we see here that we have got five different relationships. We trace these five relationships usually among our worldly associates, but some of us think we should extend them to the Divine, and so approach the Over-soul with a definite purpose of our own to please Him, to serve for Him, to render service to Him, that is, to place ourselves before Him, to attend to His eternal necessity and not to attend to our temporal seeming necessity. As elevationists, as Karmis, we require that happiness should come to us. As salvationists we think we should merge into the Absolute so that the fruit is to come to us personally, whereas we always deprive the Over-soul of having our services for Him. We do not give Him any opportunity to love us by our Karmakanda or Jnanakanda. We do not endow the Absolute with any privileges since we have a strong inclination only to acquire for ourselves something which we think will give us happiness for our sensuous purposes. All these phenomena come to us, and as soon as we come in contact with a real sage who can give us a true idea, a thorough idea of the position, we will at once adopt that process and thereby relieve ourselves of all notions of this conditioned life. When we are in need of having the counsel of an entity who is conversant with the thought of transcendence we seek his protection. Shri Krishna Chaitanya, as Jagadguru, has preached what we require and offered us the protection we require against the frivolity of the senses. "A man who is desirous of having the greatest boon should always utter the Name of the Transcendental Absolute, the Eternal Absolute, the Eternal Knowledge, the Eternal Bliss, the Ecstatic Bliss, the Complete, Who is called Hari." The very word Hari is the Transcendental Sound and this should never be confused with the ordinary conception of Allah, God, Brahman, Paramatma, etc., of different religions persuasions. The dictionaries have given us the connotation of these words and we are conversant with the objects for which the words stand.

They limit the same to a brief compass, instead of revealing the fullest aspect of the all-embracing Object of love. So Shri Krishna Chaitanya declared that if we wish to liberate, ourselves from these puzzling questions we should first hear from the lips of one who is conversant with transcendentalism the exposition of the Name of Hari. He will be quite eligible to chant the Name of Hari all the twenty-four hours of the day. He can have the privilege of uttering the Name of Hari for all time, if he can claim that he has the lowest and most humble position, instead of proudly proclaiming himself as Brahman, -- 'Aham Brahman' - and identifying himself with the All-Pervasive. If it is found that he can endure any amount of trouble that may be offered by some inimical agencies, that he can have the patience to cross all sorts of obstales [sic] placed by everybody, and if he is at the same time found to be in the mood of uttering the Name (the Name being identical with Hari Himself), that uttering of the Name would lead him to consider himself as the humblest of all; and in this predicament he will see clearly the way to bliss, being set free from all earthly bonds. He will then surely find his way to ignore all non-Absolute things that seem to enrich but really impoverish him.

He should always be considering himself as the lowliest and most infinitesimal, and desist from participating in material activities or in some other mental processes that may be induced by Nature's productions. He should consider himself a non-entity in this mundane world. If he considers that he has something to do with this world and is in need of this world's acquisitions in the shape of intelligence or in the shape of some material objects such as land etc., he would be a failure in his transcendental march. But if a devotee knows his position well, he should not aspire to be great in the estimation of all the people in this world. He should simply ignore the opinion, good or bad of other people. He should patiently receive all that comes to him. He might be called a fool or he might be called an incompetent man. Still he should not show any aggressiveness to resist such insinuations. In this manner the soul is called upon to utter the Name of Krishna first. He should hear the Name of Krishna first. He should hear the Name of Krishna from an unconditioned soul who has no attachment whatsoever to the world. His model would be sufficient to follow and he will then come to know that chanting is possible for the soul all the twenty-four hours of the day without utilizing a single second for any other purpose. If he is found to be impatient, if he is found to be hankering after a position in this mundane world, he would become a defaulter in chanting the Name of Hari, the Transcendental Being.

Krishna or Hari has got no mortal coil to come under worldly assessment as we have. He does not require any labour on our part, for chanting His Name with devotion involves no effort. So we should accept the views of Shri Krishna Chaitanya in our transcendental march, in preference to any other advice. The unalloyed soul should adopt a non-interfering policy both of the mind and of the body; and if we can thus isolate our position, we will find that we are relieved of all mundane anxieties in the shape of matter or in the subtle form of intelligence. Leaving aside these, the function of the soul is to take the Name of Krishna, as Krishna is the fullest representation of the Transcendence of the Absolute, of the ever-existing Divine Manifestation, and is All-Knowledge and All-Bliss.

He is Satchidananda, and that Satchidananda will prevail in us on our so welcoming the transcendental Word. If we are sincere He would come into our vision and we would easily discover Him. We must not be thinking that this material world is the full aspect of His manifestation, as our various senses cannot approach Him: our eyes cannot see Him, our nose cannot get the fragrance of His Body, the flowers that we offer cannot reach Him. We cannot relish Mahaprasadam if it has not been accepted by Him. In all that we do we must rely on Him as the Sole Enjoyer of everything and we are His subservients in every way. In the Gita Shri Krishna tells Arjuna this truth in the shloka beginning Yatkaroshi, Yadashnasi etc." ^[7]

As the Transcendental Name of Hari is identical with His Person in every respect, that Name Himself has all the attributes and every-thing connected with Hari; and as all are to be found in the Transcendental Name, we can safely follow in the footsteps of Shri Krishna Chaitanya. Whatever we desire we get from His Name. No ignorance can be ascribed to Him. He is enriched with all sorts of Rasa. Krishna Himself is full of all senses. He is embellished with all the Rasas required by His associates.

In the manifested world we find a thing which passes by the name of Rasa, which implies a relishing quality an object of taste. It is a perishable thing. But Rasa in Krishna is the emporium of all Rasas, in which all the five are included. We must not be under the impression that Rasa in Krishna's service is identical with the mundane Rasas which are inadequate and full of deformities. The Scriptures describe that Rasa of Krishna. In the beginning of the Bhagavatam this is what we find: Rasas are drinks which are relished by the soul's eternal senses and these have denominations different from those that are presented to us for a few hours or a few days. This worldly Rasa is not everlasting, But the eternal Rasa, which is not allied to any ignorance, presents no miserable face, no vanishing signs, like the Rasa of this mundane world, which have limitations imposed on them in order to give us to understand that even if we should amply rely on this spark here, we can go back to the higher Rasa if we are anxious to be eternal 'Rasikas'. Shri Krishna is 'Rasamaya' and we are to submit our loving service for the purpose of His tasting. We are to approach him not for our own enjoyment. These senses are really means for such enjoyment as should go to Him. We see all sorts of manifestations in Him, and the direction of perverted Rasas should be corrected so as to go back to Him and not merely end with us. We should always place ourselves in a serving mood, we should always welcome the Name of Krishna and bend our speech, thoughts and actions towards His services. On the other hand, if we desire to enjoy the Rasa ourselves through the medium of Krishna, that would simply degrade us to the lowest ditch of selfishness in which we assume the part of enjoyers of something worldly, but we are surely deprived of perfect Rasa. This Rasa in which we usually indulge is never expected to continue, as the components are of a trival [sic] nature. Whereas Krishna is 'Rasamritamoorti,' and if we depend upon that Ocean of eternal Rasa, we can look forward to give Him all facilities to enjoy our spiritual eternal activities. Enjoying Rasa from an appetite of the senses would only lead us to dealings with inanimate or transitory things. When we extract some Rasa from dependent objects then that Rasa can never be our continued companion. That Rasa would simply desert us, and we will have no satisfaction as we will only be tantalising our poor senses. But Shri Krishna is not likely to delude us by allowing us to keep our affinity for something else.

He is a Spiritual Being and not an Achit, insentient. He has not only to enjoy Rasa but He is full of Rasa. And if we want to be in touch with eternal Rasa, we have to become transcendental Rasikas. In case we seek for temporary Rasa we would receive Vi-rasa, perverted Rasa. Krishna has monopolised all real Rasas. He is the Fountainhead of all the Rasas. The Name is a very storehouse of all the Rasas which we should seek without making any difference between the name and the Object pointed out by the Name, unlike the differentiation we find in this temporal world. Krishna is identical with the word Hari, His Colour, His Size and the Attributes and Activities. Krishna is Himself Eternal. The Name of Krishna is Eternal, and does not mean any object of Nature's. Nature's phenomena have nothing to do with Krishna Who is not a transitory manifested view of this world. These are all temporary things and we must not be confusing the leela of Krishna with them. If we do so, such a conception would be erroneous, for we should refrain from mistaking the mundane thought for that of transcendence. We should make our position clear here. He is full in Himself. All sorts of activities are manifested in Him. He is the store of all. If we want to exercise our senses we resort to others' help. But in the case of Krishna it is quite different. He does not require any assistance from anybody. He is Nitya, Suddha, Poorna and Mukta in Himself; He is unconditioned. Nothing can wrap Him. This talk of Krishna, His Name, the Transcendental Name, is identical with Krishna but that is not the case with other things than Krishna. When we name something of this world we necessarily give the opportunity of examining its validity by different senses. The taste, smell, sign and perceptions offer to examine the personalities of things. But Krishna does not require such examination as He is not an Object of sensual jurisdiction. He is the Autocrat. He does not care to be helped by us.

So the ordinary name, that is a name which does not mean Krishna, has got a different significance. We must not bring all names of different gods, men, lower creation and insentient objects which are under the deluding influence of Maya in the same category as that of the Absolute Krishna. We would be very foolish if we considered that the Name Krishna is but a word in our vocabulary and that Name was given to a hero only whose deeds were recorded in history. This is not the case with the Transcendental Name which history and other mundane subjects cannot possibly comprehend. The Name is completely identical with Krishna, the Divine Personality. So His Name is not different from Krishna Himself, as such difference can stick to temporal and limited objects only.

In the iron age of materialism people are very fond of speaking of the relativity of knowledge, and by their empiric argumentative powers they hasten to classify everything under motion and matter. If only we utter the Name of Krishna every contending phase would be transformed into harmony and we would get perfect concord. But we do not chant the Name of Krishna leaving aside all that is detrimental to the chanting. So, being in an atmosphere surcharged with erroneous impressions, we cannot expect at the very outset to utter the Name properly without difficulty. We never welcome Krishna properly by uttering His Name; in the course of the chanting hundreds of irrelevant things intervene owing to our uncontrolled desires.

We are full of many mundane impressions; so we have to guard ourselves against those ten offences that should not be committed during the chanting of the Name of Hari. Without getting rid of the ten offences we cannot make any actual progress. Let us consider these offences in detail:

(1) If we show our affinity towards men who have thought that only the process of uttering the Name of Krishna will not do us any good; the preceptor or bonafide Sadhus being faulty, we would be committing the first offence. (2) The second offence will occur when we think that Krishna is not the only aspect of Hari and place some other name of delegated gods from our experience of this mundane world in the position of Krishna so that their names are installed instead of Krishna's Transcendental Name; this will be no doubt an offence. As the Word Krishna alone has the full denomination of the Divinity we seek, no other word can replace the word Krishna. All other words are shadowy and incomplete expressions of Krishna, whereas the Word Krishna can give us all Bliss in case we do not cripple our vision to witness the actual sight of Krishna. If we denounce this we would be committing the second offence. So we should be careful not to consider the Name of Krishna as on a level with the names of others. As the Word Krishna is enriched with all sorts of equipment, all sorts of attributes that are possible here, so in tracing the Fountainhead of everything, we are to resort to the Word Krishna and to no other word. The other words have got crippled meanings. The full significance of the Name Krishna cannot be obtained in our vision, if we neglect Him. The word Brahman cannot claim the full representation nor can the word 'Paramatman' or Oversoul, not to speak of some other concepts of men.

If we consider that curd is the same as milk it would be sheer folly. Milk has got quite another individuality. When the Word Krishna is substituted with some other we find some other conception of Godhead. The word 'Krishna' can give us the full impression of the Object of our love and worship but the word 'Rama' cannot give us the full aspects of Vishnu in all Rasas. All the different aspects of the Personalities of Krishna should not be considered to have all Rasas in them. He is void of all Gunas or qualities. So Satchidananda is the ever-existing, the All-Blissful and All-Knowledge. He accepts all who show a particular aptitude to serve Him. Leaving aside the Name of Krishna for the sake of other names of gods known as Brahma, Shankara etc. we find that we cannot get in them the same relation as we expect in Krishna, the Avatari. So this is an offence to the Name of Krishna.

I do not mean that the Name of Rama should be placed in the same category with other minor gods, and He too is Vishnu. In other words, Rama is Krishna, Rama is an Avatara of the Fountainhead of all Avataras whereas Krishna is Avatari the very Fountainhead. Only four partially obscured aspects are to be found in Rama Who does not possess all the different aspects which encourage different kinds of Rasikas. But that is a partial aspect of Krishna Who is the fully manifest Rasa. We should resort to Krishna for the full aspect. We cannot conceive that Rudra and other gods are full, when Hara (Rudra) is perceived only as the destroying agency assuming a disfigured vision of the Object. He is not the full object of our worship. Brahma and Rudra are evolutionary and dissolutionary agencies of the eternal Sustainer Vishnu Who has three potencies. Rudra, the energy of destruction, cannot be placed in the position of the Sustainer Vishnu. We should, therefore, dispel such erroneous impressions. He possesses only delegated power of Vishnu; but Vishnu is the Absolute entity. We must not be misled into committing this second offense.

(3) The Third offence is to show an apathetic mood towards the Guru. We must not neglect him. A man who thinks that he would lift himself up to the Absolute by his own attempts can never do so unless he accepts His favourite Counter-part, the Guru. The integrity of the entity should not be lost sight of when we get just a glimpse of the same through the Guru even as the existence of the Sun is only proved by the rays, but the rays themselves are not the sun complete. If a ray is asked 'Who are you?' then the ray will declare that he is the Sun. But if you ask again - 'Are you the whole of the Sun?' he will say in reply that he is only a part or pencil merely. So, infinitestimal that we are, the full knowledge has to come to us from the Fountainhead of Knowledge and is never secured here by our empirical activities. We must not be guided or induced by the knowledge of finitude of the phenomenal world. If we do so the result will be confined to the mundane horizon only and we would have no opportunity to go beyond this sphere. So we should always rely on the Scriptures and Guru whenever we seek for the transcendental message.

(4) Scriptures tell us many things of the transcendence to which we are debarred from having any access. We see all the horizon round us and we see half the sky when the bottom half is covered by the opaque earth. One quarter of the space is kept in front of us as we are not provided with eyes in our back, so three quarters are not visible to us at one time. So our arguments and our impressions, bearing on one quadrant only, are all necessarily partial. We must rely on the transcendental Sound of Scriptures which do not submit to our senses. We should not disregard the Scriptures as they are the only source of knowledge of the Absolute left for us.

(5) We know that we can get rid of all sorts of sins if we utter but once the Name. Having been assured of this fact, that one transcendental Name can relieve us of all sorts of sins done in this life and even those we have done in our past lives, we should not be encouraged to commit all kinds of wrongs in the hope that uttering the Name will efface them. The assurance that we can go on committing all sorts of wrongs will be the fifth offence and this offence would never be pardoned, inasmuch as it amounts to purposeful and deliberate meanness of intention. There are five other Offences left.

(6) If we think that other acts like ablution in sacred water, virtuous deeds like Yajna (Sacrificing rituals), may lead us to the same result as the chanting of the Name, then this becomes the sixth offence.

(7) If we allow mind wandering during the chanting of the Name we would be committing the seventh offence.

(8) The eighth offence is committed when we associate worldly affairs of our perverted ego or mentality with the uttering of the Name.

(9) The ninth offence would be committed when we consider the unique power attached to the utterance of the name as an exaggeration to induce us to submit to the process of singing.

(10) The tenth offence is to instruct Nama Bhajan to men who have no regard for Him.

These are the processes involved in our progress in devotional development. Eight different stages of a devotee are specified to make him acquainted with his progress. They are: -- (1) 'Sraddha' or confidence in the words of the Guru and the Shastras; (2) this reliance will encourage us to seek the company of the real Sadhus; (3) 'Sadhu-Sanga' or company of sadhus will lead to devotional activities; (4) such activities will have the effect of eliminating all evils associated with our wrong mentality. These four qualifications form the first division of the progrogressive [sic] stages of true devotion. Having gone through those we can earnestly and piously engage ourselves in Nama-sankirtana. Then follow the later four stages: the first stage is Nishthaa which is followed by Ruchi, and then by Aashakti and then our constant devotion is finally developed into Bhaava. Nishthaa is undeviating temper, Ruchi is predilection, Asakti denotes firm attachment and Bhaava is the blossomed state of Love whose distinguishing marks are Kshaanti, Abyarthakaalatva, Virakti, Maanashunyataa, Aashaabandha, Samutkaanthaa, Naamagaane-sadaa-ruchi, Aasaktistad-gunaakhyaane, Pritistad Vasati-sthale. In Bhava-bhakti we mark a composition of four ingredients with Rati. This mixture is known as Rasa or palatable drink. In this state we can set ourselves free from all mental speculations and we reach a plane where all sorts of good comes to us, to be relished in every way; and this can only be had, when we have a purified mind, free from any disturbance and absolutely peaceful. It is in this state that we are in full possession of Rasa. This state should not be confused with the worldly Rasa of sensuous enjoyment, as the enjoyment we are given in this world is temporal and inadequate. In the attainment of all this we should not, however, consider ourselves as identical with Him, but should surrender ourselves as His eternal servants. All the services that we are going to render to Him should be in His favour and interest and not in our favour or interest. When we chant His Name in this manner He will be on the look-out to regulate us and will automatically teach us the principle of Bhakti. The higher stage of Bhaava-Bhakti is known as Prema-Bhakti, or full Love of Krishna.

This love is the only thing to be sought from Krishna and He gives us all sorts of facilities by which we can offer our services to Him in any one of the five different stages. He has assured us firmly that He would accept us if we tend to submit to any one of the five. The only crucial point is that we should offer our services unconditionally so as to give something to our Lord and not to get something from the Lord. We should not have any desire ushering the devotional attempts and should not compel Him to give us something in return. If we have any the least touch of a selfish motive we will surely fail to prove ourselves genuine devotees. We should regulate ourselves in such a manner as to be always serviceable to Him and never desirous of getting from Him any boon or comfort in return. To get service from Him is to claim a part of the Enjoyer Krishna which is the greatest offence in a true devotee. So we should have a devotional temperament to Kamadeva (Madhava) and not the temperament of an enjoyer of this world. This is the true service to Him, which all unalloyed souls can do but which the mind cannot do properly when directed by wrong speculations. In fine I may say that we have many things to supplement these devotional topics by way of elucidating different ideas which are no doubt puzzling. The only thing that we should have is an unalloyed and unconditional devotional spirit which is quite different from the mentality of an elevationist or a salvationist. An unconditional devotional mood is the only function of the unalloyed soul. We should underline this cardinal point many times, and a full understanding of it will bring Prema for us from the Supreme Lord.

If you are not engaged in the service of Hari, you will be either a jnaani (follower of absolute monism), or a karmi (performer of scriptural rites for securing pleasures in this life or the next), or an unabashed servant of worldly desires without restraint.

Therefore, it is necessary that you should call on Him, loudly uttering the mahaamantra [sic] (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna etc). When you loudly recite Shri Krishna's Names, keeping count of the number of times they are uttered, all the evils are steadily got over; and lethargy vanishes with all its concomitant defects; and even people of an antagonistic nature, apathetic to Hari, will be forced to give up their mockery. "Those who come to scoff will remain to pray" with you.

FOOTNOTES

Published in The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani)

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
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