The Career and Teachings of the
Supreme Lord Sree Krishna-Chaitanya
by Sri Narayan Das Bhakti
Sadhukar
VIII. HISTORICAL
VAISHNAVISM
The Scope of History does not extend to
the transcendental for the simple reason that History deals exclusively with
the phenomena of this world. The historical view of any Divine event is, under
the circumstances, only that of the deluded soul under the thralldom of the
material Energy. It is not its business to deal with anything that is outside
the ordinary sensuous experience of men in general. Therefore, we cannot expect
modern historians, who are limited to the above view of their function, to
sympathize with, or even to consider seriously, the subject of this work as one
that belongs properly to their particular branch of knowledge. But in spite of
this purely secular attitude of modern historians they have been unable to rule
religion altogether out of their subject. There have been empiric historians
who have, in the spirit of specialists, without discarding the secular outlook
which it is really impossible for them to do without denying their avowed
function as investigators of a branch of empiric knowledge, attempted to
isolate and treat ‘exclusively’ of religious history. While professing all due
respect for their methods, without ignoring their necessary limitations, we
propose to employ their method, divested of unnecessary and hostile narrowness,
in this chapter, for the purpose of proving our proposition that the worship of
Vishnu as transcendental Godhead has been prevalent from time immemorial.
It is of course not possible to treat
exhaustively in the course of a short chapter a subject that is both large and,
by its nature, controversial. That effort must be reserved for a separate work.
I shall be content in this chapter with supplying a rough sketch of the account
of the worship of Vishnu as it has prevailed from the earliest times, on the
evidence supplied by the religious books directly, by the course of the
evolution of ritual and the activities of outstanding personalities.
The Rig-Veda is regarded on all hands as
being the oldest of the existing books. The worship of Vishnu is found
mentioned in the very first mantrams of
this work, which contain a reference to the Vamana (Dwarf) Avatara of Vishnu. The beginning of the compilation of the Rik mantrams may accordingly be considered
as at least subsequent to the Vamana Avatara. The subject of the ten Avataras
of Vishnu will be considered from another point of view in the next chapter.
The ten Avataras are mentioned everywhere in the following chronological order,
viz, (1) Matsya (Fish), (2) Kurma
(Tortoise), (3) Varaha (Boar), (4) Nrisimha (Man-Lion), (5) Vamana (Dwarf), (6)
Parasu-Rama, (7) Rama, (8) Balarama, (9) Buddha, and (10) Kalki. When the
Rig-Veda was being compiled the first five Avataras
of Vishnu had already taken place.
Objection may be taken to the above on
the ground that there is no mention of the other Avataras in the Rig-Veda,
which are mentioned only in the Puranas which are subsequent to the Vedic
period.
The Puranas assumed their present form
long after the compilation of the Rig-Veda. But the original Purannas were
written in very old Brahmi which has survived in the language of the mantrams that have been preserved in the
Vedas while the original books themselves have disappeared completely. The
present Puranas which are in the Sanskrit language were written later and
replaced the older works from which much of their accounts was derived. Many of
the events recorded in the Puranas occurred in the pre-Vedic Age. This is well
known to the critical historians and the subject has been treated with ability
by an English scholar Pargiter, in his recent work ‘The ancient Indian
historical tradition’.
There is another striking point of
difference between the Vedas and the Puranas. The Vedas do not contain really
much matter that is of the nature of the supernatural. They refer to Natural
phenomena and display an almost exclusive attachment to mundane advantages in
their prayers to the various gods, who are regarded as presiding over the
different forces of physical Nature. This naturalistic or materialistic
character of the Vedic religion has been noticed by all Vedic scholars. The
singular absence of the really supernatural factor in the oldest existing
religious book of the world has not received sufficient critical attention. The
Puranas are full of the supernatural. To the so-called critical historian this
has always appeared as the special disqualification of the Puranas as a source
for sober history. But this feature
is capable of a very different and far more rational interpretation.
I have already mentioned that the worship
of Vishnu occurs in the Vedas along with that of the other gods. If we direct
our close attention to the character of the hymns of the Rig-Veda we would
notice a great difference between the hymns addressed to Vishnu and those
addressed to the other gods. All the hymns, without a single exception, that
are addressed to the other gods, are full of purely mundane expectations and
references. All the hymns, without a single exception, addressed to Vishnu are
absolutely free from all mundane
reference. The worship of Vishnu is absolutely pure. Vishnu alone is Infinite,
all the other gods are limited. Vishnu is also a personal God, as the other
gods. The finite gods are approachable by their worshippers by limited references.
But Vishnu is recognized as unapproachable by mundane reference.
As Vishnu was not available by esoteric
efforts, this led to the formulation of the worship of the other gods. Vishnu
was never a god of Nature. The other gods were gods of Nature. These formed, as
it were, the esoteric faces of Vishnu and were regarded by their worshippers as
independent of Vishnu. From the earliest times the worship of these gods had
existed alongside the worship of Vishnu.
The Vedic religion viewed in this light
will appear to have been of the nature of a later reaction against the older
pure worship of Vishnu. It is, in fact, the first movement of the anti theistic
thought, of which we possess any written record.
This establishes the identity of Vishnu,
and the worship of Vishnu, of the Rig-Veda with the Vaishnavism of the Puranas
and of the present Age. This fact has been most clearly established by the
Vaishnava Acharyas, within the narrower historical period, from the time of Adi
Vishnuswami onwards.
An attempt was made in the subsequent
period to mix up the pure worship of Krishna with the other worships. This
attempt was exposed by the Vaishnava Acharyas who helped to restore from time
to time the pure eternal religion.
Historically speaking, therefore, the
anti-Vaishnavite thought is almost as old as the Vaishnavite, but not quite so
old.
The Vedic religion, which, in its
fruitive aspect, degenerated into ceremonialism and aimed solely at trivial
worldly advantages, led to a schism in the ranks of the anti-theists marked by
the rise of Buddhism. Gautama Buddha belonged to the sixth century B.C. Buddha
is directly anti-Vedic and himself belonged to the Vaishnavite school. But his
teaching was misunderstood by his atheistical followers who severed all connection
with the chain of the Avataras of Vishnu to which their Founder had belonged.
This explains the philosophical affinity of extant atheistical Buddhism with
the polytheism of the Vedas as expounded by Sankara, in spite of the
traditionally supposed opposition of Buddha to the Vedas.
The major portion of the Vedas,
therefore, constituting what is known technically as the Karma Kandiya part (i.e.
that portion which is devoted to fruitive activities), is polytheistic or, more
truly, anti-theistic. But its ritual was not exclusively its own. The Yajna. or
sacrifice was originally a form of Vaishnavite worship, but it was subsequently
adopted as the basis of the anti-theistic worship and in that form elaborated
into its later complex forms. But the Yajna itself was not the oldest form of
the Vishnuvite worship. The original form of the Vishnuvite worship was dhyana
(i.e. meditation corresponding to
solitary rationalistic worship the term means that mode which is established
through argument). This mode of worship is represented in its pure form by Astabakra.
It became mixed up with mundane references
in the later Hatha Yoga. But at first it was not so. It is the form of
worship that corresponds to the inactive or the meditative temper. This was the
earliest theistic form of worship. The Yajna,
‘sacrifice’ was the next stage and represents the active temper. The
institution of yajna developed into
that of archana or ritualistic
worship. The sankirtana propounded by Sree Chaitanya replaces archana as the final form of Vishnuvite
worship. This order of development is in accordance with the shloka of the Sreemad Bhagavatam
(XII-3-52, What is obtained in the Satya Age by means of dhyana, in the Treta Age
by yajna, in Dvapara by archana, may
be gained in the Kali Age by chanting
or kirtana of Hari.
The necessity for the preservation of the
older Puranas was probably less
imperatively felt after the composition of the Mahabharata in which were incorporated their principal contents in
a condensed form. The present Puranas derived
their accounts mainly from the Mahabharata,
with later embellishments and interpolations. The Mahabharata and the Puranas thus contain the oldest historical
tradition of India which is not in conformity with the extant portion of the
Vedas either as regards their narrative or their religious tenets. A group of Puranas is specially devoted to the
history and doctrines of Vaishnavism, which also appears more or less in all
the Puranas. In this history is found the supernatural
account of the numerous mundane Appearances (Avataras)
of Vishnu.
We have already stated that the hymns of
the Rig-Veda that are addressed to Vishnu, contain no mundane reference. Vishnu
is considered as being outside physical Nature. In the hymns He is also spoken
of as the Infinite and the Divinity in His fullness and perfection. As He
happens to be Infinite He is also to be worshipped not by any limited reference
but infinitely or by the fullness of His worshippers. But although Vishnu is
thus believed to have been situated beyond this universe, His occasional
‘descent’ or Avatara into this nether world, was also known to the Rishis of
the Rig-Veda. The fifth of the well-known ten Avataras of Vishnu, is actually
mentioned in several passages of the Rig-Veda. The Vamana Avatara of Vishnu appears
to be nearest to the Age of the Rig-Veda and might have preceded its
compilation by an interval of time which was sufficiently short to allow its
impression to persist in the memory of those who were not very keen regarding
His worship. Vamana is the last Avatara of Vishnu in the Satya Age.
The fact that the accounts of these Avataras of Vishnu that are found in the
Puranas, happen to be supernatural
need not prejudice us against their authenticity. Such a procedure will lead us
to taboo the Bible and the Koran and Sree Chaitanya Charitamrita and to court
the misfortune of leaving out of the consideration of history the substance of
religion or to misstate it as unhistorical, thereby condemning the subject of
History itself to the class of purely atheistical studies, and, therefore, fit
to be shunned as tainted by partisan bias against Godhead or even as a snare,
by all theistically disposed persons. History would indeed be incomplete,
unwholesome and meaningless if it left out the all-important subject and stunt
itself to the purely mundane aspect of our experience, under the untenable,
mischievous and atheistical plea of scientific necessity.
But the mundane and the spiritual should
of course be kept rigorously separate, as they really are so by their nature.
Mundane matters should certainly be represented as mundane. They should not be
allowed to pass in the name of the spiritual. This is the eternal line of demarcation
that separates the material from the spiritual, i.e., the temporary and the untrue from the eternal and the
absolutely True. If the office of the historian be to investigate into the Real
Truth he cannot possibly find Him if he rigorously confines himself to the
manipulation of untruth for his own particular satisfaction. By adopting such a
procedure he will fail in his duty towards his subject, towards himself and
others. Therefore, the very first thing which he ought to do is to abandon once
for all the so-called critical, or as it too often means, the sneering and
worldly, attitude towards the supernatural for the utterly foolish reason that
it does not obey those narrow canons gratuitously set up by himself and which
are inapplicable to the Truth by being willfully based on the principles of
limited space and time and an insatiable desire for the attainment of worldly
advantages.
If this reasonable attitude of our
natural partiality for the Real Truth, is adopted, our eyes would open of
themselves and begin to distinguish between the grain and the chaff in the
treatment of the history of the world. When the Vaishnava Acharyas declare that
the only way, in which the individual soul engrossed in the materialistic
outlook (bound jiva), can get rid of
his ignorance of the Real Truth Who alone matters, is the constant perusal,
listening to and contemplation of the supernatural Activities of the Descents (Avataras) of the Divinity, with faith
and reverence, they do not refer by these terms to the erroneous concoctions of
the human imagination but to the only history of the Divinity that is alone
true in the judgment of those who are acquainted with it, both by realization
in their life and by the study of the history
of the truth. The objection that what is supernatural cannot exist at all
under the conditions of time and space and, are, therefore, unreal and
fictitious, is also contradicted by the actual experience of mankind who have,
in the teeth of such objections, always believed in such happenings for the
sound reason that nothing should be impossible with Godhead.
Once the force of the above argument is
really admitted we are immediately relieved of the illogical bias that leads us
to declare that history does not prove that the supernatural had ever happened
at all. We should rather say that the supernatural never appeared as such to
the blinded vision of unbelievers who have always formed the majority, as they
do now, in this godless world. But such was the inexplicable force of those
very. supernatural events that their reality was admitted by the best, i.e., by unworldly and pure minds of all
Ages, and, on their authority, they have continued to be believed generally,
although crudely, by all overwhelming majority of the peoples of all subsequent
Ages.
The prejudice of the critical school is
due to its failure to distinguish between the supernatural and the unnatural or
anti natural. This has led to the adumbration of the doctrine of miracles. The
Divine law is never broken and is sufficiently capacious to accommodate within
itself with perfect consistency both the natural and the supernatural. Those
who suppose that they can detect a breach of the Law on the part of Godhead for
the purpose of convincing ( ?) unbelievers, are sadly deluded, indeed. The
supernatural happens to be supernatural because it is above or beyond the
natural or limited. Anything that is limited, whether it is called a ‘miracle’
or by any other name, cannot be anything but limited. And for this reason the
supernatural lies beyond our present limited understanding. The Avataras of
Vishnu belong to the category of the supernatural and cannot be perceived by
any of the senses or be apprehended by the materialized understanding if such
avatara or Vishnu's descent into the finite world takes place even before our
very eyes and in these days of the noon-day light (or darkness?) of almost
unqualified empiricism.
It is not the paucity of materials, which
exist and have existed in abundance from the remotest antiquity stored up in the
pages of the innumerable Scriptures, that is the difficulty of the historian of
theism. The difficulty is to convince the sophisticated reader regarding its
proper place in History.
Before the advent of Buddha the
Vaishnavite or theistic thought had already been recorded in a vast literature.
The older Puranas still existed and the Mahabharata had been recently compiled.
The Vedas in their Samhita portion could not avoid all reference to it and the Upanishads are altogether theistic,
containing, as they do, the rich harvest of the realizations of the Age of
contemplation. The Vaishnavite thought maintains its distinctive character in
the sutra period and the Grihya and Sautra sutras are full of Puranic
matter. These together with the Tapanis
and the Vedangas, which had their
theistic group of works, formed the source from which the Vaishnava Acharyas
have drawn their materials from the
third century B.C. onwards within the comparatively recent period of recorded
History.
The present classical Sanskrit language
came into use about four thousand years ago. It rendered obsolete the older
works and replaced them by books written in the new language.
Anti-Vishnuvite thought is as old as the
beginning of history. The Avataras of Vishnu are declared to have been due to
the prevalence of atheism. The portions of the Vedas devoted to the cult of
fruitive works, as we have already observed, belong to the anti-Vishnuvite
school under the garb of friendly co-existence. This is an ordinary and very
old rule. On the side of philosophy we find a continuous development of atheism
which runs parallel to the Vishnuvite thought and culminates in the atheistical
schools of the subsequent period under the garb of Scriptural sanction. This
mixing up of theism with atheism in the Scriptures themselves, is quite natural
and is due to the cunning of a group of intellectual atheists.
But within the atheistic camp this
caution was not observed by all. Buddha was opposed to the fruitive yajnas of the Vedas and was Himself a leading
Vishnuvite having been recognized as the ninth ,Avatara of Vishnu by the
theistic school. But his pseudo-followers, misunderstanding the anti-Vedic
attitude of their Master and by abusing the method of abstruse discussion which
He had employed against the sophists, drifted into nihilism which was by that
time a recognized body of opinion handed down by a regular chain of former
teachers. The active impulse which had produced the yajna form of worship was restated by Buddha to counteract its
abuse at the hands of the fruitive school of the Vedists, so as to include
ethical conduct. But Buddha’s followers separated ethics from its theistic
purpose and applied it in its purely mundane form to the attainment of a
negative spiritual result. This misunderstanding the active principle
underlying the method of worshipping Godhead by yajnas practiced by the early theists, by those who professed to
follow Buddha, was fraught with far-reaching consequences to humanity from the
effects of which the modern world is still grievously suffering.
Just as the intellectual distortion of
the principle underlying yajna led to
the atheistical ethics of the pseudo-Buddhists, a somewhat similar distortion
of the principle underlying Vishnuvite archana
led to the development of the cult of the Jains.
The archana
as the method of Divine worship was elaborated in the Agama consisting of its twenty-four Samhitas. The Vedas are in old Sanskrit and were for that reason
called the Nigama. The Agama was so named as having been written
in the then new language to
distinguish it from the Nigama. The
Vishnuvite Agama bears the name of Pancharatra . The Pancharatra contains the rules for the regulation of the spiritual
life of the Vaishnavas. These are the sattvika
Tantras. There are also rajasa and
tamasa Tantras.
The term Pancharatra means that
which contains knowledge about the five subjects, viz., tapa, pundra, nama,
mantram and worship. It is the sattvata
or Vishnuvite Tantra. The term Tantra, which means that which elaborates,
is ordinarily applied to the rajasa and tamasa
Tantras. The Pancharatra instructs regarding the application of
those theistic principles which are declared in the spiritual portion of the
Vedas, illustrated concretely in the narratives of the Puranas and collated in the Sutras.
All those are the extensions of the real Veda. If the Veda is conceived as a person
the Upanishads may be regarded as his intellect and the Vedangas as his different organs for the performance of his function (karmanga). The Vedangas are six in number, viz,
(1) Siksha, i.e., intonation, (2) Kalpa,
i.e., procedure, (3) Nirukta, i.e.,
dictionary, (4) Vyakarana, i.e., the
science of sound, (5) Jyotisha, i.e.,
astronomy including astrology dealing with space, time and direction, and (6) Chhandas. These furnished the starting
point of the various physical sciences of the subsequent rationalistic Age in
which there was a great advance in practical facilities of all kinds.
The aphoristic literature which took upon
itself the collation of the Vedangas,
led to the Grihya and Srauta sutras, the forerunners of the Pancharatra
or the Tantra literature.
The Dharmashastras
or Smritis belong to a later
period. The twenty Dharmashastras which
are also divided into the sattvika, rajasa and tamasa, are concerned with the regulation of the whole life of
individuals. The sattvika smritis, viz. , those of Vashista,
Harita, Vyasa, Parasara, Bharadvaja, Kasyapa, are categorically distinguished
from the rest. The clue to this distinction is furnished by such old shlokas as
state definitely the principle that the king possessed the authority to frame
laws for the regulation of the secular affairs of the people but had no power
over the Brahmanas and the Vaishnavas. "Sarvatraskha1itadesah
saptadwipaikadandadhrik Anyatra brahmanakuladanyatrachytagotratah
(Bk. 4XXI.12.) The rajasa and tamasa Dharmashastras were made by royal
authority and are of a miscellaneous and secular character. They had no
jurisdiction over the intellectual communities. The Dharmashastras do not belong to the class of revealed literature.
The Pancharatras bear the names of
persons to whom they were spoken by Narayana and are in the form of conversations
between Siva and Parvati.
The Pancharatra
s are thus an authoritative expansion and supplement of the Veda ( Truth or
Absolute knowledge ) in the same way as the Puranas.
There are very early statements
in the body of the technical Vedic literature itself to the effect that the Puranas are an integral part of the
revealed literature. Those passages have been pointed out by the later
Vishnuvite Acharyas. It is specifically stated in the Mahabharata and by Manu that the Veda should be supplemented by the
‘Itihasa’ (History) and the ‘Purana’. Because the Veda is supplemented by
the Purana, therefore the latter is
called ‘Purana’. The Ma.dhya1ndin Smriti classes
‘Itihasa’, and ‘Pu ra na’, with the Vedic
Samhitas, as forming the body of the revealed literature.
The principal .sattvata, i.e., theistic or Vishnuvite, Pancharatra or Tantric, works
are the Hayasirsha, Prahlada and, especially, Narada, Pancharatra. The names of
the six sattvata Puranas are Vishnu,
Narada, Bhagavata, Garuda, Padma and Varaha. The six rajasa Puranas are named
Brahmanda, Brahmavaivarta, Markandeya, Bhabishyat, Vamana and Brahma. The tamasa
Puranas are Matsya, Kurma, Linga,
Siva, Skanda and Agni. The sattvika Puranas
are stated to confer emancipation, the rajasa
lead to paradise, and the tamas to hell. This principle holds in regard to
the Tantras. The distinction between sattvika,
rajasika and tamasika shastras is also defined in another way. The sattvika shastras are those that
establish that Godhead is full of all the Qualities and is the Highest of all.
Those shastras that declare the
superiority of Brahma, Agni and Saraswati, are rajasika. Those that state the superiority of Siva and recommend
the Sivalingam as object of worship,
are tamasika Tantras. Sattvika
persons worship Vishnu, rajasika persons
Brahma and the tamasika worship Rudra
(vide Padma and Garuda Puranas). The
superiority of the sattvika Purana. is nowhere explicitly
challenged.
The position we have reached so far may
be summarized as follows. Godhead is the Divine Person who is supernatural,
supersensuous and situated beyond the utmost limits of empiric knowledge.
Knowledge is of two kinds, viz., (l) para, i.e., transcendental or absolute, and (2) apara, that is, non-final. Rik,
Saman, Yajus, Atharva and Siksha,
Kalpa, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Chhandas and
Jyotisha, etc., and all those branches of knowledge that follow these,
belong to the category of the apara-Vidya. But Godhead is never accessible to this
limiting knowledge which is subject to modification by time. The shastras in which the Unchangeable and
Absolute Entity is the subject-matter of investigation, belong to the category
of ‘para-Vidya’. The sattvata shastras belong to this class.
Thus theistic knowledge is found to be
present, only to a very slight extent, in the extant Vedic Samhitas and their adjective literature. The originals of those
parts of the Vedic works from which the sattvata Puranas once derived their theistic accounts have almost wholly
disappeared in course of time, having become obsolete, probably on account of
the Sanskritization of those works in the form of the present Purana Therefore,
the present Puranas, although they happen to he in modern garb, preserve the theistic
tradition, the Vedic or old linguistic sources of which are for some reason or
other not available to us at present. But the narratives contained in these Puranas
belong to a period that is also anterior to the period of the compilation of
the Rik Samhita by an immense interval of time Among the Sutra works we are
fortunate in possessing a few that are theistic, viz. those made by Sandilya, Bharadwaja and several other Rishis.
The Bhikshu Sutra and Karmandi Parasariya Sutra were written long before the Vyasa
Sutra. The bhakti sutras became
current at the time of the composition of the present sattvata Pancharatra works. The sattvata
sutras are composed in a way that is different from that of the rajasika and tamasika Tantras. The lines of thought designated as Bhagavata,
Vaishnava, Naishkarma, Baikhanasa, Pancharatrika, etc., were prevalent in the
pre-Vedic period. Thereafter, when ,the theistic thought suffered a partial
eclipse by the preponderance of philosophical schools that were addicted to
materialistic methods, the old theistic tradition was revived in the form of
the present Puranas.
The atheistic rationalism which
subsequently culminated in historical Buddhism, was already in existence as
early as the period of the Nrisingha and Vamana Avataras. Henotheism and
pantheism of the Vedic and cognate schools present the poly-theistic or
positive aspect of this line of thought which is negatively represented by
historical Buddhism and Jainism and later in a marked form, by Sankara who
recognized and clearly brought out the philosophical affinity between the two
branches of the same line of thought and thus re-established friendly
relationship between the two groups
This atheistical pseudo-rationalism in
its palmy days also coincided with the period of the triumphs of the Indian
intellect in the different fields of empiric knowledge. This would not appear
to be very- wonderful if we consider the present state of affairs in Europe.
The Protestant movement degenerated into commercialism and the almost exclusive
pursuit of material well-being which has given its secular tone to present
western society. Great material prosperity is not a necessary indication of
progress in spiritual science. Devotion to material facilities may be rewarded
by success which, if it be not controlled by a clear spiritual purpose, may be
of the nature of a nemesis to confirm the successful person and community in
their unspiritual course The salutary aim should be not merely to juxtapose the
two but to subordinate the material to the spiritual. This has never yet been
practically possible in the world.
Indian thought may be the subject of
study in both its theistic and atheistic aspects under which latter is
included, unfortunately, its secular systems. Those who lament that the absence
of material prosperity of India today is due to its exclusive spiritual
pre-occupation, may do well to take note of this. The theistic thought proper
cannot be subordinate to the aim of material improvement. The two do not equate
at all, being on different planes. A community that adopts the theistic course
will be purified in its morals, improved in unity, and direct all its energies
to those activities that are conducive to spiritual progress. It will be
contented and orderly in all its parts in as much as it will have a common
objective which is situated outside the limits of all clashing, temporary
interests. There should be no limited, conflicting interests in a community
regulated by the higher principle. Such a society will possess all the
requisites of spiritual well-being which will prevent it from being disturbed
by the operation of any unbridled disruptive ambitions of its constituent
units. The nature of the ideal of one universal community will become clearer
as the spiritual position itself clarifies in course of this narrative. It is,
however, necessary to guard against possible misconception at the outset in
view of current and deep-seated prejudices against religion for purely worldly
reasons.
The political greatness of Magadha
belongs to the Age of the progress of Indian empiric knowledge. The Puranas
lament the final corruption of politics in the hands of the ‘upstart’ kings of
Magadha who favoured the indiscriminate subordination of the spiritual to the
secular authority in defiance of the methods of the theistic periods. Under the
kings of the dynasties of Magadha Buddhism became the official and the
predominant religion of India. But India progressed materially. Secular
progress also characterized Indian society under the Gupta Emperors who
belonged officially to the henotheistic cult of panchopasana or the worship
of five principal gods, viz., Sakti,
the Sun, Ganapati, Siva and Vishnu.
This worship of five gods (panchopasana) is the religion of the large majority of the ‘Hindus’ of the present
day and requires a few words of comment as regards its origin and character and
its place in the general scheme of religious evolution.
This worship by the fivefold orthodox
Hindu community, corresponding to the five gods, viz., the Saktas, Sauras, Ganapatyas, Saivas, and henotheistic ( panchopasaka) Vaishnavas, has
prevailed in India from the remotest antiquity.
The tendencies of the human mind are of
two kinds, viz., (1) those that are
directed towards material objects, and (2) those that are turned towards the
highest good. From the first of these issue such activities as those undertaken
for the nourishment of the body, the building of a home, marriage, production
of offspring, the pursuit of different secular studies, the earning of wealth,
physical sciences, arts, government and the accumulation of merit by good
deeds, etc., etc. Many of these worldly activities of men are identical with
those of the lower animals; but the purposive utilitarian efforts of man are superior
to similar instinctive endeavours of the lower animals. But men, even although
they may carry on all efforts and acts conducive to worldly advantage, are
considered to be only two-legged animals unless they make an attempt to place
themselves under the guidance of their spiritual nature. The function of the
pure soul is the natural religion of all animate beings. In the natural state
the function that is proper to the soul is fully manifest. In the bound state
this natural function, or religion, is reduced to the form of ‘quest’ after the
highest good. The worldly activities already mentioned attain their fulfillment
only if they are performed in subordination to the spiritual purpose; otherwise
they fail to establish the highest position of man. Therefore, the first
appearance of the effort for the highest good, differentiating itself from the
exclusive pursuit of worldly interests, may be termed as a slight turning
toward Godhead. From this stage to the highest spiritual state there is all
infinity of gradations.
The Sakta
religion is the name of the search of Godhead in the material world. In
this religion material Nature is observed to be recognized as the supreme
Regulatrix of the world. The customs and practices that are enjoined in the Sakta
religion (dharma) are suitable for
the stage of slight Godwardness. In reward to worldly people who have not yet
begun to inquire after the highest good the customs recommended by the Sakta dharma may prove attractive and help to bring them over to the principle
of the summum bonum. The religion
that worships material energy is, indeed, the first spiritual effort of the
bound soul and is extremely beneficial for people situated at that stage.
When the Godward tendency has acquired
strength, in the second stage of advance, the superiority and efficacy of heat
among material objects being noticed, the Sun as the source of all heat is
accepted as the object of worship. This leads to the origin of the Saura cult.
Subsequently, when even heat also comes to be regarded as material and
lifeless, the principle of animation is recognized as superior to it and gives
rise to the worship of Ganapati, who represents the principle of animality.
This is the third stage. In the fourth stage, the pure human consciousness comes
to be worshipped as Siva and gives rise to the Saiva creed. In the fifth stage
appears the Vaishnava religion or the worship of the Supreme Soul as different
from the fractional soul of the individual.
The religion that seeks the highest good
is naturally divided into the above five grades. Therefore, in all countries
these five religions have been prevalent in the different periods under
different names. If we consider all the different religions that are current in
this and other countries they can be put under one or other of the above
classes. The Christian and Muhammedan bear a strong affinity to the Vaishnava
religion of the henotheistic (panchopasaka)
school. Buddhism and Jainism are similar to the Saiva cult. This is the
scientific explanation of the differences between the different religions.
Those who regard their own particular religion as the only true religion and
stigmatize other religions as irreligion or pseudo-religion, are disabled by
such prejudices from ascertaining ,the real Truth. As a matter of fact, having
regard to the different stages, the respective religions should be considered
as really different. But the religion that is natural to the soul is only one.
In the graded condition of humanity it is not the duty of those who look to the
essence of the matter to ignore this inevitable gradation of religion. In
undertaking this discussion of the natural religion of the proper self of all
animate beings we have no desire of withholding regard that is due to the
respective grades of the different religions, in their natural and scientific
order of precedence.
The eternal (sattvata) theistic function (Vaishnava dharma) is the only religion (dharma)
that is proper to the soul; or, in other words, it is the eternal religion of
all animation. But the Vaishnava religion that is found to exist in the
community which professes illusionism (mayavada)
is only a caricature of the religion of the pure soul. The so-called Vaishnava
religion of the henotheistic (panchopasaka)
school when it becomes free from mundane references, that is to say, from
illusionism (mayavada), thereby
attains to the nature of the eternal function (sattvata dharma). The distinction due to Dualism,
Dualistic-Dualistic-non-Dualism, Absolute Monism and Distinctive Monism,
professed respectively by the four theistic schools of the pure Vaishnavas, are
merely indicative of the diversified character of the Vaishnava thought itself.
This difference of school (sampradaya)
is not due to any real difference of
principle ,Mayavada is the one creed which is really opposed to
the principle of devotion. Those Vaishnavas who profess Mayavada are not theistic Vaishnavas at all.
The religious systems educed out of the
perception of physical Nature, always fortified themselves by reference to old
precedents and the Veda or the revealed Word. The philosophical systems which
assumed their regular form in the sutra period, elaborated in the commentaries,
furnished them with ready-made arguments, justifying their particular methods
of worship and doctrine. All these were interconnected by their unity of
outlook which was mundane and with the fruitive works and the gods and
goddesses of the karmakandiya
portions of the Veda and of the Tantras
that were not spiritual. This is the tangled web of the current religious ( ?)
life of India. It possesses an external appearance of being based upon the
general body of the Scriptures of this country although showing a variety of
faces that are by no means easily reconcilable with one another. Any systematic
friendly treatment of current Hinduism is the despair alike of historians and
philosophers. But in spite of their absurdities, their materialism which is
often frankly explicit and their want of internal homogeneity, they have always
impressed both outside and inside critics as presenting only the exterior or
the covering matter that hides the sterling truth lying buried underneath.
There are real grounds for such suspicion.
We have dealt elsewhere with the
non-theistical philosophical systems which arose during the sutra period or the beginning of the
rationalistic Age and also with the Buddhistic and Jain systems. The philosophy
of theism was collated in the Brahmana
sutra, known also as the Vedanta
sutra. The Brahmana sutra produced its commentators through the
agencies of both the theistic and non-theistic schools. The most famous, and
one of the earliest extant, commentary belonging to the latter class, is that
of Sankaracharya in which he expounds the Vedanta
sutra with wonderful dialectic skill to prove the exclusive monistic view.
Armed with this, Sankara, by appealing to the Authority of revealed theism,
succeeded in patching up an apparent reconciliation among all the warring non
theistic creeds by throwing over them the deceptive coating of Illusionism and
winning over even the followers of Buddhism, who had till then been openly
hostile to the Vedic tradition, within its roomy fold. Although the other rival
philosophical systems were not altogether driven out of the field and even
continued to inspire the various non-theistic creeds, the superior logic of the
system of Sankara secured more or less the approval of all non-theistic cults,
especially as it tolerated and supported the practices of all of them,
differing apparently only in regard to their methods in pursuance of the common
end to be attained by those methods.
The effective and uncompromising opponent
of Sankara was the Vishnuvite thought itself which could not be stamped out by Sankara.
The commentaries of Sankara were refuted by Sree Ramanuja and Madhvacharya who
re-stated the theistic position by carefully exposing the errors of Sankara and
laying bare his real object, which was different from his profession. Under the
guise of loyalty to the revealed Word (sruti)
Sankara proved even a greater enemy, on account of his profession of
loyalty, of the theistic thought which was the real philosophy of the revealed
Word, than even its open foes.
The Vishnuvite thought had been vigorously
reinforced by the compilation of the two great epics, viz., the Mahabharata a and
the Ramayana which in their present
forms contain a good deal of interpolated matter. The process which was in
progress, of rewriting in the new Sanskrit language the contents of the older
original books, furnished the opportunity, which was not missed by the
opponents of the theistic thought, of consciously. or unconsciously importing
into the Vishnuvite Narrative of the Epics a good deal of the thoughts and ideas
of the other creeds. The Mahabharta was
at once recognized by the Vishnuvite teacher as the text-book of their
religion. The significance of the Teachings and Activities of Sree Krishna was,
however, most fully and clearly brought out in Sreemad Bhagavat Purana which devoted itself exclusively to the task of
finally separating the grain from the chaff and presenting the history of
theism in its unadulterated and highest form of perfection embodied in the
Teachings and Activities of Sree Krishna. Sreemad Bhagavatam is the gathering up and the final and complete statement
of the theistic position successively revealed in course of the Ages.
There is a class of thinkers, who without
belonging to the school of successively heard transcendental sound, affect to
value a religion in proportion to the antiquity of its origin. Revelation,
according to such people, even if it were admitted as a true fact, by way of
argument, could have taken place only in very remote times or at the very
beginning of creation, and is, therefore, necessarily enshrined in the oldest (
?) of all the extant Scripture, viz.,
the Rik Samhita. On this ground they are not disposed to regard as belonging to
the class of revealed Scriptures any works that in their estimation appear to
belong to an Age later than the Vedic. This view is directly opposed to such
statements as that the Rik Veda itself is outside ‘Brahma Vidya’ or ‘para
Vidya’, the knowledge of the Absolute. We have tried to explain the
significance of such and similar statements that refuse to let the Brahman as transcendental Sound to be
labeled, catalogued and finally closed in the manner that the physical
scientist would like to do according to his limited notions that refer
exclusively to the finite objects of this world. The ‘Word of God’ is not
anything that is capable of being limited by space and time. That is also the
reason why we are told that it is not possible for us to have any idea of Him
except by the process of revelation. That which is unrelated to this world
cannot be known by any kind of mundane reference, gross or subtle, physical or
mental. Such prejudices, which the impartial voice of logic emphatically
condemns, should be completely eradicated if we really want to acquire the
spiritual perspective proper.
The Puranas, in their spiritual
significance, are eternal. They are accordingly spoken of as appearing and
disappearing, in accordance with the strict logic of unadulterated theism. The
Age or country or person to which they choose to appear, does not in the least
affect their eternal character. They are neither old nor new but eternal, i.e., situated beyond the scope of past,
present and future. Unless this is remembered no one need pretend that he
really accepts, tentatively or even for the sake of argument, the logical
implications of theism. The esoteric side which alone is present to the view of
limited minds represents the misleading view of the Absolute. This esoteric
vision requires to be temporarily discarded in order to be able to loyally follow
a theistic narrative that is derived from unimpeachable sources and for that
reason alone entitled to such hearing from every one of us, for our own
benefit.
In the light of the above observations it
is possible to understand the meaning of those passages of the Scriptures that
try to define the position of Sreemad Bhagavatam
It is the only uncontaminated source of the revealed religion in its purity and
completeness, available to us. Sreemad Bhagavatam
is the explanation of the Brahma sutra; it settles the
significance of the Mahabharata; it is of the nature of the commentary of the
formula for delivering from worldliness (gayatri), the transcendental Sound Who
is, as it were, the germ of all knowledge regarding the Absolute; and is the
fulfillment of all the statements of the Vedas. ‘The substance of all the
philosophy of the Vedas is called Sreemad Bhagavatam.
Suka churned the butter from the curd of the four Vedas and Parikshit ate of
the same. After Sree Krishna returned to His own Abode the Sun in the shape of this Purana has arisen of
late for the enlightenment of the blinded souls of this Age of discord’ The
position of the Sreemad Bhagavatam as
being the premier among the sattvata Puranas is attested by various passages in
the different Puranas.
The historian who maybe obsessed by his
partiality for antiquity, being so wedded to the cult of time and space as to
be unable to live in the pure atmosphere that is free from those dark vapours
of this mundane world, should do well to take the help of those philosophers
who possess a longer vision than his and who may warn him against riding an old
error too hard as it is bound to expire in the process, if, indeed, it be his
purpose to preserve it for the particular benefit of nobody.
This is so as regards the so-called
historical position of Sreemad Bhagavatam.
The nature of the actual contents of this unique work cannot be indicated in a
few words. By the side of the revealed Word the Avataras of Vishnu constitute a
Source of transcendental knowledge forming the truly historical manifestation
of the Word of God. The Word of Godhead tells us about Godhead, His Activities,
Qualities, Abode and Servitors. The Avataras
are the descent of these into this world in a shape that is visible to all of
us in the forms of apparent mundane occurrences, by reason of the mundane
nature of our present vision. The revealed Word is explained and corroborated
by the narrative of the deeds of the Avataras. If the gayatri is comparable to
the first appearance of the bud, Sreemad Bhagavatam
is like the full-blown flower, being the inspired narrative of the successive
Avataras of Vishnu, culminating in the advent of Sree Krishna Himself, into
this world.
Sree Krishna Chaitanya’s career and
teaching offers the illustration of the Vaishnava religion in its highest
development. The sankirtana of
Krishna propounded by Sree Chaitanya is the highest form of worship of this
religion, being equivalent to the loving service of Sree Krishna, as practiced
by the milk-maids of Braja, the form itself being the method as well as the
object of this transcendental worship. The nature of these will be explained in
course of the narrative.
But we would avail of this opportunity to
ask the reader not to accept the current practices of the pseudo-followers of
Sree Chaitanya in Bengal and elsewhere as the religion taught by Sree
Chaitanya. We would also request him to forget what is offered in the pages of
certain modern writers as the so-called history
of the movement. Both are concoctions of the imaginations of people who are
themselves utterly ignorant of the transcendental nature of the spiritual
function. Such travesty of the Truth as is offered by the pseudo-Vaishnavas and
empiric writers, is the necessary consequence of attempting to practice and
explain the religion by worldly people, in as much as its nature cannot be
understood by the limited intelligence of persons leading a worldly life who
may give themselves out to be the followers of Sree Chaitanya or who may be
betrayed by their self-sufficiency born of utter ignorance to undertake to
write its history. We may quote again the dictum of Sree Chaitanya, which is so
apposite in this connection, viz. ‘no
one is fit to teach the religion who does not practice it himself.’
The psilanthropic (prakrita sahajia) cult
passing under the name of Vaishnavism, is allied to the practices of those who
follow the teaching of the tamasika
Tantras. This class of Tantras,
which had their zealous followers in the tracts of Chittagong (Chattograma), led in those parts to the
practice of revolting sexual excesses in the name of religion, and from there
the contagion was carried to different parts of the country which also had
their own tamasika Tantrikas by whom they were welcomed. This feature
of decadent Buddhism is quite well known. The natural transcendental function (aprakrita sahaja dharma) that finds
expression in the genuine poems of Chandidas and Vidyapati, which were approved
by Sree Chaitanya, belongs to the category of unalloyed devotion to Godhead.
But those songs that now pass under the names of Vidyapati and Chandidas have
suffered interpolation and alteration in the hands of the sensualists of former
and present generations. The sensual feature is altogether absent from the
practices recommended by Sree Chaitanya both by His own conduct as well as by
His teachings. But many pseudo-sects that profess at the present day to be the
followers of Sree Chaitanya try to pass off the sensual cult as the religion of
pure love for Godhead taught by Sree Chaitanyadeva. The congregational chanting
(sankirtana) as performed by these
pseudo-Vaishnavas is nothing but a musical dissipation that falls in with their
other taste for unbridled sexuality. It will appear in its due place in this
narrative that the congregational chanting (sankirtana)
propounded by Sree Krishna-Chaitanya is something that is altogether different,
both as regards its method and object, from what now ordinarily passes under
its name. In the concluding chapter of this work we will return to the details
of the history and shall try to supply the reader with the real account of the
development of pseudo-sankirtana among the sensualists. The process of
misrepresenting the pure Vishnuvite religion by pseudo-followers and opponents
in the various forms of pseudo-Vaishnavism and non-Vaishnavism, which operated
with such signal consequences in the past, have not been less active during the
four centuries that have elapsed since the disappearance of Sree Chaitanya, to
obscure and misrepresent the religion of pure love for Godhead, taught and
practiced by Him.
The history of India, written too
exclusively by ethnologist and archaeologists, has left out of account the
factor that really matters, viz., the
substance of its spiritual culture which possesses a continuous and recoverable
history. Much work for the elucidation of the religious history of India has
been done by foreign empiric scholars whose judgment cannot, however, be relied
upon in essential matters which are doubly opposed to their experience and
local mode of life. The ‘Orion’ of Balgangadhar Tilak made a nearer approach to
the true method. But Tilak was swept off his legs by his association with
physical efforts, to the detriment of his intellectual and theological
speculations. Those who are sincerely anxious to work in the field of spiritual
culture must first of all get rid of all lesser considerations than the
Absolute Truth, both in their intellectual and worldly lives, as ‘he alone is
fit to be a teacher of the religion who also practices the same’.
The History of India of the pre-Christian
period is still enveloped in the darkness of obscurity. But from the mediaeval
period we are on firmer ground. There is no lack of materials from firsthand
informants in writing the life of Sree Chaitanya.
I shall conclude this chapter with a few
words of observation on the system of caste. Sree Chaitanya is wrongly supposed
to have been an opponent of the caste-system. As a matter of fact Sree
Chaitanya kept strictly aloof from secular society and politics. He never
encouraged social rupture in any form. Spiritual society, according to Sree
Chaitanya, is only camp-life. Theists alone are in a position to live such a
life. Sree Chaitanya called into Himself particular individuals from all ranks
of the then existing society. He formed the spiritual association of such
individuals. His householder-followers did not bring over the members of their
households, nor their relatives, into the religion. It is not a hereditary community
that can be formed on the spiritual basis. It was also, therefore, a
proselytizing religion in its external appearance. Several of its leading
Acharyas came from the lowest ranks of the orthodox society or even from
outside. Thakur Haridas was a Muhammedan by birth
The subject of ‘varna’ hinges on the
answer to the question ‘Who is Brahmana?’
There are numerous passages in the Scripture which contain a clear answer to
the question. There is a long discussion on this point in the Vajrasuchikopanishad which, after
rejecting for different reasons answers that identify the Brahmana with (1) the
individual soul himself, the physical body, (3) the species, (4) the cognitive
principle, (5) the principle of activity, arrives at the conclusion that the Brahmana is the possessor of certain
qualities. ‘He knows the real nature of the self and by reason of such
knowledge remains always free from any defects due to greed, anger, etc., is
possessed of equanimity and self-control, is uninfluenced by caprices, malice,
thirst, desire or infatuation, with mind unaffected by arrogance, egotism, etc.
This is the purpose of the Sruti, Smriti, Itihasa and the Puranas. No other
view of Brahmanaism tenable , In the Chanddogya Upanishad we have the
following, “Gautama said,, ‘Fairlooking one, to which lineage (gotra ) do you
belong?’ ” He answered, “I do not know to which gotra I belong. I asked my-
mother. she said to me, ‘In my youth in course of ministering to many persons,
as their servant, I begot you as my son. I do not really know to which gotra
you belong. My name is Jabala. Your name is Satyakama.’ I am thus Satyakama Jabala.”
To this Gautama replied, ‘Child, the truth which you have spoken cannot be
given out by any one who is not a Brahmana
. Therefore, are you Brahmana . I
accept you, good-looking one; collect the requisites for the performance of the
formal rites of the occasion. I will admit you as pupil for the study of the
Scriptures. ( I will invest you with the sacrificial thread of a Brahmana .) Do not fall away from the
truth.’ This attitude of Gautama is thus described in the Saman Samhita, ‘In a Brahmana straightforward sincerity
and in a Sudra crookedness
respectively, are to be found. Haridrumata Gautama by considering this
difference of quality bestowed on Satyakama the right of the Brahmana to study the Scriptures (upanayana), or purification by the gayatri.’
“ ‘We do not know whether we are Brahmanas
or non-Brahmana s,’ this doubt arose in the minds of the truth-loving Rishis” (text
of the Sruti quoted by Nilakantha). In the Geeta Sree Krishna says, “I have
created the four varnas in accordance with difference in the qualities and
works of different persons. Although I am the Lord, know Me as not the Creator
of those institutions.” That is to say, the institutions of ‘varna’ and ‘ashrama’ are created by
the deluding energy of Godhead Who in His proper Nature is indifferent to them.
In the Puranas and Mahabharata there
are long lists of persons who acquired the status of Brahmana s although they
were not born in Brahmana families.
The principle Underlying the institution is stated most clearly in a shloka of the .Mahabharata (Anusasana
parva, 143—50, 51) which may be rendered thus, ‘Birth, purificatory
ceremony, the study of the Vedas or descent,—none of these is the cause of the
status of the twiceborn; one’s disposition is the only cause. If a Sudra is
found to possess the proper disposition, he attains to the condition of the Brahmana ., This britta-Brahmanata, or Brahmana
hood by disposition, is the real principle underlying the division into .varnas, and is attested by numerous
passages that are to be found in all the Scriptures. While there is not a
single passage which declares that Brahmana
hood is due to birth alone, there are
other passages which declare the inevitable loss of the status of a Brahmana and lapse into that of a Sudra
with deterioration of disposition.
In the case of the Brahmana there are three births. The first of these is the seminal
birth on coming out of the womb of the mother. After the upanayana (bringing of the boy to the preceptor, i.e., entrance into pupilage for Vedic
studies) the second birth takes place; and, thereafter, on the attainment of
initiation into the sacrifice, the third birth occurs (Manu, 2/260). Thus there are three kinds of birth, viz., ( 1 ) seminal (shaukra), (2) through gayatri (savitrya), and (3) through
initiation (daikshya). This is
expressed by the word tribrit which
means these three kinds of birth. If a person, born in a Brahmana family, remaining ignorant of the Veda,
or the Truth regarding the Divinity, manifest extreme arrogance on the strength
of his possession of the sacrificial thread, by right of seminal birth, for
such sin that Brahmana is designated by the name of ‘animal’ ( pashu) (Atri Sarnhita, shloka 372).
According to Manu, 2/168, the twice-born who, without devoting himself to the
study of the Vedas, applies himself to other matters, becomes thereby a Sudra even during his lifetime with his
whole family. The Padma purana
defines the term Brahmana bruva (pseudo-Brahmana ). "The Brahmana who after undergoing
purification ( ?) by the tenfold samskara
does not perform either the eternal (nitya)
or adventitious (naiimittika)
functions, is called a ‘Brahmana -bruva’. That twice-born person who
having undergone niyama, brata and
all the samskaras does not yet
perform any of the duties enjoined by the Vedas, is a Brahmana -bruva (pseudo-Brahmana ). If a person, who has obtained purification (samskara) and the sacrificial thread, neglects the regular
performance of duties that are enjoined and does not study the Vedas, he is to
be considered a Brahmana -bruva (pseudo-Brahmana ). He who does not himself study the highest Veda-shastras nor teaches them to disciples,
although such a person may happen to possess the tenfold samskara (purification), is nevertheless a Brahmana bruva (pseudo-Brahmana ).” This is confirmed by Kulluka Bhatta in his remarks on Manu, 7-85, “the person born of a Brahmana family who, although devoid of the performance of the duties
proper for a Brahmana, passes himself
off as a Brahmana , is designated by
the term ‘Brahmana -bruva’ (pseudo-Brahmana ),” etc., etc.
The position is thus summed up in a shloka of the Sreemad Bhagavatam (7-11-35), ‘by- those signs
that have been enumerated, which indicate the respective varnas of men, the varna of
a person is to be settled.’ This is corroborated by Mahabharata, Santi parva, 189-8. The varna institution as found
in the Scriptures is an individualistic classification of man according to
disposition. The necessity for such institution is thus stated, ‘Divine Vishnu
is worshipped by a person who practices the functions (dharma) enjoined by the
institutions of varna and asrama.
There is no other way of pleasing Him than by such activities as are
enjoined by the institutions of varna and asrama. In the Satya Yuga
there was only one varna. The division into four varnas was made in the Treta Age.
In the Kali Age cannibals (rakshasas) are born in the Brahmana families for troubling those whose tenfold purification (samskara), pursuit of Vedic studies,
etc., have lost their vitality.’ Accordingly ‘as in the Kali Age Brahmanas by seminal birth do not possess any purity and
are like the Sudras they are not
purified by following the Vedic path. They are purified by the pancharatric method alone’. ‘Because
just as by some particular chemical process the bell-metal is transformed into
gold in the same way by the sattvata Tantric
diksha (elaborated spiritual initiation) every one is enabled to acquire the nature of a Bipra.’ The words of Digdarsini, quoted
by Sree Sanatana Goswami, declare that the status of a twice-born belongs to
all men after initiation.
Initiation (diksha) is of two kinds, viz.,
( I ) Vedic, and (2) in conformity with the Vedas. Of these the second is again
of two kinds, viz., (1) Pauranic, or (2) Pancharatric. The difference between them consists in this that the
Vedic diksha is the initiation of the duly purified twice-born considered
as a fit person for receiving spiritual enlightenment. The Pauranic diksha is initiation of an unfit person on the
assumption of fitness. The Pancharatric
diksha is the initiation of an unfit
person with the object of ensuring his fitness. Of these the Vedic initiation
is ruled out as inadmissible in the Kali Age.
Sree Haribhaktivilas gives the
preference to the Pancharatric (tantric)
diksha over the Pauranic. The diksha of Sudras formulated
by the smtartas, who belong to the
creed of the panchopasakas and who
favour exclusively the principle of seminal descent, is not entitled to be
called diksha in any sense. At the time of Sree Chaitanya the Pancharatric diksha alone was in use as the Panchopasaka (i.e., atheistic) smartas had not been able to obtain such a great influence over
society by that period as they have now. The subsequent disuse of the Pancharatric diksha by the so-called Vaishnava Acharyas of a
later day who were under the thumb of the smartas,
will be described in due course.
‘Diksha
is so called by savants well versed in the knowledge of the Divinity
because it confers the spiritual knowledge (i.e.,
the knowledge of one’s relationship with Godhead) and destroys sinfulness with
its root-cause.’ The upanayana corresponds
to matriculation or admission into the path of the true knowedge. the diksha
corresponds to graduation, i.e., the
actual attainment of the enlightened state, or, according to the Pancharatric method, its actual
attainment in the future if the conditions enjoined by the process are
fulfilled. One becomes a Brahmana on
the attainment of such knowledge. It is this spiritual status that is referred
to in such passages as in Brihad., 3-9-10, ‘Gargi, he who having known the
Divine Truth thereafter leaves this world is alone a Brahmana,’ and Brihad.,
4-4-21, ‘the intelligent Brahmana having
learnt about the Brahman from the Scriptures will endeavour to cultivate love
for Him,. Thereupon he is called Vaishnava, as being related to Vishnu. The
Vaishnava is thus higher than all the varnas.
The condition of the Brahmana is
included in and surpassed by that of the Vaishnava.
Britta-Brahmanata
(the status of the Brahmana
by disposition) is the condition precedent to the attainment of the
higher status of the Vaishnava or servant of Vishnu, in accordance with the
teaching of the Scriptures. The status of a Brahmana
resting on seminal birth alone is
nowhere mentioned in the Scriptures. One of the very first steps that is
required for the re-establishment of the spiritual (daiva) varnasrama institution is to make britta-Brahmanata the legal institution in order to ensure its
practical recognition as the genuine Scriptural institution by all communities
and the re-establishment of this proper gradation in the Vaishnava communities
(sampradayas). The form of britta-Brahmanata
is prevalent in the Ramanandi community. It is the basis of the arrangement
laid down in the Satkriyasaradipika.
The Brahmo
movement, which at one time applied itself to the reform of religion in Bengal,
has now become almost a purely social movement and has cut itself completely away from the revealed Scriptures. Its
founder Raja Rammohan Roy became latterly inclined towards mundane facilities.
It is such worldly considerations that also lie at the root of the subsequent
split in the Brahmo community. The
intellectual vigour which at one time distinguished the community has
practically left it and gone over to the Theosophists who are careful not to
commit themselves in spiritual matters to anything definite. The position of
the Theosophists is the intellectual counterpart of the social ideal of the Brahmos
to which the latter attach supreme importance. The Brahmos want to do away with
caste, as it stands in the way of mundane facilities. But organized society is
in every sense better than indiscriminate individualism. The Brahmo program
offers only the individualistic in place of the communal. All mundane systems
have their special defects. No real progress towards the spiritual state is
possible by the adoption of such a course. What is needed is not to ignore the
spiritual, and substitute in its place the material and worldly, but to
acknowledge the spiritual and try sincerely to follow its lead in arranging our
temporary affairs of this world.
The one method of attaining to the
spiritual is by listening to the history of Godhead Who frequently comes down
into this world in order, by His activities made visible to this world, to
afford the bound jivas the
opportunity of having the transcendental in the very- midst of the mundane.
Such history is necessarily unintelligible to the bound jiva and, therefore, it has to be listened to from the lips of sadhus
who can alone understand and properly expound it. By listening constantly to
the narrative of the transcendental pastimes of the Divinity recorded in the
Scriptures from the lips of sadhus who themselves live the spiritual life bound
jivas are enabled gradually to attain
to the consciousness of their real spiritual nature.
In the next chapter we intend accordingly
to present the reader with a brief explanatory account of the Descents (Avataras)
of Godhead. After one’s spiritual nature is freed from the delusions of this
material world he is in a position to understand what the service of Godhead
really means. The life of Sree Krishna Chaitanya Who is the living Embodiment
of the very highest form of service, cannot be really intelligible to bound jivas unless they are prepared to
undergo spiritual novitiate at the feet of real devotees in the manner
prescribed by the Word of Godhead and exemplified in all its stages, from its
first beginning to the highest development, in the life of Sree Krishna
Chaitanya. This is the truth of the life of Sree Chaitanya. It is indispensable
to the bound jiva to be properly acquainted with it if he is disposed to attain
to and continue in the state of the pure service of Godhead. The one thing
needful for us all is, therefore, to listen to the Divine history from the lips
of sadhus, to chant the same and to
act in strict conformity with its teaching after the manner taught by and
exemplified in the life of Sree Krishna Chaitanya.
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