670205 - Lecture CC Adi 07.39-47 - San Francisco

Lectures by Date, 1967

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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670205CC-SAN FRANCISCO - February 05, 1967 - 24:12 Minutes

Prabhupāda: . . . accustomed to follow the Vedic principles. Just like in Christian religion, those who do not follow the Bible, they are called heathens. Similarly, in Muslim, those who do not follow the Koran, they are called kafirs. Similarly, those who do not follow the Vedic principles, they are called nāstika or mlecchas. Nāstika means those who do not believe in the Vedic principles; they are called nāstika, atheist.

And those whose behavior is not very clean, they are called mlecchas. So in comparison to Hindu mode of living and others in the world, there is very great difference, social sanctity and personal sanctity. So therefore, the . . . formerly the mlecchas means the Muhammadan, because they are meat-eaters, they do not take bath daily and there are so many things.

So even those persons who were delivered by Lord Caitanya, but the author says that He could not deliver the Māyāvādī, the impersonalist sannyāsī. That means it was easier for Him to deliver the mlecchas, but it was difficult for Him to deliver the Māyāvādīs. In other words, the author is trying to place the position of the Māyāvādī sannyāsī less than the mlecchas. Less than the mlecchas.

So, sabe eḍāila mātra kāśīra māyāvādī (CC Adi 7.39). Māyāvādī means materialist. Māyā means this matter, and vādī means those who stick to this principle of material . . . so there are different kinds of materialists. Because we should always know that up to the point of intelligence, it is matter. First point is the senses, the gross. The grossest type of materialist is that they are addicted to sense gratification. So this is materialist. And above this, there are mental speculators. They are also materialists, because mind is matter.

So the sense gratifiers and the mental speculationist, and those who are trying to reach spiritual perfection by bodily exercise . . . because body is not at all spirit; it is matter. But by intellectually, by making proper adjustment . . . just the only benefit of such exercises is to concentrate the mind. The mind is very disturbed. So that is also materialist. That means jñānī, yogī and karmī.

Karmī means those who are working very hard day and night simply for sense gratification. That's all. They are called karmī. And jñānī means they are finding out solution by mental speculation. And yogī means they are trying to find out spiritual salvation by bodily exercises. They are all, in strict sense, they are all materialist.

There is no question of spiritualist. Spiritualism there where one understands that what is the constitutional position of spirit and act according to that. Therefore bhakti, this devotional service, is only spiritualism, because those who are devotees, they know that they are eternally part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, and therefore to be engaged in transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord is spiritualism. So:

vṛndāvana yāite prabhu rahilā kāśīte

māyāvādī-gaṇa tāṅre lāgila nindite

(CC Adi 7.40)

Māyāvādī . . . the followers of Śaṅkara's school, they are generally called Māyāvādī. And another Māyāvādī are called the Buddhist. In the Kāśī, in Benares, there were two kinds of Māyāvādīs. One kind of Māyāvādī, the Buddhist, they have got still Sarnath. Buddhists temples there are, because Lord Buddha, he started his meditation near Gayā at about hundred miles off from Benares. Then his disciples established monasteries near Kāśī, because Benares is well-known sacred place since a very long time, so they also established there.

Formerly there was no such animosities between the Hindus and the Buddhists. They were practically on the same platform, but philosophically they were different. Just like the Māyāvādīs, the followers of Śaṅkarite, they are still Hindus. They are not out of it. Similarly, Buddhists also were considered as Hindu. But when Buddha religion was completely driven away from India's boundary, then now it is considered another sect. So the Kāśī Māyāvādī means both the Buddhist and the followers of Śaṅkarites.

sannyāsī ha-iyā kare gāyana nācana

nā kare vedānta-pāṭha kare saṅkīrtana

(CC Adi 7.41)

mūrkha sannyāsī nija-dharma nāhi jāne

bhāvuka ha-iyā phere bhāvukera sane

(CC Adi 7.42)

So when Lord Caitanya was living at Benares, on His way to Vṛndāvana . . . not . . . he never made His headquarter anywhere else except Jagannātha Purī. Even Benares . . . he was worshiper of Vṛndāvana, but He did not make His headquarter at Vṛndāvana. So when on His way to Vṛndāvana He stopped at Benares and was staying at Candraśekhara's house, and He was taking His meals at the house of Tapana Miśra.

So when He was passing—because His only propaganda was Hare Kṛṣṇa, just we are doing—so when He was passing on the road, all the people joined. All the people. It is . . . it has got so attraction, even nonsignificant persons like us, when we chant, it attracts people, and what to speak of Lord Caitanya? He is personally chanting. So it attracted many people. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu within three, four days became very famous man, and everyone began to say: "Oh, from Bengal, nice sannyāsī, beautiful sannyāsī, a young sannyāsī has come, and He is chanting and dancing, and people are very much attached to Him." In this way there was some propaganda in the city.

But the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, they could not tolerate. They were, I mean to say, backbiting. What they were saying? "Oh, here is a sannyāsī, and He's dancing." According to Māyāvāda sannyāsa, this dancing and singing is forbidden. Forbidden. In Muhammadan religion also, dancing and singing is forbidden. I do not know what is there in the Bible, but I understand in the Bible there is saṅkīrtana allowed. I have asked our Kīrtanānanda to write some article, "Saṅkīrtana and Bible," because he is . . . he knows Bible very well than other members. So we shall see very nice how in Bible there is saṅkīrtana. The Muhammadan Koran, they do not . . . in some of their sections there is saṅkīrtana, not within the mosque, but without. Anyway . . .

So similarly, these Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, they also do not like singing and dancing. Of course, now they are stopping, finish. They are also taking now to this process of singing and dancing in India. So formerly they used to, I mean to say, decry. So sannyāsī ha-iyā kare nācana gāyana (CC Adi 7.41): "Oh, here is a sannyāsī. He is dancing and singing." Nā kare vedānta-śravaṇa: "He does not give His attention for studying Vedānta," kare saṅkīrtana, "and always engaged in Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa."

Mūrkha sannyāsī: "That means He has no knowledge. He has not studied all this Vedānta philosophy, and He's a nonsense. What He can do?" Sometimes we are considered a nonsense because we have no other stock except chanting. And actually, we have no stock except chanting. But why do we talk of philosophy? Because the fools want to talk of philosophy. Otherwise, there is no need of talking philosophy. Simply by chanting, everything is complete.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was showing this example, and other Māyāvādī sannyāsīs criticizing Him, "Oh, here is a . . . a foolish, is a," mean, "a illiterate sann . . ." Because there were many illiterate sannyāsī also in India. "Illiterate sannyāsī. He does not know how to execute . . ."

(aside) Oh, I have forgotten.

". . . how to execute the sannyāsa life. Therefore He's chanting and dancing." This sort of criticism was going on. Bhāvuka ha-iyā phere bhāvukera sane (CC Adi 7.42): "And there are other sentimentalist who are also equally foolish and ignorant. So therefore they are following this sannyāsī. "e saba śuniyā prabhu hāse mane mane: "When Lord Caitanya was being criticized in that way, He was smiling. He was smiling: 'What can I do?' " So:

e saba śuniyā prabhu hāse mane

upekṣā kariyā kāro nā kaila sambhāṣaṇe

(CC Adi 7.43)

He was very grave. "Oh, let them criticize. Let Me do My duty. That's all."

upekṣā kariyā kaila mathurā gamana

mathurā dekhiyā punaḥ kaila āgamana

(CC Adi 7.44)

So because He was busy at that time for visiting Vṛndāvana, so He did not take care of this, and He went, left Kāśī, or Benares, after three, four days and, er, although He was criticized, but He did not challenge. He went to Vṛndāvana.

kāśīte lekhaka śūdra-śrīcandraśekhara

tāṅra ghare rahilā prabhu svatantra īśvara

(CC Adi 7.45)

Now, at Benares He stayed, and in the house of Candraśekhara. Candraśekhara was not a brahmin, and a sannyāsī is not supposed to stay any place except in the house of a brahmin or in a temple. Otherwise, he is considered lower. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not care for all these formalities. He used to stay with Candraśekhara although he was not a brahmin—a śūdra, a laborer class, or little more than that. So why? Because He is completely independent, because He is Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa is taking the shape of a hog. Keśava dhṛta-śūkara-rūpa (Śrī Daśāvatāra-stotra 3). Hog is considered to be the lowest animal, because it eats stool. Just like in human society, those who are dog-eaters, they are considered the lowest of the human society, similarly, amongst the animals, the hog is considered to be the lowest of the animals, because it eats stool. But Kṛṣṇa took the appearance of a hog. That does not mean that Kṛṣṇa has become a hog. He is fully independent. And what sort of hog? That hog was covering practically half of the universe. It . . . He was so big.

And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is very nice explanation of the incarnation of hog. The . . . and They were being praised. The incarnation of hog was being praised from higher planets. The higher planets, three higher planets, they are resided by most pious men. They are called Janaloka, Tapoloka and Satyaloka. These three higher planets, they are considered to be the most pious place within this material world.

So they were praying, and when the incarnation of hog was sprinkling water by, I mean to say, shaking His body, and the sprinkle of the water was dropping in those three lokas, planets, and they were thinking themselves that, "We are becoming purified." Although they are considered to be the most pious and purified residents of this material world, still they prayed that "We are becoming purified."

So Kṛṣṇa or His devotee, they're independent. They are not under the rules and regulation of this material world. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu showed this example, that He was staying at a place which is considered abominable by other sannyāsīs. Kāśīte lekhaka śūdra-śrīcandraśekhara (CC Adi 7.45). Lekhaka śūdra means he was a clerk. Clerk. The clerk, clerical post, was offered to the śūdras, to the laborer class.

There was a strike in Calcutta of the clerks. Jardine and Skinner, an European firm, they had many jute . . . (indistinct) . . . and the clerks, I mean to say, made a strike. So when their, I mean to say, chief man met the manager, so, and asked that, "Whether you want to compromise with us?" the manager said: "No. I don't wish to compromise with you. I don't care for you, because you are educated laborer." He gave the title to the clerks, "educated laborer." So actually, in Hindu society, the clerks were called educated laborer. So here it is lekhaka śūdra. Lekhaka śūdra means clerk, but he's śūdra. Lekhaka śūdra śrīcandraśekhara, tāṅra ghare rahilā (CC Adi 7.45).

But spiritually there is no such distinction. We should always remember that materially, there may be higher, lower class. There is, always, in every society, in every country. But spiritually there is no such consideration. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's propaganda. He made Haridāsa Ṭhākura—he was a Muhammadan—as the spiritual master for saṅkīrtana, namācārya. And He picked up Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī, who were rejected by the Hindu society, and He made them gosvāmīs. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's peculiarity. And here also we see that a śūdra, a laborer class, a clerk, who is considered to be lower in the society, He was staying at his house.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu . . . and Rāmānanda Rāya, he was also a śūdra, and he was a householder and a politician, governor, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu took instruction from him. Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave him the preference of being a teacher. He was hesitating. Rāmānanda Rāya was hesitating, "Oh, Sir, You are sannyāsī, in the highest stage of āśrama, and You, in Your previous life You belonged to the brahmin sect. So You belong to the highest class, and I am a śūdra, I am householder and I am a politician. So how lower I am in comparison to You? And You are taking instruction from me, so I am feeling hesitation."

Caitanya Mahāprabhu said: "No, no. You don't feel hesitation." He enunciated:

kibā śūdra kibā vipra nyāsī kene naya

yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya

(CC Madhya 8.128)

"Never mind a man, whatever he is. He may be a laborer class, he may be a brahmin, or he may be a sannyāsī or he may be a householder. It doesn't matter. Anyone who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa, he is spiritual master. Anyone." That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's, I mean to, highest con . . . especially for the Hindu society. They have got so much caste distinction, lower and higher and this and that way.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu broke all these barriers. His simple process was: anyone who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he is welcome—he is the highest personality in the world. That was His proposal. So He did not care that, "What people will say that I am staying at a śūdra's place?" No.

tapana-miśrera ghare bhikṣā-nirvāhaṇa

sannyāsīra saṅge nāhi māne nimantraṇa

(CC Adi 7.46)

So He was staying with a śūdra, and He was taking His meal at another brahmin . . . He was also not sannyāsī, but he was a brahmin. So in this way He was staying at Benares.

sanātana gosāñi āsi' tāṅhāi mililā

tāṅra śikṣā lāgi' prabhu du-māsa rahilā

(CC Adi 7.47)

So this, this incidence is that Caitanya Mahāprabhu, first of all He visited Benares and went to Vṛndāvana. Then, while coming back, He stayed at Allahabad, Prayāg, for ten days for instructing Rūpa Gosvāmī. That we have already discussed. Now again He has come back to Benares. So He was staying at Candraśekhara's house, and He was taking His meals at Tapana Miśra's house. In the meantime, Sanātana Gosvāmī came to see Him.

Sanātana Gosvāmī , after retirement, he had many troubles. He was arrested by the Nawab because Nawab thought him that he was very important hand. "He has now . . . by sentiment, he's going to Caitanya." So he thought it wise to arrest him. And Sanātana Gosvāmī had some money, so he bribed the superintendent of jail, and he let him go away.

So with great difficulty he reached Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and he met Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Benares, and for two months he was instructed all the principles of devotional service and different incarnations. We have . . . some part of this Sanātana instruction, we have discussed. Again we shall discuss. So this Sanātana Gosvāmī met at Benares while Caitanya Mahāprabhu was returning back from Vṛndāvana. We shall discuss this point tomorrow.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)