»y »y TϪ TÁ{∫ÁWÁ{

T
\Æo:

THE

GAUDIYA
Spiritual Monthly

ú¿Áúu`YN˛oÆÁ §ÏÜÆÁ EåÁÃMoÀÆ uƒ ÆÁåΩ

“u∫é§uãá ƒÀoÏå: @ ÆsÁ“|™ÏúÆÏ`\o: @
™Ï™ÏqÏuß úu∫nÆÁTÁz uå§|ãá: Nw˛…mé§ãáz
ƒ{∫ÁSÆÊ ¢˛¡TÏN˛·Æoz @@˛ ÆÏMoÊ ƒ{∫ÁSÆ™ÏXÆoz @@

Vol. LIII JANUARY 2010 No. 5

MANGALÂCHARANAM

ƒtåzãtÏuƒuåu\|o≈∆∆y t∆áÁ tzƒ útÊ ú¿ú˘oz @

EuáN˛ÁÊ u»Æ™≈åÏozo∫ÁÊ oƒ N˛ÁªlÆuƒ\wu©ßoÊ uN˛ÆoΩ @@˛
O Deva, accepting defeat from Your moon-like Face, the moon
has taken shelter at Your Foot, dividing itself into ten parts (at the
ten toes). Thereby it is gaining in a high degree a much greater
beauty. This is due to a slight spread of Your grace.

-Sri Leelãshuka Bilvamangala

JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA 1

˛
 Pithy Precepts of Srila Prabhupâd
A comparative
study scrutiny would
certainly give us
knowledge of
additional qualities just
as we find in examining
ether etc., there is
augmentation by
successive additional
attributes to reach the
climax with the association of the five in
the solid representation. The Personality
of Godhead can only be made to accept
our unalloyed loving service through
Love alone and not by reverential
procedure. Shri Krishna being the very
Fountain-head of all resorts of Rasa, He is
ever prepared to welcome every servitor
wherever he may be and whatever his
serving procedure.
But if the Object is distorted like our
confusing Jehova with Moloch and Moloch
with Jehova, we would certainly miss the
kindly feelings of Krishna. This conception
of scrutinising such matters will lead us
astray from the true object. Our eternal
functions and activities if misdirected will
give us troubles and if we fail to determine
Krishna, Who is the Sole Attractor of the
unalloyed entities of souls, we will certainly
fail to apprehend the process inculcated by
Râmânanda. Our erroneous promulgation
will never enable us to get the best benefit
that can be had by us, if we fail to single
out the loving tenor towards Krishna against
Dharma, Artha, Kâma and Moksha, i.e.,
against the limited propensity of limited
elevation and salvation.
Râmânanda, being further asked to
subjoin the Fullest Reciprocity of Madhura
Rasa, proceeded to delineate the Counter
Reciprocal Moiety of the whole by fixing
2
2 THE GAUDIYA
the Object in Shri Râdhikâ. The highest
step of devotion is displayed in the
service of the Pair and in utilising the
full independence of the servitor to
espouse the cause of the Predominating
Aspect of the counterwhole by
associating oneself in Her company.
Râmânanda was found to describe the
situation of the Paraphernalia and the
transcendental duties congenial to the
confidential service of the attending maids
of Shri Râdhika which completed the full
narration of the manifestive position of the
Amorous Pair.
The exposition by Rai Râmânanda at
the behest of Sri Chaitanya deserves the
highest consideration. In effect he showed
that the devotees who are imbued with All-
Love and Who walk in the footsteps of the
spiritual maids of Vraja, alone attain to the
realm of Goloka. The different locations of
the devotees in Goloka according to the
respective differences in the nature of their
Rasa i.e., mellow quality, are settled by the
inconceivable power of Krishna.
The intellectualism of the sacred India
is associated with the importance of Vedânta
Philosophy which has been a much talked
of Subject among the erudite advocates of
transcendence. The derivation of the word
is traced to the highest pinnacle of spiritual
knowledge in the Holy Scriptures known as
the Vedas. The ontological views of the
Vedas build up mansion of the unalloyed
spirit purely based on transcendence beyond
phenomena. Later on the theme of Vedânta
has been cryptically presented in the form of
Aphorisms ascribed to have been written by
the greatest sage of India Krishna
Dwaipâyana Vedavyâsa, utilising all sorts of
rationalistic cosmological metaphysic.
JANUARY 2010
 Thus Spake Srila Âchâryadeva
So say Katha
1.2.23 and Mundaka
III.23. All mundane
learning is known in
the scripture as
‘Avidya’ (want of true
learning). Sruti
denounces this
‘avidya’ as leading the
blind to further
blindness. Katha
Upanishat (1.25) and Mundaka (1.2.8)
say “Those who are within the domain
of avidya, think themselves, to be wise
and very learned and they are misled round
several births like blind men guided by a
blind leader.” The next mantra in the form
says: “Life beyond these does not appear
to exist to a fool blinded by worldly
acquisition thinks that only this world is
true and that there is none other, and who
thus repeatedly comes under the clutches
of yama-raja who sends him to different
kinds of births according to the merits and
demerits of his acts”. Such people, as
Sruti again-says, cannot know the
existence of the super-soul which is not
realised by discourses, keen intelligence
and by much hearing or study. It is
accessible only to him whom the Lord
grace with favour and to such a one the
Lord reveals His Personality (Katha
1.2.23 and 3.2.3). Thus transcendental
wisdom can be had only by a devotee
who surrenders himself to God's Mercy.
In the panegyric of Brahma to Krishna
(Bh.X.14.29) we find: "O Lord, it is only
he who has been favoured with the
slightest grace of pair of Your Lotus Feet
that can know Your glory, but none else
that may make life-long researches."
It is the transcendental science
p
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
approachable only by the spiritualised
serviceful attitude moistened by sentiment
of love towards God. Knowledge without
this loving devotion towards the Almighty
is misleading as it leads the man to the
wrong directions. To acquire this God-
knowledge, (Brahma-vidya) the aspirant
is to approach, with submission to Guru
who will throw light on the mind of the
disciple about his own transcendental
realisation. One cannot be accepted as a
Guru if he is not blessed with the virtue of
Bhakti. Sri Chaitanya Mahâprabhu told
Râmânanda Roy:--
‘One who is spiritually endowed with
the Transcendental Love-lore of Sri
Krishna, the Lord of Love-Transcendent
is really worthy to become a Guru and it is
not at all to be weighed upon by his station
of life or birth in particular community.’
The worldly life is full of sorrows arising
from various difficulties, like that of walking
on foot over the sharp edge of a knife. "
Such working over the sharp edge of a
knife is not altogether impossible. Though
the possibility is after going through much m.
ado. Similarly the successful passing of
the worldly life is not, at all, possible
without the Brahma-Vidya. The Sâdhus,
having
,b transcendental knowledge, have
declared that the efficiency to stop the flow
of repeated births and deaths is acquirable
at the cost of tremendous effort. In other
words, it indicates that there is no way to
by-pass the cycle of repeated births and
deaths except by adopting the proper
method Brahma-Vidya.
There is no other way to know Him. n
The "Vedanta Sâr"says that man rushes to
T
water when his brain burns. Similarly the
man, afflicted by the worldly affairs like
3
 the sorrows of deaths and births, goes to a
Guru, who is well versed in the Vedas and
dedicated to Brahman. Sri Chaitanya
Charitâmrita says:-
"When Jivâtma, forgets Krishna, he is
.
encased in two coils of mayic bodies and
suffers from the worldly afflictions under the
influence of mâyâ. But running about in
this cycle of births and deaths , a fortunate
jivâ luckily may get by the grace of Guru
and Krishna, the Transcendental seed of the
Bhakti-creeper.
He is the good preceptor whose mind is
not distrubed, not only by the worldly
sorrows but also by the worldly elation. So
the Bhagavatam has added another epithet
to the preceptor namely, ‘Upasham-
âshrayam’, meaning thereby the Kâma-
krodha-lobha-moha-mada-mâtsarya
cannot create any disturbance in him mind.
Such Guru leads the disciple to the
proximity of the Bhagavân.
He is the Guru who is adept in the
tattwas, who has connection with the
God, who moves about in the
transcendental sphere (Adhokshaja
Kshetra) which is beyond the sphere of
the sense knowledge and also beyond the
sphere of the inductive knowledge.
What is ment by the word “Diksha”
civre
(initiation) ? According to the usual notion
and customary practice in our country
diksha means uttering some mantra by
the social Guru, to the ear of the disciple.

ALMANAC for the months of JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2010

15.01.2010 Fri Annualar Solar Eclipse. Starts at 9.35 a.m., ends at 3.38 p.m.
20.01.2010 Wed Vasanta Panchami. Advent of Sri Vishnupriyâ Devi, Appearance of
Srila Pundarika Vidyânidhi, Srila Raghunâtha Dâs Goswâmi, Srila
Raghunandana Thâkur, Disappearance of Srila Viswanâtha
Chakravorty Thâkur. Demise of Srimad Bhakti Vivek Bhârati
Maharâj. Saraswati Puja.
22.01.2010 Fri Advent of Srila Advaita Achârya. 302.9
24.01.2010 Sun Disappearance of Srila Madhvâchârya.
25.01.2010 Mon Disappearance of Srila Râmânujâchârya.
26.01.2010 Tue Bhaimi Ekâdashi and Advent of Lord Varâha Deva Fasting. Next
day Pârana between 6.24 and 10.01 a.m.
28.01.2010 Thu Sri Nityananda Trayodashi - Advent of Lord Sri Nityânanda
Fasting. Next day Pârana between 6.23 and 10.01 a.m. Demise of
Srila Nimânanda Prabhu.
e
30.01.2010 Sat Appearance of Srila Narottama Thâkur, Demise of Srimad Bhakti
Vaibhava Govinda Maharâj. Mâghi Poornima.
03.02.2010 Wed Sri Vyasa Puja, Appearance of Srila Prabhupâd Bhakti Siddhânta
Saraswati Goswâmi Thâkur, the illustrious Founder Achârya of Sri
Chaitanya Math and its branches Sri Gaudiya Maths. Disappearance
of Srila Purushottama Thâkur.
08.02.2010 Mon Demise of Sripad Bhakti Bhushan Bhâgavat Maharâj.
10.02.2010 Wed Pakshavardhini Mahâdwâdashi Fasting. Next day Pârana 28.9
between 6.17 and 9.59 a.m.

4 THE GAUDIYA JANUARY 2010

m
 UNIQUE, UNIVERSAL AND SUPER EXCELLENT
SRI KRISHNA BHAKTI
THE SEED OF SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM
Sripad B.S.Narayan Maharaj
BHAKTI IS UNPARALLELED:
'Bhakti', 'Bhakta' and 'Bhagavân'
(devotion, devotee and Divinity) alone are
the permanent principles in this cosmic
universe. The sum total of worthy
knowledge presented by the innumerable
revealed scriptures essentially rally around
these threefold divine principles. Bhakti or
the pure devotion is the absolute and eternal
spiritual function of the unfettered jiva souls
towards the Supreme Lord, beyond the
scope of mundane time and space. From
time immemorial people follow various
paths like karma, jnâna, yoga, sâmkhya,
penance, charity, sacrifice, piety, scriptural
study etc. for achieving the fulfilment of the
human life. Among all these paths, Lord
Krishna has held pure devotion alone as to
be competent of reaching Him. The most
esoteric purport of the revealed
scriptures is that, absolute Love
towards the Supreme Lord is the
ultimate goal of human life. Observation
of the various organs of devotion in
association with the pure devotees of the
Lord Krishna is known as the ‘Sâdhana
Bhakti’. The devotional performances
when become matured, it brings the Lord
and the devotee closer to each other, enable
the devotee to visualise the Lord and makes
the Lord subjugated to the devotional love
of the devotee. This pure devotion alone
is, -- unique, universal and the
superexcellent principle in the entire cosmic
universe. It is capable of bestowing the
highest divine joy and eternal bliss to the
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
entire humanity. Bereft of Krishna Bhakti,
the entire cosmic universe is just like a
grainless husk or like a waterless mirage.
Sri Jiva Goswami has explained in his
glorious treatise ‘Sri Bhakti Sandarbha’
(114 verse), that, this pure devotion
mentioned in the fourth verse of the chatuh
sloki Bhâgavatam, is verily the seed of
Srimad Bhâgavatam. ‘Krishna Prema’
being self-evident and eternal, neither it can
be generated, nor destroyed. Sâdhana
Bhakti is the process which uncovers this
faculty of Divine Love and makes it
manifested brilliantly in the heart of the
devotees. Sincerely observing the rules of
devotion with submission and serving mood
makes the devotee eligible for the grace of
the Lord and Vaishnavas. This divine grace
is followed by the devotional potency
(Bhakti Shakti), which in turn provides
God-realisation and detachment from
worldliness. This is the method of achieving
devotional success. As Bhakti is not a
u commodity of this mundane world, one
should have clear understanding about this
unique virtue. All being, all intelligence and
all bliss is the essential nature of the Supreme
Lord. Therefore, He is known as
Satchidânanda. In accordance with these
three prime aspects of the Supreme, His
internal Potency too assumes triple nature o
known as Sandhini (manifestive energy),
Samvit (cognitive potency) and Hlâdini
(exhilarating potency). The combination of
the Hlâdini and Samvit aspect of the Lord
is verily the Bhakti Shakti or the devotional
5
 potency. Now it is clear that Bhakti is fully
transcendental. Therefore, no amount of
worldly endeavours or mundane merit are
capable of generating this devotion, which
is the transcendental wealth of Divine Store
House. When Lord Sri Chaitanya imparted
enlightening instructions to Sri Rupa
Goswâmi and to Sri Sanâtana Goswâmi, at
the end He graced them specially by infusing
Prema Bhakti in their hearts. This act is
known as ‘Shakti Samchâra’. Therefore,
one can acquire this Bhakti, only from a
competent Bhakta who has received it from
the disciplic succession that verily starts with
the Supreme Lord Himself. In this context,
all the revealed scriptures declare that, there
is nothing equal to Divine Name and
Devotion in this entire universe.
THE CARDINAL ADVICE OF THE
SCRIPTURES:
'Sambandha' (relationship),
'Abhidheya' (means) and 'Prayojana' (the
end) are the three chief subject matters dealt
by the revealed scriptures. Sambandha
jnâna is the knowledge that reveals the
basic relationship between the individual
souls with Creator Lord. Most of the
deluded and misguided scholars have
professed defective dogmas such as
elevationism, salvationism, monism,
pantheism, atheism, nihilism, agnosticism,
fanaticism etc., which confuse their
followers and prevent them from reaching
God. Accordingly, their goals too become
multifarious like mundane enjoyment,
celestial happiness, becoming one with God,
mixing with viod, imaginary gains, occult
powers etc. Lord Sri Chaitanya has
unequivocally established that, all the living
t entities are constitutionally the eternal
servants of the Supreme Lord. The ultimate
goal of their existence is Krishna Prema
or Divine Love. Forgetfulness of the
6 THE GAUDIYA
Supreme Lord is the root cause of all the
worldly sufferings. As soon as the human
beings engage in the faithful service of the
Lord, all their sufferings shall begin to vanish.
Now the most important factor of human life
is the adoption of the perfect means to realise
God. This performative process acertained
P
by the revealed scriptures is known as
‘Abhidheya’ as the revealed scriptures
emphatically advise the aspirants to follow
the path of Hari Bhakti in association with
God-realised souls, by avoiding all kinds of o
evils. Among the ten fold subjects dealt by
Srimad Bhagavatam, the seventh topic
‘Manvantara’ indicates about the righteous
path (saddharma) followed by the prominent
devotees of that duration, who are specially
blessed by the Supreme Lord (Bh.II.10.4).
These accounts constitute the organs of
Bhâgavata Dharma, which has been
synthesised into the book form of Srimad
Bhâgavatam by Sri Krishna Dvaipâyana
Veda Vyâsa, as advised by his preceptor
Devarshi Sri Nârada. In the original
Bhagavatam
o be of four verses also this pure
devotion alone is explained as the essential
purport of all the revealed scriptures.
(Bh.II.9.35)
THE ORIGINAL BHAGAVATAM:
In the beginning of the cosmic creation,
the creator god Brahma finding himself
incapable of accomplishing the act of
creation, surrendered to the Lord and being
prompted by the cognitive potency of the
rof Lord, conducted profound spiritual penance
by turning his senses inward to please the
Supreme Lord. Being pleased by the
rigourous penance of the creator, Lord
Nârâyana, the Supreme, appeared before
him and imparted the four versed
Bhâgavatam along with two introductory and
one concluding verses. The gist of Lord's
(to be continued)
JANUARY 2010
 MAHÂBHÂRATA
Sri M.C.Mahesh
(Contd. from December issue)
Perhaps, the heavens desired the
victory of their favourite Arjuna.
Keechaka, the stentorian giant, was
the brother of Sudeshna and the
commander-in-chief of Matsya. He was
the real power behind the throne and old
Virata, who doted on his prowess, was a
mere puppet in his hands. One day,
Keechaka was rambling in the picturesque
and verdant gardens of Matsya and he
happened to see Draupadi resting under a
bower. Her face was as blue as the
translucent sky, and her long dark tresses
fell loosely on her back. She was
captivating and the lusty and wicked
Keechaka fell in for her feminine charms.
He approached her and learnt that she was
serving his sister.
Keechaka lecherously proposed to
her, and a startled Draupadi cautioned him
and bade him leave her, saying that she was
wedded to five powerful gandharvas.
These celestials would make short work
of him as they jealously gaurded her, she
said.
Keechaka did not give up, and
ng
promised her all his bullions and sovereigns
of gold and untold wealth. He begged of
her to accept him and have all his wives as
slaves, and virtually rule over prosperous
kingdom of Matsya. Draupadi looked
daggers at him and left in a huff, leaving
him love-lorn and infatuated.
Keechaka went to his sister and
implored her to give him Sairandhri, but a
cautious Sudeshna warned him that it would
only spell his death. Five powerful
celestials were her husbands and were
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
protecting her unseen. But when she found
that Keechaka was insistent, she promised
to send Sairandhri to his inner chambers.
Calling Draupadi, Sudeshna spoke to
her.
"Keechaka has brought rare wines and
liquors during his conquests. I am extremely
thirsty -- go and fetch some wine from him."
rp
Draupadi was startled by Sudeshna's
callousness.
"But he tried to molest me once! He
leers indecently at me and is shameless to
the core. Please send somebody else-- my
honour is at stake."
Sudeshna's royal brows furrowed in uq
anger.
"It is a command! Keechaka knows
dharma and will not ill-treat his maids!"
Draupadi fervently prayed to god
Surya for protection and the sun-god,
"
unknown to her, commissioned an invisible
spirit to protect her. Reaching Keechaka's
inner apartments, she hesitatingly repeated
the queen's commands, and asked for wine.
With a sinister look on his face the lustful
Keechaka ran after her to force her to his
will, and a helpless Draupadi scurried in
terror to Virata's august assembly.
Virata was playing dice with
Yudhishthira, and Bheema was standing
nearby in attendance.
Overtaking the terrified Draupadi,
Keechaka kicked her inhumanely. Just then
the spirit sent by Surya gave Keechaka a
powerful blow, and the wretch could not
see who had thus checked him. Keechaka
stepped back in fright, and went back to uoy
his chamber in disgust. "
7
 "
.
Bheema began to uproot a pillar from
the hall to deal with the wretch.
B
Yudhishthira saw this hasty action, and
knew that their disguise would be broken if
Bheema exhibited his extraordinary strength.
He checked Bheema commandingly:
"Cook Ballava, please restrain
yourself. Go back to your kitchen--and if
you want dry wood as fuel, wait for fifteen
more days!"
Bheema remembered that the tenure
of their exile would be complete in a
fortnight. He could then rattle Keechaka
like a shaking tree.
Draupadi beseeched the protection of
Virata and cried for justice.
Virata shifted uneasily in his chair, and
mumbled incoherently “I do not know the
real cause of the conflict.... perhaps you
could have triggered Keechaka's ire...”
Yudhishthira remorsefully sought to
assuage Draupadi's chagrin “Sairandhri,
please go back to your quarters. Do not
embarrass us by your exaggerated
behaviour.”
o
Draupadi's look would have almost
burnt Yudhishthira "Because my eldest
husband is a habitual gambler and the others
are spineless dependants, I forever have to
suffer."
Draupadi did not sleep that harrowing
night. She tiptoed furtively to the royal
kitchen and woke up Bheema.
"Look at the consequences of
Yudhisthira's gambling! I am forever at the
mercy of lustful wretches. First it was
Duhshasana, and luckily divine intervention
saved me. Then came Jayadratha, and now
it is Keechaka .... If Keechaka does not
perish tomorrow, I will drink poison and kill
myself."
8 THE GAUDIYA
Bheema lifted up a sobbing Draupadi
and promised her "Tomorrow night, ask
Keechaka to come to the dancing hall. Let
him come unescorted, believing in a promised
union with you."
Next morning, Draupadi met Keechaka
and seductively beguiled him into believing
that she had fallen for him. He was to come
to the dancing hall that night, and all would
be well.
That night Bheema sngly lay in a soft
and luxurious bed in the dancing hall,
disguised as a woman. The chandeliers were
glowing dully, and nothing determinate was
visible. Keechaka entered the hall, dressed
exquisitely
"Y like a donkey draped in tapestries,
and walked up to the couch. Bheema
removed the cloth covering the couch, and
growled at the offender “And so you dared
to lay hands on Sairandhri! I am one of her
gandharva husbands.”
Bheema and Keechaka grappled in the
dark, pummelling each other with heavy
blows. They crushed each other’s sinews,
and squeezed each other’s limbs.
Keechaka’s muscular arms were pinioned "
by Bheema, and Bheema now brought down eS
his opponent with a heavy thud. Keechaka
was strangled to death, and Bheema pounded
his body into a shapeless mass of flesh.
Day dawned, and Draupadi summoned
Sudeshna and Virata and all their servitors
and followers and showed them Keechaka's
corpse, which was unrecognisable with all
limbs tucked into the torso. “This is the work
of my celestial consort” she said “and this
wicked giant has got his due.”
The king and queen of Matsya withdrew
in great fear.
Very soon, the hundred and five half-
brothers of Keechaka, who were well-
tn
JANUARY 2010
 known as the Upakeechakas, bound
Draupadi head to foot and dragged her
behind Keechaka’s bier. They planned to
"
burn her alive with their brother's body.
Draupadi screamed for help, and Bheema
heard her plaintive cry. Disguising himself
like a gandharva, Bheema intercepted the
Upakeechakas near the crematorium.
“Fall back! This deadly husband of
Sairandhri is here!” --- there was
pandemonium in that wicked crowd, and
they scattered before Bheema. Bheema
took on his opponents many at a time, and
annihilated them mercilessly. The
crematorium was strewn with the corpses
of the hundred and five desperadoes.
Undoing the cords of hemp and jute that
bound Draupadi, Bheema rescued her.
A terrified Sudeshna summoned her
charming handmaiden “Sairandhri, please
leave --- the king himself is afraid of you.”
Draupadi answered tremulously “Give
me thirteen days more, and I will be
eternally grateful to you.”
Sudeshna accepted rather unwillingly,
for she was afraid to antagonise the
powerful gandharvas.
Duryodhana was sitting at court
surrounded by all his nobles and elders andno
followers. Susharma, the wily king of
Trigarta, had come to meet his old friend
and was also present in the gathering. The
spies sent by Duryodhana to unmask the
identity of the Pandavas returned, and
addressed the haughty young prince.
“We have failed to discover the n
whereabouts of the Pandavas. However,
we do have some interesting news from
Matsya. A young woman joined service
as a handmaiden about an year back.
People say that she is wedded to five
powerful gandharva husbands. Keechaka
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
fell in love with her and harassed her to
accept him, but was squeezed to death one
night by one of these gandharvas....”
The perceptive Duryodhana
interrupted the narrative.
“Keechaka is dead! But there are only
four wrestlers on earth who could meet him
in combat -- one is myself, and the others
are Balarama, Bheema and Shalya...
I have an inkling that Bheema has
crushed the erring Keechaka to death.
Draupadi is a beautiful woman no doubt,
and the unfortunate Keechaka must have
been infatuated by her charms. Who else
on earth have five husbands?"
Duryodhana now addressed the
assembled courtiers in a rhetoric flourish that
was so characteristic of him.
e
“The Pandavas and Draupadi are
disguised as menials in Matsya. We will
invade Matsya with all our followers, and
y
the Pandavas will certainly come out to
defend the city in debt of gratitude to the
old king who has given them shelter. Thus
their presence will be exposed and we can
send them to the jungles again for twelve
years....
Perhaps we might fail in our endeavour,
but we can atleast loot the cattle-wealth of !
Matsya.”
The wicked Duhshasana and Karna,
impatient for war, endorsed the command.
."
Susharma now rose up from his royal
W
dias and spoke.
“It is well known that I have had a
long-standing quarrel with Virata, but the
redoubtable Keechaka has checked all my
advances in the past. I will accompany you
all with my army now.”
Duryodhana decided that Susharma
would invade Matsya from the south on the
9
 eighth day after the new moon and plunder
and ransack the cattle-ranches and drive
the cows away from their pens. On the next
day, the Kaurava cohorts would march on
the city from the north, pillaging the ranches
on the way. Cattle-lifting was an ancient
martial exercise in Vedic India, and there
are many referenes even in a text as early
as Rig Veda that refer to robbers stealing
e the cattle of the gods.
Pouring out of the three forts that
constituted their kingdom, the soldiers ofu
Susharma travelled south as planned earlier.
Accompanied by his brothers like
Duhshasana and Vikarna, and his uncle
Shakuni and comrade Karna, Duryodhana
led the Kuru battalions to war. Following
him were Bheeshma and the two
preceptors, Drona and Kripa and the
regenerate warrior Ashwatthama. These
four did not approve of the hasty action of
the impudent prince, and would have rather
liked a peaceful settlement with the
Pandavas. However, their sense of
gratitude forced them to fight under the
umbrella of the Kuru house.
News reached the court of Virata that
his cowherds were rolling in the dust,
pierced by the arrows and lances of
Susharma of Tigarta. Hundreds of the cows
had been driven away from their ranches
and were now mooing in fear. Keechaka
was now dead, but Virata was a hardy
kshatriya and he rose up to meet his foes
in battle. Yudhishthira felt that the
hospitality of the king deserved to be repaid,
just as the wily Duryodhana had predicted.
He rose up to speak and offered help to
the old Virata “Among my many
accomplishments fighting is one, and I can
help you in this battle. Your cook Ballava
is a good wrestler and he can assist us too.
I have also heard that your stable-boy
10 THE GAUDIYA
Dhamagranthi and your cowherd Tantripala
are good warriors. You have given succour
to the four of us for months, and we would
like to prove our mettle.”
Virata was delighted to get this timely
assistance and the four Pandavas, clad in
hardy breastplates and riding battle-wagons,
followed the old king in his expedition. Uttara
Kumara, the adolescent son of Virata, was
left behind to guard the city and womenfolk.
Towards the southern borders of
Matsya, the forces of Virata and Susharma
clashed and got entangled in a melee that
resembled the break of a thunderstorm. All
day long the scuffle went on, and now it was
twilight. Susharma and Virata were locked "
in a duel and the powerful ruler of Trigarta
imprisoned the old monarch of Matsya and
took him away in his chariot. Yudhishthira
urged
D Bheema to rescue the hostage, and
Bheema fell upon the plundering suzerain of
Trigarta and overpowered him in sheer
physical combat. (to be continued)
With Best Compliments from
SAI RAMANA CANCER TRUST
CHENNAI
CANCER PATIENTS' CARE
Our Trust does Free Healing,
Counselling
&
Anti-Cancer Initiation
Any stage of treatment
Any place of Stay
Mail to : srcancertrust@yahoo.co.in
or
Cell:: 9884017256
9840496548
JANUARY 2010
 THE SECRET OF LONG LIFE
Sri Jatindra Mohan Ghose
It is a very patent fact that human life
is very short, and that too, most uncertain.
The man who walks about with full vigour,
hopes, and forms expectations of future,
and without the least suspicion of any blast,
breathes his last the very next moment. He
stops for a good while on his legs as it were.
Such occurrences are quite common. Yet
they arre hardly taken proper notice of,
except a passing one. They seem to leave
no impression on the minds of the people,
as would appear from their usual course of
life and modes of activites. Of course, life
would, indeed, be miserable and
impossible if the horror of death was to
haunt the mind at all hours. So our
Chanakya said, -- 'one should think of the.
means of acquiring learning and wealth free
from all thoughts of infirmity and death.
Learning and wealth are no doubt two of
the ends of life which can not altogether be
over-looked, for ensuring a happy worldly
life on this side of existence even by those
who consider the present life as the only
life and end of all existence. But the sages
of India--and also her people -- have never
been so shortsighted. They have the
perspective of an existence beyond the ken
of the present life, -- of the true and eternal
life -- the end and ideal of which
substantially and greatly differ from those
of this short life. So while advocating those
two ends of our present, temporary,
mundane life Chanakya did not lose sight
of the ultimate one, nor forget to remind ni
and advise at the same breath, -- 'that one
should practise Dharma (i.e., lead a
religious life for truth) caught hold of by hair,
as it were, by death'.
But this last advice a man will hardly
listen to, although he takes readily to the
first one as being conducive to a life of
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
sensuous pleasures. It appears from the
manner of his spoiling the precious moments
of life, as if he counts upon an endless tenure
of life. He never cares, however mis-spent
his time may be. In his eagerness for
enjoyment of the pleasures of life he grows
rather impatient and seems to think every
moment that time moves very slowly. A
boy would be eager to leave behind his
boyhood as early as possible in order to
live the free youthful life of his elder brothers
beyond the tutelage of his parents. A youth
would aspire after the active life of a grown-
up man occupying a position of honour in
society. A grown-up man again would look
forward to reach the old age full of ripe
experience, commanding respect from all,
to enjoy a life of retirement and inactivity.
A usurer is busy counting the days and
watching the expiry of the terms when
interests will up his pockets. To an
affianced the day of marriage would appear
as too far off. A maiden lover would
consider the appointed hour of meeting a
full year off, and so on. So every body
considers his time, and part of life as
unnecessarily long--although he would
consider the life as a whole to be too short.
This is the way of the world. But will
anybody stop for a moment and ponder, -
- what are these activities and eagerness
for? They are for momentary sensuous
pleasures, -- for trash, which would leave
nothing permanent, no trace, -- behind. If
so, are not so much time and energy
altogether wasted? But most people do
not, and can not, realise this waste, for they
are short-sighted and have no conception
of the truer and higher life. It does not
behove us, -- rational human beings, -- to
be bind and waste the precious moments
of life; we should turn every moment into
11
(
 account and live a true life full of worth.
We boast of our wisdom in all matters, but
it is a pity that we are ignorant of what a
true and real life is, and how to live it.
Such an assertion will no doubt
appear to many -- to almost all--as a bold,
arrogant and meaningless one; for there are
many great men who have made the world
what it is, and have left foot prints for others
to follow. Far from being ignorant of the
meaning of life and the art of living it, it is
rather they who have shown what a life is
and should be. To damn them with ignorance
of the idea of a true life is surely
preposterous.
Yes, such an assertion is a very bold
one, -- but none the less true. And the
builders of the world are all great and wise
men--no doubt, but in matters worldly only.
In spiritual matters beyond the range of
Maya or sense-ex-perience, they are all as
ignorant as any -- so declares the Srimad
Bhagavatam, the Lord of all the Puranas,
the purest and highest authority in
transcendental matters, and the fountain-
head of all pure and unadulterated
knowledge. The knowledge of the
greatmen of the world was confined to this
material world, and centred round their
conception of the soul as being identical
with the material body; they had no
conception of their real selves (their souls)
except and beyond the physical
encasement. They were altogether blind in
regard to matters of Vaikuntha, the
transcendental world, lying beyond and
above the range of material experience of
mind and body. So with all difference to
their wisdom let us for once turn and listen
to the words of the Srimad Bhagavatam --
-
A truly wise man should strive without
any delay after nihshreyas, the surest and
highest good of life, till death comes upon
him; for he has now obtained the life of a
human being after innumerable births as
12 THE GAUDIYA
inferior creatures a life which is very, very
difficult of attinment, yet transitory and
uncertain; but only in which the supreme
good is attainable; material objects of
enjoyment can be had in the life of all and
any other creature.
We are human beings and the pick of
the creation. And our present life is the best
and highest of all lives. Hence it is but
rational and our bounden duty, to live it truly
and attain the proper end of it. Our life is
much more than mere animal life and we
should not waste it away in animal
enjoyments, viz., in eating, sleeping, sexual
and other forms of sensuous enjoyment. To
eat, drink and be merry is not, and should
not be end of a human life.
And what is the span of human life?
Not more than a hundred years or so at the
longest, and that too is quite uncertain. So
we can not afford to let slip this opportunity
of living and realising the true life scorning
base worldly enjoyment available to inferior
creatures. (to be contd.)
With Best Compliments from
ROHIT S.
SHELAT
SHELAT BROTHERS
20, Kesava Iyer Street
Park Town, CHENNAI - 600 003
d
dn Phone:
Off. 2535 2081, 2535 0032
Fact. 2494 0764
e. mail: shebro@rediffmail.com
JANUARY 2010
 The Special Characteristics of the Acharya
Prof. Sri Nishi Kanta Sanyal
(Contd. from December issue)
Whenever the guru is conceived in a
secondary or subordinate way, or
whenever the presence of a desire of
becoming ‘too great’ (ati badi) by
surpassing the guru himself is detected the
lotus feet of the Divine preceptor does not
manifest itself but in its stead there appears
only the riotous dance of the trivial or
counterfeit principle or ‘laghu’.
In the learned societies of the present
age the term ‘Vedanta’ had been used to
denote exclusively works devoted to the
exposition of the principle of undifferential
knowledge. But this great Acharya by the
extraordinary genius of his transcendental
scholarship has informed the whole world
that devotion is the one subject treated by
the Vedanta to the exclusion of all others,
that the nectarine performances of Sri
Chaitanyadeva are the only genuine and un-
adulterated essence of the Vedanta, that the
doings of Sri Chaitanyadeva and His
associate devotees and of the whole galaxy
of devotees in the line of disciplic descent
from Sri Krishna Chaitanya constitute as it
were the living form of the Brahmasutra with
its commentaries, or the Vedanta in the form
which alone is really ineligible to the people
of this world. We are not aware that any
one else with the exception of this world-
teacher of the present Age had announced
anything like this so clearly and resulting in
such exquisite satisfaction for all.
In the learned societies of the present
Age it is the opinion of most scholars that'.
the subjects and relligin sought to be
established by Purana works like the
Srimad Bhagavat are of comparatively
recent origin in as much as those works are
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
proved to have been promulgated in their
present form at a period subsequent to the
Age of the Vedas. But it is the great Acharya
of the Age who has proclaimed in this
generation to the whole body of scholars
that the subjects as well as the religion
treated in the series of the spiritual Puranas
headed by the Srimad Bhagavat have been
current as eternal truths from a period which
is anterior to the Age of the oldest books
extant such as the Vedic Samhitas. He has
shown that the topics treated in Mahabharat
and the Puranas headed by Srimad
Bhagavat belong to an Age that is much older
than the time of the promulgation of the Rik
Samhita the oldest extant book of the world.
The original works composed in the Vedic
dialect which formed the sources of the
existing Puranas have mostly disappeared
with the lapse of time. These works having
fallen into neglect since after the compilation
of the classical Puranas the original source
books of the ancient history of India have
ceased to be available.
The promulgation of the supreme
excellence of the Srimad Bhagavat over all
other Shastras, in this Age which is so averse
to the Bhagavat is one of the special
characteristics of the teachings of this great
Acharya. In order to safeguard the unique
position of the Bhagavat he has not spread
to belabour with his deadly club the
malafides of the professionals who offend
under the guise of serving at the feet of the
Bhagavat. It isthis Acharya alone who has
made it clear that the hireling is never a
devotee. The Srimad Bhagavat cannot be
made to serve any body. It is one's duty to
split the nut for feeding Lord Shalagram. But
one must abstain from making Lord
13
 Shalagram into an instrument for cracking
the nut which is to be enjoyed by himself.
The Divine Acharya appears terrible
as death to the view of the whole race of
psilanthropists; he appears as the unerring
Gandiva bow to the hypocrites, as the
holder of the rod of punishment to those
who seek other things than Krishna, -- like
the visible form of the Sudarsan Chakra to
the votaries of a false philosophy, as wanting
in the quality of mellowness to persons of a
bad moral character, -- as a dry intellectualist
to transgressors against pure taste and
spiritual principles, as arrogant to the
pseudo-Vaishnavas the only disinterested
sympathetic sharer of the riefs of others the
manifestation of the power of the non-evil
producing-mercy of supremely
magnanimous Sri Chaitanyadeva, -- and the
only shelter of weak distressed jivas.
Another of his special characteristics
manifests itself in this that he has announced
propositions that appear so novel to this
Age of empiricism that the whole body of
scholars disposed to an inveterate
superficiality being struck dumb with
bewilderment are trying vainly to find the
bounds of the majestic current sweeping
down from the himalayan birth-place of the
sacred Ganges. This Gangetic flow issuing
from the lofty source of the lotus feet of Sri
Krishna has spread over the plains of this
world in every direction on order to effect
the deliverance of all fallen souls. By diving
in its water the jiva scorched in every limb
with the fire of the triple miseries are
instantly relieved by its deliciously cool
touch. And by drinking of its water with
the joined palms of the ear the clue to the
essence of the nectarian sweetness of the
favour of Krishna is attained. It is this proess
which is preached by this Acharya as the
path of listening to the transmitted
transcendental sound, or the process of
14 THE GAUDIYA
descent of the Truth, as the method to be
followed for attaining the same
shroutapantha.
Another characteristic of this Acharya
which is also deserving of special notice is
this that however high the reputation for
erudition and power of controversy of a
person appearing before him may be he is
unable to go astray on the wrong track
astride the truths enunciated by the Acharya
if only he agrees to abide by the conditions
ofnru rational discussion in regard to the
propositions which he seeks to establish by
his truthful arguments. But those who through
fear of impending defeat by the truth of his
reasoning corroborated by the Shastras try
to seek the help of any nefarious method by
giving up the path of honest and reasonable
discussion are sure to stumble ignominiously
into the blind hole of absurdity being off the
track of the Truth. Many a person
possessing the reputation of widest empiric
scholarship have made the unreserved
confession that no one possesses the power
of holing his ground in honest discussion
against this Acharya. The fragrance of
arguments resembling the odour of sweet-
smelling flowers, issuing from the pure lips
of this great Acharya augments the joy of all
lovers of the Truth.
This Age so hostile to Vishnu from the
tips of its finger nails to the points of its hair
has raised everywhere, in imitation of the real
Truth Vishnu, after the precedent set by the
fallen angels a perennial crop of novel
Incarnations of sinfulness. It is this lion of a
loyal teacher of unalloyed Truth who alone
in this sad predicament has been echoing
with a voice even more powerful than that
of Thakur Brindavan Das the protest hurled
by the latter against the whole gang of
pseudo-Avataras in words that still continue
to ring the note of warning into the ears of
the unwary. (to be contd.)
JANUARY 2010 tuo
 ENERGY OF GOD-HEAD
Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
(Contd. from December issue)
So all energies in Him are not
contending with one another, but serving as
friendly dependents of the Supreme
Authority. but the case is otherwise in
mundane phenomena. The qualities prove
to be contending with one another in order
to keep up their respective properties.
The school of Pantheists differs from
the Devotional School, when it cannot
distinguish between the energies found in
phenomena and different phases of eternal
energies that create, transform and conduct
the material world with that of his own
where Harmonising Power brings all in
monistic order. This monopoly of God-head
is wrongly viewed by the fiendish spirits who
revolt against the Fountain-head of all
harmony. They ignore the Exisence, Perect
Knowledge and Harmony of God-head and
try their level best to accomodate the All
Energetic Personality into their cavity of
finite but wrong observations. They are
prone to reconcile the different tracks of
theism and atheism into agnosticism and
scepticism. Their attempts fail when they
want to justify to identify the mundane
energy with the transcendental in as much
as the latter--the subject of their inspection
is not covered up in their present
predicament.
Even a most thoughtful reader is found
to err when he states that even associated
conterparts are in the same category with
that of fettered souls. His clear idea of
different energies of God-head cannot but
agree with our view when we are confident Sri.
of different phases of energies and their
manifestations. The erring aptitude can
equally chalk out his path of confounding
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
Krishna with Karshna when he can acquaint
himself with the distinctive phases of
manifestations due to the Energetic God-
head and His energies.
If we compare the erotic principle and
unalloyed devotion in the estimation of
Energy and their different graduation, we m.
should never be led to mistake in our
attempts
2. to compare the different associated
counterparts of One Integer, the Personal
God-head. The amatory love towards
God-head has no doubt, got a higher place
than filial love, friendly love, love between
the principal master and dependents as well
as a love of cherishing a face of neutrality.
We are so much averse to render our
service to the All-knowing Over-soul that
we claim our existence in an atmosphere
surcharged with common errors. The very
expression 'Absolute Truth' is sometimes
followed by a pronoun indicating the neuter
conception of Godhead in lieu of His
unlimited Power of initiative organisation.
The word ‘Absolute Truth’ when used in
neuter gender in our present-day
atmosphere, is meant for the mundane
bibliography and not intended for Spiritual
Realm. In the case of Absolute Truth, the
pronoun ‘he’ or ‘who’ should be used,
instead of 'it' or ‘which’, as we must not
deviate from the Eternal Existence of
Personal God-head and His Spiritual
manifestation void of any mundane
discrepanices. If we ignore the Power of
All-mightiness in God-head, we would
prove ourselves to be aloof from the ever-
existence, ever-manifested Spiritual
Kingdom.
Y
15
 Questions and Answers for a value based living
Sri Gopal Das

Question: What is the worldly path is residing in your body, the substances in
known as for those identifying themselves the body are prevented from decomposing
with the soul? for decades together,till your life time.
Answer: For them the worldly path is Thereby it is easily established that you
known as the path of wisdom, leading them should identify yourself with the soul residing
from the path of darkness to the path of in the body and not identify yourself with the
light, from the unreal to the real and from body.
mortality to immortality. Y
Q. How to establish God’s presence
in every individual? Sharanagati is a mental
attitude whereas, ‘Atma
A. Everyone’s body is made up of Nivedan’ is complete
several organs. One cannot deny the fact surrender of even the soul at
that he is in no way connected with the the Feet of the Lord.
working of the organs in his body. At the
same time, he cannot also deny the fact that
n he is entirely depending on those very same
organs to carry out his daily activities in life. With Best Compliments from rp
Hence the inference is that the organs are
beings worked for him by some unseen 30 Years of Service in Advertising
forces. Thereby it is easily established that Ph:Off: 28522128, 28521957
the soul which is part and parcel of God is Res: 24714046
responsible for the systematic and precise Fax: 044-8521007

working of the organs in everyone’s body.

JAYTIYAAR SERVICES
Q. How to estblish that you are the
ro
soul residing in the body and not the body?
Advertising & Public Relations
A. Vegetables got decayed within a Consultants Accredited to INS.,
few days. When the vegetables are kept Doordarsan & All India Radio
in a refrigerator the vegetables remain
almost fresh for about ten days. So the !
credit goes to the refrigerator for keeping 3, Mamatha Complex, 2nd Floor
the vegetables almost fresh for a longer time. 13, Whites Road
CHENNAI - 600 014
Similarly our body is made up of substances
which decompose within 24 hours after the
soul leaves the body. It is because the soul

16 THE GAUDIYA JANUARY 2010

 Sri Krishna is the Ultimate Principle (Para-tattva)
Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita has the
following transmitted word (amnaya)
regarding Sri Krishna (Madhya.20/146), -
-- ‘The Vedas everywhere expound
Krishna only, sometimes directly,sometimes
indirectly, in some parts by the synthetic or
positive method elsewhere by the differential
or negative method, -- but they always
expound Krishna.’ And again (Adi 2--!
106,65,24-26), ‘Krishna is Godhead
Himself. Krishna is the support of all.
Krishna is the declaration of the Shastras.
In His own proper self Krishna is non-
bifurcial (avidya) knowledge and also the
Entity that is the Object of knowledge.
Brahma (the Great), the supreme soul
(paramatma) and Bhagavan (God as
Possessor of supreme power and majesty)
are His three different forms. The Vedas,
Bhagavat, Upanishad and Agama declare
Him to be the complete Object of
Knowledge, Who has no equal, Who is
seen by devotees by the process of loving
service in the same manner as the sun’s own
form, as distict from its rays and the luminous
ball, is visible to the devas. Those who
worship Krishna by the methods of yoga
and empiric knowldge realize Him as the
Supreme Soul (paramatma) and Brahma
(the undifferentiated Great One)
respectively.
The following texts of the shastras bear
out the above statements of the Sri
Chaitanya Charitamrita regarding the
characteristics of the Supreme Lord. The
Svetasvatar Upanishad (5.4 mantra) says
that ‘He is worshipped by all. He is present
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
as the supporter of existence of every entity
that has birth’. Whence in the Bhagavat
(I.3.28) we have it that ‘the Avataras whose
activities have heretofore been described are
some of them fractional parts of Maha-
Vishnu Who reposes in the causal Ocean
(karanabdi), while the others are
manifestations by Divine superimposition.
But Krishna, the Son of Nanda is the God-
head Himself.’ The Geeta (VII.7, XV.15)
says, ‘Oh Dhanamjaya, there is no one
higher than Myself’. ‘I am the Object of
knowledge of all the Vedas.’ Sri
Gopalatapani Upanishad (Purvatapani
mantra 21) declares that, ‘therefore Sri
Krishna alone is the Supreme Lord.’ Such
is Sri Krishna. Meditate on Krishna, chant
only His Name, serve and worship Him
alone. Krishna Who is all-pervasive, is the
Lord of all, should alone be worshipped by
all. Although He is one yet He manifests
Himself in many Forms such as the fish,
Tortoise etc., Vasudeva, Samkarshana etc.
the Purusha of the Ocean of cause, He of
the ocean of conception etc. ‘Those equable
personages, like Sukadeva, who worhsip
God’s holy Image resident in His proper
realm are alone enabled to attain the state
of eternal bliss. None of those who worship
Brahma (the Great) or Paramatma (Supreme
Soul) obtain such bliss’. This is still further
explained by the Karika, ‘Sri Krishna alone
is the only Lord of all lords. The Supreme c
soul is a fractional part of Him. Brahma is
the glow of His body. Narayana, the Lord
of para-vyoma, is the manifestation of His
Majesty as the Sovereign paramount. There
17
 ej
is not the least doubt regarding this as it is
specifically declared by the Vedas and the
shastras. The Taittiriya Upanishad contains
the following (2/1), -- ‘Brahma is theTruth
Itself, the spiritual and limitless principle. The
Paramatma is the Entity that always abides
in the innermost recess of the heart as seer
of the heart. Narayana is located in
paravyoma or Vaikuntha (i.e. the
transcendental realm). One who knows this
attains all blessing in the presence of
Vipaschit (possessed of superior
knowledge) Brahma {i.e. Sri KrishnaWho
is the superior (or, literally, ‘versed in the
Divine lore, erudite’) Brahma.} This
possession of superior knowledge or
learning is one of the principal of the sixty-
four qualities of Sri Krishna. This list of His
qualities is given below (Bhakti Rasamrita
Sindhu: D.B.1Lahari, 11-17):
“The Hero Krishna is (1) of a most
pleasing appearance, (2) possessed of all
auspicious features, (3) very beautiful, (4)
possessed of force of personality, (5) strong,
(6) in the first bloom of youth, (7) versed in
various and strange lauguages, (8) truthful,
(9) agreeable in speech, (10) skilled in
speech, (11) a good scholar, (12) intelligent,
(13) possessed of genius, (14) full of
humour, (15) clever, (16) skilful, (17)
grateful, (18) very firm of resolve, (19)
acquainted with the nature of the place, time
and person, (20) possessed of the shastric
vision, (21) pure, (22) the master of His
senses, (23) calm, (24) self-controlled, (25)
forgiving, (26) profound (reserved), (27)
patient (persevering), (28) impartial, (29)
generous, (30) pious, (31) heroic, (32)
merciful, (33) ready to honour others, (34)
open-handed, (35) gentle, (36) bashful,
18 THE GAUDIYA
(37) the supporter of His dependents, (38)
happy, (39) friend of His devotees, (40) liable
to be won by love, (41) the promoter of the
happiness of all, (42) awe-inspiring, (43)
possessed 2of fame, (44) beloved of the
people, (45) partial to the good, (46) winner
of the hearts of females, (47) worshipped
by all, (48) opulent, (49) superior to all, and
(50) possessed of kingly magnificence.
The above qualities are found in Krishna
in vast measure. Rarely they are also found
to exist in jivas but in a very very small
degree. All of them are fully manifest in
Krishna. There are five other qualities which
are found in Shiva and others who possess
partially Divine natures, in addition to the
above fifty.
(to be contd.)
We Create / Design
New style of clothing,
Giving the Right Cut,
to the Right Fabric,
&
Sewing it with the
Right Accessories
Call : 9884387503
JANUARY 2010
 AESTHETIC CULTURE
Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
(Contd. from December issue)
Man is in love with certain aspects of
the manifestations of colour, smell, sound,
taste, touch and locomotion in Nature. He
supposes by a kind of argument from design,
that the world has been made for the
gratification of his senses. He also supposes
that his only legitimate function is to seek to
augment and diversify the sensuous
pleasures of life by compelling Nature to
yield all her treasures for his enjoyment. It
is also supposed that this ideal of happiness
is being realised by man with the help of the
different branches of the Arts and Sciences.
Any person, who questions the
wisdom of following a course for the
convenient reason that it happens to present
itself when we choose to seek for it, is often
hastily regarded as speculative and wanting
in the practical sense. He is reminded of
the achievements of modern civilization
produced by the systematic pursuit of such
method, and to compare the present state
of the affairs of man all over the world with
the past. Should one still persist in supposing
that it is all misleading, useless and wicked?
Let us take the case of modern painting.
The spirit of the Age is sought to be faithfully
mirrored therein. What more can Art do
for us? Should it not be the function of
creative Art to try to invest our present life
with imaginery charms for pandering to our
sensuous satisfaction? If the painter gives
us something, whcih does not point the way
for the gratification of our aggravated
appetite for earthly enjoyment, how should
he be supposed to possess the true artistic
insight? If he understands the needs of our
natures, he should give us what we really
want. It is not his business to give us what
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
we should desire to have.
We are in earnest about the living
present and want to enjoy this life as fully as
its brief span and questionable resources will
permit. We want to do so by means of all
our senses. We also want Art to help us in
this matter. The senses stand in need of both
gross and refined pleasures. Both varieties
have to be supplied in abundance by the Arts
and Sciences to meet this demand of our
nature. The propriety of following this
course is supposed to be self-evident. At
any rate, no state or society would last for a
day, if it chooses to follow a different path.
Every existing institution is and must needs
be a contrivance for increasing the scope of
gratification of man's senses. The hope of
man points to the prospect that Nature will
be available to be fully enjoyed by man by
means of these institutions, at no distant date.
The gratification of the senses is the
given legitimate purpose of life. The mind is
led by the senses. The mind is set over the
senses for serving them. The mind enables
the senses to follow the path of their common
interest. The mental function is fulfilled by
serving the activities of the senses. The test
of good painting for instance, should consist
in this that it satisfies the senses directly or
indirectly. If it fails to gratify the senses, the
mind should at once busy itself for finding a
way to pacify the offended senses. The
senses dominate the whole scheme.
It has been held by the Shastras that
man is the slave of his senses in this world,
and that all his activities spring from the desire
for gratifying his senses. This is equally true
of the activities of the savage, as of the most
highly civilized modern person. It is also true
of every other animal. The difference
19
y
r Y K * q w s v x ge
h a fgszxaAvfkc f a*.tewq
between man and lower animals consists in
this that man is endowed with greater
intelligence and foresight, and with the
inestimable gift of human speech. He is
enabled by these special circumstances in
his favour to acquire and store up knowledge
derived from experience, and to progress
towards the state of realisation of greater
and more varied pleasure. There is no other
difference between man and the lower
animals, from the point of view of the Arts
and Sciences.
In this matter the Science of Aesthetic
is in the same boat with all the rest of the
empiric Sciences. If it seeks to separate
itself from the immediate needs of life, it
stultifies itself. It is, therefore, a bold
proposal to recommend the substitution of
any radically different purpose, or even any
unsympathetic modification of the objective
of the present empiric science of Aesthetics.
The spiritual quest ever manifests itself
as the real turning away from the purposes
and methods of the sensuous life that is being
led by the average person in this world. As
long as one does not feel utterly dissatisfied
with this normal worldly life, he is not
supposed to feel the need for the quest of
the Truth. Man wants to be happy. He
can, therefore, also want knowledge only if
it will make him really happy. By
happiness man at present understands
only the attainment of the gross and
refined pleasures of the senses.
If a branch of study can supply man
with food, that is both pleasing to his palate
as well as capable of nourishing his body,
he feels that there can be no reason for
doubting the usefulness of such study. Man
wants to estimate the value of his activity
by its capacity for satisfying his patent
physical needs. The mental needs are not
independent of the physical wants. The
senses clamour to be gratified. It does not
20 THE GAUDIYA
make any spiritual difference if the senses
are trained or untrained. A trained ear will
not be sufficiently gratified by the
performances of an untrained musician. That
is all the difference that is made by so-called
aesthetic culture. The civilized man is only a
clever savage. The innate nature of both is
the same. The equality of man, the dream
of the political and social philosopher, is on
the plane of eating and drinking.
The Gaudiya Math has set itself against
the sensuous ideal of human life. It is
objectionable, because it is miserable, ugly,
wicked, and opposed to goodness, beauty
and joy. Human life in this world is ugly,
notwithstanding the fact that its ugliness is
proclaimed to be its beauty by a so-called
Science of Aesthetics. The misfortune of
man has been codified into the deluding n
generalisations of scientific knowledge which
is vain enough to fancy that it is possible to
attain to the Truth by leaving out the enquiry
into the proper requirements of our real
selves and all reference to the Living
Personality and Merciful Initiative of the All-
beautiful.
The Beauty of the Absolute Truth is the
Centre of attraction of all individual souls in
their natural state of uneclipsed cognition.
Real beauty is envisaged in immaculate
goodness, everlasting unmixed bliss and
transparent cognition. It is not obscured by
any gross or subtle material constituents.
Nothing in this world can convey to any
rational person even the faintest idea of the
reality. The charms of Vrindavana wholly
transcend the beauties of Nature,
notwithstanding the fact that they bear to be
described by the mundane vocabulary by
reason of their inconceivable resemblance
to the conditions of life in this world. But
the spiritual body of the unconditioned soul
is neither male, female nor neuter of our
worldly experience. (to be contd.)
JANUARY 2010
n
 »y »y TϪ TÁ{∫ÁWÁ{
T
SRIMAD BHAGAVADGITA
»y™ÙTƒËyoÁ
u˚oyÆÁzDÜÆÁÆ: CHAPTER-II
ÃÁÊPÆÆÁzT: SÂMKHYA YOGA
(Contd. from December issue)
Bhagavan Sri Krishna said,O Arjuna!
When (one) relinquishes (able to give up
these desires because they belong to the
mind. They are not the intrinsic quality of
the soul. If they were the intrinsic quality of
the soul they could not be given up, just as
fire never gives up heat) all desires of the
mind and having withdrawn itself from
material desires is satisfied by the soul whose
very nature is bliss. Then he is called well-
founded in wisdom. 55
tÏ:Qz…ƒåÏutΩƒSå™åÁ: ÃÏQz Ï uƒToÀúw“: @
ƒyo∫ÁTßÆN¿˛Ázá: uÀsoáy™|ÏuåªXÆoz @@ 56
Duhkheshvanudvignamanâh
sukheshu vigatasprihah | b
veetarâgabhayakrodhah
sthitadheermuniruchyate || 56 '
GXÆoz = (He is) called , ™Ïuå: = self
controlled sage, uÀooáy: = a truely wise, ™åÁ:
= who has his mind, EåÏutΩƒSå = unperturbedyb
betr thwith suffering) by painful happenings (by
(if asked who says simply that this suffering
is his prarabdha karma which he must
unavoidably endure, hence he is not agitated
with suffering) , tÏ:Qz Ï = by painful
happenings (by âdhyâtmika sufferings, in
the form of hunger, thirst, fever or headache
i.e. physical and mental sufferings, by the
nu
JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA
\Æo:
âdhibhautika sufferings coming from snakes
or tigers or evil persons i.e. sufferings from
other creatures, or by â dhidaivika
sufferings arising from extremes of nature),
uƒToÀúw“: ˛= (and) free from desire (when
he gets the occasions of happiness, he is
without desire and feels that it is also his
prârabdha karma which he cannot avoid
and so to talarate, ÃÏQz Ï = for all kinds of
pleasures, ƒyo∫ÁTßÆN¿˛Ázá: = and he is free
from
nk attachment, fear and anger (devoid of
attachment to enjoyment, devoid of fear from
any situation of triple afflictions and devoid
of anger on anybody who is responsible for f
. his present suffering -- for example, Parama
Bhagavata Mahatma (Jada) Bharata, in front
of the Goddess Durga, did not show fear or
anger towrds the robbers who wanted to
kill him).
He is called self controlled sage, a truly
˛
wise who has his mind, unperturbed (if asked
who says simply that this suffering is his
prarabdha karma which he must
unavoidably endure, hence he is not agitated
adhyatmika sufferings in the form of hunger,
thirst, fever or headache, i.e. physical and
mental sufferings; by the adhibhautika
sufferings coming from snakes or tigers or
evil persons i.e. sufferings from other
creatures; or by âdhidaivika sufferings
21
 arising from extremes of nature) and free
fro desire (when he gets the occasion of
happiness, he is without desire and feels it
is also his prârabdha karma which he can
not avoid and so to accept) for all kinds of
pleasures and he is free from attachment,
fear and anger (devoid of attachment to
in contact with, ooΩ ooΩ = whatever, ∆Ïß™Ω =
favourable to himself through respect or
feeding for instance, he does not approve ,
E∆Ïß™Ω = and receiving disrespect such as a
punch of the fist, he does not disapprove.
His wisdom is 'situated in Samadhi'
(samâdhim prati sthita), who is without
-

enjoyment, devoid of fear from any love or attachment to (without affections

situations of triple afflictions and devoid of which are subject to conditions.
anger on anybody who is responsible for Unconditional affection out of mercifulness
his present suffering --- for example, however should remain to some degree. He
Parama Bhagavat Mahatma (Jada) is fixed in those qualities) any mundane
Bharata, in front of the Goddess Durga, object (everywhere). He does not rejoice
did not show any fear or anger towards (he does not say, 'oh, you are so religious,
the robbers who wanted to kill him). serving a great devotee. I bless you with
happiness'), nor does he hate (nor does he
curse the disrespectful person saying, 'go to
Æ: Ã|fiÁåußÀåz“Àononú¿ÁõÆ ∆ÏßÁ∆Ïß™Ω @ and te hell, you sinful creature. Having come in
åÁußåãtuo å ˚zzu…b oÀÆ ú¿rÁ ú¿uou…eoÁ @@ 57 contact with whatever favourable to himself
˛˛˛Yah sarvatranabhisnehah through respect or feeding for instance, he
tattatprâpya shubhâshubham | does not approve; and receiving disrespect
nâbhinandati na dveshti such as a punch of the fist, he does not
disapprove. 57
tasya prajnâ pratishthitâ || 57

Six verses now answer the question

oÀÆ = His , ú¿rÁ˛ = wisdom (is),
'how does he sit?' (How does he remain,
ú¿uou…eoÁ˛˛ = situated in Samadhi (Samâdhim
suppressing his senses?)
prati sthita), Æ: = who, EåußÀåz“: = is
without love or attachment to (without
affections which are subject to conditions. ÆtÁ ÃÊ“∫oz YÁÆÊ NÓ˛™Áz|DWΩTÁåyƒ Ã|∆: @
Unconditional affection out of mercifulness Fuãt¿ÆÁmyuãt¿ÆÁsz•| ÆÀoÀÆ ú¿rÁ ú¿uou…boÁ @@ 58˛˛˛
however should remain to some degree. Yadâ samharate châyam
He is fixed in those qualities), Ã|fi = any kurmo-angâneeva sarvasah |
mundane object (every where), å Eußåãtuo indriyâneendriyârthebhyah
= He does not rejoice (He does not say, o
tasya prajnâ pratishtitâ || 58
'oh, you are so religious, serving a great
devotee. I bless you with happiness'), å ƒÁ
tΩƒuz …b = nor does he hate (nor does he curse ÆtÁ = When, EÆ™Ω = the wise man, a
e
the disrespectful persons saying, 'go to hell, ÃÊ“∫oz = withdraws (stopping the movement
you sinful creature), ú¿ÁõÆ = having come (Cont. in page 24)
∫

22 THE GAUDIYA JANUARY 2010

 With Best Compliments from

Ph: 2538 8124

Fax: 2538 8184

M/s. V.T.C.FABRICS
that the hu

and
Specialist in Uniforms & Special Supplies

Distributors of
S.Kumar's Uniform Materials
Century Fabrics etc.

d
65, (New No.78),i Godown Street,
P.B.No: 133,
CHENNAI - 600 001

JANUARY 2010 THE GAUDIYA 23

 (Cont. from page 22)
of the independent senses towards the
external objects, he establishes them without
movement within), Fuãt¿ÆÁum ˛= senses such
as eyes, ears, etc., Fuãt¿ÆÁsz|•Æ: = from the
objects of the senses such as sound etc.,
Ã|∆: = fully, Fƒ = like, NÓ˛™|: = a tortoise
(withdrawing), EWΩÁuå = (its) limbs (such as
mouth, eyes within himself by its will), oÀÆ
= his, ú¿rÁ = wisdom, ú¿uou…eoÁ ˛= is well
founded.
When the wise man withdraws
(stopping the movement of the independent
senses towards the external objets, he
establishes them, without movement, within)
senses such as eyes, ears etc. from the
objects of the senses such as sound etc. fully
like a tortoise (withdrawing) (its) limbs (such
as mouth, eyes within himself by its will), his
wisdom is well-founded. 58
When the Blissful Supreme Lord Sri
C
Krishna is perceived, all the latent
tendencies of the mind are removed
uƒ ÆÁ uƒuåƒo|ãoz uå∫Á“Á∫ÀÆ tzu“å: @
∫Ã\˙ ∫ÃÁzDõÆÀÆ ú∫Ê –…bΩƒÁ uåƒo|oz @@ 59
Vishayâ vinivartante
nirâhârasya dehinah |
rasavarjam rasoapyasya
param drishtvâ nivartate || 59
uƒ ÆÁ: = The objects of senses,
uƒuåƒo|ãoz = go away, tzu“å: = of an ignorant
engrossed soul, uå∫Á“Á∫ÀÆ = who practises
abstinence from food and such other objects
of senses (though rules of fasting etc. to
control the senses are prescribed for the
ignorant, no eternal good can achieve from
such a path, unless it be based on the
24 THE GAUDIYA
principle of Divine Love) , ∫Ã\˙ = except
for the desire for objects (it is only external
disappearance), EÀÆ = (but) of his, ∫ÃÁzgriDuú
= even that attachment to enjoy, uåƒo|oz =
ceases to exist, –…bΩƒÁ = on his seeing, ú∫Ê =
blissful Supreme Lord Sri Krishna (when the
fire of Divine Love is once enkindled with
the realisation of the real self and the
knowledge of his relationship with the
Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, thirst for worldly
enjoyment is automatically disappeared).
The objects of senses go away of an
5
ignorant engrossed soul, who practises
abstinence from food and such other objects B
of senses (though rules of fasting etc. to
control the senses are prescribed for the
ignorant, no eternal good can achieve from
such a path, unless it be based on the
principle of Divine Love) except for the
desire for objects (it is only external
disappearance). But of his even that
attachment to enjoy ceases to exist on his
seeing Blissful Supreme Lord Sri Krishna
B).
(when the fire of Divine Love is once
enkindled with the realisation of the real self
and the knowledge of his relationship with
the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, thirst for e
worldly enjoyment is automatically
disappeared). 59
The senses are dangerous to control
- but not to the unalloyed devotees
ÆooÁz —Æuú N˛Á{ãozÆ úϪ ÀÆ uƒúu≈Yo: @
Fuãt¿ÆÁum ú¿™Ásyuå “∫uão ú¿ÃßÊ ™å: @@ 60˛˛˛ ro
Yatato hyapi kaunteya
purushasya vipashchitah |
indriyâni pramâtheeni
haranti prasabham manah || 60
(to be contd.)
JANUARY
ar 2010