NEW BRAJ, CA - 22 MAY 1997
Srila Gurudeva: What will you listen to? You will first have to pay some daksina for listening. But you are not first giving daksina, and that is why you are not hearing deeply and keeping here in your heart. Those who will not give daksina in the form of sraddha don’t know the value of sraddha and the value of hearing. I have learnt it by serving my guru and the Vaisnavas very laboriously day and night, by reading and by doing austerities. All these things which I have gained from them I am giving to you without taking any dollars or anything like that in return. So you are thinking that this hari-katha is of no use, having no value at all. But if I tell you that I will take $1,000 or $10,000 for one hour, even that will be a very small amount for you. But you are not responding at all.
Then what is the use of spending so much money to come here from England if you are wasting your time and not really hearing anything? I worry for this. We should try to take in all these things. Otherwise, what is the use? This is a very unfortunate situation.
And I am so unfortunate that I cannot give you anything lasting. Don’t give me cause to worry. If I will be very worried, then I will not be able to give classes here, and I will return to Vrndavana. What is the use if no one is gaining anything?
You will all have to repay me. Sanatana Gosvami has written in his Hari-bhakti-vilasa that if there is no daksina, then initiation will be false. So this siksa is like initiation. What is the meaning of siksa? It is a form of initiation. By this hari-katha I am giving initiation. What is the point of hearing? Siksa-guru is to be considered the same as diksa-guru, even more so. I have left Vrndavana, Mathura, my sadhana, bhajana, everything, only to give you some new thing, that which I have realized. But I am unhappy to see that I am not being paid. I should be paid. How can you pay me? By learning what I want to give you. We have finished slokas 5 and 6. What is the purport of sloka 6? Can anyone answer?
drstaih svabhava-janitair vapusas ca dosair
na prakrtatvam iha bhakta janasya pasyet
gangambhasam na khalu budbuda-phena-pankair
brahma-dravatvam apagacchati nira-dharmaih
Very briefly you can tell the meaning of this sloka. You don’t remember? This means you are not tasting what I am giving.
Devotee: Just like the Ganges has foam and some impurities in it, the Vaisnava looks like he is impure but we should never consider the advanced devotee in a material way. We should see that he is actually pure cent-per-cent.
Srila Gurudeva: Who can answer? Those who cannot reply should hide their heads so that Maharaja will not see them. But Maharaja is seeing everything, everyone. You should tell the meaning of this sloka—drstaih svabhava-janitair vapusas ca dosair.
Devotee: In this sloka Srila Rupa Gosvamipada is telling how we should be careful when associating with Vaisnavas. He has told us about the three levels of Vaisnavas.
Srila Gurudeva: He has explained kanistha, madhyama and uttama. Now he is telling how to honor the three. What is he saying?
Devotee: We have to be very careful when meeting with uttama-adhikari Vaisnavas because their dealings, behavior and all their activities are on a completely transcendental platform. Outwardly they act like normal human beings. Sometimes we see that they are having some disease or they are unable to speak, that there is something wrong with their voice. Yesterday in the drama we saw that all the sages in Maharaja Janaka’s assembly started laughing at Astavakra Rsi because his body was so deformed. That was not proper etiquette because a pure devotee is completely situated in transcendental consciousness. He laughed back at them and then they were all ashamed of their behavior. We should not try to estimate the activities of pure Vaisnavas with our material intelligence.
In this verse Srila Rupa Gosvami is explaining about the Ganga. The water has come from the lotus feet of Krsna, so it is like brahma; it is very pure. By the touch of the Ganga we get purified. That is the power it has. But when we go there, we see some impurities and some foam lying on that water. If we say, “Oh, this water is not good. I’m not going to touch that water. I’ll become more dirty,” this will be an offense to that holy river. But those who know that and who have full faith, despite seeing all those impurities on the surface of the water, dip in it. Then they are blessed with the mercy of the Ganges.
Srila Gurudeva: What is the meaning of svabhava-janitair? Due to the nature of the body. What does this mean?
Devotee: If he has a deformed body or diseased body.
Srila Gurudeva: No, disease is not svabhava.
Devotee: He is always situated in his original constitutional position in Krsna consciousness.
Srila Gurudeva: Svabhava-janitair vapusas. Vapu, the body, is separate.
Devotee: If his nature is...
Srila Gurudeva: What nature?
Devotee: If he seems to have something wrong with his character.
Srila Gurudeva: Yes! Sometimes he will become angry, speaking roughly or giving some slap, like Ramadasa Abhirama Thakura. He would use his whip on everyone. This is svabhava, nature. By the nature of the body, sometimes they become angry without any reason. Don’t be put off by seeing this rough behavior or rough speech. If there is some gold but it has fallen down inside a drain where all pass stool and is very filthy, what will you do? You will look all around to see if anyone is watching you. Then you will pour some water into the drain and take the gold. Understand?
An intelligent person will take that gold anyway. There is no consideration whether it is in a clean or dirty place. Gold never becomes impure. It is the same with bhakti. If someone has bhakti and is really a Vaisnava, but sometimes becomes angry, uses rough, harsh words, or exhibits rough behavior, still you should try to serve and please him, and try to take bhakti from him. Do you understand? If you think, “He is a rough-speaking person, so I will not go to hear from him,” then you will lose out. So we should be very careful about this. Svabhava and then vapuh. Svabhava-janitair vapusas ca dosair and other things.
kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei guru haya
Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 8.128
Whether one is a brahmana, a sannyasi or a sudra, regardless of what he is, he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Krsna.
Go to any person who is tattva-vetta, whether he is a brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha or out of varnasrama society, no harm. He may be Mohammedan like Haridasa Thakura, no harm. You should go and take bhakti from him. If you have any bad thoughts about him, considering that he is ugly or black, his teeth are crooked, or he is a rough-speaking person, then you will be making an offense at his lotus feet and you will be cheated. So do not look at his “negative” qualities. And do not try to give him advice. Why? You will only give him advice if you think that he is a fool, and this is an offense. Don’t advise and don’t try to correct him by saying, “You are incorrect. You should do it in this way.”
You know Hemalata Thakurani, the daughter of Srinivasa acarya? She was sitting in an assembly of hari-katha. While the speaker was reciting Bhagavatam, she was chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare.
The speaker was thinking that now he had become uttama-maha-bhagavata, and he told Hemalata Thakurani, “It is very bad to chant harinama when Bhagavata is going on. Don’t you know that Srimad-Bhagavatam is Himself Krsna, and you are chanting here?” At once the whole assembly was very much offended. Everyone boycotted him, telling him, “We don’t want to hear from you.” Hemalata Thakurani is beyond the control of anyone, beyond all rules and regulations. She can manifest lakhs and lakhs of forms, being here and there at the same time. Chanting, remembering, hearing—she can do everything at the same time. So there is no need or possibility of controlling such a person. Finally, this Rupa Kaviraja was boycotted by the whole Vaisnava community and became known as atibadi (pretender) Rupa. So we should not try to correct those who are advanced. Rather we should try to be corrected by them.
In addition, do not think that Krsna consciousness is limited to a certain section of people, a certain group of devotees or a certain tract of land. “We will hear only from those who belong to a particular group of devotees.” Don’t make all these offenses. Be broad-minded and try to honor all the Vaisnavas.
We should not avoid all these regulations, thinking, “Oh, I am now madhyama-adhikari, and these instructions are meant only for kanistha-adhikaris. There is no harm if we don’t follow them.” Don’t do this. Otherwise, you will be making an offense at the lotus feet of Rupa Gosvami. You should try to always be established in these truths. They are very helpful. Up to bhavavastha (the stage of bhava), we will still have some anarthas. If we displease the Vaisnavas, bhakti and Bhagavan, then we will lose our status as madhyama-adhikari. So don’t be deluded like this. Try to read these slokas again and again and try to follow. If you are not following all these instructions, it means that you are not advancing in bhakti but are actually gradually regressing back to your worldly activities. Those who understand will practice and progress.