How To Reconcile Apparent Contradictions

by Srimati Jadurani devi dasi

[Submitted by Premavati dasi]

6 July 2001

[Those who are not familiar with the actual teachings of Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja sometimes think that his words are in contradiction to those of Srila Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. To eradicate that doubt, Srimati Jadurani devi dasi gave a class in Eugene, Oregon on April 29, 2001. A transcription of her class is presented here:]

A Lecture by Jadurani dasi

Srila Prabhupada came to this world to give exactly the same gift as Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This gift had not been given for a very long time. Caitanya Mahaprabhu comes once in a day of Brahma, once every 8,640,000,000 years. Since the last time He came, in the previous day of Brahma, this gift had not been given. Mahaprabhu came to give 'unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti sriyam', the beauty of the creeper of Srimati Radhika's love of Krsna. In other words, He came to give service as a maidservant of Srimati Radhika. This supreme goal and objective of all Gaudiya Vaisnavas is also what Srila Prabhupada came to give.

?Srila Prabhupada wanted to immediately give this gift. However, seeing the fallen condition of his audience, he first had to cut the jungles of atheism, mayavada, modern science, sahajiyism, and so many other apasiddhantic philosophies. He therefore began at the beginning: A is for apple, B is for ball, and C is for cat. The higher siddhantas were also mentioned in his classes, and especially in his books, but at that time we did not have the adhikara, qualification, to hear or see them. The qualification would be coming, and the seeds of that qualification were being planted, but all we could hear and digest at the time was that A is for apple, B is for ball, and C is for cat.

Srila Narayana Maharaja also teaches 'A is for apple' for those who have not yet learned that. For those who have learned that, he teaches, "The cat runs." Unfortunately, some think he is saying something different from Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada planted the seed of bhakti in so many hearts, and if one seed sprouts a branch, what is the harm? If a seed that Srila Prabhupada has planted grows into a luxurious plant, what is the cause for criticism? Srila Narayana Maharaja is giving the exact same teachings, but we are able to hear more now. Srila Maharaja said in Salt Spring Island last week, "If I had told you twenty, twenty five, or thirty years ago what I am telling you now, you would have been totally confused. Now, more and more of what Srila Prabhupada wanted to give you is coming out." He also told his audience in Badger, California, "I am sometimes speaking different words, but they mean the same thing. My words help you understand his words. If I always use the same words as him, again you will misunderstand him." This is a very important aspect of scriptural understanding.

Also, sometimes the same acarya may apparently make contrary statements in his own books, or in his own commentaries. Why? Because some understandings are meant for a certain person at a particular time of his advancement, and some understandings, said by the same acarya, are meant for the same reader ten, twenty, or thirty years later. Also, some statements are sometimes meant for one audience, one readership, and other statements are meant for another audience. A sincere reader will approach a pure devotee. Yaha bhagavata pada vaisnavera sthane. "If you want to understand Srimad Bhagavatam, you must approach a self-realized Vaisnava and hear from him. You can do this when you have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu."

Also, sometimes we find that different acaryas make apparently contradictory statements for different audiences, and I am going to give some examples. Actually, there is no contradiction in any of their statements. This is also confirmed by Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in the introduction to his Sri Gaudiya Bhasya of Sri Caitanya Bhagavat, which he wrote on the Ekadasi-tithi of June 5,1932. There he says: "While inquiring into the Absolute Truth, we cannot remain steady in one conclusion after hearing various apparently opposing statements of many acaryas. Considering the weakness of the audiences, the instructing acarya often does not have the opportunity to disclose many subjects."

One example of this is Srila Jiva Gosvami. In Srila Jiva Gosvami's commentary of Sri Ujjvala-nilamani he writes that what he had previously stated about Radha and Krsna being a married couple was not his own siddhanta: "Svecchaya likitam kincit, kincit likitam parecchaya. I have written some statements by my own desire, and some I have written by the desire of others." At the time of Jiva Gosvami, not everybody was qualified to hear from him about Their parakiya-rasa, paramour love, which is actually the essence of the Gaudiya Sampradaya. Srila Narayana Maharaja has explained, "Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in Gauda-desa, and He practiced love and affection for Krsna in parakiya mood. In India there are so many sampradayas and they do not know about this; but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu discovered it from Srimad Bhagavatam (S.B. 10. 31. 16):

"'When Krsna played His flute on the full-moon night, all the gopis left their husbands, children, friends, fathers, mothers, and everything, and they went to Krsna.' Their husbands were there at home; and therefore this is parakiya. Although the gopis had husbands, Krsna was their beloved. From the beginning they had no relation with their husbands; Yogamaya arranged it so that their husbands never touched them. She made artificial wives, and the husbands used to be with those. Devotees who accept this, and who thus follow the teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, are called Gaudiya. There is so much evidence in the Srimad Bhagavatam to substantiate this:

sva-sadhu-krtyam vibudhayusapi vah
ya mabhajan durjara-geha-srnkhalah
samvrscya tad vah pratiyatu sadhuna
"Krsna told the gopis, 'I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahma. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.'

"In other words Krsna is saying, 'You have done even what I cannot do. You are ekanistha, completely one-pointed to Me. I have so many devotees, in vatsalya-rasa, in sakhya-rasa, and in dasya-rasa. I even have brand new devotees that I can't give up once they begin the path of bhakti. But you have given up everything. You have given up your family, your homes, and even the most difficult thing for Vedic chaste ladies to give up. You have given up your shyness and chastity. Therefore I will always remain indebted to you.'"

Mahaprabhu's chief disciple, Srila Rupa Gosvami, was blessed by all of Mahaprabhu's associates to give these teachings of parakiya-rasa to the entire world. Rupa Gosvami's foremost disciple is Jiva Gosvami, and therefore he would not have had any difference of opinion from his guru. However, because Jiva Gosvami wanted to gradually bring into Krsna consciousness and Gaudiya Vaisnavism those who were not yet qualified, he explained that the love of Radha and Krsna is svakiya-bhava, married love. Then, in his own commentary to Ujjvala Nilamani, he explained, "Svakiya-bhava is not really my opinion. My opinion is the same as that of Srila Rupa Gosvami, which is that the love of Radha and Krsna is parakiya-bhava. In order to bring in unqualified people, I have expressed something else."

It is not that he lied to them. There is an aspect of Radha and Krsna's love that is svakiya-bhava. The most confidential place in the planet of Goloka is Vrajabhumi, Vrndavana. It is the innermost region of Goloka, and the most confidential and complete. On the outskirts of that same Goloka planet, Radha and Krsna have a relationship something like that of Laksmi-Narayana, in svakiya bhava, and they are worshiped in awe and reverence by their devotees there. Radha and Krsna also expand as Dvarakadhisa-Satyabhama and Dvarakadhisa-Rukmini, and They also have an expansion with Their same name, but as a married couple in the mood of Laksmi-Narayana. So it is not that Jiva Gosvami was telling an untruth for the benefit of others. He told them a part of the truth to bring them gradually to Gaudiya Vaisnavism. If such persons had heard about parakiya-rasa at that time, they would have been offensive and thought it immoral. In this way we can see that Srila Jiva Gosvami's apparent contradiction to the teachings of his guru was only apparent.

An example of one individual Acarya who apparently makes contradictory statements in his own book is our own Srila Prabhupada. But his apparent contradictions to himself are also only apparent. In Nectar of Devotion he writes that Nanda Baba is the foster-father of Krsna, insinuating that the real father and mother of Krsna are Vasudeva and Devaki. Yet, we see in his tenth canto volume one, in his Krsna book, and in Caitanya Caritamrta, that the complete form of Krsna is only in Vraja. When He is in Dvaraka as the son of Vyasudeva and Devaki, He is only partial. Vasudeva and Devaki see Him partially as their son and partially as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By their own admittance they are only partially Krsna's parents. When Uddhava received Krsna's request to go to Vrndavana and 'pacify His parents', he realized this fact. He thought, "Oh, now I understand. Vasudeva and Devaki are only partially his parents." He was still feeling some anticipation of separation, and therefore he said to Krsna, "How can I leave Dvaraka and go to Vrndavana? I won't be able to bear Your separation." Krsna replied, "Don't worry. I am only partially here in Mathura. When you go to Vrndavana you will see that I am fully there."

Krsna is fully the son of Nanda Baba and Yasoda, because His full, complete feature is Vrajendranandana. It is stated in Mahaprabhu's teachings to Srila Sanatana Gosvami that in Dvaraka Krsna is purna, complete, in Mathura He is purnata, more complete, and in Vrndavana He is purnatam, most complete. His partial manifestation is in Dvaraka, or Mathura, as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki.

Why then, did Srila Prabhupada write in Nectar of Devotion that Nanda Baba is Krsna's foster-father? The reason is that he is a follower Sri Sukadeva Gosvami.

In the beginning of Sri Sukadeva Gosvami's talks with Maharaja Pariksit, he was in his full external consciousness, and also he was aware that Pariksit Maharaja was a resident of Mathura. He knew that Maharaja Pariksit would only want to hear that Krsna is the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, so that he could feel that he was Krsna's relative and thus want to hear more about Him. Therefore, to please Maharaja Pariksit and bring him more and more into the taste of hearing Vrajandranandana Krsna's pastimes, Sukadeva Gosvami expressed this. Later, however, particularly in the tenth canto when he began revealing Krsna's birth in the home of Nanda Baba. He said that Krsna appeared in Dvaraka, but He took birth in the family of cowherdsmen. Pasupangajaya. Later, in the thirty-first chapter, while Sukadeva Gosvami was explaining Gopi-gita, he was becoming one with the mood of the gopis and losing his outer consciousness and considerations. At that time he frankly said that Krsna was born in Vrndavana as the son of Nanda Baba and Yasoda.

Sukadeva Gosvami has madhurya-rasa in him, something of the gopis' mood in him, because in Goloka Vrndavana he is a parrot who resides with Radha and Krsna. In that form, he sometimes has the service ofrepeating to the gopis who were not present in the kunjas what had happened there. Sometimes he would imitate the voices of Radha and Krsna in their pastimes. In this way he had something of the mood of the gopis. He was one in heart with them, as an iron rod in contact with fire becomes one with the fire. When Sukadeva Gosvami was reciting Gopi-gita and Venu-gita, he became one with the gopis and said straightforwardly, "O Krsna, You took birth in Vrndavana." By this time Pariksit Maharaja was prepared to hear. Ultimately his svarupa, or siddha-deha, spiritual body, was that of a manjari, a gopi serving Radha-Krsna in the forest groves, and now he was able to hear more.

One and a half months after I first met Srila Prabhupada, he gave me initiation and the name Jadurani. Why? I had to understand first Krsna in Dvaraka. Prabhupada told me at that time, "Krsna was not born, but He appeared as the sun appears on the Eastern horizon. The sun is not from the Eastern horizon; it appears there. As the sun appears on the Eastern horizon, Krsna appeared in the Jadu dynasty. Jadurani is the great, great, great, great, great, great, grandmother of Krsna." First I had to learn about Krsna in Dvaraka, and the fact that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then, twenty-six years later, Srila Narayana Maharaja told me, "Your Srila Prabhupada sent you to me, and he told me to give you this additional name of Syamarani so that you can ultimately enter into a relationship with Syamasundara Vrajendranandana Krsna and Radha in Vrndavana."

We cannot understand this principle without sadhu-sanga, but Srila Prabhupada and all our previous acaryas want that we ultimately forget any other Krsna. Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught this by His own example. He prayed: gopi-bartuh padakamalayo dasa dasanudasa. "I am not a brahmana, I am not a ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, sannyasi, and so on." Although Mahaprabhu was in the dress of a sannyasi, He prayed, "I am not a sannyasi, grhastha, or any of these material categories. Who am I? I am Gopi-bhartur dasa."

Who is Gopi-bhartur? Here Gopi-bhartur means the same as Gopi-natha. Natha means lord or master, but the actual definition and deep meaning of Gopinatha is not 'He who is the master of the gopis.' It is 'He whose lord is the gopis." Gopi-bhartur has the same definition. Mahaprabhu is saying, "I am not the servant of Dvarakadhisa, where He is the Lord, and Rukmini and Satyabhama are His servants. If the gopis are not there, and if the gopis are not controlling, I am not servant of that Krsna."

In this way there is no contradiction or confusion. We have to learn first that A is for apple, B is for ball, and C is for cat. Then we can learn, "The cat runs. Run, run, run. See the cat run." Without 'A is apple' we cannot understand full sentences, and without the sentences, ABC has no fruit. Everything is required. Everything is in Prabhupada's books, and Srila Narayana Maharaja is giving us the shovel to dig deeply into them. He is giving us the key to unlock their treasures.

Here is still another example of an apparent contradiction that is only apparent. Srila Narayana Maharaja's May 31, 2000 Los Angeles lecture was published on VNN. There he was explaining that Srila Prabhupada is in the line of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, not in the line of Maha-Visnu. Maha-Visnu's duty is to regulate the functions of the universe, and He also gives the yuga-dharma, the religious principles of the age. In this kali-yuga, when Caitanya Mahaprabhu came, the kali-yuga-dharma was nama-sankirtana. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "I'll give nama-sankirtana, but I won't give it in the ordinary way that was given in previous kali-yugas by My Narayana expansions. I am going to give a special thing through nama-sankirtana." Yuga-dharma pravartana haya amsa haite. "My plenary portions can establish the principles of religion for each age. No one but Me, however, can bestow the kind of loving service performed by the residents of Vraja." This is from Adi 3.27.

What did Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu come to bestow? Unnata-ujjvala rasam sva-bhakti sriyam. Manjari bhava. He came to give the beauty of the mood of the manjaris, the intimate maidservants of Srimati Radhika.

?Srila Narayana Maharaja was explaining in that lecture that Maha-Visnu can establish the yuga-dharma. He can establish varnasrama-dharma and Vaikuntha-prema, but he cannot give Vraja-prema. Advaita Acarya, who is a manifestation of Maha-Visnu, felt that he could not give this Vraja-prema. He therefore prayed to Krsna to come Himself. Previously, after leaving this world five thousand years ago and having gone back to Goloka Vrndavana, Krsna felt a little unfulfilled. He'd thought, "I gave varanasrama-dharma and I gave love for Me in awe and reverence, but I did not give that love by which even I am amazed. I want to give the love of the Vrajavasis, and particularly the love of the gopis." He wanted to do it, but He didn't know exactly when He was going to come. By Advaita Acarya's prayers, He thought, "Now I am coming." This is all explained in the third and fourth chapters of Caitanya Caritamrta.

In that lecture Srila Narayana Maharaja said that Advaita Acarya could not give Vraja-prema as Maha-Visnu. He had first given a lecture like this is 1993. Just as in the year 2000, in 1993 he was trying to show that Srila Prabhupada is not a servant of Maha-Visnu. Prabhupada did not ultimately come to this world to teach Bhagavad-gita and establish varnasrama. Rather, he taught these as necessary stepping stones to his real aim of teaching the glories of Vraja-bhakti and how to attain it.

At that time, in 1993, not having heard his words clearly, some devotees misunderstood that Srila Maharaja was saying that Prabhupada was only a servant of Maha-Visnu. They thus sent propaganda around the world that he was minimizing Prabhupada. Others those who had not heard Prabhupada say so many times that Bhagavad-gita is the ABC of Krsna consciousness, and those who did not know that Srila Maharaja would be spending years of his time to give the world Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura's commentaries on Bhagavad-gita in Hindi and English thought that Srila Maharaja was minimizing Bhagavad-gita. Over the next eight years, on various occasions, Srila Maharaja made his point again and again, just to establish that Prabhupada is in the line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and his aim and object was to give manjari-bhava. Srila Maharaja wanted us to understand this because without fixing our goal of life, we can never get there.

Now, in 2000, just to again show Prabhupada's glory as being in the line of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Maharaja said that Advaita Acarya, as Maha-Visnu, cannot give Vraja-prema. That L.A. lecture was published on VNN, and, as we know, whenever there is a VNN article on any subject, there is a rebuttal. Somebody wrote an article that Srila Narayana Maharaja was wrong. He said that Advaita Acarya can give Vraja-prema, and he can give the love of the gopis." Then, to counter that, some of Srila Narayana Maharaja's disciples wrote, "No, he can't."

A few days ago we found out that neither is actually correct. A devotee brought this topic up to Srila Narayana Maharaja, and Srila Maharaja replied, "I did not have so much time on that day, so I could not explain fully. He then explained that as Maha-Visnu, alone, Advaita Acarya could not give Vraja-prema. However, as the associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he was drowning in Mahaprabhu's tears and ecstatic love. How could he not be able to give Vraja-prema at that time? He could not give the love of the gopis, but he could give sakhya-prema, and something of vatsalya-prema. He could give Vraja-prema, because he was drowning in the ocean of Mahaprabhu's madness in Vraja-prema and he understood the purpose of Mahaprabhu.

Srila Maharaja often quotes the following lila from Sri Caitanya Caritamrta: When it was time for Caitanya Mahaprabhu to leave this world, Sri Advaita Acarya wrote a letter to Him. This letter was so confidential that only Svarupa Damodara and Mahaprabhu, and very, very few associates could understand it. He wrote, "Now there is no more demand for rice in the market place." What was the meaning? "You can close up the 'shops' now." What is the rice? That rice is Vraja-prema, particularly gopi-prema. "There is no more need of rice in the market place. You brought so much rice. Now everyone has bought rice. Now everyone is fully satisfied. There is no more demand, so You can wind up Your pastimes and go back to Your own abode. This is a letter from one mad person to another." When Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard and read this letter, He became very grave and thoughtful. At that point His separation for Krsna doubled, more than doubled. He became totally mad in separation from Krsna; and soon afterwards He left this world.

In this way there is no contradiction. Even if there seems to be a contradiction in Srila Narayana Maharaja and himself, there is not. There is no contradiction between Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada, nor is there a contradiction between Srila Narayana Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada or any other bona fide acarya. It is, on one hand, simply a question of who can hear what at what time. On the other hand it is a matter of getting further clarification through inquiry. So many of Prabhupada's disciples left after his departure, not being able to reconcile his apparent contradictions, which were only apparent.

Here is another example of an apparent contradiction. In his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindhu, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura discusses the term aropa-siddha-bhakti. He states: "Endeavors which by nature are not purely constituted of bhakti, that is, with a pure motive to please Krsna, and in which the performer, in order to fulfill his own purpose, offers his activities and their results to the Lord so that he may be pleased, is called aropa-siddha-bhakti." Srila Narayana Maharaja also explains this in his lectures. The word aropa means superimposition or attribution. I am attributing the word bhakti to something that is not exactly bhakti. Suppose I like the feel of earth. I like to grow flowers, and therefore I get a garden and grow so many fruits and flowers. I offer those fruits and flowers to Krsna and I say, "I am doing this to please Krsna." How do I know that Krsna wanted me to grow that garden? It is my own conception, based on the principle that I like the feel of the earth and the beauty of the flowers.

On the other hand, in Srila Prabhupada's lecture series on yoga, in the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, he said about his young disciples, "So, here those in this Krsna consciousness movement, directly meditate simply on Krsna. Therefore nobody is better meditators than these boys. They are simply concentrating on Krsna. Their whole business is Krsna. They're working in the garden, digging the earth, 'Oh, there will be nice rose, we shall offer to Krsna.' Meditation. Practical meditation. 'I shall grow rose and it will be offered to Krsna.' Even in the digging there is meditation. You see? They are preparing nice foodstuff, 'Oh, it will be eaten by Krsna.' So in cooking there is meditation. You see? And what to speak of chanting and dancing. So they are meditating twenty-four hours on Krsna. Perfect yogi. Let anyone come and challenge. These boys are perfect yogis."

Prabhupada's statement may seem to some to be a contradiction to sastra and to Srila Narayana Maharaja, but it is not at all. Why not? The parent will say to the child who refuses to drink his milk, "If you just drink your milk, you will grow up big and strong." The child is not going to grow up big and strong simply by drinking the milk. But he has to drink his milk. It is the beginning. Or, the student does not want to study, and so the parents say, "If you just study and do your homework, you will become a very powerful lawyer." Obviously he won't become a lawyer just by that, but it is a beginning. The teacher may show a beautiful red book to the small child who does not want to attend class, and say to him, "See the pictures? A is for apple. See the picture of the apple? Repeat after me. A is apple. Oh, very good! You have passed your examination. You are a very good student." The next morning the child eagerly asks the parent, "Mother, when can I go to school again?" This is a beginning to encourage.

One of my god-brothers asked Srila Narayana Maharaja, "On one hand scripture says, 'Even if you chant the holy name neglectfully, still you achieve liberation. Still you achieve perfection.'" There is a very nice verse about the holy name: "O Brghu Muni, this chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra is the most sweet of all sweet things, and it is the most auspicious of all auspicious things. Even by once chanting it, whether it is neglectfully chanted or with faith, one achieves liberation from birth and death." My god-brother continued, "There are so many verses like this. Yet we also see in scripture that we have to avoid the ten offenses, we have to chant without nama-aparadha and without namabhasa. We are told that only suddha-nama, chanting in ecstasy, will give the desired result. We have to chant weeping, rolling on the ground, loudly, without any consideration of outsiders, and sometimes fainting. Only that kind of chanting gives prema. So there seems to be a contradiction."

Srila Narayana Maharaja answered very beautifully with a story about Queen Kunti. When Kunti devi was a little girl, she served Durvasa Muni, and Durvasa Muni gave her a benediction, "You will be the mother of five very powerful sons, and they will be pure devotees." This did not happen automatically by her getting the benediction. She still had to grow up and get trained how to be a wife. She had to get married. Then she had to properly serve her husband, and then she had to get pregnant, and then she had to get the children, and then she had to raise the children properly, and then she became the mother of such sons.

She got the benediction, but still she had to go through the correct process. Similarly, the scriptures promise, "Any way you chant, you will get perfection." How? Keep chanting, and gradually you will meet sadhus. Keep chanting and gradually you will meet the most elevated sadhu, and he will give you initiation. Keep chanting and then he will give you the diksa mantras. Keep chanting and more and more help will come so that you can chant purely.

It says in sastra, "Simply by chanting Hare Krsna you can go to Goloka Vrndavana. There is no need of diksa." Yet, in the same scripture, we see that there is need for diksa. Why? If you are chanting harinama like Srila Haridasa Thakura and Svarupa Damodara, and your diksa has already been accomplished by your eternal perfection or by your previous births' samskaras, then there is no need. Suppose that rice is the goal. The harinama mantra is the means to the goal Goloka Vrndavana. Without cooking the rice, however, we will not be able to digest it. We therefore need a stove, a pot, and some water. The stove, pot, and water is the diksa-mantras. The diksa-mantras put a relationship with Krsna into our chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra, and therefore diksa is required. What does it mean, then, that simply by chanting Hare Krsna you can get to Goloka Vrndavana? It is because that very chanting brings you to a bona fide guru. That very chanting brings you to hear the diksa mantras. That very chanting brings you to hear the instruction that we must offer our bhoga to Krsna. Gradually more and more things are added. It appears like a contradiction, but there is no contradiction. Sadhu-sanga is required to reconcile all apparent contradictions.

We have to accumulate what is called sukrtis and samskaras in order to be able to hear deeper and deeper truths. Srila Prabhupada gave us activities. He said, "Grow roses and offer them to Krsna. Distribute books." By these activities our sukritis increased. I was there in Los Angeles, in 1974, when he said in a lecture, "Come to Vrndavana for Vraja Mandala parikrama. What will I give you there? Puris mixed with ghee." He knew that by going to Vrndavana we would build up sukritis and samskaras, impressions on the heart, so that later we would be able to hear more, understand Vrndavana better, and go there for bhakti instead of puris.

What are impressions? What are samskaras? If you have a rock, and you take a rope and rub it back and forth on the rock, nothing is going to happen. But if you keep going back and forth on the rock, something will gradually impress there. By repeated activities, particularly in relationship, impressions come on the heart. When Srila Narayana Maharaja was discussing impressions, one of his disciples from Delhi was sitting there with her five-year-old son. He therefore said, "Now she has samskaras, having lived with her son and taking care of him for five years. She is thinking, 'I am the mother of this boy.' Six years ago, before the birth of her child, and before she was married, she was an office girl. She was walking with her shoulder bag in a very proud way. But now she is thinking, 'I am a mother.' Why? Because of impressions created by repeated activities in relationship. Now she cannot imagine that she was ever not a mother. By sukritis, spiritual pious activities, and samskaras, impressions on the heart from those activities, gradually one can hear more, one can recognize who is a rasika tattva-jna bhakta, and one can learn from him how to understand philosophy. He will teach what statements are actually contradictory and what statements are only apparently contradictory.

We are hearing and reading, "Don't worship Dvarakadhisa." "Do worship Dvarakadhisa", and "Don't worship Dvarakadhisa." If we read Srila Prabhupada's books, we will see both. Why? Because one statement is meant for us at one point in our development of bhakti, and one is meant for us at another point. In the lower grades of school, we have to study all subjects. Then, as we get older and advance to high school, collage, and post-graduate studies, and we want to become something specific, we have to major. As Srila Narayana Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada both stress, "Don't try to remain on the same first-grade platform. Quoting Srila Prabhupada in his Nectar of Instruction purports, Srila Narayana Maharaja stated, "No one should remain as a kanistha adhikari. On has to come up to the madhyama and uttama platforms."

In tattva-siddhanta there is no difference between Dvarakadhisa and Vrajendranandana Sri Krsna. However, when the disciple is ready to take the training to enter into his specific relationship with Krsna, he then has to make a distinction between tattva-siddhanta and rasa-siddhanta the principles of philosophical truth and that of relationship.

Prabhupada writes in one of his commentaries to Madhya-lila chapter eight: "Although according to the material conception Narayana, Rukmini-ramana (Dvarakadhisa), and Krsna are one and the same, in the spiritual world one cannot use the name Rukmini-ramana or Narayana in place of the name Krsna. If one does so out of a poor fund of knowledge, his mellow with the Lord becomes spiritually faulty and is called rasabhasa, an overlapping of transcendental mellows. The advanced devotee who has actually realized the transcendental features of the Lord will not commit the mistake of creating a rasabhasa situation by using one name for another. Because of the influence of Kali-yuga, there is much rasabhasa in the name of extravagance and liberal-mindedness. Such fanaticism is not very much appreciated by pure devotees." The love of the queens of Dvarakadhisa is not the same as the love of the gopis in Vrndavana. This was explained by Rohinimaiya, the mother of Baladeva. Rohini devi is a Vrajabasi. She lived and gave birth to Baladeva in Vrndavana, and then she also came with Baladeva and Krsna's expansions to Dvaraka. As stated in Srila Sanatana Gosvami's Brhad-bhagavatamrta, the queens of Dvaraka are weeping to her, "O mother, you used to live in Vraja. You know the gopis, so you can answer our question. We are the most beautiful girls in the world. We are so qualified and we have knowledge of all the arts. Yet, we see that at night Krsna is lying on the same bed as us and He is wetting His pillow and His whole bed with His tears as He cries out, 'O Radhike, O Visakhe, O Lalite. O mother, where are you? O Subala. O Sridam. O Ujjvala. O Arjuna, where are you?'

"Not only that, He calls out to His cows. 'O, Syamali. O Dhavali.' He never calls out like that to us. He never weeps like that to us. We have so much opulence here, and in Vrndavana they have nothing just some leaves and flowers. Why is His mind so fully absorbed in Vrndavana?" Rohini explained that the love of the residents of Vrndavana is pure and completely selfless, whereas theirs is not quite so one pointed. The love of the gopis is called samartha-rati. They have left everything. In transcendental parakiya-rasa one must leave everything, including all considerations, all society's rules and chastisements, degradation, children, and everything else. If a lady has another lover outside of her husband, she serves her husband better than an ordinary wife so that he won't know. But she is always thinking, 'When will I meet my lover tonight? When? When?' She is always making plans. This type of love has a risk that marital love does not have. One risks everything, and therefore it is more intense. At every moment there is a new experience. The gopis have this love, and therefore their affection for Krsna is one pointed. Rohini devi continued, "Your love is divided between Krsna and your so many children, and your maidservants, and your duties. Your honor for Krsna also acts as a wall in your intimate affection for Him. This is why Krsna is more inclined towards the gopis." This pastime has some relation with the time of Ratha-yatra, during the hera- pancami festival. Every year, when Jagannatha is driven on His chariot to the Gundica temple, then Laxmi, representing the queens of Dvaraka, comes to the Gundica temple after five days. Her associates bind all the servants of Lord Jagannatha who are with Him at Gundica, 'handcuff' them, and make them fall at Her feet. Gundica represents Vrndavana.

These are very, very interesting pastimes. Do you know why Jagannatha goes to His chariot in that wabbly manner described in Caitanya Caritamrta? Why does Jagannatha continually fall backwards and forward as He very slowly moves towards His chariot? Why does He sometimes fall from one side to the other as He 'walks' toward His chariot in Jagannatha Puri? Puri represents Dvaraka, and Jagannatha is Krsna in Dvaraka. The answer is that He is rushing toward Vrndavana in such ecstatic separation that He cannot keep His balance. This new light on the Ratha-yatra festival was brought by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.

Srila Narayana Maharaja gave so many lectures on these deep secrets of Rathyatra, and he said that by understanding these deep meanings one can get Vraja-prema. Yet, there seems to be a contradiction. At Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day festival about six years ago, in front of two thousand or so of Prabhupada's disciples and followers, Srila Narayana Maharaja said that by performance of the Ratha-yatra festival one cannot get Vraja-prema. This created and uproar, an upheaval, and many turned against him. Many said that he was against Srila Prabhupada.

Why did Prabhupada start Ratha-yatra, and establish it in practically every major city of the world if it does not give Vraja-prema? Prabhupada first gave us the general meaning of Ratha-yatra, to help us understand Jagannatha as the Lord of this universe. In his lectures he hinted at the deep meanings, and in his Caitanya Caritamrta translations he discussed the deep meanings of Ratha-yatra in great detail. By seeing Jagannatha as Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw Him, as Vrajendranandana Sri Krsna, and seeing Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the son of Nanda Maharaja, Krsna, having been covered by the mood and complexion of Srimati Radhika, we can advance towards Vraja-prema. Getting the key from a tattva-jna rasika bhakta one can worship Jagannatha and see Rathayatra in such a way, and see everything in such a way, that we can ultimately enter Goloka Vrndavana. So there are no contradictions. By merely pulling the ropes and chanting, "Jaya Jagannatha" we will get some sukriti, but by doing the same thing with the proper understanding and mood we can advance toward Vraja-prema.

Srila Narayana Maharaja gave a lecture on this subject in Wales, on July 4, 2000. In his lecture he was quoting Srimati Radharani when She met Krsna at Kuruksetra: "There are so many elephants and horses here, and so many big armies and generals. Bhisma-pitamaha, many forefathers, and all the rsis are here. And so many of Your wives are here. We don't want You to remain here. We want to take to You again to Vrndavana, to Vamsi Vat, to the bank of the very beautiful river Yamuna. At Vamsi Vat there are so many kadamba trees, and a very sweet fragrance is emanating. No one will come to disturb Us there. There is only Myself and My associates. So I want that you should at once come with us, and we will take you to Vrndavana.

"In this mood of Srimati Radhika, Mahaprabhu sometimes goes in front of the cart. He is singing and dancing, and Jagannatha is going and seeing, and tasting and relishing so much. Radhika wants to test Krsna, to examine Him: "If I'm not going to Vrndavana, will He go or not? Mahaprabhu therefore sometimes goes behind the cart, not singing or doing anything, but He is there. Then Jagannatha stops. The chariot is no longer moving. The elephants are trying, the soldiers are all trying, and the king is trying to move the cart; but Jagannatha will not move. He is thinking, "When Srimati Radhika will come and move forward, then I will go." Then, when Gauracandra proceeds forward, Jagannathadeva slowly begins to move on. In this way it sometimes takes two or three days to reach Gundica Mandira.

"These are very pleasant things. Who made it so? Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself. At first it was not like this. Simply the cart was going with Jagannatha, Subhadra, and Baladeva, and Their servants and elephants were taking Them. There was no kirtana, no mood nothing. There was no Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates, and no one in the kirtana party. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu joined and brought the mood of Radha-Krsna at Kuruksetra, lakhs and lakhs of devotees from Bengal, Orissa, here, and there, began to join. Now there is not less than forty lakhs. We also go. Without Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu I would not be in the mood to go to Jagannatha Puri. It is Dvaraka, or Kuruksetra, and therefore I would not want to go. However, knowing about Caitanya Mahaprabhu and how He is dancing and seeing this round figure with no eyes, I want to go. How is He seeing Jagannatha? As Syamasundara, as Vrajendranandana Syamasundara. He never thought, 'Here is Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra.' We cannot see like this, however, so we only go there to try to have the mood of Caitanya Mahaprabhu to take all these moods in us. That is why Sri Rupa Gosvami used to go, and that is why Sri Sanatana Gosvami and all the Gosvamis were there. Sri Svarupa Damodara, Sri Raya Ramananda, and all their associates were there only for this." In this way there is no contradiction.

Even when Prabhupada left this world, or appeared to, we were still newborn babies in Krsna consciousness. He did not have the time to stay longer because Krsna was calling him. Krsna was feeling Prabhupada's separation. Prabhupada wanted us to understand the deep message in his books, but he saw that we could not understand much at the time. It is said that he gave us everything, but if he gave it we would have gotten it, and we would not be so troubled and confused in our lives. He concealed some truths in his lecture tapes, but mostly he concealed them in his books. The parents keep the savings bond for their child until he reaches the mature age of eighteen. The parents are intelligent. They know that if the child would take that bond at the age of five or six, he would misspend it.

Contemporary Disciples Page