Dear devotees,
Hare Krishna, Dandvat Pranam to Swami Gaurangapada. Dandvat Pranam Srinath Prabhu, Dandvat Pranam to all the devotees on the forum.
By Shyam Sundar ji
My understanding is that this forum is for discussion on devotional topics. The first stage in devotion is sraddha : “sraddha sabde visvas kahe, sudridh niscay, Krishna bhakti kaile sarva karma krita hoy.” (Chaitanya Charitamrta). Sraddha means the firm faith that by practicing Krishna bhakti , all else becomes accomplished. In other words, only Krishna bhakti is required. All pursuits of exploitative or renunciative nature become unnecessary for one who is following Krishna bhakti.
Krishna bhakti is the only dharma for every jiva. It doesn’t matter in what body, what nation, what community or what gender they have been born into. The purpose of life is Krishna bhakti and nothing else.
Such exclusive sraddha is the first step in the devotional process. Further, it leads to sadhu sanga, then bhajan kriya, then nistha and so on.
It is not easy to develop that sraddha : or firm faith in Krishna bhakti. It happens as a result of the causeless mercy of a Sadhu(Guru). One cannot come face to face with a Sadhu unless one has unlimited good acts (”bhakti-unmukhini-sukriti) accumulated in the past births. Those acts should not have been just acts of popular piety. Rather, only those acts that have directly or indirectly served the Lord (Vishnu) or His Associates / His Abodes / His paraphernalia (such as prasadam/ charan-amritam) are considered as those leading to bhakti.
As a result of such sukriti, one gets the darshan of a Sadhu and develops faith (sraddha).
Various faiths have been existing in this world especially in Kaliyuga. If as a result of practice of any such faith, a jiva develops some sukriti, then progress is possible. Otherwise it is not very useful, as the tangle of karma becomes more and more difficult to get rid of in case one is only busy with various types of karma.
It is extremely rare to get sukriti that leads to “sadhu-sanga” and the development of sraddha.
Lord Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has taught this to Sri Rupa Goswami , as recorded in the Shri Chaitanya Charitamrta.
Although so many human beings exist on the earth, very few follow the Vedas. Of them again, a large section follows the Vedas in name only! Out of the Vedic followers, most of them follow the path of karma. One single Jnani (one who seeks to merge into Brahman effulgence) is superior to millions of such karma-nistha persons. Out of millions of such Jnanis, one may acquire liberation : merger into the Impersonal Brahman effulgence of the Lord.
Out of crores of such Jnanis, one may be fortunate enough to find one Krishna bhakta!
So Krishna bhakti is rarest of rare. That everybody will become a vaishnav is something not easy to reconcile.
In its spiritual form every jiva is a vaishnav. But how many jivas want to understand it ?
Now, coming back to the fundamental question : Should we discuss about this principle (siddhanta) in a forum where persons from different faiths are present ? Yet, this is the beginning of Rupa Siksha. Sri Rupa Goswami is our Sampraday Acharya, the foremost one. If we cannot even preach this first point, then how can we even speak about the stages beyond sraddha : nistha, ruci, asakti and so on ?
So herein lies the dilemma. If we are still trying to reconcile the “good points” in “all religions” then the point of sraddha is still far away. Reverence for the mundane amounts to aversion for the transcendental reality.
In India in particular, it has become very popular in the past century to preach that every religion is the same. It can be the same to an atheist or the same to one who seeks impersonal goals. But from the point of view of eternal well being those cannot be the same. If a particular faith is opposed to Gau and to Brahmins (First class devotees) (both go-brahmin are dear to Lord Krishna) and especially to the worship of Sri Murti, chances of acquiring any sukriti in such faiths is very low.
It is like cutting a forest. Sometimes we need to cut a forest in order to build a palace. So, the misconceptions on God need to be dealt with in a decisive manner at some stage . Chanting must be done with proper understanding otherwise it could lead to further offenses and sometimes more trouble for the seeker.
Daso’smi
Shyam Sundar
- What is NITAAI Yoga
- Who is God
- The Spiritual Creation
- The Material Creation
- The Soul and Supersoul
- The Gross and Subtle Bodies
- Time
- Karma
- Reincarnation
- Heaven and Hell
- Prophecy
- Bhakti Yoga Philosophy
- The Eternal Dharma or Religion
- Worship of Tulasi
- Deity Worship
- Offering of Food
- Ekadashi Fasting from Grains
- Vegetarianism
- Visiting Holy Abodes
- Sadhu Sanga
- The Four Regulative Principles
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