'Sat guru and siksa mantras' [From Sanga]

Jahnava Nitai Das · 05-11-2001, 11:51 PM

S a n g a

Saturday, May 12, Disappearance of Srila Raya Ramananda

"You have found a sat guru in Srila Prabhupada. Consider yourself very
fortunate. Find a siksa guru who actually represents your diksa guru and
encourages you to chant the mantras he gave you."

Q&A discussion with Swami B.V. Tripurari.

Q. What is the spiritual etiquette for hearing the gayatri mantra (and in
some cases new mantras) a second time from a siksa guru? Are these mantras
meant for the siksa guru or do they also reach Srila Prabhupada?

A. If we accept a siksa guru in the full sense of the term, we will
consider him to be a manifestation of Krsna who is not different in
substance from our diksa guru. His function is to instruct us and thereby
water the seed of bhakti planted in our heart by our diska guru. If we have
given up our practice for a long time, there is no harm if we hear the
mantra from him again. But we shouldn't do this unless we feel that he is
fully representing our particular spiritual interest.

If we consider ourselves a member of the particular group in which our
Gurudeva is serving in Krsna lila, we will want to have a siksa guru who
understands this and helps us to enter that group. However, it is also
possible that the siksa guru may be more spiritually advanced than the
diksa guru, and in this case his ideal may take precedence in out heart.
Another possibility is that the two gurus are of the same stature and one
or the other becomes our main guru. This is not something to legislate. It
is a matter of the heart.

You are an initiated disciple of Srila Prpabhupda, as am I. We follow in
the line of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. Prabhupada gave his
disciples the mantras he heard from Srila Saraswati Thakura. The mantras
Prabhupada gave to his disciples are Brahma gayatri, guru mantra and
gayatri, gaura mantra and gayatri, krsna mantra and gayatri. Combined with
the the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha mantra, these are more than
sufficient.

You should never give up chanting these mantras in exchange for new ones
that are billed as being higher or better in some way. Find a siksa guru
who actually represents your diksa guru and encourages you to chant the
mantras he gave you. You have found a sat guru in Srila Prabhupada.
Consider yourself very fortunate. This was also the policy of Sridhara
Maharaja, who explained the significance of our diksa mantras to me and
repeatedly encouraged me along these lines.

Q. Today is the disappearance of Srila Raya Ramananda. Some say he might
have been a sahajiya Vaisnava who performed tantric sadhana. What do you
make of this?

A. This line of reasoning is not very sensible. Given the difference
between the Sahajiya/tantric doctrine and that of Gaudiya Vaisnavism, it is
difficult to imagine that one of the most prominent followers of Sri
Caitanya could differ so considerably on fundamental religious doctrine.

The Sahajiya doctrine holds that Radha and Krsna are the macrocosmic
representation of the microcosmic union of man and woman and through sexual
encounter imitates the 'myth' of Radha-Krsna (man thinking himself to be
Krsna and his unwedded partner to be Radha). Through this, one can realize
himself to be the spiritual essence arising out of the combination of the
male and female principles. Gaudiya Vaisnavism on the other hand does not
admit to this macrocosmic/microcosmic concept, nor that it culminates in an
impersonal spiritual essence in which man and woman are thought to have
become one through sexual union.

Ramananda Raya was an intellectual giant, and there is no justification for
assuming that he was not morally upright. Indeed, he intimately associated
with Sri Caitanya himself, who was morally strict to the extreme.
Ramananda's sadhana, which involved associating intimately with two female
temple dancers, does at a glance seem to correspond with left-handed
tantric practices common to Sahajiyas. However, under scrutiny it becomes
clear that his practices were in fact diametrically opposed to those of the
Sahajiyas.

His purpose for associating intimately with these women so was to teach
them how to perform his drama, 'Jagannatha-vallabha-nataka,' a drama for
the pleasure of Jagannatha. The 'dasis' learned from Ramananda how to
express the various sancari-bhavas, anubhavas, etc. through the movements
of their eyes and bodily gestures which are essential elements of
bhakti-rasa. Caitanya Caritamrta explains that he taught them these things
in the mood of a manjari assisting elder gopis (sakhis) in the art of
loving Krsna.

At no time did his practice involve thinking of himself as Krsna or the
women as Radha, or having sexual union with them, or aspiring to an
impersonal form of liberation - all of which are integral to
sahajiya-sadhana. By contrast, his sadhana, at least conceptually, is
overtly raganuga-bhakti, the very sadhana that Sri Caitanya came to
distribute. The somewhat unconventional form that Ramananda's sadhana took,
serves to illustrate his spiritual advancement in which his bhava
manifested in his external practices and guided them.

This is no doubt extraordinary and not to be imitated, but it is not an
example of left-handed sahajiya tantric practice. After all, Ramananda Raya
was the first person to understand Sri Caitanya to be Radha and Krsna
combined. He had deep, penetrating spiritual vision and was an eternal
associate of Mahaprabhu. Sri Caitanya singled him out and praised him for
his spiritual penetration that involved this practice, while advising
others not to imitate him.

Kavikarnapura has described Ramananda through the mouth of Sarvabhauma in
his drama 'Caitanya-candrodaya-nataka' as a sahajya-vaisnava. However, when
Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami relates this same historical instance in his
Caitanya Caritamrta, he has Sarvabhauma call Ramananda a rasika-bhakta.
Generically and in terms of the consistent use of the term throughout the
Goswami literature, sahajiya means spontaneous, accomplished, natural,
innate. Thus in the Goswami granthas, sahajiya-vaisnava and rasika-bhakta
are synonymous. Furthermore, during the time of Mahaprabhu the Sahajiya
cult was not referred to by that name. That was a later development.

Q. What was Prabhupada's opinion of homosexuality?

A. Prabhupada felt that homosexuality was a material reflection of sakhya
rasa. When one of his disciples told him he was homosexual, Prabhupada
replied , "No, you just need a friend (Krsna)." The sexual urge must be
replaced with love for Krsna.

Q. How important is it whether sadhakas wear leather shoes or not?

A. Vallabha makes much of this in his Bhagavata tika regarding Krsna's
refusal to wear shoes while cow herding. Try to avoid it. However,
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura wore patten leather shoes.

Q. In a previous Sanga you said that 'Hara' refers to Lord Siva. But isn't
it also true that 'Hara' refers to Srimati Radharani which appears as
'Hare' in the maha mantra?

A. The name Hare in the Hare Krsna mantra is the vocative form of Hari.
Thus it is an address to Lord Hari. The maha mantra begins with this
address, "O Hari (Hare)!" In this sense Hare is one of three names of God
in the maha mantra - Hare, Krsna, and Rama. The name Hari means, 'He who
takes away.'

When Srimate Radharani chants the Hare Krsna maha mantra, she considers
Hare to be a name of Krsna (Hari) . Some cowherds also understand Hare in
this way. However, Hare can also be considered a name for Radha when taken
as the vocative form of Hara. Hara is she who steals away Hari.

Addressing Radha as Hare says more about her greatness than to address her
directly as Radha. In the context of the maha mantra it is also a veiled
way of singing her name, and this is more pleasing to the tasteful
devotees. This is the special interpretation found in our sampradaya.

Q. I am a Hindu and we believe in so many gods. Christians say there is
only one God and he is Christ, the real avatar. His life seems to be so
humble, sacrificing, and full of wisdom and good examples. How should I
think about this?

A. Christian theologian John Moffit in his book 'Journey to Gorakhpur: An
Encounter with Christ Beyond Christianity,' said the following about Sri
Caitanya, 'If I were asked to choose one man in Indian religious history
who best represents the pure spirit of devotional self-giving, I would
choose the Vaishnavite saint Caitnaya, whose full name in religion was
Krsna Caitanya, or 'Krsna consciousness.' Of all the saints in recorded
history, East or West, he seems to me the supreme example of a soul carried
away on a tide of ecstatic love of God.'

I quoted this passage in my book 'Rasa: Love Relationships in
Transcendence.' I think you would enjoy reading it.