Offenses To Be Avoided

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Offenses To Be Avoided

Adi 7.73 Lord Caitanya in Five Features

The holy name and the Lord are identical. One who is completely free from the

clutches of maya can understand this fact. This knowledge, which is achieved by

the mercy of the spiritual master, places one on the supreme transcendental

platform. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu presented Himself as a fool because prior to

accepting the shelter of a spiritual master He could not understand that simply

by chanting one can be relieved from all material conditions. But as soon as He

became a faithful servant of His spiritual master and followed his

instructions, He very easily saw the path of liberation. Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu's chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra must be understood to be devoid

of all offenses. The ten offenses against the holy name are as follows: (1) to

blaspheme a devotee of the Lord, (2) to consider the Lord and the demigods to

be on the same level or to think that there are many gods, (3) to neglect the

orders of the spiritual master, (4) to minimize the authority of scriptures

(Vedas), (5) to interpret the holy name of God, (6) to commit sins on the

strength of chanting, (7) to instruct the glories of the Lord's name to the

unfaithful, (8) to compare the chanting of the holy name with material piety,

(9) to be inattentive while chanting the holy name, and (10) to be attached to

material things in spite of chanting the holy name.

KB 89 The Superexcellent Power of Krsna

After testing Lord Brahma, Bhrgu Muni went directly to the planet Kailasa, where

Lord Siva resides. Bhrgu Muni happened to be Lord Siva's brother. Therefore, as

soon as Bhrgu Muni approached, Lord Siva was very glad and personally rose to

embrace him. But when Lord Siva approached, Bhrgu Muni refused to embrace him.

"My dear brother," he said, "you are always very impure. Because you smear your

body with ashes, you are not very clean. Please do not touch me." When Bhrgu

Muni refused to embrace his brother, saying that Lord Siva was very impure, the

latter became very angry with him. It is said that an offense can be committed

either with the body, with the mind or by speech. Bhrgu Muni's first offense,

committed towards Lord Brahma, was an offense with the mind. His second

offense, committed towards Lord Siva by insulting him, criticizing him for

unclean habits, was an offense by speech. Because the quality of ignorance is

prominent in Lord Siva, when he heard Bhrgu's insult, his eyes immediately

became red with anger. With uncontrollable rage, he took up his trident and

prepared to kill Bhrgu Muni. At that time, Lord Siva's wife, Parvati, was

present. Her personality is a mixture of the three qualities, and therefore she

is called Trigunamayi. In this case, she saved the situation by evoking Lord

Siva's quality of goodness. She fell down at the feet of her husband, and with

her sweet words she talked him out of killing Bhrgu Muni.

Madhya 24.336 The Sixty-One Explanations of the Atmarama Verse

There are thirty-two offenses that should be avoided. (1) One should not enter

the temple in a vehicle. Shoes and slippers should be removed before entering

the temple. (2) One should offer obeisances as soon as he sees the Deity. (3)

One should enter the temple after taking a bath. In other words, one should be

very clean. (4) One should not offer obeisances to the Lord with one hand. (5)

One should not circumambulate demigods before the Deities. (6) One should not

spread out his legs before the Deity. (7) One should not sit down before the

Deity with his legs crossed, nor should one touch his legs with his hands. (8)

One should not lie down before the Deity. (9) One should not eat before the

Deity. (10) One should not speak lies before the Deity. (11) One should not

speak very loudly before the Deity. (12) One should not talk nonsense before

the Deity. (13) One should not cry before the Deity. (14) One should not deal

with others before the Deity. (15) One should not utter harsh words before the

Deity. (16) One should not cover himself with a blanket. (17) One should not

talk enviously of others before the Deity. (18) One should not praise others

before the Deity. (19) One should not use slang before the Deity. (20) One

should not pass air before the Deity. (21) One should not neglect the

sixty-four items of Deity worship. (22) One should not eat anything not offered

to the Deity. (23) One should not neglect offering seasonal fruits as soon as

they are available. (24) One should always offer fresh, untouched fruit to the

Deity. (25) One should not sit with his back toward the Deity. (26) One should

not offer obeisances to others before the Deity. (27) One should not sit near

the Deity without taking the spiritual master's permission. (28) One should not

be proud to hear himself praised before the Deity. (29) One should not blaspheme

the demigods. (30) One should not be unkind to others before the Deities. (31)

One should observe all festivals in the temple. (32) One should not fight or

quarrel before the Deity.