Суд над Бхагавад-гитой / Attempt to ban Bhagavad-gita

according to their genuine internal spiritual needs. It is not
altogether surprising nor blameful that an astute disciple, upon
ascertaining a drought of siddhantically viable confidential
guidance at the feet of guru, might opt to go hither and thither in
search for someone who might ably fill the bill. One could hardly
expect to acquire the requisite knowledge of the moods of
Krishna’s nitya-parikara and their anugata-seva just like that,
without receiving proper direction. At which stage in one’s
devotional progress does esoteric instruction concerning the
culture of one’s internal spiritual identity become relevant? The
dictum most sanctimoniously bandied about, “First deserve –
then desire,” should be rightly understood. One deserves to
desire simply when one’s desire is big enough. One’s desire is
big enough when there is no room in one’s heart for any other
desire. Ultimately, the bottom line is this: Dire necessity knows
no law.

Some devotees, though not understanding the intricacies
of their own spiritual identities, may for all intents be esteemed
as elevated uttama-adhikaris, given that they have somehow
cent per cent surrendered body, mind, and words to the service
of the Lord and His Holy Name with undivided faith, realizing
Hari (nami) and Hari-nama to be identical. That is the opinion of
Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as evidenced in Jagadananda
Pandita’s Prema-vivarta. Still, it would not be unreasonable to
infer that these individuals, far from being fully self-realized,
really need to make considerable progress to be all they can
potentially be as representative Gaudiya Vaishnava spiritual
masters in disciplic succession. To be sure, the internal bhava
and pure devotional outlook of a kevala-madhurya-premika-
bhakta (vraja-vasi) would no doubt have to be conscientiously
and meticulously cultivated here and now in this current
lifespan if one were to expect to achieve the highest perfection
this time around. Otherwise, one could hardly expect to fully
transcend all substandard notions (material or spiritual) about
oneself before quitting the present physical body. It’s not good
enough to remain a fallible neophyte with an ambiguous sense
of belonging to the spiritual realm. Everything will be tested at
the time of death, the outcome determined by one’s previously


cultured bhava. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam, tyajaty ante
kalevaram. It is not such a cheap or haphazard affair that “Oh
well, anyway, somehow or other. What me worry.” No! Not that
we apathetically await a windfall of mercy while mulishly
ignoring the purposeful, scientific pursuit of the Gaudiya-
sampradaya’s highest ideal.

It is a fact that the vast majority of those claiming to have
been initiated by a bona fide guru in proper disciplic succession
in terms of either bhagavata-vidhi or pancaratrika-vidhi will not
upon the end of the present lifetime be fortunate enough to
attain the Lord’s manifest vraja-lilas. If we want to be included
among the small percentage that actually succeeds, we will
have to seriously focus and intensify our bhajana. Kripa-siddhi is
very rare – an extremely atypical improbability. Though we in
all our inadequacies hope and pray for such divine dispensation,
we cannot sophistically force the exception to become our rule.
That is not in our hands. The standard success formula, which
largely stresses our willful application of appropriate devotional
practices, should not be artfully ignored. We must scrupulously
deepen and deepen our inner quest. Jivasya tattva-jijnasu. There
should be no other purpose behind any of our life’s activities.
Nartho yas ceha karmabhih. That is deservingness. Do not heed
the die-hard religio-institutional dogmatists. It’s not enough that
children pretend to be adults ad nauseum. A tad of spiritual
common sense may have to be mustered to grasp this point.

Revelation is gained through priti-bhajana.
Vrajendranandana Krishna from within supplies the required
intelligence to one lovingly engaged in devotional service (raga-
bhakti), not to one fearfully engaged merely on the basis of
shastra-vidhi (rudimentary scriptural rules). Priti-bhajana
undoubtedly connotes the ragatmika-bhakti of either the
‘mukhya’-vraja-janas or the sadhana-siddhas and kripa-siddhas
who have been elevated from conditional existence to the status
of eternal Vrajavasi associates of the Lord. The foremost feature
of this priti-bhajana principle is found in the young vraja-gopis’
mode of spontaneous loving service. Ramya kacid upasana
vraja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita. There is no higher expression of
priti to be seen anywhere else. Dumping family ties, household


duties, reputation, feminine bashfulness, as well as all moral
considerations, they run in the dead of night with resolute
enthusiasm to satisfy the senses of Krishna. Lord Krishna
reciprocally unfolds His innermost heartfelt feelings in
proportion to the intensity and depth of His devotee’s loving
sentiments. The young damsels of Vraja, distinct from devotees
in vatsalya-, sakhya-, and dasya-rasas, are ever infatuated and
enthralled to intimately engage with Him day and night (satata-
yuktanam) in keeping with the asta-kaliya-nitya-lila format. It is
of little wonder that Krishna would feel naturally inclined to
reveal to them His highest penchant for the pleasures of
paramour love (parakiya-rasa), awarding them the intelligence
(dadami buddhi-yogam tam) by which they may overcome all
obstacles (so-called husbands, in-laws, superiors) in their
endeavors to unite with Him as their upapati (yena mam
upayanti te).

However, the parakiya disposition of one belonging to
another catalytically diffuses its influence from different angles
all over the land of Vraja to augment both in the Lord and in His
devotees an apprehension of mutual unattainability in various
ways. This effectively intensifies the nuances of love in all the
primary rasas. It is certainly a fact that when applied to the
delusive sense of Krishna’s belonging to another (as the son of
Vasudeva and Devaki, as the scion of the Yadu dynasty, or as a
denizen of any realm other than the land of Vraja), the parakiya
notion hurls His parents, friends, and servants into a deluge of
acute loving desperation. Here, resultantly, the devotee’s mind
and heart are seen to run mad after Krishna in a way
undreamed of in any other quarter of the spiritual world. The
dread of separation from Krishna increases His value in the eyes
of His devotee.

With regard to the madhurya-rasa, however, the parakiya-
tattva finds its ascendancy not in the supposition that Krishna
belongs to any other (as aforementioned), but rather in the
fancy that the young newly wed gopi girls themselves belong to
others – their lawful “so-called” cowherd husbands – and that
Krishna must assume the wife-thief-like upapati-bhava in His
efforts to woo their hearts. The superexcellent speciality of this


parakiya angle of influence is that it augments the succulence of
rasa not so much by intensifying the devotee’s desperation to
serve the lotus feet of Krishna, but by amazingly amplifying
Krishna’s desperation to serve the feet of His devotee. Out of
extreme anxiety to meet the nearly unobtainable,
Shyamasundara forgets Himself, babbles incoherent nonsense,
and wanders aimlessly around in circles like a madman. His
disquietude over being separated from His gopi beloveds
increases their worth in His eyes, making His mind and heart
run after them, with special deference to the supremely luscious
lotus feet of Shri Radhika.

It may be additionally noted in this connection that there
are two brilliantly illuminating developmental features of gopi-
prema described in the shastras: ghrita-sneha, love like ghee,
which is not sweet in of itself; and madhu-sneha, loving affection
like honey, which is always permeated with the sweetest
deliciousness. Although married to another (Govardhana Malla),
a situation which augments the parakiya-bhava in that sense,
Shri Candravali, the right-wing-gopi embodiment of ghrita-sneha,
characteristically traverses the inner path of thinking, “I belong
to Him.” As Krishna congruously reciprocates His devotee’s
bhava, it is seen that He sometimes in the course of His all-
accommodating frolics condescends to nourish Candravali’s
affectionate feelings, but He’s still His own man. Yet Shri
Radhika, the left-wing-gopi embodiment of madhu-sneha, exerts
an entirely different parakiya influence over Lord Krishna on the
basis of Her thinking, “He belongs to me!” As Krishna responds
to Radha’s feelings, He finds that He is no longer His own man.
No longer is He independent. Rather, He, the supreme beloved,
becomes the henpecked lover of She who now dominantly
disports the dignity of being supremely loved by Him. She
becomes His beloved. He madly runs to give Himself to Her, and
She, from time to time, condescends to allow Him to become
Her devoted servant, making Him dance like a puppy dog in Her
hands. She becomes the prepossessing possessor of Him who is
ever-increasingly possessed by Her totally enticing, honey-like,
transcendentally preponderant ever-new supra-mundane
feelings of absolute possessiveness. Thus, in Her absence, Shri


Krishna, transcendentally engulfed in His own amorous
delusions, finds Himself dancing behind a most skillful dancing-
master, Shri Radhika’s roving image, appearing before His
lovesick gaze in every Vrindavana tree and creeper in every
direction.

Parakiya-tattva similarly goes on to manifest another
charming permutation. Radha’s maidservants, like Radha, also
cherish not the humor of belonging to Krishna. They are
radhika-snehadhika sakhis who, though married to other
cowherd boys, treasure the status of belonging to Radhika.
Upon seeing a manjari’s sincere and unwavering devotion to
Shri Radha's lotus feet, a devotion filled with boundless love
greater even than the love He Himself feels for His own
devotees, charming Krishna will embrace her, take the betel
nuts from His own mouth and place them in hers, and place His
own forest garland upon her. Why? She is not His. She belongs
to another (parakiya). She is Hers. Having taken shelter of the
indomitable fortress of Radha’s lotus feet, she has conquered
Him outright. As seen in Shri Sanat-kumara Samhita, Lord
Krishna instructs Sada-shiva, “A person who once surrenders to
Her [Radha], saying, ‘I am Yours,’ attains Me also – without
doing any extraneous sadhana. Of this there is no doubt.
Therefore, O Shiva, one who desires to conquer Me should
surrender wholeheartedly to Her. In this way, one becomes
extremely dear to me.” In Ujjvala N…lamai, Mai-manjari says
to the young, inexperienced Catur, “Catur, let me teach you
what I have learned from my own experience. If you make
friends with Radharai, then within that friendship is
automatically included ecstatic love for Hari.” Again, Krishna
says in the adi Purana, “One who claims to be My devotee is not
My devotee. But one who claims to be the devotee of My
devotee is actually My devotee.” Elsewhere, in the Padma
Purana, Lord Krishna intimates to Narada, “Therefore, if you
want to impress Me, then become wholly devoted to Radha.”

Krishna has personally given Himself to Radha, and as
might be expected, He very much appreciates and identifies
with those elevated individuals who fortunately follow suit.
Indeed, He becomes madly enamored of the manjaris’ sakhi-


snehadhika-based unstinted bodily beauty, a sublimely scented
beauty far surpassing that of the sakhis possessed of other
bhavas. Hence, birds of a feather are seen to flock together.
Since the manjaris are so intimately intertwined with Radhika
and Krishna’s heart is ever given to Radhika, the proximity of
Krishna and Radha’s kinkaris is not so astonishing. Pure
devotees have no desire for mukti. They desire only shuddha-
bhakti. Yet mukti is automatically achieved by them without
their directly endeavoring for it. In the same way, though having
not even the slightest desire to directly associate with the
rascally Krishna, having no desire other than to serve Radha’s
lotus feet, Radha’s maidservants naturally gain optimum access
to the loftiest communion with Radharai’s Krishna,
unimaginable to Radha’s other categories of sakhis and
Krishna’s various other yutheshvari mistresses. If tenderhearted
Shrimati Radharani affectionately shows Her kinkari to Her
Krishna, who walks the path of debauchery, ordering her to
play the role of a transcendental love thief, please hear how that
maidservant will faithfully serve Her. With smiling sidelong
glances, and with the hairs of her body standing up with joy, she
will tightly embrace Him. In this way, she will taste the nectar of
Radhika’s carana-seva. Even though Krishna tells the manjari,
“The queen of My life is very merciful to you,” and even though
He again and again kisses her, embraces her, and maddens her
with the nectar of amorous pleasures, and even though He
creates in her a wonderful wealth of sweetest love, the manjari’s
thoughts nevertheless remain ever absorbed in the nectar
pastimes of Shri Radhika’s lotus feet. When the manjaris’ necks
are embraced by the magnificent arms of Radha’s lover in the
sweet and wonderful rasa-dance festival, splendid with tinkling
bracelets, anklets, and other ornaments, they will always fix
their gaze on the footprints of their queen, having no motive
other than to please Her. Seeing the manjari’s unrivaled love for
Radhika, a love that has outclassed even His own, and seeing
the manjari’s purest motive to intently serve to fulfill Her
purposes, enthusiastic Krishna inundates her with His own
amplified love-bliss, unknown even to His own devotees. Even
so, the manjari’s resolve to sympathetically savor Radhika’s