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TLC 28: Relationship with the Supreme
Chapter Twenty-eight: Relationship with the Supreme
Lord Caitanya rejected the statement cited by Ramananda Raya from Visnu
Purana because the Lord wished to reject a class of philosophers known as
karma-mimamsa. Karma-mimamsa followers accept God to be subject to one's
work. Their conclusion is that if one works nicely, God is bound to give
good results. Thus one can understand from the statement of Visnu Purana
that Visnu, the Supreme Lord, has no independence but is bound to award a
certain kind of result to the worker. Such a dependent goal becomes
subjected to the worshiper, who accepts the Supreme Lord to be both
impersonal and personal, as he may wish. Actually this philosophy stresses
the impersonal feature of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Because Lord
Caitanya did not like such impersonalism, He rejected it.
"Tell Me if you know something beyond this conception of the Supreme
Absolute Truth," Lord Caitanya finally said.
Ramananda Raya understood the purpose of Lord Caitanya, and, stating that
it is better to give up the results of fruitive activities, he quoted a
verse from Bhagavad-gita:
yat karosi yad asnasi yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurusva mad-arpanam
"O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and
give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done
as an offering unto Me." (Bg. 9.27) There is also a similar passage in
Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.36) which states that one should submit everything
-- his fruitive activities, body, speech, mind, senses, intelligence, soul
and modes of nature -- to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana.
Lord Caitanya, however, also rejected this second statement, saying, "If
you know of something higher, state it."
Offering everything to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as enjoined by
Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, is better than impersonally making the
Supreme Lord subject to our work, but it is still short of surrendering
activities to the Supreme Lord. A worker's identification with material
existence cannot be changed without proper guidance. Such fruitive
activity will continue one's material existence. A worker is simply
instructed here to offer the results of his work to the Supreme Lord, but
there is no information given to enable one to get out of the material
entanglement. Therefore Lord Caitanya rejected his proposal.
After having his suggestions rejected twice, Ramananda proposed that one
should forsake his occupational activities altogether and by detachment
rise to the transcendental plane. In other words, he recommended complete
renunciation of worldly life, and to support this view he cited evidence
from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.11.32) wherein the Lord says: "In the
scriptures I have described the ritualistic principles and the way one can
become situated in devotional service. That is the highest perfection of
religion." Ramananda also quoted Lord Krsna's injunction in Bhagavad-gita:
sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah
"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall
deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear." (Bg. 18.66)
Lord Caitanya also rejected this third proposal, for He wanted to
demonstrate that renunciation in itself is not sufficient. There must be
positive engagement. Without positive engagement, the highest perfectional
stage cannot be attained. Generally there are two kinds of philosophers in
the renounced order of life. The goal of one is nirvana, and the goal of
the other is the impersonal Brahman effulgence. Such philosophers cannot
imagine that they can reach beyond nirvana and the Brahman effulgence to
the Vaikuntha planets of the spiritual sky. Because in simple renunciation
there is no conception of spiritual planets and spiritual activities, Lord
Caitanya rejected this third proposal.
Ramananda Raya then cited more evidence from Bhagavad-gita:
brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati
samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param
"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme
Brahman. He never laments, nor desires to have anything; he is equally
disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional
service unto Me." (Bg. 18.54) Ramananda Raya first suggested devotional
service rendered with renunciation of fruitive activities, but here he
suggests that devotional service with full knowledge and spiritual
realization added is superior.
Lord Caitanya, however, rejected this proposal also because simply by
renouncing material results in Brahman realization one does not realize
the spiritual world and spiritual activities. Although there is no
material contamination when one attains the stage of Brahman realization,
that stage is not perfect because there is no positive engagement in
spiritual activity. Because it is still on the mental plane, it is
external. The pure living entity is not liberated unless he is completely
engaged in spiritual activity. As long as one is absorbed in impersonal
thoughts or in thoughts of the void, his entrance into an eternal blissful
life of knowledge is not completed. When spiritual knowledge is not
complete, one will be hindered in his attempt to cleanse the mind of all
material variegatedness. Thus impersonalists are frustrated in their
attempts to make the mind void by artificial meditation. It is very
difficult to void the mind of all material conceptions. As stated in
Bhagavad-gita:
kleso 'dhikataras tesam avyaktasakta-cetasam
avyakta hi gatir duhkham dehavadbhir avapyate
" For those whose minds are attracted to the unmanifested, impersonal
feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress
in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied." (Bg.
12.5) The liberation which is obtained by such impersonal meditation is
not complete; therefore Lord Caitanya rejected it.
After his fourth proposal was rejected, Ramananda Raya said that devotional
service rendered without any attempt at cultivation of knowledge or mental
speculation is the highest stage of perfection. To support this view, he
gave evidence from Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.14.3) wherein Lord Brahma tells
the Supreme Personality of Godhead:
jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva jivanti san-mukharitam bhavadiya-vartam
sthane sthitah sruti-gatam tanu-van-manobhir ye prayaso 'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyam
"My dear Lord, one should give up monistic speculation and the cultivation
of knowledge altogether. He should begin his spiritual life in devotional
service by receiving information of the Lord's activities from a realized
devotee of the Lord. If one cultivates his spiritual life by following
these principles and keeping himself on the honest path in life, then
although Your Lordship is never conquered, You become conquered by such a
process."
When Ramananda Raya presented this proposal, Lord Caitanya at once said,
"Yes, this is right." In this age there is no possibility of acquiring
spiritual knowledge by renunciation, by mixed devotional service, by
fruitive activity in mixed devotional service, or by the culture of
knowledge. Because most people are fallen and because there is no time to
elevate them by a gradual process, the best course, according to Lord
Caitanya, is to let them remain in whatever condition they are in but to
engage them in hearing of the activities of the Supreme Lord as those
activities are explained in Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. The
transcendental messages of the scriptures should be received from the lips
of realized souls. In this way a person may continue to live in whatever
condition he is in and still make progress in spiritual advancement. Thus
one can surely advance and fully realize the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.
Although Lord Caitanya accepted these principles, He still requested
Ramananda Raya to further explain advanced devotional service. Thus Lord
Caitanya gave Ramananda Raya a chance to discuss gradual advancement from
the principles of varnasrama-dharma (the four castes and four orders of
spiritual life). Lord Caitanya rejected the varnasrama-dharma and the
offering of fruitive activity because in the field of executing pure
devotional service, there is very little use for such principles. Without
self-realization, the artificial methods of devotional service cannot be
accepted as pure devotional service. Self-realized pure devotional service
is completely different from all other kinds of transcendental activity.
The highest stage of transcendental activity is always free from all
material desires, fruitive efforts and speculative attempts at knowledge.
The highest stage concentrates on the simple, favorable execution of pure
devotional service.
Ramananda Raya could understand the motive of Lord Caitanya; therefore he
stated that attainment of pure love of Godhead is the highest perfectional
stage. There is a very nice verse in Padyavali which is said to be
composed by Ramananda Raya himself. The purport of the verse is: "As long
as there is hunger in the belly and one feels like eating and drinking,
one can become happy by taking anything eatable. Similarly, there may be
much paraphernalia for worshiping the Supreme Lord, but when that is mixed
with pure love of Godhead, it becomes an actual source of transcendental
happiness." Ramananda Raya also composed another verse which stated that
even after millions and millions of births one cannot achieve a sense of
devotional service, but if, somehow or other, one desires to attain
devotional service, the association of a pure devotee will render it
possible. Thus one should have a strong desire to engage in devotional
service. In these two verses, Ramananda Raya has described the regulative
principles and developed love of Godhead. Lord Caitanya wanted to bring
him to the stage of developed love of Godhead, and He wanted him to speak
from that platform. Thus the discussion between Ramananda Raya and Lord
Caitanya proceeds on the basis of love of Godhead.
If love of Godhead is elevated to the personal platform, it is called
prema-bhakti. In the beginning of prema-bhakti, a particular relationship
between the Supreme Lord and the devotee is not established, but when
prema-bhakti develops, a relationship with the Supreme Lord is manifested
in different transcendental flavors. The first stage is that of servitude,
wherein the Supreme Lord is accepted as the master and the devotee as the
eternal servitor. When Lord Caitanya accepted this process, Ramananda Raya
described the relationship between the servitor and the master. As
described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (9.5.16), Durvasa Muni, a great mystic yogi
who considered himself very elevated, envied Maharaja Ambarisa, who was
known as the greatest devotee of the time. In an attempt to harass
Maharaja Ambarisa, Durvasa Muni met with a great catastrophe and was
defeated by the sudarsana-cakra of the Lord. Durvasa Muni admitted his
fault and said, "For pure devotees who are always engaged in the
transcendental loving service of the Lord, nothing is considered
impossible, for they are engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord, whose
very name is sufficient for liberation."
In Stotra-ratna (46), Yamunacarya writes: "My Lord, those who keep
themselves independent of Your service are helpless. They work on their
own account, and they receive no support from superior authority.
Therefore I long for the time when I shall engage fully in Your
transcendental loving service without any desire for material satisfaction
and without being confined to the mental plane. Only when I engage in such
unalloyed devotional service will I enjoy actual spiritual life."
Upon hearing this statement, the Lord requested Ramananda Raya to go even
further.