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

exclusively, aimed at the progressive cultivation of raganuga-
bhava. That is the opinion of Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada,
whose judgment should not be overlooked in the slightest.

It is enjoined in the shastras that the guru, upon giving
panca-samskara initiation, bestow a spiritual name upon the
disciple to help instrumentally dismantle or at least distance the
disciple’s previous falsely designated mundane bodily identity
based on material relativities (sarva-upadhi-vinirmuktam) and
establish a very basic, non-specific concept of being a servant of
the Absolute Godhead (krisnera ’nitya-dasa). The spiritual name
conferred at the time of diksa may not directly correspond to
the disciple’s eternal spiritual identity and so would not,
therefore, necessarily be considered the disciple’s name
eternally. Nevertheless, it is spiritually useful in so far as it
functions to push the novice disciple’s mind-set in the right
direction. So similarly, it is indeed very useful, from the stage of
purified hearing (krama-shuddha-shravana-dasha) after
achieving a considerable degree of anartha-nivritti, to culture via
artha-pravritti the internally conceived siddha-deha in terms of
the ekadasha-bhava under the guidance of Shri Guru or rasika
Vaishnavas. Such internal contemplation effectively enables the
eligible intermediate devotee to easily overcome various latent
false egoisms, by positively fostering a conceptually graspable,
unambiguous, cogently personal, spiritual identity, well beyond
the external bodily notion of what it supposedly means to be a
devotee. Particularly for the madhurya devotee cherishing the
mood of being Radha’s dasy-anudasi, even the conception of
being dasanudasa would be a false egoism, an upadhi, a matter
of external appellation only.

It is well established that those aspects of vaidhi sadhana-
bhakti which prove to be antagonistic to the culture of a
sadhaka’s desired vraja-bhava must certainly be rejected when
pursuing the path of raga. Similarly, certain features of the
internal raganuga-sadhana may naturally and necessarily have
to be discarded if ascertained to be no longer relevant at the
stage of spontaneous realization (svarupa-siddhi). Even so, the
sincerely embraced “close enough for starters” ekadasha-bhava
conceptualization dynamically serves to further dissolve the


material bodily conception of the self and swiftly move the
guileless aspirant toward perfection (bhava-siddhi) by
generating a very powerful and inspirational spiritually
congruent virtual vraja-svarupa image within the heart of the
disciple. It is insufficient simply to know by negation that “I am
not ‘this’ [illusory material] body.” At a certain point, a seriously
inquisitive individual must inevitably ask, “If I am not ‘this’
body, then what body am I?” The rather nondescript “eternal
servant of Krishna” idea of being a spiritual entity beyond the
presently acquired psycho-physical tabernacle may be quite
theoretically ingrained upon the brain, yet merely
understanding “I am not ‘this’ body” without cultivating a
superior internal spiritual bodily concept of life tends to render
the self an internally unsatisfying formless (nirakara) spiritual
no-body vulnerable to nostalgic “something is better than
nothing” emotional or corporeal egoisms and the return to gross
or subtle mundane rasas. Two areas of knowledge and
realization need be clearly established in the matter of a
sadhaka’s resolve to solidly implement the practice and
perfection of vraja-bhakti-bhajana. One must precisely
comprehend the principles of rasa-tattva as well as the object of
rasa and worship (upasya-pariskriti), Shri Krishna, and one must
also be aware of the intrinsic constitutional role and nature of
the worshiper (upasaka-pariskriti), pertinent to which is the
understanding of the individual’s ekadasha-bhava. Incompetent
neophytes who lack pure devotional lobha-maya-shraddha
characterized by the appurtenant sharanagati or disposition of
selfless surrender and who have yet to surpass the stage of
krama-hina-shravana-dasha (unqualified hearing) should never
be directly instructed about the esoteric intricacies of the
internal culture of raganuga-bhajana, lest they misconstrue
everything and make a mockery of the whole affair. If, on the
other hand, a worthy and spiritually eligible disciple, for
whatever reason, does not get the facility of receiving essential
and relevant instructions regarding the positive configuration of
the appropriate internal vraja-svarupa when actually required
for further progress, then there is every danger that the
inexperienced, unguided, or spiritually obstructed practitioner


will unfortunately relapse into a life of anarthas, as has been
regrettably evidenced time and again in contemporary
Vaishnava society.

It is true that at a point in time after the disappearance of
Lord Gauranga a number of sampradayic charlatans posing as
heirs to the legacies of their siddha-rasika-Vaishnava Acaryas’
successions trended to indiscriminately bestow what came to
be termed as “siddha-pranali-diksa” upon ineligible, materially
engrossed, imitative disciples without caring to notice their so-
called disciples’ obviously inadequate degrees of lobha-maya-
shraddha. It should not surprise anyone that stalwart maha-
bhagavata devotees of the Lord like Srila Gaura Kishora Dasa
Babaji Maharaja, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada would take objection to
such malpractice. Among other adjustments, Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati saw fit to de-emphasize the revelation of ekadasha-
bhava for the general mass of his followers, in deference to the
all-purifying process of nama-sankirtana and is in fact known to
have bestowed the ekadasha-bhava system of internal vraja-
svarupa conceptualization upon only a very deserving few.
Contemporary disciplic successors, however, appear to be hard-
pressed to muster up the empowerment required to feasibly
implement the imparting of ekadasha-bhava to anyone at all,
almost as if to suggest a heretofore future probability of an all-
around internal devotional incompetence among the ensuing
generations of gurus and disciples alike. Although the absolute
dependency upon siddha-pranali-diksa as such for the
evolvement of raganuga-sadhana is denied in the Sarasvata
doctrine, timely instruction (shiksa) concerning the internally
conceived siddha-deha is nevertheless essential. If members of
the Krishna consciousness movement could not come to the
position of having sufficient qualification, sincerity, and
determination to merit receiving such esoteric instruction, then
what might be suspected of the purificatory power and efficacy
of the devotional process we follow? Just because untrained,
ineligible, cheap, or hypocritical monkey-like individuals devoid
of regulative devotional proprieties should not be esoterically
instructed beyond their actual level of spiritual competence, as


is currently being done by certain overly lenient gurus, it
doesn’t mean that all the disciples of highly qualified gurus
should be deemed lifetime devotional bambinos, altogether
denying them access to such an invaluable internal devotional
facility. Would we not be conveniently throwing poor little baby
out with the bath water on the plea of ensured institutional
sanctity? The king wears clothes. The king is a fool. Therefore,
everyone who wears clothes is a fool! Not very logical. That
money tends to get misspent by irresponsible people doesn’t
mean money should never be spent by those who are truly
accountable.

It is certainly admissible that realization of one’s siddha-
svarupa while still corporeally embodied and the ultimate
attainment of one’s siddha-deha upon achieving the Lord’s vraja-
lilas can be had by the mercy of the fully blossomed Holy Name
who in due course gives everything to the sincere devotee. More
siddha-deha diya . . . (Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Sharanagati – Shri
Nama Mahatmya). Also, as stated in Shri Caitanya-caritamrita
(adi-lila 1.96), tattva-vastu – Krishna, Krishna-bhakti, prema-rupa
/ nama-sankirtana – saba ananda-svarupa. “The Absolute Truth
is Shri Krishna, and loving devotion to Shri Krishna in the form
of [vraja-]prema is achieved through congregational chanting of
the Holy Name, which is the essence of all bliss.”