By the grace of the Lord of the Gauḍīyas, the message of the Gauḍīya Maṭha is today not unknown to any one of the whole of Gauḍa-deśa. And not in Gauḍa-deśa only, but over Naimiṣāraṇya, Ayodhyā, Prayāga, Kāśī, Śrī Vṛndāvana, and Mathurā, on one side, and also over Dākṣiṇātya and everywhere throughout the tracts of Orissa, on the other, has been well proclaimed the message of the Gauḍīya Maṭha, the principal branch of the Śrī Caitanya Maṭha, which is the root implanted in the soil of the advent of Śrīman Mahāprabhu in Śrī Māyāpura Navadvīpa-dhāma. Over Gauḍa-maṇḍala, Kṣetra-maṇḍala, and Vraja-maṇḍala the message of the Gauḍīya Maṭha has gone forth.
The truth (satya) is propagated in a twofold way, viz., positively, by the method of direct support, and negatively, by the method of opposition. The truth cannot be made sufficiently known by the positive method alone. Propaganda by the method of opposition, more than the presentation of the positive aspect, brings about more brilliantly in this world the appearance and glorification of the truth.
In Satya-yuga, Hiraṇyakaśipu, more than Prahlāda, by the adoption of the method of negative propaganda proclaimed greatly the glory of Nṛsiṁha-deva. In Tretā-yuga, Rāvaṇa, more than Hanumān, proclaimed the greatness of Śrī Rāmacandra to the world. In Dvāpara-yuga, more than the Pāṇḍavas, Yādavas, and other devotees, Kaṁsa, Jarāsandha, Śiśupāla and the rest, as antagonists, proclaimed the greatness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In Kali-yuga, Jagāi, Mādhāi, Cāṁda Kājī, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī (the professor of Māyāvāda), Rāmacandra Khāna (the hater of Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas), Rāmacandra Purī, and in later times the various hypocrite sects, more than the bhaktas of Gaura, have proclaimed the greatness of Gaura and Nityānanda to the world by adopting the hostile method. In all ages the truth is propagated in this world by the positive and negative methods. The true message of the Gauḍīya Maṭha has spread and is spreading in the world in this manner.
It may be asked: What does the Gauḍīya Maṭha do? Is the Gauḍīya Maṭha merely one other association like the thousands of sects that are to be found in this world? Or is the Gauḍīya Maṭha one among the other welfare societies of the world? Or is the Gauḍīya Maṭha one of the many mischievous organizations that carry on their activities in this world? What work does the Gauḍīya Maṭha do for the benefit of the world? Is the Gauḍīya Maṭha affectionate like a mother, a protector like a father, or a helper like a brother? What good does the Gauḍīya Maṭha do to the world? What wellbeing of society does it desire? What very service does it render to mankind that the civilized world, or the whole of mankind, should listen to its message? Many such questions may arise in our minds.
The Gauḍīya Maṭha is not an association like the thousands of sects. The Gauḍīya Maṭha is not desirous of the welfare or non-welfare of the world, like other benefit- or mischief-making societies. The Gauḍīya Maṭha does not do work that is beneficial or harmful in terms of worldly enjoyments. The Gauḍīya Maṭha is neither affectionate nor cruel like a worldly mother, neither protector nor destroyer like a worldly father, neither helper nor enemy like a worldly brother. What then is this Gauḍīya Maṭha, that the world should listen to its words?
There need be no want of harmony between the Gauḍīya Maṭha and the whole world, as the only disharmony is caused by one little word. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that harmony between itself and the whole world can be established by means of one word, viz., that the duty of all jīvas consists in the exclusive service of the adhokṣaja, the transcendent. The majority of the people of this world say that the service of the akṣaja, i.e., the phenomenal, is the duty of every one of the jīvas. Even when this is not actually said by word of mouth, it is always done in practice. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that that which is the object of our activities (sādhya) should itself be the only means (sādhana) for the attainment of the object. In the opinion of the majority of men of the world, sādhya and sādhana are different, one from the other. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that words like unity, universal love, et cetera, so long as one continues to be under the influence of the physical and mental dharma, are mere sounds, like such words as ākāśa-kusuma (aerial flower), et cetera. Harmony is possible only when one has obtained a firm footing in the dharma, or function, of the soul.
This distinction requires to be made perfectly clear. The service of the adhokṣaja means the service of the transcendental Godhead. That which helps or hinders the gratification of the body or the mind is not the service of the adhokṣaja; it is the service of the akṣaja, the material. The body is pleased by the enjoyment of free air, by gazing at the open sky. The troublesome mind is gratified if it is allowed to roam at will like an unbridled horse, to revel in the beauties of nature, and to gather honey from the many-tinted flowerage of the groves of poesy. The contrary of this, the neutralizationists’ point of view, is based upon repugnance of all gratification. Neither of these is service of the adhokṣaja; both are service of the akṣaja.
The majority of the people of the world, although they profess to be positivists, fail to see, although it must be quite patent, the greatest of all the phenomena. They at any rate forget it in practice even when they appear to know. The greatest of the positivists, like Cārvāka, although he could not but have observed this greatest of all the phenomena, failed to take notice of it. That great phenomenon is generally known by the name of death.
If the memory of this great event is retained in our minds we would assuredly be solicitous for the amṛta (deathlessness). The śruti says we are all children of the amṛta, heirs of the amṛta:
śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya putrāḥ
(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 2.5)
Listen ye, all children of the amṛta.
In this world there are found two kinds of endeavor for obtaining this amṛta. Like unto the sons of kings of the epochs recorded in history, some try to ascend the throne of their father by treason against the father. On the other hand, loyal sons, in seeking to be heirs of a kindhearted and affectionate father, look upon constant service as being both the means and the end. The Gauḍīya Maṭha understands the latter to be the appropriate and eternal method. Why is it appropriate? Because:
śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām(SB 1.2.17)
Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the tidings of Whom whosoever listens to or sings is sanctified, the benefactor of all holy persons, appearing in the hearts of all who listen to the accounts of Himself, destroys the evil propensities of their hearts to the very root.
This seed of sin, i.e., sinful desire or ignorance (avidyā), is the cause of the worldly sojourn of the Jīva. Why is the method eternal? Because:
bhejire munayo ‘thāgre bhagavantam adhokṣajam
(SB 1.2.25)
In the beginning the munis worshiped the adhokṣaja Bhagavān (the transcendental God in His plenitude) in this way.
That type of kindness which does not give rise to manda (evil) is termed amandodayā dayā. As for example, if a sick man is allowed to eat tamarind or a drunkard is helped to proceed to a liquor shop, kindness is indeed shown, but in the sequel it turns out to be productive of harm to the recipient of kindness. If the sick man is placed under medical treatment against his will and inclination, if the drunkard is protected from his evil course, amandodayā dayā (non–harm-producing kindness), is shown. Preventing floods and famines, nursing the sick, pleasing or displeasing anybody, or stultifying the faculty of consciousness of anyone, i.e., promoting voidism—every one of these is an instance of mandodayā dayā (harm-producing kindness).
Man cannot understand it till he realizes his true position. By such acts the jīva is not really benefited. Cutting the root of misery is doing real good to others. The treatment that allows the gangrene of sensual desires to remain does no real good to the patient, neither is it proof of great wisdom, out of spite to the gangrene of sensual desires, to hang the sick man, holding out the prospect of mukti (annihilation) as a complete and permanent cure.
svayaṁ niḥśreyasaṁ vidvān na vakty ajñāya karmma hi
na rāti rogiṇo ‘pathyaṁ vāñchato ‘pi bhiṣaktamaḥ(SB 6.9.50)
Just as the best physician, even if the patient evinces a desire for unwholesome food, does not allow it; in like manner he who is himself aware of niḥśreyaḥ (the highest good) never advises an ignorant person to do karma (work for his own interest).
The śruti says:
avidyāyāṁ bahudhā vartamānā
vayaṁ kṛtārthā ity abhimanyanti bālāḥ
yat karmmiṇo na pravedayanti rāgāt
tenāturāḥ kṣīṇa-lokāś cyavante(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.9)
Ignorant persons, being themselves in the midst of manifold avidyā (errors), think thus: “We have gained what we want.” Because they work for their own interest they have no experience of the real truth, by reason of their attachment to such work. With extreme solicitude they gain little as the result of their activities. After a time they fall from that position.
The śruti further says:
avidyāyām antare vartamānāḥ
svayaṁ dhīrāḥ paṇḍitam manyamānāḥ
jaṅghanyamānāḥ pariyanti mūḍhā
andhenaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.8)
‘Those who despite remaining in the midst of ignorance consider themselves conscientious and enlightened—such perverted and ignorant men come to grief like the blind man led by the blind.’
Most people of the world, forgetful of their own home under the spell of the enchantress, are running headlong in the opposite direction. In this performance, again their intoxication, eagerness, concentration, and firm determination are so intense that they have indeed very little opportunity to think about home. But the voice of the Gauḍīya Maṭha, the flying red-tinted banner of the Gauḍīya Maṭha, arresting the ears and eyes of all persons, is ever proclaiming:
‘kṛṣṇa’ bolo, saṅge calo, ei-mātra bhikṣā cāi
(Gītāvalī)
Say ‘Kṛṣṇa,’ come along; this is the only alms we beg.
“Back to God, and back to home” is the message of Gauḍīya Maṭha. To arrest the perverted current tide and redirect it toward the eternal source is the seemingly unpleasant duty of the Gauḍīya Maṭha. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says:
All men of the world without exception are our kin; all birds and beasts, grass and shrubs, are our kindred. Whatsoever conscious being, wheresoever existing, belongs to our Supreme Lord. We shall conduct our kindred from out of the spells of the enchantress toward home. We shall not be showing, for the time being, sweet sympathy for them, by enabling those who have fallen into the snares of the enchantress to get more deeply entangled.
Even if under the spell of the enchantress they fill heaven and earth with their loud protestations against our endeavors, we will still proclaim the message of the amṛta to them. Even if it be contrary to the current of thought of the religious or religiously-minded people, as that term is understood by the world, or appear strange or wonderful to them, we will still forever practice and proclaim those religious works, the sanātana-dharma made by God, the tidings of which are unknown to any of the ṛṣis, gods, siddhas, and men; the dharma which, although it happens to be hidden, pure, and difficult to understand, alone enables us to attain the amṛta; the dharma that is the supreme dharma of the jīva, and to which all jīvas without exception have a claim; the dharma to which everyone in the universe may become the heir. That dharma is the object, as well as the method, of our endeavors.
The current that is sweeping the world, the flood on which it is adrift, the famine by which it is distressed, the want, fear, sorrow, and delusion by which it is mastered, oppressed, and tortured, can be prevented, can be pulled up by the root, by the method of moving homeward for self-surrender at the holy feet of the sorrowless and fearless amṛta. So long as we shall stay in the foreign land, or the greater the distance and speed with which we shall continue to run toward foreign lands and away from the direction of home, so long and to the same extent sorrow, fear, and delusion will not leave us; they will on the contrary mock us, like the delusive deer, by their further and steady increase. The śruti says:
dvitīyād vai bhayaṁ bhavati
(Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad)
Fear must result from the perception of a second entity, different from Godhead.
Death cannot be abolished from this mundane world. By no amount of efforts of the united jīvas of the whole universe can the threefold miseries be banished to the Andamans. No one can extinguish the fire of Rāvaṇa’s funeral pyre. It is the water well cooled by contact with the feet of Śrī Rāmacandra that alone has the power to quench it. Once the world is fairly embarked on the high tide of the holy name, the insignificant worldly flood retires forthwith. If the alms of glorification, the songs of Hari, become easily procurable, the little famines will leave us for good, as a mere attendant result.
With the appearance of sorrow-delusion-fear-killing bhakti (devotional faith), avidyā, the root of every form of misery of the jīva, is destroyed and the soul well satisfied. Bhakti is like fire. Nothing else can purify gold in the manner that fire can. Without bhakti-yoga other forms of effort are meaningless, like the attempt to refine gold by the application of tamarind, earth, or ashes.
To imagine artha-vāda in regard to the holy name, or in other words, to imagine that the glorification of the name is mere exaggeration of praise, is that godless intellectual attitude which gives rise to our belief in other tangible forms of effort. We think that the work of glorification, preaching, et cetera, of the name of Hari is not conducive to the general good. Or again, we may sometimes think that the glorification and preaching of the name is on a level with other kinds of effort—the first being artha-vāda in regard to the name, the second being the aparādha of believing other good works to be equal to the name. To have faith in the holy name is so very rare that we may leave it out of consideration. If we had faith even in nāmābhāsa (the most dimly perceived name), we would never have said that succoring the victims of floods is better than kīrtana and pracāra (singing and preaching about God), or that freeing the country from famines, or the opening of hospitals, is better than preaching devotion to God. Hundreds of famines can be alleviated not only by nāmābhāsa but even by nāmāparādha (offensive taking of the name). The mukti that is not obtained in crores of births by brahma-jñāna (knowledge of Brahman) can be had by one single nāmābhāsa. This is no exaggeration. This alone is the only true message. Śrī Gaurasundara, the savior of Kali-yuga and the avatārī (the source of incarnations), by means of the nāmācārya (the teacher of the name by his own personal example), Śrī Ṭhākura Haridāsa, has borne testimony to it.
Adopting the Jain view aggravated by the bad logic of purveyors of vulgar news, neither Caitanya-deva nor any of His devotees were ever in a hurry to prevent flood or famine or to found hospitals, nor did they give any other advice to anyone, except telling all men at all times and places:
nāma vinā kali-kāle nāhi āra dharma
(Cc 1.7.74)
In Kali-yuga there is no other dharma except uttering the name of Kṛṣṇa.
khāite śuite yathā tathā nāma laya
kāla-deśa-niyama nāhi, sarva siddhi haya(Cc 3.20.18)
Taking the name in whatever place—whether eating or sleeping, irrespective of time, place, or person—all is fulfilled.
yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa(Cc 2.7.128)
Whomsoever you meet, instruct him about Kṛṣṇa. By My command, being guru, save this land.
ucca saṅkīrtana tāte karilā pracāra
sthira-cara jīvera saba khaṇḍāilā saṁsāra(Cc 3.3.76)
Thou did loudly proclaim saṅkīrtana and cancel the worldly course of jīvas both moving and motionless.
bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra(Cc 1.9.41)
Ye that are born as men in the land of Bhārata, having attained the human form of life, do good unto others.
There is no other dharma of the jīva except kīrtana (singing of God’s glories). To the extent that one disbelieves in bhakti as denoted by kīrtana, or the holy name—in other words, those who think that all wants cannot be fulfilled by kīrtana—to that extent such people are nāstika (atheists). The degree of help one gives toward propagating bhakti as denoted by kīrtana is the sole measure of one’s belief in God. On the other hand, a man is a nāstika (disbeliever) to the extent that he obstructs kīrtana. As the name has to be taken every moment, even while eating or sleeping, as bhakti denoted by kīrtana is the only dharma of the jīva, as there is no other dharma except this, then where is time for alleviating flood or famine, or founding hospitals? Those who, claiming to be positivists, are forgetful of the greatest of all facts, viz. death, those who, being fallen like the blind man led by the blind, under the spell of the enchantress loiter about like travelers without an objective—such people have time for work other than Hari-kīrtana. All efforts except Hari-kīrtana are the cause of saṁsāra (the worldly sojourn), the road leading not to the east but in the opposite direction. On the other hand, continual performance of Hari-kīrtana is the turning away from every other direction to face east, or the journey homeward.
The Gauḍīya Maṭha is the missionary of this constant kīrtana. The Gauḍīya Maṭha does not ask to destroy all efforts of the world, but to deflect their course. The Gauḍīya Maṭha begs every one of us to offer his all to Kṛṣṇa. The dhūma-dhāma (pomp and display) of the Gauḍīya Maṭha is solely for making Kṛṣṇa the goal of all efforts of the world. The offering to Kṛṣṇa comes first, and after the offering has been made, bhakti begins. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says, “Make the offering to Kṛṣṇa first, and after that has been done, profess to be a bhakta (devotee).”
The Gauḍīya Maṭha says, “Do not imitate the kīrtana-kārī (one who performs kīrtana).” Ḍhoṅga (burlesque) is the other name of anukaraṇa (imitation). By arraying oneself in the trappings of ḍhoṅga or śoṅga (harlequin), people can be deceived, but no good is done either to oneself or to others. Those who follow the kīrtana-kārī are actual self-benefactors, properly awake to their self-interest, and are also benefactors of others, or mindful of others’ interests. They are not blinded by considerations of undue personal advantages, nor do they cheat others, and are therefore truly disinterested. It is by kīrtana alone that the claims of self-interests of others, and disinterestedness, are simultaneously satisfied.
Bhoga (enjoyment) or mukti (freedom from misery) in the shape of prevention of famines, et cetera, is gained by nāmāparādha or by nāmābhāsa. That by which crores-of-times greater eternal good is produced, whereby the lotus of the eternal wellbeing of the jīva blossoms forth —that Śrī Nāma (holy name) the Gauḍīya Maṭha endeavors to give away freely. They are earnestly trying to give away freely Kṛṣṇa Himself.
In this world there are many persons who spread unwholesome doctrines after advertising their intention to give good advice. But most men are deceived by the idea that pleasurable experience of the moment is the actual good. From Sanātana-śikṣā (instruction to Sanātana):
‘ke āmi’, ‘kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya’
ihā nāhi jāni—‘kemane hita haya’(Cc 2.20.102)
Who am I, and why doth the threefold misery afflict me? I do not know how good can be.
In answer to the question “How can there be good?” the message of the ‘good’ that Gaurasundara, the expounder of the sanātana-dharma (traditional religion), delivered to us regarding the only means of obtaining that ‘good’ is: bhakti. If this message had once reached our ears we would not have considered bhakti denoted by kīrtana as weak and other methods as strong. Having turned our face away from the direction in which the treasure would easily have been found, we would not have hurried toward the south for the bite of wasps, toward the west for the terrors of the Yakṣa, the demon that guards worldly riches, or toward the north for offering our lives to the fangs of the black snake.
Our home is eastward, but we are running with all speed away from the east, toward other points of the compass. And when the people of the east call out to us to turn back, deluded by the mirage we say, “We will not listen to you. See what beautiful lakes full of the cleanest water lie yonder, before our very eyes!” Talking thus, and being by degrees enamoured of that which only appears to our senses, i.e., a mirage, we are ever moving away from home toward foreign lands. As such, the doings of the Gauḍīya Maṭha occasionally seem to us and to those who are like-minded to be contrary to our ideas. This is likely and need not cause any surprise. But all this notwithstanding, the Gauḍīya Maṭha, bearing its message with its bright flag flying, emblazoning on it the words that attract our ears and eyes, is ever saying:
neha yat karmma dharmmāya na virāgāya kalpate
na tīrtha-pāda-sevāyai jīvann api mṛto hi saḥevaṁ nṛṇāṁ kriyā-yogāḥ sarvve saṁsṛti-hetavaḥ
ta evātma-vināśāya kalpante kalpitāḥ pareyad atra kriyate karmma bhagavat-paritoṣaṇam
jñānaṁ yat tad adhīnaṁ hi bhakti-yoga-samanvitam(SB 3.23.56, 1.5.34–35)
Work that is not done for the sake of dharma, dharma that is not performed for the purpose of vairāgya, vairāgya that is not practiced for service to Viṣṇu—whosoever practices such work, dharma, or vairāgya is dead in life. The naimittika (conditional) kāmya-karmas (fruitive works) are the cause of saṁsāra-bandhana (bondage to the world) or yoni-bhramaṇa (birth journeys). But those very works, if they are done for Godhead, have the power to destroy ungodliness. The bhagavaj-jñānam (divine knowledge) associated with bhakti denoted by śravaṇa, kīrtana, et cetera, is assuredly the unswerving fruit of works that are performed in this world for pleasing God.
This is the subject of the propaganda of the Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha. The Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha by its practice proclaims that without the gratification of the senses of Godhead, by the gratification of the senses of the jīva, no real good can accrue either to oneself or to others. By invocation of mukti, in deprecation of the pleasures of the senses of the jīva, God is not served. There are many hypocrite sects who counterfeit bhakti, by assuming the paraphernalia of the false devotee, but are not aware that bhakti is an impulse of the soul. Of these, some for the purpose of filling their bellies, some for fame, or some by imitating some other purpose, serve to delude the people.
The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that in the name of dharma it is not proper to practice trade. Not using Hari to serve our own pleasures, our duty is only to serve Śrī Hari. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that imitating the devotee of Hari, or putting on the dress of Nārada, as in a theatrical performance, is far from walking after the devotee of Hari or following Nārada. The delightful tune, time, and cadence alone do not constitute the Hari-kīrtana of the Gauḍīya Maṭha; those are found even in the performances of the gramophone or harlots. Cetanā (consciousness) is necessary, and simultaneous practice and preaching is necessary. The Gauḍīya Maṭha says that he who does not possess pure character is not fit even to be styled a man, not to speak of being regarded as religious (dhārmmika). The Gauḍīya Maṭha keeps at a distance from the five kali-sthānas (abodes of quarrel). The kalisthānas, according to a text of the Bhāgavatam, are the following: (1) dissipating games, such as cards, dice etc.; trade, or the profession of a trader, in the name of dharma; (2) indulgence in luxuries such as betel, tobacco, wines, etc.; (3) improper association with woman or unusual addiction to one’s own wife; (4) animal slaughter; to not proclaim the truth to people, but to deceive them by untruth; not to preach Hari-kathā to the jīva, and in lieu of Hari-kathā, to give other kinds of advice; (5) by cheating people, or by accepting money that is earned by their labor; to apply such wealth to the maintenance of wife and children or for increasing the scope of one’s own enjoyment; not to employ everything—the body, mind, and speech of the jīva; the life, wealth, and intellect—in service to Śrī Viṣṇu, who is the proprietor of all things, and the Supreme Lord of all wealth.
The śāstra says that of all things the human body is the dearest to God. The human body is the giver of the paramārtha (highest good) and is very difficult to obtain. Therefore, while this body lasts, without being immersed in any other thing, not deceiving ourselves by thinking that any other method except sorrow-stupor-fear-killing bhakti is productive of good, it is our duty to unceasingly practice devotion. Other forms of devotion to God are weak; the devotion denoted by kīrtana is strong. Once the protection of the strong bhakti is secured it gives to jīvas the highest good, with little effort on their part. Therefore by preaching kīrtana at all times, to induce by right of the highest kinship all jīvas to turn homeward, is true universal love, true help of others, true kindness, and the true duty of life. The Gauḍīya Maṭha, embracing without exception all inhabitants of the universe, in sadness calling upon all to turn their face toward God to be preachers of this bhakti denoted by kīrtana, says:
he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva vihāya dūrāc
caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam(Caitanya-candrāmṛta)
Ye, O righteous, bidding goodbye to everything from a distance, offer the devotion of your hearts to the feet of Caitanya-candra.
