Now what kind of idea is this ! Can Vaiṣṇavas ever be deceivers ? This is an idea of great offense (mahā-aparādha) ! Can’t let it enter my ears — Oṁ Śrī Viṣṇu, Śrī Viṣṇu !
Dear readers, don't be surprised. Vaiṣṇavas are deceivers, great deceivers. If someone is greatest among all deceivers in this world, then they are these ‘Vaiṣṇavas’. This deceiving tendency of Vaiṣṇavas has been acquired in hereditary form. Viṣṇu is a great deceiver. You might have heard the story of the deceiver Vāmana-deva, right ? There are many such instances of deceiving tendency of Viṣṇu in the scriptures. The devotees of Viṣṇu don't get bewildered by His deceptions, but the materialistic and demoniac people get completely bewildered. Viṣṇu deceive the conditioned souls who believe themselves to be great knowers, while being attached to His illusory potency, by giving them intoxication in their hands. Despite them being Vaiṣṇavas in their original form, they still get deceived by the illusory potency of the Viṣṇu. One of the names of the Supreme Lord is ‘vāñchā-kalpataru’ (one who fulfills the inner desire). ‘ye yathā māṁ prapadyante taṁstathaiva bhajāmyaham’. [In whatever way one approaches Viṣṇu, He reciprocates and reveals Himself in that manner only]. Those who want Viṣṇu to appear as a deceiver, He presents His illusory deceiving form in front of them. Those who have attained the qualification of self-deceiving, Viṣṇu and Vaiṣṇavas are ‘deceiver’ for them. However, the self-deceiving people cannot catch this ‘deceiving’ of Viṣṇu and Vaiṣṇavas. Only those who don't want to be deceived by Viṣṇu and Vaiṣṇavas and who are always eager for genuine non-duplicitous mercy, can catch such 'deception'.
Śrī Rūpa, Sanātana, Raghunātha — they are deceivers for those who engage in mundane acts. Ṭhākura Haridāsa, Rāya Rāmānanda — they are deceivers for those people of the world who are unintelligent and absorbed in senses. The co-living of Śrī Rūpa, Śrī Sanātana & Śrī Jīva appears in the eyes of the materialistic, deceived living entities, who have the mentality of being the enjoyer, as similar to the coming together of nieces and uncles, even after renouncing the world, due to their attraction towards the relationships of blood and meat. Vaiṣṇavas are ‘deceivers’ and hence Śrīmad Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura performed the pastimes of being a householder Vaiṣṇava, of engaging in royal work, and after accepting the Bābājī-veṣa, which was to illuminate his natural qualification of being a parama-haṁsa, he lived in a house for some time, where Goloka could be experienced. Vaiṣṇavas are ‘deceivers’, therefore there are pastimes of Sahaja-paramahaṁsa Śrīmad Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and Parama-haṁsāvadhūta Śrīla Gaurakiśoradāsa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, of enquiring from their deceived, so-called sheltered followers about the prices of rice, grain, land, etc and asking about the well-being of wife & children in their materially inclined households. Vaiṣṇavas are ‘deceivers’, which is why Parama-haṁsa Bābājī Mahārāja resided in a public latrine at the public rest-house at Kuliyā-Navadvīpa, sometimes acted as if sporting a french-cut beard, and at other times he kept a dhoti and chadar in an expensive red basket. Vaiṣṇavas are ‘deceivers’, and that is why Śrīla Vaṁśīdāsa Bābājī Mahārāja sometimes acted, on the new hill in Kuliyā-Navadvīpa, as if he is a neophyte on the path of deity worship, and sometimes lamented by saying, “Do not free me from the entanglements of worldly duties” which means, O Lord Nityānanda, even after I have entered the path of Hari-bhajana, please don’t free me from the worldly services, that are generally done for one's wife and children, such as washing the utensils, going to the market or cleaning the house. This great mahātmā could be seen at times holding a ‘hookah’ (device containing apipe for smoking intoxicants), pretending to smoke tobacco, or sometimes he would scatter fish bones and scales near his bhajana-kuṭira, with the intention that by seeing such things people will hate him, will stop giving him respects and won’t come near him, thinking him as a non-Vaiṣṇava or a pretender, due to which he would be able to engage in Hari-bhajana in solitude. However, the self-deceived cannot understand such deception by him. Observing his long beard or other external appearances, such self-deceived people conclude that perhaps he is from apa-sampradāya such as Bāula or Daraveśī. In this way, the deceived remain deceived in countless ways.
One of our acquaintances, having heard the tale of these "deceiver Vaiṣṇavas," went to seek mercy from them. The "deceiver Vaiṣṇava" was unwilling to grant amāyāya-kṛpā (pure mercy without any illusion) in any way, however that person knew only slightly about the nature of that Vaiṣṇava and thus persistently begged for his grace. Finally, the "deceiver Vaiṣṇava," inclined toward offering pure mercy, said, “I am giving you this torn kaupīna (loincloth), accept it.” The person, surprised by this simple gesture of grace, had hoped to be deceived by the Vaiṣṇava but was distressed when they saw that the Vaiṣṇava was sincerely offering amāyāya-kṛpā. Offering obeisances to the “deceiver Vaiṣṇava”, that person ran from the new hill at Kuliyā, like a frightened deer pursued by the hunter. Out of fear, he didn’t even willingly look back once, thinking that just behind him is that death-like Vaiṣṇava who might catch him anytime. With deep breaths, that person ran and ran, finally arriving at the Hulor Ghat. With wide eyes, he looked back, checking if someone was still chasing him. Only after seeing that no one was behind did his life-force return; he took a long sigh of relief, feeling that he had narrowly escaped.
With such mood many of us pray many times to the Vaiṣṇavas for their mercy, but as long as the Vaiṣṇavas appear to us as deceivers, they remain dear to us and worthy of our respect. There are numerous such instances involving various individuals in the lives of Śrīmad Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and Śrīla Gaura Kiśora Mahārāja. They would send people away with tasks such as inquiring about the price of potatoes or bananas, offering them tobacco, or seating them on a higher seat and dismissing them with kind words. These deceived individuals, failing to understand the deeper purpose behind the actions of the "deceiver Vaiṣṇavas," began to think that if such a respected personality is showing them honor, then they themselves must be highly exalted devotees — surely they must be greater than even those Vaiṣṇavas! Furthermore, some thought, “Because I am a Brāhmaṇa and belong to the lineage of Gosvāmīs, I am being given such respect with a high seat and am even being offered hookah. Therefore, I am definitely superior to them! They are like my disciples, and I am their guru!” In this way, countless individuals got deceived in so many ways. It has also been observed in the lives of such deceived individuals that when these "deceiver Vaiṣṇavas" abandoned their deception and, out of genuine compassion, sought to bestow their mercy, then all such deceived individuals revealed their true nature — which is akin to the envious forms of Aghāsura, Bakāsura and Putanā. These same individuals, who once misunderstood the actions of the deceiver Vaiṣṇavas and mistook their external activities as their Vaiṣṇavatā (quality of being a Vaiṣṇava), do not hesitate in criticising these Mahāpuruṣas when they observe their simple acts of mercy in scripture or in their behaviour. Whenever the Mahāpuruṣas, seeking to avoid association with the insincere people, withdrew into seclusion for their devotional practices and appeared as ‘deceivers’ in front of those who desire to be deceived, then these self-deceived individuals have branded these ‘deceiver Vaiṣṇavas’ as true ‘Vaiṣṇavas’ only because they perceived them as helpful to their sense gratification. In other words, to them, Vaiṣṇavas are those who are under their control and they belong to those only who grant favours to the Vaiṣṇavas. Whenever the Vaiṣṇavas, out of genuine mercy, have revealed their true identity as spiritual masters (ācārya-svarūpa), at that time the deceived individuals, due to their desire to be self-deceived and who found obstacles in their sense enjoyment, have engaged in opposing these Vaiṣṇavas.
In this way, the behavior of Mahābhāgavatas ‘deceiver Vaiṣṇavas’ cannot be equated with the behaviour of those who, just like Pūtanā, are portraying themselves as Vaiṣṇavas for the world or who are duplicitous so-called Vaiṣṇavas. These pseudo-devotees practice hypocrisy, just like monkeys, in order to enjoy sense gratification. They are just like monkeys, who abandon their clothes, and they dress themselves as a pure sādhu, as if personification of renunciation itself, in order to deceive others. However, Mahābhāgavata Vaiṣṇavas are nothing like them. The Mahābhāgavata Vaiṣṇavas manifest their "deceptive" pastimes only to avoid the association of the insincere and to enhance Kṛṣṇa's sense enjoyment. Though they may appear as deceivers to the self-deluded, they remain completely non-duplicitous and simple with their genuine followers.
Even though the Vaiṣṇavas are deceivers for externally inclined people of the world, they are very simple with the devotees who are like-minded. No one is as non-duplicitous, simple, and free from envy as a Vaiṣṇava. If we become non-duplicitous and relinquish desires for things other than the pleasure of Śrī Hari, and thus we present ourselves at the lotus feet of the Vaiṣṇavas, then they will undoubtedly bestow their non-duplicitous mercy upon us. When I fully expose my hypocrisy, misgivings, and distractions, I too will be able to say that I have been blessed by receiving their mercy. We must remain vigilant not to commit any aparādha (offense) based on their external appearances or behavior. We should always remember the words of Śrī Bhagavān in the Gītā:
api cet sudurācāro bhajate māmananyabhāk ।
sādhureva sa mantavyaḥ samyagvyavasito hi saḥ ॥
"Even if a person engaged in exclusive devotion towards my transcendental senses appears to have questionable behavior, they should still be regarded as saintly, for their intention is sincere and rightly aligned.”
My material eyes are incapable of seeing their service-oriented activities. Thus I must not let my own blunt senses become reason for being deceived, due to my misunderstanding regarding a true Vaiṣṇava’s nature.
