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Prakrita Rasa Shata Dushini
A Hundred Warnings Against Mundane Mellows
by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada
An exposition of the
manifold faults in the pretentious materialistic sentiment that can contaminate
and hinder the neophyte devotee's endeavors to live a truly spiritual life
Bengali poetry plus
Introduction
by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada
1916 A.D.
Translation by
Dasaratha-suta dasa
Preface
by the translator
His Divine Grace Shrila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura (1874 - 1937), the
beloved spiritual master
of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada, was the fierce
lion-like guru and founder of 64 branches of
the Gaudiya Math in all
states of India. He was totally intolerant of
mundane conceptions that
threatened to contaminate the performance of pure
devotional service unto
his eternal Lords, Shri Shri Gandharvika and
Giridhari.
In particular, His Divine
Grace Shrila Sarasvati Thakura regularly condemned
the mood of the
prakrta-sahajiyas, a class of materialistically-tainted
neophyte devotees. He saw
that their immature enthusiasm and tendency
toward creative deviation
perpetually caused alarm to cautious adherents
to the standard of pure
devotion, as expressed by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
and His followers.
Thus, Shrila Sarasvati
Thakura composed the 157 lines of Bengali poetry
entitled Prakrta-Rasa
Sata-Dusini, which he published in the devotional
Bengali periodical
Sajjana Tosani during its 19th year of 1916-17. This
unusual work is a
brilliant composition that clearly shows no mercy at all
to the pretentious
so-called devotees who are complacent in their own
fanciful concoctions.
Indeed, famous for the preaching style called "the
chopping technique,"
Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati appears candidly
ruthless in his treatment
of defending the most sacred philosophy in the
universe-pure devotional
service that follows in the footsteps of Shrila
Rupa Gosvami. He
persistently affirms in Bengali na, na, na-meaning "No,
no, NO! This can never be
so; that can never be so; true devotees should
never say this; genuine
devotees should never do that," so forth and so
on. He repeatedly uses
the hammer-like negative statements to tear down
any walls constructed by
the false ego that block the aspiring soul from
the pure livecurrent of
bhakti ever flowing from the lotus feet of Shri
Rupa. And justifiably so,
for never was there a time when immature
deviators did not plague
the sincere performance of bhakti-yoga. There was
only the question of who
was learned enough, pure enough and bold enough
to confront and dissolve
the myriads of confusing philosophical
misconceptions of the
sahajiyas that run rampant if left unchecked. His
Divine Grace has fully
proven himself qualified for this task in all
respects, for he
fearlessly serves the true siddhanta of the rupanuga
Vaishnavas in prime form
with the following simple Bengali verses.
May the readers follow
his pure instructions, and thereby realize the
essence of
suddha-bhakti-purifying their existence with all heartfelt
determination, and
attaining perfection in this very lifetime only by the
Divine Grace of the
previous acaryas.
The Reason Behind This
Presentation
We have endeavored to
present this rare, valuable and 'heavy' work as
nicely as possible, with
a specific purpose in mind. For the welfare of
the assembled devotees,
we have been considering that several of the
offerings by Nectar Books
to date have been translations of the exalted
scriptures that describe
something of the intimate moods and pastimes of
the Divine Couple. As
such topics are presented mainly for research and
higher study purposes, we
have been operating very cautiously so that
these confidential
literatures may not be taken cheaply. As neophyte
devotees, we can honestly
admit that we may not be qualified to enter into
the transcendental mysteries
of the Gosvamis' esoteric writings. Still, in
serving these literatures
to the best of our capacity, we find that Krishna
has been distributing
them in greater capacity than we had anticipated.
And now, in order to
issue a healthy warning against possible misuse of
the rasa-sastra, we
herein offer the poetic version of the authoritative
voice of Shrila
Baktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Indeed, he is calling us
all back to humbly
acknowledging our many shortcomings, and thereby
clearly points the way forward
in our journey back to home, back to
Godhead.
Your Servant,
Dasaratha-suta dasa
Introduction
Introduction
shri shri
guru-gauranga-gandharvika-giridharebhyo namah
jagate uccatara srenir
manava-ganer madhye para-laukika visvasa-rajye
bhramana koribar tinati
patha ache, taha karma, jnana o bhakti-name
prasiddha. baddha-dasaya
jiver anitya bhoga-maya phala-praptir anusthanake
karma-marga, nasvarata
tyaga koriya pradesika anitya phala tyaga koriya
nirbheda-brahmanusandhanake
jnana-marga evam karma-jnanatita prakrtir
atita sevya-vastu krsner
anukula anusilanake bhakti-marga bole.
bhakti-marge sadhana o
sadhya-bhede sadhana, bhava o prema-bhaktir
adhisthana-traya dekhite
paoya jay. sadhya bhava-samuha o premake
sadhana-jatiya anusilana
jnana korile je utpata upasthita hoy, sei
asuvidhar hasta hoite
unmukta haoyar nama anartha-nivrtti.
shri-gauranga-sundarer
apurva parama-camatkara-mayi lila o sei lilar
parikara gosvami-ganer
anusthanadi ei prabandher akara-sthana.
shri shri guru-gauranga-gandharvika-giridharebhyo
namah-obeisances unto Shri
Shri Guru, Gauranga,
Gandharvika and Giridhari; jagate-in the world;
uccatara srenir-of the
higher class; manava-ganer madhye-amongst the
people;
para-laukika-transcendental; visvasa-rajye-in the kingdom of
belief; bhramana
koribar-to wander; tinati patha ache-there are three
paths; taha-in that;
karma, jnana o bhakti-name-by the name of karma,
jnana and bhakti;
prasiddha-are famous; baddha-dasaya jiver-of the souls
in the bound-up
condition; anitya-temporary; bhoga-maya-full of enjoyment;
phala-praptir-of the
obtainment of fruits; anusthanake-to the process;
karma-marga-the path of
fruitive activities; nasvarata-the tendency to be
vanquished; tyaga
koriya-renouncing; pradesika-provincial; anitya
phala-temporary fruits;
tyaga koriya-renouncing;
nirbheda-brahma-anusandhanake-to
the search for non-differentiated
brahman; jnana-marga-the
path of knowledge; evam-and;
karma-jnana-atita-transcending
both karma and jnana; prakrtir
atita-transceding matter;
sevya-vastu-that which is worth serving;
krsner-of Lord Krishna;
anukula-favorable; anusilanake-to the cultivation;
bhakti-marga bole-is
called the path of devotion.
bhakti-marge-on the path
of devotion; sadhana o sadhya-bhede-distinguishing
between devotional
practice and the goal of devotion; sadhana, bhava o
prema-bhaktir-of
practice, ecstatic emotion and pure love of God;
adhisthana-traya-establishing
these three; dekhite paoya jay-it is seen;
sadhya-the goal;
bhava-samuha-the collection of moods; o-and; premake-to
pure love;
sadhana-jatiya-arising from practice; anusilana-cultivating;
jnana korile-acquiring
knowledge; je utpata-that trouble; upasthita
haya-which is situated;
sei asuvidhar hasta hoite-from the hand of this
problem; unmukta
haoyar-of being freed; nama-the name; anartha-nivrtti-is
called anartha-nivrtti
(the elimination of obstacles);
shri-gauranga-sundarer-of
the beautiful shri Gauranga; apurva-extraordinary;
parama-camatkara-mayi
lila-supremely astonishing pastimes; o-and; sei
lilar parikara-the
associates of these pastimes; gosvami-ganer-of the
Gosvamis;
anusthana-adi-establishing and so forth; ei prabandher-of this
writing; akara-sthana-the
source; sr siddhanta sarasvati-signed, shri
Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati.
Amongst the higher
classes of people in society, there are three main paths
for traveling through the
kingdom of various beliefs regarding
transcendence. These are
known as the paths of karma (performance of
materially fruitive activity),
jnana (cultivation of transcendental
knowledge), and bhakti
(purely surrendered devotional service). First, the
path of karma-marga
involves the arrangements for obtaining temporary
worldly benefits, which
are enjoyed by souls trapped in the bondage of the
materially conditioned
platform of life. Second, the jnana-marga involves
renouncing impermanent
material things as well as the impermanent
distractions related to
patriotic interests and such; one then searches
after the
undifferentiated spiritual reality of impersonal brahma. And the
third path involves
positive activity that is transcendental to karma,
jnana and matter
altogether-it is the way of cultivating actions favorable
for serving the object
most worthy of service, shri Krishna. This is called
bhakti-marga, the pathof
pure devotion.
It is seen that there are
three distinct developmental stages extending
from sadhana (devotional
practice) to sadhya (the goal of such worship);
these are first the
sadhana itself, then the awakening of bhava (ecstatic
emotion) and finally
prema-bhakti (eternal devotional service performed in
pure love). While
cultivating the aspects of knowledge relating to the
goal of worship, as well
as the varieties of ecstatic emotions and methods
of pure loving service,
troubles invariably arise. The process by which
these unwanted
impediments are removed is called anartha-nivrtti. The
conceptions expressed in
the following poem are founded in the wonderful
and supremely astonishing
pastimes of Shri Gauranga-sundara as well as in
the opinions established
by the Gosvamis, who are the Lord's eternal
associates in these
pastimes.
Prakrta Rasa Sata Dusini
prakrta cestate bhai
kabhu rasa haya na
jadiya prakrta-rasa
suddha-bhakta gaya na
prakrta cestate-material
endeavors; bhai-O brothers!; kabhu-anytime;
rasa-mellow; haya na-can
never be; jadiya-of matter; prakrta-rasa-mundane
mellow; suddha-bhakta-a
pure devotee; gaya na-never sings.
1) O brothers! No
material efforts can ever produce the awakening of rasa,
factual transcendental
mellows. The pure devotee of the Lord never sings
the glories of any
mundane mellows that are born of the dull material
world.
prakrta-rasera
siksa-bhiksa sisye caya na
rati bina jei rasa taha
guru deya na
prakrta-rasera-of
material mellows; siksa-bhiksa-begging for instructions;
sisye-the disciples; caya
na-does not want; rati-transcendental loving
attachment; bina-without;
jei-which; rasa-mellow; taha-that; guru-the
spiritual master; deya
na-does not give.
2) The true disciples
never desire to ask their spiritual master for
instructions regarding
material mellows. The genuine spiritual master
never gives his disciples
any such material mellows, which are devoid of
rati, transcendental
loving attachment to the Lord.
nama rasa dui vastu
bhakta kabhu jane na
nama rase bheda ache,
bhakta kabhu bole na
nama-the holy name;
rasa-and mellow; dui vastu-two different things;
bhakta-the devotee;
kabhu-anytime; jane na-does not know; nama-the holy
name; rase-and rasa;
bheda ache-there is a difference; bhakta-the devotee;
kabhu-anytime; bole
na-never says.
3) The Lord's real
devotee never knows any difference between the holy name
of Krishna and
transcendental mellows. Therefore the devotee never says
there is a difference
between the holy name and the mellows of devotion.
'aham-mama' bhava-sattve
nama kabhu haya na
bhoga-buddhi na chadile
aprakrta haya na
'aham-mama'-"I"
and "mine"; bhava-sattve-in the condition of this mood;
nama-the holy name;
kabhu-anytime; haya na-can never be; bhoga-buddhi-the
enjoying mentality; na
chadile-without giving up; aprakrta-spiritual; haya
na-can never be.
4) The holy name is never
revealed to one who is situated in the bodily
concept of life and
thinks in terms of "I" and "mine." If one doesn't
reject the enjoying
mentality, the transcendental platform will never be
attained.
prakrta jadera bhoge
krishna-seva haya na
jada-vastu kona-o kale
aprakrta haya na
prakrta jadera-of mundane
matter; bhoge-by the enjoyment; krishna-seva-the
service of Krishna; haya
na-can never be; jada-vastu-a material thing;
kona-o kale-at any time;
aprakrta-spiritual; haya na-can never be.
5) Devotional service
unto Lord Krishna can never be performed by engaging in
the mundane enjoyment of
material sense-objects. Material things can never
acquire the attributes of
the transcendental at any time.
jada-satta vartamane cit
kabhu haya na
jada-vastu cit haya
bhakte kabhu bole na
jada-satta-existing in
matter; vartamane-in the presence; cit-spiritual
consciousness;
kabhu-anytime; haya na-can never be; jada-vastu-a material
object; cit haya-becomes
spiritually conscious; bhakte-by the devotee;
kabhu-anytime; bole
na-never says.
6) The transcendental
consciousness of the spiritual world is never
manifest in the mundane
material condition. The devotee of the Lord never
claims that any mundane
object in this world is spiritually conscious.
jadiya visaya-bhoga
bhakta kabhu kore na
jada-bhoga,
krishna-seva-kabhu sama haya na
jadiya-material;
visaya-bhoga-enjoyment of sense gratification; bhakta-the
devotee; kabhu-anytime;
kore na-does not do; jada-bhoga-the enjoyment of
matter; krishna-seva-the
service of Krishna; kabhu-anytime; sama-the same;
haya na-can never be.
7) The true devotee never
engages in activities of materialistic sense
gratification. Material
enjoyment and devotional service to Krishna are
never the same under any
circumstances.
nija-bhogya kame bhakta
'prema' kabhu bole na
'rase dagamaga acho'
sisye guru bole na
nija-bhogya-fit for one's
personal enjoyment; kame-in lust; bhakta-the
devotee; 'prema'-called
'pure love of Godhead'; kabhu-anytime; bole
na-never says; 'rase
dagamaga acho'-"You are absorbed in mellows";
sisye-to the disciple;
guru-the spiritual master; bole na-never says.
8) Selfish enjoyment of
one's own senses in mundane lust is never called
prema (love of Godhead)
by the genuine devotee. A bonafide spiritual
master never tells his
disciple, "You are absorbed in the mellows of
divine rasa."
'rase dagamaga ami' kabhu
guru bole na
jadiya rasera katha sisye
guru bole na
'rase dagamaga
ami'-"I am absorbed in mellows"; kabhu-anytime; guru-the
spiritual master; bole
na-never says; jadiya rasera-of material mellows;
katha-talk; sisye-to the
disciple; guru-the spiritual master; bole
na-never says.
9) The genuine spiritual
master never claims, "I am absorbed in the mellows
of divine rasa." The
guru never talks idly with his disciples on subjects
of gross worldly mellows.
jada-rasa-gane kabhu
sreyah keha labhe na
krishnake prakrta boli'
bhakta kabhu gaya na
jada-rasa-gane-by singing
songs of material mellows; kabhu-anytime;
sreyah-ultimate good;
keha-anyone; labhe na-can attain; krishnake-Lord
Krishna; prakrta
boli'-saying He is material; bhakta-the devotee;
kabhu-anytime; gaya
na-never sings.
10) By singing the
glories of worldly relationships born of mundane
mellows, no one has ever
attained benefit in their spiritual life. The
genuine devotee never
proclaims that Lord Krishna's incarnation is mundane.
namake prakrta boli'
krsne jada jane na
krishna-nama-rase bheda
suddha-bhakta mane na
namake-the holy name;
prakrta boli'-saying it is material; krsne-Lord
Krishna; jada-matter;
jane na-does not know; krishna-nama-rase-between Krishna's
holy names and mellows;
bheda-difference; suddha-bhakta-the pure devotee;
mane na-never considers.
11) The devotee never
says that the holy name of Krishna is material, for
Krishna cannot be known
by means of matter. The pure devotee of the Lord
never recognizes any
difference between the holy name of Krishna and pure
rasa itself.
name-rase bheda ache,
guru siksa deya na
rasa labha kori' sese
sadhana to' haya na
name-rase-between the
holy name and devotional mellows; bheda ache-there is
a difference; guru-the
spiritual master; siksa deya na-never gives such
instructions;
rasa-mellow; labha kori'-first attaining; sese-in
conclusion;
sadhana-devotional practice; to'-then; haya na-can never be.
12) The bonafide
spiritual master never teaches that there is a difference
between the holy name of
Krishna and rasa. Even after attaining actual rasa,
the regulative principles
of devotional service are never concluded.
krtrima panthaya name
rasodaya haya na
rasa hoite krishna-nama
vilomete haya na
krtrima panthaya-on the
cheating path; name-in the holy name;
rasa-udaya-the awakening
of mellows; haya na-can never be; rasa-mellow;
hoite-from;
krishna-nama-the holy name of Krishna; vilomete-by inversion; haya
na-can never be.
13) By employing
pretentious means, no one can ever make transcendental
mellows appear in the
holy name. The backwards conception that Krishna's
name comes from rasa can
never be true.
rasa hoite rati-sraddha
kakhana-i haya na
sraddha hoite rati chada
bhagavata gaya na
rasa-mellow; hoite-from;
rati-sraddha-faith built upon transcendental
attachment; kakhana-i-at
any time; haya na-can never be; sraddha
hoite-from faith ;
rati-attachment; chada-without; bhagavata-the devotee
or book Bhagavatam; gaya
na-never sings.
14) Rasa, devotional
mellow, can never be first present and then develop
into rati, transcendental
attachment, or sraddha, proper faith. The
Shrimad-Bhagavatam (or
the realized devotee) never sings any opinion other
than-rati develops from
sraddha.
rati yukta rasa chada
suddha-bhakta bole na
sadhanete rati rasa guru
kabhu bole na
rati-attachment;
yukta-endowed with; rasa-mellow; chada-without;