Title: To renounce or not externally

User: Swami Gaurangapada Date: 2007-03-13 20:19:19

 

 

I have lost all interest in material activities. I want to renounce everything and want to come and serve you personally.

 

 

Answer by Swami Gaurangapada:

 

It is good you have lost interest in material activities but the renunciation of the activities itself is not required neither appropriate for you at this stage in life. What we have to renounce is material consciousness and connect all over activities with Lord Gauranga-Krishna then the activites no longer remain material but are spiritual devotional service to the Lord.

 

At this point of time, you are ideally situated to practice Nama Bhajana i.e. the chanting of the Holy Names and changing your situation is not required. I appreciate your attachment to the Lord. I would request you not to be hasty in crossing the ocean of the cycle of birth and death but remain situated (sthane sthitah as stated in Shrimad Bhagavatam) in your present situation and cultivate strong internal attachment to the Holy Names of Nityananda, Gauranga and Hare Krishna! Then the Lord will show you the proper time and way to fulfil your desires to serve Him and chant His Holy Names. Please read the follwoing instructions given by Lord Gauranga Himself to our Prayojana acharya Shrila Raghunatha dasa Goswami:

 

 

Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya lila Chp16, Translation and Purports by His Divine Grace Shrila Prabhupada copyrighted by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust:

 

 

Madhya 16.234

 

 

sata dina santipure prabhu-sange rahe

ratri-divase ei manah-katha kahe

 

 

For seven days Raghunatha dasa associated with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Santipura. During those days and nights, he had the following thoughts.

 

 

Madhya 16.235

 

憆aksakera hate muni kemane chutiba!

kemane prabhura sange nilacale yaba?'

 

SYNONYMS

 

 

Raghunatha dasa thought, "How shall I be able to get free from the hands of the watchmen? How shall I be able to go with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Nilacala?"

 

 

Madhya 16.236

 

 

sarvajna gauranga-prabhu jani' tanra mana

siksa-rupe kahe tanre asvasa-vacana

 

 

Since Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was omniscient, He could understand

Raghunatha dasa's mind. The Lord therefore instructed him with the

following reassuring words.

 

 

Madhya 16.237

 

 

搒thira hana ghare yao, naa hao vaatula

krame krame paaya loka bhava-sindhu-kula

 

 

"Be patient and return home. Don't be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be

able to cross the ocean of material existence.

 

 

PURPORT

 

 

As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.14.58):

 

 

samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam

mahat-padam punya-yaso murareh

bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam

padam padam yad vipadam na tesam

 

 

This material world is just like a big ocean. It begins with Brahmaloka and

extends to Patalaloka, and there are many planets, or islands, in this

ocean. Not knowing about devotional service, the living entity wanders

about this ocean, just as a man tries to swim to reach the shore. Our

struggle for existence is similar to this. Everyone is trying to get out

of the ocean of material existence. One cannot immediately reach the

coast, but if one endeavors, he can cross the ocean by Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu's mercy. One may be very eager to cross this ocean, but he

cannot attain success by acting like a madman. He must swim over the ocean very patiently and intelligently under the instructions of Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu or His representative. Then, one day, he will reach the shore

and return home, back to Godhead.

 

 

Madhya 16.238

 

 

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana

yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

 

 

"You should not make yourself a showbottle devotee and become a false

renunciant. For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting

way and do not become attached to it."

 

 

PURPORT

 

 

The word markata-vairagya, indicating false renunciation, is very important

in this verse. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, in commenting on

this word, points out that monkeys make an external show of renunciation

by not accepting clothing and by living naked in the forest. In this way

they consider themselves renunciants, but actually they are very busy

enjoying sense gratification with dozens of female monkeys. Such

renunciation is called markata-vairagya -- the renunciation of a monkey.

One cannot be really renounced until one actually becomes disgusted with

material activity and sees it as a stumbling block to spiritual

advancement. Renunciation should not be phalgu, temporary, but should

exist throughout one's life. Temporary renunciation, or monkey

renunciation, is like the renunciation one feels at a cremation ground.

When a man takes a dead body to the crematorium, he sometimes thinks,

"This is the final end of the body. Why am I working so hard day and

night?" Such sentiments naturally arise in the mind of any man who goes to

a crematorial ghata. However, as soon as he returns from the cremation

grounds, he again engages in material activity for sense enjoyment. This

is called smasana-vairagya, or markata-vairagya.

 

 

In order to render service to the Lord, one may accept necessary things. If

one lives in this way, he may actually become renounced. In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.108), it is said:

 

 

yavata syat sva-nirvahah svi-kuryat tavad artha-vit

adhikye nyunatayam ca cyavate paramarthatah

 

 

"The bare necessities of life must be accepted, but one should not

superfluously increase his necessities. Nor should they be unnecessarily

decreased. One should simply accept what is necessary to help one advance spiritually."

 

 

In his Durgama-sangamani, Sri Jiva Gosvami comments that the word

sva-nirvahah actually means sva-sva-bhakti-nirvahah. The experienced

devotee will accept only those material things that will help him render

service to the Lord. In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.256),

markata-vairagya, or phalgu-vairagya, is explained as follows:

 

 

prapancikataya buddhya hari-sambandhi-vastunah

mumuksubhih parityago vairagyam phalgu kathyate

 

 

"When persons eager to achieve liberation renounce things related to the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, thinking them to be material, their

renunciation is called incomplete." Whatever is favorable for the

rendering of service to the Lord should be accepted and should not be

rejected as a material thing. Yukta-vairagya, or befitting renunciation,

is thus explained:

 

 

anasaktasya visayan yatharham upayunjatah

nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam ucyate

 

 

"Things should be accepted for the Lord's service and not for one's

personal sense gratification. If one accepts something without attachment

and accepts it because it is related to Krsna, one's renunciation is

called yukta-vairagya." Since Krsna is the Absolute Truth, whatever is

accepted for His service is also the Absolute Truth.

 

 

The word markata-vairagya is used by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to indicate

so-called Vaisnavas who dress themselves in loincloths trying to imitate

Srila Rupa Gosvami. Such people carry a bead bag and chant, but at heart

they are always thinking about getting women and money. Unknown to others,these markata-vairagis maintain women but externally present themselves as renunciants. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very much opposed to the se markata-vairagis, or pseudo Vaisnavas.

 

 

Madhya 16.239

 

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu continued, "Within your heart you should keep

yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary

man. Thus Krsna will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the

clutches of maya.

 

 

Madhya 16.240

 

 

vrndavana dekhi' yabe asiba nilacale

tabe tumi ama-pasa asiha kona chale

"You may see me at Nilacala, Jagannatha Puri, when I return after visiting

Vrndavana. By that time you can think of some trick to escape.

 

 

Madhya 16.241

 

 

se chala se-kale krsna sphurabe tomare

krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare"

 

 

"What kind of means you will have to use at that time will be revealed by

Krsna. If one has Krsna's mercy, no one can check him."

 

 

PURPORT

 

 

Although Srila Raghunatha dasa was very anxious to join Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu, the Lord advised him to wait for the mercy of Lord Krsna. He

recommended that Raghunatha dasa keep his Krsna consciousness firmly fixed in his heart while externally behaving like an ordinary man. This is a

trick for everyone advanced in Krsna consciousness. One can live in

society like an ordinary human being, but at the same time one's own

business should be to satisfy Krsna and spread His glories. A Krsna

conscious person should not be absorbed in material things, for his only

business is the devotional service of the Lord. If one is engaged in this

way, Krsna will certainly bestow His mercy. As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

advised Raghunatha dasa, yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana. The

same is repeated, antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara. This means

that one must have no desire within his heart other than to serve Krsna.

On the basis of such a conviction, one can cultivate Krsna consciousness.

This is confirmed in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.200):

 

 

laukiki vaidiki vapi ya kriya kriyate mune

hari-sevanukulaiva sa karya bhaktim icchata

 

 

 

A devotee may act as an ordinary human being or as a strict follower of

Vedic injunctions. In either case, everything he does is favorable for the

advancement of devotional service because he is in Krsna consciousness.

 

 

Madhya 16.242

 

 

eta kahi' mahaprabhu tanre vidaya dila

ghare asi' mahaprabhura siksa acarila

 

In this way, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu bade farewell to Raghunatha dasa, who returned home and did exactly what the Lord told him.

 

 

Yours in service, Swami Gaurangapada.