1956 Back to Godhead vol 3 part 09 - Hope Against Hope
Click the cover to download and read the original BTG
Price Six pice a Copy.
DELHI, Friday 5th October, 1956
Fortnightly published.
Notice
The Editor has since changed his residential address as follows:-
Goswami Abhay Charan Bhaktivedanta
1797, RaniBagh Extn.
P.O. Shakurbasti-Delhi
Printed and Published by the Editor,
at Surendra Printers Private Ltd., Deputyganj, Delhi
and published by him from 'Back to Godhead' Office,
I. M. H. Press, Fountain, Delhi under declaration Dated 28-8-56.
______________________________________________________________
Hope Against Hope
- Asha, Pashai, Satai, Baddha, Kama, Krodha, Parayana,
- Ihante, Kamabhogartham, Anyaena, Artha, Sanchayan.
- (G. 16/12).
Translation
The atheists, who accumulate wealth unlawfully for the matter of sense gratification, are bound up by hundreds of thousands hopes against hope by network of it.
Purport
In our issue of Back to Godhead Vol III part VIII dated 20/6/56, we had to discuss something about nationalism of pure consciousness. Sometime we meet gentlemen of up-to-date taste and try to make them interested in the matter of "Back to Godhead." Unfortunately we meet 80% men of atheistic views and they say very frankly that they have not only no interest in such theistic subject but also they condemn the attempt to bring back people in general to the path of 'Back to Godhead.'
According to these gentlemen, economic conditions of the Indian people deteriorated on account of their too much faith in God and the sooner they forget everything about Godhead, it is better for them. But we cannot agree with this atheistic conclusion of such up-to-date gentlemen devoid of the sense of Godhead.
India was never so much dependant on the occupation of service than they are now. With the advancement of Godless materialistic education, the Indian people at the present moment are more dependant on service than anything else. There was report in the press that during the year ending in 1955, applicants for services in the employment exchange of Delhi only—were recorded to the extent of 120,000. Out of these applicants only 15,000 men were provided with some suitable services but others were disappointed or still remained unemployed. The number of unemployed is increasing daily particularly in the educated section. Whenever there is some vacancy in some important or nonimportant posts, there are thousands of applications to fill it. More than 80 p.c. of the population are not provided with the bare necessities of life and what to speak of other amenities. Some of the well posted Government servants or some of the fortunate businessmen may feel themselves happy but 90 percent of their brother citizens do not know how to meet the both ends together and therefore the economic condition is definitely not satisfactory. This economic deterioration of the mass of people is not only visible in India but it is also so and so all over the world. The planning commission in India of course making various plans to improve the economic conditions of the Indian people but we may take lessons from other country where the planning commissions have finished their duties. We must be frank enough to admit that the economic conditions of general mass of people have not improved.
Recently when Mr. Truman was in London, he admitted very frankly that independence means comfortable life for everyone. At least that is the expectation of all common men which is never to be fulfilled. When the World War II was going on, one compounder enquired whether the Japanese were coming in India. The purpose of the enquiry was that if the Japanese came in India, the country will be independant. The compounder was met again after 1947 and he was asked how he has improved his comfortable life. The compounder with much regret replied that he has not improved his lot in the least after independence; on the contrary, the family expenditure has increased so much that it has become almost incompatible with his economic condition. On the whole the story was nobody's life has become more comfortable after independence as it ought to have been according to Mr. Truman. According to Mr. Truman, if a section of a nation live very comfortably in the material sense and feel thereby false happiness without caring for his brother haves-not—it must be called an illusion only. That is not independence ever in the opinion of Mr. Truman the retired President of U.S.A.
The economic condition of the people cannot be improved by such godless adventures. In our article 'Grow more food' published in the issue of VI part of 'Back to Godhead'; we have brought to the notice of our readers that there are five causes to effect a particular action. And the most important cause is called the 'Daiva' or the unseen hand of the agent of Godhead. However efficient may be the other causes such as the place, the worker, the attempt and the instrument—without the favourable help of the 'Divine' cause nothing can be effected very satisfactorily. The S.R.C. catastrophe which is still going on in the cities of Gujarat was never expected by the leaders of the country but it has come to take place by the 'Divine' cause beyond the reach of efficient statesmen.
Atheist Ravana did not believe in the 'Divine' cause and firmly believed in his own capacity. He was a declared enemy of Shri Ramchandra the Personality of Godhead and on his own strength he thought it wise to construct a staircase for everyone's use and to approach the kingdom of heaven without the necessary qualifications.
The present generation of materialistic thought is direct descendant of Ravana because all of them think in terms of Ravana's staircase leading to the kingdom of heaven. Such people completely ignore the superior strength of the Daivi cause. We may again use the example of the S.R.C. report in this connection. The report was prepared with great care by the eminent and most erudite personalities for the good of all Provinces and the particular staircase, leading to the heaven of provincial or linguistic amity, was constructed at a cost of many lacs of rupees. Unfortunately the 'Daivi' cause was unknown to the reporting gentlemen which did not favour the cause and as such the resultant violence is still going on at Ahmedabad and other parts of the country at the cost of many lives and considerable loss of national wealth. They are all due to godless thought without any care for the unseen hand of the Supreme.
Such thinking men are surely bound up by such hundreds and thousands of thoughts all produced by unsatiable lust. And in the absence of such lust being fulfilled satisfactorily to the parties concerned they are followed by anger, rupture, insanity, violence, loss of intelligence and at last destruction of everything.
The different groups of atheist thinkers have different kinds of plans in the brain and they are exhibited in different patterns of godlessness. One set of atheistic nation thinks on it in a different way and all of them clash at a point of overlapping circles caused by the 'Daivi' way. This is so because none of these thoughts of different groups is beyond the range of direct perception of the material sense without any spiritual knowledge. Therefore the quality of such different thought is always the same but the varieties are presented in multi-colourful attraction for the foolish mass of people. We have already discussed this point at length in our article 'All Compact in Thought.'
The mass of people are themselves blind to see everything in their true perspective and they are now made to follow similar blind leaders under various political arrangement. They are made to follow either of the above multi-colourful ideals sure to be failure in the long run and therefore they are made to hope against hope in a practical way.
There are many hope against hope parties and whenever there is failure of the sense gratificatory processes the different parties are put into violent dangers. This dangerous position of each one of the parties leads them to fight one with another and at the end one of the parties become victim of another for the sake of a false ideology unknown to the people. The communal flare up of this iron-age is now an ordinary occurrence, due to godless advancement of material learning. The poor followers and innocent passersby are however suffer to such roads to heaven ideologies and it is so because the mass of people are gradually being driven to the hopeless condition of a godless civilization which has no information of a spiritual status of life and they are now kept on darkness in the bewildered state of sense gratification.
Such persons therefore who seek happiness in the chain of hope against hope by sense gratification try to accumulate wealth by unlawful means. In impure consciousness without the knowledge of the proprietorship right of the Supreme Lord—everything is accumulated unlawfully because everything that we have all belongs to the Supreme Lord. This unlawful accumulation of wealth is effected not only in black market but also in the open daylight by unlawful means. Even the so-called Sannyasins accumulate money by collecting donation from the public unlawfully to create a personal property for sense gratification forgetting the proprietorship right of the Supreme Lord.
The word black-market has come to stay now on account of the blackmailing attempt of other staunch sense-gratifiers. Persuaded by such strong sense of sense-gratificatory propensity of black-marketing habit, it is now experienced that even the millionaires do sometimes commit criminal misappropriation of others' money. When a poor man commits criminal misappropriation, we can understand the poverty driven propensity of the poor man but when we see that a millionaire merchant or high administrator or a holy Sannyasi(?) is committing such criminal offenses, we can understand the strong directive of sense-gratification attitude caused by godless civilization. Such unlawful sense-gratificatory process continues to act as hope against hope and they are never satisfied either by force or by law. A godless civilization can accelerate this process of hope against hope for sense-gratification but this atmosphere of animalism will never bring in the desired peace.
Progressive Ambition
The Supreme Lord is said to be 'Sachidananda Vigraha' in the revealed scriptures. 'Sat' means eternal, 'Chit' means fully cognizant and 'Ananda' means joy, and 'Vigraha' means specific Personality. Therefore the Lord or the Supreme Godhead who is one without a second is eternally a joyful personality with full sense of His identity. That is the nutshell description of the Supreme Lord and nobody is equal to Him nor greater than Him.
The living entities or the 'Jivas' are so many minute samples of the Supreme Lord and therefore we find in the activities of the living entities an urge for eternal existence, a hankering for knowledge of everything that be and an urge for seeking happiness by diverse attempts in life. These three qualities of the living being are minutely visible in the human society but they are increased and enjoyed in the proportion of 100 times more by other beings residing in the upper planets called by the name Bhooaloka, Swargaloka, Janaloka, Tapaloka, Manaloka, Brahmaloka etc.
So in the material world the highest planet, where the duration of life and standard of enjoyment are thousands and thousands times superior than what we enjoy on this earth, is also described as insignificant in comparison to the spiritual bliss enjoyed in the realm of impersonal 'Brahma.' And the happiness of spiritual bliss enjoyed in the company of the Supreme Lord by His service in different mellows—makes the enjoyment of impersonal Brahman as much insignificant as it is a drop of water in the presence of the ocean.
Every living being is ambitious to have the topmost level of enjoyment in the material world and yet he is always unhappy here. This unhappiness is present in all the above mentioned planets in spite of long life and standard of comfort more and more increased. That is the law of material nature. You can increase the duration of life and standard of comfort to your highest capacity and yet by the law of material nature you shall feel unhappy; the reason is that the quality of happiness which is compatibly suitable for our very constitution is different from the happiness derived from material adjustment. The living entity is a minute particle of Sachidananda Vigraha and therefore he has proportionately the necessary propensity for joyfulness which is spiritual in quality but he is vainly trying to derive it in a foreign atmosphere of the material nature.
A fish which is taken out of the water cannot be happy by any length of earthly arrangement of happiness without any aquatic habilitation. It is in the same way the minute Sachidananda entity cannot be really happy by any amount of material plannings conceived by the illusioned brain. The living entity, therefore, has to be rendered a different type of happiness called the spiritual bliss. And therefore our ambition should be aimed at enjoying spiritual bliss and not material happiness. Ambition for spiritual bliss is good but the way of attaining this standard is never possible by negativating the material happiness. Theoretical negation of material activities as was propounded by Sripad Sankaracharya may be relevant for an insignificant section of men, but the best and the sure way of attaining this standard is chalked out by Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by His cult of devotional activities which change the very face of material nature.
Hankering after material happiness is called lust and such activities are sure to be met with frustration in the long run.
The body of a snake is very cool. And if a man wants to enjoy the coolness of the body of a snake and therefore garlands himself with such venomous snake surely he is killed by the bite of the snake which is naturally harmful. The material senses are compared with snake and to indulge in material happiness is surely meant for killing one's spiritual identity. A sane man should therefore be ambitious to find out the real source of happiness. A foolish man who had no experience of sugar cane by shape or taste was told by his friend to have a taste of its sweetness. The foolish man enquired of the characteristics of a sugar cane and he was imperfectly informed that sugar cane resembles the shape of a bamboo stick. The foolish man therefore began to derive juice from the dry bamboo stick but as a matter of fact he was repeatedly baffled in his attempt to have a taste of sweetness from bamboo stick.
That is the position of the illusioned living being in his search after eternal happiness in the matter which is not only full of miseries but also the quality of material happiness is transient and flickering. In the Bhagwat Geeta the quality of the material world is described as full of miseries. The ambition of happiness is good but to derive it from the inert matter by so-called scientific arrangement is an illusion. Befooled person cannot understand it. Driven by a lust of material happiness he thinks as follows, as described in the Bhagwat Geeta.
Idam, Adya, Maya, Labdha, Idam, Prapsey, Manoratham, Idam, Asti, Idam, Mey, Bhabisyati, Punah, Dhanam. (G. 16/13)
Translation
(A materialistic Ashura thinks) This much I have got today, this much I shall have again as I have desired. So much I have in my possession and that much wealth will be mine again.
Purport
The atheistic or godless civilization being a huge affair of sense-gratifying business, everyone is now mad after money to keep up an empty show. Money is sought after by everyone because that is the medium of exchange for sense-gratificatory objects. To expect peace in such an atmosphere of gold rush pandemonium is a Utopian dream. So long there will be a slight tinge of sense gratification, peace will remain far far away from us. The reason is that by nature everyone is an eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord. He cannot therefore enjoy anything for his personal interest but he can be employed in the transcendental service for the interest of the Lord. This alone can bring in the desired peace. A part of the body cannot itself be happy but it can serve the whole body and derive pleasure out of that service only. But everyone is busy in self-interested business and nobody is prepared to serve the Lord. That is the basic cause of material existence.
Beginning from the highest executive administrator down to the cooly in the street, everyone is engaged with the thought of unlawful accumulation of wealth. To work for one's self-interest is unlawful and destructive. Even the cultivation of spiritual realisation for one's self-interest is unlawful and destructive! We have discussed this point already in the previous issues.
Those who are not engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord do unlawfully think that he has accumulated so much money today. This much money was accumulated day before and therefore the total money is accumulated to so much strength. He thinks unlawfully that so much money is in his possession now and it will be increased to such and such strength.
As such there is no dearth of money but there is dearth of peace in the world. The whole human energy having been diverted to this money making business, it has certainly increased the cheap money making capacity of the total population but the result is that such unrestricted and unlawful inflation of money has created a bad economy and has enabled us to manufacture huge costly weapons for destroying the result of such cheap money making business. The authorities of big money making countries, instead of enjoying peace, are now engaged in making important plans as to how they can save themselves from the modern destructive weapons and as a matter of fact a huge sum of money is being thrown into the sea for making an experiment on such dreadful weapons. Such experiments are being carried out not only at huge costs but also at cost of many poor lives, binding thereby such nations in the laws of Karma. That is the illusion of mother material nature. With an impulse of sense gratification, the money is earned by spoiled energy and it is spent up also in as much as destructive energy of the human race. The energy of human race is thus spoiled by the law of nature because of its diversion from the service of the Lord who is actually the Lord of all energies.
Wealth and money is called and worshipped as mother Lakshmi or the Goddess of Goodluck. The Goddess of Goodluck is meant for serving the Lord Narayana the emanation of all the Naras or living being. The Naras are also meant for service of Narayana under the guidance of the Goddess of Goodluck. The Naras or the living being cannot enjoy mother Goddess of Goodluck and therefore whoever may desire to enjoy Her wrongly will be punished by the law of nature and the money itself will become the cause of destruction instead of being the cause of peace and prosperity.
Such unlawful accumulation of money is now being snatched away from the miser citizen by various taxing method of the state as contribution to the future civil and international war fund for spending the money in the spoiled manner. The citizen is no longer satisfied with money just to maintain the family nicely and for culturing spiritual knowledge, both essential in human life. He wants money unlimitedly for satisfying insatiable desires and proportionately to this unlawful act, his accumulated money is now being snatched away by the agents of illusory nature in the shape of medical practitioners, lawyers, tax collectors, societies constitutions, so-called Sadhus, famines, earthquake and many such calamities. A miser who hesitated to purchase a copy of 'Back to Godhead' by the dictation of illusory Nature—spent up Rs. 20,000/- for a week's ailments and died at the end. A similar thing happened when a man who refused to spend a pie for the service of the Lord—spoiled Rs. 30,000/- in litigation affairs between members of the home. That is the law of nature. If money is not devoted to the service of the Lord, it must be, by the law of nature, spent up in spoiled energy in the shape of litigation or diseases as mentioned above. Foolish people have no eyes to see to it and necessarily the laws of the Supreme Lord.
The laws of Nature do not allow us to accept money more than what we require for proper maintenance. There is ample arrangement by the law of Nature to provide every living being with his due share of food and shelter but insatiable lust of the human being has disturbed the whole setup of the Almighty Father of all species of life. By the arrangement of the Supreme Lord—there is the ocean of salt because salt is so much necessary thing to the living being. He has in the same manner arranged for sufficient air and light so essential for the living being. Anybody can collect any amount of salt from the natural storehouse but constitutionally one cannot take in more salt than what one barely requires. If he takes more salt, he spoils the broth and if he takes less salt his eatables become tasteless. And if he takes only just what he barely requires, the foodstuff is tasteful and he is also healthful. Ambition for wealth, for more than what we just require, is much harmful as that of eating more salt than what we absolutely require. That is the law of nature.
A Successful Life
Shri L.P. Nagar of M/s. L.P. Nagar & Co. at Mathura and a friend of our paper 'Back to Godhead' has presented us a book of the name 'Atmakatha' or the freaks of time. This is a book written in Hindi as the autobiography of Shri Nagarji. The most interesting part of the book is that one can enjoy in it the pleasure of reading a fiction or novel by reading this autobiography of a successful householder in fact. One cannot stop reading this book unless he has not finished the whole course. This indicates that the author is not only a successful businessman but he is also a successful writer.
The other interesting point of the book is that the author is an ideal man of household life at least at the present moment when every house is a dreadful black hole. Nowadays mostly people earn their livelihood by all means black and white. But it appears from the book that Shri L.P. Nagar although passed through a hard struggle for life and through a chequered history and yet he never deviated from the principles of morality and honesty. Even if when he deviated from such principles, he corrected it quickly with repentance and rigidly followed worldly moral codes. His life therefore will teach many householders, especially young men, that the principles of successful life must be the principles of honesty is the best policy and that alone could help one to be favoured with the mercy of Godhead through His agent the material nature.
But from our point of view this successful life of a worldly man does not end the sojourn of life's mission. Such success only does not take us to the ultimate goal. From the life of Shri L.P. Nagar one can learn and become a prince from the stage of a beggar; or sometimes we can find that a princely man becomes a beggar in the street in spite of his acts of charity, munificence, altruism, goodness, honesty etc. Maharaj Harishchandra became homeless beggar by his pious acts of charity. Maharaj Judisthir and brothers became homeless vagabonds by their acts of goodness and honesty and there are many more examples in the history of the world as to how the freaks of time play the part of a juggler on the stage of flickering platform where we stand to play our parts. Such parts are fixed up by the illusory nature called by the name of 'Daivi Maya.' On the flickering platform of playful life, we are dressed sometimes either as a prince or as a beggar but in fact out of the stage, none of us is either a prince or a peasant. These features of life come and go like seasonal changes of time and according to the teachings of Bhagwat Geeta no learned man should be very serious about it.
It is not our business in the human form of life to be decorated either as a prince or a beggar but what we seriously become is that our aim must be targeted towards a release from this playful stage under some false decoration in the direction of the illusory Nature. That is our real Atmakatha. In the Bhagwat Geeta we learn it definitely that even if we are awarded the facility to play the part of a 'Brahma,' the first and the foremost man of the creation whose duration of life is considered to be hundreds of crores of the solar years, still we cannot be happy in this material world. The material world is condemned by the Lord Himself declaring it to be the abode of miseries and death. Even a successful householder like Sri Nagarji will also admit of this cult of miseries in the material existence. Success and failure in the material world are all but stage management of the illusory nature by allowing us to play a part which we desire to do by our own inclination. In the theatrical parties, especially in the amateur parties—the respective members do select their own parts and the director gives them instruction to dance and thus we play the part of a dancing dog in the stage of the material nature. Mother illusory nature the director of the material world gives us all facilities to play our parts very successfully. A beggar also can play his part very successfully by the expert direction of the Mother, as a great politician also can play his part. But the successful man or living entity is he who can know from the lessons of Bhagwat Geeta that he is neither a beggar nor a prince in fact but he is a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and his only business is that in this human form of life he has to go back to home back to Godhead his eternal father. That is the story of real Atmakatha.
In the Upanishads we find it is stated that one who gets this boon of human form of life and knows everything about his real self and duty and then go back to Home, back to Godhead is really a Brahmin. But the man who comes here and engages himself to play the part of a beggar or a prince on the stage of the illusory Nature and all of sudden quits the stage by the order of the controlling deity without knowing his proper identity is called a Kripana or the miser. The miser is a mischievous man because he does not know how to utilise his acquired wealth. A miser man is captivated by his good luck (?) but does not know how to utilise the opportunity. But a Brahmin or the intelligent sane man does know the worth of his wealth and does use it properly for life's enjoyment.
Therefore to become successful only as a worldly householder is the business of a miser; but to become successful as a learned Brahmin or intelligent man is the real success in life.
We therefore advise every successful businessman, administrator, lawyer etc. to become just an intelligent man or Brahmin who knows the value of life as also the process of going back to home, back to Godhead. A successful life in the worldly sense for a few number of years in the short span of life is no success if we do not know what we are, why there are miseries, wherefrom we have come, where we shall go, why we are begging and why we are ruling. These are some of the questions pertaining to the Atma or the spirit soul. That should be the subject matter for discussion in the Atmakatha and we would request Sri Nagarji or similar other gentlemen who are successful as householders not to stop writing Atmakatha simply by becoming a prince from the state of a beggar, but the idea should be farther and farther more extended till the real Atma, and not the unreal Atma of body and mind, has stopped altogether begging. So long there is repetition of birth and death one must know it for certain that the begging process is going on. The Atma should be completely dragged from the acts of begging or this material existence by real enlightenment of Atma and in the Bhagwat Geeta we find the following sloka spoken by the Lord Himself.
Na, Prahiset, Priam, Prapya, Na, Udbijet, Prapya, Cha, Apriam, Sthirabudhi, Asam-mudha, Brahmabid, Brahmani, Sthitah. (G. 5/20)
"One who is aware of everything of the spirit soul is neither gladdened by getting something of material happiness nor he is disturbed by getting something which is materially unwanted. The stable man is unbewildered and thus he is to be understood to be situated in the transcendental spiritual plane."
The process of begging is an unwanted position and the process of ruling is the desired objective of a man in the material plane. But a spiritually realised man is above these two planes and the Bhagwat Geeta advises us to rise up to this plane of transcendental position. It is said in the (6th chapter (sloka 5).
Urdharet, Atmana, Atmanam, Na, Atmanam, Abasadayet, Atma, Eba, Hi, Atmana, Bandhu, Atma, Eba, Hi, Ripu, Atmana.
"One should deliver himself by himself and must not one degrade himself by himself. One is himself his own friend and one is himself his own enemy."
Real Atmakatha or the story of the Atma is explained very nicely in this sloka. A living entity is himself responsible for his suffering and happiness. We have discussed this subject matter in the articles "Sufferings of Humanity." Everyone therefore should be guard of himself.
Atma must be satisfied by Atma happiness and not by Anatma or nonspiritual happiness. Enjoyment and happiness is felt in the same category. A poor man cannot enjoy happiness freely in the company of a rich man. The Atma is superior to Anatma or the spirit is superior to matter. And therefore Atma's perpetual hankerings is never satisfied by increase of material happiness. We see therefore no one or standard of material happiness. The ladies fashion is changing daily and yet there is no happiness. The material happiness is therefore an illusion whereas spiritual happiness is a reality to the spirit or Atma. Life remains imperfect perpetually so long the Atma is not supplied with Atmakatha. This is confirmed in the Srimad Bhagbatam as follows:—
Noonam, Pramattah, Kurutey, Bikarmana, Jad, Indriyapritaya, Aprinoti, Na, Sadhu, Mannay, Jatah, Atmana, Ayam, Asat, Na, Api, Kleshala, Asha, Deh, Parabhava, Tabat, Abodha, Jata, Jabat, Na, Jijnasata, Atma, Tattam, Jabat, Kriya, Tabat, Idom, Manobai, Karma, Atmakama, Jena, Shareera, Bandha. (Bhag. 5/5/4-5)
"Noonam i.e. certainly a man is upset (Pramattam) by his material conception of existence and as such he does (Kurutey) all sorts of vicious activities (Bikarmana) conducted by the impulse of sense gratification—Indriapriti. Such vicious material activities are never counted to be genuine activities of a human being because in that way he is sure to degrade his (Atma) soul which is obliged to accept temporary body although he (Atma) is eternal spirit by nature."
In this connection the word Atma and Bikarmana are very significant. Karma means prescribed duty. Akarma means non-prescribed activities or whimsical and non-regulated functions and Bikarmana means vicious activities or impious acts.
When one is pushed by an impulse of sense gratification, he is sure to practice 'Bikarma' and thereby degrade his own soul, as mentioned above, to accept an embodiment of material covering or tabernacle. The human life is meant for liberation from such bondage of material embodiment and therefore if anyone acts in a manner so that the soul is again embodied—such actions are not surely laudable and approved by the authorities in the spiritual science. Why the authorities do not approve of this action? Because such actions are signs of defeat of the boon of human form of life (Parabhava).
So long these unlawful actions will continue to be done it must be concluded that they are being done in the darkness of ignorance. When a living entity is enchanted by bodily or material activities without any information of the Atma spirit, may he be a man, a powerful god or even if a Brahma or Indra, it is concluded that he is defeated in his life's mission in the onward journey. So long there is fruitive activity or things done for one's sense enjoyment and not for the service of the Supreme Lord, one's mind is sure to be moulded in material conception of things. As such the mind is sure to accept another material body until it is purified by real knowledge or 'Karmayoga' the actions by which the Lord is served.
A successful householder therefore is advised to engage his hard earned money in the service of the Supreme Lord Vasudeva. "Vasudeva Sarvamiti Sa Mahatma Sudurlava." A person who can know by genuine Atmakatha that everything is the emanation from Vasudeva and therefore all energies must be employed in the service of Vasudeva is certainly a Mahatma. A Mahatma is recognized by action and not by the dress. Lower-grade neophytes are carried away by the data of outward dress but second grade spiritualist recognize a 'Sadhu' or 'Mahatma' by action. We have already discussed this subject matter in our article "WHO IS A SADHU." By our material association from a time immemorial we have been accustomed to the activities of fruitive nature just to gratify our material senses. This love of sense gratification may be diverted in the activities in relation with the will of Vasudeva and Absolute as He is there is no difference between Vasudeva and His Supreme will. Such Vasudeva activities are to be accepted as real spiritual knowledge and not the one which is meant for dry speculation. Love of Godhead is the goal of spiritual life and this is confirmed in the Bhagwat as follows:—
- Ebam, Manah, Karma, Basam, Prajuntey, Avidyaya, Atmani, Upadhiamane.
- Priti, Na, Jabat, Moyee, Vasudevey, Na, Munchate, Deha, Yogena, Tabat.
- (5/5/6 Bhagwat).
"The mind thus being overwhelmed by the designative embodiment of the Atma, one cannot get rid of the disease of accepting material bodies unless and until one has developed a sense of love for Vasudeva."
The sense of Love of Godhead is imbibed in everyone's heart in dormant condition. They are simply to be revived by the process of association of pure devotees who are cent percent actually engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the way of liberation and not the way of dry speculation leading to the idea of becoming a false God himself. This mentality of associating the actual devotees is developed by the service of the Mahatma as defined in the Bhagwat Geeta. Everyone is not a Mahatma. An unalloyed devotee of the Personality of Godhead is a Mahatma and his service is the way of liberation. "Mahat Seva Dwaram Ahu Vimukte" and Tama Dwaram Joshitam Sangi Samgam i.e., to associate with the sense-gratifiers (Joshit Samgi) is the way to darkness or ignorance.
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the ideal and unalloyed Mahatma confirmed by practical actions and by the revealed scriptures because He is Sree Krishna Himself playing the part of a Mahatma just to demonstrate the import of Mahatma described in the Bhagwat Geeta spoken by Shree Krishna Himself. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is personified practical demonstration of the thesis of Bhagwat Geeta. A successful householder therefore or a successful businessman, a successful lawyer or a successful administrator and all such respectable gentlemen must be ready to follow the footprints of the ideal Mahatma Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. One should engage his life, wealth, intelligence and words for the service of the ideal Mahatma and that will be the enigma of successful life. Our whole energy was meant for the service of the Lord which action makes the whole world actually happy and peaceful but because we have utilised our energy in the matter of love of senses, we have not only degraded ourselves but also we have brought in its train a series of mishaps in the setup of peaceful life even in the present phase.
Srila Rupa Goswami was previously a minister in the state service of Nawab Hussain Shah in Bengal and when he retired from the service he showed us the ways how to utilise one's wealth by proper disbursement. He spent 50% of his accumulated wealth in the service of the Lord, 25% was kept for himself to meet so many emergencies of life and he distributed the balance 25% of his wealth amongst his relatives who expect to inherit something from the father. He did not allow himself spoiled by his energy in the way of giving all the money for the so-called kinsmen. That is the way to liberation. A successful householder therefore should not spoil his energy in the service of Maya but follow the footprints of Srila Rupa Goswami and engage himself in the service of the ideal Mahatma Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who refused to accumulate even a particle of myraballan for the next days' use and what to speak of accumulating money in the name of deities, maths and temples? Srila Rupa Goswami was not only an intelligent statesman in the service of the Nawab, but also he was an authorised Goswami in the service of the Lord. A Goswami in the line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is nondifferent from the Mahatma described in the Bhagwat Geeta. One who engages his senses cent percent in the service of the Lord is really a controller of the senses. And one who is able to control his senses in the above way is powerful to become a Goswami and is able to recruit disciples from all over the world.
Om Tat Sat.
Opinion of Shri K. D. Bajpai M. A., Archeologist and Curator of Govt. Museum, Mathura (U. P.)
"I have been reading the fortnightly periodical BACK TO GODHEAD with interest and profit. The editor of the paper Shri Goswami Abhay Charan Bhaktivedanta is taking great pains to make it useful to scholars and laymen. The articles published in the BACK TO GODHEAD are very instructive and open the way to understand religion and philosophy in their true sense. I have no doubt that under the able editorship of Shri Bhaktivedanta Ji, who is a profound scholar, this paper will render great service to humanity. Such papers are greatly needed to guide the life and thought of the people at large."