Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das

Vamana pastime analysis 2 – When the branch under us break, seek Krishna’s help to spread your wings
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Is the incident of Lord Rama worshiping Lord Shiva not mentioned in Valkmiki Ramayan?
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From: Rahul Ranjan Mishra

Some people say that the incident of Lord Rama worshiping Lord Shiva is not mentioned in Valkmiki Ramayan. Is it true? Are there any other incidents that are not mentioned in Valmiki Ramayan but are described by subsequent Acaryas? 

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Transcription by: Raji Nachiappan

Question: Is the incident of Lord Rama worshiping Lord Shiva not mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana? Are there any other incidents that are not mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayana but are described by subsequent acharyas?

Answer: The two well-known incidents that are not mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayana apart from the incident of Lord Rama worshipping Shiva, are the incidents of the Lakshmana-rekha drawn by Lakshmana when he left Sita to search for Lord Rama and the incident of Shabari offering half chewed fruits and berries to Lord Rama.

In general, since the Lord’s pastimes are many in number and because different pastimes happen in different yugas, it is never possible for any one book to be comprehensive in the narration of all pastimes. Therefore, the question is, if we hear a pastime, then how do we know if it is authentic? We have to look at what our acharyas have said. By our acharyas, I mean the acharyas from the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya. However, the acharyas of the Gaudiya sampradaya have primarily focused on detailing Krishna Lila. Hence, if we do not find relevant comments in their writings, then we can look in the writings of acharyas from other sampradayas. In the Sri sampradaya, for example, there are commentaries like the Govinda Raja commentary on the Ramayana, which is well acknowledged, and we can refer to those for verification. If we are unable to find any comments that substantiate these pastimes in any of the acharyas’ writings, then that in itself does not necessarily mean that these pastimes are not bonafide. It just means that they may or may not be bonafide. We then have to look at two factors: (i) does the pastime fits the storyline of the Ramayana (ii) does the pastime supports the philosophical message of Ramayana. If these pastimes contradict either of these, then there is reason to treat them with a pinch of salt.

Some storytellers of the Ramayana, in order to portray everybody in the Ramayana as a devotee, narrate certain incidents. One among them is the incident when Lord Rama went to Kaikeyi and asks her to do a sacrifice for him. Kaikeyi then replies, “Whatever you want, I will do for you”. Lord Rama then warns Kaikeyi that by agreeing to do this, the whole world will misunderstand her. Kaikeyi did not mind and was ready to do what Lord Rama asked of her. He further cautioned her, that doing this sacrifice may even cause the death of her husband. Kaikeyi hesitates but then says, “For your sake, I will do it.” Then, Lord Rama tells her to ask for those two benedictions. […]

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What is the role of vairagya in grihastha life?
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Answer Podcast

 

Transcription :

Transcribed by: Raji Nachiappan

Question: What is the role of vairagya in grihasta life?

Answer: Vairagya is not an aspect of bhakti. Among the sixty-four items of bhakti that Rupa Goswami specifies, there is no mention of vairagya. For example, activities like chanting the holy names, reading the scriptures and worshipping the deities are all aspects of bhakti. Vairagya, in that sense, is not an aspect bhakti among the sixty-four items.

Vairagya, rather, is a natural result of bhakti. In the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.7), it is said that

vasudeve bhagavati, bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty asu vairagyam, jnanam ca yad ahaitukam

When one practices bhakti, one experiences such higher happiness that material happiness becomes distasteful. That’s the technical and philosophical point about the relationship between bhakti and vairagya. From the practical point of view, however, even to practice bhakti and to avoid sins, we need some renunciation. Some element of detachment is required to follow the four regulative principles, live a moral and spiritual life.

However, when the scriptures discuss vairagya, this is not entirely what they mean. Vairagya means not only to give up sinful activities, but to give up all activities. Arjuna asked this question in the Bhagavad Gita (18.1) and Lord Krishna replies:

kamyanam karmaṇam nyasam, annyasam kavayo viduḥ
sarva-karma-phala-tyagam, prahus tyagam vicakshanaḥ

“The giving up of activities that are based on material desire is what great learned men call the renounced order of life [sannyasa]. And giving up the results of all activities is what the wise call renunciation [tyaga].”

Lord Krishna says that giving up all fruitive activities is sannyasa. With respect to our devotional life, what we can focus on is simple living and high thinking, according to our situation. This principle has to be applied intelligently. For example, we have Krishna Chandra Prabhu (aka Hrishikesh Mafatlal) who is a big industrialist. For him, what simplicity means will differ from what simplicity means to someone working in a simple job for a small company. If Krishna Chandra Prabhu starts living in a small one BHK or two BHK apartment because he has become a devotee, that is not only going to become difficult for him, but it can significantly impede services that he may be capable of doing.

Therefore, what does vairagya mean practically? Sometimes devotees may think they do not need a big house for themselves and that they will live simply. However, if there is a desire to preach to the elite class of people, then those people may not come to a small house for a program. They may want to come to a program which is conducted in an opulent environment. For example, if ISKCON’s restaurant Govinda’s at Juhu was constructed as a small restaurant, it will not attract the kind of people that it is attracting today.

The point is that, there can be simplicity at different levels. What is simplicity for a person from one particular financial background may be different from what simplicity is, for another person from a different financial background. Therefore, we should […]

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Is spirituality the only way to overcome bad habits?
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Answer Podcast

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/audio/CCD%20QA/2019%20QA/08-19%20QA/Is%20spirituality%20the%20only%20way%20to%20overcome%20bad%20habits.mp3

 

Transcription :

Transcription by: Suresh Gupta

Question: Is spirituality the only way to overcome bad habits?

Answer: Definitely there are people who are non-devotees and who have given up bad habits. Basically, the mind is like a programable device. It is running a particular program and we need to re-program it. It depends on what new program we try to put in. Some people may give up drinking but replace it with smoking. If they smoke they may replace it with drinking. They might reprogram their minds into thinking that smoking is not as dangerous as drinking or vice versa. Ultimately this does not really get them out of bad habits, it is just replacing one bad habit with another.

Similarly, somebody might replace a bad habit with a good one. However, some people succeed, and some people fail. Along with the impetus that makes them pick a bad habit, it is also due to the strength of impressions. For example, if somebody is a social drinker then all that they need to do to give up their bad habits is change their social circle. Just by hanging out with more sober people, their drinking will go away. Such people are not so much interested in drinking but are more interested in the sense of belonging and acceptance.

Other than that, somebody might be drinking so that they may get some break from life’s worries. Even if such people change their social circle, they might not give up their drinking because their need is different. Maybe when such people start doing something else that gives them a break (for example, hearing music, gardening etc) then they might give up drinking. Therefore, in terms of specific extreme expressions of anarthas, by certain practices which may not be necessarily devotional, people can give up those habits. However, in terms of complete anartha nivritti, that is difficult because in the conditioned stage, anarthas are what are seen as a source of pleasure. One may think, if I give them up then what will I do with my life?

However, should we complement our practice of bhakti with something else? It depends on what we are doing. Many devotees, in their chanting, when their mind is just wandering too much, they stop for some time and take a few deep breaths. What happens by this, the deep breathing itself just calms the mind down. Taking deep breaths and breathing slowly for some time can help calm the mind and then one can chant. However, if somebody says, “Okay, actually breathing calms my mind and chanting does not. Then instead of chanting, I will just do slow breathing for two hours”, then this will be a wrong understanding.

There are two things – pacification of the mind and purification of the mind. Deep breathing will basically just pacify the mind. It is not really removing the anarthas, it is just distancing us from them for a particular time. This is more like a pain killer and not a […]

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How can we differentiate between a dharmika and a fanatic?
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From Anuj P

Answer Podcast

 

Transcription :

Transcriber: Suresh Gupta
Edited by: Raji Nachiappan

Question: How can we differentiate between a dharmic and a fanatic?

Answer: The difference is in the attitude towards other people who do not share one’s faith. The difference is also in one’s own internalisation, realisation of the principles one is teaching as well as in the alignment of one’s belief with actual truth. These points are elaborated below.

Firstly, the word fanatic is used for a person who is intolerant. Those who consider their way as the only way and those who endeavour to destroy other forms of worship considering them to be false can be termed as fanatical.

Several religions, including some of the most influential religions in the world today, are exclusivist. They believe that their way is the only way to God. When they ideologically believe that their way is the only way, then from exclusivism to go towards fanaticism is quite easy and quick. All the Abrahamic religions like Christianity, Islam and Judaism, in their mainstream denominations, are exclusivist in nature. Not all of them are fanatical, but they do tend to become fanatical over a period of time. In the Indian history, we find that when the Portuguese came to Goa, they annihilated, tortured and destroyed thousands of Hindu practitioners because they considered all the Hindu beliefs to be fake. The way Muslims desecrated temples in India is another example from history. If the belief is, that our way is the only way and all other ways are false, then it does not require much stretch of effort for it to become fanatical. Since, Islam and Christianity are the world’s biggest religions today and because both have exclusivist ideologies, that is why religion in general has been equated with fanaticism. The moment somebody is strictly adherent, that person is termed as a fanatic. We are not saying that all people who belong to the above-mentioned religions are fanatics. Since their main stream belief system is exclusivist which more often than not lead to fanaticism.

When we look at the Vedic culture, the Vedic belief system is not exclusivist. That is the most fundamental and defining difference. The Vedic system does not say that this is the only way. If we look at the Bhagavatam, it says that whichever path teaches one to develop love of God, that is the supreme dharma. In the Vedic culture itself, we see that there are many gods worshiped and many methods of worship. There is flexibility of both sadhya and sadhana. Flexibility of sadhya means people can choose their object of worship. It can be Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan or they can choose different devatas to worship. Similarly, there is flexibility of sadhana which means people can choose their method of worship. It can be karma yoga, dhyana yoga, bhakti yoga, karma kanda etc. In the Vedic culture, Srila Prabhupada for example, accepts Jesus as a guru because he had love of God. Therefore, the ideology of the Vedic […]

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How should we approach texts like Gopal Champu and Anand Vrindavan Champu – are authentic translations available?
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Answer Podcast
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The po…