Recently, I was in the Govardhan Eco Village at Wada on the outskirts of Mumbai, where I had been invited by Gauranga Prabhu, to speak on the Bhagavatam at the Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha. I chose to speak on the sixth canto of the Bhagavatam, a topic that I plan to continue during my future visits there, one every month whenever I am in India.
Exploring human nature near divine nature
The whole Ecovillage is in a beautiful rustic setting which is natural and comfortable. While being close to nature, amidst greenery that had become all the more verdant due to the profuse rains – it was natural to think of the other nature that is much closer to us all the time – our human nature. And the narrative of Ajamila that appears in the Bhagavatam’s sixth canto is one of the most evocative explorations of the potentials and pitfalls of human nature. While the story of an upright young man falling to degradation on being exposed to a temptation is sobering, the story’s finale in his being elevated and liberated by the power of the holy name is uplifting.
And that ultimately is the message of supreme hope that bhakti offers us — human nature, despite its many weaknesses, is reformable by the power of God’s grace, a grace that manifests most munificently in the path of bhakti-yoga centered around the chanting of his holy name.
Get hope from the extraordinary, seek shelter in the ordinary
During my classes on the Ajamila pastime at the Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha in Wada, a question that expectedly came up was regarding scriptural proclamations about the glory of the holy name: Are they literal statements that will always be true? Or are they poetic hyperboles?
My understanding is that they reflect literal accounts of what happened in the past — and these extraordinary displays of Krishna’s mercy are meant to inspire our faith in and commitment to the ordinary process of bhakti for acquiring that mercy.
The second chapter of the Bhagavatam’s sixth canto concludes with the declaration that if Ajamila got so much benefit by chanting while referring to his son, how much more will we be benefitted if we chant while referring to the Lord? Vishwanath Chakravarti in his commentary adds three more factors: Ajamila chanted just once, at the time of death and without all that much faith. If we chant daily and chant lifelong and chant faithfully, how much more sure we can be of being benefitted?
That hearers shouldn’t expect the exact event to recur for them is evident from Parikshit Maharaja’s response: After hearing the Ajamila pastime, he didn’t tell Shukadeva Goswami: “No need for me to hear krishna-katha for seven days continuously; I will just chant Narayana when I am about to die.”
During my practice of sadhana-bhakti, we get hope to struggle on through examples of extraordinary mercy such as that bestowed on Ajamila, but we focus on seeking shelter in the ordinary process of bhakti centered on hearing and chanting. And that ordinary-seeming practice will eventually reward the same extraordinary result that Ajamila and other recipients of extraordinary mercy got: elevation, purification and liberation.
Appreciating the perennial learning mood of Radheshyam Prabhu
One of the most astonishing events in India, ISKCON the recent years was Radheshyam Prabhu’s decision to go to the Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha for studying the full course for a full two years. The full magnitude of this registered in me when I was there and the devotees showed me a whole picture book they had prepared of his stay there – his refusing to have a room for himself, his going double-seat on a cycle to reach in time for the classes, his diligently attending all the classes and excelling in all the exams. All these are glimpses of the many extraordinary characteristics of his that have attracted so many people to Krishna through him.
Far better than whatever appreciation that I, as one of his many students, can offer is the appreciation that his spiritual master has offered. I will conclude by quoting that:
“It’s quite extraordinary because he is senior to practically every teacher. He probably educated the people to become devotees, who educated the people who made the teachers. He is like a param-siksa guru to almost everybody in the Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha. He is teaching so many, more than anybody, in the history of India, or ISKCON. He has been systematically training people, who are systematically training people, who are systematically training people and yet, what is it? A two-year course? And yet, he’s just come as a student. Just a humble student. He’s taking notes and he deeply appreciates all of his teachers, many are so junior to him in every single way, but still, he’s really just learning from them, it’s not a just formality. You can go to one or two classes, sometimes but two years! Every day! He’s really learning and appreciating because he doesn’t really see junior or senior. He is just seeing that these people are repeating Srila Prabhupada, so they are repeating our guru-parampara, so they are supremely exalted.
And his being a student, in my own estimation, is one of the great lessons of the Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha. As you are studying, you are seeing somebody, who knows more than the teachers, humbly learning from them. at is Rupanuga. at is following the footsteps of Rupa Goswami. you Radheshyam prabhu! But I almost don’t want to give you your certiate because, after you leave, the college will not be the same… But it will be better actually, it will be one of the great legendary, historical trademarks of the Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha, that he was a student here. ”
HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj
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