Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana

Maharaja

Gaudiya vaisnavism vs. Sahajiyaism

PART 1 - REAL AND UNREAL SIDDHA-DEHA

(ISKCON New Mayapura, France, June

1997)

[The following is a morning lecture given by

Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja in
June, 1997, at the ISKCON New Mayapura
Farm Community in France.He requested
that this lecture be distributed, in order to
check the disease of sahajiyaism in the
world.]

Once, a very little boy of three years,

sitting naked on the lap of his mother, put
his arms around her neck and said with love
and affection, "Mother, Mother, I want a
very beautiful wife. She should be very
golden in complexion, with curly hair and
beautiful eyes. She should not be stronger
than me, otherwise she will be able to
chastise me; and she should also be more
lean and thin than me. Also, I want to have
two sons and one daughter very soon after
our marriage. Quickly Mother, you should
arrange for a very beautiful lady." The boy's
mother began to laugh. "Yes, I will
certainly search everywhere for a good wife
for you, but first you must become fatter
and stronger. Then, when your sikha
becomes long and thick, I will very quickly
arrange your marriage." This story
indicates a phenomena which is spreading
everywhere among so-called devotees
nowadays. They don't want to chant many
rounds, nor do they make an effort to
develop a devotional mood towards
Krishna. They don't want to remember
Krishna, and they don't want to enter into a
deep understanding of siddhanta. They can't
chant all day and all night like Haridasa
Thakura. In fact, they can't even chant one
round of the Hare Krishna mantra with
their minds absorbed in Krishna. They have
many requirements for the body and for
those things which relates to the body-such
as name, fame and fortune. Although they
are full of lust and other worldly desires,
they still expect their siddha-deha to
manifest.

Jumping Into Goloka

Although their minds cannot concentrate on

Krishna's pastimes, they want siddha-deha-
as if it was an Indian rasagulla. If someone
has money he can easily purchase two,
three or four rasagullas. Similarly, these
so-called devotees think that they can
attain their siddha-deha just as easily as
one buys a rasagulla. This philosophical
misconception has very, very dangerous
consequences. Neophytes expect to
immediately jump into Goloka Vrindavana
and serve Krishna better than Srimati
Radhika. They proudly say, "Radhika? Who
is this Radhika? Who is this Lalita? Who is
this Visakha?" However, if a beautiful young
lady or man were to come, practicing his or
her false, so-called devotional life with
similar misconceptions, the two will fall
down together in a moment. There are
thousands and thousands of such so-called
devotees. Although they are not mature in
their bhakti, they artificially think, "I have
now achieved my siddha-deha; I am Lalita
or Visakha, and I am a better sakhi than
Rupa Manjari. Rupa Manjari was not as
qualified as I am." As a result of this
offensive thinking such persons must go to
hell in a very short time-in a day or two.
These people also think, "Oh, the Gaudiya
Math has deviated from the ancient
parampara. The previous acaryas used to
think and act like us. Rupa Gosvami and all
of the other acaryas used to do as we do.
From the beginning stage of their
devotional lives they remembered their
siddha-deha, and in their siddha-deha they
served Krishna." Such speculations are
quite wrong. Our acaryas, headed by the six
Gosvamis, never acted like this. They are
not ordinary persons, but associates of Sri
Sri Radha and Krishna Themselves, who
have descended to this world only to give
their mercy and teachings; and they set the
example for the conditioned souls by
beginning from sraddha in their own lives
and devotional activities.
For Advanced Devotees

In his book Jaiva-dharma Srila Bhaktivinoda

Thakura has described all the principles and
practices of bhakti, up to the attainment of
one's siddha-deha. There he explained
eleven items of perfection (siddha-deha):
siddha-sambandha, siddha-vayasa, siddha-
nama, siddha-rupa, siddha-yutha, siddha-
vesa, ajna, siddha-vasa, seva,
parakashthasvasa and palya-dasi-bhava.

He discussed this, however, in the next to

the last chapter-not in the beginning. One
of the principle personalities in Jaiva-
dharma is Sri Raghunatha dasa Babaji, the
spiritual master of Vijaya-kumara. Sri
Babaji taught these principles to Vijaya-
kumara when his disciple was advanced in
Krishna consciousness and free from all
anarthas and material desires.

Vijaya-kumara had been chanting and

remembering Krishna twenty-four hours a
day on the shore of the ocean at
Jagannatha Puri. In fact the ocean
reminded him of Krishna, the ocean of rasa.
Vijaya-kumara had understood and realized
the meaning of bhava, anubhava, sattvika
and vyabhicari. He also realized in what
proportion they should be mixed with one's
sthayi-bhava (eternal mood of service to
Krishna) to become bhakti-rasa. He had
become truly humble-trinad api sunicena,
taror api sahishnuna, amanina manadena,
and he was on the stage of bhavavasta
(bhava-bhakti). Even Apsaras, celestial
goddesses, like Menaka and others who are
more beautiful than any earthly women,
can not disturb the Krishna consciousness
of a person like Srila Haridasa Thakura.
Yet, even Srila Haridasa Thakura himself
was not engaged in the advanced practices
of devotees in the Gosvami line like Vijaya-
kumara. We have never seen or heard in
any scriptures that he was engaged like
this. Only devotees like Srila Rupa, Srila
Sanatana and Srila Raghunatha dasa
Gosvamis were following all of these
principles, and, following them, our entire
line of disciplic succession has continued in
the same way down to the present day.

A devotee must become mature in bhakti

before he can fully follow our disciplic
acaryas. He must come to the stage of
sraddha, then sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya,
anartha nivritti, nishtha, ruci, and asakti.
At the stage of bhava when there is no
scent of desire for sense gratification,
when he is quite free from all material
thoughts and habits, his siddha-deha will
automatically manifest.

The Eight Stages of Devotional Service

When will siddha-deha come? Srila
Bhaktivinoda Thakura has explained this in
his book Bhajana-rahasya. There he
discusses Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's
Sikshashtakam which expresses the eight
stages of maturity in devotional service. He
writes that first one will have to do
bhajana of... ceto-darpana-marjanam:

ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-
davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-
vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam
purnamritasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-
krishna-sankirtanam

"Let there be supreme victory for the

chanting of the holy name of Sri Krishna
alone, which cleanses the mirror of the
heart and completely extinguishes the
blazing forest fire of material existence.

Sri-krishna-sankirtana diffuses the soothing

moon rays of bhava which causes the white
lotus (kumudini) of good fortune for the
jivas to bloom. The holy name is the life
and soul of transcendental knowledge,
which is here compared to a wife (vadhu).
It continuously expands the ocean of
transcendental bliss, enabling one to taste
complete nectar at every step.

The holy name of Sri Krishna thoroughly

cleanses and cools the self (atma), one's
nature (svabhava), one's determination
(dhriti), as well as the body both internal
and external." This sloka of Sri
Sikshashtakam is actually realized after the
stage of asakti.

The next sloka is namnam akari bahudha

nija-sarva-saktis:

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis

tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrisi tava kripa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrisam ihajani nanuragah

"O Bhagavan! Your holy name bestows all

auspiciousness upon the living entities.
Therefore, for the benefit of the jivas, You
eternally manifest Your innumerable
names, such as Rama, Narayana, Krishna,
Mukunda, Madhava, Govinda, Damodara,
and so on. You have invested those names
with all the potencies of Your various
personal forms. Out of causeless mercy,
You have not imposed any restrictions on
the chanting and remembrance of such
names in regards to any specified time,
such as sandhya-vandana (evening prayer).

In other words, at any time of the day or

night, the holy name can be chanted and
remembered. This is the regulation which
You have established. O Prabhu! This is
Your causeless mercy upon the living
entities. Nonetheless, on account of
committing offenses (nama aparadha), I am
so unfortunate that although Your holy
name is so easily accessible and bestows
all good fortune I have not awoken any
attachment toward it." This sloka
represents the stages of sadhu-sanga and
anartha-nivritti-removal of anarthas by
association with devotees. At present our
chanting of Krishna's name is not pure. It
may sometimes be namabhasa or
namaparadha. Pure nama will appear on our
tongue when we becomes pure ourselves.
At that time the quality of trinad api
sunicena taror api sahishnuna manifests
automatically:

trinad api sunicena

taror api sahishnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih

"Thinking oneself to be even lower and

more worthless than insignificant grass
which has been trampled beneath
everyone's feet, being more tolerant than a
tree, being prideless, and offering respect
to all others according to their respective
positions, one should continuously chant
the holy name of Sri Hari." This sloka
represents nishtha-firm faith, when one's
chanting will not be just for "show". The
next stage is to realize na dhanam na
janamna sundarim:

na dhanamna janamna sundarim

kavitamva jagad-isa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi
O Jagadisa! I do not desire wealth,
followers such as wife, sons, and relatives;
or mundane knowledge described in poetic
language. My only desire, O Pranesvara, is
that in birth after birth I may have
ahaituki-bhakti unto Your lotus feet.
This sloka represents ruci, a taste for
bhajana.

When we properly practice in good

association, everything will develop
automatically. We will then realize the fifth
sloka:

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram

patitammamvishame bhavambudhau
kripaya tava pada-pankaja-
sthita-dhuli-sadrisamvicintaya

"O Nanda-nandana! Please be merciful upon

me, your eternal servant who has fallen in
the dreadful ocean of material existence as
a result of my fruitive actions. Like a
particle of dust affixed to Your louts feet,
kindly accept me forever as your purchased
servant." It is at this stage that one's
siddha-deha begins to manifest. This sloka
represents asakti, or attachment to
Krishna. After the stage of asakti, when
tears flow continuously, one feels purva-
raga, the intense mood of separation
experienced before meeting Krishna. As the
devotee chants he will think, "O Krishna, I
cannot live without You; O Srimati Radhika,
I cannot live without You. When will you
give me your darsana?" Then, when he is
weeping twenty four hours daily, rolling on
the earth, then nayanamgalad-asru-
dharaya:

nayanamgalad-asru-dharaya
vadanamgadgada-ruddhaya gira
pulakair nicitamvapuh kada,
tava nama-grahane bhavishyati

"O Prabhu! When will my eyes be filled with

a stream of tears? When will my voice
choke up? And when will the hairs of my
body stand erect in ecstasy as I chant Your
holy names?" This sloka represents the
stage of bhava-at which time the siddha-
deha manifests automatically. From where
does this siddha-deha come? It is in our
svarupa, our original spiritual form. Our
siddha-deha does not come from anywhere
outside ourselves. In our svarupa
everything is perfect. To realize this, we
simply require a connection with svarupa-
sakti. When that connection is made,
siddha-deha automatically manifests and all
spiritual sentiments of love appear in our
heart.
Krishna Will Manage Everything

Krishna will manage everything; but one

should not become mad and imitate this
stage artificially, otherwise he will find
himself outside this spiritual Gaudiya
Vaisnava line; and then he will be ruined.
One can only pray, "O Krishna! O Gurudeva!
When will I have siddha-deha, siddha-nama?
O Srimati Radhika, when will I be your
maidservant, Your palya-dasi? When will I
reside near Govardhana and Radha-kunda?
When will I attain that position?" An
aspiring devotee must be patient. In the
First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Lord
Narayana appeared to Sri Narada Muni for a
moment, and then He disappeared. Sri
Narada immediately became very upset and
lamented, "Oh, Lord Narayana has gone;
what shall I do?" When he began to weep
loudly, a voice from the sky called to him,
"Don't worry. You will have to wait,
because no one can see Me in his material
body. By My mercy I showed you My
svarupa, but now you must wait. Continue
chanting My names and remembering Me
twenty four hours daily wherever you are,
and preach My hari-katha to others. One
day death will come. At that time you will
put your feet on the head of death and
quickly give up your material body."

prayujyamane mayi tam

suddhambhagavatimtanum
arabdha-karma-nirvano
nyapatat panca-bhautikah
(Bhag. 1.6.28)

["Having been awarded a transcendental

body befitting an associate of the
Personality of Godhead, I quit the body
made of five material elements, and thus
all acquired fruitive results of work
[karma] stopped." (BBT)]

At the time of death, when Sri Narada Muni

left his pancabhautikah (material body), his
siddha-deha appeared and he realized
himself as an associate of Bhagavan. When
did his siddha-deha come? Not in the
beginning. It came at the most advanced
stage of his Krishna consciousness.
It is very helpful to long for the day that
our siddha-deha appears.

However, we should not imagine that we

have our siddha-deha before it has actually
manifested. One can pray, "O Krishna, I
want to be eternally in Vrindavana, in a
transcendental body." We should always
have that as our objective, and we should
hanker to attain service to Radha and
Krishna. But we should not imagine that we
are Lalita, Visakha, or any sakhi. Otherwise
we will be ruined. We cannot expect to
attain our siddha-deha before we
understand all siddhantas. If one does not
know them, then he will say, "This fire (the
activities of artificial siddha-deha) is my
mahaprasada;" he will eat it and he will be
finished. This misconception is called
sahajism, and there is a great difference
between sahajiyas and Gaudiya Vaishnavas.

Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana

Gosvami were not sahajiyas. They were
practically following the correct process of
bhakti. 'Siddha' means that a man must
first become a siddha devotee. How will
siddha-deha manifest when our body is still
material? In our Gosvamis' books,
especially in the books of Srila Rupa
Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha dasa
Gosvami, the bona fide process for
achieving perfection is explicitly given. One
must first pray for this perfection. "O
Krishna! O Gurudeva! When will that day
come when I will realize siddha-deha and
siddha-nama?" One must become mature in
understanding all kinds of siddhanta. He
must first understand Prahlada Maharaja in
the Seventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam,
and then Citraketu Maharaja in the Eighth
Canto. Then he must understand the first
part of Tenth Canto, especially how Krishna
manifested His Damodara-lila, and he must
remember all these pastimes. His devotion
must mature, so that seeing a beautiful
young lady or young man will not disturb
him or her. Then, when he has no worldly
desires at all, and when he is qualified to
be always in Vrindavana and Radha-kunda
under the guidance of a self realized soul, a
tattvajna, rasika bhakta, at that time he
can attain his siddha-deha.

Spreading Like A Plague

There are so many sahajiya babajis-men

and women-in Radha-kunda, Vrindavana,
Kamayavana and many other places in
Vraja. They are devotees in name only.

Coming to Govardhana and Mathura to beg

money in all the shops and other places,
and then spending the entire night counting
how much money they collected, how then
will they have time to chant and remember
Krishna and practice bhakti? They say their
guru gave them siddha-deha, but they do
not even know how to clean themselves
after passing stool. They do not know the
ABC of siddhanta, and yet they imagine
that they have been given siddha-deha.
This is very dangerous. Not only in India,
but all over the world there is a lack of
understanding and good association, and
this has created a very serious disease
which is spreading like a plague among
neophyte devotees. We must try to save
ourselves from this. Nowadays even brand
new devotees are reading Krishna-
karnamrita and saying, "Oh, very good".
They are reading Govinda-lilamrta and
thinking, "The Gaudiya Math does not know
all these things. They cannot taste rasa.
Oh, we are always in rasa." We should not
follow them. Instead of following this very
dangerous path, we should try to pursue
the bona fide process laid down by our
acaryas like Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. At
our present stage we should not buy or
read Govinda-lilamrta and Krishna-
bhavanamrita. We must first engage in
very good sadhana-bhajana and become
mature in bhakti. Until then, we don't
require to read these books any morethan
the three-year-old boy required a young and
beautiful wife. If we follow sincerely,
Krishna will automatically send a realized
soul to help us. He may send Srila
Bhaktivinoda Thakura, or Srila Rupa
Gosvami may come himself. We should
therefore follow only this bona fide
process.

Our aim And Objective

First we must know the aim and objective

of our sadhana, and then we should know
how to begin from sraddha:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha

bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrittih syat tato nishtha
rucis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah
premabhyudancati
 sadhakanam ayampremnah pradurbhave
bhavet kramah

(1) By hearing the sastras, paramarthika

(transcendental suddha-sraddha) appears.
The word sraddha here implies firm belief
in the meaning of the bhakti-sastras such
as Srimad Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad-
Bhagavatam, Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu,
and so forth. (2) Upon the appearance of
such sraddha, one again obtains sadhu-
sanga and, in their company, begins to
receive instructions regarding the methods
for executing bhajana. (3) thereafter, one
takes up the practices of bhajana (bhajana-
kriya) beginning with sri-guru-padasraya,
and so on. (4) By constant engagement in
bhajana, anarthas gradually disappear
(anartha-nivritti). (5) This elimination of
anarthas takes place in successive stages.
As one becomes progressively freed from
anarthas, he attains nishtha and freedom
from all distractions (vikshepa). At that
stage ekagrata (one-pointedness) and
nairantaryamayi (incessant striving) arise
in the pursuit of bhajana. (6) Thereafter,
ruci (taste) or, in other words, an intense
hankering (lalasa) for bhajana develops. (7)
When ruci becomes very deep it is called
asakti. The difference between nishtha and
asakti is that nishtha involves application
of the intelligence, whereas asakti is
spontaneous. In the stage of nishtha, even
if the mind is not attracted, by one's
intelligence one remains devoted to the
performance of bhajana.

However, when one comes to the stage of

asakti, the sadhaka has no more
dependence on any kind of reasoning by the
faculty of the intelligence. At that stage he
is deeply immersed in the performance of
bhajana in a spontaneous manner. (8) After
the stage of asakti, bhava or rati makes its
appearance. (9) At the final stage prema
manifests. This is the order of the stages
leading to the appearance of prema within
the heart of the sadhaka.

(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindu) We must
understand all of these truths, and then
adopt the correct process. At the same
time we should not think that there are no
devotees who are qualified to remember
their siddha-deha. There are certainly pure
devotees in this world, and we should not
try to disturb them by criticizing them.
They will not be disturbed, of course, but
we will be. It will not profit us to try to
drag them down artificially to our level.
There may be thousands and thousands of
devotees who are qualified for this
perfection, and who are acting according to
that perfection at the present moment. Our
aim and objective should be the same as
theirs, but we should not imitate them. We
must be patient, and engage sincerely in
sadhana and bhajana, then we will gain all
spiritual perfections automatically.

Great Relish For Kirtana

Have you heard of nama-gane sada ruci?

This is one of the symptoms of those who
have achieved bhava-bhakti.

nama-gane sada ruci, laya krishna-nama

"Due to having great relish for the holy

name, one is inclined to chant the Hare
Krishna mahamantra constantly. "[Madhya-
lila 23.32] Do you know who is the best
kirtaniya in the entire world-from ancient
times to present day? Do you know who
sings the most powerful and sweet
kirtanas? It is not necessarily the person
who is expert at playing violin, harmonium,
tabla, and vina. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami is
the best kirtaniya; all our acaryas are the
best kirtaniyas, and Srila Bhaktivinoda
Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Gosvami Thakura and Srila Bhaktivedanta
Svami Maharaja are also the best
kirtaniyas. Understand this deeply, and try
to become kirtaniyas like our acaryas. Do
not think that you are unqualified if you do
not know how to play the harmonium or if
your voice is not very flexible for singing
ragas. Even if you have a very raspy voice,
this is not an impediment.

Simply chant with feeling, "He Krishna, He

Krishna." It is the spiritual qualification to
describe the pastimes of Krishna that
makes one the most high-class kirtaniya-
not a very fine voice. A person with a
beautiful voice can fall down at any time,
and in fact he may already be fallen. Those
who perform kirtana thinking, "Are the
people in the audience inspired or not? Are
they pleased with my kirtana?", are not
actually doing kirtana. Kirtana is that
process by which the transcendental sound
of Krishna's name and glories enters the
ears and purifies the heart. This is the
actual meaning of kirtana. If we have to
glorify a person, or if we have to give him
rupees, dollars or francs before he will
sing, then he is not truly a kirtaniya. Money
and reputation cannot touch the real
kirtaniya. We should try to be like that:
melting others hearts, melting our own
hearts, and always weeping for Sri Sri
Radha and Krishna. The hari-katha of such a
kirtaniya touches everyone's hearts, and
anyone who is sincere is bound to follow
him.

vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam

jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prithivim sa sisyat

A wise and self-composed person who can

subdue the impetus to speak, the agitation
of the mind, the onset of anger, the
vehemence of the tongue, the urge of the
belly and the agitation of the genitals can
instruct the entire world. In other words,
all persons may become disciples of such a
self-controlled person. (Sri Upadesamrita 1)
Such a person is guru, and his hari-katha is
the most powerful cure for our original
disease, which is that we have forgotten
Krishna.

PART 2