Search For Sri Krishna Reality The Beautiful - Chapter Thirteen (Part 1)

Rāmānanda Rāya was a married man, but he was recognized by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu as a master of his senses to the extreme degree. Once a brāhmaṇa priest named Pradyumna Miśra came to Mahāprabhu and told Him, “I would like to hear about Kṛṣṇa from Your lips.” Mahāprabhu said, “I do not know anything about Kṛṣṇa, but Rāmānanda Rāya knows. Go to him and hear about Kṛṣṇa. Take My name, and perhaps he will talk with you.”

Pradyumna Miśra was hesitant, but he went and observed Rāmānanda Rāya for some time and then returned and reported to Mahāprabhu. Mahāprabhu asked him, “Have you heard about Kṛṣṇa from Rāmānanda?” “No.” “Why?” “I saw him engaged in something objectionable. I watched for some time, and then returned here.” “What did you see?” Pradyumna Miśra answered, “I saw Rāmānanda Rāya training some young dancing girls!”

Girls who are generally devoted to the service of the Jagannāth Deity from a young age are known as deva-dāsīs. They do not marry, and sometimes their character is not very good. Pradyumna Miśra saw Rāmānanda Rāya training deva-dāsīs in a very objectionable way. He was showing them how to go before the Jagannāth Deity and dance and sing. He showed them how their posture should be, how they should gesture, and how their looks should be enticing. And for such training he would sometimes even touch their private parts. So Pradyumna Miśra told Mahāprabhu, “Seeing Rāmānanda doing all these things, I had no regard for him, so for some time I saw him busily engaged in that matter, and then I went away.”

Mahāprabhu told him, “Don’t underestimate Rāmānanda Rāya. He is the master of his senses. There is not a tinge of craft in him. Even I feel trouble from sense disturbance within Me, but Rāmānanda has no such trouble. We have no direct experience that a stage can be attained where it is possible to be above mundane sense pleasure, but we have only heard through the Scriptures that there is a stage when a man may transcend all these gross attachments.

“This is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.33.39):

“One who hears with firm faith the supramundane amorous affairs of Lord Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, as described by a pure devotee of the Lord, soon becomes freed from mundane lust and achieves divine love of Kṛṣṇa.

“One may be engaged bodily in such activities, while his heart is elsewhere. And there is only one who is of that type, Rāmānanda Rāya. There are not big numbers of Rāmānandas; there is only one Rāmānanda, who has acquired such a stage because he is well-versed in the kind of sentiment and realization which is necessary for the service of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. His heart is completely dedicated to the cause of Kṛṣṇa; He has no selfish interest. He is always in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, and whatever he does is for Kṛṣṇa’s satisfaction, so don’t think ill of him. Go there again.”

Then Pradyumna Miśra again went to see Rāmānanda Rāya, and Rāmānanda began their conversation by saying, “Oh, on that day I could not oblige you. But again you have come to hear about Kṛṣṇa. How fortunate I am!” In the morning, Rāmānanda Rāya began to speak, and when the afternoon came, still he was madly talking about Kṛṣṇa. He completely forgot about eating, bathing, or anything else. He was mad, incessantly speaking of Kṛṣṇa. Then, when it was late, his servants came twice, thrice, to ask him to take bath and eat his dinner, and finally, he had to leave the talk and go. Then Pradyumna Miśra returned to Mahāprabhu and said, “Yes, I have heard from Rāmānanda Rāya, and my heart is full from hearing about Kṛṣṇa from him.”

Mahāprabhu Himself had heard from Rāmānanda Rāya, and He said, “Rāmānanda knows what is Kṛṣṇa. What I taught to Rūpa and Sanātana, I heard from Rāmānanda.” It is mentioned that Mahāprabhu took dīkṣā, initiation, from Īśvara Purī; for preaching purposes he took sannyāsa, the renounced order, from Keśava Bhāratī; and for entrance into the transcendental Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, He took rāga mārga initiation from Rāmānanda Rāya. Of course, Īśvara Purī, Keśava Bhāratī, and Rāmānanda Rāya never thought of themselves as the Guru of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. But it was seen that Mahāprabhu treated Rāmānanda with some respect. It is mentioned in the Chaitanya-charitāmṛta (Madhya 8.204) that if one wants to enter into the spontaneous devotion of Kṛṣṇa’s Pastimes in Vraja, it is required that he take shelter of a confidential maidservant in conjugal mellow, mādhurya rasa (sakhī vinā ei līlāya anyera nāhi gati). They are masters of that situation. The whole storehouse of this mādhurya līlā is in the hands of those maidservants. Only they can give it to others. In mādhurya rasa, the Guru is seen in the form and spirit of a sakhī, a maidservant of Rādhārāṇī (Guru rūpa sakhī). Rāmānanda Rāya was Viśākhā-sakhī, the right-hand personal attendant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu gives us a hint of the necessity of approaching a confidential associate of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī when He says to Rāmānanda:

“Why do you shrink away from instructing Me? I am learning so much from you. You are well-versed in the affairs of Kṛṣṇa, so you are Guru; therefore I am hearing from you. Whoever is the master of that storehouse of Kṛṣṇa-līlā, and whoever can distribute it–he is Guru; of this, there is no doubt.”

The famous talks between Rāmānanda Rāya and Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu took place on the banks of the Godāvarī river. The name Godāvarī is significant, for it indicates that place where the highest fulfilment of our spiritual senses was given. The fullest engagement of all our senses was announced there on the banks of the Godāvarī: “Your senses are not to be rejected. If you can give up the spirit of exploitation and renunciation, then your senses will have their fulfilment with Kṛṣṇa. Those tendencies bar your approach to Kṛṣṇa. To properly approach Kṛṣṇa, you will have to utilize your senses to the fullest extent.” That was dealt with on the banks of the Godāvarī.

There, in his famous conversations with Rāmānanda Rāya, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu began the approach to pure devotional service in a general and comprehensive way. This is recorded in the Madhya-līlā of Chaitanya-charitāmṛta (8.51-313). He asked Rāmānanda Rāya, prabhu kahe, “paḍa śloka sādhyera nirṇaya”: “What is the ultimate goal of life? I not only want to hear your statements, but also evidence from the Scriptures.”

The answer came from Rāmānanda Rāya: rāya kahe, “sva-dharmācharaṇe viṣṇu-bhakti haya.”(Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya 8.57) “Discharge your own duty, without expecting anything in return.” Sva dharma means varṇāśrama dharma, Vedic social stratification. “You are posted in your present position by your previous karma. According to your present position, you have to discharge your duties on one condition: you must do them without remuneration. If you go on with your duties in varṇāśrama dharma, without any mundane aim, you can achieve viṣṇu-bhakti, devotion to God. This is confirmed in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (3.8.9):

“The only way to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, is to worship Him by properly executing one’s prescribed duties in the social system of varṇa and āśrama.” Here, Rāmānanda Rāya says that viṣṇu-bhakti, adherence to the Lord who is permeating everything, is the object and ultimate destination of our life. This is the Vāsudeva conception: everything is in Him, and He is everywhere. Rāmānanda explained that from our local interests, we must come to embrace the general interest, and that must reach the level of Viṣṇu consciousness: viṣṇu-bhakti. Our submission to Viṣṇu, the internal spirit who is everywhere, is the object of life. We must connect with Him and live accordingly, not a phenomenal life, but a spiritual life pertaining to a deeper, more subtle plane.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, “This is superficial; go deeper.” Of course, it may be thought that actual theistic life begins from here, giving up the special, local purpose, and acting for a universal purpose, as already ordered and programmed in the Vedas and Upaniṣads. But Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, “This is superficial; go deeper.”

Then, Rāmānanda Rāya said, kṛṣṇe karmārpaṇa– sarva-sādhya-sāra (Chaitanya-charitāmṛta, Madhya 8.59): “To offer the results of one’s activities to Kṛṣṇa is the essence of all perfection.” In varṇāśrama dharma, it is the fashion that people are generally engaged in external activities and do not care to give up the fruits of their action. Even if they do, they have no direct consciousness of Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. They worship the goddess Durgā, perform the śrāddhā funeral ceremony and execute so many other religious practices. Indirectly, it is ultimately connected with Viṣṇu. They may or may not know how, but the link is there. That is the general conception of varṇāśrama, but here, Rāmānanda says that it will be better to have direct consciousness that Kṛṣṇa is the authority. All the results of whatever we do within the varṇāśrama social system must be given to Kṛṣṇa. If we perform all our physical, social, national and spiritual activities in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, then we can approach the fulfilment of our goal in life.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said “This is superficial; go deeper.” Then Rāmānanda Rāya revealed new light, quoting the Bhagavad-gītā  (18.66): sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, “Give up all your duties, and just surrender to Me.” We must be particular with the object of life, not the external activities of varṇāśrama. Less importance should be given to the form of our activity; whether I am a king, a brāhmaṇa intellectual, or a worker does not matter. We may think, “I have this sort of duty, I have that sort of duty,” but that does not matter very much. We must have no attachment for that. The king may leave his kingdom and take to a brahmanical life of renunciation and austerity. A śūdra may give up his labor, become a beggar, and chant the name of Kṛṣṇa. A brāhmaṇa may give up his performance of sacrifice and become a mendicant. So, we are to be particular about the aim of life, not the form of our duty. We must exclusively devote ourselves to the cause of the Lord, ignoring our present paraphernalia and duty.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, “This is also superficial; go ahead–deeper.” Then, Rāmānanda Rāya explained jñāna-miśra bhakti, devotional service mixed with knowledge, by quoting from the Bhagavad-gītā (18.54) where Kṛṣṇa says:

One who has come to the stage of identifying himself with spirit above matter has nothing to do with this mundane world. Any loss or gain in this mundane world is of no use to him. He is spirit; his prospect is in the world of soul, and he has nothing to do with this material world, whether it is laudable or blamable. He is already settled in the consciousness that he is soul proper and has nothing to do with matter, so within himself he feels satisfaction. He is ātmārāma: self-content; he neither mourns, nor aspires for anything. If something is lost, does he mourn? No. He thinks, “This is nothing; it is only matter.” And when something is gained, he is not overly cheerful, because it is only matter; it is unnecessary and unimportant. Now true devotional service can begin. His soul can begin living in the spiritual plane, with a pure serving attitude, unmixed with any mundane aspiration. When one attains the spiritual platform, he gets the opportunity to practice a higher type of service.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, “This is also superficial. Such a person is only on the verge of devotional service; he has no substantial touch of devotion. He has not entered the domain of bhakti; he is just waiting in the marginal position, at the door. He may attain bhakti, but he has not yet achieved it. His negative forces are finished, but still, he is just at the door; he has not yet entered. He may enter; he may not enter. From there, if he gets anything, it will be pure, but he is still at the door.

Rāmānanda Rāya then said, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.14.3): “It is a very difficult thing to cross the charm of knowledge.” We think, “I want to understand everything first, and then I shall act.” Calculation and an underlying suspicion is there. Before we act, we want to know everything fully; only then will we risk our capital. The ego, the “I” is very strong, and he wants to have an account of his loss and gain. He thinks, “I am the master. The key is in my hand, I want to test everything, I want to know it all. I know what is good for me.” So, we think ourselves masters, not servants, and from the position of a master we make our inquiry.

But this calculating mentality must be given up if we at all want to enter into the domain of the Lord, where everything is superior to us. No one there will care to come to us with an explanation, thinking that we are their master. They will not reassure us by saying, “Yes, there will be no loss; your gain will be big.” We may think, “I am an independent separate entity, so in my account there must be no loss. I must stand here with my head erect,” but that won’t do. We are to go there as slaves, not masters. That sort of mentality is necessary: we must bow down our heads, not that with our heads erect we will march over everything. But everything there is superior in quality to us.

So, we have to enter into that transcendental land, where even the earth, water, air, and whatever we will find, is made of higher materials than we ourselves are made of. They are all Guru, and we are disciples. They are all masters, and we are servants; we have to enter the land where everything is our master. We will have to submit; that will be our real qualification. What we will be ordered to do, we will have to do. We are not to exercise our brain so much there. The brain has no room there; they are all brainier than we. Our brain is unnecessary there; only our hands are necessary. Menial labor is necessary there. Brain there is enough. We are to enter that land if we like. It is a land of slavery for us. So, we are to hatefully dismiss our brains, and taking only our hearts, we must approach and enter that land.

We should think, “I am as insignificant as a mosquito,” just as Lord Brahmā did when he went to Dwārakā to visit Lord Kṛṣṇa. And it is not only for the time being; not that one will accept a humble attitude, finish his work and then come back. No. We will have to accept such an insignificant position eternally. Of course, we may expect to be educated about Kṛṣṇa Consciousness: how it is good, how it is great, how it is useful to us. We will be allowed paripraśna, honest inquiry. In the transcendental realm, everyone is our friend. They will come to help us, to make us understand that devotional service is beautiful, and that Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is the best form of life. Our aspiration and purity of purpose is to be valued, not our external position. The recruiters from that side will consider our purity of purpose, not so much our present position and capacity.

And although apparently it seems that we are going to be slaves, the result is just the opposite. If you can accept such an attitude of surrender and slavery, then He who can never be conquered, will be conquered. Friends will come and help you; the sādhus will come and make you understand that we should become slaves, that Kṛṣṇa likes His slaves very much. He is the master of slaves, and sometimes He wants to become the slave of His slaves (gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ). This is the key to success, and we can achieve the highest gain through this attitude.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu told Rāmānanda Rāya, “Yes, this is true. The unconquerable is conquered by surrender. We can capture Him. I accept this as the beginning plane of divine love: by giving we can get as much as we risk. As much as we risk to give ourselves, so much we can demand from that unconquerable infinite.” Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, “I accept this as the beginning of śuddha-bhakti, pure devotional service. But go further.”