Journal 'The Harmonist' Edited by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. They are philanthropists — Who think that it is possible to attain devotion for Krishna, which is the end of all spiritual endeavor

(No. 7, Vol. XXV, December 1927)

They are philanthropists — Who think that it is possible to attain devotion for Krishna, which is the end of all spiritual endeavor, and to realize the transcendental Name, Form, Qualities etc. of the Godhead, even when, by reason of ignorance of our relationship with God, we may, with perverse tenacity, cling to wrong conclusions, or be without any conclusions at all. Who think that persistence in offensive taking of the Name leads, by degrees, as a matter of course, to the realization of the Holy Name itself and to love of God. Who profess their readiness to give out to their disciples their particular methods of spiritual realization on receipt of a sum of money, as also such disciple who being still in the state of sinfulness begs of his preceptor for instruction in the principles of spiritual amour understanding the same in the worldly sense of carnality. Who think that it is possible even in the sinful state to take the Name of Krishna, to realize His Form, Qualities etc. and also to serve Him. Who think that by mere persistent listening (even in the state of sinfulness) to the Name, Beauty, Qualities and Deeds of Shri Krishna love for the Holy Name is aroused. Who think that the Holy Name becomes manifest of itself by listening to the account of the Deeds of the Godhead. Who hold that the sentiment of spiritual love (rasa) precedes faith (shradha), or spiritual liking (rati), or that spiritual liking precedes faith. Who think that it is possible in the sinful state to have the sight of the transcendental Form of the Godhead, — to take the transcendental Name, — to listen to the recital of transcendental Activities, — or to understand the five chapters on the rasa (amorous pastimes of Shri Krishna with the gopis) of the Shrimad Bhagabatam or the song of the gopis or Govindalilamrita or Ujjvala Nilamani or Gopalachampu, Muktacharita, Bidagdha Madhaba, Lalita Madhaba, Dankeli Koumudi, Jaydeva’s Gitagovinda, Billvamangal’s Krishna-karnamrita, Chandidas, Bidyapati’s devotional songs, the amorous songs regarding Rai-Kanu, etc., — or, that it is possible to sing in the market-place the Divine amours, — or permissible to unpack one’s special devotional methods at any and every place for pecuniary consideration. Who do not understand that the transcendental Name does not manifest itself on the tongue so long as any interval of offence separates the two, — that the Form, Qualities, Activities and the true Nature of the Godhead do not manifest themselves to the material mind but only the perverted caricature of them shaped by sensual emotions contracted from the poetical or prose works of fiction that delineate our passions for the pleasures of this world. Who pretend to discourse regarding the Divine amours to sentimental persons who have no capacity for grasping those truths, or to the novices on the path of devotion, or to the ineligible. Who dub those who are devoid of all spiritual taste (rati) as devotees fully established in such spiritual inclination due to their natural, innate love of the Godhead, — or, as fully possessed of the sentiment of spiritual love one who is barely in the stage of novitiate on the path of such loving devotion, — or, as spiritually disposed one who possesses sincere convictions of any sort. Who hold that manifestation of the spiritual inclination is possible while there still exists any hankering for material objects, — or that it is possible for one who is not completely freed from such material prepossessions to be an amorous devotee, — or that the very first indications of spiritual amour can make their appearance before even the commencement of the novitiate, — or that spiritual amour is attainable independently of spiritual attachment, — or in one word, that there is no anomaly in placing the cart before the horse. Who argue that, as it is possible to appreciate with our perverted, mind and intelligence dramatic works like the Shakuntala, Raghuvamsa, Sahityadarpan, poetry, rhetoric, etc. etc, it is, therefore, equally possible to understand in the same way such works as Lalita Madhaba, Bidagdha Madhaba, Rasapanchadhyaya, Ujjvala Nilamani etc. Who suppose that harlots plying their trade are fit to utter the Holy Name of Krishna with their mouths, to chant the spiritual songs regarding Rai-Kanu composed by Shri Chandidas and Vidyapati, — and that by listening to those songs from such lips other persons also may attain spiritual inclination and even love for Radha-Krishna after the manner of Billvamangal whose love for Radha-Krishna was aroused by his association with Chintamani. Who think that the quality of Vaishnavism runs in the blood, — that the distinctive qualities of a gosvamin, of Nityananda, of Advaita, of an acharyya (spiritual Teacher), are transmissible through the medium of blood in accordance with the principle of heredity. Who think that a Vaishnava has mundane parents, — who hold the view that the Vaishnava is capable of being included into any mundane caste, society or religion; that is to say, that the Vaishnava is a ‘pashandi Hindu’, — or that the Vaishnava is a member of any such communities as brahman, kshatriya, vaishya, shudra, chandala, yavana, pukkasha, abhira, sumbha, kbasa, etc. Who think that maha-prasad possesses immunity from defilement only at Puri Dhama by reason of the sanctity of the place, — who suppose that vegetarian diet is identical with maha-prasad, — who think that the shalagrama, the stubble of the streets and the touch-stone belong to one and the same class of material objects viz. stone, — who think that the holy Image is capable of defilement by touch, — who imagine that by worship, ping stone. God is worshipped, — or that (under the lead of familiar domestic instincts) by worshipping father and mother, husband and wife, of this world, Lakshmi and Narayan are worshipped, — who think that by serving the poor Narayana is served, — who think that by worshipping any name or form conceived by the mind God is worshipped. Who think that the Holy Name and mantra can be sold for a sum of money, — who think that the transcendental Name, Form, Qualities and Activities of the Godhead are capable of being chanted by the mouth of a paid reader or speaker and that by listening to such reading or preaching any good is secured. Who think that this material body can be dressed up as sakhi (spiritual female companion) or gopi (spiritual milk-maid), or that this sinful body can serve the transcendental sakhis, — who think that it is possible to taste unconventional spiritual amour with the physical body, — who think that the truth of the unconventional amour can be realised with this material mind which is addicted to the pleasures of the senses, — who think that it is possible to worship Gaur independently of Krishna, — who think that Vishnupriya can be worshipped by renouncing Shri Rupa, — who think that by adopting the materialistic interpretations of theosophy or metaphysics it is possible to obtain a moral explanation of the obscene pastimes of Shri Krishna, — who think that the love for Gaur is capable of being combined with ghost-ism, — who suppose that God appears before mortals by being adulterated with mundane qualities, — who think that it is possible to rehabilitate transcendental Gaursundar as the object of our sensuous enjoyment or as an amorous hero pandering to our senses. Who suppose that with this physical body and material mind and empirical mode of thinking, out-look and realization, by simply purchasing a Railway ticket, it is possible to travel to the transcendental Brindaban and Nabadvipa, comfortably seated in a snug, little Railway compartment, and that it is also possible to reside there in tolerable comfort by building a commodious pacca house of stone or brick and mortar, and that to live there in such fashion is to reside in the realm of the spirit. Who think that it is possible with the same identical mind and at one and the same time to serve this world, one's wife and children, harlots, and — God. Who think that by means of the same body, and simultaneously, the bodies of wife, children, harlots — and those of the devotees of God, can be touched. Who think that it is possible at one and the same time to enjoy betel, tobacco, ganja, bhang, wine etc. and to sip the nectar of Krishna-talk, — who declare that they actually enjoy the sweetness of Krishna devotion although they confess to the necessity they are under of indulging in material pleasures, — who imagine that even while wholly absorbed in the Holy Name of Krishna one can not forego the necessity, or propensity, for intoxicants such as tobacco, ganja etc. Who think that it is possible to serve Krishna and at the same time enjoy fish, meat, wife, cards etc., — who think that if only they accept wholeheartedly as spiritual guide a professional guru or even a very great sinner who frequents the tavern, or one who is given to drink, sexuality, domesticity, trade etc. and hold the view that, by merely avoiding: to discuss the defects of such guru, by sheer force of blind faith in him, devotion to Krishna can be gained. Who think that as the quality of the Holy Name or mantra cannot change by the defective nature of the spiritual guide, therefore, although the pseudo-guru imparts as mantra a mere string of certain letters of the alphabet resembling mantra or offers as the Holy Name the offence against the Name, one has every chance of being benefitted by such mantra or offence against the Name. Who dress up this frail, material body to personate Godhead Himself or His Incarnation, — who cause tulasi leaf, consecrated to the service of Krishna, to be offered by disciples at their own fleshy feet that are fit to be devoured by dogs and jackals, — who, abandoning the Holy Name of ‘Hare Krishna’ taught by the shastras and the acharyyas as being the only savior of the Kali Age and the Benefactor of the world, or, doubting the truth of the declaration of the shastras and the devotees to the effect that by the Name of ‘Hare Krishna’ alone all purpose is served, in the hope of earthly fame of becoming recognized as Incarnations announcing a new Dispensation, invent and give currency to new formulas that are opposed to the essence of the shastras and tainted with grotesque sentimentality. Who, in the very act of chewing betel with scarlet lips thumping the khole, for gratifying their senses, indulge in singing the amours of the Divine Pair, and, for the purpose of deluding women-folk, cause their heads with carefully trimmed curls to touch the ground and their elephantine ‘devotional’ trunks, fattened with equal assiduity for sensuous enjoyments, to roll on the bare earth, salivate at the mouth, shed crocodile tears and twist and jerk the body, — and, on the other hand, simultaneously exhibit all the symptoms of the keenest anxiety for such trifles as a rupee a quarter-rupee, a shawl or a loin-cloth, or smoke away at ganja, coax the women, and giving out all this to be the kirtan, bhaba and the eight sattvic perturbations of Mahaprabhu Shri Chaitanya, deceive foolish people. All such people and their aiders and abettors are — philanthropists. In fact all those who rely on their empirical ideas in discussing the transcendental Reality, conduct themselves towards the absolute Reality after the manner of their relation to mundane objects, indulge in hypocritical symptoms of having realised the spiritual Truth although utterly engrossed in the worldly slough, are by their very principles philanthropists. Till one has had the good fortune of having obtained spiritual enlightenment from a spiritual preceptor by betaking himself to his holy feet with the sincere purpose of being freed from materialism, one cannot attain the really natural (i.e. transcendental) function viz. the unalloyed, unremitting, causeless, innate function of the soul in the form of the service of transcendental Shri Krishna.

The author is unknown