Chapter 5: Associating with Krsna
If one gets something superior, he naturally gives up all inferior things.
We want enjoyment, but impersonalism and voidism have created such an atmosphere that we have
become addicted to material enjoyment.
There must be enjoyment in connection with the Supreme Person (purusah sa parah), whom
we can see face to face.
In the spiritual sky we are able to speak personally with God, play with Him, eat with
Him, etc.
All of this can be attained by bhaktya -- transcendental loving service.
However, this service must be without adulteration, that is to say, we must love God without expecting
material remuneration.
Loving God to become one with Him is also a form of adulteration.
One of the major differences between the spiritual sky and the material sky is that in the spiritual
sky the head or leader of the spiritual planets has no rival.
In all cases, the predominating personality in the spiritual planets is a plenary expansion
of Sri Krsna.
The Supreme Lord and His multifarious manifestations preside over all the Vaikuntha planets.
On earth, for instance, there is rivalry for the position of president or prime minister,
but in the spiritual sky everyone acknowledges the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be supreme.
Those who do not acknowledge Him and attempt to rival Him are placed into the material
universe, which is just like a prison house.
As in any city there is a prison, and the prison forms a very insignificant part of
the whole city, so the material universe is a prison for the conditioned souls.
It forms an insignificant part of the spiritual sky, but it is not outside the spiritual sky,
just as a prison is not outside of the city.
The inhabitants of the Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky are all liberated souls.
In Srimad-Bhagavatam we are informed that their bodily features are exactly like God's.
On some of these planets God is manifested with two arms, and on others He has four.
The inhabitants of these planets, like the Supreme Lord, also manifest two and four arms,
and it is said that one cannot distinguish between them and the Supreme Person.
In the spiritual world there are five kinds of liberation.
Sayujya-mukti is a form of liberation in which one merges into the impersonal existence of
the Supreme Lord, called Brahman.
Another form of liberation is sarupya-mukti, by which one receives features exactly like
God's.
Another is salokya-mukti, by which one can live in the same planet with God.
By sarsti-mukti one can have opulences similar to the Supreme Lord's.
Another type enables one to remain always with God as one of His associates, just like
Arjuna, who is always with Krsna as His friend.
One can have any of these five forms of liberation, but of the five the sayujya-mukti, merging
with the impersonal aspect, is not accepted by Vaisnava devotees.
A Vaisnava wishes to worship God as He is and retain his separate individuality to serve
Him, whereas the Mayavadi impersonal philosopher wishes to lose his individuality and merge
into the existence of the Supreme.
This merging is recommended neither by Sri Krsna in Bhagavad-gita nor by the disciplic
succession of Vaisnava philosophers.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu wrote on this subject in His Siksastaka (4):
na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi
[Cc.
Antya 20.29, Siksastaka 4]
"O almighty Lord!
I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor have I any desire to enjoy beautiful women,
nor do I want any number of followers.
What I want only is that I may have Your causeless devotional service in my life, birth after
birth."
Here Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu refers to "birth after birth."
When there is birth after birth, there is no liberation.
In liberation one either attains the spiritual planets or merges into the existence of the
Supreme -- in either case, there is no question of rebirth into the material world.
But Caitanya Mahaprabhu doesn't care whether He is liberated or not: His only concern is
to be engaged in Krsna consciousness, to serve the Supreme Lord.
The devotee doesn't care where he is, nor does he care whether he is born in the animal
society, human society, demigod society, or whatever -- he only prays to God that he not
forget Him and that he always be able to engage in His transcendental service.
These are symptoms of pure devotion.
Of course a devotee, wherever he is, remains in the spiritual kingdom, even while in this
material body.
But he does not demand anything from God for his own personal elevation or comfort.
Although Sri Krsna indicates that He can be easily reached by one who is devoted to Him,
there is an element of risk involved for the yogis who practice other methods of yoga.
For them, He has given directions in Bhagavad-gita (8.23) regarding the proper time to leave
the gross body.
yatra kale tv anavrttim avrttim caiva yoginah
prayata yanti tam kalam vaksyami bharatarsabha
"O best of the Bharatas, I shall now explain to you the different times at which, passing
away from this world, one does or does not come back."
Here Krsna indicates that if one is able to leave his body at a particular time, he can
become liberated, never to return to the material world.
On the other hand, he indicates that if one dies at another time, he has to return.
There is this element of chance, but there is no question of chance for a devotee always
in Krsna consciousness, for he is guaranteed entrance into the abode of Krsna by dint of
his devotion to the Lord.
agnir jyotir ahah suklah san-masa uttarayanam
tatra prayata gacchanti brahma brahma-vido janah
"Those who know the Supreme Brahman pass away from the world during the influence of the
fiery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment, during the fortnight of the moon and
the six months when the sun travels in the north."
(Bg.
8.24)
The sun spends six months on the northern side of the equator and six months on the
southern side.
In Srimad-Bhagavatam we have information that as the planets are moving, so also the sun
is moving.
If one dies when the sun is situated in the northern hemisphere, he attains liberation.
dhumo ratris tatha krsnah san-masa daksinayanam
tatra candramasam jyotir yogi prapya nivartate
sukla-krsne gati hy ete jagatah sasvate mate
ekaya yaty anavrttim anyayavartate punah
"The mystic who passes away from this world during the smoke, the night, the moonless
fortnight, or in the six months when the sun passes to the south, or who reaches the moon
planet, again comes back.
According to the Vedas, there are two ways of passing from this world -- one in light
and one in darkness.
When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he
returns."
(Bg. 8.25-26)
This is all by chance.
We do not know when we are going to die, and we may die accidentally at any time.
But for one who is a bhakti-yogi, who is established in Krsna consciousness, there is no question
of chance.
He is always sure.
naite srti partha janan yogi muhyati kascana
tasmat sarvesu kalesu yoga-yukto bhavarjuna
"The devotees who know these two paths, O Arjuna, are never bewildered.
Therefore, be always fixed in devotion."
(Bg.
8.27)
It has already been ascertained that at the time of death, if one can think of Krsna,
he is immediately transferred to the abode of Krsna.
anta-kale ca mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam yati nasty atra samsayah
abhyasa-yoga-yuktena cetasa nanya-gamina
paramam purusam divyam yati parthanucintayan
"And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body remembering Me alone, at once attains
My nature.
Of this there is no doubt.
He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in
remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha [Arjuna], is sure to reach Me."
(Bg.
8.5, 8.8)
Such meditation on Krsna may seem very difficult, but it is not.
If one practices Krsna consciousness by chanting the maha-mantra, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna
Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, he will be quickly helped.
Krsna and His name are nondifferent, and Krsna and His transcendental abode are also nondifferent.
By sound vibration we can have Krsna associate with us.
If, for instance, we chant Hare Krsna on the street, we will see that Krsna is going with
us, just as when we look up and see the moon overhead, we perceive that it is also going
with us.
If Krsna's inferior energy may appear to go with us, is it not possible for Krsna Himself
to be with us when we are chanting His names?
He will keep us company, but we have to qualify to be in His company.
If, however, we are always merged in the thought of Krsna, we should rest assured that Krsna
is always with us.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu prays,
namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah
"O my Lord!
Your holy name alone can render all benediction upon the living beings, and therefore You
have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda.
In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies, and there
is no hard and fast rule for chanting these holy names.
O my Lord!
You have so kindly made approach to You easy by Your holy names, but unfortunate as I am,
I have no attraction for them."
(Siksastaka 2)
Merely by chanting we can have all the advantages of personal association with Krsna.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is not only considered to be a realized soul but an incarnation
of Krsna Himself, has pointed out that in this age of Kali, although men have no real
facilities for self-realization, Krsna is so kind that He has given this sabda (sound
incarnation) to be utilized as the yuga-dharma, or way of realization of this age.
No special qualification is necessary for this method; we need not even know Sanskrit.
The vibrations of Hare Krsna are so potent that anyone can immediately begin chanting
them, without any knowledge of Sanskrit whatsoever.
vedesu yajnesu tapahsu caiva danesu yat punya-phalam pradistam
atyeti tat sarvam idam viditva yogi param sthanam upaiti cadyam
"A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived
from studying the Vedas, performing austere sacrifices, giving charity, or pursuing philosophical
and fruitive activities.
At the end he reaches the supreme abode."
(Bg.
8.28)
Here Krsna says that the purpose of all Vedic instructions is to achieve the ultimate goal
of life -- to go back to Godhead.
All scriptures from all countries aim at this goal.
This has also been the message of all religious reformers or acaryas.
In the West, for example, Lord Jesus Christ spread this same message.
Similarly, Lord Buddha and Muhammad.
No one advises us to make our permanent settlement here in this material world.
There may be small differences according to country, time, and circumstance, and according
to scriptural injunction, but the main principle that we are not meant for this material world
but for the spiritual world is accepted by all genuine transcendentalists.
All indications for the satisfaction of our soul's innermost desires point to those worlds
of Krsna beyond birth and death.