“She has fully absorbed her body, mind and life in Lord Jagannatha. Therefore she was unaware that she was putting her foot on My shoulder. Alas! How fortunate this woman is! I pray at her feet that she favor Me with her great eagerness to see Lord Jagannatha.” (Lord Chaitanya, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Antya 14.29-30)

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जगन्नाथे आविष्ट इहार तनु-मन-प्राणे
मोर स्कन्धे पद दियाछे। ताहो नाहि जाने
अहो भाग्यवती एि। वन्दि इहार पाय
इहार प्रसादे ऐछे आर्ति आमार वा हय”

jagannāthe āviṣṭa ihāra tanu-mana-prāṇe
mora skandhe pada diyāche, tāho nāhi jāne
aho bhāgyavatī ei, vandi ihāra pāya
ihāra prasāde aiche ārti āmāra vā haya”

“Listen, I get it. I am well aware of the call to action, of the mission statement of the human birth, put forward in Vedanta. The Sanskrit is athato brahma-jijnasa. This means that it is of upmost urgency to inquire into spiritual matters. The time for enjoying the senses, for prioritizing food and sleep, was in the past. The human birth is for something higher. The entire time should not be spent on producing advance defense systems, in the futile attempt to preserve the life experience artificially beyond the allotment already set by time, which is kāla.

“To that end, the recommendation is for nivritti-marga. This is the path of renunciation. Sort of like withdrawing from the world, at least in terms of interest. I might still go to the office, but I am not so attached to the ups and downs. If they make some ridiculous imposition, like forcing us to sit in a cubicle and log onto virtual meetings with our colleagues scattered across the globe, we try to remain as steady as if we were in a quiet room, like at home. Whether someone is coming or going, whether we are gaining or falling behind, whether we are healthy or ill, we should remain steady, focused on transcendence.

“But isn’t it true that there is some danger in this path? I say that because from my experience, the officially renounced people are often the most egocentric, pompous, arrogant, and self-centered within society. If you wanted to find the biggest prick in the room, look no further than the esteemed guest wearing saffron robes. They come across as proud of how humble their circumstances are. Just look at me, is what they are saying. Just see how I am so much better than you, since I travel in luxury at the expense of my committed disciples, who follow blindly and have no thinking power of their own. I had a legitimate spiritual master, while you peons are relegated to working within the rental guru system. Just how many gurus have you had already? Oh, never mind, I don’t want to know.

“Is such an attitude not a hindrance towards advancement? I get it that we need leaders, to have people visibly in a certain institution of life in order to serve as an ideal example. But I often find that the lowly householders, the eww-dirty karmis, as I refer to them, who are slugging it out in the battlefield of profit and gain, are more humble and down to earth. How do you square the discrepancy?”

It may not appear that way, but society is like the largest organizational unit. Even when not formally following a hierarchy determined by qualities and ideal work, the people within that unit go their own way. Not everyone enters the same occupation. In a business unit, there is the leader. There are subordinates. There are people at the bottom, so to speak, who support the upper tiers. That is the only way for the organization to succeed.

In terms of identifying leaders to guide others along the path of spiritual life, for achieving liberation, which has a corresponding destination described as akshara, there are the four ashramas of Vedic culture. These typically correspond with the amount of time elapsed since birth. The brahmacharis are younger; they are like the students. Grihastha is married life; you have to be an adult to get married and live with someone else. Vanaprastha is like retirement, and sannyasa is complete renunciation. It only makes sense that people would look to the person completely renounced for guidance. Sannyasa is the final stage.

If there was one emotion necessary for staying fixed in material life, as a sort of constant to be found in any and all circumstances, it would be envy. Everyone is envious of others; this is simply the way, due to the lack of the satya-sankalpa property. Only God can make good on all His vows, on all His promises, on all His desires. We are vulnerable to failure, and so if we see someone else succeeding, doing better than us, it only makes sense that we would be a little envious. If one of our good friend should happen to win the lottery, would our relationship remain the same? Would we be on an equal level, when discussing the daily struggles? How can they understand the same struggles as us, if they are in a higher income bracket? These sorts of comparisons are real, and to set them aside as insignificant requires genuine advancement in understanding tattva.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं
प्रवक्ष्याम्य् अनसूयवे
ज्ञानं विज्ञान-सहितं
यज् ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसे ऽशुभात्

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ
pravakṣyāmy anasūyave
jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ
yaj jñātvā mokṣyase ‘śubhāt

“The Supreme Lord said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most secret wisdom, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.” (Bhagavad-gita, 9.1)

Arjuna had the qualification of anasuyave, which means that he was not envious of God. That is why he was eligible to receive the wisdom of Bhagavad-gita, spoken directly by Krishna. If a person has nothing to their name, no home and no bank account, then it is easier to keep envy at bay. At least that is the ideal condition, when the person renounced has good qualities and is not making a show of their position. When they wear saffron robes but have attachments just like anyone else, their position is really no different, other than externally.

It is much easier to get the message of nivritti-marga across when the speaker is not in an enviable position. This is simply human nature; we almost feel bad for the sannyasi. They have no friends. They have no family. They have nothing to fall back on. They essentially beg for a living. They chose this life. No amount of money could change their mind. They are fixed in their vow, dridha-vrata.

The ideal example in this regard is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He had status. He had respect. He was in the sannyasa ashrama and dedicated to it. No one thought He was puffed up or a cheater. One time, a woman accidentally placed her foot on His body. This was in an attempt to get a better view of the deity in the temple. In her eagerness, she violated a law of society at the time. She created a potentially disturbing situation, in bringing down the reputation of a respected holy man.

Mahaprabhu did not take offense. He did not mind. Rather, He praised the woman and her eagerness. He is only interested in lifting others up, after all. If He has to struggle in the process, through some accidental interaction, He will absorb the burden. Mahaprabhu will do anything to rescue the fallen souls in the age of Kali, showering them with Divine grace in the form of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Attempting a better view,
Touching a sannyasi too.

With her foot no less,
But Mahaprabhu to bless.

Because of the eagerness profound,
If only in all sadhakas found.

A sannyasi but with pretension none,
All actions for well-wishing done.

Categories: questions

Tags: chaitanya, dailyprompt, poem, poems, poetry, sannyasa