Discourse on the Absolute by Bhaktisddhanta

8/13/2019 Discourse on the Absolute by Bhaktisddhanta

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Discourse on the Absolute

by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja

(A conversation with V. Venkanta Subbaya of Ongol.

Shorthanded by Anil Kanta Ganguli, B.A.

On the 5th August, 1935

We require solution for the various problems of our life. But we are liable to be interrupted and troubled b foreig

relations b polemi!al dis!ussions and also to meet different !ontending ideas and thoughts from outside. "o we

require #ivine instru!tion for our purpose. We are assured b the song of the "upreme $ord "ree %rishna,&"arvadharman parita'a (ame)am sharanam vra'a, Aham twam sarva papebhoh mo)sheeshamee na su!hah

i.e. #epend on (e. *ou will not have to repent for su!h submission. Whatever ou have a!quired up to this time,

leave aside and !ome up to (e, + will di!tate to ou what !ourse ou should adopt&. But in !ase we do not feelassured b this and thin)ing we are going to be de!eived b su!h insinuative di!tations of "hree %rishna, tr to

follow some other sour!e of instru!tion, "hree %rishna has alread sung another song to avoid that,

&*ehpanadevata bha)ta 'a'ante shraddhaanvita, tehpi (ameb %auntea 'a'anti abidhipurba)am&. he $ord

sas, &+f ou ta)e the initiative to suggest a !ourse ou are liable to be instru!ted b su!h sour!es whi!h will proveto be ineffe!tive in the long run bea!use + am immanent in the universe and there is no possibilit of avoiding (e

am the sour!e of all e-isten!e. + am full of )nowledge, + am endowed with infinit of bliss&. We !an have no bette

instru!tion from elsewhere, whi!h !an give a more dependable and !omplete idea of the thing. he whole thing, the-a!t entit, !ould not be found if we too) a different !ourse from "hree %rishna as "hree %rishna is the

ountainhead of all energies/ all sorts of energies 0 even the opposite and !onfli!ting energies 0 are stored in im.

e is &A)hilarasamritamurti&. We have heard is song, &*e atha (am prapadante tamstathaiva bha'amaham,(ama bartmanubartante manusha 2arthah sarbashah&. We are a!tuated b the influen!e of rasa. We require

pleasant sensation. But we should see that our parti!ular predile!tion is dire!ted to a definite purpose. "hree

%rishna is the emporium of everthing. +n eeta we have !learl mar)ed the e-a!t situation of the human soul andthe phenomenal e-isten!e of is 2ra)riti. &Bhumiraponalo vau )ham mano buddhireba!ha, aham)ara itiamg (

vinna pra)ritirastadha/ apareamitastvanam pra)ritim biddhi (e param 'ibabhutam mahabaho aedam dharate'agat&. We have seen that there are two pra)ritis 0 para and apara. 4ivas are )nown as para pra)riti but 'ivas, being

infinitessimall small, !an !ome under the !lut!h of apara pra)riti 0 !an be overpowered b the deluding poten!.4ivas !an also disasso!iate themselves from this undesirable situation. ow !an this be We have heard another

song, aivi hesha gunamaee (ama maa durataa, (ameva e prapadante maametam taranti te&. We hav

got the solution as how to get rid of this sha!)le in &(ameva e prapadante&. B the use of the word &mam& wesee the ob'e!t is singular 0 the personalti is fi-ed. he $ord sings, &+ !an set ou free from the !lut!hes of the

present a!tivit of measuring things through the senses. + !an show (self full to ou when there will no

ne!essit of e-er!ising our senses. + have set the engine of the three 6gunas6 for the purpose of entrapping the lessintelligent people. But when the listen to ( di!tation the see that the !an easil manage to get rid of this

trouble b submitting to (e, to (e alone.& here is no other alternative of getting rid of our measuring

temperament. We are now equipped with senses whi!h are in!apable of leading us to the ruth. We are liable to b

deluded b the influen!e of (aa, and (aa is but a trap. +f we want to avoid that trap, we are to submit to imun!onditionall. "o 6prapatti6 is the essential thing whi!h means full submission. We !an e-er!ise our senses but

su!h e-ploitations will not do an good to us in the long run unless we submit to im leaving aside whatever we

have a!quired up to this time. We are simpl to surrender to im. When we simpl depend on im, e will giveus su!h fa!ilities as to enable us to ma)e better progress. We are assured that we need not ta)e the empiri!al !ours

through our senses. hough we have in!lination of a!quiring )nowledge through our senses, our attempts are ofte

frusrated. Our empiri!al a!tivities often fail to ma)e mu!h progress for we see that whatever we have a!quired bour empiri!ism requires more addition or subtra!tion when we pass though the rolling of time. We thin) we have

a!quired a good deal of )nowledge at our thitrtieth ear, but that )nowledge is found to be inadequate as soon as

we rea!h the fourtieth ear. Again if we have to live for then ears more, we will have to revise our )nowledgeagain. +n this wa living for an number of ears will not serve our purpose, it will not ma)e us wise, i.e., all sorts


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of empiri!al )nowledge are quite useless for the purpose of gaining the whole truth. We should, therefore, be

6prapanna6. We should simpl submit, and that submission should be attended with everthing we have a!quired.Whatever we have a!quired must be given up !onsidering that we will be helped b im. But if we have no su!h

!onfiden!e in im, we !annot part with our a!quired things.

We will be ma)ing a sad mista)e if we !on'e!ture that the $ord, in the long run, ma have nothing to !onferr on u

and that b giving up what we have a!quired we will get into trouble. We forget that e is the Absolute, e is theemporium of everthing. We need not be doubtful of is assuran!es that e will never fail us. We have got a free

will whi!h we !an e-er!ise. But we are not e-pe!ted to imagine that we are independent. We are bound to a!!ept

that we are dependants. +f we ma)e a sifting enquir into the phenomenal ob'e!ts, we won6t get anthing whi!h !agive us that sort of relief whi!h the ountainhead of all things 0 that ver 7enter 0 !an give us. "o eeta tells us th

submission to the "upreme Authorit, "ree %rishna, is the onl thing wanted/ and b su!h submission our desired

ends will be full and dul fulfilled. he question is how in spite of the measuring temperament whi!h standsagainst our purpose, that submission is to be effe!ted.

8hus "ambandha or elationship is dealt with. :e-t time we will dis!uss what pro!ess we have to adopt to get ou

end;.

On the


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7hrist. e has forbidden us to ta)e od6s name in vain. hat is true. We should not as) im for anthing 'ust as w

as) our order0suppliers to furnish things for our use. We are simpl to submit. e is the best 4udge to loo) after usWe do not )now how good will !ome to us. We !annot e-amine the merits and demerits of things b our present

a!quisitions. +t is not possible. We should alwas be read to submit to im un!onditionall. All other ideas e-!ep

this are not regarded as bha)ti b true religionists. +n eeta we find three divisions. he first si- !hapters are for)armins, the last si- !hapters for 'nanins, and the intermediate si- !hapters for bha)tas. "o the middle portion is th

prin!ipal thing of the boo). he )arma)anda and 'nana)anda are not the real fa!tors of the boo) 0 are not its

ne!essar paraphernalia. "o bha)ti or devotion to odhead should be the prin!ipal ob'e!t of all religions. Bha)tishould be !onsidered as nita, that is permanent and !onstant. &he "upreme $ord is un!onquerable. Our strenuou

efforts or empiri!al )nowledge !annot give us the fa!ilit of bringing im within our sense per!eptions. he

devotees have no faith in either of these pro!esses, et the !an b their devotion manage to a!!omodate im

within their hearts. We are to throw off all e-ertions for a!quiring )nowledge leaving aside all our e-ploitations o)nowledge. We should not be unmindful of giving up all that are not wanted. We need not pose ourselves as

intelle!tual giants. But we should alwas be energeti! in our devotional purpose. We are not to have an

!onfiden!e in the two sstems of )arma and 'nana, or a!!ept the the results derived b these two methods. Weshould be devotees. Aural re!eption should be suffi!ient for our purpose. We should hear from the lips of the

adepts who are !onstantl bus in offering their servi!es to the Absolute. he have the loving tenden! for the

love of the All0$ove.

he Absolute, the +nfinit, is ever0read to re!eive is servitors and is servitors have no other engagement but tserve im. #evotees do not thin) that the have an other !ourse to be adapted. he need not have an other

engagements. he are alwas engaged in pleasing their (aster. here !annot be an differen!e of interest

between the (aster and is servitor, or when the (aster is wanting one thing the servitor is suppling anotherthing. his !annot be !alled servi!e. Whatever is wanted b the (aster, that should be supplied b the servitor. W

should alwas be read to serve a!!ording to the whims and predile!tions of the (aster. his is devotion. We

should not offer anthing a!!ording to our taste whi!h ma not have is approval. e is the ountainhead of allpoten!. e is the 2redominating Agent and we are the predominating agents. We have no other dut but to attend

to the wishes of the (aster. Our dut should be to serve im as spouse and not as husband. he (aster should no

be the spouse. Westerners are alwas bus to serve their wives. he are, more or less, strainas or naripu'a)as.

he have a rule in their so!iet that no one should have more than one wife. But the "upreme Auto!rat should nobe resti!ted in that wa. "ree am 7handra has been restri!ted to onl one wife, whereas "ree %rishna has got

millions. We need not restri!t im. e is the 2roprietor of everthing and everthing is within is range. We need

not put im under the !lut!h of restri!tion as if e is :ature6s produ!t and nature is not one of is produ!ts. Weshould alwas abide b the rules of !ivi! dis!ipline otherwise some restlessness or disturban!e ma arise in so!iet

We are to remember su!h ma-ims as o to others what others should do unto ou& in the transa!tions with our

friends. Whereas the Absolute has got everthing as 2roprietor and all properties are meant for is servi!e onland not for the servi!e of an other else. "in!e we are dependants, we should be restri!ted in ever wa, but we

need not for this reason tr to restri!t the (aster. We have got some independen!e, but that independen!e should

not be indulged in su!h a wa as to restri!t the (aster. We are allowed some definite things for our purpose,

whereas e has the swa over all. "o we must not thin) im as one of is !reated beings. When the Absolutewants something, we are morall bound to offer our servi!es to im 0 to attend to is needs. +f e thin)s that e

the usband, all should be is wives. he soul should attire her bod a!!ording to the taste of her husband 0 she

should apparel herself in su!h a wa as to please her (aster. We are not to thin) that odhead should be apredominated agent to serve our pupose. We need not lord it over im. We are not allowed to do so. We are

in!apable of doing so. Being infinitessimall small, we have not the power to have im as dependent. We ought

not to thin) that e should be our parent and serve us, as we find our parents doing from the beginning of our liveWe should serve and worship Bala %rishna 0 7hild %rishna as is parents. &"rutimapare "mritimitare

Bharatamane bha'antu bhababheeta ahamiha :andam bande asalinde 2aram0Brahma&. &+ need not go through

the ?edas, + need not read the #harmashastras and (ahabharata for the amelioration of m troubles. $et personswho are too mu!h afraid of worldl troubles read ?edas and so on. + am not afraid of all these. + do not thin) that

the pessimisti! trend of m mind should engage me in reading these boo)s. hese are lifeless transa!tions. + want

living thing. + see that :anda, as father, has got the privilege of nurturing and forstering 7hild %rishna from the

ver beginning. "o it is better for me that + should have :anda as m pre!eptor instead of all these shastras. he


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7hild %rishna is found to be !rawling on the !orridor of :anda6s house. + am also going to worship im as is

parent6s servitor. herefore, the parent servitor should be m pre!eptor. + should not as) im to be m friend, butinstead, + should befriend im, i.e., + should render m servi!es to im as a friend. + should also li)e to be termed

as is !onfidential friend and not a reverential friend. latterers use to flatter their masters posing themselves as

friends. + should not be is flattering friend. + should li)e to be is !onfidential friend. + won6t hesitate to offerim an food whi!h + have alread tasted before to see whether it is relishing or not. +f + find the food to be ni!e,

then onl shall + pla!e it before the "upreme $ord, whereas, our reverential friend would not allow su!h !ondu!t

whi!h is quite !ontrar to ideas of the reverential worshipers of the $ord. @ven "ree amanu'a followed the rulesof reverential worship. But "ree %rishna 7haitana has told us what we should be is !onfidential friends instead

of posing ourselves as friends in a reverential mood. he reverential mood rather puts a sort of s!reen before us.

"hanta rati is the neutral mood. he Absolute has the right of re!eiving the different servi!es rendered b is

servitors. &*e atha (am prapadante tamstathaib bha'amaham&. he $ord sas e is ever read to re!eiveservi!es from is servitors.

Ordinar people do not understand what religion is. (ost people are in'uring the !ause of servi!e e-!epting the

s!ool of #evotion. 4nanins want to merge in the personalit of odhead. Buddhists thin) that the !an get rid of amiseries b annihilating themselves. enotheists thin) that the will in the long run, rea!h a state where there is n

manifestive or designative feature. #evotees !all su!h people non0devotees, atheists, s!epti!s, et!. here are

)armins or )armabirs who are doing man things. he de!lare that the have got a definite ob'e!t for whi!h the

wor), otherwise the would be !alled franti! or mad people. he are all wage0earners, !ontra!tors and do theirwor) in order to get something in return. Agnosti!s on the other hand do not trouble themselves with su!h things/

the want to lose themselves, the want to !ommit sui!ide. hese people are not devotees. he idea of a devotee i

quite different from the ordinatr idea of men in general. he devotional s!hool is alwas loo)ing after the interesof the Absolute. he do not !lass themselves as )arma)handins or 'nan)handis 0 the do not 'oin these two

parties. he are quite different.

We all should be (athura people. We should have !on!eption of spiritual (athura instead of mundane (athura

whi!h is the pla!e of en'oment of people of a ver low grade. Our saha'ia brothers thin) that the !an have a!!esto (athura b paing the railwa fare. &:amashrestham manumapi "a!hiputramatra swarupam, rupam

tasagra'amurupurim (athurim gostha batim&. +t is b surrendering ourselves to the 2re!eptor6s eet that we !an

have an abode in (athura. Otherwise we !annot get an entran!e into the trans!endental region. We shouldapproa!h the uru who will !onfer on us the eight things i.e., :ame, (antra, et!. he :ama is the rans!endental

"ound and (antras are in!antations. he :ama is identi!al with the :amee. he (antra is required in order to

rea!h that situation in whi!h the :ame !an be properl !hanted. he son of "a!hi is the "upreme $ord imself.#amodar "warup is the head of the audias or the trans!endental servitors of "ree %rishna 7haitana. upa and

"anatana were sent to (athura b "ree %rishna 7haitana to diffuse trans!endental )nowledge there. here are

several 2uris whi!h !an give salvation, and among them (athura is the a!me. osthabati 0 where "ree %rishna is

feeding is !ows. 8he sound &o& has various meanings as 0 )nowledge, senses, the animal !ow, et!.;. he ne-tthing is adha)unda whi!h is a tan) where %rishna got rid of the sin e in!urred b )illing a !ow named

Aristanemi. e )illed Arestotelianism or the rationalisti! pro!ess of reasoning of this imperfe!t world. When

%rishna wanted to 'oin hands with adhi)a, Aristanemi !ame forward to disturb im, be!a!use adhi)a wasthought b man people to be the wife of a mil)man named Abhimanu. his Aristanemi was the in!arnation of

mundane )nowledge, and %rishna )illed him for whi!h a!t he e-piated b ta)ing a dip in the adha)unda. his

)unda is the mental spe!ulation of adha. he eternal land of our abode should be adha)unda. B the border ofadha)unda we should have our groves. here are millions of groves b the ban)s of adha)unda.

his world is a perverted refle!tion of the original whi!h is our real home. +nstead of passing our time here, we

want to go ba!) to our eternal abode. We are now ver bus to have pleasant sensations through our senses from

the phenomenal ob'e!ts. We should ma)e it a point of eradi!ating the root !ause whi!h has brought us to this worlof delusion, apparent pleasures, miseries and troubles. +t is the mind. (ind is the root of all evils and the root of a

pleasure0see)ing in!linations. "o the mind should be )illed first i.e., it should not be allowed to ta)e initiative in

anthing. :ow the mind is !ontrolling our senses and the soul is ling in a dormant !ondition. he soul hasdelegated its power of transa!ting with the e-ternal world to the mind, and the mind has five ministers to help in


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the administration of the phenomenal world. But the mind is not a dutiful agent of the soul. +t alwas tries to in'ur

the interest of the soul. he soul has !ome down here and, while doing so, it has in!orporated two envelopes, onesubtle and the other gross. But the soul is now in a drows !ondition. +t !annot e-a!tl !ompel the mind to loo) to

its interest. At this !risis, the ever0mer!iful $ord "ree %rishna sends his messengers with the rans!endetal "ound

his rans!endental "ound is re!eived though the ears. he rans!endental "ound is meant to regulate the fivesenses whi!h are engaged in a wrong wa to foster the !ause of the mind and to in'ure the !ause of the eternal sou

"o aural re!eption is the first thing we should see) from the Agent, the deputed (essenger from the trans!endenta

plane. he rans!endental "ound is transmitted through the lips of the (essenger in the shape of (antra and in thshape of :ama. he ver :ame or the :omen!lature of the rans!enden!e !an regulate the senses. &o on

!hanting the :ama, !onstantl repeat the rans!endental :omen!lature, and ou will find that energ is being

in'e!ted into ou. But this :ama should !ome to ou from a good sour!e, from a trans!endental sour!e, and not

from an mundane sour!e.& he name should not be !onfused with the other sounds of this world. herans!endental "ound regulates the senses and does not submit to the senses for s!rutin. When the "upreme $or

met "reee upa at Allahabad, e first of all transmitted something into the entit of "ree upa whi!h empowered

him to re!eive the rans!endental "ounds from im, and then e imparted those rans!endental "ounds to "reeupa with all e-planations.

(antra is the :ama in the dative !ase.

he "upreme $ord, being Adho)sha'a, does not allow anbod to see im. But people are impatient to see im

first, and that is a wrong pro!ess.

here !annot be more than one uru. uru is the onl one without a se!ond.

&Adau shraddha tatah sadhusangohatha bha'an)ria, tatah anarthanibrittih sattato nishta ru!histatah&. We should

first of all ma)e a sifting enquir throughout the world to single out the proper person from whom we !an get the

pro!ess for our adoption. We shoul have full relian!e or !onfiden!e 8shradha; in im. e will di!tate to us what

sort of engagement or bha'an we should perform for the welfare of our souls. As a result of this engagement orbha'an)ria, we will be set free from all sorts of troubles and all our a!quisitions and empiri! a!tivities will be

regulated. hat is, all undesirable elements whi!h have !rept into along with our a!tivities will be eliminated. his

is !alled &anarthanibritti&. hen !omes nistha. We should resolve that we will not deviate from our onl ob'e!twhi!h is to serve the Absolute, to be !onstantl atta!hed to im. We should have some sort of predile!tion or taste

for our bha'an)ria, the !ontinuit of whi!h should not be disturbed. When we trans!end 6sadhanbha)ti6, we are

pla!ed in 6bhababha)ti6 region where we will find that 6rati6 is the !ardinal point, the prin!ipal thing. When we werpassing through 6sadhanbha)ti6, 6"hraddha6 was the inde-. ere, in 6bhababha)ti6, 6rati6 is the inde-. ati has five

different aspe!ts, shanta, dasa, sa)ha, batsala and madhur. ati is the medulla oblongata or the substratum

whi!h lies between sadhanbha)ti and bhababha)ti. ati is supplied b four different ingredients )nown as vibhava

anubhav, sattvi)a, and san!hari. ?ibhav in!ludes alambana and udipana. +n alambana we findvishaa and ashraahere is a!tivit of vishaa for ashraa and of ashraa for vishaa. he ?ishaa is one without a se!ond, but

ashraas there are man. %rishna is the onl ?ishaa, and %arshnas are the ashraas. ati is asso!iated with

?ishaa and is developed b the influen!e of uddipana.. When we designate ourselves as ashraas, we have onlone ?ishaa who is alwas loo)ing to !onfer mer! on us, i.e., proper engagement for us, and at the same time we

should have the same aptitude for having the !onne!tion of ?ishaa. Anubhab is regulated bhab, 'ust following

vibhab. hen !omes sattvi)a and san!hari. he former is in number and the latter 33 in number. "attvi)aindi!ated e!stas. he e-tati! or entheasmi! features of sattva are displaed, developed and nutured b the 33

san!ahribhavas. "o rati is asso!iated with the = ingredients vibhav, anubhab, sattvi)a and san!hari. When the are

mi-ed up, we find a palatable drin) rasa. asa is formed b the !omposition of these four ingredients with the ratihen we !ome to prema0bha)ti, where rasa is indi!ator. +n bhaba0bha)ti rati is the !ardinal point. he ?ishaa

and the ashraa both drin) this rasa. We have now !ome to prao'ana tattva. Ashraas taste %rishna0rasa and

%rishna tastes ashraa0rasa.. he development of bhabahbha)ti leads to prema0bha)ti, and in prema0bha)ti we fin

rasa. 2eople need not !onfuse !hit rasa with 'ara rasa. 7hit rasa is tasted in a region where no imperfe!tion !anpossibl rea!h. 4ara rasa, as we find in stories li)e :ala0damaanti et!., should not be !arried to that region. he


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domain of rasa is Bhagabata. he boo) is dedi!ated to rasi)as and bhabu)as and not to anbod else. %rishna0

prema is the onl prao'ana or need. his is the final stage.

here are some people who with their hallu!inative ideas thin) that bhoga should be the final goal, and there are

some perverse people who thin) that taga should be the final destination. But these things are not !ongenial for

our propagator wor)s. We are not to !onfine ourselves to the ideas of bhoga or taga. 2arama dharma is not

temporar religion assso!iated with the retention of temporar things. We must not thin) that parama dharma is othe same line with itaradharma. 2arama dharma or sanatana dharma is meant for our eternal purpose. Our soul

being eternal, this sanatana dharma is to be adopted, but not the pseudo0sanatana dharma advo!ated b the )armin

and 'nanins. "o we should be ver !areful not to a!!ept agnosti!ism or the pantheists. We should also be !arefulnot to a!!ept the en'oing mood of the )arma)andins who are ver bus to have us as suppliers of their gluttonous

desires. "o true devotion should be defined first. +n order to do so, the se!ond shlo)a of the Bhagabat reading

harmah pro''hgita et!.& has !ome to us. 2ro''ita means from whi!h all pretentions have been uprooted. 2ersonswho have alread trans!ended the mundane regions are )nown as sadhus, and the religion of the sadhus is

in!ul!ated in the Bhagabat. (atsarata is the !ombination of the five obsta!les vi., )ama, )rodha, lobha and mada

B indulging in these passions we be!ome matsar i.e. 'ealous. "adhus are free from 'ealous. Bastava Bastu meanpositive entit. We should have a!!ess to the positive entit and not the negative side of the dream representation

of the ob'e!ts. B the reverential stud of the Bhagabat the threeforld tapas 8miseries; vi., adhatmi), adhidaivi)

andadhibhouti), are !ompletel eliminated.

%rishna0prema0rasa should be our desired end. We should be rasi)a bhabu)as and not devoid of rasa.

(!his article was originally "ublished in !he #ar$onist %aga&ine. 't is not edited by Sri Guru Vandana, ece"t fo$inor orthogra"hical changes.

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Discourse on the Absolute by Bhaktisddhanta