Such transcendental relationships with the Supreme Lord cannot be manufactured by the mental concoctions of pseudo-devotees. In Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.101) Rūpa Gosvāmī has stated that devotional service that makes no reference to Vedic scriptures or Vedic literatures and that does not follow the principles set forth therein can never be approved. Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja has also remarked that professional spiritual masters, professional Bhāgavatam reciters, professional kīrtana performers and those engaged in self-concocted devotional service cannot be accepted. In India there are various professional communities known as Aula, Vāula, Kartābhajā, Neḍā Daraveśa, Snāi, Atibāḍi, Cūḍādhārī, and Gaurāṅganāgarī. A member of the Ventor Gosvāmī Society, or the caste called gosvāmī, cannot be accepted as a descendant of the six original Gosvāmīs. Nor can so-called devotees who manufacture songs about Lord Caitanya, nor those who are professional priests or paid reciters, be accepted. One who does not follow the principles of pañcarātra, or one who is an impersonalist or addicted to sex life, cannot be compared with those who have dedicated their lives to the service of Kṛṣṇa. A pure devotee who is always engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can sacrifice everything for the service of the Lord. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Lord Caitanya, Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, or a person who is following the principles of householder life, as well as one following the principles of the renounced life in the order of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is a devotee and cannot be compared to professional men.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati on professional devotees
Expressions researched:
"bhaktisiddhanta"
|"professional"
|"professionals"
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Dramatic performances were enacted during the presence of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but the players who took part in such dramas were all pure devotees; no outsiders were allowed. The members of ISKCON should follow this example. Whenever they stage dramatic performances about the lives of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu or Lord Kṛṣṇa, the players must be pure devotees. Professional players and dramatic actors have no sense of devotional service, and therefore although they can perform very artistically, there is no life in such performances. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to refer to such an actor as yātrā-dale nārada, which means "farcical Nārada." Sometimes an actor in a drama plays the part of Nārada Muni, although in his private life he is not at all like Nārada Muni because he is not a devotee. Such actors are not needed in dramatic performances about the lives of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, "Śrī Maṅgala Vaiṣṇava was a resident of the village Ṭiṭakaṇā in the district of Murśidābād. His forefathers were śāktas who worshiped the goddess Kirīṭeśvarī. It is said that Maṅgala Vaiṣṇava, formerly a staunch brahmacārī, left home and later married the daughter of his disciple Prāṇanātha Adhikārī in the village of Mayanāḍāla. The descendants of this family are known as the Ṭhākuras of Kāṅdaḍā, which is a village in the district of Burdwan near Katwa. Scattered descendants of Maṅgala Vaiṣṇava, thirty-six families altogether, still live there. Among the celebrated disciples of Maṅgala Ṭhākura are Prāṇanātha Adhikārī, Puruṣottama Cakravartī of the village of Kāṅdaḍā, and Nṛsiṁha-prasāda Mitra, whose family members are well-known mṛdaṅga players. Sudhākṛṣṇa Mitra and Nikuñjavihārī Mitra are both especially famous mṛdaṅga players. In the family of Puruṣottama Cakravartī there are famous persons like Kuñjavihārī Cakravartī and Rādhāvallabha Cakravartī, who now live in the district of Birbhum. They professionally recite songs from Caitanya-maṅgala. It is said that when Maṅgala Ṭhākura was constructing a road from Bengal to Jagannātha Purī, he found a Deity of Rādhāvallabha while digging a lake. At that time he was living in the locality of Kāṅdaḍā, in the village named Rāṇīpura. The śālagrāma-śilā personally worshiped by Maṅgala Ṭhākura still exists in the village of Kāṅdaḍā. A temple has been constructed there for the worship of Vṛndāvana-candra. Maṅgala Ṭhākura had three sons—Rādhikāprasāda, Gopīramaṇa and Śyāmakiśora. The descendants of these three sons are still living."
CC Madhya-lila
The saṅkīrtana movement can be spread by a person who is especially favored by Lord Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana). Without first obtaining the mercy of the Lord, one cannot spread the holy name of the Lord. One who can spread the Lord’s name is called labdha-caitanya in the words of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī. The labdha-caitanya is one who has actually awakened his original consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The influence of the pure devotees in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is such that it can awaken others to become immediately Kṛṣṇa conscious and engage themselves in the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa. In this way the descendants of pure devotees increase, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu takes much pleasure in seeing the increase of His devotees. The word su-medhasaḥ means "sharply intelligent." When one’s intelligence is sharp, he can increase the interests of common men in loving Caitanya Mahāprabhu and through Him in loving Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Those not interested in understanding Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are simply material in their attempts at professional chanting and dancing for money, despite their supposed artistry. If one does not have full faith in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he cannot properly chant and dance in the saṅkīrtana movement. Artificial chanting and dancing may be due to sentiments or sentimental agitation, but this cannot help one advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
The unwanted creepers have been described by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. He states that if one hears and chants without trying to give up offenses, one becomes materially attached to sense gratification. One may also desire freedom from material bondage like the Māyāvādīs, or one may become attached to the yoga-siddhis and desire wonderful yogic powers. If one is attached to wonderful material activities, one is called siddhi-lobhī, greedy for material perfection. One may also be victimized by diplomatic or crooked behavior, or one may associate with women for illicit sex. One may make a show of devotional service like the prākṛta-sahajiyās, or one may try to support his philosophy by joining some caste or identifying himself with a certain dynasty, claiming a monopoly on spiritual advancement. Thus with the support of family tradition, one may become a pseudo guru, or so-called spiritual master. One may become attached to the four sinful activities—illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating—or one may consider a Vaiṣṇava to belong to a mundane caste or creed. One may think, "This is a Hindu Vaiṣṇava, and this is a European Vaiṣṇava. European Vaiṣṇavas are not allowed to enter the temples." In other words, one may consider Vaiṣṇavas in terms of birth, thinking one a brāhmaṇa Vaiṣṇava, another a śūdra Vaiṣṇava, another a mleccha Vaiṣṇava and so on. One may also try to carry out a professional business by means of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra or reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, or one may try to increase his monetary strength by illegal means. Also, one may become a cheap Vaiṣṇava by trying to chant in a secluded place for material adoration, or one may desire mundane reputation by making compromises with nondevotees concerning one’s philosophy or spiritual life, or one may become a supporter of a hereditary caste system. All these are pitfalls of personal sense gratification. Just to cheat some innocent people, one makes a show of advanced spiritual life and becomes known as a sādhu, mahātmā or religious person. All this means that the so-called devotee has become victimized by all these unwanted creepers and that the real creeper, the bhakti-latā, has been stunted.
One who accepts a viṣayī disciple is not a bona fide spiritual master. Even if he is, his position may be damaged due to association with an unscrupulous viṣayī. If a so-called spiritual master accepts a disciple for his personal benefit or for material gain, the relationship between the spiritual master and the disciple turns into a material affair, and the spiritual master becomes like a smārta-guru. There are many caste gosvāmīs who professionally create some disciples who do not care for them or their instructions. Such spiritual masters are satisfied simply to get some material benefits from their disciples. Such a relationship is condemned by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, who calls such spiritual masters and disciples a society of cheaters and cheated. They are also called bāulas or prākṛta-sahajiyās. Their aim is to make the connection between the spiritual master and the disciple into a very cheap thing. They are not serious in wanting to understand spiritual life.
CC Antya-lila
Becoming a devotee of the Lord to serve material purposes is a great mistake. Many people become showbottle devotees for material profits. Indeed, materialistic persons sometimes take to professional devotional service and keep Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as a means of livelihood. None of this, however, is approved. In the book known as Sapta-śatī, as mentioned by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, one can discover how a person worshiping the goddess Durgā begs her for different varieties of material profit. Such activities are very popular among people in general, but they are the attempts of foolish, blind people (sei jñāna-andha).
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments that there are many materialistic persons who become preachers, gurus, religionists or philosophers only for the sake of maintaining a high standard of living and sense gratification for themselves and their families. Sometimes they adopt the dress of a sannyāsī or preacher. They train some of their family members as lawyers and continually seek help from a high-court to acquire riches on the plea of maintaining temples. Although such persons may call themselves preachers, live in Vṛndāvana or Navadvīpa, and also print many religious books, it is all for the same purpose, namely to earn a living to maintain their wives and children. They may also professionally recite the Bhāgavatam or other scriptures, worship the Deity in the temple and initiate disciples. Making a show of devotional paraphernalia, they may also collect money from the public and use it to cure the disease of some family member or near relative. Sometimes they become bābājīs or collect money on the plea of worshiping the poor, whom they call daridra-nārāyaṇa, or for social and political upliftment. Thus they spread a network of business schemes to collect money for sense gratification by cheating people in general, who have no knowledge of pure devotional service. Such cheaters cannot understand that by offering devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can be elevated to a position of eternal servitude to the Lord, which is even greater than the position of Brahmā and other demigods. Unfortunately, fools have no understanding of the perpetual pleasure of devotional service.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Conversations and Morning Walks
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: In Bengal there was professional guru. They travel from one house to another. Our paternal guru was coming like that.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You had a professional guru also?
Prabhupāda: Hm?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You had a paternal guru?
Prabhupāda: Yes. I was initiated by that professional guru at the age of twelve years. Later on I rejected him.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I wonder if he had any thought that his disciple, Your Divine Grace, would be one day such a devotee all over the world. You always said that's the perfection of a guru, if he has good disciple. So your professional guru had a best disciple.
Prabhupāda: Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī later on, when I was young man, manager in Dr. Bose's laboratory... That my friend, Narend Mullik, he took me. There is direction. For real guru one can give up this professional guru.
| Page Title: | Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati on professional devotees |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika |
| Created: | 10 of Sep, 2009 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=7, OB=1, Lec=0, Con=1, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 9 |