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Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Mission:

One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 11:

Upon seeing Vyāsa so dejected, Nārada explained the deficiency in his compilation of various books: "Even pure knowledge does not look well unless it is complemented by transcendental devotional service. And what to speak of fruitive activities when they are devoid of devotional service? How can they be of any benefit to their performer?"

Similarly, Śukadeva Gosvāmī prays in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.4.17): "There are many sages who are expert in performing austerities, there are many men who give much in charity, there are many famous men, scholars and thinkers, and there are those who are very expert in reciting Vedic hymns. Although all the activities of these men are auspicious, unless one performs them in order to attain devotional service to the Lord, they cannot award the desired results. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, the only one who can award such results."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 17:

Following in the footsteps of Kavirāja Kṛṣṇadāsa Gosvāmī, we offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya.

Lord Caitanya is described as follows: He is the only shelter for the forlorn, the most fallen, and He is the only hope for those who are completely devoid of spiritual knowledge. Let us try to discuss His great contribution of devotional service.

The supremely powerful Lord Kṛṣṇa becomes manifest in five different features. Although He is one without a second, in order to serve five specific spiritual purposes, He becomes manifest in five ways. Such diversity is eternal and blissful, in contrast to the conception of monotonous oneness. From the Vedic literature we can understand that the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, eternally exists with His diverse energies. Lord Caitanya appeared with full diverse energies, and they are five in number; therefore Lord Caitanya is said to be Kṛṣṇa with diverse energies.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 18:

His purpose was to demonstrate to modern society that fools who have no history of penance and austerity should not try to study the Vedānta just for some recreational purpose. In His Śikṣāṣṭaka, Lord Caitanya said that one should be in a humble state of mind, should think himself lower than the grass on the street, should be more tolerant than a tree, and should be devoid of all sense of prestige and ready to offer all kinds of respects to others. In such a state of mind, one can chant the Vedānta philosophy or the holy name of God constantly. The Lord also wanted to teach that a serious student of transcendental science should exactly follow the words of his spiritual master. According to the calculations of His spiritual master, Lord Caitanya appeared to be a fool; therefore he said that He should not indulge in the study of the Vedānta but should continue chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Lord Caitanya strictly obeyed this order. In other words, Lord Caitanya impressed on the Māyāvādīs that the words of a bona fide spiritual master must be strictly followed. One who does so becomes perfect in all respects.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 21:

“The individual personality of the Supreme Absolute Truth is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.9.3–4): "O Supreme Lord, the transcendental form which I am seeing is the embodiment of transcendental pleasure. It is eternal and devoid of the contamination of the material modes. It is the greatest manifestation of the Absolute Truth, and it is full of effulgence. O soul of everyone, You are the creator of this cosmic manifestation, with all its material elements. I surrender unto You in Your transcendental form, O Kṛṣṇa! O most auspicious one in the universe! You advent Yourself in Your original personal form in order to be worshiped by us, and we perceive You either by meditation or by direct worship. Foolish people contaminated by the material nature do not give much importance to Your transcendental form, and consequently they glide down to hell." “This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.11):

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 23:

In his commentary on the Bhāgavatam Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura specifically deals with original and pure sex psychology (ādi-rasa), devoid of all mundane inebriety. The entire material world turns due to the basic principle of sex life. In modern human civilization, sex is the central point of all activities; indeed, wherever we turn our face we see sex life prominent. Thus sex life is not unreal, but its true reality is experienced in the spiritual world. Material sex is but a perverted reflection of the original; the original is found in the Absolute Truth. This validates the fact that the Absolute Truth is personal, for the Absolute Truth cannot be impersonal and have a sense of pure sex life. The impersonal, monist philosophy has given an indirect impetus to abominable mundane sex because it overly stresses the impersonality of the ultimate truth.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 23:

Such transcendentalists are a hundred percent nonenvious and are therefore pure in heart. Because everyone in the material world is envious, there is competition. But the transcendentalists, or devotees of the Lord, are not only free from all material envy but are also kind to everyone in an attempt to establish a competitionless society with God in the center. The socialist's idea of a society devoid of competition is artificial because even in the socialist states there is competition for the post of dictator.

It is a fact, therefore, that sense gratification is the central principle of materialistic life, whether based on the Vedas or simply on common human activities. There are three divisions of the Vedas. The first division (the karma-kāṇḍa) recommends fruitive activities by which people can advance to higher planets. Above this is the upāsanā-kāṇḍa, which recommends worship of the various demigods for the purpose of attaining their planets. Finally there is the jñāna-kāṇḍa, which recommends activities that enable one to reach the Absolute Truth and realize His impersonal feature in order to become one with Him. But the impersonal aspect of the Absolute Truth is not the last word. Above the impersonal feature is the Paramātmā, or Supersoul, and above that is the personal aspect of the Absolute Truth.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

Everything generated from the body or the mind is always imperfect and perishable, but transcendental spiritual activities are always bright and wonderful. Pure love on the transcendental platform is the paragon of purity because it is devoid of material affection and is completely spiritual. Affection for matter is perishable, as indicated by the inebriety of sex in the material world. But there is no such inebriety in the spiritual world. Hindrances on the path of sense satisfaction cause material distress, but one cannot compare that with the spiritual distress of separation from Kṛṣṇa. In such spiritual separation there is neither inebriety nor ineffectiveness, as one finds with material separation.

Lord Caitanya said that this is the highest position of transcendental loving reciprocation, and He told Rāmānanda Rāya, “By your grace only have I been able to understand such a high transcendental position.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 32:

Rāmānanda Rāya replied that separation from a pure devotee is the most painful experience. In other words, when there is no devotee of the Lord present, there is great suffering in society, and association with other people becomes painful. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.30.6–7) it is stated that if one who is bereft of the association of a pure devotee tries to become happy through society, friendship and love devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is to be considered in the most distressed condition. In the Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta (1.5.54) it is stated that the association of a pure devotee is more desirable than life itself and that in separation from him one cannot pass even a second happily.

Lord Caitanya then asked Rāmānanda Rāya, "Out of many so-called liberated souls, who is actually liberated?" Rāmānanda replied that one who is completely saturated with devotional love for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa is to be considered the best of all liberated persons.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 42:

These are some of the common symptoms in the stage of vyabhicārī ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.

When there are dealings between Kṛṣṇa and His friends which are completely devoid of any feelings of respect and they all treat one another on an equal level, such ecstatic love in friendship is called sthāyī. When one is situated in this confidential friendly relationship with Kṛṣṇa, one shows symptoms of love such as attraction, affection, affinity and attachment. An example of sthāyī was exhibited when Arjuna told Akrūra, "My dear son of Gāndinī, please ask Kṛṣṇa when I shall be able to embrace Him in my arms."

When there is full knowledge of Kṛṣṇa's superiority and yet in dealings with Him on friendly terms respectfulness is completely absent, that stage is called affection. There is one brilliant example of this affection.

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 2, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anuvṛtti commentary that too much endeavor to acquire knowledge on the part of mental speculators or dry philosophers falls within the category of atyāhāra (collecting more than needed). According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the endeavor of philosophical speculators to write volumes of books on dry philosophy devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is entirely futile. The work of karmīs who write volumes of books on economic development also falls within the category of atyāhāra. Similarly, those who have no desire for Kṛṣṇa consciousness and who are simply interested in possessing more and more material things—either in the shape of scientific knowledge or monetary gain—are all included under the control of atyāhāra.

Karmīs labor to accumulate more and more money for future generations only because they do not know their future position. Interested only in getting more and more money for their sons and grandsons, such foolish persons do not even know what their position is going to be in the next life.

Nectar of Instruction 3, Purport:

"Uttamā bhakti, or unalloyed devotion unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, involves the rendering of devotional service in a way that is favorable to the Lord. This devotional service should be free from any extraneous motive and devoid of fruitive karma, impersonal jñāna and all other selfish desires."

Bhakti is a sort of cultivation. As soon as we say "cultivation," we must refer to activity. Cultivation of spirituality does not mean sitting down idly for meditation, as some pseudo-yogīs teach. Such idle meditation may be good for those who have no information of devotional service, and for this reason it is sometimes recommended as a way to check distracting materialistic activities. Meditation means stopping all nonsensical activities, at least for the time being. Devotional service, however, not only puts an end to all nonsensical mundane activities, but also engages one in meaningful devotional activities.

Nectar of Instruction 5, Translation:

One should mentally honor the devotee who chants the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, one should offer humble obeisances to the devotee who has undergone spiritual initiation (dīkṣā) and is engaged in worshiping the Deity, and one should associate with and faithfully serve that pure devotee who is advanced in undeviated devotional service and whose heart is completely devoid of the propensity to criticize others.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

The gross materialists, however, do not believe in the anti-material worlds of the Personality of Godhead. They are therefore unfortunate creatures, although sometimes very talented, educated and advanced otherwise. They are bewildered by the influence of the material manifestation and are devoid of knowledge of things anti-material. It is a good sign, therefore, that the materialistic scientists are gradually progressing toward the region of the anti-material world. It may even be possible for them to make sufficient progress to be able to know the details of this anti-material world, where the Personality of Godhead resides as the predominating figure and where the living entities live with Him and serve Him. The living entities who serve the Godhead are equal in quality to Him, but at the same time they are predominated as servitors. In the anti-material world there is no difference between the predominated and the predominator—the relationship is in perfection and without tinge of materialism.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 10:

A poor man often does not wish to inflict injuries upon other bodies because he can understand more readily that when he himself is injured he feels pain. Therefore, the great sage Nārada considered that because the demigods Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva were so infatuated by false prestige, they should be put into a condition of life devoid of opulence.

A person who has a pinprick in his body does not wish others to be pricked by pins; a considerate man in the life of poverty does not wish others to be also put into that condition. Generally it is seen that one who has risen from a poverty-stricken life and becomes wealthy creates some charitable institution at the end of his life so that other poverty-stricken men might be benefited. In short, a compassionate poor man may consider others' pains and pleasures with empathy. A poor man is seldom puffed up with false pride, and he may be freed from all kinds of infatuation. He may remain satisfied by whatever he gets for his maintenance by the grace of the Lord.

Krsna Book 38:

Upon touching the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he became overwhelmed with transcendental bliss; his voice choked up, and he could not speak. Due to his transcendental pleasure, incessant torrents of tears fell from his eyes. He remained stunned in ecstasy, as if devoid of all powers to see and speak. Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is very kind to His devotees, raised Akrūra with His hand and embraced him. It appeared that Lord Kṛṣṇa was very much pleased with Akrūra. Balarāma also embraced Akrūra. Then the two Lords took him by the hand and brought him to Their sitting room, where They offered him a very nice sitting place and water for washing his feet. They also worshiped him with a suitable presentation of honey mixed with other ingredients. When Akrūra was thus comfortably seated, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma offered Him a cow in charity and then brought very palatable dishes, and Akrūra accepted them. When Akrūra finished eating, Balarāma gave him betel nut and spices, as well as pulp of sandalwood, just to make him more pleased and comfortable.

Krsna Book 63:

All material actions and reactions take place in the impersonal Brahman, but in the personal Brahman, the eternal form of Kṛṣṇa, there is no action and reaction.

The Śiva-jvara continued: “Therefore, my Lord, Your body is completely peaceful, completely blissful and devoid of material contamination. In the material body there are actions and reactions of the three modes of material nature. The time factor is the most important element, above all others, because the material manifestation is effected by the agitation of time. Thus natural phenomena come into existence, and as soon as phenomena appear, fruitive activities are visible. As the result of these fruitive activities, a living entity takes his form. He acquires a particular nature packed up in a subtle body and gross body formed by the life air, the ego, the ten sense organs, the mind and the five gross elements. These then create the type of body which later becomes the root cause of various other bodies, which are acquired one after another by means of the transmigration of the soul.

Krsna Book 74:

Śiśupāla continued: "Kṛṣṇa does not belong to a high family. He is so independent that no one knows His principles of religious life. Indeed, it appears that He is outside the jurisdiction of all religious principles. He always acts independently, not caring for the Vedic injunctions and regulative principles. Therefore He is devoid of all good qualities." Śiśupāla indirectly praised Kṛṣṇa by saying that He is not within the jurisdiction of Vedic injunctions. This is true because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That He has "no good qualities" (guṇaiḥ hīnaḥ) means that Kṛṣṇa has no material qualities, and because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He acts independently, not caring for conventions in social or religious principles.

Śiśupāla continued: "Under these circumstances, how can He be fit to accept the first worship in the sacrifice? Kṛṣṇa is so foolish that He has left Mathurā, which is inhabited by highly elevated persons following the Vedic culture, and has taken shelter in the ocean, where there is not even talk of the Vedas. Instead of living openly, He has constructed a fort within the water and is living in a place where there is no discussion of Vedic knowledge. And whenever He comes out of the fort, He simply harasses the citizens like a dacoit, thief or rogue."

Krsna Book 87:

So that every living entity can take advantage of the association of Kṛṣṇa conscious persons, such great devotees open temples and āśramas where Kṛṣṇa's devotees assemble. By such association, people can develop more and more in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Such advancement is not possible in ordinary household life, which is devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

The personified Vedas continued: “Dear Lord, there are two classes of transcendentalists, the impersonalists and the personalists. The opinion of the impersonalists is that this material manifestation is false and that only the Absolute Truth is factual. The view of the personalists, however, is that the material world, although very temporary, is nevertheless not false but factual. Such transcendentalists have different arguments to establish the validity of their philosophies. Factually, the material world is simultaneously both truth and untruth. It is truth because everything is an expansion of the Supreme Absolute Truth, and it is untruth because the existence of the material world is temporary: it is created, and it is annihilated.

Krsna Book 90:

The impersonalists would not dare believe that in the spiritual world there are such varieties of enjoyment, but in order to demonstrate the factual, ever-blissful enjoyment in the spiritual world, Lord Kṛṣṇa descended to this planet and showed that the spiritual world is not devoid of such pleasurable facilities of life. The only difference is that in the spiritual world such facilities are eternal, never-ending occurrences, whereas in the material world they are simply impermanent perverted reflections. When Lord Kṛṣṇa was engaged in such enjoyment, the Gandharvas and professional musicians would glorify Him with melodious musical concerts, accompanied by kettledrums, mṛdaṅgas and other drums, along with stringed instruments and brass bugles, and the whole atmosphere would change into a greatly festive celebration. In a festive mood, the wives of the Lord would sometimes sprinkle water on the His body with a syringelike instrument, and the Lord would similarly wet the bodies of the queens.

Krsna Book 90:

In the Vedic literature there are twenty kinds of religious principles mentioned, and each of them is described in different śāstras. But Lord Kṛṣṇa is so kind to the fallen, conditioned souls of this age that He personally appeared and asked everyone to give up all kinds of religious rites and simply surrender unto Him. It is said that this Age of Kali is three-fourths devoid of religious principles. Hardly one fourth of the principles of religion are still observed in this age. But by the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, not only has this void of Kali-yuga been completely filled, but the religious process has been made so easy that simply by rendering transcendental loving service unto Lord Kṛṣṇa by chanting His holy names, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, one can achieve the highest result of religion, namely, being transferred to the highest planet within the spiritual world, Goloka Vṛndāvana. Considering all this, one can immediately appreciate the benefit of Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance on the earth and understand that His giving relief to the people of the world by His appearance was not at all extraordinary.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.4:

One who is extremely degraded and sinful cannot find the accurate path to realization by studying the Vedas. It is a waste of time even to explain the meaning of the Vedas to such persons, who are devoid of proper up-bringing and discipline. Lord Caitanya has indeed showered His mercy upon these Kali-yuga people. So there is no doubt that those who are unable even to receive this mercy from Lord Caitanya are forever bereft of saving grace. As for those fortunate souls who, after realizing the greatness of Lord Caitanya's mercy, have accepted it—they have escaped the punishments of māyā, or "the dispensation of providence." But for those who have agreed to come under the influence of the cycle of karmic reactions and are being pummeled about by māyā, the Supreme Lord has arranged the process of karma-yoga, or fruitive activities with the aim of sacrifice to the Supreme Lord.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.2:

The above-mentioned eight ingredients make up the material nature, or the Supreme Lord's external potency. These material ingredients—earth, water, fire, air, and so on—are devoid of any free will, and so they are known as the Lord's inferior energy. By contrast, the potency that activates the inferior energy is known as the Lord's superior energy, or spiritual potency. On principle the energy cannot be the enjoyer; nor can one energy enjoy another energy. Energy is the enjoyed, and the energetic is the enjoyer.

The living entities are a product of the Lord's superior, spiritual energy, and so they are superior to earth, water, fire, and so on, which are always devoid of volition. But that does not mean the living entities are on the same platform as the Supreme Lord, who is the absolute controlling principle. It is easy to discern the superiority of spirit over inert matter.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.7:

These planets are transitory—merely theatrical stages upon which the soul enacts his mundane existence. But when the living entity is elevated to spiritual perfection and is situated in his pure, eternal identity, devoid of all mundane designations, he attains the natural habitat of the spirit soul, the supramundane realm transcending this material creation and the intermediary zone of the unmanifested Brahman effulgence.

The material body, made up of material ingredients such as earth, water, fire, and air, is mortal. Similarly, because this material universe is an amalgam of earth, water, fire, air, etc., it is also transitory. But the spirit soul (which, incidently, has never been duplicated in the laboratory despite repeated efforts) is imperishable, as is its natural, eternal home—the kingdom of God. The process that takes the eternal soul to his eternal home is called sanātana-dharma, or "the eternal religion."

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.9:

Any other process will bring upon us the fate described by Prahlāda Mahārāja in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.18.12): harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ.

... a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own material speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?

The only way to cure this mental disease is to wholeheartedly follow Lord Caitanya's instruction to chant the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. This will cleanse the heart of all impurities. Until this esoteric truth is propagated widely, the world will remain deprived of the panacea that cures all mental diseases.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.10:

They are not assailed by materialistic desires, because everything they do is for the Lord's pleasure. Hence they alone are truly peaceful.

The devotee himself arranges for all expenditures incurred in executing devotional service. To an ordinary eye, earning and spending money in this way may look like sense enjoyment. But when the devotee is devoid of all material desires, the Supreme Lord feels great satisfaction in fulfilling all his needs. Though the obedient son may never express his wants to his father, the loving father spontaneously tries to make his son happy and derives joy from doing so. Therefore the Lord's devotees never lack anything, even materially, and at the end of this life, after leaving the body, they are situated in eternal bliss. This is the transcendental wealth a devotee inherits. Others—the fruitive workers, empiric philosophers, demigod-worshippers, and mystic yogīs—cannot attain eternal bliss.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.11:

And He duly receives these offerings by His causeless mercy.

However, at this juncture we must avoid committing a mistake. Our present discussion does not include the materialistic caste brāhmaṇas' offering of oblations or fruitive work to Lord Nārāyaṇa. Because such offerings are not devoid of lust, there is no love or devotion in them. We have earlier established that the main criterion for a proper offering to the Lord is that it be done with love and devotion, for the satisfaction of His senses. Hence we must understand that only those things or services offered solely for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord are actually accepted by Him.

Exerting oneself to satisfy one's own hunger is kāma-karma, fruitive activity, but to tirelessly toil to feed the Supreme Lord with delicacies is niṣkāma-karma, transcendental work aimed at pleasing Him. Pleasing the Lord should be the sole purpose of commerce and trade, and also of research, science, charity, austerity, and all other activities.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.2:

On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?

It is futile to make an external show of good qualities like humility and nonviolence while disrespecting the Lord's lotus feet and denouncing the process of devotional service. Such so-called good qualities may be of some material value, but ultimately they are useless and temporary.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.

To achieve such a state of surrender, one has to be free from selfish desires, unaffected by dualities, and devoid of all false prestige. Dualities are born of false ego, the worst enemy of surrender. One who transcends false ego, and with it the effects of duality, is very easily freed from material desires, and then he vanquishes hate, greed, anger, fear, and so on. In the stage of full surrender to the Lord, even negative qualities like mundane desire and envy, along with dualities like hunger and thirst, heat and cold, joy and sorrow, loss and gain, sin and piety, and honor and dishonor, are converted into spiritual energy by being brought into contact with the Supreme Lord. Saintly, blissful personalities who are devoid of undesirable characteristics like lust and envy are found especially in India.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

Often people do not understand the transcendental message of this verse. Although they are forced to act by the influence of the three modes, they make an artificial show of humility, pretending to be weak, lowly, and penniless beggars. This sort of cheating mood is most undesirable. Realizing the truth of the Vedic statement ahaṁ brahmāsmi ("I am Brahman") is one meaning of humility. The essence of this teaching is to understand that matter and spirit are diametrically opposed.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead Introduction:

The Absolute Truth regulates man as well as the world, and knowing Him, the transcendentalist regulates his activities on the right path. This regulating process is commonly known as a system of faith or religion. All over the civilized world we find some process or form of religion—when man is devoid of any such religion or of transcendental traits, he is nothing but a beast. This subject matter, which the religionists delineate according to different countries, times, and people, is more or less aimed at the objective of the Absolute Truth.

The Absolute Truth is one without a second, but He is viewed from different angles of vision by different religionists or transcendentalists under different circumstances. Some transcendentalists view the Absolute Truth as an impersonal force, generally known as the formless Brahman, while others view Him as the all-pervading localized aspect, dwelling within all living entities and generally known as Paramātmā or the Supersoul.

Message of Godhead Introduction:

The general tendency is to avoid transcendental subject matters as far as possible or, in any case, not to go into the details. Even the biggest political leaders have been heard to say that the hungry man or woman finds no meaning in God and religion. People in general, under the leadership of such materialistic men, are gradually descending to the status of lower animals, devoid of all transcendental realization, knowing nothing beyond their material bodies and the material world.

Thus, the human race has descended to the qualitative status of the dogs, who are habituated to barking as soon as they come upon another set of dogs who happen to hail from another quarter. We cannot conceive of a greater degradation of the human being than when he is apt to raise a hue and cry as soon as he sees another human being who does not happen to belong to his quarter or his religious denomination. He raises this hue and cry as if he had been faced with a tiger or a wolf. Without transcendental knowledge, the human race has actually become no more than the tigers and the wolves.

Message of Godhead 1:

A void will be felt with the progress of all such benevolent activities. In fact, the followers will be put into more and more distressed conditions by following the path chalked out by this kind of so-called leader. If a blind man pretends to help another blind man cross a road, then both the blind leader and the blind follower shall fall into the further darkness of some unseen ditch. Everyone who is devoid of transcendental knowledge is just like a blind man; such a blind man must first eradicate his blindness before he can attempt to lead others to light.

Everyone who happens to take his birth in India is a potential benefactor of others, because it is on Indian soil alone that the culture of transcendental knowledge has been most elaborately presented, from ancient times to the present. The saints and sages of Bhārata-varṣa, as India has long been known, never tried to cultivate or satisfy artificially the needs of the body and the mind exclusively; they always cultured the transcendental spirit soul, which is above the material body and mind. And even now, the saints and sages continue to do so, in spite of all difficulties.

Message of Godhead 2:

We can see such signs in the method of preaching espoused by Gandhijī. Although he chants the name of Rāma, he is not aware of the transcendental science of the name. He is a worshiper of the impersonal Godhead. That is to say, his Godhead or Viṣṇu is devoid of transcendental activities. His Godhead cannot eat, cannot see, and cannot hear; for impersonality means being without any of these sensory activities. When the empiric philosopher tries to approach the Absolute Truth, he can reach only as far as the impersonal feature of Godhead, without knowing anything about the Lord's transcendental pastimes. When the Absolute Truth is not credited with having any transcendental senses or sensory activities, certainly He is supposed impotent. An impotent Godhead, of course, cannot hear the prayers of His devotees, nor can He ameliorate the distress of the universe.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 20, Purport:

There is no doubt that the Vedas stand as the most recognized books of knowledge, from every angle of vision. But over the course of time the Vedic path has been attacked by philosophers like Cārvāka, Buddha, Arhat, Kapila, Patañjali, Śaṅkara, Vaikāraṇa, Jaimini, the Nyāyakas, the Vaiśeṣikas, the Saguṇists, the empiricists, the Pāśupata Śaivas, the Saguṇa Śaivas, the Brāhmas, the Aryas, and many others (the list of non-Vedic speculators grows daily, without restriction). The path of the Vedas does not accord with any principle devoid of an eternal relation with God, attainment of His devotional service, and culmination in transcendental love for Him.

Light of the Bhagavata 30, Purport:

We should not be disappointed in our muddy life of material existence, for as soon as we voluntarily take to the devotional service of the Lord our whole life becomes clear, like water in autumn. Devoid of our relationship with God our life is barren, but as soon as the muddy mind is cleared by spiritual association or cultivation of the human spirit the threefold miseries of material life are at once cleared off. Thus the lotus of knowledge gradually fructifies, and this gradual process of development ushers in transcendental bliss.

The whole spiritual process is technically called yoga, or linking with the Supreme. It is something like a long staircase, and the upward steps are variously designated as regulated work, transcendental knowledge, mystic powers, and ultimately bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Bhakti-yoga is pure and unalloyed, being entirely beyond all the preliminary steps.

Light of the Bhagavata 48, Purport:

They discharge religious duties for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, and not for personal sense enjoyment. The signs of such exceptional devotees of the Lord are that they are unattached to material enjoyment, contented, pure in heart, attached to devotional service, free from affection for temporary things, and devoid of false ego. According to Vedic injunctions, such great personalities ultimately attain the place where the Supreme Personality of Godhead predominates and where there is no death, no birth, no old age, and no disease. On the way to these spiritual planets, such personalities pass through the sun line called arcir-mārga. And on the way they can see all the planets between here and the spiritual world.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 3, Purport:

If even a fallen candidate is given a chance to take birth in a respectable and noble family, one can hardly imagine the status of one who has achieved success. By simply attempting to realize God, one is guaranteed birth in a wealthy or aristocratic family. But those who do not even make an attempt, who want to be covered by illusion, who are too materialistic and too attached to material enjoyment, must enter into the darkest regions of hell, as confirmed throughout the Vedic literature. Such materialistic asuras sometimes make a show of religion, but their ultimate aim is material prosperity. The Bhagavad-gītā (16.17-18) rebukes such men by calling them ātma-sambhāvita, meaning that they are considered great only on the strength of deception and are empowered by the votes of the ignorant and by their own material wealth. Such asuras, devoid of self-realization and knowledge of īśāvāsya, the Lord's universal proprietorship, are certain to enter into the darkest regions.

Sri Isopanisad 8, Purport:

As such, He does not require a separate body or mind, as we do in material existence. The Vedic literature clearly states that the Lord's transcendental body is completely different from ours; thus He is sometimes described as formless. This means that He has no form like ours and that He is devoid of a form we can conceive of. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.32) it is further stated that with each and every part of His body He can do the work of the other senses. This means that the Lord can walk with His hands, accept things with His legs, see with His hands and feet, eat with His eyes, etc. In the śruti-mantras it is also said that although the Lord has no hands and legs like ours, He has a different type of hands and legs, by which He can accept all that we offer Him and run faster than anyone. These points are confirmed in this eighth mantra through the use of words like śukram ("omnipotent").

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

He is therefore also called Dīna-bandhu, "the friend of the needy." Unfortunately, at times of need we seek our friends in the mundane world, not knowing that one needy man cannot help another. No mundane man is full in every respect; even a man possessing the greatest riches is himself needy if he is devoid of a relationship with the Lord. Everything is zero without the Lord, who is the digit that transforms zero into ten, two zeros into one hundred, three zeros into one thousand, and so on. Thus a "zero man" cannot become happy without the association of the Lord, the supreme "1."

The supreme "1" always wants to make our zero efforts valuable by His association, just as a loving father always wants an unhappy son to be in a prosperous position. A rebellious son, however, stubbornly refuses the cooperation of the loving father and thus suffers all sorts of miseries.

Page Title:Devoid (Other books)
Compiler:Rishab, RupaManjari, Mayapur
Created:12 of Jan, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=40, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:40