Stranger

Expressions researched:
"stranger" |"strangers"

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.46.38, Translation:

He has no mother, no father, no wife, children or other relatives. No one is related to Him, and yet no one is a stranger to Him. He has no material body and no birth.

SB 10.49.22, Translation:

In the guise of dear dependents, strangers steal the sinfully acquired wealth of a foolish man, just as the offspring of a fish drink up the water that sustains the fish.

SB 10.87.29, Translation:

O eternally liberated, transcendental Lord, Your material energy causes the various moving and nonmoving species of life to appear by activating their material desires, but only when and if You sport with her by briefly glancing at her. You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, see no one as an intimate friend and no one as a stranger, just as the ethereal sky has no connection with perceptible qualities. In this sense You resemble a void.

CC Antya-lila

"This saffron cloth is unfit for a Vaiṣṇava to wear; therefore I have no use for it. I shall give it to a stranger."

CC Antya 13.61, Translation and Purport:

"This saffron cloth is unfit for a Vaiṣṇava to wear; therefore I have no use for it. I shall give it to a stranger."

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments on this incident as follows: Vaiṣṇavas are all liberated persons, unattached to anything material. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava need not accept the dress of a sannyāsī to prove his exalted position. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the renounced order from a sannyāsī of the Māyāvāda school. Present-day Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs, however, never think that by accepting the dress of the sannyāsa order they have become equal to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In fact, a Vaiṣṇava accepts the sannyāsa order to remain an eternal servant of his spiritual master. He accepts the sannyāsa order knowing that he is unequal to his spiritual master, who is a paramahaṁsa, and he thinks that he is unfit to dress like a paramahaṁsa. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava accepts sannyāsa out of humility, not out of pride.

Sanātana Gosvāmī had adopted the dress of a paramahaṁsa; therefore it was inappropriate for him to wear the saffron cloth on his head. However, a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī does not think himself fit to imitate the dress of a paramahaṁsa Vaiṣṇava. According to the principles set down by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (tṛṇād api su-nīcena), one should always think himself in the lowest stage, not on the level of a paramahaṁsa Vaiṣṇava. Thus a Vaiṣṇava will sometimes accept the sannyāsa order just to keep himself below the level of a paramahaṁsa Vaiṣṇava. This is the instruction of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.

The red lotuses, however, blossom at night and are therefore strangers or enemies to the cakravākas.

CC Antya 18.98, Translation and Purport:

“The blue lotuses are friends of the sun-god, and though they all live together, the blue lotuses plunder the cakravākas. The red lotuses, however, blossom at night and are therefore strangers or enemies to the cakravākas. Yet in Kṛṣṇa's pastimes the red lotuses, which are the hands of the gopīs, protect their cakravāka breasts. This is a metaphor of contradiction.”

Because the blue lotus flower blossoms with the rising of the sun, the sun is the friend of the blue lotus. The cakravāka birds also appear when the sun rises, and therefore the cakravākas and blue lotuses meet. Although the blue lotus is a friend of the sun, in Kṛṣṇa's pastimes it nevertheless plunders their mutual friend the cakravāka. Normally, cakravākas move about whereas lotuses stand still, but herein Kṛṣṇa's hands, which are compared to blue lotuses, attack the breasts of the gopīs, which are compared to cakravākas. This is called a reverse analogy. At night the red lotus blossoms, whereas in sunlight it closes. Therefore the red lotus is an enemy of the sun and is unknown to the sun's friend the cakravāka. The gopīs' breasts, however, are compared to cakravākas and their hands to red lotuses protecting them. This is a wonderful instance of reverse analogy.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

A man's relationship with his sister's husband is based on his relationship with his sister. The brother-in-law, prior to his marriage with the sister, was a complete stranger to the man.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.8:

A man's relationship with his sister's husband is based on his relationship with his sister. The brother-in-law, prior to his marriage with the sister, was a complete stranger to the man. And when their children become the man's nieces and nephews, his relationship with them is also based on his sister. Similar relationships grow up among races and nationalities, centering on the country of birth. Thus we have Indians, Bengalis, Punjabis, Germans, and so on. We also find relationships centering on religious beliefs. Thus there are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and so on. But however much we might endeavor to adapt to such partial personalities of the self, and however we try to increase the number of these fractional identities, we will remain infinitesimal and partial. Being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, if we do not aspire to serve Him, then we forgo our actual identity and fall down into nescience. An appropriate parallel is the functioning of the body: If a limb refuses to execute its usual duty, it becomes useless to the body. Similarly, if our activities are not focused on Lord Kṛṣṇa, they are rendered impotent and valueless. The eternal constitutional position of the self is to serve the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. In fact, all our sufferings start from our refusal to act in our original capacity as Lord Kṛṣṇa's eternal servants. Therefore, the prime duty of all living entities is to become re-instated in their original, consitutional position. The first step toward that goal is to perform karma-yoga. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is stated, "The living entity is bound around the neck by the chain of māyā because he has forgotten that he is eternally a servant of Kṛṣṇa."

A few among these strangers seem rich and prosperous, but the directions they give do not lead to the father's house, and so the living entities' poverty knows no end. The wealthy strangers suggest many paths, such as karma, jñāna, or dhyāna, but the problem of poverty remains unsolved.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.9:

The living entities are like sons of the Lord, and as such they are rightful heirs to the great wealth of their rich father. But because of the reactions to sins committed in previous lives, they are roaming about without a home, suffering acute poverty. That the living entities are suffering is quite clear to all. But they do not know who their wealthy father is or where they can go to reclaim their valuable inheritance. Without proper knowledge, they are trying in vain to escape from their poverty while aimlessly roaming about like poor beggars. They meet many who promise to help them, but in the end such helpers turn out to be beggars themselves. A few among these strangers seem rich and prosperous, but the directions they give do not lead to the father's house, and so the living entities' poverty knows no end. The wealthy strangers suggest many paths, such as karma, jñāna, or dhyāna, but the problem of poverty remains unsolved. The living entities can escape their poverty only by learning and practicing the science of devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the source of all incarnations, explained the science of devotional service to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī at Prayāga (Allahabad). These instructions are the crest jewel of teachings for all humanity.

1969 Correspondence

I can give you a statement of Albert Einstein in which he says "The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is in the sensation of the mystical. It is a shower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, he who can no longer stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead."

Letter to Janardana -- Los Angeles 2 March, 1969:

We should train our disciples as well as ourselves in such a spirit that even if the whole world is against us, which is impossible to happen, the Sankirtana Movement must be pushed on without any reference to archeological evidence or any such scientific advancement of knowledge. Besides that, the argument that archeological evidence will lead many people to accept the philosophy of Lord Caitanya has no evidence. For example, the Christian religion principle is now established in archeological evidence, but still it is not that the whole people of the world are attracted by Christian religion. Even a great scientist, Professor Albert Einstein, was Jewish by religion, but because the Christian religion gives evidential proof of archeological discovery, still he did not become a Christian. No religion or no principle is accepted by the whole world; that is a fact. I can give you a statement of Albert Einstein in which he says "The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is in the sensation of the mystical. It is a shower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, he who can no longer stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power which is revealed in the comprehensible universe forms my idea of God."