4 minute read
Preface
t the time my book Ve£u-g¦t§ came out, many ISKCON leaders held a conservative view on the subject of hear-A ing K¥¢£a’s pastimes with the gop¦s. I was therefore apprehensive about the reception they were likely to give my book. But readers and critics alike — with few exceptions — supported its content and style. Encouraged, I went on to write Na P§raye ’Ham and K¥¢£a-sa¯gati. As the next book, Tava Kath§m¥tam, neared completion, however, I could not help but think of those who had voiced concern. Furthermore, some readers, after seeing my cautionary statements in previous introductions, expressed doubt about their own qualification to read these books. So I decided to put Tava Kath§m¥tam on hold and write a separate book as an introduction to the entire K¥¢£a in V¥nd§vana series. This introduction would establish the level of K¥¢£a consciousness required to read the books in this series, or any book that depicts the mellows of conjugal love.
As I began my research and continued to inquire from devotees, I found something beyond sporadic concern about my books. From the Vai¢£ava community I heard of a greater concern about the indiscriminate proliferation of devotional literature. This concern spoke not of ®r¦la Prabhup§da’s books, the lawbooks and lifeblood of ISKCON, books he wanted devotees to study “scrutinizingly” and to distribute profusely. It spoke of the works of Vai¢£avas, living or deceased, well-known or obscure, Gau¨¦ya or
Advertisement
23
¼uddha-bhakti-cint§ma£i
non-Gau¨¦ya, qualified or not. It spoke of the travesty that, properly translated or not, virtually any devotional book—up to ®r¦ G¦ta-govinda,1 the most confidential of Vai¢£ava literary gems—is now readily available in the cloth markets of V¥nd§vana.
The scope of my ideas about this introductory book then expanded and I felt obliged to address broader issues: Which books are to be read and at what stages of a devotee’s spiritual development? Are there books that devotees should shun altogether, and if so, why? As I contemplated these broader issues, an even deeper concern came to mind: Is ®r¦la Prabhup§da’s presentation of the Gau¨¦ya Vai¢£ava path to perfection—a path that certainly includes hearing K¥¢£a’s V¥nd§vana pastimes— being challenged?
Differences of opinion about which scriptures are suitable for various approaches to devotional service stem not just from dichotomies between conservatives and liberals of the same institution. There are different schools of thought in the Vedic tradition, with the potential for diverse philosophical and theological conclusions (siddh§ntas). Within the Vai¢£ava community, various schools form separate disciplic successions called samprad§yas, each of which justifies its conclusions with scriptural evidence guided mainly by its own previous §c§ryas. There are also schools that advocate theologies and methods opposed to Vai¢£ava orthodoxy. Vai¢£ava §c§ryas call such schools deviant (apasamprad§ya) and reject their philosophies and ways because they are impotent to yield love for K¥¢£a.2 Our §c§ryas have been vigilant to correct misunderstandings and immature literary expressions troublesome to pure Vai¢£avism. ®r¦ Caitanya Mah§prabhu descended with His eternal associates to bless the world with the treasure of pure devotional service, the kind that follows K¥¢£a’s eternal associates in Goloka V¥nd§vana. He also brought the sublime means to attain this treasure, the
1 Jayadeva Gosv§m¦’s most famous work about K¥¢£a’s intimate pastimes with ®r¦mat¦ R§dh§r§£¦. 2 ®r¦la Prabhup§da lists thirteen of these deviant groups in ®r¦ Caitanya-carit§m¥ta, Ýdi-l¦l§ 7.48.
24
Preface
chanting of the Lord’s holy names (n§ma-sa¯k¦rtana). Unfortunately, pseudo Vai¢£avas would distort the teachings of Lord Gaur§¯ga even in His presence, and completely cover them after His departure. To revive those teachings, empowered §c§ryas have preached extensively throughout India and have written many books on the science of pure devotion. Viªvan§tha Cakravart¦ çh§kura and Baladeva Vidy§bh¡¢a£a were two such §c§ryas of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and çh§kura Bhaktivinoda and Bhaktisiddh§nta Sarasvat¦ çh§kura followed them at the close of the nineteenth and dawn of the twentieth centuries. ®r¦la Prabhup§da inherited çh§kura Bhaktivinoda’s legacy from his guru mah§r§ja, Bhaktisiddh§nta Sarasvat¦ çh§kura, and blessed ISKCON with Lord Caitanya’s pristine teachings. ®r¦la Prabhup§da then instructed the world in his books, lectures, and correspondence about the spiritual practices that lead to the perfectional stage of vraja-bhakti. He writes: “So our desire is Krishna and we want to go back home, back to Godhead, where Krishna lives eternally. So you simply follow my instructions as I have given to you and surely your life will be a success.”3
But the indiscriminate proliferation of devotional literature, and the indiscriminate and usually innocent reading of such literature, blurs the distinctions between bona fide and pseudo schools of thought. Consequently, many ISKCON members feel alarmed, fearing that ®r¦la Prabhup§da’s teachings as well as his position as the Society’s founder-§c§rya are at risk.
To give these serious concerns the attention they deserve, I felt compelled to expand the scope of this work even further. The book thus speaks of levels of faith and how they qualify devotees for various types of devotional service, mixed and pure. It analyses pure devotional service in practice as taught by ®r¦la Prabhup§da, a process that centres on the chanting and broadcasting of the Hare K¥¢£a mantra. It describes the development of hearing about K¥¢£a through successive stages of devotional practice (s§dhana), and at last elaborates on the role played by hearing and chanting — especially about K¥¢£a’s pastimes in V¥nd§vana—at the stage of
3 Letter to N¥hari, Bombay, 22 November, 1974.
25
¼uddha-bhakti-cint§ma£i
perfection (s§dhya), the goal ®r¦la Prabhup§da relentlessly inspired us to attain.
The book you are holding, ®uddha-bhakti-cint§ma£i, is thus much more than it was at its inception: It is a systematic overview of s§dhana and s§dhya—applied to ISKCON—that automatically clarifies the purpose of the K¥¢£a in V¥nd§vana series. May it fulfil its goals, glorify our pure heritage, and bring pleasure to the Vai¢£avas.
®ivar§ma Swami Gaura-p¡r£im§, 14 March 2006 The opening of Gaura-Nit§i’s temple, Budapest
26
