(15/15) Kali-Yuga Brahmans

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kalarait (Kolkata), 4 December 2020, part 15
Translated from Bengali

If you go to Ganga Sagar, you can see many naga-sannyasis (naked renunciates) there, but Mahaprabhu said:

মর্কট-বৈরাগ্য না কর লোক দেখাঞা ।
যথাযোগ্য বিষয় ভুঞ্জ' অনাসক্ত হঞা ॥

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

'Do not show your false renunciation to impress people. Use whatever material things you require, but without attachment.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.16.238)

Those naga-sannyasis show, 'I live naked! I am a great sadhu! I have given everything up!' We must not show 'monkey' renunciation (markata-vairagya). If you have been to Vrindavan, you must have seen monkeys there. They always steal your glasses and other things. Before, to get your glasses or moneybag back, you could just give some biscuit to the monkey, but now it does not work anymore. Last time we went for the parikrama, we had to give them Frutti (mango juice)! One time, I asked Gurudev, 'There are so many monkeys in Vrindavan, who were they before?' Gurudev said, 'They were Vrindavan babajis.' They go to Vrindavan to enjoy, to earn money and increase their enjoyment... If you go to Vrindavan, you can see people begging on the street – they collect money during the day and take it home in the evening.

Question: But such people start different sampradayas in Vaishnav society and corrupt it by their practices. Why is it so?

Because there are aul, baul, kartabhaja, neda, daravesa, saki, sahajiya, sakhibheki, smarta, jata-gosani, ativadi, chudadhari, gauranga-nagari. There were these thirteen apa-sampradayas before also, but now there must be thirteen thousand apa-sampradayas.

Question [from the same person]: There are four sampradayas, Sri, Sanaka, Rudra, Brahma, and there are Madhva Acharya, Ramanuja Acharya, Vishnu Swami and Nimbarka Acharya.

Yes, they are the protectors of sampradayas. We belong to Madhva Acharya's sampradaya.

Question [from the same person]: But when ordinary people who are suffering from the three-fold material miseries comes to sadhus to pray for relief from their suffering, what result do they get instead of the liberation that they seek?

They do not get a good result.

Question [from the same person]: Then what about when we go here and there to hear Bhagavatam reciting madhuram madhuram etad mangala-mangalanam?

It is not everywhere that you can get an auspicious result (mangalam). I have told you about it today. It is said in Padma Purana that you will die if you drink milk that has been touched by a snake.

Question [from the same person]: Then we must first know Gita?

Gita's last verse is the main verse.

সর্ব্বধর্ম্মান্ পরিত্যজ্য মামেকং শরণং ব্রজ ।
অহং ত্বাং সর্ব্বপাপেভ্যো মোক্ষয়িষ্যামি মা শুচঃ ॥

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

'Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

'Leave all religions and surrender to Me alone. Forget everything and only surrender to Me.'

Question [from the same person]: But surrender does not mean that there are not rule and regulations, does it?

Yes, there are rules and regulations (viddhi).

Question [from the same person]: But the things that demigods give are actually given by the Lord. Demigods take these things from the Lord and give them to us. But the born brahmans may become offended hearing this. Then they are not real brahmans, are they?

I have written everything about brahmans and Vaishnavs in my book (Guidance 3). There is a book called Gaudiya-kantha-hara. I wrote the gist of what is said in it in Guidance 3.

You can also remember an example from Ramayana. When Vibhisan came to Ravana to break his familial ties and Ravana kicked him, Vibhisan said, 'You must worship Sita, do not harass her. Let her go.' (Actually, Ravan did not kidnap Sita – the Sita he kidnapped was illusory Sita [Maya Sita].) But then you know that Ravan and Kumbhakarna were Jay and Vijay, the gatekeepers from Vaikuntha, so there was no way he would do that. After that talk with Ravan, Vibhisan came to Rama and surrendered to Him, 'Please believe me, I have come to Your side.' Hanuman thought that Vibhisan had come plotting something, but Vibhisan touched Rama's feet and said, 'If I have come with any ill motive, then may I become a Kali-yuga brahman and a father of a hundred sons!' Lakman was surprised, 'Oh! What a strange man! He says he will become a father of a hundred sons and a brahman in Kali-yuga. That means he will get the highest position...' But Rama said, 'Brother, you do not understand. Kali-yuga brahmans are great sinners! And when people have children, they struggle to feed even one son, and if one has a hundred sons, there is no end of misery for them.' So, Kali-yuga brahmans leave genuine religion and behave as sudras. They are lustful, they file many court cases, they have enemies.

I also wrote in my book about brahmans:

Question: What is the difference between a Vaishnav and a brahman?
Answer: A Vaishnav is a devotee of Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and a brahman is a devotee of nirguna Brahman (impersonal aspect of the Lord situated beyond the influence of the material modes of nature). The knower of the impersonal aspect of the Supreme Lord is called a brahman, and the knower of personal aspect of the Lord is called Vaishnav. If a brahman practises Krishna consciousness in realisation of sambandha-jnana, he can become a Vaishnav—by the mercy of Vishnu, he can be saved from the hands of impersonalists and become an 'unadulturated brahman', or a Vaishnav. Sri Jiva Goswami writes in his book Bhakti-sandarbha (177), referring to Sri Vyasadev's Garuda Purana, that one priest performing sacrifices is higher than a thousand ordinary brahmans, one person learned in the Vedas and all the other scriptures is higher than a thousand such priests, a Vaishnav is higher than millions of such learned experts, and just one devotee is higher than thousands of Vaishnavs. All Vaishnavs are brahmans, but brahmanism stands on the lowest steps of the ladder of Vaishnavism. Vaishnavs' qualities are much greater than the qualities of brahmans. Brahman is a servant of Vaishnavs: just as when a man has a lakh of rupees, he also has a thousand rupees, the same is true here too—if someone is a Vaishnav, they are automatically a brahman as well. The qualities of a brahman are included within the qualities of a Vaishnav.

But what are the nowadays, Kali-yuga brahmans like? Before, there was always fire burning in the mouths of brahmans, but now only cigarette smoke comes out of brahmans' mouths. What I wrote (cited above) about brahmans and Vaishnavs is mentioned in Gaudiya-kantha-hara. If you read it, you will find everything. It is also said there that those who killed cows, Vaishnavs and brahmans are born as brahmans in Kali-yuga. If you read Gaudiya-kantha-hara, you will find everything written in it. This book was composed based on 156 scriptures. If you read this book, you can also give class and speak Hari-katha based on it. You will find there Guru-tattva, Vaishnav-tattva, Gaura-tattva, Nityananda-tattva; everything is there.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Demolish Wall of Ego
2) Live in Hari-Katha
3) Do Not Waste Time
4) Waiting—Not Wanting
5) Focus on the Lord
6) Stepping over Liberation
7) Beyond Karma-Misra Bhakti
8) Evading Maya's World
9) Descend of Scriptures
10) Please Come Home!
11) Do Not Live Like Outside People
12) Fruits of faith
13) Pure Sankirtan in Pure Association
14) Covet All, Lose All
15) Kali-Yuga Brahmans