Guidance, Volume 3

Proper Renunciation

For many people the word 'yatharha' may be unfamiliar, but there are two slokas from Sriman Mahaprabhu's teachings that are included into Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu and always attract every reader's attention—one of those slokas presented below contains this word:

anasaktasya visayan yatharham upayunjatah
nirvandhah krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam uchyate

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 1.2.253)

The poetic translation of this sloka is:

asakti-rahita, sambandha-sahita
visaya-samuha sakali madhava

So, the word 'yatharha' means 'yatha-yogya'—appropriate, or proper. Rightful appropriation is called yukta-vairagya, or proper renunciation. In this sense, the word 'appropriation' (bhog) does not mean trying to satisfy your ego and senses. The word 'bhog' is used here only for the sake of explanation, i.e. even though appropriation might resemble enjoyment (bhog), it is not enjoyment or false renunciation—on the contrary, it means accepting the things that are favourable to the service of the Lord and that are necessary for maintaining life. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur quotes in his Manah-siksa:

kanaka, kamini, pratistha-baghini
chhadiyachhe yare, sei ta vaisnava
sei anasakta, sei suddha-bhakta
samsara tathaya paya parabhava
yatha-yogya bhoga, nahi tatha roga
anasakta sei, ki ara kahaba
asakti-rahita, sambandha-sahita
visaya-samuha sakali madhava
se yukta-vairagya, taha ta' saubhagya
tahai jadete harira vaibhava

"Those who give up money, women, and fame the tigress, are the true Vaishnavs—they are detached, they are pure devotees, and they can defeat the entire material world. Those who take only what is necessary have no heart disease and are truly detached. What more can I say? When you are free from material attachment and establish relationship with the Lord, then you will see that everything around you is Lord Madhav Himself. Those who practise such proper renunciation are extremely fortunate—they become an extension of the Lord in this material world."

Dear reader, what Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu expressed in his writing about the true meaning of proper renunciation (yukta-vairagya) and detachment (anasakta) and what Mahaprabhu taught about it is fully presented in this poetry. Many of us swear to have 'detachment', 'proper renunciation', etc., but if we look deep within ourselves—if we sincerely look within our hearts, without cheating ourselves—then we will see and have to say that our detachment or proper renunciation is just big words and a pretext to enjoy as we please. In response to that, we can see a class of religious hypocrites who make a great deal of renunciation. In fact, they exterminate themselves eternally through both deceit and inauspiciousness. Trying to enjoy material things on pretext of detachment and proper renunciation is as hypocritical as the attempts to show a great feat of renunciation feeling repulsed by enjoyment. Pure devotees do not fall into the trap of these two kinds of deceit; therefore, those who know how to save oneself from the grip of these two types of deceit are called pure devotees; in other words, they are the ones who can realise the meaning of Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa Goswami's teachings.

Many people celebrate and preach about the similarities between detachment or proper renunciation and enjoyment of the masses. Rubbing oil on your hands to clean a jackfruit [making so that no dirt sticks to you], butter swimming in water or a lotus leaf always remaining untouched by water, or a professional dancer who impromptu demonstrates her skills in dancing with a pot filled with water on her head—many examples and analogies can be cited of how, internally, enjoyers' community always tries to invent new tricks to preserve their madness after all the oblations have been offered into the fire sacrifice of enjoyment. When sadhus and Vaishnavs give us advice on how to take exclusive shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord, when they extol the sloka "labdhva sudurlabham idam" from Srimad Bhagavatam, when they come to us to teach us about Prahlad Maharaj's advice from the seventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we think, due to our propensity to enjoy, that the nectar of all this advice is like poison and that we must be ready to "rub oil on our hands to clean a jackfruit", i.e. use detachment and proper renunciation as a pretext to counteract our desires. Suppose a man becomes eager to live in the house of his guru and serve the Lord—his father will then use proper renunciation as an excuse: if sadhus advise him to go to the forest, give up all material things, all bad association, and worship the Lord, he will seek a way how to protect (?) himself with the kavacha of detachment and proper renunciation from this advice. In other words, everyone is prone to using, or uses, detachment and proper renunciation as a pretext, but it is very rare, if at all possible, to find real practitioners of proper renuncaition.

Once, Sri Jagannath Misra, relishing the transcendental parental mellow of love of God, saw a dream that his son Nimai had accepted sannyas-ves and was dancing, chanting and crying being overwhelmed by the Name of Krishna. When he saw this dream, he felt much pain and kept praying to Lord Krishna again and again:

"he govinda, nimani rahuka mora ghare
sabe ei bara, krsna, magi tora thani
grhastha haiya ghare rahuka nimani"

"O Lord Govinda, let Nimai stay at home. O Krishna, this is the only benediction that I ask of You. Let Nimai stay at home as a householder."

(Chaitanya-bhagavatam, 1. 8.93–94)

The prayers of parental devotees (Vasudev-Devaki, Dasarath-Kausalya, or Jagannath-Sri Sachi Devi) to Krishna, Sri Ramachandra or Lord Sri Gaurasundar—such as "let Nimani stay at home!"—seem to show their extreme attachment, but it is not the same as the material attachment experienced by the jiva souls of this material world, which is a vile and distorted reflection. The delusion, attachment, desire felt by the pure soul towards the transcendental Supreme Lord is prema (divine love), devotion, anuraga (loving attachment), it is the deepest, profound service. When one has a beautiful relation with Lord Krishna, there is no dirt, no filth in it. That is why it is said,

asakti-rahita, sambandha-sahita
visaya-samuha sakali madhava

It means that when there is no material attachment, but everything is in connection with Krishna, then everything becomes Madhava, Krishna—there is not any place left for maya (illusion).

False renunciates, i.e. those whose are devastated by the destruction of faith in the material world, who feel dissatisfied and extremely annoyed and angry towards anything material, advise others about detachment (this is the doctrine of the so-called 'tyagi-' or 'mayavadi-sapradayas'). They advise to be detached, but in fact they merely propagate absence of feelings, which does come from the same place (detachment) but is merely transgressive imitation. Giving up material attachment without becoming attached to Lord Krishna is a eunuch conception—it is incapable of producing any good result.

Mayavadis say that you must give up attachment to material things and if they say you can accept some material things, there is no positive thinking in that—they promote negation of feeling, which is only a prohibition, i.e. there is no search for spiritual reality because, according to them, the reality is impersonal and devoid of variegatedness. If material things do not become 'Krishna'—if there is nothing favourable to the service of Krishna, and if Krishna is not transcendental, that is eternal, if Krishna's Name, qualities, form, pastimes and associates are part of the material world and non-eternal—then giving up material attachment exhibiting the show of detachment and lip-deep attachment to Krishna is nothing but hypocrisy. This is not what is called detachment—rather, this is an abuse of detachment or an embodiment of reactionary or concealed material attachment.

Therefore, one must consider what is true detachment and true proper renunciation. Suppose a person exorcises ghosts with the help of mantras or some medicinal herbs, but if the mantras and herbs they use are fake or they themselves become possessed by a ghost, what can be worse than that?

Mayavadis, however, do not like to worry about the benefit of the soul—they only wait for a chance to throw the conditioned souls like us into such a predicament—this is how we become enjoyers and fake renunciates on the pretext of proper renunciation; we think that we strive to learn the proper utility of things, but internally we embrace the whims of our minds. Srila Jagadananda Pandit, Sriman Mahaprabhu's associate, expressed the true meaning of proper renunciation in this way:

"yatha-yogya" ei sabda—dutira marmartha bujhe laha
kapatartha lana yena deharami na ha'

"Understand the two purports of the phrase 'as appropriate' so that you do not accept the false meaning and become a sensualist.

suddha-bhaktira anukula kara angikara
suddha-bhaktira pratikula kara asvikara

"Accept everything favourable to pure devotion, and reject everything unfavourable to pure devotion.

marmartha chhadiya yeba sabda-artha kare
rasera vase deharami kapata-marga dhare

"Those who reject this purport and misinterpret the phrase are sensualists controlled by pleasures; they follow the path of deceit.

bhala khaya, bhala pare, kare bahu dhanarjana
yosit-sange rata hana phire ratra-dina
bhala sayya attalika khonje arvachina

"They eat fancy food, wear fancy clothes, accumulate immense wealth. Attached to the company of women, such fools roam about night and day searching for a mansion with a fancy bed.

deha-yatrara upayogi nitanta prayojana
visaya svikara kari' kara dehera raksana

"Instead of all this, maintain the body by accepting things that are suitable and actually necessary for its preservation.

sattvika sevana kara asaba varjana
sarva-bhute daya kari' kara uchcha sankirtana

"Eat food in the mode of goodness and reject intoxicants. Be kind to all beings and loudly chant the Name.

deva-seva chhala kari' visaya nahi kara
visayete raga-dvesa sada parihara

"Do not engage in worldly affairs on the pretence of Deity worship, and always avoid attachment and aversion to worldly matters.

para-himsa kapatata, anya sane vaira
kabhu nahi kara bhai! yadi mora vakya dhara

"Never behave enviously, deceitfully, or inimically with others, brother, if you want to follow My advice.

vaisnave adara kara prasadadi diya
artha nai dainya-vakye tosa minati kariya

"Honour the Vaishnavas with prasad and other remnants. If you have no wealth, then submissively satisfy them with humble words.

parijana parikara krsna-dasa-dasi
atma-sama-palane haibe mista-bhasi

"Consider your friends and relatives servants of Krishna, care for them as well as you care for yourself, and speak to them sweetly.

smarana-kirtana-seva sarva-bhute daya
ei ta' karibe yukta vairagi haiya

"Remember, glorify, and serve the Lord, and be kind to all beings. Do all this as a proper renunciant.

krsna yadi nahi deya parijana-parikara
athava diya ta laya sarva-sukhera akara

"Krishna may not give you friends and relatives, or He may give them and then take them away. Accept all such conditions as a source of joy.

soka-moha chhada bhai nama kara nirantara
jagai bale, e-bhava gaurera sane mora ko̐ndala vistara

"Brother, leave behind all lamentation and bewilderment, and always chant the Name." Jagai says, "I have many quarrels with Gaura about this."

(Sri Prema-vivarta, chapter 9)

The true proper renunciation means accepting that which is favourable to pure devotion and rejecting that which is unfavourable to pure devotion. But even this is not going to save one. To choke the path of pure devotion, mayavadis scatter around enchanted garlands of various pitfalls and thorns. We try to understand what is favourable and what is unfavourable, but then different kinds of deceit arise. If we think that if something is gratifying to my perverted taste then it is favourable, and if something is unpleasant to my perverted taste then it is unfavourable, then we become followers of the path of deceit and deha-rami (seekers of body-pleasure), which is told about in Sri Prema-vivarta. Following such independent thinking, there is no relation with Krishna remains—then the word 'yukta' (proper) has no sense anymore because when it comes to 'sambandha-sahita' (seeing everything in relation to the Lord) there arises only animosity. Renunciation is called proper when it is in relation to Krishna, i.e. when one renounces that which is unfavourable to the service of Krishna: when one leaves enjoyment out of love for Krishna ("Krsna-pritite bhoga-tyaga") or rejects non-devotional association.

Here, too, there is a chance that deceit will appear: if Krishna is my 'imaginary Krishna'(?) and if I decide what is favourable and what is unfavourable based on the connection with this 'imaginary Krishna', which is in fact my idea and ideal of enjoyment, then this is neither proper renunciation nor detachment. Those who can establish relation with Krishna in this world can also teach 'disconnected' jiva souls how to connect everything with Krishna—they are always situated in their eternal form full of eternity, knowledge, and bliss, and they know the real nature of the eternal (sat) and temporary (asat), so they can advise how to connect with the eternal and how to reject the temporary. Such Sri Gurupadpadma can show the path to transcendental Lord Krishna—if we do not have a clear and unadulterated relationship with such Krishna, then we can never practise proper renunciation.

Here also people's aversion can hurdle them into some wrong motive or illusory environment. We have accepted that Sri Gurupadpadma establishes our connection with Krishna, that he shows the path towards genuine proper renunciation, but there again arises the danger we have mentioned before. If an exorcist becomes possessed by a ghost and if I consider this person an exorcist, or even if I happen to come to a genuine exorcist—if by bad luck I approach him with a deceitful mind and keep away from his real shelter—then proper renunciation cannot be possible. In other words, if we take shelter of a bogus person who claims to be a guru, we will not be able to understand the meaning of proper renunciation. At the same time, if I say or think, "Oh, I have taken shelter at the lotus feet of a bona fide guru" only to impress others or with some other intention and establish my own free thinking and independence and by that actually make myself a guru, then I will not understand the meaning of proper renunciation, then it will be not following the conception of proper utilisation—it will be following my own mind, or, in other words, my own whims and self-aggrandisement will become my advisors, leaders or controllers. Therefore, when one first and foremost practises, adorned with sufficient sukriti, harmonising their own independence with the will coming from the lotus feet of a bona fide guru, only then does the word 'yukta-vairagya' coming from their mouth blooms with beauty, only then can one describe what yukta-vairagya is, and only then can one realise the secret of proper renunciation.

We must not become hopeless thinking that we do not have sufficient sukriti, so we will just resign, sit and do nothing—even if Maya Devi comes at this time to advise you and whispers into your ear that you should indulge in such laziness and sluggishness, you must untiringly, constantly remember to humbly pray to Krishna and the lotus feet of a bona fide guru to fully surrender in the association of bona fide devotees. How will I be able to accumulate sukriti if I do not keep the sacrificial fire of hankering always bright aflame within my heart? If you wait for sukriti to come on its own while the boat of your life is floating in the waters of bad fortune, it is virtually impossible to attain any auspiciousness.

We find that yukta-vairagya is nurtured and guarded in Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu (1.2.49)—this beautiful sloka is also found in Naradiya Purana:

yavata syat sva-nirvahah svi-kuryat tavad artha-vit
adhikye nyunatayam cha chyavate paramarthatah

Meaning: A wise man should accept as much as it is necessary for practising life. If one accepts more or less than necessary for practising life, then they will be removed from spiritual life.

Srila Jiva Goswami explained in his commentary Durgama-sangamani the meaning of the word 'sva-nirvaha' (for one's own accomplishment) from the above-mentioned sloka as "sva sva bhakti-nirvaha" (for one's own devotional practice). If some hidden thirst for enjoyment that obstructs devotion arises in one's heart on the pretext of appropriate utilisation of material things or proper renunciation, one must nip it in the bud. Accepting material paraphernalia for the devotional service is called yukta-vairagya (proper renunciation)—accepting more or less than that, i.e. both improper enjoyment or improper renunciation, is the cause of spiritual downfall. Unrestrained enjoyers swoon by the greed for more enjoyment, and unrestrained renunciates are prepared to commit suicide by accepting fewer and fewer things (it destroys their self-realisation and service mood). Therefore, the word 'yatharna' (proper) establishes the appropriate measure of 'proper'—without excess or deficiency.

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CONTENTS:

• Foreword
• (Preface) Meaning of Festival
• What Is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and Its Distinctions
• "Without Lord Krishna Life Is Meaningless"
• The Unrenounceable
• Sri Radhastami
• Proper Renunciation
• Astakala-Lila
• Is Religion the Cause of National Downfall?
• Householders and Renunciates
• Provincialism and Service to the Lord
• Offenders
• Hell
• Devotional Mood (Bhakta-Bhav)
• Home-interest vs Math-interest
• Samsara and Bhakti
• Questions and Answers