Journey from Misguidance to Absolute Guidance

Question: Before a jiva soul who lives in maya (under the influence of the material energy) meets a sadhu, does it have free will in how it engages in maya or is it completely dominated? How much independence or choice does a jiva soul have?

Question: But before that soul meets a sadhu, when it is in a human body, how much free will does it have? Is it completely dominated by maya or can it choose what form of sinful activities to engage in?

Free will is there at that time, but it is secondary. Sukriti (spiritual merit) and sraddha (faith) take the primary position, guiding the soul. Before that, maya is of principal importance, so one's free will is suppressed; but when the soul accommodates sraddha, then free will becomes predominated by that sraddha (the free will becomes guided by sraddha).

Devotee: How does one accumulate sukriti if they have no knowledge of these matters?

That happens independent of the person and actually comes from the sadhu. The sadhu, out of his free will, takes and utilises some of your energy without you being conscious of it. This is called ajnata-sukriti (unconscious spiritual merit). Then, that sukriti develops up to a stage when you feel some inner tendency to help the sadhu in some way without understanding whether you may get some benefit or not. It is done in the subconscious region, intuitively. When faith (sraddha) emerges on the surface and comes to the foreground, you will find yourself thinking, 'I should meet a sadhu.' You come and talk to a sadhu, and thereby a comparative study of good and bad takes place in your consciousness (in the conscious region).

Question: Does it ultimately depend on Krishna whether to send the sadhu?

Not always, and it is not the point. The nature of sukriti is such that it generates sraddha, which then helps you select a sadhu. You know that a red robe does not mean a sadhu. A sadhu is recognised according to one's faith (birds of the same feather flock together).

So, you come in touch with sadhu-sanga. Who is a sadhu? Guided by your faith, you will eliminate other sadhus and select a devotee of Krishna. Faith may be of different types, but real faith will guide you to a sadhu: from Brahma-darsan to Paramatma-darsan, to Bhagavat-darsan, to Krishna-darsan, and so on. You will come to differentiate between these levels. The nature, or quality, of your sukriti is the primary basis of your choice. In other words, your choice depends on whether you have got your sukriti from a devotee of Krishna, Narayan or a mayavadi-sadhu.

On the whole, the remark is this:

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

'Having travelled throughout the universe, some fortunate souls receive the seed of the devotional creeper by the mercy of Sri Guru, who is non-different from Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.151)

That belongs to the infinite calculation, not finite. Also, Mahaprabhu laid stress on jnana-sunya bhakti. If we make our approach from this side, there will be no end of analysis, analysis, analysis. You will examine every atom, electron, proton, neutron, and so on. Then, there is also ether, which is something else – if you come to analyse it, there is also no end. 'Anor aniyan mahato mahiyan. He is the smallest of the smallest and the biggest of the biggest.' So, concentrate your attention at the middle point. Do not try to find Him at either the farthest extremity or the nearest proximity – try to find Him in the middle sphere (Bhagavan madhyam-akar), next to you, in a form similar to yours.

কৃষ্ণের যতেক খেলা, সর্ব্বোত্তম নরলীলা,
নরবপু তাহার স্বরূপ ।

krsnera yateka khela, sarvvottama nara-lila,
nara-vapu tahara svarupa

'The highest form of the Lord is Krishna, who plays His eternal divine pastimes like an ordinary human being.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.21.101)

Your necessity will be satisfied by Him, neither by any circumference nor by any smallest part of the material conception.

It is possible to connect with Him only through surrender, and it will be He who will decide how He will best suit you. Let Him decide it. 'Hare Krishna' is not a prayer for anything (there is no fixed position of any hue there); it is only an address, 'O Hare Krishna, I want You. You please consider and decide what will suit me. I only want you. I am in danger, and I want Your protection; how you will protect me is to be decided by You, it is not my business.' By embracing His consideration is where we gain the most. We must only try to increase, if possible, the degree of our surrender. That is what is actually necessary from us. Surrender (saranagati), or atma-niksepa.

Sarangati has been analysed in six ways:

আনুকূল্যস্য সঙ্কল্পঃ প্রাতিকূল্য-বিবর্জ্জনম্ ।
রক্ষিষ্যতীতি বিশ্বাসো গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণং তথা ॥
আত্মনিক্ষেপ-কার্পণ্যে ষড়্­বিধা শরণাগতিঃ ।

anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulya-vivarjanam
raksisyatiti visvaso goptrtve varanam tatha
atma-niksepa karpanye sad-vidha saranagatih

'Accepting everything favourable, rejecting everything unfavourable, being confident that Krishna will grant His protection, embracing Krishna's guardianship, fully offering one's self to Krishna, and feeling oneself to be lowly are the six aspects of saranagati.'

(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam)

Srila Jiva Goswami says that goptritve-varan is the centre of saranagati. Goptritve-varan means to call Him for protection, 'Protect me!' It is a prayer for protection. Goptritva: 'gopta' means 'raksa krita', or 'palan korta': 'Please take my charge. I am unable, I am unfit, I am undone. Please take my charge.' That is the gist, the very life of saranagati. Srila Jiva Goswami says that it is the centre. The other parts of surrender are the following: we must accept what is favourable, reject what is opposed, cast ourselves at His feet, have faith in His protection, and be humble (dainya), 'I am the meanest of the mean, I am the most helpless, so I want Your shelter. Please take charge of me. I am unfit to take responsibility for my own good, to manage my own life.' The central attempt should be of this type: 'My Lord, I cannot tolerate any independent life any longer. I am disgusted, I do not want to go on with my life independently. I cannot. I want slavery.'

'Jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya-dasa. The original identity of the soul is that it is an eternal servant of Krishna.' So, 'I want to be Your slave. Others may go on living as they please, but I do not think myself to be developed enough to take my own charge, to take responsibility for my own self. I am so reckless, so mean, so worthless, so useless. Please accept me, please give me any service at Your feet. Anyhow, give me some shelter. I am not going to rely on myself anymore. I have come to You to take shelter under Your holy feet. Please be my guardian.' This is saranagati. 'Goptritve varan' means to accept Him as your absolute guardian.

It is difficult for the finite to stand with its head erect in the clash that is going in the souls' area, where so many souls engage in competition. There is competition everywhere, so the most intelligent way is to have the Supreme Power as your guardian. 'I cannot stand in this competition in this world, so I am eager to have a protector – I want protection from this world of competition. I am disgusted with this continuous battle, fighting with the environment. I do not find any rest – there is always competition.'

evam lokam param vidyan
nasvaram karma-nirmitam
sa-tulyatisaya-dhvamsam
yatha mandala-vartinam

'One cannot find permanent happiness even on the heavenly planets, which one can attain in the next life by ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices. Even in material heaven the living entity is disturbed by rivalry with his equals and envy of those superior to him. And since one's residence in heaven is finished with the exhaustion of pious fruitive activities, the denizens of heaven are also afflicted by fear, anticipating the destruction of their heavenly life. Thus, they resemble kings who, though enviously admired by ordinary citizens, are constantly harassed by enemy kings and who, therefore, never attain actual happiness.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.3.20)

This verse is found in the Eleventh Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, in the 'Nava-yogendra sambad' (Coversation with the Nine Yogendras). Nimi Raja, one of the yogendras, was given this advice: 'Evam lokam param vidyan. You must realise what awaits you in this world and the next.'

karmany arabhamananam
duhkha-hatyai sukhaya cha
pasyet paka-viparyasam
mithuni-charinam nrnam

'Accepting the roles of male and female in human society, the conditioned souls unite in sexual relationships. Thus they constantly make material endeavors to eliminate their unhappiness and unlimitedly increase their pleasure. But one should see that they inevitably achieve exactly the opposite result. Their happiness inevitably vanishes, and as they grow older their material discomfort increases.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.3.18)

The living being takes up the path of karma to do away with its misery and to achieve happiness, pleasure. Trying to elevate itself by acquiring some energy, it consumes something itself, distributes something to its friends, and it strives to deceive its enemies. In this way, the soul tries to achieve some sort of pleasure in life. Then, to get the maximum pleasure, one realises that it is necessary to accept a wife (the living entity feels that its pleasure mainly depends on that sort of life).

nityartidena vittena
durlabhenatma-mrtyuna
grhapatyapta-pasubhih
ka pritih sadhitais chalaih

'Wealth is a perpetual source of distress – it is most difficult to acquire, and it is virtual death for the soul. What satisfaction do you actually gain from your wealth? And how can you gain ultimate or permanent happiness from your so-called home, children, relatives and domestic animals, which are all maintained by your hard-earned money?'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.3.19)

So, you begin a married life to make yourself happy. Then, you gradually come to face adverse circumstances: after accepting a wife, you find that permanent quarters are necessary. It was not necessary before because you could take rest at any place, but after entering conjugal life, a fixed house is necessary, a room is necessary, then children appear, then it is necessary to take some help from an animal (for example, a cow, a horse or a dog). After that, you come to face the stern reality: one by one, everything is vanishing. It is necessary to repair the building; it is necessary to get a doctor and some medicine, food, etc. for the upkeep of the family; then, the cows, the horses also die, so it is necessary to fill in the gap. In this way, you have to spend more and more energy, and instead of pleasure, only labour and misery capture the major position in your life.

Seeing that everything vanishes, changes, vanishes, you come to the conclusion that you cannot forever rely on your happiness and pleasure derived from mortal things. You take something with one hand, but then something else vanishes from your other hand. This is how it always is in this world. So, you come to the conclusion that it is not possible to find real happiness in the company of mortal wealth, mortal elements.

evam lokam param vidyan
nasvaram karma-nirmitam
sa-tulyatisaya-dhvamsam
yatha mandala-vartinam

'One cannot find permanent happiness even on the heavenly planets, which one can attain in the next life by ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices. Even in material heaven the living entity is disturbed by rivalry with his equals and envy of those superior to him. And since one's residence in heaven is finished with the exhaustion of pious fruitive activities, the denizens of heaven are also afflicted by fear, anticipating the destruction of their heavenly life. Thus, they resemble kings who, though enviously admired by ordinary citizens, are constantly harassed by enemy kings and who, therefore, never attain actual happiness.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.3.20)

The living being comes to calculate that there is no hope not only in this life but also in the after-life. We are told that even in heaven also, when Indra's term is over, he, too, has to come down.

abrahma-bhuvanal lokah, punar avartino 'rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya, punar janma na vidyate

O Arjuna, from the plane of Lord Brahma downwards, all planes or their residents are subject to return. But, O Kaunteya, there is no rebirth after reaching Me.

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 8.16)

Even if you uplift yourself by doing charitable works, you can get an untroubled after-life in a higher plane, but that, too, will have to finish one day. So, 'ka pritih sadhitais chalaih, evam lokam param' (What happiness can you get in this uncertain world or the after-life?): both this life and the after-life are in the relativity of mortality. 'Nasvaram karma-nirmitam lokam': the pleasure that you shall try to earn mainly by exercising material energy is always diminishing, changing, slipping away.

Then, there is also another trouble. Sa-tulaya (competition), atisaya (uncertainty) and dvamsa (destruction). In this world, we live in the midst of different troubling circles of life. Generally, we live in competition with the same class. For example, if I am a merchant, I compete with another merchant of a nature similar to mine; if I am a student, I compete with a fellow student; if I work somewhere, there is also competition amongst my co-workers, and so on. Wherever I go, I am bound to face competition. We always want to cross another person – we cannot feel content until and unless we can defeat our equals. In the circle of our life, we find there are three classes of men: equals, superiors and those of lower position. We fight those who hold an equal position, and we are jealous of those who are superior to us (who hold a higher position). Even when we improve our own condition, we still want to cross others. For example, if I earn one thousand rupees, I will want to outdo another person who has the same income (I will see that person as my competitor). Then, crossing that person, I go up and start to earn ten thousand rupees, and I enter another circle of competition. Wherever I go, I will find that I am always surrounded by competition. Wherever I go, I will find there somebody equal to me, who I will want to compete with. We always live this life of competition, and then, finally, we will have to go away, disappointed.

We always find ourselves in a circle (mandala-varti): somebody is always lower than us, somebody is equal to us, and somebody is higher to us. Ultimately, everything vanishes. 'A-virinchyad amangalam' (Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.19.18): death extends its jurisdiction up to Brahma.

durlabho manuso deho
dehinam ksana-bhangurah
tatrapi durlabham manye
vaikuntha-priya-darsanam

'For the conditioned souls, the human body is most difficult to achieve, and it can be lost at any moment. But I think that even those who have achieved human life rarely gain the association of pure devotees, who are dear to the Lord of Vaikuntha.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.2.29)

This comes later: when you anyhow come across a sadhu, your proper life begins. You come to realise that this human life is very, very rarely attained, and it is also very brittle – it can drop away at any moment (you can be deceived out of your position, and you cannot say for certain how long you shall live). Above all, a connection with a sadhu is precious and even more rare. It is very, very rare to find the company of those who are favourite to Lord Narayan or Lord Krishna (vaikuntha-priya-darsanam). So, whenever it occurs at any auspicious moment, we shall try to take benefit of that.

When Nimi Maharaj arranged a large fire sacrifice, inviting all the rishis, munis and other great souls, suddenly the nava-yogendra (the nine masters of yoga) appeared at the place of the fire sacrifice. Nimi Maharaj disconnected himself from the yajna that was going on and without even offering any seat to them began his enquiry. He started by saying, 'You may go away or disappear at any moment due to my misfortune, but now, anyhow, you have appeared here by my fortune, so I shall not lose a moment.' Without losing a single second, Nimi Maharaj began his enquiry. He asked nine questions – one question for each of the nine yogendras – and each one of them gave the answer. Kavi, Havir, Antariksa, Prabuddha, Pippalayana, Avirhotra, Drumila, Chamasa and Karabhajana are these nine yogendras. They were sons of Risabhadev, born yogis. It is in the saying of Karabhajana that we find a reference of the yuga-avatara of Krishna and Mahaprabhu...

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