re Sri Upadesamrta Our Highest Duty
by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
Question 1: What is our highest duty?
Answer: This human form of life lasts only a moment and it is extremely rare. Instead of wasting our time by engaging in wicked, offensive or wasteful activities, we should all engage our minds in hari-bhajana, abandoning everything else.
We have attained this human birth after many lifetimes, and this human form is the rarest form of life. It is not just rare, but extremely rare. Although it is a temporary designation, it is nevertheless known as paramārtha-prada – that which grants supreme, absolute welfare. Those
who have discriminating intelligence, for as long as their human body permits the pursuit of spiritual life (sādhana), abandon all material activities, and without even a moment’s delay endeavour to achieve the highest benefit.
In order to attain the topmost benefit, one has to take shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master (sad-guru-pādāśraya). The true spiritual master, or sad-guru, does not speak in accordance with our fascination for material enjoyment, which is actually aversion to reality. Instead, he only speaks about our most prominent duty – in fact our sole, eternal duty – which is to engage in kṛṣṇa-bhajana.
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The people of this world speak in accordance with our worldly inclinations, so they draw our attention and convince us to see them as beloved. But it is śrī gurudeva alone who does not wish to hurt me or indirectly sabotage my well-being as they do. He is truly distressed by my suffering, feels pain in my agony, is compassionate and my only and supreme friend. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam advises us to surrender unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is a liberated soul, by giving up everything we have and taking single pointed shelter of his lotus feet.
Question 2: By what means can we achieve actual independence?
Answer: Apart from taking shelter of the lotus feet of Bhagavān, there is no other means to achieve independence and peace. Accepting our total dependence upon and subordination to the Supreme Personality of Godhead – who is adhoksaja (the transcendent Lord who exists beyond the purview of material sense) – under the guidance of the spiritual master, is the right use of our free will. This alone is full and true independence: the eternal dharma of every living being.
Question 3: How may one know oneself?
Answer: Although, constitutionally, I am a servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, I am presently unable to attain the eligibility (adhikāra) to be true to that station. Presently, I am incapable of achieving proximity to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and of understanding the truth about the Supreme Lord.
What is essentially required, therefore, is for me to dedicate all of my efforts to understanding that I am an eternal servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Without the association of devotees, and without surrendering to the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, it is impossible for someone to know himself solely by his own intelligence.
Question 4: What has Caitanyadeva done?
Answer: Śrī Caitanyadeva has given instructions so that every possession of every single person in this world can be engaged in serving the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself, He has come to understand Kṛṣṇa by accepting the mood of a
devotee, and through His own conduct He has taught us how to serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhu, who is the eternal associate of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, has glorified Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the following prayer:
namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-namne gaura tviṣe namaḥ
I offer praṇāma unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. Having assumed the golden hue of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, He is most munificently bestowing kṛṣṇa-prema, the rarest of all gifts.
O Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya! You are mahā-vadānya, the embodiment of supreme munificence. You have not established so-called cathedrals of education (schools or colleges) or so-called orphanages, nor engaged in other pious, social welfare activities like digging wells or opening hospitals. But you have certainly established real cathedrals of transcendental education. You alone are the true shelter of the orphaned souls of this world. You alone have discovered the ocean of the nectar of devotion – bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. And You have established the Gauḍīya hospitals where patients are cured of the disease of repeated birth and death.
Your mercy is amandodaya – compassion that awakens absolute fortune exclusively, without granting any insignificant results or indirectly causing any harm or loss. Worldly compassion gives rise to inferior results, but your compassion brings all good fortune to the living beings. Hence you are mahā-vadānya, supremely munificent. You provide love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa completely and thoroughly. You are the worshipful recipient of the natural tendency to serve that is present in every soul. You have appeared in order to manifest Your mahā-vadānya-līlā – Your pastimes of supreme munificence – and thereby awaken the consciousness of all living beings.
O Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya! You are the Supreme Being with unlimited qualities (saviśeṣa) and You are the embodiment of the totality of sat, cit and ānanda. You are endowed with Your eternal name, form, qualities and pastimes. You are the personality who possesses the totality of power – Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Your potency that bewilders all the residents of this world is called bhuvana-mohinī mahā-māyā, and the possessor of that potency is Śrī Kṛṣṇa – bhuvana-mohana.
She who enchants even that bhuvana-mohana is known as bhuvana-mohana-mohinī – the supremely beautiful Śrīmatī Rādhikā. You are immersed in the moods and effulgence of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. In these pastimes of Yours, which are brimming with benevolence (audārya), Kṛṣṇa’s mood of being Rādhā-ramaṇa (the adorable paramour of Śrīmatī Rādhikā) is not present, for in these pastimes, Your heart is immersed in the mood of Śrī Rādhā Herself, who is the embodiment of complete, unalloyed service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
You are most benevolent because You bestow kṛṣṇa-prema. You are the embodiment of the topmost love, and You have appeared to bestow that love. You are Kṛṣṇa Himself.
Question 5: How can one attain sādhu-saṅga – the association of pure devotees?
Answer: Only by attentively hearing hari-kathā can true sādhu-saṅga be achieved. By associating with sādhus, we can understand the fact that Kṛṣṇa is supremely powerful while this world is quite insignificant. Then, by gradually rendering service to Him under the guidance of pure devotees, we can attain firm faith in and attachment and love for serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The topmost goal of life is to attain love for service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself.
Translated by the Rays of The Harmonist team
from Śrīla Prabhupādera Upadeśāmṛta
Questions re-numbered for this on-line presentation
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Śrīla Prabhupadera Upadeśāmṛta is a compilation of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda’s instructions in question-and-answer form.
Arjuna versus Ekalavya
by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
Many people regard Ekalavya’s guru-bhakti as that of the ideal disciple. But one special consideration must be observed...
Hiraṇyadhanura, the king of the outcastes (caṇḍālās), had a son named Ekalavya. Desiring to study the science of projectile weaponry (astra-vidyā), the outcaste prince presented himself before Droṇācārya. However, Droṇācārya did not agree to initiate him into the science of archery, for he was aware of Ekalavya’s very low status.
Nevertheless, Ekalavya vowed to himself that he would learn archery only from Droṇācārya, and with that purpose in mind, he went to the forest. There he sculpted an idol of Droṇācārya out of earth and began practising astra-vidyā in the presence of his imagined guru. In this way, he gradually became extraordinarily expert in archery. Arjuna was Droṇācārya’s dearest disciple, and the ācārya had promised him that none of his other disciples would ever be able to surpass him.
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One day, on the order of Droṇācārya, the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas ventured out from their capital to the forest to hunt. They soon came across a dog, directly on their path and were extremely astonished to find that seven arrows had been shot into the dog’s mouth simultaneously when he had opened it to bark. They could see that the archer who had let loose those arrows was even more skilled than any of the Pāṇḍavas, and set out to find him.
After searching for some time, they discovered that the boy who had performed this feat was Ekalavya, the son of Hiraṇyadhanura, and that he had developed his extraordinary skill by making and worshipping an idol of Droṇācārya.
The Pāṇḍavas returned to their capital and informed Droṇācārya of this amazing incident. In a humble mood, Arjuna informed Droṇācārya of the fact that the ācārya had one disciple more skilled in the art of archery than he. The ācārya listened to these words in shock. At once, he returned to the forest with Arjuna and came upon Ekalavya, who was fully absorbed in practising archery as he let loose dense volleys of arrows, one after the other.
When Droṇācārya approached, Ekalavya suddenly saw the ācārya standing directly before him. The young archer immediately worshipped his feet, introduced himself as one of his disciples, and stood submissively with folded hands.
Droṇācārya addressed Ekalavya, “You must offer me guru-dākṣina*.”
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* Guru-dākṣina is the reciprocation due to the teacher of a particular art for initiating and training the student. If the student fails to provide guru-dākṣina, his learning is not blessed.
Ekalavya replied, “Whatever you order, I am prepared to give.”
Droṇācārya next told Ekalavya to sever his right thumb and give it as dākṣina, and he followed the order of his gurudeva with a bright face, without any objection.
* * *
Despite being rejected by Droṇācārya due to being from a low caste, Ekalavya did not lose faith in his gurudeva. He made an earthen statue of Droṇācārya and learned the science of archery from it, thus demonstrating ideal guru-bhakti. Furthermore, the common conception is that Arjuna was jealous that Ekalavya had achieved greater expertise than he had, and that Arjuna was responsible for destroying Ekalavya’s prowess by inducing Droṇācārya to keep his word. However, this is not actually true, and it is not the conception of the devotees.
Śrī Bhagavān is the eternal, Supreme Truth, His bhakti-nīti – that is, His principle of devotion – is eternal truth, and His devotees are eternal truth. These three – Bhagavān, bhakti and the bhakta – are the sole, eternal Supreme Truth. For the devotees, everything is well, while for the non-devotees nothing is well. Even the qualities of the non-devotees are disqualifications because their qualities are not engaged in pleasing the transcendental senses of God.
Those who consider mundane ethics to be greater than Bhagavān are unable to comprehend the topics of the Absolute Truth. They belong to the school of impersonalism (nirviśeṣa-vāda). They do not accept that Bhagavān, bhakti and the bhakta are non-different, and yet there are real specialities between them.
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What flaw was there in Ekalavya’s behaviour that is worthy of careful deliberation? Ekalavya wore the mask of guru-bhakti, but he was actually acting antagonistically toward his guru.
When the ācārya – he whom Ekalavya had accepted as his gurudeva – did not want to teach Ekalavya the science of archery, either because he considered Ekalavya to be of a low caste, or for the purpose of testing him, or for any other reason, it was Ekalavya’s duty to take that order on his head. However, that idea did not even enter his mind. Instead, his main concern was to become baḍa, or very big and great.
According to custom, if the student does not accept a guru from an external perspective, he will not be accepted as properly trained, nor will he ever be acclaimed as great. It was for this reason that Ekalavya created an earthen statue of Droṇācārya and imagined being in his presence. In this act, his sole purpose was to become great by expertly learning the science of archery. In essence, the root cause and purpose of his sādhana was nothing but the gratification of his senses.
Sacrificing himself to the desire of his guru was in no way his exclusive aim. Some argue that, in the end, Ekalavya made no objection to the strict instruction of his guru, and in fact, executed his order with joy. However, by reflecting upon this matter with gravity and a little subtlety, we can see that even in this instance, rather than actually valuing transcendental devotion to his guru, Ekalavya considered mundane ethics to be of utmost importance. The ethic he upheld when he severed his thumb was that one must unfailingly give whatever object one’s gurudeva requests as dākṣina.
Actually, Ekalavya did not make his offering with any real devotion, or bhakti. Bhakti’s tendency is to be natural and honest. If Ekalavya had natural and causeless bhakti for Hari, guru, and Vaiṣṇavas in his heart, then neither his guru, Droṇācārya; nor the topmost Vaiṣṇava, Arjuna; nor Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself would have been disturbed by his behaviour. But his gurudeva did not accept Ekalavya’s endeavour to attain expertise in the science of archery or to become great. The core of Ekalavya’s heart suffered from the disease of desiring and endeavouring to become even greater than Arjuna, who is the greatest of Vaiṣṇavas.
The desire to be greater than the Vaiṣṇava is not bhakti, it is abhakti. It is simply a display of mundane bravado. According to worldly considerations, the ambition to become great may be considered a good thing. But the endeavour to stay subordinate to the Vaiṣṇavas and to remain under their guidance is indeed called bhakti.
Rather than directly receiving knowledge through the śrauta-paramparā* or from a mahanta-guru (grandmaster) through the process of aural reception, Ekalavya wanted to become great through his own bravado, and it was this that Arjuna informed Droṇācārya of. If Arjuna had not mercifully done so, impersonalism (nirviśeṣa-vāda) would have triumphed. An atheistic doctrine would have been established that it is possible for people to achieve perfection without ever approaching a mahanta-guru for transcendental knowledge or instructions on bhakti and even after going against the wishes of such a guru and simply practising near an imaginary or clay statue of him. It is clear that Arjuna was not at all envious of Ekalavya; rather he showed causeless compassion to him and the whole world.
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* The descent of perfect sound vibration through the succession of perfected masters.
If Ekalavya had had sincere bhaki for his guru, then Kṛṣṇa would never have been able to destroy him, for He always protects His bhakta or the bhakta of His bhakta. However, Ekalavya was killed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s own hands. This was the ultimate fate of Ekalavya.
Śrī Caitanyadeva has explained, “An external display of austerities cannot be called bhakti. The demons also perform austerities of such severity that even the demigods cannot rival them” (Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 23.46). Ekalavya wanted to be greater than the Vaiṣṇava, even though this was directly opposed to the desire of his guru. Because he was slain by Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s own hand, he attained an impersonal destination. Only demons are killed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, while devotees are protected by Him.
Hiraṇyakaśipu and Prahlāda are the respective evidence of this. We must not wear the mask of guru-bhakti with the objective of becoming greater than the Vaiṣṇavas. We must not become impersonalists (nirviśeṣa-vādīs). This is the teaching that śuddha-bhaktas can glean from the example of Ekalavya’s life. There is not even one iota of guru-bhakti in the most extraordinarily skilful execution of karma, but subordination to the Vaiṣṇava is truly bhakti.
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