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(Continued from last issue)
Attainment of this stage of life is the highest perfection of human being and any process known or unknown that hampers the rightful progress of human life is to be considered as the process of ‘Hinsa’. Perfect order of Ahinsha or non-violence lies in the act of giving full fledged access to the human being for self-realisation or awakening of pure consciousness in the matter of an individual soul’s relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This perfectness of life is called the life of a ‘Harijan’ or the person who is engaged in the transcendental service of Hari the Supreme Lord.
Mahatma Gandhi started this Harijan movement with a view to uplift the position not only of the Bhangis and Chamars or low grade human beings but also to uplift the position of those gentlemen (?) who are by mentality less than the Chamars and Bhangis. Harijan or the man of God Hari is the position of a great personality. Men who have spiritual introspection are always glad to give all respects to a person born even in the family of Chamar or Bhangi who has purified himself by active devotional service of the Lord. Such men of spiritual vision will not give so much respects even to a person who is highly parentaged and erudite scholar in the Vedas but lacking in the quality of transcendental service to the Supreme Lord. A nondevotee Vedantist cannot be equal to a real Harijan.
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was confidentially served by Govinda who was His god-brother also. This Govinda was a disciple of Shri Iswar Puri a Sannyasi in the order of Madhya-Goudiya disciplic succession. When Govinda approached Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu—Sarvabhouma Bhattacharya enquired from the Lord, how Ishwarpuri accepted a disciple born in the family of a Sudra (?). It is enjoined in the revealed scriptures that a Brahmin falls down from his elevated position if he accepts a disciple born in the family of other than a Brahmin. The enquiry was specifically made to know how Ishwarpuri could violate such rules as he was a Sannyasi in the position of an authority.
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied the question as follows: “Shri Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme spiritual Master of all the universes. He was never under the popular convention of the Vedic regulations and as such He gladly accepted foodstuff in the house of Vidura who was by birth a Sudra. Srila Iswarpuri, who was accepted by the Lord as His spiritual master—was equal to this position of Shri Krishna and as such his causeless mercy was bestowed upon Govinda even though he was by birth a Sudra.” Any person therefore born in any family need not be checked to his becoming an initiated devotee.
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu corroborated this statement in many other places also. During His discourses with Shrila Ramananda Roy, He said very clearly that a person who knows the Personality of Godhead Krishna in the angle of scientific vision—is certainly eligible to become a spiritual master, never mind what he is either a Brahmin or a Sudra, a householder or a Sannyasi. That is the verdict of Lord Chaitanya.
In another place during His talks with Sree Sanatan Goswami, He said like this:—
“Nobody is barred from the service of Shri Krishna never mind whatever he is. Even though a man is born in the lower status of life, he has all the right to approach the Personality of Godhead. And a Brahmin because of his high birth may not be eligible for rendering service to the Supreme Lord.”
He concluded this statement in the following manner:—
“He alone is great who renders transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord and the nondevotee is always degraded and disgraced. There is no consideration of caste, creed and colour in the matter of devotional service for the Supreme Lord.”
“One who is humble and meek is more qualified for receiving the mercy of the Lord than one who is proud of his birth, heritage, opulence, erudition.”
All the good qualities of the celestials are manifested in the person of a devotee who has completely surrendered to the will of the Lord. But a nondevotee, in spite of his all sorts of material acquisition, is no more important than a venomous snake decorated with a jewel on its head. The only qualification of a nondevotee is that he will always be hovering in the mental plane and thus be attracted with the illusory external energy of the Supreme Lord. Nothing being outside the range of the Supreme Lord’s influence, a person devoted to the service of the Supreme Lord is accommodated in the region of Daivi Prakriti or internal potency whereas a person who is detached from the service of the Supreme Lord is accommodated in the region of the external potency.
If therefore humane world has to be organised and thereby real happiness has to be derived, the people in general, philosophers and religionists must take to the science of ‘Budhiyoga’. That alone would save them from the entanglement of threefold miseries. That alone would raise a person transcendental to the natural qualities of mundane goodness, passion and ignorance.
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