2 Responses to “Sadhu-sanga in the assembly of devotees (Part 2)”

1. Payonidhi das says:

   September 9, 2009 at 8:06 pm

   I have just been reading Jaiva Dharma again ,like chapter 6.
   Obviously we can not legislate sraddha, but it has to be created by compassionate Sadhu-Sanga
2. Ram Prasad says:

   September 15, 2009 at 1:04 am

   Dear Maharajas and Prabhus:

   Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada, by whose divine grace one becomes fearless.

   When I listened to this discussion in the morning, I thought of one way to reply, decided against it, and now I am going to respond in a different way. Srila Prabhupada asked a very good question: “Why present this story to the scientists?” In other words, are the shastras defective, or is your presentation defective?

   I have a 2-year old son, and if I say “Hare Krishna,” he will say “Hare Krishna.” If I say “Hare Krishna” a second time, he will say “Hare Krishna” a second time. If I say “Krishna Krishna,” he will say Hare Krishna. In other words, my audience is not ready to accept a full mantra, nor even “Hare Rama” yet. So, I could conclude that the mantra is defective because my son will not accept it at the age of 2, or I can present it in a way that he will accept it — according to his ability. Similarly, Srila Prabhupada is asking a very important question: “Why are you presenting this story?”

   The devotees pretend to be concerned about scientific-minded intelligent people who may have difficulties with that portion of the Krishna book. Srila Prabhupada, from what I have gathered, was very perceptive if not extra-sensory perceptive, and I have heard that these devotees had been smoking marijuana and were asking these questions in a challenging mood.

   The rest of Srila Prabhupada’s answers, if seen in that light, make perfect sense. “Let’s not discuss this. Stop. You go on making a living and enjoying your senses. Give up Krishna consciousness.” In other words, “stop offending the spiritual master which will not be helpful for you. You will not benefit if I give you instructions which you do not follow, so I will give you instructions which you will surely follow, because there will still be some benefit for you.”

   Perhaps if this question had been asked sincerely when disciples were not trying to show that they were smarter than Srila Prabhupada, he would have shed further light on the subject. But, just as this story is totally different with a couple of details added, the Ugrasena story might have much more to it and there is no reason to doubt its numbers when there are no witnesses to cross-examine.

   What I was going to say earlier, when I first thought about this, is that if someone told me there were 2 billion living organisms in an acidophilus tablet, I would not believe them. That means one bottle of 100 tablets has 200 billion living entities inside, and 5 bottles have 1 quadrillion living entities. So, if I gobble up a few bottles of acidophilus, many billions of living entities will now be bodyguards in my kingdom. Isn’t that inconceivable? They are guarding my GI tract from malicious organisms that may want to do me harm!

   This is a good illustration of:

   tad vag visargo janatagha viplavo…even if there is some mistake in a book that glorifies the unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead, one who is honest will accept and sing such a narration. Seeing that these disciples were in a challenging mood, Srila Prabhupada, I have heard, took the position, “You are so intelligent that you don’t need me as a guru.”

   So, I think putting Srila Prabhupada’s words, of which we have a transcript, into context *dramatically changes* the reading of the story. Sometimes, as in Sukadeva Goswami’s Srimad Bhagavatam, we do not have all the details, but we should not conclude that the story is not true. Yesterday, I was discussing all the events of a single day with my child: waking up, breakfast, TV, playing basketball, going to beach, etc. When telling the broad story of my son’s development, all these details would be left out. And, that’s why, I believe, Srila Prabhupada said: “Why are you mentioning these details [in your preaching]? In so many years as a devotee, I have never mentioned these details to a person I was trying to get interested in Krishna consciousness, nor has anyone challenged me on these points.

   Bravo, Srila Prabhupada, for immediately seeing through these disciples’ ruse to challenge you. “Oh, we are just interested in making sure the intelligent class will accept your books.”

   Humbly submitted,

   Your das Ram Prasad
   vaishnavebhyo namo namah