Oh Mind!

Who is a Vaiṣṇava?

Gaudiya Kanth-hara was compiled during the lifetime of Bhaktisiddhānta Sāraswati Ṭhākura and was especially dear to him. He many contributions to this work. Among them was the following poem: Dushta-mana! which translates as Wicked Mind! 

 This is an especially harsh criticism of the mind. 

Bhaktisiddhānta Sāraswati was a harsh critic of hypocrisy  As this is directed towards his own mind in his humility, we may also apply the principles of self-examination to our own mind. Do we come up to the mark?  One must, of course, be careful about criticising others or applying Bhaktisiddhānta's standards to others. 

Spiritual advancement requires purposeful self-criticism. Jesus Christ said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." One must always remember the principles of humility before using these harsh words against someone else.  Anyone who can apply this rigorous standard is worthy of the high reputation of a great devotee.

Gaudiya Kanthahara Third Jewel continued...

3.24 duṣṭa mana! by Bhaktisiddhānta Sāraswati Ṭhakura

দুষ্ট মন! তুমি কিসের ৱৈষ্ণৱ? প্রতিষ্ঠার তরে, নির্জনের ঘরে, তৱ "হরিনাম" কেৱল কৈতৱ: জডের প্রতিষ্ঠা, শূকরের ৱিষ্ঠা, জান না কি তাহা "মাযার ৱৈভৱ"

কনক-কামিনী, দিৱস-যামিনী, ভাৱিযা কি কাজ, অনিত্য সে সব: তোমার কনক, ভোজের জনক, কনকের দ্ৱারে সেৱহ "মাধৱ." কামিনীর কাম, নহে তৱ ধাম, তাহার মালিক কেৱল "যাদৱ." প্রতিষ্ঠাশা-তরু, জদ-মাযা-মরু

না পেল "রাৱণ" যূঝিয "রাঘৱ:" ৱৈষ্ণৱী প্রতিষ্ঠা, তাতে কর নিষ্ঠা, তাহা না ভজিলে লভিবে গৌরৱ. হরিজন-দ্ৱেষ, প্রতিষ্ঠাশা ক্লেশ, কর কেন তবে তাহার গৌরৱ. ৱৈষ্ণৱের পাছে, প্রাতিষ্ঠাশা আছে, তাঽত কভু নহে "অনিত্য-ৱৈভৱ."

সে হরি সম্বন্ধ, শূন্য-মাযাগন্ধ, তাহা কভু নয "জডের কৈতৱ": প্রতিষ্ঠা-চণ্ডালী, নির্জনতা-জালী

উভযে জানিহ মাযিক-রৌরৱ. "কীর্তন ছাডিব, প্রতিশ্ঠা মাখিব," কি কাজ ঢুঞ্ডিযা তাদৃশা গৌরৱ: মাধৱেন্দ্র পুরী, ভাৱ-ঘরে ছূরি, না করিল কভু সদাই জানৱ.

তোমার প্রতিষ্ঠ, "শূকরের ৱিষ্ঠা," তার সহ সম কভু না মানৱ: মৎসরতা-ৱশে, তূমি জডরসে, মজেছ ছাডিযা কীর্তন-সৌষ্ঠৱ. তাই দুষ্ট মন, "নির্জন-ভজন," প্রছারিছ ছলে "কূযোগী-ৱৈভৱ" প্রভু সনাতনে, প্রভু যতনে

শিক্ষা দিল যাহা চিন্ত সেই সব

সেই দুঽটি কথা, ভূলঽ না সর্ৱথা, উচ্চৈস্ৱরে কর "হরিনাম-রৱ"

"ফল্গু" আর "যুক্ত," "বদ্ধ" আর "মুক্ত," কভু না ভাৱিহ ঽেকাকার সব

"কনক-কামিনী," "প্রতিষ্ঠা-বাঘিনী," ছাদিযাছে যারে সেই তঽ ৱৈষ্ণৱ:

সেই "অনাসক্ত," সেই "শুদ্ধ ভক্ত," সংসার তথায পায পরাভৱ "যথাযোগ্য-ভোগ," নাহি তথা রোগ, "অনাসক্ত" সেই, কি আর কহব

"আসক্তি রহিত" "সম্বন্ধ-সহিত," ৱিষয-সমূহ সকলি "মাধৱ."

সে "যুক্ত-ৱৈরাগ্য, "তাহা তঽ "সৌভাগ্য," তাহাই জডেতে হরির ৱৈভৱ:

কীর্তনে যাহার, "প্রতিষ্ঠা-সম্ভার,"

তাহার সম্পত্তি কেৱল "কৈতৱ."

"ৱিষয-মুমুক্ষু," "ভোগের বুভুক্ষু," দুযে ত্যজ মন, দুই "অৱৈষ্ণৱ" "কৃষ্ণের সম্বন্ধ," অপ্রাকৃত স্কন্ধ, কভু নহে তাহা জডের সম্ভৱ" "মাযাৱাদী জন," কৃষ্ণেতর মন,

মুক্ত অভিমানে সে নিন্দে ৱৈষ্ণৱ ৱৈষ্ণৱের দাস, তৱ ভক্তি-আশ, কেন ৱা ডাকিছ নির্জন-আহৱ

যে "ফাল্গুর্-ৱৈরাগী," কহে, নিজে, "ত্যাগী," সে না পারে কভু হৈতে "ৱৈষ্ণৱ."

হরি-পদ ছাডিঽ, নির্জনতা বাডিঽ, লভিযা কি ফল, "ফল্গু" সে ৱৈভৱ. রাধা-দাস্যে নহি ছাড ভোগ-অকি প্রতিষ্ঠাশ নহে কির্তনন্-গৌরৱে

কেন ৱা নির্জন-ভজন-কৈতৱ. ৱ্রজৱাসি-গণ, প্রচারক-ধন, প্রতিষ্ঠা-ভিক্ষুক তাঽর নহে "শৱ." প্রাণ আছে তাঽর, সে হেতু প্রচার, প্রতিষ্ঠাশা-হীন "কৃষ্ণ-গাথা" সব. শ্রী-দযিত দাস, কীর্তনেতে আশ,

কর উচ্চৈঃ-স্ৱরে "হরি-নাম-রৱ."

কীর্তন-প্রভাৱে, স্মরণ হৈবে, সে কালে ভজন-নির্জন সম্ভৱ.

duṣṭa mana! tumi kisera vaiṣṇava? pratiṣṭhāra tare, nirjanera ghare, tava "harināma" kevala kaitava: jaḍera pratiṣṭhā, śūkarera viṣṭhā, jāna nā ki tāhā "māyāra vaibhava"

kanaka-kāminī, divasa-yāminī, bhāviyā ki kāja, anitya se saba: tomāra kanaka, bhojera janaka, kanakera dvāre sevaha "mādhava." kāminīra kāma, nahe tava dhāma, tāhāra mālika kevala "yādava." pratiṣṭhāśā-taru, jada-māyā-maru

nā pela "rāvaṇa" yūjhiya "rāghava:" vaiṣṇavī pratiṣṭhā, tāte kara niṣṭhā, tāhā nā bhajile labhibe gaurava. harijana-dveṣa, pratiṣṭhāśā kleśa, kara kena tabe tāhāra gaurava. vaiṣṇavera pāche, prātiṣṭhāśā āche, tā'ta kabhu nahe "anitya-vaibhava."

se hari sambandha, śūnya-māyāgandha, tāhā kabhu naya "jaḍera kaitava": pratiṣṭhā-caṇḍālī, nirjanatā-jālī

ubhaye jāniha māyika-raurava. "kīrtana chāḍiba, pratiśṭhā mākhiba," ki kāja ḍhuñḍiyā tādṛśā gaurava: mādhavendra purī, bhāva-ghare chūri, nā karila kabhu sadāi jānava.

tomāra pratiṣṭha, "śūkarera viṣṭhā," tāra saha sama kabhu nā mānava: matsaratā-vaśe, tūmi jaḍarase, majecha chāḍiyā kīrtana-sauṣṭhava. tāi duṣṭa mana, "nirjana-bhajana," prachāricha chale "kūyogī-vaibhava" prabhu sanātane, prabhu yatane

śikṣā dila yāhā cinta sei saba

sei du'ṭi kathā, bhūla' nā sarvathā, uccaisvare kara "harināma-rava"

"phalgu" āra "yukta," "baddha" āra "mukta," kabhu nā bhāviha 'ekākāra saba

"kanaka-kāminī," "pratiṣṭhā-bāghinī," chādiyāche yāre sei ta' vaiṣṇava:

sei "anāsakta," sei "śuddha bhakta," saṁsāra tathāya pāya parābhava "yathāyogya-bhoga," nāhi tathā roga, "anāsakta" sei, ki āra kahaba

"āsakti rahita" "sambandha-sahita," viṣaya-samūha sakali "mādhava."

se "yukta-vairāgya, "tāhā ta' "saubhāgya," tāhāi jaḍete harira vaibhava:

kīrtane yāhāra, "pratiṣṭhā-sambhāra,"

tāhāra sampatti kevala "kaitava."

"viṣaya-mumukṣu," "bhogera bubhukṣu," duye tyaja mana, dui "avaiṣṇava" "kṛṣṇera sambandha," aprākṛta skandha, kabhu nahe tāhā jaḍera sambhava" "māyāvādī jana," kṛṣṇetara mana,

mukta abhimāne se ninde vaiṣṇava vaiṣṇavera dāsa, tava bhakti-āśa, kena vā ḍākicha nirjana-āhava

ye "phālgur-vairāgī," kahe, nije, "tyāgī," se nā pāre kabhu haite "vaiṣṇava."

hari-pada chāḍi', nirjanatā bāḍi', labhiyā ki phala, "phalgu" se vaibhava. rādhā-dāsye nahi chāḍa bhoga-aki pratiṣṭhāśa nahe kirtanan-gaurave

kena vā nirjana-bhajana-kaitava. vrajavāsi-gaṇa, pracāraka-dhana, pratiṣṭhā-bhikṣuka tā'ra nahe "śava." prāṇa āche tā'ra, se hetu pracāra, pratiṣṭhāśā-hīna "kṛṣṇa-gāthā" saba. śrī-dayita dāsa, kīrtanete āśa,

kara uccaiḥ-svare "hari-nāma-rava."

kīrtana-prabhāve, smaraṇa haibe, se kāle bhajana-nirjana sambhava.

O wicked mind! What kind of Vaiṣṇava are you? You go off to chant in a

solitary place, but your chanting is only for name and fame (pratiṣṭhā). It is

nothing but hypocrisy. Such mundane name and fame is hog's stool.

Position, reputation, name and fame is only a snare of māyā.

Day and night you think of nothing but women and money. Why waste your time meditating on things that are temporary? You think money is the father of enjoyment, but money is not meant for your pleasure. When you claim wealth as your own, it only creates within you a lust for enjoyment. Your money should serve Kṛṣṇa, who is Mādhava, the husband of the goddess of

fortune and the enjoyer of all wealth. Satisfying the desire of beautiful women is never your domain; it is the domain of their proprietor Yadav.

 He alone can fulfill the hankering of their heart. Rāvana fought Rāma in order to achieve the highest prestige (pratiṣṭhā), but that prestige was only an illusion. His hope for prestige had grown as mighty as a great tree within the forest of desires within his heart, but the soul can find no

cooling shade there, for the "forest" is really only a mirage in the desert of

material illusion. Don't be like Rāvana, who wanted to enjoy the position of

Rāma.

Accept the position of the servant of Viṣṇu. 

Take your stand upon the foundation of pure devotional service, giving up all your hopes for false

prestige, and thus become a genuine Vaiṣṇava.

If you don't worship the position of the Vaiṣṇava, you will be doomed. Those who go to great trouble in hopes for prestige as great devotees, are envious of devotees and are rewarded for their trouble with a hellish life.

The genuine fame that follows a Vaiṣṇava is not the

same as the temporary fame that follows pretenders. The fame that follows a

Vaiṣṇava does not stink of māyā.

It has no trace of the treachery of pretentious imposters. The selfpromotion

and fame of a pseudo Vaiṣṇava is like a dog- eating whore: it is unchaste and unprincipled. Their solitary bhajan is counterfeit.

O mind, know that both the artificial fame and bogus bhajana of pseudo-devotees is a hellish

phantasmagoria.

They think: "I shall give up the kīrtana of the holy name and

pray for fame and position."

But what is the use of such "fame'"?

O mind, know for certain that Mādhavendra Purī never cheated himself in this way by robbing himself of his own internal treasure and proclaiming his greatness to the world. O mind, your fame is hog stool. No one shall ever be the equal of Māhavendra Purī, so why do you wish to compete with him for fame? Under the control of envy, you have drowned yourself in the ocean of mundane

rasa and material enjoyment. The only thing you have truly renounced is the sublime Kṛṣṇa kīrtana in the association of devotees.

O wicked mind! Your so-called solitary worship is preached and practiced by

wicked imposters who impersonate devotees for nefarious purposes. With great

care you should consider what Śrī Caitanya

Mahāprabhu taught Sanātan Goswāmī:

Loudly chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. Never forget the two most

valuable things he taught Sanātana: phalgu and yukta, "real and false

renunciation;" and baddha and mukta, "freed and enslaved."

Never mistake one for the other, or think them to be the same. 

Money, women, and fame are like tigers.

A Vaiṣṇava gives them up and keeps them at a distance. Such a devotee, who is without

material attachments, is a śuddha-vaiṣṇava.

Such a devotee has conquered over the material world and its

illusions of enjoyment. Accepting only what is needed in the service of the Lord,

he remains free from the diseased mentality of material enjoyment and dedicates

himself to the Lord's service. Free from all false attachments he sees everything

in relationship to Kṛṣṇa, understanding that everything is meant for the

pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He knows that to engage everything in the service of

Kṛṣṇa is real renunciation. Because he understands that the true position of

renunciation is in dedicating everything to Kṛṣṇa, he is truly fortunate.

Although he lives within the material world he dwells within the revelation of

Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, and experiences the extension of the spiritual world within

the material world.

On the other hand, one who chants the holy name of the Lord for name and

fame is simply a hypocrite and a cheater. His renunciation is false.

O mind!

give up the association of both those who want liberation and those who want

material enjoyment. They are all non devotees.

What is in connection with Kṛṣṇa is aprākṛta: non material and supra

mundane.

The divine things in relation to Kṛṣṇa should never be seen as

material.

By virtue of its divine connection with

Kṛṣṇa a thing becomes transcendental. It is therefore impossible for it to be anything less than divine. Every wave is favourable.

The māyāvādīs can never think of Kṛṣṇa. Proud of their piety, they think

themselves liberated and blaspheme the

Vaiṣṇavas.

O mind:

your only prayer is to be the servant of the devotees. Make this prayer

your only contemplation. Why do you want to go off and leave the devotees. A

phalgu-vairāgī does not understand that the true meaning of renunciation is

devotion.

In the dress of a devotee, such an impostor calls himself a tyāgī, a

great renouncer, but he is only a great pretender. He will never be a true

Vaiṣṇava. Giving up the lotus feet of Śrī Hari, he leaves the Lord's service

behind in order to perform his "worship" in a solitary place. Having left the

service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the association of devotees, what will he get by

becoming famous as a humble man? Those who, in a false spirit of

renunciation, give up the service of Kṛṣṇa, the association of Vaiṣṇavas and the

order of the guru to execute solitary bhajana may sit in their hut and chant, but

the only fruit they get is false. What is the use of such foolishness?

O mind! Always engage yourself in the service of Śrī Rādhā, and keep aloof

from the snake of material enjoyment. There is nothing glorious about

performing kīrtana simply for name and fame. You are the eternal servant of

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Why then do you renounce her for the cheating process of

nirjana-bhajana? Why do you run after false renunciation and so give up the

service of Śrī Rādhā? The residents of Vṛndāvana are the real object of

preaching. They do not aspire for false prestige, nor are they devoid of life, as

are the false renunciates. Those who have spiritual vitality can preach and

instill spiritual life in their audience. Preaching is the symptom of vitality. One

who preaches the message of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is devoid of hopes for

prestige.

Śrī Dayita Dāsa, (Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta) the humble servant of Śrī Rādhā and

her beloved Kṛṣṇa always hopes for kīrtana, and begs everyone to sing the holy

name of the Lord aloud. By the influence of such kīrtana, one may gradually

come to the exalted stage of smaraṇam, wherein one constantly remembers the

pastimes of Kṛṣṇa within one's mind. Nirjana- bhājana is conceivable only after

attaining this advanced level of Kṛṣṇa-bhakti. (Mahājana-racita Gīta,

Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.)