20260223 Śrī Caitanya-śīksāmṛta 8 - Conclusion

Eighth Shower — Conclusion

Do not consider this small book of ours to be a book of āsvādana (relish). Consider it a book of vicāra (deliberation). If it were a book of āsvādana, then the līlā descriptions of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s līlā, of the supremely excellent madhura-rasa, would have been written here.

The āsvādana of līlā is written in many books.

Note:

* Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, Śrī Jayadeva’s Gīta-Govinda, Śrī Bilvamaṅgala’s Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛta, Śrī Lalita-Mādhava, and Śrī Vidagdha-Mādhava.

Moreover, all those truths, being solely subjects of āsvādana, are difficult to write within this book. This book is solely devoted to pure deliberation.

Notes:

+ The astonishing fruits of deliberating on the vicāra-granthas are described in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta as follows:—

saba śrotā-gaṇera kari caraṇa vandana
e saba siddhānta śuna, kari’ eka mana

siddhānta baliyā citte nā kara alasa
ihā ha-ite kṛṣṇe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa

I offer my obeisances unto the feet of all who hear or read this discourse. Kindly hear with attention the conclusion of all these statements.

If it were meant for enjoyment, it would have contained descriptions of the sweetest divine plays of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. A sincere student should not neglect the discussion of such conclusions, considering them controversial, for such discussions strengthen the mind. Thus one’s mind becomes attached to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 2.116, 117.

ataeva bhāgavata karaha vicāra
ihā haite pābe sūtra-śrutira artha-sāra

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, “Study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam very scrutinizingly. Then you will understand the actual meaning of the Brahma-sūtra.” Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 2.116, 117.

Jayapataka Swami: This book is a deliberation of the different aspects of kṛṣṇa-bhakti. It doesn’t particularly go into the līlā-rahasya – it simply gives us an overview of the structure of kṛṣṇa-bhakti. So that is something which is very useful and we can see that kṛṣṇa-bhakti is very elaborate. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

* * *

Four types of Conditioned Life

The paṇḍitas say that deliberation (vicāra) consists of five components:

Viṣaya (subject)

Saṁśaya (doubt)

Saṅgati (connection)

Pūrvapakṣa (opposing view)

Siddhānta (conclusion)

What is the subject (Viṣaya) of our deliberation? Such a question may arise. We reply: the jīva’s life itself is the subject of this deliberation. What is the doubt (Saṁśaya)? The answer to this question is: What is life, and what is its purpose? Our connection (saṅgati) is this: the jīva’s life is of two kinds—

Śuddha-jīvana (pure life)

Baddha-jīvana (conditioned life)

Śuddha-jīvana exists in the pure spiritual realm (śuddha-ciddhāma). It is eternally pure and blissful. There is no scarcity, sorrow, fear and death there. Baddha-jīvana exists in this material world (jaḍa-jagat).

It too is of two types:

Bahirmukha (attracted by the external material tendency, turn away from the service of the Lord)

Antarmukha (internal spiritual tendency)

Bahirmukha life does not aim toward the ciddhāma; it has no facing toward it. Antarmukha life, though seen similar to bahirmukha life, honors facing toward the ciddhāma and seeks it as the principal goal.

Bahirmukha baddha-jīvana is of four kinds:

Nītiśūnya nirīśvara baddha-jīvana (immoral, godless conditioned life)

Naitika nirīśvara baddha-jīvana (moral, godless conditioned life)

Naitika seśvara baddha-jīvana (moral, theistic conditioned life)

Nirviśeṣa-cintā-vikṛta jīvana (distorted life of impersonal contemplation)

Nītiśūnya nirīśvara baddha-jīvana (immoral, godless conditioned life)

Nītiśūnya nirīśvara baddha-jīvana  is of two kinds:

Sub-human life (naretara-jīvana)

Human life (nara-jīvana)

The lives of animals, birds, etc., are sub-human lives. In such lives, the faculty of intelligence is nearly extinct. Human life devoid of moral-intellectual discernment is again divided into two types:

- The first is the extremely uncivilized condition of primitive man’s wild-natured life. In wild-natured life, man acts according to his own desires like animals. Driven by fear and hope, he considers various dazzling inert objects like the moon, sun, etc., as different gods. In this state, there is no ethics, no real God. The devotional tendency inherent in the perfected state of the living entity is almost extinct, yet it gives a faint indication of his essence—just that.

- The second stage of the human life devoid of moral-intellectual discernment is that of one who, having acquired knowledge of matter and material energy, advances in various physical sciences and arts through the application of logic, and serves the pleasures of the senses—yet does not accept nīti or God. Their goal is not directed towards God or nīti.

2. Naitika nirīśvara baddha-jīvana (moral, godless conditioned life)

When the previously described life becomes infused with moral regard, it transforms into naitika nirīśvara baddha-jīvana. This is the second type of conditioned life.

3. Naitika seśvara baddha-jīvana (moral, theistic conditioned life)

When belief in God is added to the previously described life, it becomes naitika seśvara baddha-jīvana moral, (theistic conditioned life). In this life, duties toward God remain subordinate to moral principles, and thus the bahirmukhata (attraction to the external material tendency) is not eliminated. This is the third type of conditioned life.

4. Nirviśeṣa-cintā-vikṛta jīvana (distorted life of impersonal contemplation)

Where extreme impersonal contemplation gains dominance in such a life, and accepting life under its subordination, one is removed from the hand of moral obligation, and gradually belief in God is transformed into a belief in undifferentiated non-duality—there, a nirviśeṣa-cintā-vikṛta bahirmukha jīvana (external distorted life of impersonal contemplation) is observed. This is the fourth type of bahirmukha conditioned life.

Jayapataka Swami: So the first kind is one follows without any conception of morality or God or anything. Second one there is morality but no conception of God. Third one there is a conception of God but morality is considered more important. The fourth one is impersonal realization. So, these are the different stages of the material baddha-jīvana. So what is the modern society in? Immoral, godless, conditioned life. Or a moral, godless conditioned life or moral, theistic conditioned life. Some people may say, you should not tell a lie, you should not steal but they are atheists. So, they believe in morality, but they are godless. And where someone is immoral, godless, that is the first stage. So, we are all in conditioned life in this material world and you are all Vaiṣṇavas and Vaiṣṇavī. So we need to be very committed to serving Kṛṣṇa. Then naturally, you are in a liberated stage.

Sādhana-bhakta-jīvana (The Life of a Devotee in Practice)

Those who, knowing the Supreme Lord to be the all-in-all of life, conduct their life-journey by subordinating all science, art, ethics, theism, and thought to devotion to God—their lives, though externally bound, are antarmukha. This antarmukha life is called the life of sādhana-bhakti. The main goal of life is for the soul to be situated in spiritual rasa, having eliminated unlimited material relationships and become established in its kindled, pure natural sva-dharma. That alone is the fruit of the antarmukha life.

By hearing this saṅgati (exposition) of ours, the souls who are conditioned by false impressions and situated in the four types of bahirmukha conditioned lives previously mentioned, each formulate a pūrvapakṣa (preliminary objection or opposing view) from their respective convictions. Sitting within their own compartments, the souls of each such state, with the help of reasoning, examine the viṣaya (subject), saṁśaya (doubt), and saṅgati (connection) of this exposition, and thereby arrive at individual siddhāntas (conclusions). These conclusions are presented to us in the form of pūrvapakṣas. Now, the point here is this: the living entity who formulates a pūrvapakṣa from a particular level of life—his objection is already refuted by the living entity situated in the immediately higher level of life, who has established his own conclusion. Simply by mentioning those conclusions, the conclusions of the lower level of life become nullified. The level of life that is observed immediately below our own—the refutation of the conclusions of that level of life is our own task. We shall perform that very task. In our book, those conclusions have been presented here and there. To make it simple, we shall now briefly re-examine them.

Jayapataka Swami: Each of these four divisions of material life, the next higher division defeats the one before. So, it defeats the one before. Better to be moral than immoral. Then better to believe in God than not. But the highest material conditioning is impersonal. If one wants to serve Kṛṣṇa, then he is already antarmukha. People may say, I believe in God, but they don’t really serve Him! And maybe at best, they pray to Him, please give me this, that. So all these different conditions are in the bahirmukha stage. Where they are identifying with the material body and trying to satisfy their material body. When one wants to actually serve Krsna, that is devotional service.