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Kanistha-adhikaris devotees follow the routine formulas and sometimes quarrel among themselves, considering one type of devotion better than another

2020-07-18T13:42:59Z

162.158.118.170: Moved from category 'Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 6' to category 'Sri Isopanisad Mantras 01 to 18, Translations and Purports'

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{{terms|"Such devotees follow the routine formulas and sometimes quarrel among themselves, considering one type of devotion better than another"}}
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[[Category:Kanistha-adhikari - Devotees of God]]
[[Category:Kanistha-adhikari Devotees of God Follow the Routine Formulas]]
[[Category:Sometimes a Devotee of God]]
[[Category:Routine]]
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[[Category:Quarrel (Amongst Devotees of God)]]
[[Category:Kanistha-adhikari Devotees of God Sometimes Quarrel Among Themselves]]
[[Category:Kanistha-adhikari Devotees of God Consider One Type of Devotion Better than Another]]
[[Category:Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 6]]
[[Category:Sri Isopanisad Mantras 01 to 18, Translations and Purports]]
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<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<div id="Sri_Isopanisad" class="sub_section" sec_index="8" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Sri Isopanisad"><h3>Sri Isopanisad</h3>
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<div id="ISO6_1" class="quote" parent="Sri_Isopanisad" book="OB" index="8" link="ISO 6" link_text="Sri Isopanisad 6">
<div class="heading">Such devotees follow the routine formulas and sometimes quarrel among themselves, considering one type of devotion better than another. These kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs are actually materialistic devotees who are simply trying to transcend the material boundary to reach the spiritual plane.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:ISO 6|Sri Isopanisad 6, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">He who sees systematically everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything never hates anything or any being.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>This is a description of the mahā-bhāgavata, the great personality who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord's presence is realized in three stages. The kaniṣṭha-adhikārī is in the lowest stage of realization. He goes to a place of worship, such as a temple, church or mosque, according to his religious faith, and worships there according to scriptural injunctions. Devotees in this stage consider the Lord to be present at the place of worship and nowhere else. They cannot ascertain who is in what position in devotional service, nor can they tell who has realized the Supreme Lord. Such devotees follow the routine formulas and sometimes quarrel among themselves, considering one type of devotion better than another. These kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs are actually materialistic devotees who are simply trying to transcend the material boundary to reach the spiritual plane.</p>
<p>Those who have attained the second stage of realization are called madhyama-adhikārīs. These devotees observe the distinctions between four categories of being: (1) the Supreme Lord; (2) the devotees of the Lord; (3) the innocent, who have no knowledge of the Lord; and (4) the atheists, who have no faith in the Lord and hate those in devotional service. The madhyama-adhikārī behaves differently toward these four classes of person. He adores the Lord, considering Him the object of love; he makes friends with those who are in devotional service; he tries to awaken the dormant love of God in the hearts of the innocent; and he avoids the atheists, who deride the very name of the Lord.</p>
<p>Above the madhyama-adhikārī is the uttama-adhikārī, who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee does not discriminate between an atheist and a theist but sees everyone as part and parcel of God. He knows that there is no essential difference between a vastly learned brāhmaṇa and a dog in the street, because both of them are part and parcel of the Lord, although they are encaged in different bodies on account of the different qualities of their activities in their previous lives. He sees that the brāhmaṇa particle of the Supreme Lord has not misused his little independence given him by the Lord and that the dog particle has misused his independence and is therefore being punished by the laws of nature by being encaged in the form of a dog. Not considering the respective actions of the brāhmaṇa and the dog, the uttama-adhikārī tries to do good to both. Such a learned devotee is not misled by material bodies but is attracted by the spiritual spark within them.</p>
<p>Those who imitate an uttama-adhikārī by flaunting a sense of oneness or fellowship but who behave on the bodily platform are actually false philanthropists. The conception of universal brotherhood must be learned from an uttama-adhikārī and not from a foolish person who does not properly understand the individual soul or the Supreme Lord's Supersoul expansion, who dwells everywhere.</p>
<p>It is clearly mentioned in this sixth mantra that one should "observe," or systematically see. This means that one must follow the previous ācāryas, the perfected teachers. Anupaśyati is the exact Sanskrit word used in this connection. Anu means "to follow," and paśyati means "to observe." Thus the word anupaśyati means that one should not see things as he does with the naked eye but should follow the previous ācāryas. Due to material defects, the naked eye cannot see anything properly. One cannot see properly unless one has heard from a superior source, and the highest source is the Vedic wisdom, which is spoken by the Lord Himself. Vedic truths are coming in disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahmā, from Brahmā to Nārada, from Nārada to Vyāsa, and from Vyāsa to many of his disciples. Formerly there was no need to record the messages of the Vedas, because people in earlier ages were more intelligent and had sharper memories. They could follow the instructions simply by hearing once from the mouth of a bona fide spiritual master.</p>
<p>At present there are many commentaries on the revealed scriptures, but most of them are not in the line of disciplic succession coming from Śrīla Vyāsadeva, who originally compiled the Vedic wisdom. The final, most perfect and sublime work by Śrīla Vyāsadeva is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. There is also the Bhagavad-gītā, which was spoken by the Lord Himself and recorded by Vyāsadeva. These are the most important revealed scriptures, and any</p>
<p>commentary that contradicts the principles of the Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is unauthorized. There is complete agreement among the Upaniṣads, Vedānta-sūtra, Vedas, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and no one should try to reach any conclusion about the Vedas without receiving instructions from members of Vyāsadeva's disciplic succession, who believe in the Personality of Godhead and His diverse energies as they are explained in Śrī Īśopaniṣad.</p>
<p>According to the Bhagavad-gītā (18.54), only one who is already on the liberated platform (brahma-bhūta ([[Vanisource:SB 4.30.20|SB 4.30.20]])) can become an uttama-adhikārī devotee and see every living being as his own brother. This vision cannot be had by politicians, who are always after some material gain. One who imitates the symptoms of an uttama-adhikārī may serve another's outward body for the purpose of fame or material reward, but he does not serve the spirit soul. Such an imitator can have no information of the spiritual world. The uttama-adhikārī sees the spirit soul within the material body and serves him as spirit. Thus the material aspect is automatically served.</p>
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Sometimes a devotee in santa-rasa yawns, stretches his limbs, instructs on devotional service, offers respectful obeisances unto the form of the Lord, offers nice prayers to the Lord and has a desire to give direct service with his body

2020-07-18T10:22:32Z

162.158.118.170: Moved from category 'The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 35 - Neutral Love of God' to category 'The Nectar of Devotion Chapters 01 to 51'

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{{terms|"Sometimes a devotee in śānta-rasa yawns, stretches his limbs, instructs on devotional service, offers respectful obeisances unto the form of the Lord, offers nice prayers to the Lord and has a desire to give direct service with his body"}}
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{{compiler|MahaprabhuCaitanya}}
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[[Category:Santa-rasa Devotees of God]]
[[Category:Yawning of a Devotee of God‏]]
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[[Category:Devotional Service of a Devotee of God]]
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[[Category:Santa-rasa - Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Yawning in Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Stretching Limbs in Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Instructing Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Offering Respectful Obeisances to God]]
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[[Category:Offering Prayers to God]]
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[[Category:Direct Devotional Service to God]]
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[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 35 - Neutral Love of God]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapters 01 to 51]]
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<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<h3>Nectar of Devotion</h3>
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Sometimes a devotee in śānta-rasa yawns, stretches his limbs, instructs on devotional service, offers respectful obeisances unto the form of the Lord, offers nice prayers to the Lord and has a desire to give direct service with his body. These are some of the common symptoms of the devotee who is situated in neutrality. One devotee, after observing the yawning of another devotee, addressed him thus: "My dear mystic, I think that within your heart there is some ecstatic devotional love which is causing you to yawn." It is sometimes found that a devotee in the śānta-rasa falls down on the ground, his hairs stand up on his body, and he trembles all over. In this way, different symptoms of ecstatic trance are exhibited automatically by such devotees.
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[[Vanisource:NOD 35 (1970)|Nectar of Devotion, 35]]
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In the [[Vanisource:SB 3.15.43|Third Canto, 15th Chapter, 43rd verse]] of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is a statement by the four saintly persons known as Catuḥsana, headed by Sanaka-kumāra. They went to visit the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha-loka in the spiritual sky, and when they bowed down before the Lord, the aroma of the tulasī, mixed with saffron, entered their nostrils and immediately attracted their minds. Although these four saintly persons were always absorbed in the thought of impersonal Brahman, from association with the Lord and from smelling the tulasī leaves, the hairs on their bodies immediately stood up. This shows that even a person who is situated in Brahman realization, if he is put into association with devotees in pure devotional service, will immediately become attracted to the personal feature of the Lord.

There are certain symptoms of great sages who are situated in śānta-rasa devotional service, and these symptoms are exhibited as follows: they concentrate their eyesight on the tip of the nose, and they behave just like an avadhūta. Avadhūta means a highly elevated mystic who does not care for any social, religious or Vedic conventions. Another symptom is that such persons are very careful to step forward when giving speeches. When they speak, they join together the forefinger and thumb. (This is called the jñāna-mudrā position.) They are not against the atheists, nor are they particularly inclined to the devotees. Such persons give stress to liberation and detachment from the materialistic way of life. They are always neutral and have no affection for nor misidentification with anything material. They are always grave, but fully absorbed in thoughts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These uncommon features develop in devotees who are situated in śānta-rasa.

Regarding concentration of the eyesight on the tip of the nose, there is a statement in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu by a devotee who observed this being performed by a yogī. He remarked, "This great sage is concentrating his eyesight on the tip of his nose, and from this it appears that he has already realized the eternal form of the Lord within himself."

Sometimes a devotee in śānta-rasa yawns, stretches his limbs, instructs on devotional service, offers respectful obeisances unto the form of the Lord, offers nice prayers to the Lord and has a desire to give direct service with his body. These are some of the common symptoms of the devotee who is situated in neutrality. One devotee, after observing the yawning of another devotee, addressed him thus: "My dear mystic, I think that within your heart there is some ecstatic devotional love which is causing you to yawn." It is sometimes found that a devotee in the śānta-rasa falls down on the ground, his hairs stand up on his body, and he trembles all over. In this way, different symptoms of ecstatic trance are exhibited automatically by such devotees.

In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu it is said that when Lord Kṛṣṇa was blowing His conchshell known as Pāñcajanya many great sages who were living in the caves of the mountains immediately reacted, being awakened from their trance of meditation. They immediately saw that the hairs of their bodies were standing. Sometimes devotees in śānta-rasa become stunned, peaceful, jubilant, deliberate, reflective, anxious, dexterous and argumentative. These symptoms indicate continuous ecstasy, or established emotion.

Once a great realized sage was lamenting that the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa was living in Dvārakā but that he was unable to take advantage of seeing Him. After thinking this, the sage immediately became stunned. He was thinking that he was simply wasting his time. In other words, the sage lamented because the Supreme Personality of Godhead was personally present, and he still could not take advantage of this because of his meditation.

When a mystic is transcendental to all kinds of mental concoctions and is situated in Brahman, his state is called trance beyond the influence of the material conception of life. In that stage, when one hears about the transcendental pastimes of the Lord, there may be shivering in the body.

When a Brahman-realized devotee who has come to the stage of steady trance comes into contact with the eternal form of Kṛṣṇa, his transcendental pleasure increases millions of times. One great sage once inquired from another, "My dear friend, do you think that after I perfect the eightfold yoga performance I shall be able to see the eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead?" This enquiry from the sage is an instance of inquisitiveness in a devotee situated in the neutral stage of devotional service.

When Lord Kṛṣṇa, along with His elder brother Balarāma and sister Subhadrā, came to Kurukṣetra in a chariot on the occasion of a solar eclipse, many mystic yogīs also came. When these mystic yogīs saw Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, they exclaimed that now that they had seen the excellent bodily effulgence of the Lord, they had almost forgotten the pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization. In this connection one of the mystics approached Kṛṣṇa and said, "My dear Lord, You are always full with transcendental bliss, excelling all other spiritual positions. And so, simply by seeing You from a distant place, I have come to the conclusion that there is no need of my being situated in the transcendental bliss of impersonal Brahman."

When a great mystic was once awakened from his meditative trance by hearing the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's Pāñcajanya conchshell, the mystic became overpowered. So much so, in fact, that he began to bash his head on the ground, and with eyes full of tears of ecstatic love, he violated all the rules and regulations of his yoga performances. Thus he at once neglected the process of Brahman realization.
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