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Srimati Radharani

• Subject: Srimati Radharani
• From: Bhakta Paul
• Date: Wed Jun 28 12:32:59 1995
• Message-Id: id541

>tapta kancana gaurangi
>radhe vrndavanesvari
>vrsabhanu sute devi
>pranamami hari priye

"I offer my respects to Radharani, Whose bodily complexion id like molten gold and
who is the Queen of Vrndavana. You are the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, and you are
very dear to Lord Krishna."


>
>
Dear Bhakta Paul

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

>You said the only books we should read were those written and/or translated
>by Srila Prabhupada.

I am only repeating what Srila Prabhupada himself said. There are many references
in his letters. He wanted his disciples to read his books. That's why he worked so
hard to translate so many books. It is an incredible library of Krishna conscious
nectar.

>To some extent, i agree, but towards the rest of that
>statement, i wholeheartedly disagree. The books about Krishna consciousness
>that raised my own interest as well as many of my friends close to me were
>not written by Srila Prabhupada (although inspired by him). Some of these
>include Readings in Vedic Literature, Yoga for the Twenty-first Century, The
>Dark Lord (the author isn't even a Viasnava) and the most common among those
>in the hard-core crowd is In Defense of Reality. Many of Srila Prabhupada's
>books were either too hard to come by or too hard to understand for people

It seems to me then the best service you could do for the "hard-core" crowd is to
make Srila Prabhupada's books more easily available to them. Book distribution
pleases Srila Prabhupada more than anything else. It is a very good service.

There are many books by Srila Prabhupada which are not hard to understand at all.
"Beyond Birth and Death", "Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers" and "The Science of
Self Realization" to name a few.

>under the same circumstances as me (nowhere near a temple or many other
>devotees), so these books were a great help.

Yes. Everything about Krishna is good. Many of the books written by "outsiders"
are also nice in that they often give a favorable account of Krishna consciousness
and even a little bit of the philosophy. They attract people to Krishna
consciousness. Even the unfavorable ones remind people about Krishna. Krishna is
absolute...

But we have to be very careful about the Mayavadis... Their philosophy is very
dangerous. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said even a Maha Bhagavat [the topmost
devotee] could fall down from devotional service by reading the Mayavadi
philosophy. It is so dangerous. And the worst thing is thy don't say they are
Mayavadis! They read the Bhagavad-gita, they say their bhaktas, they may even be
initiated in a Viasnava sampradaya... So it is hard to tell who is who. We have to
be very careful.

>     i also think it is silly to close the doors on those books written by
>Srila Prabhupada's disciples, grand disciples, and even those before the line
>of Prabhupada. The whole point of these great devotees writing these books is
>to bring one closer to Krishna.

Actually the whole point of Krishna consciousness is to surrender to the
instructions of the bonafide spiritual master and by following his instructions
come closer to Krishna. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu clearly showed this. He was
questioned by the Mayavadis as to why he didn't study the Vedanta:

"Meditation and the study of Vedanta are the sole duties of a sannyasi. Why do You
abandon these to dance with fanatics?


"You look as brilliant as if You were Narayana Himself. Will You kindly explain
the reason that You have adopted the behavior of lower-class people?

"Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied to Prakasananda Sarasvati: "My dear sir, kindly
hear the reason. My spiritual master considered Me to be a fool, and therefore he
chastized Me.

"You are a fool," he said, "You are not qualified to study Vedanta philosophy, and
therefore You must always chant the name of Krishna. This is the essence of all
mantras or Vedic hymns.

"Srila Bhaktsiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja comments in this connection, 'One
can become perfectly successful in the mission of his life if he acts exactly
according to the words he hears from the mouth of his spiritual master.' this
acceptance of the words of the spiritual master is called srauta-vakya, which
indicates that the disciple must carry out the spiritual masters instructions
without deviation...

So my spiritual master is His DIvine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and
I must accept his instructions on this matter.

"Regarding the Gaudiya Math books being circulated there, who is distributing? Who
is sending these books? The Gaudiya Math does not sell our books, why should we
sell their books? Let me know. These books should not at all be circulated in our
society. B___ V___ T___ is very much antagonistic to our society and he has no
clear conception of devotional service. He is contaminated.

"Anyway, who has introduced these books? You say that you would read only one book
if that was all I had written, so you teach others to do like that." (to Sukadeva
Nov 14, 1973)

So these are the books of the other devotees in our sampradaya and you are saying
we should read them, but my spiritual master says NO.. So I have to accept my
spiritual master. We may not always be able to understand the instruction of our
spiritual master. It may seem unreasonable or illogical to us but disciple means
to accept the orders of the spiritual master. We have to have faith in him and his
instructions...


>It doesn't matter whether the author has been
>a devotee for ten days or ten thousand years, as long as there is someone to
>explain it and as long as the literature itself is bona fide, then there
>should be no problem.

This is completely incorrect. The potency of the book depends on the purity and
potency of the author. It is not simply a matter of writing something... There has
to be spiritual realization on the part of the author and it has to be bona fide.
He has to be precahing the same philosophy his spiritual master presented to
him... It is not automatic, people [even devotees] don't always right the corret
things... How will you know if it is bona fide or not?

The Mayavadis talk on the Bhagavad-gita and they hold "Bhagavata-sapthas" [7 day
readings of the Srimad Bhagavatam]... The books are completely bona fide... But
because they are Mayavadis the result of hearing them speak on these bona fide
books is disasterous. You will never be able to understand Krishna. It is a very
important point. One which Srila Prabhupada stresses again and again in his books.
Hearing from the Mayavadis is like drinking milk that has been touched by a
serpent. It will finish your devotional life...

So if you are reading anything and everything you are bound to read books by the
Mayavadis... then your spiritual life is finished. Their philosophy is very
attractive and it is presented as Krishna consciousness. But the subtle
differences in interpretation are disasterous.

Writing spiritual literature is not such an easy thing. It is done by self
realized souls. Of course preaching realizations is different. Srila Prabhupada
handed over the Back to Godhead for his disciples to preach in. He encouraged his
disciples to write, to preach in the Back to Godhead.


He encouraged devotees like Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Swami to write books
establishing Krishna consciousness scientifically. He authorized Satsvarupa dasa
Gosvami to write his biography. But generally he wanted us to distribute his books
and preach from his books. Just before Srila Prabhupada left his body the devotees
asked about continuing the translation of the Srimad-Bhagavatam and Parabhupada
said it was not an ordinary thing, it required great spiritual realization and he
could not see anyone among his disciples qualified to do it.

If you read anything and everything you will preach anything and everything as
well...

 < snip >


>You also mentioned how the secret affairs of Radha and Krishna are very
>confidential and an attempt to understand the Rasa-lila should begin with
>preparations, such as reading the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. i agree
>completely, but when did i mention anything about Krishna? The post was about
>Radha, not Him.

You can't think about Radha without Krishna. That is demoniac. That is common in
India in relation to the worship of Laxmi-Narayana. Laxmi is the Godess of Fortune
and Lord Narayana is Her Husband. But in India many people worship Laxmi without
Narayana. They want Laxmi [mony, fortune..] but they don't want Narayana.

We always think of Radha-Krishna. Never just Radha.

>      When i asked for references, i meant under what purports could i find
>out about Her. It was never my intention to study the Rasa-lila although i
>already have. my goal was to find out where i could read about Her, i don't
>even remember saying when i was going to read these items. i was planning on
>doing this under the direct guidance of my spiritual master, which means that
>i wouldn't really be able to start until another year. i thought it would be
>a good idea to start finding sources now, rather than when i have been given
>permission to actually begin.

I have to answer on what you have written. I have given you good advice. That is
my responsibility. You can accept it or not... That is up to you. It is not good
to start at studing Radharani. We can't understand Her without first understanding
Krishna... We have to follow the process. Study Bhagavad-gita, then Srimad
Bhagavatam from canto's 1 to 9. Then we can study Krishna's pastimes... That's the
system. What else can I say?

>     Thank you very much for the quotes from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, i
>enjoyed them extensively. my study of Radharani was going to be divided into
>several sections (i.e. Her separation from Krishna, Her place in the
>maha-mantra, serving Her, Her different qualities, pastimes, etc.) and your
>contribution very nicely deals with one of them directly.

Radha is NEVER seperated from Krishna... That's the whole point. When Krishna left
Vrndavana Her feelings for Krishna increased and increased. She couldn't sleep,
She couldn't eat , She was practically dying from separation from Krishna. But
Krishna is present in these feelings of separation. Krishna never leaves
Vrndavana. These are very subtle things to understand. It is not possible just by
study. We have to serve a pure devotee spiritual master. It is knowledge that
Krishna reveals to us from within our hearts...

>     Out of curiousity, what made you assume i don't read Srila Prabhupada's
>books; especially since i can't recall having ever spoken to you before.

I didn't say you _don't_ read Srila Prabhupada's books. Obviously you do, but I
can tell you haven't read _all_ of his books by your article. That is not meant by
me to be a criticism in any way. I was merely hinting to you that there is an
unlimited source of transcendental nectar in Srila Prabhupada's books and we
should certainly take advantage of this. Everything is there. There is no need for
outside books. That is my point.

> i
>have been given these types of stereo-types continuously. Most devotees think
>i'm a hard-core kid, so they go to great pains trying to explain things on my

>level.

I don't know who you are. I didn't know you were a hard-core kid. I just took you
as a person asking something about Krishna. My answers to anyone would be the
same.

> i can remember one devotee giving an analogy aimed specifically at me
>using guitar chords. Unfortunately, it seemed he didn't know much about the
>guitar, so i still have no idea what he was talking about.

Our business is to repeat the instructions of our spiritual master. No more no
less. We can explain the subject matter in a language suitable to our audience but
we have to present the same transcendental knowledge without changing it. That is
the process.

>But please,
>please, please tell me what your source of information is, my spiritual
>master seems to disagree with your comment.

My source of information is Srila Prabhupada as I have explained. I don't know
what your spiritual master disagrees with but it is most likely a
misunderstanding. It is sometimes difficult to communicate ideas and we are all
individuals. We have different moods.

There are clearly many different types of books that are somehow related to
Krishna. Some are clearly not bonafide [such as books published by impersonal
groups]. Some are published by other Viasnava groups. They may be bona fide or
they may not be but they will present a different "view" of the philosophy than
Prabhupada's books. This may disturb the faith of neophyte devotees in Srila
Prabhupada which is not a good thing at all. They are also written in India in a
different time and a different language. Although Krishna consciousness is eternal
we may misunderstand the language... Prabhupada has so nicely presented it all
clearly in our language so reading his books is much easier.

As far as the preaching of ISKCON devotees. As long as they are following the
regulative principles, chanting 16 rounds and preaching from Prabhupada's books
their preaching will be potent. It is not guaranteed though. If I write a book to
become a "famous devotee" rather than writing a book to help people come to
Krishna consciousness it will not have spiritual potency. So even among the books
written by Srila Prabhupada's disciples some are not bonafide... It becomes a very
fine thing. Kirtananda Maharaja, for example, has published many books, I have not
read them, because I have seen that he was preaching something different from what
Srila Prabhupada taught. So you can see it is a very fine line. The safest thing
is to just read Srila Prabhupada's books...

>     Thank you for your suggestion about hot milk and a chapter from Krishna
>book every night. It sounds like a great idea, since i used to do just that.
>Unfortunately, i haven't been able to pay for more milk, so that part of your
>suggestion is out of the question.

We should drink some milk. It nourishes the finer tissues of the brain which help
us to understand spiritual knowledge better...

>And also, i have been incredibly
>overwhelmed with preaching lately, so it's tough to find time to read lila
>books, when i was told to focus primarily on Bhakti-sastra books for the time
>being.

Of course preaching is very important. But if we don't read Srila Prabhupada's
books what will we preach? I don't know your situation. If you are living in a
temple or not. Srila Prabhupada established morning and evening programs in the
temples with Bhagavatam classes in the morning and Bhagavad-gita classes in the
evening. The classes are very important. We have to hear the Bhagavatam daily
(nitya bhagavat sevaya). So if you are not in a temple at least you have to read
something from Prabhupada's books daily. Otherwise how will you become Krishna
conscious?

I wish you all success in your quest to get the mercy of Srimati Radharani and I
pray that She bestows Her mercy on you.


Please don't take anything I have written as offensive. I have tried, to the best
of my ability, to answer your questions according to what I have read in Srila
Prabhupada's books. I am interested to hear your response to this.

Your servant,

Madhudvisa dasa

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