Srila Prabhupada
on Vaisnavas
SB 4.21.40
Instructions by Maharaja Prthu
By regular service to the brahmanas and Vaisnavas, one can
clear the dirt from his heart and thus enjoy supreme peace and
liberation from material attachment and be satisfied. In this world
there is no fruitive activity superior to serving the brahmana class, for
this can bring pleasure to the demigods, for whom the many sacrifices
are recommended.
PURPORT
In Bhagavad-gita (2.65) it is said: prasade sarva-duhkhanam
hanir asyopajayate. Unless one is self-satisfied, he cannot be free
from the miserable conditions of material existence. Therefore it is
essential to render service to the brahmanas and Vaisnavas to achieve
the perfection of self-satisfaction. Srila Narottama
dasa Thakura therefore says:
tandera carana sevi bhakta-sane
vasa
janame janame haya, ei abhilasa
"Birth after birth I desire to serve the lotus feet of
the acaryas and live in a society of devotees." A spiritual
atmosphere can be maintained only by living in a society of devotees and by serving
the orders of the acaryas. The spiritual master is the best brahmana.
At present, in the age of Kali, it is very difficult to render
service to the brahmana-kula, or the brahmana class. The difficulty,
according to the Varaha Purana, is that demons, taking advantage of Kali-yuga,
have taken birth in brahmana families. Raksasah kalim asritya
jayante brahma-yonisu (Varaha Purana). In other words, in this age there
are many so-called caste brahmanas and caste Gosvamis who,
taking advantage of the sastra and of the innocence of people in
general, claim to be brahmanas and Vaisnavas by hereditary
right. One will not derive any benefit by rendering service to such false
brahmana-kulas.
One must therefore take shelter of a bona fide spiritual
master and his associates and should also render service to them, for
such activity will greatly help the neophyte in attaining
full satisfaction. This has been very clearly
explained by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his explanation of the verse
vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana (Bg. 2.41). By actually following
the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga as recommended by Srila
Narottama dasa Thakura, one can very quickly come to the transcendental
platform of liberation, as explained in this verse (atyanta-samam).
The particular use of the word anativelam ("without delay") is very
significant because simply by serving brahmanas and Vaisnavas one can
get liberation. There is no need to undergo severe penances and
austerities. The vivid example of this is Narada Muni himself. In his
previous birth, he was simply a maidservant's son, but he got the
opportunity to serve exalted brahmanas and Vaisnavas, and thus in his
next life he not only became liberated, but became famous as the
supreme spiritual master of the entire Vaisnava disciplic succession.
According to the Vedic system, therefore, it is customarily
recommended that after performing a ritualistic ceremony, one should
feed the brahmanas.
SB 4.21.41
Instructions by Maharaja Prthu
Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Ananta, eats
through the fire sacrifices offered in the names of the different demigods,
He does not take as much pleasure in eating through fire as He does
in accepting offerings through the mouths of learned sages and
devotees, for then He does not leave the association of
devotees.
PURPORT
According to Vedic injunctions, a fire sacrifice is held in
order to give food to the Supreme personality of Godhead in the names of
the different demigods. While performing a fire sacrifice, one
pronounces the word svaha in mantras such as indraya svaha and adityaya
svaha. These mantras are uttered to satisfy the Supreme personality
of Godhead through demigods such as Indra and Aditya, for the
Supreme Personality of Godhead says:
naham tisthami vaikunthe
yoginam hrdayesu va
tatra tisthami narada
yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah
"I am not in Vaikuntha nor in the hearts of the yogis.
I remain where My devotees engage in glorifying My activities." It
is to be understood that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not
leave the company of His devotees.
Fire
is certainly devoid of life, but devotees and brahmanas
are the living representatives of the Supreme Lord.
Therefore to feed brahmanas and Vaisnavas is to feed the Supreme Personality of
Godhead directly. It may be concluded that instead of
offering fire sacrifices, one should offer foodstuffs to brahmanas and
Vaisnavas, for that process is more effective than fire
yajna. The vivid example of this principle in action was given by Advaita Prabhu. When
He performed the sraddha ceremony for His father, He first of all
called Haridasa Thakura and offered him food. It is the practice that
after finishing the sraddha ceremony, one should offer food to an
elevated brahmana. But Advaita Prabhu offered food first to Haridasa
Thakura, who had taken his birth in a Muhammadan family. Therefore
Haridasa Thakura asked Advaita Prabhu why He was doing something which
might jeopardize His position in brahmana society. Advaita Prabhu
replied that He was feeding millions of first-class brahmanas by offering
the food to Haridasa Thakura. He was prepared to talk with any
learned brahmana on this point and prove definitely that by offering food to
a pure devotee like Haridasa Thakura, He was equally as blessed as
He would have been by offering food to thousands of learned
brahmanas. When performing sacrifices, one offers oblations to the
sacrificial fire, but when such oblations are offered to Vaisnavas, they
are certainly more effective.
SB 3.16.9 The Two Doorkeepers of
Vaikuntha, Jaya and Vijaya
...Vaisnavas to eat
is also accepted by the Lord. But here it is said that He accepts
offerings to the mouths of brahmanas and Vaisnavas with even greater
relish. The best example of this is found in the life of Advaita
Prabhu in his dealings with Haridasa Thakura. Even though Haridasa was
born of a Muhammadan family, Advaita Prabhu offered him the
first dish of prasada after the performance of a sacred fire
ceremony. Haridasa Thakura informed him that he was born of a Muhammadan
family and asked why Advaita Prabhu was offering the first dish to a
Muhammadan instead of an elevated brahmana. Out of his humbleness, Haridasa
condemned himself a Muhammadan, but Advaita Prabhu, being an
experienced devotee, accepted him as a real brahmana. Advaita Prabhu
asserted that by offering the first dish to Haridasa Thakura, he was
getting the result of feeding one hundred thousand brahmanas. The
conclusion is that if one can feed a brahmana or Vaisnava, it is
better than performing hundreds of thousands of sacrifices. In
this age, therefore, it is recommended that harer nama--chanting the holy name of God--and pleasing the Vaisnava are
the only means
to elevate oneself to spiritual life.
SB 4.21.42 P Instructions by Maharaja Prthu
Therefore a devotee of Lord Krsna is actually a perfect
brahmana. His situation is transcendental, for he is free from the four
defects of conditional life, which are the tendencies to commit mistakes,
to be illusioned, to cheat and to possess imperfect senses. A
perfect Vaisnava, or Krsna conscious person, is always in this
transcendental position because he speaks according to Krsna and His
representative. Because Vaisnavas speak exactly according to the tune of
Krsna, whatever they say is free from these four defects. For
example, Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita that everyone should always think of
Him, everyone should become His devotee, offer Him obeisances and
worship Him, and ultimately everyone should surrender unto Him. These devotional activities are transcendental and free from
mistakes, illusion, cheating and imperfection. Therefore anyone who is a
sincere devotee of Lord Krsna and who preaches this cult, speaking
only on the basis of Krsna's instructions, is understood to be virajam, or
free from the defects of material contamination. A genuine
brahmana or Vaisnava therefore depends eternally
on the conclusion of the Vedas or Vedic versions presented by the Supreme Personality of
Godhead Himself. Only from Vedic knowledge can we understand the
actual position of the Absolute Truth.
Conclusion--to serve and feed the brahmanas and
vaisnavas is very pleasing to the Lord. This activity will liberate one
from material entanglement. However the real brahmanas and vaisnavas, as Prabhupada
writes, DEPEND ETERNALLY on the conclusion of the Vedas. This means
if the Vedas or spiritual masters sastric books have been
changed(for unauthorized reasons) then those who profess to be following
the guru are simply bogus since they are NOT depending eternally upon the
ORIGINAL AND UNADULTERATED vedas
and are in fact NOT brahmanas or vaisnavas AT ALL, but kali chelas
instead ...Simply followers of kali yuga...One who blatantly disobeys
the orders of guru has disconnected himself from the mercy of his
spiritual master..."Ye shall know them by their fruits..."(Jesus Christ)
Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das
