Harinama Cintamani – Part 5 – by HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj @ ISKCON Japan on Feb 9, 2021
That’s the fourth one, yeah. Okay, so Shastra-Ninda means criticizing or disrespecting elite scriptures. So what are scriptures? So the scriptures are considered to be perfect knowledge, particularly of the Supreme Lord.
The scriptures are non-different from the Supreme Lord. And there’s even statements like that the scriptures are the breathing of the Lord, like Hayagriva breathes out the scriptures. So what are those scriptures? We have Vedas. Vedas are considered to be eternal. They never change their content. All the words are always the same. And in each universe, it’s created, you have the same Vedas. And when another universe is created, same Vedas.
They’re put in a special class called Shruti.
We have four Vedas – Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atarva Veda. And each of these Vedas has four parts to it – Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads, and Samhitas. So the Brahmanas and Aranyakas are considered to be Karma-Kanda. Upanishads are called Jnana Kanda. And the Samhita section is called the Upasana Kanda.
The Vedas are a little difficult to understand. They’re very big. So the sages wrote simpler words, particularly for the people of Kali Yuga. And for other people who were not Brahmanas, or Kshatriya or Vaishya, the Sudras and others. So, Valmiki wrote the Ramayana, and Vedavyasa wrote Mahabharata. These are not called Shruti. They’re distinguished. They’re all called Smriti. The words are not eternal. They may change each time Vedavyasa writes the Mahabharata in the Kalpa of Brahma, it may be slightly different.
And in the Mahabharata we have Bhagavad Gita.
Besides that, Vedavyasa also wrote 18 Puranas. He wrote 6 for the people of Tamo guna, 6 for the people of Rajo guna, 6 for the people of Sattva guna. For the people in Tamo guna, he praises Lord Shiva, Agni, and Pitras. For the people in Rajo guna – in rajasic purnas, he praises Brahma, so people worship Brahma. And for the people in Sattva guna, they worship Vishnu.
Translator Devotee: This is all stories?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Largely, there’s some philosophy also, like in the Bhagavad Gita, there’s story and philosophy.
And then we have Smriti. We have Manu Smriti, and all these other Smriti Shastras, many, many of them. They deal with Varnashram rules, basically. Then we have 108 pancharatrika texts. These are all about Vishnu, worship of Vishnu. So this is a lot of scripture. Ultimately, the message is the same.
Translator Devotee: Pancharatra is about Deity worship?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yes. Okay, so because there are so many scriptures, it’s a little confusing. But Vedavyasa and others – they conveyed the same message through these different works of the Vedas. The essence of the Vedas is Upanishads and Upanishads is summarized in Brahma Sutras and in Puranas. But everything finally is summarized in Srimad Bhagavatam.
So, why we need scriptures? We need scriptures because, human beings have faulty perception, faulty knowledge. So, one of these faulty things is, our senses are limited. We cannot see everything with our senses. Even if we can see something, we make mistakes, or even though we’re capable of seeing something, we don’t see it, because we’re inattentive. The fourth is cheating. Even if we have correct perceptions, we will not tell the truth. We will say something else. So, even concerning the material world, we make mistakes because of these four defects.
So, the Supreme Lord is beyond our material senses, so therefore we cannot really use our senses and mind at all in discussing about the Supreme Lord. Therefore, we need scriptures. Even concerning the perception of things in the material world, we cannot correctly perceive things as they are because of these four defects. Therefore, we need scriptures.
Scriptures are the way in which we can get perfect knowledge of anything spiritual. This is called Pramana or proof. Scripture is proof. So, what does the scripture prove? We have different subject matters covered. What are they proving?
- Sambandha, the philosophy.
- Avidya, what is our process, Bhakti .
- What is the goal ? – Prema.
So, we can break this down further. Under Sambandha, we have..
- Supreme Lord is Vishnu.
- The Lord has energies by which He produces a real world – a real spiritual world, a real material world.
- The Supreme Lord is the source of bliss and rasa.
- One of the energies produces are Jivas, which are parts of the Lord.
- Some Jivas are in bondage, under illusion.
- Some are liberated.
- Krishna is different and non-different from his energies – Acintya bedha abedha Tattva.
So, this is Samandha.
So, previously we had this diagram, Supreme Lord, He has spiritual energy with spiritual world. He has achit shakti – material world, He has Jiva shaktis. Jiva shaktis can be in material world – conditioned or in spiritual world – liberated.
So, the next point is the abhidheya, that is..
8. Bhakti to Vishnu or Krishna is the supreme process and in that, we get Holy name. And Karma and jnana are indirect methods.
9. The last point is the prayojana.. that is, Prema. And in Prema the devotee experiences rasa and bliss.
How do we study? We have to approach guru and take the conclusions of scripture, through the Parampara system.
There are many people who reject the Vedic scripture. So, we have the Buddhists, the Jains, Charvakas, Muslims, Christians.
Translator Devotee: Charvaka is what kind?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Material.. [Laughs] Eat and (be merry) [Audio not clear] Enjoy life.
Some people accept the Vedas, but they misinterpret the Vedas. So Jaimini explains or propound Karma Kanda and worship of devatas. Gautama and Kanada – they use logic to understand we are not the body, but they don’t understand about it. And Kapila or the Sankhya philosophy – atheistic Sankhya philosophy, he says the Lord doesn’t create material world, just understand (Brahman) [Audio not clear]. Patanjali proposes yoga and in that Yoga finally you realize atma. And Shankara, this is Vedanta philosophy, Shankara propose mayavada philosophy, the world is illusion that only impersonal brahman exists, so this is again not proper meaning of scripture, even if he accepts the Vedas.
So why do they come up with wrong meaning? They give a lot of indirect meaning to the words or they take statements out of the context of the whole paragraph or the whole chapter. To get the correct meaning of sastra, we take the direct meaning of the words as much as possible. In any statement, we should harmonize with the whole of the work. If we take the correct meaning of the word as much as possible and the correct context, conclusion is we should do Bhakti and chant the holy names of the Lord [Laughs].
So we’re talking about Shastra-Ninda, criticizing the scriptures. It consists of two things, one is, if you reject the scriptures completely like Buddhism, Jainism, Tarot, etc. The other is we get the wrong conclusions [Laughs], if we interpret even if we accept the scriptures. So, what is the remedy? We have to offer respects to the scriptures, especially the Bhagavatam, the essence of all.
We have something called “Artha vada” – this means interpreting the holy name or thinking the names are imaginary or exaggeration.
[Japanese conversation and conversation about the Presentation – which is not so clear]
The name is glorified in the scriptures, and it gives all sorts of material goals and spiritual goals that you can get from it. So, these are not exaggerated.
- It’s the best punya.
- It gives the highest results of Karma Yoga.
- It gives the best results of Jnana.
- Chanting the holy name is the best Vrata.
- Best Tapasya.
- It is the best meditation.
- It is the best renunciation.
- It gives the highest peace.
- It’s the best way to get mercy of the Lord.
- It gives the highest abode, Goloka.
- It gives the highest Prema.
- It’s non different from the Lord.
So there’s no exaggeration or imagination in any of these statements.
However, when the scriptures talk about Karma Kanda, there is exaggeration. So we’ll find many statements that praise doing Karma and sacrifices like Svargaloka is eternal etc. But it’s often exaggerated, because the goals are all material. It’s exaggeration, because they have to give them faith to follow that process. The intention is that, by following this Karma Kanda, Worshipping Devatas, etc., by following those Vratas, etc., and getting some of the results, hopefully they will become indifferent to enjoyment, and they develop Nishikama Karma-Yoga.
By following the Karma Kanda rituals, the desire for objects, which is called Nishikama karma, will decrease. So Nishikama karma-yoga is somewhat favorable to Bhakti , so then they can approach Bhakti further.
In Bhakti Yoga, the requirement is faith – in pure Bhakti . So, you don’t have to exaggerate anything, because there is no material motivation or desire for liberation in that Bhakti at all. So, there is no necessity of exaggerating anything. So the scriptures speak of the material results you get from Bhakti like liberation and Prema, but the devotee is not interested in the liberation or the material results.
Despite Nāmābhāsa , not even pure chanting, you can get all the results of Karma and Jnāna, all enjoyment and liberation. If we do pure chanting, then we get Prema. So the Lord is all-powerful, He can give anything. So in the process of Karma-Yoga, He puts His material energy, so you could enjoy. And He puts the impersonal energy into Jnāna. And in Bhakti and the Holy name, He puts all of His energy, it’s non different from Krishna. So the Lord puts a little energy in Karma, a little energy in Yoga, a little in Jnāna. He puts everything in Bhakti, in the Holy Name.
So what is this aparādha? What is this aparādha of “Artha vada”? We minimize the glories of the Holy Name which are stated in the scriptures. So if it says that by chanting Nāmābhāsa very easily you get liberation in a second, then we’ll say, oh, that’s exaggeration, it’s imaginary, it’s not really true. Another is to interpret the name. We’ll use material logic to give meaning to the name.
So what is the cause of this effect? So the reason is ignorance, misunderstanding. We don’t understand the position of the Lord. We don’t understand the name and the Lord are non-different. And it’s often caused by associating with people who are attached to Karma and Jnāna.
What is the remedy if we prevent this offense? The person should reveal his offense to the Vaishnavas and ask forgiveness. He should avoid association with Jnānīs and the Karmīs. And if he’s contacted such people, he has to purify himself.
This is another aparādha, to equate the chanting of the name with Karma-Kanda – material karma. The name is non-different from the Supreme Lord, and you chant the holy name, you get to Goloka, you serve the Lord eternally.
So the process of Karma is for people who are in material consciousness, pure death, and the Lord gives all sorts of methods like Vāraṇāśrama system and Yoga. He gives Sacrifices, Charities, Worship of Pitras and Devatas and process of Jnāna Yoga. The results of this Karma-Kanda, Karma-Yoga, are material, they are impermanent. So it’s only an indirect approach. So this is a slow process of advancement.
So the name is actually in its pure form is the goal – it is Prema itself, not the means. But by the mercy of the Lord, the name appears in the material world and becomes the means – the sadhana, in order to get to the pure goal (prema). Karma is not a goal, it’s only a means to get to Bhakti. Once we get Bhakti, we give up the Karma. So the two processes are quite different, we cannot equate Karma with Bhakti at all.
So, here we see, the gunas of material nature – from Tamo guna, Rajo guna, Sattva guna and beyond gunas – Nirguna. And on the second column we find karma yoga with lot of desires – Sakama Karma Yoga. Then we have Niskama Karma Yoga – do the Karma Yoga with no desires and through that we rise up to sattva guna. In sattva guna we do jnana yoga and ashtanga yoga. But Bhakti yoga is beyond the gunas completely, the final goal.
So the name is Nirguna, Bhakti is nirguna, but it also acts as a means, that is sadhana Bhakti, that is also Nirguna, Prema. When we are doing sadhana, the name does not look pure, because we are impure, but actually the name is always pure, like the Supreme Lord is always pure.
So what is the remedy if we commit this offense? We should desire to purify ourselves, we should associate with devotees, taking a foot dust or a shot of foot water, and we should chant as purely as possible. This is the remedy.
Translator Devotee: Finished?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah.
Q&A
1) Could you explain about these four (Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanisadas, Samhitas) and how they relate to this?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, each of these Vedas, like Rig Veda, it will have the Karma Kanda section, the Brahmanas, aranyakas. It will have Jnana Kanda section – the Upanishads. It will have the Samhita section. And then if we take the Yajur Veda, we will have those four parts also. And Sama Veda will have four parts, and the Atarva Veda will have those four. Some texts are dealing with Karma – Kanda, some with Jnana – Kanda, and we have the actual verse.
Devotee: In Rig Veda, Samhitas means, you said, Upasana Kanda ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, yeah.
Devotee: Upasana Kanda means Bhakti?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: No, actually Bhakti is included in the Jnana Kanda. It has two parts, the impersonal Jnana and the Bhakti in the Upanishads. Samhitas basically worship the praises of Devatas and Vishnu. So it is prayers, basically.
Devotee: What’s the difference between Brahmanas – religious rituals and Aranyaka – religious ritual?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Same, similar [Laughs]. The Karma Kanda has these two parts, Brahmanas and Aranyaka. But they are all dealing with the use of Vedic mantras for sacrifices.
Devotee: Brahmana for Girihastha, and Aranyaka for Vanaprastha?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: No, not particularly [Laughs]. Aranyaka doesn’t mean living in the forest. But anyway, it’s all Karma Kanda for material goals.
Devotee: But still they have the… Rig Veda, this is chanting?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, it’s used for chanting. And the Yajur Veda is used for sacrifices. Sama Veda, again, is performance, a song. So there’s seven svaras, like the notes of the scale there, where the other ones only have three. And Atarva Veda is more for practical household.
Devotee: Generally, in the Rig Veda, mostly worshipping about Indra, isn’t it?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, they all have the same. The Samhita section basically is quite similar in each one. And they have verses for Indra, for Varuna, for Aswini Kumars, and prominently Vishnu.
Devotee: The main detail is Vishnu in Rig Veda?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah.
Devotee: Oh ! I see.
2) Smriti is explanation of the Shruti, isn’t it? Correct?
Those are like two categories. We have the Shruti, that’s the four Vedas with the Brahmanas, Aranyaka, Upanishad, and Samhita, and then we have everything else is called Smriti. And then we have Itihasas like Mahabharata and Ramayana, we have Puranas, and we also have the Smriti shastras, and then the Pancharatras. That’s all called Smriti.
3) Itihasas and Shruti, how do they relate? We understand that Smriti is eternal, and Shruti is not eternal..?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Smriti is eternal, and Smriti is tangible. It gets rewritten, and it’s slightly different each time, because history is a little different than whatever, the words are a little different.
Devotee: How do these two relate?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, the Shruti is always the same words, same meaning, ultimately. And for us, actually, the Smriti is better, because we can understand it better.
Devotee: It means that Smriti is more an explanation of the Shruti?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah.
Translator devotee: Especially for Kali Yuga people?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah.
Translator devotee: But it sounds like Shruti is more higher.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, it’s eternal, but it has the same meaning. Shankaracharya says Shruti is more powerful, Upanidhas are more authoritative. But we say Bhagavatam is more authoritative.
4) Bhagavatam is the highest shastra?
Well, we say, as I said, it is the conclusion of all the other scriptures. It is the last work of Veda Vyasa. Because, after Narada Muni said, you have to write one work. People are now confused.
5) Hare Krsna Maharaj, Dandavat Pranams. Maharaj, why Raja yoga is mentioned here?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: This is Ashtanga Yoga, I think.
Devotee: Maharaj, Ashtanga Yoga is mainly Dhyana Yoga(Jnana Yoga) type of thing. So first do we have to qualify for Dhyana Yoga (Jnana Yoga) and then we have to do Astanga Yoga?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, more or less they are saying what Bhagavad Gita says, that better than Jnana is Ashtanga Yoga, and better than Ashtanga Yoga is Bhakti Yoga. So I think because the Ashtanga Yoga is a little more practical in realizing Atma, and the Jnana is dependent on intellect. So it’s a much slower process.
Devotee: Okay. Thank you, Maharaj. Thank you very much.
Translator devotee: Jnana Yoga goal is impersonal Brahman, and Ashtanga Yoga goal is to realize Paramatma feature, isn’t it?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, also some of them accept the Paramatma. So maybe that’s better and they get the mercy of Paramatma.
Devotee: Ashtanga Yoga is one more above Jnana Yoga, but still the goal is the same?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Generally, yes.
Thank you very much.
Devotees: HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!