Why Isn’t Mahaprabhu’s Word Enough

“At Rameshvara, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had a chance to read the Kurma Purana, in which He discovered that the form of Sita kidnapped by Ravana was not that of the real Sita but a mere shadow representation.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 1.117)

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ताहाञि करिल कूर्म-पुराण श्रवण
माया-सीता निलेक रावण, ताहाते लिखन

tāhāñi karila kūrma-purāṇa śravaṇa
māyā-sītā nileka rāvaṇa, tāhāte likhana

Friend1: One of my favorite exchanges from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s lila is the meeting with the brahmana who was living in the mood of the Ramayana.

Friend2: Where he was waiting to serve the Supreme Lord, Shri Rama?

Friend1: As if he were living in ancient times, several thousands of years ago. Do you remember what I am referring to?

Friend2: Yes. This was the guy who was so distraught over the fact that Ravana had touched Sita.

Friend1: Ravana, the ten-headed one. The wicked ogre-like character who had no shame in his deeds. He ruled over the city of Lanka. Sita, the wife of Shri Rama. The goddess of fortune, pure in every way.

Friend2: Ravana with adharma and Sita embodying dharma. As a daughter, as a wife, as a sister-in-law – exemplary behavior.

Friend1: I mean I would be equally as bummed out that someone so sinful could ever put their hands on someone so pure and chaste. Sita had not wronged anyone. She was caught in the middle of Ravana’s uncontrolled lust.

Friend2: That is why kama is declared to be the all-devouring enemy of this world.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
काम एष क्रोध एष
रजो-गुण-समुद्भवः
महाशनो महा-पाप्मा
विद्ध्य् एनम् इह वैरिणम्

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa
rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ
mahāśano mahā-pāpmā
viddhy enam iha vairiṇam

“The Blessed Lord said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material modes of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring, sinful enemy of this world.” (Bhagavad-gita, 3.37)

When left uncontrolled, it turns into wrath and from there leads to destruction.

Friend1: Which is certainly what happened with Ravana. Sita even warned him of that later on. She said something to the effect that bad things occur once a person is on the verge of death. In other words, Ravana had gone too far in his kama precisely because kala was ready to strike.

Friend2: It is an interesting way to look at it. The prediction was certainly accurate. Ravana was ready to lose everything. Shri Rama would reclaim His missing wife. Ravana would not get away with the horrible deed.

Friend1: Mahaprabhu showed His amazing kindness to the brahmana by explaining that Ravana touched only the maya version of Sita.

Friend2: An illusory form. You have hints of this in works other than the Ramayana of Valmiki. The real Sita enters fire for a brief period of time. She emerges later on, after the battle of Lanka incident.

Friend1: It is reassuring. Mahaprabhu did not chastise the brahmana for living in the past. He did not tell the guy to wake up, to become level-headed.

Friend2: That is because the Supreme Lord always encourages pure devotion. He supports it. Lord Chaitanya went so far as to find pages from a Purana that supported His claim.

Friend1: That was going to be my question today. Shouldn’t Mahaprabhu’s word be enough? Why did He have to go and get proof?

Friend2: Several reasons. One is that the proper etiquette is to quote authority. You don’t just make stuff up. People speculating and presenting erroneous conclusions as factual is what sullies genuine religion for generations.

Friend1: What else? You said there was more than one reason.

Friend2: The support aspect I just referred to. The evidence from shastra is additional validation. Let there not be any doubts. The brahmana felt free to voice his concerns. He did not keep them hidden. Mahaprabhu, like the ideal spiritual master, accepted the mood of the inquiry and resolved it satisfactorily. He would do anything in His power to encourage such devotion. That is why bhakti stands above any other kind of religious practice. There is favoritism on the other side. Bias towards bliss.

In Closing:

Though bhakti path to find,
Still living doubts of mine.

But Mahaprabhu so kind,
That of truth to remind.

Supported even by book,
Like in Kurma Purana to look.

So that always encouraging,
And confusion not discouraging.

Three Objects Found In Space

"For the ordinary person it is almost inconceivable how the huge material creation is resting in Him. But the Lord is giving an example which may help us to understand. Space is the biggest manifestation we can conceive. The cosmic manifestation rests in space. Space permits the movement of even the atoms and on up to the greatest planets, the sun and the moon. Although the sky (or wind or air) is great, still it is situated within space. Space is not beyond the sky." (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 9.6 Purport)

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1. The planets

Through analogy Goswami Tulsidas helps us to understand the real meaning of dharma. The Sanskrit word sort of transforms based on the context in which it is used. There is a dharma tied to an occupation. Duties change based on the stage of life a person is in, such as celibate study at a school or living at home with a wife.

There may be a different dharma based on the time period within the timeline of creation. At present, we are in the age known as Kali. This is dark due to the overwhelming power of ignorance. There is constant quarrel and hypocrisy. Argue over anything and everything. If there is nothing to fight over, choose something trivial, like whether or not a specific condiment should be applied on a food item sold at a sporting event.

Tulsidas says that the process is very simple. All dharma is found in the holy name of Rama. This is one way to address the Almighty. More than an abstract. More than a figment of the imagination. More than a formless, attributeless concept. He is both nirguna and saguna, and there are features, but on the transcendental side.

जथा भूमि सब बीजमय नखत निवास अकास |
राम नाम सब धरममय जानत तुलसीदास ||

jathā bhūmi saba bījamaya nakhata nivāsa akāsa |
rāma nāma saba dharamamaya jānata tulasīdāsa ||

“Just as within the earth is found every kind of seed and within the sky live all the stars, Tulsidas knows that Shri Rama’s holy name is the reservoir of all dharma.” (Dohavali, 29)

To understand how every distinction in dharma merges into the devotional practice of chanting the holy name, the poet gives the comparison to the earth. Every seed necessary for continuing life already exists within the ground. Nothing special needs to be created. In fact, you don’t have to go anywhere else.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada often uses the comparison to the one hundred dollar bill. If I am in need of five dollars, getting a one hundred should be fine. There is no reason for me to object. The five dollars is already included.

If you get space, you get so many other objects. One of them is the planets. We know of a certain number for what we refer to as this universe, but there are many beyond the realm of perception, as it stands today.

2. The stars

Tulsidas makes reference to this. If you get space, you also get stars. Large and small, close by and far away – however many you can count, up to infinity, exists in space. Even smaller objects that float in that giant area, they are included.

3. The sun

The origin of the planets. The original one, if thinking in terms of past, present and future. Beaming a seemingly endless amount of heat and light, the sun is everything. Without it, living entities in this world would not be able to survive.

Space is also a concept on the macro level. We cannot conceive of anything greater than it. Thus it serves as a vehicle for understanding the Absolute. He is space and more. Since He is the complete everything, He is also the various component parts. Everything within space is also God.

Another way to understand is the expansion known as Supersoul. The Supreme Lord is the complete, but He is also the fragment. He expands to reside within the heart of every living being. He is omnipresent; the all-pervading witness.

These are simply ways for understanding, as connecting with the Divine is the human being’s birthright. The same understanding arrives through the devotional process, like the connection to the holy name recommended by the acharyas: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Like all seeds in the ground,
And planets in outer space found.

Dharmas counting many,
But difference to bhakti not any.

Just choosing name the one,
And devotional chanting done.

Macro and micro both accounted for,
To break through understanding’s door.

Isn’t Intimacy Between Husband And Wife Good For The Relationship

“The highest pleasure in terms of matter is sex pleasure. The whole world is moving under its spell, and a materialist cannot work at all without this motivation. But a person engaged in Krishna consciousness can work with greater vigor without sex pleasure, which he avoids. That is the test in spiritual realization. Spiritual realization and sex pleasure go ill together. A Krishna conscious person is not attracted to any kind of sense pleasure due to his being a liberated soul.”  (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 5.21 Purport)

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“I notice that in the bhakti-yoga culture, one of the restrictions is on sex.  They refer to it as ‘illicit sex.’ Basically, only engage in it for procreation.  If you desire children, to continue the family line, to beget a son who will save you from a hellish condition in the afterlife, you have license.

“Otherwise, any kind of interaction in that area falls into the illicit category.  My question is specifically about the marriage institution. I see that you encourage it.  By ‘you’, I mean your culture. The parampara, as you refer to it, which is the disciplic succession.  They pass on these traditions to future generations.

“Marriage is the grihastha-ashrama, but there is still restraint on sex activity.  Wouldn’t it be healthy for the relationship, though?  Marriage is quite difficult. People are individuals, after all.  You put free-thinkers together, there is bound to be conflict every now and then.  Why not allow the two participants to develop a closeness in whatever way best suits them?”

The individual is free to do as they wish.  That is concomitant with individuality. That nature can never be destroyed, as it is part of an existence itself.  From the Bhagavad-gita [2.20], we get confirmation that the existence continues. Both forwards and backwards, no one can ever destroy you.

If that is the case, why do people approach spiritual leaders?  Why are there visits to tirthas, which are pilgrimage spots known for the higher concentration of saintly people?  Why are people in need of help, if everything is going well?

The truth is that people are struggling.  They do not understand the root cause due to the fact that no one has told them.  If I am unable to swim, I cannot very well rescue someone who is struggling in the water.  A person trained in the field is capable of helping others.

The genuine saint has the answer.  They know for certain that the struggles in life are due to forgetfulness of God.  The Almighty. The origin of everything. The one person who never goes through the birth-death cycle.  The all-attractive one. The most knowledgeable.

Whatever the preferred description, the way out of trouble is to remember Him.  In this regard, there are opposing forces, i.e. that which will help me to forget God.  The strongest force in that category is sex life. It is the best way to continue to forget my spiritual identity and my relationship to the source of spirit.

It is for this reason that saints like His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada declare that spiritual life and sex life go ill-together.  One is forgetting the temporary body and the other is being fully engrossed in that consciousness.

If while practicing spiritual life the urges for sex interaction can be limited, then success will arrive sooner.  It is a simple formula. Do whatever is beneficial in Krishna consciousness, which is another way to describe the eternal religion, sanatana-dharma.

बलं बलवतां चाहं
काम-राग-विवर्जितम्
धर्माविरुद्धो भूतेषु
कामो ऽस्मि भरतर्षभ

balaṁ balavatāṁ cāhaṁ
kāma-rāga-vivarjitam
dharmāviruddho bhūteṣu
kāmo 'smi bharatarṣabha

“I am the strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire. I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles, O Lord of the Bharatas [Arjuna].” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.11)

Sex life following religious principles is equivalent to the Supreme Lord.  He gave man the seed-potency for a reason. Likewise the female has the ability to nurture and provide a field for the seed to grow.  Every gift from nature should be utilized for the satisfaction of the Almighty. From there everything auspicious will arrive.

In Closing:

Using every gift of nature,
Female with potential to nurture.

And man giving the seed,
To continue population a need.

But otherwise sex life restricted,
Since with spiritual advancement conflicted.

Better from body dynamic to be free,
And more clearly the soul to see.

What Does It Mean To Be Non-Envious

“I have heard, O Sita, that your hand in marriage was won by the renowned Raghava on the occasion of the self-choice ceremony [svayamvara]. O Maithili, I wish to hear that story in detail. Therefore please narrate to me the entire sequence of events as you experienced them.” (Anasuya speaking to Sita Devi, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 118.24-25)

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स्वयं वरे किल प्राप्ता त्वमनेन यशस्विना।
राघवेणेति मे सिते कथा श्रुतिमुपागता।।

तां कथां श्रोतुमिच्छामि विस्तरेण च मैथिलि।
यथाऽनुभूतं कार्त्स्न्येन तन्मे त्वं वक्तुमर्हसि।।

svayaṃ vare kila prāptā tvamanena yaśasvinā।
rāghaveṇeti me site kathā śrutimupāgatā।।

tāṃ kathāṃ śrotumicchāmi vistareṇa ca maithili।
yathā'nubhūtaṃ kārtsnyena tanme tvaṃ vaktumarhasi।।

Friend1:  I remember hearing that there is a verse in the Bhagavad-gita where the word anasuyave is used.  It means “not envious.”

Friend2:  Okay. There are a lot of words used in that important Sanskrit work.  Let me try to recall.  

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं
प्रवक्ष्याम्य् अनसूयवे
ज्ञानं विज्ञान-सहितं
यज् ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसे ऽशुभात्

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ
pravakṣyāmy anasūyave
jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ
yaj jñātvā mokṣyase 'śubhāt

“The Supreme Lord said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most secret wisdom, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.”  (Bhagavad-gita, 9.1)

Friend1:  There you go.  Shri Krishna is so kind.  He helped Arjuna out of a difficult situation.  There is the precondition that the recipient had to be free of envy.

Friend2:  Specifically towards Krishna, which is one name for God the person.  This confirms the teaching of the acharya, who explains that the spirit soul first lands in the material world, the realm of birth and death, due to envy of God.

Friend1:  Sort of a competitive attitude.

Friend2:  Thinking they can be like Him.

“Go ahead.  Enjoy all you want.  Take your best shot.”

Since it is impossible to become God, the pursuit continues almost indefinitely.  Old age, disease and death reset the game in between; like starting over.

Friend1:  With birth.  I get it. I guess I was thinking about that word; envy.  What does it mean to be free of it?

Friend2:  I don’t think it’s difficult to understand.  Just don’t be jealous of another person.

Friend1:  Okay, but we all need some impetus to work.  There has to be some reward on the other side.  No one travels to the office to offer free assistance day after day.  They expect money to be transferred on payday.

Friend2:  What does that have to do with envy, though?

Friend1:  I’m getting there.  Not only do I expect a reward, but I like to compare myself to others.  That is only natural. I know that I am earning enough if the salary is comparable to my peers.  In this way there is always bound to be some enviousness. Do you see what I mean?

Friend2:  Maybe. I get it that we’re never like robots or stone.  But think of the situation of your parents and family members.

Friend1:  What about them?

Friend2:  Where you want the best for them.  I want my parents to always be happy; even if I am suffering.  I want my siblings to do better than me.

Friend1:  You must be a special kind of child, because I know many people who do not wish those things.  There is something called “sibling rivalry” for a reason.  One child receives a toy as a gift and the other immediately demands the same.

Friend2:  I understand, but I am trying to explain the attitude to you.  Some people do wish the best for others. Extend the same desire out to the entire society.  That is one idea of non-enviousness. When extended to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is wanting only the best for Him.

Friend1:  Even though He doesn’t need anything.

Friend2:  Exactly. Just see the workings of bhakti.  See what a pure consciousness actually is.  Another indication of lack of envy is to take joy in another’s triumph.

Friend1:  Like if something good happens to my friend, I am happy about it instead of worrying that I didn’t receive the same reward.

Friend2:  There is the example in shastra of Anasuya meeting with Sita Devi.  Anasuya’s name means “non-envious,” so it is only fitting that she asked Sita to explain the story of her marriage to Shri Rama.  Anasuya was not showing off anything about her own life. She was not eager to tell everyone how well she was doing. Instead, she genuinely took delight in hearing the amazing victory of Dasharatha’s son, which brought the greatest joy to Sita Devi, the daughter of King Janaka.

Friend1:  It certainly is a nice story.

Friend2:  And that is why it is included in the Ramayana.  Anasuya had the great fortune of receiving the Supreme Lord and His wife as guests.  Usually we travel to holy places to meet saintly people to receive such information. In special circumstances, if you are pure of heart, Bhagavan will travel to you.  He will go to where you are and delight you with Hari-katha.

In Closing:

With Hari-katha delighting,
Of Sita with Rama uniting,

By Anasuya heard,
The non-envious deserved.

Where not to myself to compare,
Of others experience aware.

Then for receiving wisdom fit,
And liberated before body to quit.

Four Special Qualifications In Arjuna

“The Supreme Lord said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most secret wisdom, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.”  (Bhagavad-gita, 9.1)

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श्री-भगवान् उवाच
इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं
प्रवक्ष्याम्य् अनसूयवे
ज्ञानं विज्ञान-सहितं
यज् ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसे ऽशुभात्

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ
pravakṣyāmy anasūyave
jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ
yaj jñātvā mokṣyase 'śubhāt

There is no such thing as chance with respect to the lila of Bhagavan.  The Supreme Personality of Godhead accomplishes so much simultaneously with every action.  Every setting is appropriate, with many layers of significance.

In this respect the disciple Arjuna is not randomly chosen to hear the Bhagavad-gita, which is the timeless song of God that delivers a person from the ocean of nescience.  In the oddest of places, a battlefield ready to host a massive war, Arjuna received direct instruction from the original spiritual master, the adi-guru.

1. Appeared in an important family

Arjuna is many times addressed as Bharata, referring to him being a descendent of King Bharata.  It is an honorary title based on heredity, but it also indicates qualification. Arjuna belongs to a pious family and thereby grows up with values.  Indeed, that excellent bow warrior one time worries over the fate of family traditions after a great conflict.

उत्सन्न-कुल-धर्माणां
मनुष्याणां जनार्दन
नरके नियतं वासो
भवतीत्य् अनुशुश्रुम

utsanna-kula-dharmāṇāṁ
manuṣyāṇāṁ janārdana
narake niyataṁ vāso
bhavatīty anuśuśruma

“O Krishna, maintainer of the people, I have heard by disciplic succession that those who destroy family traditions dwell always in hell.” (Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita, 1.43)

Arjuna is sometimes addressed as Bharatarshaba.  This means “best of the Bharatas.” Not only is Arjuna part of the family, but he is one of the most important people to appear in it.

2.  Son of the pious Kunti Devi

Krishna sometimes addresses Arjuna as Partha.  This refers to Pritha, which is a name for Kunti Devi.  The title has meaning, since Kunti is known for her chastity and piety.  She becomes a widow due to a curse previously placed upon her husband, King Pandu.  She has to raise her children by herself.

Compounding the difficulty is the enviousness within the family.  The cousins, the Kauravas, turn into rivals, wanting the kingdom for themselves. This comes at the expense of Kunti and her children.  They are harassed in a number of ways; sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.

3.  Friendly with Krishna

God is not merely a concept or an abstract.  He is not inanimate stone. He is a distinct individual; though He happens to be the greatest.  He has the most potency and the dualities of body and spirit do not apply to Him.

He deals with others as they surrender to Him, and in His pastimes as Krishna there is great friendship with Arjuna.  They are close with one another, though the relationship has to temporarily change on the battlefield.

First, Krishna assumes the subordinate role of chariot driver.  Next, He becomes the topmost superior in teaching Arjuna about the ways of life and death and duty.  Krishna is the guru and Arjuna the disciple. Friendship is incompatible with that relationship, but it was a factor in leading to the discussion.

4.  Non-envious

Krishna directly notes this qualification in a specific verse.  He says that since Arjuna is not envious of Him, He will reveal secret wisdom that will relieve the distresses of a material existence.  Lack of envy in this situation means that Arjuna does not compare himself to Krishna. He is not trying to be better or excel in a field of endeavor.  He genuinely wants the best for the son of Devaki and Vasudeva.

Through Krishna’s mentoring, Arjuna proceeds towards victory.  He is famous for his fighting ability and also for carefully listening to those words of wisdom.  He followed through on them, which is even more important. Thus today the two are celebrated in a combined fashion.  Krishna is even commonly addressed by a new name: Partha-sarathi. The one who creates all the universes through breathing, who is the husband of the goddess of fortune, will willingly play the role of charioteer to a person of exceptional qualifications.

In Closing:

Not randomly to hear,
Krishna intentionally near.

First as charioteer guiding,
Then as guru to whom confiding.

Because no envy in him,
Arjuna poised to win.

In battle and well also beyond,
Qualified through yoga’s bond.

Four Places We Can Find Krishna

“I am the Self, O Gudakesha, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.”  (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.20)

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अहम् आत्मा गुडाकेश
सर्व-भूताशय-स्थितः
अहम् आदिश् च मध्यं च
भूतानाम् अन्त एव च

aham ātmā guḍākeśa
sarva-bhūtāśaya-sthitaḥ
aham ādiś ca madhyaṁ ca
bhūtānām anta eva ca

1. Inside of the temple

Deity worship is an integral aspect of the Vedic tradition.  The aim of the human birth is to realize God. The possibility is absent in the other species, except for rare instances.  More than just focusing on the needs of the senses, the intelligence coupled with the specific form is for advancing beyond life and death.

Contemplate higher matters.  What is the reason for my existence?  Everyone senior to me has passed on. Obviously, the same will happen to me in the future.  Why is this the case? Why even appear in this world if you have to eventually leave it?

The deity is important because it gives an idea of transcendental features.  Someone beyond the dualities of birth and death. Arms, legs, and a face, but of a different nature.  The deity is typically the chief resident in an establishment designed for the purpose of worship, archana.

Without hesitation a knower of the truth, tattva-darshi, confirms that God can be found within the temple.  There is no doubt on the matter. Otherwise, the time-honored practice would not be passed down for the benefit of mankind.

2. Outside of the temple

If the Supreme Lord only resided in the form as the deity inside of the temple, He would be severely limited.  His size and stature would be fixed. He could be the plaything of any person, who would thus become a superior purusha, or living being.

Bhagavan is most certainly outside of the temple.  Every result manifests because of His sanction. He is the first lawgiver.  He is the final word of authority. His energies are at work in this vast creation.  All beings rest in Him, as the planets and stars belong to the seemingly infinite space.

3. In Vaikuntha

In Vedic culture we hear references to returning and travelling.  Back to home. Back to Godhead. We infer that the Supreme Lord has a fixed residence.  He remains somewhere else. The pious souls get to live there.

In truth, that is the original home.  It is known as the final destination because upon returning there, an individual never has to leave.  While birth in the material world has the guaranteed end of death, placement in the Vaikuntha realm does not have the same rule.

In that place God resides as Bhagavan.  This is His full and complete feature. The distinctions are for the purposes of analysis.  Whether inside of the temple, in every aspect of space, or in Vaikuntha the Supreme Lord is always the same; unchanging.

4. In the heart

As He explained to Arjuna, Bhagavan is also in the heart.  Mine? Yours? Actually, in everyone’s. This expansion is known as Supersoul.  The meaning is that God can be found very quickly. I don’t need to travel far. I can look both within and without.

The representative helps me to identify the different locations.  They also teach me how to stay connected in what is known as yoga. The best way to practice yoga in the modern day is to chant the holy names:  Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Bhagavan is in that sound that represents Him.

In Closing:

Very quickly found,
In that sacred sound.

Of maha-mantra chanting,
Immediate meeting granting.

Like visit to Vaikuntha realm place,
Or in temple with hands and face.

Outside as well as in the heart,
Krishna never from this space apart.

Why Is Detachment Superior To Attachment

“The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination one must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment. So doing, one must seek that place from which, having once gone, one never returns, and there surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything has begun and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial.”  (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.3-4)

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न रूपम् अस्येह तथोपलभ्यते
नान्तो न चादिर् न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा
अश्वत्थम् एनं सु-विरूढ-मूलम्
असङ्ग-शस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा
ततः पदं तत् परिमार्गितव्यं
यस्मिन् गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः
तम् एव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये
यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी

na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate
nānto na cādir na ca sampratiṣṭhā
aśvattham enaṁ su-virūḍha-mūlam
asaṅga-śastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā
tataḥ padaṁ tat parimārgitavyaṁ
yasmin gatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ
tam eva cādyaṁ puruṣaṁ prapadye
yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī

Friend1:  I think we have discussed this before, how I was amazed when I first learned that piety and sin are essentially the same thing.

Friend2:  How is that possible?  Righteousness is the same as committing horrendous crimes?

Friend1:  That is the reason for the awakening.  You have to step back and think for a moment.  More than a moment. Really contemplate the issue.  The similarity is with respect to destinations.

Friend2:  Explain further.

Friend1:  Dharma leads to the heavenly realm, svarga.  Like checking-in to an extended-stay hotel, with all the amenities you can think of.  Adharma carries demotion to the hellish realm.  Something like leaving a newly built luxury apartment community and moving into a rat-infested building that is more than one hundred years old.

Friend2:  I like how they come up with clever names to mask the degraded condition.  “Oh, come and live in this beautiful pre-war apartment.”

Friend1:  Yeah, “pretty awful” is more like it.  Anyway, residence in either place is not fixed.  Thus you eventually end up back in the same place.  That is how dharma and adharma are the same in one sense.

Friend2:  Then why follow dharma at all?

Friend1:  Well, it’s because dharma leads you closer to the ideal destination of liberation, the state above mundane right and wrong.  Hmm. This might actually answer the question I was going to ask you today.

Friend2:  What is that?

Friend1:  I would think the principle extends to attachment and detachment.  Bhoga and tyaga.  Enjoying and renouncing.  Are they not the same thing, then?

Friend2:  With the equality in outcomes? Yes.  They are different ends of a pendulum.  One second I am enjoying pizza. The next I am swearing off of it.  I pick those things which I like and avoid those I do not. The categories for each can shift.  Definitely within a single lifetime, but maybe in a matter of seconds, also.

Friend1:  Okay, I am glad we established that.  Maybe this question is similar to something Arjuna asked in the Bhagavad-gita, but here goes.  Why do we get recommendations for renunciation?

Friend2:  From who? What are the recommendations?

Friend1:  Goswami Tulsidas has a work entitled Vairagya Sandipani.  It sings the glories of detachment.  The six Gosvamis of Vrindavana were so renounced that they barely slept.  Even when they did, it was outside, underneath a tree. It is obvious that the sat side, the saintly class, chooses renunciation over material enjoyment.

Friend2:  Right.

Friend1:  And most importantly, Krishna Himself recommends detachment.  He explains how the material world is something like an inverted tree.  You go up and down, left and right, and can’t make sense of anything. It is better to cut down the tree altogether.  The weapon of choice is asanga.

Friend2:  Makes sense to me.  Rather than focus on this material subject matter and that, better to find the actual root.  The origin is beyond this temporary realm. Going towards the origin means never having to come back to the place of the bhoga/tyaga dichotomy.

Friend1:  Okay, so if asanga is the weapon of choice, isn’t that of the same category as enjoyment?  Like piety and sin, I thought attachment and detachment lead to the same outcome?

Friend2:  The idea is not to follow vairagya in a sour grapes type of mood.

Friend1:  What does that mean?

Friend2:  Take up detachment in spirit away from the material side of life.  At the same time, work with attachment to the Supreme Lord and His desires.  That is ultimately what Arjuna did. He certainly cut that tree down, and he was also renounced.  But we don’t find him retreating to the forest. He proceeded in a war. The intricacies are many, and they can be learned through practical experience.  Stay connected to Krishna in yoga and vairagya will automatically be accounted for.

In Closing:

Proceeded forward did he,
But also cutting down the tree.

For Arjuna with detachment,
To bhakti will attachment.

Then piety and sin not the same,
Since higher platform to attain.

Intricacies through practice learned,
That ignorance into knowledge turned.