In2-MeC

Miraj and Satara, Maharastra, India
17 April 2004

Let's do some Math

Yesterday I wrote:

So, in regards to sex, pizza, and so on. . . you do the math.

When I keyed that sentence into my laptop, I was in a rush to leave Kolhapur yesterday afternoon for the town of Miraj, where last evening I did a Namahatta program. And today I'm moving on to Satara. In the midst of all this hectic here and there, it crossed my mind that some readers may jump to the conclusion that "the math" I talked about involves this equation: sex, pizza and other aropita devotional engagements always and in every case equals the kanistha level of devotion.

That's not an accurate conclusion. Therefore today I've written this comment on yesterday's essay.

Obviously Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura is no kanistha-adhikari. Yes, he sired a large family, and he authored bhajanas intended to be sung to Baul melodies. (In his day, Baul melodies were as much relished in mundane Bengali society as pop melodies are relished in the West. ) But that does not mean he thought physical sex was spiritual. Nor does it mean that he was a fan of Baul music.

As we saw from the Srimad-Bhagavatam purport quoted in yesterday's essay, when the Supreme Lord comes to this material world He seems to conform to mundane expectations. Thus one might impose on Him the notion that while acting in this world, the Lord partakes in material consciousness. For example, in His appearance as Lord Ramacandra, He banished His wife Sita-devi from Ayodhya, even though she was in the delicate condition of her pregnancy; an aropita imposition on this lila would be to say that He did that because He had fallen into the mindset of a male chauvinist. A big Indian politician, Raj Gopalacarya, wrote a summary of the Ramayana in which he argued that Sita in her suffering represents the travails of all womanhood. This is the same blockheaded "Armed with what I know from this dimension, I can figure out what it's like in higher dimensions" sort of logic that I analyzed yesterday. Confronting the transcendental pastimes of the Lord, this logic fails miserably. Similarly, it fails in the presence of the pure devotional service of Vaisnava acaryas like Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

The Lord and His pure devotee only apparently conform to the mundane dimension; that is mercy for those who are limited by that dimension. Without that mercy the fallen souls would have no access to the association of Bhagavan and bhagavata. Yes, that mercy by which transcendence becomes visible within the material world is aimed at the neophyte devotees. But that doesn't mean Bhagavan and bhagavata share the neophytes' consciousness. Srila Prabhupada gives the example of a teacher showing schoolchildren how to write A-B-C. That doesn't mean the teacher is only on the A-B-C stage of education.

My two-part essay on dimensions was really concerned with the experience a conditioned jiva has within the mundane dimension. The thrust of my examination was that Krsna and Krsna's pure devotee do not enter that experience even though they appear to enter that dimension. They don't enter that conditioned experience because it is maya; Bhagavan and bhagavata are never touched by maya.

A related point that may use some polishing is: when I speak of the absence of pizza or sex in Goloka Vrndavana, it is not correct to construe that I am saying that there's something lacking in Lord Krsna's abode. To raise such a doubt in the context of this discussion on dimensions is pretty absurd, considering that the physics of the 2-D world of Flatland are in place in our own 3-D world. Nobody can argue that we're unfortunate because we don't have length and width. What is "lacking" in our 3-D world vis-a-vis Flatland is the experience of being limited to only two dimensions.

Similarly, the experience of sense gratification is "lacking" in Goloka Vrndavana because Krsna's abode is chock-full of supreme transcendental bliss. In fact it's the experience of sense gratification that is the actual condition of lack. Here in our world, one thinks sex and pizza are "da Bomb" because one has no spiritual taste. No doubt sex and pizza can be engaged in Krsna's service, by His mercy. But if while doing so a devotee is also thinking they are "da Bomb," he lacks advancement.

I am a devotee of Radhaji. Before I had devotion to Krsna, but after a while I realized that he is sexist. Thousands of wives at Dwaraka but he did not give any of them daughters, only sons. That is just so sexually biased of Krsna. So I say he is not my god anymore. Mothers and daughters have such a beautiful bond. They aer the real heart of the family, not fathers and sons. Maybe you can tell me why Krsna has not even one daugher!

Hare Krsna! I've published your letter here only as an object lesson to the visitors of In2-MeC. It is not my policy to involve this web domain in the kind of issue you raise. If you do a little surfing you'll quickly find any number of KC sites that feature open forums, q&a chats and the like. Kindly post your question to those web pages, please. It will surely elict a flurry of well-meaning comments from every pandita from New York to New Delhi. Here at In2-MeC, although there is a facility for visitors to send in email, there is no guarantee that such emails will be answered. I do not feel a need to explain why. The reason should be obvious just by looking at the overwrought discussions--some of which are prolonged for weeks and months--on other KC sites.

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