In2-MeC

Amsterdam, the Netherlands
3 June 2004

Through the next several In2-MeC entries I'll publish installments of a nice compilation about the qualities of a Vaisnava. It was assembled from Prabhupada source material by Sesa Dasa (ACBSP) in 1994.

A Vaisnava is. . .

krpalu, akrta-droha, satya-sara, sama
nidosa, vadanya, mrdu, suci, akincana
sarvopakaraka, santa, krsnaika-sarana
akama, aniha, sthira, vijita-sad-guna
mita-bhuk, apramatta, manada, amani
gambhira, karuna, maitra, kavi, daksa, mauni

Devotees are always merciful, humble, truthful, equal to all, faultless,
magnanimous, mild and clean. They are without material possessions, and
they perform welfare work for everyone. They are peaceful, surrendered to
Krsna and desireless. They are indifferent to material acquisitions and
are fixed in devotional service. They completely control the six bad
qualities--lust, anger, greed and so forth. They eat only as much as
required, and they are not inebriated. They are respectful, grave,
compassionate and without false prestige. They are friendly, poetic,
expert and silent.

-- CC. Madhya 22. 78-80

Merciful

"That is the way of Krsna consciousness. Pure devotees are so absorbed in thought of Krsna that they have no other engagement; although they may seem to think or act otherwise, they are always thinking of Krsna. The smile of such a Krsna conscious person is so attractive that simply by smiling he wins so many admirers, disciples, and followers. "

-- Purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3. 22. 21

Humble

"Personally, I am nonentity; I have come here on the order of my spiritual master, and he has kindly sent all you boys to assist me. So whatever is being done, there is no credit for me, but all credit goes to my spiritual master; because he has arranged everything, and I am simply trying to abide by his order. "

-- Letter of October 16, 1968

Truthful

"Devotees always humbly offer respect to everyone, but when there is a discussion on a point of sastra, they do not observe the usual etiquette: satyam bruyat priyam bruyat. They speak only the satyam [truth], although it may not necessarily be priyam [pleasing]. "

-- Letter of August 9, 1976

Equal to Everyone

"Demons think of everyone as a friend or enemy, but Vaisnavas say that since everyone is a servant of the lord, everyone is on the same platform. Therefore a Vaisnava treats other living entities neither as friends nor as enemies, but instead tries to spread Krsna consciousness, teaching everyone that we are all one as servants of the Supreme Lord but are uselessly wasting our valuable lives by creating nations, communities and other groups of friends and enemies. "

-- Purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam, 7. 5. 12

Faultless

"One who has cultured himself that these different activities of the material world have nothing to do with him, his only business is to become Krsna conscious. Then it is to be understood that he has conquered death even in this present life. This sort of equilibrium in the transcendental stage of Krsna consciousness is called faultless. It is faultless life. "

-- Lecture on Bhagavad-gita, 5. 14-22

Another interesting recent book:

The Piltdown Forgery by JS Weiner, Oxford University Press 2003, paperback 212 pgs. , ISBN 0198607806

This is a reprint of the book that blew the lid off a case of major scientific fraud that Drutakarma and Sadaputa Prabhus mention at length in Forbidden Archaeology. For most of the first half of the twentieth century the Piltdown Man--the skull and jaw of an alleged extinct "missing link" between prehistoric apes and modern man--was for many scientists of the English-speaking world an important piece of evidence for evolution. In 1953 Joe Weiner, a South African anatomist, published The Piltdown Forgery, showing that the bones (which turned out to be a human skull and an orangutan jaw, both modern) were artificially stained to appear ancient. Someone had calculatingly planted them in a gravel pit, where they were unearthed in 1908. There are at least 27 suspects as to who might have perpetrated the Piltdown forgery. The most likely candidates are Dr. Martin Allister Hinton (1883-1961), Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum from 1936 to 1945, and Charles Panzetta Chatwin, a junior staff member of the British Museum.

Bergen, Norway, is the second largest city in the country. It is a harbor town on the west coast facing northernmost Scotland. The town is all astir about the shabti, ancient Egyptian stone figurines, on display in the museum. It appears that at night the figures move around by themselves in their locked glass display case. Trails of dust in the case seem to trace their paths of movement.

This might be another case of fraud by museum staff. But the Egyptians did have a reputation throughout the world of old for their power to "charge" stone statues of their deities, so that they could talk, move about and perform wonders. I think this suggests something insightful about the process of Deity worship prior to Kali-yuga. It is said that in Dwapara-yuga--the age in which arcana is the prominant dharma--for Deities to talk, move about and to perform other wonders was not uncommon. The brahmanas serving in the temples were much more qualified then. Misra is a common brahmana name in India. Misra is also the name by which the Indians in olden times called Egypt. Once a brahmana of the Misra line told me his ancient forebearers were from Egypt. Anyway, I'm not trying to argue anything here. Just interesting thoughts. . .

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