Where's the Nectar?
by Kundali dasa
A phenomenon that has become more commonplace since Srila Prabhupada
departure for the nitya-lila of Krsna is that of his followers wanting to
bypass discussions of the practical application of the philosophy in pursuit
of "nectar." The nectar being topics about Krsna's pastimes as opposed to
topics about His teachings and their practical application.
Subsequently, some devotees are known as "nectar hounds" or "really into the
nectar" and other descriptions along these lines. One godbrother told me that
he used to be into "all this philosophy, but now I'm just into the heart."
This is another way of saying "I'm into nectar." We are supposed to recognize
the more elevated among us by such language.
And those of us who are not "into the nectar" are supposed to feel deprived,
bereft, deficient and so on. We who want to develop our powers of reason by
absorbing it in the philosophy primarily, instead of in diving into Krsna's
lila prematurely, are supposed to feel like we are missing out, like we missed
a turn in the philosophy.
This is not to say that anyone is prohibited from discussing what we collectively
regard as nectar topics. What is being questioned in this discussion is the
degree or proportion of involvement with nectar over deep understanding of
the analytical aspect of our philosophy.
Let us look analytically at this situation and see if the nectar hounds have
a point or not. In the Bhagavad Gita, in the mac-cittah mad-gata-prana
verse, the Lord tells Arjuna that the point of devotee association is
katha about Him. This could be interpreted to mean immediate immersion in
discussing His divya-lila in Vrindavana. And we can certainly find verses
that support this view. For example this Bhagavatam verse (10.33.39):
"Anyone who faithfully hears or describes the Lord's playful affairs with the young gopis of Vrindavana will attain the Lord's pure devotional service. Thus he will quickly become sober and conquer lust, the disease of the heart."
At first glance this verse encourages us to dive right into
the nectar. However, the proper way to work with the philosophy is to make
sure everything is kept in balance with everything else. Thus the need arises
to reconcile this verse with Prabhupada's advice that if one does not understand
the lilas of the Lord properly, by hearing them from self-realized souls,
one is sure to confuse them with mundane boy-girl affairs and that will be
one's doom. Clearly we cannot dive right in.
We need to be sufficiently in control of our minds, and even before that,
sufficiently fixed in the philosophy, then we can properly process the Lord's
playful affairs with the young gopis. Thus we see that the structure of the
Bhagavatam itself, the sole purpose of which, according to the authoritative
verdict of Srila Jiva Gosvami, is to focus us on the gopis pastimes with the
Lord, is that we first digest nine cantos before coming to the tenth canto.
In this connection, Srila Prabhupada writes in the Preface to the Bhagavatam:
"The Tenth Canto is distinct from the first nine cantos because it deals directly with the transcendental activities of the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna. One will be unable to capture the effects of the Tenth Canto without going through the first nine cantos. The book is complete in twelve cantos, each independent, but it is good for all to read them in small installments one after another."
Here "going though" does no mean reading-as-a-mere-formality. It means reading and understanding the subject matter. Again, in the purport to the first verse, while discussing Narada's impetus for having Vyasa write the Bhagavatam, we find:
"Unscrupulous persons go immediately to the Tenth Canto and especially to the five chapters which describe the Lord's rasa dance. This portion of the Srimad-Bhagavatam is the most confidential part of this great literature. Unless one is thoroughly accomplished in the transcendental knowledge of the Lord, one is sure to misunderstand the Lord's worshipable transcendental pastimes called rasa dance and His love affairs with the gopis. . .. Srila Vyasadeva therefore gives the reader the chance to gradually develop spiritual realization before actually relishing the essence of the pastimes of the Lord."
There we have it. The purport is that we must have a sound basis
in understanding philosophy then proceed to the lila aspect of the teachings.
Philosophy purifies the intelligence so we can approach the lila without going
off the rails. Philosophy also means systematic or scientific understanding
as well. Analytical.
Surprisingly, a good number of devotees object to the analytical approach
to the philosophy. They think, mistakenly, that it is not spontaneous. They
think, mistakenly, that the analytical approach works against spontaneous
devotional service. It doesn't. Just like in learning a martial art there
are set disciplined exercises or drills that one must do over and over, until
it becomes part of one's nature, so the practice of analytical thinking must
become part of one's nature. All our acaryas preached Krsna consciousness
with logic and reason. Lord Caitanya defined the uttama devotee as one who
preaches with logic and reason. So we have not sound basis to reject the analytical
approach.
It is the analytical approach that captivates our capacity to reason, and
thus we are fortified with knowledge and the ability to dispel our doubts
and the doubts of others. Progress in this way eventually leads to clear consciousness,
whereupon we can practice spontaneous devotional service.
In Our Mission, part one, the point was made that to realize our fullest potential—the
capacity to distinguish reality from illusion—we need to achieve the full
flowering of our powers of reason. This is done by the practice recommended
in the mac citta mat gatah prana verse. When we discuss or argue the different
points of the philosophy, we have to exercise our reasoning capacity. This
leads to satisfaction and bliss, because it leads to realization of the subject
matter, i.e. the Absolute Truth, Lord Sri Krsna.
Another notable point, is that we sometimes label people as controversial,
because they may hold unpopular views or threaten our ideas about certain
things, but in the Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami says
that we should not avoid controversy, because it strengthens the mind in Krsna
consciousness. Why does he say that? Because when we apply our intelligence
to sorting out controversy, we exercise our powers of reason. We grow in realization
of Krsna; and that is nectar. It is interesting to note, therefore, that in
the word-for-word to the verse, Srila Prabhupada translates bodhayantah parasparam
as "preaching among themselves". His intention in saying this is that we develop
our powers of reason by such exchanges. In the attempt to understand and present
things with logic and reason we churn the philosophy, then the nectar rises
to the top. Tusyanti ca ramanti ca. It is nectar. The Lord says, so—it gives
great satisfaction and bliss. Controversy is just an excuse to churn the philosophy;
it is not an excuse to defame others and make politics, or close our eyes
and blindly follow the loudest voice.
There is no impediment to spontaneous devotional service by this approach.
Krsna consciousness is buddhi-yoga, buddhi implies reason, discrimination,
analytical thinking. And Krsna promises us that He will give us more intelligence,
as soon as we use what we already have to the maximum.
This means applying the philosophy in the Gita in practical life. And discussing
it with each other, so we can approach tusyanti (satisfaction) and ramanti
(bliss), just by discussing Krsna's instructions to Arjuna. The practical
example is Srila Prabhupada. Also, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta. There is a story
that when he went to Radha Kunda he gave a lecture, so many people came to
hear him, but when the he began lecturing on the Upanisads, so many went away
because they thought he should speak on elevated topics about Radha-Krsna.
They wanted only to hear "the nectar". Actually, sentimental people do not
know what nectar is. They are clueless.
For our own spiritual health we have to learn to recognize the sentimentalists
on this path. They manifests in two ways, as the blind fanatic and the soft-headed
searcher for nectar.