Reading from Caitanya Caritamrta. Continuing the story, “Lord Caitanya delivers Amogha the offender.” This is taken from Madhya lila chapter 15 verse 244 through 301, quite a long story. And of course we left off yesterday. When Sarvabhauma returned home and he was speaking with his wife about their son-in-law. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya’s son-in-law was Amogha. He is a brahmana but he had offended Lord Caitanya during lunch. During prasadam time Sarvabhauma was serving Him, then Amogha criticized Lord Caitanya, “O, You are eating so much food. You are eating enough food for twenty people. What type of vairagi are You? What type of renunciate are You?”
So then of course he ran away after that and his father in law, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, chased him with a stick and he felt very bad. Lord Caitanya was laughing, he didn’t take it seriously. But Sarvabhauma took it very seriously and he was concerned about it. So now he is speaking to his wife. He said, Sarvabhauma said –
Text 261:
caitanya-gosāñira nindā śunila yāhā haite
tāre vadha kaile haya pāpa-prāyaścitte
SP: “If the man who blasphemed Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is killed, his sinful action may be atoned.”
MS: Sarvabhauma said to his wife, “If the man who is blaspheming Caitanya Mahaprabhu is killed, his sinful actions may be atoned.” So he is saying, vadha. In other words, Sarvabhauma is saying that if my son-in-law is killed, if Amogha is killed, that will be the proper atonement or prayascitta for his aparadha against the Lord. He should die.
There is some purport here. This is from Skanda purana. In a converSathion between Markandeya rsi and king Bhagiratha, it is said. Markandeya Rsi said, “My dear king, one who blasphemes an exalted devotee loses the results of his pious activities. He looses his money and wealth. And he looses his reputation and his own sons. Vaisnavas are all great souls, whoever blasphemes them falls down to the hell known as Maharaurauva accompanied by his forefathers. Whoever kills or blasphemes a Vaisnava and whoever is envious of Vaisnava or angry with him and whoever does not offer obeisances or feel joyful upon seeing a Vaisnava certainly falls into a hellish condition.” That last part of Skanda Purana, there are several verses here. These last two or four padas are often quoted in Vaisnava writings, when anyone is writing about Vaisnava aparadha or Vaisnava behavior, this one verse of four lines.
hanti nindati vai dvesti. Vaisnavan nabhinandati. krudhyate yati no harsam. darsane patanani sat
Harsan darsan, one should be happy. If one sees a devotee of the Lord, if one sees a Krsna bhakta and he is not happy.
“O there comes Krsnadasa. How nice. How wonderful. Please sit down. Welcome. Where have you come from? Take some water. Take some prasad.”
If he is not happy, harsa means happy. That is an aparadha. That is an offense. It says here. Such an offender will fall to a hellish condition.
In the Bhakti Sandharba (3.1.3), its called anuceda, which means section. Sri Jiva Gosvami quotes the following statement concerning blaspheming of Lord Visnu.
ye nindanti hrsikesam tad-bhaktam punya-rupinam sata-janmarjitam punyam
tesam nasyati niscitam te patanti maha-ghore kumbhipake bhayanake
bhaksitah kita-sanghena yavac candra-divakarau
sri-visnor avamananad gurutaram sri-vaisnavollanghanam tadiya-dusaka-janan na pasyet purusadhaman taih sardham vancaka-janaih saha-vasam na karayet
“One who criticizes Lord Visnu and His devotees loses all the benefits that he has accumulated and collected in one hundred pious births. Such a person rots in kumbhipaka hell and is bitten by worms as long as the sun and moon exists in the sky. One should therefore not even see the face of a person who blasphemes Lord Visnu and His devotees. Never try to associate with such persons.”
These are very stern verses here being spoken right from the puranas and sastras on how severe reaction one gets by offending a Vaisnava.
Text 262
kimvā nija-prāṇa yadi kari vimocana
dui yogya nahe, dui śarīra brāhmaṇa
SP: Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya continued, “Or, if I give up my own life, this sinful action may be atoned. However, neither of these ideas are befitting because both bodies belong to brāhmaṇas.
MS: Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya continued speaking to his wife about his blasphemous son-in-law, “Listen, if he is not killed or if I don’t give up my own life, the sinful action may be atoned. However neither of this idea is befitting because both bodies belong to brahmana.”
So brahmana hatya is also a grave sin. So Sarvabhauma were to kill his offensive son-in-law that would be brahmana hatya, a great sin. And in lieu of killing or murdering his son-in-law for his grave offence to Lord Caitanya, if he decided to give up his own body so then that would also be killing a brahmana. So that would also be a great sin. So there was a little bit of a perplexity here. So he goes on
Text 263
punaḥ sei nindakera mukha nā dekhiba
parityāga kailuṅ, tāra nāma nā la-iba
SP: “Instead, I shall never see the face of that blasphemer. I reject him and give up his relationship. I shall never even speak his name.
MS: “Instead, I shall never see the face of that blasphemer. I reject him and give up my relationship with him. I shall never even speak his name.”
So this is Sarvabhauma’s response to this offence of his son-in-law. And the responses that he has mentioned in the course of his taking are all the proper responses of a Vaisnava whenever he meets an offender. There are three lines of action or three lines of action that he may follow. And if he doesn’t follow one of these three then he actually receives offence. That offence made by someone else comes into his mind and he gets reaction for that also. He becomes implicated in that offence if he doesn’t follow one of these three courses of action.
So, one course of action if you come across an offender is to kill him. But that could get you in trouble. But that is not recommended. You should kill the offender if you are a ksatriya and someone offends Visnu or the devotees. You can kill him. But in lieu of that, if you don’t kill him, then you should give up your own life. And if you don’t kill him or give up your own life, then the third course of action is to leave that place immediately. Block your ears. Box your ears. Whatever. And immediately leave that place. And make a sankalpa. Sankalpa means make a resolution or a firm vow. It is not so much place but people. The vow may be “I will never go to that place. I will never return to that place if that’s the place full of blasphemers or where I may incur or hear blasphemy again.”
So the third course of action which is generally done by Vaisnavas. Because we are Vaisnavas, and Vaisnavas are more than brahmanas, Gaudiya Vaisnavas. So we should follow this third course of action. These are the three prescribed responses that a Vaisnava should follow when he meets an offender – kill him, or give up your life or leave that place.
And then you make a resolution or sankalpa, “I will never go to that place again. I never want to see the face of that offender again. I won’t look at him. I will never even speak his name.” Just by speaking his name you get some karma. Because if someone is a bad person and you speak his name, some badness comes in you. And if someone is a good person and you speak his name and remember him then it says in Padma purana that something like one sixteenth of the punya of that person comes to your heart. So if you remember great souls. Srila Prabhupada ki jai!
So if you glorify great souls and think of them then some of the richness and wealth of their purity and sukrti actually comes and is deposited in your heart. That is why we have so many days in Gaudiya Vaisnavas sabha, Vaisnava raja sabha, the glorious association of Vaisnavas. We have so many days in a year to honor the Vaisnavas. Actually we only have a few. In ISKCON calendar we have about sixty days that celebrate the avirbhava or tirobhava of the Vaisnavas. The appearance or disappearance of the Vaisnavas. But there are some other calendars, I saw some other calendar from Radha Kunda that is circulated here by the mahanta of Radha Kunda and practically every other day they are celebrating some Vaisnava’s appearance or disappearance. And many days, two or three Vaisnavas on one day.
So they have about 275 days a year, they are celebrating Vaisnavas. It is amazing. So by doing this, by celebrating the appearance and disappearance of great Vaisnavas, we remember their name, we sing prayers to them, we glorify them, we eat their remnants and we hear their glories of caritra, their biographies and their glorious teachings and lives, and by remembering them and glorifying them, then whatever punya and great purity and bhakti thats in their heart, it also comes to our side. Some is deposited there. This is explained in the puranas.
So if thats true on one side, then another thing is also true. When you spend time talking about this badmash and that badmash and this politician and that politician and this crook and that crook and this gunda and that gunda. Then all these gunda like qualities and all these gunda like attributes, a portion of it also comes into you. You talk about this murder and this terrorist and this infamous person, then their infamy, their terrorism; their murder also comes into you. You get part of that in your consciousness. It is very very bad.
That’s why Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya is saying, “I don’t want to see the face. I take a sankalpa my dear wife, I take a sankalpa from now on, since I can’t kill my son-in-law and I can’t give up my life because both of us are brahmanas. That’s forbidden. I take a vow that I shall never see the face of that blasphemer.” Now this is very significant when you live in a joint family. Because Indians live in a joint family. Sarvabhauma, his daughter is Sathi. And she is married to Amogha and she has gone to Amogha’s house.
Basically Sarvabhauma is taking a vow, “I take vow from this day forward that I will never see the face of my son-in-law again. Because Amogha is a son-in-law, that’s a pretty heavy statement for an Indian family. Then not only that, there is one thing not to see the face, but listen to this, “I reject him and I give up my relationship with him, I shall never speak his name.” So all of these points we should note them carefully. This is how we should respond to an offender. This is a four point program –
1) Don’t see the face
2) Reject him
3) Give up your relationship him
4) And never even speak his name.
This is sastra vidhi. These sastras are meant to teach us. It is not some TV serial or you are watching some soap opera. Live Jagannatha Puri, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya meets the offender, his son-in-law. These books are siksa, instructions and teachings for us, we are also aspiring to be Vaisnavas. We are Vaisnava praya, almost Vaisnavas. And if we follow these rules, we will become Vaisnavas much sooner. But what happens is we surround ourselves with blasphemers. We surround ourselves with envious people. We fuel their envy, and we fuel their blasphemy, by throwing our blasphemy in with theirs.
“O did you hear about so and so guru? Did you hear about so and so sannyasi?”
“O yes blah blah…”
Four things we should do. This takes courage.
“O, come on alright, he is my friend. Come on we got initiated together. Come on. We are god brothers, come on you know he is sindhi, I am sindhi. Don’t be so harsh. He is Punjabi, I am Punjabi. He is my own kind, you know. He is like me. How can I just reject him. Its too harsh, it is not Indian like. We have to be soft and sentimental and mushy.”
Soft and sentimental and mushy, this means maya. Everything must be sastra vicar. We have to live by the basis of the sastras. Speak by the basis of the sastra. It is called Vaisnava sadacara. Not Punjabi acara, Sindhi acara, Hindu acara, Indian acara. It is all soft sentimental and mushy. This is the biggest problem in institutions. In societies, people just, they are surrounded by the offenders and they can’t get out of the cycle. Wherever they go, they meet offenders and they continue to meet offenders.
It is better you associate with nobody then you associate with one offender. It is better no association then associating with blasphemers and offenders. These are very powerful teachings. All these are stories but these are stories with a moral. Like hita upadesa. Beneficial teachings called hita upadesa. Upadesa, instructions. Hita, for your benefit. Hita upadesa looks like animal stories.
A bunch of animals, a crocodile and a monkey. The monkey said, “O I left my heart on the tree” And the crocodile takes him back. All these stories. Hita upadesa. And Panca Tantra. So these are not just kids’ stories, Amara Citra Katha comics. I don’t think they exist any more. Now its all Star TV or something.
Amara Citra Katha comics you saw? Rama lila, Satyakama, this that the other thing. All the puranic stories were told in comic books in fifties and sixties and seventies. But now no children read them anymore. It was really quite…All the legendary heroes and saints of India were discussed like Tukaram, this and that. You saw these comic books when you were young? Now the kids, they don’t want these, they want space walkers, ray guns, Star trek, computers, Sci Fi.
Sci Fi means Vedic culture bye bye. We should note this. It is nice for those who take notes. I wish I had a notebook! I would also take the note.
But this is a four point program. And oftentimes people ask if you are a preacher. Anyone – grihastha, lady, man, sannyasi whatever. People say, “O Maharaj, in temple there are so many offenders, what do I do? I meet this offender. I meet that offender.” Well Nectar Of Devotion says “Cut out his tongue. “ksatriyas can cut out the tongue of an offender. If you offend the state. If you offend the king. Then the sastric punishment is to cut your tongue out. Just like if you steal, Manu Samhita says, “If you steal. You get your hands cut off.” So if we make offence to the king or God, Manu Samhita says, “Cut the tongue out.” Then that will slow down your offenses. You wont be making too many offences without a tongue. You will be pretty quite. You will quite down real fast. This is nice.
So just see if we have the courage to do this. Beause these are instructions. All these instructions are actually given by the Lord. Lord’s devotees only speak on behalf of the Lord. Even the puranas say that the brahmana is Bhagavan mukha. Brahmana mukha Bhagavan mukha. Brahmana mukha means the mouth of the brahmana. Brahmana mukha Bhagavan mukha. So the mouth of the brahmana is the mouth of Bhagavan. So the brahmana, he eats on behalf of the Lord. That’s His mouth, you offer bhoga to the brahmana, then he eats. Of course the brahmana offers it to his shaligram first and then he gives you the remnants – mahaprasad.
Then the brahmana speaks on the behalf of the Lord – Bhagavan mukha. He speaks. So and so uvaca. So he teaches. The brahmana is a teacher. So Sarvabhauma Bhatta-acarya. He is acarya. He is a teacher. He is a paramahant teacher. Very topmost teacher. Mahajan acarya of Gaudiya vaishnavism. So at this particular section at this particular time in the context of this particular lila with the son-in-law Amogha and his daughter Sathi and his wife and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, these particular personalities in this drama of Lord Caitanya’s nitya lila or rather His bhauma Vrndavana lila in Jagannatha Puri, He is making a very important teaching to all of us Vaisnavas. All the followers of Lord Caitanya.
This is a very prominent subject – Vaisnava aparadha. Nama aparadha. Vaisnava aparadha. Seva aparadha. Jiva aparadha. This whole area of aparadha is something we have to cross over. This is all part of the endeavor at the level of anartha nivritti. We must overcome all these anarthas. One by one. By good association, by sincerity of practice and by strict chanting of the holy name and by the blessing of guru and Gauranga. We can cross this ocean of anartha nivrtti and become steady, balanced in mind, pure in heart and peaceful. And then we can appreciate the Vaisnavas and the Lord and all the living entities and avoid this whole whirlwind of offences. Often times there is a whirlwind of offences surrounding different temples, different areas. As soon as you there, you get caught in the whirlwind. Remember they used to say, “This particular devotee restaurant or this place or that place is just a vortex of aparadha or something.” If you go there, the people that frequent that place, the people that run that place, they are always making Vaisnava aparadha. So if you go there then you get sucked in. You get sucked into the aparadha tendency. So we have to be very careful and selective about choosing association on this basis. And as soon as you meet or come up with the offender…Just try to understand the severity of what Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya is saying. I don’t mean to labor this point, but I very much appreciate his response to meeting an offender.
Because in Indian culture, specially five hundred years ago, the relationship between a father and a son-in-law is extremely tight. It is extremely important dharmic relationship. That your daughter you raised as a virgin is being given in charity to the son of another family. And be given to the care of another man. You protected your daughter for twenty years and now you have given your virgin daughter to another man to protect her. Known as her husband. This is all dharma. This is all laws of dharma. The foundation of dharma, religious principles, god centered principles. So it is a very tight and intimate relationship between two families. The husband’s family and the wife’s family. Very involved and complicated relationships. And lots of responsibilities.
But as soon as his family member. His own son-in-law. As soon as he made one offence, which wasn’t all that, in one sense, seemingly that serious. He just made a statement, “Hey what kind of a sannyasi are you? You are eating so much food in my father-in-laws house? You eating enough food for fifteen or twenty people. Ha.”
It’s not that he took a stick and smashed and gave a black eye to Lord Caitanya. And cut his forehead like Jagai or Madhai and made blood. But seemingly, it is something you could forgive. But Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya took that offence very very seriously and his response was extremely serious. He was saying, “I cut off all relationship. That’s it. It is all over. Finished. Son-in-law finished. I don’t want to see his face. I shall never see the face of that blasphemer. I shall never see the face of my son-in-law again. I reject him, and I give up my relationship with him. I shall never even speak his name.”
This is not a light weight response. That’s revolutionary. It is unbelievable. He didn’t take it causally, “Ah, after all he is my son-in-law. It is only a small thing. He just said a few words. Come on. Alright. Forgive and forget. Come on sit down and take prasad. Ok I won’t talk to you for a couple of days. Ok come on back.”
Not mushy. Sentimental. Hardcore.
This is spiritual life, because the center is being traced to God. My son-in-law displeased God. He is totally rejecting his son-in-law and yet we are so attached to our occasional social devotee friends that we have. So and so dasa. So and so dasi. That we are too afraid to cut our relationship with them. “What would she say if I never look at her again? What would she say if I reject her? What would she say if I cut off my relationship with him?”
He doesn’t care. Sarvabhauma doesn’t even care if his son-in-law dies. He doesn’t want to see him again. He cuts off all his relationship. It is like unbelievable.
Text 263
punaḥ sei nindakera mukha nā dekhiba
parityāga kailuṅ, tāra nāma nā la-iba
MS: Mukha na dekhiba, he says I don’t want to see his face. Parityaga, I give up every relationship. Laiba, I wont even take or speak his name. So do we have that kind of devotional courage? Do we have that level of faith in guru and Krsna and sastras? Do we have that faith in Sarvabhauma to have the same response when we meet a bleshphemer? When we meet someone who blasphemes our guru? “O your guru, he says blah blah. O your guru is like this that blahblah blah..And you say, “O that’s not nice” And you go away. Then next Sunday you are taking mahaprasad, he gives you something and you forget about it. It is very serious. We should think about this.
Text 264
ṣāṭhīre kaha–tāre chāḍuka, se ha-ila ‘patita’
‘patita’ ha-ile bhartā tyajite ucita
SP: “Inform my daughter Ṣāṭhī to abandon her relationship with her husband because he has fallen down. When the husband falls down, it is the wife’s duty to relinquish the relationship.
MS: Now listen how far he takes it. If that isn’t enough, Sarvabhauma’s reaction to his son-in-law, if that’s not enough, then listen to this. He tells his wife, “Inform my daughter Shati to abandon her relationship with her husband because he has fallen down.”
Because when the husband falls down, it is wife’s duty to relinquish the relationship. patita tyajite ucita. Duty to give up. So he may give up his relationship with son-in-law, so the wife will say alright, I guess I can’t bring my husband to see my father.
Shati could think, well, for the rest of this life, I can never go to my father’s house with my husband. Because my father doesn’t want to speak my husband’s name or see his face. He has cut off all relationship. Anyways, I will stay in my mother-in-law’s house. And sometimes I will go alone and visit my father. Ok. But I will stay with my husband.
And now he takes it to one more level and says, “Tell my daughter that she should get divorced.”
“What?”
“She should cut off all the relationship with her husband. Forget. Stay here. I don’t want my daughter living in the house of that offender.” He is not going to say Amogha because he already took a vow not to say his name anymore. “I am not going to let my daughter continue to live in the house of that blasphemer.”
Prabhupada’s purport
SP: Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya considered that if Amogha were killed, the killer would suffer sinful reactions killing the body of a brahmana. For the same reason it would have been undesirable for the Bhattacarya to commit suicide because he was also a brahmana. Since neither course could be accepted, the Bhattacarya decided to give up his relationship with Amogha and never see his face. As far as his daughter Shati, she was advised to give up her relationship with her husband. Concerning this it is stated in the fifth canto of Bhagavatam. This is a famous verse (chapter 5 verse 18)
Srimad Bhagavatam – 5.5.18
gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt
pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt
daivaḿ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān
na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum
MS: One cannot become a husband if he cannot liberate his dependents from inevitable death. If a person is not in Krsna consciousness and is bereft of spiritual power he cannot protect his wife from the path of repeated birth and death. Consequently, such as person cannot be accepted as a husband. A wife should dedicate her life and everything to Krsna for further advancement in Krsna consciousness. If her husband abandons Krsna consciousness and she gives up her connection with him, she follows in the footsteps of the dvija patnis, the wives of the brahmanas. This is in Vrndavana lila 10th canto of Bhagavatam. The wives of the brahmanas who were engaged in performing sacrifices. The wife is not condemned in cutting off such relationship. In this regard Sri Krsna assures the dvija patni in Srimad Bhagavatam 10.23.31-32.
patayo nabhyasuyeran pitri-bhratri-sutadayah
lokas ca vo mayopeta deva apy anumanvate
na pritaye ‘nuragaya hy anga-sango nrinam iha
tan mano mayi yunjana aciran mam avapsyatha
MS: “My dear dvija patnis, said Krsna, rest assured that your husbands will not neglect you on your return home. Nor will your brothers, sons or fathers refuse to accept you. Because you are My pure devotees. Not only your relatives but also people in general, as well as the demigods will be satisfied with you. Transcendental love for Me does not depend upon bodily connection. But anyone whose mind is always absorbed in Me will surely very soon come to Me for My eternal association.
There is one phrase discussing the same point about husbands and wives; wife leaving husband who is not dedicated to Krsna consciousness. And citing the example of dvija patnis, they were the wives of the brahmanas who were conducting a big yagya, a karma kanda yagya, on the border of Mathura and Vrndavana. Krsna and the cowherd boys wandered there one day. Krsna knew the hearts of the yagya patnis. Yagya patnis were the wives of the brahmanas, karma kanda yagic brahmanas. They are always engaged in different types of sacrifices and their wives were assisting them. But the wives themselves, they were hearing from the pulinda women of Vrndavana. They were regularly hearing from them, because they would buy different articles from them for the puja. The deity puja or the yagyic puja for their husbands, they would buy flowers and flower garlands and kasturi, musk; and sandalwood, candan.
And when they did that. When they bought these items from the pulinda women, these forest women, then they would inquire, “O can you tell us something about Krsna.” Because these pulinda women, they were selling the same items to Vrisabhanu maharaja and also to the gopis. So pulinda women, they would narrate the pastimes of Krsna to the wives of the brahmanas. So by hearing the Hari katha from the mouths of these Vrajavasis, these Mathura brahminis. They were basically just on the edge. It was the northern edge of Mathura which just borders Vrndavana. It was slightly in Vrndavana. Basically they were Mathura brahmanas. Their husbands were Mathura brahmanas doing yagya.
But they had heard about Krsna from these Vrajavasis, from the mouths of the pulinda women who are Vrajavasis. They had so much love and appreciation for Krsna, as you know the pulinda women would take the dust, the kumkuma would fall off from the bottom of Krsna’s feet. That kumkuma was from the breast of Srimati Radhika that would fall off Krsna’s feet when he walked on the grass hither and thither. And pulinda women would see Krsna from a distance when they were in the forest collecting sandalwood or picking up kasturi or some mineral pigments. And then they would take that red kumkuma on the grass and wipe it on their face and breast and fill relief from their anxiety and from their intense desires to be with Krsna.
So they had a lot of intimate feelings for Krsna and they heard a lot about His pastimes. So they repeatedly told these yagya patnis all about Krsna lila. Krsna lila katha. Hari lila Katha. And these yagya patnis, these wives of the brahmanas, they regularly heard the lila katha and they became incredibly attached to Krsna, just by hearing. This is the power of hearing – sravanam, kirtanam, visnu smaranam. They became very attached to Krsna just by hearing his pastimes from the pulinda women selling these articles.
So then when Krsna came nearby with the cowherd boys, the cowherd boys came to beg some food from the yagyic brahmanas. They would not even speak to them at first. And finally they said, “Go from here, don’t bother us.” And then the cowherd boys came back to Krsna and Krsna said, “Go ask their wives.” So they went very quietly and secretly to the wives of the brahmanas, yagya patnis. “O Krsna and Balarama are just nearby, they are just in Vrndavana, here at the edge of Mathura and they are very thirsty and hungry, can you bring us some food?” And as soon as they heard that Krsna and Balarama were requiring service, they immediately grabbed armfuls and basketfuls of fruits and water and all kinds of articles and they ran as fast as they could.
So they left their husbands. This is against the law to run away from the house without the husband’s permission. So they ran away, because their husbands were not dedicated to Krsna consciousness. Their husbands were actually against Krsna because they were karma kandiya brahmanas first of all and they were not Vaisnavas. At least it is not told. And they were opposed to Krsna Balarama’s friends when they asked for charity, they said, “We want some charity for Balarama.” Everyone knows Balarama is Krsna’s brother. And they said, “No. Forget it.” So obviously they were not very favourable to Krsna or Balarama consciousness which is the same. So their wives, to set an example for sastric pramana for a wife leaving a husband who is not dedicated to Krsna consciousness…
And Prabhupada says in his purport. If the husband is not interested in Krsna consciousness or he gives up or abandons Krsna consciousness then what should the wife do? She should give up her connection with such a husband. What’s the example of that? The example is five thousand years ago in Krsna lila, when the wives of the brahmanas, their husbands are also not interested in Krsna consciousness. They are just doing svah, svah svah, yagyas, puja karma kanda, material benefits and elevation and promotion. So as they did, they ran away, they went straight to Krsna with arms full of offerings, tana mana dhana Krsna samarpana. And Krsna is very pleased and He blessed them all. And He even blessed them saying, “Don’t worry, even when you return home, your husbands won’t kill you. They won’t say, “Where did you go? You ran off in the forest? You went off in the forest? So many hours you were there. Who were you with? What did you do? I reject you.”” As soon as the wife would step out of the house, she would be rejected.
So now, Krsnadasa Kaviraja in the context of the story, he quotes one verse in relation to this whole concept, because himself is reporting the story about Amogha. Amogha is the son-in-law. Amogha has offended Lord Caitanya. So he said, “I reject this son-in-law” Then he advised his wife, “Tell your daughter, Shati, she should reject him, because her husband is a blasphemer. He is a nindaka. So a Vaisnava nindaka, he should be rejected. So this quiet amazing in Vedic culture. So therefore there is some explaination here.
He says, “You should do this, you should tell your daughter to give up her relationship with her offensive husband Amogha.” And she might say, “Well, that’s your idea. But can you cite any sastras?” Because Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya’s wife is also a brahmana. She is a Vaisnavi, at least at this point, now that they have been converted by Lord Caitanya. She is a brahmini and she wants some sastra pramana. She wants some evidence before she behaves. She wants to know that her behaviour is supported and backed by sastra and dictated by sastra. Because Vedic people, they follow the sastra, the injunctions, yama, niyama of sastras. The dos and don’ts of sastra.
So therefore to further convince his wife, the illustrious brahmana and the great acarya, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, he cited a verse from the smrti sastras, he said,
Text 265
patià ca patitaà tyajet
SP: “When a husband is fallen, one’s relationship with him must be given up.”
MS: So then Prabhupada quotes a verse. That’s smrti sastra. And it is a verse from 7th canto of Bhagavatam 7.11.28.
santuṣṭālolupā dakṣā
dharma-jñā priya-satya-vāk
apramattā śuciḥ snigdhā
patiṁ tv apatitaṁ bhajet
MS: A wife who is satisfied, santusta. Who is not greedy, lolupa. Who is expert, daksa, and who knows religious principles, dharma- jñā. Who speaks very dear and truthful, priya-satya-vāk. And who is not bewildered, apramattā. And who is always clean, śuciḥ and affectionate, snigdhā, should be very much to her husband, if he is not fallen. patiṁ tv apatitaṁ bhajet
Bhaja means she should worship. A wife who has these qualities, she should worship or she should dedicate herself, bhaja, bhajet. She should worship or dedicate herself or serve a husband who is apatita. We say patita pavana, the purifier of the fallen and apatita means that he is not fallen. Patita means fallen. Purifier of the fallen. Deliverer of the fallen. So he is apatita. He is not fallen.
The husband is not fallen, which means he is situated in Krsna consciousness. Fallen means he is in maya, he is only engaged in material activities, the animalistic propensities – ahar, nidra, maithun, bhayam. He is simply absorbed in eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Working very hard, getting money, eating nicely and opulently and having sex at night and then again working. This is animal life, carnal life, carnal enjoyment. So this is not human life, this is not dharmic life.
So the wife is dharma-jñā, say these are the qualities of a wife – santusta, dharma-jñā, priya-satya-vāk, apramattā, not bewildered, śuciḥ, clean, affectionate. These are all dharmic, proper, saintly qualities of a cultured human being, a religious person. If the husband is fallen, he is simply engaged in material activities and gross sense gratification. Then he should be rejected. He should be left, tyaga, tyajita.
So to convince his wife, Sarvabhauma was using this line of argument by citing these smrti sastras. Then Prabhupada backs it up with a quote from Bhagavatam which is saying the same thing. So smrti sastras and the puranas and of course the gosvami granthas and these Gaudiya Vaisnava literatures are all advising us. And of course Srimad Bhagavatam is also saying that story of yagya patnis, that unqualified husband who is in maya and not Krsna conscious, not dedicated to Krsna consciousness and not enlightening his wife on the principles of dharma and religion, he should be rejected. Especially what to speak of if he is an offender and outright blasphemer of God and his devotees. He should be immediately rejected.
Tomorrow we will see what happens. Questions are there. Does the daughter reject her husband? Or what happens to Amogha? We will find out tomorrow.
Four things one should do when one comes across, when one meets a blasphemer. Anyone remembers?
1) One should NOT see his face. Na mukha dekhi. Anymore. Don’t look at him anymore. That’s it. Goodbye.
2) Then reject him
3) And give up all relationship with him.
4) And never speak his name again.
Reject and give up are similar but they are mentioned as two different points. Isn’t it? These four things.
Don’t ever see his face again. Goodbye. Relation finished. As he said, “I never want to see his face again.” That’s it.
He is in the same temple, living in the same temple. “O, there he is!” you have to put the hand over your face. “O, there he is” look at the ground.
He says, “O, what’s wrong with you?”
“No. I am never going to speak your name again”
Of course some things may not be practical but we should try to get the essence of it. At least for sometime we would not look at his face and then if the person is truly repentive and sorrowful and begs forgiveness and begs us to accept him again then of course Vaisnava’s heart is also soft. And he may not speak so harsh as Sarvabhauma, especially if he lives in the same temple. It was easy for Sarvabhauma because his son-in-law lived in another house. He didn’t live in the same house. What if he lives in the same room with you? You are brahmacari, he is initiated by Krsnadasa guru and you are initiated by Caitanya dasa guru. So one day he just rips up your guru to pieces. He says, “Your guru, this that, the other thing.” You can’t kill him. You can’t kill yourself. You can’t cutout his tongue. And you are sleeping right next to him everyday, so it is a little hard not to look at him. In other words, there should be.., you know severe, we should be very considered about the reaction.