By: Babhru Dāsa
Sometimes it is difficult to understand the apparent contradictions in an advanced sadhakas words, thoughts, and deeds. But in truth, there is no contradiction. Simply put, they just operate from a platform that is far beyond mundane logic and reason. However, there is always a reason behind their actions, but it is not a simple thing to understand. Indeed, it is not really possible to “pin down” an advanced sadhakas activities. Not unless ones own self is also highly advanced. Nonetheless, it behooves the sincere practitioners to try and understand this tricky subject matter. It will only help them in their attempts to interface into the realities of pure vaishnavas.
The advanced sadhaka lives an inexplicable world of dual realities. Their actions, are based on an inner substance, and this inner operating system alters and changes the way they interact with reality at any given time. Their inspiration comes from an above source, namely bhakti-devi. This is in contrast to ordinary mortals, who exist solely within the operating system of the three gunas, which are the energetic laws of the dualistic spectrum of the material world.
Of course, this is true to a lesser or greater extent in relation to the sadhakas level of maturation and absorption in divine consciousness.
This is one of the meanings of living within the divine idea of acyinta-bheda-abheda. It is a reality where duality finds perfect harmony. In ordinary duality, there is non-cohesion. In other words, the dualistic aspects of material reality act against each other and repel each other. But when a sadhaka advances in their consciousness beyond the mundane platform, the entire dualistic spectrum becomes an instrument for their bhakti to play itself out.
Take for example, in the 10th chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad-Gita Sri Krsna describes Himself as many wonderful and majestic things of the mundane world.
“Of all trees I am the holy fig tree, among men I am the monarch, of weapons I am the thunderbolt, among the beasts I am the lion, of purifiers I am the wind, of bodies of water I am the ocean. I am also the gambling of cheats, and of the splendid I am the splendor. I am victory, I am adventure, and I am the strength of the strong.”
But from a very different angle of vision, one Gods devotees, viewed the material world in the following way,
“O Lord, Your devotee sees the ocean to be as insignificant as a palmful of water, the sun as a glow-worm, Mount Sumeru as a pebble, a king as a servant, wish-fulfilling gems as rocks, a desire- yielding tree as wood, worldly aspirations as straw, and he even sees his own body as a trifling weight to carry: he knows all objects unfavorable to devotion as trivia.” – Sarvajna
So we can easily see that these two perspectives are apparently in direct contrast with one another. But are they? In a mood of opulent power, Sri Krsna is attempting to give an indication of His opulence to Arjuna. Also, from a certain perspective, it is a method to attain gradual Krsna consciousness, by seeing the divine in everything.
But His devotee on the other hand, is seeing the exact same manifestations as something of insignificance. How is this possible? Simply put Sarvajna is coming from an inner place of separation from His Beloved and sees the entire world as nothing of importance when Krsna is nowhere to be found. Indeed, even the celestial worlds up to Brahmaloka, seem dull and dry without the presence of Sri Krsna. Sri Caitanya-dev also shares a similar sentiment in the following way,
“O Govinda! Out of separation from You, the whole world appears to be void. Tears are streaming from My eyes like showers of rain and a single moment appears to Me like a millennium.” – Siksastakam
That being said, one should know, that just because a certain divine sentiment causes one to experience reality in a certain way at a certain time, does not mean that it will appear in a different way at a different time. For example, just as the divine madness of prema causes one to feel Krsna to be absent, so it also has the ability to induce the prema filled devotee to see Krsna within everything in the world. These are both common features of an ecstatic devotees perception. This is seen over and over again in the lives of vraja-bhaktas, namely the vraja-gopis. The following conception has been shared in this regard,
“When Krsna is present before me, I only see one Krsna. But when Krsna is absent before me, my madness induces me to see unlimited Krsna’s.”
In Sri Caitanya-charitamrta, Srila Kaviraja Goswami has likened these alternating manifestations to soldiers fighting in battle. Sometimes one becomes prominent, then another, then another, and so on.
Thus is the play of divine reality.