Be Patient and Return Home

I have always liked the following verses from the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. They remind me to slow down, chant nicely, and don’t be attached.

Since Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was omniscient, He could understand Raghunātha dāsa’s mind. The Lord therefore instructed him with the following reassuring words.

“Be patient and return home. Don’t be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence.

“You should not make yourself a showbottle devotee and become a false renunciant. For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it.”

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued: “Within your heart, you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Kṛṣṇa will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of māyā. (Cc. Madhya 16.236-239)

Full Text and Purport

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Madhya-līlā Chapter 16, Text 236-239

TEXT 236

sarvajña gaurāṅga-prabhu jāni’ tāṅra mana
śikṣā-rūpe kahe tāṅre āśvāsa-vacana

SYNONYMS

sarva-jña—omniscient; gaurāṅga-prabhu—Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; jāni’-knowing; tāṅra—his; mana—mind; śikṣā-rūpe—as an instruction; kahe—says; tāṅre—unto Raghunātha dāsa; āśvāsa-vacana—words of assurance.

TRANSLATION

Since Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was omniscient, He could understand Raghunātha dāsa’s mind. The Lord therefore instructed him with the following reassuring words.

TEXT 237

“sthira hañā ghare yāo, nā hao vātula
krame krame pāya loka bhava-sindhu-kūla

SYNONYMS

sthira hañā—being patient; ghare yāo—go back home; nā—do not; hao—become; vātula—crazy; krame krame—gradually; pāya—gets; loka—a person; bhava-sindhu-kūla—the far shore of the ocean of material existence.

TRANSLATION

“Be patient and return home. Don’t be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence.

PURPORT

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.58):

samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo-murāreḥ
bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām

This material world is just like a big ocean. It begins with Brahmaloka and extends to Pātālaloka, and there are many planets, or islands, in this ocean. Not knowing about devotional service, the living entity wanders about this ocean, just as a man tries to swim to reach the shore. Our struggle for existence is similar to this. Everyone is trying to get out of the ocean of material existence. One cannot immediately reach the coast, but if one endeavors, he can cross the ocean by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy. One may be very eager to cross this ocean, but he cannot attain success by acting like a madman. He must swim over the ocean very patiently and intelligently under the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu or His representative. Then, one day, he will reach the shore and return home, back to Godhead.

TEXT 238

markaṭa-vairāgya nā kara loka dekhāñā
yathā-yogya viṣaya bhuñja’ anāsakta hañā

SYNONYMS

markaṭa-vairāgya—monkey renunciation; nā kara—do not do; loka—to the people; dekhāñā—showing off; yathā-yogya—as it is befitting; viṣaya—material things; bhuñja’-enjoy; anāsakta—without attachment; hañā—being.

TRANSLATION

“You should not make yourself a showbottle devotee and become a false renunciant. For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it.”

PURPORT

The word markaṭa-vairāgya, indicating false renunciation, is very important in this verse. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, in commenting on this word, points out that monkeys make an external show of renunciation by not accepting clothing and by living naked in the forest. In this way they consider themselves renunciants, but actually they are very busy enjoying sense gratification with dozens of female monkeys. Such renunciation is called markaṭa-vairāgye-the renunciation of a monkey. One cannot be really renounced until one actually becomes disgusted with material activity and sees it as a stumbling block to spiritual advancement. Renunciation should not be phalgu, temporary, but should exist throughout one’s life. Temporary renunciation, or monkey renunciation, is like the renunciation one feels at a cremation ground. When a man takes a dead body to the crematorium, he sometimes thinks, “This is the final end of the body. Why am I working so hard day and night?” Such sentiments naturally arise in the mind of any man who goes to a crematorial ghāṭa. However, as soon as he returns from the cremation grounds, he again engages in material activity for sense enjoyment. This is called śmaśāna-vairāgya, or markaṭa-vairāgya.

In order to render service to the Lord, one may accept necessary things. If one lives in this way, he may actually become renounced. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.108), it is said:

yāvatā syāt sva-nirvāhaḥ
svīkuryāt tāvad arthavit
ādhikye nyūnatāyāṁ ca
cyavate paramārthataḥ

“The bare necessities of life must be accepted, but one should not superfluously increase his necessities. Nor should they be unnecessarily decreased. One should simply accept what is necessary to help one advance spiritually.”

In his Durgama-saṅgamanī, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī comments that the word sva-nirvāhaḥ actually means sva-sva-bhakti-nirvāhaḥ. The experienced devotee will accept only those material things that will help him render service to the Lord. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.256), markaṭa-vairāgya, or phalgu-vairāgya, is explained as follows:

prāpañcikatayā buddhyā
hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ
mumukṣubhiḥ parityāgo
vairāgyaṁ phalgu kathyate

“Whatever is favorable for the rendering of service to the Lord should be accepted and should not be rejected as a material thing.” Yukta-vairāgya, or befitting renunciation, is thus explained:

anāsaktasya viṣayān
yathārham upayuñjataḥ
nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe
yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate

“Things should be accepted for the Lord’s service and not for one’s personal sense gratification. If one accepts something without attachment and accepts it because it is related to Kṛṣṇa, one’s renunciation is called yukta-vairāgya.” Since Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth, whatever is accepted for His service is also the Absolute Truth.

The word markaṭa-vairāgya is used by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to indicate so-called Vaiṣṇavas who dress themselves in loincloths trying to imitate Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Such people carry a beadbag and chant, but at heart they are always thinking about getting women and money. Unknown to others, these markaṭa-vairāgīs maintain women but externally present themselves as renunciants. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very much opposed to these markaṭa-vairāgīs, or pseudo-Vaiṣṇavas.

TEXT 239

antare niṣṭhā kara, bāhye loka-vyavahāra
acirāt kṛṣṇa tomāya karibe uddhāra

SYNONYMS

antare—within the heart; niṣṭhā kara—keep strong faith; bāhye—externally; loka-vyavahāra—behavior like ordinary men; acirāt—very soon; kṛṣṇa—Lord Kṛṣṇa; tomāya—unto you; karibe—will do; uddhāra—liberation

TRANSLATION

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued: “Within your heart, you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Kṛṣṇa will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of māyā.

Source:https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/10/06/be-patient-and-return-home/

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