Sri Caitanya-SikSamRta 2/8

Some extracts from

The Second Rainfall of Nectar

from

SRI SRI CAITANYA SIKSAMRTA

THE NECTAREAN INSTRUCTIONS OF LORD CAITANYA

BY SRILA BHAKTIVINODA THAKURA

Translated by Sripad Pujya Bhanu Swami Maharaja

Book:

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CHAPTER TWO (The Second Rainfall of Nectar: Secondary Rules)

The First Shower: Classification of Secondary Rules

Hearing and chanting are primary means. Karma and JNana may be designated as secondary means, the means for those jivas deeply bound by maya. JNana and karma help in the process of bhakti. Bhakti is the principal means and produces prema.
The secondary rules are of three types:

rules regarding self;
rules regarding society;
rules regarding afterlife.

Rules regarding the self are of two types:

those for body (to keep a man’s body properly nourished so that he can remain healthy) and
those for mind (If a person does not follow the mental rules, his power of realization, concentration, imagination, contemplation and judgment will be weak and will not properly function. There will be no advancement in arts and sciences, and moreover one will not be able to take the mind from material thoughts and direct it to thoughts of God. As a result, the mind will be dominated by sinful thoughts and atheistic attitude; finally man will become no better than beast.)

Rules regarding society:
There are certain social rules prescribed for elevation of the populace and avoidance of criminal mentality. E.g. the prescription of marriage. The tendency towards social stability is a dominant characteristic of the human species. Amongst all cilvizations, the Aryans were the most progressive. Among the Aryans, the people of Bharata were the most advanced in knowledge, intelligence and social organization.
The social rules were divided into two parts after thorough deliberation:
varna (basic nature, fixed by mental and physical qualities. When man’s bodily and mental tendencies gradually develop by cultivation, they attain a fixed stage, where one quality dominates all others. That quality is the human being’s nature. There are four natures: brAhmana, kSatriya, vaiSya and SUdra.)
and ASrama (stageof life, fixed according to their role in society.
The stages of life are four:

The brahmacArI is the person who before marriage gets an education and is free to wander.
The gRhastha is the person who marries and takes up family responsibilities.
The vAnaprastha is the person who upon aging gives up work and lives alone.
The sannyAsi is the one who gives up all relations with his family and is free to wander.

From an individual’s nature arises the rules of the four varnas, and from the progressive stages of life comes the four ASramas.

The Second Shower: Punya Karma, Meritorious Action

p.70

...divided into two groups:

constitutional punyas (pertaining to the real nature of the jiva) and

conditioned punyas (relating to a relative bodily state).

I.e.

Righteousness, truth, purity, friendship, honesty and affection are punyas of the first category, as they are found in the jiva’s real nature; they are the eternal ornaments of the jiva.
In conditioned state of the jiva, as they become more gross in nature, these natural qualities of the soul are called punya. The rest of the punyas are called conditioned, because they arise only because of the conditioned state of the jiva. In the liberated state these punyas are not necessary to perform.

There are ten kinds of punyas:

assistance to others: relieving others of distress and helping others make progress
service to elders: protection of parents, protection of teachers and other superiors, and protection of other elders. Remark: One cannot follow incorrect orders of a superior but one should not show hostility towards him, using disrespectful or harsh words. One should put a stop to their improper behavior or instructions by using sweet words, humility, and gentle reasoning at the proper time.
charity: (dana) refers to giving money or materials to a suitable person. There are twelve varieties of charity: making water bodies or wells, planting trees to give shade and air, supplying lights, dispensing medicines, giving education, giving food, building roads, building ghatas, building houses, giving materials, giving the first portion of a meal, giving a daughter in marriage.
serving guests: show hospitality towards his guests and society as a whole.
cultivation of cleanliness: (1) personal cleanliness (both internal, i.e. the mind ; and external), (2) cleaning roads, bathing ghatas, shops, cowsheds, temples and houses, (3) cleaning forests, and (4) going on pilgrimage. REMARK on internal cleanliness or purity of mind: this is accomplished by sinless actions and punyas. Eating and drinking a regulated amount of food that is sinless and easy to digest also causes internal purity. By eating or drinking food touched by alcoholics or other sinful people, the mind becomes impure. Amongst all the methods for creating purity of mind, the chief is remembrance of Visnu. For purifying the sinful mind there is prescription of prAyaScitta or atonement. By such atonements, however, only the sinful reaction leaves the person. The root is sinful desire. If a person performs atonement with genuine remorse, the sinful desire will be removed, but the seed of all sin--hostility to the Lord--can be removed only by remembrance of the Lord.The mind is also purified by bathing in sacred rivers such as the Ganga and by seeing the deity.
celebration of festivals ...of three types: those centered on deity worship, those centered on family affairs and those for public rejoicing.
performance of vratas (vows) ...of three types: bodily (e.g. Early morning bath, parikrama, paying obeisances. By fasting and refraining from normal activities on the prescribed days and controlling the senses, a person is made to concentrate on the Lord), social (saMskAra rites) and spiritual (e.g. twenty four ekadasi fasts and fasting on the six jayanti/appearance days).
protection of animals: strive for the upliftment of animals.
increase of population: when the offspring arise from legal marriage, when the offspring are raised and protected responsibly , when the offspring are led into stable married life, and when they are given spiritual education.
righteous conduct... with following parts:

Giving up the desire to punish a person for committing an offense is called 'forgiveness' or 'tolerance'.
To recognize the help that another person has given is called 'gratitude'.
Telling what one believes to be true is called 'truthfulness'.
Having a direct, sincere nature is called 'honesty'.
Not taking illegally others’ belongings is called 'no theft'.
No begging without right to do so is called 'no parigraha'.
To try to relieve the suffering of others is called mercy.
No attachment to material objects... by control of mind (sama), control of senses (dama), tolerance and abstinence.
The practice of resisting the temptation of evil desires is called tolerance.
Giving up the thirst for material objects in general is called abstinence / detachment: By repeatedly enduring the hardships of caturmasya, fasting and staying awake on the new and full moons, one becomes accustomed to renunciation. By first gradually giving up the desire for enjoyment of sleeping and eating, one can eventually give up desire for all material enjoyments. When one becomes perfect at accepting only what is necessary for maintaining life, one has attained detachment. Attaining detachment, a person is qualified for sannyasa.
All people should respect the scriptures (i.e. those works which distinguish right from wrong, spirit from matter, truth from illusion). Genuine scripture means the Vedas and those works which agree with the Vedic conclusions. To study those works and teach those works is a punya.
By traveling to places of pilgrimage a person gains knowledge and purifies himself of sin.
A person should his power of discrimination properly. The result of this inquiry is self realization.
Courtesy: Proper respect should be given, considering the person’s status. This is called maryada. The following is the order: respect to humans, respect to those who are civilized, respect to position (king), respect to the educated (pandita), respect to a person with good qualities (especially the brahmana, the sannyasi, and the vaisnava), respect according to varna (brahmana), respect according to asrama (sannyasa) and respect to devotion (devotee).
Worship of the Lord... is the most important. However, the form of the Lord which is worshipped will differ according to the level of consciousness of the individual.

Performance of good acts is punya, and performance of unauthorized acts is sin. There are three types of actions:

Those acts which are beneficial are called karma,
failure to do those acts which should be done is called akarma.
Forbidden action is called vikarma.

Punya karmas are of three types:

nitya (daily ; such as worship of the Lord ; to be performed),
naimittika (periodic ; such as tarpana, i.e. offering of respect, usually using water, to devas, pitrAs, departed parents and forefathers, and others ; to be performed) and
kAmya (impelled by personal desire ; to be avoided)

The Third Shower: Qualification For Work And Varnas

p.81

Identifying adhikAra, qualification, is a very important item of conduct. This qualification is of two types:

qualification for a certain action and
the extent of qualification for a particular action.

p.82

Qualification may be intrinsic or circumstantial. Man has three divisions of life:

time of learning (educational period of life),
time of work
and time of recreation.

That nature which is perceived in a person after his education and before he takes up work is his intrinsic nature, known as svabhAva.
The wise have scientifically classified (human) nature into four types/categories:

Those who have sense control, mind control, tolerance, purity, forgiveness, nonduplicity, cultivation of knowledge and faith worship of the Lord have brahmanical nature.
Those who have valor, energy, determination, dexterity, fearlessness in battle, charitable inclination, ability to protect others and ability to control others have kSatriya nature.
Those who are inclined to agriculture, raising cows and trade have vaiSya nature.
Those who maintain their life by serving others have SUdra nature.
(Those who do not distinguish proper from improper action, have no inclination for righteousness, are fond of argument, are extremely selfish, think only of food, and are devoid of marriage rules, are called antyaja or outcast.)

p.83

According to his nature, i.e. sbabhAva, a person manifests certain qualities. According to those qualities, a person should accept work and duty, for to perform work contradictory to one's nature will not give a proper result. One part of the nature is thus called 'genius', the guiding spirit. As it is hard to change a nature once it has matured, so one should maintain the body and pursue spiritual goals by action based upon one's individual svaBhava.
According to these four natures, the people of India were classed in four varnas.

p.84

The previous Roman and Greek civilizations were much more powerful than modern European nations, but where are they now? Those races have become devoid of their previous qualities and taken up the qualities and lifestyle of the modern-day nations. They have become so transformed that they have no pride in their previous glory. Although the Aryan civilization is much more ancient than that of the Greeks and Romans, even now the people of India take pride in their ancient heroes. Why is that? The varNAsrama system remained strong, the culture of the society was preserved and not lost.
The Roman and other peoples who were offshoots of Vedic civilization, declined as they mixed with the outcast cultures such as Huns and Vandals. If modern European cultures are examined, you will notice that their remarkable features are due to the preservation of varnas, based upon intrinsic nature of the individual:

Those who have the nature of merchants prefer that occupation, and by that profession they progress.
Those who have the kSatriya nature join the military.
Those who are SUdra in nature prefer to do menial service.

Civilization and knowledge advance in proportion to the degree of systemization of the varnas.
As long as the varnas are not scientifically incorporated, society will continue to run on an unscientific basis. Except for India, all places remain with unscientific incorporation of varnas. That is why India alone is known as the place of action, karma ksetra.

p.86

(In India,) The varNAsrama system continued purely for a long time, until Jamadagni and his son Parasurama, of kSatriya nature, claimed themselves as brAhmanas. By following a varna contrary to their nature, out of self interest, they created friction between the brahamana and kSatriya classes. As a consequence of this deviation, the seed of enmity between the two classes and the procedure of judging varna by birth became fixed. (In time, this system of varnas without reference to nature entered covertly in the Manu Samhita and other scriptures.)
Without possibility of attaining a higher varna, out of frustration, the kSatriyas created Buddhism to destroy the brAhmana-varna. However, for every action there is an equally strong reaction. Therefore, the class distinction based on birth became even stronger. With the conflict between

exploitation of position based on birth by the brAhmanas, and
disloyalty to ones culture by the kSatriyas,

they gradually destroyed themselves.

Those with no brahminical qualities, thus brAhmanas in name only, began to write scriptures with their own selfish interest at heart, thus cheating the other classes.
kSatriyas, without kSatriya qualities were defeated in battle. Without their kingdoms, they began to support Buddhism.
vaiSyas without the vaiSya nature began to preach Jainism. By this act, the great mercantile community became weakened.
Laborers without SUdra nature, without the qualification for works of a specific nature, became thieves and dacoits.
Running without any scriptural reference, the country came under the control of the Muslims.
Shipping companies entered. The concept of service vanished. Gradually the influence of Kali deepened.

p.87

The present pitiful condition of India, once the controller and teacher of the whole world, is

not because of old age, but
because of the corruption of the varNAsrama system.

By the desire of the Lord (the controller of all living beings and propounder of the rules and regulations of human society), may there arise again in India an empowered person who can establish the varNAsrama system: the action of the Kalki-avatAra.
.
The principle rule is: A person should do that work and follow those rules of varna which are most suitable to his nature. By honest judgment, a person can determine the work and lifestyle most suitable to himself, and if he cannot do so, a competent authority must be consulted.

The Fourth Shower: Delineation of the ASramas

p.87

A person's activity stems from his particular svabhAva (nature), and this activity is situated in an ASrama. Taking shelter of that ASrama, the individual performs his work. As varNas and ASramas are intimately related, karma is sometimes called varNAsrama-dharma. There are four ASramas: brahamacarya, gRhasthya, vAnaprastha and sannyAsa.

p.88

All varnas are qualified for gRhastha-ASrama.

The brAhmana enters household life after his brahmacAri education is finished;
the ksatriya , after studying the scriptures relevant to his ASrama, leaves the gurukula and enters the gRhastha asrama.
The vaiSya studies those subjects relevant to cow protection, commerce and agriculture.
The sudras, when of proper age, simply get married.

Those who have no attraction for study, and are more inclined to do service, will waste their time in studies. If he is judged to be of sudra nature he should be engaged in service.
In order to be a gRhasta (householder), a person should first have a means of earning a living. This varies according to the different varNas.
In emergency circumstances, the brAhmanas can take up kSatriya and vaiSya occupations, but the three higher varnas should not take up a SUdra occupation unless there is extreme circumstance.

p.89

The sannyasi should not stay in a village more than five nights.

The Fifth Shower: The Daily Duties

p.91

The householder should perform his daily activities with great faith after considering his individual needs.

p.92

The DAILY activities are called nitya-karma. The OTHER activities (two-weekly, monthly, irregulary, ...) are called naimittika-karma.
There are eleven principal sins:

VIOLENCE is of three sorts: against man, animal and devas (Violence to the devas is also a serious sin. Men in different countries have different methods of worship. The purpose is to gradually bring the person worship of the Supreme Lord. Ignorant fanatics, however, think their way is best and condemn all others; they destroy someone else’s temple or deity at any opportunity. As the Lord is only one, by such acts they commit violence to God.)
CRUELTY may be directed towards human beings or animals.
HYPOCRICY: When a person out of habit or with self-interest acts deceitfully towards another, it is crooked dealing. When this insincere deceitful nature becomes extreme, it becomes hypocricy. A person who is addicted to this sin is a hypocrite or pretender.
Citta-vibhrama, MENTAL ILLUSION. Illusion is of four types: intoxication (the cause of many problems of the world), being possessed by the six enemies (lust, anger, greed, pride, delusion and envy - when overcome by any of these six enemies, a person is afflicted with citta-vibhrama, which then gives birth to atheism), atheism (which is of two types: conviction that God does not exist, and doubt that God does exists) and laziness.
LYING / Falsehood consists of verbal lies, cheating religion, cheating conduct (duplicitous) and prejudice (partiality).
DISOBEDIENCE / DISREGARD TO(wards) A SUPERIOR (elder), is of three kinds: negligence of parents, negligence of teachers, and negligence of other superiors
LUST manifests itself in relation to money, women and position.
SELFISHNESS: there is no injunction forbidding pursuit of material assets in this life or the next for ones own benefit, for God has sanctioned personal and universal benefit to occur simultaneously. But if we ignore God’s interest, we can do no good to the world. I.e. self-interest that lives at the expense of others’ welfare is condemned. From such selfishness arises undue miserliness towards ones family members, reluctance to perform charity, argument, theft, frustration, egotism, envy, violence, lust and extravagance.
IMPURITY is of two types: bodily and mental. These have three subdivisions: impurity due to place, time and utensil.
RUDE CONDUCT: To disregard the conduct that has been delineated by the saintly people and take up conduct of non-Aryans (foreigners) is improper conduct. Those who by associating with non-Aryans (foreigners) for a time, give up the pure rules of varnasrama in favor of a general freedom from regulation become fallen, acting against the perfect, scientific rules of conduct. For purification they must perform penances.
DESTRUCTIVENESS: Five types of activities are destructive to the world.: opposition to good works, false renunciation (If someone takes up a role that is not suitable to one's qualities, this simply creates a disturbance for oneself and the world), preaching irreligion in the name of God, unjust wars (i.e. Wars for increasing the size of a country are sinful and destructive), and waste.

p.99
Leading a life according the principles of God is the only thing of value in this temporary world. One should make all efforts to do this.
Prescribed actions are of two types:

traivargika, which yield temporary, material results for oneself; and
Apavargika, which yields liberation from the material world. However, devotion to Krsna is the best of the Apavargika-dharmas. As such, devotion should be performed ; there is no need to strive for liberation, for devotion itself is the only liberation (i.e. the end).

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