WISEMAN’S

STORY

Caitanya Mahāprabhu relates a story from the commentary of Madhva which occurs in
the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Madhva-bhāṣ ya) Sarvajña to a poor man who
came to him to have his future told. When Sarvajña saw the horoscope of the man, he was
at once astonished that the man was so poor, and he said to him, "Why are you so
unhappy? From your horoscope I can see that you have a hidden treasure left to you by
your father. However, the horoscope indicates that your father could not disclose this to
you because he died in a foreign place, but now you can search out this treasure and be
happy." This story is cited because the living entity is suffering due to his ignorance of the
hidden treasure of his Supreme Father, Kṛ ṣṇa. That treasure is love of Godhead, and in
every Vedic scripture the conditioned soul is advised to find it. As stated in Bhagavad gītā,
although the conditioned soul is the son of the wealthiest personality — the Personality
of Godhead — he does not realize it. Therefore Vedic literatures are given to him to help
him search out his father and his paternal property.

The astrologer Sarvajña further advised the poor man: "Don't dig on the southern side of
your house to find the treasure, for if you do so you will be attacked by a poisonous wasp
and will be baffled. The search should be conducted on the eastern side where there is
actual light, which is called devotional service or Kṛ ṣṇa consciousness. On the southern
side there are Vedic rituals, and on the western side there is mental speculation, and on
the northern side there is meditational yoga."

Sarvajña’s advice should be carefully noted by everyone. If one searches for the ultimate
goal by the Vedic ritualistic process, he will surely be baffled. Such a process involves the
performance of rituals under the guidance of a priest who takes money in exchange for
service. A man may think he will be happy by performing such rituals, but this is not true.
Even if he does gain some result from them, it is only temporary. His material distresses
will continue. So he will never become truly happy by following the ritualistic process.
Instead, his material pangs will increase more and more. The same may be said for digging
on the northern side, or searching for the treasure of love of Godhead by means of the
meditational yoga process. The perfection of this process is to think oneself one with the
Supreme Lord. But this merging into the Supreme is like being swallowed by a large
serpent. Sometimes a small serpent is swallowed by a large serpent, and merging into the
spiritual existence of the Supreme is analogous. While the small serpent is searching after
perfection, he is swallowed. This is spiritual suicide. On the western side there is also an
impediment in the form of a yakṣa, an evil spirit who protects the treasure. This yakṣa is
jñāna-yoga, the speculative process of self-realization. The idea is that a hidden treasure
can never be found by one who asks the favor of a yakṣa to attain it. The result is that one
will simply be killed. So while the yogī’s practicing meditation is like a small serpent’s
being swallowed by a large serpent, practicing the speculative process to attain the
treasure of love of Godhead is also suicidal.

The only possibility, then, is to search for the hidden treasure on the eastern side, which
represents the process of devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Indeed, the
process of devotional service is itself the perpetual hidden treasure, and one who attains
to it becomes perpetually rich. One who is poor in devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is always
in need of material gain. Sometimes he suffers the bites of poisonous creatures and is
baffled, and sometimes he follows the philosophy of monism and thereby loses his
identity and is swallowed by a large serpent. It is only by abandoning all this and
becoming fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotional service to the Lord, that one can
actually achieve the perfection of life.

(Extract from Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 4 – The Wise man)

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 WISEMAN’S STORY

Discovery
1. What is the hidden treasure the astrologer is talking about?
2. What is the advice of Sarvajna to the poor man?

Understanding
1. Why is the living entity suffering?
2. Can one achieve the ultimate goal by following the ritualistic processes? Why not?
3. Why is meditational yoga process compared to a large serpant?
4. Can the treasure be obtained by digging in the western side?
5. Which side should the search be conducted? Why?

Application
1. What are the ritualistic practices you have been able to overcome after understanding this
process of Krsna consciousness?
2. How do you help someone who is determined to follow the path of meditation?
3. What is the treasure you are digging for in your life?

SRI NAMAMRTA

Simply by chanting, one becomes free from sinful life, steady in devotional service,
and elevated to the platform of mahātmā
To cultivate knowledge for worshiping Krsna culminates after many, many births and
deaths when one actually becomes wise. When one becomes wise in this way, he
surrenders to Krsna, recognizing Him at last to be the cause of all causes and all that is.
That sort of great soul is very rare. So those who have surrendered to Krsna life and soul
are rare sudurlabha mahātmas. They are not ordinary mahātmās.

By the grace of Lord Caitanya that highest perfectional status of life is being distributed
very freely. The effect is also very encouraging; otherwise, how are boys and girls without
any background of Vedic culture quickly occupying the posts of rare mahātmās simply by
vibrating this transcendental sound, Hare Krsna? And simply on the basis of this chanting,
the majority of them (those who are very sincere) are steady in devotional service and
are not falling down to the four principles of material sinful life, namely (1) meat-eating,
(2) illicit sexual connection, (3) taking of intoxicants, including coffee, tea, and tobacco,
and (4) gambling. And that is the last sūtra of the Vedānta-sūtra, i.e., anāvṛttiḥ śabdāt ["By
sound vibration one becomes liberated"].

One has to learn by the result (phalena paricīyate). Our students are ordered to act like
this, and they are not falling down. That they are remaining on the platform of pure
spiritual life without hankering to culture the above principles of avidyā, or sense
gratification, is the test of their proper understanding of the Vedas. They do not come back
to the material platform, because they are relishing the nectarean fruit of love of God.
(The Science of Self-Realization - page 93)

PREACHING IS THE ESSENCE

The Lord's plan is to end the living entities' suffering:
... because He [the Lord] wants to maintain the creation, He desires the mass of people to
follow the right path of self-realization, which enables the living beings to enter into the
kingdom of God. The Lord wants the suffering human beings to come back home, back to
Him, and cease to suffer the threefold material pangs. The whole plan of creation is made
in that way, and one who does not come to his senses suffers in the material world by
pangs inflicted by the illusory energy of the Lord.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.10.2

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