The Mango Reason

This article appeared in the April 2012 issue of Back to Godhead (India Edition)

The Mango Reason

By Abhijit Toley

Yes, it’s the mango season. No, that’s not a typo. While I nibble delicious pieces of mango, let me write about the mango reason.

Having “offended” the Lord, His Divine Grace Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura took a vow. What was his offense? When not yet even four years old, he took a mango before it had been offered to the family Deity. His father, the great Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, rebuked him: “All food is to be enjoyed by the Lord. Nothing should be taken unless it is first offered to Kåñëa. You have committed a serious offense.” The little boy took this to heart and was greatly pained for committing this offense. So, instead of the mango, he took a vow—to never eat another mango as long as he lived.

I feel I can confidently say that to most who hear this for the first time, Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté’s vow will strike them as extreme, to say the least. But let this initial shock not keep us in ignorance of this great äcärya’s unprecedented glories. If anything, his uncommon reaction to a seemingly insignificant mistake should wake us up from the cozy bed of our concocted notions about right and wrong.

The great äcäryas, empowered spiritual leaders, are eternally liberated souls. That is, they have no attraction for the things of this world, except when those things are used in the service of the Lord. So situated, they exist solely to serve the Lord with their body, mind, and words. Thus, for them to give up the things of this world, for which an ordinary man would sacrifice his life, is of little consequence. On the other hand, by sometimes exhibiting such startling behavior, the great äcäryas set the highest standards of spiritual life. For instance, by setting this example, even at the tender age of four, Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté stressed the importance of first offering everything to Kåñëa before using it for oneself. This loving spiritual principle is not very difficult to appreciate for one whose heart has even a little affection for the Lord. But in the Age of Kali, in which all spiritual values are thoughtlessly dispensed with, establishing even simple principles necessitates drastic measures that will shake the spiritually bankrupt notions of society at large. And to go against the overwhelming flow of social trends, it takes the power and courage of the great äcäryas, who can swim against the current and take many along in their wake.

Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura had instructed his son verbally. But knowing well that most people in this world are too spiritually dull to take heed of verbal instructions, Çréla Sarasvaté Öhäkura gave us the same instruction by following it in its strictest sense. An äcärya is one who preaches by example, and this great äcärya set an example that is to be glorified and worshipped by all sincere seekers of devotional perfection. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté did not later instruct any of his disciples to follow this particular example, perhaps acknowledging that his offense did not in all cases require a life sentence of mango-less-ness. And yet, all throughout his life, whenever he was offered a mango, he would refuse to accept it, saying that he was an offender. Why? What was the reason behind his vow? What was the Mango Reason?

Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura’s vow serves as an example of how the great äcäryas will go to extremes even at the cost of suffering all kinds of inconveniences, including the scathing criticism of a spiritually impoverished and yet bombastic society. The äcäryas do so not for egotistically making a point, but for the spiritual welfare of the general mass of people, who have been knocked out by the blows of Kali’s agents. In that unconscious state they are now being carried away by a powerful current, tossed on ever-increasing waves of godlessness both gross and subtle, with only the ocean of doom as their final destination. The great äcäryas execute unprecedented acts, and set extraordinary examples, all to awaken such unfortunate and misguided children of God to the full consciousness of spiritual existence so that they can swim back to the safety and joy of spiritual life. This is the Mango Reason, the reason why Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté kept his uncommon lifelong vow.

This mango season, let’s offer our heartfelt worship at the lotus feet of His Divine Grace Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura, who not only took that Mango Vow, but lived all his life for just one reason—the Mango Reason.

The Mango Reason

Yes, it’s the mango season. No, it’s not a typo. While I nibble at pieces of delicious mangoes, let me write about the mango reason.

After His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur “offended” the Lord, he took a vow. What was his offense? When he was not more than four years old, he took a mango before it had been offered to the family deity of the Lord. His father, the great Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura rebuked him: “All food is to be enjoyed by the Lord. Nothing should be taken unless first offered to Krishna. You have committed a serious offense.” The not-quite-four year old boy took this to heart and was greatly pained for committing this “offense”. So, instead of the mango, he took a vow – to never eat mangoes again in his life.

I am not a mind reader of any sort, and yet I can confidently say that to most who have come across this vow for the first time, it would seem extreme to say the least. But let this initial shock not keep us unaware of the unprecedented glories of this great acarya. If anything, this uncommon reaction to a seemingly insignificant mistake should wake us up from the cozy bed of our self-created convenient notions about what is right.

The great spiritual leaders – acharyas – are eternally liberated souls. That is, they have no attraction for the things of this world except when those things are used in the service of the Lord. So situated, their whole existence is for the sole purpose of service to the Lord by their body, minds, and words. Thus, for them to give up things of this world, for which the ordinary man would give his life, is no big deal. On the other hand, by sometimes exhibiting such jarring behavior, the great acharyas set the highest standards of perfect spiritual life. By setting this example, even at the tender age of four, Srila Saraswati Thakur brought out the importance offering everything to Krishna first before using it for oneself. This loving spiritual principle is not very difficult to appreciate for those whose heart has even a little affection for the Lord. But in the age of Kali, where all spiritual principles are flushed down the drain, establishing even such simple principles necessitates drastic measures, contrary to the notions of the spiritually blind society. And to go against the flow of the ravaging social trends, it takes the courage and might of the great acharyas who can swim against the current, and take many along in their wake.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur had instructed him verbally; but knowing well that most people in this world are too spiritually dull to give heed to verbal instructions, Srila Saraswati Thakur gave us the same instruction by following it in its strictest sense. An acarya is one who preaches by example, and this great acarya set this example to be glorified and worshipped by all sincere seekers of devotional perfection. Srila Saraswati Thakur did not expect any of his followers to follow his example, thus acknowledging that it was not the kind of offense that required a life-sentence of mangolessnesss. But still, all throughout his life, whenever he was offered mangoes, he would refuse to accept them, saying that he was an offender. Why? What was the reason behind that Mango Vow? What was that Mango Reason?

Here is an example of how the great acharyas go to extremes, willing to suffer all kinds of inconveniences. Not to mention the scathing jibes from the representatives of a spiritually bankrupt and yet bombastic society. The acharyas do so not for egoistically making a point, but for the spiritual welfare of the general mass of people who have been knocked out by the punches of the agents of Kali in the form of all kinds of subtle and gross godlessness. After being knocked out, people are now being carried away by the current, tossed on the ever increasing waves of socially acceptable forms of godlessness, with only the ocean of doom as their final destination. The great acharyas execute unprecedented missions, and set extraordinary examples, all to shake back such misguided unfortunate children of God to the wakefulness of spiritual existence, so that they can swim back to the safety and unlimited joy of spiritual life. This is the reason – the Mango Reason – why he took and lifelong kept his uncommon Mango Vow.

This mango season let’s offer our heartfelt worship at the lotus feet of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, who not only took that Mango Vow, but lived all his life just for one reason – the Mango Reason.

What Is "The Higher Taste"?

Dear All,

Just about a couple of hours ago I was in a class by H. G. Sankirtanananda Prabhu. I always love to hear from him. Today he instructed us on the topic of how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s devotees are “Vairaagya Pradhaan”, i.e. how in them the quality of renunciation is prominent. The essence of the lecture was that the renunciation of the devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu arises from engagement in positive higher activities of Devotional Service while the renunciation of the Mayavadis arises from frustration. I will not elaborate on this discussion in this article.

But what I want to elaborate on is the short question-answer session that followed the lecture. While explaining the principle of higher engagement, H. G. Sankirtanananda Paabhu mentioned how one will relinquish a low paying job for a high paying one and how a hungry man will relinquish a two-day old dry roti for halwa prepared in pure ghee J. On this point, H. G. Vamandev Prabhu very humbly asked what I thought was a very beautiful question.

He asked (I will paraphrase), “Is this example given in a particular context? Doesn’t taste depend on the modes of nature that a person has acquired? For example, the hog will reject the halwa and accept stool instead.”

Now I was really keen on hearing the answer J I thought this was a very important question. And then H. G. Sankirtananand Prabhu answered as follows (in essence). I’ll paraphrase. “In the example, the dry roti or the low paying job is compared to any enjoyment that is material, be it in any of the three modes. The halwa or the high paying job is compared to the enjoyment in the pure goodness”. Ofcourse, he elaborated further on how some people wont even take to the higher engagement because they are so much engrossed in their sense enjoyment that they ignore the promise of an even higher taste. That’s why, he said, sometimes very strong preaching is required to such people to bring them out of the illusion of sense gratificatory enjoyment.

I was thrilled to hear the answer. H. G. Samkirtanananda Prabhu’s answers are always very very clear. And he answers more than what is just asked. He elaborates on the subject matter from all possible perspectives.

I got a few realizations from this short question-answer session:

1. Even though I had heard this Bhagavad Gita verse “param drishtva nivartante …” so many times and quoted it myself so many times to so many people, after this discussion my understanding of what is meant by “higher taste” suddenly became clear. That the higher taste refers particularly to the taste for devotional service was made crystal clear in my mind.

2. I also realized the wonderful benefit of being around when two wonderful devotees are discussing the glories and pastimes and instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna! This also has made the meaning of the following Bhagavatam verse much clearer in my mind. Paraphrase : “Whenever there is a discussion about the Supreme Lord, three kinds of people are benefited. The enquirer, the answerer, and the other listeners” In this case I was in the third category J

3. I also realized that for preaching one really needs a deep study and understanding of the scriptures. Further, while giving examples, one has to always be very clear about what philosophical truth is being explained via the example. Also, I remember hearing from H. G. Vamsi Vadan Prabhu that one must not stretch the example (i.e. try to bring out other philosophical points from it) beyond its intended purpose.

Thus, I had a fully satisfying Morning Class yet again J Thanks a zillion to H. G. RadheShyam Prabhu for caring for all of us so much. As long as we follow his lotus feet, we can be assured of a steady journey in our spiritual life.

Yours in the service of Krishna,

Abhijit.