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.