Mayavada and Vaishnava Philosophy – Nimai eating dirt
These are the photos of my 14 months old son, who was showing me a lump of mud and he seems to be saying -Try this, see how tasty it is. What do you think he is trying to say?
There was a sweet pastime that took place when Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Nimai) was a small boy.Once Mother Sachi gave a bowl of Fused rice, sweetmeats to little Nimai to eat and went on to do some household work.Then, Nimai hid himself and started eating dirt. Seeing this, mother Saci hastily returned and exclaimed, “What is this! What is this?” She snatched the dirt from the hands of the Lord and inquired why He was eating it.
Crying, the child inquired from His mother, “Why are you angry? You have already given me dirt to eat. What is My fault?. “Fused rice, sweetmeats and all other eatables are but transformations of dirt. This is dirt that is dirt. Please consider. What is the difference between them? This body is a transformation of dirt, and the eatables are also a transformation of dirt. Please reflect upon this. You are blaming me without consideration. What can I say?”
This is an explanation of the Mayavada philosophy, which takes everything to be one. The necessities of the body, namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending, are all unnecessary in spiritual life. When one is elevated to the spiritual platform, there are no more bodily necessities, and in activities pertaining to the bodily necessities there are no spiritual considerations. In other words, the more we eat, sleep, have sex and try to defend ourselves, the more we engage in material activities. Unfortunately, Mayavadi philosophers consider devotional activities to be bodily activities. They cannot understand the simple explanation in the Bhagavad-gita (14.26):
mam ca yo ‘vyabhicarena bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate
“Anyone who engages in spiritual devotional service without motivation, rendering such service for the satisfaction of the Lord, is elevated immediately to the spiritual platform, and all his activities are spiritual.” Brahma-bhuyaya refers to Brahman (spiritual) activities. Although Mayavadi philosophers are very eager to merge into the Brahman effulgence, they have no Brahman activities. To a certain extent they recommend Brahman activities, which for them means engagement in studying the Vedanta and Sankhya philosophies, but their interpretations are but dry speculation. Lacking the varieties of spiritual activity, they cannot stay for long on that platform of simply studying Vedanta or Sankhya philosophy.
Life is meant for varieties of enjoyment. The living entity is by nature full of an enjoying spirit, as stated in the Vedanta-sutra (1.1.12): ananda-mayo ‘bhyasat. In devotional service the activities are variegated and full of enjoyment. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (9.2), all devotional activities are easy to perform (su-sukham kartum) and are eternal and spiritual (avyayam). Since Mayavadi philosophers cannot understand this, they take it for granted that a devotee’s activities (sravanam kirtanam vishnoh smaranam pada-sevanam, etc. [SB 7.5.23]) are all material and are therefore maya. They also consider Krishna’s advent in this universe and His activities to be maya. Therefore, because they consider everything maya, they are known as Mayavadis.
Actually, any activities performed favorably for the satisfaction of the Lord, under the direction of the spiritual master, are spiritual. But for a person to disregard the order of the spiritual master and act by concoction, accepting his nonsensical activities to be spiritual, is maya. One must achieve the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the mercy of the spiritual master. Therefore one must first please the spiritual master, and if he is pleased, then we should understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also pleased. But if the spiritual master is displeased by our actions, they are not spiritual. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura confirms this: yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi **. Activities that please the spiritual master must be considered spiritual, and they should be accepted as satisfying to the Lord.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as the supreme spiritual master, instructed His mother about the Mayavada philosophy. By saying that the body is dirt and eatables are also dirt, He implied that everything is maya. This is Mayavada philosophy. The philosophy of the Mayavadis is defective because it maintains that everything is maya but the nonsense they speak. While saying that everything is maya, the Mayavadi philosopher loses the opportunity of devotional service, and therefore his life is doomed. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore advised mayavadi-bhashya sunile haya sarva-nasa (Cc. Madhya 6.169). If one accepts the Mayavada philosophy, his advancement is doomed forever.
Astonished that the child was speaking Mayavada philosophy, mother Saci replied, “Who has taught You this philosophical speculation that justifies eating dirt?”. Replying to the Mayavada idea of the child philosopher, mother Saci said, “My dear boy, if we eat earth transformed into grain, our body is nourished, and it becomes strong. But if we eat dirt in its crude state, the body becomes diseased instead of nourished, and thus it is destroyed.
In the philosophical discourse between the mother and the son, when the son said that everything is one, as impersonalists say, the mother replied, “If everything is one, why do people in general not eat dirt but eat the food grains produced from the dirt?”
In a waterpot, which is a transformation of dirt, I can bring water very easily. But if I poured water on a lump of dirt, the lump would soak up the water, and my labor would be useless.”
This simple philosophy propounded by Sacimata, can defeat the Mayavadi philosophers who speculate on oneness. The defect of Mayavada philosophy is that it does not accept the variety that is useful for practical purposes. Sacimata gave the example that although an earthen pot and a lump of dirt are basically one, for practical purposes the waterpot is useful whereas the lump of dirt is useless. Sometimes scientists argue that matter and spirit are one, with no difference between them. Factually, in a higher sense, there is no difference between matter and spirit, but one should have the practical knowledge that matter, being an inferior state of existence, is useless for our spiritual, blissful life, whereas spirit, being a finer state, is full of bliss. In this connection the Bhagavatam gives the example that dirt and fire are practically one and the same. From the earth grow trees, and from their wood come fire and smoke. Nevertheless, for heat we can utilize the fire but not the earth, smoke or wood. Therefore, for the ultimate realization of the goal of life, we are concerned with the fire of the spirit, not the dull wood or earth of matter.
The Lord replied to His mother, “Why did you conceal self-realization by not teaching me this practical philosophy in the beginning? Now that I can understand this philosophy, no more shall I eat dirt.
If from the beginning of life one is taught the Vaishnava philosophy of duality or variety, the monistic philosophy will not bother him very much. In reality, everything is an emanation from the supreme source (janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1]). The original energy is exhibited in varieties, exactly as the sunshine, the original energy emanating from the sun, exhibits itself in variety as light and heat. One cannot say that light is heat or that heat is light, yet one cannot separate one from the other. Therefore Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s philosophy is acintya-bhedabheda, inconceivable non-separation and distinction. Although there is an affinity between the two physical manifestations light and heat, there is also a difference between them. Similarly, although the whole cosmic manifestation is the Lord’s energy, the energy is nevertheless exhibited in varieties of manifestations.
(Nimai eating dirt excerpted from Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-lila Chapter 14 by Srila Prabhupad )
