What is Vaishnava Aparath? How to get relieved from it?
A male devotee asked like this:
Radhe Radhe Prabhu ji? What is Vaishnav apradh ? And how to remove Vaishnav apradh?
REPLY:
Vaishnava aparath means insulting, defaming, or treating the vaishnavas without care and humbleness. If we do this even within mind, it is vaishnava aparath. Vaishnavas are dedicated to the services of Lord and hence we should treat them as if we treat Krishna with all the honours. In fact, Krishna feels happy when we honour His devotees. At the same time, even Krishna does not forgive a person who insults His devotees.
That is why, I have been following a moderate approach in my writings without defaming any devotee, demigod, etc., because we have read that all of them are performing their services to Lord.
There is a culture in the religious practices. If one likes to show his faith on a god/religion/path, he thinks that he should scold the other gods/religions/paths as much as possible. They think that their god will be happy if other gods are defamed.
What a foolishness this is?
If a god feels happy if other giods are insulted, he is not a god at all. How can such a candidate be a god?
These are all nonsense. I totally object and discourage abusing other gods/ religions/ paths as a show of our attachment to our god/religion/ path. There is no place for such opinions in my writings. In case anyone finds such a tone anywhere in my writings, please politely tell me. If it is violative of my principles, I will remove it.
We have right to promote a god. But, we do not have any right to abuse others.
Even the demigods are vaishnavas since they are serving the Lord Krishna.
Even we should not underestimate a vaishnava because, vaishnavas do not show that they are great. They are always humble and simple. This should not be misunderstood.
Even the dust under the lotus feet of vaishnavas is very powerful that can cleanse us. Therefore, we should never speak ill of any vaishnavas or should not treat them badly, or even casually.
Remedies? Of course, we can’t get excuse even from Krishna if we insult vaishnavas. There is ONLY ONE WAY to come out of Vaishnava Aparath. You should go to that vaishnava, speak to him humbly and beg his forgiveness for your offences. Only if he forgives you, you can come out of vaishnava aparath.
I read a wonderful speech by H.H. Radhanath Swami, given in New Vrindavan.
Read a part of that speech:
“It is described that one time Sachi Mata understood how dear she was for the Supreme Lord, how dear and yet he could not even tolerate when someone as dear as Sachi Mata committed an offense to another devotee. It is described that one time, in the house of Advaita Acarya, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Sachi Devi that
“You can never go back to Godhead and you can never attain the mercy of Krsna because you have committed an offense against Sri Advaita Acarya in your mind”.
And she became very much frightful. She was a very simple, and humble and innocent devotee. She understood that she had displeased the Lord and he explained to her that you have no hope of going back to Krsna because you have committed an offense against a vaisnava. How exalted she was and how he could not even tolerate any offense against the vaisnava from her and she said “What have I done”?
He said that “When your son, my older brother took sanyas, you were in your mind, although, you did not say anything, you were in your mind blaming Advaita Acarya for influencing him to take sanyas, because Vishvarupa was always going to Advaita Acaryas house for hearing Srimad Bhagvatam and having kirtan and due to this influence he became completely, completely detached from all material life and when he ran away and took sanyas, you were thinking in your heart that this Advaita Acarya by his influence my beloved son has left. In this way in your mind you were committing offense to the lotus feet of Advaita Acarya and therefore, there is no hope for you to ever attain Krsna consciousness”.
Mother Sachi Devi she said “Now what do I have to do to atone for this offense”.
And he said “The only way to atone for this offense is that you must with your heart in a state of great humility desiring true forgiveness, you must take the dust from the feet of Sri Advaita Acarya”.
And Sachi Mata said “How is it possible? Advaita Acarya, he worships me like his mother, because I am your mother. He will never allow me to touch his feet. He is much bigger and stronger than me, how will I ever touch his feet”?
He said “It is the only means”.
So he wanted to show the world, how serious he takes the offense of a devotee, he made a plan, he said “When Advaita Acarya comes, I will manifest to him my super excellence and then he will bow down to me and when he is in full prostrations, you come out from the back, where he will not see you and there you should take the dust from his lotus feet”.
So when Advaita Acarya came, he offered his prostrated obeisance’s to the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Gaur Hari and while he was laying there immersed in divine love, Sachi Mata secret from behind took the dust from his feet and when he understood what happened he became very much embarrassed “Why have you done like this, how could you do like this”?
And then she confessed that “I have committed an offense to your lotus feet dear Advaita, please forgive me”.
And then Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained to Advaita how this was necessary for the purification of Sachi Mata and also to establish throughout the world that no one can be dear to Krsna who is committing offenses to the lotus feet of the devotees.
There are many stories like this. In the Chaitanya Bhagvat it is explained that there was a devotee of the name Devananda Pandit and he was a great scholar. He was teaching Srimad Bhagvatam and in the Srimad Bhagvatam one time Srivasa Thakur came to the class and when he heard one of the slokas in transcendental ecstasy he began to swirl and became unconscious and Devananda Pandit and his disciples they did not understand the sweetness of pure love of God. They thought that he was some sort of pretender, that he was some sort of sickly person, so they picked him up and abusively brought him outside and left him outside. And it is described for years and years and years Devananda Pandit was not allowed to become Krsna consciousness but he had to suffer until at last because of his repented forgiveness before the feet of Srivasa Thakur that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu forgave him.”
Hope all of you are clear now.
AN OPEN REQUEST:
Let me utilize this post to humbly seek the forgiveness from any vaishnava in case I had inadvertantly or willingly offended against them in my long journey in devotional practices so far in my life time. Though I have been careful in this matter and have advised all of you to follow that, I might have done some offences either willingly or unwillingly against any devotee/ vaishnava. In case, anyone had felt so, kindly forgive me for any such offences. I also beg them to extend their blessings so that I do not commit any such offences in future. Please do this for this insignificant devotee. I also pray all of you to pray for forgiveness from any vaishnava in case you had offended them.
Unless they forgive us, we have no other refuge, even the refuge of Krishna.