There are mainly two types of mentality at work behind an inclination towards spirituality: the selfish mentality, or átmá-sukha tattva [theory of selfish pleasure], and sama-samája tattva [the theory of social equality]. When utter self-centredness manifests itself in people, when someone thinks only “I shall eat and dress well, ride luxury cars and fulfil all my desires,” that is the dualistic or selfish mentality, that is, to take shelter in a dogma and exploit others. Most of the religions of the world are based on this selfish mentality. This selfish mentality is at work behind people’s worship of different non-scriptural gods and goddesses. People pray with folded hands to Lakśmii, the goddess of wealth, saying: “Come, Mother Lakśmii, please be seated, Mother Lakśmii, stay in my house, Mother Lakśmii.” In a hot, humid country, snakes pose a nuisance. So people introduced the worship of Manasá Devii, the goddess of snakes, for the purpose of propitiating her. Smallpox also breaks out in hot countries. Hence people started worshipping Shiitalá Devii in order to ward off that disease. Thus people set about worshipping various gods and goddesses with their own self-interest in view. If we minutely scrutinize what we call majhab or dharmamata or religions, we shall clearly see that they all promise self-centred gain either in the near future or in the distant future. The extremely harmful signal that they send sometimes prompts people to forget their rationality and creates in them an inability to tolerate [other faiths]. Instead of love for mankind, imaginary selfish pleasure or heavenly pleasure becomes the be-all and end-all of life.

The Márkańd́eya Puráńa, or Cańd́ii [mythological goddess in the Puráńa], says: Rúpaḿ dehi, jayaḿ dehi, yasho dehi, dviśo jahi [“Give me beauty, give me victory, give me fame, and vanquish my enemy”]. This is also sullied with the same defect of átma-sukha tattva.

Vidyá dadáti vinayaḿ vinayát yáti pátratám;
Pátratát dhanamápnoti dhanáddharma tato sukham.

[Knowledge leads to humility, and humility in turn makes one a fit receptacle;
As a receptacle one will become prosperous, and prosperity leads to happiness.]

This shloka [couplet] shows that people have accepted religion only in hopes of getting wealth and pleasure.

It is only in sama-samája tattva that actual dharma [the characteristic of human beings] lies. True dharma is that which establishes human beings in both spheres of life, that is, the objective world and the noumenal world. People will take with them everything that exists in the objective world, and proceed towards the noumenal world in such a way that all the expressions of objective life will merge into one with that sweet eternally-flowing entity within the noumenal. Keeping in mind this principle of sama-samája tattva, Ananda Marga started out on its universalistic journey. This principle must be adhered to by all dhármik people.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born long after [the birth of] Jainism. Of all the factors that made Mahaprabhu “Maháprabhu” [a great master], two are important: 1) His birthplace was the confluence of Ráŕh and Bagri. He was born during a transitional period in the social life not only of Ráŕh, but also of Bengal. The philosophy of life [based partly on Jainism] which then prevailed in Ráŕh diminished human beings; it totally devalued humanity. Under the influence of an ideology of life that was opposed to the práńa dharma [the práńa dharma of a society means the distinctive characteristics of that society] of Ráŕh, the life of Bengal was drying up and turning into a desert. Endowed with a lofty mind and a deep sensitive heart, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was unable to bear this state of affairs. 2) Supra-sensory “madness” among the Bauls of Ráŕh. In a bid to redress this unnatural situation [the devaluation of humanity] in social life, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu propounded Gaoŕiiya Vaeśńava Dharma, which served to quite some extent as a balm for the stinking wounds of the then society.

Though there was some impact of sama-samája tattva in the Vaeśńava society founded by Ramananda, Ramanuja and Ballabhacharya, the system of caste discrimination was very strong. But Gaoŕiiya Vaeśńava philosophy was free from this evil influence. Thanks to the pervasive influence of Shaeva Dharma in Ráŕh, there was also some influence of sama-samája tattva. And since the Vaeśńava Dharma of Ráŕh was based on Shaeva Dharma, sama-samája tattva found a place in Ráŕh also. But the Vaeśńava Dharma of other parts of India was based on prapattiváda.⁽¹⁾

The soil of Ráŕh being very hard, Shaeva Dharma here formed a base that was also as hard as a diamond. A revolutionary attitude is the fundamental spirit of Tantra. The Baul doctrine and the influence of Jain Tantra and Shaeva Tantra all combinedly gave birth to an introversive, synthetic philosophy of life in Ráŕh; and in that environment emerged Chandidas, Dina Chandidas, Barhu Chandidas, Jaydev, Govindadas Thakur, Gyanadas Thakur, Lochandas Thakur, Naraharidas Thakur, etc., whose influence on the minds of the people of Ráŕh has been pervasive and profound.⁽²⁾

Footnotes

(1) The idea that everything is being done by Paramátman, by the Divine Entity. This idea was sometimes taken to an extreme or misinterpreted. –Trans.

(2) In the original Bengali book, the number 9 as a chapter number was inadvertently skipped, so the chapters were numbered 1-8 and 10-32. In this book they have been numbered 1-31. –Trans.