He Challenges Nondualism

This is a very old incident. I was with Guruji at a preaching engagement in Saharanpur. One day, Guru Maharaj unexpectedly entered my room and said, “What are you doing sitting idle here? We have taken some land in Vrindavan. Shouldn’t there be some construction there?”

“What should I do?” I asked.

“Go out and collect some donations for that purpose. I have heard that there is a rich lady living nearby who is very charitable. Go and meet her,” said Guruji.

I was not a person who would wander about. Hence I did not know who lived where. “Who is the lady that Guru Maharaj mentioned and where does she live?” Then I remembered that Vijay Krishna Prabhu, who was with us, was interested in moving about. He would surely have found out some information about the city.

I approached Vijay Krishna Prabhu and conveyed to him what Guruji had told me earlier. I asked if he knew the lady that Guruji was talking about.

“Yes. Yes. Why not? I know her house also,” Vijay Krishna Prabhu said.

“Then, can you take me there?” I asked.

“Yes. Let us go now,” said Vijay Krishna Prabhu enthusiastically.

We both reached that place and sent our card inside. Sometime later, a fat lady came out and asked us to come inside and sit down. After we were seated, I began the conversation. I said, “Mataji, we are from the All India Sri Caitanya Gaudiya Math. We travel all throughout India to preach the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu on pure devotion.” Having said that, I began to tell her who Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is and what His thoughts are. I also told her about acintya-bheda-abheda tattva.

For about an hour, she listened to me attentively, nodding her head in-between.

After listening to me, she said, “Whatever you have said is alright, except for the duality between the Lord and the living entity. This is false. Everything is brahman - aham brahma 'smi - so'ham.”

However much I would tell her about the eternal relationship between the Lord and the living entity, she would hear and smilingly reply, “This is all false. This duality will not exist later.”

I tried to make her understand that the Lord is eternal, His part and parcel, the living entity is also eternal, and the relationship between the Lord and the living entity is also eternal.

She would say, “Yes, yes. Initially it is understood like that. But this world, these living entities - all this is false.” However much I tried to make her understand, she would only reply that we are all brahman, that the idea of duality was not good, and that the world and the living entities are false.

When she failed to understand in spite of my repeated attempts, I said, “If this world is false, then are you outside of this world? You are also within this world and if the entire world is false, you are also false and your statements are also false. We have no need of listening to false statements. If this attitude exists in the heart, devotion will never be possible.” Having said that, I came out of her room. Vijay Krishna Prabhu also followed behind me.

-Srila Gurudeva Sri Srimad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj

(Translated from Sri Hari Katha Sudha)





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