Imitating pure devotees

(Translated and published for first time in English Dated 12.11.2024 ,from Śrī Gauḍīya Patrikā, Year 7–8–9–10, Issue 2–6– Excerpt of Orginal article named Yaduvaṁsha mai Ekalavya)

While calculating my so-called gains and losses, I perceive that my greatest profit lies in imitating the fabricated ideal of Raya Rāmānanda. In the name of yukta-vairāgya (practical renunciation), I indulge in every possible form of sensual gratification. Then why should I be deceived by adopting the phālgu-vairāgya (false renunciation) of Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana—who would sleep beneath a different tree each night? What is the benefit in accepting such austere renunciation? (_In other words, why should I undergo the severe asceticism of the Gosvāmīs when I can maintain my indulgence in sense gratification while outwardly posing as a renunciant under the pretext of yukta-vairāgya?_)

Particularly, the fairy-tale notion of sleeping under a different tree each night, as followed by Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana, is best left as a relic in my grandfather’s satchel of bygone fables—it has no relevance in this modern age. These things no longer hold any value today.

Yet again, when I reassess my calculations of loss and gain from another perspective, I find that while externally imitating Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana—sleeping beneath a different tree each night and subsisting on dry chickpeas and bread—may not be entirely disadvantageous, an even greater profit lies in equating myself with Śrīla Gaurakiśora Dāsa Gosvāmī Mahārāja. By mimicking his pastimes in Navadvīpa—dwelling in the latrines of dharmaśālās, wearing discarded cloth from corpses, and eating uncooked rice—I can secure for myself far more prestige. By this secret deception, I can covertly amass wealth (kanaka) and women (kāminī) under the guise of renunciation.

Thus, my endless calculations of loss and gain ultimately transform me into nothing more than a monkey—a creature who outwardly imitates the expressions and gestures of Śrī Rūpa, Śrī Sanātana, and Śrīla Gaurakiśora while inwardly remaining absorbed in deception and self-interest.

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