RĀYA RĀMĀNANDA SAṂVĀDA · 04
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The first answer — do your duty. Mahāprabhu rejects it in one word: 'this is external'
prabhu kahe — eho bāhya, āge kaha āra"This is external. Tell Me more" (CC Madhya 8.59)
The first answer — do your duty. Mahāprabhu rejects it in one word: 'this is external'
prabhu kahe — eho bāhya, āge kaha āra
"This is external. Tell Me more" (CC Madhya 8.59)
Listen to Gurudev
"Mahāprabhu said: "eho bāhya" — this is external. … This verse is describing persons who are performing the karma within varṇāśrama-dharma, sakāma karma — that means performing their work with a desire to fulfill their own aspirations."
Rāmānanda begins with the firmest thing religion has: do your duty by varṇa and āśrama — and Viṣṇu is satisfied. The answer is flawless by śāstra. And suddenly — "eho bāhya," this is external. Why? The verse speaks of those who work sakāma, for reward: they reach the heavenly planets and from there slide back down when the store of piety runs out. Motion in a circle, not toward the goal. So Mahāprabhu sets the tone of the whole ladder: even flawless duty is still a shell, a husk around the kernel. "Tell Me something more."
Even flawless duty is not the goal. Look deeper.
Source: Rāya Rāmānanda Saṃvāda · part 2
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Rāya Rāmānanda Saṃvāda · the ladder of life's goal
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