In the Mahabharata, we hear the amazing story of Abimanyu, the son of Arjuna and Subadra, who hold his own when surrounded and simultaneously attacked by most of the senior Kaurava generals. Abimanyu was eventually defeated and killed, but only after several hours of fighting and after destroying a considerable part of the Kaurava army and killing several generals.
The reason for this sacrifice couldn’t be nobler. The Kauravas attacked with a especial formation called chakravyuha, where the army was organized in the form of an unstoppable chakra, that had the goal of penetrating in the Pandava army and killing or capturing king Yudhisthira. Arjuna was the only one who knew how to enter and leave the formation, but on this day he was lured to a distant part of the battlefield and was not there to counteract it.
Abimanyu had heard from his father how to enter the formation, but he didn’t know how to escape it. Bhima offered to cover his retreat, by following him and keeping the opening so he could exit the formation safely. After all agreed on the details, Abimanyu fought very valiantly on his chariot, breaking the formation open and attacking it from the inside. Bhima followed him accompanied with the other Pandavas (except Arjuna), but they were stopped by Jayadrata, who displayed unparalleled prowess and was able to defeat not only Bhima but all the four Pandavas in their attack. As a result, the chakravyuha closed behind Abimanyu and he started his heroic struggle.
One topic that I have been considering for some time is the role of experimentation in Vedic knowledge. Of course, when we hear the words “experimentation” and “Vedic knowledge” together in the same sentence, the first reaction is to immediately argue that it is nonsense since we hear that Vedic knowledge is axiomatic and therefore there is no scope for experimentation. However, there are a few points to consider.
The first point to consider on this topic is that Vedic knowledge can be divided into two main categories: spiritual knowledge, about the soul, God, and our relationship with Him, and different branches of material knowledge that are taught in the scriptures, such as Ayurveda, cosmology and so on.
Naturally, when we speak about spiritual knowledge, experimentation is neither possible nor desirable. It’s not possible to make experiments with the soul or with God, since they are by definition objects of a transcendental nature that are outside the realm of test and experimentation. It’s not possible to measure or photograph the soul as we would do with some material object. The only way to get knowledge about transcendental topics is to follow the process given by Krsna Himself: to accept a bonafide spiritual master from a school that goes all the way back to Krsna Himself and to study the spiritual science from him.
However, we are also alerted that spiritual knowledge should not be accepted blindly. The disciple is supposed to ask relevant questions to properly understand the subject. At the same time, he is supposed to see the results of his spiritual practice in the form of freedom from material desires and the gradual appearance of love for Krsna. If one follows a so-called spiritual process for many years and as a result sees that his material attachments are increasing instead of diminishing, it’s a sign that there is something wrong with his practice, or with the process itself.
Srila Prabhupada explains that Krsna Consciousness is a scientific process. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, scientific method means “principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses”. In other words, a scientific process is a process where there are certain steps to be followed that lead to a reproducible result. Krsna Consciousness is therefore scientific because everyone who follows the process attains the same result, which is love for Krsna. It is something reproducible that is supposed to work in every single case.
So, in one sense there is no scope for experimentation, but at the same time, the process in itself is supposed to lead to a certain result. If one tries to follow the process and achieve an opposite result, it means something is wrong with his practice.
Apart from transcendental knowledge, the Vedas also explain different branches of material knowledge, such as astronomy, and Ayurveda, as well as social organization, psychology, and other branches of material knowledge.
These different branches of knowledge teach us how to do things in the best way, so we can get good results: maintain our health, have a prosperous family life, maintain a prosperous society, better understand the present and future with the help of astrology, and so on.
Just as spiritual knowledge, these different branches of knowledge are not supposed to be accepted blindly. One is supposed to study under a teacher that is well-versed in the subject, see the knowledge working in practice, and then be able to apply it. At the same time, his application of knowledge is supposed to bring good results. If a doctor is killing his patients instead of curing them, this is a sign that he is doing something wrong. The original knowledge may be correct, but by the result we can easily understand that the application of this particular doctor is not proper.
What makes many of these branches of spiritual knowledge especially difficult to master is that in many cases there is not a surviving parampara. There are many schools of Ayurveda, for example, but one will be hard-pressed to find one that has an unbroken parampara that goes all the way to Lord Danvantari. The same goes for Vedic astronomy and most of the other areas that I mentioned.
When Srila Prabhupada was discussing the model of the Vedic Universe for the ToVP with his disciples, they tried to find some Vedic astronomer that could explain the Universe as described in the Puranas. They could not find it. Most of the understanding we now have on this topic came from disciples of Srila Prabhupada who could find bits and pieces of knowledge from different sources and gradually use them to form workable theories. They had to rediscover a knowledge that was long forgotten, so to say.
In such a process, experimentation can play a role, because the knowledge is supposed to describe observable phenomena. If one studies verses about the orbit of the sun, for example, but comes to a model that doesn’t reflect the way the sun moves in the sky, it’s probable that his interpretation is incorrect. If one uses formulas described in the Jyotish sastras to calculate the position of planets, but the result is different from what we see in the sky, it means he is not understanding it correctly. Similarly, if one applies some treatment described in the Ayurveda, but it leads to a worsening of the condition of the patients being treated, it probably means that there is something wrong with his understanding or application.
Apart from Ayurveda, astrology, or astronomy, another good example of this line is Varnasrama. We have descriptions of how Varnasrama is supposed to work in the scriptures, but we don’t have any example of a working Varnasrama society we can study, nor any school with a parampara that goes all the way back to the times Varnasrama was current in society. As a result, we need to create a working system from the bits and pieces of knowledge we have available. One may think he found the secret sauce, but his theory will have to be tested and show results in practice. Just because we are creating a model based on the bits and pieces of knowledge we get from the scriptures, doesn’t automatically means the model is correct.
In other words, experimentation in this case works as a system of checks and balances that can help to detect improper understanding or application of Vedic knowledge. Without such a system of checks and balances, we can easily end up with stereotyped formulas that don’t work in practice, but that we try to push as axiomatic knowledge just because it is “vedic”. As a result, instead of attracting intelligent people who can further understand and refine our understanding of Vedic knowledge, we end up with fanatical people that further deviate it.
In my humble opinion, this is a very important point to consider, because fundamentalist applications of knowledge from the scriptures can often bring very bad results.
Recently I started using classes from Srila Prabhupada as studying material for my English students. My job is to explain these classes in simple words, so they can pick-up the ideas and vocabulary and later be able to understand the classes proper.
In this process, I have to naturally study each class very deeply, so I can get the essential points and flow of ideas to write the materials for the course. This is giving me another opportunity to understand the genius of Srila Prabhupada in formulating these classes. He is able to explain points we normally struggle so much to understand and to explain in such a simple and elegant way that one can only be amazed. This is again just reinforcing my conviction that to try to understand Krsna Consciousness by studying “advanced” books, without a very long and deep study of the philosophy Srila Prabhupada explains in his classes and books is an exercise of futility. The ones who think Srila Prabhupada gave only the ABCD are just paving their way in the direction of spiritual illiteracy.
Many senior devotees believe a powerful acarya is about to appear in this world. I don’t know from where this idea comes if there is some prophecy or reference, but I heard the same idea from quite a number of different sources.
We can see that after the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada there was a lot of darkness and confusion in our society, similar to what happened after the disappearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Past acaryas alert that after the disappearance of a powerful acarya, a period of confusion ensues. Srila Prabhupada created a worldwide movement practically from scratch, with the help of disciples who were quite young and inexperienced by the time he left the planet. He left all the philosophy of Krsna Consciousness in his books, but at the time he left devotees were still struggling to understand them. Even nowadays we are still struggling, what to say about the first days. What is impressive in this story is not the problems that happened, but how our movement was capable of remaining a unified mission despite all the chaos. The disciples left by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura were more advanced in many aspects, but still, they could not preserve the unity of the mission after the disappearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta. Somehow, by Krsna’s mercy, the disciples of Srila Prabhupada were able to accomplish this difficult mission, and this simple fact is more significant than any shortcoming that may have existed.
Imagine the following scene. You meet your old best friend Jack that you don’t see since high school. You become emotional in seeing your friend for so many years. You run in his direction, saying: “Jack, It’s me, I’m so happy to see you!”. However, as you get close, you notice he is not happy at all to see you. As a result, you stop. You look around and see some small children scattered here and there. One has hurt his leg, the other one is crying. In your rush to embrace your friend, you carelessly knocked down all these children, his children! How do you think Jack feels?
Sometimes, in our rush to get things done for Krsna, we treat his devotees carelessly and even hurt a few of them in the process. This was of course more common in the past, but it still happens a lot. Usually, the more active a place is, the more it tends to happen. This is like getting close to Krsna by knocking down his children, it doesn’t work very well. Actually, the way one treats others is one of the most reliable ways to understand one’s level of advancement in spiritual life. As one’s ego becomes more under control, his awareness of others as parts and parcels of Krsna grows.
