True Faith is the Key to Understanding the Infinite
Goswāmī Mahārāj: This is the last opportunity for going to have to me(?) with you and any final questions think we ever(?) discussed. Any questions on anything we’ve discussed or anything that we’ve not discussed.
Question: Could you say what is the difference between veritable faith and ostentatious faith. Does the veritable faith come to nothing more that limits of one religion and whether must it be supported by any rituals?
Goswāmī Mahārāj: That’s a very good question. Because then we need to define first what is faith. And that’s giving us
‘śraddhā’-śabde—viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha niśchaya
kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya
It means if I dedicate myself in belief in one thing that everything is achieved, nothing will be neglected. In that act I want I cannot be accused to be irresponsible. So there is one place where I can put all my energy, my focus, my belief active apparent exclusion of all other things but yet at the same time meet all requirements. The belief that this is possible that’s the beginning of culture of faith.
In the same place what it is mentioned some examples were given to help us that’s the purpose of example or metaphor, analogy to help us properly conceive something. So it says that just like pouring water on the root of a tree through the trunk, the branches, the twigs, the leaves everything is nourished. When you pour the water on the root, objectively speaking, someone can say: “Oh, you are neglecting so many leaves. They need water. All these leaves, these buds, their fruit potential, you are neglecting them, putting all water on the root”.
So sometimes people will accuse those exclusively dedicated the culture of faith as being socially negligent. That’s a misguidance, superficial for the vision. When you pour water on the root all the leaves are nursed, everything is taken care. So really that means redirecting one’s focus towards the absolute centre. But we’ll have to factor in what is our capacity for belief. It’s very small. And if we try to use reason or knowledge to enhance faith it may be cannot(?) productive. Because what we know is based upon our limited experience of the limited. That won’t be helpful in trying understand the unlimited or the infinite. Like we have Aesop’s fables in Greece there’s a (?) in India in Pancharatra. So it’s told once in a pond a little baby frog, his mother goes off for one frog business. And a giant elephant comes to drink from there. And for the little baby-frog this is totally beyond his experience. So he’s astonished to see a being of such mass and capacity. When the elephant leaves his mother returns.
“Oh mummy, you can’t believe a being that I saw with size inconceivable”. And she inflates her belly: “Was it this big”? “No, no, no, huge”. She inflates the belly more: “Is it this big?” He says: “Not even close”. Then she inflates her belly to a point of “phoo”.
So why this is given as an analysis, this is the mind, intellect trying to conceive the infinite. In Bhagavad-gita Krishna reveals to Arjun His virat-rupa, which is merely like a gigantic form, or we say, gigantic, universal in size and dimension and variegatedness. And Arjun endowed with the vision to be able to see that he is astonished. He sees inumerable forms, inumerable universes, all living beings, everything all time space creation. But Krishna says: “Let Me know when you have enough. Because whatever you conceive as infinite to me is atomic, it’s nothing, it’s insignificant.
Sometimes we are told He is lying on Anantashesha, the bed of the unlimited, the personification of unlimited Anantadev. So, in other words, you have the infinite, the unlimited laying using the infinite as a bed. So what is our capacity? Still our prospect lying on a culture of faith is the infinite, the finite may not be able to know the infinite, but finite means that the infinite can make itself known to the finite by infinite means. And, fortunately for us, that transcends all relative disqualifications. Because, ultimately, this is about heart. The reason says: “No”, the heart says: “Yes”. So we are not talking about an impersonal infinite, but an infinite Supreme loving Lord of heart, heat capacity. And that the Gita is spoken during the famous battle of Kurukshetra. And before this war took place, there was some attempts of diplomatic negotiated solution.
So one point Krishna Himself went to try effect diplomatic solution. And because Arjun had renowned all of military asset(?), he said: “I only want one thing: Krishna is my charioteer.” And on top of it all Krishna said: “I won’t fight, I won’t take up any arm, I’ll just be a charioteer”.
As a footnote, to have the infinite Supreme Lord driving your chariot is a good choice.