Nothing is as before

by Lakshmipati das (Italy)

This poem is a manifesto about the spiritual revolution that the appearance of Lord Gauranga Avatari brought about also within the context of the Vedic thought. He, as the Supreme Lord, disclosed the most revealing conclusions by asserting one fundamental principle that the goal is bhakti and the externals of religions are secondary.

This poetry was inspired by a prayer of Srila B R Sridhar Deva Goswami:

"At a time when religion was evaluated in terms of bodily relationship, saintliness was determined by ignorance, and yoga practice was motivated by sensual pleasure; when scholarship was cultivated just for voidism, japa was conducted for the sake of fame, and penance was performed out of vindictiveness; when charity was given out of pride, and on the pretext of spontaneous devotion the most gross, sinful acts were perpetrated - and in all such anomalous situations even the intelligentsia were at loggerheads with one another...." 

SB 10.23.43-44"...These women have never undergone the purificatory rites of the twice-born classes, nor have they lived as brahmacārīs in the āśrama of a spiritual master, nor have they executed austerities, speculated on the nature of the self, followed the formalities of cleanliness or engaged in pious rituals. Nevertheless, they have firm devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose glories are chanted by the exalted hymns of the Vedas and who is the supreme master of all masters of mystic power. We, on the other hand, have no such devotion for the Lord, although we have executed all these processes.”

Nothing is as before ~

divine love has been exposed,

religion is not something to long for

nor is liberation the scope;

heaven is not where eternality belongs

austerities may dry the soul,

saintliness is not what it appears on the surface

nor is measured by disciples and fame;

the Absolute Truth is no longer unnamed

or lost in the void,

knowledge no longer resides only

in logic and rhetoric,

temples are not places petrified in rites,

the hymns, echoing from stones

lost in the mist of time,

are no longer the swords of priests

to control the world,

when bereft of mercy

they fueled fears with holy curses;

Nothing is as before ~

the moon of Gauranga Avatari arose

and His moonlight has exposed

that liturgies harbor pride,

faithlessness is behind

enforced rules and roles,

no longer a means to reach God,

just meager profits on the altars

of evil and good,

of righteousness and virtue,

where bhakti never blooms;

charity, rituals, gender, caste and pride

are burning votive lamps

on materialist shrines

barren of devotion,

where compassion also dries

and also yoga fails

there is no determination

to contain the senses

nor to reach liberation;

the most Munificent Lord

came to deliver every soul,

to show the way beyond

spontaneous love was disclosed,

nothing is as arid and lacking of joy

as before,

bhakti 

is spontaneously and blissfully performed.

 love 
cannot be imposed.