First deserve, then desire!
Prabhupada had just sat down in the middle room for breakfast when Pradyumna came in, obviously quite disturbed. Prabhupada allowed him to come up to his small table, already set out with his silver thali of cut fruits, puffed rice and fried cashews. Pradyumna began to complain about the study group Radhaballabha mentioned yesterday. He told Prabhupada one devotee was reported to have said that the Gita was too bodily conscious and "external" and that he became inspired only by reading about Krishna's confidential, internal dealings, especially those of the gopis in the Sri Caitanya-caritamrita.
Srila Prabhupada was so disturbed by this news that the piece of fruit he held in his hand never made it into his mouth. Abandoning breakfast, he went back into his darsana room and called for all GBC men and sannyasis, as well as for several members of the study group. He demanded to know who was invovled. Hridayananda Maharaja told him that the head of the men's group was Puranjana Dasa, the manager of the Spanish BBT operations. He was immediately sent for, as was Sulocana Dasa, a brahmachari I had gotten to know in Mayapur during the festival.
As we awaited their arrival, Hridayananda Maharaja tried to assure Srila Prabhupada about Puranjana. He said he was actually a sincere and level-headed person and he didn't think he had sahajiya tendencies; he thought he was simply misled. I told Srila Prabhupada that Sulocana had approached me yesterday in an excited and conspirational mood to tell me about the surreptitious meetings. He was quoting parts of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita without, it seemed to me, understanding them, and had many misinterpretations of the text. He had cited some verses which he interpreted to say that in each relationship with the Lord, there is something lacking which is found only in the next rasa. He indicated that they actually considered paternal affection inferior to the gopi-bhava platform, because Lord Caitanya said that there is no higher way to serve Krishna than in the mood of the gopis. They were therefore concentrating on the gopis' lives very closely, for they exhibited the highest and most pleasing way to satisfy Sri Krishna.
As I related the incident, Srila Prabhupada's anger flared. "Just see." he declared disgustedly, "Mother Yasoda is less than the gopis! This is their thinking. And they want siddha-deha!" Prabhupada was furious that such things could develop within ISKCON. By this time, the men were in his room and for almost three quarters of an hour, he strongly rebuked the group, angrily refuting its reasoning. He compared their exclusive focus on the gopis to "jumping like monkeys." Puranjana said their intention was to simply scrutinize the activities of the gopis and develop the same aspirations, because this was recommended by Lord Caitanya.
Prabhupada got even angrier. He was in no mood for being mollified. "You want to scrutinizingly study Caitanya Mahaprabhu's instructions, but why just the parts about the gopis? Why don't you scrutinizingly study where Caitanya Mahaprabhu says guru more, murkha dekhi' karila sasana, that His guru found Him to be a fool and told Him he was not fit for anything but chanting Hare Krishna? Why don't you scrutinize that part? First become a fool like Caitanya Mahaprabhu before jumping over like monkey!"
Puranjana tried to reassure him that they were not attempting to imitate the gopis' love of Krishna; they were simply studying the descriptions, so that they could develop such desires. Prabhupada flushed, his top lip quivering. "First deserve, then desire! There is no question of desire unless one is actually liberated. Until that point, you simply do whatever service you are given. So long as there is any pinch of material desire, there is no question of desiring on the spiritual platform!" He said the intimate gopi-lilas were discussed by Lord Caitanya only among His three most confidential associates: Svarupa Damodara, Ramananda Raya, and Sikhi Mahiti. Siddha-deha is for liberated souls, no one else.
Sulocana said that they had thought it was all right, because it was in Prabhupada's books, and they were only reading his books. Prabhupada told them that just because a drug store has every type of drug, it does not mean that one can get them without prescription. The doctor prescribes according to the disease. He said that from the beginning stages of devotional service up to the highest rasas, everything is there in his books, but they are not all to be immediately studied. He ordered them not to hold any more meetings and to disband the "club." He directly linked this sahajiya tendency to devotees meeting with the babajis in Vrindavana, and he strongly criticized Jagannatha dasa (although he is not one of the study group) for even leaving his ears unblocked while the man spoke to him about so-called siddha-deha.
After sending them out duly chastened, Prabhupada explained to us that this sahajiya philosophy means the preaching will be finished. "So try to save them," he advised the GBC men. "In Vrindavana, many sahajiyas would ask, 'Oh Swamiji, why are you bothering to preach? Why not just be content to stay in Vrindavana and do your bhajana?'"