{"id":8057,"date":"2023-02-10T05:26:57","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T23:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/?p=8057"},"modified":"2023-04-22T19:22:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-22T13:52:24","slug":"the-white-bead-bag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/writings\/krishna-talk-articles\/srila-bhakti-gaurava-narasingha-maharaja\/the-white-bead-bag\/","title":{"rendered":"The White Bead Bag"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently I was asked a question, one that I have been asked a number of times over the years. “Why do you have a white bead bag? A sanny\u0101s\u012b<\/em> is supposed to wear saffron coloured cloth, so why is your bead bag white?”<\/p>\n

The answer is that the white bead bag is a Gau\u1e0d\u012bya samprad\u0101ya<\/em> tradition – an external tradition, but not simply a tradition without meaning.<\/p>\n

After taking sanny\u0101sa<\/em> in 1918, \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta Sarasvat\u012b \u1e6ch\u0101kura kept the white bead bag as part of sanny\u0101sa-ve\u015ba<\/em> (sanny\u0101sa<\/em> dress). So in that sense the white bead bag has been around since the very beginning of our Gau\u1e0d\u012bya sanny\u0101sa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Gau\u1e0d\u012bya samprad\u0101ya<\/em> is about r\u0101g\u0101nuga-bhakti or r\u0101ga-m\u0101rga<\/em>, spontaneous loving devotional service to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Prior to the sanny\u0101sa<\/em> of \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta, the only class of renounced Gau\u1e0d\u012byas were the b\u0101b\u0101j\u012bs<\/em>. It had evolved to that thru the centuries and as renunciates in r\u0101ga-m\u0101rg<\/em>a, the b\u0101b\u0101j\u012b<\/em> section had continued to maintain the r\u0101ga-m\u0101rga<\/em> mantra given by \u015ar\u012b San\u0101tana. The r\u0101ga-m\u0101rga<\/em> mantra is more commonly known to us today as the sanny\u0101sa-mantra<\/em> or sanny\u0101sa-g\u0101yatr\u012b.<\/em> This mantra is actually a r\u0101ga-m\u0101rga<\/em> mantra and in olden days was exclusive to the b\u0101b\u0101j\u012b<\/em> section.<\/p>\n

The b\u0101b\u0101j\u012b<\/em> section of old wore white cloth and their reasoning was that R\u016bpa and San\u0101tana (both paramaha\u1e41sas<\/em>) had worn white cloth after renouncing and moving to V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana. So from the very beginning, the followers of R\u016bpa and San\u0101tana wore white cloth. It became known as b\u0101b\u0101j\u012b-ve\u015ba<\/em> or paramaha\u1e41sa-ve\u015ba<\/em> and designated one as being on the r\u0101ga-m\u0101rga<\/em>, or performing r\u016bp\u0101nuga-bhajana<\/em> (bhajana<\/em> in the line of R\u016bpa and San\u0101tana).<\/p>\n

When Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta accepted sanny\u0101sa<\/em>, he continued the r\u0101ga-m\u0101rga<\/em> mantra and gave it to all his sanny\u0101s\u012b<\/em> and b\u0101b\u0101j\u012b<\/em> disciples. As a sanny\u0101s\u012b<\/em> he had changed the outer dress but not the bhajana<\/em>, the inner quest. The bhajana<\/em> of a Gau\u1e0d\u012bya is not so much the songs that he sings but the japa<\/em> that he chants. We call the singing ‘bhajana<\/em>\u2019 but real bhajana<\/em> is performed with the beads. In fact, you will find that some b\u0101b\u0101j\u012bs<\/em> can’t sing a lick, but almost all will chant 64 or more rounds of japa<\/em> everyday. That is because the singing is of little consequence in their conception compared to the necessity of chanting 64 or more rounds of japa daily. In other words, \u201cthe bhajana<\/em> is in the bag.\u201d The bhajana<\/em> of R\u016bpa and San\u0101tana is performed with a white bead bag.<\/p>\n

There is a nice anecdote in this regard. One time some devotees from K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-Balar\u0101ma Temple in V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana heard that K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a D\u0101sa B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b (a disciple of Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta in Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha) was going to stay awake all night on Ek\u0101da\u015b\u012b at Imlitala and perform bhajanas<\/em>. It was always considered a real treat to be present when B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b sang bhajanas<\/em>. He was a paramaha\u1e41sa<\/em> and loved to sing bhajanas<\/em> (some recordings of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a D\u0101sa B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b still remain). So late one winter evening on Ek\u0101da\u015b\u012b, the devotees gathered in B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b\u2019s room at Imlitala. He sat on his bed, the devotees on a floor rug in front of him. The tape recorder was placed in front of B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b and anticipations to record some really sweet bhajanas<\/em> were high!<\/p>\n

Suddenly B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b looked around at everyone and said, “No machine! No disturbance! Tonight we will do real bhajana<\/em>!\u201d B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b then picked up his white bead bag and began ever so softly to chant japa<\/em>. After a half hour or so, a Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha brahmac\u0101r\u012b<\/em> came in and turned off the light. The room was dark, but as everyone’s eyes adjusted they could see B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b sitting on his bed and softly chanting japa<\/em>. It was now about 8:30 in the evening. B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b continued to chant japa<\/em> all night. One by one the devotees in front of him fell asleep on the rug. Then just before ma\u1e45gala-\u0101ratika<\/em>, the devotees awoke and returned to their temple while B\u0101b\u0101j\u012b continued his bhajana<\/em>. No recording was made.<\/p>\n

So Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta kept the r\u0101ga-m\u0101rga<\/em> mantra and the white bead bag to designate that although socially the dress of the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya renunciate had changed and he was now a preacher with prati\u1e63\u1e6dh\u0101<\/em> (special recognition and facility), the bhajana<\/em> had remained the same – the r\u0101ga-m\u0101rga<\/em> bhajana<\/em> of R\u016bpa and San\u0101tana.<\/p>\n

The white bead bag is still used today by the majority of the followers of \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta (sanny\u0101s\u012bs<\/em> and others) as well as by the b\u0101b\u0101j\u012b<\/em> section. The tradition has endured.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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