by Uddhava dasa Adhikārī (ISKCON-Boston)

Namacarya is a compound of two Sanskrit nouns. Nama is used in connection with the holy name of the Lord, Sri Krsna, and acarya means one who teaches by example. So one who is considered the spiritual master of the holy name of Krsna is called namacarya. Lord Caitanya, the Supreme Godhead, awarded this title to one of His intimate disciples, Haridasa Thakur.

Little is known about the birth of Haridasa Thakur except that by the will of Godhead he appeared in the late 1400's in a village of Buddan as the child of a family of Mohammedans. History does not relate to us any of the childhood pastimes of Haridasa's life, but it is understood that at an early age he must have received the mercy of a pure devotee of Krsna because in his teens, to the dismay of his kinsmen, he renounced all conventions of Mohammadan religion and society. With shaved head and the simple clothing of a mendicant, Haridasa left the home of his parents for good and resumed his eternal position as a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.

Haridasa's renunciation of the Moslem faith in favor of devotional service to the Lord Sri Krsna, who is often mistaken by sectarians to be the Supreme Deity of the Hindu faith, is significant because if we are to come to an understanding of the purity of Haridasa's activities, we must first note the difference between mundane religious activities and transcendental loving service to God. Those who are engaged in the process of religion may be classified in three groups, according to their realization of the presence of the Supreme Lord. First, there are those who are kanistha-adhikaris. Next, above them, are the madhyama-adhikaris. And finally there are the uttama-adhikaris. The kanistha-adhikari is characterized by the activities of going to a place of worship such as a church, temple or mosque and performing a particular type of religious function determined by an established formula. This type of religious person considers one type of religion to be better than another. The madhyama-adhikari is characterized by four principles: 1) He sees first of all the Supreme Lord. 2) He sees next the devotees. 3) He sees next the innocent, those who have no knowledge of the Lord. 4) Lastly, he sees the atheists. The madhyama-adhikari behaves differently toward each of the above four persons. He adores the Lord and desires the association of the devotees of the Lord. He tries to inform the innocent about the Lord, and he completely avoids the atheists.

If we were to try to explain Haridasa's change of heart in terms of the kanistha-adhikari level of religious activity, then quite probably we would come to the conclusion that Haridasa thought that the practices of the Mohammedans were not as cogent as those of the brahmanas. This reasoning, however, is not substantiated by the activities of Haridasa after his renunciation. Although he left the association of his fanatical elders and took up the life of a brahmana, Haridasa did not adhere strictly to the separate line of the brahminical order. In fact, many of the brahmanas hated the sight of him. "Haridasa does not follow the principles of sastra," they said, "nor does he take part in any of our philosophical discussions. He simply idles away his time in a secluded cave muttering the same thing over and over. Besides, he was born in a family of untouchables." We will learn later that it was just these caste brahmanas who tried to plot the defeat of Haridasa Thakur.

The activities of Haridasa Thakur were not on the kanistha-adhikari level. Nor will the activities of Haridasa permit us to explain away his renunciation on the principles of the madhyama-adhikari stage of consciousness. Haridasa, of course, adored the Supreme Lord, but he did not make a formal practice of associating exclusively with devotees or preaching this love solely to the innocent. Haridasa would associate with whomever chanced his way, and no matter who that person was, devotee or demon, Haridasa would at once engage him in talks about Krsna, the Supreme Lord. We find a description of the mentality of Haridasa, called the uttama-adhikari level, in the sixth verse of Sri Isopanisad:

"A person who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord and sees all entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything, never hates anything nor any living being."

Haridasa left the home of his kinsmen not out of religious sentiment nor out of disgust for their ignorance of spiritual matters. He left wholly out of love for the Supreme Lord because that was his natural position. Haridasa displayed in full the consciousness of an uttama-adhikari. He felt equally at home in the company of devotees and in the company of demons. The uttama-adhikari does not see any difference between a vastly learned brahmana and a dog. He realizes that both are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, and his love for them is equal because of this knowledge of the spiritual identity of both. So Haridasa's renunciation cannot be classified as an ordinary change of faith, as we so often experience in our limited spheres of activity. Haridasa simply realized his true position in relation to the Supreme Lord and did his utmost to behave according to sanatana-dharma.