Equality And Something Funny

With regards to my previous post about a conversation with a devotee, we did get around to discussing some form of Krishna-katha before it went sour (for me). I mentioned that I was slightly annoyed with how the conversation wasn't on 'equal' terms. As a matter of fact I'd say that an extremely large majority of devotees suffer from this problem whether or not they are conscious of it; talking down to people. This devotee somehow had the idea that he was "senior" (or superior) and that I was a "junior" devotee which gave him some rights to preach to me about chanting and also to give me some "tips".

I don't know why I did it, and it may have been my ego rearing it's ugly head again, but I decided to "play smart" with this devotee even though my question was genuine and I am really looking for the answer. In Sri Rupa Gosvami's BRS, it is mentioned that the Vaishnava should bow to the deities with one's left side facing Them. As anyone who has been to India would know, the "normal" way of bowing down is to bow down facing the 'object', and this Gaudiya tradition of bowing down with one's left side facing the 'object' is somewhat peculiar. I have my own ideas for why this is so but I would prefer an "authentic" confirmation from a knowledgeable Vaishnava.

So I decided to ask him this question; why is it written in Sri Rupa's book that we must bow down with our left side facing the Deities (or Guru) and why do we do it? A funny look came over his face (as if he was going to dismiss it again) and he did mention that this was a minor rule that is not that essentially important as some of the harder must-do rules. He then proceeded to give an example of how it is written in Sri Visvanatha's Sarartha-Darshini that in some kalpas Krishna travels to Mathura riding on Kaliya rather than on Garuda, and that it is foolish to question why this is so since this is obviously lila. I quickly responded, "Yes, but that is Krishna-lila. Here I am talking about devotee-lila, why is it enjoined that we must bow down with our left side facing the Deities?"

He had no choice but to admit his ignorance. I didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand I was smirking inside ("that'll teach him to think I'm a dumb junior when I can bring up tougher issues than that!") and I quickly realised that this was a violation of humility. I was guilty of the same thing which I viewed him as doing, acting superior over other people. We all have to deal with this tendency in ourselves, it seems so natural but it is also so very wrong and sometimes hard to recognise especially within ourselves. On the other hand I was genuinely disappointed that he didn't have an answer. Even though it is essentially a minor issue, I have often wondered about this curious left-side bowing practice and an authentic answer would be nice even though I did bring up that topic off the top of my head.

Trinad api sunicena
Taror iva sahisnuna
Amanina mana dena
Kirtaniyah sada harih

This verse is soooooooooooooo important.