Garbha Stotra

VERSE 12

śṛṇvan gṛṇan saṁsmarayaṁś ca cintayan
nāmāni rūpāṇi ca maṅgalāni te
kriyāsu yas tvac-caraṇāravindayor
āviṣṭa-cetā na bhavāya kalpate

Those whose minds are fully absorbed in Your lotus feet through hearing, chanting, and remembering Your auspicious names and forms, and causes others to remember them also, may be engaged in various activities, but is unfit for material life. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.2.37)

Sambandha Tattva Candrikā Commentary

Names and forms that are defined by qualities and actions are intended for Nārāyaṇa and not for Kṛṣṇa. As expressed in earlier ślokas, many may disregard those names and forms, so for this reason, the Devas said, “O Kṛṣṇa! Those who become absorbed in worshiping Your lotus feet by hearing, chanting and contemplating Your supremely auspicious names and forms, and also remind others of them, have no intention of remaining in saṁsāra.”

Although worship (upāsana) is indeed an action of the ātmā, the longer the jīva is confined to the body, the more the body and mind assist in that worship. Śravaṇa and kīrtana (hearing and chanting) with the body, and cintana and nidhidhyāsana (meditating and introspection) with the mind – these two kinds of worship are prevalent. Although connection with the physical body is actually imprisonment for the jīva, nevertheless, the sādhaka should properly utilise this condition. Although all the senses are given for the purpose of experiencing sense-objects, even so, through them, the jīva will engage in bhagavata-sādhana, the process of approaching Bhagavān, according to his own inherent nature. Śravaṇa and kīrtana are the best medicine for the body, since through śravaṇa and kīrtana, the fulfilment of the body’s purpose is achieved. Even millions of candrāyaṇa ceremonies cannot make the jīva as pure and sinless as hearing and chanting hari-kathā.*(1) Pūjā, naivedya etc. are not as necessary for the jīva as hari-kīrtana is.*(2) Even if a brāhmaṇa engages in sādhana of the Supreme Lord with many different items, it may not be possible for him to achieve the grace of the Lord as it is when a caṇḍāla performs hari-kīrtana with bhakti.*(3) Among all the various methods of sādhana seen in the world, hari-kīrtana is certainly the best of all. There is no limit to the glories of śravaṇa and kīrtana.

Śravaṇa and kīrtana is in connection with the body, meditation with the mind, and the ātmā with the cultivation of bhakti-rasa – this alone is the jīva’s specific duty. Śravaṇa, kīrtana, and meditation are all related to Nārāyaṇa, since all names and forms in this world are connected to Nārāyaṇa, not to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.*(4) The sādhana of experiencing prema is in relation to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Thus, as long as the embodied jīva engages in śravaṇa and kīrtana, if the ātmā becomes absorbed in bhakti for the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then it is not possible for that embodied jīva to fall down. In other words, gradually, as he progresses upwards, he ultimately achieves the wish-fulfilling tree of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s feet. The bhakti-latā, the creeper of devotion, grows by watering it with śravaṇa and kīrtana. It gradually penetrates through Vaikuṇṭha, Brahmaloka, and Paravyoma, ultimately attaining the wish-fulfilling tree of the feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana. Thus, it results in the flowering of prema. As long as the jīva remains embodied, it should nourish the creeper by watering it with śravaṇa and kīrtana daily.

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TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:

*(1) Cāndrāyaṇa refers to Vedic observance which is regulated by the moon’s waxing and waning. During full moon, one consumes fifteen mouthfuls of food, and one mouthful is deducted every day as the moon wanes until it is reduced to zero at the new moon, Similarly, one’s intake increases by one mouthful as the moon waxes again.

*(2) Pūjā and naivedya refers to Deity worship and offering foodstuffs to the Lord.

*(3) A caṇḍāla refers to an outcaste who generally dispose of corpses. Some Vedic texts describe them as those who are born of the illegitimate union between a śūdra male and a brāhmaṇa female.

*(4) What Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is alluding to here is that at the beginning, śravaṇa, kīrtana and meditation are all aṅgas of vaidhi-bhakti–sādhana. While one still identifies with the material names and forms of this world, which has been created, not by Kṛṣṇa but by His expansion, Nārāyaṇa, one should engage in vaidhi-bhakti–sādhana. As one progresses towards rāgānuga-bhakti, one no longer identifies with mundane names and forms, and one’s goal is prema. The rāgānuga-bhakti-sādhaka continues to engage in śravaṇa, kīrtana etc, but these aṅgas now take on a different mood.