The Process of Bhajana
THE PROCESS OF BHAJANA
evam anyac ca rahasyaṁ kiñcid varṇayāmi. śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-prabhuṇā nityānandena avatāre saṁhṛte mahān pralayo bhaviṣyati. deva-nigrahai rāja-nigrahaiḥ prajā durgatā bhaviṣyantīti. vaiṣṇavāś sarva eva śāṇtaḥ īśvara-saṅgame calitāḥ. kecit kecid eva sthāsyanti, te’pi nija-prabhāvaṁ saṁhariṣyanti. kevalam antaḥ prītim eva nigūḍhaṁ prema kadācit kadācid eva bodhayiṣyanti. tat tu mahadbhir api boddhuṁ na śakyate. hari-kīrtanaṁ ca vilasa-pracāra bhaviṣyati. tat-saṅgaṁś ca viralaḥ. īśvara-sevā ca mandaṁ syāt.
I will tell another secret. When the blissful avatāras of Kṛṣna Caitanya and Nityānanda become hidden, a kind of mahā-pralaya (a great dissolution) will occur in the kingdom of bhakti. All the people will be punished by the Devas and the kings. The great Vaiṣṇavas will go to the spiritual world to associate with the Lord. Only a few great devotees will remain, but they will conceal their potency. Some will only display their deep prema internally. It will be so deep that even great personalities will be incapable of understanding it. The propagation of pure hari-kīrtana will become scarce. Vaiṣṇava association will become rare. Service to the Lord will be reduced. In such a deplorable state, what kind of auspiciousness will there be in the world? The jīva possesses finite consciousness and is a servant of Kṛṣṇa. He has forgotten his intrinsic state and become bound by māyā. Besides the association of sādhus and chanting kṛṣṇa-nāma without offence, there is no other way to attain auspiciousness. It is extremely difficult to achieve sādhu-saṅga, therefore, a few words concerning sādhu-saṅga are absolutely necessary. At that time, jīvas who are in saṁsāra will be seen as being in two categories, namely those that turn away from Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-bahir-mukha) and those that are turned towards Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣnonmukha). No matter the wealth, scholarship, high birth or caste that they may possess, one should always endeavour to reject who are bahir-mukha. One should associate with the kṛṣnonmukha.
tathā ca karma-dharma-sāpekṣa-bhaktaḥ karma-dharma-nirapekṣaḥ pakva-yogī tathā apakva-yogī, tat tad veśa-dhārī ca, etena cartudhābhedena grahaṇaṁ syāt. tadaitena bhākti-vartmani candra-prakāśe kalaṅkaṁ dṛṣṭvā mahāntaḥ kevalaṁ kiñcid api nigrahānugrahaṁ kartum asamarthā murcchitā bhaviṣyanti.
Many persons may be recognised as kṛṣṇonmukha, and they are in four categories. Amongst them, those who are simple and innocent are actually good association. The four categories are:
1) Devotees who are dependent upon karma and dharma.
2) A mature yogī who is not dependent on karma and dharma.
3) An immature yogī.
4) A person who simply wears the dress of a devotee.
At that time, the moon of simple, straightforward bhakti will arise – in other words, upon seeing the stain of hypocritical bhakti revealed by that moon, the great devotees will become incapable of punishing or awarding mercy, and out of distress, they will faint.
karma-dharma paro vaiṣnavaḥ sevā-kīrtana-vyavahārādikaṁ sarvaṁ karotyeva. nirapekṣo’pi karma-dharma-sāpekṣaḥ. karma-kāṇḍe nitya-naimittika karmani upasanne kṛṣṇa-kārya-vādhe’pi tad eva karoti, ataeva kṛṣṇa-karmaṇi nirapekṣo na bhavati. karmaṇy eva nistāra-hetukātma-bhāvāt kṛṣṇa-karmaṇy ātma-bhāvo na jāyeta. kṛṣṇa-sukha-duḥkhe samavarti lokeṣu karma-dharmādikam eva grāhayiṣyati. vaidikaś cet nirapekṣa-avaidikaṁ pakva-yoginaṁ garhayati. lokānāṁ ca buddhiṁ nāśayati. lokāś ca tad dhārmika-vaiṣṇavānāṁ vacanaṁ mānyamiti buddhyā muhyanti. nirapekṣa-pakva-yogiṣu laghu-buddhayo vitarkaṁ kṛtvā naśayanti. ato’sya hṛdayaṁ vaidiko jñātuṁ na śakyate. tasmād ayam eva vaiṣṇavo mahān iti vyavahārādibhir eva mantavyaḥ. na tu mahadbhiḥ paramahaṁsa-bhūtaiḥ.
There are many differences between a devotee who is dependent on karma and dharma, and a materialistic karmī (one who follows karma-kāṇḍa). The karmī is devoid of kṛṣna–bhakti. A devotee who is dependent on karma and dharma takes shelter in pure bhakti, and engages in vaiṣṇava-sevā, kīrtana, and other practices. In relation to karma, he is neutral at heart. He accepts varṇāśrama-dharma, knowing that such activities are favourable to bhakti. Although daily and occasional duties (nitya and naimittika-karma) can sometimes obstruct bhakti, he performs them carefully and without sin, considering them necessary for maintaining his bodily existence. Thus, he is always impartial in the practice of achieving kṛṣṇa-bhakti. However, those who are simply engrossed in mundane karma think that their actions alone are the means to their deliverance – because they do not work for Kṛṣna, they do not experience their inner state of being (ātma-bhāva). Being ambivalent to Kṛṣṇa’s happiness and sadness, such people give teachings on mundane karma and dharma. Being followers of the Vedas, they condemn the mature yogīs as non-Vedic. They corrupt the minds of others, by stating that their conclusions are Vaiṣṇava siddhānta. Ignorant people become bewildered thinking that it is Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Those with shallow reasoning argue with the impartial yogī and are ruined. The follower of the Vedas cannot understand the steady heart of a mature yogī, thus they consider those that teach about mundane karma to be great personalities and follow their behaviour. The paramahaṁsa mahātmās know them to be avaiṣṇava, and do not associate with them. Therefore, there is no fault in associating with pure devotees that are svaniṣṭha (unattached to the rules and regulations) who depend upon karma and dharma, and those who are pariniṣṭḥita (who perform all their actions according to the rules and regulations of śāstra). The association of pure devotees is indeed essential.
karma-nirapekṣaḥ pakva-yogo tu mahadbhiḥ sarvair eva paramahaṁsa-bhūtaiḥ pūjyate, sādhu-vādaḥ kriyate, ātma-bhāvaś ca yathā kṛṣṇe tathā krīyate. tasmāt karma-sāpekṣaḥ prākṛteṣu mahān, kṛṣṇa-sāpekṣaḥ sādhuṣu mahān iti.
Impartial yogīs and paramahaṁsas are worshipped and praised with choice words by all mahātmās. They treat Kṛṣṇa, just as they would treat themselves. One who is dependent on karma is considered to be a great man by the mundane people, and one who is dependent on Kṛṣna is considered to be a great man by the sādhus.
pakva-yogi-niścaritaṁ śruyate. karma-dharmādikaṁ na jānāti, śrī-kṛṣṇa-rasa-yaśo rāśi-vilāsa-vinoda-bhāva-kalā-bhāvanātimagna-hṛdayaḥ kevalaṁ madhu-pāna-matta iva vismṛta iva. karma-dharmaḥ hṛdaye tasya na praviśati. nirantaraṁ kṛṣṇa-caritaṁ gāyati, śṛṇoti, dhyāyati, nṛtyati. ātma-bhāvāḥ. prema-gāmbhīryonmādāśru-pulaka-kampa-mūrcchā siṁha-nāda-hāsya-rodina-citta-prasāda-śoka-nirmala-sakala-jana-prītiḥ nirantaraṁ kṛṣṇa-saṁsāra-nirvāhādibhir ānanda-maya-vigrahaḥ kadācid api ātmānam api na jānāti kim anyad vā brūmaḥ.
Such is the character of the mature yogī. He does not know dharma and karma. His heart is fully absorbed in the bhāva of Śrī Kṛṣna’s rasa, fame, pastimes, delightful moods, and artistic skills. Just as a drunkard is intoxicated with alcohol, he is intoxicated with kṛṣṇa-rasa. He is considered to be like a madman. Karma and dharma do not enter his heart. One who achieves such ātma-rati (attachment to the ātmā), constantly engages in hearing, chanting and remembering narrations of Kṛṣṇa. From the depths of prema comes madness, weeping, horripilation, trembling, fainting, roaring, laughing, crying, delight, lamentation and a total disregard for all people – such divine love becomes his very nature. Considering himself to be in Kṛṣṇa’s family, he maintains his life and is always the personification of blissfulness. He does not know what is selfishness born of the mundane false ego. What more can I say?
tathā nirapekṣa-bhakta-jana īdṛśa-bhaktimān api tad-guṇānusāreṇa tad eva caritram anukaroti. punar etad eva kṛṣṇa karma svayaṁ tattvena na jānāti. śrī-kṛṣṇa-sva-bhāvaṁ ca na tyajati, śrī-bhagavad-gītāyāṁ. duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ iti. apakva-yogī tu pakva-yogi-karmānusāreṇa sakalaṁ karma karoti. kadācit tat sukham api labhate. kintu dṛṣṭān tena karma karoti. tac chaktimān na bhavati. ataḥ sukhe patan bibheti. duḥkhe patann bibheti. prema-prāga-labhyaṁ ca na labhate.
Amongst those persons who take shelter of karma, the materialistic karmī and the devotee who is dependent upon karma and dharma have been mentioned first. Amongst them, the devotee who is dependent upon karma and dharma advances in his own bhakti with somewhat of a mood of neutrality. Now he is an immature yogī. He strives to emulate the character of mature yogīs based on their qualities. Although his heart has become pure, he cannot directly connect with the activities of Kṛṣṇa. He cannot understand the activities of Kṛṣṇa in truth by himself. However, pure bhakti is spreading within his heart, and he achieves śraddhā by the association of mature yogīs. In the Gītā, Kṛṣṇa states that the mind of a devotee remains undisturbed by sorrow and has no connection with pleasure. He does not abandon the nature described by Kṛṣṇa, in other words, he carefully follows it. He practises all activities conforming with the those of the mature yogīs. Sometimes he experiences happiness independent of Kṛṣṇa. Due to the lack of his own independent strength, he relies upon the example of the mature yogī. When he experiences worldly pleasure, he becomes fearful. He does not fear falling into worldly suffering. He cannot achieve the prema of the mature yogīs that has been previously described.
balaṁ ca vidadhāti, śriyaṁ ca puṣṇāti. anyathā alpa-kṣudhāyāṁ bahutara-kṣudhāvatāṁ bhojana-samabhojane kaścid budho janaḥ sāmarthyaṁ labhate. tasmāt tad-deham api nirantaraṁ bhakti-yogam iva nijaṁ boḍhuṁ na śaktaḥ. tasmād apakva-yogī dine dine bhakti-vidhvaṁsād viṣaya-rasa-lālasāl lakṣaṇīyaḥ.
By the association of a mature yogī, one’s strength gradually increases, and one’s good fortune is nourished. There is no other alternative except the association of sādhus. Otherwise, just as one who is less hungry is unable to eat like one who is famished, similarly, worldly matters can never wear out. They only wear out when a man is knowledgeable about kṛṣṇa-tattva. Without the company of the mature yogī, an immature yogī does not have the strength to maintain his own bhakti-yoga, just as they are incapable of protecting their own bodies from destruction. Gradually, the immature yogī becomes corrupted, devoid of bhakti, and remains focussed upon the hankerings of viṣaya-rasa (mundane mellows). The mature yogī is advanced in bhakti-yoga – he is an uttama-bhakta (superior devotee). Immature yogīs desire to advance in bhakti–yoga and are partial to karma and dharma – they are madhyama–bhaktas (medium devotees). Persons who are attached to karma are bhakta-prāya (almost devotees) – they are counted amongst the innocent. They possess komala-śraddhā (weak faith) and are kaniṣṭha-bhaktas (beginner devotees), or vaiṣṇava-prāya (almost Vaiṣṇavas). Only a semblance of bhakti has arisen in their hearts. If even a slight trace of pure bhakti arises in them, they can renounce their attachment to karma and become a madhyama devotee with a partiality towards karma and dharma. Sādhu-saṅga is the only cause for all these developments. In whoever’s heart pure bhakti arises, such a person is a unique devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Even if they are a madhyama, they are still worthy of association. The meaning of this is that if a sādhaka takes shelter of a superior devotee, he can attain progress. It is also desirable to take special care in gradually eliminating the association of those who are bahirmukha. It is because of this that now, we must explain the characteristics of those persons who are bahirmukha and only wear the dress of devotees.
tathā ca pakva-yogi-dṛṣṭāntena kecid veśa-dhāriṇaḥ kṛṣṇa-dharma-nidarśana-mātram, hari-kīrtana-prakaṭena nānā-sukha-vilāsam pakva-yogi-prāyam svecchā-vihārāṁ prakaṭayantaḥ sarvān prākṛta-janān bhrāmayanti. kintu ye naiva kapaṭa-sukha-vilāsa vinodena lokān bhramayanti tenaiva vilāsādi-viśeṣeṇa tān eva veśa-dhāriṇo grahayiṣyanti. nirantaraṁ tenaiva viṣaya-rasena viṣayiṇām api viṣayiṇo bhavanti, vaiṣṇavābhijātyo teṣām antikaṁ na gacchanti, ku grāma-vāsināṁ prakṛtānām evāśrayaṁ bhajante. prākṛta-janānām eva saṅgaṁ kurvanti. kadācit kṛṣṇa-guṇa-mahimnā vinaivānurāgeṇa pulaka-premādikaṁ bāhya-rasena nartakānām iva jāyate. tad api dine dine vilāsaṁ yāsyati. vaiṣṇavānāṁ ca te garhitā bhaviṣyanti. tasmād vaiṣṇava-saṅgālāpādi-vimukhānāṁ yāni santa-raṅgāṇi viṣṇu-bhakti-dūṣitāni. etena bāhya-bhūṣaṇa-bhūṣitā api gata-śrī-kā sat-saṅga-hīnāḥ sarvair eva lakṣitavyāḥ. iti parīkṣā.
Those who only wear the dress of devotees are hypocrites. He wears the cloth of a mature yogī, but deceives the world. Seeing the example of the mature yogī, they lead their lives cultivating their own glories and seeking sense-pleasure. Hari-kīrtana is kṛṣṇa-dharma. Thus, in a hypocritical manner, through a display of performing kīrtana-dharma like the mature yogī, they independently follow karma and dharma and make a show of sukha-vilāsa-vinoda (feeling the blissful ecstasy of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes), bewildering ordinary people. The result is that because of all their play-acting and for bewildering the people, those persons dressed as devotees fall down due to such play-acting. Fake crying, fainting etc. during kīrtana is also simply play-acting. Thus, such materialists fall down due to objects of the senses. By accepting the trappings of a Vaiṣṇava in the bhikṣa-āśrama (a sannyāsī who begs door to door), they may be born amongst Vaiṣṇavas. Thus, being too familiar, they will no longer be able to approach pure Vaiṣṇavas. They take refuge in materialistic people living in low class villages. They will associate with such mundane persons. From time to time, although they are devoid of understanding the glories of Kṛṣṇa’s qualities, they make a display of deceitful ecstatic symptoms such as hairs standing on end, ‘prema’ and superficial rasa, just like a professional actor. Day by day, their play-acting becomes natural to them. They are condemned by pure Vaiṣṇavas. Conversations with those who are opposed to the Vaiṣṇavas makes all activities in viṣṇu-bhakti internally defective – they merely become an external embellishment. The symptoms of such people are that they lack any strong desire for good association, and are without any good fortune. Only by these characteristics can such a false devotee be tested. Common people believe that it is their duty to render vaiṣṇava-sevā to all these persons. However, this is a misconception because besides such people, there are also actual Vaiṣṇavas. One should associate with them and serve them diligently.
etena tu kevalaṁ. ye tu caturāḥ gabhīra-bhāgavatās te tām eva prītim ayantā āsamyak yantā uparāmaṁ prāpnoti. u yamupara medhātuḥ. yantāloke ca sarvaṁ bodhayiṣyanti. tasyā eva premārambhaḥ sphuṭam asty eva. tasmād avatāre saṁhṛta iti citta-daurbalyaṁ tyaktum arhanti. yataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-candraḥ prīti-prema-vigrahāḥ. yadi prīti-premā iharpitas tarhi avatārer apy asty eva.
Those pure devotees who are expert and grave do not engage in deceitful prīti, unlike superficial pretenders. However, they expose such deceit in the world to establish pure bhakti. It should be recognised that associating with pure devotees who condemn deceit and initiate the process of prema is a duty. Thus, now that the avatāra of Śrī Caitanya has withdrawn, the sādhus must take special care to give up weakness of heart. Kṛṣṇa Caitanya-candra is the direct embodiment of prīti and prema. If prema is bestowed to those who traverse the path of hypocrisy, then how will one attain prema for Caitanya-candra, the source of all avatāras?
tathā ca tad aṅga-saṅgino mahāntaḥ kevalam etat kāraṇam uddiśyaiva sarva-prāṇi-nistāre’tra yantiḥ sīma-duḥkhaṁ tad virahajaṁ maraṇād apy adhikaṁ kleśena sahanto’pi hari-kīrtanaṁ hari-sevāṁ sat-saṅgaṁ mahā-jana-pūjāṁ sarveṣu prītiṁ premāṇaṁ ca bodhayantaḥ kevalaṁ dharaṇī-maṇḍale nija-pramoryaśo rāśi-vilāsa-vinoda-kalāṁ ca kāle kāle utsannāmeva svayaṁ mṛta śvasan iva nija-daihika-sukhaṁ vahnau nikṣipya sthāpayisyanti. tathā śrī-bhāgavate:
For the deliverance of all living beings, all the great associates of Kṛṣna Caitanya tolerate the tribulations born from separation from Him, knowing that such infinite misery is worse than death. They propagate hari-kīrtana, hari-sevā, association with the devotees, worship of great personalities, love for all beings and kṛṣṇa-prema. In this world, they propagate their Lord’s fame and blissful pastimes, and from time to time it is seen that they seem to be weary as though their life was almost over. They cast their own physical happiness into the fire only to establish the teachings of Śrī Caitanya. The Bhāgavata says:
(26)
bhavad-vidhā mahā-bhāgā niṣevyā arha-sat-tamāḥ
śreyas kāmair nṛbhir nityaṁ devāḥsvārthā na sādhavaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.48.30)
Sādhus like yourself are most fortunate and worshipable. Those persons seeking their ultimate benefit serve you. The Devas may act out of self-interest, but the sādhus are never selfish.
tasmāt sarve sādhanāya yatra yatra prīti-lālasāḥ yatra yatra kṛṣṇa-kathā-prasiddhir yatra yatra hari-kīrtanaṁ, yatra yatra yaśo-varṇane śuśrūṣā, yatra yatra kṛṣṇa-vaiṣṇave sādhu-vādaḥ, tatra tatraiva tat parā bhavantu. sarvatra prītiṁ kurvantāṁ. tad eva dine dine susampannaṁ bhaviṣyati. kevalaṁ prīti premaiva prabhor paryastraṁ. tad yadi samudeti tadā sarve sukhino bhava-duḥkhaṁ cittaṁ nārhanti.
Therefore, for the attainment of auspiciousness, wherever there is a hankering for pure prīti, wherever there is the fame of narrations of Kṛṣṇa, wherever there is hari-saṅkīrtana, wherever there is a desire to hear Kṛṣṇa’s glories, wherever there is praise of Kṛṣṇa by Vaiṣṇavas and sādhus, in those places, those that are sincere should engage in bhajana. If you love all jīvas, every day will become most successful. Prīti and prema are the only weapons of the Lord. If that weapon is unsheathed, all obstacles will be removed, all will be happy and the heart of the jīva will not be afflicted by worldly sorrows.
(27)
śākhā-sahasram vede’smin eka-śākhā prabhoḥ priyā
sat-phalaṁ prītir evāsyās tate kiṁ nāsti bhūtale
The Veda-śāstra is replete with thousands of branches. Amongst them, only one of them is dear to the Lord. The name of that branch is the kṛṣṇa-bhakti-śākhā (the branch of devotion to Kṛṣṇa). The fruit of that branch is prīti. There is nothing greater than this in the world.
(28)
prītiḥ prārthyā satām agre prītiḥ prārthyā mahā-jane
prītir āropaṇīyā sve hṛdi prītiṁ nibodhaya
That prīti should be the only object of one’s prayers. Before Śrī Kṛṣṇa, I pray to the sādhus for His prīti. Only the pure devotees of Kṛṣṇa are mahājanas. I pray for their affection. Our own ātmā is the field, therefore, let love be sown there. Recognise that prīti within your heart.
(29)
jagad-dhanaṁ kṛṣṇa eva vaiṣṇavās tad upādhikaṁ
prema-prītis tato’py agryā paraṁ prīter na kiñcana
Kṛṣṇa is the only wealth of this world. The Vaiṣṇavas who remain close to Him are special individuals. Prema and prīti are indeed the foremost things. There is nothing beyond prīti.
(30)
aruṇāmbhoja-caraṇe śrī-caitanya-mahāprabhoḥ
mano-vāk kaya-jaṁ prema-vardhatāṁ me dine dine
May my love for the reddish lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu increase day by day in my mind, words and body.
(31)
vaiṣṇave prītir āstāṁ me prītir āstāṁ prabhor guṇe
sevāyāṁ prītir āstāṁ prītirāstāñca kīrtane
May I have love for the pure Vaiṣṇavas. May I have love for the ocean of the Lord’s qualities. May I have love for service to Kṛṣṇa and the Vaiṣṇavas. May I have love for kṛṣṇa-kīrtana.
(32)
āśrite prītir āstāṁ me prītiś ca bhajanonmukhe
ātmani prītir āstāṁ me kṛṣṇe bhaktir yathā bhavet
May my affection remain for those who have taken refuge in the Lord, and may my love remain for those who are inclined towards bhajana. May I have love for my own kṛṣṇonmukha ātmā in such a way that it develops kṛṣṇa-bhakti.
iti śrīman-narahari-sarakāra ṭhākura viracitaṁ bhajanāmṛtaṁ samāptam.
Thus ends the Bhajanāmṛtam composed by Śrīman Narahari Sarakāra Ṭhākura