Text 31
evaṁvidhā gadantīnāṁ
sa giraḥ pura-yoṣitām
nirīkṣaṇenābhinandan
sasmitena yayau hariḥ
Translation
While the ladies of the capital [Hastināpura] were greeting Him and talking in this way, the Lord, smiling, accepted their good greetings, and casting the grace of His glance over them, He departed from the city.
Text 32
ajāta-śatruḥ pṛtanāṁ
gopīthāya madhu-dviṣaḥ
parebhyaḥ śaṅkitaḥ snehāt
prāyuṅkta catur-aṅgiṇīm
Translation
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, although no one’s enemy, engaged four divisions of defense [horse, elephant, chariot and army] to accompany Lord Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of the asuras [demons]. The Mahārāja did this because of the enemy, and also out of affection for the Lord.
Purport
Natural defensive measures are horses and elephants combined with chariots and men. Horses and elephants are trained to move to any part of the hills or forests and plains. The charioteers could fight with many horses and elephants by the strength of powerful arrows, even up to the standard of the brahmāstra (similar to modern atomic weapons). Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira knew well that Kṛṣṇa is everyone’s friend and well-wisher, and yet there were asuras who were by nature envious of the Lord. So out of fear of attack from others and out of affection also, he engaged all varieties of defensive forces as bodyguards of Lord Kṛṣṇa. If required, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself was sufficient to defend Himself from the attack of others who counted the Lord as their enemy, but still He accepted all the arrangements made by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira because He could not disobey the King, who was His elder cousin. The Lord plays the part of a subordinate in His transcendental sporting, and thus sometimes He puts Himself in the care of Yaśodāmātā for His protection in His so-called helplessness of childhood. That is the transcendental līlā, or pastime of the Lord. The basic principle for all transcendental exchanges between the Lord and His devotees is exhibited to enjoy a transcendental bliss for which there is no comparison, even up to the level of brahmānanda.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj :
So this concludes the verses of praise of Krishna by the women of Hastinapur. The occasion was Krishna’s departure. So here it says, then at the end here, Hari Yayo! He left, the Lord left. But how did he leave? He acknowledged the praises of these women, and he glanced at them, and he smiled. So they expressed their devotion, which is also a type of service, it’s a kirtan, and he responded to that, by his smiles and his glances. So this was a type of service.
We speak of devotional service, and some of those services look not so much like service. We think of sweeping the floor or something as service. But all of these angas of Bhakti, 64 angas are devotional service. So in other words, that word service has a wider meaning. And in fact, the widest meaning of all would be represented by the phrase Krishna Anusilanam. Anusilanam means cultivation. So we cultivate a relationship with Krishna, that is called Bhakti. So if we say service, then we’ll think of everything very active. So the definition of Sadhana Bhakti is engage the senses in serving the Lord. But even some of these active services with the senses are not so active because it includes the mind. How do you serve the Lord with the mind? By thinking of the Lord, Smaranam, dhyana. So these are services, but we don’t think of them as services.
In fact, it is also said in Nectar Devotion that all of the Angas of devotional service, all of these activities are meant to remember the Lord all the time. So it’s actually ultimately something in the mind, the service. So service may mean using the hands and feet, etc., but we also use the mind, we also use the voice.
So remembrance of the Lord is called Smaranam, it’s a service to the Lord. So that is using the mind. But we also use the voice, that may be singing for the Lord, Kirtan, etc. Or even recitation of Srimad Bhagavatham is Kirtan. So Nectar Devotion also mentions that Sukadeva Goswami attained his perfection by Kirtan. What was his Kirtan? Reciting Bhagavatham to Parikshit. So to use all the different senses directed to the Lord with devotion, that is called Bhakti, it is service. And thus having darshan of the Lord is service also, using the eye. Taking prasadam is devotional service. So in other words, service is a little bit general here, not just washing the floors and stuff like that. So we can call it service because these are all activities in which the intention of the devotee is to please the Lord.
So we please the Lord by sweeping the floor. Well, we also please the Lord by using our eye to look at the form of the Lord. When we see the form of the Lord, then we admire His beautiful form.
And when we glorify the Lord using words with our voice, then again we are pleasing the Lord by describing His form, qualities and activities. And it is all done for pleasing the Lord. If we do it not for the pleasure of the Lord, then we don’t call that Bhakti.
Sishupala or Kamsa also serve the Lord with their senses. They looked at the Lord, they describe the Lord, they call out His name, they use their senses, but it’s not Bhakti. Certainly, they are cultivating a relationship of hatred with the Lord, so that’s Krishna Anusilanam. But the other word used is Anukulyena. And there’s no Anukulyena in their engagement of their senses.
Bhakti means to engage the senses in the service of the Lord, but with a favorable attitude. So that means favorable attitude, means with desire to please the Lord. And if we do that without any other desires mixed in, it is called pure Bhakti. And that pure Bhakti will lead to Bhava and Prema.
If we engage the senses favorably, but it’s not completely free of other desires, then we don’t get Prema. So therefore, even before discussing Sadhana Bhakti, Rupa Goswami gives this definition at the beginning. And this definition applies to Sadhana Bhakti, Bhava Bhakti and Prema Bhakti. If we engage the senses favorably this but is not completely free of other desires, then we don’t get prema. So therefore even before discussing sadhana bhakti, Rupa Goswami gives this definition at the beginning. So this definition applies to sadhana bhakti, bhava bhakti and prema bhakti. So we can do the same activity, we can do kirtan in sadhana, bhava or Prema. Same definition should be Anukulyena, should be Aniyabilasitha Sunyam. The difference is that in Sadhana, we do have anarthas. In Bhava, there are few anarthas. In Prema, no anarthas.
But it’s the same Kirtan, it’s the same Darshan, it’s the same Smaranam, etc. So, if we look in the Bhagavatham, we will see that all of these different descriptions of devotees praising the Lord are on this very, very high level there. It’s pure bhakti, favorable to the Lord, no other desires.
Here, the women have praised Krishna. They have described his greatness. And they have also described his very sweet qualities.
So this is Kirtan, and in this Kirtan, they don’t also say, well, this is very nice, but I want to get this material benefit from you, they never mention anything like that. Nor do they ask, please get rid of my miseries and give me liberation.
So, all of these different prayers received by different devotees show this wonderful quality of purity. Sometimes, of course, the devotees may ask for something. When Indra was pouring water over the town of Vraja, then the people said, help us Krishna, get rid of the rain.
When there is a forest fire, then they said, Krishna, there is a big forest fire, save us. So, do they have pure bhakti or not? They are saying, some other desire is there. Do they have pure bhakti or not? So, in this verse, anya abhilashita sunya says, no other desire, except desire to please Krishna, but it also says, abhilashita. So, in general, there should be no other desires. So, if the people of Vrindavan ask for help once in a while, then no problem, still pure bhakti. So, it is not a constant desire to get something from Krishna.
Of course, we also see that the motive in asking Krishna for help is very, very different from people in the material world. In the material world, people ask for help, save my material body. These people have no identification with their bodies at all. So, then why are they so disturbed? They are disturbed because if they don’t have that body, they cannot serve Krishna. In other words, their service to Krishna will be interrupted, so therefore, they are praying to Krishna, don’t interrupt our service to you. And if our service to you is interrupted, then this will cause inconvenience to you. So, in other words, their prayer is to continue their service to Krishna. Of course, we can argue, well, Krishna doesn’t need anybody because he is Atmarama.
And he doesn’t need to eat, he doesn’t need to do anything because he is independent of the whole material world and the whole spiritual world. But the other quality of Krishna is he is dependent on his devotees. So, without the service of the devotee, the Lord will feel unhappy. So, therefore, no fault in the Lord if he desires that service. And there is no fault in the devotee if he is praying to continue his service. So, in this way, the purity of bhakti is always maintained.
In sadhana bhakti, we do not pray for material things. We don’t pray for liberation and our execution of bhakti. But we are not pure. So, we do have anarthas, we do have material desires. So, definitely, those material desires will influence our performance of bhakti. So, in that sense, it’s not pure.
However, as much as possible, the devotee doing sadhana avoids asking for material benefits or liberation. And that is called pure bhakti in sadhana. In pure bhakti in prema, same activities, same no requests for material things or liberation, but no an anarthas at all.
So, the devotee reaches that level of prema by practicing this pure bhakti in sadhana. Of course, nature of bhakti is such that it is very merciful. And even if you don’t do pure bhakti, even if you accidentally do bhakti, it has nice effect.
So, you can destroy your karmas, get rid of your suffering. So, Krishna describes, some people worship Krishna. Four types of people worship Krishna. Some approach Krishna desiring freedom from their suffering. Others come desiring increase of material benefits and Krishna responds to them, he will get rid of their suffering, he will give them material things. But through that process of mixed bhakti, they gradually become purified.
And they can get liberation. But actually, because of doing bhakti, they can go beyond liberation. So, the devotee with mixed bhakti is superior to a devotee practicing Karma yoga or Jnana yoga or Astanga yoga.
So, that devotee practicing mixed bhakti surpasses sathya loka, surpasses Brahman. But he cannot get the same result as someone practicing pure bhakti. So, what happens? Yes, he can go to the spiritual world. He can get salokya. He gets sarupya. He can even get sashti, powers.
But that person does not get that prema that the devotee practicing pure bhakti gets. And thus, the beginning of nectar devotion, Rupa Goswami emphasized that this is what bhakti is, it’s pure bhakti, this will lead to prema and Bhakti rasamrita sindhu. So, a person practicing bhakti has to understand this. And this person becomes a madhyama adhikari.
He is qualified to advance to prema. He is qualified to teach others. But someone who doesn’t have that understanding, then he is not qualified.
So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is teaching this method of pure bhakti to attain prema. So, as with bhakti, so with chanting the name. We have pure bhakti, uttama bhakti, we have Suddha nama.
Suddha nama gives prema. What’s the mixture? It’s called namabhas. With Namabhas, you can get liberation.You can get salokya and sarupya. But you don’t get the prema. So, therefore we have to have Suddha nama.
And the devotees also have to preach about Suddha nama, not namabhas. And of course Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is ultimately propagating bhakti, but of bhakti, he is actually propagating Nama sankirtan. And if we perform Nama sankirtan or preach Nama sankirtan it should also be Suddha, it should also be pure. So, that means the devotees have to have some knowledge.
That knowledge, where do we get it? In the books, in the Bhagavatam. So in that sense yes we chant holy name but we also need Bhagavatham. That should be our purpose in hearing and studying the Bhagavatam. We should understand what is pure bhakti. And we can take inspiration from the description of the various devotees.
Q & A
1) During Rupa Goswami’s time, in Vrindavan, there was not much population and there was no material attraction or material allurements as of today. So, how his words are applicable in the modern times?
So, whether it is 500 years ago or present day, the principles of bhakti don’t change. Our means of communicating about bhakti definitely have changed. So, when the British came to India, then they introduced a printing press, so then there was a little bit of a difference there. They started producing books, scriptures. But, until the time of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, people were not much interested in the Gaudiya scriptures. So, he began printing those works. And Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur continued that. He also had his own printing presses to print works, to print newspapers and whatever. But, the message is the same. The knowledge is the same. It is just how we convey the knowledge.
And even 30 years ago, they were still printing books with little metal letters, alphabets. You stick in a thing and you make a letter press and you do this way and that way. Now, that is unheard of. I don’t think there are any letter presses left in the world. So, that is replaced with offset printing instead. But, nowadays even books themselves. Why do we need books? Why do we need paper? Everything is online. So, the devotee can use whatever is there in the modern world, but the contents, that is the scripture itself, the message does not change.
2) The ladies of Hastinapura are glorifying the lord by doing smarana, we have nava vidha bhakti and smarana is one of them. But to do smarana we need some qualification like, controlling the mind and senses, we thought it is very difficult to continue smaranam. in Kaliyuga, the kirtan is the main, not the smaranam. So, how to reconcile these both statements? Yeah, definitely.
We see that in Satya Yuga, dhyana was the method using the mind. In Kaliyuga, it is the voice using kirtan because people are not qualified. But, also it is said that all the angas of bhakti, ultimately mean always remember Krishna, never forget him. So, there must be some mental activity along with the kirtan also.
It is also said that, yes, kirtan is the method, but within kirtan there is also smaranam and sravanam. In Brhad bhagavatamrta, there is a nice explanation and the explanation is that, the two, smaranam and kirtan are complementary. They reinforce each other. By the smaranam, your kirtan becomes better. By the kirtan, the smaranam becomes better.
In Raganuga Bhakti, the smaranam becomes more important. And that develops into dharana, and then dhyana, and then samadhi. So, we can never separate kirtan from smaranam.
3) You are explaining this without any desire. How to understand that sometimes devotees ask the question that, devotees sometimes remember only the spiritual master. Devotees remember the spiritual master, the instructions of the spiritual master, how to serve the spiritual master. So, can we also call them also, it is without desire? He is only thinking the spiritual master.
Well ideally, the spiritual master should give instructions so you remember Krishna all the time. So, devotion of the spiritual master and remembrance of the spiritual master should lead to remembering Krishna. If it doesn’t, then something is wrong with your worship and your memory. It is material.
So, in other words, we can never separate Guru and his instructions from instructions of scripture and from Krishna. If they become separate, then it is useless.
4) There is a statement that someone asked question to Srila Prabhupada that, how do you remember your spiritual master? How often do you remember your spiritual master? Srila Prabhupada said that, I never forgot my spiritual master. What do you mean by this? Is it instruction or something else?
Yes. So, when we remember the spiritual master, we have to remember the spiritual master’s instructions? And what is the spiritual master’s instructions? To serve the lotus feet of Radha and Krishna. So, Prabhupada quoted this verse, Vyavasayatmika Buddhi. And then he said, he got inspired by Visvanatha Chakravarti’s commentary there. So, Vyavasayatmika Buddhi means, the intelligence and the mind are completely fixed and not deviating. So, in that purport, then Visvanatha Chakravarti says, therefore you should have fixed devotion or fixed intelligence on the instruction of Guru.
But he also explains, what is the instruction of Guru? And then the instruction of Guru is, serve the lotus feet of Radha and Krishna.
5) Sadhana Bhakti, Bhava Bhakti and Prema Bhakti, in all three processes, in all, this process is same, chanting, remembering, etc. But how the devotional status elevation takes place? How the? How the elevation takes place, from Sadhana to Bhava to Prema?
So, the comparison is to a plant. A seed is planted we water, it grows, it gets leaves, it gets flowers, it gets fruit. So, we keep watering in the same way, giving it sunlight and whatever, in the same way. So, by these practices, first in Sadhana and then in Bhava, not practices anymore, but because of the Sādhya, in Bhava and Prema, these activities of Bhakti, the Bhakti grows and transforms. So, the activities of Bhakti in Sadhana, make the Bhakti grow. And then it becomes a flower and a fruit in terms of Bhava and Prema.
6) We have seen that if someone has a desire, and with desire if someone performs the Bhakti, then the destination is like Salokya, Sarupya, Sasti, Samipya, he gets this. But the process of Bhakti itself, it purifies the person, then how can he, you know, goes there? Because we also know that Bhakti continues unless and until he is back to Godhead or until he attains the Prema. It continues. How can he go there?
So, Bhakti in any case purifies. So, we can ask the question, why didn’t Ajamila get Prema? So, he just chanted accidentally, he got one result. If you chant with mixed Bhakti, you get another result.
If you chant with pure Bhakti, you get another result. In any case, Bhakti is merciful and gives you great results. So, because the Bhakti was mixed, that also indicates that the Bhakti is not so strong.
So, the result is not so strong. So, we see that in these Salokya, Sasti, all that, if they don’t go beyond that and get Prema, not much service. So, that is a reflection of their Sadhana, in which they accept the Lord, but desire to serve the Lord is not so much, because they have these other desires.
So, a person in Prema feels that they will die, if they cannot serve the Lord. One who has got Salokya says, very nice in Vaikuntha, very nice, very nice. So, whether they serve the Lord or not, not something disturbing to them.
7) When a subtle Jiva reaches Brahman stage, there its subtle senses and gross senses does not function. So, to understand this is very difficult. In that case, how can a Jivatma, after reaching that Brahman stage, is able to come down to this world and fall down or is able to go up to spiritual world? How is it possible? How can we understand this?
So, I think Visvanatha and Jiva both described that, if you actually merge into Brahman with no subtle body, no gross body, you stay there, you don’t fall. But, if you have the state of Jivanmukta, whether you are in one sense liberated and realized Brahman, but you still have a material body, you can fall from that state.
8) With regard to the, stressing the importance of Suddha nama in a Sadhaka’s day to day life. In case of vrajavasis, they desire to have, they desire their bodies to be protected in order to render service to Krishna. But, in one sense Maharaj, isn’t it Sadhaka understands that at a pure stage, they can even continue whether in this body or they can continue their service in a spiritual body.
So, whether we have a material body or a spiritual body, if we have Prema, in one sense, same. But, a material body is also a limitation. It will get sick and it will die. So, then you have to get another body in order to experience your Prema again and then you have to go through process of growing up the body until you become an adult and then whatever like that. Additionally, as long as one has a material body, even with Prema, there is a restriction on the Prema, simply because of the material body.
So, we have states of Prema and then we have Sneha and Pranaya and Maan and Raga and Anuraga and Mahabhava, these higher states cannot be experienced in a material body.
9) The 16,000 Queens in Dwaraka, they become purified by Rukmini’s fame. What does this statement mean? Jiva Goswami tells in Priti Sandharma that these 16,000 Queens, they are becoming pure by Rukmini’s fame.
I suppose, I don’t remember the quotation, but obviously a devotee, a devotee if they remember another pure devotee, they get purified. If the devotees pray to Radharani, then they become a Manjari or a Sakhi.
10) Do perfected devotees become a part of the Swarupa Shakti of the Lord?
Jiva Shakti never becomes Cit Shakti. It is different. Jiva remains Jiva, but in the state of Prema, he gets a portion of hladini and Samvit shakti, which is part of Chit Shakti.
11) Unless we chant pure name without offenses and Namabhas, how can we consider that we are pure devotees? How can we consider that we are pure devotees because we are not chanting purely without any offenses and we chant in Namabhas. In such a state, how can we consider ourselves as pure devotees?
Suddha means no abhas no offense. We cant then you are in Namabhas, not in Suddhanama. If you are doing Namabhas, it is not Suddhanama. In other words, if you are chanting Hare Krishna, please give me a new car, Hare Krishna, please give me a new house, Hare Krishna, please give me five sons, then it is not pure bhakti, it is Namabhas.
12) A sadhaka while following sadhana bhakti asks for material benedictions from Krishna, which will be supportive for devotional service. Is this considered as pure bhakti?
Well, if we ask for material things for the service of Krishna, that is fine. And of course, this we say is yukta vairagya. However, we also have to be careful that though we may call it yukta vairagya, that we don’t start using those things for ourselves. So that becomes a weed in devotional service. And the bhakti becomes mixed.
13) Does the Jiva receive the seed of bhakti by following books and instructions of Acharyas or by the association of devotees?
The seed of bhakti is planted by Guru and Krishna if you have faith. So that faith means you are not practicing yet. You are not studying scriptures yet. But we have a conviction, yes, the scriptures are nice, the devotees are nice, I will follow their instructions. So after we have the faith, we follow the instructions of the devotees and we begin to read the scriptures and we begin to practice bhakti. We got the seed. That’s where we get the seed from.
14) Prasadam happens to be an important source of Ajnana Sukrthi. Being the case, how to understand the practice of charging money for prasadam?
Some people will not take things for free. In fact, they want to pay a lot of money for something. Whether it is free or not free or high priced or low priced, if they take it and eat it, fine, they get the Ajnana Sukrthi.
15) Scripture says, you should not hear the holy name from a avaishnava as it is considered to be poisonous milk. However, the holy name is beyond the material influence. So how can we understand this?
Well, like Bhakti, the holy name is purely spiritual and like Krishna, it cannot be contaminated. But still, when Krishna comes into the material world, the demons see Krishna. They don’t see a spiritual body. They see a material Vaishya acting like a Kshatriya, pretending, cheating. But that does not change Krishna. He is always spiritual. So name is also spiritual, Scripture is also spiritual. But because people have coverings and anarthas, they will receive it with impurity or they will broadcast it with impurity. So we have kirtan and we have microphones to broadcast the kirtan. But some microphones are so bad that you can’t hear anything when they are using the microphone, everything is distorted. Some are singing Hare Krishna when it comes out, it doesn’t sound like Hare Krishna anymore. So the fault is not in the name, the fault is in the person who is delivering the name or in hearing the name.
16) Is there any tool to test our bhakti whether it is in pure level, mixed level or with anarthas ?
Well, of course, the standard is set by Scripture itself. If we don’t know anything about Scripture, then we are not going to understand what is pure bhakti or mixed bhakti. If we get clear definitions in Scripture, that is a good help. We can use our intelligence to practice pure bhakti.
In spite of that, if we cannot figure out whether we have desires or no desires, we should ask somebody else. So devotees who are moderately advanced can understand what is pure bhakti as opposed to what is mixed bhakti.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam Ki.. Jai ! Srila Prabhupad Ki.. Jai !! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!