Nectar of Instruction – Part 1 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Japan | 29 October 2025 |
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So, Upadesamrta or Nectar of Instruction is a very short work written by Rupa Goswami. Of course, we see that Rupa Goswami wrote Nectar of Devotion which is a huge work, which describes Bhakti completely. This work is just a few verses and gives a very, very short summary of many things [Laughs]. It also mentions some things which are not even mentioned in Nectar of Devotion, for instance, the first three verses. We see in Nectar of Devotion that basically it’s speaking about Bhakti and the different types of Bhakti. Here we see the first several verses are the opposite. It’s talking about non-Bhakti [Laughs].
So the first verse is all about the vegas or the different material impulses. So we have six very strong material qualities which interrupt our Bhakti. So the intelligent person who is doing Bhakti should control all these urges. And the last line here says, sarvām apīmāṁ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt, he should be able to teach the whole world because he has controlled his urges [Laughs]. So the first urge is the urge of words or speaking. The second one is the mind. The next urge is anger. And then we have the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals. So, if we, we can divide this up and say we have verbal urges which can lead us into problems. We have mental things like desire, mind, anger, etc. And physical things the tongue, belly and genital. These are not particularly for Bhakti. For any spiritual progress, whether it’s jnana or yoga, you have to control these urges. And even if you control these urges, that does not guarantee you develop Bhakti.
However, if we don’t control these urges, our Bhakti also cannot progress nicely. So, another way of dividing these things up is mental. So we say mind, manasam, desire and anger, these are mental things. Then we have the five knowledge gathering senses or jnanendriya. Tongue, eye, ear, nose and skin. Of course, the verse doesn’t mention the eye or the nose, but obviously, they can also cause us problems [Laughs]. And then we have the karmendriyas like the voice, genital, anus, hands, feet, etc. So if we don’t control these senses, eventually we start committing sinful activities. And these will lead to hellish existence. So obviously, we cannot practice Bhakti. Now if we control our senses, we can do our Bhakti very peacefully. At the same time, our Acharyas say that Bhakti itself will lead to control of the senses. Of course, we have some other opinions on this matter. And that is that, in order to control your senses and purify the mind, you have to do karma yoga. And in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna advises karma yoga before you do jnana yoga, because you have to have purified mind, controlled senses.
However, when we take to the process of Bhakti, it’s not necessary that we perform karma yoga. And the reason is that by doing Bhakti and worshipping the Lord, we get the Lord’s mercy. So this allows us to control our senses. So in karma yoga, there is an emphasis on sense control. If you don’t control the senses, you end up doing sinful activities. Sinful activities means bad karma and hellish existence [Laughs]. Once we control the senses, we can practice jnana yoga and study upanishads and vedanta. This will lead to liberation. If we do Bhakti yoga, concentration is on hearing, chanting, worshipping Krishna. And we attain Prema. So we see in karma yoga and jnana yoga, there is an emphasis on controlling the senses, controlling the mind, etc. But in Bhakti yoga, the process is more controlling the mind by engaging everything in Krishna’s service.
Nevertheless, along with our process of Bhakti yoga in getting our senses in serving Krishna, we are taught to accept favorable items and reject unfavorable items. So the unfavorable items will include these vegas which are mentioned in this first verse. If we look at surrender, saranagati, we see there are different elements. So one of the elements is accepting what is favorable and rejecting what is unfavorable. So obviously, we have to reject everything unfavorable for surrendering to the Lord, which means all of our uncontrolled sense activities [Laughs]. Actually, in Nectar of Devotion, we have these 64 angas. The first 10 are preliminary things, second 10 are things you don’t do [Laughs], or rejected as unfavorable [Laughs]. Even there, Rupa Goswami never mentions avoid sinful activities, avoid the four [Laughs], meat eating, he never even mentions it directly [Laughs].
Devotee: So it was not mentioned directly Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: No. But among unfavorable things, he says you shouldn’t be overcome by lamentation, illusion, etc etc [Laughs]. So, of course, the reason for this is that he is trying to emphasize the processes of Bhakti as the main purifying element. But those things which are favorable for our body, etc., we can accept those rules from varnashrama. For instance, we have rules for cleanliness of the body. In the varnashrama system, we have methods for purifying the mind with yoga, etc. And we have social interactions and family relationships and samskaras, etc. So these can be practiced along with the Bhakti, as long as they don’t become major elements [Laughs].
So, if we put a lot of emphasis on all these rules, we end up in sattva guna. But the devotee doesn’t want to be in sattva guna also, he wants to be nirguna, beyond the gunas [Laughs]. So two of these vegas are urges. One is manasa vega, the other is krodha vega. These have to do with the mind. These have to do with the mind. So, in the mind, we develop desire for different objects. It may be very gross, just enjoy material objects with our eyes and taste and whatever. Now, the desire is in the mind. If we don’t control the desire, eventually we will do different activities with our senses. So krodha arises when we get obstruction to our desires. And this may result also in physical activities or violence or harsh words, etc. So both these urges have to be controlled.
In Bhagavad Gita, in discussing the qualities of the demons, He says three important ones you have to control are lust, anger and greed [Laughs]. So in this first verse, he mentions the jihva vega, that’s the urge of the tongue. Yeah, so of course we have other senses as well, knowledge gathering. We have the eye, the ear, the nose and the skin. So they’re all obviously, we have to control all of these. And then we have the karmendriyas, the action senses. So one is the voice. So we have to control speaking. If we speak too much about a certain subject, then we’ll tend to think about that more, then we will try to enjoy those certain objects of our talking.
We see that yogis, they practice the opposite, mauna, no speaking [Laughs]. And the reason is, if you start speaking, then you start thinking of all these things you’re speaking about [Laughs]. So, the other karmendriyas, he mentions the belly, which could be for overeating, which causes sickness and laziness, etc. Yeah. And then we have the gender or the sex urge. And this, of course, is important. And therefore we have the different ashrams. And in the brahmacharya, vanaprastha and sannyasa ashrams, then there’s very strict control. So, in grihastha ashram then, as Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, if that kama is according to dharma, then it is allowed.
If we look in the different aparadhas, the tenth aparadha is to be very, very materially attached. And if we have that very strong material attachment, then it is very difficult to practice Bhakti. So one of the qualifications for bhakti, of course, is to have a taste for hearing about the Lord, the other is not be too materially attached. If we have too many attachments, then these vegas will operate and we speak, doing etc and we will develop all sorts of sinful activities. So on all levels, then we do have to have control.
The root, of course, is the mind. The root of all of these, lack of control is the mind. So, we control the mind, we control the senses, and the physical senses, the action senses also. And if we cannot control the mind, then there’s no possibility of controlling the senses [Laughs]. Now, of course, in regular spiritual life, how to control the mind? One is to practice vairagya. But in Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami says vairagya is not part of bhakti [Laughs]. In the beginning, it may be a little favorable, he says. And the reason is, he says, too much vairagya will make the heart dry up. The process of bhakti is to melt the heart, not to dry it up [Laughs].
So, the second verse continues with these things which will destroy Bhakti. So he lists six items, as he mentioned six items in the first verse. So there’s overeating, over-endeavor, over-talking, rejection of rules, bad association, unsteadiness. So, if these vegas are uncontrolled, we end up with these things mentioned in verse two [Laughs]. Yeah, I guess kind of categorize them somewhat [Laughs]. If we have all these desire, we’ll over-endeavor to get material things. If we have anger, then we reject all the rules [Laughs]. If we can’t control the tongue and other things, then we get unsteadiness and passion. We don’t control the voice, the vacho vega, over-talking [Laughs]. Don’t control the belly, over-eating [Laughs]. And don’t control genital then association with women. So in other words, the vegas lead to different actions. And when we go to the actions, of course, this creates a great obstacle for Bhakti. To prevent those activities, then we have to control these vegas.
So the first one is called prayasa, over-endeavor or wrong endeavors [Laughs]. Yeah. In terms of other goals, one could desire liberation and to get liberation, you have to put very strong effort into it. If you want to go to swargaloka, you have to put great effort into austerities and performing different rituals like yajnas. Or if we don’t even follow rules of dharma, we just work for family, money, etc [Laughs]. So if we can control the mind, we can prevent all of this. So, one of the things that were mentioned here is not following rules [Laughs]. So in karma yoga and jnana yoga, we have many rules to follow. You don’t follow the rules, you cannot progress. But more important than those rules are the rules of Bhakti. If we do Bhakti, we get mercy of the Lord, then we can control the mind and the senses, etc. If we develop anger, then we reject all of these rules. One of the results is laulyam or unsteadiness. Which means we have all sorts of distractions from our Bhakti. We have desire for liberation, desire for siddhi, desire for swargaloka, etc. And all of this, of course, is because we have our uncontrolled senses.
So this lack of control of the speaking is quite serious. It, of course, can be talking material subjects. So this prajalpa can be talking useless material subjects. But prajalpa can also be talking scriptures if our motive is wrong. So recording shorts or simply to defeat others, that’s also considered to be prajalpa. So we have to avoid all of this useless conversation. So, one of the problems with the speaking is sadhu-ninda. We start criticizing devotees. So this is serious aparadha. Okay, so, another one of the six is atyahara, overeating or over-enthusiasm for material accumulation [Laughs]. So this again is, we can say, lack of control of our senses [Laughs]. So one of the elements is with jana-sanga, association with people, but what people? So if you associate with jnanis, karmis, materialists, or you indulge in illicit sex life, this is all bad jana-sanga.
Okay, so let’s go on to the third text. Here we have some positive, six positive things [Laughs]. The previous six destroy Bhakti. And the six elements mentioned in this verse, they will nourish Bhakti. So, we have enthusiasm, conviction, gravity, following rules previously rejected, giving up bad association and following proper conduct. Okay. So, if we can control these negative things, the vegas and the consequent [Laughs] sinful activities, we can concentrate on the favorable things.
1.) So, one was this nischaya, or conviction. So this of course involves faith. If you read Bhagavad Gita, often it says the word samsaya, or doubt, is mentioned [Laughs]. If you have doubt, you cannot succeed in Bhakti [Laughs]. So the opposite of that doubt or samsaya is nischaya.
2.) Okay, another element is this tat tat karma pravartanat, following rules of conduct. So we have certain rules we should follow, certain things we shouldn’t do, so we have to follow those very nicely. And as I mentioned, because of anger, we tend to reject all these rules [Laughs].
3.) The word sat vrtti can mean of course, following proper conduct or even following a proper profession. It can mean to follow proper conduct or even proper occupation [Laughs].
4.) Yeah, and another one was dhairya, which means seriousness or gravity. It means seriousness. We know the word dhira, it’s often mentioned [Laughs]. They’re quite intelligent and wise and serious [Laughs]. And thus he does not speak all nonsense [Laughs].
5.) So we have this utsaha or enthusiasm. So of course, in the material world we have enthusiasm for enjoying, but in Bhakti we have enthusiasm for performing Bhakti [Laughs]. This enthusiasm partly depends on taste. We have a nice taste for Bhakti, we are enthusiastic for that. And this replaces our taste for food or any material enjoyment [Laughs]. This enthusiasm plus the first one, conviction or nischaya, are also related to knowledge of scripture. If we have proper knowledge of scripture, we have more conviction, we have more enthusiasm.
6.) And the last element here is to avoid all this bad association [Laughs].
Q & A:
1.) So, Maharaj his question is, in Caitanya Caritamrta, it is mentioned that, vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga, and then next line is something. So, the point here is, that Mahaprabhu appeared here to teach us this vairāgya-vidyā and nija-bhakti-yoga, but your Divine Grace, you mentioned that vairagya is not essentially part of Bhakti. So, how we can understand this point?
It all depends on what we mean by the word vairagya. We also have in Chapter 18 of Bhagavad Gita, Krishna talking about tyaga and sannyasa [Laughs]. And if we look closely, and even in Caitanya Caritamrta the real meaning of all this renunciation is to give everything to Krishna [Laughs]. Yeah, so, in that sense, sannyasa means not just renouncing things, but giving everything to Krishna. But if we do sannyasa or vairagya, and if we simply stop our senses, this, of course, is part of jnana yoga or astanga yoga. That is not completely favorable for us.
And in Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami mentions two types of vairagya, phalgu vairagya, which is the one we reject, and yukta vairagya. Yeah, so, phalgu vairagya is the one that the impersonalists and jnanis do, that is, give up all activities, stop all the senses. Yeah, to control the senses, reject all material objects. And yukta vairagya is to engage the senses in serving Krishna and to use material objects for serving Krishna. So, by doing that, then of course, we completely detach from material things for our own pleasure. So, that’s the proper vairagya for us.
2.) So, Maharaj his question is that you mentioned that if we can control our mind, then easily we can control these karmendriyas. But his question is, how, do you have any strategy or any tips how to control his mind? That is his question.
Oh okay. So, this question, of course, comes up in Bhagavad Gita and Arjuna says, difficult to control the mind, difficult to control the senses [Laughs]. But then Krishna says, you have to practice. So, you have to practice controlling the mind. But He also says that if you have higher taste, you can give up lower taste. So, some sort of taste is also very necessary for us to perform Bhakti properly and control the senses and the mind. So, in the beginning of Bhakti, the taste will be little. As we progress, it becomes stronger. As the taste becomes stronger, then we can control the mind easier.
3.) Hare Krishna Maharaj ji. Like, I was listening to one of your lecture named Madhurya Kadambini. There also you explained regarding the yogas, these three, karma, jnana and Bhakti yoga. So, like, is it okay to understand that we just have to practice Bhakti yoga and automatically the karma and jnana will be improved?
Well, of course, if we practice jnana, the real goal is liberation. We don’t want that [Laughs]. And the goal of karma yoga is swargaloka. We also don’t want that.
Devotee: And for karma yoga, what is the goal, Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Swarga, swargaloka. So, of course, by doing Bhakti, you could get swargaloka. By doing Bhakti, you can get moksha also. But we avoid those things. So, we have some secondary results from karma yoga, you become purified, you get to sattva guna. By doing jnana yoga, you control the senses and the mind. So, these are some what favorable for Bhakti. But simply by doing Bhakti itself, we get the same results. So, whatever benefits you may be expecting from karma yoga or jnana yoga, you can get those same benefits simply by doing Bhakti itself.
Devotees: HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!