A Study of Madhurya-kadambini: How Devotion Becomes Steady

Transcript

0:00Madhurya-kadambini and the second chapter of Canto One

Today I was reading a truly amazing commentary by Vishvanatha Chakravarti. Actually, it wasn’t even a commentary—it was the Madhurya-kadambini, but in the Sanskrit edition it is inserted into his commentary on a verse from the second chapter of the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is an extremely well-known chapter. It contains a block of verses that every devotee really needs: for meditation, for a coherent philosophical understanding of what is going on, for understanding abhidheya. Of course prayojana and sambandha too, but above all abhidheya, and abhidheya means our practice and how it brings the conditioned living being to Sri Krishna. And among these verses there is a famous one:

It says that at a certain point in practice, when it reaches mature stability, a person becomes free from the influence of the modes of passion and ignorance. Tada—then. It is then, this verse says, that the following happens. And the conditions for that “then” are described in a verse we all know well:

1:53Do you know this verse? Does anyone not know it? All right. And before this verse there is one more important verse.

2:04The verses Prabhupada meditated on aboard the Jaladuta

All these verses are remarkable because our dear Srila Prabhupada meditated on them when he sailed to New York aboard the Jaladuta. He looked at that hellish life under the influence of rajas and tamas and thought, “How can I possibly preach to these people? It’s impossible.” And then he remembered these verses:

He remembered the verse from this second chapter which says: if a person hears about Krishna, shrinvatam sva-kathah krishnah, if he does it properly, punya-shravana-kirtanah… One translation of the word punya is “properly,” while another translation doesn’t stress “properly” but says that a person simply hears narrations about Krishna, which are very auspicious in themselves, very punya. Then the Lord who is in his heart cleanses that heart: vidhunoti suhrit satam. He cleanses the devotee’s heart of the dirt that has accumulated there.

3:40The first phase of bhakti: hear first

And Vishvanatha Chakravarti says that this describes precisely the first phase of devotional service. In the beginning it is extremely important, even without any special taste, to perform the process of shravanam-kirtanam nonetheless. Hear about the Lord as much as possible. First of all, one needs to hear about the Lord as much as possible.

4:14We vow sixteen rounds—but not shravanam

Our society is arranged in such a way that we take a vow to chant sixteen rounds, but we take no vow to hear about Krishna, to perform the process of shravanam. Yet for a beginning devotee this is perhaps even more important than chanting. Because it is by hearing pure Krishna-katha, the philosophy of Krishna consciousness, that a devotee forms the right worldview. That is why sadhu-sanga—the association of devotees in which he can hear about Krishna—is fundamentally important in this initial phase. Fundamentally important.

5:07And so, hearing about Krishna as much as possible—shrinvatam sva-kathah krishnah punya-shravana-kirtanah—and glorifying Krishna in the association of devotees… Hridy antah-stho hy abhadrani: the Lord who is in the heart cleanses it of everything inauspicious. Abhadrani vidhunoti means that He cleanses the heart of His devotee. And when, having taken shelter at the lotus feet of a great devotee, the spiritual master, a devotee performs the process of shravanam-kirtanam, gradually, gradually his heart becomes purified.

5:46Why there is no steady taste: anarthas and samskaras

5:50And our acharyas, in particular Vishvanatha Chakravarti, comment that all beginning devotees want to reach the level of stability—so that there is steady taste, deep faith and intense devotion. However, he says, this is impossible, because there is abhadra. Abhadra means anarthas, inauspicious things, the consequences of our impious activities. They remain. We carry these consequences. Like prisoners, we are locked in the jail of our own mind, contaminated by rajas and tamas. A great many different samskaras surface all the time. And different people have different desires. Someone is prone to violence, for example, someone to intoxication, someone is excessively attached to sex life. The list of all these things is very long; it could go on and on. Undoubtedly, every sadhaka faces this problem. Undoubtedly. He sees, “God, how helpless I am!” And often he comes to despair. It seems to him that the practice isn’t working.

7:22Two fronts: outer circumstances and the onslaught of the mind

Not to mention that in his life, as a rule, things happen that are very hard to endure. He is fired from his job, his wife leaves him, he loses money, a war breaks out in his country, and so on and so forth. And it turns out that he is fighting on two fronts at once. On the one hand, he endures the unfavorable consequences of his karma in the form of external circumstances that press on him—to say nothing of his health. And on the other hand, he realizes his helplessness before the offspring of rajas and tamas, such as envy, greed, anger and lust. And at times he comes to despair.

7:58And for a beginning devotee this is a natural path, since his devotion is not steady. And his devotion is not steady because all these samskaras live in him, all these impressions that surface again and again, and the consequences of his sinful activities live in him, and they produce various kinds of klesha: adhyatmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika. Klesha means suffering. So the life of such a devotee is in fact spent trying to withstand the onslaught of the mind and the onslaught of external circumstances. Again and again he becomes disappointed in people. Many misfortunes befall him.

9:01Now we are talking about devotees who live in our age, in Kali-yuga—about you and me. And so the acharya says that this is a natural condition. It is impossible to overcome it very quickly. Not possible, because there are consequences. The consequences of sinful activities—that’s one. And second, the consequences of aparadhas, nama-aparadhas, vaishnava-aparadhas, the consequences of the offenses devotees commit while worshiping the Lord. Seva-aparadhas, nama-aparadhas, jiva-aparadhas—there are so many different sins we can commit. We have the potential for it. And what impels us to do it is the same rajas and tamas. The main problem is that the mind is afflicted by ignorance and passion.

10:26And this enemy takes up positions precisely in the mind, in the intelligence, in the senses. As Lord Krishna says in the third chapter, kama manifests not outside but within. Nevertheless, devotees have faith that by worshiping Krishna “I will attain perfection”—even if I don’t really know what perfection is.

10:56The honest motive of a beginning devotee

In this state a person cannot be too sure that he is even capable of performing pure devotional service. Because, of course, the dominant motive in his practice is the desire to be free from these sufferings—above all from the sufferings of the mind. And a sincere Vaishnava understands: “My mind is what disturbs me.” Not so much the external sufferings, because he understands that if everything is all right with my mind, I won’t suffer too much from external circumstances. Every devotee must understand this clearly. If the mind becomes stable, external sufferings are not so frightening. If there is Krishna consciousness, then, in principle, you can even crucify me. It doesn’t matter, because in Krishna consciousness one can endure anything at all, whereas without Krishna consciousness—alas, alas.

11:52So a devotee has firm faith in bhakti. He has firm faith in bhakti as a process: “This will save me.” He cannot clearly picture what salvation is. Of course, he hears again and again that prema-bhakti is needed, that one must return not just to Vaikuntha but to Goloka Vrindavan. And he picks up all these ideas on the level of the mind. This happens to the vast majority. It’s simply a formula. But in fact, in fact he cannot want to reach Goloka. Not possible. Not possible. He can want it only on the level of the mind. And that is not the desire of the soul. The true desires have not yet awakened. Of course, they can awaken even in this state—by the power of a great Vaishnava. It can happen even to the most fallen soul: he can come to have the purest motive. But as a rule, this does not happen.

13:00Chatur-vidha bhajante: “impure” practice is not bad either

13:20Four kinds of people practice devotional service: first of all the distressed, then people pursuing some material goals, philosophers and jnanis. Chatur-vidha. And as a rule we belong to one of these categories—as a rule. This is not yet pure devotional service as Rupa Gosvami defines it, but it is not bad. Practicing impure devotional service is not bad—we need to understand that. If only because the vast majority of us practice impure devotional service, and we call one another devotees. And that is normal, because Krishna says: janah sukritino ’rjuna—“Arjuna, know that these are pious people; they turn to Me.” To have faith in God in Kali-yuga is already a great treasure. Of course, it is imperfection.

14:25Narada seeks perfection. The demigods are not “non-devotees”

But what is perfection? Narada Muni traveled. He was searching for what perfection is: he met a brahmana who worshiped shalagramas, then a king, then Indra, then Brahma, Shiva, Prahlada, the Pandavas, and many others. He met with each of them. He wanted to find the Vaishnava who had attained perfection. And in the end he came to the Vrajavasis, the eternal associates of the Lord from Goloka Vrindavan—to the gopis of Vrindavan. And in a certain sense only the gopis of Vrindavan are on the level of absolute perfection. But that is only in a certain sense. The objective truth is that Lord Krishna Himself said: “All those you met are impure devotees,” including Indra, including Brahma, including Shiva—that is, the great demigods.

15:09It is very offensive to treat the demigods disrespectfully, without offering them respect, considering them non-devotees. That is a really big aparadha. Even in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, among the offenses to the holy name and to the Lord, among the sixty-four angas of devotional service, Rupa Gosvami singled out offending the demigods and failing to offer them respect. We honor the demigods as great devotees of the Lord who far surpass us. That is certain. Of course, compared to Srimati Radharani everyone is an atheist, everyone—because She is the hladini-shakti. She has the purest mahabhava. No one has the bhava that She has. Certainly She is the object of our worship, our mother Radharani. But that doesn’t mean the demigods are not devotees. To think so is a big aparadha. A big one. Please, devotees, never pick up this mood. It contradicts our siddhanta, it contradicts the teachings of the Vaishnava acharyas, beginning with Srila Prabhupada and so on.

16:33Of course, not to stray from the topic… One could discuss at length why Indra, for example, attacked Vrindavan. But it was Krishna personally, Krishna personally who wanted to correct his pride a little. And we will talk about this too: the tendency to be proud, or some defects of character, remain even at the stage of very mature devotion. In any case, we offer respect to the demigods. Narada Muni traveled, searching for the perfect devotee, and he met precisely with them. With some he met, with some he didn’t. That doesn’t mean that Varuna or Vayu, for example, are not devotees. They are very great devotees. It is we who speak of pure and impure. Anyabhilashita-shunyam—are they or aren’t they anyabhilashita-shunya? Usually, yes, there is the thesis that they are sakama-bhaktas—that is what the demigods are sometimes called—and we think that this is already something lower.

17:57Of course, for followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism the ideal is the level of devotion shown by Mahaprabhu and His associates. But again: where are we, and where is the level of that devotion? For us it is an object of worship. We admire it, we dream of being like that. We simply dream. We have such a dream—but can it come true? As for me personally, I deeply doubt that it is possible, simply because that is how this world is arranged. I wouldn’t have chosen it this way if I had been asked. I wouldn’t want to be a nitya-baddha, an eternally conditioned jiva, which is what I am. If I were asked, I would say, “No, I don’t want it this way. I want to be free from suffering, to engage in prema-seva, to love Krishna selflessly and eternally, to feel His love. That is all I want.” But it is not accessible to me. So the conclusion is very simple: it is not accessible to everyone. It doesn’t mean I will become qualified for it tomorrow.

19:12“I don’t even dream of reaching Goloka”

Dear devotees, there are not many of us today. I will tell you the truth. I tell you truly: I don’t even dream of reaching Goloka Vrindavan, that abode, the spiritual world. I don’t even have the thought that it is possible. I simply rejoice in the position I am in now—pitiful, insignificant, destitute, suffering, yet having access to all of this. If only it doesn’t get worse. There’s a meditation on the state of affairs for you. If only I’m not crossed off the list and sent away somewhere. Because my mind doesn’t belong to me, my intelligence doesn’t belong to me. It is all Krishna’s property. My body doesn’t belong to me; I don’t control it. It is controlled by the modes of material nature: they do whatever they please. So—if only I’m not thrown out. That is a very great devotion—the devotion of Mahaprabhu. In a certain sense it is unattainable. But again, for many it is an unattainable position.

20:23That is why Lord Krishna says these words: sa mahatma sudurlabhah. He says this about a mahatma who is able to see Krishna everywhere—essentially, that is the impersonal aspect. He says: vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah—that is, Vasudeva is everywhere. Such a mahatma is sudurlabha, very rare. What to speak of the gopis of Vrindavan? My God, that is not just sudurlabha, but sudur-, sudur-, sudurlabha! Very, very, incredibly rare. That is why Krishna says: manushyanam sahasreshu kashchid yatati siddhaye, yatatam api siddhanam kashchin mam vetti tattvatah—out of many thousands hardly one strives for perfection, and of those who strive, out of many thousands hardly one comes to know the tattva, the truth about Me.

21:22Not dreaming of spaceships, but being grateful

So the recommendation for us beginners is this: don’t dream about these spaceships, don’t identify yourself with someone who can attain that. That’s on the one hand. And on the other hand—be grateful for what we have already received. And we have received a great deal. We have received at least access to all of this—to Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, to the holy name of Krishna—at least the opportunity to meditate on all this, to speak about it, to hear about it. There must be great gratitude. And of course we would like to do all this with taste. And we come back to the fact that a beginning devotee naturally wants to do it with taste. That’s normal, but it doesn’t work out—because, again, vasanas, or samskaras, get in the way: impressions from the past, purva-samskaras. They get in the way, and the consequences of sins weigh us down.

22:23A question to the audience: what is the essence of faith?

22:31So what would be the perfection of such a person’s faith? What does faith mean? What is the perfect faith of such a beginning devotee, right? What is his perfect faith? What are his aspirations? What does he believe in? What will save him? What are the options?

23:12Audience: Only the association of devotees. If he has nothing of his own…

23:34He believes in the association of devotees. Let’s think about this more concretely. In which processes of devotional service? Because everything…

23:54Audience: Shravanam-kirtanam.

Good. What does that mean? How does a devotee think, how does he think? What does shravanam-kirtanam mean? What does sadhu-sanga mean?

Audience: First of all, chanting the holy names. It is the only thing given to us in this age.

24:15Good. He believes in chanting the holy names. Yes? Right? What does it look like in practice, in his life? How does this faith show itself?

24:40Audience: Devotees chant…

Could you put it more practically? They chant. But different people chant in different ways.

Audience: Attentively.

They chant attentively. And what does “attentively” mean?

Audience: Without offenses.

25:01“These are stock answers”: speaking from experience

I understand, Lev Prabhu, thank you very much for the feedback. But these are stock answers. They are correct. But they are stock answers. Each person should speak from his own experience. Each should reflect: what is of value to me in bhakti, what do I believe in, where do I put the emphasis? Each should look back over the last week or month of his life and think: what did I invest myself in, what was I counting on? Practically, in life.

25:22Audience: Yes. Devotees help us work with the mind. They help us take in the right understanding, the right attitude to Krishna-katha. And at some point this allows you to keep going and gives a certain faith and taste—at the level at which…

25:45Devotees help us work with the mind through…

Audience: Association.

26:08Association. And how exactly do they help us work with the mind? What do they do when they work with our mind?

Audience: They change our outlook…

In what form does this change of outlook take place? How do they influence us, these devotees who transform the mind?

26:30Audience: They give instructions, for example. Or they share their experience.

Yes, they share their experience. Experience of what?

Audience: Of victory…

Well, one could say victory over their own… how things go for them. Right now it’s a bit abstract. I’d like something concrete.

Audience: We could go deep into everyday things now: diet, daily routine…

26:53Let’s go there, no problem.

Audience: Diet, daily routine, relating to one’s wife, work—how to work, money—how to spend it.

It’s good that we are going into these details. That’s good. Very good. Thank you very much.

27:05Work, money, family—not the core of sadhu-sanga

27:13Look, this is an important aspect of our relationships with devotees—what you just said: when they help us with work, with our wife, with money and so on. But this—I will deliberately make a stern statement so that it sticks—has nothing to do with pure devotional service. It is good for organizing devotees, for building a community while we live in this world. It has to be there. We must have exchanges on this platform. Devotees should learn family life or life in the brahmacharya-ashrama, it doesn’t matter—again health, money, yes. But this is the social aspect—ultimately, the material aspect. It is not the essence. Sara in Sanskrit means the essence, the core. This is not the core of sadhu-sanga.

28:19Audience: To tune it for deepening…

To tune it for deepening one’s sadhana—yes, it is suitable, of course. But again, it is not the core, because in the association of sadhus, that is, of devotees, there is something that influences our consciousness far more effectively.

28:36Respect and service to Vaishnavas: important, but not the essence

28:42Audience: Respect.

Respect. Respect is an aspect of the etiquette we must observe in society.

Audience: As an example… as the foundation of relationships.

29:05It is an aspect of etiquette. We must respect one another.

Audience: What is meant is not outer respect but inner respect. Your state…

29:26Yes, both inner respect and outer respect—amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih. Respect, yes. But again, this is not the essence, not what transforms our mind and intelligence.

Audience: I think it is service to devotees. When you serve devotees, some kind of exchange appears, some relationships develop, and a certain mercy manifests—thanks to the service.

29:47Service to devotees. But why? What is the motive for serving devotees? What for?

Audience: What for? No, just so that… so that Krishna would be… Well, that’s also somehow—just to serve. I don’t know.

30:07No, but still—just serve, so that what?

Audience: To receive mercy. So that Krishna will be pleased.

So that Krishna will be pleased. Well, yes, that’s a stock phrase too—“so that Krishna will be pleased.” Krishna was, is and will be pleased. That is His position: ananda-mayo ’bhyasat.

30:29Audience: The soul itself takes pleasure in what it gives. It is filled from another energy so that it can truly give out.

30:50Good. There is no doubt at all: what you are saying now is the truth. And for beginners especially, this is very important—simply to understand the value of the opportunity to serve Vaishnavas. The value—because it is an anga of bhakti, a form of devotional service. And simply to have faith that by serving devotees I will attain perfection. Again, I don’t know what that perfection is, but it is the right path. Yet even this is not the core. In fact it is an accompanying anga. An accompanying factor without which it is impossible to climb the ladder. If we are not in the association of devotees with respect, if we do not engage in serving devotees—without this it is impossible to advance, really. But the essence of faith must still remain something else. It is connected with devotees, but it is something else. It is formulated differently. What other options are there?

31:55Audience: The essence of what?

The essence of faith. The essence of the pure process, of pure faith, is something else. “I believe”—in what? We have now discussed the options…

32:17Audience: …but I’m afraid of giving a stock answer.

No, go ahead and give stock answers, that’s fine. Just—how do you understand it?

32:37Audience: The essence of faith is love.

Love? No, no, we are talking now about practice, about our earthly life.

Audience: One has to accept a spiritual master.

A spiritual master. Well, naturally, at some point the spiritual master appears. But the spiritual master is the one under whose guidance this core functions. That’s how it is.

33:16The core found: Krishna-katha

The core of faith—it has already been mentioned; this theme has already come up. It’s just that when we started talking about details, I deliberately wanted to set aside these stock phrases so that we would start speaking from experience.

33:29Audience: You began with it: you recited verses saying that one must hear about Krishna properly. And that changes the mind and purifies the heart.

Right. That is the core. That is the core—when we, in the association of devotees…

33:49QuestionHow does one hear properly? You said that one must hear about Krishna, and you specified: “properly.” The question immediately arose in me: how exactly?

Look, that is one of the options—Prabhupada’s. Yes, Prabhupada interprets it exactly that way. I don’t remember whether he gives only one meaning or more than one. In any case, among the acharyas the more prevalent reading is different: punya-shravana-kirtanah means not “to hear and chant properly,” but simply to hear and chant, which is very beneficial. Punya means that which is very beneficial.

34:32But, O best among men, dear devotees, we need to understand that the essence of sadhana, of bhakti-yoga, is shravanam-kirtanam: hearing about Krishna and speaking about Krishna.

34:48The Gita’s chatuh-shloki: “they enlighten one another”

Literally, it means studying the scriptures together, studying Srila Prabhupada’s books together. That is exactly the core. Krishna speaks about it in the chatuh-shloki of the Bhagavad-gita:

35:15Do you know this verse? Mac-citta, mad-gata… They give Me all their consciousness. They strive only for Me. They speak about Me and thereby enlighten one another. And so they experience a very joyful and satisfied state.

35:38Tesham satata-yuktanam—to them, to those who are constantly engaged in this activity. Bhajatam priti-purvakam—to those who worship Me in this way, who perform bhajan, because shravanam and kirtanam are the perfect bhajan. Dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te—I give them the intelligence by which they can come to Me.

36:00Tesham evanukampartham—to them. He says tesham, that is, “to them,” a second time. First He said in the verse: tushyanti ca ramanti ca—that katha, Krishna-katha, which takes place in the association of devotees, enlightens, fills, satisfies and makes one happy. And to them, engaged in such a process, I give intelligence. And then He says again: tesham eva—“only to them.” Anukampartham—out of compassion; literally, anukampa-artham means “with the aim of compassion,” under the influence of His… let’s even say not compassion but mercy. Krishna says: tesham evanukampartham aham ajnana-jam tamah nashayami—“I destroy, I destroy the ignorance in their hearts. I light the flame of knowledge, of jnana, transcendental jnana.”

37:26He began with the word aham. We are speaking now about the chatuh-shloki of the Bhagavad-gita. Aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate—“I am the cause of all causes.” And understanding this, the wise worship Me with love. And how do they worship? By giving their whole life, their whole prana, their whole consciousness: mac-citta mad-gata-prana. They converse about Me, and I give them mercy, I give them intelligence, I give them knowledge.

37:47Shrinvatam sva-kathah krishnah punya-shravana-kirtanah, hridy antah-stho hy abhadrani vidhunoti suhrit satam. Suta Gosvami says the same thing in this verse: the Lord is the benefactor of His devotee; He loves the devotees, even beginners, even, so to speak, impure devotees, but He values and loves the devotees, and therefore He purifies the heart. But it doesn’t happen at once.

38:30Therefore a devotee whose life is under the constant onslaught of the mind and of external circumstances must by all means perform regular sadhana in the company of sincere souls. Hear about Krishna and speak about Krishna. And in particular one must know how to hear about Krishna, especially from qualified Vaishnavas. That is the sajatiyashaye snigdhe sadhau sangah svato vare spoken of there: svato vare—from those who are superior. One must hear from those who are above us, but with whom our hearts are nevertheless in tune, toward whom our heart is inclined. Rupa Gosvami explains these things in a very interesting way.

39:15And if one acts in this way, if one regularly serves the Bhagavatam—because Krishna-katha means discussing the Bhagavatam, and that means serving the Bhagavata—then in a spirit of service, as Andrei Prabhu was saying, in a spirit of serving devotees, in a spirit of respect in the association of devotees, to have faith in Krishna-katha in the association of devotees… All those social matters are, of course, okay, they should be there, but the core—precisely what saves me, what transforms the mind, what enlightens, inspires and gives wings—is genuine Bhagavata-katha, or Krishna-katha. Krishna-shravanam-kirtanam. That is the core of devotional service.

40:31Krishna-katha as puja: faith in it is faith in Krishna

And if one does this regularly, if one regularly worships Krishna-katha—worships literally; I use this word deliberately, because we must perform puja to this Krishna-katha… When we speak about Krishna, we are thereby performing a yajna. When we hear about Krishna, that is our yajna, that is our worship of Krishna. Worshiping Krishna-katha is worshiping Krishna. Faith in Krishna-katha is faith in Krishna. Not simply “Krishna will protect me,” but my passion for Krishna-katha—that is what is called taking shelter of Krishna. Hear about Krishna, speak about Krishna, chant His holy name in Kali-yuga—certainly. But if one does not take shelter in Krishna-katha and simply chants, the process will not work. That is why, when our acharyas explain the word sankirtana, it means samyak-kirtana—perfect kirtan. Perfect kirtan is kirtan performed together with Krishna-katha, genuine Krishna-katha.

41:34The guru is the one who inspires you most

Therefore the most valuable devotees in our life are those with whom we can immerse ourselves in Krishna-katha. Especially those from whom we can hear the kind of Krishna-katha that gives me wings, inspires me, fills me with enthusiasm and so on. These are the most valuable people in life. And one should actually offer puja to such people, because the one who inspires me most with his words is the guru. Hence guru-padashraya: to take shelter of the guru means to take shelter of the one who inspires me most. Vande gurun isha-bhaktan—I bow down to the gurus, I bow down to the devotees of the Lord. Why? Because in the association of devotees I can hear and speak Krishna-katha.

42:30And the guru is, of course, also the initiating guru, the object of meditation. But the one who regularly, steadily inspires me toward pure devotional service with his words—hearing whom I am inspired by his philosophical outlook, by his way of life; when in those lectures I hear instructions that really teach me how to live—these things teach me how to live, that is, I receive insights, I understand how I should act in this world, what I should hold on to so as not to fall into the abyss of material existence—certainly, these are the most valuable people, and by no means should one lose them.

43:36This also includes the process of archana, or Deity worship, which also takes place in the association of devotees and also influences a person’s consciousness very strongly, powerfully. Therefore, however fallen a person may be, however spoiled his mind may be, if he has such pure faith in what we are discussing today, there is no doubt that such a person will very quickly attain perfection. Kshipram bhavati dharmatma—he will very quickly be cleansed of his sins, shashvac-chantim nigacchati—and attain the spiritual state. Kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranashyati—My devotee will not perish, even if he commits the most abominable acts.

44:39If a person has faith in Krishna-katha, his heart is purified—the Lord Himself acts upon his heart. Nashta-prayeshv abhadreshu nityam bhagavata-sevaya: if he does this, bhagavata-sevaya—regularly worshiping the Bhagavatam through hearing and chanting, worshiping in the association of genuine bhagavatas, that is, devotees—then his devotion, bhaktir bhavati naishthiki, will become steady; he will attain that state.

45:23And now: tada rajas-tamo-bhavah kama-lobhadayash ca ye. It is then that rajas, tamas and all the states they produce—kama, lobha, matsarya, krodha, moha… What else? What have I forgotten?

45:44Audience: Mada.

Mada. All these things. Tada rajas-tamo-bhavah… and everything they produce. Ceta etair anaviddham: they disappear from consciousness; they cease to affect the mind. And the person becomes established in goodness. “Established in goodness”—Jiva Gosvami says shuddha-sattva, that is, not simply in goodness, but in shuddha-sattva.

46:15Vishvanatha: as rajas leaves, the qualities come

And this is exactly the commentary by Vishvanatha that I wanted to share at the beginning, the one I remembered: when he comments on these verses in the Madhurya-kadambini, he goes into truly amazing details. Ceta etair anaviddham: when consciousness is purified, rajas and tamas leave the devotee. And, as we know, a devotee acquires all the auspicious qualities of the demigods, as Prabhupada translates:

47:29If a person performs the process of bhakti—this bhagavaty akinchana, pure devotional service, which means faith in Krishna-katha—then all auspicious qualities manifest in him. In other words, when rajas and tamas depart, a person becomes truly noble. The twenty-six qualities of a saintly person, the Vaishnava qualities, develop in him—twenty-six, as Kaviraja Gosvami describes, quoting Mahaprabhu.

47:51But here is the interesting thing Vishvanatha says: this level is already characteristic of ruchi and asakti. You know, right? Shraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya. Bhajana-kriya that is still immature—anishthita, the unsteady devotion we have been discussing—gradually destroys all these inauspicious things through shravanam-kirtanam and vishnu-smaranam in the association of devotees. And bhajana-kriya literally means performing worship, performing bhajan, which consists of shravanam-kirtanam. Books belong here too, of course. By the way, I should bring up this practical aspect.

49:05A taste for Prabhupada’s books and an awkward statistic

For a person who walks the path of devotion, it is very important to try to develop a taste for studying the books. When I was listening to one prabhu’s report at the National Council, he cited statistics from a survey of leaders—mentors, nama-hatta leaders and so on: fifteen percent read two or more hours a day. I don’t remember who was sitting next to me, but I made a joke—I’ll say right away: “I’m leaving ISKCON.” I will never leave it. It is Srila Prabhupada’s life and soul. It was just a joke. But this is catastrophic, really, it is catastrophic. It is a catastrophe. What will become of the community then? All our troubles come from not immersing ourselves in Srila Prabhupada’s books. For us it is the very first way to perform shravanam—from the lotus mouth of Srila Prabhupada. Reading his books is hearing Srila Prabhupada, hearing his lectures and so on.

50:20It is very important, very important to cultivate this. All these abhadra, these undesirable things, the anarthas, show themselves precisely in the lack of taste. What were we talking about? There is no ruchi. And that’s natural. That is why Rupa Gosvami says pittopatapta—for one afflicted by pitta, by bile, the tongue does not perceive the taste. One simply has to do it. Anudinam—every day one has to do it, with respect, with reverence, with faith. It should simply be sadhana. Any intelligent person can read Srila Prabhupada’s books and have a taste for it.

51:09Mechanical chanting won’t save you. “Don’t rush”

And again, back to where we started: we vow sixteen rounds, but we take no vow regarding shravanam. How effective will these sixteen rounds be? To what extent will it be samyak-kirtana? That’s a big question. Mechanical chanting will not save you. What makes chanting non-mechanical is precisely immersion in shravanam. Of course, it is wonderful to sit and hear a lecture, a qualified lecture, to listen, to take it in and feel inspired. That is wonderful. That is why Prabhupada says nityam bhagavata-sevaya—attending classes on the Bhagavatam. That is good. But if one manages to catch a taste specifically for study—not for reading, and not even for study, but for service through study…

51:44Dear devotees, don’t rush, don’t rush at all. Prabhupada said this many times. The Bhagavad-gita, the Bhagavatam, The Nectar of Devotion and the Chaitanya-charitamrita are enough. Study them all thoroughly, as far as the Lord’s mercy allows. Worship the devotees the way Andrei Prabhu worships, serves devotees, the way Partha Prabhu sets such a beautiful example. You all know what vaishnava-seva is. It is wonderful. But at the same time, rely on the Lord: “Lord, I want to perform this shravanam-kirtanam with taste.” That is a normal desire for a devotee.

52:48“I want to drink this juice, but I want to like it. I don’t want to drink this wormwood. I want to drink the nectar of rasa.” And it will certainly happen. Kintv adarad anudinam… Without a doubt, the taste will return, tad-gada-mula-hantri, and rajas and tamas will be destroyed. Without a doubt. All the verses are about one and the same thing. The Bhagavad-gita, the Bhagavatam, The Nectar of Instruction, The Nectar of Devotion—all about one and the same thing. The essence is very simple. Today we are talking about the essence. It is very simple.

53:31That is why Vishvanatha says that, by going through anishthita-bhakti, bhajana-kriya, a person gradually becomes free from anarthas, and nishthita-bhakti manifests. Because it is a mistake to think that there is some stage, some step called anartha-nivritti on which something happens separately from bhajana-kriya. No, bhajana-kriya produces anartha-nivritti. Kriya literally means “to do”: kri is the verbal root, as in creative, creativity, “to create”—to create bhajan. Bhajana-kriya means that the intense freeing from anarthas happens precisely in the process of bhajan, which consists of shravanam-kirtanam. And Deity worship, of course, is also a very important aspect, in the association of devotees, as is worship of the devotees.

54:42Humility is a gift, not the result of effort

Look, it is all very simple. Following rules and regulations also matters, but secondarily. If there is shravanam-kirtanam—good shravanam-kirtanam—everything else will follow. This is what faith in pure devotional service is: “Simply by serving Krishna in this way I will attain everything.” In fact, it is not that we cultivate qualities separately. No, our acharyas, and Vishvanatha in particular, did not encourage that. He says: “With firm faith in the guru, perform shravanam-kirtanam, have faith in that alone—and everything else will follow. Even humility, even humility will follow.” What to speak of controlling lust and so on. Right now we cannot be humble by our own desire: trinad api sunicena… We have to pass through the stage of durdaivam idrisham ihajani nanuragah—chanting without taste—in order to enter the phase of sweet chanting, which will be accompanied by humility. Humility is the gift we eventually receive from the Lord. Just like taste for the holy name. It is not something we generate ourselves: “That’s it, tomorrow I will chant with taste.”

55:39So, by performing anishthita bhajana-kriya, a person develops steadiness: nashta-prayeshv abhadreshu—the inauspicious, as it says there, is almost completely destroyed. And then, gradually, the state comes in which he develops ruchi, taste. He now does everything with taste, worships with taste. He reads with taste, speaks with taste, hears with taste, sings with taste. Everything with taste. Sweetness. That is what ruchi means—taste.

56:21Certainly, if we see such devotees on the horizon of our attention, we must hold on to their feet. Obviously, one hundred percent. Because even the level of ruchi is attained perhaps by many, but for such association to be accessible—that is already a rare opportunity. And what to speak of asakti?

56:41So freedom from rajas and tamas comes at these levels. And Vishvanatha Chakravarti says that all the auspicious qualities develop—naturally. Which auspicious qualities? For example?

Audience: Detachment.

Detachment. What else?

57:04Audience: Humility.

Humility. Right. What else?

Audience: Kindness.

Kindness. Right. And so on. Patience, right. Forgiveness is a quality that adorns a devotee’s heart.

57:25Two factors: good qualities and pure faith

But Vishvanatha Chakravarti notes that there are two factors. The first is acquiring good qualities. The second is pure faith in the process of shravanam-kirtanam.

57:46QuestionIs that a result of the process?

No, he says there are two factors, simply two factors. We are not talking about cause and effect right now. There are simply two components of an elevated devotee. Let’s say, two aspects. The first is good qualities, and the second is pure faith in shravanam-kirtanam. And he says that good qualities occupy a secondary position in relation to pure faith in shravanam-kirtanam. Why? Because a person who does not even have pure faith in shravanam-kirtanam can possess good qualities. Hare Krishna!

58:27A good person is easily mistaken for a pure devotee

58:29So he notices this point very subtly: in a good person one can mistakenly see a pure devotee simply because he is…

Audience: Good.

58:51…because he is a very good person. I would even gladly—I hadn’t planned it, but if I can quickly open it now—read you the original itself, devotees. Would you like to hear it in the original? Prabhu, would you like to hear it?

59:12Audience: Depends on how long it takes.

It will take about two hours, no more. Hare Krishna!

59:34Audience: I even remember when we were with you in the temple, it was said that for a temple to open, there must be constant kirtan and Krishna-katha.

Right. It’s a universal rule. That is simply what our acharyas say. So, of course, there are many interesting things here. I will read it now. Please listen.

1:00:29That is how ruchi arises, right? The mind becomes established in goodness. And he says sthitam—this means that asakti comes, great attachment to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the embodiment of pure goodness, shuddha-sattva-murti—to Bhagavan.

1:01:25Traces of rajas and tamas—right up to bhava-bhakti

So in the Madhurya-kadambini he says: the use of the conjunction “and” here—it says ca—indicates that the states born of passion and ignorance are still present. Rajas-tamo-bhavah… they are still present, but only as faint traces. Some consequences, some traces of rajas and tamas still remain even at this level. Moreover, in the words “not overcome by them”—that is anaviddham. The word anaviddham means “not overcome” by rajas and tamas. It implies that these faults may be present right up to the stage of bhava-bhakti. Traces of rajas and tamas can remain right up to the stage of bhava-bhakti.

1:02:00QuestionExcuse me, this word has many meanings, doesn’t it? Prabhupada translates it as “thoroughly overcome,” if I understand anaviddham correctly…

1:02:21Yes, the meaning is that the mind is not overcome by these states.

Audience: The mind is not touched by rajas…

Yes, yes, yes. So what does “not touched by rajas and tamas” mean? That these faults can still remain. “Not touched” does not mean they will be gone entirely, because there is the conjunction ca. Let’s recall: tada rajas-tamo-bhavah kama-lobhadayash ca ye. And he says that ca means the faults may still remain right up to the stage of bhava-bhakti. However, they are already completely unable to become an obstacle to devotional service: bhakty-abadhakatayaiva.

1:02:55Two kinds of nishtha: body, speech, mind

1:03:04This is nishtha. Steadiness is of two kinds. Attention: two kinds. The kind that relates directly to bhakti itself—sakshad-bhakti-vartini—and the kind that relates to the qualities favorable to bhakti—tad-anukula-vastu-vartini. Anukula means something favorable. You know: anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulyasya varjanam. Anukula is what is favorable for bhakti. There is sakshad-bhakti, that is, qualities relating directly to bhakti, and there are qualities relating to what is favorable for bhakti. He distinguishes these things: bhakti itself and what is favorable for bhakti.

1:04:05So steadiness in bhakti itself, in sakshad-bhakti, although it has countless manifestations, is broadly divided into three categories—three kinds: performed with the body, performed with speech, performed with the mind. We are now speaking of the nishtha that relates to sakshad-bhakti—not to what is favorable for bhakti, but directly to bhakti. Some assert that steadiness in devotion, bhakti-nishtha, first manifests on the level of the body, then on the level of speech, and only then in the mind. Others, however, say that no such strict order exists, because owing to different past samskaras—what we were talking about; he uses precisely this word, samskara—devotees by nature have different reserves of strength of body, senses and mind. They have different reserves of piety, in other words, because of past samskaras. And so in some of them one particular capacity for serving the Lord may dominate over the others—that is, the body, the mind or speech.

1:05:37This means that someone may be strong in the body. Give an example of sakshad-bhakti in which the strength of the body shows itself.

Audience: Serving devotees…

Yes, for example. Serving devotees a lot, worshiping the Deities, peeling potatoes, distributing… This is activity on the level of the body. And depending on previous samskaras, for some this is a strong point. Next is speech: accordingly, speaking eloquently, singing, and so on and so forth. And the mind is, accordingly, meditation. Depending on the particular devotee, it shows itself differently in different people.

1:06:20So, among the things favorable to bhakti—tad-anukula-vastuni—are qualities such as the absence of pride, amanitva. Remember, it is the very first item in the Bhagavad-gita: amanitvam adambhitvam. Krishna lists the qualities in the thirteenth chapter, verses 8–12, and begins with amanitva. This is amanina manadena: not demanding respect for oneself. It means the absence of pride; it means humility. And also respect for others—manadatva, manada: amanina manadena. This is exactly what is anukula, what is favorable for bhakti. Friendliness—maitri, compassion—daya, dayadini, and so on.

1:07:04Steadiness in these qualities—tesham nishtha, that is, nishtha in these qualities—can sometimes be observed in a devotee of calm disposition: shama-prakritau bhakte. Literally, shama means “peaceful, calm,” and prakriti means his constitution, his nature.

1:07:36Calm or hot-tempered: appearances deceive

Yes, shama—he is peaceful, calm. Even if his bhakti has not yet become steady, that is, his bhakti is still anishthita, by his nature he may nonetheless be shama-prakriti. And conversely, in a restless person—uddhata: he uses exactly this word, uddhata, which is contrasted with shama-prakriti. This is a restless person. The translations are: haughty, arrogant, unbridled, harsh, unrestrained, restless and inclined to behave provocatively. That is what uddhata means. And so he says: conversely, in a restless devotee these qualities may not be visible, na drishyate, even if he has already reached the stage of nishtha. Hare Krishna! Some good qualities may not show in him.

1:08:27Audience: But inside there may be…

No, inwardly he may still be hot-tempered, and so on and so forth. And at the same time, Vishvanatha says, if this sign is present, it is not a fact that the person has no pure nishtha. And if the other sign is present—in the form of good qualities—it is not a fact that he has nishtha. And we are talking now only about nishtha—what to speak of bhava.

1:08:51And although this is so, it is precisely the presence or absence of steadiness in bhakti itself, bhakti-nishtha eva, that allows intelligent people to understand whether the true stage of nishtha has been attained. We should not draw hasty conclusions based only on external, superficial perception. That is, it is not meekness in itself that proves nishtha, and not a harsh, unbridled temperament that disproves it—one must judge precisely by the steadiness of bhakti itself. If a person is really devoted to this process, really wants to hear and speak about Krishna, this is a clear sign that he is already a fairly mature devotee, even if he commits abominable acts.

1:09:56QuestionAnd what counts as an abominable act?

There are all kinds. It is said: bhaktir bhavati naishthiki, and tada—it is then that the influence of the modes of passion and ignorance, rajas-tamo-bhavah, such as lust, greed and the like, kama-lobhadayah, disappears. The mind, cetah, no longer subject to their influence, etair anaviddham, becomes established in goodness, sthitam sattve, and attains peace, prasidati.

1:10:40The main criterion: the strength of effort in hearing and chanting

And then he writes: “In brief, the criterion for telling them apart is this.” Sankshepatah means “in brief”—I’ll explain now. “Precisely the weakness or strength of effort.” Weakness or strength… here it is a bit… yatna. Yatna means “effort.” It is like cheshta, cheshta-rupa. The effort directed toward hearing, chanting and the other processes, shravana-kirtanadishu, which a devotee finds hard to give up—and not his temperament, and not his qualities—shows whether bhakti is steady, nishthita, or unsteady, anishthita. Hare Krishna! Amazing, isn’t it?

1:11:42Conclusion

So, really, to study this, to discuss this—that is bhakti-yoga. Thank you, dear devotees, for your attention. Hare Krishna! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!