bhajana rahasya by srila bhaktivinoda thakura

8/3/2019 Bhajana Rahasya by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

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Bhajana Rahasya by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Pancama Yama Lecture originally spoken in Hindi by SriSrimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja Mathura, 8.8.97

Bhajana Rahasya explains that nisanta bhajana signals theawakening ofsraddha. Just as Krsna has early morning pastimes,

similarly for thesadhaka the night of thejiva is finishing as heawakens with the dawning of his bhajana. Now he understands thenecessity of doing krsna-bhajana. As he advances insraddha, by

sadhu sanga and by the action of his pious activities from this andprevious births, slowly, slowly his anarthas go away. The second

step then takes placebysadhu sanga, anartha nivrti is going on.Now the sun has started to rise, heralding the morning. After this

comes the third step, nistha. In this stage thesadhaka becomesfixed in bhajana.

Now anarthas are very few. I already explained the

characteristics ofnistha in bhajana the other day. Fourth is

ruci(taste), which comes at noontime and which brings many thingswith it. I also told you how many kinds ofruci there are. Then

asakti, attachment for Krsna, comes in the fifth stage. The advent

ofasakti indicates that thesadhaka has advanced a lot, but stillhe has some anarthas in his heart. These anarthas, however, are notdue to offenses. Although it is only afternistha that offenses go,still some anarthas are found. Insaguna bhakti (bhakti within the

material modes), some anarthas remain along with whatever fruits ofbhakti that have come. For example, desiring fame is an anartha, aswell as wealth, collecting thousands of disciples, and knowng many

people. So if thesadhaka does not stay fixed in his practices, he

will surely fall down.Krsna-asakti is of two kindsone is for

bhajana and the second is forbhajaniya(the object ofbhajanaGurudeva,Radha-Krsna, Mahaprabhu)

As I was telling you this morning,sadhana sahastresu, haribhakti sudurlabha. Hari bhakti is very rare. Even by performing

sadhana for thousands and millions of births, one will not attainraganuga-bhaktiit is not possible. What is the meaning ofsadhana?We are doing harinama and kirtana, but by these activities alone

raganuga-bhakti will not come. When we stay with an elevated

devotee and dosadhana under his guidance, ruci will develop. It isthen that our practices become bhajana. There is a differencebetweensadhana and bhajana.Bhajana means bhaj dhatu sevya (the

root bhaj meaning service), and bhava seva is included in that. Tillnow we have been practicing with the tongue and senses by forcethisissadhana. And bhajana is done according to one's bhava, with thetendency forseva. This is called bhava seva.

Onesadhaka is doing worship(arcana) and another is sittingin the temple-room, watching him. The first devotee is ringing the

bell, but while chanting mantras he is looking around and watchingwhat is happening outside. His mind is going here and there. The

other person, sitting in the temple-room, is thinking that the


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pujari is doing so much service. This second devotee getscompletely absorbed, and within his mind he is pulling the rope

of[love and affection] for Thakuraji[Radha-Krsna], bringing water

from Manasi Ganga and Pavana Sarovara in beautiful jars and taking

it to Javat. He arranges a beautiful golden seat for Srimati

Radharani and bathes Her under the direction of Rupa and Rati. He is

meditating on Vilapa Kusumanjali and in his bhava seva he is

thinking about performing various services. He is sitting quietlyand doing his bhajana and arcana. So who is better? That person whois doingseva with bhava. Neithersastra nor Jiva Gosvami advisedoingsadhana for millions of births. It will not give bhava bhakti.This bhava bhakti is very rare. Millions of births ofvaidhi bhaktisadhana will not give us raganuga, orbhakti with spiritual greed.It will come only through the association of advanced Vaisnavas.

Under their guidance it can come quickly. This is why bhava bhaktiis superior.

So this is asakti, attachment forbhajana. Without it the

sadhaka cannot live. When that kind of greed comes, he will chant

one lakha of names in every circumstance, no matter what. How? Withfull absorption, living or dying. He will offer pranamas thousands

of times, do vandana, stava, stuti, perform kirtana, and study

sastrabut it is not possible to perform all these activitieswithout the association and direction of advanced devotees.

Attachment forbhajana comes in the stage ofasakti, bringing therealization that nama and nami are the same. And if one stays steady

in his bhajana, attachment forbhajaniya will result. Youunderstand? He will develop attachment forbhajana, and as itincreases, his asakti forbhajaniya will also come. Hissadhana isperfected when attachment for both bhajana and bhajaniya becomes

equal. At that time his asakti will ripen. As asakti forbhajaniya

increases and surpasses asakti forbhajana,bhava develops. Thenpure goodness(suddha sattva) arises in the heart and oneautomatically does bhava-mayi-seva(internal love-laden seva). If onedoes this kind ofbhajana, he can enter into bhava, otherwise not.Such people will enter into bhava completely. To achieve this, one

may or may not have done vaidhi marga arcana. Now one performssadhana with greed. Slowly, slowly he comes into pure goodness andstarts that kind of service we just described. At this time he sees

the asta kaliya lila(eight-fold pastimes) and receives his

spiritual body. Before this, if one thinks about his spiritual

body, he will be ruined. When all this happens by Krsna's and Guru's

mercy, everything will manifest in the heart. This is called the

spiritual body. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has said that if somebody doesnot do this kind ofsadhana and goes to a guru who tells him, "Youare Lalita Gopi," then just by thinking this he is ruined in this

world and the next and goes to hell. So first we should try to come

up to this point. How will it happen?only if we are thinking about

and practicing that kind ofbhajana twenty-four hours a day, beingso absorbed that no scent or thought of the material world remains.

When we don't even feel the air touching us, only then will this

happen. But we are entangled in so many activities, so how will it

happen?


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Suppose one day we get the association of a Vaisnava who

inspires us to do bhajana, but do not see him again for one year.What will happen? If someone performing bhajana becomes fixed, then

he will surely attain asakti within a few days. This will definitelyhappen. There is no reason it will not. But unfortunately we don't

do that kind ofbhajana. Nor do we easily find such a person who can

make us do this kind ofbhajana. We may find some gurus but inKali-yuga there is hardly one person who qualifies as a disciple.

That is why Rupa Gosvami has said, "na sisyad

anubandandhitvam"[BRS, "one who has not yet entered bhajana shouldnot make many disciples"]. No one should entangle himself thus,

otherwise he will be finished. An unqualified guru will make adisciple and right away they will fight. "Guruji, I collected so

much but you did not give me any of it. You kept it all."

Guruji answers, "I already told you that after some time I

will give you a share."

In this way they start fighting. They will also quarrel overname and fame. How can a disciple accept that kind of guru? So both

have to be devoid of any desireslike Sukadevaji and his disciple

Pariksit Maharaja, who was two fingers ahead of his guru; like Rupa

Gosvami and his disciple Jiva Gosvami; or like Raghunatha dasa

Gosvami, who appeared even a little more advanced in renunciation

than his guru Rupa Gosvami. If one can be like this, then he is

disciple.

We can see the renunciation of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, but

we don't see so much renunciation in Rupa Gosvami. Who will see

Rupa's renunciation? Whoever is on the same level, whose

renunciation is like his. Raghunatha dasa used to eat rotten foodwith a little salt. He did not accept his father's food and did not

takeprasada from the Jagannatha Mandira. His renunciation was veryextreme. He was living only on one leafcup of buttermilk. This has

not been written about Rupa Gosvami, but, as the guru, Rupa's

renunciation is much higher than Raghunatha's. Yet who will

understand this level of renunciation? Raghunatha dasa Gosvami will

understand. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and Jiva Gosvami will

understand what kind of renunciation Rupa has because they have a

special kind of attachment for Krsna. These people will understand,

but who else can understand this?

What condition will one be in when one gets bhava bhakti?Now we are reading about asakti, thepancama(fifth) yama ofBhajanaRahasya. In ruci and the beginning stage ofasakti(attachment for

bhajana), thoughts of Krsna's lilas come in one's heart as

mantra-mayi, the vision of a single pastime orsloka at a time. Now,

in thispancama stage the lilas will come in a continuous flow, ornairantrya vaji, also known assvarasiki. But we don't understand

mantra-mayi upasana orsvarasiki upasana, because we don't feel theneed. Rather, we are busy counting bricks and bags of sand,and

sometimes busy counting money. Only one with no material desire will


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understand. No one else can understand. And if somebody who is

advanced in this way asks others to join him, they will never come.

Just as Indra invites someone to come from this world to Svarga,

that person will ask if he will getgugali in heaven. Do you know

whatgugali are? They are water bugspeople catch them, take out theupper layer and eat that. So some people who eat meat say that

Indraji is asking them to come to heaven, but they reply that if

they can getgugali in heaven, then only will they go. Otherwisethey don't want to go.

"But you will get nectar there."

"We don't know about any nectar, we only want that thing."

Similarly, if we tell somebody not to do certain things in

the service of the Bhagavan, he will not be able to understand,

because he just wants that other thing. That is why Jagannatha dasa

Babaji and Bhaktivinoda Thakura have recommended that karmis make a

garden, keep a cow and a Tulasi plant, and offer fruits and milk to

Thakuraji. It is difficult for such people to do harinama. Theycannot easily advance,so instead these other activities are

recommended for their benefit. But those few who understand, what

will they do in theirbhava seva? In the morning they will sit downand watch Radha and Krsna's nisanta lila, fully absorbed. They willsee lilas in a flow, nisanta lila, morning, forenoon, and noonpastimes. There is no stop in their flow. That is why this is

svarasiki lila, svabhaviki(naturally flowing) lila.

Svarasiki lila is a garland of pastimes, with millions offlowers in this garland. Just a few days ago Teej[10-day festival in

rainy season when married daughters return to their parents' house]

took place. It is afternoon time. For some reason Srimatiji couldnot meet Krsna. Today She is sitting at home. Whenever She tries to

go out, something goes wrong. Krsna, on His part, is also trying His

best to meet Her. So they have to devise some scheme. Rupa Gosvami

and Raghunatha dasa Gosvami are sitting there and watching this

hariali lila(swing pastimes in the fresh, green rainy season), whichtook place during Teej. Tell me what is that lila? There are cartswith two bulls and carts with four bulls. The carts with four bulls

are used to carry their belongings, and the cart with two bulls is

decorated very beautifully, just like a chariot. The bulls are also

decorated. Sridama has brought that cart with him, all decorated

with golden ruffles and he takes his sister Radhaji in it to Her

parents' house. Till now somehow She remained patient, but as soonas She arrives at the outskirts of the city, She starts crying very

loudly. Even now it is like this in the villageswhen sisters or

daughters come they cry a lot. This is not artificial, it is

natural. We might think it as artificial. Why? Because our hearts

are hard. If there is love for one's sister and daughter, it willhappen. [Even Maharaja Janaka fainted when he was sending Sita away

with Rama, because he was crying so much, what to speak of all the

others present.]


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When Radhaji arrives in Varsana, She meets with Her mother

and father, with the neighbors and with all of the girls who have

come to see Her. After one or two days they put up a swing and

begin swinging. Asadmonth has passed and it is now Sravana month,

so there are swings everywhere. Radhaji is swinging in Her father's

house. Where is Her father's house? In Varsana, but not in the

location of the temple on the top of the hill, but closer to the

bottom, looking towards Nandagaon. And where is Nanda Baba's house?That also is not on the hill where the temple is now. It is also

lower down, facing Vrsabhanu Maharaja's palace. Where we now see the

temple on Brahma Giri is Radhaji's playground. All these pastimes

are performed on Brahmaji. There is Gahavar Van, Mayur Kuti, Dan

Garh, Mana Garh, Vilasa Garhall are located on that hill. And thispresent temple is located in Vilasa Garh.

One Teej Radhaji is swinging with all Her friends, butthinking about something else, and sitting in another place Krsna is

worried. He cannot stay without meeting Radhaji for one whole Teej.

Krsna has become almost mad. He does not feel like eatingnothing

agrees with Him. He is just lying in a state of misery. Subala comesand sees His condition and Krsna tells him what is in His heart.

Understanding Krsna's condition Subala becomes restless and,

to make Him feel better, says, "OK, I will try to do something so

that You can meet and be together." Immediately he goes to Javat,

and in his Subala vesa is wandering around there. Jatila sees him

and asks, "Why have you come here?" She knows he is Krsna's friend

and must therefore be wandering about, looking to make some

mischief, so she tells him to run away. He says, "O Mother, what

shall I say? One of my calves is missing."

"You lost your calf, so what is that calf doing here? Howcan he come here from Nandagram? Your calf is not here."

Subala replies, "You have so many calves tied in your house.

Maybe he wandered in and by chance got mixed up with them." Then

Jatila says, "OK, you can go and check, but you'll see that your

calf is not here."

Subala goes inside and goes where? Straight into Radhaji's

room where he sees that She is very disturbed in separation. As soon

as She sees him, She becomes a little appeased. "Subala, why have

you come?" He tells her that Krsna is suffering in separation from

Her, and wants to know how they can arrange a meeting. He tells Herof the trick he played on Her mother-in-law. "I told Jatila that my

calf got lost, and I wanted to look for him amongst all her

calves." Subala then brings the smallest calf and disguises himself

as Radhaji, and Radhaji puts on Subala's dress in order to look like

a boy. Since their forms are very similar, disguised in Her clothhe can easily pass for Radhaji. He dresses Radhaji in his cloth with

his turban and everything so that She looks just like him when he

came. Then he puts one calf in Her arms. Why does he give that

calf? You can imagine yourselfto hide Her womanly nature. She takes


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that calf in Her arms so that nothing is showing, and off She goes

holding the calf.

Jatila sees Her and asks, "Lala, did you get your calf?"

"Yes, Mother, I got it," replies Radha, speaking exactly in

the same voice as Subala. For Radha and Krsna it is nothing difficult

to imitate somebody's voice.

"See, here is the calf and I am taking it with me." Saying

this, Radhaji goes away with the calf and reaches the place where

Krsna is awaiting Her forabhisara. Perhaps She has gone to

Radha-kunda. In this transcendental land it is not difficult toimagine that She has gone there. When She arrives, Krsna says,

"O friend,you could not bring Radhaji?" He thinks it is His friend.

She says exactly in Subala's voice, "O friend, it is a big problem.

Today She is not ready to meet you. Today Her mother-in-law and also

Her husband are at home. They are guarding the house in such a way

that even an ant cannot enter. I tried my best but could not

succeed. So after a while I just came back. On the way back I foundthis calf. He was tired from playing and could not walk, so I

carried him in my arms."

Hearing this Krsna starts crying and now His condition

becomes even worseHe starts trembling and all eight kinds of

transformations begin to appear. When Radhika sees that Krsna is

almost dying, then only She takes off her disguise, revealing Her

real identity. Krsna becomes thoroughly delighted as do all Her

friends,and They remain together for some time. Then slowly, slowly

They again begin to separate, and in the same disguise Srimati

Radhika goes back. Oh yes, before leaving They sit down on the

swing and Their friends start to swing Them. Radhaji does not wantto sit because of Hermana[sulky huff], but all convince Hersaying, "Please don't do that mana," and sing, "Radhe jhulana

padharo jhuki aye badara."

In the last stage ofasakti this kind of pastime comes inthe heart. There is a littlesiddha bhava at this point, a littlebit. But when somebody is only thinking of pastimes within his mind,

asakti has not yet come. The pastimes will flow when one enters the

stage ofbhava fully.

ity acyutanghrim bhajato 'nuvrttya

bhaktir viraktir bhagavat-prabodhahbhavanti vai bhagavatasya rajamstatah param santim upaiti saksat

(SB11.2.43)

[My dear King, the devotee who worships the lotus feet of

the infallible Personality of Godhead with constant endeavor thusachieves unflinching devotion, detachment, and realized knowledge

of Bhagavan. In this way the successful devotee of the Lord

achieves supreme spiritual peace in the form ofprema.]


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Thakura Bhaktivinoda explains thissloka. Taking it as ourreference, how should we understand the meaning ofanuvrtti? Whatshould we do? There is vrtti and anuvrtti.Vrtti is the way our

acaryas were doing bhajanafrom Rupa Gosvami to Raghunatha dasa,

Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Prabhupada and

up to today. With the example of theirvrtti, we are followingthemthis is anuvrtti. Anuvrtti is of two kindsone is for

maintaining this body and the other is forbhajana. Our renunciants,our previous acaryas like Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, Jiva

Gosvami, and all others, have set the standard. We should follow the

example they have set for both. For doing bhajana we try to follow:

sankhya purvaka nama gana natibhih kalavasani krtaunidrahara-viharakadi-vijitau catyanta-dinau ca yau

radha-krsna-guna-smrter madhurimanandena sammohitauvande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

[I worship the Six Gosvamis, who passed all their time in

chanting the holy names, doing nama sankirtana and dandavat-pranama,

thereby humbly fulfilling their vow to do a fixed number daily. Inthis way they utilized their valuable lives and conquered over

eating and sleeping. They were always meek and humble, enchanted by

remembering Sri Radha-Krsna's sweet qualities and absorbed in the

highest bliss.]

For maintaining the body we should follow their example of

renunciation. The Gosvamis were taking only some chickpeas and

sometimes not even that. Sometimes they slept for one hour and

sometimes not even that. Sometimes they stayed under a different

tree each night, doing bhajana. Just imagine, no food, no sleep!

Nowadays there are not so many forests but in those days there were

so many mosquitoes and snakes and many other such disturbances musthave been there. Just imagine how it must have been to do bhajanaunder each tree in Gahavar Van! What kind ofbhajana they must havebeen doing! In winter, summer or rainy days, no umbrella, no shoes,

no clothes, just a waterpot in hand. They were offering dandavat

pranamas thousands of times. This we have told you before. Fromearly morning they were offeringstava-stuti to Caitanya Mahaprabhuand Nityananda Prabhu, doingguru vandana, and reciting prayers toYamunaji and to others. Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami

wrote so many prayers, and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura wrote

prayers to Govardhana. They were chanting these verses again and

again. Raghunatha dasa was singing the verses of Vilapa Kusumanjali

and crying. They were following all these practices and callingout, "He Radhe, he Lalite, he Visakhe, where are you?"

he radhe vrajadevike ca lalite he nanda suno kutahsri govardhana kalpa padapa tale kalindi vane kutahghosantav iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair maha-vihvalauvande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

[I am doing vandana to the Six Gosvamis, who were alwayscalling out, "He Radhe! O Queen of Vrndavana! Where are You? He


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Lalite! O son of Nanda Maharaja! Where are you? Are you seated

beneath the kalpa-vrksa trees of Sri Govardhana Hill? Or are youroaming in all the forests along the soft banks of the Kalindi?"

They were always lamenting, overwhelmed and burning in feelings of

great separation as they wandered throughout all Vraja-mandala,

searching for Radhaji.]

The Gosvamis were following this vrtti. And anuvrttiare wedoing this? Are we even trying to come close to it? How will we

follow? Our mind is not fixed yet. We should go to Vrndavana,

sometimes to Radha-kunda, Vamsi Vata,Bhandiravana. We should go to

all these places, weeping and offering dandavat pranamas to

everyone, and crying that we don't have Krsna's mercy.

ha devi! kakubhara gadgadayadya vacayace nipatya bhuvi dandavad udbhatartihasya prasadam abudhasya janasya krtvagandharvike! nija gane gananam vidhehi

[O Devi Gandharvike! I am suffering greatly, and thereforetoday I throw myself on the ground like a stick and humbly implore

You with a choked voice to be merciful to this fool and please count

me as one of Your own.]

When will this happen? Those in asakti pray like this,sometimes to Sanatana Gosvami and sometimes to Rupa Gosvami, and

offer the prayers of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.

vairagya yug bhakti rasam prayatnairapayayan mam anabhipsum andhamkrpambudhir yah para duhkha duhkhi

sanatanama tam prabhum asrayami

[I was unwilling to drink the nectar ofbhakti laced withrenunciation, but Sri Sanatana Gosvami, being an ocean of mercy who

cannot tolerate the sufferings of others, made me drink it. Therefore

I take shelter of him as my master.]

Sometimes thesadhaka prays to Svarupa Damodara, sometimesto Raya Ramananda, saying, "Ha! Alas! That lamentation should appear

in my heart. How can I relish the meaning of that?" Sometimes he

goes under the cooling shade of Vamsi Vata and rolls on the ground.

"Ha, ha! May the dust from their lotus feet come on my head." Real

sadhakas spend their time like this. This is the right way to followbhajana(anuvrtti). And what should we do for maintaining the body?We should try to follow Raghunatha dasa and others. One anuvrtti isfor maintaining the body and the other is for bhajana. Such

practices are not found in vaidhi bhajana. That is why one should

understand that this is how to practice. What else should we follow?Mahaprabhu used to count His nama japa. This is in the prayers of

Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and in Rupa Gosvami's Sri Caitanyastaka. You

should all remember this if you want to learn how to do bhajana. Howwere they doing bhajana? Like Haridasa Thakurawithout chanting


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three lakhas ofharinama we will not even drink water. This iscalled anuvrtti. In this way we will begin to taste bhajana, andthen devotional emotions and the lilas will automatically manifestfor us. Bhagavan will remove all anarthas from the heart. Those who

are actually practicing are not worried about anarthas. They areworried that they don't haveprema bhakti, that they don't haveeven a drop ofbhakti in them.

na prema-gandho'sti darapi me haraukrandami saubhagya-bharam prakasitum

(Cc. Madhya 2.45)

[Mahaprabhu continued, "Oh, I do not have even a little

smell ofprema for Hari. I am crying simply to make a show of mygood fortune.]

A realsadhaka will practice like this. He will count his

nama. He will dutifully perform a fixed number daily, then it willhappen. Sometimes he will read Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, sometimes

Ujjvala-nilamani. If he cannot understand them, then he will look

at Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindu and Ujjvala-nilamani-kirana. But aperson less serious never reads any of thesesastras. He has noteven heard of them. Then how will he be able to do bhajana? His

practice is not bhajana, it is not even the beginning ofsadhana.Only if somebody cries for this will it happen. If he does not cry,

then how can he follow? We will have to cry. This is called 'henoanuvrtti.'Crying, we should remember the pastimes of Krsna and

perform ourbhajana in this way. If somebody does this, what willhappen? Subhakti viraga jnana taha upajaya. Pure bhakti willmanifest along with knowledge and renunciation.

According to Srimad Bhagavatam (11. 2.43) for them:

ity acyutanghrim bhajato 'nuvrttyabhaktir viraktir bhagavat-prabodhahbhavanti vai bhagavatasya rajams

tatah param santim upaiti saksat

[Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and

detachment from other thingsthese three occur simultaneously for

one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in

the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come

simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person

engaged in eating.]

Bhakti means firstsadhana bhakti, then bhava bhakti, andfinallyprema bhakti. Understanding the characteristics of thesethree stages, one will find out whether he is doing bhakti or not.

Yayatma suprasidati[SB. 1.2.6]the soul will always be happy. Thenwhy are you crying? Somebody may ask Rupa Gosvami, Raghunatha dasa

Gosvami, or Srimatiji why they are crying. "Rupa Gosvami, why areyou crying? You are daily doing so much bhajana!"Here atma

prasidati means union with Krsna, the happiness of serving Krsna.What will this mean for ordinarysadhakas?Bhakti paresanubhava,

atma saprsitathe soul will be happy. Whether thesadhaka is crying


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or laughing, the soul will always remain blissful. Not like uswe

are sinking in millions of problems, worried day and nightthis one

died, that one died, somewhere the bank failed, sometimes disease

comes, and other times something else goes wrong. For this we are

crying day and night! But all these things were not happening for

Rupa Gosvami, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Prabhupada and our Gurudeva.

They were never touched by even a shadow of trouble, butstill they were crying. We have seen how bitterly our Gurudeva used

to weep! Why? They were all weeping in separation. So bhakti means

sadhana bhakti.

Oursadhana bhakti should be aimed at attaining bhavabhakti. Otherwise oursadhana is notsadhana. If we ask somebody

why he is doingsadhana, and he replies that he is doing it toattain bhavathat type ofsadhana is very wonderful. But we arenot doingsadhana like that. Maybe we chant ten rounds, but inbetween we are also talking and just moving our fingers. No, this

is notsadhana. That is why we should have bhava as our goal and

then dosadhana. With all our senses we should do bhajana the wayRupa and Raghunathaji have shown us. If we practice this kind of

bhajana, we will definitely develop renunciation(virakti) towards

worldly things. If somebody says that he has attained bhava or hasperfected his attachment towards Krsna, and then he becomes

attracted to a woman and falls from his position, or if a woman

falls in love with a boy, what has happened? He becomes very

miserable. But this is out of the question for one who has actually

attained bhava. It is not possible that something like this canhappen.

Even in nistha all these attractions go away. asakti is

something big. Bilvamangala Thakura attained this bhava after hebecame attracted to a prostitute. At that time he had no bhava. Hewas not even doing anysadhana. He was only absorbed in inauspiciousactivities and fruitive works. Later, when he began doing bhajana,he plucked out his eyes. It was then that he started to progress. At

that time he was doingsadhana to attain bhavathat is bhakti. Thisis what is required to be called asadhaka! And of what is he a

sadhaka? Ofraganuga. Thesadhaka of ordinary devotion(vaidhibhakti) is not like that. That is another thing. Thesadhaka of

raganuga is the realsadhaka. We do not even come in the categoryofsadhaka yet. That is a very high mood. That is why it is said'heno anuvrtti saha.'[I will follow that person who is doing this

type ofbhakti.] If someone nourishses this kind of mood and wantsto follow, being absorbed day and night, sometimes crying, sometimeslaughing, then this is consideredsadhana. 'Evam vratah

sva-priya-nama-kirtya'. [SB 11.2.40, By chanting the holy name, oneachievesprema.]

When bhava comes, there still remains a slight scent of

anartha, but inprema it will disappear. This applies for thesadhaka ofraganuga, not of ordinary bhakti. At this time,performing the angas ofbhakti likesravana and kirtana, he will be


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doing bhava-mayi bhakti, and thenprema-mayi bhakti. And as bhaktiincreases, to that degree renunciation will come. If someone says,

"I am doing bhakti, yet no renunciation is coming," then somethingis wrong. It is not possible to actually do bhakti and not

simultaneously experience renunciation. It is impossible.There is no

example up to this day of such a thing happening.

So, as much bhakti as you do, that much renunciation willcome and to that degree you will get knowledge of philosophy and

attain the goal. We see that the gopis never studied at any school.

Haridasa Thakura also never went to school. But he had so much

knowledge that Mahaprabhu made him Namacarya, and he defeated big,

bigpanditas in the assembly of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami's father.Haridasa Thakura has told us the glories of the holy name. That has

been explained in our Harinama Cintamani. Where have all these

things come from? If you observe that somebody has not studied in

school, but he has served Guru nicely and has heard from Guru and

the Vaisnavas, then the whole philosophy will flow his heart as

waves move in water. He will be fixed in that knowledge. Gaura

Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja is the shining example of this, as isour Vamsidasa Babaji Maharaja. Previously, no one ever considered

that first you study the philosophy and then do bhajana. It was

never like this before. Service to Guru and hearing from the mouth

of Guru would come first, and then one would practice bhajanainthat order. That is why they would achieve perfection in their

bhajana. These days it is exactly the opposite. First we study and

become a scholar and then do bhajana. Then we serve. This isbackwards.

'Nayamatma pravacena labha'[Katha Upanisadby studying and

being expert in lecturing, you cannot getprema until you surrender

to Guru and the Vaisnavas].

You should remember this.Bhajana will not happen byacquiring knowledge through scholarship. It will come when we get

strong faith in hearing.

That's all for today.

vanca-kalpatarubyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca.patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

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bhajana rahasya by srila bhaktivinoda thakura

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